Those Who Fear the Darkness (BloodRunes: Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

who
had dismounted and was giving the barrier an appraising look.
    He spared a glance in her direction and gave
her a nod, then turned his attention back to the barrier and lifted
his hand to his chin in thought.
    Layna moved her fingers the last few inches
and was surprised when they encountered a soft sponge-like
resistance. She wrinkled her nose.
    “Hmm,” Gryffon commented next to her.
    “Yes?”
    “I can’t seem to get a probe through. Usually
I can send one pretty easily, basically just a little spell to let
them know that I’m here and ready for a report.”
    Layna poked at the cushy curtain some more,
and watched in fascination as it rippled around her hand, but did
not budge from the ground it was attached to. “Can you send
anything through?”
    Gryffon scrunched his eyebrows together and
held up a hand. Layna could see his attempts, and could also see
them being repelled. She paused in her entertainment of prodding as
an expression of worry crossed over his features.
    “So what do we do now?” she asked.
    “I don’t know.”

CHAPTER 2
     
    “Come on, pumpkin,” Mother cooed. “I have a
little project for you.”
    She took Nat's hand and led him towards the
town where the other children had laughed at him and thrown rocks,
saying that he was a “dirty gypsy”. She guided him behind the row
of houses and whispered something inaudible as she passed her hand
over her mouth. A tiny flame lit in her palm, and she looked around
before stretching it towards the thatching of the roof that
overhung low in the back. It was slow to catch on fire, but as
Nathair watched with fascination, flames starting licking the
underside of the carefully woven roof, licking upwards
greedily.
    Small crackles and pops could be heard as the
fire took hold. His mother's lips curved into the smile he knew so
well and her eyes seemed to light up with fire as well as she
watched it spread over the flammable roofing. She blinked and
seemed to have to tear herself away from the sight to quickly drag
him away from the scene.
    They strolled nonchalantly onto the street,
and upon Mother's instruction Nat set up their cup to collect the
money that was thrown to them. He skillfully tuned his instrument
and started plucking out a lively beat to which his mother started
dancing. She threw her hips out suggestively and clapped her hands
while kicking out her feet daintily. Nat got so lost in the music
that any thoughts of the fire completely left his mind.
    He jumped as someone in the crowd suddenly
shouted.
    “Fire!”
    Nat jerked to his feet and looked wildly
around, expecting someone to be running towards them to apprehend
the two of them for starting the blaze. He cringed as they
approached, but they ran past, ignoring them on their way to the
house.
    The villagers tried to set up a water line,
handing buckets across it and throwing it on the house, but the
roofing had caught well and was engulfed in the orange flames. They
hissed and steamed as the water hit, but did not go out.
    A woman came screaming up the street, and
though it was difficult to make out the words in her frantic
babbling, Nat got the gist that her little girl was inside. Nat
looked to his mother in horror, wondering if she had known that the
little girl was there. She once again had that smile playing upon
her lips and Nat paled.
    She glanced down at him, amused, and
commented, “Well, aren't you going to get in there and play hero?”
Nat simply stared at her, dumbfounded. Her expression darkened.
“You had better get in there and drag her out if you know what's
good for you,” she threatened.
    “But,” Nat started, but the daggers in her
eyes made him clamp his mouth shut again, and he sprinted for the
door to the house.
    “Oh Nattie. No!” his mother cried in false
horror. The sickeningly sweet voice was so unlike his mother that
Nat knew better than to stop.
    He burst through the now flaming door, and
coughed as the smoke filled his lungs. He took a step