Lady Carliss and the Waters of Moorue Read Online Free Page B

Carliss put her hands on her hips, not sure how to respond to Dalton’s mild scolding. She opened her mouth to speak as he came to stand before her.
    “I—”
    Dalton held up his hand to shush her and then froze. His eyes darted to and fro as if trying to spot something above her. Carliss began to turn and look for herself, but Dalton grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him as he swiped at the air above her head with his sword. A hideous shriek filled the air, and Carliss shuddered at the sound. Dalton used his body to shield Carliss from whatever evil creature had come to attack them. Carliss saw a blur of blue and orange out of the corner of her eye and then heard Dalton scream.
    Carliss freed herself from Dalton’s protective grip and spun around just in time to catch a brief glimpse of the creature that had latched itself onto Dalton’s back. It seemed to be a kind of lizard, nearly three feet in length. Dalton fell to the ground and rolled about, trying to free himself from the thing, but it had sunk its teeth deep into his shoulder.
    At first, Carliss could hardly believe her eyes, for the lizard’s skin color was fluctuating wildly, at times even taking on the colors of Dalton’s tunic. The creature had six legs and two antennalike structures on its head. Before she could react, sharp barbs at the tips of the antennae whipped forward and struck deep into Dalton’s neck. He screamed in pain.
    Carliss quickly drew her long knife and made a swipe at the creature, but its speed was beyond anything she had ever seen before. It released its bite, hissed loudly, and streaked across the barn floor to the wall. Though it was large, it moved so fast she had to work hard to track it. She reached for her bow as the creature scurried straight up the barn wall and vanished.
    “What in the…”
    Carliss hardly dared take her eyes off the wall, but Dalton moaned as he struggled to lift himself to his knees. She knelt before him, trying to scan the rafters at the same time.
    “Are you all right?” she asked.
    Dalton lifted his head and brought his hand from his neck. It was covered in blood. He looked at Carliss, and she nearly gasped. His face was white and his eyes were glazed over. He looked as though he might faint at any moment. She laid her bow down, grabbed his arm, and lifted him to his feet.
    “Let’s get out of here.” She lifted his arm over her shoulder, and helped him stagger out of the barn. She kept a constant watch all around them until they were clear of the barn, where Dalton fell to his knees and then crumpled to the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head.
    “Dalton… Dalton!” She shook him, but he seemed delirious. Carliss glanced back into the barn and saw a wisp of movement near the door. She reached for her bow but realized it was still lying on the floor in the barn. She sheathed her knife and drew her sword, ready for another attack.
    “Salina!” she called toward the house without taking her eyes from the barn.
    There it was again! Carliss blinked to convince herself she had indeed seen the creature. This side of the doorway was shaded from the direct sunlight, but the wood at the top of the barn door on the right side seemed to turn liquid for an instant. A wave of dark-grained wood flowed down to the ground and stopped. Carliss slowly moved her head from side to side and could just see a swell on the bottom plank of the door.
    Is this possible?
she asked herself. Carliss had seen animals blend in with the surrounding forest so perfectly that only a trained and experienced eye could spot them. She had even heard that some animals had the ability to change color to match their surroundings, but this creature’s abilities far exceeded anything she had heard of or experienced.
    Carliss was ten paces away. She slowly advanced with her sword before her in a hanging guard stance. With each step she took, she began to convince herself that her mind was playing tricks on her, for even a