Soul Siphon: Set includes four books: Midnight Blade, Kingsbane, Ash and Steel, Sentinels of the Stone (Soul Stones)

by T. L. Branson

  Ocken spurned the horse forward, grabbed Riley by the back of her gown, and swung her up onto the horse. Men dived out of the way of the charging steed and they raced away from the camp as fast as the horse would take them.

  ***

  They rode for what felt like hours. The sun had long set and darkness settled in over Aralith. They rode across open plains, up hills, and down through valleys.

  When they reached the eastern forests that stretched for miles along the foot of the Frostpeak Mountains, Riley knew that what felt like hours should have taken days. Ocken pushed the horse so hard she felt its muscles quiver beneath her.

  What’s more is that Riley didn’t remember crossing the Triton, a river that split into three prongs. But if they were at the eastern forests they had gone over the bridge. She must have fallen asleep at some point.

  “We should stop,” Riley said, as much for herself as for the horse.

  “We can’t,” Ocken said. “They’ll catch us.”

  “We’ve seen no sign of pursuit. It’s late,” Riley explained. “Besides,” she said, rubbing the horse’s neck, “you’ll kill him if we go any longer.”

  Ocken snorted then sighed, his shoulders sagging, but he didn’t say a word.

  A few minutes later they joined up with the main trade road that connected all the inland towns and cities. Ocken hopped off the horse then helped Riley down. He gave the steed a slap on the rump and the horse took off to the south, toward Shadowhold.

  Ocken turned north and started to advance up the road.

  “No,” Riley whined. “I don’t want to go any more. I’m tired.”

  Ocken closed his eyes, wiped his face, and breathed in through his nose then let out a huff of air through his mouth. “I guess we’re safe enough,” he said. “But just a quick rest and then we need to keep moving.”

  ***

  Ocken blinked open his eyes and squinted in the sunlight. A branch snapped. Startled, he jumped to his feet reaching for Melody, his swordstaff.

  He looked all around, but only saw a deer bound away and a squirrel skitter up a tree.

  Only a deer… he thought. Riley!

  Ocken spun around again, looking in all directions, but he couldn’t find her. He wouldn’t risk calling out to her. What if Callum managed to follow them? What if they snuck into their camp in the middle of the night? What if they took her? What if—÷

  The gentle sound of sobs echoed through the forest and Ocken’s breath steadied. He lowered his weapon but didn’t stow it. Slowly, he crept through the forest toward the sound.

  There sat Riley, her knees pulled into her chest, crying.

  Ocken let out a sigh that turned into a chuckle.

  Not again, he thought.

  He didn’t know how to talk to women, let alone a crying one. It reminded him of Khate. She was a fleeting romance that was never meant to be. He thought he loved her. Even professed as much to her. But she spurned him and rode off into the sunset. Ocken hadn’t seen her since. That was five years ago.

  He guessed it was fitting that he would think of her now, after dealing with Callum and Drygo. Khate was Drygo’s sister-in-law. All four of them set out on a daring quest together to save Shadowhold’s (then called Sunbury) queen.

  Two weeks later, and more blood on his hands than Ocken cared admit, they were successful, but the queen died anyway. Ocken and Khate went their separate ways, but Callum remained as loyal to Drygo as ever.

  Ocken let out another sigh. What he wouldn’t give to see Khate again. He had never truly loved another like he did her. That black leather armor, her long brown hair, not to mention her skills with a blade. She melted Ocken’s heart the moment he laid eyes on her.

  Since then, he’d been in service to a woman several years his senior, protecting a girl an equal number of years his junior. Not much opportunity for love or romance.

  That was okay with Ocken. He didn’t need it, and he hadn’t truly even wanted it before Khate.

  Khate.

  Why could he not stop thinking about her?

  “It’s okay, you know,” Riley said.

  Ocken shook his head, shaking the thoughts from his mind, and looked down at Riley with confusion on his face.

  “It’s okay to miss the people you love,” she said.

  Ocken took a step back. Could she read his mind?

