Chapter two of the Destruction of Chaos!

 Okay, still aiming to get this out this WEEK!

BUT, if you've read the other two Chaos books,  (AKA Books of the Cuari) then scroll down and keep reading!

If not, run away!!  NOW!

There be spoilers ahead!













SPACE......



Storm and Jenna are still apart. Jenna was Chapt one-- here's Storm! Yeah, sorry about the paragraph spacing. 

Chapter Two

 

 

Storm swore as their ship finally moved forward to dock. The town of Erlinda was swarming with activity, but little of it pertained to getting ships into dock. Mostly it was simply people panicking and running about.

News of the death of Prince Resstlin, and of the fall of Lithunane, had spread quickly. Erlinda was part of Traanafaeren at the extreme northern end. If an attack came from outside, they would be one of the next to fall. And the citizens of the town knew it.

Considering what he and his companions had faced in Craelyn, he didn’t blame them.

Talia yelled to the few dock hands still working and helped them secure the lines to their ship. Her brother, Diath, watched with a grin. He was still injured, there hadn’t been a way to heal him on the open sea. But he looked grateful to be alive. And amused at his guard captain sister handling his ship.

Few people faced a demonspawn and lived to talk about it. Let alone facing two. Diath hadn’t said much about his fight and spent most of the week’s sea travel resting.

Under Talia’s orders.

The trip from Craelyn to Erlinda normally took a few days. But they’d barely escaped the town and hadn’t used regular sea channels to do so. Not to mention, not knowing who or what might be after them meant going far from the coast and taking a longer route down.

Keanin tried to push them harder, using his own depleted magics to fill the sails when he could. There was a ship with demonspawn ahead of them. Those on board included odd creations that had tapped into Keanin’s genetic and magical self and found a way to reproduce demonspawn hybrids. They needed to be destroyed before they gave birth to the abominations they carried.

His focus changed when they got the notification from Garlan that Lithunane had fallen. Keanin was raised with the royal family, and while he wasn’t any fonder of Resstlin than Storm was, his loss, and that of so many others in the palace, hit him hard.

He stopped pushing the sails after the second day unless asked.

He’d mostly recovered from massively overusing his magic in Craelyn, but Storm was concerned at the way Edgar, also a magic user, watched him carefully. Even now, while they were all on deck and mundanely securing the ship.

Storm shook his head. That was another item on a growing list of things that would have to wait until they got to Irundail. He turned to Talia. “You all might want to ride with us to Irundail. I don’t know how long it will take King Philia of Khelaran to recover his strength, nor how many of his soldiers he lost. He might not have much control over the traitors still in his midst. If our enemies come down from there, this town will be a primary target.”

“I need to stay and defend Erlinda.” Talia looked more like a city guard than a pirate now—her more recent look. “But I think Diath, Hon, and Flini should go with you. You need to get to the new capital.” She knew who Storm and his friends really were.

“I’m not leaving you. Or this town.” Diath shook his head and turned to Storm. “Thank you for helping to rescue me, but I’ll defend this place.”

Talia narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “You’re injured.”

“Not having this argument.” Diath walked down the plank empty-handed. Any of his belongings were long gone.

Hon and Flini shrugged.

“Sorry, but we’re staying too. The guards can’t be the only ones defending this place.” Hon tipped his head to Storm, Keanin, and Edgar, and followed his friends to the dock.

“I would stay to help you.” Keanin’s beautiful golden eyes appeared conflicted. He’d fallen hard for Talia, but Storm was like a brother to him. Not to mention the rest of the royal family.

The tall blonde woman smiled and took his arms. “I believe you would. But while we will have our own battles here, the larger ones will come to Irundail. It is a powerful refuge, or so I’ve heard, but nothing is unbreakable. When it falls, they’ll need you.” She looked up at Storm and Edgar. “All of you.”

Storm lifted his pack as the rest of them left the ship. “I also wish we could stay. But you’re right about the threat. Lithunane was never as secure as Irundail, but it had impressive hidden defenses. That it fell so suddenly is terrifying.”

Edgar watched the dock—and the ships leaving. “They don’t care where they’re going. I thought the ships heading south could only leave at night.” Long-lost magic users had changed the coast along Erlinda in the distant past. Getting in and out was difficult except during specific times.

Judging by the ships leaving, they were willing to take their chances as long as it got them away from Erlinda.

“None of them are going north. Why would they think Khelaran would be a threat?” Keanin joined his friends watching the surrounding ships. “There wasn’t any proof of who led the attack against Lithunane, was there? No one here would know what happened in Craelyn, right?”

Keanin and Edgar had cleared out a group of demonspawn poised to take over the Khelaran capital. Or rather, exposed them for what they were, which made them weaker and easier to kill.

Craelyn had gone through hard times long ago—hence the controlled waterway access—and also a nearly impassable land access along the coast. Had anyone come down from Craelyn with news of an attack within the past week, they would have faced the same issues Storm and his companions did.

