Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series Read Online Free PDF Page A

didn’t want to wait a moment when she was so close. He started to wonder what he would do when he found her again. So long... and he’d never thought of that, only thought of finding her, making sure she was safe. Could they go home? She didn’t even recognize him... But those men chased her as though they knew her. And that dragon. Why?
    Mina leant up against him, toying with his arm, tracing the muscles and scars with a long finger.
    “Do those men follow the dragon? Is that why they chase her?” he asked.
    “Her!” Anger flared in Mina’s eyes and her orange hair lifted in matching flames. She let his arm drop and stalked away from him. “Those men try to leash the dragon. They give him orders. How could they? Fool men! Better to leash fire or thunder! Using that desecrated flute, that abomination. They will burn for it one day.” Mina growled, and a shower of glitter dust shook from her.
    “The men control the dragon?” He couldn’t understand. He knew the sort of power the fae had and even to them dragons were of unimaginable might. “Tell me how, I don’t understand.”
    “Maybe later.” Something shifted in Mina’s eyes and she smiled again, bringing her hands up in front of her. Luscious berries of rainbow tones spilled from them. “Come and eat with me.”
    His flesh shivered over his bones, his whole body pulled with desire. He had no words to describe the flavors of fairy foods, the magic they made him feel. Mina stood in front of him like a picture straight from his memory. The very first time he’d met her, she stood just the same way, holding wondrous food when he had been so, so hungry. With an almost painful effort he closed the hunger away. He tried to sound neutral when he replied. “I can catch my own food now. I’m not hungry.”
    Mina hissed, and threw the food on the ground. It grayed and rotted in an instant. In a flash and a blink, she was small enough to stand on the tip of a finger, and shot away into the forest like a shooting star.
    “Mina, I’m sorry.” No sign or sound of her returned. “Mina?” A clammy sweat crept over his skin. He had to stay on her good side, or she could - she would - leave him behind. She’d left him on his own countless times before, for days, weeks, months, as punishments for the slightest affront. He didn’t mind being on his own, but now he needed her help. He looked around wildly for a sign of the fairy’s trail, running after her, faster than he’d ever run in his life.

Chapter Four

     
    “...and then the gnome said to the merchant, ‘I’m sorry, I’m a bit short!’” The stall holder rumbled out the punch line. Around him, a huddle of corseted and bustled ladies giggled behind their gloved hands.
    Observing as he strolled by, Roen wondered if they laughed at the man’s humor or the man himself. Roen hadn’t heard that joke since he was a boy and a few entrepreneurial little folk could still be seen trading on market day, bringing exotic imports and fairy goods. They rarely appeared any more and the fae had barely been importing for far longer. Funny to be joking about it now. The market suffered from their absence. One of the young ladies smiled at Roen, and he winked back, setting off another wave of giggles, quivering lace and ribbons. Shame he couldn’t stay, he thought, letting his gaze linger on them. Unfortunately, he had to get to work.
    Ambling along, Roen smiled to himself. Despite his reason for being here, he enjoyed the vital chaos of the market, now in its mid-morning peak of activity. Vendors spruiked from behind makeshift carts, boisterously laid out into a rough grid of narrow aisles. Children ran underfoot. Those with money bought sweet delights to nibble on. Those that couldn’t buy bullied the sweets from those that could. Innocent thieves, thought Roen, envious.
    Maerranton markets used to be legendary throughout Avall. It had been a rich city, a wealth still evident in the tall, handsome buildings of