Read Online Valley of Embers (The Landkist Saga Book 1) by Steven Kelliher - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Steven Kelliher
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trunks. Kole slid into a role, cursing as he crashed down into the leaf-laden sludge between roots thick as serpents. He managed to come up with his blades drawn, flexing his core and releasing a spark that set them alight.
Shifa issued a startled bark and navigated the root system down to him. At the bottom, she darted in front of him, tail stiff, forming a shield between Kole and the deeper darkness of the tunnels beneath the trees. The ground was uneven, and the roots made arches and snares. It was a poor terrain in which to fight, if it came to that.
The sensation of motion ahead caused him to drop his blades away from his eyes, the better to see. It was a mistake, as the blackness formed itself into the hurtling shape of a man that came on with unnatural speed. Shifa leapt, her jaws snapping a piece of the blackness as it shot past, and then it hit him full in the chest.
Kole landed in a rolling heap and tasted blood as he came up slashing. Hands that were impossibly strong grabbed hold of his wrists and launched him back with a kick, ripping the burning blades from his grasp as he flew back. The creature screamed and flung the blades aside as Kole tumbled down a steep embankment of rock-hard roots that took the wind from him. He looked up. Standing on the crest of the gnarled rise was a black form silhouetted in the guttering light of his discarded blades. It leered down at him with eyes that shone like bloody rubies.
A small form hit the demon in the back, but it twisted and slashed with its black fingers, Shifa yelping as she was thrown aside. Kole rose on shaking legs and heard more than saw the form land next to him with a crunch among the dried refuse of the canopy. He turned and extended his hip, lancing a kick that missed. He was driven back and the demon pummeled him, his head spinning as it ricocheted off something hard as bone.
“Shifa!” Kole screamed it with all the strength he could muster. His blood pumped hot liquid fire and he lashed out weaponless, but the demon was strong and unyielding. It parried his blows and sent him tumbling into the deeper darkness. Kole rolled to his knees as the red-eyed form approached, the darkness seeming to swell around it.
And then the light exploded, Shifa shooting over the lip of the ledge above, one of Kole’s Everwood blades clenched burning in her maw. The black hands made a grab for her, but she was too swift, and Kole snatched the blade from her jaws as she tore off into the brush toward the sound of rushing water.
Kole flared the blade back to life and stabbed upward, driving the black form back. With his feet under him, he sliced the air in sharp angles, forcing it to dodge, its red eyes burning with hate. His head swam, the fire in his blood unable to fully undo the effects of the demon’s attacks. It circled like a wolf, darting in and out, always staying just out of range of the slashing blade and its fiery trails.
In the space between beats it came on again, and Kole tore a black hand from its body in a crescent of yellow. Still it came on, scoring deep gash in his forearm and making his hand go lax, fingers numbing instantly as the blood ran. They danced, cutting and slashing among the ancient roots, until finally Kole’s legs failed him, his arm going slack, blade tearing free from his grasp as he fell to his knees.
Those red eyes seemed to lock him in place, its mouth opened in a toothless screech, and the details of the forest around melded into a swirl of agony. Kole cursed his stupidity and felt a voice in his head whose words he could not distinguish. It urged him to stillness and he struggled against it, fearing he would die alone in the dark.
Just like his mother.
The surge came from a place beyond himself, a well deeper than thought and older than memory. The light of its burning was impossibly bright and the demon’s screech turned from triumph to searing pain. It tore at him with its black claws, pulling at his burning hands, which
Shifa issued a startled bark and navigated the root system down to him. At the bottom, she darted in front of him, tail stiff, forming a shield between Kole and the deeper darkness of the tunnels beneath the trees. The ground was uneven, and the roots made arches and snares. It was a poor terrain in which to fight, if it came to that.
The sensation of motion ahead caused him to drop his blades away from his eyes, the better to see. It was a mistake, as the blackness formed itself into the hurtling shape of a man that came on with unnatural speed. Shifa leapt, her jaws snapping a piece of the blackness as it shot past, and then it hit him full in the chest.
Kole landed in a rolling heap and tasted blood as he came up slashing. Hands that were impossibly strong grabbed hold of his wrists and launched him back with a kick, ripping the burning blades from his grasp as he flew back. The creature screamed and flung the blades aside as Kole tumbled down a steep embankment of rock-hard roots that took the wind from him. He looked up. Standing on the crest of the gnarled rise was a black form silhouetted in the guttering light of his discarded blades. It leered down at him with eyes that shone like bloody rubies.
A small form hit the demon in the back, but it twisted and slashed with its black fingers, Shifa yelping as she was thrown aside. Kole rose on shaking legs and heard more than saw the form land next to him with a crunch among the dried refuse of the canopy. He turned and extended his hip, lancing a kick that missed. He was driven back and the demon pummeled him, his head spinning as it ricocheted off something hard as bone.
“Shifa!” Kole screamed it with all the strength he could muster. His blood pumped hot liquid fire and he lashed out weaponless, but the demon was strong and unyielding. It parried his blows and sent him tumbling into the deeper darkness. Kole rolled to his knees as the red-eyed form approached, the darkness seeming to swell around it.
And then the light exploded, Shifa shooting over the lip of the ledge above, one of Kole’s Everwood blades clenched burning in her maw. The black hands made a grab for her, but she was too swift, and Kole snatched the blade from her jaws as she tore off into the brush toward the sound of rushing water.
Kole flared the blade back to life and stabbed upward, driving the black form back. With his feet under him, he sliced the air in sharp angles, forcing it to dodge, its red eyes burning with hate. His head swam, the fire in his blood unable to fully undo the effects of the demon’s attacks. It circled like a wolf, darting in and out, always staying just out of range of the slashing blade and its fiery trails.
In the space between beats it came on again, and Kole tore a black hand from its body in a crescent of yellow. Still it came on, scoring deep gash in his forearm and making his hand go lax, fingers numbing instantly as the blood ran. They danced, cutting and slashing among the ancient roots, until finally Kole’s legs failed him, his arm going slack, blade tearing free from his grasp as he fell to his knees.
Those red eyes seemed to lock him in place, its mouth opened in a toothless screech, and the details of the forest around melded into a swirl of agony. Kole cursed his stupidity and felt a voice in his head whose words he could not distinguish. It urged him to stillness and he struggled against it, fearing he would die alone in the dark.
Just like his mother.
The surge came from a place beyond himself, a well deeper than thought and older than memory. The light of its burning was impossibly bright and the demon’s screech turned from triumph to searing pain. It tore at him with its black claws, pulling at his burning hands, which
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