Joseph and the Windriders must face ancient evil and
the flames of war in this epic conclusion to The Spirit of the Trees.
EXCERPT:
Calamity
Joseph’s second day of travel from Glowing Rocks was
nearing its end when Dorav came upon a side passage that would lead them
through the rear entrance to the chamber of the Well. This was the same
entrance they had used last fall to take the Baron by surprise. Another hour
they pressed on until finally Dorav signaled that the door was just ahead, around
two more bends in the tunnel. Joseph took stock of the band. The hret-dialt
were beginning to fray around the edges, and Ten’marden was now shivering with
fever, though he had kept the pace during the march.
Fifty yards ahead they crept, Dorav and Joseph going
in front and peering around the corner while the hret-dialt protected the
party’s rear. As soon as the human and dwarf poked their heads around the bend
in the tunnel, it was clear something was wrong. At the next bend some hundred
yards distant, instead of a murky tunnel lit only by the steady blue-green
radiance of Dorav’s bowls of lichen, the walls reflected an orange, flickering
firelight. Confirming the immediate stretch of tunnel was clear, Joseph
motioned the rest of the party forward as he and Dorav continued on to the next
bend.
Looking around this next, and final, corner, Joseph’s
fears were confirmed. The rearward door to the Well stood wide open, and the
Baron stood on the other side of the yawning pit, looking at the open doorway
as if expecting someone to appear, his one-eyed gaze fixed on he and Dorav’s
position. Aside from the patch over his eye, the rest of Turov’s features were
now restored, the scar tissue and missing hair replaced by the face he had worn
in life.
Suddenly the ground shook, and Joseph heard cries from
the rest of the party behind them. A deep cracking sound echoed overhead, and
Dorav threw Joseph forward only just in time to avoid the slab of rock that
crashed down from the tunnel ceiling. Around them, the rest of the band was
likewise issuing into the chamber as rock and dust cascaded from above them,
choking the rear tunnel within moments.
“Your arrival is well timed,” the Baron announced.
“The rituals are all but complete, and the master’s heart needs but one thing to
be reunited with him.”
Joseph pressed off the stone floor, moving from a
prone position to a crouch, his weight on the balls of his feet and ready to
shift. As he moved, he saw the stone heart sitting at Turov’s feet, still
pulsing with an internal glow. The Baron had ended his statement with a
pregnant pause, but Joseph wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of asking
him to continue. He looked to the left, where the rest of his companions were
scattered. Ten’marden inched toward Joseph, but Tes’sael was leading the others
around the rim of the Well, trying to flank the Baron. The main, and now only,
entrance to the chamber was in the same direction, which Joseph thought was
fortunate, the need for flight being far more likely than any opportunity to attack.
“You see,” the Baron continued, “those who have grown
wise in the deeper ways of the world understand that there has ever been but
one true currency. So it is today and ever shall be. Only one commodity is
placed above price by mortals, and thus is it the only coin worthy of commerce:
Life.”
Baron Turov glared at Joseph with his single eye, and
Joseph couldn’t help but lock with it. Even over the hundred feet of the Well
between them, the hunter felt suddenly sick. He had never struggled with
heights, spending most of his youth and adulthood climbing up and between
trees, but in that moment he thought he understood the queasy dizziness of
people who did, the inexplicable sense of falling even though his feet were
braced on solid stone. Though he was ignorant of such things, he felt sure this
was no spell; it was the result of seeing into the depths of a dead man’s eye.
Joseph clenched his jaw and took a slow breath through
his nose, steeling body and mind for whatever assault was sure to come. The
hunter caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his left eye, then
everything happened at once.
The Baron flicked his hand out toward Joseph, and a
bolt of crackling darkness sprang forth from the stone heart and headed
straight for him. Tes’sael and the elves nocked arrows and shot with lighting
speed. Dorav threw something, and in a dim corner of Joseph’s mind he was aware
it was his blast rope still in a coil, with one end burning. Joseph lunged to
his right, but the dark energy arced in midflight, continuing its bearing
toward him. The elves’ arrows struck home, piercing the Baron and driving him a
step to Joseph’s right. The blast rope landed between the Baron and the stone
heart. Joseph, horrified that the bolt of darkness seemed to be following him,
reared back in surprise, rising from his crouch into a half-standing,
half-stumbling posture. Suddenly, Ten’marden slammed into Joseph, bowling him
out of the way with his shoulder. Had they been of like size, perhaps his
momentum would have continued and carried him clear, but knocking the larger
human aside left him hanging with his back to the Baron and directly in the
dark bolt’s path. Joseph watched the energy strike the elf and lift him from
the ground, a white light coursing back up the bolt’s path to the stone heart.
The hunter could see in Ten’marden’s eyes a blankness he had scarcely seen
since the war. All life had left him in an instant. The Baron howled in
frustration at the sudden change in his sacrifice as he stepped toward the
blast rope, poised to kick it into the Well.
The rope exploded. As Dorav had predicted, it was not
the staggering blast the powder keg had yielded, but it was enough to fling
Baron Turov back against the nearest wall. The pressure of the explosion hit
the stone heart and moved it, half-sliding half-rolling, to the very brink of
the Well. It teetered crazily on the edge for a moment. Joseph scrabbled for
his bow, but Tes’sael was already shooting, hitting the dense stone once,
twice, thrice in rapid succession. Then it was too late. The stone was too
heavy, and Tes’sael’s angle too shallow. The heart slid off the ledge and fell.
KEYWORDS
fantasy, ranger, elf, magic, adventure
Website URL: www.burnthemap.com
Blog URL: www.burnthemap.com/nobility
ALSO BY SHANE L. COFFEY
Joseph's life changed when a prophecy foretold his
future, but now his world is threatened by a menace from his past. To prevent a
catastrophe, this lone hunter must accept the help of his newfound friends and
journey into the very heart of the mountains' stone.
The tale of Joseph, the Spirit of
the Trees, continues to unfold with mystery, action, and adventure. To fulfill
a prophecy, Joseph chose a new Identity. Will
his new perils convince him of his need for a Community?
REVIEW:
Title of book: Community, by Shane Coffey (The Spirit of the
Trees Book 2)
Publisher: Rogue Phoenix Press
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 114 Pages
Rating: 4
Reviewed by: Courtney Rene
This is the story of
Joseph, a loner and survivor. His life
changed drastically thanks to a prophecy that told of his future, all the while
being threatened by his past. Joseph sets out to prevent war and destruction. He is joined by new friends and old on his
trek underground and to new worlds.
I
enjoyed this story. It was fast paced
and well defined. The worlds were
creative and hashed out so that I could really see them and get into the story. I was happy to tag along in the back ground
while the characters came to terms with who they were and what they could offer
to the story. It wasn't all sunshine and
roses either. There is always death. It's part of life and war and battles. The author did a great job of keeping it real
and not gratuitous just for the sake of killing someone off. Plus you get elves and dwarfs and trolls,
what's not to like?
I give the book a firm 4 star
rating. The books jumps right into the
action without giving you time to catch up.
Usually I like that, but in this type of book, sometimes we need a bit
of lead in. Other than that, I thought
it was well-written, well thought out and quite the entertaining read. Very well done.
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