The Raven's Burden (Arsyn Morgan Book 3), page 1
The Raven's Burden
J.A. Stowe
Copyright © 2023 J.A. Stowe
Cover design by: Noah Thatcher
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
The Four Worlds
Porada
Draqaar
Eranor
1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5. Five
6. Six
7. Seven
8. Eight
9. Nine
10. Ten
11. Eleven
12. Twelve
13. Thirteen
14. Fourteen
15. Fifteen
16. Sixteen
17. Seventeen
18. Eighteen
19. Nineteen
20. Twenty
21. Twenty-One
22. Twenty-Two
23. Twenty-Three
24. Twenty-Four
25. Twenty-Five
26. Twenty-Six
27. Twenty-Seven
28. Twenty-Eight
29. Twenty-Nine
30. Thirty
31. Thirty-One
32. Thirty-Two
33. Thirty-Three
34. Thirty-Four
35. Thirty-Five
36. Thirty-Six
37. Thirty-Seven
38. Thirty-Eight
39. Epilogue
Thanks For Reading!
About J.A. Stowe
The Four Worlds
Earth
Home to the humans, hunters, and demons.
Porada
Home to the druids and elementals.
Sefira ar Vidarrin- air Ancient
Eira ar Logra- water Ancient
Laer ar Bál- fire Ancient
Pallavi ar Jörgrund- earth Ancient
Draqaar
Home to the daeva.
Daevasi- “high daeva”
Daevandi- “free daeva”
Daevari- “chained daeva”
Eranor
Home to the bennu.
Luminary- leader of the bennu
Runemancers- faction of rune magic on the body
Artificers- faction of rune magic on artifacts
Aegis- faction of guardians
Keepers- faction of knowledge and study
Tradesmen- faction of artisans
Menders- faction of healing
The Aether
Realm of the Ancients and center of the four worlds.
One
"Stupid elementals and their stupid, sensitive feelings," I mumbled between pants for breath.
Beads of hot sweat slid down my skin, but an icy breeze swept over the cold water of the canal beside me, and I shivered in the dying light. The sun dipped below the Qaanir skyline, casting dark shadows over the edge of the barracks platform and making my torturous run even more frustrating.
I stumbled over a hole in the packed sand under my feet and glared at Skye’s blurry, blue-haired form. Apparently, calling the acting commander a butthead was punishable by ten laps around the platform.
Usually, training with the new army recruits was my favorite part of the day. Well, it was all of my day, every day. But no matter how hard I worked, no matter how many hours I spent in the training yard, it never felt like enough.
I made a promise to the Ancients after the siege, and I intended to keep it. Qaanir was rebuilding and our army was learning quickly. But Valeria would die. The suffering she’d caused and the lives she’d destroyed demanded vengeance, and my hands itched to wrap around her throat and take it.
She’d stolen so much from the four worlds. From me.
Cyrus had taken command of Qaanir’s new army and personally oversaw their physical training while Felix, Skye, Shael, and Quillon’s head Cleric handled the more magical aspects of training.
I’d lost much of my fitness since leaving the Order, but after just a couple weeks of Cyrus’s ruthless coaching, my strength and endurance were already the best they had ever been. As much as I hated to admit it, Cyrus’s hard-ass attitude ended up being just what I needed to push myself. If only to prove him wrong.
But today, Cyrus had other business to attend to. I’d expected him to put me in charge. After all, I was the one most skilled with pointy things. But to my horror, he’d pulled Skye from elemental magic lessons to oversee the training of the fighters.
I rolled my eyes and almost lost my balance again.
The fact that Skye was selected over me was insulting enough, but the power had gone straight to Skye’s head. And he wasn’t afraid of handing out punishments. It was ironic that the only elemental in the four worlds with healing magic was a raging sadist.
I pouted as I passed the sparring recruits, beating each other to a pulp with bare hands and wooden weapons. I could have been the one knocking the teeth out of a druid, but instead I was stuck on the sideline.
Skye caught my gaze and smiled. At this rate, the recruits would finish before I completed my punishment. I pushed mana into my legs. The raw mana buzzed through my muscles, and I picked up the pace. Just a few more laps and I’d still have time to take out my frustration on an unsuspecting recruit before bedtime.
My new training clothes allowed me to move easily. Felix had found me the daeva equivalent to a sports bra and leggings. The short, flexible corset was surprisingly comfortable, but showed a lot of my skin.
It was strange at first, but it felt liberating to reveal my marks and scars. I wore my past with pride, but no longer felt defined by it. My marks told a story of my time in the Order, of my escape, and my endurance. I was a survivor.
Until a couple months ago, that meant hiding behind masks and an alias. But now, with my secret out, I could finally be myself.
Being with Sebastian again had brought out the desire to let go of my secrets and have someone truly see me. To truly know me like he did. Like I thought I knew him.
Sebastian.
A hollow ache squeezed my heart as I pushed myself harder.
