The Lineage of Archrus by Daniel Allen (free children's ebooks pdf txt) 📖

“How is that they were able to find us again?” a scared woman asked her husband as they ran through a dark park.
“I am not sure but I will not allow them to catch us. If it comes down to it, I want you to take our son and escape. I will do my best to hold them off if it comes to it,” the man replied determinately.
She reluctantly nodded in agreement to her husband‘s request, even though she was unsure she could truly honor the request. Torrents of rain fell as the woman ran holding her infant son to her bosom, tight with solid determination, like her husband. The husband ran by her side shielding her and the child. They kept running trying to keep a foothold in the slipper grasses. They were running up hill with difficulty. Even in the rain, it was easy to see that tears were streaming down the woman’s beautiful face. When they reached the hilltop, the two stopped for a moment to rest.
“I wish that we had another option but you know that it’s for the best,” the man said as he pulled her and the child close.
Just as the words left his mouth, a bolt of lightning came down from the sky, striking the ground before them, and blew them off their feet. They tumbled down the hill on their backs. She was sure to hold the child carefully as they slid down hill. They became disoriented immediately from the tumble. The man jumped and ran to his wife’s side. She sat up slowly and nodded letting him know that she and the child were both all right. The man pulled back the blanket to check on their child. Their enemies was getting closer and aiming better. That strike barely missed them on the hilltop. He pulled her to her feet quickly and took off running again. As they took off running, more bolts of lightning crashed where they were lying.
“Run!” the man shouted.
They ran closely by the few trees hoping to hold off the attacks. The man hoped that the trees would intercept the lightning. Thankfully, for them the trees did work like lightning rods protecting them. The couple came to the bank an old river, as they got nearer to their destination. It was not far now, the woman thought. They both knew they had very little time left. The man concentrated on the bank and watched, as his thoughts became reality. A bridge began to form made from the earth. From the solid ground jutted a thick piece of earth across the water and connected with the opposite bank. He caught a glimpse of figures coming toward them from the brush behind them. He ushered his wife across the bridge quickly. Then another bolt hit the bank behind them shaking the ground and destroying the bridge. She made it across safely but her husband was still trapped with their pursuers.
“Keep going, I’ll catch up,” he shouted to her.
She started running worried for her husband. He turned back to their pursuers preparing for a battle. Almost close enough for him to get them out of here. Suddenly someone jumped out of a thicket to his right side, knocking the man to the ground. The mysterious assailant immediately jump on top of him and tried to drive a dagger into his chest. Reacting instantly, he stopped the dagger from making contact. The man knocked the dagger from his attackers hand and into the river. Then focusing his mind he quickly summoned a gale blowing his attacker away and back into a tree. The man jumped to his feet quickly as another one came running up from behind. He collected and froze the rain than poured over his hands into blades of ice. With a unionized turning slash, he stopped the second attacker cold in his attempt. The blades caught the man’s chest and he fell back flailing.
“Stay away from my family!” the man shouted as he sliced.
No other pursuers were in the area. The man took the chance to freeze a bridge across the river to the other side. He ran as fast as he could to catch up to his wife. The weather was beginning to clear up now, making it much easier for him to catch up to his wife. He caught up to her moving stealthily between the thickening trees. She was moving slowly trying to avoid attention. When she saw that, he was her husband she ran to him.
“Honey, are you okay?” she asked franticly.
“Yes, we need to get going,” he replied.
If there was another pursuer left in the brush, he was too afraid to attack them now. He would have no doubt seen what had become of his comrades. Besides, they were almost to the point of the park that he needed to reach to tap into a nexus. They continued through the low brush that his wife had been scurrying through before he rejoined her. The site he needed to reach was in view. Ahead was a small cave in a cliff side. They only need to reach the opening of the cave. Once there, he would be able to take them away from here and to a haven for their son. It was goodbye home for the family but hopefully hello freedom.
“Were almost there honey,” he said keeping a watch behind them for any attackers.
Then he noticed a man running behind them at full speed. Unlike any of the others he was unafraid to be seen coming by the family. The attacker had an amethyst glow around him. The husband knew that this was their pursuers’ leader. The man began to chant as he pulled his wife and son close. He was not yet close enough to tap into the energy of the nexus, though. The sky thundered overhead suddenly and more bolt of lightning rained down around the family. Fortunately, the surrounding trees protected them again by drawing the strikes into their branches. They were not far now from the target, just beyond the small field ahead. The only problem was that now they would be in the open. The man stopped for a second to turn and face the leader of their pursuers. He then smashed at the earth making a small quake to off balance their pursuer. The quake worked well and the man lost his footing as a small fissure caused him to trip and fall into the muddy grass. The pursuer screamed after the family. More bolts began to rain from the sky erratically around the. Charred chunks of earth and grass flew wildly through the air as they ran. They looked up to see a massive bolt direct straight for them. The bolt was far too large for them to dodge. It would consume almost the entire field upon its deadly impact. The man pulled his family close as he continued to try the chant. Before the bolt could connect, a flash of blinding light consumed the family. The bolt struck the earth fiercely making the spot brighter as it penetrated deep into the little field. When the light faded there was nothing there, just broken and scorched earth. A massive hole was all that was left behind where the family had once stood.

Just by looking around Colton knew he was here again. Colton stood alone at a stone altar. A strange symbol was carved into the altar. It was a circle with a dot in its center. Three lines stretched out from the dot connecting to three semicircles that where connected to the main circle. Their open sides stretched outward. He stood looking at the familiar symbol as a chilled breeze blew threw the surrounding trees. It carried with it the scent of the dying foliage. Colton heard shouting coming from behind him, within the trees. He turned to see horses carrying men clad in armor riding toward him. The eclipsed sun was hanging behind them. Its mutated rays gleamed off their raised weapons.
“Get him now, don’t let him escape or it’s your ass,” someone shouted and the horse galloped faster.
Colton took off running at full speed with no sense of where to go. He only knew that he must get away from this place. It would be his only chance. Through the trees and brush he ran, as he heard the riders grow closer. No matter which way he tried to turn it seemed they had him surrounded. With no knowledge of why or how he had gotten here Colton was disadvantaged. However, he knew how it would end. The same way it always did before. As he tried to put more and more space between the pursuers and himself, he ran through barbs and felt the sting of as his flesh was torn and snagged.
As the trees ended, he arrived at a wall of stone and found the passage that lay in its middle. Colton looked through it knowing it was the only choice, even if, it was not much of a choice. Run or be caught he thought, that was all this truly was now. So he ran through the stone passage. He moved as fast as he could through the narrow way. Colton came out onto a landing. He reached the cliff’s edge and caught his balance just in time not to plummet off to his death. Colton turned around to retrace his steps through the passage, but he knew it was useless as he saw the light of his pursuers’ torches coming. With him cornered, it was over. His pursuers would catch him for sure.
“He went into this passage,” Colton heard a woman shout from beyond the passage.
Now Colton knew it was surely over for him this time. The ledge only extended over into the abyss. The only way for him to go was down. He was surrounding and forced back toward the cliff’s edge. As he stepped back, he felt a bit of the earth crumble under his heel