Marcii (The Dreadhunt Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free
Author: Ross Turner
frowned for a moment.
She had not, in fact, and for once was actually strangely drawn to Tyran’s words, as they lured her in.
“In the depths of the night, under cover of darkness, two of our own were taken from us!” He continued dramatically. “Thomas and Marianne Hatchet were murdered in the night! All of their cattle, and even their dog, were also found slaughtered!”
Gasps and cries of terror rang out from Mayor Tyran’s onlookers, for whilst some of them had heard, clearly it was too early for the news to have reached everybody.
Shock and fear rippled through the crowd like a disease, spreading from person to person in less than an instant.
Just the way Tyran liked it.
“And if we do not find those responsible for this horror…” He pressed on, seizing his advantage. “If we do not find them and stop them…” He breathed loudly. “Then this will be just the beginning!”
“Who was it!?” A stray, distressed voice called from the crowd. “Are we safe!?”
Cries of demanding agreement followed, spawning something of a shouting match for a few moments, instigated by fear.
Tyran smiled slyly, allowing the dread to fester a moment or two longer before intervening.
Eventually he raised his hands and quelled the noise. His subjects obeyed and quieted their pleas.
“I have brought these trusty men you see before you into my service…” He offered assuredly, indicating with open hands towards a dozen or so burly and menacing individuals. They stepped obediently forward and displayed themselves silently to the crowd, ominous and looming.
Each seemed bigger and heftier and more of a mountain than the last. Just as Tyran dripped in finery, his men were coated in armour that looked too heavy for Marcii to even stand up in. Their weapons were varied and numerous, but always deadly. The scars that they bore across their arms and legs and faces ran deep and long forgotten, as if they were nothing more than proof of their prowess.
They were, to all extents and purposes, mercenaries.
And Marcii knew it.
Fierce and brutal, they were loyal only to the coin placed in their hands.
And such, as is the way of the world, that made them loyal to Tyran.
“My police are sworn to protect you…” He went on, as his crowd took in the foreboding sight of the men stood before them. “Whatever it is that seems to think it can plague us, it shall have to think again!”
And with those words, though there were only a handful of voices to begin with, the cheering began, and soon enough the rest of Newmarket followed suit, for Tyran was not only to be their Mayor, but indeed also their saviour.
As his people whooped and applauded he basked in their false affection and smiled with dark intent out across the sea of faces before him.
For a moment his gaze seemed to settle and fix quite intentionally upon Marcii in the distance. His eyes bore into her fiercely from where he stood, raised up above everybody else, and his police stood about him protectively, menacingly, stifling even the tiniest hint of a threat to his presence.
Unable to hold his gaze a moment longer, feeling suddenly sick to her stomach, Marcii broke his hold and retreated.
She couldn’t stand to listen to another second, for although he had drawn her in, and it seemed he had indeed hooked the rest of the town, she was not swayed so easily by his enticing words.
Only a few gazes followed her as she dipped out of the square, away from the cheering and the applause.
One of them, even still, was Mayor Tyran’s.
But the other two, unseemly though they might have been, belonged to none other than Midnight, the doddery old man, and to Vixen, the young orphan with twigs in her hair, rips in her clothes, and dirt across her expressionless face.
Chapter Four
As Marcii wandered home, head down against the cold wind that had spurred into motion, she pulled her heavy jacket, laden with the fruits of her expedition, more
She had not, in fact, and for once was actually strangely drawn to Tyran’s words, as they lured her in.
“In the depths of the night, under cover of darkness, two of our own were taken from us!” He continued dramatically. “Thomas and Marianne Hatchet were murdered in the night! All of their cattle, and even their dog, were also found slaughtered!”
Gasps and cries of terror rang out from Mayor Tyran’s onlookers, for whilst some of them had heard, clearly it was too early for the news to have reached everybody.
Shock and fear rippled through the crowd like a disease, spreading from person to person in less than an instant.
Just the way Tyran liked it.
“And if we do not find those responsible for this horror…” He pressed on, seizing his advantage. “If we do not find them and stop them…” He breathed loudly. “Then this will be just the beginning!”
“Who was it!?” A stray, distressed voice called from the crowd. “Are we safe!?”
Cries of demanding agreement followed, spawning something of a shouting match for a few moments, instigated by fear.
Tyran smiled slyly, allowing the dread to fester a moment or two longer before intervening.
Eventually he raised his hands and quelled the noise. His subjects obeyed and quieted their pleas.
“I have brought these trusty men you see before you into my service…” He offered assuredly, indicating with open hands towards a dozen or so burly and menacing individuals. They stepped obediently forward and displayed themselves silently to the crowd, ominous and looming.
Each seemed bigger and heftier and more of a mountain than the last. Just as Tyran dripped in finery, his men were coated in armour that looked too heavy for Marcii to even stand up in. Their weapons were varied and numerous, but always deadly. The scars that they bore across their arms and legs and faces ran deep and long forgotten, as if they were nothing more than proof of their prowess.
They were, to all extents and purposes, mercenaries.
And Marcii knew it.
Fierce and brutal, they were loyal only to the coin placed in their hands.
And such, as is the way of the world, that made them loyal to Tyran.
“My police are sworn to protect you…” He went on, as his crowd took in the foreboding sight of the men stood before them. “Whatever it is that seems to think it can plague us, it shall have to think again!”
And with those words, though there were only a handful of voices to begin with, the cheering began, and soon enough the rest of Newmarket followed suit, for Tyran was not only to be their Mayor, but indeed also their saviour.
As his people whooped and applauded he basked in their false affection and smiled with dark intent out across the sea of faces before him.
For a moment his gaze seemed to settle and fix quite intentionally upon Marcii in the distance. His eyes bore into her fiercely from where he stood, raised up above everybody else, and his police stood about him protectively, menacingly, stifling even the tiniest hint of a threat to his presence.
Unable to hold his gaze a moment longer, feeling suddenly sick to her stomach, Marcii broke his hold and retreated.
She couldn’t stand to listen to another second, for although he had drawn her in, and it seemed he had indeed hooked the rest of the town, she was not swayed so easily by his enticing words.
Only a few gazes followed her as she dipped out of the square, away from the cheering and the applause.
One of them, even still, was Mayor Tyran’s.
But the other two, unseemly though they might have been, belonged to none other than Midnight, the doddery old man, and to Vixen, the young orphan with twigs in her hair, rips in her clothes, and dirt across her expressionless face.
Chapter Four
As Marcii wandered home, head down against the cold wind that had spurred into motion, she pulled her heavy jacket, laden with the fruits of her expedition, more
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