Chapter 1-The O’Baarni

Word must have spread through the troops by now. It had been almost fifteen years since I led a charge. It was not that I feared battle, I relished every possible chance to crush Elven forces. It was more that my generals insisted that I stay in the back, out of danger, and able to coordinate their movements.

There was little choice today. I needed to lead them or we would lose the whole war and the small scraps of freedom we had carved for our race. I’d made a horrible mistake with our positioning and we were pinched between the Elven forces and the ocean. I should have predicted that they would flood the wetlands to the north to block our escape. It was definitely something I would have done had I been in their same position. I had gotten so used to winning that I started to underestimate my Elven opponents. Entas would have been upset with me if he had still been alive.

We won our last series of major battles against the Elven horde by harassing their food chain. This was a new force of Elvens with a different commander who I would not disrespect again. This new general reacted to my tactics quickly and actually surprised us with a few feints and victories.

I finished my pre-battle meditation in my tent before I checked my armor and weapons again. The armor fit like a second skin and I could no longer tell that it weighed almost seventy-five pounds. The skulls that protruded from my pauldrons continued to scream in unbridled rage along with the various smaller effigies etched across the blackened metal. When I attached the helm to my body, I no longer looked like a man, I looked like a smoldering, skinless demon that had just escaped from the fiery nightmares of hell. It was an absolute contrast to my enemies, who dressed in armor of beautifully leaved gold and silver. Their armor was engraved with trees, birds, celestial shapes, and flowers to enhance their already beautiful forms.

I’d rather be the walking incarnation of death than one of flowers. My purpose was destruction and not life.

My purpose was victory.

My purpose was revenge.

My shield and war mace were fashioned after my armor, by the same talented smith who forged all of my generals’ armaments. The arms were stout, impossibly heavy, and covered in screaming, agonizing, horrible visions of death. My hands wrapped around their comfortable leather grips and the small pangs of regret, remorse, and worry faded from my mind. The situation looked grim, but I would triumph. I was always victorious.

My massive black warhorse stood outside my tent in its dark skull plate armor. The horse was a magnificent beast, bred from carefully selected stock, and it was the eighth of its lineage that I had ridden. Its midnight coat shone in the morning sunlight and the light displayed its network of large muscles and veins. The beast snorted angrily when it noticed me. It was eager to kill, and the noise the animal made indicated that I had taken too long in my tent getting ready.

One of my men attached the long red cloak to my armor as I approached the horse. Another one held a twelve-foot skull encrusted lance. I could tell that he had been changed since he was able to hand it up to me easily once I mounted my horse. The two humans who assisted me checked my saddle and the hooks that held my mace and shield. My horse paced in annoyance. I sensed the animal’s desire to run, smash, and trample.

“Looks good Kaiyer,” the one who handed me my lance said. I recalled that his name was Rogiur.

I spun the warhorse around and trotted to the front of the camp, to where Gorbanni’s men posted. They were my mounted cavalry and would lead the vanguard strike against the bulk of the massive Elven force. A few of Malek’s men would be riding with us to help keep magical attacks out of our path. We were positioned in the bowl of the valley against the flooded wetlands and the ocean. We would have to charge uphill to meet the enemy. It was a horrible position and I cursed my hubris again for putting the army in this predicament.

Gorbanni met me on the field in front of his gathered cavalry. His armor was polished to a gleaming shine and it almost seemed like the metal ram horns on top of his helm were glowing in the morning light. Two of his commanders sat on their horses next to him and the three saluted as I approached.

“Are you ready?” The monstrous helmet made my voice drop three octaves in pitch and grow darker in timbre.

“We are. As soon as the flags from the other generals go up, we will charge.” I had known him long enough to know that he was nervous.

“Good. I am eager to ride with your men and trample hundreds of Elven bodies under the hooves of my steed,” I said flatly. Gorbanni’s commanders were seasoned men, but I could see their eyes grow wide at my obvious confidence.

