The PriZin of Zin by Loretta Sinclair Read Free Book Online

there?”
    “Evil.”
    “I’ve never seen any deer that looked like that before. They looked like zombies.”
    “Shadows.” Bigfoot took the last pine nut and offered it to Hunter.
    Hunter shook his head. “They had fangs. Deer don’t have fangs.”
    “Danger. Evil. Teeth can steal your spark.”
    Fear the one that can extinguish yer spark for all eternity , Alastair had warned.
    “Evil can’t bear light,” Bigfoot continued. “Light reveals shadows. Shadows of evil have no shadows of their own. They are the shadows, and they are the evil.”
    “So that’s why they have to stay in the dark?”
    Mikey nodded.
    “So I am safe so long as I am in the light?”
    Bigfoot nodded again, “from them.” He stretched and yawned, laying his enormous hairy bulk across the planks on the platform. Stretching out, his feet hung completely off one side, and his head dangled very near the edge of the other. Hunter sat and watched this gentle giant as he rested on their perch atop this strange new land. “How far is Zin?”
    “Not far.” Mikey patted his hand on the platform next to him. “Need rest.”
    “Can we get there soon?”
    Bigfoot shook his head. “Not ready. Need protection.”
    “Protection from what?”
    “Evil,” Bigfoot said. Again patting the platform, he said, “need rest”.
    “What kind of protection?” Hunter pressed.
    “Rocks.”
    “Rocks?” Hunter looked at his new friend, confused. “Like the ones that you threw at the deer?”
    Bigfoot nodded.
    “And at me?”
    Bigfoot nodded again.
    “Why did you throw those rocks at me?”
    “Scared.”
    “I scared you?” Some protector. You’re just as scared as I am .
    “Flew down from the sky,” a big finger pointed upwards. “Evil can, too.”
    “You thought I was evil?”
    Bigfoot shrugged. “Need rest.” He patted the platform again.
    Hunter sat silent for a long minute, taking in his new surroundings. Looking off into the distance, he could see the mountainous area that was his destination, volcano bubbling and hissing steam into the sky. Bigfoot belched and smacked his lips to get rid of the taste, eyes never opening from his slumber. Hunter lay down next to his Bigfoot, and tried to get comfortable. He covered his nose to hide the horrid smell of his companion.
    “Mikey?” Hunter asked after a long silence. “How will I get this protection?”
    “Friends.”
     

Chapter 6: Warrior
    war·rior noun, often attributive \ˈwȯr- yə r, ˈwȯr-ē -ə r, ˈwär-ē- also ˈwär- yə r\
    a person engaged in some struggle or conflict
     

     
    Day 2
    The sun was warm on his skin. There was a slight breeze in the air, cooling his face. The motion of the tree branches was an ever so small sway with the movement of the air, the scent in the sky was – horrid. Hunter gagged and tried to cover his nose. His arms were pinned down and he couldn’t move. He wiggled and tried to break his arms free with a loud groan.
    Bigfoot woke up. Snuggled up against Hunter, giant arms wrapped around him and his head nestled against Hunter’s shoulder, Mikey yawned, released his young friend and threw his arms over his head in a giant stretch. Hunter rolled away to the edge of the platform and retched. Clearing his nostrils, he gasped for fresh air, hoping not to throw up. Glancing down from the top of the tree, branches gently swaying in the breeze below, another wave of nausea hit him, and he held down a another retch that climbed up the back of this throat. Closing his eyes from the height and the moving branches, Hunter’s stomach slowly settled back down. He heard Mikey still yawning and moving behind him. He cracked open one eye and peered across the platform.
    His Bigfoot yawned, baring enormous teeth and jaws. With his mouth open, he let out a rumbling sound that resembled a purring cat. At the same moment, Hunter heard some rumbling coming from the other end, and then a waft of yet another horrid and even more offensive smell. Great , Hunter