Bonded: Book One of the ShadowLight Saga, an Epic Fantasy Adventure Read Online Free PDF Page A

with defeat.
    Hallad prickled at the unfamiliar sight. His father had
always been no less than a god to him, but tonight a sad, mortal man, conquered
by the weight he bore, stood before him.
    The old man breathed deeply. His shoulders rose with effort
and, for a moment, the spark of the godhi returned. Hallad realized his father
put up the front on his behalf.
    "There isn’t time. You must go now, for the time of
your birth mother’s prophecies have borne fruit. You must be quick and
obedient." The old godhi’s sunken demeanor turned urgent as he shuffled
his son toward the door. "Take the girl away from here to a place nordr of
Birka, to the Temple to Freyja. There you will find a woman named Ase Jorrun,
Second Priestess, Daughter of the Temple. She will guide you."
    Avarr placed his hands on his son’s shoulders and for the first
time Hallad realized that they were the same height.
    "Hear me well son, for your mother gave her life for
this cause and if it comes to that, so must you. Keep the girl safe at all
costs. Protect her with your life and honor."
    "But . . . " Hallad hung onto the word in his
throat; he knew not to question his father, but so many questions formulated in
his mind: his mother, Thyre, the young woman, and Emma. He wanted answers, but
the insistence in the old man’s eyes silenced him.
    "In time you will understand." The godhi’s face,
though tight with anxiety, softened as he beheld his son.
    Hallad withdrew the young woman’s sword from its hiding
place and held the weapon out. Avarr’s signet glinted on the weapon's hilt in
the dim light.
    "I know," said Avarr, but no other justification
came. The unanswered questions continued to linger between them until his
father added, "Son, you must watch your backside. Death follows in this
girl’s wake." The gravity of his tone drove his point.
    "Father, what of Emma? How am I to protect the creature
that caused this tragedy?"
    A wise smile crossed the godhi’s lips, lifting his sagging
features.
    "Do you believe she caused this?"
    "Nei," Hallad said before could think.
    "You must trust that." The old man placed his hand
on Hallad’s thick chest, over his heart. Silence loomed between them. Then he
reached around and held his son in his arms, patting him roughly on the back.
    "And you must trust this. She can lead you to Emma."
The godhi pulled back, studying Hallad as if he was trying to etch his features
deep within his memory.
    "Then why the death sentence?" Hallad drew away
from him.
    "There are too many old pains between Thyre and me to
explain." The old man released his son, but held him with his eyes. "One
day you will lead and you will understand, but now you must go. We have spent
too much time."
    The godhi turned, leading Hallad from the barn. No one stood
guard and the only sound was the knocking in the distance, more than a hundred
paces away. Hallad’s father led him around the barn where the young woman
waited for him, seated on his father’s favorite steed, Windrunner. The dappled
gray gelding matched the spirit of the iron-edged woman, prancing beneath her
command. The woman’s control over the gray surprised Hallad, as only his father
and Emma had ever been able to tame the beast. His own horse, Thor, snorted
impatiently, his saddle packed with nap sacks and a bedroll. At his father’s
insistence, Hallad began to mount, but at the last moment Avarr reached out and
grabbed him, hugging him fiercely.
    Awkwardly, Hallad pulled from his father’s grip and mounted.
    "Now go my son, and keep my honor alive, for my time
has come." Grabbing his son’s hand, Avarr pressed an object into Hallad’s
palm.
    "Father, if there is danger—"
    "Only death waits here my son, you must go now and
never return." He held his son with his eyes, the object digging into Hallad's
hand. "Do you understand?"
    Hallad glanced down as he father drew his hand away. His
father’s signet, formed into a mantle clasp, lay in his palm. Hallad nodded,
realizing