Broken Forest: Book One of the Daath Chronicles Read Online Free PDF

my blade, I barely managed to block the descending axe. Both arms shook as I tried to push the razor edge of his axe away from my face. Sweat dripped off the giant, splashing me and the blade. His foul breath showered over me and I kicked the brute in the kneecap while angling my blade to allow the weapon to harmlessly pass. The move did little to slow him, but it gave me enough time to regain my wits.
    It was then I noticed Derrick fighting with another man. He’d have to make do as the man in front of me was more than I could handle. The axe swept in low. The brute had stayed in a crouch while swinging a backslash at my knees. A mistake. His back was open to a desperate counter, one that meant leaving my sword on the ground.
    The same lighting reflexes that saved me before won again.
    Driving the tip of my sword into the ground to parry the incoming attack, I spun along his massive weapon arm, leaving my blade in the dirt. Even though he was big, he couldn’t match my speed. As he tried to stand, I was on him. I jumped on his back, sliding my thumb and wrist across his throat and locking him in a deep choke hold. It would take all my strength to subdue someone of this size.
    The behemoth wriggled and used his fat fingers to pry at mine. When tugging at me didn’t work, he slammed me against a tree. I don’t know how I held on, but I did. I squeezed again, harder, trying to take his last breaths. Bark rubbed against my back, shredding it. I clenched my jaw, holding in a scream. The man dropped to his knees, gasping and clawing. Then silence.
    Jerking away from the body, every part of me trembled. My heart raced so fast, I thought I would die.
    It dawned on me the fight wasn’t over.
    Derrick.
    I rushed to my feet. Derrick hunched over, his back facing me.
    “Derrick!”
    I ran over, thinking the worst. Closer, I could see he was only catching his breath. At his feet lay a man with a jagged scar on his face, surrounded by blood.
    “Are you all right?” I grabbed Derrick’s shoulder, and he nodded.
    He glanced back and his eyes widened. “You took that down by yourself?”
    “I’m sure it was luck.”
    “Impressive.” Derrick straightened and wiped his claymore on the grass.
    I knelt next to the corpse, examining the body. Sweat slid down my neck and back. “Do you see it?”
    “I do.”
    We both looked at the scar on the man’s face. It had to be the one Calli described. But where was Jeslyn? Hadn’t Calli said there were three kidnappers?
    I grabbed my head, breathing rapidly. I needed water and air, cool air. I stood.
Too fast
. Everything spun. My mouth tasted like metal.
    “Avikar?”
    Words were lost to me; instead, I responded with a stream of vomit.

How much time had passed? Was it night or day? I couldn’t tell. Dark fabric blocked the small window above the door, and I didn’t dare try and peek through it. I learned why the girl was terrified of the guards. When I’d screamed for help and they threatened me to be quiet, I chose poorly. They gave me a tainted drink, and for longer than I can remember, I couldn’t move. That was the last time I screamed for anything.
    They never let us out. We had to urinate in the wagon. The smell permeated everything. When they opened the door to feed us, I noticed four other wagons. The same guards by each one. We resembled Roamers. No Tarrtainian would think twice about the caravan.
    There must be a way to escape.
    The wagon stopped, and I heard a loud commotion, a woman yelling. While trying to navigate the dark space, I listened as best I could. If fortune smiled upon me this day, I’d learn a detail about where we were, or where we were headed.
    “What do you mean they haven’t returned? They have two of the firemares and one of them is an enforcer. This should have been a simple task.”
    “They were due back this morning.”
    I recognized the second voice. It belonged to the dark man who’d given me the paralyzing drink.
    The woman grunted.