War of the Fathers Read Free Page A

him. Adar
glanced back but Wes had disappeared.
    A few minutes later Adar spotted him chatting with a
girl close to his own age on the other side of the square. Always with a smile
and up to something. It was good to see somebody enjoying themselves.
    Adar continued to scan the crowd from a little bit
further away, hoping this time to avoid unwanted conversations. He was
concerned about the poster that Neare had mentioned. If that poster had made it
here, the bounty hunters wouldn't be too far behind. If that was the case, it
was time to leave.
    Confound it. He hated having to wait. Jorad's escort
should have been here months ago. When Adar was satisfied that Jorad wasn't at
the celebration, he left feeling like it had been a waste of time. He needed to
know how far along things were with Soret. Adar couldn't let her stop Jorad
from fulfilling his duty to Rarbon.

Chapter 2
    The last rays of the day lit upon the trees of the forest
and caused the leaves to glimmer. Some of which were already turning orange and
yellow. Even though a majority of the leaves still held their original color,
the reminder of the approaching fall wasn't lost on Jorad Rahid as he made his
way down the trail.  
    He looked through the forest to the large clearing
ahead. Clearing wasn’t exactly the right word since it was quadruple the size
of Neberan but he couldn’t think of another way to describe it. Little grew in
the open area because it was covered with paved rock.
    The pavement showed little in the way of wear, despite
the fact that Jorad believed it to be well over a thousand years old, maybe
from even before the Severing. That wasn’t what drew his eye though; it was the
tower in the center. He was certain it—people from Neberan called it
Vigorock—was from before the Severing.
    At several places in the clearing, rocks had been
mounded up in various formations, the largest of which was several stories high
and shaped like a pyramid. These formations looked much newer.
    “We need to get back,” Soret Tedenhel said, breaking
into his thoughts. “It won’t be long before my dad notices I’m gone.” She was a
step or two behind him and was moving carefully, trying to keep her dress from
brushing up against the bushes that were crowding the path; it had been made
for festivals, not for moving about the woods. He figured she was also getting
cold, but didn’t want to say so.
    “Besides Vigorock gives me the creeps,” Soret said.
“Wish it wasn’t so close to Neberan. I hate seeing it every day.” She fidgeted,
her green dress shimmering and Jorad couldn’t help but notice her figure as she
shifted, her long black hair twisting around her. She caught him looking and he
returned his attention to Vigorock, a much less impressive view and perhaps
less mysterious.
    Seeing Vigorock from this close, and it was still
almost a mile away, was something else. It was like a big metal spike that was
similar to a pyramid at the base, but instead of four sides it had eight. The
sides twisted around the length of the tower giving Vigorock an unearthly look.
How could anybody live within sight of this and not wonder what it was? More
than a thousand years old and the metal hadn’t rusted; its reflected light
would have been visible from Zecarani if there wasn’t a mountain range in the
way.
    Adar was convinced the tower was a weapon and had
spent a lot of time trying to puzzle it out. Jorad had wondered about Adar’s
sanity when they spent an afternoon circling the tower, stopping every so often
so Adar could swipe his thumb along the base. Jorad had asked for an
explanation but of course hadn’t received one. Given the fact that his father
Adar had been unable to puzzle out Vigorock’s mysteries, he would get itchy
feet soon and want to leave Neberan. Jorad was surprised it hadn't already
happened. They'd been in Neberan for six months and that was unusual. The
longest they usually stayed somewhere was less than three.
    Despite Soret's