The Traitor's Tale by Jonathan Moeller Read Free Book Online Page A

and sad.
    “Forgive me, mistress,” said the specter.
    “You can see me?” said Calliande. “Who are you?”
    “Forgive me, for we have failed in our sacred
charge,” said the specter. “The Tower of Vigilance is overrun. The
warring sons of the old king brought their foolish quarrel here,
and the Tower is taken. I wished us to remain neutral, but the
others thought differently…and our Order has paid for it.”
    “Answer me!” said Calliande. “Who are you? Why am I
here?”
    But the specter kept talking, and Calliande realized
it wasn’t really there. Or, rather, it was not a spirit or a ghost.
Rather, it was a spell, a final message to her.
    Left by the man whose bones now lay moldering at her
feet.
    “I have no doubt they would kill you simply out of
spite,” said the old man, “and I have my suspicions of the darker
forces behind the strife. But I have activated the defenses of the
vault. Sealed it from the inside.” He took a deep breath. “Only you
can open it.”
    “But that means…” said Calliande.
    That meant the old man had sealed himself inside the
vault.
    And to judge from the skeleton, he never left.
    “Do not mourn for me,” said the old man, “for my
course is run. I am wounded unto death.” She saw the spreading
crimson stain across his white robes, and realized that he had been
wounded. “You will be safe here, until you awaken.”
    He closed his eyes and shuddered with pain.
    “Mistress, I beg, listen to me,” said the old man.
“You were right. You were always right, and I should have listened
to you as a young man. This war between the Pendragon princes…no,
it did not occur on its own. They were manipulated into it.
Mistress, beware.” His voice grew thicker, his breathing harsher.
“The bearer…the bearer of the shadow. You were right about him,
too. This was his doing. Everything has been his doing…and he has
been laboring in the darkness for centuries before Malahan
Pendragon raised the first stone of Tarlion itself. Mistress,
please, beware…he will come for you…he…”
    The specter vanished into nothingness.
    And the blue glow faded.
    With a surge of alarm Calliande realized the glow had
been part of the spell. And now that the spell’s message had been
delivered, the light would fade away.
    Leaving her alone in the darkness.
    “No!” she said, her voice echoing off the walls.
    The blue light faded away a moment later, leaving her
in utter blackness.
    Follow this link to continue reading Frostborn:
The Gray Knight (http://www.jonathanmoeller.com/writer/?page_id=4069) .
    ***

Other books by the author
    The Demonsouled Saga
    MAZAEL CRAVENLOCK is a wandering knight, fearless in
battle and masterful with a sword.
    Yet he has a dark secret. He is Demonsouled, the son
of the ancient and cruel Old Demon, and his tainted blood grants
him superhuman strength and speed. Yet with the power comes
terrible, inhuman rage, and Mazael must struggle to keep the fury
from devouring him.
    But he dare not turn aside from the strength of his
blood, for he will need it to face terrible foes.
    The priests of the San-keth plot and scheme in the
shadows, pulling lords and kingdoms upon their strings. The serpent
priests desire to overthrow the realms of men and enslave humanity.
Unless Mazael stops them, they shall force all nations to bow
before the serpent god.
    The Malrag hordes are coming, vast armies of
terrible, inhuman beasts, filled with a lust for cruelty and
torment. The Malrags care nothing for conquest or treasure, only
slaughter. And the human realms are ripe for the harvest. Only a
warrior of Mazael’s power can hope to defeat them.
    The Dominiar Order and the Justiciar Order were once
noble and respected, dedicated to fighting the powers of dark
magic. Now they are corrupt and cynical, and scheme only for power
and glory. They will kill anyone who stands in their way.
    To defeat these foes, Mazael will need all the
strength of his Demonsouled blood.
    Yet he faces a