The Oblivion Trials (The Astral Wanderer Book 3)
Page 28
“So am I,” he admitted and stood to stretch before he sat again. “I guess I was more tired than I realized.”
“We were awake for almost two full days on top of everything we went through during the trials,” she recalled and finished her fish. “I’m surprised I’m still awake, honestly.”
“I’m glad you are,” he said, retrieved his glass, and filled it with the remains of one of the containers of juice. “I wanted to say goodbye before I left.”
“You’re leaving?” she asked. The shock in her voice made him realize that he needed to clarify his somewhat open-ended statement.
“Only to Monleans!” he blurted and jerked his hands so fast that his juice almost spilled. “To see my parents and maybe train with some of the guards if I have the chance.”
“Oh, okay,” she said with a nod. “I had a feeling of dread there for a moment.”
“I’m sorry about that.” He sipped the juice to lower the level of the liquid from the rim before he placed it carefully on the table. “No, I know I belong here. I wouldn’t have come this far otherwise. But I’ll be gone for a while since the grand mistress is giving us a holiday.”
“I might be as well,” she revealed. “Veni needs to close the agency he and his brothers were using. Freki and some of the others will go with him and we might go to the capital after. It has been a long time since I’ve seen it and I’m not sure what feelings it will bring.”
Devol sloshed the juice in his cup. “Would you like me to be there with you?” he asked and surprised the wildkin. “I’m not sure what happened to you before we met, but if you’re worried about…I don’t know, anything, maybe I can help.”
“But what about your parents?” she asked.
“I can wait or maybe meet up with you later if you decide to go,” he assured her.
Asla smiled at this and nodded. “I think that will be nice. We don’t depart for a few days, so if you would like to join us then, I would like to show you the wildkin kingdom.”
“That sounds great,” he said with a nod and pushed to his feet as she did the same. “I told Jazai I’ll leave tonight and now seems as good a time as any, especially since Wulfsun would probably rope me into a fight if he knew I was awake.”
“Most likely,” she agreed and to his shock, pulled him into a hug, but it was far from unwelcome. He returned the embrace and they took a moment to look at one another before he nodded and extended his hand. Achroma teleported to him from its position against the wall.
“I’ll be back soon, all right?” he said. She nodded wordlessly to him with a smile as he put his jacket on and snuck out of the dining hall. He passed the arena where Pete and Wulfsun were sparring. Nauru watched the bout and nodded to the departing swordsman as he waved to her. The moon was out and bright. He would arrive home fairly late and he wondered if his parents were still awake.
“Devol!” His mother swept him into a strong hug. “What were you thinking doing those trials?”
“What?” he asked as her warm embrace soon became bone-crushing. “You knew?”
“That would be my fault,” Victor admitted sheepishly. “I talked about it to some of the other guardsmen and forgot that Xena and your mother talk at the market in the mornings.”
Lilli studied her son suspiciously. Fortunately, he had already been healed at the castle or her worry would only have grown. “Well, you look all right. Did you win?”
The boy nodded, took the marker out, and showed it to his parents, Victor took it and examined it. “Is this your mana in the ‘O?’” he asked and he nodded. “It’s so bright, exactly like Elijah’s,” he commented and flipped the coin toward Devol, who caught it.
“I’m sorry about keeping it a secret, Mother,” he said as he put the coin away. “I didn’t want you to worry.”
“I should say!” she said, still fuming a little. “Making you trek through those caves to find some beast to kill—that is extremely dangerous, Devol.”
He looked quizzically at her before his gaze darted to Victor, who held a finger to his lips. It seemed his mother did not know the whole story, which was probably best for now, even if he had survived.
They continued to talk as he was led into the dining room. It was a good thing he hadn’t eaten his fill at the castle as his mother had also whipped up a feast. Although they spent some time talking about the trials, Devol left out most of the latter half and his run-in with Merri. He did tell them how he and his friends all completed the events and were currently on holiday and mentioned his plans to join Asla on a visit to the wildkin kingdom.
“Seriously?” His father looked thoughtful and stroked his beard. “I haven’t been there since I was a lieutenant,”
“And you are going with Asla, correct?” Lilli asked, a coy smile on her lips. “Well, that sounds wonderful.”
