The Fragment of Shadow (The Shattered Soul Book 2) Read online

  By Ben Hale

  Text Copyright © 2018 Ben Hale

  All Rights Reserved

  To my family and friends,

  Who believed

  And to my wife,

  Who is perfect

  The Chronicles of Lumineia

  By Ben Hale

  —The Shattered Soul—

  The Fragment of Water

  The Fragment of Shadow

  The Fragment of Light

  The Fragment of Fire

  The Fragment of Mind

  The Fragment of Power

  —The Master Thief—

  Jack of Thieves

  Thief in the Myst

  The God Thief

  —The Second Draeken War—

  Elseerian

  The Gathering

  Seven Days

  The List Unseen

  —The Warsworn—

  The Flesh of War

  The Age of War

  The Heart of War

  —The Age of Oracles—

  The Rogue Mage

  The Lost Mage

  The Battle Mage

  —The White Mage Saga—

  Assassin's Blade (Short story prequel)

  The Last Oracle

  The Sword of Elseerian

  Descent Unto Dark

  Impact of the Fallen

  The Forge of Light

  Table of Contents

  The Chronicles of Lumineia

  Table of Contents

  Map of Lumineia

  Prologue: Shadow’s Intrigue

  Chapter 1: Target

  Chapter 2: Ilumidora

  Chapter 3: Thieves Guild

  Chapter 4: The Bloodsworn

  Chapter 5: The Angel of Death

  Chapter 6: Sister

  Chapter 7: The Unspoken

  Chapter 8: A Fallen Guild

  Chapter 9: Trapped

  Chapter 10: Shadow’s Request

  Chapter 11: Requiem

  Chapter 12: Shadow’s Truth

  Chapter 13: The Raven Guildhall

  Chapter 14: The Strange Master

  Chapter 15: Brother

  Chapter 16: The Raven Archives

  Chapter 17: Lady Dentis

  Chapter 18: The Darkened Cellar

  Chapter 19: The Missing Target

  Chapter 20: The Dark Dwarf

  Chapter 21: A Game of Truth

  Chapter 22: Office of Taxation

  Chapter 23: The Burning Tavern

  Chapter 24: Demons at Dinner

  Chapter 25: Axehead Mine

  Chapter 26: The Purple Dwarf

  Chapter 27: Friend

  Chapter 28: Lorica’s Gambit

  Chapter 29: Mistkeep

  Chapter 30: A Dangerous Ambition

  Chapter 31: Shadow’s Cage

  Chapter 32: Unbound

  Chapter 33: Imposter

  Chapter 34: The Unguarded

  Chapter 35: Wings of an Assassin

  Chapter 36: Fear of the Hunted

  Chapter 37: Lorica’s Vengeance

  Chapter 38: Shadow’s Brothers

  Chapter 39: Farmer

  Chapter 40: Finding Serak

  Chapter 41: Execution

  Chapter 42: A Brother’s Home

  Chapter 43: Shadow’s Gift

  Chapter 44: Leashed

  Chapter 45: Unleashed

  The Chronicles of Lumineia

  Author Bio

  Map of Lumineia

  Prologue: Shadow’s Intrigue

  From the cliff’s edge, Shadow watched the sun set, relishing the gathering darkness. The gold on the horizon dimmed to red, and finally the valley below was swallowed by night. A smile tugged at his lips as creatures crept from their lairs, unaware that he saw all.

  Owls flitted in the night and great cats stalked their slumbering prey, the trees alive with motion invisible to any but one with shadow magic. He yearned to join them, especially on such a night, where clouds obscured the moon and stars, giving him nearly unlimited power.

  Shadow glanced to the ledge at his feet, to the spot where he had first separated from Draeken. Two hundred years. That’s how long he’d trained with Elenyr and the other fragments. He’d been impatient before, but tonight he felt compelled to escape.

  “You’re not ready to go out alone,” Elenyr had said earlier that day. “You must learn control.”

