Heart of Magic by Jasper Alden & D.K. Holmberg

Author:Jasper Alden & D.K. Holmberg
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: ASH Publishing
Published: 2023-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The chains holding him to the chair weren’t as tight as he’d expected. Perhaps this was a good sign. Talen had been in chains before, and he hadn’t liked it then either.

He fixed his eyes on the sergeant who had arrested him the night before; Talen licked his lips nervously but resisted the urge to speak first. To make that task easier, he glanced away from his captor and to his side. Jamie was also chained to a wooden chair.

Talen had a suspicion that if the brawny magician wanted to, he could break the chair by sheer force, but for now, the giant of a man remained quiet, also staring through hooded eyes at their interrogator.

They had been in the dungeons beneath the prince’s keep since their arrest. Talen had been kept awake by all sorts of sounds from various cells throughout the room, as well as whispered conversations from the guards assigned to keep an eye on them.

He still didn’t know what had happened to Davin, but at least Gwin had managed to escape capture.

“Explain to me again how you knew the prince was in danger?” asked the sergeant. He stared at Talen and Jamie. He didn’t have a particularly hostile expression, but he didn’t look inviting either. He had the haggard, worn look of someone who hadn’t slept in days. His beard was untrimmed and his eyes bloodshot. He also had a bandage wrapped around the left side of his chest.

Talen hadn’t seen him injured the night before, but he supposed he must’ve missed it in the chaos.

“It’s a long story,” said Talen. “Suffice it to say, this particular magician—he calls himself Winter, among other names—ordered my father killed. I learned, over a period of time, while seeking vengeance of my own, that he was hunting descendants of a dragon killer. Over a thousand years ago—”

The sergeant shook his head, raising one hand and rubbing the bridge of his nose with the other. “I’m sorry; I need to stop you right there. I’m not interested in some farfetched tale. Who told you they were going to kill the prince?”

Talen swallowed and cleared his throat. “I’m trying to tell you. It sounds outlandish, I know. But those cultists—did you examine their bodies? They didn’t have eyes, did they?”

The sergeant hesitated, rubbing at his wrists, and then sighed. “Nepir above, preserve us. I never thought I’d see the day when magic was performed in the throne room itself.” He looked shaken but swallowed and continued. “The cursed necromancers from the south were bested in combat years ago. I should’ve known the next threat would arrive from the north. You say they come from the Wole; is that right?”

Talen paused, trying to remember exactly what he had mentioned during the first round of questioning. At last though, he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “The Eyeless Host. They work for the magician Winter. He’s trying to resurrect a five-headed dragon and to do so, he’s harvesting the hearts of the descendants of the dragon’s killer.

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