Wilder Hawthorne
A s they journeyed back to Thezmarr, Wilder rode ahead of the company. He needed to distance himself from his Warsword brothers, from the commanders, from everyone and everything, including the terror that had gripped his heart when the reaper had clapped eyes on Thea.
A rheguld reaper … A creature of unending darkness, a monster who could reach into a man’s soul and infect it with the same dark curse they bear. It had been drawn to her .
His shirt grew damp with sweat beneath his armour. The shadow wraiths and their masters didn’t belong in the midrealms, they never had, and yet here they were, stalking the kingdoms freely, seeking power to feed off. That was what they thirsted for the most, more than blood, more than death.
Power . They could sense it, sniff it out amongst a crowd…
And one had found it in Thea.
From the heart of the fray, Wilder had watched the creature pause mid-kill, its attention snapping to her, as though someone had lifted a cover from its eyes and at long last it could see the very thing it had always wanted.
The attacks had continued to evolve since he’d first learnt of them, since he’d dealt with the monsters firsthand himself.
For them to send in five reapers was unusual, given that their deaths ensured the demise of those they had sired.
To Wilder, it meant there must be more of them than they knew, that their numbers must be great enough that losing entire units was of no concern.
That the reapers were getting arrogant. Both thoughts were terrifying.
Wilder’s chest burned as it grew tighter. He pushed the loose hair from his brow and reached for his flask, taking a much needed draught of the fiery liquid within.
Dratos’ message had mentioned wraiths, not reapers. But five of them had got through… Five.
The Veil grows more unstable each day. Our rangers have reported sounds echoing from beyond its mist, and tremors wracking the outskirts of our lands.
So there was a tear in the Veil to the south of Naarva, and now another to the north of Delmira. One threat after another, there was no limit to the horrors that could be unleashed upon the midrealms. And not enough Warswords in the realms to protect the people of the three remaining kingdoms.
The wraith hearts knocked against the side of his saddle, the putrid stench of burnt hair leaking from the blood-soaked bags. As always, he’d hand them over to Farissa to see if anything could be learnt about the creatures’ make-up and weaknesses.
Pain tugged at the flesh between his shoulder and his chest as he rode.
There was a deep gash there. Not for the first time, he cursed his unfortunate timing of undertaking the Great Rite when Delmira had already fallen and their supplies of Warsword armour had been used.
Where his shitty imitation armour left him vulnerable, one of the creatures had got a decent swipe in, it seemed.
He glanced down, the wound hot with a looming infection.
Reluctantly, he poured some of his liquor on the cut, swearing as his skin blazed.
This was exactly the sort of injury one might use their vial of springwater from Aveum on.
It was the purest of all the lands, boasting healing properties lusted after by many.
But Wilder had suffered wounds far worse than this, never deeming them worthy of the vial’s use.
No, he’d manage just fine, as he had all the times before.
Both Talemir and Malik had used their vials too soon, so that when the dire hours came, they had nothing left. And by the time Wilder had got to them, it had been too late for him to use his. He wouldn’t make their mistake. He’d save his until the most grim circumstances gave him no other choice.
A scratch wasn’t reason enough. He only wished they’d slain that final piece of filth before it escaped out to sea. Who knew how many wraiths would have disintegrated upon their sire’s death? It had been a missed opportunity.
He took another drink of fire extract and winced as the movement pulled at the gash. Still, he could not let go of the nagging sensation. A rheguld reaper had singled Thea out.
Ignoring the pain, Wilder urged his stallion into a gallop. He needed to get back to the fortress. He needed answers.