“Kaiyer,” Gorbanni said hesitantly in a way that made me think he would say things I might disagree with. “This looks very grim. I would be telling a falsehood if I said that my men held the highest of spirits. It helps tremendously that you are riding with us, but would you be willing to speak to them?”

“Of course! You know I would do this my friend.” I laughed under my helmet but it must have sounded hollow. Even so, the blonde general and his two commanders looked relieved.

The three of us pushed the horses farther down his line. To my left I could see up the slope away from the ocean, where the gathered Elven army was stationed. The rising sun reflected off their armor and made it appear as if it rose from two different places. It was hard to get a count of their exact number from our position, but their line stretched on for what seemed like a mile in each direction. After a quarter of a minute of riding, I reached the middle of Gorbanni’s unit. Their horses were impressively armored with plates, ram horns, and decorated lances of thick gray steel. Most of them wore their helms down so I was unable to see the expressions of their faces. As I rode by with my long red skull cloak and death lance in the air, they sat up in their saddles with a salute.

I spun my steed around when I reached the center and regarded them from my position at the head of the unit. I controlled the Air passing through my lungs and used its power to throw my voice across their lines and to the remainder of the forty thousand warriors. Malek and Shlara’s troops were positioned behind Gorbanni’s cavalry, too far away to hear my normal voice.

“The O’Baarni,” I started with the simple phrase to get everyone’s attention. Gorbanni’s troops were already focused on me, but silence descended on the rest of the masses that prepared for the upcoming battle.

“Upon the dead bodies of our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and loved ones, we have given birth to this army.” I paused briefly and my horse strafed sideways, twisting his head and snorting. It didn’t understand why I wasn’t killing Elvens yet.

“We have fed this army on the blood, flesh, and screams of our enemies. This diet has helped us grow strong and savage. In our past lives we were slaves and we lived in fear of all the possible ways they could punish us. Now we are free men, free women, and we dream of what abuse we can inflict on them. What retribution we can inflict on them. What horrors we can inflict on them.” My horse skittered the other way and tried to run up the slope but I yanked on its reigns and dug my spurs into its flanks hard enough to draw blood. It snorted again in anger but I doubted it actually felt the spurs. It was an effigy of my anger and hate. During this day the animal would understand me better than anyone else on the battlefield might.

“Some of you think this is our darkest day. Some of you are afraid. Some of you wonder how we will live through this.” The horse quieted suddenly and shook its mane in frustration.

“But none of you regret joining the O’Baarni. None of you would rather be back as slaves. None of you would trade your freedom for death on their terms.” I looked over to Gorbanni and he nodded in approval.

“So do not be afraid that this is our darkest day. We are all going to die eventually. But we will not die this morning. I am leading our first charge against our enslavers. I will be the first one they see and the first one to hit their ranks like a thunderbolt through a tree. Do not fear this day. I know we will live through this battle, we will flourish through this existence, and we will be born again when night falls, stronger than we have ever been.”

I paused again and moved my horse slightly toward Gorbanni’s standard bearer.

“I only have one fear today. I fear that, like my stomach on a feasting day, I will not be able to consume all the blood, all the flesh, and all the screams that this large bounty presents for me. I will need help devouring them.” I sucked in my breath and channeled the Wind through me. I would be so loud now that the Elvens would hear my voice echo in their skulls.

“Will you help me feast O’Baarni?” I screamed.

They screamed back a thousand times louder. Malek always teased that I didn’t appreciate any art. Yet this was the finest music I had ever heard.

I raised my arm and my banners tilted to the sky on all four corners of the army, bearing a black skull framed in blood red. I lowered my arm toward Gorbanni’s bearer. He didn’t waste a second before he raised his up in the air. Within a few more seconds Shlara’s dragon and Malek’s wolf standards lifted up against the sky. Thayer and Alexia’s armies were a two week ride away, where I had incorrectly guessed the Elvens would be ripe for harassment.

I spun my horse around to face the Elven legion. My horse stamped his foot and tossed his head again. If he could have thrown me off the saddle and charged up there himself, he would have. Gorbanni rode to my side with his visor raised.

