Nightfall Gardens

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Book: Read Nightfall Gardens for Free Online
Authors: Allen Houston
well. Skuld was hacking at the wooden shield of one of the goat creatures when a filthy man with matted hair stepped from the trees with a bow and arrow. Silas tried to warn him,but his lungs burned as he drew breath. The bandit notched an arrow and shot Skuld in the shoulder. His uncle’s man bellowed, lashing out, and bringing his ax down on the goat creature before attacking the archer who was notching another arrow.
    “Why so pale and wan?” the goat man from the carriage said. He leaned over Silas with a jewel-encrusted razor in his hand and light reflected from its wicked surface. His voice was melodic and Silas imagined the goat man must have a beautiful singing voice. Silas felt for the knife Jonquil had given him but it was lost when he was tossed from the carriage. The goat man leaned over him. He smelt of fresh summer days and hidden springs. The razor pressed against Silas’s throat. “Don’t worry. I’ll give you a permanent grin so you’re always happy!”
    At that moment, the goat man’s mouth dropped open in a wide O and he arched his back as a knife blade came out the front of his chest. The razor slid from his hand and he collapsed next to Silas.
    Lily stood over her brother. Her blue dress was splattered in blood. She clutched Jonquil’s knife. “He was going to hurt you,” she said in shock.
    The tide of battle turned in their favor. Arfast charged the goat men, slashing like a man possessed. Jonquil reloaded his blunderbuss and leveled a round at the nearest grotesquerie. Skuld waded through them with his battle-ax. The remaining goat men bounded back into the woods, leaving their dead and fallen behind.
    “This one won’t bother you again.” Arfast said, nudging the body of the goat man with the red bandana.
    Lily’s eyes were troubled as she turned from the creature she killed.
    “What are they?” Silas asked. Blood beaded on his neck where the razor had touched him. He didn’t care to think about what would’ve happened if the goat man pressed harder.
    “Pans. They came from the Labyrinth in the Gardens,” Jonquil said. He pulled the blade from the goat man’s back with a sucking sound and wiped it on his pant leg. “They escaped through the gate years ago and have caused misery for travelers ever since.”
    “Why not run away from here?” Silas asked. Half a dozen bodies were strewn about the road. Skuld walked among them to see if any still held the breath of life.
    “The Gardens draw them and will not let go,” Jonquil said. “They can’t bear to be too far from the possibility of what exists there.”
    “Enough dawdling. More will come if we wait much longer,” Skuld said. He drank from a flagon of red wine that he pulled from his cloak. When he was finished, he scratched the stump of his right arm. “Wretched thing always itches after a battle.”
    Silas helped Arfast and Skuld drag the bodies of the dead to the woods. The road lay clear ahead of them again.
    “Ride on top and keep your eyes open for danger,” Jonquil said to Silas. “The Pans are vengeful and won’t forget what happened today.” His uncle went to tend to Skuld’s wound.
    Silas stopped Lily as she climbed into the carriage. Her face held an expression like a sleepwalker who believes they are dreaming.
    “I’ve never killed anything larger than a cockroach in my life,” Lily said. There were swollen circles under her eyes.
    “You did it to save me,” Silas said. “Don’t trouble yourself on this.”
    “Those things couldn’t have been real,” Lily said. “What if there are more monsters like this at Nightfall Gardens? I can’t go there alone.”
    “You won’t be alone,” Silas said.
    For the next two hours he rode on top of the carriage, scanning the woods for glimpses of the Pans. Twilight came and they crossed a river that was swollen with water from recent storms. As the carriage started to climb into the mountains again, he caught his first glimpse of Nightfall Gardens. There

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