Night of the Storm: An Epic Fantasy Novel (The Eura Chronicles Book 2) (2 page)

PART ONE

THE HAIRS ON LIAM’S
neck stood on end at the ghastly sight between him and The Barrier.

The head of a Tryan man was set on a pike in the middle of the jungle.
 

“Stay back,”
a female voice boomed from the trees as Liam, Nani and Rowe approached The Barrier. “You are not welcome in Nostfar.”

Liam’s bright blue eyes glowed in the dark as they shot from the pike to The Guardians that awaited. They stood before the open doorway that stretched hundreds of feet into the black sky. The glow from The Barrier’s ancient power illuminated the giants before him, swords ready in their massive hands.

They were silent, and whoever did speak was unseen.

His blue eyes narrowed as he looked up to the tops of the trees. The dark leaves rustled with the wind, yet revealed not even a trace of who spoke.

Shadow Elves. They could blend in anywhere.

“Who speaks?”

“Turn around and leave.”

Liam’s brows furrowed. “This, coming from an elf in the
Tryan
realm.”

“Last warning.”

His sword. If only he had it on his hip at that moment.

Pain seared into Liam’s leg as a thorny black vine wrapped itself around his thigh and yanked him to the slick black ground of the volcano.

Liam hit his head on the hard packed dirt.

No.

He was so close to The Barrier and finally meeting The Flame. Her face came to him as darkness threatened to take over.

Liam cradled his head with a hand. For a moment, he was disoriented. In a haze, he watched Rowe grab a skinny male Shadow Elf by the neck and slam it into the ground with such strength that the sound of crunching bones filled the dark jungle that surrounded them.

“Kill them. They must not enter Nostfar,” the same female voice yelled from the trees as several Shadow Elves jumped to the ground with such agility that they were barely seen.

Liam’s eyes widened as they prepared to attack his greatest friends in the world. He sat up and reached for the vine wrapped around his thigh. The instant his fingertips touched it, the vine lifted him from the ground.

Cool air whipped past Liam’s face as he was slung through the air at such a speed that he saw nothing but blackness. His mind raced as he searched for a way to free himself. Before he could react, more vines reached Liam and snapped themselves around him body, pinning his arms to his side. Like a cocoon, they ensnared him and slammed his wrapped body into the base of a tree that appeared to be dead, yet rumbled like a hungry stomach.

A quick glance at the ground revealed the source of the vines.

The tree branches shot through the clearing, attacking his friends and forcing them into a tight space before The Barrier.

“Liam,” Nani shouted, as she tried to fly to him. With a broken wing, he could tell that she struggled. The branches blocked her path, ascending as she fought to fly over their blockade.

“I can’t get free,” Liam said.

Liam looked at the sky. He could summon a storm.

How would that help? He needed the use of his hands to direct the lightning without harming Nani and Rowe.  He used all of his strength to try to break through the vines, and yet they only held on tighter, so tight that he found breathing laborious.

A lithe female Shadow Elf jumped down from her spot in the tree top and landed beside Liam. She looked strong, and tall, with leather over chainmail covering her chest and stomach. Her arms were bare, revealing white tattoos and scars. The points of her ears stuck through her auburn hair that looked to be slicked back by mud.

Ferocity filled her brown eyes as she straddled his chest and held her dagger to his throat.

Not now. Not like this.

Not after Liam had already escaped death once. The Ancients might not give him another chance.

He met the eyes of the Shadow Elf. Lilae awaited him.
He had to see her in person at least one time before he died.

Almost as if the Shadow Elf woman read his thoughts, she paused, her brow raising as she searched his eyes with her own dark purple gaze.

Nani shot to the ground, faster than Liam had ever seen her fly. She landed in the center of it all. The mayhem that ensued as Rowe fought dozens of Shadow Elves armed with glowing daggers.

She held her hands out before her and closed her eyes.

Liam raised a brow. He’d never seen Nani so calm in the face of danger.

Before his eyes, she started to change.

Smoke began to rise from the ground and up her body as if she’d recently been engulfed in flames. Liam’s eyes widened as the trees began to die all around them. Nani’s hair went from purple to white. When she opened her eyes, gold light filled them as she held out her small hands.

White power shot from her fingertips. Screams of terror and pain filled the air as her power shot into every Shadow Elf within the clearing and hiding in the trees.

Rowe held up his hands and froze, but Nani’s power seemed to be selective, leaving Rowe and Liam free from its terror.

The Shadow Elves were reduced to nothing more than bone and guts.

Liam held his breath as even that turned to ash and floated away with the breeze, leaving the three in silence as the intensity in Nani’s eyes faded.

He hadn’t even realized that the vines had let him free. Glancing back at the tree revealed that whatever Nani had done had killed it, leaving its vines lifeless and shriveled on the ground.

“Liam,” Nani called in a small, timid voice.

Liam stood and turned to her. Her white hair gave her an eerie beauty as it was lifted by the breeze. Whatever power Nani had hidden from them all, made her hover off the ground despite her broken wings.

“Nani,” Liam whispered.

She smiled and slowly returned to her normal appearance.

She walked over to him, Rowe close behind. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Liam said, running his hands through his thick black hair. “But what was that?”

Rowe cleared his throat. “We didn’t get a chance to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

Nani wrapped her arms around his waist. He looked down at her small face.

“I didn’t know until today, Liam,” she said.

