King Of Souls (Book 2)

by Matthew Ballard

  Tara’s head snapped toward the soldiers manning the levers beside Bawold’s open gates. She ordered them to close and bar the doors.

  The soldiers reacted with inhuman speed cranking the levers far faster than ordinary men.

  Tara tugged on the soul strings of the dead lining the courtyard’s wall and commanded them to rise.

  The white sheets marking the dead slipped downward as Porthleven’s villagers rose one by one.

  Tyrell glared at Redford screaming as bright blue light flashed in his palm, and he charged the closing gates.

  Redford’s expression turned stone cold. He stood motionless as the dead villagers turn on the living inside the impenetrable stronghold.

  Tara stared into the soul knight’s haunting green eyes, and a cold shiver ran along her spine. The light shining from his soul almost blinded her, and she turned her gaze away.

  Tyrell hurled a bright blue orb as the iron doors slammed shut with a clang of finality. Tara’s soldiers dropped a five-hundred pound solid steel bar into iron slats mounted on either side of the gate. A booming echo bounced from the courtyard’s stone walls, and the battle for Bawold raged.

  The First Tree

  Outside a small rocky cave, somewhere deep inside Dragon’s Peak, the rumbling stopped.

  Ronan found himself face down in a pitch-black room. He pulled in short ragged breaths and pushed himself onto his hands and knees. To his amazement, he found his four limbs intact and uninjured. He twisted his body, sat on his rear-end, and tried to get his bearings.

  A shroud of darkness enveloped whatever space the avalanche had left untouched. But Ronan had, somehow, found his way beyond the ice flows into the peak’s inner workings.

  Beneath him, cold damp water left his pants soaking. He touched the earth and felt half-frozen mud between his fingertips. Ronan’s thoughts turned to Rika and Moira, and his shoulders sagged. How many lives would he leave stranded on this mountain?

  Inside the dark space a soft scratching sound broke the silence.

  A sharp chill streaked along Ronan’s spine, and his head snapped up while he perked up his ears. He channeled spirit magic through his body and extended his palm holding a bright blue orb of pure white light before him.

  Black jagged rock appeared in a rough circular chamber broken only by a wall of ice blocking the cave’s small entrance.

  Ronan glanced to his left and right, and found himself alone. He stood and stared upward.

  Long pointed stalactites hung from the cave’s rough ceiling. Rivulets of ice-melt flowed from the rock leaving a muddy trail under Ronan’s feet. But, nothing sinister lurked overhead.

  Behind Ronan, the scratching noise came again.

  Ronan whirled and readied a spirit attack, but found only an empty stretch of dark rocky wall before him.

  A high-pitched growling noise accompanied the scratching.

  Ronan’s gaze drifted lower toward the base of the cave’s rear wall.

  A white shaggy pint-sized ball of fluff smudged with brown mud ducked behind a rock.

  Tension drained from Ronan’s muscles, and he cocked his head staring at the tiny creature.

  The shaggy hair around its eyes moved as it blinked. The ball of fur caught Ronan’s gaze and raised its lip baring a set of tiny sharp white teeth. A pair of miniature tusks protruded from its fur just below its mouth.

  A smile slid across Ronan’s face, and he knelt a few feet from the ice bear cub. “It’s okay girl. I’m not going to hurt you.” He pressed a weak spirit orb into a crevice half-way up the cave wall and extended his hand toward the ball of fur.

  The bear’s fur bristled as she arched her back and retreated deeper behind the rock’s murky shadows.

  Ronan’s stomach sank as a sick realization hit him. The bear cub’s mother died minutes earlier outside on the ice shelf. He’d played a hand in making this cub an orphan.

  As her mother had done for Moira earlier that day, the bear cub stretched on her side laying across the mud. Her tiny chin flopped against the ground, and she peered up at Ronan blinking.

  Ronan wanted to comfort the cub, but he didn’t want to scare her either. He reached for the leather pouch strapped to his belt and opened the flap. Beside Moira’s dragon statuette, he fingered a piece of dried venison he’d saved from lunch. “Here’s a peace offering girl. I’m sorry for what happened.” He tossed the jerky morsel, and it landed a few inches from the cub’s outstretched paws.

