Star Druid II: The Burning Grove by Skyler Grant

Author:Skyler Grant [Grant, Skyler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Published: 2019-03-19T22:00:00+00:00

30

The entire palace was designed to inspire minds, and the nearby rooms meant for dedicated research. The chamber beyond the doors had one clear purpose.

To strike awe and fear.

Stained glass was lit from the other side, filling the room with light, and massive statues of dragons flanked a throne made of crystal. Upon it sat a familiar figure. Banok had last seen her in a coffin.

Arya of Delore, who had claimed the medallion once owned by Urania Vox and helped put an end to Urania’s reign. And now, if Astra was right, the new body for Urania herself. A pretty woman in robes of purple and black, a sharp contrast from what she’d been wearing the last time Banok had seen her.

Banok stepped in with Astra beside him, the doors ponderously closing behind them. No one spoke for a long time, studying each other silently.

“Uh. Hi,” Astra finally said with a nervous smile.

The woman’s eyes shifted to study the elemental.

She said, “Well, best not stand there gaping. I’m Urania Vox, Lady of the Void, and you’ve come a long ways to find me.” She lounged back on the throne. “And survived, which is both surprising and hopeful. I recognize the medallion, is it bound to an elemental?”

Astra said brightly, “Some Orcs shoved it along with an asteroid into a star. Then Banok here decided to bond that star and here I am. There is another immortal floating around in my head too. It’s all a bit of a mess. But! So are you!”

“I’m well aware,” Urania said, her gaze turning to Banok.

“Banok, Grandmaster of the Druids,” Banok said.

“Ah. A powerful source of life energy and bound to a powerful source for fire,” Urania said, tilting her head. “Excellent. Well, this is my home. Excuse all the ice.”

Banok hadn’t been sure quite what he was expecting, but this wasn’t it. While he hadn’t exactly pictured Urania to be overdramatic and evil like so many of the stories now painted her, he also hadn’t anticipated her to be this laid-back.

“My apprentice is … frozen. So are a lot of Orcs I brought with me. Can you help?” Banok asked.

“If I could help would I be sitting here on a frozen world?” Urania asked and then made a dismissive gesture with one hand, “Don’t answer that. You don’t know me, you could very well think that I like this. I don’t. The most powerful practitioner of Void magic in human history dies and gets thrown into the Void, and then returned to life. Behold the consequences.”

“So you aren’t doing this,” Astra said, obviously relieved. “I was so worried that maybe you’d changed. My memories cut off in the middle of the war.”

“Be grateful for that. The end was a terrible thing and dying is something I don’t intend to repeat,” Urania said. “But no, this isn’t willing. I’m doing my best to hold it in and despite my efforts the Fade is still expanding, and my home has turned into this.”

Banok approached the throne.

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.