The Isle of Mists: An Epic Mage Fantasy Adventure (Legend of Ecta Mastrino Book 3)

by BJ Hanlon

  The Isle of Mists

  BJ Hanlon

  Contents

  Book Offer

  1. The Castilander

  2. At Sea, At Peace

  3. The Isle of Mists

  4. Separated and it feels so bad

  5. The Boganthean Tower

  6. A Deal with a Frenemy

  7. Dungeons are a quiet place

  8. Prison Ward

  9. The Breaking

  10. The Party of Parties

  11. The Creature

  12. The Trial of Edin de Yaultan

  13. The Castle Assault

  14. The Beast of Northeast

  15. The Attempt

  16. Escape from the Delrot

  17. Burning of the Reaches

  18. Invasion

  19. The War for the Isles

  Get Exclusive with me

  Also by BJ Hanlon

  Super Awesome Reader, I could use a bit of a hand!

  Book Offer

  Want a free book? Of course you do, though you can’t get it at this moment. Sorry.

  I really hope you enjoy this book but after it, I have an offer for you. A trade as it were. The aforementioned free book is my part of the bargain and yours is to join my emailing list. This list gives you access to upcoming news about my newest books and possibly other little tidbits of info. I don’t email much so you can be sure your mailbox won’t get overcrowded. Of course if you don’t like the book and wish not to be on said list, you can always unsubscribe.

  But I sincerely hope you stay on and are entertained by Edin in his quest to do… quest to sav… I’d better not tell you since spoilers are no fun.

  Thanks and enjoy!

  BJ

  1

  The Castilander

  Safe? That’s what Le Fie had just told him. Did he see what was around them?

  They ran. Arianne was heavy in his arms. Sweat beaded on his brow and ran into his eyes stinging painfully. There was screaming all around, the smell of burning wood and an almost sulfurous odor hanging on the fringes like the crust of a stink pie.

  The heat grew more intense and he began to see the river expanding out in front of them, huge fires burning in the water like candles.

  A loud crack came from his left; he looked just in time to see a wall collapse. Taking its place a moment later was a large billow of smoke and sparks heading his way.

  Edin skidded to a stop, turned and felt hot ashes landing on his back with the sting of a hundred bees.

  “Don’t stop,” Le Fie yelled. He was some ways ahead of him now, just about at the water. Edin ran again, his heart thumping rapidly, the smoke filling the air making it hard to breath.

  “This way.” Le Fie waved at him.

  Edin began to see dark shapes on the water, floating down the current from somewhere in the west.

  He blinked, opened his eyes and lost track of them, of everything. A great billow of gray smoke rushed over him with a soft wind.

  Edin nearly stumbled, he lurched forward. Arianne’s weight pulled him down. He couldn’t drop her, with a last effort he twisted, twirling her in the air. He landed hard on his back, his breath bursting out from him like a snake leaping at its prey.

  A moment later, Arianne was lifted off of him. “Get up,” Le Fie said and ran with her toward the river.

  Edin coughed twice, letting out small puffs of smoke as if he’d just taking a drag of Horston’s pipe. Then a few quick breaths of cleaner air. He flipped over and looked at the river.

  Beneath the cloud, he saw Le Fie wading in toward a wooden rowboat. He handed Arianne to someone inside, but the water was pushing them downstream. Edin pushed himself up and began to run.

  Le Fie looked back, saw him, and leapt into the boat.

  “Come on kid,” he urged. “Quit your little lollygagging!”

  Edin didn’t know the word, but understood the context. The water was gaining a bit of speed. Edin still had no idea what happened. Then a moment later, he heard the burst of something downstream of him. It was that same explosion he’d heard before, but it was followed by something else, something that reminded him of a sluiceway being released.

  Suddenly, the water began to pull the boat forward. He could see other row boats, but they were all ahead, some viscously rushing forward as men, trying to escape the current, got swept away.

  Edin crashed into the water, the boat was ten feet away, then fifteen, then twenty. It was rushing too fast. He thought he heard Le Fie yelling something like ‘damned moronic…’ but couldn’t make it out.

  The water didn’t push as much as pull him. His head slipped under and his hands skimmed the riverbed.

  Not again, was the only thought that went through him. Trying to hold back the river was too much, it took everything out of him the one time he tried. Edin used his talent and found a small current, it was the one pulling him down.

  He held his breath and let a small stream of it catch under his body and push him up. Edin burst out of the river a moment later, he felt wind rushing past him as he completely left the water.

  Then it was coming back, he was going fast and dropping faster. The boat with Le Fie and Arianne was still rushing and from this vantage point he could see where to…

  A large pit that had once been a dry dock had been breached and water was rushing to fill it. A boat, filled with at least ten men in black, raced toward it and the burning husk of the ship and building that surrounded it.

  Flames were bellowing out toward the river in great pulsing waves. Just as he was about to go back under, he saw the boat slid inside before it was enveloped by the fire.

  Luckily, he didn’t have to hear them scream as he crashed back under.

