The Legacy of Shadows. William Speir

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      The Legacy of Shadows

      Book Nine of the

      Knights of the Saltire Series

      The Legacy of Shadows

      Book Nine of the

      Knights of the Saltire Series

      By

      William Speir

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

      Text Copyright © 2019 William Speir

      All rights reserved.

      Published 2019 by Progressive Rising Phoenix Press, LLC, www.progressiverisingphoenix.com

      ISBN: 978-1-950560-11-0

      Printed in the U.S.A.

      1^st Printing

      The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

      Cover Photo: “Beautiful sexy girl holding gun . smoke background” Royalty-free stock photo ID: 30442828 By Zoom Team. Image used under license from Shutterstock.com.

      Illustration “The Arms of the Order of the Saltire” by William Speir

      Cover design by William Speir

      Visit: http://www.williamspeir.com

      Formatting by Polgarus Studio

      Visit: http://www.polgarusstudio.com

      Introduction

      This book completes my original vision for The Knights of the Saltire Series.

      I had always planned on the series being comprised of three trilogies. The first trilogy is “The Saltire Trilogy” (The Knights of the Saltire, The Crusaders of the Saltire, and The Protectors of the Saltire), which introduces the Order of the Saltire and Tom Anderson’s involvement with the Order. The second trilogy is “The Knights Trilogy” (The Lost Knights, The Knight’s Crucible, and The Knights Victorious), which chronicles Tom Anderson’s leadership of the Order as the Order evolves from its original way of operating into a global force for good. The final trilogy is “The Legacy Trilogy” (Legacy of the Grand Master, The Legacy Enslaved, and The Legacy of Shadows), which introduces Tom Anderson’s daughter and chronicles her exploits with the Order.

      Since I first began working on the Series over a decade ago, the Order, and my writing skills, have evolved considerably. But I feel that I have taken the Series and its characters as far as I can. Others may build upon the foundation that I’ve created and develop new stories involving members of the Order, but it is with this book that I personally say goodbye to the characters who have been with me throughout my career as a novelist.

      I’d like to thank my wife, Lee Anne, for her tireless support of my writing career. She encourages me to write without placing demands or conditions on my craft. Without her love and support, I could never have accomplished so much – having my seventeenth book (sixteenth novel) published in ten years. I also want to acknowledge my children: Sonya and her husband Tom, and Brad and his wife Susie and son Colten. They are my inspiration.

      I’d like to thank my editorial team (Linda Speir, Ray Flynt, and Jim Newman) for their valuable edits, critiques, suggestions, and friendship. I am grateful for the time and effort that they have put into helping me with my writing.

      A final thanks goes to Amanda Thrasher and Jan Powelson at Progressive Rising Phoenix Press for believing in me, and to my fans who show their appreciation daily by buying my books and encouraging others to do the same. This is for you.

      William Speir

      May 2019

      To the Knights of the Saltire, without whom I would have never begun this journey nor reached my destination.

      Table of Contents

       Lives in Motion

       The Coming Darkness

       Hidden in the Shadows

       Darkness Breaking

       A Legacy Restored

Lives in Motion

      1

      Jamie Michelle Anderson, Dame Commander in the Order of the Saltire and combat martial arts master, found herself surrounded. She didn’t see the person who approached on her left; the other attackers created enough distractions that her attention was momentarily focused on her right side.

      She felt the kick and pitched headfirst from the force, but rather than land sprawling on the floor, she tucked into a somersault, rolled forward, leaped to her feet, and attacked the two assailants closest to her. She punched and kicked at blinding speeds, and soon all eight of her attackers were forced to withdraw.

      She bowed to her attackers, and the dojo erupted with applause. Jamie waved and caught the towel that Hunter Augustus Sinclair, her fiancé and a knight in the Order of the Saltire, threw to her so she could wipe the sweat that poured off her.

      Every Saturday morning when Jamie was in town, she practiced fighting multiple opponents at her dojo before the regular classes started. Most of her opponents were black belts and masters, but some were also her combat martial arts students.

      When Jamie first became co-owner of the dojo, there were only a few members who arrived early enough to watch her fight. Now the dojo was packed with instructors, students, and people who were still deciding whether to join. Everyone wanted to see Jamie fight; they also wanted to see whether her opponents would ever defeat her. They never did.

      The first floor of the dojo was one large gymnasium floor – apart from Jamie’s office – separated by different-colored padded floor mats to denote the various training areas. The front of dojo was mostly windows to allow in as much natural light as possible. Two of the walls were covered with photographs of the martial arts tournaments that the dojo’s students had attended, and the fourth wall was filled with awards and samples of the martial arts equipment that the students used during the normal Tae Kwon Do classes. Two staircases led to the upstairs specialty training rooms. The smaller room was for weapons training, and the larger room was for Jamie’s combat martial arts training.

      When Jamie finished drying off, she sat down on the bench next to the wall and grabbed a bottle of water. As she took a long drink, she saw Tobias Sutcliffe walking toward her, followed by a middle-aged couple. The woman had honey-blonde hair that stopped above her shoulder, and the man had short greying hair and a silver beard. Both appeared to be in good shape for their ages, which Jamie estimated to be late 50s or early 60s.

      Tobias, the original owner of the dojo, was semi-retired, but he still helped at the dojo on weekends and whenever Jamie had to travel to teach combat martial arts. He