Read Shadowed by Demons, Book 3 of the Death Wizard Chronicles for Free Online

head and neck. But then he noticed that its glowing eyes were the color of pine needles, and they gazed at Torg with a fierce intelligence. Torg recognized those eyes. They belonged to the white-haired woman named Jord who had watched—for centuries—over Ugga and Bard in the foothills of the northern mountains.
    “Jord?” he whispered. Then he approached within a single pace. The eagle lowered its hooked beak until it touched the tip of his nose.
    “Why have you come? Have you something to say? Or show?”
    The eagle hopped onto the ground, turned away from Torg, and offered him its broad back.
    “Will the others be safe while I’m gone? Will she be safe?”
    As if in response, another eagle landed nearby. It was smaller than the first, with black eyes instead of green, but even so it was a formidable beast fully capable of protecting his friends. Torg nodded and then climbed onto the back of the larger bird, which sprang into the air and gracefully climbed several thousand cubits before banking southwest.
    Torg caught a glimpse of Duccarita before the eagle carried him over the western maw of the Gap of Gamana. Wolves and other creatures patrolled the open plains. As he already had surmised, it would be nearly impossible for him and his companions to cross this portion of the gap on foot without encountering the enemy.
    The eagle surged farther southwest, quickly approaching the eastern border of Dhutanga. From this height, the largest forest in the known world looked like an immense green blanket, its towering canopy unbroken as far as he could see—except for the Cariya River, which ran through its middle like a blue spine.
    The eagle flew faster than the prevailing winds, covering vast distances. They passed over the heart of the forest and then spiraled downward until they skimmed the tallest trees, which towered four hundred cubits above the floor of the forest. The great bird of prey found a perch on the canopy.
    Torg climbed off its back and knelt on a branch. Far below was a mile-wide clearing, within which clustered an army of druids as thick as swarming termites. Tens of thousands hummed in unison, torturing Torg’s ears. In the center of the clearing stood a single tree, taller than any he had ever seen. Druids poured in and out of an opening in its hollow base. It was obvious that this was the home of the druid queen, a bulbous egg-layer that ruled her vicious army with her psychic will. But it appeared she would not make the same mistake as her predecessor, whom Torg had slaughtered almost a millennium before. This queen was well protected.
    Now Torg knew what many had long suspected. The druids had replenished their numbers—and then some. Jivita was in as much danger from Dhutanga as Nissaya from Avici.
    The eagle let out a shrill twitter.
    Torg climbed onto its back, and they headed southward, following the winding, frothy course of Cariya. They eventually left the forest behind and flew high over Jivita, where Torg could see a long line of civilians abandoning the White City on its way to the cliffs that lined the Akasa Ocean. The city’s guardians had prepared hidden havens on the rocky coast. Obviously the Jivitans believed war was at hand.
    Then the eagle veered to the east and flew along the ancient road called Iddhi-Pada. When they reached Lake Hadaya, Torg could see a Tugar encampment on its shores. The sight filled him with hope.
    From there, they sailed over Nissaya. The black knights, some two thousand Tugars, and the rest of the occupants of the immense fortress were hard at work in the fields outside the concentric bulwarks, harvesting lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and turnips in an obvious attempt to further stock their provisions. Instead of leading away from Nissaya, a procession of people, wagons, and pack animals moved ponderously toward the fortress, some already funneling into the first entryway. In addition to its army and citizenry, Nissaya could house, on a temporary basis, more