  His stomach churned. Arianne was in the boat ahead of him and she’d meet the same fate. He found the current and let the water propel him forward like a fish.

  He received a large thump to his shoulder like he’d been hit with a piece of timber. He looked up and saw he was only a few feet from the rowboat with the occupants

  staring at the burning dock that was summoning them to their death.

  Edin reached out and threw an elbow over the gunnel as the boat headed that way.

  They were only a few yards away now, a burst of fire erupted from somewhere and he heard another explosion somewhere behind him.

  Edin raised a hand and felt the current wanting to follow the easiest path as it always had in the millions of years. A nudge; that was all he needed. One last nudge.

  Edin pushed it, feeling a strong sensation in his gut, one he hadn’t felt in a long time. The boat began to turn, spinning like a top on the water.

  He heard, “hold on,” from above him and felt the current twisting again. He concentrated more, feeling the power of the water pulling at him like he was being sucked down a drain.

  His strength was fading, he was diverting too much of the water. He felt it begin to pull him down, felt his arms begin to weaken as if he’d just lifted a hundred cords of wood.

  A moment later, the current stopped pulling them. Edin looked up and saw he was at the new stern and looking back at the flaming village behind them.

  Le Fie seemed startled as he looked down at him. Edin imagined he looked like a monkey hanging from a tree.

  The rower yelled something barely understood, and they both reached over. They grabbed him under the arms and hauled him out of the cold water before slamming him on the wet floor of the rowboat.

  Edin stared up at the starry sky. A blur flew through his field of v
iew from the north. It was fast and on fire. A moment later, it burst over them. Or at least what he thought was over them. Then he passed out.

  There was a moment when he felt himself being lifted out of the small boat by ropes tied beneath his back and under his legs. He saw men staring down at him, their faces dark in the night.

  Mouths moved and he assumed words were exchanged but nothing he could comprehend now. It was as if a bee were buzzing in his ear and he could hear nothing else.

  He was set down on a wooden deck and saw the sails starting to unfurl like giant waves in the ocean. Men flipped around beams and ran up the masts as if it were what they were born to do.

  He lolled his head to the side and saw Arianne. She was pale and damp, her skin held gooseflesh and she barely breathed.

  Edin reached over and ran a few fingers over her cheek. “We’ll be alright now,” he whispered and closed his eyes again.

  Edin figured it was at least three days since the attack on the dry docks as the ship jolted with a thunderous wave. Not the first one of the storm, and definitely not the last.

  Being inside the small, dank cabin with water sloshing outside made his stomach twist in uncomfortable ways. Edin had felt it briefly on the fishing trawler, but not like this. He felt wobbly, like a spinning top about to run out of revolutions.

  As he tried to right himself, he heard a soft exhalation from Arianne. He glanced over and saw her looking at him. Her eyes were partially open but dilated. The light from the sconce flickered across her face.

  “Arianne?” Edin sat up, pushing the scratchy wool blanket off the side of the chair. “How are you feeling?” The ship was rocking in what sounded outside like a light rain, though the rough movement of the sea said the ocean disagreed with his assessment.

  Arianne smacked her lips and mouthed ‘water.’

  He grabbed a cup and brought it to her lips. She was paler than normal. Almost gray.

  Edin set it back into the cup holder and bent over her. He pulled back the bandage and looked at the wound. It was purple and black with a small scar that looked like an X protruding from it. That mattered little, the wound had closed up.

  A part time surgeon on board had pulled the arrowhead from her. ‘Just like pulling out a fishin’ hook.’ He supposedly had said, according to Le Fie.

  Le Fie also said her collarbone had cracked. It was healed partially but couldn’t be fully healed.

  “I am no master healer. Only time can finish it.” he told Edin. “Though bone fragments will float around like plankton in the ocean inside her.”

  Edin had no idea what plankton was, but he was worried. He’d slept through the surgery and the stitching and Le Fie used a healing spell in the room they now shared. The first treatment stopped the bleeding, the second one, a day later supposedly fixed the crack in the bone, and the third one just that morning finished closing the wound.

  The surgeon was astonished at how fast it closed and Le Fie winked at him though he was weary and could barely speak.

  Each session left him in that state.

  Arianne motioned for more water, she drank again, spilling drops down her cheeks and onto her neck.

  Still holding the cup, Edin wiped them off with a small cloth and gazed at her drained countenance. “Better?”

  She nodded and laid her head back down on the fluffy pillow. She tested her mouth again, moving the jaw up and down.

  “Where are we?”

  “On the Castilander.” He wasn’t sure if she remembered what happened to her. He hoped she didn’t. Edin certainly didn’t want to remember. “Three days out of Carrow.”

  He remembered Foristol and grimaced. He shifted in his seat and felt his leg tingling.

  Would his funeral be today along with all of the other men Edin had slain? Edin remembered seeing Arianne drop with the arrow protruding. Instant rage washed over him.

  Now he could picture Marina in tears standing over Foristol’s casket along with mothers, fathers, and children who lost loved ones that night.

