The Long Journey Home (The Legend of Vanx Malic Book 8) Read Online Free PDF

her.
    “What is it?” Vanx asked. “I don’t remember anything like this from our lessons.”
    “Nor I,” Zeezle said as he backed away from the tree the thing was in. “But isolated islands have produced unique creatures again and again. There is no telling what sort of things live here.”
    “Is that what was making the chuk chuk chuk sound?” Vanx asked.
    Zeezle stopped cold, his head cocked as if he were listening to something in the distance. Then panic washed the curiousness right off of his face.
    “No.” Zeezle pointed over the trees but turned and dove, tackling Vanx in the landing. “I think that is.”
    There was a deep thumping sound, like heavy wing beats, and the rustling of windblown leaves. Then a shadow swept over them, and with it came a foul, avian scent.
    The forward reaching claws of a huge bird ripped the wolfish tree swinger from the branches as it passed.
    The thing Poops had run up the tree let out a terrible howl, but the sound faded swiftly as the feathered creature carried it to the far side of the lake to devour.
    “By the wrath of both the Letcher, and the Lanch,” Chelda swore from the trees behind them. “What in the fargin’ hells was that?”
    “One less thing to worry about,” Zeezle joked as he rolled to his feet.
    “How much farther is the wizard’s mark?” Castavonti asked, wiping sweat from his brow. He was shivering. “This robe isn’t made for all this exertion.”
    “Here.” Vanx stood and handed the sea mage a canteen full of water. “Sit and sip until you cool down.”
    “Nah, nah.” Zeezle gave Vanx a look. “We just wasted a lot of time. We can sit and sip in the cool dusk once we get to our mark.”
    “All right.” Castavonti nodded, taking Vanx’s canteen. He took a deep swig and then started to take another.
    Chelda snatched the container from him. “He said sip for a reason.” She took a small sip and gave him a look that said, do something about it. Then she handed Vanx the canteen.
    Vanx took a deep breath, wondering if everyone was taking this seriously enough. The one thing that troubled him about his portent was that he hadn’t seen any of his companions with him. He didn’t want to think about some of the possibilities that implied.
    “If you drink too much, too fast, you’ll get cramps and feel worse.” Vanx let Poops lap up water from his cupped palm for a minute, then handed the canteen back to Castavonti. “You can drink it all, but do it in small sips.”
    “And share,” Chelda added.
    Soon, they were back underway. It wasn’t a hard trail to follow, but they found a muddy patch and saw a massive feline paw print. Vanx could have curled up in each of the pads, so it had to be at least fifteen feet tall at the shoulder. He imagined a leopard stalking through the forests of the island, as if the trees were wheat. The island could have easily held a population of them, for there were smaller creatures aplenty skittering away from their intrusion.
    At one point, when the evening sun was starting to sink below the ridge off to their right, there was an explosion of birds that caused Poops to respond with a series of deep, savage warning barks. The trees shook, and more birds left their perches with noisy protest. Whatever it was, it was large, and it went away from them toward the sinking sun. It was hard to tell where the creature stopped, but everyone was so glad it fled that they were back underway in no time.
    Vanx wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find where the wizard had made his mark, but a giant hole that went straight down wasn’t even on his list.
    Zeezle found a place nearby that put enough rocky hill behind them that they felt they could defend themselves.
    The evening was full of disappointment and agitation.
    After they ate thin stew and had situated themselves, Castavonti said, “I wonder if something lives in the hole? Like a giant snake or something?”
    The mood changed then, and they decided to set