Heretic: Realm of the Soulwell, #1.5

By M.E. Wyatt

As the cave shatters around them, Tesro and Ruvor narrowly escape with their lives, dropping into the frigid waters below. There, Tesro sees glimpses of her past; a past filled with pain and regret.

 

Can she overcome her demons? Or will the story of her life close as a bitter memory of betrayal?

 

Heretic is the bridge novella between the 1st and 2nd in the Realm of the Soulwell series and is perfect for fans of Robin Hobb's, 'The Assassin's Apprentice," and Patrick Rothfuss', "The Name of the Wind."

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.E. Wyatt
• Release date: Jan 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224188734

Book preview

Heretic: Realm of the Soulwell

M.E. Wyatt

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M.E. Wyatt

Author Website:

Https://marcwyattauthor.com

This book series is being offered completely for free to all readers, permanently. This may be a controversial way to go about it, but times are tough and when I was young, good books got me through the hardest times of my life. Free books that I found in my school library. Below is a link, feel free to drop a donation if you are willing and able as it goes towards more writing and paying for the costs that come with it, but feel free to enjoy it either way.

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Copyright © [2023] by [M.E. Wyatt]

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Contents

Also By

1.PLUMMET

2.THE POWER IN BLOOD

3.NEW ALLIES

4.LIGHT HEART, HEAVY STOMACH

5.SPARK OF LIFE

Afterword

Also By

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The Dragonrend Realms

Realm of the Soulwell:

Book 1: Reflection. September 5th, 2022

Book 1.5: Heretic. January 8th, 2023

Book 2: Resurrection. 2024

Realm of the Chaos Shards:

The Shards of Kestrius. February 15th, 2022

Chapter one

PLUMMET

Tesro took the hand of the man she once called her enemy. Ruvor pulled on her arm, and she left with him, despite the war of emotions that raged in her mind. She was to abandon Vi’eri… her dearest friend—

The one she once loved.

Pain and treachery fought a blood war within her, paralyzing Tesro to the perilous situation she found herself in.

Vi’eri shrieked, the misery clear in the incoherent ramblings of her madness. Her voice echoed throughout the cave, and the pain that each shout brought caused Tesro’s heart to break into pieces anew.

Instinctually, Tesro tried to turn back towards Vi’eri, to try and reason with her how she felt, but Ruvor held her firm. "There’s nothing for it now. Let her go!" Then, like too much smoke in a tavern, magic filled the room—so thick that she felt as if she could swim in it. It gagged her; this surging of magic which converged towards a single point: Vi’eri.

An explosion rocked Tesro to her core as light threatened to blind her as a myriad of elements burst into existence throughout the cave. She closed herself off to the in-between, the magic disappearing moments before it overwhelmed her senses. Air cackled with untold power, and the ground shook as destruction rained, propelled by Vi’eri’s wild flailing as she was lost in grief. Tesro knew not what Vi’eri was doing, but she would surely kill them all.

Tesro pressed her body against the edge of the wall for shelter, turning and pulling Ruvor with her. The man’s mouth hung aghast at what he witnessed; the raw strength of Vi’eri’s will. He resisted, at first, and then realization dawned on him, and he spread his arms wide around her, as if he would take the brunt of the force, covering her body against the wall with his own. They screamed together as Vi’eri created catastrophe all around them. Mad—She was truly and utterly lost in madness.

After what felt like a lifetime, the onslaught passed, but earth shattering cracks formed in the roof above, like the web of a spider in the dark. Rocks, twice the size of any human, fell like hail in a frigid rain. With each boulder that struck the ground, the integrity of the floor waned. Soon, it would bury them all. Entombed; lost forever, much as the Frozen Man had been for so long.

We’ve got to go! Ruvor yelled over the breaking of stone, yanking on her arm like a desperate child.

"Vi’eri!" Tesro screamed across the chasm of broken slate, but she heard no reply in response. Another boulder landed nearby, blasting her body with small shards of broken rock. Close—Too close.

Ruvor yelled some warning towards her, but the now constant rockfall made understanding him untenable. Another violent shake threw Tesro to her knees as an enormous crash, like the breaking of a window, demanded her attention. She looked up as a boulder tore free from the ceiling directly overhead, threatening to flatten her with its massive size. Placing her hands above her head, she desperately attempted to protect herself from the inevitable.

The weight of the world suddenly felt unbearable. Perhaps—Perhaps this is what she deserved after all; after what she had done to her family. This was the kind of end she deserved. Slowly, Tesro’s head fell as she looked towards the ground that would be her ultimate resting place. With a small smile, she accepted her fate.

The boulder crashed, and the ground shifted around her as her body fell into it. But alive—She was still alive. Looking up, dust stinging her eyes, blinking through the tears, she saw Ruvor holding the boulder suspended above her head, blood pouring from the wound in his stomach and dripping from small lines inside his mouth.

Tesro’s own mouth hung open, awestruck at what she was witnessing. Veins bulged in the man’s neck and his knees wobbled as if he would drop the boulder at any moment. She glared into his eyes and saw nothing but desperation there; not desperate for himself, but desperation to save her.

Why would he go to such lengths to save an enemy?

Tesro let her survival instincts take over as she opened herself up to the in-between. Tapping multiple pieces of fragmented magic near her, she merged the power and struck the boulder with her hand, sending magic cascading through it. In a moment, the boulder split in half, falling apart. The individual pieces of it fell to the wayside as Ruvor casually tossed the small remaining bits to the ground beside them. Their relief was short-lived as more rocks fell from the roof, some as giant masses and others as long, sharp objects.

Follow me, Tesro said, not waiting to see if he heard her, catching him by the shoulder and pushing him towards a wall of slate.

Follow you where? Ruvor replied, but the man didn’t fight back as she pushed his body against the solid wall.

Tesro breathed heavily, focusing as she searched. It was nearby; the power she needed. A wellspring of magic just at the edges of her senses. It coalesced in a pool, floating in the air. She made her will known, pushing it forward and towards that mass of power. But the magic, it had a mind of its own! She never had been the best at control, but, nevertheless, the spark of her life transformed all of her sorrow and pain into pure willpower. The will to carry on.

The magic reacted to her newfound strength, and when it did, Tesro pulled it close, shoving it into the wall as soon as it touched her hand. In an instant, a large split in the rock formed, and she shoved their bodies between the breaks.

The last resting place of the frozen man was a calamity as rocks filled the room where they had once stood. Bits of the breaking stone broke against Tesro’s back like a swarm of bees. She willed the magic forward, pushing ahead, further into the wall, looking for a tunnel or passage that they could use to escape as the fatigue gripped her mind. This much magic was hard to control, even with a clear head and a full stomach, to which she had neither. Then, all at once, the rocks gave way to an opening.

Freedom! she thought, exhilarated at the prospect of living. But her moment of triumph was short-lived as they both fell through into the open air. Unlike the tunnel she had been hoping for, they had found the edge of the cave, which overlooked a drop towards the frigid ocean below. Too late to stop as they both fell through the void she had created in the mountainside, plummeting towards the cold water, and their certain death. She opened her mouth to scream, her own reflection screaming back at her in the ice below.

Tesro struck, breaking through a thin layer of ice and plunging into the cold water below. Its icy grip clutched at her, dragging her