The Well of Wyrding (Revenant Wyrd Book 3) by Travis Simmons Page B

stone as holy, and they reasoned that if Wyrders’ Bane was holy, then those it afflicted must then be less than holy. It was after all the wyrders had been killed or run off from their community — though death was preferable in their minds — that the stone had been given its name.
    “It had fallen out of their hands years back, when the first Guardian of the Realm of Earth, Darenous, pleaded his case before Aaridnay, and the Eradication Edict was drafted. Without the aid of their hideous stone they fell rather easily to the human forces and were driven out of the Barrier Mountains and their Council Building, what is now known as the Guardians’ Keep.”
    “And now it’s back,” Maeven said.
    Uthia nodded. “Yes, it’s back, and with it the numerous chaos dwarves who are joining forces for the first time since they were driven out of the mountains will be a great opposition for wyrders. Now that they have the stone, they will render the wyrders worthless so they will have to be fought on their own terms, in normal combat, which they are proficient at. There is rumor that the trolls are siding with them; together they will outnumber the humans three to one.”
    “But the other races can still use their wyrd, can’t they?” Angelica asked.
    “All of the races will be affected, and many of us will die from the effects of the stone itself. Some races were made from the wyrd of humans, and are in essence living wyrdings. They will take a heavy toll.”
    “And yet you throw yourself into the thick of it?” Jovian scoffed.
    “What would you do?” Uthia asked. “In point of fact, what are you doing at this very moment? You are going up against insurmountable odds to preserve your family, which is no more than we are doing.” Uthia seemed to be ruffled for the first time, and her thick black lips thinned into a frown. “We will be not throwing all our might at the chaos dwarves, however, and will instead leave behind a fraction of our numbers to carry on our race if we all die on the field of battle. We know that if all of us were to die it would affect the Realm Guardians greatly, and we would not add another burden to them in this time of need.”
    “So you are prepared for death?” Joya asked. “And all of the side of good will be killed by this stone?”
    “We are more than prepared for death. No, not all the races will be killed, for giants have no wyrd and will not be affected. They may be the only saving grace, but as they are matched height for height, strength for strength, and in numbers by the trolls, they will have their own hardships and most likely their own separate war in the mountains.”
    “I almost consider us lucky for leaving the Realm of Earth when we are,” Jovian commented.
    “I wouldn’t,” Uthia said. “Do you think the greed of the chaos dwarves will be sated with one realm when they could have all of them bow before their tyranny? The war will spread. Already it has been spread about the enemy camps that this war will be one that goes down in history as the greatest war ever fought. They are calling it the Wyrding Wars.” And that was when Angelica realized what was bothering her. With Uthia’s words her stomach tightened and she felt a tingling in the lower regions of her body. Fear spread through her and she set her food aside as nausea took over. She was afraid more than anything that this nightmare would spread. By the way Joya stopped picking at her food and set it aside, her sister was experiencing the same feeling.
    So now I guess we know what weapon it was that Porillon spoke of giving to the chaos dwarves, Jovian said mentally to Angelica and she nodded her agreement.

    Stephen listened to the reports of mayhem from the table behind him. He shook his head. Melody, his wife, sat across from him, tentatively nibbling on the end of a stalk of asparagus. She had insisted that he take her out tonight to a nice restaurant — nothing too rich, but something nice so she