Sorcerer's Vendetta (The Secret of Zanalon) Read Online Free PDF Page A

of his career. He should be grinning ear-to-ear and strolling with confidence toward the object that would open up his future like never before, instead of standing here shaking and sweating in terror. He was not claustrophobic, he had never before experienced anything like this; he could not attribute this paralyzing fear to that.
    He found himself thinking about Rachel Floyd, back in the States, waiting to hear from him about this find. She would be thrilled to hear about this. And then he was composing the letter in his head that he would send, something that would make her laugh. If this statue were genuine, he imagined that she would gladly do a three-year stint as a circus clown for the chance to stand before this treasure.
    Thinking of her gave him the focus he needed to smile at the Lady and start toward it, still praying he would not stumble on his suddenly weakened legs and make a total ass of himself. The image of himself floundering around in the leaves had an unexpected effect: it bucked up his courage. Professor Rollin Ambrose – flopped on his butt. Let's put that on the internet and watch it go viral. He was being ridiculous. Again he gave a short laugh, hoping the Lady would not take him for mad. She was obviously convinced she had something precious here, so perhaps she would take his strange behavior as excitement.
    Before he knew it, it was there before him.
    His doom. Yawning darkness. All he had to do was duck down and look. Duck down and look. That was all.
    He took a breath. Snapped on the flashlight and brought it up carefully, hoping the Lady was not close enough to see his shaking hand.
    Duck down and look. Nothing to it ...
    The darkness approached his face as he leaned forward. Rollin caught a scent from within... death, death, it had to be… No. It was musty and surprisingly dry, yet it was the bosom and breath of a living creature. The sounds of the forest drowned in his blood, his pulse pounding in his ears like a raging storm tide, his own breath the howl of wind, wild.
    He brought the light up, leaned further... So vulnerable, his head tingled, his neck hummed with sensitivity, awaiting the fatal slice. He leaned further...
    And looked.
    There was a horrid wrenching, a glimpse of a face twisted in hatred.  The Devil, they say ... a sword ... the sword ...
    Darkness.
     
    There were no lights set up in the clearing on Lady Morgan's property; the early summer days were long enough to accommodate any after-hours work. Rachel made her way through brush that snagged on her baggy jeans and caught in her already travel-wild dark hair, from the camp the University crew had set up. She followed the flashlight beam under a full moon.
    When she saw it, she froze.
    If there was ever a Tree of Life, this was the Tree of Death.
    Suddenly, she could think of nothing but Rollin's disappearance. It seemed strange; she had not spoken to the lady who owned the property in person yet, but her story just didn't fit. Lady Morgan had said he had been acting strangely; he was hesitant about getting involved in the study and she suspected he had personal problems of some kind. Though Rachel knew he had expressed some healthy skepticism, considering the possibility of fraud, she didn't believe he would not follow through. He had promised to check this find out and let her know whether it was worth investing time in, and that was the last she'd heard from him. It just didn't seem like him. True, she didn't know him personally, but she had been a fan of his work for years. Just the quality of his books was evidence to her that he wouldn't just blow her off, along with their entire project. She had been so excited about meeting him and working with him.
    Lady Morgan said she had directed him to the site and he simply never returned. She assumed he'd had second thoughts, so she had simply contacted the University where Rachel had her residency. Dismayed and curious, Rachel had contacted Cambridge University, but Rollin