Trials of the Hierophant: Vol. II of epic fantasy The Sundered Kingdoms Trilogy Read Online Free

the door and sighed. He placed his foot on the threshold stone and said the small prayer he had been taught to say upon entering any unknown place which caused him alarm.
    He pulled back the flap and found himself surprised at the quaint abode. It had been recently cleaned, and fresh food and water had been placed on the table. Several pieces of brown bread with butter and jams on pats beside them, a handful of berries, and two slices of roasted venison were on the plate.
    Connor sat down to eat, surprised to find the venison still warm. It would be the last hot meal he would eat until his seclusion ended. He looked to the corner of the room next to the stone fireplace. A large crock packed with salt and dried meat sat near a tightly-woven basket with what remained of the twigs for kindling. The stream outside provided plenty of fresh water, but that dried meat would be his only sustenance until he rejoined the others.
    After eating, he realized how late in the day it had grown. Though, he thought, most light could simply be blocked out by the trees so deep in the forest.
    The fireplace was empty, and he knew he would need a fire when the night grew cold. Nothing had been left to chance, and he found an axe leaning against the pile of logs outside. They would never burn properly without being split at such a size, he thought. Pulling his sleeves above his elbows, he lifted a log and turned it on its end. As he hoisted the axe above his head, he felt his shoulder strain, but ignored it as best as he could.
    With four logs split, Connor found himself covered in sweat. He carried them inside, and arranged them in the fireplace before standing back up to stretch, feeling his robes stick to him with sweat.
    Frowning, he stripped off his robe and placed it on the bed. As the mattress of straw rustled beneath his touch, the familiar scent of lavender filled the room.
    The cool evening air brushed against his naked body, and he felt his skin dimple. The water of the stream barely reached his knees, so he knelt down to wash himself. He scooped water into his hands and splashed it up onto his face.
    He looked at the fresh, pink scar across his palm, a reminder of what happened atop the Brynmor which would stay with him for the remainder of his life. Taking a deep breath, he balled his hand into a fist, feeling the raised flesh of the scar beneath his fingertips. Death had not made itself unknown to him, but never had he helped it claim a victim‌—‌until that night, that night which seemed almost a dream from another life.
    The all-too-familiar weight of sadness swelled up from within, and he closed his eyes. It was not the melancholy which accompanied dusky winter. It was not dark and brooding, it was white and hazy. He felt absent from everyone and everything, and even the dim light of the evening was too much for his tired eyes.
    He returned to the stone house. His arms felt weak, as though a great weight had been carried in them, but he managed to dry himself before tumbling into the bed.
    Under the cloak of darkness, when Connor had only his thoughts to entertain him, he still saw that garish, yellow smile. The man’s lips curled into a grin even as his life’s blood left him. Had he welcomed death as a comrade, or had he denied the futility of struggling?
    Connor shivered as a chill came over him, and he pulled the blankets up over his head.
    A sudden jolt of pain ripped his thoughts from him. He let out a strangled gasp as he pressed his palm against the wound on his chest, clenching his fingers on his shoulder. He tried to maintain deliberate breaths as he trained himself to do when pain overtook him, but it did not help. The pain which wracked through his body seemed worse than before. While he had grown accustomed to the dull aches and soreness throughout his body, amplified by such episodes, this time it felt as though a hot poker twisted itself in his chest.
    As the fire ripped through his entire body, he threw the