The Heroes of Li Syval

By Kenneth McDonald

Aris, Ferret, and Nails have each been honing their skills, trying to find their place within the tumultuous world of Li Syval’s ever-battling Houses. Aris and Ferret are sent as the representatives of House Leconta on a sea journey to the island of Skellos, where the dwarves have their own hidden agendas. In the meantime, Nails is assigned by his superiors in the temple to an investigation into some stolen goods that will lead him and his fellow acolytes to the most dangerous parts of the city. What none of them know is that their missions intersect with a deeper scheme, one organized by people who have no problem with eliminating anyone who gets in their way. The three reluctant young people will find that in some cases, becoming a hero is needed just to survive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth McDonald
• Release date: May 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005164423

Kenneth McDonald

I am a retired education consultant who worked for state government in the area of curriculum. I have also taught American and world history at a number of colleges and universities in California, Georgia, and South Carolina. I started writing fiction in graduate school and never stopped. In 2010 I self-published the novella "The Labyrinth," which has had over 100,000 downloads. Since then, I have published more than fifty fantasy and science fiction books on Smashwords. My doctorate is in European history, and I live with my wife in northern California.

Book preview

Forgotten Lore

The Heroes of Li Syval

Kenneth McDonald

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Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2022 by Kenneth McDonald

Cover Credit: The cover image is adapted from Ships Riding on the Seine at Rouen, by Claude Monet (1872). The image is in the public domain.

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Works by Kenneth McDonald

The Ogre at the Crossroads

Forgotten Lore

First Series

Secrets of a Lost Age

Warriors of Shadow

The Shattered Key

Mysteries of the Book

Second Series

The Road to Ironbridge

The Towers of Khormur-Dhain

Trouble on the Borderlands

The Horror in the Wood

Third Series

The Streets of Li Syval

The Secrets of Li Syval

The Heroes of Li Syval

The Legacy of Li Syval

The Graves Crew

The Graves Crew and the Restless Dead

The Graves Crew and the Damned Dam

The Graves Crew and the Firestar Amulet

The Graves Crew and the Road of Doom

The Graves Crew and the Magical Forest

The Graves Crew and the Mountain Fortress

The Adventures of the Graves Crew, Volume 1 (omnibus paperback edition)

The Adventures of the Graves Crew, Volume 2 (omnibus paperback edition)

Refugees of the Crucible

Powerless

Overpowered

Balance of Power

Legacy of the Bulrazi

Power Play

Power Game

Soul Weapons

Wizard’s Shield

Soul of the Sword

Wizard’s Stone

Tales of the Soul Weapons

The Dwarf on the Mountain

Legends of the Soul Weapons, Volume 1 (omnibus paperback edition)

Legends of the Soul Weapons, Volume 2 (omnibus paperback edition)

The Colors of Fate

Black Shadows Gather

Green Hearts Weep

Red Vengeance Rising

Faded Yellow Dreams

Blazing White Stars

Shiny Golden Schemes

Silent Gray Depths

The Colors of Fate, Volume 1 (omnibus paperback edition)

The Colors of Fate, Volume 2 (omnibus paperback edition)

The Mages of Sacreth

The Labyrinth

Of Spells and Demons

Grimm’s War

Grimm’s Loss

Grimm’s Love

Of Blood and Magic

Of Steel and Sorcery

The Godswar Trilogy

Paths of the Chosen

Choice of the Fallen

Fall of Creation

Daran’s Journey

Heart of a Hero

Soul of a Coward

Will of a Warrior

Courage of a Champion

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Chapter 1

FERRET

Remind me, why did we take this job again? Aris asked.

Ferret glanced over at her best friend and closest companion. He looked as miserable as he sounded, with dirt scuffing his fair features, and loose branches and other natural detritus stuck into his normally smooth brown hair. Ferret imagined she looked much the same. Her skin itched with the desire for a bath, or even just enough water to wash. They could not afford such luxuries now; they’d passed a stream earlier while making their way through the densely wooded valley, but time had become a more precious commodity.

She lifted her head just a slight bit further above the top of the fallen log that served as their meagre cover. The slope behind them remained clear, for the moment, but their pursuers had already proven well capable of unexpected surprises. Because we’re penniless orphans without family or prospects? she offered.

"I know that, Aris said dryly, duplicating her scan on the other side. I’m asking why we took this job."

Well, you did say you wanted to get out of the city more, she said.

I never said that, he said. Tell me one time when I ever said that. All this… growing stuff. It’s not natural. Well, it is natural, but it’s not, you know. Right.

She stifled a chuckle, already having learned that sounds could carry unexpectedly out here in the wild hills south of Li Syval. They were within five miles of the city where the two of them had spent the entirety of their admittedly fairly short lives, but the landscape around them seemed to be an unending wilderness. They were even closer to the sea, but today the breeze had been blowing a contrary direction out of the west, from inland Sifona, bringing only heat and dust and flakes of pollen that made Ferret’s nose congested and constantly threatened an unexpected sneeze.

