Of Darkness and Light (The Bound and the Broken, #2)

by Ryan Cahill

Dann was safe in Durakdur.

There was a vulnerability in Daymon’s eyes as he spoke. In that moment, he was not a king. He was a young man who watched his father die. He was Calen.

He saw the looks on the soldiers’ faces as they passed. Desolation. He was fighting it off himself. The battle had been going well… until the dragons appeared. What could they have done in the face of such raw power?

The energy of the Spark coursed through him, pulsating through his veins. Don’t take too much.

Opening his eyes, Calen pulled at the threads of Earth and Air, dragging them deeper into himself. Only what you need.

His body thrummed with the power ...

He felt it in his bones. Tasted it on his tongue. Heard it in every crevice of his mind. More than anything else, he was completely and utterly aware that ...

He felt the anger in the dragon, the will to crush all those who would harm his friends, his family. Calen blocked it out.

“Fate is fluid. It changes with every decision that is made. It is utterly out of our hands, and completely within our control at the same time.”

“It’s always drama with dwarves,” Falmin muttered, rolling his eyes.

Darkness had loomed large over them all since Ilnaen, or ‘The Fall’ as it had become so commonly known.

spine. He was sure that on a normal day, the Heart of Durakdur would have been an amazing sight to see. It was a city inside a city, inside a mountain.

“But as we speak of hubris,” Brother Pirnil said, strolling towards the front of the room as if he had not just sliced a gash in Neera’s flesh, “we must be sure to keep our own in check.”

A hatchling hadn’t been born since The Fall. Nine Dragonguard still lived,

Fane Mortem and the empire would become unstoppable.

“Pain is the path to strength,”

As cities went, Skyfell was as beautiful as any Dayne had ever known. It was a layered canvas of sweeping colonnades, enormous archways, and beautiful staircases built from a mixture of red and sandy-brown stone.

The Warrior and The Sailor. By blade and by blood, I am yours.

empire had no right to be questioning a Valtaran citizen for no reason, in the streets of Skyfell of all places. “To Redstone.”

the wyvern of House Ateres

Come with me if you want to live.”

“Faenir is a wolfpine, not a wolf.”

Both wore the green and gold of House Deringal.

red robes of House Herak sat on a stone bench chatting to another man in the black of House Vakira, while a woman in Thebalan yellow

“We do not fight for House Ateres or House Vakira, brother.” A weak smile touched the corner of Alina’s mouth. “We fight for Valtara. One nation.”

‘You cannot win a war when you are fighting enemies from the outside and from within.’

colouring of the cloth in their armoured skirts that attracted Dayne’s attention. One wore skirts of pale blue to represent House Koraklon, and the other wore the yellow of House Thebal – old enemies.

cannot say how the other members of the council will react to finding out that Dayne Ateres is alive.”

rock that closed off the end of the tunnel. “We’ve been at this for days… This place is a maze.

journey? Our journey is dead and buried!” Dark purple circles ringed Erik’s eyes, and dried dirt matted his skin.

The only way we will die down here is if we give in to our darkest thoughts.”

“There are demons within us all that we must face. They only ever surface when we are at our lowest because they are not strong enough to challenge us at our highest.

“Besides, there is nothing more important in the darkness than a ray of light.”

Calen could feel every tiny thing Valerys felt. His pain, his fear, his helplessness. Their minds were as one. Images, flashes of thought, streaked through their mind.

Their panic twisted, melting into a white rage.

can’t risk using one of your light orbs because we don’t know who – or what – might be out here with us.

Moonsight was not something that had ever come up in his lessons with Therin

Therin, the elf he had once thought to be nothing but a storyteller. An elf, he now knew, was so much more than that.

using threads of Fire and Spirit to augment your vision. It doesn’t quite give you the same sense of sight as you would have during the day, but it is far ...

elf drew on thin threads of Fire and Spirit, just like he had said.

The world around him was as bright as day, though it did not have the same vibrancy. The colours seemed duller, washed out.

Moonsight only benefits the wielder. There is a time and place for everything.”

Funny creatures, elves. Never thought I’d get to meet one. Then again, I never thought I would get to meet a Draleid, either.”

The elf didn’t scream, but it would.

too young to understand how to channel that grief.”

wreckage of the Wind Runner.

Durakdur lay beneath miles and miles of rock, devoid of sunlight and rainfall, and yet the dwarves had found a way to grow thriving fields of crops.

despised the idea of being indebted to anyone, but to these oath-breaking cave dwellers more than anything.

The sooner they were able to get their people out of this damn mountain, the better.

Faenir’s worry was wrapping itself around Ella’s consciousness.