The Tears of Elios Read Online Free PDF Page B

name, please. That is, if you have one.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “I am known as Ranealya.” Then she jumped from the window.
    “No!” He rushed to the window and looked down. Below was the largest wolf he had ever seen. Its golden eyes met his in an instant of recognition, and then it howled. Another wolf answered its call in the distance, and it waited as the wind rippled its gray coat. Despite its size, he wasn’t afraid of it. A few minutes later, a pack of a dozen or more wolves joined the large gray one. Gregor focused on their thoughts and learned the others saw it as a pack leader, but knew the large wolf would not stay long. For now she needed their help. Together, they disappeared into the woods, hunting for something she wanted them to find.
    Gregor reached for his cloak and ran for the door. Just as the will of the pack had molded to hers, so had his mind once he touched theirs. He needed to follow her, to help her like the other members of the pack, even if it meant being caught by the Azekborn.
    The wolves left them an easy trail to follow in the fresh snow. “Come on, Duke,” he called as he ran into the woods.
    He followed the trail for over an hour. The wolves moved faster than he had anticipated, and he leaned against a tree to catch his breath. He had to be close. The trail continued on in the direction of the canyon. They couldn’t be much further ahead.
    Duke gazed in the direction of the tracks, and his ears perked up. “ Duke hear wolves .”
    “Where?”
    “ Close .” He raced ahead, and Gregor stumbled after him. A few minutes later, he could hear them, too—their growls, their whimpers, their snarls. Duke waited at the edge of the forest, watching the attack. Gregor joined him and hid behind a bush. His eyes took in the horror of the scene before him.
    Blood soaked the snow. Four wolves lay dead on the ground, but six others were attacking along with the gray she-wolf. They circled a black figure, trying to catch him off guard. He was wounded, but his black stone sword sliced through the air with amazing speed, and Gregor now understood why they were so feared.
    The wolves kept their distance, yet they continued to push him closer to the edge of the canyon. The Azekborn realized this, and he stopped his sword long enough to cast a spell. A flash of red erupted from his palm, and two more wolves lay dead. Then the red eyes of the Azekborn focused on him.
    The she-wolf seized the opportunity to attack. She leapt, her enormous jaws clamping around his throat. With his last breath, the Azekborn plunged his sword into her hip. She howled in pain and released him, allowing the other wolves to rip his body to shreds and shove it over the canyon’s edge.
    They stood at the edge and looked down. Gregor could hear the pride in their thoughts. They had defeated the enemy and were now free from the service of the she-wolf.
    Gregor crept closer, reassuring the wolves that he meant no harm. Mangled black forms littered the canyon floor. His stomach heaved, and he gulped the cold air as he tried to erase the images from his mind.
    He scanned the clearing for the gray she-wolf, the one he was certain was Ranealya. She had vanished. “Where did she go?”
    Duke sniffed the ground and followed a trail of blood that disappeared into the trees. “ Deer-not-deer go this way! ”
    As they moved deeper into the woods, Gregor’s heart pounded from the amount of blood staining the snow. His steps quickened. He paused long enough to grab some hykona leaves from a nearby bush. She’d probably need them when they found her.
    Duke began licking her face when he discovered her. “ Deer-not-deer hurt bad .”
    She moaned and batted the dog away. She was in her human-like form again. A large gash tore down the side of her right thigh, and he noticed two smaller ones on her chest. Unlike when he saw the remains of the Azekborn in the canyon, he felt no nausea from her wounds. He knelt beside her and he stuffed the