The New Guard (Crossroads Book 1) Read Free Page B

lantern left
by one of the horsemen.
    David
nodded his head and knelt to be eye to eye with his daughter. “Yes, Mary; our
house is just south of here, but we can’t go back there now. What we need to do
is get somewhere safe until the morning’s light can protect us.”
    “Will those
bad men go to our house? What about Mommy?” This came from Dinah, who was still
clutching tightly to Mary’s and Esther's hands.
    Before he
answered, David looked to the Beagle who let out a small woof that could have
almost been mistaken for a sneeze. At this, David nodded once more and turned
back to the children. “Your mother and the baby will be safe. We mustn’t forget
to trust in the Lord and know that He is guiding us even through this
darkness.”
    At those
words the Beagle ran over and fetched the still glowing lantern, and David took
it in hand. The Beagle ran off once more and within a few moments brought
David’s discarded lantern back. David lit it once more and handed it to Mel.
“See, He is a ‘lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.’”
    “Psalm 119,
verse 105,” Jeremiah whispered.
    David
smiled and reached out to touch Jeremiah’s head, “Yes, exactly. Come, let’s
go.”
    David
took the lead and the children quickly followed. All the children’s hands were
linked, and their eyes were locked onto the path their father was moving along.
All of them except for Mel and Nic. Mel walked toward the rear of the group
holding the lantern high, while Nic’s eyes never stopped scanning the
surrounding forest. Behind them all, the Beagle walked; his eyes too were casting
about the woods, searching for any dangers hidden within.
    None of
the children, not even Nic, was aware when the trees stopped being the trees of
their youth, the forest of their home. They did not see or understand the
change in the woods, as new alien species of flora and fauna mixed with those
specimens they knew so well. However, they were thankful there was not much
rain and it quickly stopped, and after an hour of moving swiftly through the
forest they came to a clearing. Fatigue and fear overrode confusion and hunger.
The littlest ones were soon sleeping, snuggled tightly with each other and on
top of the eldest. Most of the older children were trying to process what was
happening and had happened when David started a fire. It was then that Nic noticed
the fire pit which had been there waiting for them. Before he could form a
question in his mind or with his mouth, David spoke.
    “Sleep,”
was all he said. The word held such allure and command that almost instantly
the rest of the children started to fall asleep. Silas was the last to nod off,
but not before he saw his father sit down and begin to clean his sword.

Chapter
2
    The Dark
Riders (or Void Riders) and their horses could move around in the daylight, but
their hounds could not. The riders still had enough humanity in them that
sunlight was not a hindrance to their physical health. However, the dark powers
given to them by the Void were weakened to the point of uselessness in the
light of the sun. The same limitations hindered the horses’ ability to move at
more than a slow plod. The horses the riders used were normal horses, but they
were poisoned by the power of the Void, and prolonged exposure to the sun
harried them. The hounds, however, were a completely different kind of
creature. While on the outside they mostly resembled various types of hunting
dogs, on the inside they were incarnations of the Void. Stripped of life, the
Void was able to take hold of the hound’s flesh and move about, but only in the
night and never in the full moon. Sunlight burned and poisoned the hounds,
killing them if they lingered longer than a brief second in its rays. Even
overcast days could weaken the hounds, making them no more harmful than newborn
pups. The full moon was very much like an overcast day. All of this combined to
make the daylight a Dark Rider’s enemy, for they drew upon the