The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 Read Online Free

What do you make of
the situation?” she asked.
    “ The bite marks
suggest animal attack,” Bill answered. “Ronnie says the tracks look
like fox tracks and that they show themselves heading
north.”
    I stood up and joined them, curious at
the mention of foxes.
    Aren’t they the ones
that run and hide at any sound? Cathy
said.
    “ What do you think,
Kairu?” Bill asked. “The look on your face since we’ve entered has
me worried.”
    “ First time in a
battlefield, Mage?” Lady Sandra smirked.
    “ I’ve fought an army
of possessed Mages,” I replied. “Bite marks don’t bother me. The
magic in the area does.”
    “ Are you suggesting
Davenport has been through here?” Lady Sandra asked, getting more
interested.
    “ No, this is more of
an... unnatural corruption,” I explained. “Something has made the
creatures aggressive and before you ask, it wasn’t a Mage that did
it.”
    “ Then what?” Lady
Sandra asked.
    I shrugged. “I wish I knew.”
    “ Either way we should
get out of here. I don’t like this at all,” Ser Wilson
said.
    “ Couldn’t agree with
you more, we...” I stopped. I felt a ripple of magic through the
air and I stopped to scan the area with my mind.
    “ What is it, Mage?”
Ser Wilson asked, scanning the area with his eyes.
    I could feel the mind
of several small creatures circling our position. Closer
examination showed they were indeed, foxes and the corruption was
strong within them. They stalked towards us at a leisurely pace,
completely surrounding the camp.
    “ Kairu?” Bill asked,
getting nervous.
    “ They’re back,” I
said calmly. “We’re surrounded.”

Chapter
3
     
     
    “ Protect our Lady,”
Ser Wilson called out, stepping in front of Lady Sandra.
    The guardsmen regrouped and started to
form a circle around the centre of the camp. Their eyes darted back
and forth, looking for any sign of movement. I could feel the small
life forces advancing slowly and scooped up a handful of arrows
from the quiver of a dead bandit.
    Here’s hoping that training paid
off.
    Don’t over think
it, Cathy replied.
    Magic travelled through my arm into the
arrows. When I was sure I had them all enchanted, I dropped them
and they hovered in front of me. Holding my arm out to focus on the
magic in each arrow, I held them in front of me and waited for the
foxes.
    A flash of red caught my attention and
I turned towards it. Whatever it was it had disappeared behind a
tent. Another flash of red in the corner of my eye and another tent
when I turned towards it. Either the foxes were unnaturally quick,
or I was just seeing things.
    Could be a little bit
of both, Cathy suggested. The corruption...there is something familiar
about it. The closer they get the stronger it becomes.
    What do you mean familiar?
    “ Incoming!” Bill
called out.
    I’ll deal with this,
you take care of the foxes, Cathy
said.
    The sound of
something heavy bouncing off a shield drew my attention, but I
didn’t look towards it. The guardsmen would be fine. I needed to
focus on either finding the leader or any foxes sneaking around
behind everyone. With my focus on the levitating arrows, I couldn’t
stretch out with my mind, but it wasn’t needed as three foxes
stepped into the open, their eyes glowing red and locked onto
me.
    They stepped towards me slowly,
ignoring the floating arrows and frothing at the mouth. I have
found that animals can sense either my magic or Cathy and tend to
stay away from me. The foxes’ fearless march towards me meant the
corruption ran deep in their minds, stripping away any instincts
and leaving nothing but base primal urges.
    I spread the arrows out to cover a
wider area. The foxes were far enough into the open that they
wouldn’t be able to dodge the arrows, not that they seemed to care.
I pushed out with my magic and sent all the arrows flying towards
them. They realised their mistake too late and failed to dodge out
of the way in time.
    I took off my shirt
as my power