Free Dawn of Man (Thanos Book 1) by Thomas A. Watson

hair.”
    Not really sure what that meant, Jedek asked, “That’s good, right?”
    “Fairy hair is the best.”
    Jedek shrugged. “Let’s ask Ahnon,” he said and took off running across the water. Kenna clapped and ran along the marble edge of the pool, following him. The woman jumped up and followed at incredible speed, reaching Ahnon the same time the kids did.
    They all stopped by Ahnon as Jedek walked off the water. “Ahnon, can you make it so Kenna run on the water with me?” he asked.
    Confused, Ahnon inquired, “What about the bugs?”
    Jedek’s mouth fell open as he cut his eyes to Kenna. “Ahnon, not now,” he said.
    Jumping in the air, standing on her tip toes and eyeing the ground, Kenna squealed, “Bugs?”
    The woman walked over, putting her hands on the little girl’s shoulders. “There are no bugs,” she told Kenna.
    Looking up with wide eyes, Kenna said, “I don’t like bugs, Karme.”
    “Believe me, I know, Kenna,” Karme said with a tone that spoke volumes.
    Ahnon leaned close to Jedek. “I think you might have got some bad information. I don’t see bugs on the little one, and I’m looking hard,” he whispered.
    “Ahnon, shh,” Jedek whispered as Ahnon leaned back on the bench, smiling. “Can you make her run with me?” Jedek begged.
    Ahnon stood up, smiling as he reached behind him. Then, holding his hand over Kenna’s head, he spoke the words of magic, making her glow for a second. “Take off,” he said. 
    “Hold on!” Karme shouted and ran over to tie Kenna’s hair up while Kenna tapped her little foot, waiting. “Now take off.” Kenna jumped up and down, clapping, then ran over to the water and stopped. Stepping out with one foot, testing the water, she started laughing when her foot didn’t sink.
    She jumped out on the water and started chasing Jedek. The laughter of the two filled the air as Karme sat down beside Ahnon, watching the two play. “Girl bugs, huh?” Karme asked.
    “Yep,” Ahnon said, looking at her. Karme was shorter than he was by a few inches with long, black hair braided up with a beautiful face. Her body was the athletic body of a warrior though she still had feminine curves. Ahnon really noticed those curves.
    “Yeah, I just had to listen for ten minutes about boy worms,” Karme told him. Ahnon gave a soft chuckle. “You don’t have to make me look so bad,” Karme told him.
    “What?” Ahnon asked, looking over at her.
    “Using a spell to let them run on water. Now, come on,” she said, waving a hand at the two kids. “I can barely do basic spells,” she admitted.
    “It’s not that hard,” Ahnon told her.
    “Surely for you maybe, but I have trouble remembering the words, and I learned a valuable lesson from that. If you don’t say them right and focus your thoughts, bad things do happen,” she said.
    Shrugging, “It’s happened a time or two to me,” Ahnon admitted.
    Karme looked at him. “And you still casually just rip off spells?” she asked.
    “What good is having it if you don’t use it?”
    “Uh, dying,” she told him.
    Ahnon glanced at her then looked back at the kids. “Yes, there is that.”
    Karme looked back at the kids. “You have to give it to Queen Eira. This was a good idea.”
    Nodding as he spoke, “Until they figure it out.”
    “By then, it will be too late.”
    “You’re probably right,” Ahnon said.
    They watched the kids play for over an hour then watched Kenna trying to reach down and get a drink of water, but her hand couldn’t break the surface. Jedek came over to her, watching, then pointed over at Ahnon. The two broke into a run across the water, jumped over the marble ledge, and stopped in front of Ahnon, panting. They were both soaked in sweat, but smiles covered their faces.
    “Ahnon, can you stop the spell so we can drink?” Jedek panted out with his face red.
    Acting frustrated, “Use the spell and then turn it off. You need to make up your mind,” Ahnon said, sitting up