  Before he could ask, she said, “That’s what I’ve determined. My mother is gone. And I felt bad for missing her. I felt weak. But missing her doesn’t make me weak, does it?”

  Ocken relaxed. Not a mind reader, he decided. Then he said, “No, crying doesn’t make you weak. It makes you human.”

  Ocken wasn’t thinking of Riley or her mother. Ocken’s mind was taken back to the day Drygo’s wife died. Drygo hadn’t grieved. He’d only shown anger. White-hot anger. But Drygo wasn’t human anymore. At least he didn’t act like it. Rumor is he’d been proclaiming himself a god ever since that day.

  “Are you okay, Ocken?” Riley asked, looking up into his eyes.

  Ocken once again washed away bygone memories. “I’m fine, kid,” he said, tousling her hair. “Let’s go, we’ve got a long way to Celesti.”

  “Celesti?” Riley asked.

  Ocken nodded. “It’s the only place with a decent shot at resisting a siege and the only place I can think of that I’d trust to protect the Soul Render.”

  Ocken turned, beckoning Riley to follow as he exited the forest and headed north along the trade roads.

  They walked in silence for some time when Riley said, “What is it?”

  “What’s what?” Ocken asked.

  “The Soul Render,” she said.

  “A very powerful artifact that your family has kept secret and protected for a thousand years,” he said, not desiring to scare her.

  She frowned then asked, “But why does King Drygo want it so badly that he’d destroy my home and kill my mother for it?”

  Ocken sighed again. This was a conversation he never hoped to have to have with anyone ever again. He meant to put the past behind him and leave it there.

  “Because,” Ocken said, thinking of a way to explain. “Some people think that power will solve all their problems. And when they obtain that power, and it doesn’t, they think they need still more. But power doesn’t solve anything. Strength. Strength will get you through difficulty, but power? Power corrupts. Nothing good ever comes from the accumulation of power.”

  “That was really deep,” Riley said.

  Ocken snorted and then burst out laughing. Riley followed suit. Mirth rumbled through Ocken’s chest and it felt good, but he had a hard time feeling good at all about their current situation.

  Riley must have felt the same because they both settled down and grew somber once more. Ocken spent five years keeping the Soul Render safe and he wasn’t about to let it fall into Drygo’s hands now.

  They walked some more in silence when Riley came up to him and took hold of his hand. “Are you going to leave me, too?” she asked.

  “Where is that coming from?” he asked her.

  “That man, the one you called Callum, he said you left Shadowhold to serve my mother,” she said. “Are you going to leave me, too, like you left them?”

  Ocken stopped. He knelt down on one knee beside her, placed both his hands on her shoulders, and said, “No, I won’t leave you. I promise and pledge with my life to protect you.”

  A tear fell down her cheek. “First my mother left me, and now you’re all that I have left,” Riley said. “I didn’t want you to leave me, too.”

  Ocken frowned. “Life is full of pain,” he said, wiping the tear from her eye. “Don’t try to push it away or put it in a box. Embrace it. It’s part of who we are. Never forget the ones you lost. The ones you love. Use their memory to make you stronger. Be strong. Be courageous. Don’t be terrified. Take charge, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

  Another tear fell from Riley’s face, but she smiled through it and mouthed, “Th
ank you,” then embraced him.

  ***

  Three days later, after a brief stop in Luton to get Riley out of the ruined gown, they arrived in Celesti. There had been no sign of pursuit, either because Drygo couldn’t mobilize his forces fast enough or because he wasn’t worried they’d get too far.

  A light dusting of snow on the ground had Riley happier than she’d been since Berxley fell. Ocken didn’t want to bother her with theories or unfounded worries so he kept his thoughts to himself.

  While the snow might have made Riley happy, it had the opposite effect on Ocken. Ocken grew up in one of the nomadic tribes of the Dhelgur Desert. Heat was a constant companion and the nights meant a bitter cold that often led to death. No, cold was not his friend, but he wouldn’t let it show.

