The Last Enchanter by Laurisa White Reyes Read Free Book Online Page A

he could go before he pushed his host too far. “If you want justice from the new king, then maybe you should show some justice yourself. Let me and my friends go, and I promise to talk to my brother about your, um . . . people.”
    â€œI see your face before,” the groc said thoughtfully. “That is why I send for you.”
    â€œYou sent for me?”
    â€œYou are the one in the stone.”
    Marcus was confused now. The groc was curious about him, but he knew grocs rarely took the time to chat with their prey before eating it.
    â€œI don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Marcus.
    â€œYou challenge me? The stone sees everything! The stone never lies!” The groc’s voice rose to a frenzied pitch. “Do you know who I am?” he shouted, his teeth glinting through his drool. “I am Hyer, keeper of the stone’s secrets!”
    â€œI don’t understand,” said Marcus. “What stone?”
    Hyer growled and thrashed his head from side to side. The other grocs growled back. Hyer held up his hands and spread his webbed fingers.
    â€œMany seasons past she come to us. Alone. She has only her child. When I learn who she is, I want to make her suffer. Make her father suffer! But she is wiser than I. She swears oath that my kind will one day walk in daylight, drink from the rivers, not be tormented by other creatures of Imaness. To prove her word, she show me vision of future.”
    Hyer lowered his hands and fell into silence. He stared at Marcus with a strange longing, as though he were waiting, or hoping, for something to happen. After a few moments, Marcus began to feel uncomfortable and wondered how long he had before he and his friends would be eaten.
    â€œYou said you saw me before,” said Marcus.
    â€œI see you in the stone! The stone does not lie!” Hyer shook with rage.
    Clovis, who had been quiet until now, leaned forward to whisper in Marcus’s ear. “Maybe he’s talking about Ivanore’s Celestine seal.”
    Marcus thought about what Clovis said. When Marcus and Kelvin’s mother, Ivanore, ran away from Fredric, she would have had to pass through Vrystal Canyon to reach Zyll in the village of Quendel. But she had broken her seal and given half to Jayson before she escaped. And even now, restored again, the seal was simply that—a royal seal. Marcus had never even seen his own reflection on its polished surface, let alone a vision of the future. But he did not doubt she had somehow convinced the grocs to believe her promise and free her.
    â€œSo,” said Marcus, “you saw a vision of me in the stone. If so, then what are your plans for me?”
    Hyer remained silent for a few moments, though he grew more agitated by the minute. “The stone,” he shouted, “reveals that you are to go free!”
    â€œWell, I’m glad to hear it,” replied Marcus, relieved. “We’ll need a guide to find our way out. Now, if you don’t mind, we’ll be going.”
    â€œYes, you go free,” repeated Hyer, pressing his webbed fingertips together. “But the others must stay.”

Nineteen
    I won’t leave without my friends,” Marcus said.
    Hyer pulled his knees up to his bony chest and rested his jaw on them. “You are not glad to be released?”
    â€œNo!” said Marcus. “I demand you release all of us.”
    Hyer stared at Marcus from his perch on the boulder. The other grocs stood by, but Marcus sensed a growing uneasiness among them. Some of them paced restlessly, while others let out low, growling sounds. Still others glared hungrily at Marcus and his friends as if they were imagining what they would taste like.
    â€œWell?” said Marcus.
    Hyer straightened his scaly legs and raised himself to his full height, which was much taller than Marcus hadthought. This brought Hyer out of the shadows so that Marcus could see him fully.
    â€œThey