That had felt like a very long time ago, and when the sounds of uproar echoed down to them and there was no sign of Cywen, Haelan decided he’d had enough of waiting. Cywen had gone earlier, saying she would be back with the rest of the prisoners, and that they should make ready to leave. He’d left Swain and Sif guarding Trigg, the half-giant bound wrist and ankle as they didn’t know what else to do with her. What’s happening? Did Cywen’s plan go wrong? The sounds of battle and alarm echoed across the fortress as Haelan ran through the streets, Buddai and Pots either side of him. ‘I should have killed him.Tags: Fiction / Fantasy / Epic, Fiction / Fantasy / Historical
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‘It is.’ Alcyon clenched his fists, knuckles cracking. ‘How long have you been Calidus’ prisoner?’Īlcyon’s smile withered. How can I have been deceived for so long? I am a fool. He remembered Calidus’ confession: that Nathair had slain Aquilus, his own father. His thoughts swept bitterly to Nathair and the confession and revelations that had stunned Veradis. One of my only friends, it has turned out.
#Wrath john gwynne free#
‘And your wife and son – I set them free because it was the right thing to do. ’ He thought of Nathair’s mother, hoped that she had made it to freedom, along with his brother Krelis, Maquin and Alben. ‘I kicked the effigies into the fire on impulse, not really knowing what they were, or what power they held over you.’
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‘You are in no debt to me,’ Veradis said. ‘You set Raina and Tain free you set me free. ‘That is not what I mean,’ the giant rumbled, regarding Veradis with serious eyes. ‘If you mean you feel weak as a newborn bairn,’ Veradis muttered as he emptied his boot of water and tried to pull it back on, ‘then I feel the same.’ ‘You have set me free.’ He gave a shudder, followed by a smile. ‘And for destroying Calidus’ effigy of me,’ Alcyon continued. How long has he gone without seeing them? And what must he have suffered, knowing they were Calidus and Lykos’ prisoners? Most of all for helping my family escape Brikan’s dungeons.’ Turning, he saw Alcyon on the bank, thirty of forty paces upriver from him, staggering wearily towards him, before he slumped down beside him with a groan, water dripping from his drooping moustache. It was harder going, swimming across the current, and Veradis realized how exhausted his body was, but eventually he felt silt beneath his feet, his hands grasping at reeds as he pulled himself out of the water and flopped onto his back, gasping, his limbs feeling lead-filled. The soft, weak sheen of dawn’s grey light filtered down through the lattice of branches above as Veradis met Alcyon’s gaze, an unspoken agreement passing between them, as they both headed for the riverbank. They turned a bend in the river and the fortress was gone, darkness enfolding them. The thought still jolted him like a blow. He put some effort into swimming, speeding his way from Brikan, from Calidus – from the Kadoshim. Veradis saw the sense of that, though his hands and feet were already numbing from the cold. ‘They will come hunting for us,’ the giant shouted over the roar of the river as the current gripped them, sweeping them away from the thunder of warriors’ feet crossing the bridge.
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Then something grabbed his hair and he was surging upwards, breaking through the water in a burst of spray, and saw Alcyon’s pale, broad face staring back at him. He panicked, disorientated, realizing he didn’t know which way was up all about him was darkness and ice. He slammed into the water, the cold shocking the breath out of him. He caught glimpses of the tower of Brikan, Calidus’ still-smouldering outline at the window, then below, the river coming up to meet him. Veradis fell through the night air, weightless. The Year 1144 of the Age of Exiles, Hound Moon