The Book of Shadow, page 34
part #1 of The Curse of the Unnamed Series
“Ostensibly,” he replied, hobbling toward the front exit of Carpera’s manse.
Her eyebrow raised at his response, but she didn’t query him further, not yet. She’d grown somewhat used to his mysterious ways and, though she disapproved of them, they lent more excitement to her life. The realization nearly made her stop in her tracks. When did she develop this thirst for thrilling escapades? Practically from the minute she arrived at Sylleth’s, she’d wanted nothing more than to be somewhere else. Now the job was over, their expedition complete, she grieved the loss.
A guard opened the door for them and he crossed the threshold into the sunshine, Llyris three paces behind him. She’d been outside little since they’d returned, spending most of her time taking care of Flayre while also checking on her fellows. Other than Jai, they all appeared okay. Rein spent every minute at his friend’s side, with Ilkari never far away. Emeryn Aryzath had fallen into a wineskin, and his devotee into her studies, both of them shaken but none the worse for wear. Hinter Panne alone looked unaffected by the events. On several occasions, Llyris saw her stalking the halls of Carpera’s manse, pacing like a caged animal eager to get free.
“How is your Unnamed?” he asked when they’d put ten paces between them and the guard, leading her toward the site of their previous conversations, when he’d pronounced her shadow-scarred.
“Flayre is recovering,” she replied, glancing at the silver chest tucked under her arm. She didn’t appreciate how she was getting used to her charge being depleted and needing recovery, but she supposed it part of the job. “She needs time to recover. Like before. What about Jai? Will he be okay?”
They arrived at the bench by the fountain, and Misk lowered himself with both hands gripping his staff. When he’d settled, she sat beside him, a hint of déjà vu tickling her mind as she watched water cascade over the lovers and into the pool at their feet. She wondered if he hadn’t heard her question, and considered asking again, but he answered before she did.
“He will recover physically, but I fear him bewitched.”
“By those women?”
He shook his head. “No, men such as Jai and Rein are resistant to their charms. Unfortunately, not to the touch of their pet, though.”
Llyris thought of the python wrapped around the knight, squeezing him until his face turned purple. It surprised her he’d survived. He was obviously strong and healthy, but the snake had throttled him so hard and for so long. Now to find out they’d enchanted him.
“Does Rein know?”
“Not yet.”
He stared out across the lawn, focusing on nothing. Llyris rubbed her thumb along the embossed top of the silver case, looking for relief from the nervousness building in her. But why should she be nervous? The guild would reassign her, likely to a simple job—tracking misplaced sheep or finding a noble’s runaway horse. Such was the curse of an Unnamed’s handler, traveling to foreign places without growing roots or making friends.
But what about the life of a shadow-scarred, she thought.
Since he’d announced his suspicions, Llyris had barely wasted a second on examining his pronouncement. What knew an old man of such things? He was an adviser to a successful merchant family, tasked with finding a cure for their son. Whatever he’d told her, he did it to push her to complete their undertaking, and nothing more. It wouldn’t surprise her to find out he’d told Rein that a throne awaited him, or tempted Hinter with a promise of riches, or the cleric with enlightenment. He couldn’t provide those assurances any more than he’d proved her the offspring of two magical beings, with almost as much power as the Unnamed she carried in a chest under her arm.
But what about the forest beast? And the way the women had frozen at her word? A coincidence?
Llyris sighed and transferred the box onto her lap, passed her hand over the ridges and valleys of the scrollwork decorating it. Wan energy pulsed through the metal, a good sign Flayre was recovering despite how much they’d asked her to do. When she looked up again, she found the old man’s gaze upon her. She shifted under the weight of it, uncomfortable with the unexpected attention, the bench becoming too hard against her backside. She cleared her throat.
“What happens now our task is complete?” she said, hoping to divert his scrutiny from her. She kept her eyes from his, as though some detail of the fountain preoccupied her. “I suppose I’ll return to the guild. What about the others?”
“Oh, we are not yet done, Llyris Fildarae.”
His response surprised her, and she forgot her plan of not peering at his face. She turned toward him, met his intense gaze with a questioning one of her own.
“What do you mean? You said Cassemir will recover fully.”
“Yes. The boy was never truly sick.”
She stared, concentrating on keeping her mouth from falling open. She’d seen the poor lad sweating and shivering from fever. Questions leapt to mind, but he continued before she spoke them.
“Your quest wasn’t about healing Caedric’s son. Returning him to health required but a few whispered words and a redirection of energy. If I’d wished, he’d have recovered at any time.”
Llyris shook her head, unable to believe him. Had he risked their lives for nothing? What of those sent searching for the tome before them, sacrificed in the name of…what? Adventure? The whims of a crazy old man?
“Then why?” she managed.
Misk shifted, twisting toward her. “Don’t you see? Some things are more important than the life of a single child. Or knights and clerics. The fate of the world is in my hands.” He peered at his palms as if he meant it literally, their emptiness leaving him disappointed. He raised his eyes to her again. “In our hands, Llyris.”
