The Stone Wolf (The Chain Breaker Book 4) by D.K. Holmberg (digital book reader TXT) 📕

an enchantment that will allow her to communicate with me if there are any troubles.”

“She doesn’t need to reach out to you if there are issues.”

“Until the two of you are working together better, I think this makes sense.”

“I’m trying,” Davel said.

“It’s not just you,” Gavin said. “I saw it in the barracks. Some of your constables aren’t completely convinced that you should have welcomed the enchanters.”

“I’m using them, aren’t I?”

“That’s just it,” Gavin said. “You’re using them. Maybe you should be doing something more than that.”

They were a team, but until all of them felt like they were a part of it, Gavin wondered if they would be able to act the way they needed to.

“Did she put you up to this?” Davel asked.

Gavin grunted. “No. I think if she knew I was here, she would be irritated with me.”

“Good.” Davel turned and strode down the hallway, heading toward the cell that contained the Keeper.

Gavin followed. Zella’s mother, the Keeper, sat with her back against the wall, her head bent forward, and her arms wrapped around her legs. She didn’t look up as they approached, though Gavin detected a faint twinge of power, barely more than that. Just enough that suggested she was trying to pull on magic.

“She’s going to reveal the weaknesses that we need,” Davel said.

“And if she doesn’t?”

Davel glanced over. “Then she stays.”

Could that be the issue between him and Zella? Gavin didn’t think so. From what he had seen from Zella, she didn’t want a relationship with her mother. She was too angry with her about what she had done.

But she probably didn’t like the idea that the constables had her mother imprisoned.

“Keep trying to get through to her,” Gavin suggested.

Davel grunted. “Travel safe.”

Gavin looked through the bars of the cell once more. Would there be anything he could learn from her? Maybe in time.

For now…

He headed out of the barracks, through the darkened city at this early morning hour, and met Gaspar and Imogen on the outskirts of the city. Three stone creatures waited.

Gaspar had a pack slung over his shoulder, and Imogen had a similar one, with her sword sheathed at her side. Both were dressed for traveling.

“About time you showed up, boy. I don’t want to be gone too long. Desarra has recovered, but…”

“I understand,” Gavin said.

“She told me to go,” Gaspar said, shaking his head. “Wanted me to do what I could to find her sister for her.” He looked up. “You’re going to do that, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am,” Gavin said. “But I had to make sure the city would be protected in my absence. I gave the dark egg to Zella. If the sorcerer returns, she shouldn’t even be able to find it.”

Gaspar grumbled, and he looked as if he wanted to say something to argue with Gavin, but he bit his tongue. He slid onto the back of his stone wolf.

Imogen climbed onto her creature, which had a larger head and was bigger than the other two. The image brought a smile to Gavin’s face. Even her wolf looked more ferocious than theirs.

“Nelar won’t be too far from here. If the message is right”—and Gavin thought he knew exactly what the message implied—“then I know where we need to go. It’s just outside the city. We get this done, then we get Wrenlow and Olivia back.”

“I guess we get to see how quickly these things go,” Gaspar said. He tapped on the stone wolf, and the creature lurched forward.

Gavin did the same, and the wolf lunged after Gaspar, streaking across the ground. There was a lumbering movement that was somehow fluid. The wolf’s fur was dense, though obviously stone, which made it difficult for him to grip. Wind whipped around him, and everything blurred past. They hadn’t gone long when he felt a tingling that left him with an energy that sparked along his skin.

He tensed, and the wolf seemed to realize what was going on. He looked over to the others and tapped on the wolf again. The creature came to a stop, twisting its head to look at him with eyes that were surprisingly lifelike. Gavin couldn’t shake the strange energy that he felt.

The forest stretched past him, and when he turned, he couldn’t see Yoran behind them anymore. The air shifted again, as if there was a crackling sort of power here.

Gavin reached for his sword. As soon as he did, something blasted toward him. He turned with the unsheathed sword, twisted his hands, and jerked forward. The blade managed to catch the attack.

It felt as if he was carving through magic. Could it be the same strange attacker that had come at him in Yoran? Why would she have come out here to fight him?

He jumped free of the wolf, which let out a strange, creaking howl. If he was going to have to fight, Gavin wanted to be ready and didn’t want to have his hands constricted in any way.

He spun in place but didn’t see anything. Daylight had started to break, and the clouds that had obscured the sun before had parted, revealing the bright morning sky. It didn’t fit his sudden anxiety.

Gavin turned in place. Each time that he did, he could feel the strange sensation.

“Boy?”

He looked over and realized that Gaspar and Imogen had returned.

“I’m not exactly sure what’s going on,” Gavin said. “I can feel something, but I don’t know what it is, and…”

He had no idea what was bothering him, only that there was something pushing in on him. The distinct cold of magic.

The sorceress?

Imogen jumped free of her stone creature, her sword unsheathed in a single movement, and she set her back against his.

Gaspar grunted. “I suppose I should be ready.”

He climbed down from his stone golem, and with a flourish, a pair of knives appeared in his hands. He had several bracelets on either wrist and three rings on each hand. With that many enchantments, Gaspar would be incredibly well protected. Hopefully, protected enough