“Thank you Kaiyer.”

“Thank me when our armor is soaked with their blood my friend,” I said as I raised my lance up in the air. He nodded and lowered his helmet, then he made a signal with his hands and his guard closed in around us. My horns sounded from the standard bearers and across the bowl of land where the army lay. They were a triumphant call to the heavens and to the hells.

My warhorse sprung forward faster than any steed on the battlefield and chewed up the soft grass as it raced up the hill toward the wall of golden and silver armor. I didn’t bother to look for Gorbanni or his men; they were probably at least ten or twenty feet behind me. I hoped they would catch up before I hit their front lines so they wouldn’t feel useless.

A shower of arrows, Fire, and Wind launched into the air from the Elven army as I approached. I judged by their angle that they would fly over my body, but I still raised my shield to block any that managed to drift lower. An arrow wouldn’t be a problem for my armor and shield, but one of their bolts of magic would probably knock me off my horse. Then I would be trampled by the charging steeds behind me. Fortunately, their aim was terrible, and none of the magic nor arrows fell anywhere near me.

The gap between my steed and their front line of pike men closed rapidly until I saw the terror in their eyes. The Elven cavalry posted to the south of us and had expected us to meet them there. We charged their thickest block of soldiers up the steepest slope. The wall of pike men set their spears into the ground and braced for my impact. Each pike was twenty feet long and would have ended my advance abruptly if I would have been foolish enough to continue my charge. I pulled the Earth through my horse, legs, stomach, and heart until my blood began to boil. Then I combined it with the Wind that rushed past me. The Fire grew in my body and I focused it outward toward the wall of Elven pike carriers.

It was very difficult for someone to channel Earth magic from horseback, and even my own generals did not know how much I could really harness. The massive boulder of orange energy slammed into the wall of pike men directly in front of me, dashing them to the ground like a basket of dropped eggs. Their spears went hundreds of different directions but none of them pointed a way that would injure me.

There was a horrendous crash, like the sound of thunder from a mountain top, as my steed dove into the group of Elvens and sunk into their line almost eight rows deep. The shock of my horse crashing into four or five bodies helped clear the dark fog that clouded my vision after I had harnessed the Elements. My left arm stayed true however, and my lance had impaled three of the Elven bastards on its point like sausages I would roast over a campfire.

We were outnumbered by three to one. I had done my part.

I let go of the stuck lance and yanked my mace off of the saddle. I drifted afloat on a sea of armored Elven bodies and the black warhorse was my raft. Fortunately, my assault left them unprepared and I slammed my mace down once, twice, and a third time, crushing the helmets and skulls of three more pike men who had somehow stayed standing. Then my enemies realized I was in their midst and counterattacked.

Two of the Elven soldiers to the right shoved their spears up toward me with snake-like quickness. I swung my shield from the front of the horse toward its hind quarters and managed to knock the first spear into the second and deflect them. On my left side a single soldier thrust at me half a second after his companions, but I effortlessly batted it aside with my brain-soaked weapon.

My horse was smart and knew what I needed to do almost before I did. He turned to the right and pushed his chest into the two pike men whose weapons I had deflected with my shield. This shoved them into their own lines farther and gave my steed enough room to launch a kick into the masses of Elvens crowding my other side. I felt the impact of his hooves slam into metal and leather armor with a satisfying crunch of skull and rib bone. There were so many screams of agony, fear, pain, and rage around us that it was impossible for me to separate the sounds of the soldiers my horse kicked. But I imagined that they had screamed very loud indeed

One of the Elven warriors grabbed my left leg in an attempt to drag me off the saddle. A quick hammer with my mace ended his aspirations and gave me room to lean back down and away from another volley of spear thrusts that collided with my shield on the right. My horse spun again, knocking more spears away and giving me space enough to smash in a few more Elven skulls with my weapon. I saw Gorbanni twenty feet from me; he was using a massive curved long sword that chopped into the Elven ranks like an axe. His commanders guarded his flanks and appeared to be cutting a path toward me.