Since he bit me during the siege on Qaanir, his shadowed face, his corruption, haunted me each night while dark thoughts filled each waking moment. I analyzed every memory, every interaction, looking for something I could have missed. A way I could have put it together sooner.
A way I could have saved him from Valeria.
My darkness was growing stronger, like it did every time I was too far away from the guys. For a while, I’d tried to convince myself it was in my head, just a lingering effect of my concussion. But even now, I could feel its icy chill creeping through my blood.
It shrank away whenever one of my guys’ auras touched it. Skin contact worked best. With my secret out, I’d started wearing less to bed, when I needed skin contact the most. When the nightmares, fueled by darkness and corruption, plagued my mind.
The darkness corroded my mana like acid, slowly eating away at my power. I wasn’t sure what to do about it or how alarmed I should be, but it would have to take a backseat for now. If I told the guys, they’d probably overreact and lock me up in a tower, guarded at all times, for my own good. I could practically hear Cyrus ordering me to stay out of trouble.
But I had it handled. Between the war on Draqaar and Felix’s visions of the Aether, there was too much to be done to risk triggering Cyrus’s tyrannical tendencies.
Speaking of Cyrus …
The golden man himself strode from the dock to the barracks building that housed the storerooms and Quillon’s fancy office. Cyrus towered over the milling heads between us, his sunny aura radiating bright light around him like a halo. It was always strange seeing the Aegis men around anyone of normal proportions. They carried an air of importance and intensity that drew the attention of anyone they passed. One didn’t need to sense auras to tell these men were powerful.
After glancing over my shoulder to make sure Skye wasn’t watching, I sprinted through the crowd of soldiers gathered in the cramped spaces between dormitory tents, playing cards and eating their night’s rations.
I slowed to hide behind a burly druid. Now I was close enough to see Cyrus clearly, and the dark-haired daeva woman beside him. My eyebrows rose.
Sabrina? What was she doing here?
They walked through the open doors of the barracks and disappeared into the office at the back. I followed them, trying to stay out of Skye’s line of sight. I used a group of recruits as cover until I reached a gap in the crowd and executed an entirely unnecessary combat-roll to the next tent, covering my sweaty skin in grains of sand.
I sprinted the last distance to the barracks and paused for breath, pressing my back against the brick wall to stay in the shadows. Skye was busy watching the sparring matches in the training yard. Good. He wouldn’t notice my absence for a while. I slithered inside and into the lantern light.
I dragged my tired feet to the back of the building and to the closed door of Quillon’s office. I pressed down on the handle. It was unlocked, and Cyrus’s massive form was just inside. I slipped through the door, closed it behind me and threw my arms around Cyrus, burying my face in his soft shirt.
He tensed under my touch.
Sunshine and mint tickled my nose, and the corrupt, oily mana in my body shrank away from his power.
“Thank the gods you’re back.” My voice was muffled by his shirt. “Skye’s been on a power trip since you put him in charge. We’re gonna need some serious magic to remove that stick up his butt.”
At the clearing of a throat, I raised my head and looked around the room for the first time. Quillon propped a hip against the dark wood desk. Sabrina sat in one of the high back leather chairs. Her straight, black hair was twisted in a bun at the nape of her neck, held in place with an ornamental silver pin.
Ari stood glamoured in the corner, wearing his full black cloak, mask and glove ensemble that showed nothing but his smoldering lilac eyes. They focused on me, and I quickly moved along.
A man I didn’t recognize stood beside Quillon. He wore an exquisitely embroidered gold and red Daevasi suit. A gold lace mask covered the top half of his face, set with rubies along the upper edge like a crown. Long, copper hair cascaded over his shoulders in silky waves. His lip curled and his purple gaze flicked to Quillon.
A scroll unfurled on Quillon’s desk caught my attention. A floor plan labeled Orsava Estate. How did he have a floorplan of Valeria’s estate?
"What’s going on?" I asked.
Quillon rolled up the scroll, dropping it and a stack of documents in the top drawer of his desk. I chewed my cheek as my stomach roiled. What was he hiding?
He crossed his arms and nodded to me. "This is the Enchanter. The one I was telling you about."
The unfamiliar man’s demeanor changed in an instant. An eager smile lifted his full lips as he reassessed me. "The Enchanter?"
“Uh … hello.” I turned to face the new man. “And you are?”
He frowned, but his pleasant facade quickly slid over his face again. “I’m Rorick, the King of Rotuun.”
A moment of silence stretched between us. Did he expect me to bow or something?
“That’s super cool.” I brushed the sand off my hands and held the right one out to him. “You can just call me Arsyn.”
“Arsyn. What a beautiful name.” The corners of his eyes pinched as he shook my hand. His palm was soft and came away smudged with dirt. He stared at it then pulled a handkerchief out of his breast pocket and wiped his hands.
I tilted my head at Sabrina. She always talked about how she never wanted to return to Draqaar, so she was the last person I expected to find in Qaanir. Other than maybe the bennu Luminary.
