Dark Shadows by Tynessia Lett (classic books for 13 year olds .txt) 📖

they heard a loud growl that echoed through the halls. All they saw was deep dark smoke and shadows moving among it.

Allure looks back, her eyes were a fire red color and she yells for Matt to get Blair to safety.

“Go now to the woods, the Dryads will protect you. ”

Allure waited until Matt and Blair were no longer in sight and then she focused her attention on the threat at hand.

When the smoke cleared they saw Jhukar the large foul ogre, better known as Jhukar the thirsty ax. He let out a sinister laugh.

“Leave this place at once, Jhukar ” Allure demanded.

“Where is the girl” Growled Jhukar.

“The girl is none of your concern, if you do not leave this place at once here is where you will forever remain buried in peace” yelled Mr. Crane

Jhukar let out a spine-shivering roar and pulled his bloodthirsty ax from his back.

” We shall see, who it is that remains buried here serpent scum”.

Jhukar lifted his huge ax and twirled it over his head, the whole time he was laughing and enjoying the intensity of the moment. He wanted blood and he was ready to strike down anyone who stood in his way.

Locking in on Mr.Crane, Jhukar swung his mighty ax with so much force you could hear it slicing the air.

Mr.Crane barely dodged the attack. He stood tall on his hide tail stretched out two more limbs giving him four arms. He then slithered rapidly toward his target.

Jhukar didn’t even notice Mr. Crane was towering over him from the back, his mouth spread as wide as the ogre’s head and poisonous venom spewed from his mouth, as it hit the ogre’s head you could see his skin peeling away.

Mr.Crane grabbed Jhukar head with brute force and tried to bite his head off.

Jhukar yelled in pain and tried to reach around to grab Mr.Crane with no luck.

Allure saw an opening to strike Jhukar, while Mr.Crane had him distracted, She took a deep breath and let out a shrieking scream, just then eight spindlelegs, long thin legs, grew out from her back.

She climbed the walls to the ceiling just above Jhukar and attacked with a big right overhand punch, slamming him into the wall, where she started landing solid punches into Jhukar’s gut with all eight legs.

Mr.Crane moves quickly releasing his grip on Jhukar right before he hits the wall. He had released so much poison into Jhukar you could see the effects kicking in. He stood up stumbling a bit.

He was breathing heavy and the dust from the impact into the wall clouded the air it reeked of sweat and blood.

Jhukar took a few steps forward stretching his body popping the bones in his neck and back and spat blood on the ground.

“My turn” He laughed as he lifted his ax and charged at Mr.Crane.

“Watch Out’ Allure shouted as she attempted to stop Jhukar with her sticky web.

Web sprung from her fingers and wrapped Jhukar constricting him from moving.

Jhukar enraged began to go berserk and doubled in size which allowed him to break free from the web. He swung his ax hitting Mr. Crane from the right side and sending him flying directly into Allure, they both flew into a wall, the collision was so much that the wall crumbled around them burying them both.

Jhukar walked over and saw blood spilling from the pile of crumbled rocks. He grunted, wiped the blood from his mouth, placed his ax on his back and went to catch up with Blair and Matt.

The rocks began to shift as Allure was digging her way up. When she stood up she searched through the ruins for Mr.Crane.

“CRANE!!!” She shouted

“Over here” a very faint and raspy voice moaned.

“Dammit, hold on Crane, I’ll get you out” Allure rushed over.

Mr.Crane was stuck under a large boulder. He was spewing up blood and could hardly breathe.

“We have to stop him before he reaches the girl” He whispered

“She will be okay for now, Matt will protect her,” Allure said as she thought of a way to lift the boulder.

“We can’t know if Matt will be able to stop him on his own” Mr. Crane began to cough and wince in pain.

“Shhhh, no more talking, let me get you from under this boulder and treat your wounds.” Allure said.

Allure found an iron bar and used it to lift the boulder enough to pull Mr. Crane from underneath it. He was hurt badly and she knew she had to hurry up and get to the Dryads if he was to live.

She used her web to patch him up and slow the bleeding for his external wounds, anything internal would have to wait until they reached the forest. She lifted him and they headed out.

They made their way halfway through the forest but Allure could tell looking at Mr.Crane he wouldn’t make it much longer. He was in and out of consciousness and she had to think fast to save her friend.

She laid him down by a tree and checked his wounds again. She knew on foot it would be a while before they reached their destination.

She needed to find help and fast, but could not do it dragging Mr.Crane along. So she stood up and stepped back placed her hands up and did a cloaking spell to hide him.

“Don’t worry, ill be back with help, just hold on” she stretched out her eight legs again and went into the trees. She hoped to find an old friend of hers who lived nearby.

