Rise (War Witch Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

conversation is the best way to pass the time when there isn’t anything else to do.”
    The warrior rolled her eyes and sighed. It seemed nothing short of cutting the girl’s tongue from her mouth would stop the endless stream of words that flowed forth like a geyser. She gave the younger woman a discreet look, sizing her up once again. About five-foot-seven with long, dark auburn hair and hazel eyes. Soft features, those of a village girl who’d never really had to fight and obviously couldn’t if her very life depended on it. Still, she had seen no sign of Demon Infection when she’d searched for it the day before.
    Her Avatar cooed to her that maybe they’d missed something, and the girl was a new kind of Demon Seed. Perhaps, it whistled, she could sap a person’s life by talking to them. The warrior hushed it before it got carried away, something it was prone to doing.
    None the less, she had to wonder why Father had seen fit to return her to the Middle World at that precise time and place. What could possibly be so important about this annoying girl that Ramor had seen fit to have her saved? The warrior shook her head and smiled to herself. She should’ve learned in the ten years she had lived in her Father’s Divine Palace that he always had a reason for what he did and could see things beyond what she could.
    “Oh, look! You can see Rheumer from here!” Chara cried suddenly, shading her eyes against the afternoon sun and pointing excitedly.
    The warrior squinted against the bright light and saw for herself. From the top of the hill they’d crested, much of the village was easy to see, spreading out below them as it nestled against the edge of the sprawling forest called the Softwood.
    A windmill made slow turns in the afternoon breeze, almost blocking out the mill behind it, where a narrow stream turned its wheel with a steady, comforting sound. Farther down, children splashed and played about the bank, their giggles and cries reaching the two women on the slow moving wind.
    Across from them was a large, long building Chara identified as the village bakery, the teasing aroma of warm bread reaching them as she said it. Next door, a potter’s house, smoke rising steadily from behind it where the clay was fired.
    The soft ring of steel on steel drew the warrior’s eye to the blacksmith, farther up beyond the mill. Trees crowded her view beyond that, but the high roof of what she guessed to be an inn peeked at her over the canopy, multiple chimneys of brick dotting the building.
    Glancing back down, she saw the stream turned at the base of the hill, cutting across in front of a wide field dotted with dozens of tree stumps. A low bridge spanned the distance, granting access to the town.
    A soft smile touched her lips as Chara waved her to follow. Such a peaceful place, so like her own home, the one lost years ago. She felt an instant kinship with the people of Rheumer, and much of the tension that had been building in her since she’d met the girl faded.
    This was the kind of place she could gather herself, and prepare. A simple community, some would say, but she could feel it even from where she stood. These people were decent, kind, and honored the Gods. It made her feel warm in her heart to step into their lives, and have them step into hers.
    An hour later, the two women crossed the bridge, Chara explaining that the field belonged to the village healer, John Kal, who’d been promising to clear those stumps for as long as she had been alive, at the very least. For reasons the warrior couldn't grasp, the girl even told her of the boy she'd kissed under the bridge, then stopped herself, and blushed before directing her new companion’s attention elsewhere.
    She took it all in with patience, smiling and nodding as they made their way to the inn, where Chara lived with her family. Many villagers waved as they passed, welcoming Chara back home, getting a wave in return from her, while the warrior got a brief