  “You must learn trust,” Shadow had retorted, and then stormed from the training hall.

  Shadow scowled, annoyed that Elenyr seemed to trust the other fragments more than him. She had permitted each of the others small assignments, opportunities to leave and return alone. But to Shadow she cautioned patience. He was tired of patience.

  On the darkened ledge he reached for the shadows, felt the magic caress his skin like velvet, shaping, twisting, merging into threads of darkness. They embraced his torso and lifted him off the ground, bending and turning into limbs and wings, claws and a spiked tail. He allowed his body to turn into its elemental form, the flesh joining the darkness and growing, until his head morphed into a tapered snout.

  The predators below went still, the sounds of the night dying as the new predator appeared on the ledge above. In the darkness they could not see Shadow’s body, but they sensed the arrival of a dragon.

  “Flee, little prey,” he murmured, sending a plume of darkness from his jaws.

  He launched himself skyward and banked north, feeling the wind pressing against his wings, the rising air heated from the stony foothills. He flapped his wings for height, relishing the sensation of extreme power, yet, in the back of his mind, he heard Elenyr’s voice of caution.

  Each of the fragments could turn his body into its elemental form, but Shadow lacked the power of the others. His was the weakest of magics, harmed by any other element. But on a night like this, he was king.

  Shadow soared above the villages and cities of Talinor, visible by spots of firelight far below. Clouds obscured the moon but did not herald rain, and he gloried over the sheer freedom. He was breaking Elenyr’s first rule, but that knowledge only served to heighten his pleasure, and he imagined speaking to her tomorrow, listening to her words of caution and temperance, all the while knowing she was ignorant of his escapade.

  The warm air flowed across his wings, smooth and inviting. He’d cast the dragon before but Elenyr had always restricted his movements. Not tonight. He flipped and dived, turning with every swirl of wind. Then he heard a faint chime of music and the beating of wedding drums.

  The echo of amusement was a temptation Shadow could not resist, and he swooped toward the source. Men and women danced in a village, their distraction just begging to be interrupted. Shadow recalled a time he and Elenyr had traveled to a village in eastern Griffin. He’d discovered a couple that had slipped into the woods, their passion overcoming patience. Shadow had morphed his features to that of a demon, terrifying them out of their wits, and for years the village claimed a demon stalked the nearby woods. He’d thought their fear no end of amusing. Elenyr had not been pleased.

  And here he was, with no Elenyr to chastise him. His features lighting with anticipation, he circled the village, spotting what was obviously a wedding. The happy couple sat beneath an altar of flowers and woven reeds, the ceremony beautiful in its simplicity. Shadow dropped to the ground and crept up behind the couple. He stayed out of the pool of light cast by the torches, while the attention of the guests remained focused ceremony.

  Children danced as a bard sang, the couple eating their first meal as husband and wife while others shouted praise for their union. The girl was pretty, if a bit thin, while the man was obviously a
farmer’s son, his broad shoulders and lean frame speaking to a life of hard labor. They probably had little coin, but they seemed happy.

  Shadow crept forward, his jaws passing through the smoke rising from the fire where a pig roasted, and the villagers froze, their fear holding them spellbound as a giant dragon materialized from the darkness. The firelight robbed Shadow’s body of solidity, turning him nearly ethereal, but the villagers were too terrified to notice.

  “I am the harbinger of night,” Shadow growled, his voice booming over the village. “I soar in the sky and hunt below, and have come seeking prey to satisfy my hunger. But on this night I am pleased, and I approve of this union.”

  “You ap-p-prove?” the groom quavered, his bride hiding behind his body, as if it would protect her from a dragon’s wrath.

  “Would you prefer I eat you all?”

  “No!” a woman cried, her tone desperate. “We accept your approval.”

  “Then burn a pig in my honor,” Shadow said. “And I will be satisfied.”

  He retreated into the shadows, his laughter coming out in a rumbling growl as he soared upward anew. He imagined the tales that would spread, of a dragon that had appeared and blessed the union between a commoner and his new wife. Mischief was fun, but the rumors were better.

