SpringFire Read Online Free Page A

therefrom to justify the cost in blood and treasure to conquer it.
    I will report more fully upon my return. Until then, may all health and happiness be yours, my true King.
    ~Sir Condran, Knight Royal of the Realm

“What?” Grey and I exclaimed in unison, and he exploded to his feet. In no time, he was standing next to me.
    But Xyla fell back into her stupor.
    My blood pounded in my ears, and I had to take calming breaths to try to gather my thoughts.
    “I need to make a bow,” Grey said, irrelevantly. “Whatever is wrong with her isn’t going to get better if she’s not eating.”
    I just nodded numbly. What did I care about some stupid bow? We were on Stychs, wherever … whatever that was. I wanted to shake the dragon awake and make her explain it to me.
    But the sense of Grey’s comment eventually penetrated my thoughts. He was right. We all needed to eat. I could at least get water heating, ready for Traz’s return.
    I filled my saucepan with the last of the water from my waterskin. While it heated, I went to a nearby stream where melted snow from the mountaintops made its bubbling, sparkling way to the valley far below.
    And the stream was right where it should be. That made me feel a little more grounded. Xyla must be wrong. We couldn’t be anywhere but back home. Two different places simply couldn’t be identical. Could they?
    I shook these thoughts out of my mind. Several splashes of the cold water onto my face made me feel more awake and clearheaded. Whatever happened had just muddled all of our thinking, even Xyla’s. Poor thing. If she’d been hit by lightning, no wonder she was disoriented.
    When I got back to the cave, Traz stood there holding four rabbits, but with a worried expression on his face. When he saw me, it dissolved into relief.
    “Where’d you go?” he demanded. “I got back and no one was here … ” His voice trailed off. So, I thought, he was unsettled, too.
    “Just filling my waterskin.” I held it up. “Hey, good catch!”
    He shrugged. “Where’s Grey?”
    “Went to find some wood to make a new bow. You’re not going to be able to keep a dragon fed, even if you are the deadliest shot in the world.”
    “I could bring down an elk as good as Grey can,” he said with an indignant look.
    “Yes, yes,” I said quickly, “I’m sure you can. And Grey will be able to use your help.”
    “Use his help with what?” Grey came striding in carrying a long, curved branch.
    “With the hunting. Traz has already caught us a good meal.”
    Traz raised the rabbits so Grey could see, then went outside to skin them. I hoped he’d hurry so we could get them roasting quickly.
    “I don’t need his help,” Grey said, a bit bad-temperedly as he sat down near the fire and started fiddling with the branch, turning it this way and that and testing its flex. “I can’t believe I just dropped my best bow like that. This one won’t even come close.”
    After awhile Traz came back in with the rabbits ready to cook. He’d made a spit, which he tended with great care. He’d been a kitchen boy at Roylinn Academy, where my brother Breyard and I had studied magic before we’d been caught up with Xyla and the mages, and he was a much better cook than I was. Soon, the delicious odor of roasting meat filled the air, making me feel light-headed with hunger.
    Without warning, Grey snapped, “When is that meat going to be ready?” By now, he’d started working on the branch with one of his knives, and a pile of wood shavings lay in front of him.
    “Be patient,” Traz said, just as testily. “It takes awhile to cook it to a proper succulence.”
    “I don’t care about succulence!” The vehemence in Grey’s tone surprised me. I’d never seen him lose patience with anyone or anything before.
    “Fine,” said Traz, reaching for one of the sticks holding a rabbit. He removed it from the spit, being careful not to let the others drop into the fire. He held the stick out to Grey, who took