Rise of the Mare (Fall of Man Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

of the forest as
the trees.
    Just over the slight grade, I saw
someone in the middle of the road.
    At first I thought it was a Minnie.
Maybe he had arrived the day before and was walking in the daytime.
Had he run into Vala? More than likely she had told him the
way.
    I slowed down as I approached him,
halting the car maybe fifteen feet from him..
    Was I not thinking? Maybe I was
tired. How did I not know?
    I placed the car in gear, opened the
door, stepped out, and called, “Hey, guy.”
    He stopped and turned.
    A Day Stalker.
    Never had there been a Day Stalker in
those parts, it was never even a worry. He snarled at me and lunged
my way. I quickly jumped back in the car, pulled the door shut, and
his hand slammed on the window as I threw the car in gear and sped
off.
    My heart raced and I struggled to get
a breath. I couldn’t believe he was there. I hit my hand against
the steering wheel in frustration. Why didn’t I kill him? Why did I
run? Lifting my head, I glanced to the rearview mirror to see if he
was still there, and not only did my foot instinctively hit the
brake, I nearly jumped from my skin when in the reflection of the
rearview mirror I saw Nito.
    She laughed arrogantly. “Soon, hero
boy, soon.” Another laugh.
    Even though a part of me know she was
an apparition, I grabbed for my crossbow on the passenger seat and
spun around.
    She was gone.
    I heaved out a few breaths, eyed the
Day Stalker still on the road and somewhat disoriented, and then I
turned back around.
    When I did, I knew I was in
trouble.
    The entire road was lined and packed
with Day Stalkers.

ELEVEN – VALA
     
    We traveled to Akana by way of
motorized vehicle. However, Iry stopped a short distance from the
village because he felt it best not to draw attention to my
homecoming by driving in.
    I had to think about what he was
saying, then I recalled my last day at the village, when I had
caused such a disturbance. Perhaps I wouldn’t be welcome, and maybe
even shunned.
    We left his ‘car’ at the edge of the
fields, walking in from the back past the stables. I felt a sense
of heavy sadness as I walked by where I used to house my horse
Casey. He helped me flee Akana and was struck with poisoned arrows
as I made my escape. A part of me wished that I would see his head
poke out of the stall, that somehow, he had miraculously lived.
Sadly, the stall was empty. Casey’s sacrifice was my ticket to
life, but also my loss.
    No one was in the fields or around at
all. The time of day was working time and I found this odd. No
horsemen, tailors, wheat grinders, no one.
    Then the sound of voices cheering
carried to us as we neared the main community circle of Akana.
    We approached from behind my home. I
was prepared to go inside through the back door, when I heard
Nito’s voice rising above the crowd.
    “Do I not provide?” she asked. “Am I
not kind to you?”
    “Yes!” the crowd cheered.
    “Then listen to me. You have been
warned. The Elders ignore what I have said!” she shouted. “She
needs to be imprisoned, for your safety. For the safety of us
all!”
    I did not need to be superiorly
intelligent to know she was speaking about me. Iry tried to stop me
from showing my face and walking to the circle, but I pulled from
his warning grip.
    “ You must encourage the Elders
to place her with me to be in a secure place!” Nito shouted,
inciting the crowd. “If she is free, she will cause death,
destruction, hunger, and famine. She is cursed! When the reign of
terror and murder stalk through the night and take your young,
blame her …”
She swung her arm to point at me as I slipped into view. “They will
come for her, they follow her, and in turn they will come for
you!”
    Iry stepped in a protective stance in
front of me when the crowd turned my way. “This girl is no such
thing!” Iry yelled. “Nito speaks lies through her greed. She wants
the power this girl possesses.”
    The entire town gasped as if what Iry
said was