Soul Shade (Soul Stones Book 2)

by T. L. Branson

  At the same time, real Maya made it to shore, climbed the stairs leading to the harbor’s main street, and arrived at the dock’s entrance just as the assassin ran past. She threw herself at the man and tackled him from the side, letting the illusion drop.

  As they hit the ground, the dagger flew from the assassin’s hand and came to rest a few feet away. The assassin lunged for the weapon, but Maya grabbed at his leg and he crashed down onto the ground. Flipping over, he kicked Maya in the face with his other foot.

  Pain ripped through her and she released her grip on the man’s leg, bringing both hands to her nose. The assassin once more ran for his dagger, picked it up, and came at her again, lunging for her chest.

  Sidestepping, Maya grabbed his wrist and arm and slammed his elbow down onto her knee, tearing the tendons and popping the bones out of place.

  The dagger dropped to the ground and the man fell onto his back, howling in pain. Before he could recover, Maya picked up the knife and plunged it into his heart.

  The first assassin ran up from the dock and into the street, his own dagger raised to strike. Maya stood, bringing her weapon to bear.

  The assassin’s hands flew wide in surrender. “Whoa,” he said, coming to a stop. “It’s me, Will.”

  Maya gasped and fell to her knees. Will rushed down and embraced her.

  She willed her mind to stay conscious, fighting shock. Another… side effect of Will’s power allowed him to rend the soul from a living body and take its place. Seeing him in another’s body took some getting used to.

  Heavy bootsteps thundered up the dock as Khal and Ocken, one of Will’s friends, came into view, swords drawn.

  “Release her!” Khal commanded, advancing slowly.

  “It’s okay, Khal,” Maya said. “It’s Will.”

  Will let go and stood, helping her to her feet.

  “What happened?” Khal asked, “Are you hurt? You’re soaking wet and covered in blood. Is your nose broken?”

  Maya reached up and touched it. “No,” she said. “But it’s going to bruise pretty bad.”

  “What happened?” he asked again.

  “I—I don’t know,” she said.

  “We were out on the deck,” Will said. “One minute we were talking, the next my throat was being slit. I watched as Maya was pulled over the railing before I even realized what was going on. I immediately left my body and shredded my killer’s soul. He didn’t stand a chance. When I got here, Maya had killed the other one.”

  “There were only two?” Ocken asked.

  “As far as I know,” Maya said.

  “Hmm,” Khal said. “Just in case, Ocken, go wake the ship, I want every inch searched.”

  “Any idea who would do this?” Will asked.

  “The assassins were wearing a green and gold uniform,” Maya said. “Perhaps there’s a clue there, but I’ve never seen it before.”

  “I have,” Khal said somberly. “It’s Berxley. They’ve reclaimed their independence.”

  Sowena ran faster than she had ever run in her life. She hated running—she’d never been able to make it a minute before needing a break. But now she found herself running for her life and her inner thoroughbred emerged.

  The creature released another howl somewhere behind her. She couldn’t afford to waste a second, not even to glance behind her to check on Maggie.

  By the crunching of leaves and snapping of twigs, the older, heavier woman was keeping up remarkably well. Either she, too, had gotten an extra rush of adrenaline, or Sowena was in worse shape than she’d realized.

  Whether the monster was actually pursuing them or not, Sowena didn’t know, nor did she care. If there was even the remote possibility that whatever had killed her parents was after her, she had to get to safety.

  But where was safe? This thing—whatever it was—could walk through walls, yet it was solid enough to knock her down. She remembered its weight upon her chest and its rancid breath as its maw hovered inches from her face.

  Then something scared it away.

  Sowena’s only hope of salvation was figuring out what that something was.

  Sowena reached the Pendley’s house and collapsed on the ground in front of their door. A torch sat in its sconce, casting long shadows in the night.

  As Sowena lay there, catching her breath, she looked around for Maggie. Sowena thought the women had been right behind her, but now her neighbor was nowhere to be seen.

