From international bestselling author, K.N. Lee comes Rise of the Flame, an epic fantasy.
There are six races, four realms, and one human girl who can bring them together in peace...or war.
Lilae has been hunted since the night of her birth. She is the only heir to the human god's throne.
For centuries the races have been separated by an ancient barrier. Now that the barrier is crumbling and vanishing, the races are once again pitted against one another.
Who will rule? Which races will survive? Will Lilae give up her chance for the throne to save the race of the man she loves?
Exclusive Excerpt
Pirin already started to gather wood
from fallen branches around the camp. “I’ll watch for half of the night, and
then you girls can take turns. We’ll get horses from the next village and I
promise we can stay at an inn.”
The twins smiled. Lilae watched their
faces light up, and it brought a small smile to her lips. The thought of
sleeping in an inn excited them all. There, they could drink ale and meet new
people. The food was always hearty even if the beds were sometimes infested
with bed bugs.
Lilae lingered near the slope into the
woods while the others set up. She heard something. Her head tilted as she
listened to The Winds.
Delia looked back at her, concern
spreading across her face. “What is it, Lilae?”
Lilae held a gloved hand up and
continued to listen. The Winds spoke to her. They were always there like an old
friend. The voices that floated along the breeze or rushing winds always warned
her when something was amiss. She had relied on them since she was a child, and
they never lied.
Now, they issued a warning.
“Bandits,” Lilae said, standing tall.
Her eyes searched for movement in the bushes.
“Oh, great. She’s talking to herself
again,” Risa whispered. “Am I the only one who thinks she’s gone completely mad?”
“Shush, Risa.” Jaiza nudged her
sister’s arm. “She may talk to herself, but has she ever been wrong?”
Risa didn’t reply. They both watched as
Lilae stood completely still near the edge of the woods.
“Murderers.”
The Winds were sure to tell Lilae that and she gave the twins a look that they understood.
“They followed our tracks, and they
wish to rob and kill us.” Lilae said it as if she was discussing the weather.
“Humph.
I wish they’d try,” Jaiza said with a glower in the same direction as Lilae’s
gaze.
Delia
drew in a deep breath. “Holy Elahe. We can never travel in peace.” She stabbed
her staff into the ground. “Those bandits are damned fools to be this close to
The Barrier.”
“I don’t like this.” Lhana’s eyes
darted toward the forest as she withdrew o hide near the cave. “Why does this
always happen? One day they’ll sneak up on us, I just know it!”
“I won’t let that happen,” Lilae said,
glancing back at her.
“You
will be the death of me,” Lhana said as she turned her back on Lilae.
Pirin gave her a sidelong glance.
“Perhaps you’d let me train you sometime, Lhana. You are not as defenseless as
you pretend to be. Your trait is quite rare; it could be of use to us.”
Lhana glared at him. “I don’t want to
hear it. You seem to forget that I am a proper lady, only warriors use their traits.”
Pirin shrugged. “Suit yourself. I don’t
understand why you’d rather waste something you’ve inherited.”
Lhana shook her head. “Never. So stop
asking me.” She raised a finger. “The first queen of the black throne gave my
family my dowry. Who else can make such a claim?”
Risa sighed and gave Jaiza a look. They
both sat their things down without a word.They’d trained for times such as this
with Lilae since they were all children; and this wouldn’t be the first group
of bandits to threaten them.
Jaiza grabbed her bow, securing her
quiver of arrows onto her back.
Risa drew her sword quietly and put the
scabbard down. She rolled her shoulders, as if loosening her muscles.
Lilae grinned, her teeth shining in the
moonlight. She loved when the twins were like this.
Jaiza stepped beside Lilae, who was
younger yet taller. Her keen eyes looked into the growing darkness. “I’ll go
ahead and see how many there are.” She twisted her blond hair into a knot at
the top of her head to keep it from getting in the way.
“There are eight.”
“You know everything don’t you?” Jaiza
rolled her eyes. “Fine. I can take
them out.”
Lilae’s grin widened. The thrill of a
fight excited her. “I’ll be right
behind you.”
Pirin continued to unpack their
supplies, shaking out their wool blankets. “This will be good practice for you
girls. It’s been awhile since you’ve had a real fight. Maybe you can practice
working as a team this time…”
Risa lowered her sword. “Eight? What a
waste of energy.”
Pirin gave her a stern look.
“What? I was hoping for at least ten,”
she said as though it was a sport. “That
would have been good practice. I can handle eight on my own.” She put her sword
away and started to help Lhana prepare the salted pork and beans.
“Risa…”
“Father…” Risa said as she squatted
down and pulled out an iron pot. “Lilae and Jaiza can take this one.”
“Don’t be so cocky. You’re not the best
fighter in the realm by any stretch of the imagination, so stop acting like you
know everything. Even your Evasion can be countered if someone has the right
skill. Trust me, killing people isn’t a game and should not be taken lightly.”
Risa raised a brow. “I know it isn’t. But Lilae and
Jaiza can handle it. We’ve done this how many times now? At least seven.”
“Never underestimate your enemy, Risa.
You never know if those men are as trained as you, or better.”
“You can’t be serious.” Risa huffed. “I
doubt it. We both know that most bandits are nothing more than boys who can
barely hold the weight of their own cheap sword.”