An Elven jumped onto the back of my horse from my right, tying up my shield and threatening to push me over the other side. She screamed in triumph as she tipped me over to the rear of the horse. Then her cheer turned into a call of dismay when I slid my arm out of the leather straps of the shield and let her take it to the ground with her. My warhorse stomped back and to the left, crushing her beneath its steel shod hooves. It would be difficult to protect myself with no shield on my right hand, but I would have to make do. It was better to be on the higher ground and without a shield at the moment.

I swung my mace in a wide arc along my left side and connected with three Elven dogs trying to claw up through the bodies that lay crushed on the ground. I only killed one of them, but the other two sustained bone breaking wounds that would keep them out of the battle for the next ten minutes. Another asshole shoved his pike at me from far to the right. I turned my shoulder just in time and the spear point slid across my pauldron and arm. I reached up with my free right hand and grabbed around the steel enforced shaft of the spear. Then I used my hips and legs to tell my mount to spin clockwise. It did so instantly and the Elven was forced to either dance back, leaving me his spear, or be trampled beneath my horse’s chest and hooves. He chose to live for a few more seconds and I obtained his pike.

I spun the spear over my head in my right hand so that the sharp end of the weapon faced toward the ground. Then I alternated pike jabs with downward sweeps with my mace for the next minute until Gorbanni and his men joined me. The four of us pushed deeper into their ranks, stopping short of the hail of arrows that Shlara’s archers were letting loose. We decided to let Malek take my place of command and organize the strategy of the army. I had no doubts he would do as good a job as I would have done.

It seemed like a week passed as the four of us cut, stabbed, slammed, and trampled through the endless Elven mob. Eventually they became more organized and four of the deadly warriors attacked me with a synchronized volley of magic and spears. My horse went down with the multi-pronged assault. The armor had protected it from most of the spears, but during the battle it had sustained more punishment than any animal without healing abilities could possibly survive. I heard a cheer of triumph spread through the Elven ranks as they witnessed my armored, red-cloaked form fall with the night-black steed.

I sprung from the saddle and landed easily on my feet, driving the now dull and bloody point of my stolen pike into the chest of a female soldier. The tip of it pierced her perfect breasts through her chain mail armor and shredded her heart into liquid. She wielded a two-handed sword that I ripped from her dead hands to replace the spear that had been in my right. The heavy blade was almost too long to use with one hand, but I used my shoulders, hips, and legs to power a whipping swing that carved two Elvens in twain as they approached.

One of Gorbanni’s commanders went down off his mount and another howl of joy escaped the enemy ranks. I took a dozen steps over crushed and mutilated Elven bodies and ripped my newly acquired sword across the neck of the golden armored bastard that was about to deliver the final blow. Gorbanni’s commander bled from a spear thrust that had penetrated his armor on the side. I tossed my sword like a spear into the back of an Elven who was trying to flank Gorbanni, and then I ducked down to yank the spear out of the fallen horseman’s side. It came out of the armor cleanly, but I didn’t know if the man would be able to heal himself before death came to claim him.

The Elven’s attack increased almost to a state of unbelievable fury. Six of their kind surrounded me and I swung the spear in a wide arc to keep them at bay. Fortunately, they had either lost or never been equipped with their own spears, or it might have been the end of my struggles. Instead they seemed to favor long curved blades and crescent-shaped shields with carvings of mountains and trees elegantly etched on the metal surfaces. They tried to snake into my warded spear circle, but their attacks weren’t coordinated and I punished two of them by impaling one through the stomach and the other through the thigh. I had to watch my footing carefully so I did not trip over Gorbanni’s commander.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gorbanni and his last commander brought down by a swarm of Elvens that leapt to the backs of their horses. A cry of victory went through their ranks again, tempered and less robust than their previous cheers had been. There were already fewer of them to cheer.

One of the Elvens in front of me and one to my right attacked at the same time. I smacked the one on the right across the helm with my spear butt before I adjusted the angle and drove the point at the left Elven. He dodged the attack easily by knocking it aside with his sword and darted forward to shield-slam me. The spear thrust had been a feint on my part, and I wished I could have seen the look of disbelief across his masked face as my mace took him in the right side, crushing his shield arm, ribs, and neck with a powerful attack he had tried to avoid.

