Read Online Warrior Blind by Calle J. Brookes - Free Book Online

no time for sensibilities.
    “The fires, dear boy.”
    She returned to her chair. But she still held everyone’s attention. “The worlds were forged from breath and flesh, through fire and cold. Layer upon layer they formed, each one blending into the next. It was not always so difficult to move between the worlds. And those of the right sorcery can perhaps still manage it. I suspect our Phaenna can...We all know how the differing worlds rest, one directly upon the next, now. But someone, a sorcerer of such dark skill some said he had to be two men, managed to manipulate the inner worlds. To bring the fires of the Three Hells up through five other worlds to burn the Houses of Evelanedea.”
    Koios stayed silent as her gaze turned inward, her tone flattened, and her good handed rubbed absently at the bad. Was she even aware of those surrounding her now?
    “The fires were on our lands before we knew. Before we could even smell the death on the air. By the time warning was given, it was far too late. My mate’s family had ruled Evelanedea from the moment life was born into our world. But I was just a small peasant girl by birth. It took me so long to adjust...Twenty-two children I brought to the Dardaptos family; twenty-two targets for that sorcerer’s soldiers. We were celebrating the betrothal of my third son Jushua to the daughter of my closest friend. Celebrating, and perhaps more foolish than we ought to have been. But no one can escape the fires of the Three Hells—or at least they are not supposed to. Nelciana and Kennera did. Jushua did. And I did. But the child I carried in my arms did not. Her soul was not strong enough to withstand the sorcerer’s thirst. It is the soul of that babe that I sense within you, Bronwen of Sebastos.”
    No one spoke for a long time. Bronwen broke the silence. “I am sorry for what you lost that day. But I still have so many questions.”
    Eaudne looked at her for a long, silent moment. “Of course you do. How could you not? But those questions will be answered later. Now, we must turn our hearts and minds to this war that comes. The day my children were taken from me the sorcerer laid his hands upon me; his intentions were very clear. He would claim each Dardaptos soul, and by marriage, through sheer love I had for my mate and children, I was Dardaptoan. I fought him to protect my daughter, and I fell. He should have killed me that day, but he took that precious child instead. And he left me to live. I do not know what stayed his hand, but he left me there in the ash and the mud. The rain. When I next opened my eyes, Jushua was there, and it became clear to me all that had been lost.”
    “I am sorry, Eaudne, for what you suffered,” Black said. “But what are saying is relevant to today’s threat? We need everything you can give for us.”
    “I am haunted—perhaps only as a mother can be—by that sorcerer. A part of his soul was seared into my flesh that day.” She held up her scarred arm for all to see. Koios was taken aback—the scars were in the shape of a large man’s hand, and wrapped completely around her arm. “I am bound to him in some ways. And he still lives. I can feel him through many worlds. Deep within the lower worlds surrounding the Three Hells, he sleeps. But he wakens soon. If he has not already. And he will come—for all who carry the name Dardaptos. For all who came from my body, for all who came from them—and perhaps for all of you. And I am afraid...so very, very afraid that once again I will fall before him, and lose all that I have left. It is he that will bring the fires. Because while he had grown in power, the other worlds have lost much of their defenses against evil such as he. Once...once there was water to fight such fire. Now there is nothing. The balance is lost. There is nothing, but 150, 000 warrior demon men. When ten times that fell in just that one day in Evelanedea. So bring your numbers Ren of Relaklonos, Koios of Lothicano.