Of Blood And Fire by Ryan Cahill (best color ebook reader txt) 📗

His shouts were met with silence.

A wicked laugh echoed through the cavernous space. “They cannot hear you,” it cackled. “You must be very raw if you cannot detect the warding. Peculiar to find two so connected to the Spark in one place, both so unlearned.” The Fade paused, considering. “He talks about you, you know. Your friend. You left him. Left him to die.”

A knot formed in Calen’s stomach. “Rist? Where is he?”

A low, mocking laugh rumbled from the Fade’s throat. “I will make you a deal, boy. I do like deals. Those treacherous outlaws you travel with, the ones who got you wrapped up in this, the ones who caused the death of your family…” The Fade gave a twisted grin when he saw the pain on Calen’s face. Its thin, pale lips looked terrifying in the fading light. “Well, they have something I want. An egg. A large, scaled egg. If you bring it to me, I will release your friend.”

Valerys’s egg…

Calen was frozen on the spot. He didn’t know what to say. Even if he wanted to betray Aeson, Therin, everyone… He couldn’t. There was no more egg.

But Rist…

“I… I can’t do that. Please… please just let him go. He has done nothing to you.”

A flicker of irritation crossed the Fade’s face. It stepped closer to Calen. His pitch-black eyes were like caverns. “Bring it to me, boy. Now,” it hissed.

“I can’t!” said Calen, his voice rising. He stepped backwards.

The Fade wrapped him in threads of Air, fixing him in place. Everything in his body began to panic. He reached out to the Spark, but there was nothing. He couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t see the strands. Panic set in. He was helpless.

The Fade stepped closer again. “Oh, You are quite strong. But you most certainly do have a lot to learn. I will take you with me once I find the egg. He will be pleased to have found two of you with this kind of strength.”

The Fade reached out to touch the side of Calen’s face. A piercing shriek sliced through the air. The creature clapped its hands to its ears, writhing in pain. Calen felt a fury rising as Valerys leapt into the space between him and the Fade. A sound halfway between a shriek and a roar cascaded from his mouth. The frills on the back of his neck stood at full height, with his wings spread as wide as they could go. Even at that size, the dragon looked ferocious.

“No!” hissed the Fade. His eyes flitted back and forth between Valerys and Calen. “You are bound…”

Calen shuddered at the sound of its voice, scratching at his ears. The Fade took another step back, hissing at Valerys. The dragon continued his shriek, baring rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“Your friend will suffer pain, the likes of which you could not conjure in your nightmares.” The black wells for eyes narrowed as he glared at Calen. “We will meet again.”

Calen felt the threads of Air holding him in place tighten, then he was launched through the air, crashing to the ground with a thump. Ignoring the new pain in his lower back, he leapt to his feet, immediately drawing threads of Fire into his hand.

The Fade was gone. Valerys still screeched into the night sky, but Calen knew it was gone. Something just felt different. And he could see properly again, almost blinding himself with the baldír before he extinguished it.

“Calen, what’s going on?”

Calen hadn’t noticed Therin stepping up beside him, his bow drawn and an arrow nocked. Everybody in the group was there. Valerys’s screeching must have woken them.

“Valerys, stop. It’s gone.”

Calen felt a rumble of disagreement from the dragon as it halted its screeching. A slight growl still emanated from its chest.

“Calen, what is gone?”

“The Fade,” Calen replied, allowing himself a breath of relief. “It was here. It came for Valerys’s egg.”

“It was here?” There was a hint of panic in Therin’s voice.

Aeson was suddenly standing at Calen’s side as well, framed by Erik and Dahlen.

“I’m sorry. I—”

“It’s okay. You’re all right, Valerys is all right, and it’s gone. To say you were lucky is an understatement. I just don’t know why it left so easily. I’ve not known a Fade to leave without what it came for.”

“Valerys!” said Aeson, an urgency in his voice. “Calen, did he see Valerys?”

Calen did not need to answer.

“We need to move, now. If he saw Valerys, then he knows the egg is hatched, which means Fane will soon know.” Aeson turned to the elves, who had already fanned out across the campsite, bows in hand. “We will need you to scout ahead and behind. Gather your things and begin as soon as you can.”

The elves nodded in response, flitting about as they gathered their sparse possessions into their satchels. The twins and Vaeril headed west to ensure the path up ahead was clear, while Gaeleron and Ellisar moved to make sure that nobody followed them. It took fifteen minutes for the rest of the group to be on the road. The sun would not replace the crescent moon in the sky for at least a few hours, but Aeson did not plan on waiting for it.

“We are to be in Belduar in three days. We rest only for sleep and to refill our waterskins. During the day, we will eat in our saddles.”

He did not wait for an acknowledgment. Instead, he snapped on his reins, and his bay broke into a trot.

Farda had just about gotten to sleep when the Fade’s voice scratched at his ears. “The egg has hatched.”

“Must you always come when I’m trying to sleep?” Farda let out a sigh as he sat up in the cot. If the egg had hatched, it would change everything.

The Fade stood at the opening to his tent. It had its back to him and was staring out at the camp, its black cloak draped around its shoulders.

The way the creature seemed