The Aether Knight

by E A Hooper

  The Aether Knight

  Greatborn Book Three

  “The Aether Knight” by EA Hooper

  “Greatborn” book series by EA Hooper

  Copyright © 2018 | All rights reserved

  Cover by Ace Book Covers

  Thank you to everyone who has supported my dream of being a writer. Thanks to the readers that made it this far. And a special thanks to my friends Daniel and Harley for the original concepts of Pyre and Radu.

  Content

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  The gray-eyed woman took her first step off the boat, and her bare feet sank into the sand. She stared at a never-ending forest a short distance away and listened to the calls of birds and wildlife that humans and wyrgen had yet to discover.

  “Home,” she said in her native tongue, a language she would hardly remember millennia later. “The New Land—Ter’al.”

  “Just like I said,” the young man with fiery eyes said as he walked down the ramp. “I saw it across the ocean, waiting for us. Calling to us.”

  “I never doubted you,” the gray-eyed woman said. “I’m just amazed to see it in person.” Her gaze went along the shore to the other ships, the biggest ships anyone had ever seen. A few had joined them at that destination, but others split off to the north and south. “They’re really going to split off? I thought the long journey would change their mind.”

  “They all come from different cities—different lives,” the fiery-eyed man said. “The only thing we have in common is that we couldn’t stay home. But I’ve seen their futures in the gleam of their eyes, and the futures of people whose eyes they’ll stare into one day, and I see our descendants will meet again. For better and worse.”

  “I’m glad to see you’re talkative again,” the woman told him. “You’ve been so quiet since we left Fey’al. It was worrying everyone.”

  “I’ve been figuring out what comes next,” he said. He glanced into her eyes for just a moment and paused, and she had no doubt he had seen more of her future with his power.

  “Good things I hope,” she said.

  A frown crossed his face. “Oh yes, many good things. And many bad. My power keeps growing, allowing me to see more and more. I can see future possibilities through people’s eyes, but I find myself getting lost in those possibilities. I can jump from one set of eyes to another. So, I can’t help but jump from person to person until I’m centuries in the future. Even millennia when I look at the right eyes.” He glanced at her eyes again. “Speaking of which, there’s something I need to talk to you about—both of you.” He turned as more people poured down the ramp and looked toward the captain of the ship.

  The white-haired captain strode down the ramp, smiling at the shore, the trees, and the gray-eyed woman. He approached and kissed her, and then he smiled at his friend with the fiery eyes. “After everything we’ve been through, I can’t believe we’re here,” he said. “Every battle. Every loved one lost. Every heartache and struggle. But I always knew your eyes would lead us to paradise. Now we can build a new home.” He turned back to the gray-eyed woman. “We can build that life we always dreamed about.”

  “That’s just what I wanted to talk to you two about,” the fiery-eyed man said. “This might seem like the worst time I could give you this news, but every future I’ve seen shows me this is the proper time for it.” He faced the gray-eyed woman. “Since your shapeshifting powers developed, your aging has slowed and more recently halted. I’ve seen many possibilities for your future, but in all of them, you stop aging at this point. You can’t get sick either, but there’s more. I know how much this means to the two of you, and I know this was a big reason for coming to this new world, but you’ll never be able to have children.”

  The gray-eyed woman and white-haired man stared at their friend in confusion. An irritated look crossed the white-haired man’s face. “That can’t be right,” the captain said. “You told us before we left that you saw in her future that she’d watch over white-haired children. Surely, she’s their mother. Or grandmother. Or ancestor.”

  “That’s what I thought,” he replied. “Until I studied the future more. I see her watching over your bloodline for a long, long time. Longer than I ever realized until recently. When I look into her eyes, I see her lifetime stretched across millennia. All the way to a future where—”

  “You must’ve seen wrong,” the captain said, angrier than the woman had ever seen him get toward his friend. “You know how badly we want to start a family. You know how much I love her. Are you suggesting I’d start a family with someone else?”

  “In every future I’ve seen, you inevitably do,” the fiery-eyed man said.

  The captain took the gray-eyed woman’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “That’s ridiculous,” he shouted. “I love her more than anything. Why would you tell me such a lie? And why now of all times?”

  “In all the futures I’ve seen, this was the best time to tell you,” the man replied. “For the sake of the things I’ve seen. Not now, but millennia from now. Eventually, one of my descendants—”

  “I don’t care about things a thousand years in the future,” the captain interrupted. “I care about now. I care about the life she and I are supposed to have.”

  “I’m sorry, my friend, but in no future do you get the life you wanted.”

  The gray-eyed woman pulled her hand away from the white-haired man and put it over her mouth. Tears fell on her cheeks, and people exiting the ship with crates stopped and stared at the three. “There’s no future where he stays with me?” she asked her friend.

