Daegan (The Age of Alandria: A Companion Novella) Read Online Free PDF

divulge here—I am able to be a... a vessel, if you will, for those that need me to be. There are many things here that you should know are not what they seem or who they seem to be. Be very cautious as you proceed. Heed the call. Get out if you can. Your original destination still awaits you.” She winked, knowing that would throw him since the message had said nothing about where he was to go or how she would know anything about the mountainous region he had intended to reach as a boy when he first set out, but he was found before he made it. 
    “It is time for you to go. I may not see you again.” She looked almost sad about it. “Be well, Master Daegan. Hold onto the light within you and the light you will find.”
    In his confusion and with furrowed brow, he let her escort him out her front door. He found himself standing on the cobblestone in front of her shop coming out of a daze, suddenly unsure of how he got there. Daegan rubbed his eyes in disbelief and sighed to himself, “I forgot the food that she had for me.” He turned back to the little shop only to find the windows dark and filled with cobwebs, the front door hanging slightly off its hinges, and the front steps—he had personally fixed the top board not long ago—broken, just waiting for someone to step onto it trapping their leg in the depths of the darkness underneath it.
    What is going on? Daegan mentally growled. Turning in a circle, he looked around at all the surrounding shops and buildings. Everything else was in the exact order it was in when he went into the shop. 
    “How can this be? I’ve been here multiple times in the recent season.” Daegan knew his sanity was intact; he just had to figure out what was going on. At a loss for what to even suggest and not wanting to draw attention to himself standing in the middle of the road, he began walking toward the main road to head back to the comfort of his room. He needed to ask someone, but was unable to think of whom he could trust with this information—Hal, perhaps, but he didn’t think he had any information that Daegan didn’t already have himself. Maybe Wren, but he had been feeling more and more distant from his uncle lately. It seemed his uncle, once a mighty Ferrishyn warrior in his own right, was fading as the shadow of his wife grew every day. Wren simply seemed less than who Daegan knew he could be. He was withdrawn and somber, and would be of no help.
    Never off his guard, Daegan sensed someone watching him. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a young boy hiding behind a small tree next to another small dwelling that was in better condition than the shop he had just visited, but not by much. The boy’s clothes were sufficient enough as far as coverage went, but they were torn and dirty. His eyes were sad and held a glimpse of longing in them as he watched Daegan walk by, unaware he could be seen. Daegan didn’t want to frighten the boy, but he was curious.
    “Hello, boy. Do not be afraid.”
    “I am not afraid of you, sir.” The little boy gave a look at the badge of the royal guard on Daegan’s leather belt that held the scabbard for his sword. “I watch to see when others are in our area. What are you doing here?”
    Daegan smirked at the boy’s boldness. He liked that. “I was visiting with a friend.”
    The boy quirked his eyebrow and chewed on his inner cheek, obviously not sure he believed Daegan.
    “Do you know the Faerie woman that lives in that shop over there?” he asked, pointing toward the now dilapidated house.
    The boy frowned and simply stared at Daegan for what was much too long for a simple answer. Daegan sighed and began to walk away. He did not have time to wait for the boy’s answer.
    “Wait,” the boy whispered, waving Daegan to come a little closer. Daegan moved secretively closer to comply with the boy’s game if that’s what he was playing.
    “You are Master Daegan, are you not?”
    “I am,” Daegan replied in a