A World Within Read online

  Strom increased his speed and then pounced on their position. The boy, cherub, and wil nearly stumbled over one another trying to reverse their direction away from the mighty black dragon standing before them.

  Strom quickly snatched the cherub commander and the wil away from Daniel’s side, then launched back into the sky. The dragon carried one of them in each front claw. Meineke and Louie cried out for help, but there was nothing Daniel could do. The dragon spoke to him as it headed upward toward the peaks of the mountains before them. “If you are the Wielder, boy, then come and take them from me.”

  Daniel stood there gazing after them. Tears threatened to roll down his cheeks. Daniel kept them back, channeling his concern into white hot anger burning to save his friends.

  As Daniel watched the black dragon soar higher toward the mountain peaks, he longed for the wings of a cherub or the ability to morph like a wil. But he possessed none of those things to aid him. This isn’t going to be easy, but I’ve got to try.

  Daniel lifted the end of his sword off the ground and began to walk toward the mountains in the direction of the cliffs he had seen the dragon soaring to reach. Daniel thought about returning to the Deadwood in order to get the others to help. But what if none of them had survived the attack? Time was already running short for Meineke and Louie. And Daniel did not know how to navigate the Deadwood. He had to face this challenge alone.