Energy sizzled in the air, and he knew the merahl had completed the healing. Would they go to the large female as well? They would need her as much as any of the merahl, especially if they were attacked by more of them.
When he finished, he sank to the ground.
His legs no longer held him up. Pain throbbed through him and the injuries to his ankle seemed to flare once more. He looked around the clearing, trying to take stock.
The restored merahl worked on the others, licking their mouths. The sizzle of energy—like lightning in a thunderstorm—hung in the air, mixed with a scent much like a fresh rain. The Denraen didn’t move, lying where they had been when he’d first appeared.
Novan hobbled over to him. He was injured, but not as badly as Endric would have expected. A gash in his arm bled, bite marks evident.
“How did you know what to do?” he asked.
Endric attempted to stand but couldn’t, and fell back to the ground.
“Don’t,” Novan said and sank next to Endric. Urik stood behind him, watching both Novan and Endric. Behind him, Tresten sat next to Dendril. At least he still lived.
“Luck. I discovered it by chance.”
Novan chuckled. “There’s no chance, not with what I saw you do. That took thought and understanding.”
Endric attempted to smile, but it was difficult. “You didn’t think I had it in me?”
Novan shook his head. “That’s not what I would say at all. I knew that you did.”
“I couldn’t kill the merahl, if that’s what you were asking. After what I’ve seen…”
Novan sighed. “Of course. Your time with the Antrilii would have shown that you cannot destroy them. Sometimes I forget just how much you have seen and how much you have experienced. You have proven yourself more valuable than you will ever realize.”
“Valuable how?”
“That’s a conversation for later. For now—”
The howls of the merahl intensified, cutting Novan off as they drew closer.
Endric perked up. He was exhausted, but it seemed the work wasn’t complete. Not yet. The female merahl came over and rubbed her head against him.
Endric ruffled the fur behind her ears and nodded.
“I’ll need your help,” he whispered to her.
She licked him. When she did, he felt a flash and a sizzle of energy.
When he climbed onto her back, he looked at Novan. “I’ll return when I can.”
34
Exhaustion washed over Endric, but it was not quite the same as he had expected. He ached, but less than he should. The task was completed. The merahl—nearly a dozen more—had been restored. Thankfully none had been the cub he had rescued, but if one of them had been, would he have attacked Endric or would their connection have protected him?
The hunt had gone quickly. The massive female had made quick work of it, wrangling the other merahl, forcing them toward the other waiting merahl so Endric was able to use his sword to restore them.
Almost twenty merahl in all.
How had they been twisted as they had been? Who had placed the markings on them? And for what purpose?
Those were the questions he needed to answer.
The female stopped near the same hill where the captured others had been. She lowered her head, letting Endric climb off her back. He managed to stand, the pain in his ankle fading. It seemed to do so more quickly when he rode atop her, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to do so for long. The merahl would need to return to the northern mountains and would need to resume their hunt.
“Thank you,” he said. He rested his hand on her head, feeling her strength and the warmth radiating from her. Without the merahl, he wouldn’t have been able to rescue the others. He wouldn’t even have known they needed rescuing.
She yowled softly. There was a message there, one that seemed just on the edge of Endric’s understanding. They spoke to him though he wasn’t prepared to understand what they said.
She licked his hand. As before, he felt the sizzle of energy in the air and was left with a surge of warmth and strength. It was momentary, long enough that he was able to take a deep breath and stand upright, bearing his weight more solidly on his injured side.
When she vocalized again, Endric knew what it meant.
She was leaving.
The other merahl echoed the call. They remained distant, though the massive female was near enough that Endric could see her. She led the pack.
As he stared at her, Endric realized the similarities between her fur markings and the first female he had restored. They were near enough that they could be siblings… or mother and daughter. Was that the connection?
Endric patted her head once more and she loped off, moving with increasing swiftness until she disappeared over another hillside. The pack leader watched him for another moment, intelligence burning in her eyes, before she followed the other, also disappearing.
He remained in place for a few moments before starting over the hilltop.
When he summited, he saw the grouping had changed. There were more soldiers—dozens more than had been there before. All were Denraen, and they were led by Senda.
Endric’s heart caught.
What would she think about the fact that he had disappeared from the city for a while? He had been abducted, but she didn’t know that, and he had made a choice to continue toward Thealon when he’d managed to get free from Urik, choosing to find what had happened to the Mage rather than return. Would the fact that he had not returned for the Denraen upset her?
Did it matter?
Had he not, what would have become of the merahl? Had Endric returned, he wouldn’t have been discovered by Tresten and he wouldn’t have traveled with the Mage out of Thealon, and he wouldn’t have discovered the merahl. That discovery seemed far more important than anything he could have done while in Vasha, especially as his time in Vasha had not been valuable.
