The Defenders Of Frosthaven: Book 2: The Coral Crown

Chapter 1: Thief

Coralblast leapt out of the window and landed on the rooftop below him. the figure in black was moving rapidly over the rooftops. Coralblast shot a blast of water at the thief, and the figure smashed into a temple. Coralblast skittered over. at this point his friends had caught up, and were staring at him as he put the stolen medallion back on. "what?" he said. "it's just...," said Nylia. "you never told us." "oh!" said Mistbow. "do you know what this is?" he pulled out the shard of coral that had almost killed him during the siege. "that," said Coralblast, "is a shard of the Coral Crown Of The Lurkers." "what do you mean?" said Nylia. "long ago, us – the Lurkers – ruled over a vast underwater empire. but it fell to ruin when the source of our power, a coral crown, was shattered, its shards scattered across the Misty Sea by the ocean's currents. we've been looking for the shards of the crown ever since. I have no idea how the Algox got their hands on a shard, and I definitely don't want to know why they built it into a siege tower, but I know this: if we can find all the shards and reassemble the crown, we could restore the empire, with me or Deepnight as king." "that is both vague and mysterious," said Nylia. "I personally want you to be king. I don't particularly like the idea of an assassin ruling an entire empire." this earned her an offended look from the purple crab. "so where do we find the other shards?" "where else?" said Coralblast. "The Lurker Isles. we're going south. and we're getting ourselves the Shard Of Fear." two days later, the mercenaries were sitting on the deck of a boat. "so," said Nylia, "I'm guessing each shard has magical properties?" "yes," said Coralblast. "we're in possession of the Shard Of Blades. take it out and whisper the words Swift Tide Of Death." Nylia did as he instructed, and it transformed into a 4-ft.-long sword made of coral. she twirled it in her hand and gasped. "it's so light!" "yes," said Coralblast. "that sword is light. the kind that can get you in trouble if you wield it like a standard longsword. use with caution." "which one are we looking for now?" said Nylia. "we're looking for the Shard Of Fear. its command word transforms it into a golden mask with the visage of a demon carved into it. it can frighten your enemies, but inspire your allies." "wow," said Nylia. suddenly, something smashed into the boat, throwing her off her feet. when she looked up, she saw a kraken. its tentacle was slithering across the deck. Coralblast hammered into the tentacle, smashing his claws into the hard flesh. Nylia threw her javelin, then smashed her spear into the kraken's eye. the kraken retreated, leaving her floundering in the water. Coralblast dragged her aboard. then they reached the Lurker Isles. they trekked through the jungle of an island for several days until they reached a clearing. it was burned and scorched, and the corpses of several Algox were lying burned and blackened across the clearing. "what could do this?" said Nylia. it looked as if the entire clearing had exploded. suddenly, a blast of fire burned through the forest, leaving a trail of devastation. "let's go!" said Coralblast. they hurried through the jungle until they came to another clearing. they saw an Algox and a Savvas fighting each other. but the Savvas looked like he was made of cooled lava. the Savvas unleashed another wave of lava, which the Algox dodged and summoned a tornado. the Savvas dodged that and was about to fire a ball of lava when he was caught in a net. the Algox was caught in a net, too. Coralblast looked at Jaws. he shrugged. "who else was going to stop them?" he said. Coralblast cut them down, and they introduced themselves as Pyrocataclysm the Savvas Pyroclast and Frostspeaker the Algox Snowdancer. they agreed to join their quest. a few hours later, they found a human encampment. the humans were clearly guarding something. "Acronix," said Coralblast, "is this where the Shard Of Fear is located?" "yes," said Acronix. "it is located in the middle of the camp." "so how do we–" began Nylia, but was interrupted when Coralblast and Deepnight let out the Lurker War Cry and skittered full tilt towards the fortress. "wha--? hey! what are you doing? stop!" shouted the human guard who was guarding the battlements. he pulled out a crossbow bolt and loaded his crossbow. Mistbow fired an arrow so fast that his hands were a blur. the arrow struck the guard, who fell off the battlements and into the streets of the human settlement. more guards started firing arrows at the Lurkers, but the crossbow bolts could not penetrate the Lurkers' thick shells. the rest of the mercenaries charged out of the underbrush and got to work. Coralblast finished the last guard. Mistbow shot the last remaining archers. Coralblast ripped open the settlement's gates, and started causing havoc. the mercenaries battled their way to the center of the settlement, where a small fortress was lurking. the mercenaries battled their way to the center of the fortress, where there was another shard of coral. Mistbow picked it up. "is it okay if I get this one?" he asked Coralblast. "by all means," he said. Mistbow read the inscription on the shard, and it transformed into a golden mask. "the Shard Of Fear," said Mistbow. he put the mask on. suddenly, a squadron of guards burst through the doors. Mistbow grimaced at them, and they dropped their weapons and ran away screaming. they emerged from the settlement and got back on the boat.

