Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children Read Online Free Page A

gills are starting to dry out.”
    “You don’t have gills!” Jala scoffed.
    “Not yet,” Reilly murmured in disappointment and, since he was a Surface Dweller, it was unlikely that he ever would develop the physical traits so predominant in the watershifters that lived below ground in Aquataine.
    “Swimming with a watershifter! Count me in,” Kellan shouted.
    Jala and Izzy quickly agreed. Kane as usual was silent, following anywhere his twin brother wished to go.
    “To the lake it is,” Kenley confirmed, and the party continued to maneuver through the throng toward the outer gates with most people giving wide berth to the enormous Draca Cats padding imperially out in front. Some shouted out their greetings from afar, almost all dropped to a knee as they passed.
    Sharing some of her father’s aversion to crowds, as soon as they were through the gates, Kenley shifted the air and rose a few feet off the ground. “I’ll meet you there!”
    “Show off!” she heard Kellan shout.
    The wind gathered beneath her, pushed her off the ground, and she shot into the air once again. Now, this is freedom! Fierce exultation thudded through every nerve of her body as the wind sliced over her and she climbed higher into the sky. Nothing gave her as much joy as the thrill of flight, of manipulating the elemental power to which she was bound to propel her through the air. Here, in the rush of wind, she did not have to worry about royal protocol. Here, in the sanctuary of the clouds, she did not have to worry about her every action scrutinized.
    She felt a momentary pang of regret for deceiving Kirby, but quickly put it behind her. He just did not understand her need to be on her own. The protectors thought these forays mischievous pranks, but each of the descendents of the Savitars felt different. To them, it was a few hours of peaceful anonymity. A rare opportunity to just be children for a change instead of prodigy shifters or royals in waiting.
    Spotting the children and Dracas below her running swiftly toward Lake Tear just west of the Sandori Sands, she shook her thoughts away and descended to the ground in front of them at a run. Her companions were not far behind, and their laughter warned her.
    Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an enormous stream of water shoot toward her in a torrent meant to knock her from her feet. She only just managed to take to the air in time to avoid a soaking.
    Reilly Radek!
    With a wolfish grin, she spun toward the five children below her and watched them stop in their tracks, realizing their mistake in getting so close to her. This was a game they played often, and one in which she always won. But, the children were becoming more powerful and it was increasingly difficult to defeat them all at the same time.
    With a commanding spin of her hand, she unleashed her magic at Reilly and turned his own water stream back on him, pinning him to the ground.
    Next, she went for the strongest of the group, Kellan, but she was not fast enough. He thrust out his hands and disappeared under a protective dome of earth. At the same time, Kane multiplied and she watched five images of her younger brother sprint off in different directions. Which one was the real Kane? She could no longer tell. She growled in frustration.
    The whine of a shifted fireball caused her to turn toward the hurtling glow, but she easily snuffed it out with air and sent Jala reeling back. Little Izzy had already summoned a Grayan wolf to her side and was climbing onto its back to make her escape, but Kenley swept them both aside with a wind funnel. Once the wolf regained its feet, it took one look at the Draca Cats and sprinted back into the forest. Izzy let him go.
    That left her two brothers.
    Zooming in close to Kellan’s dome, she peppered it hard with air until it disintegrated. He erupted out of the ground and frantically called forth a coat of earthen armor. She watched the dirt and stones on the ground roll up and over his