The Broken Blades Trilogy, #3
Three Shattered Souls
by Mai Corland
Contents
Chapter Sixty-Two
Overview
Aeri’s team walks into a deadly shipboard ambush. Fremo is killed, Teo is wounded, and most rebels fall while Mikail cuts down guards. Royo restrains Aeri, preventing her from using relics. Reaching the inner cabin, they find Aeri’s father and Hana, who stands ready to pull an alarm, imperiling the mission.
Summary
Aeri, Mikail, and their strike group enter a cabin on the ship and are ambushed by palace archers. Bolts drop Fremo with a lung shot and hit Teo in the thigh. As armored guards press in, Fremo is slain by a brutal neck-to-chest cut. Mikail’s sword ignites; he throws the Water Scepter to Aeri and charges.
Royo restrains Aeri, fearing she’ll lose control of her relics in the chaos. Unable to aid the rebels, Aeri watches more of their fighters die. Teo yanks the bolt from his leg and rises to fight, while Calier refuses to leave his brother’s side.
Mikail’s assault turns the tide enough to finish the immediate attackers. Duval, shaken but hardened by Fremo’s death, hacks down foes alongside Mikail. When the melee ends, nearly all rebels and both archers are dead; only Mikail and Duval stand from the front-line fray.
The survivors—Aeri, Mikail, Royo, Duval, Calier, and injured Teo—sweep the L-shaped cabin’s corner. At the back wall, two palace guards hold steel while Aeri’s father stands with them. Hana is beside them with her hand on an alarm rope, ready to summon more troops, leaving the group exposed and their mission on the brink of failure.
Who Appears
- AeriPOV; restrained by Royo, unable to use relics; witnesses Fremo’s death and confronts Hana at the alarm rope.
- MikailLeads the assault; ignites sword, throws scepter to Aeri, cuts down guards to stem the ambush.
- RoyoProtects Aeri by physically restraining her, preventing potential collateral damage from her relics.
- FremoWarned of the fleet earlier; mortally wounded by bolts and slain in the melee, galvanizing the others.
- TeoHit in the thigh by a bolt; pulls it out and rejoins the fight despite injury.
- DuvalShocked but hardens after Fremo’s death; survives the melee fighting alongside Mikail.
- CalierGuards his injured brother Teo, refusing to leave his side during the fight.
- HanaRevealed in the inner cabin with hand on an alarm rope, threatening to expose the group.
- Aeri’s fatherStands with palace guards in the inner cabin, complicating Aeri’s mission and loyalties.