Blood and Tempest by Jon Skovron

Author:Jon Skovron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Fantasy / Epic, Fiction / Fantasy / Historical
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2017-11-21T00:00:00+00:00

15

Hope leapt down from the roof, her black robes billowing around her as she landed before the current grandteacher of the Vinchen order. Innocent bystanders gathered fearfully along the edges of the square, prevented from escaping by the Vinchen. Hope didn’t understand why they were being kept prisoner until she saw Jilly and Vaderton among them on the far side. Racklock would not want anyone associated with Brigga Lin to escape.

Brigga Lin looked wounded and exhausted, but still alive. Hope hadn’t expected Red to be with her. When she first saw him, she’d lost her composure for a moment. She’d had to push him completely from her mind before she could act. Now she allowed herself only a quick glance to make certain he wasn’t mortally wounded. Then she gave her complete attention to Racklock.

The memory of when he had beaten her within an inch of her life came quickly and vividly to mind. She had only been a little girl then, but there were many nights after when she’d woken in a cold sweat, haunted by the combination of recollection and nightmare.

Yet she was even more surprised that such an intense memory no longer kindled any fear within her. As terrible as that moment had been, it had also been her first step down the path of the warrior. Even more than the pain of that beating, she remembered the surge of relief she’d felt when Hurlo had challenged her not to be a victim to her own suffering, but to use it for her betterment. That had been his greatest lesson. And she had become better. Time and again, with each new challenge, she had forced herself not to flinch or look away. She had allowed herself to grow. She did not fear this man any longer.

She felt doubt, of course. It had become her ever-present companion since she’d left the battlefield of Dawn’s Light and renounced the sword. But she didn’t try to banish that doubt. It was her reminder to never again fall sway to the vainglory that had consumed her as Dire Bane. This doubt told her that her chances of success were low. After all, Racklock wielded the Song of Sorrows, and she had no weapon at all. But she accepted that without fear. She would find a better way. Or she would die trying, just as Hurlo had.

And so she stood before him, alone, no sword in her hand, nothing but a smile on her lips.

Her smile seemed to enrage him. His thick, broad shoulders heaved up and down. “I will kill you, blasphemer!”

“You are welcome to try,” she said.

His style was aggressive. Swift and fierce. One blow, particularly from the Song of Sorrows, would mean death. He was so fast that even with her new ability to compress her time, she might not have been able to avoid him.

But as he swung the blade, something happened that she didn’t expect. When the sword came rushing toward her with its fateful hum, she understood the song.

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