The Pearl Savage Read Online Free PDF Page A

he
whistled, high and piercing. To the uninitiated, it would sound like
a bird’s call of distress. To Bracus’ comrades, it would alert them
it was he, and not an enemy.
    They moved as one in front of the
cave’s entrance, bows strung tight, arrows poised; the whistle had
not softened their response; Bracus was pleased, putting on a burst
of speed.
    Their arrows were trained on Bracus
until he revealed himself with his salute.
    “Sir, what did you see?”
Kingsley asked, lowering his bow.
    The other sentry, part of the Band,
was Matthew Charier. He would not relax his stance, his arrow pointed
above and behind Bracus’ shoulder from his higher vantage point. He
literally had Bracus’ back. He was a good man, too serious by far,
but a warrior unlike any Bracus had ever seen. Not a tremor,
Charier’s shaft as steady as the trees which towered above them.
    “Much. I saw much.”
    Charier’s eyes flicked to Bracus
then back to their former position. He spoke tersely, but with
feeling, “Did you reconnoiter our position from yesterday?”
    “Let me debrief with President
Bowen. Then when you set your bow upon the earth, we will meet at the
fire and discuss the future here…our mutual future.”
    Stephen Kingsley made a disgusted
sound and stomped back over to position.
    “No effort at stealth, Kingsley?”
Charier asked without turning.
    “You know that I tire of the
endless reconnaissance, I wish to develop a way for our people,”
Kingsley said, kicking a small rock into the woods below them.
    Charier lowered his bow. “Do not
let your temper overwhelm your intellect, stay vigilant.”
    It was Bracus that turned to stare
behind him, while his two finest guards argued amongst themselves,
leaving the cave’s most vulnerable point unattended. Bracus knew why
he was in command, he would not be distracted. He was not easily
distracted.
    Or he had not been before the
female.
    Her face filled his vision, the soft
creamy triangle, with eyes which glowed like the shimmering marbles
he played with as a boy. They took up her face, a window to her soul.
He wished to know that soul… linger in it like a scented bath on
his skin.
    Bracus shook himself, his iron-clad
control reasserting itself.
    “Quiet,” he hissed at the two
warriors, almost nose to nose.
    They looked at their leader, shame
riding their faces.
    “Charier, get that bow where it
belongs.” Charier lifted his bow and nocked the arrow.
    “That’s better,” Bracus said,
clapping him on the shoulder. He turned to Kingsley. “You are not
one ruled by your temper, what say you?”
    Charier gave a rare smile. “I too,
tire of the incessant scouting ventures. We need to move now, before it is too late to save ourselves. You know that our females
are fragile, and too few.”
    Yes… Bracus knew. He
never forgot it .
    “Carry on men, we will discuss
this more upon my return.” Both men saluted him and he inclined his
head in a half bow, his body already turning to enter the cave. To
debrief the president.
    Bracus stepped forward, allowing his
eyes to adjust to the dimness of the cave. This small, little known
crevice in the woods had been a clandestine meeting area for every
president with the Band since the time of the Evil Ones and the days
when the earth breathed ash.
    “Bracus,” President Bowen said,
his face in shadows.
    “It is I… with news.” Bracus
came forward, dwarfing the president with his height. All the Band
members were huge men, it was a large part of the defense. With their
superior strength, physical acuity and throat slits, they were the
perfect protectors. But without more people, there would be nothing
to protect .
    President Bowen, a man of few words
arched heavy brows above deep eyes, waiting for his report.
    “I have located the lead female.
The one you say is a Princess.”
    The sphere-dwellers had a
strange hierarchy of leadership. Instead of presidents and advisers,
they had kings, queens, princes and… princesses.
    “You