Lockhart's Legacy (Vespari Lockhart Book 1) by J. Stone Read Free Book Online

accompanying information about them. He’d noted each of their names, even the wraith that he dispatched. Additionally, the vespari wrote a few details about how the coven interacted with one another.
    First up, he drew the wraith, Gunnilda, and what he remembered of her. In the cave, he’d only caught a glimpse of her, but before that, when she slashed open his gut, he’d got a better look. It was through this memory that Lockhart transferred her image to paper. Her pale, semi translucent skin. Her black, soulless eye sockets. Her agape mouth in perpetual scream, and even her hair standing on end. Lockhart captured it all. At the bottom of the page, Lockhart wrote down her name, what she was, where he’d found her, and the date on which he dispatched her. Then, he dragged the pencil through her name to mark that he’d destroyed her.
    He took up the task of detailing Estrild next. Her stature and relative youth had been the features that most made her stand out from the other beldams, but that was harder to capture without a comparison. Instead, he focused on her unkempt appearance. All of the beldams had been ugly and monstrous, but she had given the least thought to her appearance. Her tangled hair partially covering her face, the disgusting stains on her teeth, and even her ripped, wrinkled clothes all stood out to him, and so he made sure to transfer them onto the page. As he hadn’t yet killed Estrild, he couldn’t cross her or the others out, but he did indicate the other pertinent details about her at the bottom of the page.
    Mabilia went on the next page. The beldam had been more muscular than any other he’d ever seen. This meant her skin didn’t hang off her bones nearly as much as it did the others, but she still looked old and decrepit. Though it disgusted him to remember it, Lockhart also drew Mabilia’s big bulging eye as well as the empty eye socket with yellow pus seeping out. Again, he denoted her name and any other information at the bottom of her page. For her, he finally remarked that Mabilia was injured, describing how he had cut into her wrist with his knife.
    Flipping to the next page, Lockhart decided to work on Alviva. The oldest of the beldams, she’d taken up the position of leader, though the vespari had his doubts about who truly controlled things in the coven. Alviva was also the fattest in the group with fat rolls and sagging skin in equal proportion. He wished she’d worn more to conceal her horrid body, as moles, each with their own hairs spanned the parts that her clothes hadn’t covered up. He remembered how he likened them to quills on a porcupine as he drew them into his notebook and jotted down her name.
    Last in the coven but certainly not least was Petronila. Though she did not claim leadership in the beldam coven, Lockhart had a feeling that Petronila was adept at controlling the others. Somehow akin to a snake, this beldam had a tall but hunched over body. He remembered how she had such elongated arms that they nearly scraped the floor if she didn’t hold them up. Otherwise, disease had deformed her body. Beldams commonly had blemishes and warts, but Petronila had more on her face alone than on any individual beldam he’d ever seen. Then there were the boils, cysts, and other disfiguring malformations. More so than the others, Lockhart found himself concerned by Petronila. She was cunning, and it had been her idea to place the Caustic Brand on him to siphon his power. He would have to be wary of her when he finally tracked the coven down again.
    Upon finishing his update to his notebook, Lockhart decided to peer back through and check on the other vishlers he’d encountered. It was while he was perusing his history of kills that he realized that the vishler had taken the bait. The night was too quiet. Something malevolent was approaching. Closing the notebook, Lockhart stood up and shoved it into an interior pocket of the duster. He exchanged it for the silver and pearl