Shattering of the Nocturnai Box Set by Carrie Summers

Author:Carrie Summers [Summers, Carrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lonely Crag Press
Published: 2018-03-24T22:00:00+00:00

“There you are,” Raav said. Freshly cleaned and dressed in clothing that only accentuated his looks, he strode toward me, eyes unreadable.

Over the course of the last hour, I’d asked for a low platform to be erected in the center of courthouse square. I didn’t know where the battle would go next, but I could be sure this calm wouldn’t last. When the fighting resumed, I wanted to be able to see what was happening. More importantly, I wanted people to be able to find me. After dispatching the skiffs, Jet had returned to assist me. At Raav’s approach, the big man stepped close, ready to defend me. Amongst the traders, my actions and demands were unpopular at best. Without me to demand the gutter rights following the end of the conflict, I imagined many traders envisioned a return to the old hierarchy.

“Here I am,” I said, careful to keep my tone even. “I hear you wanted to discuss the defense of the trader district.”

Raav’s jaw clenched and released. Otherwise, he projected nothing but utter, calm indifference. “There are guardsmen on the streets entering the district from the city center, but none defending the boundary with the hills and Promontory.”

“Ulstat’s strengths are the cannon and the mercenaries,” Jet said. “Neither of those threats will come from the hills.”

“Which is exactly what Frask will tell Olev we’ll expect,” Raav said, unruffled by Jet’s argument. “We must prepare for attack from that side.”

As much as it hurt to face Raav and speak as if we were nothing but allies in the defense of the city, I met his eyes. “We only have so many—”

“Councilor,” Jet said, cutting me off with a hand laid on my shoulder.

“What?” I said more sharply than I intended.

“Look.” He pointed into the uppermost fringe of the slums where the stilts clung to the steep hillside. “The light-bearers. It’s possible Trader Ovintak has a valid concern.”

As I stood, blinking, I realized what he was pointing at. After a long night filled with fire and blood, I’d grown accustomed to the color red. But the alarm had been canceled around dawn, to better prepare us for the day to come. So why were the lamps in the stilts burning a deep, threatening red?

Moments later, a man burst into the square, chest heaving, clothing scorched and torn.

“Councilor!” he yelled.

I leaped from the platform and ran to his side. Raav and Jet followed close at my heels.

“What is it?” I asked, dropping into a crouch to put my face level with the man’s. Winded, he stood with hands on his knees while his breath wheezed in and out of his lungs.

“Attack,” he managed.

“Frask and his rotted soul,” Raav cursed. “I thought it would be from the Promontory, but I should have considered . . . the stilts are much easier to approach in secret.”

“No wonder it’s been so quiet,” Jet said.

Wide-eyed, the man stared at Raav and Jet as if perplexed by their words. After a moment, comprehension dawned, obvious in the man’s face.

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