  The forest gave way to houses and buildings. It was no Shadowhold, the largest city in Aralith. It wasn’t even Berxley or Havan. But it was homey. Larger than Derton and Luton at the very least. The city itself had no walls protecting it from the outside world save the forest.

  A woman worked in her garden to the right of the city’s entrance. To the left, a farmer loaded up a wagon with vegetables, preparing to make a delivery.

  They entered the city without opposition or questions. No one seemed to even notice as two strangers walked among them. That alone spoke to the size of Celesti.

  Celesti was a town for intellectuals. People came from all over to study and read the books found in the great library situated at the city’s heart. Strangers were no rare occurrence, and so no one paid them any great mind—a fact that Ocken was thankful for. The last thing they needed was unwanted attention.

  Riley wandered through the streets ahead of him. Ocken let his mind and his eyes drift. As he passed by two buildings he spied a house in the distance between them. A flash of long brown hair caught his attention. He stopped and backed up a step.

  He blinked with wide eyes and his mouth dropped open. There, putting laundry out on a clothesline, was Khate.

  CHAPTER III

  Ocken’s heart about stopped.

  Khate?

  He rubbed his eyes and took another look. It was definitely her. He wasn’t mistaken. Forgetting about Riley for a moment, Ocken began to walk down the small alley toward Khate.

  As he took the first step, a man came out of the house holding a small child. He walked up to Khate and kissed her on the lips. Two more children ran out of the house, screaming and laughing. They ran up and grabbed Khate’s hands, swinging around her, one running away from the other.

  For the second time in a matter of seconds, Ocken felt his heart stutter. For the briefest of moments, his hopes had soared. The only woman he’d ever loved was here, then he found out she was married—with children.

  Ocken turned away without saying a word. She hadn’t even seen him, and Ocken figured it was better that way. His heart now heavy, and his shoulders sagging, he caught up with Riley. They made for the one place they might find help: an abbey high on the hill overlooking all of Celesti.

  What used to be a church was now a teeming fortress as Celesti’s nobles took up residence there. Built against the mountain, its walls were said to be impregnable. If anyone had hope of resisting Drygo’s attacks, it was Celesti.

  The buildings and houses disappeared and a dark tunnel of trees loomed ahead. A short while after it began, the road turned, leading them to the seat of Celesti’s power. As they approached the gates to the abbey, two armed soldiers stepped forward to greet them.

  “Halt,” one of the soldiers said. He wore steel plated leather armor with a blue tunic over it that bore a silver spring, the crest of Celesti’s nobility. “State your names and business.”

  So much for a warm welcome, Ocken thought.

  “My name is Ocken of Berxley, and this is Riley Haer—” Ocken said, faltering. “…Harper. Riley Harper, also of Berxley. We are here to bring grave news and a warning.”

  “If you’ve come to tell us that Berxley has fallen, we already know,” the man said. “Be on your way.”

  Ocken coughed. “There is another matter. One most delicate, that I wish to discuss only with the Lady of the Abbey.”

  The soldier bristled and stared at Ocken as if he were insane. “Sir, in light of the news you intended to bring, you’ll understand when I tell you that the abbey is locked up tight and Lady Yesenia is not entertaining any visitors.”

  “You don’t under—”

  “No, sir,” the soldier said. “It is you who does not understand. I have been given strict orders that besides the normal operations necessary to run this abbey, these gates are not to be opened under any circumstances until the threat has passed. Do you understand now?”

  “You don’t—”

  “Are you a farmer, sir?” the soldier asked.

  “No, but—” Ocken said.

  “An armorer or a blacksmith?”

  “No,” Ocken replied again with a deep sigh.

  “Perhaps a merchant with oil for the lamps?” he asked, dipping his head and raising his eyebrows.

  “No, but—”

  “Then good day, sir,” the soldier said then he spun on his heels and returned to his post.

  When Ocken followed, the two soldiers drew their swords. Ocken raised his hands and stepped back. It was no use pushing the matter. He was going nowhere and the man could not be reasoned with. Not that Ocken could fault him. He’d been in the man’s position many times.

