Brave Men Die: Part 3 Read Free

healing very slowly despite his own attributes. He hadn’t even complained about her bedside manner for the better part of the week. And that worried her. They couldn’t afford to have him off his feet for too long. There was too much going on.
    Carina needed him to be able to hold off the diggers and the mercenaries when she stole some of the artefacts. If he couldn’t stand or move then that would be a problem. His reputation wouldn’t keep them from acting stupidly and she would need to burn them all — and that would get back to the Academy, and she was sure it would cause all sorts of trouble for her.
    Carina clicked her fingers and extinguished the orb above her shoulder as she threw the list onto the bloody bed. Pinching the bridge of her nose to alleviate the oncoming headache, she figured she needed to find Rigel and see what condition he was actually in.
    Rigel was sitting comfortably with Finn, chatting about the progress of the dig. Carina put her hand gently on her acolyte’s shoulder then leaned in and pressed her lips to his cheek. Finn seemed surprised at the sentiment, but Rigel smiled so Carina felt the effort was worth it. She still needed him to select one of the artefacts that she wanted.
    ‘Feeling better today?’
    ‘I’m getting there. My side still burns where the claws shredded the flesh but that’s a sign that the salve is working. Apparently.’
    ‘We’ll need to head back to the Academy at some point. That thing you killed is a creature of magic, some kind of demon that was summoned here.’
    ‘You don’t know what kind?’ Finn asked, disbelieving. ‘Rigel brought you its head.’
    ‘Yes, it was very good of Rigel to kill it, but maybe he could have done it without bleeding so much.’
    ‘Hey,’ Rigel muttered.
    Carina reassuringly tightened the grip on his shoulder. ‘Still, summoning is not my area of expertise. I’m better off speaking to one of the elders about its origins rather than guessing.’
    ‘Are there more out there?’ Finn asked, looking over his shoulder to the field where Rigel had left the rotting carcass.
    Carina looked at Rigel who shook his head. ‘I only tracked the one...’
    ‘I’ve checked since you blacked out,’ Carina reassured him. ‘I scanned the area. There is no sign of another of those beasts, but nor could I find the origin of the power that summoned it here.’
    ‘So you being here is achieving …?’ Finn started.
    Carina stared at him.
    ‘It was Rigel that tracked and killed the shadow creature. You haven’t actually done anything yet,’ Finn added.
    ‘All he has done is bleed all over the place,’ she said with a smile and a wink.
    ‘And I’ve done that with gusto.’ Rigel grimaced after he laughed, clutching at his wound.
    Carina squeezed his shoulder a little tighter. ‘Any chance you can ride today?’
    Rigel pointed in the general direction of his wounds and nodded his head. ‘Yeah darling, I’m right as rain.’
    ‘A simple no would have been fine.’
    ‘When do you want to go?’
    ‘As soon as you stop bleeding.’
    ‘Picked what you want yet?’
    ‘I’m still deciding. Have you looked at the list?’
    ‘I noticed that you circled some things for me, if that’s what you mean.’
    ‘Good. Pick one of them for me.’
    ‘So there’s a few things you want down there, Carina?’ Finn asked.
    Carina shrugged.
    ‘How are you going to decide?’
    ‘I won’t. I plan on taking what I want.’
    Finn broke into laughter. ‘The archaeologists are going to chase you down.’
    ‘Nah, Rigel will kill them.’
    Finn looked from Carina to Rigel. ‘They are paying me to protect them and the dig site.’
    ‘Are we going to have a problem with you Finn?’ Carina asked.
    ‘How much are you planning to take?’
    ‘Only a couple of things — definitely not enough for Rigel to kill you over, but.’
    Finn hesitated at her seriousness. He knew Rigel was the better swordsman, and was considering whether Carina would