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

Cyran’s home. Gavin unsheathed the sword, looking at the blade.

The blade was significant because it had its own magical enchantment built within it. It summoned the power of the El’aras and allowed Gavin to concentrate that power to push it out from him. But that would not have value to a sorcerer.

The sword wasn’t what Cyran—or Tristan—had been after. And it certainly wasn’t what the Toral was after. She had not attempted to take the sword from him during their fighting.

He wasn’t going to find answers here. He headed back out of the chamber and sealed the door closed once again, then made his way back out onto the street.

What do I need to do?

If they were going to face the Toral, and if he was ultimately going to face Tristan, Gavin needed more enchantments. He didn’t want to wake Zella at this time of night, but she would have somebody watching. Perhaps it would even be Mekel.

The stone wolf took up his position alongside him again, tracking him through the streets, and Gavin smiled to himself. The wolf had stayed outside the home, placing himself so that he looked like a sculpture. Now, with the wolf following him around the city, it would look unusual to anybody who saw them.

Gavin would have to figure out some way to shrink the wolf back down when he wasn’t needed. Then again, there would come a point where the wolf would expend all of his power and fade. At that point…

He didn’t know what would happen, only that it was an enchantment, so the power within it would eventually fail. Much like every enchantment did.

He was surprised by how sad it left him feeling.

Gavin made his way toward the Captain’s fortress, sweeping his gaze all around him. He didn’t see anybody watching him, but he also knew that he might not even notice if they were. They would likely have some enchanted mechanism to be able to observe him.

Energy crackled in the air, and he paused.

Magic.

He unsheathed the sword and held it out, but the blade didn’t glow.

Could the Toral be here?

Stone crumbled along the street, and Gavin paused, crouching down next to it.

As he held his hand out to it, there was a distinct sense of magic emanating from it. Power. This had been an enchantment.

Could it have been one of Mekel’s?

Zella hadn’t sent word to him. He had the enchantment she’d given him, so why not alert him if there was a need?

Could they have come for the dark egg?

Zella would definitely have sent word if that were the case.

This was something else.

Not about the egg, but perhaps a different attack.

He crept forward. Another crumbled enchantment.

It was large, and like the first, made completely out of stone.

He could feel the magic coming off it, energy that radiated outward, and there was considerable power within it.

Gavin shivered.

There had been an attack here.

And he had been gone.

He moved carefully along the edge of the street, staying in the shadows, but he didn’t see anything. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some sensation there, though, which left his skin tingling and tight. He had come to recognize how magic felt against his core reserves. It felt as if a rope brushed against his awareness, as if some power was trying to push in on him and force him to react.

By the time he reached the fortress, he still hadn’t encountered anything.

The home was dark, and Gavin approached slowly. He made his way through the gate and reached the main entry, where he held his hand out, focusing on the power within him. As he probed for any energy that was there, he didn’t detect anything.

He pushed open the door. There was a bit of resistance, but Gavin channeled his core reserves into it and then blasted it open.

The entry was empty, which was unusual. Where were the enchanters? Shouldn’t someone be standing guard? He headed through the outer chamber to the next door, then felt something nearby.

He spun, looking to see if there was anybody else there. The only thing that he noticed was what he felt. Power, nothing else.

Gavin pushed his core reserves into this door, but that wasn’t going to be enough. He unsheathed the El’aras dagger and slid it into the lock while focusing his magic into it. The door resisted him at first, but finally, the lock opened.

He pulled the door open. The next room was empty as well.

Something had happened.

Where was Zella? Where were the others?

They should be here. They should all be here.

The enchanters were gone.

Gavin headed into the room slowly. He turned in place and looked around. He thought about Zella, Alana, and even Irison. Something had happened that had worried them enough that they had either left or…

Gavin didn’t know.

We hadn’t been gone that long, had we?

A couple of days. Nothing more than that, but certainly long enough that something could have taken place here. He needed to go to Davel Chan and find out what he might know.

He headed toward the storeroom, but it remained sealed shut.

There was no sign that anyone had forced their way in.

Which had to mean the dark egg was still safe.

Someone had been here. He was sure of that.

Gavin left the fortress and walked back into the street, starting toward the constables’ building. As he neared the barracks, there was more activity than there had been in other parts of the city. Groups of people came and went. Constables, most of them. Some were enchanters that he identified by the sheer number of enchantments they wore. He noticed a few limping. One of the constables had a bandage around his head.

He hurried forward, wanting to reach Davel to question him about what had taken place while he was gone.

He never had the chance.

A voice crackled in his ear. “Gavin?”

He froze. “Wrenlow?”

Chapter Nineteen

Gavin’s heart hammered in his chest as he approached the Dragon, unable to believe that Wrenlow would still be alive, especially after everything that had