  Sowena was worried that something had happened to Maggie, but then she burst forth from the forest and started across the lawn to the house. Sowena breathed a sigh of relief and placed a hand on her chest.

  Just as she laid her head down again, a monstrous black mass emerged from the forest and tackled Maggie to the ground.

  “No!” Sowena cried out, sitting up and reaching out an arm as if to save her.

  The creature shrieked in victory.

  “Think, Sowena,” she said to herself. “Think, think, think.”

  Moonlight! she realized.

  The creature had cried in pain and darted off when the moon shone down on it. But now the moon was completely behind the clouds.

  Sowena stared up at the clouds longingly and said, “Come on, come on.” But nothing happened.

  The monster opened wide its hideous mouth as it descended on Maggie.

  Maybe it wasn’t moonlight specifically, but just light in general. It had fled when the fire started as well.

  Sowena sprung to her feet and ripped the torch from the sconce on the wall. Summoning the will to push through her pain, she sprinted toward the creature as fast as she could muster.

  The monster’s mouth made contact with Maggie’s face and she screamed, writhing beneath the black mass pinning her to the ground.

  Sowena launched herself into the air toward the monster, stretching out the torch as far as she could reach. The flame’s light splashed across the creature’s face, revealing empty sockets where eyes should have been.

  It raised an arm to cover its face and cried out in pain. Then, standing up, it bounded off into the night once more.

  Sowena dropped the torch on the group and fell to her knees beside Maggie.

  “Are you all right?” Sowena asked.

  Maggie’s eyes were open, but she didn’t respond.

  “Please be okay,” Sowena said, shaking her. “Please.”

  Lowering her head, Sowena sighed when she felt the rise and fall of Maggie’s chest.

  Not dead, she thought. Sowena didn’t know if she could take any more bad news.

  “Come on,” Sowena said. “Give me your hand and I’ll help you up.”

  Maggie continued to lie there, staring into nothing—she didn’t so much as turn her head or blink at Sowena’s words.

  Heavy footsteps approached through the trees and Sowena spun, bringing her torch to bear, ready to face the mysterious creature once more. But Rowland Pendley, Maggie’s husband, burst into the light instead, breath ragged.

  “What happened?” he said, placing his hands on his knees.

  “I—I—I don’t know,” Sowena said. “There was this creature. First it attacked me, then my parents, and then…”

  Sowena turned and the torchlight illuminated Maggie.

  “Oh, Maggie, no!” Rowland cried out.

  “She’s still alive,” Sowena said. “But I think she’s in shock. She’s not responding to me.”

  “Maggie,” Rowland said, kneeling beside her. “Maggie, can you hear me, sweetie?”

  Still no change.

  “Help me get her inside,” Rowland said. “Then I want you to tell me everything.”

  6

  Rays of light shone in through the window in the command center that used to be Maya’s room.

  “Aren’t we being a little rash, assuming Berxley has betrayed us?” Jade, one of Maya’s newly appointed royal guard, asked.

  “What’s rash about it?” Will asked. “Two assassins wearing Berxley’s old colors snuck aboard and tried
to kill Maya. Seems pretty cut and dry.”

  Ocken had searched the boat the previous night and found no evidence of any other assassins, nevertheless the whole ship had been in an uproar ever since. Khal came into Maya’s room as soon as the sun crested the horizon, tossed her personal effects into a pile in the corner, and spread out a six-foot map of Aralith on the lone table in the room. Now Maya stood against the wall listening to her friends bicker about her safety.

  “Who’s to say green and gold means Berxley at all? Perhaps the assassins liked those colors? Or maybe someone is trying to frame Berxley and cause unrest? I simply think it’s foolish to jump to conclusions,” Jade said.

  “Coincidence? Possibly,” Khal said. “Frame them? Unlikely. I doubt the assassins intended to die.”

  “You all know Jade and I don’t see eye to eye on many things,” Robert, Will’s brother, said. “But I agree with her. Why can’t we just send an ambassador to find out the truth and straighten it out?”

