A Shadow Flame (Book 7) by Jordan Baker Read Free Book Online

"You have forsaken the Aghlar people, and now it seems you side with pirates. What offense have we given?"
    "None, and be it known that I take no sides between you and the people of Meer," Carly said, with a moment of irritation mirrored in the seas behind her. "But for now, your dispute with the pirates is over."
    "That's surely an interesting idea, though it's easier to say a thing than to see it done," Toren countered. "We Aghlar now follow the Lady, and we have for generations. We've a dispute with them pirates and it'll be our choice what we do about it."
    "If you must," Carly said. "Then I ask that you put aside your dispute for there are greater matters at hand, first among them that the Lady goddess herself may be in danger."
    "She is a goddess," Toren said with a frown. "The Lady is powerful."
    "She is also Ehlena, your daughter, if I am not mistaken."
    "Aye, that she is," Toren replied. "And what of it? It were a blessing when she was chosen, but what is this about her being in danger? She is powerful, a goddess no less."
    "If you know who I am, then you know that I speak truth," Carly told him, then she looked at the people, who stood silently listening. "To the north, in the forest of the elves, the Lady has fought against the shadow, and by her hand, and the actions of others, she has driven the dark power back, but at great cost. I call upon you, the brave warriors of Aghlar to aid in the battle, to return to the inland sea and defend it as you once did in times of old."
    "What cost?" Toren asked, his voice low so the others would not hear. "What has happened to her? Tell me what has happened."
    "I do not know all, but she has been poisoned by the shadow and her power is weakened." Carly told him quietly. "Ehlena continues to fight, but she has asked for my help, and she asks for yours as well."
    "Why does she not come herself," Toren asked.
    "The truth? Ehlena is gravely ill, Toren," Carly whispered, then she raised her voice and addressed the crowd. "This storm that has risen, threatening your ships and angering the seas, it is unnatural and it is violent, but it is a mere echo of a storm that is far greater. The Lady, as you call her, has faced the shadow, and this storm is part of that. Will you stand with her, and answer the call of the gods, the oath of old, to drive the darkness from the land?"
    "I would that we should help Ehlena, but what can we do?" Toren asked. "We are a seafaring people. If she is among the lands to the north, then it will take time to march to this battle for which we are ill prepared."
    "What is a ship but a floating island, a piece of dry ground amid the waves?" Carly said. "Ready your ships for we will sail the great river to the inland sea, as your people did long ago."
    "And what of the storm?" Toren asked. "Our ships cannot sail in such winds."
    "The winds may rage, but there are strong currents in the deep, and the waters of this world are mine," Carly told him. "As with my ship, and those you see there outside the harbor, you will need no sails."
    "We will agree to fight, but for the Lady, for Ehlena," Toren said. "Our people hold little love for the goddess Mara."
    Carly shrugged. "That name is little more than an ancient memory to me anyway," she told him. "I have not been called by it for generations."
    "Then what name do you go by now?" Toren asked.
    "Carly," she answered. "It is a simpler name for the simpler life I chose."
    "And yet you are here, now, commanding the seas," Toren said.
    "I chose my life, but I do not choose what I am, and the world forces my hand once again," she said. "Just be glad that I have chosen to help, for if the shadow spreads across the land, there will be no life, no names, and no choosing one's fate."
    "Is this shadow so great a danger?" Toren could not help but be a little skeptical, though the dark skies above and the torrential winds of the storm only seemed to be getting worse by the moment.
    "I have spoken plainly, so do not test my