Lord of the Flame: A LitRPG novel (Call of Carrethen Book 2)

by Stephen Roark

  “Get out of here!” I tried to shout to the remaining men, but it was useless. The cries of the Sunken and the sound of the monstrous sword as it crashed down among them was enough to easily drown out my voice. All I could do was watch as the Lord of the Flame struck into them with a downward stroke. Bodies flew into the air, covered in flames, screaming as they crashed down and died at his feet.

  This fight was completely unwinnable. Rayne was gone and her forces were all but gone. Almost frozen, I watched as he easily cut down the few remaining stragglers. As the last of them hit the ground, he took a deep breath and let his sword rest on the ground beside him.

  Wisps of his snowy hair drifted down across his cheeks as he hung his head in a way that almost seemed as though he was ashamed of what he had done. He was like a tired warrior, bound by a duty he didn’t want to perform. For a brief moment, I almost felt sorry for him.

  He seemed unware of my presence, and I took a moment to watch as he paced around the fallen bodies around him as he moved back to his stone slab where he’d been seated.

  This place is horrible, I thought as I glanced over at the tunnel where Rayne had fallen. Of course she was dead. The Sunken would have ripped her apart in seconds or less. She and her entire defeated army were back at Neydeesa, doing their best to shake the cobwebs out of their heads, signifying their descent into madness. I wouldn’t be returning there—not for a long time.

  I raised my hands to use my Bindstone, and as though he had a built in motion detector, the Lord of the Flame whipped around to face me. Instantly, he fired his grappling hook at me, its tip burying itself in my chest, and pulled me towards him.

  I cried out as he aimed his flaming sword at me for the combo that would end my life. I closed my eyes and braced for impact as I rushed through the air towards the deadly tip of his blade, but it never came. My feet found solid ground, and I opened my eyes as the grappling hook withdrew from my chest with a tearing pain, and I opened my eyes as I slumped down to my knees before the Lord of the Flame as he towered over me, staring at me with a look of utter confusion.

  My health was all but gone. The bodies of Rayne’s men littered the ground around me. The howls and cries of the Sunken reverberated around me like the sound of a haunted choir, but as I looked up at the boss, and my eyes found his, a revelation came over me, more powerful than any attack I’d experienced since arriving in the Dark World.

  Tears poured down my cheeks as I stared up at his eyes—eyes I knew so well and had been embedded in my mind since my final battle back in Carrethen. I tried to speak, but my chest was heaving. My words caught in my chest, but I finally managed to whisper his name.

  “Jack. It’s you!”

  Afterword

  Thank you so much for reading this book. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider leaving a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Reviews help struggling authors a ton with their viability and getting their work in front of new readers.

  I put hundreds of hours into this book, and I take your feedback very seriously, so if this book didn’t quite work for you, I hope I’ll get you on the next one! At the very least, thanks for reading!

  To leave a review on Amazon, click here.

  Also, I have to thank Tarryon Darrington, Paul Bellow, Toni Infante and the Gamelit Society for all their help and support!

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  About the Author

  Stephen Roark is an emerging LitRPG/Gamelit author. For more news and updates, check him on on social media.

  Or, check him out at http://stephenroark.com