“What are your plans after that?” Victor asked. “You mentioned that the grand mistress had decided to make you an official Templar now, but do you have any plans for the near future?”
Devol considered this for a moment and thought about something that had been at the back of his mind since before the trial. “Maybe not the near future but something down the line, perhaps.”
“And what is that?” Lilli asked, served some cobbler onto a small plate, and handed it to him.
“I’ve been thinking about Elijah—or rather the Astral Wanderer,” he revealed and glanced at Achroma in the corner.
“And you want to meet him?” Victor asked. “It makes sense. After all, he is your father and—”
“You are my father,” the boy said firmly and pointed to him. “Don’t forget that, Guard Captain, all right?”
The man smiled, bit his lip for a moment, and turned away. “Still, I might be able to send a letter and get him over here to—”
Devol shook his head. “I’m sure both you and the Templars could do that, but if he hasn’t stopped by himself in all this time, he must be doing something important.”
“Most certainly,” his mother agreed. “Then what were you thinking about?”
He picked his fork up and cut a piece of cobbler off. “I think, in time, I’ll go looking for the Astral Wanderer myself.”
The End
Skharr DeathEater
Are you reading the Skharr DeathEater Series from Michael Anderle? Book one is The Unforgiven, and it’s available now at Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited.
A lone DeathEater has forsaken his clan.
Leaving behind his previous life, Skharr starts building a future next to a dangerous forest in an unknown land.
He tells himself it is better than taking gold for questionable reasons.
A lone old man traveling with a donkey offers him a choice: Continue this farm life, or trade him Skharr’s just finished home and tilled land for a map.
A map that Skharr can use to live large for years… If he survives.
The old peddler watches him.
Realizing the intelligence, the polished actions of the huge man is but an act. A carefully orchestrated semblance of civility, and shudders.
Of all the Barbarian hordes, the rumor was to never, ever upset a DeathEater.
And he had come here to unleash this particular DeathEater back into the world.
Grab your copy and start this epic adventure today!
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
June 4, 2021
Thank you for not only reading this story but these author notes as well.
Following up on the results of the annoying protagonist of the last author notes, I’m happy to say that book and book 03 have turned out very enjoyable.
At least for that character.
My collaborator threw another one of the main characters into the fire as a reaction to something she did in book 02. So now, I had to stress out as I watched her jump too far ahead and potentially put herself in dire danger because…
Well, I can’t share that yet.
But she could die and die horribly. I�
�m starting to worry that maybe her home life is screwing her around, and she is taking it out on the characters. Not that I would be surprised if she had.
This is the end of this trilogy and the end of these stories at the moment. Joshua Anderle (who also wrote The Animus series of 12 books) wanted to write a story like this and I was game because ‘you never know what the fans want.’
As a publisher, you need to keep pushing the boundaries (if you publish as many stories a year as we do) just to see if you can uncover a great connection between story and another group of fans to read it.
Besides sales, we have no way of knowing if these books are enjoyed by you, the reader, unless you provide reviews or mention your enjoyment through social media or email. I know Joshua (D’artagnan Rey) reads or watches a lot of similar stories (manga etc.), and we wanted to see if we could find an audience for a bit of a different storyline.
THANK YOU so much for enjoying this trilogy. I’ll be working to find the audience that loves it to give us another shot at doing books 04-06!
The Cover was a Pain.
Just as a side note. All of those flowers are hand-drawn, and our artist provided much bit@#ing about how it took all day to paint it up. Since I love the cover, I think it was time well spent. He likes the cover, but I think he wished there was a faster way to accomplish his results.
I told him ‘Photoshop it.’
Isn’t that the answer to all things image? Like when you were in school and got hurt. The PE coach told you to walk it off.
Like that was supposed to fix every pain?
Doubtful.
Do check out the Animus project with Joshua and I collaborating. It’s available at Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited. Book one is Initiate.
See you later!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Books By D'Artagnan Rey
The Astral Wanderer
A New Light (Book One)
Bloodflowers Bloom (Book Two)
The Oblivion Trials (Book Three)
Books By Michael Anderle
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