The Shadowbearer by Terry C. Simpson

Author:Terry C. Simpson [Simpson, Terry C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Adventure, action, assassins, epic fantasy, action adventure, fantasy series, elemental magic, Etchings of Power, Denestia, Aegis of the Gods, shadelings, fantasy ebook
Publisher: Golden Arm Press
Published: 2012-04-11T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

“You sacrificed nearly thirty thousand men,” Stefan said quietly. Rage should have burned inside him, but somehow, it had sputtered out. A hollow formed in the pit of his stomach with the words. “My men. Men who trusted me to bring them home alive. Men I promised peace to, a chance to be with their families. You cost me a friend today.” A growing sense of despair trickled through him. His hands shook.

At the table in the pavilion, not even bothering to look up from the map of Everland, Nerian shrugged. “The Disciplines warned you against making certain promises, did it not, General Dorn?”

Knight Commander Dorn, Stefan itched to say, but instead he bit his tongue and nodded. He’d failed to keep the one promise that meant so much to him and his men. The blame fell on his shoulders for his misplaced honor and arrogance in thinking he knew Nerian better than the man did himself.

“Anyway,” the King continued, “the menders managed to save Garrick. He may yet be able to rejoin us if he recovers fully. It was a necessary sacrifice. The men believe in me now. They trust I will lead them to victory.”

Stefan squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as he pictured the wounds hacked into Garrick’s armor. He no longer recognized his friend when they removed the armor. When the Alzari were attempting to heal him, they said if he managed to live, Garrick would limp for the remainder of his life and have scars across his body and face. “All of those lives wasted for a ploy?” Stefan whispered.

“No, not wasted, used to attain the men’s belief. They know now that they can rely on Matii to help them win battles the same as the Erastonians. They needed to experience the horror of an Erastonian attack and then see it turned back. You have been naïve in this, Stefan, surprisingly so.”

Eyes narrowing, Stefan said, “You knew how the Erastonians fought along. Why—”

“Of course I did. They defeated my Scout parties and other incursions.”

“What? But you said no Scouts reported—.”

“None did,” Nerian interrupted.

The King was splitting hairs. “So how did you …”

“I watched when Renaida and Senden suffered defeat months ago.”

Stefan frowned. Then you had them killed before they revealed the Erastonian strategy. You are mad, aren’t you? “Why would you withhold that from me and cost us so many men.”

“They were my men, to be used as I thought best. The same as I used you. Nothing must stand in the way of my triumph.”

Stefan’s hands clenched and unclenched. “Why? Why did you do this? Do their lives, their families, mean nothing to you?”

“Victory is everything, Stefan. I will use what I must, even fighting darkness with darkness if I have to.”

“What do you mean by that?”

A slow smile spread across Nerian’s face. “What pushed you over the edge to fight, to lead these men here, and to decide the Erastonians must be eradicated?”

Stefan tilted his head to one side, thinking for a moment.

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