“I used to be an Eqiidan diplomat,” she explained. “Cyrus brought me to Qaanir for a few days to ensure everything’s in order for the summit.” She took in my sweat-drenched clothes, wild braid, and mud-spattered skin. She arched a slender eyebrow. “It appears we have a lot of work to do.”
I smoothed my hair and brushed more sand from my pants onto Quillon’s expensive-looking rug. It was lucky they didn’t show up last week when Cyrus let us spar with real daggers. By the end of the day, I’d looked like a serial killer from a B-horror movie. Given the way Rorick paled at the sight of a little dirt, he would probably have fainted.
Cyrus placed himself at my back. His warm aura caressed my exposed hunter marks. “The army is far from prepared, but we’re making progress. The recruits with magic have been training in their gifts and joining the rest of the soldiers in physical training once a day. When they’re done, we’ll have a robust force, but—“
“But in the meantime, you need some extra insurance,” Sabrina interjected. “I have contacts with the best mercenary groups in the four worlds.”
“Mercenaries?” King Rorick said. “Surely that won’t be necessary.”
Quillon ignored Rorick and nodded. “We’ll take all the help we can get. Valeria may be licking her wounds for the moment, but I’ve learned not to underestimate that woman.”
I stretched my sore arms over my head. “Don’t bother with the mercenaries from the Copper District. Their leader liked to put his hands in places they didn’t belong. Until one night a rogue hunter snuck into his open bedroom window and cut them off.” Rorick cringed, and I winked at him. “They call him Captain Hook now.”
“Alright, Enchanter. I think it’s past your bedtime.” Cyrus wrapped a tree-trunk sized arm around my waist and dragged me out of the room.
“What the hell?”
When I resisted, he slung me over his shoulder and strode out of the barracks. “I brought you a gift from Earth. It’s in your room.”
I pushed myself up and studied his back. Cyrus didn’t give gifts. “What is it?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
“I don’t like back talk. Guess neither of us gets what we want.”
I rolled my eyes, but relaxed against his muscly body, letting his big steps gently sway me back and forth. Normally, I would protest being carried, but after a day of running, my legs felt like they would fall off. I’d let him get away with it. Just this once.
“What’s with the bigwig in Quillon’s office?” I asked as we passed the training yard. The recruits were still sparring, and Skye frowned from across the sand. I stuck my tongue out at him.
“The rulers of the four remaining kingdoms of Draqaar are finally arriving in Qaanir for the summit. Rorick got here last night and the queen of Eqiid should be arriving at any moment. The king of Izik has a longer journey, but he’s expected in two days.”
I wrinkled my nose. If the others were anything like King Rorick, I’d be tying bed sheets together and propelling down from my balcony to avoid them.
“What? No trumpets? No fanfare? I at least expected them to have a parade through the canals so they could lord over everyone they passed.”
Cyrus’s chest rumbled. “Quillon’s planning a ball.”
“Oh gods, not another ball. Please tell me we don’t have to go.”
Cyrus stayed silent.
“Pretty please?”
“An alliance would be beneficial for Draqaar, and the Aegis is part of the summit. We must maintain a seat at the table with the representatives from the other kingdoms.”
I groaned, and a big hand smacked my butt.
I stiffened, eyes wide.
“No more back talk,” he said. Luckily for both of us, shock held my tongue. “You’re a member of my team now, Enchanter. You’ll do as I say.”
My mouth fell open. Was he being serious?
Apparently, he was expecting an immediate answer, because he slapped my butt again, harder this time. I yelped, but he kept his hand against the stinging skin, rubbing a circle with his thumb.
“Will you follow my orders?”
I squirmed against his hold, but he was much stronger. Cyrus’s warm hand left the material of my leggings again, winding up for another spank.
“Fine!” I said. “I’ll play nice.”
“Yes, sir.”
I sighed. This man was insufferable.
I lifted my arm and smacked his butt as hard as I could, but it was like hitting a marble statue, and I instantly regretted it. Cyrus stopped walking and set me down in front of him.
“Did you just hit my butt?”
I shook out my hand. My palm was already turning red. “I’d say it hit back.”
Cyrus shook his head and resumed walking toward the barracks dock. Apparently, we both had a knack for stunning the other into silence.
I hesitated. I’d gotten into the routine of jogging to and from the barracks platform every day, but Skye’s punishments ensured I’d gotten plenty of exercise today. So instead, I followed Cyrus to the small dock and joined him on the rickety taxi boat that waited for him.
I sat next to him on the narrow bench and leaned into his arm. His sunny aura wrapped around me like a blanket.
Cyrus was right.
The alliance was more important than my stubbornness. I was part of Cyrus’s team now. He’d put his neck out for me when he discovered my identity and didn’t take me to Niaras like the Aegis required. I’d do as he said for now. I’d go to the ball, I’d converse politely and laugh at banter about the Daeva stock market or whatever Daevasi joked about. I’d do anything to ensure the alliance went ahead as planned.
But I’d stay as far away as possible from the garden maze. Nothing good ever happened in a palace maze during a Daevasi ball. I knew from experience.
