Heart of Faery (The Barren Kingdom Book 2) by Lesleigh Maeson

Author:Lesleigh Maeson [Maeson, Lesleigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

XANITH

The horses grunted and began to sway. We were running out of steam faster than I had expected. The Verdant beasts weren’t used to carrying for such long distances. Just when I was about to give up on mine, not wanting to kill it, a purple shimmer started to follow us like a trail of stars.

“Um, Xanith?” Veles questioned.

“It’s Meri. She hasn’t even touched the power that she could have, but she’s trying to aid our horses. Come on, Girl,” I shouted. I wasn’t talking to the horse.

The purple haze burst into butterflies that pelted the horses, which immediately began to pick up speed. The wheezing stopped and their hooves pounded the ground with renewed vigor.

“Wow!” Cirillo shouted above the thunder.

“That’s my girl. Thank you, Meri,” I whispered into the wind. I didn’t know if she would ever know how she helped us at the perfect time, but I hoped I had the chance to tell her.

“Did you say ‘my girl’?” Veles asked.

“I did not,” I protested.

“He did,” Cirillo added.

“You are mistaken,” I grumbled. These idiots weren’t going to let it go. I decided to ignore them. Something had changed inside of me. I wanted to hate the change. I wanted to fight it, but I couldn’t. Meri stirred emotions in me that I thought weren’t possible anymore. I’d made a vow to my wife and child. I would keep that vow, but I hadn’t promised never to love. That was my own standard. It wasn’t like I’d fallen for Meri, but I wanted her to succeed. I wanted her to win, and above all, I wanted her to survive it. I’d fight for that. I’d fight for her.

Veles and Cirillo didn’t mention it again. We were over twenty miles from the Verdant border when we realized that the blight was coming. Thorns had already started choking the bright green trees, and a brown haze lied ahead of us. I didn’t know how close we could get to the Barren Keep without being seen. Our dust would kick up a trail that could be seen for miles. I hoped we could ride the horses for a little while longer. It would minimize the time we needed to go on foot.

“I think we’ve gone as far as we can,” Veles said once we reached the last of the living.

“A little farther,” I said, urging my horse into the dead. “Night will fall soon, and we will have the cover of darkness to approach the castle. But we need to get as close as possible.”

He didn’t protest, and we rode into the dustbowl of the barren kingdom. The ground wasn’t completely flat. Large outcroppings of rock covered the landscape with jagged edges. Long lines of strata painted the rocks. If it weren’t so dead, it might be beautiful. We reached a particularly large formation when I motioned for them to stop.

“This will be a good place to hide the horses,” Veles said.

“We will send them back to Verdant,” I decided.

He gave me a nod, dismounted, and started strapping on his weaponry.

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.