The Quest (The Hidden Realm Book 5) Read Online Free PDF

either side of Elerian whom they could smell even if they could not see him.
    The changelings did not get far, however, for consumed with anxiety lest Elerian and Anthea slay all of the enemy before he could even join the fray, Ascilius had also swarmed down the rope hanging from the ledge. Fierce as a lion, he leaped among the fleeing mutare, swinging Fulmen left and right, while thrusting with his shield to spill the enemy off their feet so that he could crush their helms and skulls with his hammer at his leisure. Only one mutare escaped him, avoiding Fulmen’s gleaming head by a whisker. Springing away in enormous bounds, he raced down the road as if dragon fire was licking at his heels.
    When he saw that all of the sentries were slain or fled, Elerian sent away his ring. Visible once more, his gray eyes still alight with the glow engendered by the brief battle, he turned toward the rider, equal parts of anticipation and annoyance flooding through him. While delighted to have Anthea by his side again, he was also angry at her reckless behavior which would certainly have resulted in her death if he and Ascilius had not been nearby. Shading his eyes from the glare of the rising sun with his left hand, he was about to call out a greeting, but the words forming on his lips to greet his beloved died stillborn. For the first time, he noticed that the rider’s form was too robust to be that of Anthea.
    “It is not her,” Elerian thought to himself, disappointment and confusion replacing his elation when the rider pulled off his helmet, exposing tousled black hair and a haggard, handsome face.
    “Dacien!” thought Elerian to himself in surprise. “What sad turn of events put that melancholy look into his eyes? Has some misfortune overtaken Anthea?” he wondered apprehensively.
    “Greetings Elerian,” said Dacien wearily. “Are you here in this place by chance or by design?”
    “I am here by chance only, Dacien,” replied Elerian quietly. “Ascilius and I were planning to return to Tarsius today along the north road of the Dwarves.”
    “You say coincidence brought you here, but I cannot help but wonder if it may be more than that,” said Dacien thoughtfully. “My purpose in coming to Iulius was to seek you out and here you are where I never thought to find you.”
    “It is undeniably a fortunate meeting,” conceded Elerian. “Even if you had fought your way past the sentries, a Goblin army guards the gate to the Caldaria. You would never have reached the entrance to the valley.”
    “However we all came to be here, we cannot linger in this place, for the Goblins will soon return in force, alerted by the mutare who escaped me,” interrupted Ascilius who now stood by Elerian’s right shoulder. “Let us mount your steeds, Dacien, and ride away while we can.”
    “That I cannot do, Ascilius,” said Dacien sadly. “I did not come searching for Elerian to bring him back to Tarsius.” Upon hearing Dacien’s cryptic, melancholy reply a sense of foreboding gripped both Ascilius and Elerian
    “What do you intend then now that you have found him?” asked Ascilius uneasily.
    “That will depend on Elerian,” replied Dacien, his voice filled with mingled grief and despair. “I have come here to Iulius to seek his help in finding Anthea, for she was taken prisoner by the Goblins four days ago.”
    As he listened to Dacien’s grim news the ground seemed to shift beneath Elerian’s feet, and he had the sense that all around him events were in motion that would render his own desires irrelevant once more. Opening his third eye, he turned his gaze on the ruby ring that he wore on his left hand. He was filled with dismay when he saw that, beneath the illusion which concealed it, the stone it bore was dark and lifeless. Feeling as if a great hand had suddenly wrapped itself around his heart and squeezed it, Elerian tried to calm himself as best he could, refusing to believe that the light in his ring had been