The Protector's Resolve (The Tales of Caledonia Book 6) by Peter Wacht

Author:Peter Wacht [Wacht, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kestrel Media Group LLC
Published: 2023-01-17T13:00:00+00:00

18

A FORMIDABLE CHALLENGE

Bryen stood in the center of the sunken Sanctuary as still as the columns that surrounded the lip of the bowl-shaped depression, one hand tightly gripping the steel haft of the Spear of the Magii, the other pressing down hard on the translucent stone of the pedestal. Not blinking, not seeing anything other than the three razor-thin wires designed to hold the Seventh Stone, his focus so complete.

Although it took all of his willpower not to, he refused to allow himself to look up. His curiosity and concern regarding what was happening to his friends just above the rim of the hollow warred with his need to maintain his concentration.

He could hear the battle raging around the ten pillars, the screams and the howls of anger, pain, terror, and pleasure, the clash of weapons and claws, the sickening sound when steel or claw slid into flesh. It called to him. Even so, he had to ignore all that. He had to let it go.

He had to focus on the task that only he could accomplish. The task that would determine the fate of the Kingdom and all the people living in it. The task that terrified him more than fighting a black dragon in the Trench.

Because he understood that if he failed now, he wouldn’t be the only one who died. It would be untold thousands upon thousands.

Hunted, killed, then eaten by the Ghoules.

On the white sand, his death meant little in the larger scheme of the Kingdom. Here, it meant everything, and that intense pressure made it difficult for him to think, to do what he needed to do.

Bryen tried to block out the flashing brilliance of the six Stones on their pedestals, black and white flaring wildly in the corner of his eye as the stream of energy shot up into the sky to form the barrier that protected the Kingdom. He tried to ignore the sharp buzzing sound that came from the Weir as the two powers that were used to build it – the Talent and the Curse – clashed, seeking to break free from one another, thereby unraveling the bond that had been forced upon them a thousand years before.

Making his task all the more difficult was the fact that although he was more than willing to do what was required despite the risk entailed, acknowledging and accepting the ultimate sacrifice that might be required of him, he wasn’t sure how to do what he needed to do.

He had planned on taking an approach similar to what he had done in the Library of the Magii when he first wove the Talent and the Curse together under the watchful gaze of Rafia and Sirius. He thought that it would work, confirmation coming from the memory the Seventh Stone shared with him of when the Ten Magii constructed the Weir. And, in all honesty, it was the only idea that had come to mind, because he didn’t know what else to do.

None of the Magii’s research had unearthed any information that would assist him with this endeavor.

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