Sword of Doom by James Jennewein Read Free Book Online Page A

together just within the perimeter of the camp. There was nothing strange about these rocks, except for the fact they looked identical, like twins. Their surfaces were weathered and pitted just like ordinary stones. And, of course, that’s just what they were. Harmless, ordinary rocks. And this was why he hadn’t noticed them before.
    He burrowed snugly in his blankets to ward off the cold and closed his eyes. Soon, very soon, he vowed to prove his mettle and show what he was made of. Fading into slumber, the boy conjured images of the day Godrek and Dane would grip his arm warrior style and tell him he’d done well….
    An eerie whisper jolted him awake. He sat up. How long had he been asleep? He darted looks around the camp. Allwas quiet. Even the sentry appeared to be dozing. Then he saw something that sent an icy shiver down his neck.
    The twin boulders were gone.
    He started to shout an alarm but caught himself. What if he was mistaken? What if the boulders he’d seen earlier were not where he thought they were but somewhere else along the perimeter? If he awoke everyone on a false alarm, he’d be yelled at, if not laughed at again. No, he would do the right thing and first make certain.
    He quietly pulled on his boots, strung an arrow on his bow, and crept off to the spot where he thought the twin boulders had vanished from near a thicket of brambles. He stopped. Listened. On the wind came that eerie sound again…faint whispers, rising and falling as if in chorus, the sounds just short of being words. The night, it seemed, was speaking a strange language he had never heard before…a language that seemed to be calling to him.
    He crept closer to the thicket, to where the forest merged into blackness. That’s when he saw them: eyes staring out at him. Six pairs of tiny ovals ashine in the darkness. William wanted to run, but he seemed rooted to the ground. And then he saw deathly white claws tipped with sharp talons reaching out from the darkness toward him—and something grabbed him from behind. He let out a piercing scream, whirled away from the grasp, and fell to the ground.
    Dane was staring down at him. “William—what are you doing!”
    â€œI—I saw them!” William sputtered. “They—they—they were here!”
    His scream had roused the camp. Godrek and his men came running, weapons in hand, followed by Jarl, Astrid, and the others.
    â€œWhat is it, boy?” Godrek demanded. “Why do you wake us?”
    William excitedly pointed to where the rocks had been. “The rocks—they moved! So I went to see and—” He gestured to the woods. “They were there! I saw them! I heard their voices! The dark dwarves!”
    Godrek turned to Thorfinn, the man on sentry. “Did you see or hear anything?”
    â€œNo, my lord. I saw the boy go to the perimeter, I thought to relieve himself. But nothing more.”
    â€œHe saw nothing, my lord,” William responded, “because he was sleeping.”
    â€œHe lies!” Thorfinn bellowed. He came at the boy, hand raised. Dane stepped in front of William, catching Thorfinn’s wrist before he could strike. With his other hand Thorfinn went for his knife, and Godrek shouted, “Enough!” The liegeman froze, hand on knife handle, glaring at Dane. He was older than Dane, a good five years his senior, but both seemed evenly matched.
    Thorfinn jerked his wrist from Dane’s grasp and let the knife handle go with the other, still staring hard at Dane. “The boy lies. I demand satisfaction from his protector.”
    â€œWe’ll have none of that,” Godrek said. “As for the boy, I’m sure it was a dream he had.”
    â€œNo! It wasn’t!” William protested.
    â€œQuiet!” Godrek barked, his glare turning William mute. For an instant William felt Godrek himself was going to strike him, but the man collected himself and turned to