Read After [A Journey of the Twins Novel] for Free Online Page B

hoped Jack would be all right.
    "I won't be fooled this time, you son of a jackass!"
    Suddenly, Shyanne heard a noise above her. She glanced up quickly, then returned her gaze to the one in front of her before it could attack. A third rizbak was on top of the wall. It had climbed one of the fallen roof timbers and had worked its way around behind her. She knew she would not be able to watch two of them. They were too fast and worked too well as a pack.
    "I'll at least take one of you scumbuckets with me! I won't go down that easy!"
    She inched slowly away from the rizbak on the wall. The creature looked down with keen interest, crouching low in preparation of leaping.
    Just as she thought the end was near, Drizzle appeared. He faced the rizbak above her. With his ears flattened against his head and a growl from deep in his chest, he attacked. The rizbak fell with a single swipe. It never stood a chance against the powerful speed of the big cat.
    The one in front of her attacked during the distraction caused by the fighting above. Shyanne caught a glimpse of the jump from the corner of her eye and ducked to her right. She brought her sword up, felt an intense pain in her left shoulder, and went down hard. The beast fell past her in a heap, dead, a pool of blood spreading across the ground from a gaping wound in its chest.
    In an instant, Shyanne was on her feet. She had to see how her horse had fared. Jack stood in a corner, a dead rizbak on the ground before him, trampled and broken. He had several scratches on him; none looked deep or life threatening.
    As she started to make her way toward him, an ever-consuming darkness seemed to get in her way. She shook her head to clear it. It only grew worse. She could not make sense of it. She knew the moon was shining bright, as was the fire in the pit. So why was everything so dark and fuzzy?
    Shyanne tried to lift her sword. It hurt too much to do so. She grimaced, deciding to drag the weapon behind her instead. Something sticky and wet seemed to be all over her hand. It made it difficult to keep a grip on the handle. She refused to drop it. More rizbak might show up.
    She was halfway across the room when it started to lean, and the growing darkness finally consumed everything, including her.
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Chapter Four
    Several days had passed since Drayco left the ruined metropolis. He kept mostly to the well-traveled roads, occasionally taking the less used ones when he wanted to avoid people and the conversations that went with them. The road he walked on today crossed an open plain. A large grouping of trees was visible in the distance. No one else was on the road with him.
    The survival training he had received from his father many years ago had paid off a hundred times over in this post-virus world. He missed his father dearly and wished he had been among the lucky few to survive. The outings they had taken, just the two of them, allowed him to have a bond stronger than most of his friends had with their fathers.
    Thanks for getting me ready, Dad, even though you didn't know you were.
    As he walked, his body started to let him know it would need blood soon. He tried to forget the many times he'd almost died before recognizing those signals. Exertion caused him to drink more frequently. The steady, uneventful pace he set had not caused such an increase.
    Drayco hated what the virus had done to him. His need for blood made it difficult to stay around others. In the past, he'd had relationships. They always ended in disaster. His increasing need to see Shyanne, and a strong will to survive, were the only things that kept him from ending the madness.
    Twilight was growing on the horizon. He needed to find shelter soon. Neither his strength, nor the sword he carried, would protect him from some of the things that came out in the night.
    He was closing on the stand of trees when he noticed a twinkling of light through them. As he entered, Drayco saw several lavishly