Rise of the Forgotten by Jon Wasik

Author:Jon Wasik [Wasik, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781981589401
Published: 2018-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

New Beginning

Night had fallen on Daruun Forest, and an eerie chill filled the air. Cardin shivered and wrapped his cloak tightly around himself. Throughout the forest on either side of the road, the assembled Warriors of Tal and the Wizards that had joined them gathered around countless fires, and the air smelled of burning ash or oak wood. There was an obvious discomfort amongst them all, especially with the Warriors that had come from Archanon. None were accustomed to working side by side with Wizards, and the past had left a deep memory in the culture of Archanon.

Beside him, Reis strode along, silent after hearing Cardin’s tale of the past several days. He’d told his friend everything, what he had learned from Dalin in the Kayan Tavern, where he had gone, what he had seen and done. Absolutely everything.

Now his friend attempted to digest it all. Reis was a devout follower of the Order of the Ages, and some of what he’d told Reis was no doubt hard for him to comprehend or believe. Dragons, the existence of other worlds, the existence of other intelligent life, all of it contradicted much of what was written in the Cronal, or so The Covenant had maintained for thousands of years.

Even Cardin found it all difficult to accept, but he knew he had an easier time taking it all in than others would.

He felt for his friend’s conflicting thoughts and emotions and tried to think of something to break the silence. Anything. He didn’t want Reis to feel like the world was coming apart.

So he played to the Warrior’s vanity. “I heard from some of the other Warriors, you held your own against two Mages.” Cardin had entered the battle on the far side from where Reis had fought, so he hadn’t witnessed his friend fighting.

At first Reis didn’t seem to register Cardin’s comment, but then he looked at him. “Huh? Oh. Yeah.” He grinned a little. “Made one strike down the other with some quick footwork. Quite proud of that one, if I do say so myself.”

Cardin smiled. “Yeah? You always were fast on your feet, more so than I ever was.”

“You Mages rely too much on your powers,” Reis sighed. “You don’t keep your body as fit as you should!”

He smirked at that remark. It was sometimes a point of contention – Reis was always jealous of his two best friends’ powers. That was why he used a two-handed weapon, and was why he’d always tried so hard to prove himself an equal. To his credit, his efforts paid off, and he was always able to keep up with Cardin and Sira during training.

Not to mention, Cardin thought, it kept him alive today.

For another long moment, silence fell between them. In the flickering light from the fires they passed, he could see the grin fade from Reis’s face, his thoughts no doubt wandering back to their new reality. They passed close to another fire, and Cardin caught a glimpse of the profile of one of the Warriors that sat by it – Sira.

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