Free First Hero by Adam Blade Page A

soldiers appeared dragging a whimpering Geffen between the tents. His face was paler than ever. The soldiers threw him down at the general’s feet. “Leave us,” Gor ordered.
    As the soldiers departed, the general leaned down and seized Geffen by his hair. He yanked the boy viciously to his feet.
    Beside Tanner, Gwen raised one of her throwing axes, but Tanner shook his head. They might learn something useful.
    “It seems we have a problem,” said Gor.
    “Wh-What?” asked Geffen.
    “The map isn’t telling me what I need to know.” Gor pushed him toward the unrolled parchment.
    Geffen looked at the map and shrugged helplessly.
    “You know as well as I do that the map has something to do with this,” he spat, holding up the mask fragment. “And you’re going to help me find the rest. What are the map’s secrets?” Gor’s face was contorted with fury, all his attention focused on the boy.
    Tanner turned to Gwen and mouthed, “Ready?”
    She nodded, her lips pressed together in a look of grim determination.
    “I don’t understand,” said Geffen, his voice breaking. “Jonas never taught me how to read this map’s secrets!”
    Gor snorted, and threw the piece of mask at Gwen’s brother. It bounced off his chest and landed on the ground.
    “You will tell me,” said Gor, “or you will —”
    Tanner felt Gwen’s arm swish past his ear, and an ax spun through the air. Gor jerked back as it thudded into a tree a finger’s breadth past his head. She rushed toward Gor, who quickly pulled Geffen toward him and placed his dagger against the boy’s neck.
    “Stop!” Gwen pulled her rapier from her cloak’s lining, and held the slender blade to Gor’s throat.
    “Gwen!” cried Geffen.
    Tanner advanced on Gor, his sword leveled.
    “Another step,” said the general, “and I’ll slice his throat like a pig.”
    “If you kill him,” said Gwen, her blade steady as a rock, “you die, too.”
    “Then it seems we have a dilemma,” sneered General Gor.
    Tanner’s eyes were drawn to the map. The piece of the mask lay beside it. If he could only snatch them up …
    A crunch — the sound of wood splintering. The ground began to shake.
    Tanner spun around, lifting his sword. Horror swept through him.
    At the edge of the clearing, Varlot stood with bronzed hooves planted wide, his massive chest rising and falling beneath his scaled armor. He reached out and gripped the branch of a nearby tree. With one massive tug, he tore the whole tree from the ground. Soil fell from the white roots, and leaves swirled through the air. Varlot roared and hurled the tree straight at Tanner.

T anner dove out of the way as the tree descended. Branches and twigs lashed his face. He leaped back to his feet just as Gwen lunged with her rapier, the thin blade hissing through the air. Varlot was too quick for her and leaped out of the way, his bronze hooves smashing into the ground as he fell back to the earth. Gwen pulled an ax from her belt and sent it spinning at the Beast. It lodged in Varlot’s armored skin, making the Beast bellow with rage. Tanner hacked his sword at the Beast’s side, but the blade bounced off with a metallic ring.
    Varlot lashed out with a hoof, catching Tanner in the stomach, sending him stumbling through the burning logs of the fire. He landed facedown in the dirt. Pain flared in his ribs, but he struggled up. Gor was dragging Geffen back to the camp. In his other hand was the mask and the map.
    “Don’t tell him how to use the map!” shouted Gwen.
    Geffen called something in reply, but Tanner couldn’t hear.
    Varlot tore a branch from the tree and swung it at Gwen. She ducked beneath it and darted toward him, hacking at the Beast’s legs with her rapier. The armored hide was thinner there and the Beast staggered back, roaring, eyes swiveling wildly. Tanner ran to her side, swinging his sword.
    “Run!” he shouted.
    “I can’t leave without Geffen!”
    Varlot crashed into a tree, tearing its