Redamancy

  Book Three of The Duskriven Chronicles

  ISBN-10: 9781793185631

  Copyright ©2019 by T.D. Cloud All rights reserved.

  Illustration Copyright ©2019 by Y. Dan All rights reserved.

  eBook by: Kabeer Mayar

  Acknowledgments:

  It’s always such a bittersweet thing, finishing up a series. I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading The Duskriven Chronicles as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Every good adventure must have its end, though, so here we are, and here I am, thanking the ones who made it possible.

  Thanks go to Linden for being such a bastion of support through every world I build. These characters wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t been there to help me fill in the missing pieces.

  Thanks go to NIL for braving the storm of commas I always seem to pelt you with, and for always believing in me. You never seem to believe me when I say I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you. Thankfully I’ve got a dozen more books planned and a dozen more acknowledgments to write to make you see reason.

  Thanks go to Kitty, Jack, and Sun for the support, help, and excitement you all were so free to share with me. I appreciate it more than you guys even know.

  Thanks go to my mother, who—as always—shouldn’t read this book, but will anyway if only to read what I’ve written to her here. Not many people can say they have someone as supportive as you in their life. I’m really lucky to have you, and I’m not going to take it for granted.

  And finally, thanks go to Yougei for taking another leap with me into the void that is creating a book. We’ve got something big on the horizon for us still, but together we’ll see it through. I hope you enjoy this. It’s always been for you.

  Contents

  Acknowledgments:

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  A rickety old sign creaked in the wind, swinging back and forth on its squeaking, rusted chains. Reblin, 1 Mile, it read, but Sorin already knew that. He breathed in the salty air, letting it out with a lungful of wistfulness that didn’t feel out of place.

  The trees in the distance were beginning to brown ever so slightly at the edges; their rustling lilted atop the song of lapping waves just up ahead. The sound of the ocean carried with it a sense of nostalgia that dominated his senses. It was nostalgic. Maybe even a little comforting.

  Even after half a decade, it felt... good. Coming home felt good.

  A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he looked over his shoulder to what lay at the bottom of the hill. Khouri was standing there, still glowering at his back as he went on without him — or so he had whined like the brat he was.

  “Don’t even think about moving from that spot!” Sorin shouted back at him, knowing that gleam in Khouri’s eye even from thirty yards away. “This won’t take long.”

  Khouri balled up his small fists at his side, glaring with so much heat that Sorin felt a laugh build in his throat. “It better not!” he shouted, stomping around like someone a sixth his age. He crossed his arms and kicked at a rock by his foot, only to crouch down once he noticed the ground was more sand than dirt here. Sorin turned back around and continued on up the hill, leaving Khouri to his grumbling. It was nearly sundown. If he wanted to make this work, he needed to time it perfectly.

  The sun warmed his back once he made it to the top. His shadow stretched out before him, tall and long, growing longer by the second as the sun sank towards the horizon. It cast its light along the waves down below, gilding the small beach and everything it held in ribbons of undulating gold. Beautiful, Sorin thought, but not as beautiful as it would be in a few minutes. He rested his hands on his hips and looked up at the sun through narrowed eyes, counting the minutes he had left with his fingers resting along the horizon.

  Roughly a third of his finger left. Five minutes then. He moved down the hill a bit, waving his hand to get Khouri’s attention. “Hey!” he shouted, gesturing him up.

  “Come here.”

  “Oh, I’m allowed to follow now?” Khouri snipped, dropping whatever it was he had found in the dirt to begin trudging up the steep hill. “How generous of you to permit me such an honor!”

  Sorin rolled his eyes and moved a bit lower, waiting for Khouri about a third of the way to the top. “Don’t be a brat,” he said, holding out his hand for Khouri to take. “You’ll be happy you waited.”

  Soft, warm fingers slid along his palm, wrapping themselves around his hand a little tighter than was strictly necessary.

