A Storm of Glass and Stars (The Oncoming Storm Book 4) Read online

  A Storm of Glass and Stars

  Marion Blackwood

  Copyright © 2020 by Marion Blackwood

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review. For more information, contact [email protected]

  First edition

  ISBN 978-91-986386-7-7 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-91-986386-6-0 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-91-986386-5-3 (ebook)

  Editing by Julia Gibbs

  Book cover design by ebooklaunch.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  www.marionblackwood.com

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  1.

  2.

  3.

  4.

  5.

  6.

  7.

  8.

  9.

  10.

  11.

  12.

  13.

  14.

  15.

  16.

  17.

  18.

  19.

  20.

  21.

  22.

  23.

  24.

  25.

  26.

  27.

  28.

  29.

  30.

  31.

  32.

  33.

  34.

  35.

  36.

  37.

  38.

  39.

  40.

  Acknowledgements

  For everyone with a heart covered in black ice and metal spikes

  1.

  The descent into madness is a slow one. It happens gradually. You don’t just go to bed completely sane one day and then wake up batshit crazy the next morning. Trust me, I would know. However, an interesting side effect of that gradual deterioration is that you don’t actually realize that you’re losing your mind. Until it’s already gone. It’s like not noticing that you’ve aged because you see yourself in the mirror every day. Then suddenly, it’s all too late.

  A pebble tumbled over the stones further up the street. My ears pricked up. The soft clattering was followed by muffled footsteps. I opened my eyes. Finally.

  Uncrossing my legs, I jumped down from the wall I’d been sitting on. Darkness blanketed the alley around me but the silent night betrayed my stalker’s movements by sound. It was only one person and they were sneaking along the wall up ahead. I drew the hunting knives from the small of my back. Of course, I could have just thrown a blade at them from the shadows, killing them before they even got close. But what would be the fun in that?

  “Aren’t you gonna introduce yourself?” I called into the warm night air.

  For a moment, everything was still. Then, a tall lanky man emerged and moved into the moonlit patch between us. A curved dagger gleamed in his hand.

  “Planning to stab that in my back, were you?” I nodded at the blade.

  A sly smile spread across the man’s face. “Courtesy of the Rat King.”

  “Seriously, doesn’t that man ever learn? You’d think that after the last five dead bodies I left for him, he would’ve realized that shit like this doesn’t work on me.”

  “He’s never sent me before.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Said by every overconfident fool ever, right before they died.”

  The fact that I had said something similar more than once in my life was of course entirely irrelevant. After all, I was still alive.

  Anger bloomed in the lanky man’s eyes and he gripped the dagger tighter in his hand. Arrogance. It worked every time. I gave the man a patronizing smirk and twitched my fingers at him. He launched himself across the stones.

  His curved dagger swished through the air as he swiped at my ribs. I twisted to the side and rammed an elbow into his wrist. A grunt escaped his throat and his arm snapped downwards but he managed to keep a hold of the blade. Yanking it back up in an arc, he forced me to jump back to avoid being gutted by the sharp edge. Adrenaline thrummed through my body.

  Metal clashed as I blocked a strike to my head. While his knife hand was trapped, I drew my other blade down his forearm. He sucked in a sharp breath. Shoving my knife away, he threw out an arm. Blood smeared across my face as his wounded forearm connected with my cheekbones. I blinked and stumbled to the side.

  Not giving me a moment to get my bearings, he darted towards me. Throwing up an arm, I narrowly managed to redirect the thrust meant for my throat. His knife hand sailed past harmlessly over my shoulder instead of through my windpipe. Using the brief moment of surprise as my attacker realized that his dagger hadn’t ended up where he thought it would, I struck.

  A startled huff sounded. Followed by a wet sliding sound as I withdrew the hunting knife buried in his heart. Since his previous momentum from the missed stab had brought him forwards, he continued in that direction and crashed right into me. The weight of the dead man knocked me off my feet and I slammed back first into the stones with his corpse on top of me. Blood pooled onto my chest.

  Drawing a deep breath, I shoved him off me and sat up. After another glance at my dead attacker, I pushed to my feet.

  Looking down at the body, I snickered and shook my head. “Said by every overconfident fool ever right before they died, indeed.”

  Energy and excitement from the fight bounced around inside of me. I tipped my head up towards the rooftops. Better make the most of it. After wiping off my hunting knives and sticking them back in their holsters, I climbed up the side of the nearest building.

  Wind whipped through my hair as I sprinted across the roof and took aim for the next building. That moment of weightlessness as I flew through the air before I landed on the tiles again filled me with exhilaration. I continued towards the next one.

  The adrenaline rush from the fight, amplified by the rooftop run, kept me going for a while but eventually wore off. When it finally fizzled out and died, I found myself on the east side of the city walls. I climbed the stairs in silence. The elation had given way to a hollow numbness but I knew that would be replaced soon as well. Pity.

