Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) Read Online Free PDF Page B

silent.
                  “I think you’re right Thane,” Dor said loudly trying to control his own snickers.
                  “All right then. On the count of three. One, two...”
          “Wait! Wait!” a voice burst from the underbrush as the bushes shook violently. “It’s me! It’s me! TamVen! Don’t shoot; I’m the one in the bushes. I’m...uh well...I um...I’m stuck.”
                  Thane and Dor, no longer able to contain themselves, burst into peels of laughter. “Serves you right for spying on us again,” Dor yelled, a touch of anger lacing his voice. “When are you going to learn to leave us alone? You’re too young to be out here anyway.”
                  “I’m only two cycles younger than you,” Tam protested, still out of sight in the thrashing thicket.
    “That doesn’t matter, Tam,” Dor said a bit angrily. “We’re tired of you following us around.”
                  Thane opened his mouth to voice his agreement but was cutoff by a blanket of imminent danger and evil which bombarded his senses while turning the air thick around him. Quickly glancing about, he grabbed Dor’s arm and motioned for him to be quiet. By the look on Thane’s face Dor knew something was terribly wrong and shut his mouth without protest. “TamVen,” Thane whispered, “be quiet. Something isn’t right.”
                  “Come on you guys,” she called back, “you already taught me my lesson.”
                  “I’m serious,” Thane said, his voice hushed and shaken. “There’s something strange here. I...I can feel it.” Both boys scanned the clearing for any sign of trouble as they hurried to the bushes where Tam was trapped and still thrashing about noisily. As they watched and waited, the feeling of evil suddenly overpowered Thane in a concentrated sensation to his right making him want to flee but freezing him in fear. Sensing their doom, he turned his head slowly just in time to see the large rock troll suddenly crash into the clearing at full speed, his war club raised for the kill. It was huge, standing at least seven feet and every inch large and muscular. It wore nothing but a loincloth made from the skin of an earlier victim and a necklace that contained the fingers and claws of other unfortunates. Its small, black, beady eyes bore down on the two Chufa boys as it closed in on its easy prey. 
    Both boys stood frozen in place watching in horror as certain death closed the distance between them. Then, suddenly, both broke in unison into a dead run straight into the thicket scrambling past their young friend Tam who was, by now, in complete terror after hearing the trolls cry and seeing her friends rush by without her. Her wail of pure terror pulled Thane up short just as he cleared the undergrowth and turned him about just in time to catch hold of Dor as he toppled into him almost throwing them both to the ground. “What are you doing?” Dor yelled in exasperation as he tried to free himself of Thane’s grasp.
    “We must go back and help Tam.”
                  “But what of the troll?” Dor pleaded in desperation. “It will kill us all!”
    “Maybe, but Tam will surely die if we don’t help her!”
                  Dor hesitated for an uncertain moment when Tam’s scream suddenly shattered the air. Both boys turned just in time to see her break free of the thicket her shirt torn almost off and the troll closing in quickly behind her. Thane let fly an arrow that struck the troll square in the chest but bounced off harmlessly not having enough force to penetrate the thick hide. Dor fumbled with his own arrow in shear fright as Tam sprinted past still wailing in high shrieks of terror. The troll took a swing at the boys barely missing Dor thanks to Thane who pushed the terror-stricken boy from the club’s path. With a loud crash the club struck a tree and the