  Khouri’s black eyes glistened in the dying light, his un- impressed pout suiting him too well. “I better,” he mumbled, looking over Sorin’s shoulder with curious eyes. He held his head at an angle, his ears cocked to the unfamiliar sound of the waves. “What are we waiting for? Aren’t we going all the way up?”

  Sorin looked to the sun again. They had less than a minute left. “Yeah,” he said, tugging Khouri in front of him. Khouri let out a confused little huff when he promptly covered his eyes with his hands. Khouri tugged at them instantly. Sorin sighed, “You really don’t understand the concept of a surprise, do you?”

  The tugging stopped. “A surprise?” he whispered, stumbling a little when Sorin guided him forward, walking him carefully up the hill until they stood at the very top. “What kind of surprise?”

  It was hard to glance over his shoulder like this. Sorin managed to check the sun’s progress regardless. He couldn’t help but smile when he turned back around, bringing his lips to Khouri’s pointed ear.

  “This kind,” he said. Khouri held onto Sorin’s hands when he lowered them from his eyes, and when the Drow gasped, Sorin knew his little scheme had been worth all this fuss.

  The sun was level with the horizon behind them, and it bathed the ocean with a burning light that looked like fire. Each wave glistened brightly, aflame and lit with golds, reds, purples, and blues. Khouri sagged against Sorin’s chest, mouth open and gaping as he looked upon the sea for the first time in his life.

  Sorin held him close. He kissed the top of his head. No matter how many times Sorin saw this, no matter the how often he had experienced the sight of the boundless ocean against the infinite sky, he knew it would never fail to strike him down to size.

  It only felt right that Khouri’s first look at it was perfect. As perfect as Sorin could make it be, at any rate.

  “Is… this the ocean?” Khouri whispered, clutching at Sorin’s hands tightly. “It is.”

  Khouri swallowed, breaking away from the view to tilt his head back until he was looking at Sorin upside down. “Is it always so…” He blinked, searching for words. “So… big?”

  Sorin smiled, squeezing Khouri’s hands before pulling his own free from the tight grip. “Always,” he murmured, guiding Khouri down the other side of the hill, taking him closer to the beach and water. “So, was that worth the wait? Are you still mad I made you stay down there?”

  A playful shove jostled Sorin’s shoulder. Khouri tried to hide his smile but failed badly. “How long were you planning that? Is that why you wouldn’t get up this morning? Just so you could time it right.” He snorted, staring down at how the sand gave way beneath his feet. “You’re just a big sap.”

  The accusation rankled, and if they weren’t dangerously close to having
a moment, Sorin might have rejected it wholeheartedly. He settled on shoving Khouri a little, freeing up his hands to yank off his boots. “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, looking pointedly at Khouri until he got the message to take off his shoes too. “Just enjoy it while it lasts. I’ll go back to bullying you as soon as we get to Mastha’s.”

  Khouri smiled at him mischievously, his eyes going wide a moment later when he brought his bare foot down on the soft sand. His lips parted in surprise, and he immediately began wiggling his toes in it, burying his foot completely with a laugh. He looked at Sorin with a grin. Sorin couldn’t help but smile back, nodding towards the water to send Khouri sprinting for the waves.

  The light was dying, but Sorin had enough left to appreciate the pleasure Khouri wore so well. He followed after him slowly, watching how Khouri dipped a foot in the lapping tide. The Drow pulled it out instantly with a squeak and then held his shirt in his fists as he jumped into the next oncoming wave.

  Laughter like bells rose up as the surf submerged his ankles. Sorin joined him in the water, the sensation of tugging sand just another memory he’d long forgotten during his travels on dry land.

  “Is it everything you thought it’d be?” Sorin wondered, brushing aside a lock of hair from Khouri’s cheek. Khouri turned and kissed his hand before it could retreat, nodding as he looked out at the boundless horizon.

  “It’s so much more,” he whispered as if afraid his voice might spoil the magic of it all. Khouri crouched down in the surf, letting the water roll and recede from his cupped hands. The smile on his face turned a touch melancholic. “I wish Navi could see this,” he whispered before Sorin could ask. He turned his dark eyes up to meet Sorin’s. “I can’t imagine anything in the Duskriven comparing to this.”

