The Prince of Two Tribes Read Online Free PDF Page B

failed to see the crackling orb sailing at his head. He ducked and rolled, coming to his feet as the tree erupted in flames.
    How had Orcadia managed to fool everyone? How had she escaped from the Other Side? His father had said she couldn’t come back!
    “You can’t be here!” he said suddenly. “This isn’t real.”
    “It’s real, weakling.” Orcadia raised her arms and purple fire erupted above her. The flames fanned outward and ignited the dry, dead branches of the winter trees. Instantly, the forest above Brendan was ablaze.
    “Stop it!” Brendan cried. He was terrified, not only for himself, but for the Humans who might see the flames and come to investigate. He knew Orcadia had no compunction about revealing herself to Humans and wouldn’t hesitate to harm any who came near.
    Brendan pushed himself up onto his toes in a fighting stance as ash and cinders began to rain down. Sparks ignited tiny fires in the dry leaves on the ground around him. “Go back to the Other Side, Orcadia. You can’t do this here.”
    “Why don’t you cry for your Human mother, weakling?” Orcadia laughed. “Don’t worry! She won’t survive long after you’re gone. Neither will your father or your sister.”
    Brendan gritted his teeth. The thought of his Human family in danger awakened something within him. “You will not touch them,” he said coldly.
    “Or else what?” Orcadia sneered.
    “GO!” he shouted as powerfully as he could, putting all his anger and fear behind that one word.
    Orcadia shuddered. Battling against the Compulsion, she clawed the air for purchase. Brendan’s heart soared.
    “I did it!” he crowed. “I did it! I Compelled you!”
    His elation died as he saw Orcadia’s features grow calm and her shuddering cease. She shook herself like a dog climbing out of a pond and then stood still, a vicious smile blooming on her lips. “Nice try. Is that the best you can do?”
    Brendan didn’t answer. He merely closed his eyes and stretched out his thoughts.
    The sensation was like flinging a door open in the back of his mind. Suddenly, he could feel everything: the jittery minds of the birds in the trees flickering like strobe lights, the buzzing slumber of young raccoons curled in their dens, nestled against their mothers. He even heard the cold, alien pinpoints of thought that marked the passage of ants, worms, and insects as they burrowed in the soil underfoot and in the tree bark, seeking refuge from the winter’s chill. He reached out with his mind, looking for help …
    That’s when the park warden ran into the clearing.
    Obviously, the warden had seen the flames and was coming to investigate. Seeing Orcadia, she stopped short and stared, her face a mask of shock. She was perhaps twenty years old, looking pathetically defenceless in a green parka with the city parks logo on the sleeve.
    “What’s going on here?” the warden asked, her eyes taking in the bizarre scene.
    Brendan lost his concentration immediately. How had the warden gotten through the glamours protecting the clearing? Maybe Orcadia isn’t worried about maintaining them anymore? In desperation, he cried, “RUN!”
    The woman hesitated for an instant, and that was enough time for Orcadia to act. As the warden turned to flee, Orcadia let loose a crackling ball of power that sizzled after her, striking the girl directly in the back, turning her into a staggering mass of flame. The warden screamed, ran on for a few ragged steps as if trying to escape the agony, and fell to the ground, her synthetic jacket blazing.
    Brendan couldn’t believe his eyes. He stood rooted to the spot, unable to shift his gaze from what seconds before had been the park warden. At last, he turned to see a look of crazed, gloating satisfaction on Orcadia’s face.
    “What’s the matter, nephew?” she smirked. “She was only a Human girl. They’re a dime a dozen. They breed like lice, Humans.”
    “I’ll kill you,” Brendan said through gritted