Shadow Lands: Beor's Betrayal

By J.R. Colson

For all of his life Beor was a fighter. There was nothing more that Beor liked to do than start a good fight. The only other thing he liked was his sister, Violet. She was annoying as all get out, but Violet was the only person that got him and he relied on her more than he cared to admit. Beor enjoyed the adventures he had in the Shadow Lands with his friends. He never got tired of fighting nor did he ever yearn for something more. He was content, until he met olive eyed Kristianna. Beor was lost as soon as he saw her. At long last, Beor thought that he had finally found the woman that he would spend the rest of his life with. Happiness for Beor, unfortunately, wasn’t meant to be. A treachery so deep happened that it changed Beor’s entire being. What events unfolded to change Beor? Was Kristianna the cause of the betrayal? The Shadow Lands will never be the same and Beor’s fate now lies in the balance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781796080025

J.R. Colson

For as long as she can remember, J.R. Colson has loved to write. She has written numerous poems and even a few short stories during her college years. J.R. Colson is a self professed bibliophile who cannot pass up a good book and is addicted to the written word. She lives in a small farming community in Northwest Kansas with her family and close friends.

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Copyright © 2020 by J.R. Colson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 12/28/2019

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Character List

This book is for all of those with Viking blood coursing through their veins. Once again I give thanks to the Muses for helping me write this story. This is also for Beor and Violet who reached out and begged me to tell their story.

Chapter 1

Violet’s breath came hard and fast as she chased after the filthy half blood. She couldn’t remember his name, but this one had ties to Lamia’s army. She had been chasing him for the past 8 city blocks. This one was as slippery as an eel. He kept darting around people and down alleys trying to shake her of his trail.

Violet was gaining on him when he darted down another alley. Violet hated alleys and she gritted her teeth as she followed him. They were halfway through the alley when the half blood stopped running. He stood there with his back facing her. Violet slowed down as he cast a look over his shoulder at her. His eyes narrowed at her approach. Violet grew uneasy as he gave her a malicious grin. He turned to face her and as he did his eyes flickered to Violet’s left.

That was the only warning Violet had as something detached itself from the wall and launched itself screaming at her. Violet dove forward and to the left and the howling creature sailed through the air above her. A shriek and thud told her that it had hit the wall on the other side of the alley. Violet rolled to her feet and dropped down into a fighting stance. All she had with her was one of her specially made daggers. More creatures were appearing around her and Violet knew that she was screwed.

You are surrounded Violet Tougard. Surrender now and no harm will come to you.

Violet stood up from her fighter’s stance and laughed. She held her sides and just laughed great big peals of laughter. A few seconds passed before Violet managed to gain control of her mirth. Violet brushed away a few tears and shook her head as she fought to stop laughing. She looked at the man who had stood in front of the others.

Violet cocked her right hip out and planted a hand on her hip and tapped the edge of her dagger against her thigh. I’m assuming you are the leader so I’ll forgive you for giving me that little lie. We both know what you’ll do to me if I surrender. It was very amusing of you to ask me to surrender without a fight though. Clearly, you do not know me or you never would have asked me to do that.

The leader motioned to the men that surrounded her. You are outnumbered and it would be pointless to fight. We are offering you a way out. It would be prudent of you to take it.

Violet snorted and glared at the man. You’re asking me to do something that isn’t honorable. Never in the entire history of my family has anyone gone down without a fight. We are descended from Vikings and Vikings never went down without a fight.

A shadow dropped from the edge of a fire escape and landed behind the half breed. The men surrounding Violet backed away as the shadow straightened up and stepped into the dim light that filtered into the alley. Violet smiled as Beor stepped into the light. He was dressed to kill in all black clothing, a long trench coat and a pissed off look on his face.

It isn’t nice to outnumber someone 12 to 1, Beor growled.

Stay out of this Beor Tougard! Our business tonight is with your sister!

Beor shook his head and tsked as he folded his arms in a nonchalant manner as he glared at the half blood. Beor’s move was anything but nonchalant because Violet knew that he was reaching for the small daggers that he kept strapped to his biceps. Anything you do with Violet concerns me because you see, I love my sister even if she is a pain in the ass at times.

Hey! Violet said in indignation.

Beor flashed a smile at Violet. What? It’s true.

Enough of this! The leader shouted as he made a slashing motion with his hand. Both of you are going down. Tonight we will be lauded as the ones who captured Beor and Violet Tougard. Prepare to get drunk tonight boys!

Prepare to die! Beor roared as he flung his arms out and hit two men in the chests with his daggers.

Violet dove at the man that stood closest to her. She caught him in the stomach and they went crashing into the wall. His startled oof gave her enough time to dispatch him without drawing blood. Violet jerked back as a knife went slashing by her face. She caught the hand and twisted until the knife went clattering to the ground. Violet threw the man’s hand away and brought her right leg up in an outer crescent kick that caught the man in the neck. He fell with a scream to convulse on the ground.

Violet danced out of the way as another guy dove at her. She danced around him and caused him to collide with several of his accomplices. Violet laughed as several of them went crashing to the ground. She smashed a set of fingers underneath her foot and broke someone’s instep. A swift kick to the groin took down another one and the heel of her palm broke one guy’s nose.

Violet turned as she heard a shout and the stupid half breed lunged at her. His arms fastened about her waist and they both fell in a heap on the ground. Violet tried to buck him off, but it was hard to because he was wildly swinging his arms. Violet brought her hand up to protect her face and fumbled for a weapon.

Get your filthy hands off her you pathetic half breed!

Violet peeked from beneath her arm and saw Beor’s huge hand grab the man by the shoulder and yanked him off of her. The half breed gave a yelp and started swinging. Beor held him at arm length and let him swing. All he did was hit Beor on the arms and chest. With a growl Beor threw the guy head first into a wall. His startled screech ended rather abruptly as he slid bonelessly down the wall.

Violet accepted Beor’s hand and let him help pull her to her feet. She blew the hair out of her eyes and brushed it back from her face. Beor’s hand on her arm made her look up. She met Beor’s blue eyes and saw the worry that he tried to hide. I’m fine Beor, just pissed that they were expecting us.

Beor frowned and his eyes were troubled. I was thinking the same thing. This is the second half breed that has been prepared for us. Someone is tipping them off about who our targets are.

Violet hummed in agreement. She skipped lightly around the alley as she collected her and Beor’s weapons. She also tossed into a pile the weapons that belonged to the unconscious men. A close glance told her which ones were dead and which were unconscious.

Violet looked over and saw that Beor was checking the pulse of the man he’d thrown into the wall. Is he dead?

Beor shook his head. He’s alive. He’ll wish he’s dead when he wakes up. I don’t envy him the headache he’ll have tomorrow. Beor nodded at the bodies that littered the alleyway. How many of them are dead?

Violet put her hands on her hips and gazed at the bodies around her. Four are for sure and two others might make it.

Beor grunted as he stood up from where he had been squatting. He reached up and rubbed his hand against a leather bracelet on his left wrist. Violet felt the slight tingle of magic that came from the bracelet and knew that Beor had signaled to Thrandr that they needed assistance.

A rush of air swept down the alley and smacked Violet in the face. Violet bowed her head and kept her eyes closed and waited for the wind to abate. The wind died away and Violet looked up to see Thrandr and two other dragons standing before them. Thrandr was looking about him with an amused look on his face.

Damn, couldn’t you have kept a few of them awake so that we could knock them out?

Beor laughed as he came forward and draped a heavy arm around Violet’s shoulder. Violet felt her knees buckle slightly before she poked