Leraine has finally returned home, but the welcome is not as she imagined it. Tension is rising within the Mochedan Federation as many advocate for an end to the long peace and a return to the glory of war.
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The Living Sword 3
The Burden of Legacy
by Pemry Janes
Published 6 August 2021
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 373
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Leraine has finally returned home, but the welcome is not as she imagined it. Tension is rising within the Mochedan Federation as many advocate for an end to the long peace and a return to the glory of war.
She sets off to the most important festival of the Mochedan, hoping to preserve the peace for at least a little while longer. Eurik joins her, to help his friend and to finally find the answers about his parents he’s been chasing since he left the island.
What they find is theft, murder, and a conspiracy to end their world.
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Excerpt
“I’m not—I don’t think a lesson in the sword will work right now. It would be a waste of your time.”
Leraine lifted up a single eyebrow. “I wasn’t talking about lessons or swords.” She took a ready stance. “A true warrior doesn’t use weapons, she is the weapon. The sword, the bow, the spear, they are merely an extension of her ability. I might not be able to summon the wind or cause earthquakes with a stomp, but I don’t need a blade to take you on.”
A hint of a smile grew on Rock’s face. “Unless I summon the wind or cause an earthquake.”
“You’d be a poor guest if you destroyed my home just to win a spar.” Her extended hand struck out, easily deflected by him. But he almost missed the real attack that came right after, having to step back and out of reach of her knee.
She was going to say something about holding back next, but Rock had other ideas. His movements sped up, forcing her on the defensive. At least, she judged that to be his plan but she felt no obligation to go along.
As she called upon Ghisa, Leraine’s limbs quickened as well. First to deflect Rock’s strikes, then to catch his arm as she spun around and put her hips into a throw. Keeping a hold of the limb, she wrenched it around and trapped it with her legs. They were both on the ground now, but Leraine had all the leverage as she pushed off against Rock’s face.
“I’ve noticed you never go for a grapple,” she said.
Rock grunted as she put the squeeze on. He resorted to Linese. “San . . . don’t have bones. This . . . wouldn’t work . . . on one of them.”
Suddenly, the give was gone. It was like she was wrestling a tree, or a stone. He pulled his arm in and got up with Leraine still hanging off him. “Was actually a problem when they started teaching me.”
“Do tell,” Leraine said as she let go with her hands to reach for the ground. With her legs still clutching Rock, she now hung upside down. Rock hadn’t straightened out yet so she could actually get her hands flat on the sandy ground to try and knock him over again.
But it was no use. With that stone magic flowing through his body, it truly was like wrestling a tree. So Leraine let go entirely and got out of Rock’s range with a flip. He stomped forward, his stance solid and rigid.
“You normally start the Ways with Course of the River, but I simply couldn’t make the connection. Or bend my limbs enough,” he said as he flicked his hand out. A puff of sand flew into Leraine’s face, blinding her.
Her hands moved automatically through Six Fangs Strike, reacting to sounds she could barely hear even in the silence of the ring. It shouldn’t be this quiet. The technique didn’t quite work, her fingers just about buckled even when they struck pressure points on Rock’s arms, chest, and neck. But he still backed off, his foot scraping over the ground.
Moving to the side, she wiped the grit out of her eyes. “Sneaky. I approve.”
“I wouldn’t want to insult my host by not giving it my all.”
“Then I shall do the same,” Leraine said, pulling a training spear from the nearby rack and lunging at Rock.
She was still blinking some sand out of her eyes—his face was a blurry mess—but the jerky movement with which he backed off told her enough. Leraine pressed forward with quick thrusts, only for her fifth strike to hit a plate of stone that shot up from the ground.
The ground around her right foot stirring was her only warning. It gave way and with most of her weight on that leg, it was hard to get out. She resorted to striking the ground with the butt of her spear and using that to lever herself out of the trap.
Leraine didn’t stay still but circled around. “I thought you were not going to stir the earth.”
“I thought you said you were the weapon.”
“I got five coppers on Silver Fang,” Misthell shouted from his spot against a post. “Three to one odds. Who’ll take me up?”
“Misthell, aren’t you supposed to be rooting for me. And what’s with those odds?”
“Sorry Eu—I mean, Rock. Silver Fang has the victory spirit and I have to go with the victor or I’ll lose the bet.”
About the Author
Pemry Janes grew up on a family-owned farm. He has had a love for history for as long as he can remember and studied it at university. Fantasy he discovered a few years later and now tries to combine the two in his writing.
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