Page 428 of Of Empires and Dust

“My enemy wouldn’t have gotten back up.”

Erdhardt rested a hand on Tarmon’s shoulder. “Come, I’ve always wanted to see if I could outdrink an elf and a Belduaran Kingsguard.”

“You have?”

“No,” Erdhardt answered. “But now I’m curious.”

As Calenand Anya walked through the streets of Salme, for the first time in a very, very long time, his mind fell quiet. He could still see Valerys as the dragon lay in the fields beyond with his head resting on Avandeer’s side and his tail curled around Varthear’s leg, but all he was focused on was Anya’s voice.

She had become a healer, like his mother. Someone who saved lives instead of taking them. That might have been him had he never left The Glade. They walked and talked until they reached the docks, the sounds of music and dancing echoing from the city behind them.

They removed their shoes and sat with their feet dangling over the edge, staring out at the ocean.

Anya took his arm and looked down at the silver tattooed runes that ringed his forearms. “What are they?”

Calen looked into Anya’s green eyes, then down at the markings. “Dreskyr mit huartan. Dreskyr mit hnokle. Bante er vi, measter og osvarthe.”

Anya stared in wonder as the runes glowed with a purple light. Calen drew a sharp breath, feeling his armour pulse in his mind.

“They are Jotnar runes. They bind my armour to me.Protect my heart. Protect my bones. Bound are we, master and oath.”

Anya shook her head, smiling, then stared out at the water again.

“What?” Calen asked.

“I always imagined we’d fall in love, get married, and decide to have six children until we realised three was probably enough.”

“You did?” Calen asked, laughing.

“Mm-hmm.” Anya nodded, putting her hands on her knees. “We’d build a home on the edge of The Glade, with a big garden for all the flowers. You’d hunt with Faenir, because let’s face it, you never really loved the forge. I’d start making soap with my mam, but eventually I’d learn to be a healer – Freis would teach me.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “It was going to be a good life,” she said. “Simple, but good.”

“Simple sounds great.”

“Is it all right to miss a life you never had?”

“I do every day.” Calen rested a hand on Anya’s knee, and she leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder. “Every day.”

“Can we just sit here a while?”

Calen nodded. “I’d like that.”

He drew a long breath tinged with the scent of cherry blossoms and closed his eyes. There would be no simple life, not anymore, but he could pretend for a few more hours.

Chapter 98

The Demon in the Details

26thDay of the Blood Moon

The High Tower, Berona – Winter, Year 3081 After Doom

Rain hammered down,echoing in the courtyard at the foot of the High Tower, drumming off Garramon’s cloak.

They had returned to the city early that morning and provided a report to Fane. But the man had seemed more curious about Eltoar and Helios’s whereabouts than the losses sustained in the fighting. Even the death of the two Dragonguard had seemed of little surprise to him. Garramon had gone to speak to his friend in private later, but he’d found the chambers empty.

Mages, apprentices, acolytes, and initiates of all affinities ran about the yard like headless chickens, trying desperately not to get saturated in the rain. Garramon walked slowly, the rain cold against his face and hands. When he had things to think on, Garramon enjoyed walking in the rain. The constant slap of rainon his hood was like the crackling of a fire in his mind. It calmed him, allowed his thoughts to drift.

At any other time, the battle at the Firnin Mountains would have been the thing that plagued him. He would have revisited it in his mind again and again, trying to understand, trying to learn, trying to see what might have been done differently. But it was not the battle that plagued his thoughts, it was Rist.

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