Chasing Evil Read Online Free PDF Page A

share secrets, he won’t just be leading Vendrake to the mines. He’ll know exactly where the mask is. Jonas used to tell us stories about the eastern tunnels and a treasure buried there.”
    Tanner felt the energy drain from him. “Why did you never share this with me before?” He tried to keep any accusation out of his voice; he knew Gwen had done a lot to help him.
    She shrugged, but there was nothing careless in her movement. She looked loaded down with the cares of the world. “Jonas was very special to Geffen and me. We don’t often talk about him. The day he left …” She turned her face away so that Tanner couldn’t see the tears he knew would be brimming in her eyes. He waited for her to compose herself, for her breathing to calm down again. Gulkien watched her keenly. Eventually, she looked back around. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything.”
    â€œWell, you’ve told me now. That’s the main thing. It’s not too late. Come on.” He smiled at Gwen. He wanted her to find her spirit again. “I know you’re a good fighter. We just need to get to the mines.”
    Gwen flicked back her cloak to reveal her throwing axes. “I’m an excellent fighter,” she said, smiling.
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    â€œHas he always been jealous of you?” asked Tanner, as he watched Gwen unroll the map. He didn’t have to say Geffen’s name out loud — he knew Gwen would understand.
    â€œI don’t know,” she said. She released the gauze from her locket, spreading it over the details penned across the scroll. “He wouldn’t have been happy if he’d known that Jonas had given the secrets of the map to me alone. Yes … He’s always been competitive, wanting to be the best. Perhaps it isn’t jealousy exactly.”
    â€œPerhaps not,” Tanner said, “but being competitive should not mean that you lead your sister to her near-death.”
    Gwen shook her head. “Can we stop talking about it now?” She looked up into Tanner’s face. “Please.”
    Tanner crouched beside her, the parchment on the ground between them. It was more like soft cloth than paper. The secret gauze transformed the map into something much more special. As she straightened it over the top, the surface moved like water under the shifting clouds, showing the entire kingdom. Four points began to glow like gemstones — the pieces of the Mask of Death.
    â€œWe’re here,” said Gwen, pointing to the section of rolling plains in the center of the kingdom. “Vendrake was heading north.” She indicated the glowing portion of mask in the mountains at the far reaches of the map. “We’re right. Geffen must be taking him to the mines.”
    Tanner leaped up and rushed to Firepos. The flame bird lowered herself to the ground, and he climbed up, using the crook of her wing as a foothold.
    â€œWe have to hurry,” he said. “Gor will be marching his army that way, too.”
    Gwen rolled up the map and put away the magical gauze. She gripped the fur of Gulkien’s neck and hoisted herself onto his back.
    â€œTo the Northern Mountains!” Tanner shouted.

T anner watched the treetops grow smaller below them, as Firepos pounded her wings, picking up speed. Gulkien flew beside them, the air rippling his fur. They soared over flat, empty fields. Tanner spotted stone ruins, overgrown with trees and high grass, and, just beyond it, a small village. The thatched houses spread unevenly out from a stone manor at the center. Farther on, a line of trees marked a boundary to another network of vegetable and wheat fields, surrounding a river town, ringed with a thin, wooden fort. The hills around it shimmered with grass and stands of trees, but Tanner could see the discolored lines and jags of weather-eaten stone where older roads and proud houses had once stood. Another village was