Page 2 of An Archer's Reckoning

Atikus fled, his robes flowing behind. Blood dripped with each stride.

The mountains? A peak? Arrows whizzed by and thudded into nearby trees.

Keelan staggered, his mouth agape. Three arrows jutted from his chest, two from his back.

Saltstone burned. The billowing of smoke crowned the licking of flames above rooftops.

Ayden lay unmoving on the cobbles. His auburn hair floated in a pool of his own blood.

Somewhere different. Somewhere distant.

Snow shrouded bodies.

So many bodies.

Another place. Too quick to see.

A woman in red with flowing black hair.

The world shook.

Mountains wailed.

The Phoenix . . .

Ash blanketed all.

Then Larinda was before me again, and I swayed.

I tried to brace myself on the arm of her chair, but the floor rose to meet my head.

Everything turned black.

My eyes fluttered open to find Larinda and the Keeper kneeling over me, concern creasing their foreheads. Órla stared unblinking from atop my chest. I wondered how much time had passed with me sprawled on the garden’s path. The morning sky had grown bright above the open canopy of the courtyard’s trees.

I fought through pain to lift my head and meet Órla’s gaze. “Did you see any of that?”

“I felt your dizziness but saw nothing. You had visions?” Órla asked.

I laid my head back and rubbed my eyes as I spoke. Everything hurt.

“Yeah. Bits and pieces. Nothing I could see long enough to understand. They came so fast I barely saw one before the next one hit.”

The Keeper placed a hand on my head, and a warm glow emerged from his palm. The throbbing pain and dizziness ebbed.

“You hit your head pretty hard, but it should be all right now. Tell us what you saw,” the Keeper said.

“Atikus was running. I couldn’t tell if someone was chasing him or if he was running toward something. He looked terrified. The forest flashed. I was looking at one of the peaks, near a signal pyre. Everything seemed quiet. The wood of the pyre was dry.”

I paused, trying to remember details.

“I don’t know where, but wooden houses and shops burned. Smoke billowed high above the trees. There wasn’t much left, but ashes and charred shells of buildings wouldn’t stop burning, as if the fire was somehow alive.” I squeezed my eyes shut. It reminded me of something.

The visions from my test, maybe?

“Ayden . . .” My voice caught. “Oh, Spirits—”

Sobs racked my chest for long moments before I gathered myself and whispered again.

---