Ranger's Fury Read online

  Contents

  Ranger's Fury

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  Part One: Return to Taria

  Part Two: Separate Paths

  Part Three: Night Journey

  Part Four: Saelmark

  Part Five: Purified

  Part Six: The Dwarven Problem

  Part Seven: Fall of the Crown

  Copyright

  Ranger's Fury

  (Ranger Trilogy #1)

  Stormborn Saga Book Four

  J.T. Williams

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  STORMBORN SAGA

  Stormborn

  Mage Soul

  Elf Bane

  Stormborn Saga Trilogy

  Ranger's Fury (Ranger Trilogy #1)

  Black Moon (Ranger Trilogy #2)

  Ruins of Aieclo (Ranger Trilogy #3)

  Stormborn 7,8,9 (2018)

  HALF-ELF CHRONICLES

  Half-Bloods Rising

  Seer of Lost Sands

  Shadow of the Orc Star

  Necromancer's Curse

  Wrath of the Half-Elves

  The Last Dwemhar

  ROGUES OF MAGIC

  Rogues of Magic Trilogy

  LOST TALES OF THE REALMS

  Ranger's Folly

  The Dwarven Guardian

  A Stranger's Quest

  Wizard Trials

  All books listed here are within the same world. For further information, please head to my website!

  www.authorjtwilliams.com

  Part One: Return to Taria

  The ocean spray blew across the deck as on the tail of a storm, a young captain took his crew south. His name was Valrin, Stormborn of the Glacial Seas. His vessel was a realm ship of the Dwemhar, a lost race of incredible power who had tasked him with guarding the oceans of the North until a foretold time. But for a time, his business was to the south. A member of his crew desperately sought to find his son. If his son was even still alive.

  Fadis, Ranger of the North who had spent his child's early years fighting in a war against the elves, had managed to secure his son a place with the elves when the truth of the land's events became known. He was a traitor to a king, and his once-enemy became the safer place. That was ten years ago. His son was essentially grown. He promised that he would return for his son, and he was making good on it now.

  "Captain," a young woman shouted out. "I see land ahead beneath what light from the waning moon reveals."

  This younger woman was a Rusis named Braei, a being who appeared as if she were of the race of men but could wield magic with just her hands, a significant skill of her race. Rusis were rare, an ancient race like the Dwemhar but still very much in existence. She and Valrin cared much for one another, though they worked to keep that from the crew.

  "We must move around the cape," another woman corrected her.

  This part-Rusis woman was one of the few remaining people with Dwemhar blood. A power unlike any other across the oceans of continents, she had spent her entire life in a temple of the wind god, Dimn, learning to control her powers. Now, she served the Stormborn, but she was not alone.

  Valrin turned the wheel over to one of the few others who ever guided the ship, a shadow elf from the East, Evurn. As the oldest of the crew and with a dark history himself, he was a powerful force to reckon with. He watched over Valrin and the others as a father, but he was also the strangest.

  "Rasi didn't like that storm," he told Valrin.

  Rasi was his albino snake, and most of the crew felt the snake had more rights than they did.

  Rasi coiled down his arm and sat on the wheel of the Aela Sunrise.

  "Captain," Evurn said quite suddenly, "do we not need to move into the Vindas Sea regions?"

  "Yes, that's where we go," Valrin said.

  "Well, as you can see, there is a great amount of fog we're going into. I suggest we move away from the fog. Find a safe harbor for now."

  Valrin saw exactly what Evurn had mentioned. What before was just rough seas now was veiled in thick fog rolling off the bow. Evurn turned them north, taking them along the high cliffs of northern Taria.

  "We shouldn't dwell this way for long," Fadis said.

  "Come now," Braei said, "how many years has it been since you left this place?"

  "Not long enough seeing as we are back at this place. The elves are where we need to go."

  "Well, fog complicates that for now."

  Aeveam closed her eyes, but at almost the same time, they jerked back open. "Valrin, turn now. There is a cove with high grass. We need to go there."