  “What’s wrong?” Arianne said as a wave crashed into the side of the hull.

  Edin felt the contents in his belly scrambling before he looked back at her and forced a smile. It could’ve been her funeral too. She was in the midst of the fight and nearly died. A couple of inches over and the arrow would’ve pierced her neck.

  Edin took her hand. “Nothing.”

  Arianne squeezed back, her hands were cold, clammy, and weak. But she was alive.

  Since they’d been taken aboard the ship, he always believed she’d make it through. The other possibility was something he couldn’t bring himself to think about.

  “Are you sure?” Said Arianne motioning for another sip of water.

  He didn’t answer as he held the mug to her mouth. She slurped at the rim again and let go with a smack. Edin wiped the trickles from her face and replaced the cup.

  Arianne had the only cot in the makeshift sickbay, her wound was bad, though others from the Raven’s crew had it worse. Some died like Encenzo.

  Edin didn’t remember them anchoring behind the long island off Carrow, he didn’t remember the slow lowering of bodies or the somber mood of the ship’s crew. According to Le Fie, it wasn’t just the Raven’s people in the assault but he didn’t elaborate after that.

  “Have you slept?”

  “Some,” Edin whispered. A wave crashed into the hull again with a slap like an open hand on a cheek.

  Arianne squeezed his hand, “you haven’t been watching over me this whole time, have you?”

  “No,” he lied.

  “Have you been sleeping in that chair? It looks horribly uncomfortable.”

  “It’s fine.”

  Arianne slid over and lifted her blanket. A pained look washed over her face but she didn’t complain. She then pushed it to a grin. “Get in.”

  “I smell horribly, I haven’t showered in days.”

  “Believe me, I noticed. But we’re on a ship. What do expect, a spa day?”

  “I don’t want to disgust you.”

  “Too late,” she said and patted the cot next to her.

  Edin slipped off his boots and gingerly slid in next to her.

  Arianne turned facing the wall to keep pressure off her injured shoulder. Edin had to press close, his chest to her back. She reached over, grabbed his hand and pulled it to her chest. She pressed the hand deep into her bosom, so close he could feel her heartbeat. It was rapid, very rapid but she didn’t seem to be in any distress. Then she pulled it to her lips and kissed it.

  Despite the stomach-turning waves, the exhaustion, and the worries, Edin felt himself responding to her warmth, her softness.

  “Edin,” Arianne said.

  He swallowed. “Yes…”

  “You do stink.”

  He smiled and lifted his head, she had a smug grin on her face, a moment later, she wiggled her hips. Edin sighed and dropped his head back to the pillow and tried to think about something else.

  For a long time after Arianne had fallen asleep, his mind raced. There were two things that kept bungling into each other in his mind, the closeness of Arianne’s body and the death of the kindly city guard.

  Sometime later, a bell rang somewhere outside of the room waking Edin from his comfortable slumber. It took him a moment to remember where he was. The dark wooden cabin was lit only by a wax candle.

  He glanced at her calm face, the bell hadn’t woken her. That was good, she needed rest.

  A soft rapping came to the door and it crept open with a squeal.

  “Brought supper, it’s gruel but…” Le Fie was looking in when he frowned. Edin was in the same bed as the patient. “If she’s feeling well enough for that, she should eat.”

  “We didn’t…”

  Le Fie winked. “There’s more in the galley.” He set the large covered bowl on the nightstand and started to close the door. He stopped and looked at Edin. “When you have a moment, I’d like to talk.”

  “Whe
n she wakes…”

  “Just you,” Le Fie said and closed the door. The way the man had looked at him, the amount of energy he’d put into healing Arianne, feeding them, and taking care of them—it was almost familial.

  Why? What did he want from them? He remembered the wink, it reminded him of Dephina and Edin suddenly didn’t feel great again.

  “What was that about?” Arianne whispered, her eyes still closed.

  “Le Fie brought dinner.”

  Arianne yawned and looked up at him, the green of her eyes waved in the light. “I could eat a cow,” she said.

  “A peasant’s meal for you today, your highness?” Edin said.

  Arianne elbowed him then grimaced. “Ow.”

  “I’ll grab it,” he said and moved to get up but she gripped his arm.

  “Not yet.” She took his hand and pressed it into her chest again. “I like laying like this.”

  He laid back down and wrapped his arm around her, squeezing her close. Her hair smelt of fire, dirt, and blood, but Edin wasn’t going to say anything about that. “I do too.”

  With her stomach growling, Arianne didn’t go back to sleep, she laid there, held his hand and flitted her fingers with his.

  Finally, she was too hungry and requested supper.

  He opened the bowl and began to spoon feed her. A frown crossed her face, he wasn’t sure if it was the gruel or her shoulder.

  “How’s your breakfast in bed?”

  “It’d be better if I could get my hands on that blotard who shot me,” Arianne said.

  Edin held the spoon up to her lips, she blew on it before taking down a thick chunk of brown and stringy meat. He really wished she didn’t remember. There was much he’d like to erase from his own memory.