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Back Copper Chain Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. MAP
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. 54
  60. 55
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Palemon and Kyphos watched together, wheezing as they regained their breath. The harbor was little more than a sandy shore, with fishing boats pulled up onto the beach and a solitary pier stretching out into the deep water so ships could dock. Aside from some baskets and coiled-up ropes, the pier was empty.

Filled with despair, Palemon fixed his gaze on the sails vanishing into the horizon.

‘There was no way we could have stopped them,’ Kyphos said.

‘We should have seized the harbor first.’

‘How? The clansmen aren’t sailors. We have no boats. We had to take the walls.’

Palemon clenched his fists at his sides as he watched the sails becoming smaller and smaller. He finally turned to Kyphos.

‘This isn’t going to be easy,’ he said.

2

2

Chloe was trapped.

Her prison was a large one: a long, low island with forests at one end and stretches of barren rock at the other. It was a place where she could roam and wander, with screeching sea birds for company and the crashing waves almost like distant conversation. There were parts she wasn’t supposed to visit, such as the Oracle’s cave set into the misshapen hill on the isle’s western side, but everywhere else was hers to explore. Nonetheless, the dark-blue sea surrounding Athos on all sides was a barrier that separated her from everything she cared about. Sometimes she wondered if she would ever be able to leave.

She had no memory of her journey to Athos. But she did remember using her power to help Eiric fight Triton and reclaim the eldran homeland, and then finding herself alone in Sindara afterward. Soon after, an agonizing pain had struck her with force, deep inside her skull. The four magi appeared as if from nowhere. They said they’d been looking for her, and that she had to go with them.

Tears welled in her eyes when she thought about her father, Aristocles. When Chloe had told the magi she had to find him, the mysterious men who served the Oracle said that he was dead. She’d heard their words distantly, even as unconsciousness took her.

It was much later that she woke up on this island. And it was then that the magi told her how her father had died: murdered by four rival consuls, chief among them Nilus, her father’s oldest friend.

It had taken her time to grieve, and to adjust to her new circumstances. Athos was a special place; the magi had told her. She needed to be on the island to recover. She had to learn the things they could teach her.

Chloe now sat cross-legged at the top of a cliff, with waves crashing far below. Blinking away the tears, closing her eyes as she took a slow breath, she kept her mind clear of all thought as she contemplated the power inside her.