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

distrustfully. The crossbreed bore his axe and Bard his bow, an arrow nocked in place. Laylah and the rest were a few paces behind.
    Torg dismounted and strode toward them. “Desist! These creatures are our friends.”
    Rathburt was the first to respond. “Nice of you to drop in, Master Showoff. I’m glad to see you’ve finally chosen to return from your latest round of gallivanting. Did you have fun while you were gone?”
    THE RAVEN huddled in the rotting trunk of a dead tree, watching the proceedings with interest. Just a short time ago, she had caught a glimpse of Torg and the Faerie as they flew. Then she’d briefly winked out of the physical world before appearing near the waterfall to await the wizard’s return. From her hidey-hole, Vedana had watched six of the mountain eagles—longtime allies of the Faerie—land on the tumbled boulders and join the one who guarded Laylah and the others.
    While the goody-goody wizard talked to his companions, the Faerie had stood off to the side, choosing to remain in the form of a mountain eagle, but not bothering to conceal the unusual color of her eyes. As a fellow shape-shifter, Vedana slyly noticed this faux pas. When Vedana assumed an identity—whether human, animal, or plant—she tried to get it just right, out of pride if nothing else, though she admitted to herself that she hadn’t fully mastered the raven incarnation. Her beak still moved woodenly when she spoke.
    The presence of the Faerie made Vedana uneasy. No matter what it called itself—Bhojja, Jord, Sakuna, or a host of other names—it always seemed to cause some sort of trouble. Vedana’s carefully laid plans to dethrone Invictus and crown a new Sun God were anything but certain to succeed. If she made the slightest mistake, her schemes would collapse. To make matters worse, the Faerie kept poking her nose, muzzle, or beak where it didn’t belong.
    Though the Faerie had roamed the wilds of Triken even before Bhayatupa was born, Vedana didn’t believe that Jord’s powers were any greater than hers. But her persistence was wearisome, to say the least. Whenever Vedana ventured into the physical world, the Faerie seemed to be there  . . . watching intently. Over the eons, Vedana had found this extremely annoying, especially when she had so recently learned that it was the Faerie who had removed her demon poisons from Torg’s body.
    When Vedana attempted to pinpoint the source of the Faerie’s magic, the only thing she could discern was a strange kind of buzzing—as if its powers originated from an invisible place beyond even Vedana’s awareness. Still, the Faerie seemed able to tap only small amounts of this mysterious energy, which suited Vedana just fine. One Invictus was enough, thank you very much.
    For Vedana’s plan to succeed, several things needed to occur. The most important was making sure that Torg and Laylah remained alive and free. Another was arranging matters in such a way that the armies of Avici, Jivita, Nissaya, and Anna were decimated.
    Sigh. It was so difficult to keep everything in order.
    Vedana watched the Faerie shift shapes and become the white-haired woman, robes of woven magic covering her body. The bear-man rushed over and hugged her, tears bursting from his beady eyes.
    Several times over the past few days, Vedana had attempted to enter the minds of Torg’s companions. As expected, Laylah was far too strong. Unexpectedly, so were the others. But Vedana wasn’t overly concerned. Possession demanded too much energy to make it worthwhile, anyway. Even the obese Kamupadanan innkeeper had put up a respectable fight.
    A commotion below caught her attention. Vedana cocked her head and listened.
    “Jord, ya have come back,” the bear-man was shouting. “Me love, where have ya been? I has missed ya so much.” And then he dropped to his knees and wailed like a baby.
    “I missed ya too,” the handsome one named Bard said. “I loves ya, I does.”
    “I’m sorry I left