Night of Sword and Shield by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0000000000000
Published: 2024-06-30T00:23:00+00:00

12

Nikki followed Radyn up the stairs toward the surface. She’d been quiet since they’d left Radyn’s house, but he couldn’t guess the nature of the thoughts that consumed her. It wasn’t until they were only two levels beneath the surface that she spoke. “Aria is an impressive woman.”

“You don’t need to tell me,” Radyn said. “I learn that truth anew every day.”

“I did some research on her before I ran over to recruit you from your cell. I thought it might be useful if you proved unreasonable. She’s a survivor of the fall of Whitehawk, right?”

“Pulled her out of the ruins with the help of my roommates. I was an initiate at the time.”

“Does she know what really happened the day Nightkeep attacked?”

Radyn stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at her. “You really don’t give up, do you?”

“I wouldn’t be a very good Shield if I did.”

Radyn bit back his retort. Most Shields were nothing like Nikki, but Firestone would be an even better city to live in if they were.

He almost said that yes, she did, but that would be the same as admitting there was a deeper truth to the day of the raid. Nikki already clearly suspected, but he wasn’t going to be the one who confirmed it for her. He’d given Jyn his word. Instead, he turned back and hurried up the stairs.

His brief connection with the shards had wiped the exhaustion from his body. The strength wouldn’t last as long as that which came from a full night of sleep, but it would keep him moving for a while yet.

He turned the discussion away. “Were you able to learn anything more about Josiah?”

“Not as much as I wanted. I spoke to his master, but the man didn’t have much useful to say. I got the sense they didn’t spend all that much time together.”

“That’s not unusual. What did he say?”

“That Josiah had all the makings of a great Dagger, but no more. He was a diligent enough student and mastered the basic techniques easily enough, and it sounded like he had the ambition to be a great Sword. He didn’t take to the shards too well, though. His master implied Josiah had barely passed the tests for Dagger and didn’t think he’d ever make it to Sword.”

Radyn grimaced. The same description could apply to dozens of the initiates he’d trained with. “Surely there had to be something more interesting about him.”

“I asked the same question. The only answer the master could give me was that Josiah was more interested in shard lore than most. His obsession deepened as it became clear that he lacked the affinity to become a Sword.”

They paused their conversation as they reached the Shields standing guard on the Firestone side of the bridge. Nikki got them through quickly.

“That’s still not much. But if this whole mess has something to do with Engines or shards, it might explain why he was involved. An obsession with the Engine can lead to some interesting places,” Radyn said.

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.