Chapter 2: The Shard Of Bane

they had been sailing for 2 days when they saw the next island. they got off, and they recruited some local Lurkers to their cause. then they came to the next fortress, one guarded by Inox. Coralblast shot a blast of acidic water, which took out the guards guarding the entrance. Mistbow shot the archers, and they ravaged the town. they came to the fortress, and in the room with the coral shard – The Shard Of Bane – they found nine animated warrior ghosts guarding it. one ghost slashed left and right with his sword, while another stabbed at Deepnight with two curved swords. a third took on Nylia with a hovering trident, while a fourth threw javelins. the other five used a variety of missile weapons to great effect, from shooting arrows to firing multiple pistols at a time. Coralblast directed the rest of the mercenaries to attack the melee ghosts, while he shattered the weapons of the ranged ghosts, then vaporized them in a deluge of water. the rest of the ghosts were destroyed by the mercenaries. they emerged victorious and got back on the boat once again. while they were riding, Nylia spoke the command phrase of her shard and it transformed into a small dragon. "The Shard Of Bane," said Coralblast. "one blast of his acid is strong enough to cause a drawn-out and agonizing death." "but he's so cute!" said Nylia. Deepnight appeared beside them. "so, brother, where are we going next?" he said. "to the Cove Of Souls," said Coralblast. Deepnight's eyes widened. "no. not there. I won't go back there again." "brother, I will be here for you. it will be different from last time," said Coralblast. "I can't go back there!" he said. he ran towards his room. Nylia was about to follow, but Coralblast stopped her. "leave him be," he said. "he has... issues with the Cove." "what happened?" said Nylia. "he was captured by bandits and brought to the Cove to be executed. he still has the scar," said Coralblast. "what's the next Shard?" said Nylia. "The Shard Of Hate. it can give its bearer the power to destroy, but at a terrible price," said Coralblast. "what?" said Nylia. "the bearer's hand. The Shard Of Hate is also called The Hand Of Darkness. it fires high-power laser beams." "that's insane. nothing – not even a piece of a crown that could unite an entire species – is worth a hand," said Nylia. a few days later, they came to the Cove Of Souls.

Chapter 3: The Shark King

the cove was a crescent of land, with no shore, just cliffs carved out by the waves. a thunderstorm raged overhead, shooting purple lightning and thrashing the sea into a maelstrom. Coralblast and Deepnight dove into the sea. they found a beautiful underwater kingdom inhabited by humans with shark tails instead of legs. "it's beautiful," said Deepnight. they saw a group of shark-tailed humans swimming swiftly towards them. they were armed with throwing spears and nets. "that doesn't look like a welcoming party," said Coralblast. the shark-tailed humans quickly surrounded them. "who are you?" barked a shark-human. "I am Coralblast," said Coralblast. "this is Deepnight. we're here for a shard of the Lurker Coral Crown. do you know where it is?" "I am Whitetooth, The Shark King. long ago, the Lurkers ruled over their empire. they enslaved the Shark-Folk when the conquered our kingdom. in retribution, when their crown was destroyed by Saramir The Besieger, we stole a shard of it and hid it away. then we rose up against the Lurkers, took back our land, and reigned over these water once again. and now, you would seek the shard that could reunite the Lurkers, our sworn enemies! I challenge you two, to single combat in the arena!" "we accept!" shouted Coralblast. a few hours later, they waited in the arena when Whitetooth came out, with his hand encased in black energy. "The Shard Of Hate!" said Coralblast to Deepnight. Whitetooth fired a beam of black energy at the Lurker twins. Coralblast and Deepnight dove opposite ways. Coralblast skittered up to Whitetooth and grabbed the Hand Of Darkness. Whitetooth pushed him away with a blast of water. Whitetooth's eyes suddenly widened as Deepnight cut the Hand Of Darkness from his wrist. Deepnight and Coralblast swam up to the ship, and Deepnight said, "let's unite the Lurkers, shall we?" Coralblast and Deepnight stayed at the Cove, and in a few days, they had assembled all of the lurkers under their rule. the rest of their friends went back to Frosthaven to get a good night's sleep and supervise its development. one night, Nylia lay awake. she turned over on her bed, and she saw a Valrath holding a spear. he was pointing it straight at her. "prepare to expire," he said.

The End Of Book 2