The Last Enchanter by Laurisa White Reyes Read Free Book Online

feet, only to lose her balance and collapse onto Marcus’s lap. She glanced up at him and then pushed him back.
    â€œHey!” Marcus said.
    â€œWhere are we?” Lael asked, ignoring him.
    Clovis got to his knees. His bow was there beside him, his quiver of arrows still slung across his back. Marcus was relieved to find his knife nearby, too. The grocs, it seemed, had no fear of human weapons.
    â€œAre we in a cave?” Clovis asked.
    The three of them stood up, but Lael wobbled unsteadily. “I’m a little dizzy,” she said. Clovis offered his arm, and she leaned against it gratefully.
    Marcus walked forward a few steps into a shallow pool of water. The darkness of the cave made it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead. He bent over, picked up a small rock, and threw it as far as he could. A few seconds passed before a faint kerplop sounded in the distance. “Kelvin was right,” he said. “We’re standing at the edge of an underground lake.”
    â€œActually,” said Lael, “I think we’re in the lake.”
    Sure enough, they were standing on a small mound of earth, no more than ten feet across, surrounded by water. No matter how far they threw their stones, each one landed in more water. They could see nothing but darkness all around them.
    Without knowing how far the water extended or what might be lurking in it, none of them dared try to swim to safety. Instead they stood and waited.
    Soon they heard the splashes of a boat paddling toward them. Marcus could just make out a small speck of light that grew larger and larger until he could see the outline of a boat and the tall, monstrous creature standing in its bow.
    The creature wore a pack of some kind that partially hid its hunched back and elongated snout. Only its claws were visible. As it approached their little island, it said nothing but motioned for the three prisoners to step into the boat, which they did without a word. The groc turned the boat with a long oar, and they glided slowly away.
    Marcus peered into the darkness. There was light ahead of them, several torches on a distant shoreline. As they drew nearer, he saw dozens of grocs awaiting them. The boat slid quietly onto the sandy shore. Their guide stepped out and helped Marcus and the others do the same. It walked forward, silently beckoning for them to follow.

Eighteen
    W hy are you here?”
    The voice was gravelly and hoarse. At first Marcus could not tell who had spoken. He, Lael, and Clovis were surrounded by grocs of all shapes and sizes, but one groc, so thin the outline of his bones was visible through his sickly yellow skin, sat on a tall boulder rising from the sand. His face was hidden in shadow.
    â€œWhy are you here?” repeated the groc, whom Marcus assumed was the leader.
    Marcus hoped Clovis or Lael would answer, but by the fear in their faces it was clear the honor fell to him. Their guide still stood beside them, saying nothing.
    â€œWe are on our way to Dokur,” Marcus said, mustering as much courage as he could. “My brother is ruler there and needs our help.”
    â€œFredric has no brother.”
    â€œFredric was our grandfather. He’s dead. My brother rules in his place.”
    â€œFredric dead?” asked the groc leader. “How?”
    â€œI don’t know,” answered Marcus, and he didn’t, though if he had known, he wouldn’t have revealed anything to this monster.
    â€œAnd your brother now rules?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œHe is a wise ruler, a just ruler?”
    â€œI suppose so. Why?”
    â€œBecause for many years grocs are captured, tortured, killed! Perhaps your brother changes that.”
    â€œMaybe grocs are killed because you eat humans.”
    The groc leader lifted his snout in the air and roared. The sound of it made Marcus shudder in fear.
    â€œPerhaps we eat humans because we are killed!” said the groc.
    Marcus wondered just how far