Her head continued shaking in disbelief, her mouth opened without words coming out of it. A buzzing filled her ears, as though a swarm of bees approached from a great distance away. She fought the urge to look for them because she realized they didn’t exist. The sound began and ended in her own head, a mix of blood rushing through her veins and the strain of clamping her jaw tight. Misk paused before speaking again. If he did so because he expected a response from her, she left him disappointed.
He reached out and set his hand on the lid of the silver chest, careful not to touch hers also resting on the box.
“Have you imagined how it might be if Flayre was free?”
She stared at him, her head spinning. She’d never considered this question, because she saw no point wasting thought on impossible things. The Unnamed served humanity. It had been thus longer than anyone remembered, since the great mage, Amnayel Prisma, saved humankind from the wrath of the magiks and banished the fearful dragons. The way it had always been and would always be.
“Why do you ask me that?” Her mind flashed to the shifter’s head lying on the dais at Baron Sylleth’s feet. “If Flayre escaped control, they’d hunt her and kill her. I’ve seen it happen.” She paused, swallowed, lowered her voice. “I’ve helped it happen.”
“Not escape. Free,” he said, excitement in his tone as though he hadn’t listened to her. “Imagine a world where Flayre and all Unnamed lived as equals. Humans and magiks existing side by side, living in harmony, as they once did.”
She stared at him. If she’d harbored any doubt regarding the state of his sanity, this convinced her he lacked some. If certain people overheard him say such things, they’d cart him off to an infirmary. Maybe put him to death. How had a man of Caedric Carpera’s means and standing been swindled into employing an infirm charlatan? She shifted away from him on the bench, but he grabbed her wrist, his grip tight enough to cause discomfort.
“I understand you don’t think it possible; nobody does, but it is.” He leaned closer, lowered his voice. “It’s why I needed you to find the Book of Shadow.”
This time, she had no control over her mouth dropping open. Her tongue moved, searching for words, but it came up lacking. What did one say when someone has revealed you retrieved the great mage’s tome? Short of calling him crazy, she thought of nothing else.
Misk stood suddenly, releasing her hand. His joints popped and cracked, but he didn’t notice as he walked the three steps to the fountain’s edge, not bothering to use his walking stick. He reached out and let water flow over his fingers, splashed it on his face, rubbed it over his cheeks. When he turned to her again, a droplet hung from the tip of his nose and liquid glistened in his beard. His wide eyes glittered along with it, lending him a fierce and brainsick appearance. They stared at each other.
“The,” she began, then stopped to swallow the saliva flooding her mouth. “The Book of Shadow?”
“I realize you suspect me an insane old man. You doubt me, as so many others do. But of anyone, you should guess the truth. How did I show you how to find the grimoire? Who healed you? Who discovered the secret you didn’t even know about yourself? Why did the trees part for you? Think, Llyris. How did these things happen?”
Her previously overflowing mouth went dry, so when she parted her lips to respond, nothing emerged but an empty click. She closed them again and attempted to swallow, found not a drop of saliva to force down her throat. Water cascaded over the fountain’s carven lovers, its wetness tempting her, teasing her. When Misk saw her staring at it, he pivoted toward the sculpture, snapped his fingers, and the liquid stopped flowing.
Drops and streams of it hung in the air, frozen as though a frigid wind came along and turned it to ice. She rose from her seat, tucked Flayre’s box under her arm, and crossed the brickwork patio separating bench from fountain. The sound of running water was gone, too, yet it remained in place, shimmering and reflecting sunlight. She reached out her free hand and stuck her fingers into it, felt the wetness on her skin. She cupped her palm, filled it, and sucked refreshment into her mouth, slaking her thirst. When she stepped away again, Misk waved, and the flow returned to normal.
“How—?”
“I can and will unfetter the Unnamed, and you will help me,” he said, ignoring her question. “You need to know something.”
He darted back to the bench, moving more spryly than she’d ever seen him move, with the speed and grace of a much younger man. He grabbed his walking stick, paced three steps away from the seat, and struck a familiar mien. The walking stick he held in one hand, raised toward the sky, while the other he set as though holding some unseen item. It took a moment for her to realize what she gazed upon: a pose she’d encountered a thousand times, most recently as a statue at Baron Sylleth’s, but in paintings and sculptures and monuments everywhere she’d been in her life. Her eyes widened. He couldn’t possibly mean…
“Llyris Fildarae, I am Amnayel Prisma.”
###
The End of Book 1
Shadow Scarred, the second book in the Curse of the Unnamed epic fantasy series, comes out June 1, 2022. Pre-order your copy from Amazon for a special price today!