A barrage of arrows suddenly whispered past my head and embedded deep into the armor of the Elvens who circled me. Half of them screamed with surprise. Then I dove into their lines and killed another two of them, one with a spear thrust through her armored face mask and the other with a powerful smash to the side of her plated neck guard. I sensed movement behind me and twisted around, angling my pike toward my new opponent.

It was Shlara, and fortunately, she guessed I would have attacked her on approach. Her agile body wrapped around my spear thrust like she was made of smoke and fog. I saw about sixty of her team ripping through the rest of the Elven ranks that Gorbanni’s men had dented. Shlara’s warriors were quick, intelligent, and trained in small groups of three that could pick apart our foes with merciless efficiency.

“Dropped something?” Shlara said as she kicked up my shield into her free hand. I heard a horn to my west, of different timbre and pitch then the calls Malek would use to signal.

The Elvens were retreating.

“One of the bastards wanted it more than me. So I gave it to her, then I gave her death,” I said as I caught the effigy of death that doubled as my protection.

“They have broken. I can’t believe that you did it. You are amazing Kaiyer.” Shlara drew her sword quickly as she spun away from me. One last Elven charged us from the left and she cut him from the shoulder to the groin with an attack that was so fast I almost couldn’t follow her movements. Her dragon armor was sprayed with blood, but the small delicate etchings that decorated her pauldrons and armored sleeves were not entirely covered.

“I did nothing but lead the charge.” I walked over to Gorbanni as he helped one of his commanders to their feet.

“Was that their horn? Are they retreating?” he said as Shlara and I approached.

“Yes,” she purred. “It has only been an hour but they did not expect us to attack on this side. Once they turned their forces around, Malek’s men flanked and butchered their mages.”

“We should finish them,” Gorbanni said. I noticed that his breathing was labored and I could see blood trickle down from his armor at the joint between his armpit and torso.

“We have won this day and should recuperate. We should also reconvene with Thayer and Alexia. The army needs a break for a bit.” I turned to look over the mile of corpses, mostly Elven, toward the fleeing golden hues of their retreating army.

“I never thought I would hear you speak those words. I didn’t think you ever took breaks.” Gorbanni wheezed and coughed up a spit of blood.

“Go to the infirmary and get whatever is stuck in your lung removed. We’ll meet back in my tent in four hours,” I commanded him. He saluted before walking back to the other side of the battlefield. Our medics were searching through bodies, doing what they could for our wounded and finishing off Elvens who might still be alive. They attended to Gorbanni’s commander, whom I had stood vigil over during the battle. He coughed and sat up with their aid.

The sun was high in the sky now and it shone over the blue water of the ocean like an adoring mother.

“You may not think you did anything important today, but you did. We would have lost if not for your speech and you leading the charge. The O’Baarni is nothing without you,” Shlara whispered from my side. She stepped closer and the metal of our armor made a soft slick sound as we touched. I realized that I had somehow kept my cloak on during the whole ordeal, and the wind from the ocean fanned the red cloth out from our connected bodies like the tail feathers of a thunderbird.

“One thing I am sure of.” I turned to look at her green eyes in the depths of her helm. “We would not have been in this predicament in the first place if I had not made errors in judgment.”

“You are a real pain in the ass sometimes,” Shlara huffed and then walked away. “I’ll meet you at your tent in a few hours.” The sun reflected off her armor and the blood that soaked it as she walked down the hill toward her troops and the ocean.

Chapter 2-Kaiyer

I crawled from the dream like I was digging out of a sandy pit. I had to grab handfuls of the memories, dry and sharp, and claw them away from my face. Finally, I felt cognizant, but groggy and still tired. My eyes weren’t open, but something stroked my face. It was a gentle caress from soft fingers.

“Are you awake?” Jessmei’s honey sweet voice asked. My body relaxed and filled with warmth when I realized where we were.