  “I can’t either,” he replied, especially since Khouri was up here.

  Sorin shifted a little, realizing what he had just thought. Things were a lot simpler when Navidae had been around to focus on. Now, Sorin just had these thoughts and these feelings, and Khouri certainly wasn’t making any of it easier as he smiled and laughed at him. Sorin frowned, nudging Khouri with his leg to topple him into the water.

  “Hey!” Khouri’s yelp was washed away in a splash of water as he fell into the surf. The water soaked him quickly, rushing over his lap and legs. Like clockwork a breeze rolled in off the water. Khouri shivered. “You ass!” He splashed Sorin in revenge. “It’s cold!”

  “It’s nearly fall,” Sorin teased, crossing his arms as Khouri looked at the water in his lap. “It’ll get colder at night.”

  “You’re so rude,” Khouri muttered, cupping a hand and bringing it to his mouth before Sorin could tell him not to. The reaction was nearly instant. Khouri spat out his mouthful and stuck out his tongue. “Oh, Gods, that’s disgusting!”

  Fighting the bubble of laughter welling up in his chest was impossible. Fighting Khouri in the water where he’d grown up? That was something Sorin could manage. “I told you it was bad,” he said, laughing at Khouri’s disgusted little frown. He picked Khouri up under the arms, savoring the transformation of gratitude to horror when he tossed him into the deeper waves. “Why don’t you try it again?”

  Instead of a retort, Khouri screamed and splashed like a drowning cat, spitting once he got his feet beneath him. “That tastes so gross,” he hissed, his gaze murderous as he slowly waded closer to Sorin. “You asshole!”

  “It’s your first time ocean side,” Sorin retorted, not bothering to run when Khouri finally reached him. The Drow latched his arms around Sorin’s middle, soaking him through but too slight to tug him into the water the way he obviously wanted to do. “This is tradition, you know. It’s good luck to get dunked on your first visit.”

  Khouri bared his sharp teeth and scowled at him, letting his legs give out beneath him to drag Sorin off balance. “You liar,” he snarled, and Sorin swore messily when he toppled over.

  Saltwater went flying as they kicked and wrestled. Their limbs tangled together in a messy, wet heap. Sorin rolled them over, laying on his back so Khouri wouldn’t drown. His hair was absolutely soaked, the thick black locks sticking messily to his cheeks. His cheeks were a deep violet. His lips were parted as he gasped for breath.

  As annoying as he was, there was no hiding how beautiful Khouri looked like this.

  Sorin cupped Khouri’s cheek and wiped the water from it with his thumb. A pink slip of a tongue peeked out to lick the salt from dark lips, and Khouri furrowed his brow, sensing the change in tone. “You liar,” Khouri whispered, his hands settling on Sorin’s chest. A cool wave rushed over them, and it felt like gravity when Khouri closed the distance for a kiss.

  As far as salt-flavored kisses went, it was good. Khouri was warm and his lips were soft—his skin too when Sorin slipped his hand beneath the hem of the long-sleeved shirt he’d taken to wearing when not in his armor. The water added a strange, cool touch to the embrace. Khouri kissed him deeper and moaned softly into his mouth, the soft, rapid beating of his heart against his own a visceral reminder of just how good Sorin had it these days.

  But the light was long gone. The darkness brought the cold with it, and a breeze rolled in off the waves. Sorin broke the kiss when he felt Khouri shiver in his arms. He smiled at the Drow, nudging him until he let him up.

  “That’s enough playing for today,” he said, dragging Khouri to his feet easily. “We should get to Mastha’s before it gets any later.” Khouri pouted but didn’t argue. He looked down at the water kissing his ankles. “Can we come back tomorrow too?” he asked, following Sorin to the beach where their shoes were waiting for them. “Will it be warmer then?”