  He imagined the potential rumors of his intrigue all the way back to the refuge. Although loath to leave the sky, his fun would not be nearly as enjoyable if he were caught, and so he reluctantly alighted on the cliff. He dismissed the dragon and the shadows fell away like a cloak. He turned to flesh and retreated from the ledge.

  Casting a final, longing look to the sky, Shadow disappeared into the tunnel, again turning his body into shadows as he flitted back into Cloudy Vale. The tunnel intersected with others and he followed the one that took him upward, to his quarters. The corridor culminated in a tiny storage room. Empty except for dust, the room contained a trio of brackets for light orbs, but the magic had long since perished. Striding across, he touched the rune hidden beneath the first bracket.

  In a whisper of machinery, the wall swung open, revealing a dim room beyond. It had taken Shadow months to build the secret door, and he had waited until tonight to use it. He imagined using it for many years to come.

  The fragments of Fire and Water slept in their beds, their forms obscured by the gloom. Mind and Light were just visible beyond, the room lit by a single light orb set against the door. Shadow smirked and stepped through the door—

  The light amplified, burning bright enough to scatter the shadows in the room. Halfway through the door, Shadow froze. Elenyr stood near the entrance, her arms folded, her expression tight with anger. For several seconds Shadow stared at her, struggling with what to say, some excuse for his absence. Fire was sitting up in his bed, a smirk on his face as he watched the exchange.

  “I was just—”

  “Don’t,” Elenyr warned. “Bed. Now.”

  Shadow grimaced. “Sorry.”

  “No you’re not,” she snapped.

  He couldn’t resist a smile. “Probably true.”

  Light giggled. “You’re in so much trouble.”

  “Why do you have to always break the rules?” Water demanded.

  “Why do you have to be so irritating?” Shadow shot back.

  “Shadow,” Elenyr said, stabbing a finger to the bed. “Sleep now. Punishment tomorrow.”

  Shadow sighed and sank onto his bed. To his dismay, Elenyr crossed the room and shut the secret door, and then turned her arm ethereal and reached into the wall. A dull clanking indicated she’d broken the mechanism. Then she withdrew her arm and departed, extinguishing the light. In the ensuing silence Shadow endured the laughter of his fragment brothers until Mind crossed the space and regarded Shadow with thinly veiled contempt.

  “What?” Shadow demanded, rising to his feet as well. “Are you jealous I got a night for myself?”

  “Be smarter next time,” he said coldly.

  “I suppose you could do better?”

  “I already have,” Mind said, his claim silencing the laughter.

  “You’ve gone out on your own?” Light asked, his eyes bright with wonder.

  Mind ignored the question and poked Shadow in the chest. “You think this is just a game, escaping from Elenyr to go play. But the next time, you might get caught by someone besides Elenyr. Then you won’t return at all.”

  “So now you care about me?” Shadow asked.

  Mind pointed to the now broken secret door. “I would bet anything Elenyr knew about your secret for months but allowed you to escape.”

  “She would never encourage breaking the rules,” Water said, his tone condescending enough that Fire groaned.

  “As much as I dislike Water’s insufferable tone, I have to agree with him.” Fire shook his head. “Elenyr would not do that.”

  “She does what is necessary for us to learn,” Mind said. “And Shadow will always be one who stalks. The most important lesson for him is not how to fight, but how to remain free.”

  Stung by the truth to Mind’s words, Shadow folded his arms. “You think this was just a lesson?”

  “Shadow has to learn not to get caught,” Mind said, and then leaned in. “Don’t get caught.”

  Mind turned away and returned to his bed. The others continued to argue but Shadow stood in place, surprised and annoyed by Mind’s observation. As he reclined in bed, Shadow wondered if Mind was right.

