The Mystical Knights: The Sword of Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page A

“So—you're new here right?” Arthur spoke suddenly, looking up to where she sat in the rearview mirror.  Nia felt more than saw Rowan freeze as she sucked her breath in with a loud whoosh .  No! No, no, no, no! Nia reluctantly raised her anxious eyes to meet the bus driver’s, trying to be inconspicuous.  Arthur continued, oblivious to Nia and Rowan’s tense reactions.  “I know I have someone new on my route and I've never seen you before.  What's your name?”
                  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rowan staring at her.  Arthur continued to watch her curiously, waiting for her to reply.  Nia’s lips had forgotten how to function.  Rowan began to move, sliding his bag across the seat, getting ready to share the seat beside her—
                  “ Here! ” Nia’s voice came out in a strangled shout.  Arthur jacked on the brakes, sending a few unsuspecting students forward in their seats.  It caught Rowan off-guard as well; his head smashed against the front of the seat and he blinked as he looked around, looking a little dazed.  “I live here!”
                  Nia was on her feet before her brain could register that she was moving.  Arthur opened the door, gaping at her.  Nia skipped the last step and bounded into the dirt.  This road looked just as unfamiliar as the houses surrounding it; the trees that surrounded the road reminded Nia of a haunted forest-the trees were bare, their once bright and colorful leaves now brown and dead at their roots.  They creaked eerily as a gust of wind blew through, throwing Nia's hair into disarray behind her. 
                  “Hey!  You don’t get off here!”  Nia winced a little at the sudden flare of anger in Arthur’s voice.  She turned around to apologize, only to see Rowan in hot pursuit behind her. 
                  “Rowan Davies!  I will give you a bus slip!  Get back on this bus!” Arthur shouted from his seat.               
                  Nia found a small path breaking off into the woods.  She glanced over her shoulder, watching as the doors on the bus snapped closed, and pushed through some of the prickly underbrush into the woods.  Thankfully, January had been somewhat kind to them and had left very little snow behind.  Nia broke into a run, her bag swinging carelessly on her back. 
                  “Nia!  Nia wait!” Rowan called after her as the bus creaked while it rocked forward, speeding off down a little side road. 
                  “I don’t want to talk to you.”  Nia snipped back.  Her heart was hammering wildly in her throat, panicked at the idea of speaking with him.  She wanted to be left alone to clear her head.   
                  A few minutes turned to thirty, and thirty minutes all too quickly turned into forty-five.  Nia wiped her brow, struggling now to find her way out of the brush.  The sun had broken free from the clouds, settling behind the trees as it began its descent into the horizon.  And Rowan was still striding in her wake.
                  Nia swung her bag in front of her and unzipped the front pocket.  “I have pepper spray in my bag! I know how to defend myself!” she called to him, silently thanking her mother for making her take those after school self-defense classes back home.  She pulled a small canister of pepper spray out from her bag and waved it in the air to show him.
                  Rowan laughed.  “I’ll be the least of your worries— trust me.”  He then continued to himself, “Jeez, you're worse than Thor was when he came along...and I certainly don’t remember being this difficult... Running from me isn't going to make things change, you know!”
                  Nia spun around and stared at him, now holding the pepper spray tightly against her chest.  Rowan stared too, his