The Marechal Chronicles: Volume V, The Tower of the Alchemist Read Free Page B

Jacq's neck as he listened like she did, both of them straining to hear something that would explain it was nothing either of them need fear.
    Instead, there was a deep, hollow grunt, then the pounding beat of drums rolled beneath their feet as the ground shook.
    Whatever it was had broken into a gallop.
    And it was coming straight for them.
    Jacq's eyes went wide, then he shouted, “Run, Catherine!”
    They bolted like a pair of wild animals, yet Jacq never let Catherine's hand go as they burst down the last bit of trail leading to the meadow and the provisions that Jacq had hidden there.
    They ran for all their worth as Catherine imagined that some towering, heavy beast drew closer with each breath she took.  She knew it was only a matter of seconds before she would feel its hot respiration and smell the stink of its steaming, foul breath.
    They ran for the meadow, and it was nothing more than instinct.  It had become a haven for them, a shelter where they went to feel safe from the disapproving looks that came their way within the confines of the village.
    A scream threatened to burst from Catherine with each gasping breath she took, for she knew that the meadow could not shield them from the beast at their heels.  It was panic that drove them and not some dim memory that what was supposed to become the beginning of their lives together lay ahead, near the secret patch of strawberries, all that they could manage in four pitiful sacks of burlap.
    It seemed fitting, then, that it would be there that they would end their brief lives and they would do so while holding one another.
    A wayward blackberry cane ripped across Catherine's cheek as they gained the futile shelter of the meadow.
    She still felt it stinging with warmth as a welt rose upon her face, then the two of them turned to face the beast bearing down upon them.
    Jacq's arms were around her, and the scream that Catherine had held in silence at last broke free.
    She screamed and the ground shook as a darkness blacker than the night loomed in the clearing.
    The beast towered over them.  Its breath was hot and curling puffs of vapor streamed from its nostrils.
    All of it was as dark as evil can be, except for the pair of yellow tusks jutting from the sides of its massive jaw.
    Enormous cloven hooves pawed the ground before them, then the beast swung its head to the side and Catherine saw a red, beady eye staring down at them with undisguised hunger.
    She screamed again and the thing grunted deep within its throat as it opened its maw wide.
    With a mighty heave, Jacq threw Catherine behind him and turned to face the beast while saying, “Catherine, go.  I'll do what I can to slow it down.”
    Catherine wept as she watched her brave Jacq turn to face his own death, his hands clenched into bare fists as his only weapons.
    “No!  I won't leave you!” she wailed.
    Before Jacq could answer her, she saw a streamer of darkness unfurl from the trees to one side of them.
    It was small by comparison, but it moved rapidly, like smoke blown before a gust of wind.
    In an instant, the fluttering slip of darkness crossed the meadow, then lifted into the air to come down upon the monster's outstretched neck.
    There was a cracking sound, like that of a bullwhip, then Catherine saw the beast's muzzle rear up and as it did, she saw a shining black cord wrap itself like a collar around the thing's neck.
    The strange, smoky form upon the beast's back grew thicker, condensing in a rush to reveal a young woman.
    She was a thing of dark beauty.  A terrible beauty made all the worse by the horror she rode, a pair of black reins caught in her hands as she pulled back with what must have been all her strength.
    Then they both heard her voice.
    “He is drawn to you and the passion that binds you.”
    Her face twisted upon her own words.  It was as if she found what she said a bitter thing indeed.
    “Run as fast as you can for as long as you can.  For once I have come in time, but I