Blades of the Old Empire by Anna Kashina

Author:Anna Kashina [Kashina, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, warrior code, Majat Guild, honour, duty, betrayal, war, assassins
ISBN: 9780857665041
Publisher: Angry Robot
Published: 2014-01-27T05:00:00+00:00

28

ON THE RIVER

Kyth dreamed.

He was standing in a large field, facing three robed figures. The hoods were pushed back, but their faces shifted features, making it hard to see what they really looked like. Waves of force emanated from their outstretched palms. Three streams of force joined into one, an overwhelming torrent too strong to oppose.

People crouched on the ground at Kyth’s feet, covering their ears against the pressure. Their faces were pale and blood trickled from their nostrils. Kyth knew they were about to die, crushed by the hooded men’s power.

He had to stop it.

The pressure of the force was enormous. While Kyth didn’t seem to be affected as much as the others, he was weakening under the flow. Soon he would be overpowered, and then nobody could save them anymore.

He raised his head, searching for anything to aid him.

The wind.

He had to relax and let in the wind. But if he did, he would also let in the power of the strange men. He would no longer be able to resist it.

He had no other choice.

He relaxed, letting go. The wind filled him, mixing with another type of power, darker and heavier, but still adding to the flow. In his mind, he gathered it into a single point, shaping it into an invisible spearhead. He held it out toward his enemies and moved it, cutting through the blanket of power.

The pressure subsided. The hooded men looked at him in surprise. Then they changed, focusing their entire blast on the people dying at Kyth’s feet.

I have to save them.

He focused his spearhead into a large streak of light, sharp like the finest blade he had ever wielded. He made it wider, cutting through the power that enfolded each of the people in turn. He watched them lift their heads, one by one. Their agonized faces relaxed, making them once again recognizable: Alder; his foster father, the Forestland blacksmith; Garnald the Mirewalker; Ellah; Magister Egey Bashi…

They were all getting to their feet, smiling. He had saved them from certain death. But just as he was about to rush to them and embrace them, a terrible blast of power sent him tumbling over the ground. His spearhead shattered into a thousand pieces.

He screamed and woke up.

It took Kyth a moment to realize where he was. He sat up in bed, slowly recognizing his surroundings. He was in the crew tent, in the bow section of the upper deck of the barge they were traveling on. He was lying on a low wooden bed nailed to the deck. Water splashed overboard, and low gusts of the cool night breeze touched his skin.

He took a deep breath, the nightmare slowly releasing its hold. Then he saw a dark, still shape at the tent’s entrance, watching.

Kara.

When she realized he had noticed her, she turned and walked out of the tent. Kyth hastily scrambled out of bed and followed.

The deck was awash with moonlight. The lonely crewman on duty quietly dozed at the wheel. Kara

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