The Hunt of the Grimalkin (Erresuma Book 1) by Dani Swanson (read aloud books txt) 📕

Fig came over and sat by her leg; calmly cleaning his muzzle with his paws. Thea looked back at the faces of her friends; their hair was a frizzy mess, and there was black soot smeared across their faces. Thea wiped her own face as she walked over to the limp body of the Grimalkin. She drew out Dean’s sword, and then poked the leg; it didn’t move. She lifted the sword with both hands over her head and started to swing down towards the neck of the beast, when the Grimalkin suddenly lifted its head and started to laugh like an old woman.

The laughter made Thea jump, she was in mid swing and brought the sword down to the ground, missing her intended target. The Grimalkin transformed into a small woman. Her skin was wrinkled and her hair touched the ground in wiry, gray masses. Her eyes were the darkest of browns, that looked completely black so you couldn’t even see the pupils. She wore a cloak of emerald green which sparkled in the fire light. Her laugh was cracked and high pitched. She didn’t look anything like the stories depicted her. She wasn’t long, or lean, she didn’t have any features of an elf. She looked more like a small imp woman, like Sorgin.

“Lilly?” Thea asked as she pulled the sword back to strike the old woman.

“Lilly? Lilly? Oh, Lilly Quinn, where can she be?” the old woman sang back to Thea, as she pointed a long finger towards Thea’s face. “You can’t remember what happened to Lilly, silly. How many grimalkins can there be?” With that, the old woman started to laugh so hard that she shook. As the old woman shook, she turned to stone and her dark eyes turned back to yellow. Her skin cracked and turned to ash as it fell to the ground. The group stared in amazement at the woman was no longer there. All that remained was a small piece of parchment lying on top of the ashes. It matched the same notes that Thea had found before.

Agatha walked over to the ash and picked up the paper and read it out loud to the group:

‘I have a riddle for you: A group of chains rung tight to protect, but alone protects nothing. And he who wears it, protects all. Find the answer, and you will find your precious Lilly Quinn.’

“Let me see that,” Thea said, holding out her arm. She took the rough piece of paper from Agatha’s hand. She felt a surge of energy run through her body as sparks started to fly from her. Her emerald eyes flashed a shade of violet and rolled back into her head. She lowered her head to her chest and then rolled her head back up and looked right at Agatha.

“Are you alright, Thea?” Robin reached out and placed a hand on Thea’s shoulder. Her ears were bleeding, and she had to stare at Thea’s lips to see how she responded.

“Uh… yeah. I’m better than alright.” Thea looked over her shoulder at Robin and Dean with a smile.

“You know what, dear Aggie?” Thea locked her glance back to Agatha, who was now backing away from where Thea stood.

“I remember EVERYTHING!” she screamed with extreme hatred.

Agatha looked terrified, but did not say a word. She took a bottle from her belt and threw it to the ground creating pink smoke which shrouded her from Thea’s visibility. Agatha had disappeared into the forest before the smoke had cleared.

Tears filled Thea’s eyes as she bent down and picked Fig up. She continued to whisper to her sweet little cat as he nuzzled her face. “I remember everything.”

Coming soon:

Book 2

Lilly Quinn and the Grimalkin