The Divine Apprentice (The Divine Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

him.
                  The dragon snorted uncomfortably.  Kade realized he was daydreaming again.  He mentally told himself he would have to do less of that since it’s what got him into this trouble in the first place.  Had he just stayed on the protected path, nothing could have threatened him.  No animal was able to pass the barrier unless Zayle allowed it.
                  Kade dismissed his thoughts and regarded the dragon.  It was looking at him while tilting its head back and forth.  He realized the dragon was waiting for him to do something.  But, what?  Zayle had never thought to teach him what to do with a dragon.  Why would he?  No one has ever encountered one and lived to tell or brag about it.  At least, not like this.  It was said in the days of old that dragons were more abundant, but that was a long time ago when the Ancients still walked the land.
                  Without warning, the dragon flexed its mighty haunches and launched itself directly at Kade with a deafening roar.  The look in its eyes was of killing as it came at him.  The fear lanced through Kade‘s body as he threw himself down, waiting for the crushing weight to drive him into the ground.  The dragon sailed just over his head.  And then the nagging feeling exploded in his mind as he heard the dragon collide with something just behind him.
                  Kade mentally kicked himself for not realizing whatever had caused the injuries on the dragon could still be in the area.  As he was regaining his feet, he heard a shriek so loud and penetrating that it stood the hairs up on the back of his neck, setting every nerve in his body on fire.  There came a second crash as the dragon, and whatever it was fighting, landed just behind him.  The ground shook, causing Kade to stumble before catching his balance.  He forced himself to run, but after just a few steps, he turned, hoping he would not regret his decision. 
    What could really threaten a dragon? he thought, but he knew, after seeing the injuries on the dragon, it had to be at least as large.
                  His heart leapt into his throat as he focused on the two combatants.  He was very wrong.  The beast was not only as large as the dragon but larger by quite a bit.  Kade considered turning and running again but quickly felt shame for the thought.  That thing must have been in mid-leap, coming directly at him when the dragon had intercepted it.  He could not live with himself if he left the dragon to die when it had just risked its life to save him.  Maybe it was not specifically for him, but if it had not intercepted the creature, the outcome would have been the same.
                  Looking on in horror at one of the few fabled beast reported to actually be able to kill a dragon, Kade fought to control his panic.  Here, standing directly in front of him was a grimalkin.  It was not as he had seen in the books he used to read.  This thing looked wrong.  It was not the cat-like image he would expect.  No.  It was a grotesquely twisted form of what looked to have been feline at one time but now was something completely different.  It had wings with feathers that looked dirty and decaying.  It had a hooked beak that was brown and jagged with chips broken out of it.  Its eyes were sunken and shallow.  But one thing was certain; this creature was meant for killing, and it meant to kill the dragon.  At half again as large, it was clear that the grimalkin had the advantage.
                  The dragon was fighting furiously and even caused a deep gouge in the monsters chest, causing blood to flow.  But, it was not slowing the massive animal, and Kade knew the dragon was not going to win this fight.  It only had a few new wounds, but it was obvious which one was going to parish and which one was going to survive.
                  His indecision was tearing him apart.