Read City of Scars (The Skullborn Trilogy, Book 1) Online
Authors: Steven Montano
He was freezing without his shirt on, but he had to dress his wounds. He and Kruje would sail along the river and try to find a village where he could barter for more supplies. If they really got desperate they could also stop in Kaldrak Iyres, but that was a place Dane would rather avoid, and Kruje would be no safer there than in Ebonmark.
Dane’s mind wandered as he dabbed healing ointment on the numerous cuts on his torso, wincing and hissing in pain the entire time. Quite a few of his wounds required stitches.
Dane had time to think while he tended his injuries. He’d been a hunter and killer of Bloodspeakers, but now he hunted one so he could help her. He was a Jlantrian knight – or had been, once – whose only ally was a sworn enemy of the Empire he’d once served. He’d been in the employ of thieves who sometimes seemed more trustworthy than the Crown he’d once devoted his life to.
It had been a very strange few days.
The boat floated north along the River Black, mercifully unchallenged as it left Ebonmark. Kruje’s raucous snores filled the air. Dane sat alone under the mast and stared up at the stars. Despite everything he’d been through he didn’t feel tired. Not one bit.
One of the Bloodspeakers had survived. He wasn’t sure how he was going to help her when he’d failed to help anyone else, including himself. So many had been slaughtered, and the Dawn Knights had never even found the man they’d really been after in the first place.
So many nightmares. So much pain.
She wouldn’t want his help. He’d have to somehow earn her trust, assuming he could even find her. Bordrec had told Dane how the Jlantrians had modified the
thar’koon
blades so they could be magically tracked, so in theory Dane, too, could find them by using
cher’nag
. It seemed to be working – though the sensation was weak, he’d determined they were somewhere to the north, heading into the Bonelands. With any luck they were still in Ijanna’s possession.
The ship drifted under the darkening sky. Dane watched the dead trees and barren stones along the shore. They’d have to abandon the boat sooner or later, but for now Dane was content to rest. His heart, for the first time in years, swelled with hope. He could make amends. He could set things right.
That’s not true
, he told himself.
It’s not that easy. But I have to try.
When Dane finally slept, he was untroubled by nightmares.
Seventy-Six
Slayne watched the Veilwarden struggle. Two hours after the battle was over, Toran Gess could finally rest. His eyes and hand stopped glowing as he lay back on the cot.
“It’s done,” he gasped. “The
Serpentheart
has dissipated. None of it escaped Black Sun.”
Slayne nodded. Blackhall breathed easy behind him. Slayne could tell how angry Aaric was. Things hadn’t gone as planned. The operation had been a success, but a costly one.
Orange candles lit the wide room in Blackhall’s tower. Very soon the citadel would be relocated to the middle of Ebonmark using the same magic that had transported it from Ral Tanneth in the first place. It should have been done sooner, but Blackhall hadn’t wanted to make his men any more vulnerable to attacks from the Black Guild than they already were. Now that the criminal factions of Ebonmark were gone, including every last rogue in the Cauldron, they could finally secure control of the city. Even Wolf Brigade was no more, its members having been slaughtered by the
Serpentheart
released into Black Sun or by the Guild warriors in the Cauldron.
“Well done,” Blackhall said. “Well done.”
Gess was unconscious. Slayne had never really liked the Veilwarden before, but he did now – Toran had proved himself in more ways than one that night. The stump where his hand had been was wrapped in bloody linen, and if not for magic Gess would have already died from blood loss.
Slayne stood up and groaned with fatigue. His wounds were numerous, and he’d felt dizzy and nauseous ever since they’d escaped Black Sun. He paced around the room.
“What’s wrong, Marros?” Blackhall asked him.
“I had him, Aaric,” Slayne said. “That son of a bitch was within my reach. And I lost him because of some damned storybook monster.”
“We’ll get him,” Blackhall said. “Dane is still looking for the woman. Gess can find her, and when he does, we’ll find
him
.”
“I know,” Slayne said.
Aaric
, he thought,
I hope you never have to see what I’m going to do to him.
“I know.”
“Get some rest,” Blackhall told him, but Slayne wasn’t tired.
When Blackhall had gone Slayne pulled out a leather case hidden away in a corner of the room, shoved in with the other personal belongings he kept in the tower. He hadn’t opened the case in three years. It was plain and smooth, and as Slayne raised the lid the gleaming blades of the
vra’taar
reflected the candlelight onto his hardened face.
So here we are again
, Slayne thought.
It’s time for me to erase another memory, My Love. Then, maybe, it will finally be over.
Slayne sealed the sword away, sat down, and thought of days long past, days when his raging mind had been at peace. He would be at peace again once Azander Dane was dead.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steven Montano is an accountant by day and an author by night. Sadly, he doesn’t own a superhero costume. He’s also hopelessly addicted to books, films, music and video games, the darker the better.
Steven is the author of
Blood Skies, Black Scars, Soulrazor, Crown of Ash, The Witch’s Eye, Tales of a Blood Earth 1
and
2
and
something black…
. He’s currently hard at work on
Blood Angel Rising
, a horror novel;
Chain of Shadows,
the next installment of the Blood Skies series; and
Path of Bones
and
The Black Tower
, the remaining installments of
The Skullborn
trilogy.
He lives in Washington State with his wife, two children, a dog of below-average intelligence, and a ridiculous number of books and bottles of wine.
Visit Steven’s official website at www.bloodskies.com
Table of Contents
Prologue (Year 10 of the Rift War)