Free The Last Druid by Colleen Montague

did her best to describe what happened, never interrupting her.  By the time Calla had finished her tale Mai was quiet, thinking over every detail as she tried to come up with an explanation for her.
    Ca lla was growing anxious from the Nymph’s continued silence.  “What do you think about it Mai?” she asked nervously.
    Mai dropped down from the branch , kicking up dirt and leaves with her landing.  “It is strange,” she said at last.  “Somehow I think I know what it was you saw.  But it happened before your time, so how…?”
    “I just find it a little unsettling that I seemed to know exactly what was going on and who was around me.  But I’ve never been in battle before; I’ve never seen that kind of death, destruction and loss and I hope I never have to.”
    “What is the phrase your people use?  ‘Never say never’?”
    “That man that…killed ‘me’ —he was frightening, like something from my nightmares.  I don’t want to find out if he exists in the flesh.”
    “ Unfortunately he does exist.  We can only hope you do not meet Bralon—if he does not corrupt all he encounters he kills them.  But the child you saw, the one ‘you’ called Hiran…”  Mai’s voice trailed off.
    “I definitely don’t know anyone by that name.”  Ca lla must have seen the concern growing on Mai’s face.  “Do you have an idea who the child was?”
    “I suspect I might, though I am not completely certain—I do know someone named Hiran.  He is from the same country I am.  He has kept mostly to himself, rarely visiting anyone, keeping very few friends.  In the entire time we have been friends, he has never talked about his past or why he prefers his solitude.  A few years ago he just disappeared, leaving no clues as to where he went or why; it has actually come to the point that my Lady wants him found, because she is afraid for him.  Yet I cannot help but think there is more to it than that.
    “As for what you say you saw, I think I have an idea of what that was: at least ten years ago we were not yet at war with the Lord of Death and the forces of the Dead Lands—there were only a few skirmishes in some of the surrounding villages at the time, only the start of the troubles to come.  It was the last of these that started the war we deal with now.”
    “What happened?”
    “Bralon and His minions obliterated one of our larger cities—He destroyed it down to its foundations.  A warrior woman was there at the time.  She was a bit older than you are now; she did not have the Druid’s gift like you, but she had superior skill in battle.  But even being the best warrior in the world was not enough to help her.  The Lord of Death was present at the battle and killed her Himself.”
    Ca lla pushed a small branch out of her way.  “But why would I have a dream about something that happened a long time ago?”
    “Perhaps it is the Lady’s will.”  Mai hopped down from the root she was standing on into the fern-filled lane between trees.  “Perhaps it is Her way of telling you about what you may find yourself up against.”
    “ Terrific, I feel so much better about all of this now.”
    For much of the afternoon the two kept walking in silence.  On and on they trekked through the forest.  As much as she felt at home here in this wood Mai couldn’t ignore the uneasiness that was settling in her mind, a feeling she couldn’t ignore.  Why would Calla dream of an event that happened so long ago, a moment from someone else’s life no less?  That kind of thing could end up scaring her away and leave them to fend for themselves.  Dreams, she had been taught, were supposed to be messages from Fate.
    But sometimes receiving messages like that turned out to be omens of disaster.
    Mai was still lost in thought when they came to the edge of the forest.  The trees ended in a sharp wall that opened out to a vast plain that was brightly lit with midday sunlight, giving the green grass a