Free Warrior Mage (Book 1) by Lindsay Buroker Page A

kin or even his hounds. Everyone was gone. A wind blew off the mountains, bumping two upturned canoes together on the beach, the sound eerie in the stillness of the valley.
    “Looks like a nice place to grow up,” Lakeo said.
    “It was. There should have been more kids running around, aside from my brother and me, but, well, you’ve heard the story about my mother. We did have some younger cousins who were around. That made it seem busier. Fuller.” Unlike how it felt now. Yanko peeked into the vehicle stable. The big lizards, a special breed that had been magically adapted over the centuries to deal with the cold of the mountains, were gone, but the wagons and the two carriages remained. Even from the doorway, he could feel the power from the Made devices that powered them. “Strange. Everyone left, but they didn’t take the carriages.”
    “Those look like they would only be good on the roads,” Lakeo said.
    “They are. The wheels aren’t suited for rough terrain. Are you opposed to taking the road down to the coast?”
    “Didn’t you say some of those invaders were traipsing through the mountain pass? Along the main road?”
    “Yes, but...” Yanko chewed on the inside of his cheek. “How many of those bands of marauders could there be? My uncle and I just crossed the pass on the road out to the mines a couple of days ago. I didn’t hear anything in town about trouble coming. But my uncle’s dying words... He seemed to think this was inevitable. And I remember Prince Zirabo mentioning something about it, too, back when he came to the mines.” He pushed his hand through his hair, half knocking out his topknot but not caring. “Why didn’t any of them tell me more? Did they think I was too young? That I wouldn’t care? Or couldn’t be trusted?”
    “Maybe they thought you were getting everything you needed from those newspapers you were reading.” Lakeo pointed to the porch. “So, there’s a bed in there I can use?”
    Yanko waved her toward the door. “There’s not a lock. Go ahead.”
    He should think of bed, too, but it would not be dark for another hour or two. Even if they hadn’t slept last night, he couldn’t imagine relaxing now, not when he hadn’t solved the mystery of his people’s disappearance. Had they all run up into the hills to hide from the invaders? It was hard to imagine his father cowering behind a rock, even if a wizard was involved, but Yanko would feel better knowing everyone was safe in the forest somewhere.
    In the brush near the main gate, birds squawked and flew up. The creaking of something—a wobbly wheel?—drifted on the breeze. Yanko flexed his hand around the hilt of the sword he had been carrying all night and day. He stood with his back to the porch that led into the house—Lakeo had already disappeared inside. Maybe he should find some shadows to hide in.
    Before he had taken more than a step toward the woodpile at the side of the house, an army carriage wobbled into view, one of its wood and rubber tires half-busted, the cannon that should have been mounted on the roof torn off. Despite the sturdy construction and reinforced leather armoring the thick walls, no less than a dozen arrows stuck out of the sides. There wasn’t a driver sitting on the exterior seat, and whoever was peering at the road through the horizontal slit of a window in the front didn’t seem to be doing so soberly. The vehicle kept veering into the tall grass and ruts beside the cobblestones.
    Yanko did not know if he should be running forward to help or continuing to his hiding spot. He stretched out with his senses, endured another white flash of light that had him gripping the corner of the house for support, then gasped because he recognized the aura of the wagon’s sole occupant.
    “Falcon?” he whispered, a mixture of confusion and disbelief rushing into him.
    It had only been a few months since he had seen his brother, when Falcon had been home on leave. He had returned to