Hawk's Nest (Tremble Island) Read Online Free PDF

were not, were dropped on the shores.
    What the humans did not seem to take into consideration was the fact that although they would breed time and again with another human, often the children were dual natured. There had been several instances where a baby would be found abandoned in one of the twelve Halls of Care. The Overlords were sworn to protect all beings under the charter of Tremble. So the babe would be fostered to a family in the village, or the Overlord would take the child in until they became of an age to fend for themselves.
    As Con circled the burned out buildings below, he spied several people fleeing through the forest and looked for their pursuers. He saw no one following the frightened people. He widened his circle wondering if he had flown past the miscreants who caused such damage, but saw no one. When he sat down on a thick branch of a tree to wait for Hawk, he continued to watch for trouble but whoever caused this, was gone. He saw Hawk drop down into the clearing through the smoke and watched him walk around the structures. The trilling whistle called to him from the side of the building that might have housed beasts before it was torched. He opened his wings and flew to Hawk’s side.
    There were four bodies lying on the ground at the end of chains that were attached to collars around their necks. One of them had a scaly rubbery covering, reminding him of Drago, the new master of Droildorf Hall. It was a young dragon, he would wager on that. Two of the animals were wolves, and the last one was in human form, coughing and crying in despair.
    The four were all still alive, barely. The two men transformed to their human shapes to assist the victims. Hawk got the human to talk, but there was not much talking going on. The creature had never been taught words to express herself. She knew curse words, but that seemed to be the extent of her vocabulary. The wolves tried to move to her side, but the smoke they had inhaled and the starved condition of their bodies made them too weak to come to her assistance. The small dragon eyed them closely, watching their every move, but never tried to communicate at all.
    Hawk insisted that Con go back to the Hall and send help. “We need a healer and medicinals, and some sort of transport to get these children back to the Hall. Since you are the fastest of us, you should go and bring help as swiftly as possible. I will stay and guard the young ones until help has arrived.” Darkness was falling rapidly, so rather than argue, Con took to the sky. He was faster than Hawk in the air. His body was larger, but his wings ate the miles with little effort. In less than an hour he was at the Hall, rousing Quinlan from his slumber.
    Quinn’s new mate was still asleep in the bed as he left the room, so he directed one of the women that were still in the Hall to watch over her and keep her inside the building. He listened to Con, then nodded his head and ran to the training yard where he taught the Amazons to battle. Several of them were waiting for him already, although training was not scheduled to start for another two hours. They stood at alert when he rushed into the yard, knowing that something was afoot to make him move so quickly.
    He began issuing orders, “We have a situation of several children under Lord Hawk’s care who are in need of medical attention and transport to the Hall.” There was no hesitation until he told them to bring a healer. Rose, one of the first five Amazons, told him the healers were at the coven meeting with Fern and Flora. She noticed that Con was standing at the entrance of the yard, but nervously related the news anyway. “They said they all must participate in the night’s rituals, sir.”
    When he met Con’s eyes the man nodded and turned to find the healer’s hut. Seeing Flora again was not a burden for him. She was a shapely young woman who he was very attracted to. Perhaps the ritual was over with and she would allow him to fly her