Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

believe that they would be back soon.
    "Let's keep our pace casual and slow until we get out of sight of the castle," Finn directed.  "No need to add to the rumors that we left as if hellhounds were nipping at our heels."
    Lars's tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.  The grin on his wolfish face said that he was available if they needed such a service.
    The countryside around them was quiet and still.  The sliver of the moon barely lit their way.  Aein thought back to that day when she and Lars first traveled to the swamp.  She had been so full of excitement then, so naïve.  She wished for those days again.  The thought of the fog sent a chill up Aein's back.
    "Warm enough?" asked Finn, glancing at her sideways.
    She nodded, trying to display the ease and courage he wore as comfortably as a second skin.  "Just thinking of what lay ahead."
    Finn laughed.  "That would be enough to send shivers up anyone's spine."
    Aein and Finn fell silent as Lars raced ahead, sniffing the bushes and peering into the darkness.  It seemed a false alarm and they both relaxed.
    "What is beyond the swamp?" Aein asked him.  "We always heard the stories of needing to guard it, but we were never told what lay beyond.  What are we protecting ourselves from?"
    She was surprised he didn't have an answer for her.  "I don't know.  No one has ever come back to tell us.  But from what's gotten through during just my lifetime, I would hazard it isn't a very nice place."
    "Maybe it is a land of indescribable beauty and they keep wondering why all these monsters they are banishing keep coming back," replied Aein.
    "Wouldn't that be something?" said Finn, leaning back in his saddle and staring up at the sky. 
    "How bad do you think it's gotten?" Aein asked, terrified of the answer.
    He couldn't meet her eyes.  He stared at the stars as if he didn't have enough days left on the planet to gaze upon them.  "Bad."
    "I only served there for a few days before all of this happened," explained Aein.  "I don't know what it's really like."
    Memories seemed to flicker across Finn's face, thoughts of things that make a person strong or kills them
    "Did you ever see anything?" she asked.
    He nodded, wiping his nose as he glanced back to make sure there weren't any followers.  "Of course."
    "What did you see?"
    "Monsters," he said.  "Creatures out of your nightmares.  They always came at night.  Always hid in the fog."
    "Were they real?" Aein asked, remembering how the fog played tricks on her, convinced her that there were phantoms when there were not.
    "Real enough," said Finn.  "Whether they exist in our imaginations or the fog created them, I did not wait to find out.  They died like anything else at the end of my blade."  He motioned to Lars with a jerk of his chin.  "In fact, of all of us, I would say those of us who transform will be at an advantage."
    His words gave Aein pause, made the thoughts jumble in her mind as the world shifted just a bit.  "Strange that this thing which seems such a curse in our world will actually be useful in the swamp."
    "Isn't it?" replied Finn.  His horse pranced nervously beneath him, as if all this talk of the swamp was bringing back bad memories for him, too.  Finn tightened his seat and patted his mount's neck.  "It is only human intelligence which gives us an advantage over the beasts."  This time it was Finn who paused.  "But with the berries we consumed, we now have both the strength of the beasts and the intelligence of humans."
    "Well, then.  I hereby elect you and Lars to official defensive duty while I watch the horses," Aein pronounced. 
    "Oh, you're not getting off that easily," said Finn.  "I tell you what..."  He bended over to conspire with her.  "I have heard you were one of the best chefs in the entire Arnkell stronghold.  How about one fully cooked meal for every monster I kill for you?"
    The first day Lars and Aein had left for the swamp all those months ago, Lars had made a