The Soul Sphere: Book 02 - The Final Shard Read Online Free Page A

Tala gave her horse a little kick and moved up beside him.
    “Sleep well?” she asked.
    He nodded in reply.
    “How long have you sailed with Captain Jazda?”
    “Since I was eight or nine.”
    “Your parents?”
    “My mother had seven kids. Never knew my father. She couldn’t feed us all—not easily anyway. So I found work.”
    “Do you like it? Life at sea, I mean.”
    “I’m good enough at it, I suppose.”
    “Ever think you might want to captain your own ship someday, when you are a bit older?”
    He fixed her with a quick, piercing stare, then turned away again. “I don’t think I’ll be seeing ‘older.’ Even if I do, it’ll be living under a rock, trying to avoid the Legion—or worse things.”
    Tala was so taken aback by his words that she had to clear her throat before she could reply.
    He smiled at her discomfort, without mirth. “I’m young, but my eyes still work. I can see what’s happening.”
    “I have more hope than you, perhaps. For the future.”
    “What would someone like me know of hope?” The question was a challenge.
    “You have done better than most, faced with the choices you had. Captain Jazda thinks highly of you. The crew thought of you as one of their own.”
    “And now they are all dead.”
    “Yes,” said Tala, eyeing the boy. “But you are not. Do not act like you are.”
    “I do my fair share.”
    “I was not speaking of that, as you know. You have to decide whether to face the challenges life deals you by fighting on or by quitting. You do not strike me as being a quitter.”
    Rande wore a sullen look. “I’m not.”
    “No one has been exempt from pain. Your life has been harder than most, but you know you have a lot of company in hardship. And we have a chance—however slight—to change things for the better.”
    “I hope you don’t think that little speech will suddenly have me giggling like a little girl and braiding flowers in my hair.”
    “Hardly. But I would like to think you are not beaten already. Of course, that choice is up to you.”
    Rande mulled that over for a bit. “So what makes you think happy thoughts all the time?”
    Tala laughed. “I do not. Never have. My life had its own complications long before Solek raised his first army. But I know once I give up, he has won.”
    “And what of this Savior Rowan speaks of?”
    She shrugged. “I have seen the power of evil embodied. Why not good?”
    “Doesn’t sound like he’s converted you.”
    “He has not tried. It is not his way. I have only heard him try to answer your questions—I do not recall him preaching to you.”
    Rande sighed. “He hasn’t, but he probably will soon enough. People all worship something—a god, money, themselves—and they want you to see the world the way they do.”
    Tala shook her head. “There is some truth in that, but people are individuals. Some, like Rowan, will fight for what is right and good, with little thought of personal gain or loss. I think that is his most powerful testimony for his Savior. Try to see that part of the man, and then maybe you will recognize it in others and decide there is hope for Arkania—and that there is something here still worth fighting for.”
    With that she fell back, allowing Rande to ponder what she had said.
    That evening the adults sat around the fire while Rande busied himself with the horses. He found some solace there from his internal scars, and though he often lingered longer than necessary, they never called him away from the animals. It wasn’t as if he had a dozen chores to do anyway.
    Evening campfires had become the norm. The group felt watched all the time, and once night fell they found some comfort in the warmth and light of the small blaze. They tried to find hollows or rocks to somewhat hide their presence, but despite the risk they had no desire to sleep in the dark—something about the shadows stalking them made them feel the absence of light would be just what their uninvited guests