We stood in silence for a moment, and at last Jaercan sneered.
“Pathetic,” he said. “Absolutely pathetic. You are not worthy of the help of the Knight, Shadow Hunter, and I shall tell him that.”
With that, he strode away from the tree and headed back to the walls of Redgate.
I watched him go, furious with myself. I had not handled that well. I had not expected the Knight’s bailiffs to know the details of my life, and the questions had cut right through my defenses. I would have to go to another town and hire a wizard to open a rift way back to Earth. From there, I supposed, I would have to track down the Rebels and Connor the hard way. That could take years.
Nadia might not have years.
I sighed, shook my head, and turned to go.
As I did, a flicker of something gray caught my eye.
I whirled, reaching for my sword hilt. I spotted several ribbons of mist flowing through the gray grass, converging on the black-robed shape of Jaercan. I had seen ribbons of mist like that before many times. Wraithwolves could transform themselves into those ribbons…and they were all heading towards the old man.
“Jaercan!” I shouted, drawing my sword with my right hand.
“Eh?” The old man turned and glared at me. “What, are you going to attack me?”
“Wraithwolves!” I shouted, running at him as I called magic with my left hand.
Jaercan looked around, blinking, and then his eyes went wide.
A half-second later the wraithwolves solidified.
The creatures looked like the wolves of Earth, albeit much larger. They also had plates of bony black armor on their spines and skulls, and their eyes burned like hot coals. All six wraithwolves surged towards Jaercan, and the old man started casting a spell with a cry of fear.
I surged forward, drawing on my Shadowmorph for speed and strength, and I attacked. The wraithwolves were focused on Jaercan, and so did not see me until it was too late. I brought my sword hammering down and took off a wraithwolf’s head, black slime spurting into the ground. I cast the spell I had prepared, and a sparking, snarling lightning globe leaped from my fingers. The globe slammed into a second wraithwolf, lightning curling up and down its limbs, and I killed it with a sharp chop of my sword.
Unfortunately, my sword lodged in the gap between the wraithwolf’s head and its neck, and its death throes ripped the weapon from my hand.
I stepped back and called to my Shadowmorph, the blade of darkness springing from my hand as all four remaining wraithwolves converged on me. Jaercan snarled and cast a spell, and one of the wraithwolves erupted into flames, the stink of charred flesh and fur filling my nostrils.
That left three wraithwolves to fight.
I wheeled, dodged around snapping jaws, and slashed my Shadowmorph blade through the nearest wraithwolf. I cut its head from its shoulders, and the creature’s carcass collapsed to the ground. The other two pursued me, snapping and snarling. They were fast enough that I dared not turn my attention from my defenses.
Then one of the wraithwolves exploded into flames as Jaercan cast another spell. The sole remaining wraithwolf hesitated, alarmed by the flames, and I killed it with a slash through the head. Its stolen life force surged through me, and my Shadowmorph demanded more, demanded that I cut down Jaercan and feed on his life…
I forced aside the sensation and dismissed the blade, allowing my Shadowmorph to dissolve back into my flesh.
“Are you injured?” I said.
“I am not,” said Jaercan. “Why did you help me?”
I blinked sweat from my eyes. “What?”
“I refused to help you,” said Jaercan. “Yet you slew the wraithwolves.”
“I wasn’t going to let them eat you,” I said. “I’m going to the next town to hire a wizard to send me back to Earth, so you’ll excuse me if I don’t hang around to talk.”
I turned to go.
“Riordan MacCormac.”
I stiffened. Jaercan’s voice had changed. It was still deep, but no longer quite as harsh, and now it had a marked Texas accent.
And I knew that voice. I knew that voice very well.
I turned to look at Jaercan.
He grinned at me, waved his hand, and changed.
His form flowed and reshaped itself into a vigorous-looking man in his late thirties or early forties. He had dark blond hair tied back into a ponytail and a close-cropped blond beard, his eyes a bright shade of blue. His clothes were out of place in the Shadowlands – a green camouflage jacket, a worn blue work shirt, jeans, and steel-toed work boots. A sheathed sword hung at his belt, and a peculiar gauntlet of gray metal covered his left hand, its plates written with magical symbols.
