Necromancer Awakening Read Online Free Page A

There had to be a rational explanation for this.
    Portals didn’t open up in people’s apartments…in Texas of all places…and drag them into a world with six-legged cows and giant turquoise bats.
    Please, God, just take me back home.
    He rubbed his temples.
    This ain’t helping. I have to do something.
    He had to get back to Kaitlyn and Toby somehow, but he didn’t even know where he was. He needed information, and he wasn’t going to find it behind this rock.
    Those things may not be cows, but there was something about them that made him think they were cows in the first place.
    They had bells. That means they’re domesticated. So where’s the rancher?
    He turned away from the herd and saw plumes of smoke rising from a cluster of small buildings in the distance, no more than a mile away.
    There you go.
    That village might have some answers. He wiped a small bit of moisture from his eyes, stood up, and started walking.

    The terrain was rocky on this side of the emerald field, but he thought it wise to avoid the meadow. The jagged rocks rose to sharp points that stood several feet above him, and it was difficult to keep from stumbling. He tripped over a concealed granite nub.
    That’s all I need right now. A broken leg.
    His stomach growled. If the village didn’t have answers, maybe it had food.
    The sharp crack of falling stone echoed in the crags, as if a scurrying animal had dislodged some rubble. He looked for the source and lost his balance again.
    Careful, dumbass.
    He steadied himself and continued around the face of an enormous boulder. He looked up at the yellow sky. Something wasn’t right about it.
    As he climbed over some rocks, his hunger left him. Invigorated by the extra burst of stamina, he scrambled over the remaining boulders. All that stood between him and the village was a few hundred yards of meadow.
    There was movement among the thatched-roof buildings. People.
    He remembered the cows and decided it would be best to take a good look at the villagers first.
    Two legs and two arms. Now we’re talking.
    He took another step and his senses reeled. The faint sound of falling rocks reverberated through his mind as if he had some kind of sonar. The sound was too faint to know it was coming from the direction of the mountain…but he knew just the same.
    An old stone building, surrounded by marble columns and covered by a rock awning, sat nestled in a collection of boulders beside the mountain. The sound was coming from behind that building.
    How the hell am I hearing this?
    Carvings on the awning drew his attention. He was looking at a runic language unlike any he knew, but something was familiar about it. The energy that had been increasing with every step grew stronger.
    A wave of nausea struck him and he doubled over in agony. But as painful as the sensation was, he hoped another invisible hand would pull him back to Kaitlyn.
    Rocks crashed nearby. Something was coming toward him.
    He began to think at a lightning pace. Small things that would have escaped his attention earlier snapped into focus. He understood the movement of the herd and the shriek of the flying predator now. The reason the predator looked backwards when it flew off had nothing to do with its prey. It had stolen the prey from something else, something terrifying enough to cause it to look over its shoulder.
    And that something else was hunting him.
    Nicolas ran back toward the rocks. The sound of feet clacking on the ground ricocheted off the rocky mountainside. There were too many footfalls to be a single creature chasing him.
    There was nowhere to run, and if he hid among the crags, whatever was chasing him would find him.
    The clicking feet vanished.
    He stopped and turned in the direction they came from.
    Nothing but the grassy field and stone building.
    In a moment of panic he looked up, thinking the creatures could fly. But there was nothing except pale-yellow sky.
    Something crashed on the rocks behind him. His face