Read The Dark Shadow of Spring Online
Authors: G. L. Breedon
Tags: #Fantasy, #Adventure, #Young Adult Fantasy
The Dark Shadow of Spring (32 page)
Alex had contemplated the possibility that Anna’s experience in the cave had given her a new insight and perspective. That she had told the truth because it was the right thing to do. But as Alex watched Anna, he realized she was motivated by something completely different. While Dillon might have been concerned for Anna’s welfare, Anna was primarily concerned for herself and her position.
Alex had long ago noticed how much Anna resented taking orders from Dillon as a member of the Mad Mages. Now she would have the leverage to take control of the club from Dillon and become leader herself. Alex had to admit that it was a treacherous piece of cunning. By telling the truth, Anna became one of the heroes of the story, sure to be lauded by the town, especially the adults. By betraying Dillon, she removed him from competition as leader of the Mad Mages. Alex wasn’t sure if he should applaud her strategy or be worried about what it would mean for him and the Guild with Anna leading his rivals. Then Anna caught his eye and smiled such a silky sweet smile that Alex know exactly what his reaction should be. Anna was far smarter and far more dangerous than Dillon would ever be.
“Well,” Mayor McClint said, clearing his throat and bringing Alex’s attention back to the crowd and the clearing. “I, for one, am still skeptical that Shan’Kal has made any attempt to return to this world after thousands of years.”
Alex was not entirely surprised when he felt an invisible ice-cold hand briefly grip at his heart. It was gone almost as swiftly as it had come. The sudden fear and panic that filled the faces of Mayor McClint and the townspeople told him that everyone else had felt the same thing.
“The Shadow Wraith is stronger than before,” Alex said. “Now that it has touched this world again, it has power here. Power to draw its evil down upon those who speak its true name.”
“Well,” Mayor McClint said, swallowing loudly and wiping the sweat from his brow with a blue handkerchief. “It seems I may have been hasty in my judgment. I suppose, maybe, that we might have these youngsters to thank for saving the town.”
A cheer went up from the crowd and Alex and the Guild soon found themselves surrounded by joyous neighbors patting their backs and offering congratulations. Alex looked up as Victoria found him in the confusion and took his hand. He tried to smile, but his heart wasn’t in it. This should have been a moment of glory, but the effect of Mayor McClint’s mentioning of Shan’Kal’s name left him with a feeling of dread in his gut.
Alex caught his parents looking at him and saw his own worry reflected back in their faces. It was clear to him they had seen and faced real evil in the days before he and his sister had been born. Now they looked as though they were about to set off along a road they knew all too well and that led to many painful and unpleasant places. Alex felt the same himself. At least he had his friends to travel that road with him. He looked to find Victoria and the rest of the Guild staring at him and smiling. Alex laughed. If the Shadow Wraith tried to come back again, The Young Sorcerers Guild would be waiting for it.
Chapter 27: Epicurean Epilogue
Alex sighed contentedly as he stuffed another spoonful of potato salad into his mouth. His mother made the best potato salad. Just the right amount of mustard added to the onion and mayonnaise mixed together with a generous helping of finely chopped bacon. It was almost as good as the horseradish-slathered roast beef sandwich he took a bite of next. He was really looking forward to a piece of Ben’s mother’s blueberry pie, but there was no need to rush. At least not while Clark and Victoria were occupied with sandwiches and salads.
Alex sat cross-legged on a red-and-white-checkered picnic blanket spread beneath the drooping canopy of a large willow tree near the edge of the Wolf’s Head Lake, just down the road from the heart of the town of Runewood. Nina and the rest of the Guild sat nearby. Victoria sat beside him, her four legs curled underneath her body. She and Clark seemed to be in some silent competition to see who could eat the most and she appeared to be winning as she served herself a fifth helping of baked beans.
Alex smiled at his friends and looked past them to where their parents were all gathered on a separate picnic blanket. It had been Alex’s mother’s idea to have a picnic for the Guild and their family members. A way of celebrating together what they had accomplished two weeks ago at the cave in the Black Bone Mountains. It was also a way, Alex suspected, of his mother planting more firmly the seeds that would allow the parents, especially his, to monitor the activities of the Guild.
Alex couldn’t really blame his mother for being worried about him. He was worried too, when he paused for any length of time to contemplate the future. Which is why he tried to stay as busy as possible. That had been easy so far, with school and lessons with Batami and meetings of the Guild. There hadn’t been another opportunity kiss Victoria, but Alex was sure there would be. He just needed to think of an excuse for it. Or did girls want excuses? He decided not to think about that either, just at the moment. He had a feeling that he would be spending a good portion of his life wondering what girls wanted. Particularly centaur girls.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Victoria said and Alex nearly choked on an olive.
“Nothing,” Alex said, coughing. “Just thinking about the future.”
“Yes, the future,” Victoria said with a smile that made Alex cough again. “I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the future myself. It seems to hold a lot of potential. The future, that is.” Alex coughed once more.
“Well, whatever the future holds, I certainly hope there aren’t any dragons in it,” Rafael said.
“Hmmm, or Shadow Wraiths,” Clark said around a mouthful of potato chips.
“One,” Ben said, taking a sip of a Fanta orange soda. “There’s only one Shadow Wraith. Plenty of dragons, though.”
“And we can pray to Neptune’s nose hairs that we’ve seen the last of both creatures,” Daphne said and spit a watermelon seed into the grass.
“Do you think it will come back, Alex?” Nina asked, brushing an ant from her leg. “Is that the future you were thinking about, about your destiny and how it’s tied to the Shadow Wraith and how if it’s free, you’ll need to fight it again and how it wants to destroy the town and maybe the world and what it will mean if the magic is gone for good from the land?”
“Actually,” Alex said trying to ignore his sister’s rambling, because he had thought exactly those things, “I was just thinking about what we were going to do over summer break.” He looked up at the branches of the tree above his head and an idea suddenly came to him.
“Have any of you ever heard of the Rune Tree?”
The others leaned forward with expectant looks on their faces as Alex explained his latest plan and smiled. There was nothing more fun than planning a new adventure with his friends. He felt certain that it would work out better than the last one. After all, what could go wrong that hadn’t already?
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After a childhood spent whizzing through the galaxy in super sleek starships and defeating treacherously evil monsters in long forgotten kingdoms, G.L. Breedon grew up to write science fiction and fantasy novels. He lives with his wife in Brooklyn, NY.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Race Through Runewood
Chapter 5: Whispers in the Shadows
Chapter 9: Looking For Answers
Chapter 11: Accidental Astral Traveler
Chapter 13: Breaking and Enchanting
Chapter 14: The Shadow’s Plague
Chapter 17: Astral Assignation
Chapter 18: Diabolical Demon Debacle
Chapter 21: Cavernous Calamity
Chapter 24: The Belly of the Beast