Into the Nightfell Wood by Kristin Bailey

Author:Kristin Bailey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-01-16T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Elric

ELRIC PUSHED ASIDE A SMALL pile of leaves on the trail he had been following most of the day. He couldn’t afford to make a mistake, even if it meant the hunt for the reaper lasted until they lost the light of day. He would search all night if that was what it took. Each moment that ticked by was another moment that his stomach twisted into knots and the bile rose in his throat. Wynn was in danger, and he couldn’t find her.

They had tracked the reaper back toward the stormy shield. “Elric! Over here!” Osmund called as he stood on the root of a large tree and stretched upward to get a closer look at something on the trunk. Elric ran to him. There was a dark stain above the bushes. He reached up and touched it. His finger came away smeared with old blood. Small red hairs had caught in the bark.

Hob.

He was wounded.

Elric searched the bush below. He saw broken leaves and twigs, but he didn’t find Hob’s body. He couldn’t locate Hob’s tracks, either. Blood stained some leaves beneath the bush, but Elric detected no signs that he was still alive. Elric’s heart pounded harder as he searched for signs of Wynn. Footprints, bits of cloth, anything.

“Over here,” Osmund called. He held up Wynn’s crown.

The dangers of the wood faded away. He took the circlet in his hands. It was a simple crown, a silver band engraved with stars, where his had leaves. It was bent in on one side, like it had been stepped on. Now it was nothing more than a fragile broken circle that had once sat on his sister’s head. Words didn’t come. Thoughts wouldn’t come. Even his feelings seemed pressed under a weight so thick and terrible it seemed like he could drown in it.

The terrifying monster had his sweet sister. He had only had the courage to face one through the safety of the shield. There was no safety here. Those claws, those teeth, those burning eyes.

A creature like that could kill Wynn in a second. It had no mercy.

Elric gritted his teeth. And Master Elk said that a reaper would drag him back to the Grendel. They didn’t kill outright.

“He’s taking her to the Grendel,” Elric said. “We have to stop him. Follow me.” Elric ran down the narrow path.

“Elric, wait!” Osmund demanded.

He clutched Wynn’s crown, following the path of the reaper like a hound on the scent of a wolf. His rage drove him forward as he climbed over the twisted roots of the trees, and leaped over ditches filled with slimy leaves.

Osmund did his best to catch up, but an unnatural determination had come over Elric. He wanted to destroy the foul beast for daring to touch his sister. He had to find and stop the creature before he could deliver her to the evil fairy who waited in the shadows.

The Grendel had caused the fairy realm endless misery. No more.

Elric blazed forward, but the trail was becoming harder and harder to follow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.