  Licking her lips, the ice bear’s gaze flickered between Ronan and the jerky strip laying near her feet.

  “I’m not going to take it from you. It’s yours. I promise.”

  With a last glance toward Ronan, the cub’s head snapped forward, and she devoured the jerky in a single gulp.

  Ronan’s eyes widened in surprise. “I guess you were hungry then?”

  The bear scooted back to her spot behind the rock and rested her head flat on the mud staring at Ronan through clear blue eyes.

  Ronan pushed his legs out in front of him, sat, and leaned against the cave wall near the bear cub. He scanned the small cave and folded his arms before looking down at the bear. “I’ve no idea how we’re getting out of here. What about you?”

  The bear cub’s pink tongue extended, and she licked a black button nose buried under a mound of white fluff.

  “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Ronan stood, crossed the cave, and settled his palms against an ice boulder wedged in the cave’s sealed entrance. He channeled a fraction of his power increasing his strength and pushed against the ice wall. It didn’t budge. With his sheba blade, he might carve a path through the ice, but he couldn’t risk a cave in. The falling ice would smash him like a bug. He leaned against the ice wall and his gazed drifted upward.

  The bear cub mustered courage enough to waddle out from her hiding place. She padded across the muddy cave floor and lapped at a pool of freshwater beneath a dripping stalactite.

  A grin spread across Ronan’s face. “That water’s coming from somewhere, right girl?” Ronan stood beside the puddle and gazed upward tracking the water stream backwards.

  The water dripping from the stalactite crossed a patch of uneven rock. It ended inside a small inch-wide crack near the ceiling’s peak.

  Ronan channeled spirit and flicked his wrist toward the bear. A clear spirit shield warped and circled the bear before vanishing to the naked eye.

  The bear leaped craning its neck from side to side before unleashing a high-pitched growl at an invisible enemy.

  Ronan motioned for the bear cub and focused on the inch-wide ceiling crack. “Relax. I don’t want to see you hurt. Come over here.” He stepped backward until he stood flush against the cave’s rear wall.

  The bear cub tilted her head and watched Ronan with a look of curiosity.

  “Come on girl. I can’t do this with you sitting there.”

  The ice bear padded across the cave and curled behind Ronan’s leg before settling between his leather boots.

  Ronan gave a brief nod. “Thank you. I feel much better now.” He channeled spirit and launched a small bright orb of energy toward the water source.

  The bear cub never flinched while dark rubble rattled from the ceiling before piling in a small heap atop the muddy cave floor.

  Ronan paused and perked his ears listening for any sign he’d unleashed another avalanche.

  The water trickling from the stalactite stopped. A steady flow of water replaced it drizzling from a gaping hole at the ceiling’s peak.

  Ronan stepped forward and stopped beneath the hole. He glanced upward, and a large smile spread across his face.

  Fresh cold air blew across Ronan’s face. Through a twisted rocky gap leading upward, a field of stars twinkled in a clear night sky.

  With luck, Ronan could escape the cave and find Moira before dawn. Wet warmth tickled his palm, and he glanced down.

  The bear cub gazed up at him through a mop of shaggy fur while her long pink tongue retreated into her mouth.
/>   Ronan smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you too.”

  ***

  Danielle spiraled through ash and soot laced clouds. She whipped past flashing streaks of yellow and orange flame on a collision course with the forest floor below.

  Burning tree limbs and smoldering grass blanketed the ground. Dozens of knee-high shrubs and century’s old matted ground cover stood in flames. The field of burning death pulled Danielle lower looming less than twenty-yards away.

  Danielle screeched as sharp pain flared in her ribs underneath her right wing.

  Brees latched onto Ferris. His right hand pressed the boy tight against his chest while his left clung to corded vines binding him to Danielle. Pure terror laced his wide eyes as the smoldering ground flew forward.

  Ten feet separated Danielle from certain death, and she blinked. Shimmering blue lights flashed around her in a series of ever-expanding layers.

  Danielle smashed into the ground and bounced. The outer-most layer of spirit shield shattered. She rolled in the spirit cocoon passing a blackened patch of smoldering waist-high grass.

