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Back A Night of Flames
Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise forMATTHEW HARFFY
  3. BY MATTHEW HARFFY
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Maps
  8. Epigraph
  9. Contents
  10. Place Names
  11. One
  12. Two
  13. Three
  14. Four
  15. Five
  16. Six
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Ten
  21. Eleven
  22. Twelve
  23. Thirteen
  24. Fourteen
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. Thirty-Eight
  49. Thirty-Nine
  50. Forty
  51. Forty-One
  52. Forty-Two
  53. Forty-Three
  54. Forty-Four
  55. Forty-Five
  56. Forty-Six
  57. Forty-Seven
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Forty-Nine
  60. Fifty
  61. Fifty-One
  62. Fifty-Two
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Sixty-Two
  73. Author’s Note
  74. Acknowledgements
  75. About the Author
  76. An Invitation from the Publisher

He backed away, his terror plain on his face. The room darkened as his body blocked out much of the light from the lamp. He collided with the small table. There was nowhere else for him to go. I stepped in, but before I could deliver the killing blow, he reached behind him and snatched up the lamp. Its flame guttered and danced, painting his face in writhing shadows and light. His eyes blazed with madness and malice.

“Back,” he shouted, waving the lamp in front of him. “I will burn us both,” he sneered, a triumphant glimmer in his eyes.

I stared at him for a heartbeat. Did he truly believe I feared death?

The splintering as the hall doors cracked was loud in the distance. Ljósberari’s crazed followers bayed like hounds scenting blood. They would all too soon be inside. No, in that moment I was certain I would die. All I wanted, so help me God, was to be sure that Scomric went before me.

I slashed down with my sword into Scomric’s wrist. His hand, and the lamp it held, spun in the air. Hot oil splattered my right arm, stinging and burning. The lamp hit the ground and shattered, spilling oil onto the rushes and over much of the bed. A heartbeat later, the oil ignited with a sound like a great sigh.

The straw-filled mattress caught, and flames shot up, licking the rafters high above. The heat from the blaze was intense and I blinked, shocked by the sudden consequences of my actions. Scomric looked down in horror at his wrist. Blood spurted with each beat of his heart. He stared into my face, aghast. He saw nothing but death in my gaze. Even as the fire began to rage, the heat becoming intolerable, I stepped forward, to finish him; to send his murderous soul to hell.

Scomric glanced back at the flames and a change came over him. His shoulders relaxed and his eyes took on the mesmeric calm I had witnessed before.

“If I am to die here,” he said, his tone filled with awe and wonder, “I will join the light.” He spun around and I saw what he meant to do. I could not allow him to decide the manner of his death. Springing forward, I thrust my sword into his side, plunging the blade deep into his chest. He staggered, still moving towards the fire. The flames roared, sucking the air from the room. The heat singed my hair. Tears streamed from my eyes and smoke burnt my lungs.

“There is no light in you,” I shouted over the sound of the inferno that was rapidly engulfing the room, “only darkness.” I twisted the sword and wrenched it free. Blood gushed from the wound and Scomric collapsed, quivering. He was reaching with his remaining hand towards the flames when his body shook, and he died.