Ghost in the Storm (The Ghosts) by Jonathan Moeller Read Free Book Online

reflexes slower. According to the old joke, you tell how long a Legionary had been retired by measuring the girth of his belly. Yet Ark had kept himself in fighting trim, knowing that one day he might have to fight and kill those who had taken his wife and son. 
     
    Ark raised his heavy wooden shield over his left arm, and Halfdan drew his short sword. 
     
    He had found his wife and son, but that was no excuse for complacency. 
     
    One of the Istarish soldiers came at him, but Ark moved faster. He surged forward, shield leading, and beat aside the weak blow with such force that the soldier staggered. Ark  stabbed out and the man stumbled back with a scream, doubling over. Ark wheeled and brought his sword onto the back of the soldier’s exposed neck.
     
    That made a mess. 
     
    Ark spun, shield coming back up as the other soldiers reacted to the unexpected threat. They came at him in a rush, scimitars flashing, and Ark backed away, his shield shuddering beneath their blows. Yet their attacks were undisciplined, uncoordinated. A Legion of the Empire fought as a unit, with each man knowing his part and his duty. These Istarish fools knew no such discipline, and their attacks got in the way of each other. It was the easiest thing for Ark to lower his shield, his sword darting out to rip open a gash in an Istarish soldier’s forearm. 
     
    Halfdan stepped behind one of the soldiers and buried his short sword to the hilt. The man toppled, and Ark stepped into the gap, stabbing. A third man perished, Ark’s heavy sword ripping through his shirt of steel scales to open his belly. The final man backed away, shield raised, and Ark hammered at him, wielding his sword like a smith pounding iron. 
     
    It distracted the Istarish soldier long enough for Halfdan to stab him from behind. 
     
    After Ark wiped down his blade on the cloak of a dead man. A Legionary never sheathed his sword with blood still on the blade. It made the steel rust, and worse, could make the weapon stick in its scabbard at an inopportune time. 
     
    “A patrol,” said Ark. “Sent to scout out the streets to the Citadel.”
     
    “It means Rezir Shahan has control of the Great Market and the docks,” said Halfdan. “And that means the Kyracians will land their troops, and the Istarish and the Kyracians will attack in force up the Avenue of Governors soon. We have to hurry.”
     
    They walked along the street, Ark at Tanya’s side.
     
    “Those men,” she said. “You…”
     
    “What about them?” said Ark.
     
    “You killed them so easily,” she whispered.
     
    Ark shrugged. “You’ve seen me fight before.” The bandits on the road to Varia Province, for one. And she had seen him bury Caina’s ghostsilver dagger in Naelon Icaraeus.
     
    “It was so…quick,” said Tanya. She shook her head. “I have no stomach for war, Arcion.”
     
    “It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” said Ark, glancing in the direction of the Great Market. “But if I have to hack my way through half the Istarish army to find Nicolai, I will.”
     
    “Good,” Tanya said. 

Chapter 5 - Storm Dance
    Kylon of House Kardamnos jumped from the boat and onto the stone quay.
     
    Behind him the Kyracian fleet poured into the harbor. A few of the ships had burned beneath the Citadel’s catapult shots, but the lightning had taken care of that. Now waves of landing boats issued from the warships, laden with ashtairoi, the infantry of the Kyracian army. Every man carried sword, shield, and spear, and wore cloaks the color of the sea over their gleaming armor.
     
    Kylon wore light armor of gray leather.
     
    Heavy armor would only slow him down.
     
    Before him spread the city of Marsis, the docks filled with warehouses and taverns. Above he saw the Great Market, and heard the shouts and screams of fighting. Beyond rose the mansions and temples of the rich, the Citadel towering over them all, Black Angel Tower rising from its core like a pillar of