The Dark of Twilight (Twilight Shifters Book 1) Read Free

twenty-four hours after we arrive."
    "You're on," she said, giving him a smile.  But as he met her brown eyes this time, Lars did not smile back.

Chapter Two
    A week and a half into their journey, the landscape began to change.  The forest was gone and now the trees just dotted the landscape here and there.  They had shifted from the pines of the north to species Aein had never seen before.  Their branches were covered with dripping leaves and hanging moss.  The earth had changed, too.  The firm ground disappeared into a soft bog and their road was now replaced by a path of split wooden logs.  Aein paid attention as they rode, looking for any rotten wood that needed to be replaced.  She had been told if anything came through the border, this path could be set on fire.  The soft earth might not prevent an invading horde, but it could help slow them down. 
    Lars shielded his green eyes.  "We should reach the swamp soon.  There is a clearing just inside which is a good spot to rest the horses."
    Aein stretched, the agony of being in the saddle all day still made her bones ache.  "I can hardly wait to be anywhere which doesn't involve an animal between my thighs."
    "I get that often," said Lars with a wink.
    She reached over and gave him a good natured shove.
    After just this short time together, she could not imagine spending two months on tour with anyone else.  Lars was patient as she fumbled, laughing at her rather than offering pity, challenging her just enough to keep her growing.  As they grinned at each other here in the bog, she knew he would be important to her for the rest of her life.  There had been too many talks around the dark campfire, too many laughs over ruined meals, too many seeds of friendship planted.
    "Come along, yellow bird," he said, tweaking a lock of her now filthy blonde hair.  "Keep moving."
    As they got closer, the air became sticky and thick from the humidity.  The heat from the rising sun made Aein's leather armor and chainmail feel even hotter and more uncomfortable.  By noon, the swamp sat before them. A heron flew overhead and into the drowned forest. The ground disappeared beneath the water and the trees sat like giant fingers soaking in the murk.  A cloud moved across the sky, blocking out the sun.  Everything seemed cast in shades of gray, as if all the color had been sapped from the world.  A brown snake swam beside the planked road.  Aein pulled at her clothing as the sweat puddled in areas she did not even know she had.
    "Is this the misery of the swamp that drives a person mad you were talking of?" she asked, wiping her brow.
    Lars held up his hand and dismounted.  "We should walk the horses.  Keep them from getting overheated."
    "No one seems concerned about keeping me from overheating."
    "Are you sure you were trained to be a soldier?" Lars asked.  "Because right now..."
    Aein suddenly stopped, her head swiveling over her shoulder.  "Did you hear that?"
    "Hear what?" asked Lars, looking where she was focused.
    Fingers of fog were coming through the forest, wrapping themselves around the trees, swallowing up the landscape wherever they touched.
    "In the fog there," said Aein quietly.  She unsheathed her sword as she peered into the gray. 
    Lars began laughing. "Put up your sword, Aein.  That's what I was talking about."
    "What?" she asked sharply.
    He pointed.  "The fog.  It does things to the mind.  I promise you that there is nothing there except confusion."
    "But I heard something," she insisted.
    "You and every sentry ever to walk the border.  The fog consumes sounds.  It consumes... thoughts.  I don't know how to describe it."  He stared at the fog.  "It'll reach us eventually.  We should try to keep ahead of it.  As little exposure to that stuff as possible is always a good idea."
    Aein sheathed her sword, trusting her partner.  But she kept an eye on the grey mist.  As they stepped into the canopy of the swamp's trees, the fog seemed to