A Realm of Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page A

cries below, startling Ra from his
reverie. He could not understand what it was, or why it disturbed him so much.
It was a low, deep rumble, something like thunder.
    Just as he
wondered if he had really heard it, it came again, louder, and he realized it was
not coming from the ground—but from the sky.
    Ra looked up,
baffled, peering into the clouds, wondering. The sound came again, and again,
and he knew it was not thunder. It was something much more ominous.
    As he examined
the rolling, gray clouds, Ra suddenly saw a sight that he would never forget. He
blinked, certain he was imagining it. But no matter how many times he looked
away, it was still there.
    Dragons. An
entire flock.
    They descended
for Escalon, talons extended, wings raised, breathing flames of fire. And flying
right for him.
    Before he could even
process it, hundreds of his soldiers below were set aflame by the dragons’
breath, shrieking, caught in the columns of fire. Hundreds more groaned as the dragons
tore them to shreds.
    As he stood
there, numb with panic, with disbelief, an enormous dragon singled him out. It
aimed for his balcony, raised its talons, and dove.
    A moment later,
it sliced the stone in half, just missing him as he ducked. Ra, in a panic,
felt the stone give way beneath his feet.
    Moments later he
felt himself falling, flailing, shrieking, down for the ground below. He had
thought he was untouchable, greater than them all.
    Yet death, after
all, had found him.

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    Kyle swung his
staff with all he had, reeling from exhaustion as he struck both the Pandesian
soldiers and the trolls closing in on him from all sides. He felled men and
trolls left and right as their swords and halberds clanged off his staff,
sparks flying everywhere. Even while defeating them, he could feel the ache,
deep in his shoulders. He had been battling them for hours, he was surrounded
on all sides now, and his situation, he knew, was dire.
    At first the
Pandesians and trolls had fought each other, leaving him free to fight whom he
wished, yet as they saw Kyle felling everyone around him, they clearly realized
it was in their best interest to team up against him. For a moment the
Pandesians and trolls had stopped trying to kill each other, and instead all
focused on killing him.
    As Kyle swung
and knocked back three trolls, a Pandesian managed to sneak behind him and
slash Kyle’s stomach with his sword. Kyle shouted out and reeled from the pain,
spinning to avoid the worst of it, yet still bleeding. Before he could parry, at
the same time, a troll raised a club and smashed Kyle in the shoulder, knocking
the staff from his hand and sending him to his hands and knees.
    Kyle knelt
there, the pain shooting up and down his shoulder, throbbing, as he tried to
catch his breath. Before he could gather himself, yet another troll rushed
forward and kicked him in the face, sending him flat on his back.
    A Pandesian then
stepped forward with a long spear, raised it high with both hands, and brought
it down for Kyle’s head.
    Kyle, not ready
to die, spun out of the way, and the spear planted itself in the ground just
inches from his face. He continued to roll, gained his feet, and as two more
trolls charged, he grabbed a sword from the ground, spun, and stabbed them
both.
    As several
others crowded in, Kyle quickly grabbed his staff and knocked them all out, fighting
like a cornered animal as he formed a circle around him. He stood there,
breathing heavily, blood pouring from his lip, while his opponents formed a
thick circle around him, all closing in, blood in their eyes.
    The pain in his
stomach and shoulder unbearable, Kyle tried to block it out, tried to focus as
he stood there. He faced an imminent death, he knew, and he took solace only in
the fact that he had rescued Kyra. That had made it all worth it, and he was
willing to pay the price.
    He glanced at
the horizon, and took solace in the fact that she had gotten away from all
this, had ridden away