Free The Awakening by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson Page B

Hunters about.”
    Jahrra paused, breathing hard with the rest of them. They’d been climbing this narrow canyon for a good half hour and despite the heat of the relatively warm day, she felt a sudden chill. It could have been the result of the mist being churned up by the narrow creek flowing past them, but Jahrra doubted it.
    “Red Hunters?” she asked when they noticed she had stopped walking.
    Kerra nodded solemnly. “They come around every now and again, though we haven’t seen them since I was newborn.”
    “They are the bad men who killed my mother,” Orella murmured quietly, her eyes cast downward.
    Jahrra didn’t have to press further to guess as to who employed the Red Hunters. Red: the Crimson King.
    “But don’t worry,” Kerra piped, “we haven’t seen any since that last time. Aydehn is just being cautious.”
    They continued on with their trek, Jahrra doing her best to shake the sudden feeling of foreboding that clung to her like a bad smell.
    Luckily, fifteen more minutes of climbing brought them to a sight that dashed away all dreary thoughts. The narrow trail and creek abruptly ended and before them, in the bowl of the canyon, stretched a deep and wide pool, a healthy ribbon of water streaming into it from the top of the ridge. The hidden gem was surrounded by old growth oaks and rocks blanketed in thick moss. Jahrra felt her mouth drop open.
    “Brave enough to jump?” Nerrid asked, his skinny arms crossed over his chest, his head inclined towards a shelf of rock some twenty feet up the side of the fall.
    Jahrra felt her mouth tug into a mischievous grin. She plopped down onto the nearest rock and started to remove her boots. The day was warm enough that her clothes would dry on the way back to Crie so, still fully clothed, she held out her arm and grinned.
    “Lead the way,” she said and the pack of eager children began the final climb up to the rock shelf.
    By the time they arrived back in Crie it was early twilight and Jahrra and her companions were still damp from their swimming. Jaax was waiting when they finally showed up, his every muscle wound tense, his jaw unyielding and his eyes like stone.
    Jahrra had been laughing, sharing a joke with her new companions, but when she spotted her guardian glaring at her from the edge of town, her merriment vanished and she froze. She had had such a good time that she had almost forgotten everything they’d been through in the past few months. When she looked her guardian in the eye, however, he seemed to warm just a fraction. Despite that tiny improvement, Jahrra had a feeling she wasn’t going to like the coming encounter with her guardian. Taking a deep breath she started walking once more, ready to face whatever it was the dragon was about to throw at her.
    Jaax had returned a few hours earlier, only after he was completely satisfied they hadn’t been followed this far yet. Aydehn had told him Jahrra went exploring with some of the other children and although he was irritated at first, he controlled his temper and nodded. It would do her good to discover some diversion while they were here. But as the day drew to a close and darkness began to set in, it took every ounce of his self-control not to leap into the air and begin searching for her. Didn’t she realize how dangerous it was to be out in the wilderness alone?
    Aydehn and his fellow villagers had reminded Jaax that Jahrra wasn’t alone but it hadn’t done any good. If he wasn’t careful he would end up burning Crie to the ground in his anger. It was only a few minutes ago that he’d made up his mind to go looking for his lost ward. Of course that was when she finally decided to return, laughing and looking completely at ease just as he reached the edge of town. His anger boiled hotter and the only reason he kept himself from demanding answers from her was because he knew his words would release themselves in the form of fire.
    Reining in his rage, Jaax took a deep breath and