Valley of Embers (The Landkist Saga Book 1) Read Free

of his surroundings, until he felt a burning slash across his cheek as a passing arrow cut him almost to the bone.
    “Up!” Linn screamed from her perch, which leaned precariously over the wreckage of the gate. She already had a second arrow nocked, her eyes wide with uncommon fear.
    The rush of pain renewed Kole’s heat, and he gripped his blades tighter, flaring them to life as he rose … and came face-to-face with the demon.
    The writhing mass of undulating darkness crouched before him on bowed legs. It was half as tall as the gate it had brought down, and its eyes were the color of blood, deep and dark and staring—no, they were considering him. The eyes traced the contours of Kole’s face and then moved down, widening ever so slightly as it took in the glow of his living blades.
    Kole’s broken brazier had spilled its guts into the shattered remnants of the gate. The beginnings of a bonfire started in the mud-caked pile, lighting the battle like daylight.
    Linn had gone back to shooting as the Dark Kind made for the gap. Wall hounds and warriors alike clashed with the creatures, and Kole saw Jenk’s flaming sword and Kaya’s blazing staff flashing in the breach.
    The Night Lord loomed over Kole, red eyes shifting like a hawk. And then its head tilted sickly, sharply, as if it heard something he could not. It might have been comical if it weren’t so horrifying.
    For half a breath, he thought the demon might leave them alone. And then the look shifted, the recognition washed away in an instant as it roared and raised a great black fist.
    Kole took his chance.
    As the beast rose up to smash back down, Kole dove for its belly, plunging his blades in as he twisted and landed in the mud. Red-black blood that smelled of fresh rot poured out in steaming gouts, hissing around Kole’s burning blades as he withdrew and came up in a scramble.
    A maddening roar was accompanied by a concussive blast to the chest and Kole was flying for the second time, only now he came up in a roll and weaponless.
    Kole looked up to see the beast being harried on three sides by weapons of fire. Kaya slammed her staff into its hind leg with gusto, and Jenk slashed it on the opposite when it turned for her. Larren faced it down head-on, his spear glowing almost white hot, flames sprouting from its tip as it used the air itself for tinder.
    The beast made Larren the object of its rage—a poor choice, as his spear made a hole in its neck, burning its life away in a single clash.
    The creature fell to join its writhing fellows in the muck, twisting and squelching. It landed on its side with the force of a falling tree. As the rain washed away its corruption, turning the writhing snakes into pools of ink, Kole saw the red eyes fade and turn a pale blue.
    He stood on shaking legs and stepped forward, joining the other Embers in a circle around the great, ape-like body as the battle raged around them. Above, Taei moved to intercept a Dark Kind that had Linn cornered on her perch. He cut it down in a sizzling spray.
    “This one’s come a long way,” Larren said before moving toward the breach, Kaya following after.
    Jenk looked down at the giant, brows drawn. He glanced at Kole, offering him a strange and unsettling look before reigniting his sword and rejoining the fray.
    Despite the chaos, Kole lingered a moment longer, and then he, too, moved off to recover his blades, the gash on his cheek having already scabbed over.
    The First Keeper’s orders echoed in the night, the hounds howled and the Ember blades flared and flashed. All was back to the way it was, but even as he fought into the pre-dawn hours, Kole could not shake the feeling that something else had been looking at him through the red.

A s it turned out, Kole was feeling the effects of his row with the Night Lord keener than he had first thought. Ember blood had a way of masking minor concerns of the body until the fire ran its course. When it did, Kole collapsed.
    Being carried on