As the month churned on, I failed to remind my patrons to cast their votes in the poll. However, life was already ambushing me, stealing precious time away from me, so I once more turned to random chance to select the genres. Up first is a fantasy. And I have a plethora of characters to lean into, yet it didn’t take long for a recent addition to my collection to claim the stage. While I could’ve argued with him, the arguments to explore his life were far too strong to ignore.
Kael stood in the smoke after carrying out another command. The guards who once protected the sanctuary fled into the trees, seeking whatever safety they could find. When they were gone, Kael was alone with the wizard Caedren had marked for judgment. The armor held Kael in place, steady and unyielding, while the ruined timbers smoldered.
The wizard wanted answers, but Kael had already been given his. Caedren had named the crimes, described the abuse, and pointed him toward another person who had used power against those with none to spare. To Kael, the matter should have been simple. A warning had been ignored, a line had been crossed, and the armor delivered him to the one responsible.
Yet smoke has a way of hiding more than fire. The ruined sanctuary still holds questions Kael didn’t ask. And the silence left behind may prove harder to dismiss than the wizard’s final warning.
Excerpt of Hollow Judgment
Kael’s gauntlet clenched as he stared at the smoking timbers. Several guards fled into the trees, but his armor held him in place while they vanished and his target writhed at his feet. When the wizard tried to drag himself away, Kael grasped his shoulder and hauled him off the ground.
“Why did you attack me?”
Kael released his breath. “You were warned that you crossed a line Caedren declared none shall pass.”
“Just because I refuse to follow his demands?”
“According to Caedren, you turned the roads near your sanctuary into a private court. You waylaid travelers, punished refusal, and forced weaker people to accept your commands.” Kael pulled the broken wizard closer. “He warned you to stop abusing those who had no means to resist.”
“Says the man gifted with armor that absorbs magic.”
“Caedren created me to end tyranny.”
The wizard’s eyes narrowed as he dangled from Kael’s hand. “Power corrupts everything it touches. Carry out his commands long enough, and your retribution will turn on him. I can free you.”
Kael’s fingers tightened around the man’s shoulder as he marched forward, shattering engravings with each stride. “Alain, Caedren is striving to make a world where none are abused by power.”
“No,” the wizard said, slamming his hands against the metal squeezing him. “What you’re doing is thinning out his rivals and letting him call it justice.”
“You shouldn’t have opposed the greater good.”
“I helped Caedren shape the spells threaded through that armor.” Alain’s voice cracked, but his eyes held Kael’s. “I know the compulsions he buried in its metal. I’m aware of the difference between judgment and obedience dressed in holy words.”
Kael’s fingers squeezed until the wizard’s shoulder snapped. Alain’s cry echoed off the trees as he tumbled to the stone. Kael circled him, drawing his sword. He lowered the point to the man’s chest, sank to one knee, and grabbed Alain’s thinning hair. When the last echo vanished, Kael leaned closer. “Your contributions don’t matter. All that matters is the terror you give others.”
The wizard’s gaze fell to the blade’s tip pressing against him.
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