The Emissary (Dawn of Heroes Book 1)
Page 65
Nian felt himself flush slightly. He supposed the wizard had a point. As he headed into the workshop, Nian wondered if Malor was naturally so gruff all the time, or if it had to do with him constantly being exhausted. It seemed to Nian that the wizard was almost never well-rested, no matter how much sleep he managed to get. He wondered if that was just part of being a wizard. The down side of being so useful all the time being that as soon as you can catch your breath, someone else has some small magical task for you. Nian decided that was probably why, in the stories, wizards always shut themselves up in some tower away from everyone, just so they could get some sleep.
Inside, Karen was near the table where Nian had seen her earlier. She had the armor gown that she’d escaped in mostly back on, though it hung in misshapen lumps in several places. Karen was examining something small in her hand, which she quickly stuffed into a pocket in the gown when she noticed Nian.
“Hey, little brother.” Karen smiled, looking even more tired than Malor, but unhurt at least. “If you’re done challenging wizards to protect my honor, could you help me get this buckled on? I’m still pretty sore from when that general kicked me, so reaching is a bit of a pain.”
Nian nodded and hurried over to start muddling with the armor bits concealed in the gown. “Wait, you just had Malor working magic on you, why not have him heal your bruises while he’s at it?”
“He was already pretty tired, Nian, and it’s not something that won’t heal on its own.” Nian felt Karen shudder slightly as she spoke, “Besides, I think I’ve had about all the magic I care to for a while, and travel too. I’m ready to go home.”
“So,” Nian paused to lever his tongue into his cheek as he fidgeted with a particularly stubborn joint, “You just wanted me to help you with your dress? Autumn’s out there you know, and she’s more familiar with armor . . . though maybe we’re about equal on dresses. That’s not much experience at all, I hope you know.”
“I know what you went into the keep to face, Nian. I’d met them.” Karen paused, “When I went to rescue Kelly the first time, they got to me through her. I figured out how to fight them, keep them from getting stronger, but I couldn’t get rid of them alone . . . that’s what Malor was helping me with just now.”
Nian froze at the mention of the dark things inside the keep, and Kelly’s name sent a shudder through his core. Karen must have felt him quiver, or at least noted the pause, and turned to look at him.
“Kelly was already slipping away when I saw her. I don’t think she could have held out much longer. You had to . . . “ Karen faltered and didn’t finish the sentence.
“I was supposed to,” Nian admitted, sparing Karen from having to finish, “I should have, but I couldn’t. I tried to carry her out, but she turned on me and left me for dead in the mountain. That’s the last I remember of the whole thing.”
Karen was quiet for a few moments, so Nian went back to buckling her gown. After several moments, she sighed to herself.
“I don’t think she made it out. Malor searched the whole face of the mountainside looking for you and didn’t say he saw anyone.”
Nian didn’t respond. He wasn’t so certain that Kelly was gone. The fiends seemed to him almost infinitely resourceful when it came to preserving themselves. After all, this enemy had managed to slip past the gods when the others were sealed away. Nian found it more disturbing to learn that they had managed to gain a hold of his sister.
“Was Malor able to help you? Get rid of them I mean.”
Karen nodded, “Yes, I can’t feel them anymore, but I don’t ever want to go through that again. Malor said that, since I could resist them, I might hold onto the link and use it to fight them . . . but it moves through blood, and I am going home to start a family. That’s one burden I don’t want to pass on to anyone.”
“Right.” Nian agreed. “So, they’re gone now?”
“From me,” Karen nodded, “But they’re still out there. I felt them weaken and grow distant yesterday, but they were still there.”
Nian grunted in response while he finished fastening her dress. He didn’t like the idea of whatever was in the cave still being out there. More than likely, they weren’t too happy with him. Nian decided it was just more reason to stick to what he and Autumn had agreed during their brief honeymoon. They would go back to Tyre, deliver the relic blade, and linger in Longmyst for Karen’s wedding and perhaps long enough to help rebuild, then head into the Avan Empire. Autumn had heard rumors that the Golden Emperor’s will held back the influence of demigods within the empire, and many who didn’t wish to live as nomads or in constant struggle had sought sanctuary there.
. . .
“Hey!” Karen elbowed Nian to snap him out of his glum reverie, “Let’s talk about something a little more cheerful . . . like you stopping off long enough to get married on the way here?”
“I can explain that, and we didn’t stop really . . .” Nian’s voice trailed off as the two siblings strode out the door.
From the rafters overhead, a small, white sparrow cocked its head to watch them a little longer. An almost-transparent spider lowered herself on a single silken thread until it hung next to the small bird’s perch.
“He failed.” The Spider hissed disapprovingly.
The little bird tussled her feathers and scratched her wing with the side of her beak. “I suppose that depends upon one’s perspective.”
“You agreed he must destroy everything the Demon Prince touched.”
“I agreed it was necessary to give the order, sister.” Kadia responded coyly. “I never said I expected him to carry it out. In fact, I’d have been disappointed in him if he had. Bloodlust is not high on my list of favored attributes.”
“Now there will be war. Strife will be pleased, but how many will be undone because he spared one girl already lost?”
“The reckoning is inevitable. You said that. Besides, it’s not my place to win wars, or even prevent them.” Kadia smoothed her feathers. “I keep Hope alive, and in that, an individual can be as important as ten thousand. I like to think no one’s ever so lost they can’t be found.”
The spider dropped to a window ledge below and sent out a streamer. “You’re as incorrigible as Loki sometimes.”
Kadia flitted down to the windowsill to respond, but Aisa was already gone, so she sat and preened contentedly as she watched her champion and his friends prepare for their journey home.
About the Author:
Born in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in the Apache White Mountains, Hanford Alexander Harvey has, from an early age, always held a deep love of mythology, lore, and the art of storytelling. Extending from the cultural stories of the Apache people and children’s stories collected from exchange students, he immersed himself in many of the world mythologies and folk legends from around the globe. It was not long before the passion for being immersed in the tales of others led him to begin conjuring realms of his own design. Ideas that began as a single village or creature erupted into entire worlds as answering each peripheral question about the original concept ignited a hundred more. Soon enough, a vibrant, fantastical world of interconnected and interwoven stories lived and breathed across a scattered collection of notebooks, each filled with scribbled notes, charts, and drawings; a puzzle with pieces nearly impossible to connect without the mind which spawned them. On many occasions, friends and family urged Hanford to write the stories created within his worlds. At last, he was convinced. Thus comes The Emissary, first in the Dawn of Heroes novel series.
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