by S E Turner
Lyall shuddered as the lifeless body fell next to him. He looked up at Skyrah. She had broken the General's heart in two. He ripped the Seal from the perpetrator and clasped it to his chest. They had done it. They had killed the General and secured peace. He had the Seal and he had Wolfsbane. He had his revenge, but at what cost?
He looked towards his brother, and his own heart ripped in two. He let out a deep wail and clawed at the bloodied soil. Skyrah dropped down with him and they sobbed together in a subdued embrace. They turned to look at Namir's body: a true hero to the very end and a formidable leader. He was her soul mate. He was Lyall's long lost brother and his greatest friend.
Skyrah pressed herself into Lyall's arms and wept again.
As the dust began to settle, the clans made their way towards them, united in numbers with a strength that defied their young years. They were all too weary and grief stricken for jubilation, but in their hearts they cheered.
Lyall brushed Skyrah's blood stained hair from her splattered face and took a moment to look over her shoulder to his fallen twin.
He saw a movement. He watched as his brother struggled to motion a sign: Namir raised his arm for help .
'He's alive, Skyrah! Thank the gods, he's still alive!'
To be continued in – 'A Leopard in the Mist.'
On the other side of the world, some ten thousand miles away, a lone man sat in a small tavern, at a candlelit table, surrounded by darkness and drunken strangers. Golden streaks of tangled limp hair reached his shoulders while a heavy woollen cloak hung almost to the ground, covering a torn grey shirt and tired worn breeches. A paralytic lout on the street had lost his shoes plus a handful of loose change to him. Under the growth of a few day’s stubble, a handsome face was etched, though some would argue it didn't exist at all. The saturated straw didn't bother him either as he supped on his ale, and he barely noticed the pungent aroma of body odour and stale beer. Outside was a maze of twisting alleyways and hidden corners: best to keep away from those places, people would tell him, but he wasn't scared of those places.
Nothing scared him anymore.
Main Characters in : A Wolf in the Dark
CLANS
Clan of the Mountain Lion
Laith - Leader
Zoraster - medicine man
Namir & Lyall - brothers
Skyrah
Arneb
Meric - physician
Chay - Skyrah's mother
Clan boys:
Ronu, Silva, Bagwa, Clebe, Norg,
Hass, Suma, Wyn, Targ, Hali.
Hill Fort Tribe
Dainn - (married to Ajeya)
Rufus - Ajeya's nephew
Clan boys: Storm, Malik, Durg, Tay
Clan of the Giant's Claw
Thorne - leader
Siri - next leader
Zeno - Siri's brother
Marshland Tribe
Torré
Lac e
COURTS
Castle Dru
Canagan - King of Durundal
Artemisia - Queen of Durundal
Palace in Ataxata
Emperor Gnaeus III
General Domitrius Corbulo
General Van Piers
Captain Vortim Vontiger
Captain Alverez
The Teacher
Cornelius Gnaeus IV
Macus - stable boy
Roma - maid
Scowler - guard
Poxface - guard
