The Bones of the Past (Books of Dust and Bone) by Craig A. Munro

Author:Craig A. Munro [Munro, Craig A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkshares
Published: 2017-05-29T22:00:00+00:00

The following days in Sacral saw a slow whittling away of the invading forces. The Abolians would push into the city and the People’s Army would cut them down. The People’s Army fared poorly in a few pitched battles, but the remaining Abolian soldiers were low on supplies and starving. They eventually surrendered. Conspicuous in their absence were all the surviving enemy Warchosen and their commander, Kabol. By Harrow’s count, at least five Warchosen were left unaccounted for, including Zorat. When they finally finished their sweep of the city and moved out to the western fields, Maura’s army were shocked by what they saw. Thousands of bodies were scattered around the fields amid squawking flocks of carrion birds. Ragged burn marks scarred the earth where sorcery had been unleashed.

“Maura,” said Jerik, “they’re all Abolian. Every single one.”

Maura looked around at her circle of advisers and officers. “What or who could have done such a thing? Could it really be the king? Or Jenus returned to us maybe?”

Harrow shook his head. “Jenus is beyond the rest of us, but even with the Lightbringer he could not have done all this. Maybe a full hundred Warchosen with the king protecting and helping them as he did on the western front.”

Sevren, one of her battlemages, nodded. “Most of the wounds we’ve seen appear to have been inflicted with a blade, not magic. Whatever talents our king might have hidden from us, I would guess swordplay was not one of them.”

Karim nodded his agreement. “I can’t imagine an army that could do this without suffering a single casualty. These Abolians know how to fight.”

“Could those who did this have cleared away their dead and wounded already?”

“I don’t think so, Commander,” answered Harrow. “There doesn’t seem to be any blood pools that don’t belong to the bodies that are still here.”

“Captain, broaden the search. See if you can get a better idea of what happened here. If we have unexpected allies, I want to meet them. If the Abolians had been reinforced from this side of the city, we may well have lost the fight.”

“Yes, Commander.” He saluted and moved off to make the arrangements.

As she continued her slow patrol of the outer fields, Maura was shocked anew by the scale of the slaughter. Abolian bodies were strewn around in zigzagging patterns.

“By the heavens, there are thousands of them,” she mumbled to herself.

Scouts reported back every half hour. Captain Harrow was both meticulous and organized. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.

“Commander,” said Sevren, “I can try a spell to shed some light on all this. Life leaves a kind of echo behind. Especially at times when life burns the brightest, such as in combat. If you are willing to wait a few moments, I can weave the spell in our immediate area.”

“That is an excellent idea. Thank you, Sevren.”

Maura watched in fascination as Sevren wove his magic. She had never before had the opportunity to observe a mage this closely while he performed a spell.

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