In The Heart Of The Storm - Pirate In The Desert: Two Achten Tan Short Stories by Debbie Iancu-Haddad

Author:Debbie Iancu-Haddad [Iancu-Haddad, Debbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Maraya21, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, SS/Novella, Collections & Anthologies
Publisher: Debbie Iancu-Haddad
Published: 2024-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

To be continued in The Bone Master…

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Keep reading for an excerpt from The Bone Master

The Bone Master - Chapter 1

Kaii

It's cold beneath the bones.

I can feel them now, all around me.

When I first got my magic back, it overwhelmed me, this awareness. Sensing the ancient leviathan bones the city is carved into, and the bones of its occupants. It took me a while to discern the living, breathing residents from the structures surrounding us. These fleeting specks of existence, celebrating life today and reduced to dust tomorrow.

Morbid, Kaii. Really morbid. Gast me. I'm turning into my dad.

I stride through the Undercity, feeling the vertebrae around me. Up ahead, I sense two (probably live) bodies before I see them, and one more, further away, the target of my visit.

"Who goes there?"

Long wooden staffs bar my way into the Undercity. Which is really gasting rude, all things considered. The tall sharp faced elf who spoke is obviously one of Aislinn's people, the Svaalti elves who moved into the Undercity the day after the cavern gnomes left. The two elves, one male, one female, regard me with haughty expressions. Sporting long pale hair, braided in intricate patterns, their robes a fine silk rarely seen in Achten Tan. I'm relieved they haven't replaced the bone weapons my father confiscated the day they arrived, seeking refuge after the destruction of Satama.

"Kaii Haku, to visit Opu Haku." I state. Not that it's any of their business. The elves nod and move aside, their expressions still just on the wrong side of respectful. Aislinn and her people have taken control of the Undercity like a rot growing into the marrow. They'll need to be dealt with eventually, but it's not my responsibility to do so. At least not yet.

Today I'm here to see my father, though I don't know why I bother. I can already feel him up ahead. My ability to sense bones doesn’t tell me if he’s dead or alive, but as I enter the passageway below the Undercity, I feel an almost palpable wave of animosity floating my way.

Opu Haku hasn't taken well to his imprisonment. The rock cage at the end of the tunnel is lit only by a flickering torch. The hunched figure in the shadows doesn't get up as I approach, but I sense a subtle testing of my wards, searching for an opening. If he finds it, he could break my bones, hurl me across the tunnel, try to kill me. Again.

"Still can't throw me down the hall." I aim for glib, but my tone misses its mark, sliding off his hunched shoulders to land in a splat at his feet. He can’t attack me with bone magic.

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