Heir of Shandara (Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

narrowed its eyes at them and then tapped a button upon its wrist. A panel hissed open, and the beast’s armor glowed with crimson light streaking through the cracks. In a sickening hiss, the fifteen-foot-tall body of the beast came apart, releasing a cloud of yellow particles into the air. Instead of dissipating, it continued to grow, circling around the nearby Elitesmen and FNA soldiers alike. They dropped to their knees, retching.  
    “Damn,” the man in the white armor said. “We can’t let it escape.”
    The cloud of yellow moved on, becoming thinner and harder to see. Anyone who came in contact was affected. Hints of the vapor headed toward Aaron.  
    Verona gasped at his side, and a Hythariam upon a glider swooped down.
    “It’s a contagion,” Tanneth said.
    Aaron’s eyes widened, and he saw Sarah heading toward them. “Verona, shield us from the others. Don’t let them be exposed,” Aaron said.
    Verona glanced at the fallen Elitesman and FNA soldiers then nodded. Verona’s brow furrowed in concentration.
    “Stay back,” Aaron said and had to repeat himself several times before the others would listen. Some slammed into Verona’s shield. The yellow haze had all but disappeared, but Aaron knew better. “Sarah, you need to get away from here. We’ve been exposed to something from the Zekara.”
    Sarah made as if to press forward.
    “You can’t help us. Get the rest of the FNA out of here!” Aaron cried. Sarah looked as if she were about to protest, and Aaron looked to the older man at her side. “Isaac, get her out of here.”
    The former Elitesman nodded his gray mane of hair and reached out to Sarah. In a flash, they were gone, via the travel crystal. The soldiers outside Verona’s shield backed away. Someone must have given the order to set fire to the stronghold. Smoke began to rise beyond the walls of the courtyard.
    Tanneth opened a small panel on the side of his rifle and then immediately closed it again. He took aim at the nearest body, and a red beam shot forth. After a second, the body was engulfed in flames.
    “Burn the rest,” the man in the white armor said.
    “Who are you?” Aaron asked. “And how did you know about the beast?”
    “We don’t have time for this. Burn them before they have a chance to rise again,” the man in the white armor said. He moved from corpse to corpse, severing the heads.
    Aaron was about to follow, but Verona held his arm.
    “Whoever he is, he helped us against the Elitesmen here,” Verona said.
    Beside them there were a dozen FNA soldiers that had been trapped within Verona’s shield, but none appeared to be suffering from the same illness that afflicted those closest to the yellow haze.
    “We must leave this place and burn it to the ground,” the man in the white armor said.
    Tanneth returned to them. “He’s right, Aaron. We need to leave here. The contagion appears airborne but seems to have dissipated. We should do as he says and burn this place to the ground.”  
    An FNA soldier brought out the keystone accelerator, preparing a way back to base, when Tanneth stopped him. “We can’t return to Shandara or anywhere, for that matter, or we risk spreading whatever we’ve been exposed to.”
    Aaron nodded and looked at the armored stranger. “We’ll leave, then you give us some answers.”
    The man’s armored head nodded. The armor had no markings but was similar to the light armor that the Hythariam wore.
    They set fire to the castle, using anything they found, and exited through the portcullis. Verona released his shield. The rest of the FNA soldiers, along with their prisoners, had long since gone through the portals back to Shandara.  
    “Sir, we’ve been exposed to something made by the Zekara,” Tanneth said, speaking into the comms device. “Sending preliminary report.”
    “Acknowledged,” Gavril said. “Recommend quarantine protocols. Since there is no one else there, you should stay in the area. We’ll look at the