“That’s a good question.” Talia nodded to the two guards as they left the dock. “But feelings about Khelaran have always been tense here. Many felt there should have been a stronger presence from Lithunane here in the north. Irundail is only a few days’ ride, but we never see people coming from there to check on any of us along the northern coast.”

Storm nodded. “I don’t disagree. And right now, I truly wish that there had been a royal presence here. We’ll still need to travel incognito, thank you for keeping our secrets. I’d like to get out of town before night falls. Edgar? Can you get us horses? Cost is no limit. I’d hoped to be in Irundail days ago, but let’s get there as quickly as possible.”

Edgar nodded and shook hands with Talia, Diath, Hon, and Flini. Then he vanished into the crowd.

“I’d like to speak to Talia alone?” Keanin gave her a serious look.

“Come this way. We can secure food for your travels. Even a few days of travel are better with something in your stomach.” Talia led him down toward the food vendors and the crowds swarming around them.

Storm nodded to the remaining three. “Guard each other well, and if the chance arises, come to Irundail. Mention my name and give the guards this coin. They’ll escort you all to me.” He handed them what looked like a normal coin, but it flashed even though there was no sun hitting it.

“I finally meet royalty and it’s not a beautiful princess.” Diath laughed, took the coin, and shook Storm’s hand. “But thank you for helping rescue me.”

“I’m glad we got to you in time.” Storm put his eyepatch back on. Thanks to the type of dye Edgar had used on his face, he still had the facial markings of a Crailian sell-sword. Might as well take advantage of the disguise. It was more important than before that no one knew Prince Corin was roaming the countryside.

“Just remember, if things get bad, get your sister and your friends, and all of you come to Irundail.” Storm shook his head. If he could, he’d bring this entire town to Irundail. But they didn’t have time to convince them all to leave. Ships were fleeing, but more came in with supplies. The ones staying were settling in for a siege. “I’ll have Prince Res—Justlantin send over troops to help support your efforts.” That slip hurt. Storm and his brother Resstlin, late heir to the throne, had never been close. But it was still hard to think of him as gone. Especially so soon after losing their father.

Diath clasped Storm’s shoulder. “Thank you.” He nodded behind Storm, where Edgar came up with six horses loaded with expensive looking full tack. “Your friend is exceedingly quick.”

“There looks to be only three of us.” Storm raised an eyebrow toward the extra horses.

Edgar shrugged. “Aye, but the one selling these wanted to sell them all together. So, I figured, since coin was no object, might as well.” His grin lit his dark face. “Not to mention that we can rotate the horses as we ride. You’re not the only one who wants to get to Irundail quickly.” His smile vanished.

Anyone who’d lived in the palace in Lithunane had lost people in the slaughter. No one knew how many friends they’d lost as communications, even with the taran wands, were jumbled.

“I’m an idiot.” Edgar shook his head and handed the cord with the line of horses to Storm.

“It wasn’t a bad idea.” Storm continued focusing on the surrounding crowds.

“No, we need to find a place to reach out to our friends with the wands. Or at least try. I don’t think all the communication disturbance we hit was just from the ocean.”

Hon and Flini said their goodbyes and vanished into the crowd.

Diath watched Edgar, then nodded. “Your tricky stick thing. I can find an alley that shouldn’t be occupied. And will allow for your herd.” He laughed as he walked past Edgar’s horses.

Edgar held the taran wand but kept it out of sight as he, Storm, and their horses followed Diath.

Edgar knew horses and he’d done well. All six were in excellent shape and followed without question. Storm kept an eye out for Keanin as they walked.

He knew his friend was having a seriously difficult time leaving Talia, but she was a guardswoman and took her duty seriously. Keanin had duties as well, some he didn’t even know about. The issue of him being a missing Khelaran royal was something best dealt with when they were safe.

And when they had a place to lock Keanin up if he tried to run when he was informed of it. Keanin’s parents were killed in the Markare when he was a baby—they were scientists investigating the area around the closed portal. Keanin was the only survivor.

While he’d been raised by the royal family of Traanafaeren, he might not be happy to find out he had a connection to the Khelaran royals. And that his parents hadn’t been who he’d been told they were.

The alley was as Diath said, and he moved to the far end to give Edgar and Storm privacy. Everyone on the ship knew of the taran wand, but as it didn’t work on the water well, they hadn’t seen it work often.

“I wish we’d been able to give one to my mother. Or someone else in Irundail,” Storm said. “I don’t know that anyone from Lithunane has made it there yet.” The ride between the two cities was normally a few weeks. A single rider with spare horses could make it in a week, but they would be hard-pressed to do so.

Hopefully, some of the far-speaking mages living in Lithunane survived the attack and got the word to the Queen and the rest of the royals in Irundail.

“True and true. Shall I try Ghortin first?” Edgar’s smile said he knew what Storm was suppressing since they fled to the ocean.

The woman he loved, Jenna, was somewhere outside of Strann. They’d found out that she and the others survived, escaped, and had the third cuari book they’d needed, but no further communication could be made.

“Yes. Please.” He didn’t hold out his hand, but it was twitching.

Edgar grinned and called Ghortin on the wand.