Free The Girl With Red Hair (The Last War Saga Book 1) by Michael J Sanford Page B

eyes. “How can you force a mother that choice? Either way, I lose a child this night.”
    Maira’s rage ebbed in an instant as she slid to position her body over Laira’s knees. She placed both hands over her abdomen and then lowered her ear to it as well. No! her mind screamed. The disjointed voice of memories returned at once, echoing within her skull.
    “You’re with child,” she spat more than said. She should have sensed it in the energy. It was too strong for one being. How had she missed it?
    Laira nodded. “Please, Maira, I know you’re hurt, but spare my family. I beg of you.”
    Maira spun off the bed and stood for a moment, pinned in the light of the Mother and Daughter moons. A cold wash of snow brushed at her cheek one moment and vanished the next. The chill in her bones deepened, bringing with it a deep ache. She listened to her own panicked breathing. No, not this one. Snow crunched underfoot as she shifted away from the bed. Icicles, sharp as knives, grew from the rafters, each one threatening to fall and impale her. She shook her head, trying desperately to dispel the images. She clutched at her arms, trying to force some warmth into them.
    “Raise that child well,” she said at long last, turning to the open window. “And tell them of their oldest brother. The one that died for them.”
    Maira leapt from the window without waiting for a response and was dead before she hit the ground.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Nine
     
     
    ALEXANDER BOLTED UPRIGHT with a muffled gasp. Tannyl regarded the young man with a quizzical eye and set aside the arrow he had been fletching.
    “Jumpy one, aren’t ya?” he asked dryly.
    Alexander turned and shook his head, as if trying to dislodge something. “Nightmare,” he said.
    Tannyl grunted. “Wouldn’t think you’d be the one slipping into bad dreams.” He nodded past Alexander to where Sachihiro, Jaydan, and Adelaide all slept peacefully, scattered about the impromptu camp. Even the sprite, Erlen, snored softly from a nearby branch.
    “Just missing home, I guess,” Alexander said. He ran a hand through his hair and stared at the sky.
    “Almost dawn,” Tannyl said. “Once day breaks, we’ll see about getting that girl to Wolverhampton.”
    “Adelaide,” Alexander said.
    Tannyl only grunted. Names spawned attachment, and Tannyl knew attachment led to mistakes. Never again.
    They sat in silence some time. Tannyl resumed his fletching, glad to have something to focus his attention on. He should have been sleeping, he knew, but it was impossible to control one’s mind while asleep. And if he dreamed… He’d learned to stay awake as much as possible, stealing small bits of rest here and there. Besides, the prospect of going to the Fae Wyld had the elf on edge. It wasn’t the uncertainty of the strange place that irked him as it did the others, or even a doubt that it was real; he knew full well that it existed. It was one place he never thought he’d see again.
    “What are the Fae like?” Alexander asked, as if reading Tannyl’s thoughts.
    Tannyl shrugged. “Some are like the sprite,” he said, setting a finished arrow aside and beginning anew.
    “And the others?”
    “The Fae Wyld lies between worlds. But it’ll be better than trying to reach Wolverhampton on foot.” I hope. “And we may be able to get some answers along the way.”
    Alexander nodded. “Answers about what happened to your village?”
    Tannyl suppressed a smile. Alexander was young, but perceptive as well. It almost impressed him. “Yes. Whatever destroyed Woodhaerst was not of our world. That much I am sure of. The Fae All-Mother may know more.”
    “You really think it was dragons that did it? That they’re real?”
    Tannyl looked up. Alexander was staring intently back at him, his eyes firm, unwavering. He’s not scared, Tannyl thought. He couldn’t decide if it was because the young man was brave or foolish. Time would tell. “Don’t know, but