Matthew Maine—The Voidwalker Saga

Tanzik’s fists clenched tighter and he tried to control his breathing. The woman on the gallows was his older sister who left home when he was young. After the sacking of Makan, she was the only family he had left, though he hadn’t heard from her since. The executioner pulled at the lever to release the trap door she was standing on, but it wouldn’t budge. Tanzik glanced over at Allena with a desperate look in his eyes. A silvery wisp of magic flowed between her fingers as she angled her hand behind her cloak to hide it. “I’ll stop him from pulling it,” she said, “but what’s the plan?” Sweat crept down his back as he stood frozen in place. The executioner waved someone up to help look for a jam in the mechanism. The crowd began to murmur. Tihara stood stoically, looking straight ahead as if nothing had changed. “Tanzik, the crowd’s shifting,” Lura said. “We need to get out of here.” “It’s his sister, Lura,” Allena said. “I know that. But we make a move for her, we’re dead.” She turned ...