Conscious of the blackness of exhaustion at the edges of his vision, Lakhoni sought the ember of rage that had fueled him through the battle with Gimno. Down below, archers aimed at him from inside the city, the soldiers ahead of him. He sensed the men running after him as well.
He glanced over the city wall to the ground outside. A long drop. Too long. He tapped the well of rage deep inside and burst into motion. Movement tickled his vision from the right. He slashed out with his blade, blocking the incoming arrow. He feinted right, then twisted left, angling around the soldier ahead of him and tripping the man.
More movement on the right. Lakhoni ducked, letting the arrows arc over him to fall to the ground outside of the city. One clattered to the path on top of the wall. He switched hands with his dagger and leapt at the next soldier feet first. Stunned, the man fell. Lakhoni regained his feet. He divided glances between the soldiers on the wall, archers inside the city, and the rising ground outside the city.
Getting closer. Another soldier sped toward him.
An arrow came in to his right. Lakhoni dodged the arrow and dropped into a whirling crouch, tripping the oncoming soldier and running past him.
“Stop him!” The cry came from the city. Lakhoni sensed the soldiers behind him getting nearer.
No more time. He dodged the last soldier’s first clumsy attack, then twisted slightly, grabbing the man’s sword arm and pushing. The man fell off the wall, screaming.
The ground outside the city had risen considerably. It was maybe only twenty-five or thirty feet down now. Lakhoni hastily studied the exterior of the city wall and the slope of the mountain.
He could feather leap down, like Gimno had done at the Cavern. At the bottom, he would find a place to wait for Alronna and Ree.
They would be long leaps, but the shouts were growing louder. He was out of time.
He pushed off.
An arrow exploded through his left shoulder. Agony filled him like flames burning his blood. He tried to make his first landing, but his leg had lost all strength. He hit hard, ankle twisting. His legs buckled and he was tumbling, rocks pounding his bones, brush and scree tearing at his skin.
Pain from the arrow in his shoulder snapping shone brighter than any other, strangely providing a moment of clarity.
Alronna.
Blessed blackness overcame him before the final impact.
Dust settled.
Moments, maybe hours, passed.
A light.
A voice. “Lakhoni.”
Pain, sweet and thick, held him fast.
“Lakhoni. Come with me.”
Red hair. Bouncing movement under him, carrying him. Tightness on his shoulder and sides.
Lakhoni forced his eyes open. Orange light flickered and danced on cave walls. Ree sat next to him. Alronna was on his other side. Next to her were Cho and the dog Gar. The dog was fast asleep. Alronna, Cho, and Ree watched Lakhoni intently.
“What?” he asked. “How?”
“Sleep.” Ree turned to stare into the fire. Her face and hair glowed with their own flame. “Rest up. We have a long way to go if we’re going to catch my father’s murderer.”
Acknowledgements
This page is a place where I’m supposed to write about all the people who helped bring this book from my computer to your hands—and thank them for their hard work. Whatever! I did this all myself! Heck, I even built the laptop I wrote this book on. I mined the minerals and processed the petroleum to make the keyboard and—
Okay, I’m lying. Hey, that’s what fiction is, right? Socially acceptable lying.
So here are the people who deserve big thanks from me and you because of their great capacity for writing and enhancing the creative lies you hold in your hand. If you see them, you have my permission to chant, “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” at them.
I have to start with Randy Tayler. Years ago, when this thing’s first draft unfolded, I was posting it chapter by chapter on my website. After I had about fifteen chapters up, Randy (whom I’d never met) reached out to me saying he was reading it and loving it. That was a great shot in the arm. Thanks, Randy!
I also have to acknowledge other folks who read early drafts of Lakhoni, most of whom I’ve forgotten. One was Xela, who called it one of the best books she’d ever read.
Then there are the fine folks at Future House Publishing. First, thanks so much to Helena for taking a chance on a former unwilling cultist who wants to write stories for a living. And big heaps of praise go to Allie Bowen and Emma Hoggan who worked so very hard to unearth the best story in my manuscript. Seriously, thank you two so much. That you would spend so much of your valuable time and effort on my stuff is humbling. To the rest of you at Future House, you know who you are, and I just think the best of you. Let’s sell lots of books together, shall we?
Then there’s you. The person holding this book: my words that tell a story from my imagination. It’s a privilege and honor that you would read this stuff. I hope you love it and buy hundreds of copies of all my books. (No, really, I want you to do that.)
My final and most important acknowledgements go to my wife and six kids. Annemarie, you are my favorite always. Kids, eat your vegetables and kiss your mother. I love you all more than I can say.
About the Author
Jared Garrett is a family man raising six kids with his best friend and wife of nearly two decades. He’s been telling lies in story form since he was thirteen. Since recently relocating from Utah to Seattle, his day-job career has been in education and corporate training. He prefers writing books.
Jared had an odd childhood in a nomadic Scientology splinter-cult, which he left at seventeen. He’s worked as a firefighter, a BBQ restaurant chef and manager, a bellman, and as a rubber vulcanizing engineer, among many other things. He is the author of Beyond the Cabin and Beat, and he received an Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest. His favorite authors are Terry Pratchett, David McCullough, Robert Ludlum, Stephen King, Katherine Paterson, Douglas Adams, Patricia McKillip, and lots more. If you ask him where his story ideas come from, be prepared for a lively conversation about inspiration dust, running in snow, showers, hauling a towel wherever you go, and dog poop. Not kidding. Lots and lots of dog poop.
Before You Go
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