More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
October 10 - October 19, 2020
For good or ill, the plans set in motion by the Brethren of Mia nearly three years ago were now fully underway.
In the center window was an image of Laijon, five colorful angel stones hanging above him like halos: white, red, black, green, and blue. Laijon wore a coat of shimmering chain mail and hefted a silver battle-ax named Forgetting Moon. In the left window floated two white-robed angels, one wielding a broadsword, Afflicted Fire, the other a black-wood crossbow, Blackest Heart. In the right window were two more heavenly apparitions, one with a horned war helm, Lonesome Crown, and the other carrying a mythical shield, Ethic Shroud. These were the five ancient weapons of lore.
After knighthood or the clergy, grayken slaying was considered the grandest of all trades in the Five Isles.
He saw himself—standing under a large burning tree. There was a knight with glowing white shield and horned helm astride a brilliant white warhorse, a blond girl on the saddle before him, her hand a metal claw. And green glowing eyes!
“I could legally have you flogged for disobeying my orders,” Baron Bruk said. “But if I have you flogged, I’d also have to flog the seven good men on my
May the wraiths take me, but I know who Shawcroft is.”
Gault was one of the five Knights Archaic of Sør Sevier. A vaulted member of the Angel Prince’s personal guard. Weakness was not an option.
The Way and Truth of Laijon spoke of the war before the return of Laijon. It was prophesied that all armies of the Five Isles would gather in Amadon and engage in battle. The streets would run with blood and fire.”
According to The Chivalric Illuminations of Raijael, the ideal death was in war. The ideal death was not a tame one. A peaceful death in bed, lovingly embraced by family, was a humiliation to any true warrior of Raijael.
Alana Bronachell had died at the hands of a Sør Sevier Bloodwood assassin. And that assassin had been Hawkwood. And that assassin had fallen in love with the woman’s eldest daughter, Jondralyn,
A fearsome silence fell upon the group. Seita had just dared speak the forbidden word—dragon—the most damning of all curse words. That she had uttered such foulness in front of royalty belied the seriousness of Lindholf’s insult.
“We are nearing the one-thousand-year anniversary of Laijon’s great sacrifice,” Shawcroft said. “For good or ill, many prophecies are soon to be fulfilled. Our world is changing, Nail. You are now a man, and things will be changing for you, too.”
After Roderic found Lonesome Crown, he gave it to his brother, Torrence. And that started a war.” “You mean another stone and artifact have been found?” “They’ve all been found, Jondralyn. All but one. And Ser Roderic searches for that last one now, in Gallows Haven.”
One of those, the sword Afflicted Fire, I personally helped him find at Deadwood Gate over five years ago. The angel stone I saw then was exactly like the one Hawkwood has just found, but red as flame. Before that, Shawcroft found the crossbow Blackest Heart high above the Sky Lochs. The fourth one, the battle-ax Forgetting Moon, he searches for now in Gallows Haven. Both Forgetting Moon and Ethic Shroud have always eluded him. Now, thanks to the Moon Scrolls Squireck stole for us, Hawkwood has found the shield here under Amadon Castle.”
The Princess, the Gladiator, the Assassin, the Thief, and most importantly the Slave. Each a descendent of one of the Five Warrior Angels, each tied to one of the Five Isles by blood, each ready to play a part in summoning forth the true heir of Laijon and bringing about his return as the Moon Scrolls have foretold.”
It was angels descending toward them, bearing five colorful stones and five mighty gifts: a red stone and a sword for the Princess, a white stone and pearl-colored shield for the Thief, a black stone and a black crossbow for the Assassin, a green stone and a war helm for the Gladiator, and lastly, a blue stone and an ax for the King of Slaves.
Each cauldron’s surface was carved with divine symbols inlaid in white, black, green, blue, and red, each a representation of the magical stones and weapons of the Five Warrior Angels: Blackest Heart, Ethic Shroud, Forgetting Moon, Lonesome Crown, and Afflicted Fire—the Five Pillars of Laijon.
Never wish ill on your enemies, the Illuminations read. Reap it.
The Mourning Moon was mentioned briefly in The Way and Truth of Laijon, as were all of the fifteen moons and seasons.
“Hawkwood is with us,” Culpa Barra cut him short. “He rounds out the five: you, Jondralyn, Hawkwood, Val-Draekin, the boy—the five together are the Gladiator, the Princess, Assassin, Thief, and the Slave, each of you a blood descendent of one of the Five Warrior Angels, each of you hailing from one of the Five Isles. One of you is marked to become Laijon at the time of Absolution, as the Moon Scrolls foretold.”
They will call me the Harbinger. She watched Lord Kronnin and his Ocean Guard ride away. The scribes will call me the Summoner of All Armies. Yes, the scribes will write of Princess Jondralyn Bronachell, one of the Five Warrior Angels returned. For I have been preordained to carve my name into history.
“A sword is a symbol of justice. A symbol of authority. A sword will survive long after its owner is gone. It can be handed down through generations of warriors. My son will one day own this blade. I should be proud of it. It is an honor to carry the steel of the Dayknights—standard issue or not.”
“My father said that the finest swords are forged under a full moon, thus endowing them with the powers of the stars. I was lucky to have grown up by the glow of the forger’s fire. The very best swords my father ever made were those he made for the Dayknights. He would test each sword’s sharpened edge by dipping it into a river and slicing floating lily pads in half as they drifted by.”
Laijon Autour De Lukè and Dashiell Dugal and Morgand Raybourne and Jabez Van Hester and Savon Bronachell.
