![]() ![]() Narcel fell to his knees and watched the servants, often referred to by their more accurate titles of slaves, as they fell upon the opposing forces. “Find it and join us.” Charos turned to the boys and men behind him and motioned forward. What were they doing on the battle field? Had the situation deteriorated to such levels? “I….” Narcel stared as more men in dirtied clothes and used armor followed behind Charos. “Your sword, where is it?” Charos shouted. He stepped forward, hopeful, but was met by someone he least expected-the servant Charos. Valhia’s army had recovered, or maybe it was reinforcements from Nethia. He turned back to see the man’s head roll across the ground. He heard footsteps behind him, and then a sickening crunch of bronze on bone. “Narcel!” a voice shouted from nearby, distracting the man just long enough for Narcel to make a run for it. Narcel dodged the opposite direction and stared, horrified, as the man turned on him with an evil smile. He turned to see a husky man wearing bronze armor with a brown cape, a sword gleaming. The spear clattered against the stones behind him. ![]() In the midst of the chaos, he spotted the flash of his brother’s blue-plumed helmet, the bronze polished and bright in the sun.Ī short spear glinted, giving Narcel just enough notice to dive sideways. Men in the browns and grays of the North charged south, pushing back the few Valhian defenders that remained. But what he saw seemed to justify his cowardice. When he reached the top of a small hill he paused to look back. He ran, his legs shaking and his mind spinning. His fingers felt the soft sand before he processed that he was on the shore. He hadn’t been ready for this when he was standing his ground with a sword in his hands, and he certainly wasn’t going to attempt to climb back only to meet his end. ![]() Men roared from a nearby ship and a splatter of blood hit the water before another body in the blue robes of Valhia fell over the side of the trireme. He watched the last breaths of the body surface as it sank, only then realizing he could have used his own bubbles to find his way up instead of the arrows. As he breached the surface, a body hit beside him and he stared, dumbfounded, at the lifeless face of a boy he had spent hours training with only weeks before. Another plowed through the water and he saw the rippling surface, and he pushed, leaving the living shadows of the water’s depths behind. Jerking his head, he searched for the way up, for the origination of the arrows. He may not survive the war, but he could at least live through this.Īrrows hit the water and sunk past Narcel, telling him that hand-to-hand battle would soon begin above. A finger pointed as if calling to him, and the silver glow traced patterns in the water as it slowly spread its way toward him. Could they simply be his imagination? Hallucinations? A figure seemed to move from the shadows, eyes staring into his soul. A face se emed to look at him, then many, not quite there… a silver glow to them, intensifying as he sunk lower, closer. His lungs burned as his last breaths trickled away. ![]() In the depths of the water, shadows coursed, swaying as if alive. As he watched his sword sink into the sand below, sunlight glimmering on the polished and yet unused bronze that was befitting the youngest son of the mayor, he wondered how a boy of thirteen was supposed to slay full-grown men-warriors, proven in battle. The water engulfed him, surprisingly warm, and for a moment he wanted to float away from the chaos above. Someone was yelling for a hard pivot to starboard, but a second trireme struck and Narcel spun, felt a sharp pain in his back, and then fell. With an ear piercing creak, the ships pulled apart. Saltwater stung his eyes and the wood of the ship’s deck shuddered with the impact of one of many triremes from the North. It was the first day the youths were given swords in defense of Nethia, and Narcel was not pleased to be one of them. Emed chapters in clash of kings audiobook free#To receive a free story and audiobook, as well as future updates, sign up for Justin’s newsletter at PROLOGUE Please leave a review, and find Justin Sloan’s Audiobooks on Audible. Please consider leaving a review, and tell your friends about Falls of Redemption. The first two books have been combined here as one. The language in this novel has been modernized so as to keep it comprehensible, and liberties have been taken as such. No people known to the author have become gods or believe themselves to have done so. This was my first book, and therefore a scary endeavor, but you stuck with me. To my family and friends, and all the others who believed in me as I set out on this writing journey. ![]()
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