CAST OF CHARACTERS
In Order of Appearance or Mention
Zero - An Unnamed
Marita - Zero's handler
Llyris Fildarae - handler of Flayre, an Unnamed
Rein Shriken - a knight. Baron Sylleth's champion
Ilkari Vasuk - Rein's squire
Flayre - An Unnamed
Jai Aryn - a knight and friend of Rein
Baron Sylleth - ruler of the fiefdom. Rein's father
Viden Misk - an old man and adviser to Caedric Carpera
Caedric Carpera - a successful merchant
Linian - a handler in the employ of House Carpera
Cirril Feron - Carpera's head guardsman
Cassemir Carpera - Caedric's son
Nsiri Carpera - Caedric' wife, mother of Cassemir
Amnayel Prisma - an ancient mage
Kove Heren - one of Carpera's guardsmen
Mikol Vakkan - one of Carpera's guardsmen
Bettany - a handler
Emeryn Aryzath - a cleric
Tesfira Florithe - Aryzath's student
Hinter Panne - a thief
Priscilla - a woman living in the woods
Prue - lives with Priscilla
Raelle Fildarae - Llyris' mother
Agis - an ancient age
Falkon - an ancient mage
Cystenn - an ancient mage
T hanks so much for taking the time to read The Book of Shadow . If you enjoyed it, please head back and leave a review or rating to help other readers discover it.
A question authors consistently get asked is where ideas for stories come from. Since The Book of Shadow is still fresh for me as I write this, I thought I'd give a little insight.
The genesis for this book came from the old fable about the king who stages a contest for the princess' hand in marriage. Now, I realize that's not very similar to the book you just finished, but it grew out of the idea of attracting different people to one place for the purpose of getting them to complete a task. In this case, sent on a journey to retrieve something, but for a different purpose than what they believe. In my writing process, it begins with that simple premise, then I make notes and ask myself questions. The original concept grows, changes, transforms, until we end up with the novel now in your hands.
I hope you'll join Llyris, Rein, Viden Misk, and the others on their further adventures in Shadow Scarred , scheduled for release in spring of 2022. If you need something to read in the meantime, check out Blood of the King (Khirro's Journey Book 1) or When Shadows Fall (The First Book of the Small Gods) .
Get free short stories and keep up to date on new releases
A LSO BY BRUCE BLAKE
Khirro’s Journey epic fantasy:
Blood of the King
Spirit of the King
Heart of the King
The Books of the Small Gods epic fantasy
When Shadows Fall
The Darkness Comes
And Night Descends
When Ravens Call
The Twilight Fades
And Kingdoms End
The Icarus Fell urban fantasy series:
On Unfaithful Wings
All Who Wander Are Lost
Secrets of the Hanged Man
Get free short stories and keep up to date on new releases
Blood of the King (Khirro's Journey Book 1)
A kingdom torn by war. A curse whispered by dying lips. A hero born against his will.
With a vial of the king's blood in one hand, and a sword of legend in the other, one soldier sets out on an odyssey that will change his life... or end it.
Forced into the army, Khirro never wanted to fight. And with the monarch dead, any hope for the kingdom's survival hangs by a slender thread. But when the king's shaman charges Khirro with a curse, he's compelled to undertake a journey to the haunted land in search of the outlaw necromancer. And if he fails... the very walls of the fortress itself will fall to the blood-crazed undead.
Can Khirro complete his quest in time to save his realm from a brutal end?
"Blood of the King is a masterpiece. It is as close to perfection as I would consider a book to be." - Ella Medler, author of Blood is Heavier
"Blake has a knack for bringing you into the story"
"Mr. Blake's writing is masterful and clear, he draws you into his story and when it’s finished you feel like you’re leaving an old friend."
When Shadows Fall (The First Book of the Small Gods)
An ancient prophecy threatens the return of the Small Gods to seek revenge on those who banished them a thousand years before. According to its words, only one person can stop them: the firstborn child of the rightful king. But King Erral usurped the throne decades past.
For whom are the words intended?
When the prince and princess discover the long-forgotten scroll, Teryk is convinced he is the savior of the kingdom and determines to fulfill his destiny. His sister is not so sure. If he is the chosen one, why is it only Danya can read the words inscribed on the parchment? And what of the other elements of the prophecy: the Barren Mother, the Living Statue, and the Man from Across the Sea? None of them can possibly exist.
Teryk strikes out on his own to become the hero he is meant to be and prove his worth to his father once and for all. His desperate sister and the kingdom's one-armed champion give chase, but none of them realize the evil they've set in motion.
The prince wants to save the kingdom. The princess wants to save her brother. But in a fight against the gods, who will save them all?
"When Shadows Fall is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. Its characters are memorable: you adore them, you want to strangle them, you cheer them on."
""It rained fire the day the Small Gods fled" Thus begins When Shadows Fall, the first book in the Small Gods series by Bruce Blake and what a terrific start to one fast-paced and completely engrossing new fantasy it is."
On Unfaithful Wings (Icarus Fell #1)
To some, death is the end; to others, a beginning. To Icarus Fell, it should have been a relief from a life gone seriously awry.
But death had other plans.
Icarus doesn't believe that the man awaiting him when he wakes up in a cheap motel room is really the archangel Michael, or that God's right hand wants him to help souls on their way to Heaven. Icarus doesn't believe there's a Heaven, so why should they want his help?
But the man claiming to be the archangel tempts him with an offer he can't ignore--harvest enough souls and get back the life he wished he'd had.
It seems Icarus has nothing to lose, until he botches a harvest and the soul that went to Hell instead of Heaven comes back to make him pay by threatening to take away the life he hoped to win back.
To save the wife and son he already lost once, Icarus will have to become the man he never was. Somehow, he will have to learn to believe.
