The Awakened Book Two by Jason Tesar Read Free Book Online Page A

the courtyard. It seemed much smaller than he remembered, though still large by anyone’s standards. The garden entrance came into view and more memories began to flood Kael’s mind. He heard laughter. He saw his father’s mischievous smile. He heard Ajani scream. These things were distractions that he chased away with one conscious thought.
    The trees and flowers, the half that were still standing, seemed fuller and more mature. Even in its state of ruin, the garden still held a peaceful ambience. Suddenly, Kael slowed at the sight of a dead man lying in the dirt. A quick glance around told him that there were no longer any threats present, so Kael moved forward again. Recognition came almost immediately, even though the man no longer had any distinguishing features to his face.
    “Lemus,” Kael said aloud.
    The gangly man lay on his back, with one arm on his chest. His tunic was blood-soaked and his face was so swollen as to be unrecognizable as human, had it not been attached to the man’s body.
    “…looks like the Syvaku hated you as much as I did!”
    Kael waited for a moment, staring down at the object of his hatred. This man’s presence in Kael’s life had changed everything. In his early years at the monastery, when Kael wasn’t missing his family, he would lie awake in his bed, imagining the ways in which he would end Lemus’ life. And now, many years later, the man was reduced to a cold lump of flesh, by an enemy of his own making, no doubt.
    Kael wondered what kind of policy would have provoked such a violent reaction from the Syvaku. But he brushed the thought aside and stepped around Lemus’ body, heading for the main entrance into the house.
    His search began in the master bedroom and when that produced nothing, he initiated a systematic check of every room in the house. After searching in vain for some sort of clue for over an hour, Kael began to believe that the Captain had spoken correctly. There was nothing to see. Everything looked just as it should, deserted and ransacked. Refusing to give up, Kael moved his search to the other buildings around the mansion. Other than the body of an old slave woman that he found in the stables, his searching had turned up nothing.
    The sun was now high overhead and Kael sat on the stone steps leading down to the bay of Bastul . The wall that surrounded the estate also included a portion of the harbor which was reserved for sensitive shipments that could be offloaded within the security of the enclosure. From the docks, cargo would be pulled in horse-drawn carts on a paved path that zigzagged up the hillside to where Kael now sat. His vantage point gave him a view of the entire city and as far as he could see, smoke filled the horizon.
    The hot sun burned down through the haze clinging to the city and beads of sweat began to form along Kael’s forehead. For months he had been traveling with Bastul as his goal. Though he had called many places home over the years, cities and villages that had never even heard of the Orudan Empire, they were all temporary. Bastul was always his home. He wasn’t exactly sure why he didn’t return immediately after leaving the monastery. Maybe it was just a series of events that kept him away. Or maybe he just wasn’t ready. Whatever the reason, it all seemed meaningless now. As he sat on the steps and watched the burning city below, Kael felt more lost than ever. His mother was missing, gone without a trace, along with a sister he had never met. He had separated himself from all the people he called friends in order to come back to Bastul . And now, his journey had proven pointless.
    I could use your help.
    The words of the Captain came back to him.
    Kael sat motionless for a moment, wondering if there was any value in joining the fight. After all, what loyalty did he have for Orud, except that his father was a soldier? He wasn’t sure why he had chosen to fight the Syvaku men in the city. Maybe it was because they were