“Know what? Tell me. I’ll understand.”
She bit her bottom lip and let go of him. Twirling the ends of her purple hair, she flickered a sheepish look at him.

“I am the Inquisitor,” Nani whispered. “Please, don’t be cross with me, Liam.” She lowered her eyes to the ground as she wrung her small hands. “This is all still very new to me.”

Liam took a deep breath.

Inquisitor?

Could his dear fairy friend be one of the keys to saving all of Ellowen?

He picked Nani up and hugged her. “I could never be cross with you, Nani. You and Rowe are my best friends, and together we will rid this world of evil.”

Liam nodded to The Barrier as the giants started to move from their frozen positions.

“Are you ready for this?”

She smiled at him. “I am.”

SLAVE.

Lilae squeezed her bright green eyes shut against the memories of being called that vile word. Scars and intricate black tattoos covered her body, serving as ugly reminders of the suffering she’d experienced in captivity.

No one would take her freedom from her again. The blood of the men she’d killed started to dry on her skin and stained her clothes.

“Just a moment longer,” Delia said.  She held onto her staff made of willow and bone to steady herself on the top of the black mountain. “The Storm is just beyond those doors.

Rocks and stone surrounded them, and dark woods that stretched for as fas as the eye could see awaited below, but Lilae’s eyes were fixed on the door of The Barrier.

Red hair, wild and glowing in the light of the moon, whipped around Lilae’s face as she glanced back at Delia and the skeleton warrior, Garion.

Lilae’s lips pursed as she waited with anticipation of finally meeting one of the other heirs of the Ancients.

Adrenaline kept Lilae from shivering. In only the sheer nightgown she’d escaped the palace in, Lilae stood taller than the majority of women she’d encountered during her travels.

Lilae’s eyes narrowed at the figure of The Storm as he emerged from the distance. Finally, she would meet this elusive creature.

Clad in gold armor from the Overworld, where the Ancients dwelled, The Guardians turned to Lilae and knelt before her. Their faces and fingers were shielded with metal plates fused to their gray skin.

Each realm had a single entryway that only The Guardians could open. It was wide and under a stone archway that had a film of light stretching from top to bottom.

For years, Lilae and her surrogate family had followed The Barrier along Eura during their travels. Every time she’d imagined what the races on the other side were like. Having met a Shadow Elf and suffered at his hand, she was wary about what creature would step through those doors.

“Lilae,” the Guardians said in unison. “The Storm is in position. A new era is upon us. It is time to destroy The Barriers.”

Lilae’s throat was dry. She swallowed and looked at Delia whose dark blue eyes watched her.

“I don’t know how to do this,” she whispered.

Delia gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Use the power that the Ancients gave to you. I’ve watched you grow from a tiny baby to a strong, beautiful woman. The Ancients chose you because of your courage and heart, Lilae. Make me proud. Make your father proud.”

Breathless, Lilae nodded, her heart thumping.

The Guardians stood from their kneeling positions and motioned together toward the doors.

“Your power will link with the Storm. Only such power can destroy The Barrier,” Delia said, and patted the top of her hand.

Power.

The Ancients had given her a wondrous gift.

Lilae looked down at her bloodstained hands. The Shadow Elf, Dragnor had stolen her divine power, leaving her defenseless for nearly a year. Now, it begged to be free, urging her to destroy everything in her path.

“You can do it. Remember all that I taught you.”

“I remember,” Lilae said.

“Good,” Delia said. “Let that power flow now,”

Lilae smiled at having Delia grant such permission.

Delia stepped away as threads of light encircled Lilae’s body.

This is new
.

The sound of sparks along the stone columns caught Lilae’s attention.

Her hair flew back as the storm raged on above. Lightning flickered across the sky, screaming and crashing down onto the stone structure. The wind ripped around them, smacking her in the face. The feel of the Storm’s power nearly overwhelmed her.

Lilae clenched her jaw and stood upright in the vicious wind.

Warmth encircled her like a warm blanket as her hands were set ablaze. She sucked in a breath and focused on creating two large orbs of fire that settled above her palms.

While the Storm’s raging wind and lightning fought the magic of The Barriers, Lilae’s flames sparked within the air causing vibrant colors to cut through the darkness. With great concentration, the orbs grew larger and larger until it seemed that the balls that contained them would explode.

Lilae grinned as the light illuminated her face.

The power had raged inside of her for so long.

Finally, it relished in its release as the flames around her body intensified.

Slamming the orbs together created a bubble that she could step inside. Surrounded by red flames, Lilae leaped into the air. She rode the wind, exhilarated by the smooth feel of the air gliding past her as she ascended. Higher and higher she went, releasing the flames like a flood of fire.

The Barriers began to crumble and crack. Stone and debris fell to the ground. Lilae’s flames and the Storm’s lightning stretched across the entire structure, traveling farther than her eyes could follow.

The ground shook beneath them.

The dark sky grew brighter, and the air grew colder. There was the sound of crackling and sizzling as their power fought with that of The Barriers. The glow of The Barriers dimmed as the stone turned to black dust and faded away.

“Thank you,” The Guardians said. They opened their massive black wings that stretched the span of at least six feet and flew into the darkened sky.

Delia stepped forward, her face pale in the moonlight. “You did it, Lilae. Now, we begin.”

They heard footsteps crunching on the debris of the destroyed structures.

The Storm had arrived.