Free The Archon's Apprentice by Neil Breault Page B

guilt he felt at having run when he should have stayed and fought alongside him. He walked over to the woman. There were many cuts on her body and face. It took Mikol a moment to be able to confirm the woman was Juna. He did the best he could to cover up her body. Most of her clothing had been torn away. They had talked only a few times months ago. He felt bad they had not spent more time together. She had begun to open up. He almost wished Arceri were dead so he would not have to come home to a dead betrothed. He immediately hated himself for the thought.
    Sounds coming from down the hallway brought him to the present. He leapt up and drew Raythrael once again. He let out a laugh and lowered his sword as he saw Voletain and the Wardens. Voletain rushed to Mikol’s side and caught him before he fell from exhaustion. Voletain looked at the bodies. He made no noise but shook his head slowly.
    “It is a shame.”
    Mikol did not have the energy to speak yet and grunted.
    “She was such a beautiful woman,” Voletain said. “I believe she had been trying to understand our way of life. Maybe even coming to terms with what she would become. After Arceri was renounced as the heir and presumed dead, she locked herself in her room. I worried about her so I checked on her regularly. After some time she left her room to wander the castle at night. I had someone follow her on her nightly walks to make sure she was doing well.”
    “We both tried to save her.”
    Voletain made sure Mikol could stand on his own before going to Ussan’s body. He kneeled down next the body and placed a hand on Ussan’s forehead. Mikol saw Voletain utter something to the body but could not hear what it was. Voletain moved to the body of the beast next. The interweaving of the two magics had continued to wreak havoc on the body. Mikol was quite sure the body would decompose before they could clean the hallway.
    “It seems it was a fortuitous night to give you Raythrael.”
    “Why?”
    “This is, or was, a Death Hellion. There has not been a recorded sighting in my time. They are supposed to rain death and destruction on their way to their intended target. Raythrael allowed you to stop it before it could accomplish its goal.”
    “What do you mean? What goal?”
    “I assume that if it had been allowed to continue its path it would have found its target. I can only assume that target was the king. After they kill their target they explode and cause even more damage.”
    “Where did this thing come from?”
    “That is a good question,” said Voletain. “Let us follow its path of death to its origin.” Voletain pointed to two of the Wardens. “Drag that creature to the sanctuary. You two, bring Juna’s body to the Sanctuary for restoration so she can be given a proper burial. The rest of you, follow me. Mikol, you should come too. This will be a better learning experience than anything we have.”
    As they traversed the hallways they found a trail of bodies. Even without the body trail, the bloody footprints the beast had left were easy to follow. The door leading down to the dungeon lay on the floor where it had been dropped after being ripped off its hinges. They had to move the door before proceeding and found another dead guard underneath. The dungeon had never been a well-lit area, but the way down was now pitch black. Voletain created several floating orbs of light ahead of them so they could see. There were two more dead guards before they saw light coming from a cell ahead. Voletain’s hand on Mikol’s shoulder made him realize he had unsheathed Raythrael again. It also dawned on him he had been holding his breath. He exhaled deeply. Omoni poked his head out of the cell and jumped back after seeing them.
    “What are you doing here?” said Voletain.
    “I heard a commotion, came to investigate, saw the dead guards and the dungeon wide open. Came down to see who was trying to free whom and came across this.” Omoni indicated the body in