The Girl With Red Hair (The Last War Saga Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

use the long-handled blade before, having taken his dinner with a stone. He couldn’t decide if he was exhilarated or horrified. The owner of the voice was the burly man he had seen at the center of the circle. The man looked at the wolf, then at the elf, and finally at Alexander. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung slack.
    “Great Mother,” he repeated.
    Alexander stood and gave an awkward bow. “Alexander,” he said.
    The man looked at the elf. “What happened to Tannyl?”
    “Wolf.”
    The man regarded the animal again and nodded. Then he let out a long whistle and smiled. “I’m Sachihiro,” he said. “Teller. Could you help me get Tannyl back to Jaydan? He’ll patch him up no problem. Then I’m coming back for that wolf. I’m thinking it’d make a great coat.”
    Alexander just stared dumbly for a moment before jumping to help him with the fallen elf.
    “Is Jaydan the smaller man?”
    Sachihiro laughed. “Yeah, that’s Jaydan. He’s with the girl, but I’m sure he’ll love seeing Tannyl like this.”
    “Girl?”
    Sachihiro nodded.
    Alexander didn’t press the issue. It seemed most prudent to get Tannyl whatever help he needed. Tend to the needs of others first and only then see to your own.
    They found Jaydan on the opposite side of the blackened crater, kneeling near a patch of moss. The still form of a young girl lay atop it. Alexander immediately dropped Tannyl’s feet and went to the child. She was covered in a man’s shirt, seemingly void of any of her own clothing. Her fair skin was smudged with soot.
    “What happened to her?” Alexander asked without introduction.
    Jaydan looked at him and then looked over his shoulder. “Who’s this?”
    Sachihiro dropped Tannyl unceremoniously at the base of a tree and made a show of wiping his hands together.
    “Saved Tannyl from some wolf,” Sachihiro said as he alighted atop a nearby log. “Any luck with the girl?”
    “Does it look like anything has changed?” Jaydan asked tersely.
    “She hurt?” Alexander asked, not daring to get too close to the girl. Her hair and skin marked her Plainsmen and the smattering of freckles along her high cheekbones made Alexander think of his sisters.
    Jaydan shrugged. “Can’t find anything wrong with her.”
    “So, what do we do?” Sachihiro asked.
    “Leave her,” said a gravelly voice from the base of the tree near Sachihiro.
    Alexander whirled on the elf as he struggled to stand. “You can’t leave her. How can you even say that?”
    Tannyl grunted. “Where’s my bow?”
    Sachihiro jabbed a thumb back at the pit. “Lying near that pup that nearly killed you.”
    “That was not a pup,” Tannyl growled more than said and stomped in the direction Sachihiro had indicated.
    When he had gone from view, Alexander turned to the others. “What’s wrong with him?”
    “Maybe that wolf hurt him worse than it looked,” Sachihiro offered with a shrug.
    “His pride, perhaps,” Jaydan added.
    The two laughed in unison, but were quickly silenced as the girl’s eyes flashed open and she began screaming. She dug her hands into the moss at her sides and scuttled away from the men. Her back hit the fallen log Sachihiro was sitting on and she pulled the shirt tightly to her chin.
    “Get away. Get away. Get away,” she chanted.
    “Listen to that accent,” Sachihiro said nonchalantly. “Sounds fancy. Where you think she’s from?”
    “Ask her later,” Jaydan said.
    Alexander was too stunned to move, but Jaydan calmly inched forward, his hands held up.
    “It’s all right,” he said slowly. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
    The girl stopped shouting and took in a couple ragged gulps of air. She continued to squirm against the log as if she wanted it to swallow her.
    “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said softly, her face twisted in horror. Tears ran freely and dropped to the moss. “Please get away from me. I don’t want to hurt you.”
    Jaydan looked at Sachihiro who shrugged and