The Destiny of Amalah Read Online Free PDF

die or not, is entirely up to you.’
    ‘As I said guardsman,’ Kai began; ‘the boy stays with us until Adriel or a General tells us otherwise.’
    ‘Dying it is then,’ the guard said flippantly. ‘Men, take them! Spare no one.’
    The guard drew their swords but Häkan had been quick off the mark; he let out a front kick to the guard that had identified Michael, sending him flying. He then delivered a devastating right cross and left hook to the face of the leader; giving him and Kai enough time to draw their weapons.
    Kai drew two swords, whilst Häkan drew an axe and a sword, swinging it skilfully through the air and taking care of the first three members of the Order, while Kai’s two swords saw off the first two guards who ran at him.
    Elana and Michael backed away as Häkan and Kai separated and ran forward, splitting the guard in half and drawing them towards them.
    ***
    Garrick rode hard and fast to Galen’s house with Thaddeus and Raynor behind him. When he arrived, he ran into Galen’s house, not caring if any of the Order were lying in wait. Raynor and Thaddeus called out to him to wait but Garrick was already inside by the time the two men had dismounted.
    As Garrick entered the kitchen he was unprepared for the sight of Galen’s slain wife and children and he screamed in shock and agony at the hideous vision before him. Garrick’s legs began to buckle and he leaned out to a nearby chair to steady himself. He gripped the chair tightly as he choked on his tears. Raynor and Thaddeus hurried in behind him and they froze when they saw the two boys on the floor.
    ‘By the grace of the gods, who could commit such evil deeds?’ Raynor asked.
    ‘Adriel,’ Garrick raged; ‘and when I find him, I will avenge the deaths of Galen and his slain family – of this I swear.’
    ‘Which one was Michael?’ Thaddeus asked.
    Garrick looked at the two boys: ‘none, this is Tristan and Saul. Michael is their youngest,’ and then Garrick ran through the house calling Michael’s name.
    ‘He may have escaped,’ said Thaddeus.
    Garrick ran outside and at the rear of the house, he found footprints that clearly belonged to a child.
    ‘They are fresh tracks,’ he said as he knelt down to inspect them more closely. ‘Michael lives,’ he said to himself. ‘But two lines of men’s boots tell me he was pursued.’
    ‘Did the boy survive?’ Raynor asked as he stepped outside of the house.
    ‘It would seem so,’ said Garrick; ‘but these tracks tell me he was pursued. I need to follow these prints.’
    ‘You will not get far in this darkness,’ Thaddeus warned.
    ‘I will not stop until the boy is found,’ Garrick said forcefully as he walked off into the direction of the tracks.
    ‘Wait!’ shouted Thaddeus. ‘There is another way; a magical way.’
    Garrick stopped and turned, and Thaddeus nodded slowly. Let us help you.’ Garrick nodded. Thaddeus took a pouch from within his robe and unrolled it to reveal a number of cloth parcels and flagons. ‘Show me the boy’s prints.’
    Garrick took Thaddeus to Michael’s footprints and they both knelt down before them.
    ‘Firstly, I place mandrake and parisela on the prints,’ he told Garrick, as he sprinkled the contents of two bags onto the imprints. ‘Then the balm of gilead.’ Thaddeus then closed his eyes and began his incantation:
    ‘The child who left his home at night;
who was pursued and runs in fright;
show to us his every step from where his journey has begun;
to where at last he did run.
Smoke of fire;
Mist of sight;
Show the path this very night.
Insipio! Insipio! Insipio!
    Thaddeus poured some acacia oil on to the herbs and they began sizzling. A pink flame then flashed brightly and then exploded into glittering dust before turning into a pink mist that began curling upward and then moved forward.
    ‘The horses quickly,’ said Thaddeus.
    ‘Garrick and Raynor returned with the horse and when they arrived, the mist was now a thick