The words took a moment to sink in, but when they did she still didn’t understand.
“But I can’t be. It’s you that’s done the training, you can have the sword – here.” She slid it across to him.
Bray shook his head. “For me to take the sword I must beat you in battle and then run it through your heart. Somehow I don’t fancy doing that just now.” He rose to his feet and offered her a hand. “Come to the window, let me show you something.”
Elora, aided by Bray’s arm, shuffled to the window and peered outside.
Aslania was bustling with people and Imperial soldiers. Tents were hastily erected on the green, beside the lake. Brightly coloured bunting was strung up between fountains and roofs and decorations of paper and lace spread on surfaces about the city. People were busy singing together, dancing and merry making. She even saw Otholo, lute in hand, playing under a bright canopy with two young ladies gleefully watching him.
“Looks like they’re having a party,” Elora said, leaning against Bray’s shoulder for support.
“It’s all for you, Elora. They’re celebrating you. God killer, savour and Shadojak, all in one. Some say you’re Minu herself.”
“But I killed Diagus,” she said, not believing that all the fuss in the city was over her, she had killed the Shadojak for petties sake.
Bray nodded and placed something spherical in her hand. “After the fire, this was all that was left of him. I didn’t know what to do with it. But don’t feel any guilt for your actions, Elora.” He hugged her tight. “He was dying - already asked for the blade’s peace from me, once this was over. Truth is, Diagus was old; older than old and he’d had enough.”
Elora opened her hand and placed the large white pearl on the windowsill. It seemed to stare through her as if making a dismal judgement. Such a small thing to remain from such a powerful man.
“And us?” she asked, turning to Bray and staring up into his moss green eyes.
“Still complicated,” he smiled mischievously. “You are the Shadojak. And the daughter of Chaos, after all.” He kissed her on the lips, stubble tickling her cheeks.
She prodded him playfully in the stomach. “And the Princess of Darkness, don’t forget,” she laughed. “What happens now? What do I need to do as the Shadojak?”
“Well, you need to seek an audience with the Supreme Shadojak, it’s a formality, but one that is very important. There is also the Emperor who wishes to meet you. Another formality but one that must be done. In his eyes you’re still a threat and he would feel better knowing that you’re on his side.”
“What about Earth? My father’s army is still there, wreaking havoc and causing chaos. Isn’t there anything we can do? Is there a way back?”
Bray glanced up at prince Dylap, a frown forming on his brow. “There is a way back.”
“Good,” Elora said, picking up the heavy sword which was once her father’s, once Diagus’s and now hers.
The soul reaver vibrated in her hands, making her fingers tingle. She could hear it whispering to her, singing to her. Its edge, which had lost its green hue had become a dark red, blood red, shimmering in the daylight, the sun playing along the strange metal as her gaze worked up its length.
She returned to stare at the scene outside, at Aslania and at the cold peaks, the God’s Peaks that stood tall, above everything.
The sword in her hands suddenly erupted in sharp hot flames that licked along the cold blade. It seemed to sense her growing tension, her rising anger and tuned itself to her emotions.
“The Emperor can wait. I’m taking Earth back.”
A dark whisper touched the edge of her hearing - Kill...Kill...Kill.
The End
Author’s note
Thank you for taking the time to read Eversong. I hope you enjoyed Elora’s story and wish to continue following her journey and share in her adventure.
Thank you, A.C Salter
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Read on for a glimpse at Shadojak – volume two in the Daughter of Chaos trilogy.
Shadojak
Chapter 1
Earth Bound
“I can’t come; I wish I could,” Bray sighed, shaking his head at the injustice of the fact. He stood erect, scowling at his feet then kicked a broken piece of masonry across the blackened church hall. It skittered against the ruined font before falling into the Well of Redemption.
Elora squeezed his hand, recognising the hurt in those moss-green eyes and feeling empathy for her boyfriend and for herself.
Bray had tried to dissuade her from returning to Earth without him. Pleading that they should find a way to take the journey together and cross the barrier into the world with help from the Emperor and with the strength of his armies. But, she wouldn’t take the longer route or wait for the Emperor to make a decision. This was her mess, her actions that released the Dark Army upon the Earth and it was her job to put it right.
“I’ll be fine,” Elora said, glancing away from his concern etched face and staring out of the ruined wall of the church, taking in the city of Aslania that stretched out below them.
An entire division of the Emperor’s army was down there. She could make out the ranks of scarlet and gold along the streets and buildings waiting to escort her to Rona, the Empire’s capital.
They’d be waiting a long time because she wasn’t going with them.
Elora and Bray were in the Minuan church that was carved out of the mountain, high upon a rock face above the city she was born in and smuggled from as a child. The immense hole in the wall was created by her father, the God of Chaos. A legacy left behind along with death and destruction before she had killed him, ending a song that had been sung without pause for thousands of years. Eversong had died upon her lips when she released her father.
