Read Realm Keepers 01 - Realm Keepers for Free Online Page A

trying to be heard. “We reached it! Tell your men to come back with us!”
    She didn’t so much as turn her head. I wasn’t loud enough. I wasn’t used to yelling across a chaotic battlefield where men and monsters were fighting and dying.
    “Come on, Sarah!” said Miles. I turned to see all the rest of them standing just outside the portal, waiting for me. Greystone put a hand on my shoulder.
    “Go through!” he commanded. “They are giving their lives so you can have yours.”
    “They can come with us!” I screamed, batting his hand away. I turned back.
    I could see the huge, muscular man, still on his hill, still far away. He was looking at me and smiling. There was so much hatred and cruelty in that smile, it made me shiver. More than anything, I wanted to turn and run into the portal. But it wasn’t right to just leave all these people here to die. There were hardly any of them left, just Cara and less than a dozen of her men.
    “Cara!” I screamed, as loud as I could. “CARA!”
    I clenched my fists and pounded my legs as I screamed, and all of a sudden the ground erupted. A massive chunk of earth that Cara and her men were standing on rose up like a suddenly growing mountain, flinging all of them in our direction while launching the black creatures in the other. With a roar the army began to swarm around the sudden hillock that had sprung up before them.
    I looked at Greystone, relief on my face. “Nice job,” I said.
    “I didn’t do that,” he said mysteriously.
    Before I could ask him what he meant, Cara leapt back to her feet and, much to my relief, didn’t turn to fight again. Instead she shouted a command to retreat and booked it right for us. I couldn’t believe anyone could run that fast in so much armor. She looked faster than Miles on the school track. Her men followed. One of them stumbled, and she turned to help him up, cutting down two of the monstrous front runners that loomed over them both. Then they were fleeing for us again.
    I turned. It was time to go. I couldn’t be sure if they’d reach us in time, but we’d done all we could do.
    “Through the portal!” I shouted. “Come on!”
    I grabbed Tess and flung her into the blue energy. She disappeared with a sharp zapping noise. I hoped like crazy that she was okay. Blade jumped through after her, then Raven and Calvin jumped through together.
    I turned one last time. Cara and her men were only thirty feet away. Greystone waved his hands, and a blast of wind swept over their heads and pummeled the front few monsters, knocking them back. Cara tripped and nearly fell, but she recovered.
    Then I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist, heard Miles shout, “Time to go!” and jump with me through the portal.
    It burned, kind of. Burning only happens to the outside of your body, but this was a burning sensation throughout the whole thing, inside and out. And even deeper, into my mind, my very soul. It felt like my body was dissolved into molecules and scattered to the winds, and yet I was still conscious and could still see. Thankfully it didn’t hurt too bad. Then I felt my body stretching, and then—
    Pop .
    I was flung onto a grassy green knoll as though I’d dived out of a moving car. I rolled over and over several times before finally ending up on my back.
    For the second time that day, I lay breathing heavily and staring up at a bright blue sky.
    Then I heard more pop noises. I pushed myself up onto my elbows quickly to see the other side of the blue portal. Soldiers began to fall onto the grass out of the blue oval of energy.
    “Holy cow, that was awesome! ” said Calvin’s voice close by.
    I ignored him and leapt up, checking that everyone was there. Tess. Raven. Miles. Blade. With me and Calvin, that was everyone. Cara, too, was on her feet, lining her men up on this side of the portal. There were only six of them left. She looked over her shoulder at Greystone.
    “The portal!” she said. “Quickly!”
    Even as