Free The Sword of Sighs (The Age of the Flame: Book One) by Greg James Page A

shock and disbelief. Sarah rocked from the balls of her feet to her heels and back again. The rain shrouded all movement in the clearing, but she was sure it was being watched by whomever, or whatever , had slain the Taproots and Saltwines. This was a trap; she knew it. It was plain to see, but that also made it so perfect. As she watched Barra protectively circling Woran, who was as unmoving as the dead Esiah, she knew she could not leave them even if they were bait meant for her.
    The man in my dream said I would not be alone , she thought.
    Alone or not, Sarah knew what she had to do.
    She stepped out into the clearing, brandishing the small axe, holding the haft tight, ready to swing at the slightest sight or sound. She crept towards the man who had cared for her these three long years. Barra licked at her hands and face as she knelt down by Woran. She smiled, despite the dark and the rain. She could see the old man's chest rising and falling. Each breath was a laboured sign of life. Woran’s eyes flickered. She could see a dark patch spreading across his shoulder. She reached for it, wincing. Sarah drew back the torn cloth and saw the wound. It was deep and already ulcerous, even with the rain washing it.
    What could have done something like this?
    A rustling came from all around her. Barra began his circling once more, now around Sarah as well as Woran. He jumped and barked at the shadows that fringed the clearing. Sarah got to her feet, axe in hand.
    We are so small, she thought, Barra and I. What chance do we have?
    Five shapes arose from the shadows, stalking out to stand around them. Swords were drawn, scraping rustily from aged scabbards. Sarah could not see whether they wore hooded cloaks or were still embraced by the clinging dark. Her eyes hurt as she tried to look at them. They were not quite there, seeming to blur, fade and flicker as black ghosts cast by dying candlelight.
    Like my dream , she thought, before I came here. All those years ago. The dream on the bus. The mountain I climbed. These things were there.
    They cut my head off.
    “Oh, god. Shit. Okay.”
    She gritted her teeth to try to stop the shaking of her body. They closed in, tightening the circle around her just as she had dreamed, though this was a forest clearing rather than a mountain peak.
    I’m going to die.
    Then they stopped, still flickering but somehow frozen, as still as statues. Sarah felt a pulsing knot of tension relax inside her, just for a moment. Then she heard it—an awful rising sound, the feral howl that had haunted her all the way here. It was coming from all around her, from the black shapes. And they were suddenly moving again, faster than the falling rain, passing in and out of sight, their swords raising and dashing down. Sarah shouted her own wordless cry as she struck out, spinning awkwardly, falling clumsily, dodging and weaving, missing sword slashes by a hair’s breadth each time. The blows that fell on her axe tore chunks from the wood of the haft, and she was sure they were blunting its blade. It was as much as she could do to defend herself from the storm of shadow-swords, striking back at them was beyond her strength and skill.
    She was driven to her knees. Her arms, legs, and back were aching from the strain on her muscles. Peals of thunder underscored the screams of the black shapes. Flares of lightning illuminated faces that Sarah wished she had not seen—bleached bone, torn skin, burning eyes and hanging mouths. She fought on, rolling and scrambling away from their swords. The wet earth seemed to steam as the poisonous blades bit into it. The haft of the axe was now little more than a splintered stick. The blade was a battered lump of flint. Soon it would be useless, and she would be at their mercy.
    Then, it all stopped.
    The swords were no longer cutting through the air. There was only the relentless pounding rhythm of the rain about her, and the shapes seemed frozen once more. Sarah got gingerly to