Guardian (The Alfurian Chronicles Book 2) by Aaron Hodges

Author:Aaron Hodges [Hodges, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780995142268
Published: 2021-11-24T16:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

“That was some performance, Falcon,” Johanas announced as he stepped into Aureli’s old chambers.

Sitting wearily at the table alongside Hazel and Falcon, Rydian offered his friend a weak smile. “Almost too good,” he admitted. “If Hazel hadn’t stepped up…”

“Ah but we knew she would!” Johanas exclaimed. Crossing the room, he swept the woman up into a hug.

She scowled at him, but gave his back a pat anyway before they drew apart. “A little warning would have been nice,” she said archly, flashing them all a glare.

Rydian’s cheeks grew warm, but Falcon only cackled. “You’re a terrible actress, my dear,” she replied. “If you wanted them to support this insane plan of yours—and it is insane—then you could hardly rely on the son of a known traitor. And only your word would do to clear Rydian of his mother’s dark mark.”

Hazel’s face darkened, and Rydian knew she was remembering that fateful night when his mother had betrayed everything the rebellion had stood for.

“I believe you, Hazel,” he said into the silence. Her head whipped around at his words, her brown eyes widening. He swallowed. He’d meant to do this privately, but…well, this needed to be said. “I believe my mother betrayed the resistance. I don’t know why. Maybe something in that room affected her. Maybe something destroyed her Manus reader, exposed her to the Haze.” He exhaled, and struggled to hold Hazel’s gaze. “We may never know. But I accept it happened. That she turned against you. That she killed your brother. That she betrayed us all.”

Hazel said nothing for the longest of moments. Finally, she gave a little nod. “Thank you.” The words came out as the barest of whispers.

A longer silence followed, until at last Falcon snorted. “Well, now that that is sorted.” She stood, looking around the room. “I will leave you to your schemes.” She turned to go.

“Falcon,” Rydian spoke before he could second guess himself. The woman froze. “What you said back there? Did you really mean it?”

Falcon turned slowly, her sapphire eyes looking from Rydian to Hazel to Johanas. He noticed her clench her fist, and glimpsed the Light there.

“I wish I could help you,” she said at last. The Light brightened for a moment, then died out. “But I cannot use the Light any longer.” She laughed, though the sound was without any trace of humour. “We thought it such a miracle, when we made the discovery. Thought we could handle the pain that came with it, with all the power it gave us. We were wrong.”

“You’re at the edge,” Rydian said.

Falcon nodded. Her eyes fell to her Manus reader. “This device is the only thing that keeps me sane now. So you see…” she swallowed. “I cannot help you. Not with this fight.”

“But you can,” Johanas said gently. “We don’t need more fighters, Falcon. We have a whole complex of those. We need your knowledge. To learn how to deactivate the devices, how to hide it from the Alfur.”

“Your friend in her gilded tower will know,” Falcon said matter-of-factly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.