  “I’m sorry,” the fiery-eyed man replied. “You two are my closest friends. I didn’t want to tell you, but I’ve seen the paths the future can take. Telling you both now will set you down a certain path, Eyl’oera. In your eyes, I’ve seen that you’ll meet a descendant of mine thousands of years from now. A man with the power to see the strings of fate. When I jump into his eyes, I see those string stretching all the way back to me. To us. To this moment. But he’ll be more concerned with the future. In those several thousand years, the Feyan Empire will rise and fall and rise again. But they’ll eventually find this new land, and when they do, they’ll destroy everything we’ve created. The seeds of a better world that we planted will be reaped and burned.” He stared off in a daze, and Eyl’oera had no doubted he had jumped into the future through her eyes.

  The captain shoved his friend into the sand, knocking him out of his daze. “That’s what you’ve been obsessing about our entire ship ride? Something so far into the future it might as well not be real to us?”

  “It’s real to me,” the friend replied. “I’ve seen it. I’ve seen your descendants. I’ve seen Eyl’oera’s experiences over centuries and even millennia. And I’ve seen things even further through my descendant�
��s eyes. Untold destruction. And every misstep on the path of fate takes our descendants further from survival. What was the point of finding this new world if we don’t preserve its future? Did you want to make a new life for everyone or only yourself?”

  “I just wanted the life I dreamed about,” the captain replied, tears in his eyes. “Eyl’oera and I. A home and some kids. A life with no more war.”

  “All I see in the future is war,” his friend told him. “The city that we build here will burn to the ground one day. Those boats going north will make enemies of themselves and then our descendants. The wars won’t end. Not ever. But we can stop the biggest war in history if one of your descendants is set on the right path. But that requires that you have descendants, and Eyl’oera can’t have them. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, my friends.”

  Both men looked at Eyl’oera, and the gray-eyed woman took several steps back. She tried to stop her tears but couldn’t. Millennia later, she’d sometimes forget what it was like to cry—what it was like to feel much of anything. She’d struggle to remember the face of the white-haired man she had once loved so dearly, and she’d even struggle to remember what her friend with the fiery eyes had told her that seemed so important.

  As generations flew by, she only remembered that she had made an oath to watch the white-haired man’s descendants. For a long time, she told herself it was important for a reason she couldn’t remember. Then she told herself it was important because the white-haired man had been important to her. Then because she felt almost like those descendants were the family she could never have. Then she convinced herself that they were a special bloodline, even amongst greatborn.

  And finally, she stopped caring. Watching them simply became a way to pass the millennia.

  Chapter 1

  Valx Delgard walked the streets of Direlight with a satchel hanging from his shoulder. As the sun disappeared over the shimmering wall in the distance, the roads near The Rotten Apple grew quiet. His pace slowed, and he took a moment to enjoy the closest thing to solitude he had found in months. Even the occasional passerby didn’t disturb him, if only because they wouldn’t recognize Wight the Aetherblade that everyone in town talked so much about. The Aetherblade had vanished a year ago after he killed his own brother, Lord Wyvern, and no one would’ve thought he’d be living peacefully in the Western Kingdom’s capital.

  As he approached The Rotten Apple, his eyes locked with the gray-eyed cat on the roof. It stared at him with those old, solemn eyes. “I know, I know,” he told it. He ran his fingers through his black-dyed hair until he found a few white strands. “I bought more dye. This stuff costs a lot you, you know?”

  The cat tilted her head with a serious expression.

  “You don’t have to say it again,” he said. “I know it was my decision to come back here. You didn’t want us to, so I must dye my hair to avoid attention. Not like you don’t draw attention sitting on the roof all the time, Shift. I should’ve known something was strange about that cat sitting on my mom’s shop all that time.”

  The cat looked down the street.

  Valx turned and saw a group walking in his direction. He glanced one more time at the cat and then entered the building. The barroom looked almost empty that evening, but one dark-clothed man in the corner caught his eyes. They nodded at one another, but Valx avoided him for the moment. He approached the counter where the innkeeper Lorkle was seated.

  “Pailim already call it a night?” Valx asked.

  “Yeah,” Lorkle replied. “She didn’t sleep much last night. Had another nightmare about our daughter and granddaughter. She keeps holding out that they’ll show up one day, but you and I know they didn’t survive the attack on Tunra. Even if they went to Solifey with her husband, she’d have visited by now.”

  Valx lowered his head. It’s getting close to two years since the attack, he realized. However, I can close my eyes and still see those events as clear as day. The tower ringing. The buildings burning. The jester and all those other bodies. My mother’s death.

  “I’m sorry I bring it up so often,” Lorkle told him. “It’s hard to believe one day can have such a profound effect on so many people’s lives.”

  “And yet a year can go by and feel like nothing’s changed.” Valx peered around to make sure there were no nearby patrons. “I thought killing my brother would end the war. Or at least push things in the West’s favor. But every week we get news of more battles, more cities lost, more bloodshed.”

  “I heard another story about Roz today,” Lorkle said. “They retook the stronghold at Riftvale.”

