Free The Orphan Wars (Book One) by Shane Rowling

water as each rock sank to the bottom of the lake.  A rush of unusually hot air came blowing in.  He noticed a large Black Orb materialize in the middle of Serend Lake.  The orb would occasionally emit a bright flash of light about every minute or so.  This caused Nemeth to be uncomfortable so he unfolded his legs and stood up.
    "Could any of these kids be sober eno ugh to conjure up that Black Orb?" asked Nemeth quietly.
    Nemeth began to walk clockwise around the lake and started to head back towards where he first encountered Ferrin.  The sounds of laughter and conversation continued to fill the air.   Nemeth tried to do his best to stealthily maneuver past anyone in the area.  Nemeth began to hear a few screams coming from the direction of the lake.
    "I'm sure that's nothing to be worried abo ut," said Nemeth quietly.  "Those screams are probably just caused by bad experiences with Ambrule."
    More and more screams could be heard coming from the direction of the lake.  The screams became louder and louder.  Nemeth was almost ready to cover his ears to block out the noise.  He looked around and began to see strange things happening around Serend Lake.  Plants were growing at a rapid pace from the ground and wrapping themselves around the arms and legs of students making them nearly immobile.  Branches were extending themselves from nearby trees and locking students in what closely resembled wooden cages.  The ground around the area became enveloped in shadows and the grass started to wilt.
    Blades of grass and clumps of dirt shot up from the ground into Nemeth's face causing him to cough heavily and be unable see.  He sat down on the ground and started rubbing the dirt and grass out of his face with his hands.  He spit a huge chunk of dirt out of his mouth.  When he was finally able to open his eyes and see clearly again, there was an absolutely frightening sight.  A giant wolf, about 20 feet tall was only a short distance away from Nemeth.  A sinister looking troll was riding the wolf on a saddle and was holding reigns that wrapped around the giant wolf's neck.  The troll appeared tiny compared to the wolf so it was unclear as to how tall he was.  One thing that was clear though was that the troll was in command of the wolf.
    Suddenly, Nemeth's body began to glow just like it had done when Darunda cast her spell on him at the graduation ceremony.  A yellow ball of ene rgy emerged from Nemeth's body.
    " MASTER NEMETH!" yelled the ball of energy.  "YOU MUST GET UP THIS INSTANT!"
    Nemeth rolled a couple of times to his left and did a kick-up off the ground onto his feet.  Nemeth looked at the ball of energy .  Within the ball of energy was a mysterious image of a young woman's face.  Nemeth had suspected that this was his Guardian Spirit here to protect him.  In the distance, the troll was casting a spell on a nearby sugar maple tree.  One of its medium sized branches snapped off the tree and gravitated slowly towards the right hand of the troll.  The troll was now grasping the tree branch like a club.
    "RUN AWAY FROM SEREND LAKE TOWARD JUSTILE DORMITORY NOW!" yelled the ball of energy.  "RUN NOW NEMETH BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"
    Nemeth began running toward Justile Dormitory.  The wolf-riding troll began to chase Ne meth.
    "It's alright kids!" shouted Ferrin.  "I have the situa tion under control!  I will kill this foul creature and then the festivities will continue!"
    Nemeth stopped to watch as Ferrin started running toward the wolf-riding troll with his spear positioned overhead.  Ferrin threw his spear at the troll.  The troll cast a spell on Ferrin's spear, causing the metal portion to snap off and fall to the ground.  The wooden shaft of the spear was sent spiraling back towards Ferrin.  The wooden shaft of the spear hit Ferrin in his shins causing him to flip over.  Large black roses with many thorns began to entangle Ferrin's body.  Nemeth's heart began to beat rapidly.
    "MASTER YOU