Hunt For The Hero (Book 5) Read Free Page A

I pulled at the chains. They were thicker. The stone bigger. I don’t think Kryzak had any plans for them to survive at all. I dug my feet in and pulled again. The metal didn’t groan or twist. The ring in the stone didn’t loosen.
    Nooooooo!  
    I felt a hand tapping me on the shoulder. I jerked in the water and faced Brenwar. He was still alive. He slid Dragon Claw out of Fang’s hilt, stuck it between the links and twisted. I slid Fang between the links as well. Its steel was unbreakable. I was turning the blade, twisting the links in the metal, when something else happened. The chains crystalized like ice, stretching from one link to the other. Yes! I kept twisting. So did Brenwar.
    Snap. Snap. Snap.
    The metal links busted away. I grabbed Shum, pushed him to the surface, and swam for the edge.  Brenwar crawled out of the water, gasping for air.
    “Dwarves can hold their breath longer than any mortal race, but that was pushing it.”
    The Ranger was limp in my arms. Lips pale blue. His eyes were closed and his body was cold.
    “Shum,” I said, slapping his face. “Shum, wake up !” I pushed on his chest.
    Brenwar stood over me as I sat on the pool edge and squeezed my shoulder.
    “He’s gone, Nath. He’s gone.”
    “No,” I said, looking up, “he can’t be.”
    I’d seen Brenwar’s mad face plenty of times in my life, but never his sad one. Beard dripping, his expression was long, eyes wet. He rubbed his nose and sniffed.
    “I tried everything to save him,” he said. “But those chains would not give. I’ve never seen anyone die like that before. Such evil, Nath. Such evil.”
    I hit the wall.
    “Noooooo!”
    Bayzog and Sasha appeared on the other side of the pool, mouths gaping. I could hear what they were saying without the words. “Is he?”
    I just shook my head and wiped the hair from his face. Our friend, Shum, had died.
    I lifted him up in my arms and headed back for the tunnel. Everyone stepped aside with long faces and followed.
    “Let’s get out of here,” I said with determination.
    Tears streamed down Sasha’s face . “Pathfinder will lead us out.”
    I followed the light . Numb. Angry. This was my fault. My friends were pawns set up to torture me and now one was dead. It could have been all of them. They insisted on protecting me, but I couldn’t protect them. I sniffed and my eyes watered. I wanted to cry. I wanted to kill. I felt cold.
    There was evil here. Death and decay, but there was something else. Something I ’d missed before.
    D ragons.
    Somewhere. Caged. I could feel them. Smoke rolled from my nostrils. This wasn’t over yet.
    Unmolested , we made it out of the tunnels and into the pouring rain. An evil echo of laughter followed us out. We all looked back, then at one another. I kept peering down the tunnel.
    “We stay together, Nath,” Brenwar said, “We can go back in later. We should head back to the village and give a proper burial.” Brenwar sniffed. “He’d want that.”
    Jaw clenched, tears in my eyes, I whirled.
    “I’ll do what I have to do!”
    “One of us is dead,” he barked back, “do you want to see another? We came for Sasha. Our lives for hers. Shum knew that. He died with honor. Now don’t dishonor him and get more of us killed. That fiend has you rattled, Nath.” He tossed Dragon Claw into the dirt at my feet. “We can get him later. We need a plan.”
    He was right, but I didn’t care. I plucked Dragon Claw out of the ground and stuffed him back in Fang’s hilt.
    “Then you can stay here,” I said, stepping towards the tunnel.
    Thoom! Thoom! Crack!
    An Ettin pushed through the trees , uprooting them. Both heads showed ugly sneers. It wore an anchor and chain around its neck.
    “Time to eat,” one head said, looking at the other, patting its belly.
    “Ah,” the other head said, “it seems they’ve prepared an Elf for us. Mmmm-mmmm-mmm. They’re the most delicious.”
    It stepped closer.
    Brenwar, Shum and Sasha were still