The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey by Melissa Myers Read Free Book Online

desperately to wake up again and discover
this new reality to be just another nightmare.
    “I know, her breathing changed, and she isn’t
tossing anymore. Give her a few minutes.” Victory’s voice was calm
and quiet and almost as soothing as her father’s.
    She slowly sat up and surveyed the small camp
they had made. A few trees surrounded them, and the horses had been
tethered to a picket nearby. Havoc sat leaning against one of the
trees sharpening a sword. Victory was crouched near the fire
tending meat on a spit with his back turned toward her. Neither
wore cloaks any longer, and she could see them better in the fading
daylight. Havoc had dark red hair trimmed short and was dressed in
leathers. He had a slender build and deeply-tanned skin. Victory
seemed a bit bigger with a thicker build throughout the shoulders.
He had shed his armor and wore only a tunic and breeches now, but
still seemed formidable despite the normal clothes. Both of them,
she silently noted, had tattoos snaking up their left arms, just as
her father had. The story she had made about this horrible day
began to unravel as the truth became clearer.
    She turned her attention back to the scenery
and felt her heart sink further. She knew this place. It was the
road to Brannaford. She’d been this way when her parents went to
the market. Her eyes roamed toward the south, toward home. It was
black and dark in that direction. At the border, where Merro met
the Greenwild, a line seemed to be drawn. One side the country was
dark and ash covered, and the Greenwild was still lush with deep
grass. Where the road crossed the border it simply disappeared into
blowing ash. It was as if Merro had simply been erased. “My family
is dead, aren’t they?” She spoke quietly, just above a whisper. She
didn’t want to hear the answer. She didn’t want to admit that the
black wasteland was all that was left of her home.
    “Most likely, Jala. Havoc and I rode most of
Merro before we found you, and you were the only survivor we
found.” Victory was watching her now with eyes full of sympathy.
With a guarded expression, Havoc had stopped sharpening his blade
and watched her too.
    She felt tears welling again and didn’t think
the knot in her stomach would ever go away. Her throat felt thick
as she spoke again and she barely recognized her own voice. “My
momma’s name was Maggie, and if Badger is what you called my daddy
when he was a soldier, he was happy.” She sniffled slightly and
wiped her tears away from her face. “He had tattoos on his arm like
you both do, but he never talked about them. He was happy, though.
We all were.” She fell silent and let the tears come as she stared
down at her hands, wondering if she would ever be happy again.
“What happened?” She asked through the sobs, not really expecting
an answer.
    “The High Lords had a disagreement. Most
often it is the land that suffers when they do. Usually cities.
This time, entire countries, both Merro and Veir, are lost,” Havoc
answered. For the first time since they met, his voice was soft and
gentle. “It isn’t right, and we do what we can to fix it when it
happens, but this time there isn’t much we can do.” There was a
note of disgust in his voice when he fell silent again.
    “We can make sure Badger’s daughter is safe.
She is one of ours, and there can be no doubt a higher power led us
to her. There is no other way we could have stumbled across her as
we did.”
    “Agreed, but we can’t take her with us, Vic.
Our path is not fit for a child. So what do we do with her
then?”
    “I know I’ve given it a bit of thought. The
best I can come up with is an Aspectvar for now.” His tone was
cautious as if he didn’t care much for the thought.
    “Priests? You want to leave his daughter with
priests?” Havoc sounded incredulous. He gave a snort of disgust and
shook his head. “He will haunt you for that, I promise you.”
    She gave a slight sob at his words and
Victory