  Chapter 1: Target

  Present Day

  Shadow watched the three figures in the valley below. Even with the distance, Lira was beautiful and exotic, explaining why Water and Light had a spring in their step. Shadow grunted in irritation, wishing he’d gotten the chance to spend more time with Lira.

  As an Eternal, Lira had sworn to protect Lumineia. If that wasn’t enough, the woman had lived for thousands of years—even more than the fragments or Elenyr. Shadow liked the woman, but even more, he wanted the secrets she undoubtedly possessed.

  “Wishing you got to go with Lira?”

  Shadow glanced to Fire, and found the fragment ascending the steps to the parapet. “What do you want?” Shadow asked.

  Fire stepped to the edge of the balcony and looked over the ledge. “I’ve never seen you gawk like that before,” Fire said.

  “I wasn’t gawking,” Shadow protested.

  Fire grinned. “Liar.”

  “Don’t you have an assignment to get to?” Shadow asked, jumping down from the battlements.

  “We’re getting ready to leave,” Fire said. “But Elenyr wants to see you.”

  “About what?”

  “Who knows?” Fire said. “But you’d better hurry.”

  Shadow grunted in annoyance and descended the stairs. The small overlook set nestled between two peaks, affording the only exterior view from the refuge. The steps cut back and forth, merging into a short slope that reached the floor of Cloudy Vale. He spotted Mind next to the exit, sharpening his favorite sword. Their eyes met but Mind motioned to the door leading to the fragment’s quarters when they were young.

  She’s waiting in there.

  The thoughts pressed into Shadow’s consciousness like a whisper over his shoulder. “Why?” Shadow asked aloud, but Mind merely shrugged.

  Shadow followed the crushed stone across the refuge. Trees dotted the space while a small pond covered much of one side. Buildings were constructed into the cliffs, the doors and windows facing the tiny valley.

  Nestled in the hollow between mountains, the refuge was thousands of feet above the nearest valleys. Treacherous slopes made it impossible for outsiders to ascend the exterior, and only Elenyr and the fragments knew how to use the secret tunnels that connected to Cloudy Vale.

  Elenyr’s quarters were on the north side of the pond, while the fragments each had their own quarters in the chambers that circled the space. Shadow glanced to Elenyr’s quarters as he walked by, wondering about the discussion with Lira and Ero. They’d made it clear, the ancient r
ace had returned to Lumineia.

  Wylyn and her son Relgor had arrived with a handful of brutish soldiers called dakorians. While the other fragments had displayed concern over the threat, Shadow found a smile creeping onto his face. The prospect of a decent foe left him with a more obvious emotion—excitement.

  Part of him wished he’d been selected to go with Lira, but he recognized that Water and Light were better suited to searching for Wylyn. If they found Wylyn, the battle would be severe, and they would need their magics. Still, he was grateful he would not be going with Mind, Fire, and Elenyr. Fire was usually fun, but the three tended to be too serious for Shadow’s liking.

  Shadow reached his old quarters and stepped through the open door. The room had belonged to him and the fragments for their first few centuries, until Elenyr had deemed them old enough to have their own quarters. Dust tinged the air, and the wood on the old beds had long since lost its color.

  Elenyr stood at the rear of the room, facing the secret door he’d crafted to escape. She’d ensured it would never open again, and he smiled fondly at the memory of his first excursion outside Cloudy Vale.

  “Are you ready for your assignment?” Elenyr asked.

  Shadow shrugged and leaned against one of the beds. “All I have to do is find an ancient map. Doesn’t seem so hard.”

  Elenyr motioned to the broken door. “Do you remember the first time you snuck out?”

  “Of course,” Shadow said with a grin.

  She chuckled to herself. “Even after all these generations, there’s still a family that talks about the dragon that blessed their ancestors. And they still sacrifice a pig at weddings.”

  Shadow recalled the early years after his excursion, when a small religion had arisen, seeking to worship the Divine Dragon. He’d thought their worship the pinnacle of amusement. The others had stopped him from appearing to his newfound followers to cement their worship.