The Deception by Suzanne de Montigny

Author:Suzanne de Montigny
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: friendship, fantasy, magic, teens, bravery, unicorns
Publisher: Books We Love Ltd.

Chapter 23

The Invasion

Drachen and his brothers stood on the edge of the settlement, peering through the leathery leaves of the bushes.

“That’s the last candle,” whispered Drachen. “Let’s wait a while longer to make sure everyone’s asleep.”

When enough time had elapsed, they tethered their horses and stepped out into the open.

Xavier whinnied, his hooves drumming the ground.

“Shhh,” warned Drachen, waving the small whip at the colt’s face. “Ya make a sound, ya get this.”

The colt let out a rumble and backed away, the whites of his eyes showing. Drachen raised his whip again, quieting the animal. When he was sure the colt was sufficiently subdued, they moved on noiseless feet to the small hamlet of cabins.

An owl hooted from its roost near the top of the structure.

“Who keeps an owl?” whispered Drachen.

“A witch,” said Kayden.

A shiver worked down Drachen’s spine.

Making their way to Adiva’s cabin, he went over the plan in his mind. They’d open the door very softly and sneak in. Kayden and Ike would grab the old man and gag him, while he’d wake Adiva, slipping his hand over her mouth to stifle any screams. Then he’d demand the horn. As soon as she’d hand it to him, and of course she would, they’d flee, grabbing a rabbit or two on their way out for their supper. Drachen snickered. That would show them – keeping the horn for themselves when they could have healed Mama and the other lepers. It was perfect.

They had inched nearly halfway to the cabins when Xavier let out a loud neigh. Drachen jumped. “Stupid colt!” he hissed.

A mare whinnied back.

“Why’d ya have to go and bring him along anyway?” grumbled Kayden.

“What? Ya wanna carry the extra stuff next time?” said Drachen, dripping with sarcasm.

Xavier neighed again, this time much louder and more brazen.

“Quick,” said Ike, “before he wakes up the whole place.”

“He’s gonna get a good whippin’ when we get back,” said Drachen.

They had just hastened their steps and approached the first cabin when a cloud floated over the moon, darkening the night.

“Oh great, that’s all we need – to be blind,” said Drachen. He reached his hands out, searching for the walls of the cabin. He pushed his way forward, feeling, listening. Behind him, his brothers followed, their hands gripped like claws to his shirt. “Stop pullin’!” he said.

A hand let go. Seconds later, an earsplitting clatter exploded behind him.

“Ow!” cried Kayden a little louder than he should have.

“Shhh, ya idiot!” whispered Drachen.

A dog let loose a volley of barking.

“Wasn’t my fault. It’s just so darned dark.”

Xavier neighed again. The mare whinnied back. The dog barked.

“Who’s there?” shouted a man.

Drachen flinched. Panicking, he cried, “Run!”

Doing an about-face, the three men dashed, unseeing, stumbling, and cursing as they went. With their sudden movements, all the animals awoke. Barks and neighs and roars brought the hamlet to life. Candles were lit.

Scrambling as fast as they could, the men dashed across the settlement and dove into the bushes. Untying their horses, they leapt on them and whipped them into a gallop, leaving the habitation and the men as far behind as possible.

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.