  Valrin turned the wheel, moving quickly toward dark cliffs. He moved the levers of the ship, and the ship began to glow, casting light ahead and revealing an almost perfect moor around some high rocks.

  "Good timing, Aeveam," Braei said. "We would have missed it."

  Aeveam jumped from the ship before it was even tied off and began up into high grass. Braei followed, with Valrin jumping to follow Braei.

  "What in the gods has gotten into them?" Fadis asked.

  "I do not know," said Evurn, "but that girl is going to get us in trouble, I'm sure."

  As Fadis reached the upper part of the embankment, he saw that Aeveam had her arms out and eyes closed.

  "Someone is near, someone who will be important," she said.

  "What do you mean?" Fadis asked.

  "Stay here. They will come to you. There is another. Come, Braei! Now!"

  Before any could ask or protest, both Aeveam and Braei disappeared into the grass, leaving the others.

  "I don't like this," Evurn said. "There's a foul smell in the air. I will watch this other direction. Whatever Aeveam is up to, I'm sure we'll know soon."

  As Evurn now left too, Valrin and Fadis stayed put.

  "So much for a simple journey," Valrin said.

  Fadis strung his bow. "Perhaps it will remain simple."

  Valrin and Fadis saw several sudden flashes of fire and lightning.

  "No, definitely not."

  Fadis put an arrow to cheek, and Valrin drew his blade. They advanced to the edge of the tall grass and watched for more flashes. They came, but they were much further off. Fadis heard galloping horses and shouting.

  "This is why we do not separate!" he said to Valrin.

  Valrin ran over to where they'd last seen Evurn. "Evurn! Where are you?"

  A few moments later, Fadis saw something moving to their right. He was about to release his arrow when he saw the glow of a Rusis spell and Braei moving with a large man to her side.

  "Thanks for not killing me!" she said.

  "Why would I kill you?"

  "Rusis, in the fields. Aeveam fights them."

  Multiple large blasts of fire and lightning erupted in the near distance. The sounds of the horses drew closer.

  "Who is this?" Fadis asked of the large man, now noticing he, too, had a child or something in his arms.

  "I am a simple barkeep from the East. My daughter and her ill dwarven friend seek help. She needs help, though, now. They're going to kill her!"

  The man began to cry, and Fadis pushed them away.

  "Take him and hide for now near the way to the ship," he told Braei.

  He advanced through the grass with Valrin just behind him. He spotted multiple shadowy forms in the fields. He ran back up to a wooded path, quickly moving through the trees. He saw someone ahead looking back the way they had come.

  He touched her shoulder. She jumped and drew a knife. He grabbed her arm, preventing her from stabbing him.

  "I'm a friend unless you're a friend of the K
ing," Fadis said, holding her arm as she pushed against his.

  "Seriously, If I wanted you dead I would have put an arrow in you."

  Her stern push against him released and she sheathed her dagger.

  "They're everywhere. The magic casters. Rusis in cloaks. I've never seen so many."

  "Careful, they're already pissed. Damn Rusis. I thought I took down one of the last in this region when I left. Damn it." Fadis saw several figures converging on them. "Friends?"

  "No," the woman said.

  He pulled an arrow to cheek before releasing the bolt and taking down one of them. Several of the figures near the one who dropped turned and sent a volley of flaming magic toward them.

  Fadis dropped to the ground with the female, and the spells landed around them but missed.

  From behind them, a bolt of lightning leaped out, striking more of the attackers. The attackers fled, and Fadis could hear more of the horses nearly upon them. The early-morning sun revealed the banners of the King of Taria in the distance.

  Fadis spit. "Come on," he told the woman.

  "Who are you?" she asked.

  "Not trying to kill you. How's that for an answer?"

  Valrin went to look toward the approaching horses.

  "Captain, I'd suggest we get to the others. These men don't look like they're here to play nicely," Fadis said.

