Battle Dawn: Book Three of the Chronicles of Arden by Shiriluna Nott & SaJa H

Author:Shiriluna Nott & SaJa H. [Nott, Shiriluna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sun and Shadow Publishing, LLC.
Published: 2016-08-29T23:00:00+00:00

The ground was so packed that Gib struggled to get his shovel through the crust. Even once he managed to break the shell, the fine dirt beneath crumbled and blew away on the breeze—right into his face. Gib cursed at the sky and kept digging.

He’d picked this spot because of all the places he’d seen around Perth, this one was the most like the farm. A single tree had set its roots here long ago and somehow beaten the odds. It wasn’t anything like the hearty maples that grew along the field back home. The ugly, gnarled trunk and spiny branches that supported only a handful of browning leaves left much to be desired. But it was still a tree—the only tree Gib could find.

Gib’s mother and father had been buried at the foot of a great willow that overlooked the farm. The plan, back when Gib was young, was that the four children would one day be laid to rest there, too. A family. Together forever.

Stupid. The whimsical reverie of a fool.

His eyes stung. It must have been the sand. He’d already cried himself dry.

Gib stabbed the shovel into the ground and stormed several paces away. He refused to look at Liza’s sword, the only piece of her recovered. If he indulged himself and refused to see it, he could pretend she wasn’t gone. He might just be digging a hole beneath a withered tree. It didn’t have to be a memorial. It didn’t have to be her grave.

He cried out and kicked the tree’s trunk for lack of anything better to do. Lies! All lies! Liza was dead! She was gone, buried inside a communal grave with her fallen comrades somewhere in the barren wastelands. Nothing he could say or do would bring her back.

Gib finally glanced over at the sword, still wrapped in linen and propped against the tree trunk where Nawaz had left it earlier.

“It was still in her hands,” the Healer had said to him. “She went down a warrior, a hero. We laid her to rest with the rest of her troop. They’re across The Veil now.”

Gib had sent Nawaz away, just as he had done Zandi. It seemed foolish now. He’d never felt so vulnerable and alone. If only Tayver and Calisto were here. Gib shook from head to toe. What was he going to tell them? Should he send notice of Liza’s passing? Or would they then worry all the more for him? Perhaps he should let them continue to believe Liza was alive and well. Which was crueler? How was anyone supposed to make these kinds of decisions?

Gib sank to the ground beside the sword. The tree offered little shade, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything anymore. He lost track of how long he sat there, chest heaving and eyes burning.

A wineskin dropped beside him with a loud thud. “Pushing people away doesn’t work, Gib.”

Gib refused to look up, even when Joel’s shadow fell across him. “Isn’t that exactly what you did?”

“Yes.

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