City of Steel (Chaos Awakens Book 3) (39 page)
Read City of Steel (Chaos Awakens Book 3) Online
Authors: Heath Pfaff
Haley had pretty much promised Xandrith she was moving in once he was finished with construction of his home, so maybe it wasn’t only going to be Kassa and Xandrith’s home, but Xan was fine with that. Haley was sixteen years old and had grown into a compassionate and intelligent young lady. She’d been spending a good deal of time with Merrick as they grew up together. They hadn’t officially become anything more than good friends, Xandrith could see the affection in the young man’s eyes when he looked at Haley. He was in love, and Xan suspected Haley felt something for the mischievous Crow as well. He had turned out to be a better man than Xandrith could have hoped for, and he’d helped with much of the construction of the new house.
Tilda was as warm hearted as ever, and she was still working in the healing line. Crow had saved her when he’d dived from the mountaintop after her. He’d caught her and used his blade’s ability to blink them back somewhere on their trail up the mountain. Tilda had lost a few of her fingers to frostbite in the mountains, but that hadn’t dampened her spirit. As she was fond of putting it, “I’d already lost two, what’s a couple more?” All three of them were the best of people, and Xandrith was happy to have them in his life.
The ships with the people from Forge Haven had returned not long after the fall of the trolls, and together with the mechanna Xandrith had spent the interim two years rebuilding what was left of human society. The ghosts of the short and vicious war were everywhere, but it was getting easier to forget. Time healed all wounds eventually, even those that cut to the very soul of a person. Xandrith’s mind looped back around to Kassa on that point, wondering if he dared hope she’d get better, or if she’d just get worse with age.
At times Xandrith was still haunted by the faces of those who’d died beneath his knife. Sometimes too the Wellspring would call to him from its buried pit up in the mountains, but he had other priorities now. He had his wife, and his new daughter, and his life amidst the village he’d helped build. He hadn’t even worn his knives in over a year.
In a way it was like the troll god had won the war. Everything was new. The world of old was all but forgotten, and the world of the future seemed brighter to Xandrith. Finally, when he thought of himself, he didn’t think of Shade the Assassin. He only thought of Xan the husband and now the father. That, he realized, was the best fate he could have ever hoped for.
Table of Contents
Chapter 2 - There and Back Again
Chapter 4 - The Many Imprisonings of Xan
Chapter 5 - Lofty Heights, Lofty Goals
Chapter 10 - The Place of Endings