Legends of Gravenstone: The Secret Voyage by Alex Aguilar

Author:Alex Aguilar [Aguilar, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-10T22:00:00+00:00

XII

Ogres & Stonewalkers

Sitting calmly by the river bend, somewhere within the Woodlands, John Huxley and his two traveling companions were having their first meal of the day. Roasted wild rabbit, like the day before, and a handful of elfberries that Hudson managed to steal from the tavern counter when Miss Rayna was looking the other way. John wasn’t entirely thrilled by the idea of eating stolen berries, but they were many miles from the tavern by then and it was difficult to protest when his belly hadn’t been properly fed for the past week.

“These are incredible,” John struggled to keep the blue juice from oozing out of the side of his mouth. “We definitely don’t have these in Vallenghard.”

Hudson nodded back. “Banish an entire race of elves into the confines of the forest and you’re irrefutably bound to omit yourself from a few perks, mate.”

John glanced at the thief with a slightly baffled expression and said, “That was rather impressive, I’ll admit.”

“What was?”

“You have a way with words, I meant.”

“I’m a thief, mate, not an uncivilized arseling.”

“You mean like peasants?”

“I mean like kings.”

John couldn’t help but smirk at Hudson’s quick responses. The thief must have noticed, for he elaborated soon after, “Say what you will, but kings are often the most barbaric. It’s the power, mate. Too much of it can be toxic. Just ask Lord Ethelbert van Kurren.”

“But he’s dead…”

“Precisely.”

They sat in what appeared to be a safer part of the forest.

There was nothing around them but trees, dirt, and more trees.

Behind them was a large mound of stone, about ten feet high and several meters wide. John figured they could use it to their advantage, so as to prevent an ambush, and so they sat side by side near their dimly lit fire, their backs to the stone, keeping an eye on their surroundings. Syrena had taken a walk near the river, not too far from them. John tried to object, but Hudson reminded him that the witch knew a great deal more about the Woodlands than he did. She was, after all, home at last.

Hudson continued to bite into the crisp rabbit’s leg. He had taken only a few of the berries himself and let John have the rest. The farmer figured the thief had somehow eaten that morning without being noticed. In reality, however, Hudson never did trust the berries much.

“Seriously, these are unbelievable,” John said. “Mum would certainly love to get her hands on these. I’m sure she’d find a way to turn them into a nice sweet tea.”

“I doubt that very much, mate,” Hudson remarked. “They’re perfectly safe when eaten cold. But you should never boil them. Not unless you want to die young.”

“What d’you mean?”

“The hotter they get, the more dangerous. The acid can burn through your skin.”

It may have been the surprise of it all, but John swore he could feel his stomach turning as the juice of the berries mixed with the hot rabbit meat. His expression made Hudson chuckle.

“How do you think I got this scar?” Hudson pulled his sleeve up to his elbow.

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.