Scars of Silver by S.A. Archer Read Free Book Online Page A

order, as presented in Scattered
Magic (80,000 words) and Remnants of
Magic (over 102,000 words).
     
    Join the Fan Club Mailing List and get a free
ebook!
    Risk the magic at...
    http://www.sidhetouch.com
     
     
    ~Enjoy a sample chapter of~
    Aftershock
     
    Jhaer dodged through the local fey crowding the
market street of the village built up around the Seelie castle,
thankful that his plain, loose-fitting clothing disguised him.
Brightly colored streamers from the celebration draped from tree
limbs and windows to flutter festively about the revelry. The ale
flowed and the music played. Seelie fey of every race danced and
sang ancient victory songs, obliviously ignorant that in conquering
the Unseelie, they ensured the downfall of all fey.
    Stealth carried Jhaer as far as the courtyard wall
and then he unsheathed his fury and magic. With a rage that rent a
boulder from the ground, Jhaer’s magic burst forth. His power over
the element of earth belonged to him alone, so the boulder that
splintered the teak courtyard gate with the explosion of cannon
fire announced with certainty the Unseelie Elite who wielded
it.
    Anticipating a final assault while the captive
Unseelie monarchs imprisoned within succumbed to the pressure to
surrender their authority, the Seelie forces lined the top of the
inner castle wall beyond the courtyard. Archers drew back at the
sight of him, even as the Seelie Champion on the parapet called out
to Jhaer. The corona of sun magic flared around Lugh, as if
determined to prove his nickname as the Shining One. The golden boy
of the Seelie Court in his sculpted armor vaulted down into the
courtyard with a dramatic flair. If the demonstration of grace and
courage aimed to impress, it missed the mark with Jhaer.
    “Lugh! Have you been staring at your own magic so
long you’ve blinded yourself?” Jhaer rushed into the courtyard. As
the archers launched their first volley, Jhaer summoned a shield of
stone from the very ground before him. The rock wall preceded him,
the last couple feet at the top tilted back over his head, in case
any clever archers aimed with a high trajectory. After the arrows
in the initial strike splintered on his shield, Jhaer jerked up his
hands, his magic heaving skyward the ground in front of the castle
wall to block off the archers. His personal rock shield fragmented
into dust that defused to the ground he’d drawn it from. He snarled
at Lugh, the sole obstacle between Jhaer and the castle proper.
“This must stop! Before it’s too late!”
    “One Court, Sidhe!” Lugh proclaimed. “We can be
brothers, you know. This feud can end. It should end!” Yet the
Seelie ignited a barrier of fire, disproving his claim of brotherly
love.
    Jhaer shielded his face against the fire between
them, an all too familiar tactic from the Sidhe with the magical
aspect of the sun. “Light and dark cannot merge. One will always
consume the other. You know this! Yet the arrogant Seelie’s hunger
for power would rather destroy everything than have balance!” With
that, Jhaer sank into the ground, closing it up over him.
    Moving swiftly through the earth in a self-contained
cavern like an air bubble rising through a viscous liquid that
parted the ground before him and resealed it behind him, Jhaer
detoured beneath the flames. He felt the vibration from the
footsteps of the Seelie above, rushing to pursue him.
    An unexpected tremor charged though the earth and
slammed into him, lancing a dread dead into his heart. The Unseelie
warrior gripped his chest, breath stolen from him by a horrendous
shift in the magic surrounding him. Stunned to the point of panic,
Jhaer surfaced once more, the Seelie not but a few quick strides
from him. Before a cry of dismay could escape his lips, a shockwave
of magic knocked him off balance. A crack climbed up the outer wall
like a growing vine, reaching ever higher.
    “Trying to bring down the entire castle?” The Seelie
snarled. “Danu is in there!”
    Jhaer