“Hold!” she shouted. “Form up! We need to keep this route open until we’ve all passed through!”
Maya drew her sword and dropped into a defensive stance. Khal and Thallan followed suit as did the other soldiers. They all formed up and created a defensive wall as the elves bore down on them.
The lead elf charged forward and brought his sword down, aimed for Maya’s neck. She raised her blade and parried. He came at her again with a stab, but she batted it away before it could get close.
All down the line, man engaged with elf in single combat. So far, the wall had held.
As her opponent attacked once more, Maya blocked on the inside, then slid her sword down the length of his blade and stabbed him in the throat. His sword dropped to the ground, followed by his body as he clutched at his neck to stem the blood flow.
To the left, the line still stood, but to the right two of her men had fallen and it was beginning to collapse.
“I’m dropping out,” Maya said, then she pulled away from the line and Thallan and Khal closed up the hole.
“Stay close or I can’t strengthen you,” Thallan shouted over his shoulder.
Maya ran down the line to where two elves were fighting against a single man.
“Duck!” she yelled to the soldier.
He crouched down and Maya placed her left hand on his back, plunging her blade into the shoulder of a surprised elf with her right. At the same time, she spun over the soldier and kicked her legs out, connecting with the second attacker’s chest and sending him stumbling back.
She let go of her sword—which was still stuck in the elf’s shoulder—and pivoted to land on her feet. As a third elf came in, she ran past the first and yanked her sword free, then dropped to her knees at the last minute and cut the elf’s feet out from under him.
Flipping her blade over and adjusting her grip, she thrust the sword straight down into his back.
“Thank you, my queen!” the soldier said.
“Don’t mention—”
“Behind you!” he shouted.
Maya spun, but the elf was already too close to parry. Tapping into her magic, she turned herself invisible and dropped to the ground.
The elf gasped in surprise and tripped over her body, falling right into the waiting sword of the man she’d saved.
“Now we’re even,” she told him as she reappeared and stood.
With a little space to breathe, the line reformed and closed once more. As she jogged back to where Thallan and Khal still stood side by side, she had an idea.
“I need you,” she said to Thallan as she stood behind him.
“Falling out,” Thallan said.
“Gah!” Khal shouted. “I’ll hold it, but one of you two better come right back.”
Thallan dropped out and Khal did his best to take up the space.
“I need you to touch the minds of our men and make sure they see everything as it is,” she told him. “Can you do that?”
“I don’t know how long I can hold so many after our fight with Erintos, but I’ll see what I can do,” he said.
“Even a few seconds could turn the tide,” she said.
Then without another word, she reached out and made the entire line disappear from sight. The whole company of elves recoiled and paused in a moment of confusion.
Confusion that quickly turned to terror as the unseen force subsequently cut down every elf standing at the front. The second row of elves raised their blades tentatively, but without knowing where to strike they, too, fell.
The remaining elves were about to break and run when the whole line came back into view.
“What just happened?” Maya asked.
“I—I don’t know,” Thallan said.
Her eyes snapped to the southern gates and determined the problem immediately. Haladavar stood at the top of the steps, staring directly at her. He had managed to be one of the lucky ones that survived the explosion, which ended up being not so fortunate for Maya.
The last of Kosta’s men ran past and Ocken, Khate, and Robert—as well as Kosta himself—reached their position.
“Break the line!” Maya shouted. “Let’s get out of here! Quickly! Make for the bridge!”
The soldiers holding back the elves gave one last push, then turned and ran down the road toward Shadowhold. Maya’s home was still a long way off, but they needn’t make it all the way back. If they could cross the Estes River, they could bottleneck the elves at the bridge and put up one last stand.
Maya turned to run, but without Thallan’s magic to alter her brain, she once again felt vertigo take hold. Before she fell, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and picked her up off the ground.
“Hold on,” Ocken said, as he tossed her onto his back and raced down the road. “Pardon the inappropriate invasion of your space and dignity, my queen.”
“You’re forgiven,” she said.
Maya looked back at the two companies of elves that had joined up and given chase. By her estimation, nearly two thousand had survived the blast, joining with the thousand or so that skirted the mountain.
All told, she guessed they had about a thousand themselves, but three to one odds were not the greatest, and not in open terrain. The bridge was their only hope.
Ocken seemed to get a burst of energy despite carrying her weight. The big man sprinted to the front of the line. From where they were, Maya could barely make out the orders that Kosta was shouting, but it looked like the back line was rotating out, keeping the elves at bay, but granting soldiers a chance to rest before going at it again.
