Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) by Mireille Chester Read Free Book Online Page B

looked
up at the tree, and shook his head in disgust as he held up his
hands in surrender.
    Heidi let out the breath she’d been holding.
Obviously, one lone human girl wasn’t worth dying over. She turned
her attention back to Tyler.
    “Tyler! Behind you!”
    The last man in the pack had been sneaking around
while Tyler had been focused on blocking punches and kicks from the
blond man. Tyler turned so he could keep an eye on both of
them.
    “Come on, now. She can’t be worth this,” mumbled the
blond man.
    “If that’s your take on it, you’re more than welcome
to walk away.” Both of them had a black eye. Tyler’s cheek was
starting to turn blue and the blonde’s lip was bleeding. Tyler
glanced to the second man, a shorter, stockier red head who was
staring at him with confusion. “What are you looking at, then?”
    The red head shook his head. “I’m sure I know
you.”
    Tyler frowned. “No, I don’t think so.”
    “By the moons, Jim, could we cut the small talk?”
    Jim put his dagger back in its scabbard at his side.
“Luke.”
    Tyler blinked. “That’s my father’s name.”
    Jim smiled. “You look just like him. You’re one of
the twins, yeah?”
    Tyler nodded but refused to drop his guard.
“Tyler.”
    Jim turned to his pack mate. “You’re on your own,
Chris. I owe his father my life.”
    “Chris?”
    Everyone’s attention turned to the man John was
keeping in the sights of his knife. He shrugged, obviously
flustered. Chris’ eyes widened at the sight of John’s second
opponent sitting a still as possible, his foot still skewered to
the ground. His groans of pain were loud in the sudden quiet of the
campsite. All eyes were on Chris. He ran a hand through his hair
and swore under his breath.
    “Why don’t we just put the blades away and get that
dagger out of your man’s foot?” Tyler relaxed, though Heidi was
sure his guard was still up.
    “You won’t try anything?” Chris looked at Tyler.
    “The last I checked, you had us outnumbered.”
    Chris raised an eyebrow at him and looked around.
Tyler grinned, though the smile didn’t seem to reach his eyes. The
first man he’d managed to knock out moaned and clutched his
head.
    “Did we get her?”
    Chris growled. “No, we didn’t get her.” He put his
dagger away. “Get up, Brad.”
    Brad sat up and squinted open one eye to look around.
His gaze fell on the man with the dagger in his foot. “Bloody hell,
did more of them show up?”
    “No.” Jim smiled. “Brad, do you recall Luke of
Howel?”
    Brad frowned. “Was that the one with the pretty mate
named Mel? She nursed you back to health, yeah?”
    Jim nodded and Brad turned his attention back to
Tyler. “I should have recognized you. You look the mirror image of
your father at your age. You move like him, too.” He grunted. “It
explains a lot, then.”
    “What did I miss?” Chris was obviously getting
impatient.
    “If you’d seen his father fight, you’d have thought
twice about trying to take the girl.” Brad stuck dagger in his
belt. “I’m out, Chris. I was there the day Luke risked his life to
save Jim’s and if it hadn’t been for Mel, he wouldn’t be standing
here now.”
    Tyler looked up and gestured to Heidi to come down.
Jim and Brad went to tend to their friend. His scream of pain as
they pulled the dagger from his foot startled her and she slipped
from the last branch on the tree. Tyler steadied her as she
landed.
    “You’re bleeding!”
    Tyler glanced down at Heidi’s hand, which was red
with blood. He lifted the hem of his tunic to reveal the cut along
his side.
    “It’s fine. It’s barely bleeding.” He smiled
reassuringly at her. John looked over to them from where he was
apologizing to the man he’d stabbed in the foot. Tyler went to his
packs and found the herbs he knew would dull the pain and quicken
the healing for the man’s foot. He walked over and handed them to
Jim.
    “This should help.”
    Jim nodded and went to work