  Riley looked up at Ocken as if to ask, “What do we do now?”

  Ocken merely shrugged and turned to leave.

  Another solution would present itself. He would not give up hope. If Celesti’s abbey would not grant them entrance, they’d find another city that would.

  But it was getting late. The sun had begun to set. Their journey could wait until tomorrow. They reentered the tunnel of trees and left the abbey gates behind.

  Once they were out of sight of the soldiers, an old woman stepped in front of them. Ocken moved to the side to walk around her, but she again blocked them.

  “Can I help you?” Ocken asked.

  “Perhaps you should be asking if I can help you,” she stated cryptically.

  One eye stood open more than the other, giving her a deranged look that made Ocken uncomfortable. He pushed Riley behind him.

  Ocken raised an eyebrow. “Well?” he asked. He didn’t have time for games. “You have something to say?”

  “That’s not any way to treat your host for the night,” the old woman said.

  “Who said we needed hosting?” Ocken stated.

  “I wasn’t asking,” the old woman replied.

  “And why should we go anywhere with you?” Ocken asked.

  “Might be that the nobles don’t have the best interest of the people at heart,” she said. “Might also be that some of us are willing to assist strangers in exchange for… information.”

  Ocken gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow. This seemed a bit risky. He didn’t even know this lady. But she was offering a warm, dry place to sleep and a possible solution to their problem. He decided it was worth the risk.

  Ocken agreed and the old lady led them out of town to the house with the garden they had seen as they entered. The farmer who lived on the opposite side of the road was still busy loading his cart.

  “Come in, come in,” the old woman said.

  The hinges squealed when she opened the front door of her rickety home. Ocken stepped forward to enter, the floorboards groaning in protest under his weight.

  Riley came in after him, followed by the woman, who closed the door behind her.

  “Sit, sit,” she said, indicating to a dilapidated table. She raced off into the kitchen.

  Ocken pulled up a chair and sat down, the legs of the chair almost giving way beneath his hulking mass. Riley continued to pace around the room. Dishes clattered and the old woman returned with some empty cups on small saucers. She placed them on the table and disappeared again only to return a moment late
r with a kettle of tea.

  She poured them both a glass.

  Ocken was too impatient for pleasantries.

  “You said you could help us,” Ocken said.

  “I desire information first,” she said.

  “What type of information?” Ocken asked.

  “The nobles might be safe and protected behind their high walls, but out here?” she said. “Out here, we’re left to fend for ourselves. If an army is on its way, we’d like to know how to defend ourselves against it.”

  “There is no defending against Alexander Drygo,” Ocken said. “The man is unstoppable.”

  “Nobody’s unstoppable,” the woman said, “ ’cept maybe the gods.”

  “You said it, not me,” Ocken said.

  “Rubbish,” she said. “Just a rumor he started to scare people into submission. You’ll not find the people of Celesti so easily duped.”

  “He’s not lying,” Riley said, her head hung low. “He destroyed my home. Killed my mother. I’ve… I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  The woman opened her mouth to speak.

  “Can you help us or not?” Ocken interrupted.

  “Help you with what?” she asked.

  “Gaining an audience with Lady Yesenia,” Ocken answered.

  “I’m afraid I’ll be of little use there,” she said.

  “But you said you could help us,” Ocken said, irritated.

  “And I am,” she said. “I’ve opened my home, haven’t I? I’ve offered you tea. A good dinner will come shortly, one you can’t have had in at least a few days based on your appearance, and I’ve a number of supplies you can have, but I cannot do what you ask.”

  Ocken growled. “You’re wasting our time.” Then he turned to Riley. “Come on, let’s go, we’re leaving.” Ocken stood.

  “Where are we going?” Riley asked.

  “I don’t know. Another city that might be more reasonable,” he said as he turned to leave.

  “No,” Riley said.

  Ocken stopped midstride and turned a head slowly toward her. “Excuse me?”