  Brees straddled Danielle’s back with one arm clutching her neck and the other pressing Ferris into his side.

  Danielle continued rolling. Her spirit shield popped and hissed touching burning limbs and red-hot coals. She came to a stop hundreds of feet beneath the lowest limbs of the first tree atop a patch of unburned grass. She shifted into human form and laid flat on her back gazing into the fiery nightmare through which she’d descended.

  A hazy streak of blue light flashed through black ash clouds fifty feet above. Knight Jeremy Brooks appeared through the smoke riding atop a soaring golden eagle. An eagle who doubled as Ayralen’s Prime Guardian and Danielle’s father, Connal Deveaux.

  Danielle’s heart surged, and she managed a weak smile.

  Beside Danielle, the high grass stirred.

  Danielle snapped her head toward the rustling noise and pain flashed through her ribs. “Ferris!” She pushed herself to her feet, and a strong hand landed a gentle grip on her wrist.

  “He’s okay.” Brees let his hand linger on Danielle’s wrist.

  Ferris clung to Brees with his arms wrapped around the shaman’s neck while his small body trembled.

  Danielle knelt and rubbed Ferris’s back. “We’re safe Ferris. You’re okay.”

  The six-year old lurched throwing his body toward Danielle with outstretched arms.

  She scooped him up, and the boy clung to her like a lifeline. She ran her hand over his dark hair and hugged him tight. “I’ve got you now.”

  Ferris sobbed and buried his face in Danielle’s shoulder.

  Brees stood and raised his palms toward the smoldering tree limbs and ground cover surrounding them. The talisman hanging from his neck glowed bright silver, and the fire faded in a twenty-foot radius around them.

  Connal Deveaux landed near Danielle, and Jeremy hopped from his back. The shield knight strode toward Danielle, Brees, and Ferris without waiting for Connal. His palm flashed and fresh spirit shields appeared surrounding each of them.

  Brees’s eyes widened, and he pressed his palms flat against the shields flexible interior. “Danielle, you didn’t mention anything about your people possessing this sort of magic.”

  “They don’t. He’s Meranthian.” Danielle rocked Ferris in her arms while rubbing his back.

  “Mer-what?” Brees said.

  “I’ll explain later.”

  Jeremy stopped before Danielle and knelt bowing low. “Your Highness, I’m glad to see you safe.”

  “Jeremy, there’s no need for that,” Danielle said. “Please stand up.”

  Brees gawked at Danielle, his jaw agape. “Your royalty! What else haven’t you told me?”

  Danielle’s cheeks flushed bright red, and her gaze drifted downward. “Not really. I —”

  Jeremy stood and faced Brees. “Yes, she’s the royal princess, and sister to my king.” He looked between Danielle and Brees before his gaze settled on Danielle. “Please forgive my rude interruption.”

  A wide smile crossed Connal Deveaux’s face as he walked past Brees and Jeremy before embracing his daughter. He kissed the peak of her blond head and stepped back inspecting her from head to toe. “I was so worried, but I’m glad to see you safe.” He peered upward as if searching the smoke. “We need to get inside. What’s left of the Guard is protecting the first tree.”

  Danielle’s chest tightened. “What’s left? Oh Papa, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

  “Now, isn’t the time for apologies Danielle.” Connal faced Brees, and his expression turned wary. His gaze locked on the strange silver talisman dangling from the shaman’s neck, and his eyes narrowed. Connal opened his mouth to speak before Danielle stepped forward.

  Danielle took hold of Connal’s wrist. “Papa, this is Brees Broderick. He saved Keely’s life during our travels through the desert.”

  Connal paused staring at Brees for a long second before closing his mouth. He offered the shaman a short nod, but didn’t extend his hand. “I hope you can shed some light on this unsolicited attack.”

  Centered in the first heartwood tree’s wide trunk, red wood softened and flowed like water. An arched doorway appeared and Keely stepped through flanked by two guardians. Each carried a long heartwood bow with filled quivers strapped to their shoulders. “Are you all nuts?” She pointed upward toward the burning forest canopy. “In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re under attack. Get inside!”