  “Yeah, I heard everyone at the market talking about it. They might actually have a chance to retake Alkin’s Tower this time since the North won’t have any support.”

  “We can only hope.” Lorkle let out a long sigh. “The eastern side of the kingdom has only gotten worse though. After the Ninnan Clan took Eraterth, everything’s gone to hell out there. We’ve lost maybe half the kingdom. Everything’s one step forward and two steps back in this war.”

  “At least the North have spread themselves too thin. They can’t retake Castle Stoneborn without giving up Alkin’s Tower or Eraterth.”

  “I’m sure Lord Reaper could if he wanted.”

  Valx shook his head. “I don’t think so. It’s a tough place to capture—I’d know. Not to mention, he’s sent too many of his men to aid Lord Embry and Lord Eldsworth. Embry’s lost two-thirds of his original army in the last year, and Eldsworth keeps trying to capture Eyl’Step. The lords farther east of him are too worried about the Eastern Kingdom retaliating.”

  “I’ve heard Queen Zelbith has gathered a large army in the East to prepare for a possible invasion. That might be the thing to turn this war around for us. The North wants to fight too many battles in too many places. Thank the gods that Snake King guy took over the No-King’s Land. If the North had taken over Quintessence Way, they’d have all the wealth they’d ever need to fight this war as long as they want. Even Reaper’s coffers must be running dry by this point. People keep calling this the greatest war of Ter’al, but it’s more like the most expensive one. The only people profiting from the war by this point are the gods-damned Islanders. They take any port city the North will give them. The Bay Nation has no choice but to support us since the Islanders started hitting their ports.”

  “I feel like it’s all moving toward a breaking point. Our enemies will either overtake us or exhaust themselves beyond recovery. This war has to end one way or another soon enough. There’s just no telling what will happen to Ter’al after it’s over.”

  “It’ll be dark times no matter who wins—if anyone even wins it. Seems like everyone will end up losing.”

  Valx sighed and nodded in agreement. “Well, you try to have a good night, Lorkle. If you hear any good news or anything about Roz, let me know. If you only hear bad news, don’t bother. I need to get my mind off the war.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Lorkle replied. “Guess I’ll shut down the bar for the night. Doesn’t look like anyone else is buying drinks. Goodnight, Valx.”

  Valx went toward the stairs. He glanced at the gloomy man in the corner, but the man looked to have passed out. I’ll let him rest a bit and then see him when everyone’s asleep. He found his room, entered, and left the satchel on a countertop where his mother’s sword rested. Velumis had helped him sneak the sword into the city, and he had snuck it into the inn inside a rolled quilt.

  Mil looked up from her book. Other books sat scattered under the light of her reading lantern, and Valx guessed she had been studying for hours.

  “Shouldn’t you get some sleep?” he asked, approaching. He leaned down and kissed her, and Mil flashed a sleepy smile.

  “I’m just reviewing the material one more time,” she replied. “If I pass the examination tomorrow, I’ll be a full-fledged member of the Medical Guild.”

  “We both know you’ll pass. You shouldn’t lose sleep studying pages you can practically recite word f
or word. Even if you failed, can’t you take it again in a month or two?”

  “My father should be back from Solifey in the next few days. I wanted to surprise him before he goes away again. He’ll be so proud of me.”

  “He’s always been proud of you. When he and I traveled across the kingdom, he talked a lot about how gifted you are. He guessed you’d pass the final examination within three years. Most trainees take five or six, don’t they?”

  “Well, I’m not like most trainees. I had years of study with my father already. I should’ve passed last time, but I overestimated myself. I used to think I was special but being around so many gifted people at the Medical Guild has made me think otherwise.”

  “You are special,” Valx said, taking her hand. He smiled at her, but Mil stared blankly at her book.

  “Not like you are, though.”

  “There’s nothing special about me anymore. I can’t even use my power without the pain coming back.” He pulled his hand from hers and touched his shirt just above the scar. The muscles in his stomach tightened reflexively, and he felt a creeping feeling. Sometimes he felt it at night as he tried to sleep, but he never told Mil about it.

  Mil reached forward and put her hand over his. “And you’re sure you don’t know who she was? The woman that fixed your injury?”

  “I’ve told you a hundred times, I don’t know.”

  “Not even a guess? She was greatborn and at your brother’s castle. Surely, someone must’ve known who she was.”

  “Maybe Yahn would know, but I’d rather avoid talking to him. I just want to live a normal life. There’s nothing wrong with being normal, you know?”

  “But what I like about you is that you’re not normal.” Mil looked up at him with big eyes. “You can do great things, Valx. That woman must’ve seen it too if she wanted to save you. And the other one, the one that brought you back here. They see something great in you, and I see it too, but that worries me sometimes.”

  “Why?”

  Mil pulled her hand away and stared at her book. “Because I don’t think you want to be here. You didn’t come back for me. You came back because this place was familiar. I just happened to be here. I keep thinking one day I’ll go to sleep, and when I wake up, you’ll be gone.”