Excerpt: Book 10 - Ravenfield's Last Stand

From Chapter 10:

“How long will this take?” the queen demanded impatiently as the girl lingered over her chore, humming to herself.

This brought a dark chuckle from the hunched creature. “We are very naughty today,” she warned. The otherworldly tone repulsed the queen and Emperor, who stepped back in alarm. “We?” he mouthed towards Talon. Talon ignored him, staring down at the girl who might ruin his cover at last.

“So naughty!” the voices agreed through the girl’s voice. “More! More!’ they want to know, but we can’t betray our king, can we?” they demanded with tiny giggles that sounded off at different intervals through the same throat, no doubt causing the girl a great deal of pain.

“Your king?” the Emperor leaned forward to ask them now.

They tittered again, making the girl jerk and twitch. “Not you! A king much bigger than you! The King of Talam rises –rises! He stalks you, even now, bold one! You flirt with luck and forces you cannot begin to contain, silly man! He sees you! He knows all! He throws back his head and laughs at your pathetic attempt to rival him!”

Talon was so red his ears burned, but the Emperor had suffered the opposite reaction. He was paler than death itself. Talon reached out a hand to steady the man and he flinched back in alarm. “W-what?” he stammered.

“Did you think him so weak he wouldn’t know your treachery? Of course he knows! Our king knows all! Long live the King of Talam! In crippling him, he has found his true strength! In making him powerless, he has become more powerful than they could ever imagine! Rise, at last Dragon-Soul! Long live the King of Talam!” the voices screamed merrily through the parched voice.