Rise of the Valiant Read Free

flapped his wings and in one quick motion, lifted off, so
abrupt that her palms scraped against his scales, like sandpaper.
    Kyra stood
there, stung, baffled—but most of all, heartbroken. She watched helplessly as
this tremendous creature lifted into the air, screeching, and flew higher and
higher. As quickly as he had arrived, Theos suddenly disappeared into the
clouds, nothing but silence following in his wake.
    Kyra stood
there, hollowed out, more alone than ever. And as the last of his cries faded
away, she knew, she just knew, that this time, Theos was gone for good.
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    Alec ran through
the woods in the black of night, Marco at his side, stumbling over roots
submerged in the snow and wondering if he would make it out alive. His heart
pounded in his chest as he ran for his life, gasping for breath, wanting to
stop but needing to keep pace with Marco. He glanced back over his shoulder for
the hundredth time and watched as the glow from The Flames grew fainter the
deeper into the woods they went. He passed a patch of thick trees, and soon the
glow was entirely gone, the two of them immersed in near blackness.
    Alec turned and
groped his way as he bumped off trees, trunks whacking his shoulders, branches
scratching his arms. He peered into the blackness ahead of him, barely making
out a path, trying not to listen to the exotic noises all around him. He had
been duly warned about these woods, where no escapee survived, and he had a
sinking feeling the deeper they went. He sensed the danger here, vicious
creatures lurking everywhere, the wood so dense it was hard to navigate and
growing more tangled which each step he took. He was starting to wonder if he
might have been better off staying back at The Flames.
    “This way!”
hissed a voice.
    Marco grabbed
his shoulder and pulled him as he forked right, between two huge trees, ducking
beneath their gnarled branches. Alec followed, slipping in the snow, and soon
found himself in a clearing in the midst of the thick forest, the moonlight
shining through, lighting their way.
    They both
stopped, bent over, hands on their hips, gasping for breath. They exchanged a
glance, and Alec looked back over his shoulder at the wood. He breathed hard,
his lungs aching from the cold, his ribs hurting, and wondered.
    “Why aren’t they
following us?” Alec asked.
    Marco shrugged.
    “Maybe they know
this wood will do their job for them.”
    Alec listened
for the sound of Pandesian soldiers, expecting to be pursued—but there came
none. Instead, though, Alec thought he heard a different sound—like a low,
angry snarl.
    “Do you hear
that?” Alec asked, the hair rising on the back of his neck.
    Marco shook his
head.
    Alec stood
there, waiting, wondering if his mind were playing tricks on him. Then, slowly,
he began to hear it again. It was a distant noise, a faint snarl, menacing,
unlike anything Alec had ever heard. As he listened, it began to grow louder,
as if coming closer.
    Marco now looked
at him with alarm.
    “That’s why they
didn’t follow,” Marco said, his voice dawning with recognition.
    Alec was
confused.
    “What do you
mean?” he asked.
    “Wilvox,” he
answered, eyes now filled with fear. “They’ve unleashed them after us.”
    The word Wilvox
struck terror in Alec; he had heard of them as a child, and he knew they were
rumored to inhabit the Wood of Thorns, but he’d always assumed they were the
stuff of legend. They were rumored to be the deadliest creatures of the
night—the stuff of nightmares.
    The snarling intensified,
sounding as if there were several of them.
    “RUN!” Marco
implored.
    Marco turned and
Alec joined him as the two of them burst across the clearing and back into the
wood. Adrenaline pumped in his veins as Alec ran, hearing his own heartbeat in
his ears, drowning out the sound of ice and snow crunching beneath his boots.
Soon, though, he heard the creatures behind him closing in, and he knew they
were being hunted by