The Dark Witch by James Wood

Author:James Wood [Wood, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Book Writing Cube
Published: 2023-12-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Ava heard the cries of alarm first—not easy to do over the rushing wind, but she was more finely attuned to the cadence of the Furies than Kelso was. A quick glance at Cassandra proved that the Arch Mage was already standing up, unalarmed, so the Princess guessed that some of the forecasted guests were arriving. Kelso reached for Argenta as he stood too, and Ava briefly wondered if the sword had been talking to him at all during their parlay with the Arch Mage. She hadn’t felt the telltale static that obscured his mind when Argenta did. So, why had the sword been so silent?

All three of them entered the house and quickly made their way past the still deeply unconscious Furies in Kelso’s front room. Many of them were showing signs that their Dark was returning—wisps of shadow danced across them: some small and hesitant, many larger and surer. In the dying firelight, the women looked eldritch and savage as their Dark strove to wake them.

Out through the side door and into the maelstrom they went, Ava leading the way into an alien world. In just a few short hours, the massive snow flurries had turned everything the same unending shade of white, as far as the eye could see… which wasn’t very far. Fresh snow covered everything, and Ava knew that anyone not part of the Conflict would be killed by the weather if left unsheltered for long.

Marcus Dain, the insane Commander of the Paladins, was almost completely obscured by the snow that covered him head to foot. He had been standing in the exact same position for nearly sixteen hours. As far as Ava could tell, he had not moved an inch in that time. His Light was sustaining him, washing away the discomfort and pain he must have been in as he held his rigid pose. Ava wasn’t sure Marcus even knew where he was. The small man’s eyes were unfocused, and if it hadn’t been for the occasional blink, he could have easily passed for a statue.

Kelso, his face hard, paused in front of the Paladin. He only inspected the man for a moment, but when he turned away, Ava read a mixture of confusion and distant sympathy in his eyes. It was a credit to Kelso that he could find any sympathy at all for his nemesis. Ava knew well that the Paladin had tormented and provoked Kelso repeatedly over the last year. Marcus had hoped to kill the Knight—and would have if Kelso hadn’t turned the other cheek.

The Arch Mage stopped next to Marcus and started to brush him off with her hands, clearing the snow as best she could. Her eyes were focused on the street, though, and the two massive figures striding out of the storm, straight toward the house.

Ava cursed under her breath as she beheld them. Forms that massive could only be Berserkers—the Dark’s answer to the Paladins of the Light. These two were enormous specimens of

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.