The Burning Collar (Akken Chronicles Book 3) by Cy Tidd

Author:Cy Tidd [Tidd, Cy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rogue Leaves Publishing
Published: 2020-06-11T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Vani followed the river south, keeping under the tree canopy as much as she could. It was slow going at first, even levitating above the ground. The afternoon sun made for long shadows under the canopy. She couldn’t go very fast without banging into tree trunks.

Vani also didn’t know if the wizards could see this far from the city. Every time she reached a clearing and caught sight of Akken, she worried the wizards might see her. As powerful as she was, there were more of them, and she likely wouldn’t see them coming.

It wouldn’t be like the artificers, the wizards Vani had slain in the depths of the Tower. Vani had surprised them. She likely wouldn’t get that chance with the White Ring, not out here in the open. She’d barely escaped Veru back at the cave mouth, and only because some strange voice had made Vani invisible to the other man.

That voice. Vani hadn’t recognized it. Hadn’t heard an accent. It sounded normal. Just a regular voice in her head, controlling a wizard, asking Vani to go south. A Class Five Telepath. Vani shivered. That voice said it could control her. The idea frightened her. Probably listening to my thoughts right now. Are you there? Vani stopped. Waited. No voice. Would I know if I were being controlled? Vani decided she wouldn’t, and she should stop worrying about it. She continued following the river, keeping it on her left.

An hour after leaving Veru, and catching enough glimpses of Akken behind her without seeing any wizards, Vani decided she was safe. If the White Ring were following her, she would have seen them by now. Vani wondered if they had their hands full with Kai. Letting him live was a mistake, Vani knew. Collar or no collar, the man was too dangerous. Setting a golem loose. If a talented had done that, the talented would be dead. No question at all. Death for their crimes. They wouldn’t have seen another day. Nobody would have wondered if capital punishment was the right thing to do. It was the way of things.

But a wizard? A wizard could do that and get away with it. Kai had taken her leg, tried to kill her, set a golem loose, killed a lot of innocent people, and afterward Ilo had let him live. Ilo was wrong. Parn was wrong. They were all wrong. They couldn’t see it. They were too busy trying to fool themselves that Kai could be … What? Saved? Vani snorted. The man was beyond redemption. He deserved death. If he ever crossed paths with Vani again, she wouldn’t hesitate. She’d crush him. Her mistake in the grotto had been trying to drown him. It had given Ilo time to surprise her. She’d had a chance to end Kai, and she’d blown it. Not going to make that mistake again. She wouldn’t let anyone get in her way. Not Ilo, not Parn, not any of them.

Ipsu’s face rose unbidden in her mind, his obnoxious identity question on his lips.

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