 

The Dryads

 

'A strong stance and unlawful swings,

My guardian to protect me from awful things,

To knock down those who want to be bring you pain

I’ll settle your terrors to a peaceful sleep.'

 

At the explosion site Allure finally sees he figure in the smoke is Jhukar she knew things were about to get dangerous for Blair.Allure looks back her eyes fire red and yells for Matt to get Blair to safety. “Take her to the woods, the Dryads will protect you. ”

Matt grabbed Blair by her hand and turned to run away. She was looking back worried for Mr.Crane and Allure.

“Will they be OK?” she asked Matt with a shaky voice. He only looked at her firmly never speaking a word. He gripped her hand tighter as they ran toward safety.

They came upon a black door made of steel. Matt burst through the door and took the form of the biggest wolf Blair has ever seen.

She screamed and fell over as the wolf approached her. He walked slowly up to her then kneeled to show her he would not harm her.

Blair reached her hand out to touch the top of its head “Matt, is that you?”

He licked her hands and Blair smiled. “Oh my God, you weren’t kidding about not being so little”.

Matt was alerted of a presence approaching. He jumped over Blair and took a defensive position.

“What is it Matt, is someone there?” Blair hoped it would be either Mr. Crane or Allure but looking on it was this large ogre beast with a huge hammer he carried that dripped in blood.

“Holy shit, What is that thing,” Blair said as she stood safely behind the Dire wolf trying to hide.

Matt lowered his body and gestured for Blair to get on, She climbed up and placed both hands just around his neck and suddenly she could hear Matt’s voice in her head.

“Blair, this is bad, if he has made it this far that must mean the others were taken out.”

Blair gasped in fear “What do we do Matt” she asked worriedly.

“Hold on tight” things could get ugly fast he growled.

She gripped on as tight as she could and took a deep breath.

“I smell fear, a frighten little necro, tasty” the big beast roared.

“How about we cut things short and you don’t put up a fight, ill kill you fast and eat the girl slowly” The ogre took a few steps toward Blair and Matt.

Matt noticed Jhukur grip his hammer firmer as if he was preparing to swing it. He knew he wouldn’t be able to fight this beast and protect Blair and protecting Blair came first so he had to make a run for it.

Blair was fearful of the situation but she knew Matt would do everything to keep her safe. She secured herself on Matt’s back and prepared for the ogre to make his move.

Before Blair knew it Matt had leaped into the air with such force the impact sent the ogre flying off his feet. He jumped up into the trees and began leaping from tree to tree with such speed, Blair felt like she was flying.

Matt kept going deep into the forest, Blair thought to herself where would they go now.

Matt telepathically heard her and responded, “We’re almost there Blair, don’t worry”.

Blair was confused ” Where exactly is this place Matt,” She asked.

Matt explained how there were others out there who were also on their side in this fight against the dark shadow. We have safe zones in place in case any of us are ever compromised like now.”

Blair sighed, there were others out there willing to fight with her. So many people were depending on her and she began to feel bad as she watched Matt frantically fleeing away from a fight he would have probably been able to handle if she wasn’t so much of a liability. She promised herself at that moment to focus and do everything she can to become the strongest necromancer she could be.

“So who exactly are we fleeing to for safety” Blair asked.

" Deep in the forest lives the Dryad, also called hamadryad, a nymph or nature spirit who lives in trees and takes the form of a beautiful young woman,” Matt explained.

Blair had a plain look on her face, ” so we are going to be protected by tree elves, seriously, what can they do, your way more of a threat than they are I’m sure” Blair laughed.

Matt, kinda expected that kind of response from Blair seeing as how everything in his world was new to her.

“As goddesses of forests, Dryads hold strong power over plants, particularly trees and wood. Dryads can make plants grow within seconds and can change a seed into a towering oak. They can turn into trees and hide from predators.

They have a form of telepathy they share with the trees in the forest. Dryads are as strong and as hard as the trees they protect. They can live forever and are natural immortals tied to their forests and if the Dryad dies, the forest will wither and die, if the forest is destroyed, the dryad will perish and fade away. Matt knew after explaining that Blair still wouldn’t see how significant their protection was for them.

Blair still confused about why they were depending on little tree Nymphs for protection, she still had questions.

“Okay, so how are they going to protect us?”

Matt chuckled a little then explained again “Blair, they live deep in the forest, they are connected to every tree in the forest, nothing moves here without them knowing. They can speak to each other, and they are never seen or found unless they want to be.”

“So they know we are coming?” Blair asked

“Yes, look ahead the trees are guiding