With that being the case, what would he do now?
He should return to Vasha, but he needed to get word to the Antrilii about the merahl and about what had happened to them. First, he had to understand what had happened here. He knew so little about this, other than the fact that it seemed to involve the Conclave.
As he approached, he saw Tresten still sitting.
How badly had the Mage been injured by the merahl? Novan crouched next to him, Urik on his other side. Dendril remained with the Denraen.
Though he wanted to know what had happened to Senda, he veered toward Tresten.
“How bad is he?” Endric asked when he reached Novan.
The historian looked up. “He’s… weakened. He was not well before all of this occurred, and this attack has taken much out of him. Had he not been needed, he would have remained in Thealon, where he would have been safest.”
“In Thealon? Why not Vasha?”
Endric looked from Novan to Tresten for answers, but none came.
“You did well,” Tresten said. His voice sounded thready and was much weaker than Endric remembered. His face was drawn and pale, and the lines that Endric had been seeing along the corners of his eyes were much more prominent.
“You left me,” he said to Tresten.
“We were captured,” Urik answered for Tresten, stepping forward. “We kept thinking you would come after us, and when you didn’t, we thought the creatures killed you.”
“They’re merahl,” Endric said. “Not creatures.”
“How?” Urik asked. Novan moved off to the side, allowing Urik to get closer. “How did you stop them?”
“I’ve hunted with the merahl before. I couldn’t destroy them, even if they were attacking me. I knew that whatever had happened with them was not right.”
Urik looked over the hill, his eyes going distant as if he expected to see the merahl appear. “They’re so… violent. They ripped through a dozen Denraen, tearing them down.”
At least Endric knew what had happened to the rest of the men who had traveled with his fa
ther. He expected that there would have been more than the few who had been there, so for there to have only been a dozen remaining… the merahl would have killed them.
“I’ve seen them tear through a line of groeliin, so it’s not surprising that they’d manage the same with the Denraen.” Though Endric was surprised the merahl fared that well against armed men. He wouldn’t have expected them to have done so. Most of the Denraen wouldn’t have had his experience and wouldn’t have been nearly as hesitant to harm the merahl. “What happened to them? Why were they after the Conclave?” He asked the question of Tresten.
“They were for me,” the Mage said. “Not the Conclave. Your father left Vasha thinking he could protect me, but he wasn’t enough.”
“Why do you think they were after the Conclave?” Urik asked. There remained an eagerness to him, one that Endric suspected had to do with his interest in the Conclave more than anything else.
“Tresten. Novan. Dendril. They had many of the Conclave captured here.”
“Not the Conclave,” Tresten said again. He coughed, and Endric noted a bubble of blood rising to his lips. “It was for me. Novan and Dendril tried to help, but they were not enough. Only you,” he said to Endric, a smile crossing his face before fading.
“Why were the merahl after you? Who leads them?” There had been no sign of anyone else, and Endric had a sense that there would not be.
Tresten attempted to smile. “There was once a man who sat among us who betrayed us. He still seeks power and will do everything he can to gain it. He uses all the knowledge he has acquired over the years to do it. He intends to destroy the Conclave. He fears us.”
With the mention of a betrayal, Endric glanced at Urik.
“Ah, his betrayal is much worse than what you experienced,” Tresten said. The Mage turned his attention to Urik and he smiled. “You have atoned for your mistakes.”
“Atoned? He abducted me from Vasha.”
The Mage snorted, and it turned into a cough. “When you didn’t come, it was the only way I could ensure that he would do what I needed.”
“You wanted me to find you?” Urik asked.
Tresten fixed him with a hard gaze. “You could have followed the instructions on the letter left in your quarters and it would not have been necessary.”
Urik blinked and looked down at the ground. “I couldn’t fully understand it.”
Tresten watched him and turned to Endric.
“What did it say?” Endric asked.
“I wanted to send Dendril and you from the city.”
“You needed the Denraen? As a Mage, you could have just asked!” Endric said.
“Not the Denraen. As I have told you, I had need of you.”
Tresten motioned for Endric to come closer. When he did, the Mage took his hands, squeezing them with a grip that was much stronger than Endric would have expected after what he’d been through. “You have done more than most to serve the Conclave, Endric. I must ask that you do even more.”
“What do you expect of me?”
Tresten sighed. “Expect? Perhaps nothing. You need to continue to serve the Denraen. You understand nearly as much as your father, and in time, you will be called on to replace him. You should be ready. Until then, you will work with the Conclave. Understand why we serve. Novan and others can guide you.”
“What about you?”
“Me? My time is short. It’s why I left Vasha in the first place. I stayed away because it wasn’t safe, but I had wanted to return to the Conclave to ensure our purpose.”
