Scarlet and the Keepers of Light by Brandon Charles West

Author:Brandon Charles West [West, Brandon Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Magic, (v5), Young Adult, Adventure, Fantasy, Teen
ISBN: 9781942024071
Amazon: 1942024037
Publisher: Manor Minor Press
Published: 2015-02-25T06:00:00+00:00

16

The Northern Woodlands

Brennan slept uneasily, his dreams filled with cries and screams. They’d come to the city through rolling hills and fertile farmland, and left it in the semidarkness of a long, damp tunnel. They’d passed under the moat and through the mountain pass, emerging a day later in a completely new world. The tunnel opened into a forest of majestic oaks and spruce, maples and redwoods. It was very different from the Southern Wildlands, which had been wild and untamed, filled with an overwhelming sense of danger and chaos. The Northern Woodlands exuded an air of peace, of order and comfort. Its denizens were almost all small mammals, gathering nuts and berries in the serene leafy shade and dappled sunlight.

And yet his dreams did not change. When Brennan slept, his mind was filled with images of Caelesta under siege, horrible things happening to the women and children who had hoped that the city’s great walls would protect them. And always, in the center of it all, the redheaded girl . . . He woke drenched in cold sweat, striking out against some unknown force.

He had little time for waking reflection. Driven by his determination to reach the girl, Chosen insisted they wake before dawn and be on the road moments later, often not stopping to eat. Occasionally he would suddenly change direction, going east instead of west or doubling back. Often Brennan could sense the passing Mortada that Chosen had barely avoided with these maneuvers.

“They are searching hard now,” Chosen offered in a rare forthcoming moment.

“Who are?” Brennan asked, not expecting any response. By now he didn’t really care whether Chosen answered his questions; perhaps childishly, he found a little enjoyment in the thought that they were at least an annoyance.

“The Mortada. Like the men by the river. Apparently they have fixated on Illuminora as her hiding place.” Chosen had stopped momentarily, scanning the forest for the path he’d take next.

To Brennan, the forest all looked the same. It was beautiful and peaceful, but nothing distinguished one area from another. It occurred to Brennan that if Chosen hadn’t been acting as a guide, he could easily find himself lost within these lush green woods for the rest of his life. Most of the time Brennan couldn’t even tell which way they were headed.

“Isn’t that where we’re going—where you think she is?” Brennan asked timidly.

“That is surely where she is,” Chosen snapped. “And if the idiots keep trudging around the forest in such numbers, that is where she is likely to remain for some time.” His annoyance was palpable, and mixed with an anxiety that Brennan had never seen in him before. With few exceptions, Chosen had always seemed self-assured to the point of arrogance.

Brennan couldn’t help but struggle over the disparity between Chosen’s motives and his character. Chosen was clearly connected somehow to these Mortada. In fact, Brennan was almost sure that he was one of them. He certainly knew a lot about them, and he looked remarkably similar.

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