Mist, Shadow, and Deep - E-Book

Barely escaping with their lives, Dusk and his companions head south, following the mountains as they search for another way through. That is until they're lost within a misty bog that threatens to consume them.

Out of the mist appears a figure who saves Dusk before the monster of the bog can consume him. Grateful and indebted, they head south together toward the port town of Emerald Deep. There's a pass through the mountains there that will lead the party to their freedom at last.

But Emerald Deep is filled with mysteries, thieves, and temptation. The moment they arrive, the group begins to crumble, and Dusk is left wondering if his companions ever cared about him at all.

And that's the moment the shadow attacks.

Chapter One
Bark shattered off the tree as an arrow landed with a dull thump mere inches from the pinned shred of white cloth Dusk had been using as a target. A small surge of pride eased the ache of his shoulders and arm and made a smile sneak across his lips. The splintered, exposed wood and chipped bark all down the tree’s side told of his efforts in the last hour.
“Well, that’s a lot better,” Lex said, stepping up to Dusk on the shoulder. “You’re a bit of a natural at this, but time will make you more accurate. Most people I’ve met can’t even hit the tree for the first few weeks, especially at this distance.”
“I’ll keep practicing,” Dusk said simply.
“You’ll be a better shot than me in no time. I was always terrible with a bow,” Lex replied with a sigh. “I’m not great with this heavy beast of a blade either,” he looked at the thick bastard sword on his hip. “If we ever come across a town again, I want to find another rapier.”
“What do you want with some flimsy weapon like that?” Tara called from a few paces away. She was packing up the last of the bags and throwing them across Maribel’s back. “You should get a great sword and put some muscle on that skinny body of yours. You’re too easy to overpower, and you look like a toothpick.”
“Remind me why we brought her along again?”
They had been traveling for a week through the endless sea of grass, and neither Lex nor Tara had stopped bickering the entire time. At first, Dusk had found it wore on his patience, and by the end of a day’s travel, he wanted nothing more than to slip away and sit with Maribel for a while, enjoying the silence with his only non-verbal companion. Somehow, the constant arguing had brought Lex closer to his previous self like he had been before the incident at Windshear Tower. Dusk had wondered if Lex would ever truly recover. Less than a week before, he had been concerned that Lex would leave them and wander alone. To Dusk’s relief, Lex had chosen to go south with them through the plains to Emerald Deep. He seemed to be making a good recovery.
The great lake at the edge of the ocean still lay more than three weeks away on foot. The cold and snow had made it slow going, the wind on the plains cutting through their clothing and keeping them from building a fire most nights. Still, they kept on each day, trying to take shelter under trees when they found them and hoping the snow-covered grassland would end eventually. Tara assured them it would, but neither Dusk nor Lex had any idea what lay beyond. They were already beyond Ditania’s lawful reach, even if the land belonged to the newly-crowned king. It was a wild country without a village or road in sight.
Both Lex and Tara had proven useful on their journey so far. After finding the village at the base of the mountains burned to the ground and no survivors in sight, they’d turned onto the plains with little more than a few days of rations and water to survive. Tara’s hunting prowess brought in fresh meat almost every night. Lex, on the other hand, being well-educated in foraging, found edible wild roots and plants to bolster their meals. Between the two of them, they were all well-fed. Water was scarcer, but they had happened upon ponds and water-filled depressions in the hilly landscape here and there to refill their water skins. Dusk was surprised to find small fish living at the edges of some of the pools. He’d pointed them out to Lex, but they were too small to eat. Lex promised him when they finally came across something large enough, he would teach him to fish. Thrilled by the idea, Dusk became a great spotter for water sources on their journey. However, he was confused as to how the fish had gotten there in the first place with no incoming streams or rivers, but neither of his companions had an answer for him.
Another arrow sunk into the scarred bark, piercing the cloth that hung there.
“Hey! You got it!” Lex yelled as he clapped his hands together a few times. “Soon, we’ll have you out there hunting with Tara so we can eat something other than rabbits! I can’t believe you hit it!”
“Thanks,” Dusk replied sheepishly. He reached up and scratched the skin that chafed under his cold metal collar.
“Time to go, junior assassins,” Tara called from behind them. “Looks like more clouds are moving in over the mountain. We should be nearing the end of the plains soon. I don’t want to be caught out here for another blizzard.”
Lex jogged over to the tree, retrieving the arrows. Dusk turned back to Tara, putting the bow across his back.
“Do you think we’ll make it there by tonight?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see a treeline in the distance yet, but there are some small rises ahead. Maybe we can see more from there. It can’t be much further. It should be just on the other side of the River Sunder.”
“How are we going to cross that?”
“One problem at a time. We’ll worry about that when we get there.”
“Worry about what?” Lex asked as he jogged back to them, handing the bundle of black arrows to Dusk.
“We’re coming up on a river.”
“That’s going to be hell to cross with the snow-melt. And I can’t imagine there’s reliable bridges out here in the wilds.” Lex sighed, glancing back to Tara. “But I knew we’d have to cross one eventually.”
“It’s the same river that flows south of Alamond, so it’s going to be wide,” Tara advised.
Lex nodded, walking over to Maribel’s side and taking a folded piece of thick parchment from the bags tied across her back. Unfolding it as he walked, he brought it over to Tara and held it out. It was the same map they’d taken from Brand after Dusk had killed him in his shiny new bathtub.
“This map shows the main road and the towns but not much else. It’s pretty crude,” Tara began. She ran her finger along the surface, tracing a circle around a large area. “These are the plains we’re in right now.” She pointed to a red X marked just south of the main road. “It looks like this is where that bandit camp was?” Lex gave her a quick nod. She began to trace backward towards the mountains. “What you can’t see here is that the Sunder flows down from the Dorsum Mountains well south of the main road, but thanks to some of the hills and valleys around here, it actually flows north for almost a week’s trek before it turns east, heading towards the capital city where it fills the moat around the castle wall. From there, it spills into Lake Eblesal.”