“You’re not listening are you?”
“Yes, Father. I get what you’re saying.
I will try not to be so cocky about it. That better?”
Pirin sighed. “You girls are impossible,”
he said, though a small smile played across his lips.
“You didn’t train us to be warriors for
nothing, Father,” Risa said as Jaiza slunk into the forest as quietly as a
panther. Without a sound, she climbed into a tall tree and disappeared into the
branches and leaves.
Lilae stepped out of her cloak with her
dagger sharpened and ready in one hand. It was warm on her palm and pulsed for
action. She listened to The Winds as they led her to the men who approached her
family’s camp, careful not to crunch any of the fallen branches beneath her
feet.
As the sun’s last light faded, she
peered silently at the bandits from her place behind a tall oak tree. Energy
flowed within her body, and there was an anxiousness filling her throat, and a
fire within her veins.
The Winds warned her that the men were
merciless. They preyed on innocent travelers, robbing and killing even
defenseless women. In return, Lilae and Jaiza would show no mercy.
There was a sudden whistling sound as Jaiza’s
arrow cut through the dark forest and slammed into the chest of the leader. He
gasped loudly, clutching his chest as he was thrown back onto the ground with a
solid thud. The arrow was made of the strongest wood and impaled him to the
dirt so that he couldn’t lift himself.
Lilae noted the look of shock and pain
on his face, as he strained against the arrow. That look always interested her.
It was the look of one surprised by death’s touch.
Shouts and frantic orders ensued from
the other bandits as they drew their weapons and searched for the source of the
arrow. They held their weapons but ducked and cowered toward the safety of the
dense, dark forest.
Lilae watched them in silence. She
could feel their fear, knowing their hearts were thumping with terror of the
unknown. She wanted them to feel that fear. It was the same fear countless
others had felt when those men harmed them. Risa was right about one thing:
their weapons were cheap. But these were not boys; they were men who had done
this countless times, with success. This would be their last.
“Who's there?” someone shouted in a
high-pitched voice that cracked with his words.
“Demons!” another wailed.
“Shut up, Gred. There ain’t no stupid
demons in this forest!” Lilae heard someone reply, yet she could hear the fear
in his voice as if he were uncertain about his own reassurances.
“I told you we shouldn’t tempt the
Ancients! We’re too close to The Barrier!”
Lilae worked quickly, hoping to get some action before Jaiza
killed them all with her skilled archery. She took a deep breath and her vision
changed. She could see their moves before they even did them. Everything
stilled for her; all sounds muted, and Lilae activated her Focus.
Silence welcome Lilae as she raced into
the battle, calculating their every action.
She darted into the mob, with her
dagger in her fist. She sliced Gred down before he even saw her coming. Lilae
didn’t waste time making sure he was dead. Her dagger had cut his throat with
such precision that there were no doubts.
She slammed into a tall, burly man who
seemed more like a solid tree. His body was made of pure muscle, hard as stone.
Lilae climbed his body and stabbed him in the neck. Blood spurted into the air.
As he fell backward, his hands racing
to cover his wound, she hopped from his body and went on to the next. She
didn’t need to look back; Lilae always struck true. She could hear him gasping
for breath.
Someone grabbed Lilae by her hair from
behind. She growled in annoyance and used her Evasion. Her ibellen flickered
before his eyes, and in an instant, she swirled out of his grasp. She kicked
him in the back with such force that she heard his spine crack.
His scream resonated throughout the
woods, drowning out her angry yell at him for having unraveled her long red
braid. Lilae put him out of his misery, pouncing onto his back. Her hands were
secure against his thick, coarse beard as she snapped his neck.
She stood and swirled around. The remaining men
were laying on the ground, covered in blood and dirt. Jaiza’s arrows protruded
from their bodies. Lilae calmed her breathing. Only three kills. Better than nothing.
She stood stoically at the center of
the massacre. Her eyes closed as she listened to the last groans of pain and gurgles
of blood coming from the bandits’ mouths. Her Focus subsided and her vision of
the world returned to normal. Then she remembered Pirin’s words about honoring
death, even for those who were evil, and wished them well as they entered the
Underworld.
Lilae waited until their sounds of
dying ceased before making her way back to the camp. She emerged from the
forest, her hands and clothes covered in blood splatters. She wiped her face free
of a few speckles with a rag that Risa handed her. Jaiza already sat by the
fire as though nothing had happened.
Lilae joined them. They all stared at
her over the dancing flames as she warmed her bloodstained hands over the
burning logs. Her pale face was streaked with blood and her eyes watched the fire
without a trace of emotion.
“You should teach her not to get so
dirty,” Lhana quipped as she poured porridge into their clay bowls.
Lilae looked at her bloody hands. The
red liquid seeped into the lines of her palms. She rubbed them together,
smearing the blood onto her knuckles. “At least the wolves will have a real
meal tonight. Isn’t that right, Lhana?” She knew Lhana was afraid of wolves.
Lhana
slumped onto the ground and took a swig of potent ale from her flask. She
looked at Lilae and shook her head. Lilae felt an intense wave of sorrow as she
caught a tiny tear slip from the woman’s eye.
Lhana quickly wiped it and looked away.
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