Death's Champion by Karen Frost

Author:Karen Frost
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ylva Publishing
Published: 2021-04-20T17:48:01+00:00

Chapter 8

“To fear is human.”

– Reddek the Wise, first Chancellor of Windhall University

“No.” The word was a moan from Cayleth’s lips, long and low and full of horror. It carried with it everything we felt. Surprise. Disbelief. Fear.

We were so close to the leviathan that water dripped off its leathery skin and onto us as it rose from the sea. It was cold and salty and soaked into our clothing, but we were too frozen by terror to move. How could it be here? How could it have walked the length of the harbor to reach us, and so quickly? There hadn’t even been a ripple in the water to alert us to its presence, and now it was too close to escape.

The leviathan started to pull itself out of the water, its muscles rippling, and, like puppets whose strings have been taken up by a puppeteer, Cayleth and I were given life again. We jumped to our feet and ran, hurtling down the rubble-strewn street in Bonrin’s direction. My boots slapped against the hard ground and then took flight again. Questions flooded my mind. Could we reach Bonrin before it reached us? Had he finished mending the tear? I could Gate him home while I figured out what to do about the leviathan, but our work in Menon wasn’t complete until the monster had been slayed. I just didn’t know how I would do that.

Through the chaos of my thoughts, I tried to take stock of our options. Cayleth had exhausted all her magic creating the sea monster just as I had drained mine against the Paladin in Nyara. Our swords and daggers were out of the question. I called to Death’s magic in my veins, hoping it could offer a solution to our problem, but heard only devastating silence in response. That left…nothing. We had no weapon with which to fight the creature. What was I supposed to do?

A ball of fire exploded in front of us. The half-shattered building before us jumped into the air and then shook apart into pieces. The ground rolled with the shock wave, throwing us backward. I landed on my side and slid limply against the rough street, my chain mail scraping against it. My ears rang. The headache that had started in Nyara renewed violently. Shards of basalt dug into my palms and my leg. I had only one thought. “Cayleth!”

She was on her back next to me, her open eyes staring at the sky. Was she hurt?

I crawled over to her on my hands and knees, ignoring the bite of the debris into them, my heart in my throat. Please be all right, please be all right, I chanted in my head. I grabbed her pauldron and shook it gently but firmly. She groaned and coughed, blinking. Thank the gods. I helped her sit up, hoping nothing was broken.

She touched her cheek below her right eye, an area not covered by her helmet. There were small cuts where she’d been struck by flying stone.

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.