Tyler's Dream Read Online Free PDF

important, Tyler. Swear to me you will not run off on a foolish endeavour.”
    “But—”
    “Swear it now, Tyler. Swear !” snapped Hargill impatiently.
    Tyler forgot all else and obeyed. “I swear,” he whispered, close to tears.
    “Swear what?”
    “That I will not leave this room until you come back for me!” Tyler yelled to stop his tears. He felt angry and ashamed to be crying.
    “Thank you, Tyler,” Hargill said, more kindly this time. “I will be back.” With that he slammed the cellar door and locked it with a loud click.
    “So much for trust,” said Tyler bitterly. He stumbled further into the cellar, which pulsed to the beat of the drums.
    Dum dum .
    The sound rang in his head.
    Dum dum doom .
    They taunted while all the while the arrows hissed. With a cry of frustration Tyler kicked out at one of the kegs against the wall. He was hiding in a cellar while all he loved burnt to dust.
    Wisps of smoke blew through the window he had broken earlier. The window ! Tyler rushed past the rows of silent bottles. He propped a nearby box against the wall and then stood on it, jamming his upper body through the windowpane.
    Just ahead old Trandle’s home was consumed by fire, and in the background a dozen columns of black smoke streamed up to touch the clouds. How many had already died? Who was invading them?
    All at once the drums stopped. Soft sobbing leaked from one of the surrounding houses. Somebody scampered quickly past. The silence lingered for so long that it took shape to become Tyler’s doubt. He should run back to his family. Hargill would understand …
    What was that? His eyes darted down the alley. It came again: a horrid slurp. The air abruptly drained of its winter cleanness and turned stale as the wind dropped from it.
    Then darkness edged out onto the road just past the alley. It crawled like a fog on stubby tentacles, lurching down the street. Something small scuttled quickly past, causing the smog to unsettle, and then a large, straight-backed figure stepped forward, moving with unnatural grace. It was not human; it could not be. Dozens of spikes pierced its tattered garments like razors across its back, arms, and legs. There was no face to see because a heavy mask of iron was clamped over its head.
    The atrocity stopped in the middle of the alleyway, and it turned its head. “ DIE .”
    Tyler fell off his box and landed hard on his back. He had no idea what he had just seen, but he now feared it more than anything. It felt as though the world was coloured in shades of hate. It must not find me . He ran to the back of the cellar and hammered on the door.
    “Let me out!” He only stopped when his fists began to ache. A heartless laugh came from the hall. “Damn you, Varkon!” he yelled bitterly as he gave the door a kick.
    A soft patter stirred that dreadful fear, and he whirled around, expecting the worst. Fate chose not to disappoint. A wolf was crouched at the window, grey fur shining with snow. Its black lips were stuck against its frozen teeth so that it seemed to be smirking. Defend yourself , thought Tyler, or you’re dead . He glanced around for a weapon.
    C rack !
    He looked up. The wolf was right in front of him, not more than twenty feet away. No time to think. Tyler kicked out his legs and jumped between two rows of wine racks, where he slipped a dusty bottle from its holder. The wolf bounded around the corner and pounced. It moved with such superior speed that Tyler never had any hope of swinging his bottle. Instead, he was knocked into the air like a puppet and onto his back. The wolf’s claws dug into his shoulders, and its hot breath gushed all over his face. There was no wind left in Tyler; he had no strength left to wrestle for his life. All he could do was watch as those powerful jaws clamped down for the kill …
    The creature was torn from Tyler’s chest. Its jaws snapped on empty air as its entire body was flung into a wall of bottles, smashing them in one