Shadows Within the Flame by D. K. Holmberg

Author:D. K. Holmberg [Holmberg, D. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ASH Publishing
Published: 2019-02-07T08:00:00+00:00

24

Haern

The forest floor stretched below him. Haern crawled along one of the upper branches, making his way from tree to tree, working quickly as he scrambled across the hidden paths that crisscrossed throughout the heart of the Aisl forest. His heart pounded in his chest, and he struggled to keep his breathing steady. He was trying to maintain a focused pace, not moving dangerously, knowing that if he did, he could slip and fall.

And at any moment, Galen might throw a knife at him.

He paused, pressing his back up against the nearby trunk. The bark this high up in the forest was smooth. The pungent aroma of the leaves cloyed in his nostrils, and he ignored it, focusing instead on his footing. Even that, he tried not to focus on too much. There was no point in spending too much time fixated on where he stood. If he did, he might slip and fall anyway.

Instead, he needed to focus on where he would go next and be prepared for the possibility that he would need to disappear. That meant jumping. Dropping. Perhaps falling.

He’d already fallen once, and even though he had walked along these branches for his entire life, prowling through them like this was different. It required skills that didn’t come quite as naturally.

Movement above him caught his attention, and Haern threw himself off to the side, curling around one of the trunks, keeping a tight grip on it. He squished his back up against the trunk, watching for any other movement.

With his Sight, he thought he should be able to detect the movement in the trees, but Galen would be tricky, and he still hadn’t discovered whether Galen had asked others to help him. It was possible that it wasn’t only Galen he had to worry about. If there were others he needed to watch out for, then he had to keep track of them.

It was part of the lesson Galen wanted him to learn. He had to be prepared for more than just the person he stalked, and though he knew to follow Galen, he also knew that others might be out there.

There came another flicker of movement. It was on a branch below him.

He kept himself pressed up against the trunk. Any movement would draw attention, and he wanted to be careful that he didn’t draw any attention to himself until he knew what he was dealing with.

Haern grabbed one of the darts. It was tipped with a small amount of lorcith, barely a sliver, but after practicing with it for as long as he had, he had discovered that he could control it nearly as well as he could a knife made of lorcith. And a sliver gave him hope that the Forgers wouldn’t detect it until it was too late.

But then, as Galen had suggested, he also needed to be prepared for the possibility that they would adapt. They often adapted to every assault thrown their way. That might be why his father was so effective against them.

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