The Demon Horsemen Read Online Free Page A

a deeper sense and let herself sink into the rushing maelstrom. And just as she thought she would be overwhelmed, she felt the pain and fear dissolve, to be replaced by a great stillness, a silence deeper than midnight on a moonless open plain. Somewhere in the silence and emptiness she knew she would find Swift, or at least her spirit, and when she spied a small, soft light glowing at the edge of her vision she pushed towards it, walking and yet not walking, floating as one moved in dreams. When she reached the light, she found Swift’s self curled in a ball in its glow, like a tiny child. She reached out and touched the child’s shoulder. Swift flinched at the contact and bunched more tightly into her ball.
    ‘You will be all right,’ Meg crooned. ‘I am here to heal you.’
    The child looked up with eyes that were deep green pools of terror, at once pleading for help and yet begging her to go away—a look that startled Meg and filled her with immense sorrow. For an instant, she doubted her right to be where she was, but she also felt a welling love for the child who could be the daughter of her lost and beloved son, Treasure. It was a maternal pull that strengthened her resolve to save Swift even from the verge of death.
    ‘Give me your hand,’ she said gently, and when the child’s green eyes questioned her she added, ‘I will always keep you safe. Give me your hand, my granddaughter.’
    ‘Will she live?’ Chase asked, standing next to Swift’s supine form stretched out on the library table.
    ‘Yes,’ Meg replied, exhaustion in her voice, images from the depths of Swift’s spirit vivid in her mind. ‘Yes, she’ll live.’
    ‘Why did you let the soldiers go?’ Wahim asked. ‘They’ll go back and tell their leaders what you’ve done. The Kerwyn will know we’re still alive.’
    ‘I can’t kill innocent people,’ she answered. ‘A long time ago I learned what it meant to carry the amber legacy. Men—even Queen Sunset—wanted me to kill people for them with my power. I won’t do that. Power isn’t meant to be used to destroy. It is meant to be for the good of all.’
    ‘It doesn’t serve any good if the enemy stops you from using it,’ Chase argued.
    ‘Where’s Erin?’ Meg asked, changing the subject.
    ‘With Whisper in the Jaru chamber,’ Wahim said. ‘He was afraid the rat…I mean, his sister’s spirit, was going to die.’
    ‘Then I’d better see if I can help,’ Meg said. ‘Chase, stay here with Swift. She’ll sleep for a long time. The wounds were deep and she lost an enormous amount of blood. She’ll need several days of rest to recover from the shock.’
    ‘You look like you could do with some sleep as well,’ said Wahim kindly.
    ‘I’ll see Erin first,’ she replied, and, with a glance towards Swift, headed out of the chamber. A familiar bluish light was emanating from within the Jaru library chamber, and when she entered she saw the portal shimmering against the far wall. A light sphere floated above a table on which was spread a thick woollen green rug. Curled on the rug was Whisper, asleep.
    She headed first for the table to check on the rat. The bullet wounds were gone—healed—and, like Swift, the rat was in a deep recuperative sleep. Meg knew that the sliver of amber embedded in Whisper would aid her to recover far more rapidly than Swift. She gently stroked the little animal’s soft shiny fur and smiled, pleased that her long-time companion was alive and would be well again. Then she turned her attention to the portal.
    She was surprised to see shadows in the texture of the light similar to those she remembered the first time she had formed a portal to Se’Treya. Did Erin also know that forbidding place? A closer examination showed her that the shadows formed a view of the ruined Hohdan temple from where she had so recently returned. Then a larger shadow loomed in the portal and Erin appeared, bumping into her as he entered the chamber. ‘Sorry,’ he