Aegis of The Gods: Book 02 - Ashes and Blood by Terry C. Simpson
Authors: Terry C. Simpson
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the chance before her, instead of killing Ryne, she’d destroyed Sakari. An act she still did not fully comprehend.
Why kill Sakari? The thought still haunted her as did the man’s eyes and his ability to heal almost any wound as well as his armor itself. She blamed the strange affinity she felt to Ryne at the end with the sudden appearance of swaths of Mater pouring through the air.
In all this, what did she really know of Jerem’s own plans? Hardly anything.
However, she did know what she would not tell them. Whatever it took, she would drive the pinprick from her mind that she’d felt ever since that night in Castere. It pulled her in Eldanhill’s direction. She found the idea scary enough without thinking about the Exalted.
She didn’t realize Jerem stopped until she bumped into his back. Before them was a huge door, the Lightstorm insignia emblazoned across its surface. To either side, Dagodin soldiers stood at attention, their gazes seeing nothing and everything.
“Ready?” Jerem asked.
“Yes,” she replied, hoping her voice sounded stronger than her knees felt.
The door slowly swung inward.
Chapter 5
B ehind Ancel, Charra’s grunting barks and growls changed to roars. Wolves howled.
Dear Ilumni, keep them safe, he prayed in earnest. He steeled his back and shoulders. The dizziness he expected swept through him for a moment before it subsided.
As always, he had no explanation for the phenomenon. He wondered if it was a part of his new power or had anything to do with the strange dreams he had trouble remembering at times. The ones he did recall were so vivid he thought he could touch the black leaves in the even blacker forests and feel the power rippling through Jenoah’s streets and spires during the distant battle that occupied his fantasy. Recently, those dreams had increased in frequency.
Charra’s roars broke him from his reverie. The wolves answered. A grim reminder of what his father and Kachien were fighting.
Ancel pushed the images from his mind and concentrated on the route ahead. No real path showed through the snow and ice-laden brush, and he adjusted several times to skirt a tree. When a stray branch snagged at his legs, cloak, or hitched onto the litter, he swore some god or daemon was conspiring against him. On several occasions, he hacked away such an offending limb. If not for the fact winter’s grip squeezed the land and much of the brush had lost its foliage, the progress through the woods may have been nigh impossible. As it stood, branches snapped off, some requiring more effort, but they broke all the same. Pulled by the force of his Da’s horse, the litter helped clear a path more than it hindered.
The trip reminded him of earlier that summer when shadelings chased him and Mirza. The memory brought a fresh surge of fear. He found himself peering into the darker patches of the woods, jumping at shadows. At any moment, he expected shadelings to leap from the forest’s recesses. Either wraithwolves, green eyes glowing, their fur blackened char, as they ran first on two legs like a man before dropping on all fours to leap and bound; or darkwraiths, their man-like forms more gray smoke than solid flesh. No such beasts revealed themselves. He mouthed a silent prayer to Ilumni.
Despite his faith and the clearer spaces around him, he remained unconvinced of his relative safety. Shadelings hadn’t been spotted in more than two months now. He’d hunted down several to appease his anger, need for revenge, and to prove himself. When those outlets expired, he turned to hunting the regular wolves. Suppose there was some stray shadeling everyone missed? Finding the Eye, he worked the thought from his mind.
Within the Eye, he took in all around him. Auras bloomed in the form of colors across any living thing. The insects, the birds, small cretins foraging among the undergrowth, even the trees. It was like looking at the world through a rainbow. Over time, he’d learned each
Why kill Sakari? The thought still haunted her as did the man’s eyes and his ability to heal almost any wound as well as his armor itself. She blamed the strange affinity she felt to Ryne at the end with the sudden appearance of swaths of Mater pouring through the air.
In all this, what did she really know of Jerem’s own plans? Hardly anything.
However, she did know what she would not tell them. Whatever it took, she would drive the pinprick from her mind that she’d felt ever since that night in Castere. It pulled her in Eldanhill’s direction. She found the idea scary enough without thinking about the Exalted.
She didn’t realize Jerem stopped until she bumped into his back. Before them was a huge door, the Lightstorm insignia emblazoned across its surface. To either side, Dagodin soldiers stood at attention, their gazes seeing nothing and everything.
“Ready?” Jerem asked.
“Yes,” she replied, hoping her voice sounded stronger than her knees felt.
The door slowly swung inward.
Chapter 5
B ehind Ancel, Charra’s grunting barks and growls changed to roars. Wolves howled.
Dear Ilumni, keep them safe, he prayed in earnest. He steeled his back and shoulders. The dizziness he expected swept through him for a moment before it subsided.
As always, he had no explanation for the phenomenon. He wondered if it was a part of his new power or had anything to do with the strange dreams he had trouble remembering at times. The ones he did recall were so vivid he thought he could touch the black leaves in the even blacker forests and feel the power rippling through Jenoah’s streets and spires during the distant battle that occupied his fantasy. Recently, those dreams had increased in frequency.
Charra’s roars broke him from his reverie. The wolves answered. A grim reminder of what his father and Kachien were fighting.
Ancel pushed the images from his mind and concentrated on the route ahead. No real path showed through the snow and ice-laden brush, and he adjusted several times to skirt a tree. When a stray branch snagged at his legs, cloak, or hitched onto the litter, he swore some god or daemon was conspiring against him. On several occasions, he hacked away such an offending limb. If not for the fact winter’s grip squeezed the land and much of the brush had lost its foliage, the progress through the woods may have been nigh impossible. As it stood, branches snapped off, some requiring more effort, but they broke all the same. Pulled by the force of his Da’s horse, the litter helped clear a path more than it hindered.
The trip reminded him of earlier that summer when shadelings chased him and Mirza. The memory brought a fresh surge of fear. He found himself peering into the darker patches of the woods, jumping at shadows. At any moment, he expected shadelings to leap from the forest’s recesses. Either wraithwolves, green eyes glowing, their fur blackened char, as they ran first on two legs like a man before dropping on all fours to leap and bound; or darkwraiths, their man-like forms more gray smoke than solid flesh. No such beasts revealed themselves. He mouthed a silent prayer to Ilumni.
Despite his faith and the clearer spaces around him, he remained unconvinced of his relative safety. Shadelings hadn’t been spotted in more than two months now. He’d hunted down several to appease his anger, need for revenge, and to prove himself. When those outlets expired, he turned to hunting the regular wolves. Suppose there was some stray shadeling everyone missed? Finding the Eye, he worked the thought from his mind.
Within the Eye, he took in all around him. Auras bloomed in the form of colors across any living thing. The insects, the birds, small cretins foraging among the undergrowth, even the trees. It was like looking at the world through a rainbow. Over time, he’d learned each
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