As the bridge came into view, Maya was greeted with a much-welcomed sight. The whole river west of the bridge was filled with the sails of Kent’s fleet. At that very moment, two of the ships that could get close enough to the bank without running aground dropped their gangplanks and legions of fresh soldiers spilled from the decks onto the river bank.
Kosta’s men started running for the ships, but they couldn’t possibly all fit on the two that were docked. Nearly fifty more ships lined the river, but they would never be able to load everyone in the short amount of time they had.
“Across the bridge!” she shouted. “Across the bridge!”
The soldiers glanced back at her, and whether they realized her intentions or not, they obeyed and turned, crossing the bridge.
As the rear of the company drew near, ships fired their cannons, sending dirt and elven blood into the air.
The enemy front line shattered and elves scattered in all directions. Haladavar yelled above the noise and pressed them forward.
Ocken and Maya crossed over next and sprinted for the Wave Wraith, which was still thankfully anchored on the south bank. After climbing the gangplank, Ocken lowered Maya onto the deck.
“Get me the bosun!” Maya shouted as she gripped ahold of the railing on the quarterdeck.
Kosta’s forces continued to flow over the bridge even as reinforcements joined up with them, relieving their worn and tired brethren.
“What can I do to help, Your Majesty?” the bosun asked as he rushed onto the quarterdeck.
“Turn the ship and ready the cannons,” Maya said. “Aim at the bridge, but wait until I tell you to fire.”
He nodded and ran off.
A moment later the gangplank was lifted and the ship pushed away from the riverbank.
As the last of Aralith’s soldiers crossed the bridge Maya yelled, “Fire!”
The cannons gave off a soft whump and several iron balls flew from their homes only to fall into the river after traveling a mere twenty feet.
“What happened?” Maya asked in panic.
“I’m sorry, my queen, the pyridis we used is a fresh shipment straight from Kent when we docked there a few days back,” the bosun said. “The gasses in the stone haven’t had time to mature.”
“Fire again,” she ordered.
“I’m afraid it won’t do much good,” he replied.
Maya growled in frustration.
Each passing moment, more elves continued to cross the bridge.
“Hey!” she yelled as loud as she could, waving frantically for the nearest ship.
The captain of the ship came running to the railing.
“Shoot the bridge!” Maya shouted.
“What?” came back the muffled response.
“The bridge!” she said, pointing at it. “Shoot. The. Bridge!”
The captain glanced at the bridge, then his eyes went wide with understanding.
“Fire!” the captain yelled.
Five cannons boomed in rapid succession releasing their contents. The first ball fell short and the second overshot, but the third hit it square in the middle sending stone and elves into the air.
A fourth cannonball skimmed the top, taking out a handful of elves, and the fifth slammed into the northern base, which caused half of the bridge to collapse into the river.
Those elves still on land, including Haladavar, spun and retreated back up the road toward Derton, dodging the continued cannon fire from the other ships.
As Haladavar disappeared from sight, Maya felt her magic flow through her once more. By the time Maya made it to the opposite rail of the Wave Wraith the battle on the south bank was nearly over. Cut off from any possible reinforcements, the elves lost hope—many of them diving into the river, liking their chances with the current better than complete slaughter at the end of a sword.
The elves were in full retreat. They’d done it. Derton might have been lost, but they laid a significant blow to the enemy armies when the mountain blew. And by destroying the bridge, they ensured that Havan and Shadowhold were safe for now.
Maya did a quick head count and verified that Thallan, Khate, Khal, and Robert had made it across the river safely. Then it hit her that Will wasn’t there. What had happened to him? Maya wracked her brain to remember when she’d last seen him, but the last few hours were nothing but a blur.
Before she could make sense of it all, exhaustion overtook her and she collapsed.
47
Will jumped behind a boulder midway up the Frostpeaks and flattened himself against it. His chest heaved, but he fought to steady his breathing and keep quiet.
“He went this way!” Qirrut shouted.
Will peered around the rock and watched as his pursuers continued north. Slipping around to the south, Will crouched and crept along the mountainside. He moved from cover to cover, sticking to the shadows as best he could, until he was certain he’d shaken them.
He didn’t have time to stop and prepare a meal, as much as he could use it right now, but he knew he couldn’t keep going without a moment to at least catch his breath.
After another five minutes, the mouth of a cave came into view, but it was at the top of a nearly sheer cliff. He could track around and go up the incline gradually, but that could waste valuable time he didn’t have. Scaling it was his only option.
