The Seven Swords Read Online Free PDF

which was shaped like a giant leaf. There were perforations over his mouth and nose, and a long slit for the eyes. Rising from the top of the helmet were a pair of crooked deer horns, one red, the other blue.
    â€œI mean, where’s th’castle?” Qwon asked.
    â€œOh, right,” Dred said, turning away. “The castle is in Fenland, and Fenland is in a place known simply as the Otherworld. The Otherworld is your side’s dark reflection. Fairies live here, and dragons, and shadows—and bad people like me!” He whipped his head toward her, and her heart skipped a beat.
    â€œForget it,” Qwon said, frustrated that this Dred guy wasn’t making any sense. “Just take me to my quarters,” she said, fully regaining her speech.
    â€œAs you wish,” he said. Dred stood and unlocked a super-thick yellow door that was covered with bands of dark metal and rivets and spikes. In there were her quarters. In there was this feral fairy Morgaine had mentioned.
    Dred pushed open the door, but instead of tossing her in, he gave her the rest of the liquid. She drank it quickly as he said, “Well, I’ll be seeing you, Qwon of Shadyside.” Then he stepped through the doorway, pulled the door shut, and threw the lock.
    Wait. She was being left outside?
    Energy coursed through Qwon’s body from her shoulders to her toes as the liquid took effect. She moved her arms and shook out her legs. She cracked her neck. She put her hands on the ground and gingerly stood.
    The portico ran around three sides of a square courtyard that was about fifty feet across. A high stone wall at the far end marked the fourth side. Beyond it, Qwon could just see the top of the dark-green glass tower. By the position of the sun, she guessed that this marked the southern end of the yard, and somewhere past that was the drawbridge. She hoped all of this information would prove helpful in eventually escaping.
    The roof of the portico slanted down toward the inside of the courtyard, and it was covered with shards of broken glass jutting up at all angles. The pillars supporting it were also covered in jagged glass. No escaping that way.
    There were several doors along the walkway under the portico. All were heavy-looking, each painted a different ridiculously bright color, and, Qwon presumed, locked from the inside. In the middle of the yard was a chest-high birdbath made from some kind of turquoise metal. Qwon stepped onto the grass. The ground was soft. The courtyard smelled good.
    It smelled remarkably good. Like . . . like shavings of Ivory soap and fresh-cut grass and newly plucked honeysuckle all at once.
    While she was enthralled by the smell, Qwon was knocked in the back of the head. She fell onto her hands and knees, and something whisked by her in a blur of pink and black, disappearing in the shadows.
    â€œWho’s there?” Qwon demanded of the blur.
    A high-pitched giggle came from her right, and Qwon realized the source of the smell was there too. Still on the ground, she whipped her head around and saw the end of a wooden stick as it disappeared at the far end of the yard. Aha!
    Qwon sprang to her feet and followed her nose. Adrenaline fueled her movements. She looked desperately around for anything to fight with, but there was nothing.
    She raced to the western side of the portico, but when she got there, the thing—which must have been this fairy—darted to the other side.
    â€œStop moving!” Qwon yelled.
    The fairy answered by giggling again.
    Just then a long pole came shooting out of a little window in Dred’s yellow door. Qwon knew exactly what it was: a quarterstaff. Qwon ran for it, but the fairy somehow tripped her, and Qwon fell on her face, taking a mouthful of grass. As she was about to get up, the fairy bolted across the length of her body. The fairy’s feet felt like little hooves on her back.
    Qwon thrust her right arm forward and snagged the ankle