Encounters (The Elder Origins #3) Read Online Free PDF

the soil just before dawn. The inability to see where her feet were planting themselves was exhilarating as she travelled faster than the horse could have managed.
    The map that Lyndon had drawn for her leading to A scot’s family was so incredibly plain that she sensed she would have to find the city on her own. But she could smell the rayen. She found the trail that Lyndon had left behind. Having dropped small amounts of blood in the ground every so often as he went, she was able to smell it from a great distance away. The flowers continued to grow where he had plucked the previous petals. This flower was everywhere for her to find. Jayden and her would never be without it. Drying them as she travelled, she made certain that every well, stream, and river had at least a trace of it to be found. If Lyndon was uncertain of which towns he missed, she saw this as absolutely necessary.
    It was only a matter of hours after she had abandoned her horse and trailed the mountain ranges for the rayen flowers that she came across the village that met his description, and slightly similar to the location on her map. Lyndon had drawn it on a leather pouch with the only ink he could find, leaving some parts smudged.
    She walked on a mound and found a city guarded by a stone wall. It was as Lyndon had described it. A cathedral lay within the center, as if it were there to protect all the villagers below. Its appearance was dark and somewhat unnerving. The stones themselves were not a natural color. The structure exerted a power that she had only felt when looking at the cliff off the bow of her ship months ago. She wondered for a moment if the cathedral had been painted at one point, and then left for ruin. Or perhaps if the structure had been left unfinished after plague had struck.
    Outside the walls were poles posted high. Ropes were placed near with hay and sticks gathered around each thick post. She concluded they were meant to tie horses outside the city walls. But no horses were tied nearby.
    She could only hear a few people carousing behind the city walls. She lengthened her senses to gain an inkling of what was happening within its tall fortifications. People were beginning to stir slightly as dawn approached, yet darkness still covered the city. The sun had not yet reached over the hills to touch the rooftops. Only a few men walked about to light torches along the alleyways of the city. She imagined this was done for those workers who had to rise early, waiting for dawn to creep upon them. She almost always heard tears of loved ones lost on a given day. But this fortified city had no such sounds. There were no cries of sadness. It appeared calm.
    She descended down to the city and observed a stream circling its edge. She gently spread the rayen from her pocket into it and jumped across it with ease. She looked forth to the stone wall before her. Double her height, she leapt to its edge and planted her hands and feet upon its flat surface. Her black cloak covered her face so no one could see her. She observed as much as she could. The town was unique in its structure, almost beautiful in fact. Homes were white with timber wood carving out their edges and sides with great detail. They were taller than buildings she had seen throughout regions nearby. The rooftops varied in shades of red and blue, with crosses and other metals works towering over many of the structures. The green pastures and hills nearby with the river going alongside it made it a perfect area for a quaint city. Even she admired its location and beauty. It was certainly unique amongst the other towns and hamlets she had passed in previous weeks.
    To add to its uniqueness, there were no bodies lying within the streets as she had previously seen. Nor were there mass graves being dug near the city’s outskirts. It seemed as though the sickness had not found its way here. Perhaps Lyndon had been wrong. His rayen had reached this city’s heavy walls.
    She leapt from