Free Amidst The Rising Shadows (Book 3) by Ken Lozito Page A

the tribunal to respond.
    The members of the tribunal regained their feet, and a member spoke, “We find that your suggestion is in keeping with the good faith of our judgment and will be carried out upon the human.”
    Aaron glared at Halcylon, but he wouldn’t move. He wouldn’t strike out against the general even though he was such a short distance away from him. They had a way to get to Safanar. A glimmer of hope ignited deep inside Aaron that he may yet be able to return to Sarah. It was that hope that would keep him from casting his life away, and the look on Halcylon’s eyes confirmed that this is what the general had planned the entire time. Halcylon had used Aaron as the rallying cry for the Hythariam. As he looked around the stadium at the hateful leers of the Hythariam, Aaron almost doubted that he would live long enough to even see the portal open to Safanar.
    “Have no fear, human,” Halcylon said, so only Aaron could hear. “The last thing you will see is your home through the pale light of the portal. Mark my words, Safanar will be forever beyond your reach.”
    Halcylon stepped away, and four soldiers took up guard around him. The Hythariam in the stadium came onto the field, hungry to see their human prisoner they had condemned to death. All the while Aaron kept thinking that Iranus was not mistaken in his judgment of his own people. The slippery slope stemming from desperate measures in the name of survival had sapped the soul of the Hythariam race, leaving a yearning hatred to the purveyors of their own destruction. War and a struggle to survive had become a way of life for the Hythariam, and the only thing keeping them together was the promise of retribution for all the wrongs that had been visited upon them. It was madness, and Aaron was caught firmly in its web.

C HAPTER 5
    FALLEN CITY STIRS

    Colind looked at the rubble-strewn ground that stretched away from him. Shandara had been his home and his prison. Now it appeared that the fallen city was waking from a fitful slumber. The imbalance of energy and constant twilight were gone. The barrier that held the Hythariam at bay no longer drained the land. Sunlight bathed the city in a warm glow, and the city seemed to breathe a great sigh as if it had cast off a terrible burden. The cries of the dead still echoed in Colind’s mind, causing him to wince at times. Nothing remained of the people who couldn’t escape, and what fire hadn’t consumed the passage of time claimed for its own.  
    The Hythariam had been slowly clearing the streets and restoring the buildings. At least they had shelter, and the underground springs that fed the city still worked.
    “I keep expecting to see a Ryakul lurking around every corner,” Garret said.
    “They’ve scattered, but there could still be some here,” Colind answered.
    “Without the Drake to control them, I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before they terrorize the smaller cities and towns that have little or no defenses,” Vaughn said.
    Garret frowned, taking stock of the area, “What I don’t understand is how the Ryakuls even survived here for so long. What did they eat? It’s not as if there was a ready food supply anywhere near here.”
    Colind’s stomach sank, and he closed his eyes, wincing, “They ate the most readily available food supply: other Ryakuls.”
    They glanced at each other, their mouths drawing downward, disgusted at the thought of this new revelation.
    “I’ve seen it,” Colind answered. “My body was trapped and my soul doomed to dwell in the twilight of this place. The past, whatever else it is, is gone.”
    The silence gave them men a brief respite from bitter thoughts. They turned down a street that had been cleared. The rubble had been moved to a place away from the city. Roselyn, Iranus’s daughter and a brilliant scientist, had been able to create smaller Keystone Accelerators for them to use to open portals. They were less powerful than the prototype that