Dream Chaser by Sherrilyn Keynon

Author:Sherrilyn Keynon [Keynon, Sherrilyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-28T04:04:16+00:00

toward the sky. In centuries past, mankind knew to

take care of their trees and to guard them well

from creatures like him.

How he loved the ignorance of the current

generation.

An oak was a portal that could be used to

summon the blackest of spirits. Kaiaphas smiled as

he recalled the Englishman in Alton Towers who

once chained the branches of his tree in an effort

to thwart the evil it could conjure.

But evil would never be denied.

"Help me!" the human woman screamed.

"Oh, shut up," he snapped at the simpering

human. For the cowardice alone she deserved to

die."

Please, let me go."

"Oh, I will, lovely. I'll let you go in just a

moment." He dove for the tree.

As he swooped in, he took a moment to survey

the area. There was nothing around him. No

witnesses.

Good.

He landed a few feet away. Holding his

sacrifice under one arm, he stalked toward the

tree. The light of the full moon whispered through

the bare branches. It was cold enough that he

could see his breath in the air around him. He

inhaled the crisp weight of it.

The woman struggled against him as he raised

one arm to sever a single limb from the tree. He

could hear the oak screaming as he cut through the

wood. Loud. Strong.

Thank the gods it was healthy.

The limb landed at his feet.

"P-p-please."

141

"Shut up." He slung the woman against the tree

so hard, she died on impact.

A human sacrifice wasn't necessary for what he

intended but human blood was, and since he doubted

the woman would have let him cut her without more

whimpering and pleading, this sufficed. Using the

claw from his right hand, he opened the human's

throat and let her blood flow into the tree and

soak the roots.

Then he opened up his own wrist as he chanted

the ancient demonic words that would awaken the

Primus Potis—the first power.

Before there was light in the world, there was

darkness. Chaos.

And that power slept. Now it was time for it to

reawaken and help him.

"I summon you forth with voice and blood. With

the weight of the moon and the strength of the

sacred wood. Oh darkness, come to me. So say the

dark oh mote it be . . ."

As he chanted, the wind picked up speed. It

whispered around him as ancient forces gathered to

awaken the one he called.

Al-Baraka . . .

The tree began to shake as a black mist from

the earth rose to encircle it. Kaiaphas looked up

to see a pair of glowing eyes—one vibrant earth

green and the other dark earth brown—materialize

in the center of the mist. The air swirled faster,

rising up like a geyser that began to form the

shape of a tall, lean man standing on a large

limb.

Black hair rose up, tangling in the wind before

it settled over broad shoulders. It was followed

by a rippling white that formed a shirt, then

black pants and a brown, stitched leather jacket.

The last to form was a face that was as handsome

as it was brutal.

142

A thin gold band encircled the man's throat and

there at the base of his neck rested a stone as

green as his inhuman right eye.

As quickly as it'd come, the wind stopped. The

mist evaporated. Now the man and the tree stood

out crisp and clear against the backdrop of night.

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