The Demon Horsemen Read Online Free

command!’ she replied.
    Again, she waited. This time, a group of six soldiers emerged from cover among the broken temple walls,peacemakers at the ready, eyes frantically searching the surrounding vegetation for their assailant. Two other soldiers crossed towards Swift and one raised his peacemaker to her head. ‘We don’t bargain!’ he yelled.
    Meg’s heart sank. She feared that a young soldier inside the temple was very badly injured, and now this soldier was complicating the situation with his bravado. Worse, with his muzzle pressed to Swift’s temple, he was turning the stand-off into a deadly gamble.
    ‘This is not about hurting anyone,’ she stated with all the authority she could muster. ‘Let your prisoner go.’
    ‘Whoever or whatever you are, come out of hiding or I swear I’ll kill this bitch!’ the soldier bellowed.
    The other soldiers readied their peacemakers. Meg knew that the moment she stepped into view they would shoot her. She was too dangerous to leave alive. She had a variety of options still, but chose expediency for Swift’s sake. She pointed her finger at the defiant soldier. The energy bolt blew off his head and his body crumpled at Swift’s feet. Meg put aside her sickening disappointment at having to resort to violence and called out to the remaining soldiers.
    ‘I won’t ask again. Four of you will carry the young woman to the north side of the river. And you will do it now.’
    Several soldiers backed away into the undergrowth, their fear overriding duty. The rest argued among themselves. Finally, four of them warily crossed the space to Swift, giving quick glances at the decapitated corpse as they untied her. One of the men gagged, then vomited. Swift slumped as the ropes were loosened. Meg kept a watchful eye on the soldiers not involved in releasing the girl, hoping that none of them would rediscover the courage to jeopardise the situation.
    The soldiers’ progress to the northern bank of the river was painfully slow. When they reached the stonebridge, Meg made a small portal and passed through it to appear on the opposite bank at the entrance to the building she’d identified to the carriers. The four soldiers hesitated when they saw the white-haired old woman in the ruined doorway. She beckoned them to approach and motioned for them to lay Swift on the slab of stone.
    ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry for your friends who have been hurt. If you bring them here, I can heal them.’
    ‘What about Hordemaster Caster?’ asked a dark-haired young man. ‘You killed him.’
    ‘He would have killed my gra—my companion,’ she replied calmly. ‘I gave him a choice.’
    She glanced across the bridge and spotted three soldiers taking aim with their peacemakers. Amplifying her voice once more, she called to them, ‘Put the weapons down. You’ve seen what I can do.’
    The soldiers lowered their peacemakers, looking puzzled. She guessed they were wondering how an old woman could have bested them so thoroughly. She turned back to the four men standing before her. ‘You’ve done as I asked and I’m grateful,’ she said. ‘Go back home. Your job here is finished.’
    She waited for the soldiers to retreat across the bridge and back to the ruined temple before she concentrated on her memory of the library. A blue haze formed in the crumbled doorway. She gathered Swift’s heavy and bloodied body in her arms and, struggling with the weight, stepped through the portal.

C HAPTER T HREE
    M eg was in territory beyond her experience. In the past when she had applied her healing skills, she had felt radiant warmth emanating from her spine through her hands and into the receiver of her healing, but this time she felt as if she had been pulled into Swift’s psyche. It was like falling into a wild river where survival was utterly dependent on keeping a clear head and moving with the current. Her instincts warned her to scramble for safety, to escape the torrent, but she trusted