Free Heirs of the Fallen: Book 03 - Shadow and Steel by James A. West Page A

called.
    Leitos swam toward his father. After a few strokes, his feet touched the sandy bottom. “We need to go back for the others.”
    “There is no need,” Adham answered, pointing at what was left of the two ships, the reef holding them fast.
    Moonlight played across the debris, and Ulmek stood on the highest point of the Night Blade’s ruined bow. He raised a firemoss lantern, peering about. Behind him, some of the Brothers began lining up Kelren prisoners on the tilted deck, while others tossed lines to those swimming nearby.
    “Dealing with these bastards will make for a long night,” Adham warned, swiping a strand of seaweed from his cheek.
    “We cannot kill them,” Leitos said. Adham gave him a sharp look, and he added, “As our prisoners told us, we do not have the seamanship to make the return journey. Besides, we will need them to build us another ship ... if that is possible.”
    “He speaks the truth,” Ba’Sel said, gazing at the leaning palm trees growing above a pale ribbon of shoreline. Higher, a shadowed and dense forest guarded the way to a mountainous land.
    “One of our prisoners,” Leitos said, “named these the hunting grounds. He always laughed when he said it, as if our coming here would mean our doom.”
    “I would speak with this man,” Ba’Sel said.
    Leitos shook his head. “Telmon will never talk to the living again.”
    Ba’Sel grunted. “Then perhaps one of these others will.”
    “Rest assured, they will talk,” Adham assured him.
    “First,” Ba’Sel said wearily, “we must get our men and the prisoners ashore. Then we set a guarded camp. I do not know what dangers these lands hold, but we must be prepared to meet them.”

Chapter 11
     
     
    Hours later, in a burst of gold and crimson, the sunrise brightened the leafy green foliage that climbed the flanks of sharp ridgelines and soaring mountains, the highest peaks of which hid amongst banks of mist. From Leitos’s vantage point, the curving shoreline gave way to a terrace of black rocks to the south; to the north, pale sands climbed out of the sea and became dunes covered in patches of tough grass.
    Ba’Sel’s thoughtful expression spoke of vague familiarity. “If I do not miss my guess, we are standing on the shores of Yato, the largest island in a chain of the same name. I saw a map as a boy. Hundreds of isles stretch to the south and east, like a great claw cutting through the Sea of Sha’uul.”
    “And how does that serve us?” Ulmek groused.
    Leitos knew the man was happy to have rescued Ba’Sel and the others, but he did not know how he felt about relinquishing command. Without question, he was back to his usual ill-tempered self.
    Ba’Sel fingered a scabbed lump at his hairline. “Poorly, unless Pa’amadin favors us. Even before the Upheaval, those who flourished on these islands were a warlike folk. By all accounts, the Yatoans were not given to trade, or forgiving of outlanders. They proved so hostile in guarding their islands that even the Suanahad Empire, with its hunger for conquest, gave Yato a wide berth.”
    “Yatoans,” Ulmek murmured. “Where have I heard that name?”
    Ba’Sel glanced at Leitos and quickly away. “Zera was of these lands.”
    “So she claimed,” Ulmek said. “Only a fool would trust the words of a lying demon-born. But that is of no matter. We should double the guard at once. Telmon suggested these lands are a danger to us.”
    “No,” Ba’Sel said. “Our scouts have found no spies, we have suffered no trouble, and so we will show no outward signs of hostility. If there are any watchers, we will show them that we mean no harm, and perhaps they will help us.”
    Ulmek shook his head in disgust, and Leitos found himself torn. Fighting the Faceless One’s minions had left him with a sense of purpose and fulfillment—after a long year of training, he had finally begun his avowed quest. And the night before, when Ba’Sel had spoken of making ready, Leitos had