  When I reached the top, I found the battlements empty. Of course. No sane person would be strolling the walls at this time of night. Placing my hands on the cool stones forming a barrier at the edge of the walkway, I drew myself up. On the other side of the wall, the harbor waited in darkness. I let my legs dangle over the side as I watched the waves and the ships bobbing in the water.

  Mist rolled in from the sea and covered the harbor in a shroud of white. I took a deep breath. The smell of seaweed, fog, and old wood greeted me. Drawing my legs up underneath me, I continued watching the night.

  Eventually, an orange sun peeked over the horizon, its pale tendrils chasing the mist away. I studied it in the detached sort of way that a butcher looks at an animal they’re about to carve up. Only when the sun had risen completely from the sea did I manage to pull myself out of the stupor. I blinked and shook my head violently. Was it morning already?

  My stiff legs protested when I finally unfurled them and jumped down from the wall. Normal people would be flooding the streets now that the sun was up so it was best to use the roofs to get back. Still trying to ge
t my mind in working order, I made my way to the rooftops and then continued on towards Norah’s school.

  Since another damn day had already started, the school yard was full of squealing children. I rubbed my temples at the noise before climbing down the side of the opposite building. How Norah managed it was beyond me. Especially now that Liam pitched in with his earnings from the hatmakers’ shop, which had opened the doors for even more kids. I shook my head as I strode through the gate towards the side entrance.

  “Oh gods, are you alright, Miss?”

  I frowned down at the boy who had stopped dead in my path. “Of course I’m alright. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  The young student stared at me, eyes wide, for another moment before whirling around and running towards the building. “Miss Norah! Miss Norah!”

  Heaving a deep sigh, I continued towards the door. As I was saying, how Norah managed to stand these strange creatures was a mystery to me. I shook my head again but before I reached the sanctuary of the staffrooms, the boy reappeared with the aforementioned teacher in tow.

  “Miss Norah, look! There’s a woman covered in blood!” he called, pulling her along by the hand.

  Blood? What blood? The beautiful teacher came to a screeching halt when she saw me. Bending down, she said something to the concerned boy and sent him away before stalking towards me. I looked down at my body. Oh. Right. The fight and the stabbing. That blood.

  “Inside,” was all she said.

  I trailed after her until we were out of sight. Norah was a very kind person but she was also fiercely protective of her students and her school. I had a feeling that an admonishment was coming and I didn’t want to hear it so I decided to get ahead of it.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t realize that I was covered in blood. Otherwise, I’d never have let myself get spotted by the kids.”

  The Pernish teacher frowned at me. “How could you not know that you were covered in blood?”

  Good question. And one that I didn’t have a satisfactory answer to so I just shrugged.

  “It’s been a rough night.”

  Norah pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know that you’ve been... struggling lately and I know I said that you could stay here until you figured things out but...” She trailed off and looked up at me with sad eyes. “Maybe it’s best if you started looking for a place of your own?”

  There was already so much pain ripping my heart to shreds that the hurt from her statement barely registered. And besides, she was right. I’d been slipping up quite a lot lately. Coming back to the school in all states and at all hours. She had said it the very first time I met her. Whatever trouble you might get yourselves into, you leave my students and my school out of it.

  “Yeah.” Releasing a long exhale, I skirted around her and made for my room. “I’ll be out before the school day is over.”

  “Wait. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Stopping briefly, I turned around. “I know. You’re a kind person, Norah. Thanks for letting me stay this long. I know I’m not the easiest of people to live with.” I gave her a small smile. “I understand what Liam sees in you.”

  Before she could answer, I spun on my heel and disappeared down the corridor. Norah was right. It had been six months since Shade had won the election and Liam had announced that he was staying in Pernula. Six months of confused numbness and pain. It was time to pack up my things and leave.

  ON THE OTHER SIDE OF the fence, horses meandered in the afternoon sun. Since my chat with Norah that morning, I had managed to successfully avoid Liam, get some sleep, eat something, and gather up all my belongings. Not that it was much to gather. Everything fit nicely in the backpack currently resting on the ground next to me. It was mostly weapons, blackout powder, exploding orbs, and things like that. But also a map, compass, and other stuff one might need to survive the great outdoors.

  “Planning to leave without saying goodbye?”

  My body performed an involuntary jerk at the sudden sound. I narrowed my eyes at the assassin who had appeared seemingly out of thin air.

  “You know, one of these days you really gotta tell me how you do that.”

  Shade just raised his eyebrows while taking up position next to me.

  “Find me like this, I mean.”

  “This is my city now.” The Master of the Assassins’ Guild and new General of Pernula nodded at the gigantic double doors set into the city wall. “Don’t you think I have spies at the main gate?”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’ve got spies at more than the main gate,” I grumbled.

