02 Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull

Author:Brandon Mull
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 160641593X
Publisher: Deseret Book Company
Published: 2009-09-15T05:00:00+00:00

Peril in the Night

Deadfalls snapped and popped like firecrackers as Hugo pounded through the dark woods. No starlight penetrated the balmy darkness beneath the trees. Hugo maintained an unflagging pace, clutching Coulter under one arm and Seth under the other, like a running back with two footballs.

They emerged from the woods briefly and thumped through a covered bridge spanning a deep ravine. Seth recognized it as the same bridge he had seen when Grandma took him and Kendra to barter with Nero. Not far beyond the bridge, Hugo left the path again, resuming their noisy, loping dash through oblivion. Only the occasional clearing allowed the faint glow of the stars to interrupt the blackness.

Seth remained tense, anticipating the appearance of Olloch. At any minute, he expected a supersized glutton to attack Hugo, splitting the night with a ferocious roar. Instead, Hugo continued tirelessly forward, fluidly dodging obstacles.

When Hugo reached the top of a steep slope, he charged down without hesitation. Seth felt like they were on the verge of tipping over with every step, but the golem never stumbled. When they reached a dead tree leaning against a cliff, without using his hands, Hugo raced up the rotten trunk like a ramp. Seth’s stomach lurched as the ground grew distant, and he felt certain they would fall, but although the tree creaked beneath them, the golem did not falter.

At length they reached a large, open valley with a rounded hill at each corner. After the complete darkness of the forest, the starlight proved sufficient to reveal the surrounding terrain. Tall brush covered the ground, mingled with prickly weeds. A dark stand of trees loomed at the far end of the valley, between the two largest hills.

Hugo bounded across the valley, coming to an abrupt stop near the edge of the shadowy grove. “Forward a few more steps, Hugo,” Coulter said.

The golem leaned forward, trembling. He rocked back, and the shaking stopped. Slowly Hugo lifted a leg. As he tried to move it forward, he began to shudder.

“Enough, Hugo,” Coulter said. “Set us down.”

“What’s the deal with Hugo?” Seth asked.

“Just as most magical creatures cannot enter the yard back at the house, Hugo cannot enter this grove. There is an unseen boundary here. The ground is cursed. Fortunately, as mortals, we can go wherever we choose.”

Seth raised his eyebrows. “We have to go up against the phantom without Hugo?” he said.

“I expected this,” Coulter said. “Though I would rather have been mistaken.”

“Are we sure we want to go someplace Hugo can’t?”

“This has nothing to do with what we want. This is a matter of duty. I don’t want to go in there, but I must.”

Seth stared at the dark trees. The night seemed suddenly cooler. He folded his arms. “How do you know a phantom is in there?”

“I did some private reconnaissance. I ventured far enough into the grove to read the signs. It’s clearly the abode of a phantom.”

“How do we stop a phantom?”

Coulter pulled a short, crooked stick from his belt.

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