The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 Read Online Free PDF Page A

“I’ll
take good care of Doc. You need to lie down; there is nothing more
you can do for him now.”
    Vincent nodded slowly and turned to
Doc. “Keep fighting, Pete.”
    Ronnie led Vincent out of the tent and
I turned the Vlas plant in my hand. I haven’t held this plant since
I failed to remove Cathy from the tree of my subconscious.
    Now’s not the time
for a trip down memory lane, Cathy
said.
    I bunched up the
plant and grabbed Doc’s water flask from his side. I put the plant
into the flask and closed the lid. Placing the flask between my
hands, I transferred power into it to heat it up, brewing the
mixture like tea. I cooled it back down again and brought it up to
Doc’s mouth. He was already pretty weak and it didn’t take a lot
before he slipped into a coma. He wouldn’t survive the hour, but he
wouldn’t suffer either.
    A mercy killing that
won’t affect the crew, Cathy said
thoughtfully. Well done.
    They will still be saddened. But at
least they will be able to move on and give him a small funeral
pyre.
    And Grumpy Sandra
won’t become impatient, Cathy
said.
    We should steer clear of her. If she
has a death wish, we might need a getaway.
    Agreed, Cathy said. I wonder
what really happened. Something doesn’t add up.
    I don’t think we’ll ever get to
know.
    *****
    When the guardsmen returned a couple of
hours later, I explained to them that Doc had slipped into a coma
and died in his sleep. I apologised and told them I made sure he
didn’t suffer. They thanked me and we put together a small funeral
pyre for him. I lit the torch with my magical fire and handed it to
Vincent to say the final words.
    During the ceremony,
Lady Sandra stared into the fire with saddened eyes. It was
probably the second pyre she watched over in a short time. My hope
was that this would be a small wake up call to watch out for her
men more carefully, but as soon as the pyre was done, her face
hardened and we were on the move again.
    As we passed by the
middle of the Archanion Field, I looked in the direction the Tower
once stood. The distortion was still plainly visible in the air,
but the area around had started to die and turn dark. This
corruption would slowly spread outward and consume the Archanion
Field.
    Even banished, the Tower’s influence
still stained the land.

Chapter
4
     
     
    By nightfall we had
arrived at the mountain path to Ghanlar Plateau. Ronnie identified
Davenport’s tracks heading up the path and I suggested that we set
up camp at the base of the mountain and wait for Davenport. He only
had three options: get caught by Evenawks, hide in the forests of
the plateau or come back down the mountain. With us at the base, we
would watch the path tonight, check with the Evenawks in the
morning and then have them fly over the forests looking for
him.
    The guards were
supportive of my idea and even Ser Wilson nodded his approval in
his own gruff way. Lady Sandra reluctantly agreed and assisted in
setting up a small camp. The look in her eye suggested that she
felt that stopping for Doc’s funeral had prevented them from
catching Davenport before he made it up the mountain, but she had
wisely kept her mouth shut.
    But if she did, the
guards would have torn her apart and we could have gone
home, Cathy said.
    Don’t tell me you miss the forest.
    Not at all, Cathy chuckled. I’m
starting to not trust her. If I had a choice of living in the
boring forest and dying pointlessly on a rock...call me a coward
because I’m taking the forest.
    Perhaps after we set
them up with the Evenawks, we can be relieved from duty. Let them
wander Ghanlar for a while.
    It’s worth
considering, Cathy said.
    While the guards set up the camp and
started dinner, I assigned myself an easy job. I was looking for a
stick. It would be for a spell I learned from my book that would
alert us to anybody that walked over it. With Davenport being able
to use magic, he could easily cast an Illusion spell over us and
sneak by.
    If he