Rise of the Fey by Alessa Ellefson Read Free Book Online Page A

close behind me, its grass-covered panel merging seamlessly back into the hillside. I take one quick look around: Behind me is the school, tall and foreboding, a machine to crank out soldiers in the knights’ ongoing war with the Fey; left of me are the landing docks; and to my right are the yet untouched remains of the asylum with, behind it, a tall mound of bones and ashes, the burned up remains of our enemy fallen in battle.
    Shivering, I shift my gaze to the empty fields ahead of me and, lying beyond them along the hazy horizon line, Avalon’s forest.
    My key to freedom.
    “OK, keep your cool, Morgan,” I tell myself as I set off, my heart speeding up, urging me to walk faster. “You’ve gotta keep your cool or you’re gonna look suspect.”
    But my legs won’t listen to me and I’m soon tearing down the hillside at full speed. As I round a small copse of trees, a loud blast shakes the ground and I duck behind an oak’s large trunk, scanning the area for any sign of pursuit. A second later, I spot Nibs’s small figure rolling down the hill, his red jacket now ripped to shreds. He gets back up with obvious difficulty, then starts running again as half a dozen guards appear from around the construction site.
    There’s a shout and the guy in the lead lifts his arm, sending a beam of green, sylphid air shooting through the air. The bolt hits Nibs in the back and the small clurichaun falls sprawling to the ground.
    “Come on, get up,” I mutter under my breath. “You can’t let them take you like this. Not after all the trouble I went through to get you out!”
    But Nibs isn’t moving and the knights are closing in on him. With a loud swear, I sprint out of my hiding place towards the clurichaun.
    “There she is!” a girl shouts, and I speed up.
    “After them!” someone else yells, sounding closer, as I stoop down to help Nibs up.
    “Get away from me, wench,” Nibs spits, feebly batting my hand away. “From here on out, we’re going our separate ways.”
    “Don’t be stupid,” I retort, pulling him after me despite his objections. “There’s only one way out of here, and it’s the same for both of us.”
    I glance over my shoulder to find the group of guards has doubled in size and, with a burst of fear, spot Percy and the cousins in their midst.
    “Crap!” I say, redoubling the pace. “Here comes the cavalry.”
    Nibs and I scamper away as if our bums are on fire. Already I can distinguish the large shape of one of the school’s markers detaching itself from the darkening sky.
    “Keep running,” I tell Nibs who sounds like an old steam engine running out of fuel. “Just a few more fields, then we’ll be safe inside the forest.”
    If you can call ‘safe’ a place crawling with Fey avid for my blood. But I don’t voice my concern; that’s something I’ll worry about when I get there.
    A bolt of fire hits the ground in front of us, leaving a wide crater in its wake, and I swerve around to avoid it.
    “They’re catching up!” I yell, panting.
    The tall standing stone quickly grows larger, dwarfing all in its surroundings. But just as we’re about to reach it, a sentryappears from behind the monolith, sparks of fire blooming from her outstretched hands.
    “Down!” I scream.
    I throw myself to the ground as a ball of fire detonates above our heads, showering us with embers.
    “They certainly aren’t playing around, are they?” I say, sweat dripping freely down my face.
    “Great observation, Sherlock,” Nibs retorts, spitting mud back out of his mouth.
    I flatten myself down as another flaming missile flashes past my head, singeing my hair in its passage.
    “Are you trying to kill me?” I cry out to the guard.
    “That’s what knights are for,” the woman says, “to kill demons like you two.” She flings her hand again and a third flaming ball hurtles straight at me.
    I instinctively raise my hands before me and my stomach heaves in response. A glowing orb the size of a