Chapter One

  Solysa

  There. Another.

  A twisted face stared up at her, barely even human. She glanced around to check for anyone watching, in case this was a trap, before stepping out from behind the brush and moving over to the body.

  Nothing visibly wrong. He’d been through here. She padded past the remains, following the trail the man who’d killed him left behind. No need to search the body. It wouldn’t give up anything.

  The last fifteen years of her life had been spent tracking down those like her. Today, her quest would be done. This was the last of those who’d been cursed the same night she had.

  A wail came from somewhere ahead. He’d found another person. She sprinted forward, still silent, coming out into a small meadow.

  There. He stood on the edge, towering over a small woman, who screamed like she was about to see hell.

  But then, maybe she was.

  “Scream,” he said, leering. “Bring others to help. That just makes things easier for me.”

  Sol closed her eyes for a moment to mourn what was about to happen. She had no illusions that she would be able to save this woman. She took a breath, and stepped out.

  He head whipped in her direction instantly. She was light on her feet, but he had superior hearing, just like hers.

  “Ahh, Draugr. You’re here.” He smiled. “You can’t stop me. There’s a reason you went for all the others first. They were weak compared to the two of us. Why don’t you join me? We would be unstoppable. Stronger even than the Master.”

  Aifen. He’d once had a name. She learned it while hunting him. He had been her age when he’d been cursed, on the same night, by the same man. Her weary soul caught at the thought. The days before Malachar were long gone.

  She pulled her two daggers and walked toward him.

  “You choose death, then,” Aifen snarled. He darted toward her, far faster than a human should be able to move, pulling a sword from his back.

  Without issue, she got her dagger up and diverted his swipe at her, the sword sliding down and the tip burying itself in the dirt. She didn’t press the advantage. Not yet.

  He came at her then, blow after blow. She glided in and out, slicing when she could, dodging when she could not. His clothes were cut too ribbons, blood flowing from his wounds.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  He jumped at her again, this time with a ferocity she couldn’t stop. His sword made it past her daggers, nicking her in the side. Blood flowed freely.

  “Go,” she said to the woman. But the poor thing couldn’t seem to move, frozen in terror.

  “Ahh, so the great Draugr can speak,” Aifen taunted.

  She wheeled around toward him, catching him off guard and burying one of her daggers in his gut. She turned it, causing a second gush of blood.

  His expression changed from taunting to shocked, and he stagger back, taking her dagger with him, holding pressure on her own wound.

  “Go!” she yelled to the woman again, bending down to try and pull her to her feet.

  The woman spit in her face, pulling away from Sol so she couldn’t be touched. “Draugr.”

  Sol wiped the spit away. “Yes, yes, Draugr. Now get out of here.”

  The whistle of a sword sent Sol rolling away. Aifen stumbled toward them, dagger still in his gut. Sol blocked his next blow with her remaining dagger, but her body trembled against it. She was losing too much blood. He stabbed her through, impaling her on his sword, driving it deeper and deeper. “You’re a waste.” He kicked her off of his blade, sending her flying across the grass.

  “You should have joined me,” he sneered. He extended his hand toward the other woman, who began screaming. A dark pulse of shadow left his open palm. Her face froze in terror as a blue light met the shadow, entwining with it until it reached Aifen’s hand. He threw his head back in a mirror of the woman’s, but the look on his face was pure ecstasy.

  Her body dropped to the ground, empty of life. Aifen turned back toward Sol, his wounds healing in front of her, an odd glow surrounding him.

  “I’ll be the last. The one that survived. And I’ll serve the Master until I become stronger than him. Farewell, Draugr. What’s left of your soul will feed me well.”

  He stalked toward her.

  A tear welled up in the corner of her eye. Yet again, she didn’t have a choice. Not really. She could let herself be killed, be done with her crusade. But there were too many people here, too many that reminded her of her home, of what had been done to it so many years ago.

  No. She wasn’t done yet. And she would do whatever necessary until she was. Then, she could be at peace.

  She forced herself to her feet and closed her eyes. Time slowed around her, her breath in her ear as loud as a bell at midday. The mark across half of her face heated up, searing her skin. The cost didn’t matter now, not if she wasn’t going to make it through this fight. Slowing the wound on her side knit back together, her bones aching as they worked to replace the lost blood volume. The hole gaping through her middle wouldn’t be completely healed, but she would be able to get the job done.

  Her eyes snapped back open and time resumed, Aifen skidding to a halt in front of her.

  “Your eyes… None of ours do that. What are you doing?”

  She should feel satisfaction at his fear. Joy in the trembles she could see going through his body, in the pounding of his pulse.

  But she didn’t feel joy anymore. Only duty, and exhaustion. She flitted out of existence for a split second, and then came back, but behind him. She drove her remaining dagger deep into his back. He crumpled to the ground, staring up at her, mouth open in terror, much like his victims.

  “You could have avoided this fate.”

  “I was cursed! Just like you!”

  “You are nothing like me.”

  His eyes went vacant, and she felt his soul leave his body. She slid down to sit beside him. At last, her self-given assignment was complete. She wouldn’t be here to take down Malachar, but she had done what she told herself she must do before her life could end.

  Finally she crumpled to the ground, staring up into the blue of the sky. “Goodbye, Eira. I’m sorry.”