Free Ember by Tess Williams Page A

again, and knocked
the Meoden unconscious.
    Without exchanging words or even a look,
Cornelius sent the sword flying into the air towards Thoran. The
man caught it easily with his free hand.
    By now the beast had built up speed,
seemingly headed for a wall to brush Thoran off against. The moment
Thoran caught the hilt of the sword though, he lifted his flaming
arm off the creature's head and forced the sharp tip of the blade
onto the same spot, down, and through the creature's skull.
    Instantly the beast collapsed. The momentum
kept him headed straight into a collision with the stone. Thoran
jumped backwards before this, then flung his sword up and around to
rest on his soldiers.
    “What was that?” started Cornelius who was
moving closer to Thoran. “You normally display a complex series of
aerial acrobatics in such a situation . . . you're just jumping backwards now?”
    Thoran waited for Cornelius to reach him then
put a hand on his shoulder.
    “My friend, there are some things I think I
am ready to leave for the next generation.”
    “Yes, well . . . I know of a couple that do a
fine job of it already.”
    Thoran half nodded in agreement, before they
both turned to look at the dead beast.
    After a moment a smirk crossed Thoran's
face.
    “Can you imagine what those two would had
been like if that girl had stayed around?”
    Cornelius’s face contorted, but before Thoran
could notice a silky voice drifted from on top of the wall.
    “Well, look what we have here.”
    The two men turned up, all humor
forgotten.
    “Sylvanus.” Thoran uttered the name like a
curse.
    “Nice to see you too, Thoran. Cornelius.” He
nodded to each in turn. “I'm going to have fun telling Demian about
how I found you two standing over the corpses of an entire camp.
And with a healthy young Kelkar as well.” He regarded the creature
with a half-cocked frown, then began sauntering back and forth
along the wall.
    “You know bloody well we're within our rights
to attack a camp this far out, Sylvanus. And unless you want a
sword through your gut, I suggest you get across the boundaries as
fast as your decrepit legs will allow.”
    Sylvanus stopped his pacing and leaned his
head towards Thoran. “Is that supposed to scare me? You wouldn't dare! ”
    Thoran's voice grew louder. “Just get out of
my sight, Sylvanus! I have enough of your exploits to bring up at
the next meeting to get you expelled from the council as it
is!”
    Cornelius held out a staying hand to
Thoran.
    Sylvanus laughed wickedly. “Oh . . . you're
talking about that girl! I figured you'd found her after I
came across the dead scouts near her scent. She was a pretty one,
wasn't she? In fact that's why I'm out here. I couldn't quite get
her off my mind, so I went to Tiver to check in on her. Imagine my
surprise when I found that she wasn't there.”
    “So, what? Are you guys just keeping her
locked up in your little cabin for entertainment?”
    Thoran's eyes shifted to Cornelius for a
moment then back to Sylvanus.
    “Let's go. This worm can stay here and
rot.”
    As they headed out of the camp, Sylvanus
yelled after them.
    “It's a shame I lost the girl when I did. We
would have had so much . . . fun. ”
    He didn't stop laughing until the two men
were out of sight.
    *
    Somehow I found my way back to the lodge and
delivered the package to Sophie, who in turn forced me to eat a
small snack. It wasn't until I was back in the secluded study that
I remembered a certain creature had latched onto me back in the
woods.
    “Oh my God!”
    I instantly jumped up and started checking my
clothing for a smashed little ball of fur.
    After a few seconds of searching I decided
that he must have jumped off a while ago and plopped back onto the
couch.
    When I left Sophie it was twelve-thirty, just
half an hour till one. I started twiddling my fingers nervously
around each other.
    I wonder if I could just hide for a while
and pretend I forgo -
    My body flinched. Something behind me