  Sorin handed Khouri his boots and nodded. The summer was nearly over, but there was enough left of it to make swimming an option. This late at night though… It wasn’t a very attractive thought. “We’ll have plenty of time to come back,” he promised, pointing over his shoulder towards a far section of trees. “Mastha’s place is just over there, so this is practically her backyard.”

  As Sorin shoved his sandy feet into his boots and steadfastly refused to think about how fun it would be to clean them out in the morning, Khouri wandered in the direction he had pointed. “I think I see the house,” he said, prompting Sorin to look up. “It’s dark, but I see the shape.”

  “You Drow and your eyes,” Sorin muttered, standing up with his bag thrown over his damp shoulder. “Let me know if you see anything I might trip over. I’m sure plenty of things have changed since I last came through here.”

  Khouri looked up, blinking at him curiously. “When was the last time you visited?” he asked, letting Sorin take his hand and begin guiding them up the hill and back towards the main road.

  Sorin shrugged. “A few years,” he said, not really in the mood to talk about it. He’d brought Khouri here to show him things he’d never seen before; if he could manage to get away without miring him in his own personal history, then he’d consider it a successful visit. Another breeze rolled through, chilling even Sorin this time. He tugged a little on Khouri’s hand, urging them on a bit faster. “Let’s hurry before you get sick or something,” he muttered, putting the discussion on hold for later.

  Mastha’s house stood at the end of a dirt lane that was nearly obscured by trees. The forest stretched for a few miles around here, far enough inland that the soil was more silt than sand, giving the roots something firm to grasp onto. Sorin let out a breath and took in the sight of the house as it slowly came into view. Home sweet home, he thought a bit sardonically.

  It wasn’t huge like Navidae’s place, and it wasn’t impressive like the sorts of houses found in the cities they passed during their travels. It was a two story building, a quaint little thing with a thatch roof that had seen better days. Sorin grimaced a bit at the sight of that, and at the loose siding that had been messily patched to keep out the wind. He knew for a fact that Mastha would make him fix it all before he left. Probably as punishment for leaving for so long. He sighed, resigning him
self to a vacation that was anything but restful.

  Despite it all, the sight of the house with its peeling paint and painstakingly tended window boxes of flowers incited a sense of nostalgia in him too strong to resent. It looked as it ever did, even after all these years. Not a lot had changed here. Then again, not much ever did in Reblin.

  “Is that her house?” Khouri asked quietly, tugging on Sorin’s sleeve.

  “Not what you expected?” he guessed, carefully stepping over a toy one of the kids must have forgotten to take in with them. Mastha was sure to love it if they broke something coming here this late. “It’s not a palace like Navidae’s, but its not bad.” Sorin shot Khouri a teasing look. “Are you worried it won’t be high-end enough for your princely needs?” Khouri scoffed and shoved Sorin, nearly tripping him. “Oh, come on. I’m not that spoiled,” he pouted, only for his eyes to go wide when Sorin took a swipe at him in revenge.

  “Oh, yeah? Says who?” Sorin grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and ruffled his hair, messing it up even more than the ocean had.

  By the time they finally made it to Mastha’s front door, they were pushing and shoving and laughing so much that Sorin felt twenty years younger and as warm as a summertime breeze.

  The windows were dark, but the moon above was bright. As Sorin untangled himself from Khouri’s embrace and looked at the long faded stain on the door he helped build so very long ago, he felt good. Better than he had in a long time.

  “Hey, hey,” he laughed, pushing Khouri away. “Keep your hands to yourself. We don’t need Mastha’s first impression of you to be that of all things.”

  Khouri pouted, and with the way the salt water had dampened his hair, he looked too enticing by far. “Did you let her know I was coming too?” he asked, still flushed from their roughhousing. He ran his fingers through his hair, slicking it back self-consciously.

  “Yeah,” he answered slowly. He had made mention of their visit, but he hadn’t bothered to tell her who it was he had with him. He rapped his knuckles on the door and tried to avoid the probing stare Khouri was giving him. “She knows you’re with me.”