Free A Darkness Unleashed (Book 2) by J.T. Hartke

the wizard stood near the bow, his gaze upon the river and an apple in his hand. “But maybe after dinner?”
    She squeezed his hand again.
    Lunch was short, consisting of a few hard biscuits moistened with ale, some barely warmed beans, and a wrinkled apple from a barrel in the hold. Maddi sat with him, and they ate in contented silence. Eventually, Ami and Tanya joined them, the girl grinning behind her plate at Tallen. He made a silly face, and she giggled.
    When his plate was empty, he rose from the narrow table. “See you tonight for supper?”
    Maddi’s smile was warm. “I can’t wait. We can go for a walk on deck afterward.”
    Pangs of regret coursing through him, Tallen contemplated the curve of her lips for a longing moment, before he at last turned and climbed up and out. He walked toward the bow to join Dorias Ravenhawke, where the wizard watched the waters flowing by. Merl perched upon the narrow rail of the riverboat.
    “Hello, my friend,” the wizard greeted without turning. “I was thinking we should talk more about your rescue of Maddi.” Dorias tapped his pipe out upon the rail and set about repacking it from an aromatic pouch. “You only spoke of it in passing to me, and I could tell it weighed heavily upon you.” He looked up from his pipe to watch Tallen, those dark, raptor eyes full of both sympathy and curiosity. “These were the first humans you have killed with your own power…the first fellow mage. How are you sitting with that?”
    Tallen placed his hands upon the rail, staring out at the water that passed by so much more quickly than the shoreline. He listened to the creak of leather and wood coming from the mule team, along with the shouts of the teamster and occasional brays from one of the animals. He remembered the crumpled bodies of the mage and the doctor’s men, and he could not brush the images away, no matter what he tried to force in their place.
    “They haunt my dreams, Dorias.” Tallen sighed. “When I close my eyes I see their faces.” He looked up at his mentor, the pain in his heart breaking out on his face. “It’s worse than the orcs I killed in Bridgedale. I barely remember that night, yet they still hid in my dreams. But the doctor’s men…his secretary…they reach out to me in nightmares, begging me for their lives.” His voice broke, and he cleared his throat. “It’s not every night, and being around my friends makes it better.”
    Dorias eased a calming hand onto his shoulder. “Killing a man is a hard thing, Tallen. I’ve killed more men in my lifetime than most ever meet. The Balance and the Waters both know that for truth.”
    Looking up, Tallen saw that the hawkishness had faded from Dorias’ gaze, replaced by broken regret. The morose tone of Dorias’ words seemed strange coming from someone with such power. It reminded Tallen that his companions had seen many dark times, and each had suffered great tragedies on the road to their fame and fortune.
    The wizard’s voice softened as he continued. “Many of those deaths I would take back if I could. Some I would gladly kill again. But you must remember, it is the greatest burden of a wizard’s power, the ability to deal in life and death.” His hand squeezed Tallen’s shoulder. “I believe you to be a wise man, and that you will be fair in dealing it out. The fact that your first killing haunts you so only reassures me.”
    Dorias pulled his hand away and returned to watching the Andon. “Remember, too, that those you killed would have been far less bothered by your death, and that they would have hurt Maddi with just as little concern.”
    The wizard rapped his knuckles upon the rail. “Now, as to the specifics of how you defeated them. Using the Psoul Aspect to kill, to stifle the flow of life within a person’s psahn , is very dangerous, even for a mage with your powers.” He tamped down his filled pipe and lifted it toward his lips. “If you tried to do that with a Dreamer, a