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Back Forest of Souls Save as PDF
Chapters (34)
  1. FOREST of SOULS
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. GLOSSARY
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  32. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  33. Newsletter Sign-up
  34. Copyright

My arms rip from my slackened restraints. I bury both swords hilt deep beneath his ribs.

He rears back, eyes wide with surprise. His claws drop me. I jerk my swords free as I fall. I land on my feet and shuffle back. Ronin stumbles. His legs fold. His huge body sinks to the dusty floor of the greenhouse. His eyes find mine, the knowledge of his death creeping into his face.

“Soulrender,” he whispers. Then he slumps forward, and his legs go still.

I stab both of my blades into the stone and sink to my knees, panting and aching. My thigh feels like it’s been set aflame, and I’ve bled through the bandages. I’ll deal with it later. Weariness drags at my limbs, bone deep. But I draw a deep breath and force myself to stand.

The Soulless’s magic continues to course through me, leaving an acrid scent in my nostrils. Even in death, he is more powerful than I am. It’s hard to imagine how he must have been in life, a shaman so formidable it required an abomination like Ronin to stop him. Ronin must have been a great man once to make such a sacrifice for Thiy. But all the years of using the Soulless’s perverse magic corrupted him.

I won’t make that mistake. I’m going to end this, here and now.

Beneath the slick of the Soulless’s magic, I can sense that even without Ronin, he remains connected to the Dead Wood. It’s his magic that first trapped the souls here, after all. A clear venom was leaking from that puncture wound in his neck. That must be how Ronin kept him so well preserved.

With a beam of wood from the debris in the foyer and one of the lit lanterns, I manage to create a makeshift torch. Then I touch the flaming beam to the base of the spiderweb. The moss smolders, and the webbing instantly shrivels. The dust catches fire, spreading quickly along the thick strands. Smoke plumes upward, stinging my eyes.

Coughing, I shield my face and toss the flaming chunk of wood into the growing blaze. Then, with one last look up at the Soulless’s cocoon, now indistinct through the haze of heat, I turn and flee.

TWENTY-FIVE

I make my way out as silently as I entered.

The greenhouse is so far removed from the occupied sections of the castle that I’m not worried the fire will spread beyond control. It’ll be some time before the blaze is even noticed, but I’d better be quick either way. Every injury I’ve acquired in the last day makes itself known as I pick my way through the gardens. Most of the sky is still dark, but the sun will rise within hours. The crust of the eastern horizon has already brightened from black to dusky blue.