  At the sound of Keely’s voice, Ferris’s neck snapped up and he swung his head around. “Miss Keely!” He scrambled from Danielle’s arms and sprinted across the scorched earth.

  A smile split Keely’s normally scowling face giving her the unusual appearance of happiness.

  Ferris wrapped his arm around her leg and squeezed. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Keely patted the boy’s head. “I’m glad to see you too kid. Come on. Let’s get inside before one of those over-sized lizards up there gets any bright ideas.” She took his tiny hand in hers and led him inside the gargantuan heartwood tree.

  “She’s right,” Connal said. “Let’s get inside.” He pushed past Brees and moved toward the heartwood’s open archway.

  Danielle followed Connal inside the heartwood’s trunk followed by Brees and Jeremy.

  Brees’s jaw dropped open as he stood inside the massive trunk. He turned in a long slow circle gawking at the golden grains flowing through the red wood and the stunning natural light it produced. “I’ve no words….” He shook his head and his mouth hung open while his eyes tracked the circular staircase spiraling a hundred feet upward.

  The delicious aroma of cinnamon touched the air. The scent provided a welcome relief from the acrid stench outside.

  Danielle took in his awed expression following his eyes upward.

  His gaze drifted back to Danielle’s face, and moisture appeared in his hazel eyes. “If you would’ve told me about this.” He gestured around him and shook his head. “I never would’ve believed you. This is a treasure beyond….” His voice cracked over the last few words.

  Danielle’s skin tingled as goose bumps rose on her arms. Although she loved the forest, she’d never experienced its rich beauty in such a profound and moving way. His sincerity touched her, and she found tears forming in her own eyes. Danielle’s thoughts drifted to the attacks outside, and a surge of grief almost overwhelmed her. She wiped her eyes and smiled at Brees nodding. “Yes, it’s a special place, and this tree gave birth to the entire forest. It’s the oldest and largest tree in the Heartwood.” Danielle touched the trunk with her palm.

  The arched doorway sealed shut forming smooth unblemished wood.

  Brees moved his fingertips toward the trunk and froze before glancing toward Danielle. “May I touch it?”

  “Of course.”

  Brees laid his palm flat against the tree trunk and opened his eyes wide with excitement. “I can feel it hum.” A grin spread across his face.<
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  “She’s telling you hello,” Connal Deveaux spoke the words from behind.

  Danielle jumped and whirled on her father.

  He wore a grim expression on his face. “We need to talk Danielle.” His eyes flickered toward Brees. “I’ll have your friend escorted upstairs.”

  Danielle stepped forward. “No, Papa. He has information that could help us.”

  Connal glared at Brees. “Or, he could steal our secrets and hand them to the enemy.”

  “With all due respect, I don’t think it would matter. Do you?” Danielle said. “They’re burning down the forest, and there’s nothing we can do to stop them.”

  Connal stiffened as if slapped. “I don’t believe that.”

  Danielle’s stomach sank. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but he had to face reality. “It’s bad Papa. We passed many dead and damaged trees on the way here. The forest is burning all the way to the desert.”

  “Let’s not have this conversation here.” Connal nodded toward Brees. “He can come if you’re vouching for him.” He glanced over Danielle’s shoulder. “Jeremy, we need your input as well.”

  Jeremy bowed. “Yes sir. Of course.” He paused and his face expressed hesitation. “I’ve brought news from Freehold you both need to know.”

  Connal’s eyes widened. “Is Ronan okay?” He took a step toward the shield knight. “Tell me now Jeremy.”

  Danielle’s stomach bottomed out, and she waited for him to speak. Could the day grow any worse?

  “Don’t worry. The king’s fine.” Jeremy said. “He sent me here with news.”

  Connal’s shoulders eased, and he exhaled a deep breath. “Follow me everyone.” He descended a nearby staircase moving into a maze of passageways connecting the forest's trees.

  The first tree’s natural warm glow lit airy open passageways descending far below the earth’s surface.

  Brees looked all around him continuing to gawk as he trailed behind Danielle.

  Thick corded roots made up the stairs and tunnel walls providing room enough for five men to walk side-by-side in comfort.