Page 23 of Thorns & Fire
‘No arguments here,’ Thea quipped.
The group settled around the fire for bread and roast hare, and Wren tensed as the Bear Slayer returned.He seated himself on the ground, putting much-needed distance between them, and looked to Thea expectantly.‘Well?’he prompted.
‘What happened to Cahira?’she asked without hesitation.‘We were told it was her we were meeting.’
‘Cahira’s dead,’ Torj said bluntly.
Thea stared at him.‘What?’
‘Dead,’ he repeated.‘She was captured by the People’s Vanguard not long ago.And handed over to the enemy who’s calling himself Silas the Kingsbane.What he did to her...She didn’t recover.She’s gone.’
‘Silas the Kingsbane...?’The name tasted bitter on Wren’s tongue.‘That’s the bastard’s name?The same coward who attacked Drevenor?’
‘So Queen Reyna told us.A moniker fit for all the royal blood he intends to spill, apparently,’ Torj replied.
‘Let him fucking try,’ Thea muttered, shaking her head.‘Poor Cahira.She was one of the first to pass the Great Rite after the war...’
‘She was a fuckingWarsword...’Kipp said slowly.‘When was the last time a Warsword wasslain?How did this happen?What did they do to her?’
‘Dark alchemy,’ Wren ventured, more desperate now than ever to set foot back on Delmirian soil.‘That’s what they used in the attack at Drevenor.’
‘Yes.’Torj pushed his food around.‘And now there’s another Warsword missing.’
Thea looked to Wren, disbelief clear in her eyes.‘So this is it...Silas the fucking Kingsbane and the People’s Vanguard really have the power to wipe Warswords from the midrealms?’
‘We already suspected that,’ Wren reminded her gently, not looking at Torj.‘The world is changing.’
Thea was tracing the scars on the backs of her hands.‘There was a time where only three Warswords roamed the world...We can’t go back to that.’
‘We won’t,’ Torj interjected.‘Even with Cahira gone, there are far more Warswords than we had back then.’
‘You’re forgetting that Vernich isretired, out in the middle of nowhere – fishing, of all things,’ Thea countered.‘And with another missing, our numbers are sliding.’
‘There’s more,’ the Bear Slayer said quietly, reaching for his pocket.He retrieved two items and tossed them onto the ground between them, the fire illuminating the strange pieces of curved bone.
Wren’s chest constricted, and the acrid burning scent surrounded her suddenly.‘Tell me those aren’t what I think they are.’
A horn and talon of a monster.The very kind that had threatened to consume the midrealms with shadow.
‘I wish I could,’ Torj replied.‘I retrieved them from Silas’s stronghold.From a crate full of them.’
Wren was going to be sick.She was going to hurl all over her boots—
Boots.Hammer.Saddle.Flask.Buttons.She focused on each object until her vision stopped blurring.
‘So that’s how they’re doing it,’ she said eventually.‘They’re extracting whatever magic lingers in these remains and infusing it with their own alchemy, corrupting it even further...’
A shocked noise escaped Thea.‘They’re insane.Don’t they remember what it was like?Don’t they remember that we nearlylost?’
‘That’s why we’re here.’Wren reached out and squeezed her hand.‘It’s why getting to Delmira and finding that plant is so important.So we can stop them.’
Torj grimaced.‘Thea, the guild has asked you to escort Queen Reyna to Aveum.She’s refusing to return to Drevenor and Audra seems to think you might be able to persuade her otherwise.’
Thea flung an arm in Wren’s direction.‘But Wren—’
‘Will be safe with me, until Audra can find an alternative replacement as she promised,’ Torj replied.Wren tried to suppress a snort from across the fire and failed.He ignored her, pressing on.‘And you should know – Wilder’s been injured.’
‘What?Why didn’t you lead withthat?’Thea snapped, eyes wide as she leapt to her feet.