Once we had been men-at-arms together in Duke Tarmegon’s service, and then soldiers of the Wizard’s Legion.
“Jake,” I said. “Been a long time.”
Jacob Temple, the Knight of Grayhold, grinned at me. “Yes, it has, Mac. You still got that stick up your ass?”
I let out a long breath. “I liked you better as Jaercan.”
“Yeah, I thought you might.” He kicked aside the severed head of a wraithwolf as he walked towards me. “I should have you meet the real Jaercan. He actually is the bailiff of Redgate, I’ll have you know. Nice old fellow. Much nicer than I am.”
“That wouldn’t be hard,” I said. “What was the point of all this?”
“Had to make sure,” said the Knight.
“Make sure of what?”
“That you hadn’t had your brains and your soul eaten out by your Shadowmorph,” said the Knight. “Happens to a lot of Shadow Hunters.”
“And if you had been willing to help me save my brother,” I said, “then I wouldn’t have become a Shadow Hunter. I thought you were my friend, Jake.”
“I was.”
“But you wouldn’t help me save Aidan from Morvilind,” I said.
“I couldn’t.” He sighed and shook his head. “There are rules. I can’t break them. I can bend them, but I can’t break them. And interfering with someone like Morvilind is one of them. He hates the Dark Ones more than anything, and he won’t use their power. Unless he does, I can’t touch him, and neither can the Graysworn. Not that the Graysworn would do much good against him. He could kill them all without working up much of a sweat.”
“A fine excuse,” I said.
His smile was sad. “If I could exercise my power directly…don’t you think I would have my daughter with me?”
We stared at each other in silence for a while.
“I am sorry about that,” I said. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not the only man to have ever lost someone you loved, Mac,” said the Knight. “But, hell, neither am I. That’s why I played this little game with you. I wanted to see what kind of man you had become in the last eighty years.”
“And?”
He grinned. “You’re exactly the same kind of man you were when we first met ninety years ago. Still the same stick up your ass.”
I folded my arms. “Are you going to help me?”
“One more question.” The Knight tapped his armored fingers against the hilt of his sword for a moment. “Do you love her?”
“Who?”
“Nadia Moran, of course,” said the Knight. “I know you tried to save your wife and your girlfriend, and I know you’re afraid that pattern is repeating. That’s why you’re here, obviously.” He grinned. “She’s a pretty little thing and smart as a whip, though the mouth on that woman! She could strip the paint from a wall with her tongue.”
“Why do you think I’m here, Jake?” I said. “Of course I love her. I failed my wife and I failed Miranda, and I failed Nadia in some way.”
“No, you didn’t,” said the Knight, his eyes distant. “I’m sure of it. If you had tried to help her when her trial began, you would have been killed. And maybe a lot of other people.”
“Trial?” I said. “What trial?”
“Th
at’s for her to tell you, not me,” said the Knight. “You want to save Nadia, and I respect that. But I need to think about the world. And Nicholas Connor’s going to destroy the world if he’s not stopped.”
“Then he’s as big a threat as the High Queen thinks?” I said.
“Bigger,” said the Knight. “If he’s not stopped, he will overthrow the High Queen. Me, I don’t care much one way or another who rules Earth. But Connor’s allied himself with the Dark Ones and the Forerunner. If he is victorious, the Forerunner will let the Great Dark Ones through, and what they’ll do to Earth will make what the Archons did to Kalvarion look like a Sunday walk in the park.”
“Then you’ll help me?” I said.
“Oh, yes,” said the Knight. “I know how to find Connor, and I know how you can ingratiate yourself with him. Come on, Mac. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
I followed Jacob Temple to the walls of Redgate, feeling more hope that I had in some time.
I still had a lot of work to do. I still needed to find Nadia and stop Connor.
But it was the hope of saving her that drove me onward.
