The Darkling Child

“No!” Reyn was shocked at the vehemence of his response. The thought of becoming separated from Arca

“Then stay with me you shall.” Arca

The girl waited until her mentor reached her, then stepped away as he whispered something and came back to sit once more with Reyn.

“What did he say to you?” the boy asked.

She gri

Reyn blushed. “We haven’t known each other that long.”

“Well, I don’t know that there’s a timetable on these things. It seems to me you just have to let them happen. Look at me.”

He did, and she leaned in to kiss him on the lips. He kissed her back without thinking about it, wanting it to last longer than it did.

There was mischief in her eyes as she backed away. “See what I mean?”

Arca

Well, in a way, Arca

He could not yet be certain how useful Reyn would be, but the possibilities were intriguing. The potential was there; the wishsong magic was incredibly powerful. He needed to find a way to unleash it, though. The boy was frightened and reluctant to make use of it in the way Arca

He glanced down at the boy and Lariana. Perhaps the girl would do it for him. She had already enchanted Reyn; the boy could not take his eyes off her. His sorcerer’s instincts had not failed him; she had been the right choice after all. She was the perfect combination of approachable and unattainable. She was exotic, but at the same time she could draw you in. More important, though, she was willing to do whatever was necessary to further her own interests. His promise to teach her magic was a lure she could not resist. She wanted to better herself, and she knew that she needed help doing that.

She would be given her chance. If he still liked her well enough at the end of things, he would keep her on to serve him in whatever way he deemed best.

And if not, she would be left behind.

That was how life worked.

They flew on through the remainder of the day, continuing eastward toward the coast, speeding over increasingly rugged and barren terrain as farmland and inhabited country was left behind. There were no longer any towns or small settlements this far out. There was nothing much to sustain life this far into the badlands, and aside from small rodents and insects no evidence of life. Even the birds avoided this part of the Southland. Sparse grasses and scrub dotted the rocky countryside, but these were brownish and sunburned. Nothing green was in evidence; no water sparkled in the sun. It would be like this until they reached the coastal villages, which were still several hours farther on.

Arca

He thought momentarily of the Druids, and especially of Paxon Leah and his sister. It was Paxon, back in Portlow, who had attempted to intercept the boy. He had known he would run across the Highlander sooner or later; there was a co

By nightfall, their destination appeared ahead, misted and darkening, the last of the daylight fleeing west at their backs. Overhead, the moon and stars were visible in a clear, cloudless sky. He could smell the ocean—the vast waters of the Tiderace—wafting on the evening air, strong and familiar. He could just begin to hear the booming crash of the waves against the rocks.

The boy and Lariana were awake, peering ahead through the gathering haze. “Look ahead!” he shouted over the rush of the wind. “See the buildings?”

In truth, the buildings were toppled and crumbling, their walls blackened and their roofs mostly collapsed. Ruins awaited them, the devastation left by the men and women of the Red Slash.

“What is it?” Reyn called back.

Arca

When they had landed and climbed from the Sprint, Reyn said to Arca

Lariana, too, usually stoic and unruffled, was looking around doubtfully. “What is this place?”

Arca

“This way,” he ordered without explanation, moving toward a breach in the crumbling stone.

Inside, the collapsed buildings echoed with their footsteps in the deep silence as they picked their way through bones and debris. Nothing moved in the ruins, not even the birds that had fed on the dead after the carnage was complete. Arca

The list went on and on, and every face on it was etched into his memory. All had died in the attack, and there had been no effort to spare them. It was understandable that the authorities would come after the raiders who had risked their lives from the moment they had chosen to prey on Federation shipping, but to make no distinction between those who were guilty and those who were i