The Hungering Flame Read Online Free Page A

remember me at all, do you? ” Max said. Pulling the helm from his head, he brushed back his dark hair with his gauntleted hand. He looked sleepless and unshaven, and the fierce gleam in his eye frightened Garrett.
    “ I’m sorry, sir, ” the prince began, “ I... Young Lord Zara! ”
    “ You do remember, ” Max said with a sneer, “ I suppose you were paying attention at school after all. ”
    Prince Cabre slipped off of his horse and stood with his hands raised imploringly. “ Forgive me. I thought you... ”
    “ Dead ? ” Max scoffed, “ yes, your father very nearly saw to that. ”
    “ My father never... ”
    “ My family begged for his aid! ” Max shouted.
    Cabre said nothing, his arms at his sides.
    Max looked away, running a hand over his face. He looked tired and older than he had when Garrett last saw him. He donned his helmet once more and snapped his visor shut. “ More will be coming, ” he said, “ Let us waste no more time here. ”
    Max rode away, commanding his zombies to gather the bodies of the dead soldiers. The undead complied with silent efficiency.
    Cabre watched him go in silence. A fter a moment, he looked around and then rode his horse through the shallow water, dismounting on the other side. He found one of the Chadiri horses, wild-eyed with fear of the undead, its reins tangled in the branches of a small tree. He calmed it long enough to strip the horse of its saddle and blanket before freeing it to flee toward the main road.
    “ I’ll have to work on it a bit, ” he said, slinging it over Inglefras’s broad back and finding it woefully undersized. He knelt and cinched the harness as best he could, Inglefras nickering in discomfort. “ Sorry, boy, ” Cabre said, “ I promise it’s only for a little while. ”
    Garrett’s wolf made the jump across the shallow pond, once the zombies had cleared it of Chadiri dead, and rode forward to catch up to Max ’s horse. Warren followed him.
    “ Max, ” Garrett said, “ are you all right? ”
    Max turned from commanding a zombie to face Garrett, his skull visor still down. “ It’s good to see you again, Garrett, ” he said, then lifted his visor, his face pensive. “ I suppose I should ask why you’re here... though I admit I am grateful to see a friendly face. ”
    “ The priestesses grabbed all of our houses and stuff, after someone said the army was killed by the Chadiri! ” Garrett said.
    “ Are you all right? ” Max said, “ Did they hurt you? ”
    “ No, ” Garrett said, “ I mean a little... not much. Warren helped me get out, and Marla too. ”
    Max smiled. “ You have good friends, Garrett, ” he said, “ That’s a treasure any king would envy. ”
    “ Is everyone else all right? ” Garrett asked, afraid of what the answer might be.
    “ What about my dad? ” Warren added.
    Max chuckled, “ We’re fine... well, most of us. Your dad and the other ghouls kept their heads down and survived, relatively unscathed. Smarter than the rest of us... We lost all of our Templars and the skeleton horde in the first battle. Damned fools wasted the finest army I’ve ever seen... no matter. I’m working on an even better army now, though I guess I can give up on waiting for those resupplies from the Sisterhood. ”
    “ Is Cenick here? ” Garrett asked.
    “ Back at camp with Sera, ” Max said.
    “ Miss Serepheni is all right? ”
    “ Oh, yes, ” Max laughed, “ Sera’s a bit scratched, but feisty as ever. I think her pride suffered the greatest defeat in that debacle they called a battle. Jitlowe and a few of the others are with us as well. We lost a couple of the younger crowd to the redjacks and a few more necromancers decided to pursue other career paths after we g ot clear of the Chadiri. I kept their zombies, of course. No place for cowards in my army. ”
    “ Are we winning? ” Garrett asked.
    Max ’s black armor creaked as he shrugged his pauldrons. “ Our odds definitely improved with your