THE END
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Other books by the author
The Demonsouled Saga
MAZAEL CRAVENLOCK is a wandering knight, fearless in battle and masterful with a sword.
Yet he has a dark secret. He is Demonsouled, the son of the ancient and cruel Old Demon, and his tainted blood grants him superhuman strength and speed. Yet with the power comes terrible, inhuman rage, and Mazael must struggle to keep the fury from devouring him.
But he dare not turn aside from the strength of his blood, for he will need it to face terrible foes.
The priests of the San-keth plot and scheme in the shadows, pulling lords and kingdoms upon their strings. The serpent priests desire to overthrow the realms of men and enslave humanity. Unless Mazael stops them, they shall force all nations to bow before the serpent god.
The Malrag hordes are coming, vast armies of terrible, inhuman beasts, filled with a lust for cruelty and torment. The Malrags care nothing for conquest or treasure, only slaughter. And the human realms are ripe for the harvest. Only a warrior of Mazael’s power can hope to defeat them.
The Dominiar Order and the Justiciar Order were once noble and respected, dedicated to fighting the powers of dark magic. Now they are corrupt and cynical, and scheme only for power and glory. They will kill anyone who stands in their way.
To defeat these foes, Mazael will need all the strength of his Demonsouled blood.
Yet he faces a far more terrible foe.
For centuries the Old Demon has manipulated kings and lords. Now he shall seize the power of the Demonsouled for himself, and become the a god of torment and tyranny.
Unless Mazael can stop him.
Read Demonsouled for free. Mazael's adventures continue in Soul of Tyrants, Soul of Serpents, Soul of Dragons, Soul of Sorcery, Soul of Skulls, and Soul of Swords, along with the short stories The Wandering Knight, The Tournament Knight, and The Dragon's Shadow. Get the first three books bundled together in Demonsouled Omnibus One.
The Ghosts Series
Once CAINA AMALAS was the shy daughter of a minor nobleman, content to spend her days in her father’s library.
Then sorcery and murder and her mother’s treachery tore her life apart.
Now she is a nightfighter of the Ghosts, an elite agent of the spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar. She is a master of disguise and infiltration, of stealth and the shadows.
And she will need all those skills to defend the Empire and stay alive.
Corrupt lords scheme and plot in the shadows, desiring to pull down the Emperor and rule the Empire for their own profit and glory. Slave traders lurk on the fringes of the Empire, ready to seize unwary commoners and sell them into servitude in distant lands. Yet both slave traders and cruel lords must beware the Ghosts.
The Magisterium, the Imperial brotherhood of sorcerers, believe themselves the rightful masters of the Empire. With their arcane sciences, they plan to overthrow the Empire and enslave the commoners, ruling all of mankind for their own benefit. Only the Ghosts stand in the path of their sinister plans.
And the Moroaica, the ancient sorceress of legend and terror, waits in the shadows, preparing to launch a war upon the gods themselves. She will make the gods pay for the suffering of mankind...even if she must destroy the world to do it.
Caina Amalas of the Ghosts opposes these mighty enemies, but the cost might be more than she can bear.
Read Child of the Ghosts for free. Caina's adventures continue in Ghost in the Flames, Ghost in the Blood, Ghost in the Storm, Ghost in the Stone, Ghost in the Forge, Ghost in the Ashes, Ghost in the Mask, and Ghost in the Surge, along with the short stories Ghost Aria, Ghost Claws, Ghost Omens, The Fall of Kyrace, Ghost Thorns, Ghost Undying, Ghost Light, and Ghost Dagger, and the prequel novels Blade of the Ghosts and Champion of the Ghosts. Get the first three books bundled together in The Ghosts Omnibus One.
The Ghost Exile Series
Caina Amalas was a nightfighter of the Ghosts, the spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar, and through her boldness and cunning saved the Empire and the world from sorcerous annihilation.
But the victory cost her everything.
Now she is exiled and alone in the city of Istarinmul, far from her home and friends. Yet a centuries-old darkness now stirs in Istarinmul, eager to devour the city and the world itself.
