Blood of the Guardian
Read Blood of the Guardian Online
Authors: Kristal Shaff
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales, is purely coincidental
Copyright © 2016, Kristal Shaff
Illustration © 2016, Anne Drury
All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by Kristal L. Shaff. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any in form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Kristal L. Shaff, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Edited By: Courtney Koschel
Cover illustrated by: Anne Drury
Typography by: Liesl Mensinger
Cover Copyright © 2016 Kristal L. Shaff
First Edition, July 2016
Bonus Content: Free ebook
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THE PARDON STONE
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To my husband, Peter, who put up
with me in the ups and downs of my
writing adventure over the many years.
I love you.
Prelude
A RAT SKITTERED ACROSS THE FLOOR and disappeared down the hall. It was one of the few living things in the dungeon, amongst the filth and the roaches and the occasional idiot guard. Alcandor shifted on his pathetic excuse for a bed, so unlike the luxuries he once knew. He inhaled deeply, drinking in the putrid odors of his dungeon home.
At one time, he could have smelled or listened outside of this wretched place with his Perception, but now he could only hear the vermin and the occasional movements of the guards. Once, he could have torn open these simple iron bars with his Strength or used his Empathy to persuade the soldiers to let him go.
Now, he could only sit and do nothing.
For over five hundred years, he had ruled them all. Then that boy reduced him back to the state where Brim had brought him, before he had become king. He was stuck, once again, in the body of a simple man … a Shay-less man. But he’d found a way past Brim’s isolation that first time. He had done it despite Brim’s punishment, and he’d blissfully destroyed Brim’s favorite creation in the process.
He would kill man again.
Alcandor sneered, his frustration building at being trapped, like one of these infested rats. If he could reach the guard—and claim his dagger—he could stick it into the man’s throat, drain his power, and start his own life all over again.
The guard snorted and resituated.
Ignorant, stupid man
.
Alcandor released a long sigh. Even without his Shay powers, he was proficient in the fine art of persuasion. He would wait for the right moment. When they least expected it, he would escape. Then, after a kill or two, his reign could begin again. It might take some time, but it would happen. He could be patient. Immortality gave him all the time in the world.
Chapter One
A MULTITUDE OF BLANK STARES surrounded Nolan Trividar, as though he’d spent the last ten minutes speaking in a foreign language. A man scratched his chin. Another picked his teeth. And a few whispered to each other, staring at Nolan as if he were insane.
Nolan sighed. Sometimes people were just plain dumb.
Pressing his thumbs to his temples, he looked at the lights of Brim illuminating the ground of the emptied storage building. Piles of fishing nets and rusted spears leaned against the wall. Earlier that morning, Nolan had climbed this rickety building and secured the six stones into holes cut into the ceiling. Now, with the sun at its peak, beams of light shone through the stones, brilliantly refracting the six symbols of Brim in spectrum hues on the dirt-caked floor.
“Perhaps if you told them again, Master Nolan,” Greer suggested. The Guardian, who had taken the form of an old man, smiled at him encouragingly. His eyes flicked to the ceiling, and Nolan followed his gaze. A dark, cloud-like mist darted back and forth. It dove into the crowd and circled around a man’s unknowing head. Nolan could feel the result of the Nass’s taunt; the man’s apprehension and fear increased, causing a similar mist to slither out of the man and join the other Nass drifting about the ceiling.
Nolan frowned. This wasn’t going so well.
“I know you can all feel it,” Nolan continued. “Surely the stones call. Step into the light and bring forth your Shay power. It’s hiding inside you. Just step into the light and let it come free!”
More blank stares followed. Nolan surged his Empathy Shay and didn’t feel indifference like he had thought; fear mounted from them in a swelling wave. Why were they afraid? Was it him? He was … different, of course. After becoming a half-Guardian, he was taller and broader than any normal man. And he wielded all six powers, which, he supposed, might intimidate them a bit. Or maybe change scared them. The people of Adamah didn’t like to stray from their monotony, even if for the better. The stubborn townspeople didn’t know what was best for them, even when Nolan stuck it in front of their ignorant faces.
A dark mist darted by Nolan and zipped off again, as if teasing him. Nolan ground his teeth. The Nass weren’t helping much either.
“Who sent you?” a voice called from the crowd.
A woman stepped forward, her hair braided in numerous locks. Huge, circular earrings hung from her lobes, and bangles covering her wrists chimed softly with each swing of her slender arms. Her tight-fitting shirt dipped low, displaying far too much to leave anything to the imagination. And her skirt consisted of strips of cloth, revealing olive-toned legs with every step. She was a gypsy—a Talasian outcast. But her complexion seemed fairer than the typical gypsy. Her black hair and dark eyes complemented her skin and instantly drew every man’s eyes.
It took Nolan a moment to realize he’d been gawking as well.
He cleared his throat. “King Emery Cadogan sent me.”
The woman threw her head back and laughed. “Ah! So the new king sent you? Why should we trust a man who took the crown by force? Why should we follow such a king, a traitor before he took the throne? And why should we trust you?” Her eyes searched him, starting at his face and traveling down the length of him. A smirk formed on her lips. “We don’t even know
what
you are.”
Nolan’s face warmed, but he shoved the emotions away.
Murmurs of agreement spread throughout the crowd. Several more Nass joined the mass of hovering and twisting mists. Though these people could not see the Nass, Nolan could.
“And we know nothing of this magic.” She motioned toward the colored symbols as their light flickered with a passing cloud. “If we step into this light like you say, it might strike us all dead!”
The complaining of the crowd increased at her words, and a new supply of Nass filled the room.
“I can take her down,” a voice whispered in Nolan’s ear. “No one would even see me drag her gypsy arse outta here.”
Nolan turned to the hazel eyes of Lieutenant Kat Connelly, one of the Speed Rol’dan who had come with Nolan to spread the light of Brim.
Kat winked and grinned. “Believe me. It’d be my pleasure.”
Nolan considered her offer; however, the gypsy seeming to magically disappear would reinforce their ridiculous fears. “No,” he replied. “There has to be another way.”
I need to convince them … somehow.
“Just listen!” Nolan pleaded. “There is no magic! If one of you would step into the light, you’d all see the truth.”