Read The Chronicles of Lumineia: Book 02 - The Gathering for Free Online Page B

place. When he found the
first he continued looking until he found the others.
    An eagle,
perched on a branch high above, sat too still and its position only gave a good
view of the road—not a place to hunt. To their side, a glimpse of the outline
of a jungle cat shadowing their path caused him to bite his lip not to smile.
Each of the animals watching them would have fooled almost anyone, but not
their group. Meeting the eyes of his well-trained companions, he saw none of them
were fooled.
    When he looked
at Jack, he appeared . . . uncomfortable. There was no doubt that he'd spotted
the animals, but for some reason their appearance caused him to fidget.
Catching Taryn's raised eyebrow, his expression smoothed into an inscrutable
mask. It was the first time Taryn had ever seen the thief appear nervous, and for
some reason it made Taryn think it wasn't about thieving.
    Siarra halted
her horse and raised her arm, which she’d wrapped in a piece of leather. A high
whistle escaped her lips and a hawk dropped off its branch. Gliding towards
them, it swept its wings out and landed on Siarra’s outstretched arm. She
crooned and said, “Why don’t you tell your Joré that we are friends and would
like to enter your village?”
    In a very non-birdlike
manner, the hawk nodded before taking off. Within moments a man strolled into
view. His clothes were dark green and brown, and he wore a cloak covered in
blotches of forest colors. His face was remarkably angular, reminding Taryn
that druids took on characteristics of their companions.
    Without
getting too close, the man demanded, “Who are you, and how did you speak to
Araz?”
    Siarra
inclined her head in a short bow. “I am Siarra, the Oracle.” She then
introduced each of them before turning back to the scout. “We need to speak to
the Guidrian.”
    The man
hesitated but most of his concern had vanished. “My name is Agrial. Come with
me, but leave your horses. They will be tended.”
    Taryn
dismounted and gathered his belongings. Falling into step behind Siarra the
group disappeared into the forest following the druid scout. Fading light streamed
from above and Taryn noticed that the trees had opened up, leaving enough room
to walk unimpeded.
    “Who is your
current Guidrian?” Liri asked.
    The man
glanced back with an amused expression at her knowledge. “His name is Newhawk.
Haven’t you heard of him?”
    Liri shook her
head. “I have been training with the elves for twenty years.”
    The scout
smiled. “Then you wouldn’t know.” Then he turned to the others in their group,
“Do you know about the joining process?” His eyes lingered on Jack, and his
eyebrows twitched.
    When each of
them nodded he said, “Sixteen years ago a young lad went into the forest to
summon his Joré. He was intelligent and strong, and speculation abounded as to
what animal he would bond with. A tiger , some said, a lion others
argued. It was even suggested a tigron would become his Joré. The speculation
became more intense when he didn’t come back. He was gone so long that the
clans began to worry that he’d been killed. Then he returned—not on land . . .
but from the sky.”
    Agrial
appeared to enjoy their astonished expressions and waited for a moment until
Trin asked, his voice incredulous, “A dragon ?”
    “Better . . .”
he replied with a glitter in his eye.
    “But what
would be better than a dragon?” Liri asked in puzzlement.
    Agrial opened
his mouth to answer but Jack and Mae spoke at the same time.
    “A phoenix,” they
said.
     The trace of
rancor in Jack's voice caused Agrial's gaze to touch on the thief before commenting.
When he did, he spoke to Mae.
    “How did you
guess?” he asked Mae, his eyebrows pulling together.
    “A phoenix is
the only other thing big enough to carry a man,” Mae said, causing Agrial to
grin.
    “Smart
thinking elf,” he said. “As you might know, a phoenix is just as large as a
dragon, and also sentient. Neither of these great