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

the importance of the gift.
    "Now go. It is time for me to meet my fate and you to
meet yours."
    The old godhi slapped Thor’s chestnut haunches, coaxing the
horse onward. Windrunner pranced anxiously in Thor’s wake. Hallad glanced back
at his father.
    "May the Norns shine upon you, my boy."
    His father’s blessing was no more than a whisper
disappearing into the black night, but he would never forget the words.
    Hallad turned and rode. The young woman, atop the grey, kept
pace alongside him without a word, their silence a comfort. It felt right—her
next to him. He thought she felt it too, though he couldn’t say how he knew. As
they trotted into the shadows, Hallad didn’t look back again; but he knew, with
unquestionable certainty, that his father watched him fade into the distant
night.
     

Chapter 6
     
     
    They only traveled a few hundred paces before the pounding
of hoof beats followed in their wake. Hallad reined in Thor and he skittered to
a halt, spraying dust up behind him. The young woman, quicker than Hallad, had already
checked the gray. They both spun to meet the oncoming rider.
    The beating intensified, like drums in a sacrificial
ceremony, until Hallad caught sight of their pursuer. A silhouette spouting
dust barreled down upon them, sword drawn in the moonlight. The glint of metal
and labored breaths of rider and horse unnerved Hallad. As the follower reached
them, Hallad recognized his blood sworn.
    "Have you nei honor? You, who would not avenge your own
sister’s death? Now you help her slayer to escape?"
    Erik, eyes wild and reddened, swung his broad sword around
and jabbed the sharp edge toward Hallad.
    The young woman protectively circled to his side, as Hallad
raised his hands in the air.
    "Nei Erik, it is not like that. Let me explain."
    "Explain Emma’s death? Explain your treason?"
    Erik nudged the point of his blade into the Hallad’s thick
neck. The young woman pressed her gray between them, forcing Erik’s weapon
back. Erik pierced her with a hateful glare, shifting the sword from Hallad to
the woman. She tipped her chin up to oblige the tip.
    "Stop this!" Hallad demanded. "You must
listen to me Erik."
    "Why should I listen to a traitor?"
    "For Emma’s sake, then, listen."
    At the mention of Emma, the veins in Erik’s temples bulged.
    "She can find Emma. It wasn’t her fault. She meant to
protect her."
    "Lies!" Erik screamed. He trembled with anger.
    "Nei, Erik. It’s true. By my father’s own words it is
true."
    "Your own father sentenced you to death!"
    "He released me and told me to protect this woman with
my life, told me she can lead me to Emma. How else would I be here and not tied
up waiting for my execution?"
    Erik’s face burned with fury. Then the sizzle died as his
eyes glazed with thought.
    "I know I owe you my life Erik. You are my blood sworn
because of that fact. I would not betray you."
    Erik bowed his head momentarily. When he returned Hallad’s
stare, both hope and hatred mingled in his facade.
    "I will go with you, if only to find Emma, and because
until this night I have never known you to speak anything but the truth."
    Erik raised his sword, forcing the young woman to lift her
chin another notch. She acquiesced with ease as if stretching her neck on her
own accord.
    "But if at any time I find out this creature killed my
Emma, I will take her head from her neck with my own hands." He jerked the
metal away from the young woman, waving it toward Hallad. "And sworn blood
brother or not, if you try to stop me it will be your head on a spit next to
hers."
    "And I by your side, brother," a voice said in the
distance as a red-caped figure trotted toward them.
    "Go home Rolf!" Erik yelled back.
    "I will not," replied the younger brother as he
joined the circle.  Rolf sat atop a white mare he called Idunn in tribute to
his favorite god's consort. The beast's mane and tail were plaited with ribbons. 
Hallad wondered if the younger brother groomed the animal in such