Read Stones of Power 02 - Last Sword of Power for Free Online Page B

mother?'
    The boy told him of the dream, but Grysstha's eyes did not show great interest until he mentioned the crippled man.
    'Tell me of his face.'
    'Light hair, thin beard. Sad eyes.'
    'And the horseman?'
    'A warrior, tall and strong. A cold, hard man with red hair and beard, and wearing a helm of bronze banded by a circle of iron.'
    'We'd best be going, Cormac,' said the old warrior suddenly.
    'Was my dream true, do you think?'
    'Who knows, boy? We'll talk later.'
    Grysstha swung his blanket-sack to his shoulder and walked from the cave. There he stopped stockstill, dropping the sack.
    'What is wrong?' asked Cormac, moving into the sunlight. Grysstha gestured him to silence and scanned the undergrowth beneath the trees.

    Cormac could see nothing but suddenly a man rose from behind a thick bush with an arrow notched to his bow, the string drawn back. Cormac froze. Grysstha's arm hammered into the boy's chest, hurling him aside just as the archer loosed his shaft. The arrow sliced through Grysstha's jerkin, punching through to pierce his lungs. A second arrow followed. The old man shielded Cormac with his body as blood bubbled from his mouth.
    'Runl'Iie hissed, toppling to the earth.
    An arrow flashed by Cormac's face and he dived to the left as other shafts hissed by him, then rolled and came up running. A great shout went up from the hidden men in the undergrowth, and the sound of pounding feet caused Cormac to increase his speed as he hurdled a fallen tree and splinted for the cliff tops. Arrows sailed over him and he dodged to left and right, cutting up through the forest path, seeking a hiding-place.
    There were several hollow trees where he had previously hidden from Agwaine and his brothers. He was feeling more confident now as he increased the distance between himself and his pursuers.
    But the baying of the warhounds brought fresh terror. The trees would offer no sanctuary now.
    He emerged at the cliff-tops and swung, expecting to see the dark hurtling forms of Gadder's twin hounds, fangs bared for his throat. But the trail was empty for the moment. He drew his slender skinning-knife, eyes scanning the trees.
    A huge black hound bounded into sight. As it leapt Cormac dropped to his knees and rammed the blade into its belly, disembowelling it as the beast sailed above him. The stricken dog landed awkwardly, its paws entangling in its ribboned entrails. Cormac ignored it and ran back to the trees, forsaking the path and forcing his body through the thickest of the undergrowth.
    Suddenly he stopped for there, embedded in the ivy-covered trunk of a spreading oak, was the sword of his dream. Sheathing his knife, he took hold of the ivory hilt and drew the blade clear. The sword was the length of a man's arm and not one spot of rust had touched the blade in the fifteen years it had been hidden here.
    Cormac closed his eyes. 'Thank you, Father,' he whispered.
    The hilt was long enough for the sword to be wielded double-handed and the boy swung the blade several times, feeling the balance.
    Then he stepped out into the open as the second hound rounded the trail, hurtling at the slim figure before it. The blade lanced its neck, half severing the head. His eyes blazing with an anger he had never experienced before, Cormac loped down the trail towards the following hunters.
    Near a stand of elm the sound of their pursuit came to him and he stepped from the track, hiding himself behind a thick trunk. Four men ran into view - Agwaine in the lead, his brothers following, and, bringing up the rear, the blacksmith Kern, his bald head shining with sweat.
    As they raced past Cormac's hiding place he took a deep breath, then leapt into the path to face the astonished Kern. The blacksmith was carrying a short double-headed axe but he had no time to use it, for Cormac's sword swept up, over and down to cleave the man's jugular. Kern staggered back, dropping his axe, his fingers scrabbling at the wound as he sought to stem the flooding