  For a moment, we both simply watched the horses in the pen wander back and forth. And the gray one being readied in the courtyard as well, of course. The one I had just bought.

  “You’re leaving?” Shade asked again.

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  Twisting around, I met his gaze head on. “I don’t fit in here. Liam is living happily ever after with Norah at the school. Elaran and the elves are establishing connections with the other wood elves. And you’re running the freaking city.” I heaved a deep sigh and ran my fingers through my hair. “I have nothing. I can’t go back to Keutunan. I tried that. It’s too empty. The guild is empty, the Mad Archer is empty, the whole city is empty without Liam.” I let my arms drop.” It’s too fucking empty. I can’t be there. Too many memories. So yeah, I’m leaving.”

  Shade’s intelligent black eyes studied me intently. “Where are you going?”

  “To find the Storm Casters.”

  “Do you even know where to start?”

  “No. But I’ll figure it out.” I lifted one shoulder in a shrug and gave him a tired smile. “I always do.”

  A large black horse snorted and trotted by in front of us. We leaned against the fence in silence for another minute before Shade broke the somber stillness that had settled.

  “Are you coming back?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “What is there to come back to? Everyone already has a life. Everyone except me. I’m the odd one out. There’s no place for me here.”

  A range of emotions flew past in Shade’s dark eyes and he opened his mouth. For a moment, it looked like he was about to say something but then he closed it again and that unreadable mask descended on his face.

  I bent down and picked up my backpack. After slinging it over my shoulder, I turned to the silent assassin. “Goodbye, Shade.”

  It took a few seconds but then he finally replied. “Goodbye, the Oncoming Storm.”

  Without a second look back, I strode over to the gray horse and climbed up. Haela’s lessons had paid off. I did actually know how to ride a horse now. So I dug my heels into the mare’s sides and trotted out the main gate. Dust swirled around its hooves as I left the city of Pernula, along with everything and everyone I had ever known, behind.

  2.

  Buildings rose in the distance. I arched my back and stretched it as much as I could while on horseback. Popping sounds came from my stiff bones. Thanks to elves’ rigorous lessons, I might know how to ride, make a fire, and do other outdoorsy stuff but it didn’t mean that I had to like it.

  “That’s it,” I muttered to the grasslands around me. “No more sleeping on the ground outside.”

  It sounds so romantic. Sleeping out in the open with a blanket of stars. But what no one tells you is that there’s sand everywhere, lurking animals, and that vast night sky full of glittering stars only serves to remind you how small and insignificant you are. How alone you are. I squinted at the houses growing larger in front of me. Whatever this town was, I was staying there until someone could point me in the direction of the Storm Casters.

  A worn wooden sign painted with faded red letters greeted me as I reached the town.

  “Welcome to Travelers’ Rest,” I read aloud.

  Interesting. It was written in my language. Well, in the elven language, I suppose, but it was also my native tongue. Earlier, I had gotten a feeling
that the elven language was some kind of lingua franca on this continent and this further confirmed my theory.

  Travelers’ Rest was a surprisingly fitting name for this quaint town. Clusters of brightly painted buildings spread out in front of me as I rode along the dirt road. The colorful houses mingled nicely with the grasslands surrounding the town, as well as the plants and flowers growing by the doors and windows. It did indeed look like a place where people could rest.

  “Hey, you!” I called to a man pushing a small cart along the road.

  “Oh, welcome, traveler.” He smiled at me.

  “Is there a tavern or something where I can rent a room?”

  “Oh, of course.” He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “This is Travelers’ Rest, after all.” Taking his hand from his forehead, he pointed further down the road. “If you continue down there, you’ll find a large square with a well in the middle. To your right is a three-story building with a sign that says The Sleeping Horse. That’s the tavern I’d recommend.”

  I lifted a hand at him and urged my horse on. “Thanks!”

  The man had spoken true. The wide road led to a dirt square with a stone well in the middle. Sun beamed down on me as I steered towards the tall building on my right. A wooden sign swung in the warm breeze, displaying a white horse lying in a field of grass underneath the tavern’s name. I reined in my gray mare and climbed off outside the front door.

  It looked like there was a stable next to the tavern but I figured that I needed to pay before I could put her in there so, for the moment, I tied her by the water basin outside. She snorted at me.

  “Yeah, I know.” I stroked her neck while she bent down to drink. “You’ll get out of the sun soon. Just gotta pay first.”

  While my horse gulped down water, I moved to the front door. A wide room filled with tables and chairs met me when I stepped across the threshold. Taking a moment to study my surroundings, I noticed that there was also a long bar on the right while a fireplace occupied a spot on the opposite wall. It was unlit, of course, since it was almost summer and both the days and nights were warm at this time of year.