Magic Astray (The Llandra Saga) Read Online Free PDF Page A

would pop out and make menacing faces, chittering in mock anger at the offending limb. Eamon snatched his hand back, laughing, before repeating the process.
    “I’ve been wondering, why haven’t I heard about him in any of the stories?” Eamon asked as Randall approached. “I mean, when I first saw him, I knew who you had to be. Who else would be traveling with the likes of him? But none of the stories about you mention him at all.”
    Watching Eamon and Berry playing had put Randall in a foul mood again, and he sat down heavily next to the cook pot to clean and cut his find. “Practically nobody knows about him. Most of the people who’ve seen him are dead,” he grumbled.
    “Oh,” Eamon said, pulling his hand away from the travel sack timidly.
    “It’s not like that,” Randall hastened to add when he realized that his statement had come out much worse than he had intended. “He used to stay hidden a lot. About the only time he ever showed himself was when we were alone or if I had to fight.”
    “Surely you didn’t keep him in the travel sack the entire time. How awful!” Eamon exclaimed.
    “No, no. Not at all,” Randall said, chuckling. “He has a…trick. Berry, come on out of there and show Eamon how you hide.”
    Berry crawled out of the travel sack, and stood looking at the two young men. And then in an instant, he was gone! Randall felt the familiar pulse of power as Berry performed the trick. It was the first time Berry had really used any magic at all since Randall had burned himself out, and he was happy to note that at least he could enjoy the familiar feeling of magic being used without discomfort.
    “Wow!” Eamon cried. “That’s amazing! Can you do that? Can you make us all disappear?”
    Randall chuckled. He remembered the excitement he felt the first time he had seen real magic at work. He felt so familiar with it now, that it hardly seemed like only a few short years ago.
    “I’m afraid not,” he sighed. “I don’t know how he does it. He doesn’t cast any spells or anything to make it happen. I think it’s just something his kind can do. I think different fae must have different abilities. When I fought Aiden, he summoned these dog creatures that were able to track me through Llandra, and I don’t think Berry can do that.”
    “Llandra?” Eamon asked, distracted by the unfamiliar word.
    “It’s complicated,” Randall answered, not wanting to get into a long lecture. “Basically, it’s the place where all magic comes from.”
    Eamon knitted his brows while trying to make sense of this new information. Eventually, he shrugged and started patting the grass, looking for Berry.
    “Where’d he go, anyway? Is he still here?” he asked.
    “Yup. You just can’t see him. If you look just right—“, Randall started before being interrupted by a loud hiss.
    Berry re-appeared in mid-leap, hissing and chittering, flying directly at Eamon’s chest. Eamon shrieked in fear, falling backwards as Berry landed on his chest and started poking and prodding him in the ribs. The cries of fear soon gave way to laughter.
    “You scared the devil out of me, Berry!” he cried between fits of laughter. He looked over at Randall, “He really is amazing!”
    “Yeah,” Randall said quietly. “Isn’t he?” He picked up an onion, and began dicing it for the stew as his two traveling companions continued to play in the grass.
     

Chapter 3
    Shaderest Forest was aptly named. A light fog still clung near the ground in the chilly morning air and very little sunlight filtered down through the tall, broad-leaved oak and maple trees, imparting a shadowed and otherworldly feel to the forest floor.
    Once they reached the forest, it took the better part of the morning to find the scant trail that Randall had happened to luck upon his first time in the forest. It was Eamon that stumbled across the rut marks in the forest floor, mostly obscured by decaying leaves, branches and other forest detritus.