And Caina is the only one that stands in its way...
Read Ghost in the Cowl, Ghost in the Maze, Ghost in the Hunt, Ghost in the Razor, Ghost in the Inferno, Ghost in the Seal, Ghost in the Throne, Ghost in the Pact, and Ghost in the Winds along with the short stories Ghost Sword, Ghost Price, Ghost Relics, Ghost Keeper, Ghost Nails, Ghost Lock, Ghost Arts, Ghost Vigil, Ghost Mimic, and Ghost Vessel, and read the combined short stories in Exile of the Ghosts.
The Ghost Night Series
Caina Amalas was once a deadly Ghost nightfighter, a spy and agent of the Emperor of Nighmar. Now she only wishes to live quietly with her husband.
But civil war grips the Empire, and Caina's skills are needed against the cruel sorcerers of the malevolent Umbarian Order.
And Caina has a dangerous connection to the Umbarians.
For Caina's mother had many deadly secrets, secrets that might yet kill Caina herself...
Read Ghost in the Ring.
The Third Soul
RACHAELIS MORULAN is an Initiate of the Conclave, the powerful order of mighty mages. But to become a full Adept of the Conclave, she must first survive the Testing. Those who survive the Testing never speak of the trials they endured.
Those who fail the Testing are never seen again.
And now the Magisters of the Conclave have come to take Rachaelis to undertake the Testing. And there she shall face perils to both her body and her sanity.
And creatures that yearn to devour her soul.
If Rachaelis survives the Testing, she will face even more dangerous foes. The demons of the astral world watch the world of mortal men, desiring to rule it for themselves.
And some Adepts of the Conclave are eager to help them.
Read The Testing for free. Rachelis's trials continue in The Assassins, The Blood Shaman, The High Demon, The Burning Child, The Outlaw Adept, The Black Paladin, and The Tomb of Baligant. Read the entire series in The Third Soul Omnibus One and The Third Soul Omnibus Two.
The Frostborn Series
A thousand years ago, the last grandson of Arthur Pendragon led the survivors of Britain through a magical gate to a new world, a world of magic and high elves, of orcs and kobolds and stranger, darker creatures. Now the descendants of the exiles rule a mighty kingdom, peaceful and prosperous under the rule of th
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But a shadow threatens to devour the kingdom.
RIDMARK ARBAN was once a Swordbearer, a knight of renown. Now he is a branded outcast, stripped of his sword, and despised as a traitor.
But he alone sees the danger to come. The Frostborn shall return, and unless they are stopped, they will cover all the world in ice and a neverending winter.
CALLIANDE awakens in the darkness, her memories gone, and creatures of terrible power hunting her.
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The secret of the Frostborn.
Read Frostborn: The First Quest, followed by Frostborn: The Gray Knight, Frostborn: The Eightfold Knife, Frostborn: The Undying Wizard, Frostborn: The Master Thief, Frostborn: The Iron Tower, Frostborn: The Dark Warden, Frostborn: The Gorgon Spirit, Frostborn: The Broken Mage, Frostborn: The World Gate, Frostborn: The High Lords, Frostborn: The False King, Frostborn: The Dwarven Prince, Frostborn: Excalibur, Frostborn: The Dragon Knight, and Frostborn: The Shadow Prison, and the prequel novels Frostborn: The Knight Quests and Frostborn: The Bone Quest along with the short stories The Orc's Tale, The Mage's Tale, The Thief's Tale, The Assassin's Tale, The Paladins's Tale, The Knight's Tale, The Soldier's Tale, and The Soldier's Tale. Read the first three books combined in Frostborn Omnibus One.
Sevenfold Sword
Ridmark Arban is the Shield Knight, the defender of the realm of Andomhaim.
The realm is at peace after a long and terrible war, but dark powers threaten other lands.
And when a mad elven wizard comes to the High King's court, Ridmark finds himself fighting not only for his own life, but for the lives of his family.
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Read Sevenfold Sword: Champion.
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