Shepherd's Quest: The Broken Key #1 by Brian S. Pratt

Author:Brian S. Pratt [Pratt, Brian S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781438279275
Amazon: 1438279272
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2008-07-30T04:00:00+00:00

“There’s a group of them ahead,” he told them upon his return. “Maybe fifteen or twenty.” He then briefly described the buildings he saw and the fact that they were naked.

“Naked?” asked Riyan in disbelief.

Bart nodded. “As the day they were born,” he affirmed.

Chad shook his head. “You would think they would get cold at night,” he said.

“Perhaps,” shrugged Bart. “But I think we need to give them a wide berth. Once on the far side of their encampment we should start looking for some place to hole up before dawn.”

“Yeah,” agreed Riyan. “We don’t want to be moving around during the day.” Bart nodded then took the lead as he led them from the game trail and entered the forest. He took it slow and steady, always working to maintain their distance from the goblin encampment.

Some time after they circumvented the encampment and left the voices behind, they came across a small stream flowing in the general direction Bart figured the lake to be.

Realizing this would lead them to where they wanted to go, he altered their course to follow the stream.

Despite keeping a constant lookout for a place to hole up, all they encountered as they made their way through the forest were trees. No suitable place of concealment presented itself. Bart finally came to the conclusion that when the sky began to lighten, they would most likely be forced to find a dense copse of trees where they could hide throughout the day.

They followed the stream for another hour before it emptied into the lake. The twinkling of the stars above reflected off the surface of the water, giving it a dazzling appearance. Across the lake on the opposite shore, they saw the unmistakable sight of a goblin settlement. Not a large one to be sure, but a settlement nonetheless.

Before they arrived and saw the goblin settlement, they had thought to go around the southern shore and then follow it north. For the area indicated on the back of the key was on the western side. But if they did they would risk encountering that settlement and the goblins inhabiting it. At least a dozen lights could be seen coming from the buildings over there.

“Perhaps we should head north from here,” suggested Chad.

While standing at the water’s edge, they gave the route around the eastern shore of the lake a careful look. Unlike the western shore, it was dark and looked deserted.

“Around to the east it is,” announced Bart.

As they progressed around the lake, Riyan kept glancing to the lights on the distant shore. Almost as if he expected pursuit at any minute. But nothing developed and the longer they followed the shore, the fainter the lights became until they could no longer be seen. The sight of the settlement had seemed strange to him. After all, weren’t goblins little better than beasts? Wild and dangerous who’s only thought was that of killing any human they came in contact with? A shudder ran through him at the thought that so many could even now be in close proximity to them.

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