Free The Legend of Asahiel: Book 03 - The Divine Talisman by Eldon Thompson

little for their complaints. With one hitched to the litter and the other tied off behind, Allion left the empty roadway and set forth through the trees.
    It was a dense, uneven trail he followed, grown denser in the many weeks since it had last seen regular use. Darkness pressed him, but he knew this route well enough to walk it in his dreams.
    He tried not to listen to the litter as it scraped and bounced along the overgrown path, focusing instead on the potential approach of any enemy. Whileone hand held his mount’s lead rope, the other gripped his hunting knife. It was one of the main reasons he had sought to do this in private. He hadn’t wanted to endanger Marisha or any members of his family by allowing them to come. If the Illychar gathered at Krynwall had been driven forth, there was a good chance he might stumble upon them here, in the concealing reaches of the Kalgren Forest. As he stood little chance of defeating even one of the possessed creatures by himself in his ragged state, his best hope was to simply escape their attention.
    He had done well enough so far. The highway leading east had been deserted. All farmsteads had been abandoned. Birds and wildlife had been scarce—hauntingly so, here within the forest. Perhaps that meant the Illychar were still about, hunting for prey. Or perhaps even they had moved on.
    Allion was not certain he cared either way. Though he carried his bow and arrows, the weapon was not even strung. Part of him wished that his enemies would come and take him—relieve him of his misery and pain. In a way, he envied his fallen friend. For Torin, the struggle was already ended. For the rest of them, it had scarcely begun.
    And what was he to fight for? He cared little about Krynwall. He cared even less about any hidden treasures the future might have in store. Chasing his dreams had brought nothing but grief and betrayal. Performing his duties had resulted only in loss. Weary of fighting, he simply wanted things to be as they had been before.
    He paused as he realized where he stood—upon the rim of a small clearing that lay within a wooded hollow. One of their favorite archery grounds, Allion recalled, and the one in which they had first heard Queen Ellebe’s startled cry. This was where it had all begun. Her arrival—and their rush to respond—had led to the rest: Torin’s quest, Diln’s destruction, the drawing of the Sword, the unleashing of the Illysp, Torin’s death…
    Allion clenched his eyes against the flood of imagery. The truth, so terrible and fresh, still seemed to lack a solid edge. It was more like a flame, bright and scorching and difficult to grasp. Even now, he could scarcely fathom how that single event had triggered so much death and devastation.
    His lead horse tossed its head. The trailing one whickered impatiently. Flush with sorrow and regrets, Allion marched on.
    He tried to see the forest as it had once been. It was easier out here, removed from the village center that had been burned to cinders and trampled into the earth by those who had hunted them. Having returned well after Torin’s team had gone through and buried the remains, Allion had been spared much of the toil and grief his friend had endured in laying so many friends and loved ones to rest.
    Now it was his turn.
    It might have been easier had he been able to understand how Torin had died, exactly, or what his death had won them. Certainly, his victory over Darinor represented a tremendous counterblow to the Illysp conquest. But wasit enough to alter the final outcome, or would they only find another leader? Regardless, what greater price could Allion be asked to pay?
    An internal scream silenced the hunter’s tortured reflections. This wasn’t about him. As forbidding as his own future seemed, there would be time enough to confront it later. His mission now was to mourn and bid proper farewell to he who had already paid the ultimate price. Justice, some might call it, in that Torin