Read Wendigo Wars for Free Online Page A

Europe. There were cities and towns but there were also many small villages and those villages quickly became cut off from the rest of the world as the communication lines broke down and the roads became blocked by heavy snow and ice. Soon food ran out and there was no way to get more. The elderly and the very young fared less well than the others and soon began to die. Some people survived as best they could on what scraps they could find and eventually died when the scraps ran out but they died with their souls intact. There were others. Others whose grasp on life was a lot tighter, for whom anything was acceptable if it meant they could live. They turned to cannibalism and ate the dead villagers.”
    A few of the boys who were putting on a brave face made gagging noises or wrinkled their noses. Most of the children just sat in silence, words failing them. Mathilde continued.
    “For some it was a matter of survival and some of those did survive and eventually built the strength to make the long journey to the nearest cities. For others it was no longer a matter of survival. They liked the taste of human flesh and the more they ate the more they wanted. The wendigo spirits found kindred spirits in the greed and gluttony that had taken over the cannibals and they took over their human bodies. The cannibals welcomed the wendigo spirits because they gave them a new strength and power. The greed overcame them and the lure of the strength and speed that being wendigo would bring meant that they could find more prey.
    This happened first in the small villages across England and Europe but as the numbers of the wendigo grew they began to move into the towns and cities. The people who survived the attacks made their way to safe holds, government buildings, castles and palaces. Soon there were as many wendigo as humans and we began our lives as we know them now." Mathilde took a breath; another Career Day over. She knew from experience that there would be no more questions.
    "Are there any more questions?" she asked, just in case.
    The class stared at her dumbstruck. This was the usual reaction. They thought they were almost adults but really they were still young and she had told them so much. They would need time to digest. She knew there would be more questions but they would come later when they had thought about what they had learnt and their parents or Carers would be the ones who they asked.
    "Thank you for letting me talk to you today. I hope that I will see some of you at the Protectorate trials if that is where you decide your destiny lies"
    Mathilde walked to join Seb at the back of the room. He gave her a smile of thanks for letting him off the hook again. As they left the room they heard Master Jonas introducing Amelie.
    "Now class our talk from Carer Superior Amelie about the work of the thirteen Carers."
    As they left the room Seb’s face lit up with the relief that Career Day was over for another year. He grinned at Mathilde over his shoulder as he bounded off. Tilly gave a weak smile back, knowing that what she had to tell him later that day would make the smile disappear.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Mathilde and Seb checked the other Protectorates were happy in their duties then went to the practice rooms to train. Though Mathilde favoured the crossbow she knew that distance was not always a luxury that the wendigo presented to her and so she had been trying to master swordsmanship. Seb was more at home with an axe than a sword but his sword skills were still impressive and he had been training hard with Mathilde, teaching her all that he knew.
    “Keep your arm up Tilly... Don’t back off unless you need to... Attack when you see an advantage like that, only back off if you have no advantage,“ Seb called out instruction after instruction at Mathilde as he stabbed, sliced and dodged. He gave no extra slack to Mathilde despite their difference in height and strength. This had meant a good few months of minor injuries