The Free Trader of Warren Deep (Free Trader Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

He ducked down quickly until he was completely underwater. The cool water was refreshing.
    He stood up and made to back out of the water, but in front of him, two eyes floated out of the water and watched him. A cold-water croc , he thought. These weren’t as big as their warm water cousins, but they could still kill you. Braden was in a bad position. The croc had the upper hand. Why hadn’t G-War seen this creature? He was surprised. He knew the ‘cat couldn’t sense fish, but he should have known about the croc.
    Braden stood rock still. He moved painstakingly slowly, trying not to disturb the water. The croc was capable of great bursts of speed, but mostly in a straight line. Braden did not have any weapons with him as he was naked. His clothes and knife lay on the beach.
    As he watched, smaller crocs appeared behind the big croc. Braden stopped counting at ten. These were just a few hand spans long, nose to tip of their tails. The croc had a brood. Was she protecting them or waiting for them to make the kill? Braden hoped the latter as he could probably outrun the offspring.
    He was mid-thigh when the big croc surged forward forcing a wave of water in front of it. Braden backed two steps, but fell down as the water prevented him from running as fast as his mind was telling him to go. He pushed hard to the side as the croc opened its jaws for a bite. The croc snapped down hard, grazing Braden’s leg. The small crocs swam toward him with all the energy their little bodies could muster.
    A golden streak flashed by, landing on the big croc’s snout, raking the beast’s eyes in an instant before attempting to leap off. The ‘cat was thrown toward the shore, landing upright in shallow water.
    Braden rolled once more until he faced the shore, then high-stepped out of the water. He made an arc toward his clothes, snatching the knife as he ran past. A few of the small crocs on the shore raced after him. He slid to a stop and made a broad swing, parallel to the ground, hammering a couple of the little creatures. They fell aside, broken bodies unmoving. The others came on. Another broad stroke and two more went down.
    Braden backed up slowly, hoping the others would come forward. Half of them did. He slashed them to death from a rocky perch that the small crocs couldn’t climb. He jumped down and dispatched the rest of them with reckless abandon.
    The large croc continued to thrash about at the water’s edge, infuriated at losing its eyes. He’d heard they were good eating, but had never had the opportunity to try one. Now was his chance. He crept to the side of the croc as it churned up the water and the sand of the shore. With two hands on his knife, he timed his swing as a downward chop on the exposed throat of the croc. Although this was the vulnerable underbelly, it was still far tougher than Braden imagined. He thought he had delivered a killing stroke, but the croc was only made angrier. It was hurt and dangerous.
    Braden jumped out of the way as it leapt in his direction. He hopped a couple more times as the croc backed into the water. It struggled to swim, and then it submerged and disappeared from view. Bloody bubbles appeared above what was probably the deepest part of the small lake. Braden didn’t think a dead croc would float, and there was no way he was swimming in there to retrieve it.
    He still wouldn’t have the opportunity to try some croc.
    Braden put his clothes on, angry at himself for going that deep into the water. He knew better, but it felt too good.
    Once he put the knife through his belt, he looked up. In front of him was one very wet Hillcat. G-War’s eyes were slits as he glared at the human. “Whoa. You’ve looked better G.”
    Braden took the shirt off that he had just put on and rubbed the ‘cat to help dry him, until G-War scratched his hand, letting him know that there was nothing he could do to redeem himself.
    ‘Why did it go into the water?’ The ‘cat’s question burst into