Valley of the Ancients: Book Three of the Restoration Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

soldier drew his sword and swiped at the vine, severing it in one stroke. Three more vines were already wrapping themselves around his other leg and he raised his sword to swing at those vines. A fourth vine lunged forward and wrapped around his sword arm. In moments, the man was covered in vines like a mass of wriggling snakes; he screamed once and then a vine entered his mouth and throat and he didn't scream again.
    Keenan and the two remaining soldiers were dumbfounded, but after a moment the two men began moving. The soldier to the south headed for the boy, while the soldier on the northern side of the clearing went for the woman.
    Keight="0" width="48">The first soldier had taken two steps toward the boy when he stopped. Something strange was happening.
    Several shapes stepped forward from the bushes to stand beside the boy. A cougar stood on his left and a massive deer stood on his right. That was a rather unsettling sight; a cougar and a deer standing that close together and paying no attention to each other. They were focused on the soldier who was staring at them in confusion.
    The boy patted the deer on the back. "Go get him," he said quietly.
    The deer and the cougar lunged forward, followed by several smaller animals that Keenan hadn't even noticed. The other animals were about the size of a dog, dark brown in color, and barely coming to a man's knee but they had wicked looking claws.
    The soldier swung his sword at the deer and the blow landed harmlessly on the creature's oversized antlers. The deer hit the soldier, sending him flying. He hit the ground and lost his grip on the sword, but it really didn't matter. No sooner had he landed on his back than the cougar pounced on the man's chest, biting at his face and neck. The smaller creatures weren't far behind and their claws quickly joined in with those of the cougar.
    Keenan glanced away from this ugly sight and discovered that the remaining soldier hadn't fared much better. His body swung from a tree limb, held there by a vine wrapped around his neck.
    The woman was standing there, her arms crossed as she watched Keenan. There wasn't any warmth in that look.
    Keenan wet his lips nervously and put his sword away. Then he held his hands out in front of him. "We only entered your forest because those men were chasing us. We didn't mean any disrespect."
    The boy chuckled, "You're smart to be afraid."
    "Afraid," Keenan repeated, starting to dislike the boy. "Listen here boy. Fear and respect are two different things. You might know that if you had any manners."
    The boy puffed up, looking like he might explode, but the woman spoke first.
    "You have no reason to fear us. We were sent to help you."
    "Help us?" Keenan repeated, ignoring the angry looks the boy was shooting in his direction. "Who sent you?"
    "The Master of the Forest, of course. He wishes to meet you."

Chapter 2
     
    Heather twisted in her saddle and looked back over the road they had been traveling. Well, calling it a road was actually being generous. It looked more like a shepherd's trail that hadn't been used in twenty years.
    She was relieved to see that no one had been following them, although she really hadn't expected anyone to be back there. After Enton had helped them escape, the four of them had traveled east for two days. The road near Mynar ran north and south, so they had taken backwards farm roads. The roads weren't used much, but just enough that signs of their passing wouldn't be overly obvious.
    In the afternoon of the second day, they came across a small farmer's road running north. They immediately abandoned the eastward path they had been following and turned north. Her plan was simple, travel br/;north to Aramonia while avoiding major roads. Once there, she planned on traveling east. She did not intend to follow the same road that the caravan had used to travel from Tyler's Junction. That journey would haunt her dreams till the day she died.
    The journey from Tyler's Junction had