Ilda rubbed her stomach again. Was that such a high price? Unlike Sig, she was still alive. His son—she could tell the child’s sex with her berserker powers—would make her master of the north. Or sub-master anyway. She would teach the child about his father. It was her way of honoring the human that had given her so much.
Sir Collin paused between two snow-covered trees and shivered. The winter had been long and bitter, but he’d seen signs of spring. When the passes finally thawed he’d begin the long trek west to the ocean. It hardly seemed possible five months had passed since the temple battle.
His meaningless betrayal had gained him nothing. The Chain Knights lost their powers as surely as he did when Binder returned to Heaven. They had all moaned when the connection broke. After a brief discussion they found the nearest cliff and jumped off, leaving Sir Collin and Ko as the only living beings in the temple.
The silent monk and Sir Collin stared at each other, neither speaking, until Sir Collin got bored and retreated to the monks’ sleeping area. After that it was one day after another of silence. Sometime, he didn’t really remember exactly when, his anger and bitterness had faded until nothing remained. He looked back on the monster he’d become and nearly joined the former knights at the bottom of that cliff.
He’d caught himself at the last moment. Death wouldn’t allow him to make up for what he’d done. Sir Collin was determined to set things right. Somehow he’d find his way back to the kingdom. He would confess his sins to the Order and pray that the angels would forgive him. He doubted they would. In their place he’d condemn himself to Hell for what he’d done. And if that was the result, so be it, but at least he had to try.
Damien sat in front of the fire in the castle’s great hall with a ham-and-cheese-filled honey roll in one hand and a flask of sweet red wine in the other. The wood snapped, jogging him fully awake. It was the first day of spring. He’d seen the first buds on the apple trees this morning on his dawn patrol.
He sighed and took a bite. This felt like the first time he’d sat down to relax in five months. After the final battle in Port Valcane, Damien, Jen and the others had worked basically nonstop to make repairs, bringing food to those that needed it, and finally cleaning up the mountain of corpses covering the Golden Plains. Twelve-hour days seven days a week had been his punishment for fighting Binder. As punishments went it wasn’t so bad and somehow the kingdom had made it through the winter with only a minimal loss of life.
It helped that the Ice Queen had kept her promise and not a single ogre crossed the border the entire season. No one could figure out why she’d done it. The kingdom had never been weaker than it was this past year. Had she attacked, they would have been hard pressed to counter. Maybe it was some kind of weird dragon honor thing. Whatever the reason, everyone was grateful. Whether they got their second year of peace, only time would tell.
Now they were free to focus on getting things back to normal before the next disaster. And there would be another one, he had no doubt. It appeared to be a simple fact of his life.
He took a bite, relishing the salty-sweet taste. His little break couldn’t last, but he intended to enjoy every second.
As if to mock him the door opened and his sister said, “Did you forget? Uncle Andy’s dedicating Marie-Bell’s memorial in an hour.”
He hadn’t forgotten. The first day of spring was the perfect day to memorialize Marie-Bell’s sacrifice. Damien just hated dwelling on their losses. Considering what could have happened, the kingdom had gotten off easy, but Marie-Bell’s death stung the most.
“I didn’t forget. I just wanted some food and a minute to collect myself before the memorial.” He ate the last bite and stood. “Are you going to take Uncle Andy’s offer and become King’s Champion?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
Damien grinned and put his arm around his sister. He and Jen left the hall to go and say a final goodbye to a fallen friend. If anyone deserved a proper sendoff, it was Marie-Bell.
She’d earned whatever peace she found. They all had.
Author Note
Dear Readers,
I hope you enjoyed the Chains of the Fallen Arc. You can find more exciting books to read in the also by section of this book. If you’d like to know when my next book is coming out as well as when I’m offer a deal, you can go to my website and join my newsletter.
Until next time thanks for reading,
James
Also by James E Wisher
The Aegis of Merlin:
The Impossible Wizard
The Awakening
The Chimera Jar
The Raven’s Shadow
Escape From the Dragon Czar
Wrath of the Dragon Czar
The Four Nations Tournament
Death Incarnate
Soul Force Saga
Disciples of the Horned One Trilogy:
Darkness Rising
Raging Sea and Trembling Earth
Harvest of Souls
Disciples of the Horned One Omnibus
Chains of the Fallen Arc:
Dreaming in the Dark
On Blackened Wings
Other Fantasy Novels:
Death and Honor Omnibus
The Squire
The Rogue Star Series:
Children of Darkness
Children of the Void
Children of Junk
Rogue Star Omnibus Vol. 1
About the Author
James E. Wisher is a writer of science fiction and Fantasy novels. He’s been writing since high school and reading everything he could get his hands on for as long as he can remember.
For More Information:
www.jamesewisher.com
[email protected]
On Blackened Wings Page 32