Reaching the base of the cliff, Will grabbed a hold of a jut in the rock and pulled his leg up, placing it in a crack just wide enough for him to find some leverage. One step at a time, one hand over the other, Will made his way up the cliff.
When he reached the top, he grabbed the lip of the cliff and pulled himself upward. The ground gave way and his hand flew free. Instincts kicked in and he gripped a small shrub growing on the side of the cliff, but as his momentum swung him away from it, he felt the roots coming loose and knew it wouldn’t support his weight much longer.
With a giant heave, Will jumped for the lip of the cliff once more and hoped it would hold. Both hands grabbed the top as his feet dangled dangerously. He swung his left leg out, placing his toe on top of the cliff, then he pulled himself up the rest of the way.
Rolling over onto his back, Will stared at the sky and breathed deeply. After a minute, he stood and shakily walked over to the mouth of the cave. He had no torch or light, so he didn’t bother going in, but its presence granted him a measure of comfort in case he needed to duck inside to avoid detection.
Will pulled the piece of Ophi’s cloak from his pocket and laid it on the ground beside him. It had been incredibly uncomfortable to run with it, but it was all too valuable to leave behind. He didn’t know what happened to gods who were killed, but their souls seemed to remain intact.
He sighed and his shoulders sagged as he thought of Lotess. There was no coming back for her. Her soul was gone—as was Iket’s, but the others? Ophi proved that even a soulfiend was not truly dead and that the owner’s soul was there somewhere.
Ophi’s power had flown back into the stone after her death. Will knew that’s what had happened. It could have been the only explanation.
Picking up the piece of cloak, Will inverted the pocket, revealing a bright, glowing yellow stone with an eye etched on top. Lotess had said no one but Iket could have more than one power at a time, but Lotess was gone and so was Will’s power.
Could he…?
Tentatively, Will stretched out his hand and touched the stone.
Want more Soul Stones? Have you read the prequels? Soul Siphon is a collection of four prequel novellas. Discover more about Drygo, as well as Khate and Ocken’s past. You can get it on Amazon.
Afterword
Thank you for reading Soul Shade. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Would you please consider helping others share your experience by leaving a review on Amazon? I would greatly appreciate it.
Have a question or comment? Or just want to chat? I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Acknowledgments
Wow what do I say? Two full books now. Soul Render took eight solid months of writing. I finished Soul Shade in less than two. If you’ve been around since the start you might be saying “whoa, how come the book took six months to come out then?”
Well, the answer isn’t pretty. I was so burnt out from writing and editing Soul Render that I literally did absolutely nothing for several months (well, I was doing a ton of marketing, but no writing to speak of).
It wasn’t until Guilherme Batista finished the absolutely breathtaking cover for Soul Shade that it kicked my butt into gear and got me excited about writing this book. I didn’t always have a clear vision for how this book would go like I did Soul Render, but I knew the ending and I let that drive the story forward.
I had a few trusty souls who really made this all possible and kept me on target. Alex Campbell, the self-proclaimed (and rightfully so) number one Soul Stones fan, has been with me every step and every chapter of this book. I even messaged him one time about a plot point only to discover the answer to the question myself before I finished typing. I still sent it anyway. Good times.
And GG. I don’t think I even know your name, other than that moniker. You were an awesome alpha reader and gave me invaluable insight.
Then there’s, Angel Haze, who is still my longest standing friend in this business. You listen to my dumb ideas and stupid questions and keep me on the straight and narrow. I have appreciated all you have done for me, our multitude of online bookish communities, and for your input into Soul Shade.
Of course all my wonderful ARC readers who are continuing to grow with each new release. There are now 100 of you, and while I can’t list each of you by name, I want to give a special shout out to two very important ladies. Erica and Lana, thanks for being dedicated fans. And thank you all for your willingness to read and review Soul Shade. It means the world to me. Thank you!
And last but not least, the newest addition to my team who make these books possible, is Josiah Davis. Your super awesome editing skills have me seeing redundancies and sentence structure problems in everything that I read—including the big name authors. You, sir, are the epitome of awesomeness and every author that works with you should consider themselves blessed to have your talent in their corner.
About the Author
T.L. Branson is an author of YA and Epic Fantasy. Branson started writing when he was eighteen and has con
tributed articles to several blogs and websites over the years. Soul Render is his debut novel in a planned quartet. He finds his inspiration from the kings (and queen) of story, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, George Lucas, and J.K. Rowling. Born in Pennsylvania, he currently lives in California with his wife and two children.
www.tlbranson.com
[email protected]
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Soul Shade (Soul Stones Book 2) Page 37
