Wicked War of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 9) by John Corwin Read Free Book Online Page A

dark place, and they were enough to keep me from going back in unless I had no choice.
    The forest spanned a mountain peak behind Arcane University, a massive Romanesque castle with huge round towers at all four corners. Its many soaring spires met the sky to our right. To its left, the library, a long oval building with a glittering diamond dome, stretched along a landscape usually covered with lush gardens. Many of those gardens looked trampled and burnt. Almost directly in front of us loomed Colossus Stadium. Roman columns and arches supported the circular structure. It was easily five times the size of the largest football stadium I'd seen. It had to be large to support the Grand Melee, an annual event where giant golems battled equally huge robots from Science Academy across the valley.
    "They really did a number on the gardens," Shelton said.
    My eyes followed the swath of destruction across the grassy field and toward Greek Row where the mansion had stood only a few days ago. Daelissa's army had marched straight from the stadium to destroy my home.
    Shelton, Elyssa, and I marched to the front of the formation. Michael and Captain Takei talked in low tones, their eyes on the stadium. They turned to us when we reached them.
    "Waiting on intel," Michael said.
    I looked at the stadium surroundings and couldn't help but reminisce about my first days here. It had been quite a shock and a pleasure all at the same time.
    "I don't see many guards," Elyssa said. "They must have committed the bulk of their forces to protecting the way station."
    A distant boom sounded and the ground beneath us tremored ever so slightly. A few seconds later the sound repeated itself. A silver marble zipped through the air and hovered in front of Michael. He snatched the ASE—all-seeing eye—from the air and gave it a twist. It spun in mid-air and projected a holographic image recorded inside the stadium.
    Michael panned the view.
    "Holy farting fairies." Shelton took off his wide-brimmed hat and ran a hand through his hair. "What in the hell are they planning?"
    I couldn't tear my eyes from the video. Stone golems three stories high marched through the Obsidian Arch in the center of the stadium, vanishing to an unknown destination. Each one bristled with crystal shards capable of firing destructive spells in all directions.
    Arcane university was being used to manufacture unconventional magical weapons.
     

Chapter 5

    The color of the giant golems varied wildly. Some looked jade, others onyx, while the majority appeared to be constructed of gray granite.
    The ASE dipped lower for a view through the arch. I recognized the destination almost immediately.
    "They're going to Thunder Rock," I said.
    Elyssa blew out a breath. "I count at least ten."
    As the last monstrosity thudded through, a group of stout golems maybe a third the size of the leviathans returned through the arch, each one bearing blocks of gray granite.
    "Construction golems," Shelton said. "They must be importing stone through the arch and building those monsters here."
    "The stadium has all the tools they need for building golems that size," Takei said. "They can easily import the raw materials through the arch."
    "I see only a skeleton crew." Michael rotated the image, marking locations of people as he went. "We need to lock down this place now before the rest of the enemy forces make it up the mountain."
    "Agreed," Takei said. "I dispatched a flying carpet to keep an eye on the retreating forces so we'll know when they're on the way."
    The faint sound of crackling branches and the thud of heavy feet caught my ear. This sound wasn't coming from the stadium, it was coming from the Dark Forest. The noise of the departing golems must have caught the tragon's attention. I'd used the creature to fight a giant stone golem once. Used was something of an overstatement. I'd goaded the tragon into chasing me inside the stadium and very narrowly missed becoming its next meal thanks to