  “Do you think they’re just going to admit to trying to kill the queen? Suppose they’re hostile?” Will asked. “We need to sail in there with a show of force before the situation gets worse.”

  “And if they’re not?” Jade countered. “Then we become the very thing we fought so hard to destroy.”

  “But—”

  “Stop!” Maya shouted. “All of you.”

  The room fell silent and all eyes turned on her as she stepped up to the table.

  “I need some time to think,” Maya said.

  Will said, “We don’t have—”

  Maya cast him a death glare. “I said stop.”

  Will’s eyes grew large and he took an almost imperceptible step back.

  Maya took a deep breath and continued, “My Uncle Callum’s execution is in twenty minutes and I’d like some time alone, please.”

  Everyone filed out of the room except Khal.

  “Maya—”

  “Do I need to remind you what alone means?” she snapped.

  Khal sighed, a pained expression on his face, and left the room.

  “What do you think I should do?” Maya asked Merva.

  Merva appeared beside her. “They both have excellent arguments,” she said.

  “But?” Maya asked.

  “But I think making hard choices is what being a leader is all about, and no one can make them for you,” the goddess answered.

  “I didn’t ask you to make my decision for me, I asked you to advise me on what you would do,” Maya explained.

  “I’m afraid I can’t answer that either,” Merva said. “You must forge your own path. If you have questions about history, or the soul stones, or your power, I am here to help and advise, but you’re the queen, not me.”

  “Fine,” Maya said. “Tell me about Berxley, then. What do you know of them?”

  The door opened. Maya turned and found Ocken standing under the frame.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, looking around the nearly empty room. “I heard voices, I thought the meeting was still going on.”

  “I ended it early,” Maya said.

  Ocken nodded and started to close the door.

  “I don’t really know anything about Berxley,” Merva said, answering her question.

  The door stopped mid-swing and opened back up again.

  “What about Berxley?” Ocken asked.

  “I want to know what type of kingdom they used to be,” Maya said, then added, “before…”

  “Before your father?” Ocken asked.

  “Yes,” Maya said, her face falling. “Have you been there?”

  “Even better,” Ocken said. “I served as protector of the royal family for some time.”

  “What do you think of the situation?” Maya asked. “Could Berxley be behind something like this?”

  Ocken frowned. “It’s hard to say. A single line of queens known as the Haerfords has ruled in Berxley since the war a thousand years ago. But the last queen died when Drygo conquered the kingdom.”

  After a brief pause, he shook his head and said, “No, that’s not true. Riley. She was the last queen, though she never accepted the title.”

  “Riley?” Maya asked. “We’re talking about the same Riley that served as a guard for my family and was later killed liberating the kingdom from tyranny? She was a queen?”

  Ocken nodded. “And my closest friend; I loved her like a daughter. I don’t know who’s in charge in Berxley now, though.”

  “Do they have a history of aggression?” Maya asked.

  “No,” Ocken said, shaking his head. “Quite the opposite. Berxley tried to stay neutral and never meddled with the affairs of the other kingdoms.”

  “Thank you,” Maya said, smiling. “You’ve been most helpful.”

  “You’re welcome,” Ocken said. “I’ll take my leave, unless there’s anything else.”

  “No, but thank you,” Maya replied.

  Ocken nodded and left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

  “Well?” Merva asked.

  “Well, what?”

  “Did that help you make up your mind?” Merva clarified.

  “I think…” Maya said, her mind wandering. “I think I can’t dwell on it right now. I’ve got an execution to get to.”

  Maya picked up her cloak, flung it around her shoulders, and strode from the room.

  Will wouldn’t have missed this execution for the world. Davion Callum might have been Maya’s uncle, but he was also the man who had tortured Will, threatened his brother John, and carted them before Drygo. To Will, he was just another name in a long line of people responsible for John’s death.

