Oath of Betrayal (The Broken Bonds: Slavic Fantasy #1)

A laric rarely cursed. My hand fell to my sword as I looked around, but nothing appeared to be wrong. He pulled me towards the edge of the small lake glimmering in the rays of the morning sun. The valley looked peaceful, carpeted with verdant green grass dotted with mountain flowers that seamlessly blended into a forest wall.

‘Something’s … off,’ Alaric trailed off, his frown deepening. ‘I found a manuscript that suggested the crystals here have a purity similar to the keystone and that they are able to refract the condensed aether because they are, in essence—the wild magic—in solid form. I think that might be the source of the recent disturbances in this area; but if the manuscript is right, they could be used as a replacement for the current keystone. I wanted to check how accurate the claims were, but something …’

I nearly missed the startling revelation when Alaric once again fell silent. ‘They can? Do you mean there’s a real chance you could fix the Barrier?’ I asked, hopeful that the mages in the capital were wrong and Alaric had found a way to replace the broken keystone.

Before he could answer, a sudden movement caught my attention. Someone bolted from the trees bordering the far edge of the lake, halting as she reached the water. ‘Wal’vith hrae j’nesst!’ 1 Ari cursed again. His eyes turned crimson as he gestured rapidly, creating an illusion spell that made the world misty and grey.