Where Serpents Strike (Children of the Falls Vol. 1) by CW Thomas

big and hardy, latched
onto the boy’s leg with its powerful jaws and throttled him to the
ground. The mastiff was a common war dog, bred for its aggression
and strong fighting spirit. It tussled along the ground with the
boy until his screaming stopped.
    Brayden averted his eyes and forged
ahead.
    The harbor sat just up the beach to
Brayden’s left, a long row of simple pinewood shacks and businesses
anchored to the rocks and extending out over the water. A long pier
connected them all where fisherman met daily to barter and trade.
Docked by the pier were two double-masted trade ships bearing the
blue and silver colors of Aberdour. They rocked on the choppy
waters, their ropes bending in the wind.
    An increasing number of curious fishermen
were standing on the rugged pier, watching the fleeing refugees
pour from the forest.
    Pick perched himself on a dock post with his
bow drawn and ready. He released an arrow that flew over Brayden’s
head and landed in the shoulder of a large brown mutt. The dog
yelped and fell to the ground, disappearing into the tall grass.
More arrows sailed from the harbor as fishermen gathered together
in a brave but futile attempt to stem the tide of black vipers
flowing from the forest.
    Brayden sprinted across the sand and up the
steps onto the pier behind Khalous.
    There he met a man he had not noticed
before, a dirty man in torn rags with broken shackles on his
feet.
    “Give me your bow,” he said to Khalous.
    Brayden saw the captain’s hesitation.
    “It’s all right,” said Lia. “You can trust
Khile.”
    As if her word wasn’t enough, the mysterious
man named Khile added, “For the west.”
    It was like he had spoken a secret code that
broke through Khalous’ reservations. To Brayden’s surprise, the
captain handed over his bow and quiver.
    Khile spun around into a crouch and had let
fly a single arrow before Brayden even noticed that he had drawn
one back. By the time the arrow hit its mark, right below the
helmet of a black viper, Khile had released another. It struck the
neck of a second viper and sent him crashing into the sand. Khile
loosed his arrows with the speed and agility of a top ranked
archer.
    When he had finished, he turned, almost
stumbling into Brayden. He grabbed him and spun him around, shoving
him in the direction of the closest ship, shouting, “Go!”
    Brayden raced toward the ship and charged up
onto the gangplank.
    He turned to allow Dana and Broderick to
slip past him, and that’s when he noticed that Lia had fallen
behind. She lay on the deck, trapped underneath Khile who was
locked in combat with an enemy soldier.
    Using his bow Khile wrestled against the
enemy’s sword. He slammed his shin into the soldier’s crotch, and
smacked him across the face with the bow.
    More black vipers stomped onto the pier,
cutting down the refugees as they fled.
    “Lia!” Brayden called, but she was held back
by combat.
    Pick and Stoneman hurried up the gangplank,
blue cloaks trailing at their backs. Pick grabbed Brayden and
dragged him onto the ship. He protested, reaching for Lia, but
everything was happening too fast. Stoneman kicked the gangplank
away. Two sailors untethered the ship from the dock.
    “Faster!” bellowed a bearded captain to his
rowers. “Heave, heave, heave!”
    Two black vipers ran to the end of the dock
and jumped on board the ship, but their lives came to a devastating
end when they ran headlong into Stoneman. The muscle bound soldier
of the King’s Shield plowed into them like a bull, stabbing each
through the chest with a wide dagger. He lifted them off their feet
and thrust their bodies overboard.
    “Lia!” came the scream of Dana through
desperate tears.
    Brayden ran up onto the back of the ship to
join his sister. She and Broderick were peering over the top of the
wooden railing at Lia. She had made it safely aboard the second
trade ship along with the mysterious bowman named Khile.
    Brayden watched as long oars emerged from
the