Archon

Archon Read Free Page A

Book: Archon Read Free
Author: Lana Krumwiede
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could easily get trapped inside a car.
    Taemon wondered if the days of quadriders were over. Would people go back to horses and carts? Or would someone take the time to convert the quadriders to corn fuel? Drigg was the only person who knew how, and it took weeks to do just one conversion.
    This would be a good one to convert. It reminded Taemon of the quadrider Uncle Fierre used to own before he bought his unisphere. He’d let Taemon drive it once and made him promise not to tell Mam.
    Mam. He should be looking after Mam, not daydreaming about quadriders.
    Taemon checked on her again while Amma pulled out the food and drink pouches she’d found in the asylum.
    “How’s she doing?” Amma asked.
    Taemon shrugged. “Same, though I worry she’ll be cold now that it’s dark. I wish we could have found a blanket for her.”
    “I know,” Amma said. “But the blankets must have been the first thing people took from the asylum. We’re lucky we managed to find food and drink.”
    He ran his hands through his hair. “It’s my fault. I tripped. Skies, if something happens to her, I . . .”
    “She’s been through a lot,” Amma said. “None of that is your fault.”
    Taemon looked up. It
was
his fault, he wanted to tell her. All of it. But he couldn’t say that in front of Drigg. He would have to bear the weight of his decision secretly, because if word got out that he was to blame for the Fall . . .
    “If anyone’s to blame, it’s Elder Naseph,” Anna continued. “He’s the one who started all this business of using psi for evil.” As if adding an exclamation point, she slapped a mosquito on her arm. “We’ll get her to the colony, and everything will be fine,” Amma said. “You wait and see.”
    Taemon nodded. He appreciated the encouragement, but things had not been fine in a long, long time. He had a feeling that fine was a good way off.
    Amma handed him a pouch with a picture of an apple on the label. He was fiddling with the cap, trying to figure out how it opened, when a cloud blocked the moonlight.
    “Amma, can you help me with this?” he asked, holding out the bottle toward her.
    “You’re worse than a child,” Amma teased, her hand brushing his as she felt for the pouch.
    Taemon was glad for the cover of darkness, which hid his flushed cheeks. He wasn’t sure if it was the teasing or the brush of her fingers, though, that embarrassed him.
    Suddenly, a man’s voice echoed in the darkness.
    “Everybody stop right where you are.”
    Taemon looked up to see a figure stepping forward from the shadows. A figure who had a bow with an arrow nocked and aimed right at him.
    Slowly, Taemon raised both hands. “We mean no harm.”
    “Maybe you don’t,” said the man. “But maybe we do.”
    More archers stepped into view. It was hard to count them in the dark, but Taemon thought he could see at least six. Were there more? The surrounding trees would make it easy for them to hide.
    For a moment, everything was silent except for the distant throbbing of cicadas.
    The archers were a ragged, scrappy-looking group, some men, some women, with mismatched clothes, lean bodies, and wild looks in their eyes. The one aiming at Taemon had stringy hair that hung in waves around his narrow face.
    “What’re you doing on this road after dark?” said the archer.
    Taemon swallowed. “My mother’s hurt. We’re taking her to get help.”
    “That’s your mother?” The man jerked his head toward Mam, but his eyes never left Taemon.
    “Yes,” Taemon answered. “We have to get her to —”
    “Well, ain’t that interesting?” The man smiled eerily. “The boy came for his mam.” The others chuckled dutifully. “Get up slowly, now. The big man can carry the lady. We’re takin’ you to see Free Will.”
    “Look, she’s hurt,” Taemon protested. “Just let us go. We won’t bother you.”
    His words had no effect.
    “Who’s Free Will?” Amma asked as one of the archers gathered up the food.
    The

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