By Patrick D. Kaiser Also by Patrick D. Kaiser Poetry Collections Catch the Moment Colors of the Heart The Light Before We Land The Crimson Minds Trilogy Crimson Minds Crimson Crown Crimson Lilies The Death-Bringer Chronicles Frost You can find all of these on Amazon.com Copyright © 2021 by Patrick D. Kaiser All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. Book two of The Death-Bringer Chronicles Table of contents Out of the frying pan Going blind And then there were three Out of tune The frozen dead Willows and wisps Impossible to break Taxing taxi Toil town trouble Churn and burn Debt of the dead A twist of the knife The unwinnable game Dragging dragons Lies and pride Battle on the bars Sight untold What was lost Sneak Peeks To My Elder Sister Holly, For all the love & encouragement You give me. Even when I'm an annoying little brother. Thank you for loving & supporting me. Trial 1: Out of the frying pan Panting heavy, hard for breath Legs fighting to keep the pace The box in my arms weighing me down I don't care when – I don't care how I refuse to let this box drop I refuse to give up “Get back here!” Their high voices call in pursuit Smithing elves, tiny and cute Save for the fact they're cannibalistic You won't see that in a Christmas movie Or maybe you did and I just missed it Now they start speaking elvish As steam blasts hot and hellish In the steam ducts there's little room As from above I hear a giant boom Running, running, keeping pace With her help I might just win this race Who's she you ask? My partner fierce As suddenly I feel my skin being pierced “Get the hell off!” I shake my leg His fangs clamping harder still One of the elves in a tiny red hat Pointed ears, he gives a laugh Glaring at me right in the face His beady red eyes go wide As I give him a look Instantly, without touch, he's knocked to the side My focus and skill getting better everyday It's amazing what happens when you actually train Joining the Organization certainly has its perks That's actually the reason I'm here – For work Intel said there was an illegal weapons factory It was said there might be a lead To another Seer But that still remains unclear As another elf jumps trying to attack me I tilt my head as he flies past – Wheeeeee! Then I break into a run This is actually a lot of fun The booming sounds up above Explosions and fighting – She's having a blast The shaking of the structure giving me a shove I think that means we're about done As I continue to frantically run The box hefty and not at all light Wriggling and whimpering sounds inside “Just hold on buddy, we're almost there.” Suddenly, there's a burning smell on the air She didn't? Crap Time to book it Unless I prefer to let her cook him A fiery blast implodes from behind That's definitely not a good sign The fire quickly starts to spread The smell of sulfur and of ash Safe to say she's incinerated the weapons cache I'd rather not wind up dead I need to find an exit and get ahead The flames quickly coming from behind As I trip – Don't worry I'm fine Finally, she shows up just in time With her magic acuity she bars back the flames She is, after all, a fire mage Shielding the box I smile and say “Hiya! Nice job Leigh.” She gives me the look “Mission clear?” I ask To the back of my head she gives me a smack “Nathan, what was so important that you had to leave me to fight alone? Because you were gone, I ended up torching the entire zone. That means no evidence, no way to convict.” “You'll understand.” I say quick I open the box as there he lies on a pile of rocks Small as a kitten and sly as a fox The lion's head gives a meow As it stretches it's hooves And rattles it's snake tail proud “Let me get this straight.” She glares down “You made us fail the entire mission All to save a chimera kitten?” “Well, yeah.” I say petting his fur “You're such a good boy.” I say in a cute tone Leigh yells “It's a her! You are such an idiot!” Immediately she starts to steam As the whistle of sparks begin to scream Instantly, I realize I screwed up Pissing off Leigh is something you never wanna do Granted, however, it's not very tough But still I take in the sight of her burning up “Leigh, calm-” Suddenly, I'm having a vision I'm a Seer so I use eye magic Basically my eyes have god-like precision My sight is greater than any other And there are many other gifts I've yet to discover Before I could ever learn, they killed both my mothers That's why we're looking for a link to Seers In the end it works out because my vision's clear My brother and Jameson That's not actually his name... But in the end it's all the same They sit there in a dimly lit room My brother muttering “It'll be done soon.” It's creepy – He looks just like me We are twins – But
