She stared at the collapsed stone. They could try to climb up, but it now was almost a sheer rock wall that would be impossible for everyone to scale.
They would have to go through the valley. Through Koral lands.
But that was a concern for another time.
She made her way to the far end of the valley and reached the captured Koral. Lilah was bloodied and looked tired, a pile of stone scattered around her—and the rest of the Koral. She’d used her magic to protect them.
Not only Lilah, though. The shamans had also formed a ring around the captured Koral, and seemed to have used their form of magic to defend the others. The avalanche had not harmed any of them.
The Koral had saved their people.
The Leier stood off to the side, clustered together, though there were fewer than before. She found Jorend standing among them.
“There you are,” he said, looking over to her. “We need you, Imogen.”
“I went after the queen. She’s dead.”
A question lingered in his eyes that she wasn’t prepared to answer. Not yet. That story would likely come out in time, but she wasn’t sure how to process what her brother had done, or why he had chased the power.
“Then we stopped them,” he said.
She nodded. “We will destroy what remains.” And she had to hope that Timo was wrong, that there were not others he could free. Because if he was right…
She didn’t want to think about that. She couldn’t.
“I will have the Firsts move through the rock and cut them down,” Jorend said. “I taught the sacred patterns to as many of them as I could, as you suggested.”
Imogen wondered if it was the sacred patterns that let them bring down the branox more easily, or whether it was the death of the branox queen, but she realized it didn’t matter either way.
“Good.”
She looked around them and soon realized that someone was missing.
“Where is General Derashen?” she asked.
“That’s why we need you,” Jorend said. “He led the charge against these creatures. He fought valiantly, but when the creatures pushed their way forward to the Koral, he drew the vile things down the mountain into the valley himself.” He shook his head. “He saved many Leier through his actions.”
Her breath caught. “Jorend?”
“He’s gone, Imogen. That is why we need you.”
She realized now that the Leier were surrounding a body. That had to be the general.
“Why do you need me?” she said.
He flicked his gaze to her blade. “You outrank me.” The way he said it suggested a mixture of irritation and respect. “It is yours to lead.”
She looked toward the gathered Leier. She thought about what her brother had said—how he had intended to destroy the Koral, how he’d thought that he was coming here to grow, to change, to become more powerful as a Sul’toral. And in all that, he had believed he needed to do it to serve the Leier.
All he had done was push them closer to destruction.
She had left her people by going on a bond quest to help them. Having failed to master the sacred patterns during her time at the temple, Imogen had willingly left the Leier homeland, hoping to find answers. Even after she’d stopped the hyadan and destroyed the threat she had been sent to remove from the world, she had not known what else she needed to do. She had stayed in Yoran, thinking that was where she was best suited, until Timo had come.
He had revealed a new purpose for her: a new quest, and perhaps even a new bond.
Imogen couldn’t help but feel as if others had a hand in guiding her along this way, though. Benji, certainly. The Porapeth had to have seen something, despite his protestations otherwise. But it wasn’t just Benji who’d had a hand in guiding her, she suspected. Master Liu had mentored her from the moment she had gone to the sacred temple, encouraging her to find her purpose even when she wasn’t sure what that was going to be. When she had failed with the sacred patterns, or thought she could not understand them, he had offered a different encouragement, and a different path.
It had led her here.
It had led her back to her people.
For so long, Imogen hadn’t known where she belonged with the Leier. She had felt comfortable once she left them, even if she had been disconnected from them. Now that she’d returned, she started to question if perhaps she had a different purpose. A different quest.
This was to be her bond. There was no use fighting it. She was needed, and Imogen never turned away when she was needed.
She sighed. “We will camp here for the night. Have the scouts ensure it’s safe. Look for any evidence of the branox, and send the Koral leaders to me.”
Jorend bowed deeply to her, then left. When he was gone, Benji strode over to her.
“General Derashen died,” she said.
“The stone told me.”
“I lead the Leier army now.”
It was a strange thing for her to acknowledge, though perhaps it should not be. There was no doubt she had the highest rank, even if it had not been tested by anyone other than General Derashen. And could he have truly tested her? It was possible that her understanding of the sacred patterns exceeded his. Despite having studied at as many sacred temples as he had, he still had not known as much about the sacred patterns as Imogen did, even if it had taken her until she’d left the Leier homeland and found herself outside of it for her to come to that understanding. For her to come to know her purpose.
She would be the general. She would lead. And she would stop fighting that purpose.
But perhaps her purpose could be greater than what even General Derashen had done.
She looked over to the gathered Koral. It wouldn’t just be the Leier army—she would have to find some way to bridge their peoples. They were more alike than they were different, and it was time for them to understand, to stop fearing each other. They could be a sword and a shield. Together, they could do more.
“Interesting,” Benji said, tilting his head to the side. “I saw growth, only I wasn’t sure what it was.” He held her gaze with his silver eyes. “Your brother has progressed and grows stronger, but perhaps you have as well, Imogen Inaratha.”
She knew she would need to. To confront her brother and his growing strength, she would need to have power to match.
And maybe she didn’t have to have the same kind.
“What will you do?” Benji asked.
As she looked at the Koral and the Leier, she knew the answer, though the task would be difficult. “For now, I must lead.”
The First of the Blade continues with: Unlocked.
Magic is a part of the world. Now the First of the Blade must master it.
Having saved her people from the danger of the branox, Imogen must find a way to lead them home. The way back is treacherous and there’s an ever-present threat of more dark creatures attacking.
When hunted by a new threat, the sacred patterns are not enough. Imogen must find a way to bring her people together while staying on the path the Porapeth have seen for her, but even that might not lead her to safety.
The First of the Blade must be more than a sacred sword master. If she can’t unlock potential hidden deep inside her, all her people will fall.
Want to read more in this world? Imogen is a secondary character in The Chain Breaker series. Start with The Risen Shard.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading Unseen. 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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Series by D.K. Holmberg
The Dragonwalkers Series
The Dragonwalker
The Dragon Misfits
Elemental Warrior Series:
Elemental Academy
The Elemental Warrior
The Cloud Warrior Saga
The Endless War
The Dark Ability Series
The Shadow Accords
The Collector Chronicles
The Dark Ability
The Sighted Assassin
The Elder Stones Saga
The Lost Prophecy Series
The Teralin Sword
The Lost Prophecy
The Volatar Saga Series
The Volatar Saga
The Book of Maladies Series
The Book of Maladies
The Lost Garden Series
The Lost Garden
Unseen (First of the Blade Book 2) Page 27