Etchings of Power (Aegis of the Gods) Read Free

Battleguards keep you safe,” he said in reverence.
    Dizziness swirled through him for a brief moment, and he swayed. Sakari stepped forward to help, but Ryne waved him off. He’d grown used to these bouts of lightheadedness over the past few years. This one he could handle.
    “What do you think?” Ryne nodded toward the corpse.
    “No beast from the Rotted Forest delivered those wounds. And the only stench here is just death,” Sakari said.
    “A weapon?”
    “None I can think of.”
    Ryne grunted his agreement. “And I see no auras around the body so no elements were used. Come let’s see what else we find.”
    They searched the area but found nothing else out of place. Still baffled by what could have caused such grievous wounds, they left the stand and headed for home with Mariel still trailing them. With the sun beating down on them, they made a straight line for the sandstone edifice that marked Hagan’s Inn.
    “Let me guess,” Dren said, an eyebrow arched. “You’re going to let them know the error of their ways if this foolishness with Forian continues.”
    “Something like that,” Ryne admitted, his voice even. “I think Mayor Bertram has downplayed just what kind of response the Tribunal would have if Mariel was harmed.”
    In short order, they reached the low wooden wall surrounding the village.
    Dren slowed to a walk, his eyes focused toward the woods. He pointed. “Who’s that out there?”
    In that instant, a bestial roar pierced the humid afternoon air. Ryne’s head whipped toward the sound, the same direction in which Dren, foot raised in an unfinished step, still pointed.
    A boy stood frozen amongst the brush and long grass. The large teak, mahogany, and rosewood trees in the forest before him shook with such violence a rain of leaves fell.
    “Kahkon?” Ryne said under his breath, cold fingers of dread slithering down his spine as he squinted at the skinny youth.
    A huge beast, at least five the times the size of a large wolf, leaped from the dark woods. The aura about the creature shone with an obsidian blackness instead of its normal gray. Fluids dripped from raw, pink flesh and dark fur splotched black with decay. The infected lapra reared up on four of its six legs like a mantis preparing to attack. A wide, snout of a muzzle and forepaws tipped with sharp claws flashed. Before Kahkon could react, the beast snatched him by a leg. Kahkon screamed. A sound that brought shivers sliding down Ryne’s back. With the same speed it struck, the lapra disappeared back into the trees, the boy a ragdoll in its mouth.

CHAPTER 2

    Screams and cries from the villagers who witnessed the taking jarred Ryne into action. “Go!” he yelled to Sakari and Dren. “Fetch Lenka and Keevo. And gather several other hunters from the woods.”
    “What about Mariel?” Sakari gestured toward the woman.
    “I’ll deal with her. Go! Go!”
    “No, Master Waldron. The elders, the villagers…you have to calm them,” Dren implored, his eyes frantic.
    “The boy comes first,” Ryne snapped. He rounded on Dren, towering over him like a great cliff, his eyes steel. “I’ll be damned if I have his blood on my hands. If I ever had a son, he’d be like Kahkon. I won’t stand by—”
    Dren grabbed at Ryne’s arm. His hands trembled. “You don’t understand, Master Waldron. The way Forian been going at them the last few days, they’ll attack Mariel for sure with this. You know how it was during the War of Remnants. The Tribunal will kill everyone if we harm Mariel. I have a wife, sons…Master Waldron. Please. Look, if we’re to save Kahkon, we can’t afford for them to go traipsing into the Fretian now anyway. We’d be sure to lose the lapra’s tracks. And if they go after Mariel, there’ll be nowhere to hide from the Tribunal’s wrath.” Tears welled up in the scoutmaster’s eyes.
    Agonized by the need to save Kahkon, Ryne clenched his fists. Deep down, he knew Dren was right. Kahkon’s survival