Read Online The Tale of Onora: The Boy and the Peddler of Death by Dylan Saccoccio - Free Book Online
Authors: Dylan Saccoccio
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Epic, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Genre Fiction, dark fantasy
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face the drooped lip of an Eidolon Bear as it sniffed out her intention. Her heart sank while she looked at Aithein lying in the grass on the other side of it. She hoped with all her willpower that the baby would remain silent.
Olwyn slowly extended her right arm and dabbed her fingers beneath the surface of the water. She stared the bear down and quietly drew a deep breath. Her focus retreated to the center of her mind. She thought of jagged glaciers, of contraction, formation, and crystallization. The tips of her fingers stung with an arctic bite until they grew numb. The moment her fingers lost feeling, they grew hot. The spell was charged.
The water particles excited around her right hand. Tiny crystals of ice formed around her fingers. They broke away and floated downstream. She slowly raised her left hand towards the bear. Ice magic flowed from the stream and rushed through her veins. It filled her heart. Her eyes grew midnight blue and unforgiving. The icy sensation shot through her left arm and manifested in her palm. A sphere of blue-white energy seethed with steam as the magic irritated the summer air.
Olwyn thought of the fjords, of her parents, of the conditions in Drudgekreath. She thought of her poverty and her involuntary servitude, of having to keep her marriage a secret because of a racist Caliphian society. A most disturbing rage silently built up inside the center of her mind. It consumed her. It was the kind of ferocity known only by those who realize they were born into a prison and never had a chance at real freedom, that the world was so wrong that the only thing left to be done was to destroy it.
As the sphere extracted the electromagnetic energy from the surrounding air, Aithein let out a cry for his mother. The bear was startled. It whirled around and stared at the baby. Olwyn gritted her teeth. She feared that if she used the spell in that moment that it would knock the bear on top of her son. The bear carefully approached Aithein and sniffed him over.
Olwyn let out a scream of agony. “Don’t you dare!”
The bear spun around. Its hind leg jostled the baby and narrowly missed crushing him. The bear sprang up, roared at Olwyn and lunged. As it swooped down upon her, she cast the spell.
A massive blast of ice soared through the air. It seared into the bear and tore through its flesh like an arrowhead through wet parchment. As the spear of ice exited the wound, it spewed chunks of sinews, blood, organs, and bone.
The bear fell towards Olwyn. She managed to dodge the majority of its body, but not its claws. Its paw struck her in the side and tore through her flesh. The force knocked her to the ground. The bear slumped over. Olwyn stared into its gaped mouth, its lifeless eyes focused upon her. They demanded that she never forget their encounter. She pressed against the weight of the bear’s massive arm and squirmed out from under it. She feebly crawled to Aithein. The baby was fine.
Olwyn was bleeding. Her adrenaline wore off and a searing burn replaced her temporary relief. She collapsed next to Aithein. Her eyes grew heavy until everything slowly turned dark.
A stream of blood trickled from Olwyn’s body into the sandy riverbank. It entered a rivulet and eventually made its way to the brook, joined the rapids, and flowed downriver.
______________________________
D AYBREAK’S DIFFERENT HUES OF purple, blue, pink, and orange drove the black night away from the east and back towards the desert. The light of dawn rose from the sea and flooded the landscape. The Oussanean and Caliphian armies now had each other in sight as they marched towards oblivion.
The eastern skies grew dark and turbid around the sun. The cloud cover manifested in a devastatingly unnatural manner and brought with them a darkness of a different kind. The Shadekin chanted in unison as they led the Caliphian army towards its moment of reckoning. Their otherworldly hymn charged the aether around them. It revealed their
Olwyn slowly extended her right arm and dabbed her fingers beneath the surface of the water. She stared the bear down and quietly drew a deep breath. Her focus retreated to the center of her mind. She thought of jagged glaciers, of contraction, formation, and crystallization. The tips of her fingers stung with an arctic bite until they grew numb. The moment her fingers lost feeling, they grew hot. The spell was charged.
The water particles excited around her right hand. Tiny crystals of ice formed around her fingers. They broke away and floated downstream. She slowly raised her left hand towards the bear. Ice magic flowed from the stream and rushed through her veins. It filled her heart. Her eyes grew midnight blue and unforgiving. The icy sensation shot through her left arm and manifested in her palm. A sphere of blue-white energy seethed with steam as the magic irritated the summer air.
Olwyn thought of the fjords, of her parents, of the conditions in Drudgekreath. She thought of her poverty and her involuntary servitude, of having to keep her marriage a secret because of a racist Caliphian society. A most disturbing rage silently built up inside the center of her mind. It consumed her. It was the kind of ferocity known only by those who realize they were born into a prison and never had a chance at real freedom, that the world was so wrong that the only thing left to be done was to destroy it.
As the sphere extracted the electromagnetic energy from the surrounding air, Aithein let out a cry for his mother. The bear was startled. It whirled around and stared at the baby. Olwyn gritted her teeth. She feared that if she used the spell in that moment that it would knock the bear on top of her son. The bear carefully approached Aithein and sniffed him over.
Olwyn let out a scream of agony. “Don’t you dare!”
The bear spun around. Its hind leg jostled the baby and narrowly missed crushing him. The bear sprang up, roared at Olwyn and lunged. As it swooped down upon her, she cast the spell.
A massive blast of ice soared through the air. It seared into the bear and tore through its flesh like an arrowhead through wet parchment. As the spear of ice exited the wound, it spewed chunks of sinews, blood, organs, and bone.
The bear fell towards Olwyn. She managed to dodge the majority of its body, but not its claws. Its paw struck her in the side and tore through her flesh. The force knocked her to the ground. The bear slumped over. Olwyn stared into its gaped mouth, its lifeless eyes focused upon her. They demanded that she never forget their encounter. She pressed against the weight of the bear’s massive arm and squirmed out from under it. She feebly crawled to Aithein. The baby was fine.
Olwyn was bleeding. Her adrenaline wore off and a searing burn replaced her temporary relief. She collapsed next to Aithein. Her eyes grew heavy until everything slowly turned dark.
A stream of blood trickled from Olwyn’s body into the sandy riverbank. It entered a rivulet and eventually made its way to the brook, joined the rapids, and flowed downriver.
______________________________
D AYBREAK’S DIFFERENT HUES OF purple, blue, pink, and orange drove the black night away from the east and back towards the desert. The light of dawn rose from the sea and flooded the landscape. The Oussanean and Caliphian armies now had each other in sight as they marched towards oblivion.
The eastern skies grew dark and turbid around the sun. The cloud cover manifested in a devastatingly unnatural manner and brought with them a darkness of a different kind. The Shadekin chanted in unison as they led the Caliphian army towards its moment of reckoning. Their otherworldly hymn charged the aether around them. It revealed their
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