Read Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) for Free Online Page A

Mountains. Turning quickly around he looked for the troll. He did not have to wait long. With a deafening cry of frustration, it burst from the tree line and immediately zeroed in on its prey. Dor stood quiet and without fear as he beckoned the troll forward. “Come on my friend, let’s dance. You do not frighten me any longer.”
                  The troll smiled and with a grating voice snarled, “You die now.” It raised its club for a crushing blow. Dor lifted his arms in supplication, his heart pounding with the excitement of the beyond. The troll paused for a brief moment and then released a deafening roar as it reared its head back. Dor was sure this was it and closed his eyes eager for the end but the blow didn’t come. Dor’s smile faded and he opened his eyes only to be greeted by the troll’s back. What had happened? Maybe he had already been killed. Was death so painless? He then noticed the small arrow sticking out of the troll’s left leg. “Thane”, he whispered.
           The troll reached down and easily jerked the arrow free. Thane was already reaching for another arrow when it grabbed a large rock by its foot and heaved it at the Chufa boy. Thane dove to his side just as the boulder was about to strike his head and most likely take it right off. His hand caught on the quiver and his arrows flew in all directions as he hit the ground hard knocking the air from his lungs and temporarily paralyzing him. The troll was on him in an instant. Thane turned his head just enough to see the hulking mass standing over him its club raised for the killing blow from which he had just saved his friend. He closed his eyes as the massive club began to descend. There was another roar and then he heard something immense hit the ground next to him.
                  Could it have missed me? Thane thought to himself. Or am I dead? Just then he felt hands grab him and lift him up. It must be the angels come to take me back to the great forest , he thought, his eyes still closed tightly.
                  “You all right Thane?” a voice asked.
                  He opened his eyes in confusion and looked right into the eyes of a Chufa man.
                  “Are you an angel come to take me to the great forest?” Thane asked in a slight daze.
    “Hardly boy, it’s Dax. Don’t you recognize me?”
    “Maybe he hit his head when he fell,” Dor offered as he approached.
    Thane looked at Dor with a blank face and then down at the troll, a large grouping of arrows sticking from its neck and chest. Other Chufa men moved about the area making sure there was no other threat.
                  “What happened?” Thane asked still not sure that he wasn’t, in fact, dead.
                  “TamVen came screaming into the village that a troll had almost eaten her and that we were all sure to die,” Dax chuckled. “At first we thought she was just playing one of her silly games but when she started crying that you two were probably dead already we decided we had better see if you were all right. We went to the area she said you had been in and picked up your tracks along with those of a very large troll. We got here just as you were about to be pounded into dust.”
                  Thane looked at Dax and then Dor in disbelief. He was alive after all. Dor grabbed his shoulder and smiled. “I owe you my life Thane. Thank you.”
                  Thane became red and turned away reaching for an arrow of his that lay at his feet. “You would have done the same for me,” he mumbled.
                  “You boys can tell me what happened tomorrow morning when you come for your first lessons in bow and knife use, although it looks as if you already know quite a bit,” Dax laughed. “Now you better get back to the village. I’m sure your mothers are in tears with worry.”
                  Thane and Dor