Endric glanced over at Urik. “Even with him?”
Tresten sighed. “The Conclave may welcome Urik if he will choose knowledge over power.”
“The Conclave?” Urik asked. There was something other than eagerness in his tone this time. There was hope.
“They serve peace, as I believe you once did. You can serve it again if you would choose.” Tresten coughed and blood burbled out of his mouth. “I wasn’t certain, but I saw the way you worked with Endric. There is still good in you, though you would hide it behind your pain. I would ask that you feel your pain and that you move past it, as I would ask Endric to move past his. The Conclave must work together or we will all lose.”
“Tresten—” Endric said.
The Mage squeezed his hands. As he did, there was a sense like what he’d detected from the merahl licking him, and Endric felt a surge of warmth… and strength.
Endric waited, expecting Tresten to say something more, but he didn’t.
Novan gripped Endric’s shoulder. “He’s gone, Endric.”
“Gone? How can he be gone? He just fought off a merahl!”
“It was his time. That attack used much of what strength he had remaining, and the rest… you will understand in time.”
Endric held Tresten’s hand a moment longer. When he released his grip, he noted Urik crying. It surprised him that Urik would feel so strongly for the Mage, especially after he had done all that he could to betray them.
Endric looked around and found Senda watching him. She stood near his father and her posture told him that she wanted to come closer, though seemed as if she hesitated. Dendril stared his way, a question in his eyes. Endric nodded and Dendril’s jaw clenched.
“What does this mean for me?” he asked Novan.
The historian stood and let out a heavy sigh. “It means that you will continue to do as you have. If you’re willing, you will continue to serve the Denraen.”
“Tresten wanted me to work with the Conclave.”
“He did. If you are to be a part of it, you will need to understand its purpose.”
“And that is?”
Novan smiled sadly. “Serving something greater than yourself. Greater than even the Denraen. How does that sound to you?”
Endric looked at the Denraen, and then his father. Dendril had done both, and maybe that was the lesson Dendril had wanted him to learn all along. It was the lesson he’d learned going to Farsea and working with the Antrilii. He could be both. He could serve, and he could be more.
Wasn’t that what he wanted?
If he remained with the Denraen, he could help Pendin. His friend still needed him. And he could find a way to bridge the distance between himself and Senda, if there was a way. He had to believe there could be, that she could see him as the man he was and not someone who had abandoned his vows for selfish reasons.
And didn’t he want to be something more than an oathbreaker? That was why he had struggled when he had first returned to Vasha. He had known there was more for him to do, but he wasn’t allowed. If he served the Conclave, he would have that. After what he had seen and experienced, he needed to do more than simply serve the Denraen.
“That sounds like what I’ve been searching for,” Endric said.
Book 5 of The Teralin Sword: Soldier Scarred
The Conclave calls to Endric and threatens to pull him from the Denraen again.
While the merahl are restored, the price was high. The Conclave asks Endric to bring Tresten to his final resting place, leading him to the island of Salvat and the headquarters of the Conclave, but forcing him to bring an old enemy with him.
When the mission takes a dramatic turn, Endric wants only to save Senda, but doing so brings him into a conflict that his Denraen training has not prepared him for. Can he trust Urik while saving Senda and still discover the secrets of the Conclave, or will he be the reason that Salvat falls?
Have you read The Lost Prophecy yet? Catch up with what Endric is up to decades after The Teralin Sword series!
Book 1: The Threat of Madness
The arrival of the mysterious Magi, along with their near invincible guardians, signals a change. For Jakob, apprentice historian, and son of a priest longing for adventure, it begins an opportunity.
When his home is attacked, Jakob starts a journey that will take him far from home and everything he has ever known. Studying with a new swordmaster, he gains surprising skill, but also strange n
ew abilities that make him fear the madness which has claimed so many has come to him. He must withstand it long enough to finish the dangerous task given to him, one that with his new abilities he may be the only person able to complete.
With a strange darkness rising in the north, and attackers moving in from the south, powers long thought lost begin to return. Some begin to suspect the key to survival is the answer to a lost prophecy, yet only a few remain with the ability to find it.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading Soldier Sworn. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would be so kind as to take a moment to leave a review on Amazon or elsewhere, I would be very grateful.
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D.K. Holmberg
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Also by D.K. Holmberg
The Teralin Sword
Soldier Son
Soldier Sword
Soldier Sworn
Soldier Saved
Soldier Scarred
The Lost Prophecy
The Threat of Madness
The Warrior Mage
Tower of the Gods
Twist of the Fibers
The Lost City
The Last Conclave
The Gift of Madness
The Great Betrayal
The Cloud Warrior Saga
Chased by Fire
Soldier Saved Page 28