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.
