The Banished of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler Read Free Book Online

Tayt said, cuffing the dog. Flames leaped up the bark of the pine and the branches were soon blazing. The wind kicked up the flames even higher, causing the ashes to spread and fan out, igniting other trees in the valley.
    “Lady Marciana!” shouted a powerful voice in the darkness. She recognized it, having heard it inside her mind at the Leering she had used to summon water. “Surrender to me now, or I will burn this village. I have chased you long enough, and my patience is at an end. You cannot leave this mountain, or all these people will die.”
    It was Corriveaux.
    The wind was so strong she had to clutch her borrowed cloak around her throat to prevent it from flying back into the brook. She felt mewling hisses all around her, sensed invisible shapes. Anger and fear battled within her.
    Another explosion of light came, and yellow tongues of fire began to devour another tree.
    “I grow impatient!” Corriveaux shouted into the night.
    Maia looked into the kishion’s eyes. He shook his head subtly no. Anguish filled her heart. How could she abandon the poor villagers? They had done nothing to deserve such a fate. Indeed, they had done naught but show her kindness. She had no doubt that Corriveaux’s threat was sincere, and her heart wrenched. Could she really spare her own life at the expense of theirs?
    She turned back to the village, intending to fight off the Dochte Mandar who threatened them.
    “I think no,” Jon Tayt said, gripping her arm to stop her. “Listen to the man’s voice. He was already going to murder them. We must flee down the mountain, my lady.”
    “I can stop him,” she said, trying to control her fear. The force of the Medium was building a charge in the air over her.
    She turned to face the blazing trees and summoned the power of the kystrel. Clenching her teeth, she unleashed her emotions and flooded the medallion with all of the darkest parts of herself—her rage, humiliation, fear, and despair.
    The wind began to shift immediately, drawn to her call, her summons.
    “No, Lady Maia!” Jon Tayt warned. “You will draw him down on us!”
    She felt the power building inside of her, rising like a tide. Her confidence increased, and she experienced that tickling giddiness that always made her want to laugh. “Stand away from me,” she said fiercely.
    The winds collided. Her leg muscles began to tremble under the mental weight of the magic she wielded. Another shaft of lightning struck near her, shattering a boulder into blackened fragments. The light did not blind her this time. She retaliated, sending a crackle of energy toward her enemy. With the kystrel burning around her neck, she could sense his presence, could see that he was very near, perched on a solitary rock by the shore of the lake. His eyes glowed silver, as did hers.
    I found you.
    She could sense his triumph as his thoughts clamped down on hers with the strength of iron bars. Maia wrestled against the compulsion to surrender. She pressed against him, shoving with all her strength. Another mind joined Corriveaux’s, latching around her like shackles. Then another mind. There were three of them, three Dochte Mandar.
    I have her. Kill her protectors, quickly!
    No! Maia shrieked in response, her will bulging against the prison they had created. Her shoulder burned, as if she were supporting a heavy weight over her head. The power drove her to her knees.
    “They see us!” Jon Tayt shouted. Soldiers charged at them from the burning mass of trees, heading toward the brook with bared swords.
    Maia grunted with exhaustion, and suddenly another shaft of lightning touched ground right in front of the advancing men, scattering them. A few had charred faces as they fell limp to the ground.
    You will obey me! Corriveaux’s thoughts screamed at her. Yield to me!
    I will not , Maia replied, her mind turning black with the strain of resisting him. She felt the veins on her face begin to pop and blood dribbled down her cheeks. The