The Hellspawned Knight (The Hellspawned Chronicles Book 1) by Michael Todd & Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Todd & Michael Anderle [Todd, Michael & Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2025-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A biting wind met them the moment they staggered out of the tidal caverns. They had survived the submerged tunnels, all four of them wet, splattered with kelp, and caked in a grit of crushed shells. Yet their relief at escaping with pockets of stolen crystals and their lives quickly soured. Baleful moonlight revealed sullen faces on a broad, rocky shelf a short distance ahead, figures standing with weapons raised.

Riven froze beside a craggy boulder, arrow already half-nocked. Her keen gaze flicked to the stand of hooded strangers perched above them. She recognized some of the outlines as members of the same coastal clans that had guided them this far. A clarion moment of suspicion surfaced in her mind, and her jaw clenched. They whispered with outsiders more than once, she remembered. I should have pressed them harder.

Before she could speak, a harsh voice echoed across the stones. “You think we’d risk our clans on a demon’s promise?” The speaker stepped forward. One of the clan’s fisher-hunters, nimble despite a pitted harpoon slung across his back. Scars lined his cheeks.

Beside him, two mercenaries pointed runic rifles at the group, the barrels shimmering eerily. “Corgrave pays better than any demon knight,” spat the hunter, his distrust twisting into hatred. “We won’t see our villages burned for your cause!”

Jackson’s grip on his sword tightened. The glow around his collar flickered with the faint red pulse of infernal energy reawakening to danger. He scanned the huddled group of traitors. We paid them. We offered them wards. He ground his teeth. The tang of betrayal coiled in his chest.

“How about loyalty?” Elinora called, stepping forward enough for the moonlight to catch the side of her face. Her dripping cloak clung to her arms. She tried to keep her tone calm, but frustration seeped through. “We swore we wouldn’t bring the king’s wrath on your clans. We gave you crystals.”

A bark of laughter came from a hooded mercenary behind the hunter. “Your crystals are worthless if Corgrave’s forces burn every hut along the coast for helping you.” His words drew a low murmur of agreement from the huddle. “Do yourselves a favor. Drop your blades, and we’ll promise a quick end.”

Luke sucked in a breath, water still dribbling from his hair. “Yeah,” he muttered with a crooked grin. “I’m sure their definition of painless is a five-second decapitation.” He patted the satchel at his hip, but the traitors strained forward, rifles raised. The barrels glowed with fresh arcs of magic. One wrong move, and they would unleash a volley of sizzling projectiles.

Riven pressed herself against a jagged outcrop, arrow nocked to her bowstring. She eyed a mercenary brand on the nearest man’s gauntlet. It was a stylized claw mark, a familiar emblem. Her lip curled. If they’re the same sort who slaughtered my kin, they deserve no pity. She exhaled slowly.

Jackson lowered his sword tip to the stone, not quite dropping his guard. The swirling lines at his collar reddened. “We had a deal,” he insisted.

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.