Sands of Aggar: Amazons of Aggar Book 3 by Chris Anne Wolfe Read Free Book Online Page A

hoping to find a sanctuary, and found the front step of her wagon. She grabbed it with trembling hands and pulled herself up, flinging the tattered, weatherbeaten wooden door to her home open as she slid inside, closing the door behind herself.
    She lay collapsed on the carpeted floor, gasping and coughing, trying to purge her lungs of the deadly sand. Finally, fresh air flooded her mouth and she breathed deep, closing her eyes as she clung to life. Oasis had never been hit like this before. She worried about Khalisa, about the rest of her Tribe. The storm had descended so suddenly: had they made it to safety? She imagined her sister, swallowed forever in the depths of the desert and trembled. She needed to find her, but she knew if she opened her front door she’d destroy her only safe haven.
    She heard a scuffle across her carpet and felt silken fur brush her hand. When she didn’t move, a quick, sharp sting, a bite, on her arm demanded her attention. She opened her eyes to meet gold eyes full of concern. Her brows knit in confusion. When had she acquired a waterferret? The creatures rarely journeyed beyond the coastal towns in the south.
    She pushed herself up onto her hands and shouted with surprise as she realized she wasn’t alone. A figure cloaked in silver, hidden from head to mid-calf sat on the far side of the cabin, a sword with a demonic red gem in the hilt resting blade-down before it. The figure turned to her, piercing eyes examining her from the depths of the hood. It spoke in a whisper, in a language Jacquin couldn’t understand. Its voice was inhuman, distorted by magic and the pounding of the storm against the walls of the wagon.
    “Who are you?” Jacquin’s voice trembled as she realized she had to be dreaming. Her silver-cloaked guardian only appeared in visions and dreams, and the storm was too severe, too symbolic to be a vision of what was to come.
    The figure sat in silence, one gauntlet-clad hand stroking the red jewel. In an instant, another figure, mirror-image of the first, appeared on the opposite side of the wagon. The waterferret let out a shrill cry of alarm and disappeared from existence, abandoning Jacquin to the strangers. Jacquin shrank back against the door to her wagon, the energy in the room growing heavy and malevolent. She knew in an instant that these two were not her protector. They were false copies.
    They stood as one, crossing slowly toward her in perfect unison. The storm howled around her, raking at the wagon like a beast, but she suddenly found she trusted the chaotic, unbiased wrath of the storm over these malevolent creatures.
    She reached up and threw the door open, instantly engulfing the wagon in sand, allowing herself to be swept outside. She was lost in the wind, gravity and physics disappearing into the science of the dream world. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. Everything was pain and confusion,
    Finally, she relaxed, giving herself up to the storm. Like a rag doll tossed about in a heavy current, she flew, twisted and bent in time with the tempest. Just as she was about to loose consciousness, to release the last bits of her being to the ether, she felt strong hands grab her around the waist, pulling her back to her feet. The sand continued to howl, but for a moment everything directly around her was still. She was standing in the eye of the storm, no more sand in her throat, no grainy sensation in her hair of clothes. She’d been washed clean. Purified.
    She looked up to see a third figure, still clad in silver, but radiating warmth. She reached up, hear hand disappearing into the darkness of the hood, her fingers touching smooth skin, a narrow jaw. The ferret rested on the figure’s shoulder.
    Jacquin pressed tight against the silver traveler, still trembling from the storm and the false copies I her wagon. “My protector.”

    Jacquin woke with a gasp, instantly surrounded by the dark safety of her wagon. The night was still and peaceful outside. A