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different, perhaps exotic, but she wondered whether she would ever grow used to that
kind of blatant attention from men.
Just give me the word and I ll roast them for supper, Adonides whispered beside
her. She glanced up, but the smile on his face made her relax. He was teasing. However,
there was that curious flash of promise in his eyes.
Access to the shore is at the end of this street here, he told her as he steered her
down a busy street filled with vendors. Raven s eyes roamed over the carts and their
wares, taking in the woven rugs, the colorful tunics, and the eccentric jewelry of all
makes, shapes and sizes.
Do you see anything you like?
Raven turned to Adonides. He d been watching her closely. She smiled and shook
her head. At the moment, I don t even own a house. I would have no where to put
anything I purchased. She laughed then. I also have no money.
Adonides s face grew serious, his green eyes flashing. You need only ask, and you
can have anything you desire, my lady. Money is not an issue.
Raven decided to let the subject drop, as, for some reason, it left her feeling slightly
embarrassed. Instead, she turned her attention to the large docks that were now coming
into view as they neared the end of the street. Raven was getting excited for she had
never seen the ocean before.
- 217 -
Heather Killough-Walden
As they approached the dock district, Adonides placed a hand on her shoulder and
pulled her to a halt. Wait. Stop and listen.
Raven stilled.
Do you hear that?
She listened. In the distance, she could hear a roaring sound. It was like hard-falling
rain on a thatch roof during a summer s storm. It grew louder and then softer and then
louder again. It ebbed and receded. She nodded. Yes. What is it?
The shore. He took her gently by the arm and weaved her in between dock workers
and traders as the men and women completed their business for the day and headed
toward their homes.
They rounded a bend to face the open dock. Two large ships obscured the view to the
sea, and their planks were lowered as merchants slowly emptied their cargo, two by two,
onto the waiting docks.
Raven stared at the ships. She d heard stories about them when she was little. But
she d never seen actually seen one before. She stood there in awe, her mouth open, her
eyes sparkling. They were beautiful.
Amazing, she whispered.
Aye. That s just what we was thinkin , lass.
Raven s attention snapped to and she glanced away from the giant ships to notice
that half a dozen men had stopped what they were doing and were now in the process of
circling and surrounding her and Adonides.
Adonides pulled her closer to him as four of the rogues stepped out in front of them,
the other two breaking away to move around behind.
- 218 -
The Chosen Soul
Raven s pulse sped up painfully and all that she d eaten only moments before
threatened to rise to the occasion.
My, my. What ave we ere? one of them asked, his eyes raking over Raven s tall,
lithe form. He grinned in a grotesque visage that proudly displayed his lack of dental
hygiene. Raven could not suppress the groan that escaped her constricted throat and she
unconsciously scooted even closer to Adonides.
How did a man like you manage to snag such a delectable little morsel, eh?
another asked Adonides, his eyes glittering frantically. For his part, Adonides simply
leveled him with a calm and somewhat chilling gaze.
I believe it only fair to give you some kind of warning before she kills you,
Adonides said. His voice steady and low.
The men paused in their tracks and glanced at one another. That apparently hadn t
been what they were expecting to hear. The one who had just spoken threw back his head
and laughed outright, the sound grating across Raven s nerves like sandpaper.
Another smiled and shook his head. What s she gonna do, eh? Pleasure us all to
death?
At that, the others roared with laughter.
Raven glanced at Adonides. He did not look at her. Instead, his hand trailed over her
arm to her hand, where his finger tapped against the shining black ring she wore.
Raven closed her eyes. He wanted her to use her power.
Right now.
To save them.
But she didn t even know what the ring was supposed to do!
- 219 -
Heather Killough-Walden
She heard something crunch under a boot behind them and she spun around, her
wrist flying free of Adonides s grasp. The two men who had circled behind them were a
mere yard away. She gasped and took a stumbling step back.
In her peripheral vision, she could see Adonides face off against another two of the
rogues, turning his back to her as he did so.
At that moment, someone grabbed Raven s shoulder from behind. In less than a
second flat, all reason and logical sense of fear flew, like a colorful swarm of insane
butterflies, out the windows of her complicated mind. She spun around, a flurry of jet
black hair and building electricity, and impulsively lashed out with the torrent of
emotions that had been building within her over the past week.
The man who had accosted her let out a shriek of surprise when she faced him with
solid black eyes, from corner to corner. But he could not step away from her as he
suddenly found his feet were held fast in the mud of the street. He glanced down,
confused, to see that the sludge had solidified frozen and that he was shin-deep in
petrified muck. The rime on the street was spreading quickly, and the chill was
mercilessly climbing up his legs. He gasped and swallowed and stared back up at Raven.
She mercilessly narrowed her iniquitous black gaze and heard him whimper softly.
The man before her was young. No older than she was. But his body was too lean,
his eyes too shaded, his mouth set in a line a little too cruel, a little too depraved. She
looked into his bloodshot blue eyes and she wondered, for half a second, where his soul
would go when he died.
And then she struck.
- 220 -
The Chosen Soul
Her fingers had grown into iron claws. She drew back and then plunged them into his
midsection, burying them fist-deep.
In her mind, she heard the sound of chanting.
Sauronalastra Ernoscolaram Cruernal Diemon&
They were silent, unspoken words pulled from the bowels of every realm, ancient
and infernal, primordial in their power. They echoed, without thought, against the
chambers of her consciousness, feeding a dark and dangerous power into her physical
form.
The rest of the men surrounding them had ceased in their advance, and were now
watching the raven-haired beauty with expressions of abject horror and disbelief.
Totolemanti saurona ruwimon Cruernal Diemon&
As Raven calmly pulled her long claws from the dying man s bloody abdomen and
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