Raging Sea and Trembling Earth: Disciples of the Horned One Volume Two (Soul Force Saga Book 2) Read Free

never change.
    When they’d collected fifteen thick leather-bound books he thanked Mistress Lenore and he and Ann settled in at an empty table. “Did you ever meet him?” Damien asked.
    “Who?”
    “Connor.”
    “No, he arrived after I passed my test and had begun field work and he had already left when I returned to teach.”
    Damien knew they had to hurry, but curiosity got the best of him. “How come you’re not still in the field? You’re young, beautiful, strong. I don’t know how the masters could design a better field sorcerer.”
    She patted his hand, but her smile seemed sad. “You’re sweet. I do have all those things you mentioned, but I discovered I lacked something important: the will to use my power in battle. I just didn’t have it in me to kill my opponents. In the field, that inability almost resulted in my master’s death and mine along with him. We were tracking down a rogue sorcerer. I hesitated in battle. She blasted my master and escaped. I healed him, but it became clear to me I was nothing but a liability in a real fight. I had all the necessary skills so Thomas accepted my request to teach. I find it suits me much better.”
    Damien nodded. Teaching did suit her. She had a knack for explaining things so others understood. If she couldn’t do what she had to, staying out of the field made sense. He grabbed the first book in the pile, a bestiary describing the most common varieties of demon, and started reading.
    An hour later Damien rubbed his eyes. Who would have thought you could fill an inch-thick book with demon varieties? From the sounds of it a demon could inhabit any host, but they preferred vicious creatures with fangs and claws. You could put a demon spirit into a bunny, but the demon wouldn’t have much to work with in terms of natural weapons.
    “Please tell me you found something interesting.”
    Ann shook her head. “A book full of nasty blood rituals. Heaven’s mercy! Who goes looking for stuff like this?”
    “A warlock in the making, I guess. Someone should write down the names of everyone that reads these books. We’d be halfway to figuring out who to keep an eye on.”
    “A little late now.”
    “A lot late now, but maybe we can spot the next Connor Blackman before he moves past research.”

Chapter 4
    C onnor Blackman wrapped himself in an invisibility shield and flew into the cold morning sky. He sent a silent prayer to the Horned One that Mikhail didn’t destroy anything in his library or kill anyone with important information. The more he saw of the former merchant the more he feared Morana had been right to warn him away from the stupid young man. Unfortunately, Connor had invested too much time and power in creating the black knight to simply toss him away and start over. Phase two of his plan would begin in earnest within weeks if not days and Connor simply didn’t have time to make a new servant.
    Connor flew east toward the Barrier Mountains. His base was only a half hour’s flight from the steep mountain range and when he reached them he stopped and hovered, gathering himself for his second great trial. The tall, jagged peaks marked the eastern border of the kingdom. On the far side lay the haunted lands, a blasted land crawling with demons and undead. Unless you could fly over the mountains, the only way to travel between the kingdom and the haunted lands was a single, narrow pass. On the kingdom side the Order of the Shield, the largest order of paladins in the kingdom, had built a massive citadel.
    How he despised the holy warriors. Each of them was bonded to an angel, gaining its power and skill. They were powerful enemies, but arrogant and overconfident. No one had challenged them in many years and they believed no one could. Connor would set them straight in due time.
    The order had been formed three hundred and fifty years ago when explorers first discovered the haunted lands. The leader of the order pronounced the reclamation of the haunted