Page 238 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
It was Stowe that spoke up then, his voice quiet. Kase had forgotten he and Zelda were there. “You were the boy. The only one who survived.”
The statement was met with silence before finally, Harlan said, “Yes.”
Skibs continued to try and open the Gate, but each attempt failed. Every time the light sputtered, Kase’s brain sputtered with it, struggling to put the pieces together. “I don’t understand.”
Any heat in the tunnel air bled away the longer they stood there. Finally, Harlan sheathed the sword once more. “Carleton Shackley, the Colonel of Achilles at the time, was the first on the scene of the Ravenhelm massacre. And as my entire family had been murdered—including my younger brother Michael, whom Marcos Correa personally killed—Carleton and Aurelia adopted me.”
At this point, Kase didn’t think he could take any more twists or turns. Over the last few hours, Hallie had gone missing, Skibs had been revealed as the next Cerl Kingandhis cousin, and now this? There must be some mistake. It was too much. His father had to be lying.
He opened his mouth to tell him so, knowing it would lead to yet another argument. But the look in his mother’s eyes had him swallowing his words because a ring of truth sounded in that name,
Michael.
Kase’s middle name was Michael. He looked back up at his father; Harlan’s eyes were dry, but for the first time in his life, Kase saw something else besides ice…there was rage, unadulterated fury, unlike anything he’d seen even when Kase was at his worst. It was a fire that’d been building for roughly half a century.
“I would do anything to keep the Cerls from winning. They’ve taken too much from me. My family. My friend. My very humanity, even,” Harlan said, his voice still unnervingly calm.“They will not win.”
Kase couldn’t feel his fingers, his toes, or anything. He was entirely numb. But for some reason, one of the only things running through his mind was that if Harlan had come from the same mountains as Hallie, she and Kase were even more alike than they’d thought. She and Harlan were more alike.
He needed her. She would help make sense of the mess.
“Stradat Lord Kapitan, would you allow me to borrow Xera’s sword? I think it might—” Skibs started to say.
“How kind of you all to gather in one place,” a low voice interrupted from down the corridor, back the way they’d come.
Kase’s heart flew into his throat, his hand going for a phantom weapon.
Everyone tensed as Eravin Gray strode into the light. He walked right up to the group smiling, his black gums showing, his eyes gleaming like obsidian marbles. The veins now traced down his arms, poking out the sleeves of his dirty and rough spun jacket. “Someone killed the Cerl general? Annoying, but at the same time, it is appreciated. He’s the one who wanted to decimate the capital. As the leader of One World, I wanted as many broken people as possible tosurvive,because how else was I supposed to raise an army of shadow soldiers? He and his second caused far too much chaos. Far more death than I would have liked. Messy. But it can’t be helped now, can it?”
Jove met Kase’s eyes, accusing him, but he just shook his head. How was he supposed to know when he’d struck that truce with Eravin in the Jayde Center that it would lead to this?
Eravin laughed. “I’m not one to belabor the point, however, because you’re all here now, and I will need those two swords. I’ll give you two options: a quick end, or you can join me.”
Jove shielded their mother. Stowe pushed Zelda back toward Skibs, who hadn’t stopped working.
Saldr unsheathed the shadow blade. “Jagamot.”
Eravin might have rolled his eyes, but it was only discernible by the tilt of his eyebrows. “Thank you for stating the obvious. Now what will it be?”
Kase’s father stepped up in front of the group. “You will not use us nor the people of Jayde.” He unsheathed his sword, setting his stance. “And you will not get this sword.”
Eravin scoffed. “Jayde? All ofYalvarais what I’ll use. I’ve gotten rid of the Essence of Time. Now I simply need those swords, which won’t be difficult at all. I’m giving you a choice because I do have a little bit of mercy. But I will make it for you if you will not.”
“Where is she?” The cry tore him up from the inside out. Too much terror. Too much anger. He couldn’t breathe.
Kase’s heart plummeted to his toes. Eravin had said he would do something to Hallie. He knew it. She hadn’t gone through the Gate.
“Don’t worry…her end wasn’t unpleasant, falling into Valora like that. The way she cried for you with that pretty ring on her finger, I just couldn’t bring myself to make her suffer.” Eravin’s grin was pure cruelty. “But she would’ve been the key to my downfall. She had to go. You understand.”
Kase lunged for him, but Harlan grabbed him, banding one arm over his chest and dropping his sword. Kase struggled against his father, but Harlan’s grip held strong. His side twinged, but he fought harder still.
Eravin just laughed. Someone behind Kase let out a small cry. Zelda. Kase strained even more. He needed to end Eravin. Right there. Right now.
“Let me go!” Kase shouted. He twisted and kicked his father. Harlan released him.
Still without a real weapon, Kase wound his fist back to punch Eravin, but the man threw out his hand. Glittering black power spurted from it like water.
Something hit Kase hard in his shoulder. He landed on his wounded side, which lit up in agony. It was almost as if he’d been stabbed again. What had Eravin struck him with? The weight of someone pressed him into the stone. Only his side screamed. His vision blurred.