Well, we’re here now, and since we’re behind on our rent again, and the Leconta haven’t had any jobs for us for the last two months, the Kireen’s silver is as good as anybody else’s, she said.

I bet Nails is laughing his ass off right now, Aris said. He must have known what we’d be in for when he told us about… hsst. There, he said, cautiously lifting a hand to gesture toward his right. Ferret leaned in closer, slowly lifting her head again so she could see.

She could see the Kireen scouts, two of them, making only a cursory effort to remain hidden as they skirted the edge of the ridge that formed the crest of the hill to their right. The reason for their lack of stealth was probably the third figure trailing about thirty yards behind them; he was walking in the open, his hands folded behind his back as if he was just enjoying a casual midday stroll in the hills. Aris directed a scowl in his direction, but Ferret smiled as she recognized Nails.

I should have known he’d attach himself to the group hunting us, Aris said. Wants to be in on the kill, no doubt.

Where’s the third one? Ferret asked, looking for the final member of the Kireen hunting party.

Don’t know, but I don’t like it, Aris said. Come on, let’s get moving.

We’ve got a good spot here, Ferret said. Maybe we can stage an ambush.

Do you think you could hit one of them with those things? Aris said, nodding toward the pair of small bows lying on the ground between them. The weapons were simple enough, with a light draw, but the arrows were a different story, unbalanced with thick wooden heads tipped by a pellet of cork wrapped in bright red linen. Ferret much preferred them to the steel tips that the Kireen scouts no doubt used when they weren’t training, but suspected that a hit from one of those, or the wooden practice swords they carried, could still be painful. Aris had some experience with weapons, thanks to his training from House Leconta’s veteran arms-master, but Ferret acknowledged her friend’s point with a nod.

Remember to stay low until we’re well back, Aris said. And try not to raise any dust.

Ferret gave him a dry look—she might not know weapons, but stealth was something she was quite familiar with, thank you very much—but followed his advice. Once they were halfway down the rise from their impromptu vantage the two of them sprang up and ran the rest of the way down into the next valley. The tall weeds slapped at Ferret’s legs as she ran, and no doubt she would have a thicket of prickleburrs stuck to her trousers when they next stopped, but for the moment the thrill of the chase, of moving her young and healthy body across the rugged landscape, filled her.

She remained pace-for-pace with Aris as he drew up short next to a sprawling tree, its bark thick and gnarled. We’re not going to be able to outrun them, and they’ve already proven they can track us easily enough, he said. Any chance you could whisk us away, or convince them we went another way, or something?

She gave him a considering look. It was still something of a delicate topic between them, her magic. She’d always had a kind of talent for persuading people to do what she wanted, but in the last year it had grown into something more. The change had come after she’d found a glowing crystal in a long-abandoned cult stronghold hidden beneath the city, a crystal whose existence remained a secret to everyone, even her closest friends. But more people—too many people—knew about her magic.

It doesn’t work like that, she told him. I could kill them, but I suspect that Holder Kireen might get upset.

Aris didn’t flinch at her words; he’d seen her use that gift in that way once before. Although it wasn’t certain that she’d been the one to kill the tiefling wizard; Aris had shot the man in the chest with a crossbow just moments after she’d blasted him.

Oh, well, he said. Come on, we’d better keep going. Let’s cut through these woods a bit, no sense making it too easy for the bastards.

They ran on, the surrounding trees making it impossible to check behind them for signs of pursuit, but hopefully concealing them from those chasing eyes. The forest was dry, the carpet of fallen leaves brittle beneath their feet, the tangle of weeds and other undergrowth thinning as the canopy blocked more of the bright afternoon sunlight. It was hard to believe they’d only been at it since that morning; to Ferret’s tired muscles it felt like they’d been running for days.

A shallow gully opened up ahead of them, a seasonal watercourse that currently wasn’t even damp. Aris, unable to arrest his momentum, tried to jump it, but his feet landed a scant foot from the other side and he tumbled awkwardly down into the crinkling bushes that lined the bottom. He came up quickly, but winced as he put weight on his left foot. Ferret scrambled down more cautiously, found a gap in the bushes, and made her way over to him. Are you all right?

Yeah, that was stupid, he said.

Is it broken?

No, just wrenched it a bit. He tried to put weight on it again and let out a hiss of pain. Okay, sprained, maybe, he allowed. We’d better… look out!

He tried to grab for her, but too slowly; even as Ferret started to move, she heard the sharp twang of a bowstring, followed by a solid thud of pain that shot through her jacket into her body, right between her shoulder blades. The impact jolted her forward,