The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3) by Jeremy Croston Read Free Book Online

towards the beach that the other Druids were landing on.
    Panicked, “Oberon, we must turn around and assist!  There is no telling what the creature can do.”
    But he was not listening to me.  Below us was without a doubt the leader of the Orc Tribe.  Dressed in their native war apparel, the lead Orc was easily seven feet tall.  Knives hung from his belt and in his hand was a spear that was another foot taller than he.  He did not move, but waited for us to come back down to him.
    Oberon released the Druid magic and soon we were on his level.  His black eyes never once looked at Oberon; instead they were narrowed on me.  “Creature, what are you doing here?”
    I expected grunt, or at the very least, a broken attempt at our language.  I was shocked that his speech was almost perfect.  “Taking what is destined to be ours.  The Fae cannot deny us our new claim.”
    Oberon, quick to temper, did not respond with words, but action.  He reached out with his hand and thick vines wrapped around the Orc’s neck.  Between Oberon’s battle cry and the Orc’s gasps of surprise, the situation went downhill in a split second.
    The Orc ripped the vines from his neck.  “Impudent lower being!  I will take your head as my trophy!”
    He started spinning his spear so fast.  I did the only thing that I thought I should do.  I took my natural form and with one bite, removed the Orc’s arm from the rest of his body, saving Oberon who had frozen up.  The Orc, seeing his new opponent, ran back into the forest, yelling curses.
    “How dare you interfere woman…?”  His tone went from a low growl to unhinged yelling.  “This is not your place!”  I had morphed back immediately and he slapped me across the face, sending me to the ground.  Without even as much as a look back, he stormed off towards the beach.
    **Vic**
    The whole story made me uncomfortable.  Granted, it was from the Sphinx’s point of view, but any dude that lays a hand on a woman like that is a dick.  Plus it gave me some insight to both the crocodile and the lizard tribe Pan talked about.  I also was going to keep using crocodile and lizard tribe when talking about them, just because wyrms and Orcs sounded too far out there.
    It seemed like we’d reached the end of story time.  “I’m guessing that’s not the way things ended huh?”
    “No, the Druids were routed by the wyrm.  They scrambled back to their boats and left with their tails tucked firmly between their legs, no offense.”
    Hell, I couldn’t transform so no harm there.  “What happened next?”
    “Oberon never got over the fact I saved his life.  The Druids, wanting to forge an alliance with the Red wolves to help in their battle against the Orcs, encouraged relations between the groups.  Oberon eventually decided he wanted to take on a Red as his wife and sent the Teacher after me.”
    The Teacher guy kept coming up in conversation I’d been having with these people.  Jack the angel mentioned him a few times and the Sphinx had too.  “So who’s this Teacher guy?  How was he able to send you back to the Pit?”
    “You will not like this answer, but that is not a question I can answer.”
    She was right, I didn’t.  “And why the hell not?”
    I guess my bark was pretty bad as she jumped back for just a split second before regaining herself.  “You will learn there are a lot of secrets to the world.  Unfortunately, this is not one for me to explain to you.”
    I crossed my arms, still a bit annoyed.  “This goes back to trust Sphinx.  You want me to trust you, yet you won’t answer my questions without more of your riddles.”
    “I just told you one of my deepest and darkest memories and you still question me.  I am beginning to think earning your trust is not worth the headaches attached to it.”
    Ahh damnit, just when I thought I was in a position of power, she went and made me feel bad.  “Maybe you’re right.  Sorry, I just don’t like being in