The Darkest Sword by Samantha Kroese (ebook voice reader txt) 📕

behind him, and he did not even look back at them again until he heard a soft gasp from the girl. They had both stopped. Their pale eyes stared with horror at the ceiling before them.

Ashiyn looked them over, then followed their gaze. The torchlight flickered off the black stones casting all sorts of shadows that could have been intimidating. The one on the ceiling however didn’t match anything around them. It was the shadow of a terrifying creature from a child’s horrific nightmare.

Ashiyn recognized that it was just one of his castle’s guardians. His Nthir. If only they had known the creatures before they had changed. This world changed everything to monsters. The beast had smelled innocent flesh and come looking for a meal. Ashiyn waved a gloved hand at it and spoke a command in an ancient language. “Kithsarth.”

The twins covered their ears and cowered at the horrendous wail that came from the shadow creature as it disappeared into smoke. Ashiyn waved away the sulfuric remains in the air as he continued forward. “My Nthir are hungry, but they will not harm you. I will not allow it. Come along.”

A glance back at his visitors confirmed that they finally looked like the terrified children they should be instead of the old souls that inhabited them through their magic. They stared at him as though he should care and comfort them. He did not care. “I said move,” he growled at them with narrowed eyes. Now they skittered after him like most threatened children would, jumping at every shadow they came across.

This time he led them down to the bowels of the castle to the actual doors to his Master’s summoning room. Not just a portal to the creature’s lair as the ones in his sitting room had been, these were the physical world’s manifestation of the room. As Ashiyn reached to open the door, the boy’s hand darted forward and rested on Ashiyn’s arm.

The jolt of magic was too sudden to be blocked. Ashiyn stumbled back, as his mind reeled from reality and into the boy’s vision. He felt propelled through the labyrinth of his castle at sickening speeds. Thrown into the kitchen where his few servants worked. It was dark and the servants were over-worked and covered in grime. One stood out among them, shining with a bright white aura. In that instant Ashiyn could see the power to destroy his master’s sanctuary. With that gone Ashiyn would be able to destroy Rhadamanthus once and for all. Ashiyn did not recognize the man, but the servant looked up as though he sensed something.

The door creaking open jarred him from the vision, and before he could react, the two children were sucked screaming into the room and the doors slammed shut in his face. Their wails as they were torn asunder echoed behind him as he turned and strode away. His thoughts were not with them. He barely registered the feel of the power flowing through his body as his master feasted on them.

He had bigger things to worry about now. The seer boy had shown him the way to his freedom. The key lurked under his nose, here within the castle. Ashiyn stalked the path he had been shown. He had to find that servant before Rhadamanthus got any hint of what Ashiyn had seen.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Soryn paused to wipe the sweat from his brow. He sat back on his haunches and threw the cloth in the bucket next to him, the floor finally spotless. His aching back reminded him that he should probably let the younger servants do this job. They did not do it right though. This was Ashiyn’s castle and Ashiyn expected it spotless. Though it was so dark, the servants often wondered why it mattered. Would Ashiyn miss one speck of dirt?

“He’s coming!” a servant girl whispered as she fled with a few others down the nearby hall. Soryn’s heart started to pound. Ashiyn? Here? He rarely came to the servant quarters. Had someone displeased him? There were so few of them left. At this rate, the only ones that would be left would be Soryn and the Nthir. As it was, Ashiyn kept himself away from the servants as much as possible. Because of the Nthir. Because of what they had been. Ashiyn had learned that lesson too well. He did not get attached to anything or anyone now. Much to Soryn’s dismay. The return journey to Ashiyn’s castle had taken years. He had hoped by getting close and becoming Ashiyn’s servant, he could restore their relationship, if not Ashiyn’s memories but Ashiyn remained aloof and guarded. Soryn rarely saw him.

Soryn rose to his feet and crept to the doorway to peer into the hall. The Nthir climbed along the walls and ceilings. Soryn was the only one of the servants who knew what they were and did not fear them. They remembered him, even if their master did not. The halls were so dark and Ashiyn’s black armor blended into it so well, that he was not visible until he was close enough for the torchlight to reflect on his pale hair and set his golden eyes on fire.

Soryn caught his breath. Ashiyn was breathtaking. He always had been, but he had matured into an extremely handsome man. Powerful and dangerous. As if to remind Soryn of that, Ashiyn lashed out, lightning-fast, eyes narrowed, and lifted a nearby servant by the shirt.

“There is a servant, dark-haired older man. Where is he?” Ashiyn demanded of the shivering servant in his grip.

Soryn nearly choked on the lump in his throat. Ashiyn was looking for him? Why? A million scenarios raced through his mind, but he shoved them away. The poor servant in Ashiyn’s grip was squealing for mercy. Ashiyn would kill them soon. Soryn would not let them die for him. “I am here, Master.” Soryn wanted nothing more than to stare into those terrifying golden