The Hunt for Lost Souls by Thies Michael

Author:Thies, Michael
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Writer's Block Press
Published: 2021-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-seven

The Lord of Chaon

Luvan hadn’t stepped foot in the nation of Chaon for almost thirty-two years. Ever since the three-eyed prophetess had read his fortune. He didn’t feel right here, not even now, not when that day had so changed his life. He had thought he spoke to Saeluste herself and had even told his wife upon his return about his fortune, but the more he contemplated that day, the more he realized she had never been Saeluste. To this day, Luvan didn’t know who she was. And while words were merely water, as the saying went, as the years of his life carried on and on, he found those words of water had started to become ice.

And that ice chilled him.

So, no, Luvan didn’t like it here, but business drew him to Kuyan, the capital of Chaon. It sat at the border between life and death, between the greens of the Slaver’s Forest to the east and the endless sand to the west. Devil’s-sand. Luvan wouldn’t need to go there. His business was with Lord Kapache.

Either the city was truly massive or the taxicraft driver had taken the scenic route because it took an hour to get from the port to the gates of Lord Kapache’s estate. During that time Luvan had seen a few interesting city views, including one building that boasted on its front lawn a large golden lamp, the one bards said was prison to genies. He had tried to ask his driver about it, but the driver had only replied in broken Common Tongue.

“Power.” He motioned with his hands. “Voima.”

Luvan sat back, amused at the man’s attempt to cast Power, for he kept repeating the spell a few minutes after the sight had disappeared. Another interesting building had been a square temple with pagodas built on top of it. Luvan wanted to ask about this as well, but considering the failure of the first attempt, he just remained silent and admired the building for its unique design. Most likely it was a temple that gave testimony to the Twelve, something no longer possible since Guardian Eska consolidated his power on Mount Volan.

Luvan was dropped off at a cluster of temples on the shore of a lake. Amber-colored roofs and vast grounds of open space made this place more expansive than necessary. The ostentatiously large complex made the men who came out to greet Luvan seem even smaller than they actually were. They yelled to Luvan in a foreign language. He stared at them blankly, hoping someone more versed in Common Tongue would come out to greet him. If he had his golden C, a meeting would not have been an issue. But he didn’t; Eska had demanded his pin after the Meeting of the Twelve. All he could do was hope that one of Lord Kapache’s higher-ups would come outside and recognize him.

To his fortune, Lord Kapache’s receiver, Xin Xián, strolled outside within a few minutes of the yelling. He said something to the guards, who bowed and backed away from their superior.

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