“Yes.” I opened my eyes. Our cave faced north, wrapping us in a perfect shelter from the harsh light of the rising sun.

“Did you have a good dream?” Jessmei’s naked body lay atop mine and her soft skin was more comforting than the warm blankets.

“It was another memory.” She smiled down at me and the hand that stroked my face moved to scratch my scalp. She knew that I liked this.

“You were laughing in your sleep. I think it was a good dream. I’ve never heard you laugh that way. You seemed so happy. Was I in your dream?” She leaned down and kissed my mouth before I answered. Her tongue carefully explored my lips and then darted into my mouth when I opened it to return her kiss. She sighed in pleasure and bit my bottom lip before she ended the kiss. Her eyes looked down at me with unabashed lust.

I gave a dry chuckle and moved my hands up to grasp around her perfect hips.

“If I had been dreaming of you I wouldn’t have been laughing. I would have been moaning in ecstasy.” My fingertips lightly dug into her skin and her mouth opened in pleasure at my touch.

The day after I rescued Jessmei the storm picked up dramatically so we sheltered in the dense cover of the forest. The ground quickly became covered with snow, but I harvested enough wood to keep the horses warm. Jessmei’s captors packed enough food to last the two of us most of the journey back, and I was sure I would be able to fell a dear along the route. That left the beautiful princess and I with only one activity while we waited for the weather to pass.

When the storm subsided we continued to make our way south, back to Nia. It would have been a four-week journey if we would have rushed.

And even though we both knew that our friends and Jessmei’s family were worried about us, we didn’t rush.

She had an appetite for the newly discovered pleasure I gave her. During the stay in the forest we made love almost the whole day, slept for the coldest parts of the night, and then continued the next day. We took short breaks for food, more firewood, to relieve ourselves, and when we took naps of exhausted pleasure after lovemaking. When we began to make our way south we would start the morning with energetic passion. When we took our midday meal we would enjoy each other for dessert. After we had set up the camp and tended to the horses we would hastily retreat into the tent to explore each other’s bodies again before sleeping.

When I first made love to her she had been hesitant, which was understandable given her lack of experience and what she had been told. After a week of travel, she became as fierce and uninhibited in bed as I could have wished. She enjoyed all the different positions we experimented with but seemed to prefer to be on top of me, where she would bite her lower lip, grind against me, and go at the pace she preferred. I hurt her once on accident when I had climaxed and grabbed her hips to pull her down onto me so I might force myself deep into her quivering body. My fingers had left purple bruises on the side of her stomach. I could have crushed her skull with an accidental squeeze during our lovemaking so I needed to be careful.

After two weeks of travel with only cold rain to bother us, another snow storm descended and forced us to hole up in the cave. A week passed as the weather raged outside our stone nest but we didn’t mind the delay. Yesterday the sun had finally shown itself but we decided to wait until the next morning before resuming our travels. I took the day to see if I could catch any game that would have journeyed out because of the better weather. After a few hours of tracking I found a small stream where some deer had gathered to drink. I killed a small buck with the Elven’s bow and we had feasted.

“We should continue on our journey today,” I said as my hands circled up above her hips and gently rubbed her lower back.

“No. Let’s stay here forever.” Her cheek pressed down on my chest and she murmured in approval as my fingers worked up to her mid back and rubbed the small muscles there. I kissed the top of her head where her soft blonde hair met her scalp.

“We will still have a few weeks of travel ahead of us. Besides, we’ve been cooped up in here for too long.”

“I only want to be here in your arms.” She squirmed a bit more as she tried to force her body into mine. Her breasts pushed against my stomach and I felt her nipples rub against me. I laughed again and pulled her mouth to mine for another kiss. It started off gentle and then turned almost angry as our passion rose and our tongues battled for dominance.

“Let’s get going,” I said after our kiss broke and each of us finished gasping for air.