  He couldn’t say he was happy to watch the man die, since Will knew all too well what it felt like to be on the executioner’s block. But he hoped to feel some sense of justice or retribution from the act. At the very least, he wouldn’t miss the ex-grand marshal.

  The platform in the center of the harbor’s main street was stained with blood. They had not bothered to clean it during the string of daily executions. Callum’s own execution marked the end of Drygo’s regime. Everyone else had either pledged their allegiance to Maya or fled before they could be captured.

  Behind the platform sat a river snaking through the heart of Shadowhold. It wasn’t a natural river, however—in fact, it hadn’t even been there a week ago. When Will had destroyed Drygo’s soul stone, the magic collapsed and created a soulfiend, a ravenous creature of living shadow, as well as a tear in the ground that stretched from the palace to the sea.

  The rent had filled in, quickly creating a new feature for Shadowhold’s bards to sing about. Though Shadowhold had once been the most affluent city in the kingdom, Will doubted anyone would be intentionally visiting it in the near future.

  In addition to the giant hole in the ground, half of the city had crumbled in the resulting quake. Fortunately, Maya’s rebel group, the Revenant, had evacuated the people prior to an assault on the palace that ultimately ended Drygo’s rule as well as his life.

  A crowd had gathered as Callum was led up onto the platform and forced to his knees in front of the block. Stripped of his royal armor, the man before Will could have passed for his father. Strangely enough, he had been Will’s father for a day when Will had used his power to steal the body of Luka Callum, the ex-grand marshal’s son. Pretending to be a snotty, spoiled brat was one of the worst days of Will’s life.

  Someone stomped up the steps of the makeshift observation platform where Will stood a mere ten paces from the block. Glancing to the right, he saw Maya standing beside him. Her crossed arms and narrowed eyes told him not to mess with her.

  Will didn’t know how to feel about Maya. Their relationship had been rocky from the day Will stumbled into her life—quite literally, as he had been running for his life with Drygo’s men hot on his tail. But Will liked to think that they had bonded during their time together searching for Anima Sanctum. An affection for her had even begun to blossom in his heart until she’d stabbed him
in the back.

  Will later found out it was all an act in the presence of her father’s guard, but the wound stung no less. And now that Will was directly responsible for Drygo’s death and the destruction of half of her city, she and Will were on less than desirable terms.

  Lotess said, Don’t forget that by destroying the stone you also released an evil that makes Alexander Drygo look like a harmless mouse.

  Definitely can’t forget that, Will added, rolling his eyes. You’re too kind.

  Will could have sworn he felt Lotess smiling.

  “Davion Callum,” the executioner called out with a booming voice. The murmur of the crowd died away and all attention shifted to the platform. “You are hereby charged with treason for your allegiance to the late Alexander Drygo. At the request of Queen Maya Ravenwing, you are given one final opportunity to recant and pledge fealty.”

  “Ravenwing?” Will asked without removing his eyes from the scene.

  Maya snorted.

  Callum cleared his throat and turned his head, his eyes burrowing into Maya’s. “I wish no ill will upon our new queen,” Callum started, “But I cannot and will not renounce Alexander.”

  Maya stepped forward to the edge of the observation platform and shouted, “Why? He’s gone, Uncle. What good will dying for him do you now?”

  “I may not have agreed with his methods,” Callum said. “But I knew his heart and I knew his purpose. He unified Aralith and created a peace that’s not been seen in a hundred years. He was strong, he was courageous, and above all he was my friend when no one else would be. I owe him my life and I am willing to lose it for him.”

  The executioner hoisted his axe up on his shoulder.

  “Mark my words, Maya,” Callum said. “There will be no peace without your father leading this kingdom, or someone like him. All it will take is just one province rebelling and the whole kingdom will fall apart around you.”

  Maya shuddered beside Will, but kept her composure.

  The axe lifted high into the air.

  Will clenched his teeth and held his breath.

  The axe began to fall.

  “Wait!” Maya cried out.