The Purifying Fire (Magic The Gathering: Planeswalker Book 2) by Laura Resnick

Author:Laura Resnick [Resnick, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780786955787
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2010-01-06T00:00:00+00:00

Jurl scurried toward a thicket of bushes. The steel leash prevented him from going more than a few steps before he stopped, grunting in pain.

“Hide” The goblin sounded terrified.

Gideon took Chandra’s arm. “Come on.”

Moving fast, they followed Jurl into the bushes. The thundering hoof beats were already much closer. As the three of them crouched down low behind the bushes’ naked branches, Chandra was grateful for the dark. These shrubs were thick, even without leaves, but she knew that she and her companions would be visible in the light of day.

She leaned forward and looked off to the left, past Gideon, where the hoof beats were coming from. As she swayed slightly in that direction, unsteady in her crouching position, her shoulder came into contact with Gideon’s.

He turned toward her. It was too dark to see his expression, but she could see his eyes looking directly into hers. Neither spoke. Then he, too, looked in the direction of the approaching riders.

Chandra heard a sharp whinny as the galloping horses entered the grove. Peering into the darkness, Chandra could see them faintly now. Fortunately, they weren’t coming this way. They passed through the withered grove at some distance from where they crouched in the bushes, moving diagonally away. She counted three riders … No, four, she realized, as they galloped into a pool of moonlight.

They were racing through a dense, low cloud of fog …

No, she realized a moment later, the fog moved with them, surrounding them and traveling in their company, flowing swiftly across the landscape. It made the horses look as if they were running atop a shifting white cloud, galloping through the air rather than on the ground. Yet their hooves must be touching soil, because they made a sound louder than thunder.

Watching this spectacle, Chandra felt chilled. The horses were all dark, and they galloped through the night with heedless speed. Perhaps, like Jurl, their eyes were well accustomed to this perpetual night. Or perhaps, she thought, as she watched the fog move with them, they didn’t really need to see where they were going.

The lead horse appeared to be carrying two riders, one of whom was struggling, seemingly held captive by the other. She saw pale limbs fighting for freedom and dark-clad arms restraining them. Chandra thought she could hear a terrified wailing as the horses galloped out of sight. A few moments later, the sound of the riders had faded completely.

Now she heard only the pounding of her heart and Gideon’s rapid breathing.

“What was that?” she asked Jurl.

“Fog Riders.”

“Good name,” she muttered.

“Who are they?” Gideon’s voice was low. His body, so close to Chandra’s, was still tense. “What are they doing?”

“Someone run away,” Jurl said. “They find. Bring back.”

“Back where?” Chandra asked.

“Velrav Castle.”

She listened to Gideon’s breathing and knew they were both thinking about the captive on that horse.

After a long moment, Gideon said, “Let’s keep moving.”

“Fog Riders, bad,” Jurl said with feeling.

“Yes, I think we grasped that.” Gideon rose to his feet and turned to help Chandra extract herself from the clinging arms of the thicket.

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