Return To Sky Raven (Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

self-respecting pixie.
    “Alex, you need to come right away…it’s bad!”
    “Winya, is Maya in danger?” I asked worriedly and got mentally prepared to rush into battle.
    “Nothing immediate…everything’s dead here.” Even Winya’s normally crisp military-like mental voice faltered for a second . “Better keep a grip on Nia.”
    It took me a good five minutes, even with my enhanced speed and strength, to forge through all the marshy grass, deadfalls and overhangs bound tightly in parasitic moss, to reach the clearing which Winya had mentally directed me to. The scene looked like the description of one of Maya’s nightmares of horror, just no undead. The clearing itself was large, probably 200 paces in all directions. The middle was dominated by what had been a gargantuan willow-like tree, but now the branches smoldered lifelessly on the ground. The main trunk had been snapped off at about the twenty-foot mark, leaving a sharp, splintered mess on the top with piles of charred or smoking bark lying in disturbed piles around the base. It looked like something big had trampled its way around the base several times turning the burnt foliage to ash and leaving huge ragged gashes in the soil.
    Nia gasped and made a high pitched keening sound that went straight to the heart. Taking to the air, she darted back and forth, changing viewpoints as if she couldn’t wrap her head around what she was seeing. Radiating out in all directions from the tree were lumps of blackened fur, skin and feathers; the stench was incredible. It appeared every animal in the forest bigger than a rabbit had fought and died at this spot.
    Maya rushed up to me, now fully visible. I could hear her fighting back emotions within her helmet and her shoulders sagged with despair.
    “Alex, I’ve never seen anything like this…they were all so brave!”
    “What happened?”
    She stepped back, gesturing to the smoking battlefield as if it was self explanatory and needed no further comment. Perhaps in her military mindset the scene played out in real time as if she were watching it as a horrified spectator. Finally, she spoke in a hushed awestruck voice.
    “Wave after wave, they charged. They had to know it was hopeless, but still they threw themselves into the battle. Valiantly, they charged, the forest animals, the sylphs, and the nymphs, with the pixies in the air…and valiantly, they all died!”
    I reached out and enfolded her in my arms, her helmet dropping to the ground at our feet.
    “Alex, the pixies defended this tree and most of the creatures of this forest followed them into a suicidal battle. The little ones put it all on the line, for what I don’t know; we may never know. It appears they all lay dead at our feet. Amazing bravery and sacrifice against insurmountable odds, even I have never seen the like.”
    Nia weakly buzzed back, speechless in shock and pain, and tried to land on my shoulder but missed in the attempt twice and nearly fell to the ground. Maya tossed off her gauntlets reached for her tenderly, cradling her in her arms.
    “Nia, I…” I started.
    Maya shot me a warning look and proceeded to take the shattered pixie off to the side of the clearing and just held her until the tears would come no more. I backed up a little. The closer one got to the tree, the harder it became to avoid stepping on a charred body. There must have been thousands of them; it was mind numbing.
    About this time, I looked over and both horses had made their appearance. I never heard them enter the glade; they were just there, as were two now human green-robed druid girls who dropped to their knees in abject dismay at the scene. I knew how poignantly the scene was affecting me, but it was hard to imagine what it probably did to a druid who felt every breath, every heartbeat of the forest. Finally, tears streaming, Julia got up and ran over to throw herself into my arms for comfort.
    “Alex, why?”
    “I don’t know, Jules. I’m not even