Heirs of the Fallen: Book 04 - Wrath of the Fallen by James A. West Read Free Book Online Page A

themselves with false convictions.
    “Come,” Ulmek said. “We have to find Leitos.”
    It shamed Adham that it took Ulmek to get his feet moving. He prayed his son was alive, but he had another desire, as well, and that was to find his son as he should be, instead of the freakish, pale creature Leitos had become after passing through the veil between the Throat of Balaam and the Faceless One’s throne room.
    When Adham was a boy, Kian, Azuri and Hazad had been drinking and recounting what had led to the destruction of the Well of Creation. They told of the strange occurrences on that day in the Qaharadin Marshes, of a pillar of blue fire erupting from an ancient temple, how that pillar had seemed to stab at the three moons, and how those moons collided and rained fire and death across every land. That was the beginning of the Upheaval. They also spoke of a monstrous root-serpent tearing loose from the swamp’s muddy soil and attacking the company, and of terrible fires a boy-prince had created from thin air to turn men into ash in a blink. Strange tellings, but stories Adham would eventually come to think of as ordinary in a world ruled by the Faceless One, and ravaged by demon-born.
    What came to mind now was Kian’s hushed description of Prince Varis Kilvar as he had come out of the temple, the same youth who tried to make himself a living god. The account of Varis matched what Adham had seen when he had looked at his son in the throne room....
    But there had been so much chaos in the final moments before Leitos and the Faceless One vanished. Perhaps I imagined it , Adham thought hopefully, latching onto that thin belief with all his strength.
    Ulmek made to face the Throat, now a dark crack where it had once been a broad archway filled with ghostly azure light, but he went still and looked below them.
    Adham glanced that way and saw people moving about on the slope. Some were Yatoans, by their clothing. Beneath smudges of dust, their tunics and leggings were all of mottled greens, browns, and grays. Further study revealed Belina and Damoc, joined by two Brothers of the Crimson Shield, Sumahn and Daris. Counting himself, Adham knew eight of them had come after Adu’lin to the Throat of Balaam, but now he counted only seven.
    “Someone’s buried,” Ulmek said, echoing Adham’s thought.
    “I can’t believe any of us are still alive.”
    Ulmek favored him with a blade-thin smirk. “You need to strengthen your faith, my friend, or what’s left of your life is bound to be one misery after another.”
    Adham grunted noncommittally. The distant foursome quickly moved into a shallow depression, and began heaving against a large slab of rock. “We should help.”
    “They have done fine without us,” Ulmek said, as the sound of stone grinding against stone wandered upslope.
    Sumahn abruptly shed his outer robe, hunkered down, and worked furiously. A few moments more, and he stood up holding someone in his arms. Nola, Adham knew. After some discussion, the group split apart, with Damoc following Sumahn and his burden downhill. Daris and Belina began picking their way up toward the Throat.
    “You’re alive!” Daris called when he saw them. Between him and Sumahn, he had always been the quickest to make a jest and to offer a smile. Sumahn was given to laughter, but less often. He was made of sterner material, much like Ulmek.
    “You expected less?” Ulmek answered dryly.
    Belina glanced between Adham and Ulmek, then searched behind them. “Leitos?”
    Daris mirrored her concern.
    Adham was about to shake his head, when Ulmek said, “He’s still inside.” The warrior sounded so sure, Adham found it hard not to believe him.
    A sudden loud rumbling drifted out of the Throat, then a few rocks tumbled loose, and the opening grew wider. An arm poked out, then a leg, and finally a dusty head.
    “Leitos!” Belina squealed, and scampered over the rubble to meet him.
    Leitos came out into the sunlight, squinting like