  "Move forward. We need to get to the ship."

  They began to run back toward where they had come ashore.

  "Where's Aeveam?" Valrin questioned.

  "Beside you," she said.

  The woman they were helping jumped as Aeveam appear suddenly beside them.

  "I think we killed enough of them. Perhaps they'll not attack random travelers."

  "I told you this place would be nothing but a lawless land," the Fadis said, "The king was a bastard when I fought with him, and a bastard he remains. The next time you get a feeling, perhaps we will not stop like this."

  "We are here; we will deal with this. Let us get back to the others," Valrin said.

  They came upon where Braei was.

  "Braei," Valrin asked. "Where's our lovely shadow elf?"

  "I do not keep up with him, Valrin. Making friends, Fadis?" Braei asked, staring the woman up and down.

  "Something like that," Fadis said. "Enemies of the king are likely friends of ours."

  The woman looked at the others Braei had brought. "You are both okay! I thought for sure they had killed you!"

  "What is going on?" Fadis questioned.

  "Rusis, enemy Rusis. I have never seen so many," Aeveam said. "They nearly had them when I came upon them. "

  "She is like what I told you. She is of the Rusis and," the barkeep said, staring at her, "like the Dwemhar."

  The woman stared at Aeveam. Aeveam shook her head. "We will talk of this later."

  Horsemen rode nearly upon them, and Fadis drew an arrow as several of the king's men circled him and the rest of the crew.

  "Seems you boys wandered a bit far from Taria," Fadis said. "You're going to want to head back east. No one here has anything for you."

  "Stranger," one of the men said, "you are new to these lands. I do not recognize you. This female is wanted by the king for crimes against the crown. I do command that you--"

  "Fuck off." Fadis took several steps forward. He loosed his arrow, sending the bolt directly past the horseman's helmet. Before the rogue could look back to the Ranger, he had another arrow to cheek. "Tell your king he can fuck off too. We don't have time or desire to deal with his rabble."

  The horseman laughed. "You can insult us if you wish, but the king has gathered those of particular skill." He moved his hand to the side, and several of the Rusis from before were at his sides. "My king is stronger than he has ever been. We will not deal with elven, dwarven, or rebel intrusion into our lands anymore. You and the others are free to go. We will take that girl and that dwarf, Rilr."

  Another figure appeared from the path that led down to the sea. Valrin glanced and smiled to see Evurn and Rasi.

  "I like the dwarf," the Evurn said. "His name is Rilr, you say? Good, I like Rilr."

  The snake Rasi hissed at the horses, sending several of them scampering back.

  "Captain Valrin, the ship is ready. We will head back to sea and toward elven lands. With extra crew. Under our protection," he said, emphasizing that the rogue, her father, and Rilr were not to be given up.

  As the rogue walked with the others who assisted her father in carrying Rilr, she looked back to Fadis and Aeveam.

  "This is an outrage," the horseman said. "Rusis! Stop them!"

  The casters advanced, but both Aeveam and Evurn stepped forward. A blast of red magic threw a wall of snow, dirt, and rock into the closest Rusis, toppling several horses.

  Aeveam floated just above the ground, her hands alight with white fire, lifting several of the others high into the air and throwing them into the trees beyond the horsemen.

  The man who had ordered the Rusis to move in was speechless. Those around him fled and he struggled to control his own steed.

  "Yes," said Fadis, "as I said, fuck off."

  They fled back toward the Aela Sunrise.

  Valrin was at the helm. Aeveam immediately went to the barkeep and used her powers to heal what she could of his blood bloody wounds. She then placed her hands on the dwarf.

  "The dwarf is sickened with something else. Was he poisoned?"

  "Dwemhar ruins," the woman said. "A trap of some kind."

  Evurn boarded the ship. "Come now, we just got away from that Dwemhar and sea-people stories and sicknesses and crazy events. Let's not start up on some quest once again."

