The Last Summoning---Andrew and the Quest of Orion's Belt (Book Four) Read Free Page A

up
slightly, and he nodded. “Your word?”
    “Yes.”
    “Your word means nothing. Remember…it is your
action that will show me.”
    Morack nodded. “Yes. Yes. I’ll remember.”
    The Shade’s eyes filled with a murky light.
“Oh yes. I almost forgot. The Fallen sends his regards. He also
hopes that you will prove your loyalty to him once and for
all.”
    Morack flicked bits of broken mirror off his
shoulders. “Prove my loyalty? So, now my loyalty is in question?
Unbelievable. I have done everything he has ever asked. What more
proof does he need? Me to cut off my own arm?”
    The Shade smiled and twirled a stray shadow
that was lingering in the air in front of him, creating a floating
whirlpool. “You haven’t done everything….”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You forgot to do something very important
that was asked of you some time ago.”
    Morack furrowed his brows, and slammed his
fists into the wall. “What did I forget to do now?”
    “Release something…”
    “Release what?”
    “You were supposed to release The
Drought.”
    “Release The Drought? I don’t ever remember
being asked to release The Drought. To do that would simultaneously
release The Famine. And Danspire doesn’t have enough food to
survive a thing like that.”
    “Well, you were asked once, and you did not
do it. Now I’m not asking, I’m telling you. Release The
Drought!”
    “I cannot! My people will starve.”
    “You can and you will. You are a resourceful
man. The Fallen has sent me with orders that you must go to the
four corners of the earth to gather enough food and water for your
city and the cities 'round about, so that when The Drought has been
summoned, The Fallen and his carefully-selected kings will have
food and water to supply the world with.”
    Morack’s face clouded over in anger. “Why
would I want to feed and water the world?”
    The Shade leaned over Morack, towering above
him like the trees he fostered. “Don’t you see? By doing this, you
will bring the people of every city, of every nation, and every
tongue, to their knees. Every unyielding soul, and every unwilling
heart, will be made to bend to The Fallen’s will.”
    Morack still looked unconvinced. “How will
releasing The Drought do all this?”
    The Shade’s voice filled with a cruel,
shadowy tone. “Few can resist hunger, and even fewer can resist
thirst. If pressed hard enough, the unbending souls will have no
choice but to give up their weapons in exchanged for food and
water. By receiving such a boon, they will have made their choice.
We will have won a war overnight, without a single blade being
raised. Weapons, and the making of them, will be outlawed. They
will have given away their heritage for food. And willingly. It is
the perfect plan. One that will not fail. Food for weapons, life
for their means to protect it. The plan is fail proof.”
    Morack nodded, his face filling with
understanding. “Ah, I see. How clever, how very clever. However,
there is something I do not understand. Why would you be interested
in releasing something that might damage your trees?”
    The Shade stepped back, his face filling with
a smoldering fire. “There is nothing left to damage. My trees have
been destroyed. The boy’s strength was underestimated.”
    It was Morack’s turn to look amused.
“Destroyed? Unbelievable! You had him at your fingertips---in your
power! I don’t understand, I thought you had him under
control?”
    “I did!” The Shade’s voice echoed through the
room with such intensity that the shattered pieces of glass on the
floor cracked, and shattered into even smaller pieces. “I had him
under MY control. But I could not contain him. Now that the grip of
my trees has been broken, and their roots withered, we must do
something drastic to maintain control, and keep hold of the
darkness that binds them. The Drought is the only thing that will
do this.”
    “I’m finally beginning to understand,” Morack
narrowed his eyes