Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
I put my attention on Thane again. He fights off every man using one hand to slice and stab and the other to blast incomers away with gold whorls. Each strike is done with perfect precision. Not a single slip or fall happens. No one can land a punch or even a finger on him. If a sword swings his way, he ducks or dodges it and then retaliates.
Honestly, he isn’t even breaking a sweat. He makes it look easy with how relaxed he is, yet every blow is vicious and deadly. Every move practiced, premeditated.
Too good with his magic.
Too good with his swords and daggers. Not like The Divine soldiers but more like a natural killer. Like a…
He spins and blocks another attacker with his blade as he shoots a whorl of magic from his hand. I squint, unable to breathe as I watch the golden trails of his power dissipate, leaving behind black wisps in their wake.
It’s now the reality of what I’m facing hits me like a ton of stone.
The way Thane effortlessly fights, swinging his blades in the air, decapitating and stabbing men through the heart. Using magical daggers for those he can’t quite reach and then signaling them back just to finish them off.
When we first met at the Tilted Crystal, he struck fear into every heart.
He jumps off dangerously high roofs and lands without a sound.
Threatens to behead vicious skrellins.
Blood on velvet tables.
Men having to be buried because of him.
Take it easy, killer.
And the black shadows clinging to his magic.
Thane is no ordinary sorcerer wearing a mask and buffers.
He’s a sorcerer conjuring darker magic to kill.
He’s a shadow assassin.
Chapter 10
But how is that possible?
Sure, I’ve heard rumors about some of these elite killers still lingering around. I’ve heard stories about fights in the streets and how many became bloodbaths because of the assailants they called shadow assassins, who were far too impressive with their blades.
But the stories were hard to believe. Assassins who wielded black magic? They were once called Nightcarvers and were outlawed shortly after the war between Meriva and Ruvain centuries ago because of how lethal they were.
They first originated in the red sand kingdom of Quamira to protect the royals from wicked sea beastials able to walk on land. The only way to truly defeat the beastials was to conjure darker magic.
But then the Nightcarvers used their black magic to take control…all for destruction and power.
In an attempt to overthrow Ruvain’s kingdom, the Nightcarvers killed the ruling King Murren. The crown prince managed to escape, traveled straight to Meriva, and as Ruvain’s newly appointed king, he made a treaty with Meriva to end the war if they helped stop the Nightcarvers.
So both acting kings of Meriva and Ruvain made it law that sorcerers caught using black magic alongside combat in their kingdoms would be killed without trial.
With Quamira’s aid, the Nightcarvers were caught one by one, given muting elixirs to tamp down their magic, and were all either beheaded or hanged.
That put an end to the dark sorcerer-assassin era…and made it abundantly clear that anyone else who tried to replicate that behavior would face the same fate.
And yet, here is Thane—just as destructive as the whispers and rumors.
The Divine soldiers have a certain code of conduct. They fight with specific trained techniques, and their skills are uniform, at best. I’ve gone on many tours of the Crystal Palace grounds and witnessed some of their training. None of it comes close to the tricks Thane is performing right now, and it’s both remarkable and terrifying.
What I pay attention to most from Thane’s magic are the black shadows trailing the gold streams after every blow. Each sorcerer has their own color-coded essence, but the use of white magic never comes with a trail of black.
Where the shadows did this man come from? And who am I really dealing with? If he is some kind of assassin, where does that leave me? A combination of dread and fear wraps around me like a snake and squeezes tight.
If I could capture him and turn him in, the queen would pay handsomely for it. There is a bounty on the head of any shadow assassin. That must be why Garyn tried to take him down. And whoever this Maliek person is, it must be why he’s searching for Thane, too. They know all about his power or are at least suspicious of him and want to exchange him for coin.
Regardless, what I realize is that hiring Thane was a mistake.
I’ve really fucked up.
As the fighting and killing continues, I snatch up my rucksack and run toward the gate in a panic, dodging Garyn, who is too busy watching more of his men get slaughtered.
The shock of it all has my whole body feeling cold. I have to get out of here.