  "Come now, Evurn," Valrin mocked, "you know you enjoy every bit of such a fun quest."

  "Hmph," he responded. "Stormborn."

  Fadis went to the woman as Valrin moved away from the shore almost without any wind at all. The woman looked up at the lack of wind in the sails and then looked at the ship itself with a questioning eye.

  "If the ship is your only question of us, I'd be surprised," Fadis said. "What is your name?"

  She looked around the ship, scanning each of the crew. She then looked to her father, who was leaning against the railing of the ship, exhausted.

  Fadis could tell she did not typically trust others, from the loops in her armor, which no doubt held daggers, to her general demeanor. If she wasn't a Ranger of some kind, she was something else. He smiled at her, and she gave a half smirk.

  "Kirla," she said.

  "Kirla, well, welcome aboard the Aela Sunrise. We have need to travel further south. I have some business with the elves. You can travel with us, or we will take you to a port of your choosing. I'm not here to ask what happened before, but you can decide your next path. We've all made our own choices aboard this vessel. What will be yours?"

  She stared at him, and he smiled. Fadis noticed she seemed to stare towards her father and then back to Fadis.

  "There is time. Talk with your father."

  Valrin made a point to guide the Aela Sunrise far away from the distant coast. The sun rose a bit higher in the sky, and the waves glistened with a golden hue. These waters were indeed much different from the Glacial Seas.

  As Valrin and Fadis locked eyes, the Ranger came to his side as their two new companions, or in fact, three, if they counted the sickened dwarf, stared aimlessly, unsure what to make of their surroundings.

  "She's not a Ranger," Fadis said. "She knows a lot of the Rangers of the North. I have to assume she has some affiliation with them even though she denies it."

  Valrin glanced over at him and then at the seas ahead. "You talk of her like she's some type of criminal." He looked back at the Ranger. "Is she?"

  Fadis shook his head. "The definition of criminal would need to be defined. And in these lands, we can't assume anything. The King of Taria wants her dead. That would be the same wish for myself by the king if he knew I were alive."

  As Aeveam and Braei brewed
some of their last stores of coffee, Evurn joined Fadis and Valrin at the helm. "I told you both we had no business going anywhere but the elven lands. I say that knowing that they will most likely deny us entry."

  "Come now, Evurn," Fadis said.

  "I have already told all of you. It does not need to be stated again, but here, I will state again. Elves and shadow elves do not mix in any form, in any sparse area of woods, or upon any battle plain. My kind hates their kind, and they hate my kind. Shadow elves prefer the shadows and darkness."

  "Shadow this, shadow elf, is your land in perpetual darkness?" Fadis asked.

  Evurn nodded. "The Shadowlands are dark; both its people and the creatures that dwell there have learned to be live in such a place. From the volcanic region to the Far South, smoke billows up, blocking the sun east of the mountain range that borders the entire way to the western lands. Though there are passes to the other realms, they are guarded by many eyes both friend and foe to shadow elf.

  "Falacar horsemen thunder across the open plains and along the coastlines, pyramids rise into the sky as sacrifices are made to those that shadow elves deem holy. Though we have a night and day, magic has made it so that even our day does not see blue skies but gray. Only at night, do the stars high above shine down and our land looks as the other lands. It is a place I wish to avoid for the rest of my life. I cannot think of anything that would convince me to actually return to those shores, and I cannot explain all that is that land or of those that live there.

  "Blood elves, shadow elves, and these woodland sprites are all very different. I will not waste time explaining the difference, because it does not matter. You do not find my kind here, and I will not rest without a hand on my weapon."

  They began to move further south, rounding the cape, they took a passage sailing to the Vindas Seas, the great seas of the South that reached all the way to the Dashrin Coast.

  "Eh-Rin is a grand city," Aeveam said. "Even at the Temple of Swia, the monks told me stories of the jewel of the coast. It is old and a place of mystery."

  "We need no further mysteries," Evurn said. "We have enough mystery already on our deck."