“No. Not after a kiss like that. I need you inside of me,” she demanded and then bit her lower lip. Her face transformed from the beautiful girl that I remembered eating lunch with in the Royal Garden into a woman who recognized what she wanted and would get it at any cost. Before I consented, which I would have, she moved up and rubbed her body against mine with urgency. I reached my hands around her ass and found her opening with my fingertips. She was wet and moaned my name when my hand brushed against her sensitive skin. I had been half-erect since I awoke to find her naked on top of me and feeling her body moist and ready for me hardened my penis. I moved my hands from her entrance around to her hips and pulled her on top of me. We had done this enough so she knew what to do from this point. While I steadied her body Jessmei reached down with her right hand and led me into her. She gasped in pleasure when my tip slid in only an inch and then stopped. Her tunnel was very wet, but we normally had to spend a couple of precious seconds easing my shaft into her before we began our love making.

Jessmei leaned forward and kissed my face, mouth, and neck while she rocked herself back down onto me slowly, taking more of me inside of her each time until I was in as deep as possible. She gave a satisfied moan before she leaned back onto my hips and sat up straight. The blankets fell away from her shoulders and I got to study her beautiful body in the bright reflection of the dawn. Her skin was pale, smooth, and reminded me of milk or cream. The pink lips to her entrance and small pearl nub of flesh at the top of the opening were easily visible through her blonde pubic hair. The lips were spread wide to accommodate the shaft inside of her and the nub was erect with excitement.

“You are so thin Kaiyer,” she said matter-of-factly as she gazed down at me through half-closed eyes. Her hips made slow, tiny circles which dragged me across her velvety walls. The overwhelming pleasure allowed me to only grunt in agreement.

“We’ll have a feast for you when we get back. With all the food you could possibly eat.” Her mouth grinned and then formed a round shape when I made contact with a spot she enjoyed. She changed her tempo from the slow pace to one significantly faster and less circular. She put her hands down on my hips to keep my body from moving while she rode me. Her eyes closed and she let out soft moans of pleasure as she set about the task of pleasing herself.

My hands and fingertips traced lines across her arms and shoulders. My touch created goose bumps on her sensitive skin and also produced additional sighs of pleasure from her. After ten minutes of her movements I felt her begin to shake like she did when she tried to keep herself from climaxing. Her eyes finally opened and she stared down at me like I was the first glass of water she would drink in a week. Then she took her hands off my hips and leaned down to kiss me, pushing her chest and breasts against my torso.

I wrapped my hands around her hips and pushed myself into her deeper. It seemed to trigger her climax and she let out a whine of joy into my mouth as she kissed me. Her body shook like it had when she almost died from hypothermia. I could feel her tighten around my shaft and the thought of her taking such an extreme amount of pleasure from my body drove me over the edge. I tried to resist the urge to release so soon, since I would normally wait until she experienced pleasure three or four times before I would. The sensation of her open mouth screaming into mine, the shaking of her body on top of me, the way she used me to pleasure herself, and the tightness of her entrance forced the climax upon me. My orgasm filled her small body with my seed while she gasped with pleasure.

Our mouths parted after we calmed. I was still inside of her and she made no effort to remove me when she sighed in relief and laid her head back on my chest. She gave another small gasp of pleasure as her body suddenly trembled again and gripped my erection.

We lay there for another quarter of an hour until the sunrise turned into full morning and the rays infiltrated the nook of the cave. Jessmei shook when she descended into a deep and relaxed sleep. I figured that I should let her sleep a bit longer while I got the campsite packed up and tended to the horses. I carefully slid her over off my body and onto the sleeping mat next to me. Jessmei was a heavy sleeper and didn’t stir at all as I moved her. Before I covered her with the blanket I studied her naked body with appreciation.

Her blonde hair spread out from her head like a gold halo. It fell down to about the mid part of her back, just enough to cover her breasts when she was naked. It was usually straight but now developed a small amount of curl since she hadn’t been able to wash the blonde tresses in the last few weeks we traveled. Even though she had often complained that it, and her body, smelled awful from the travel it still carried the scent of gardenias and citrus.

Her skin was flawless, except for a few cute freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks. They added to her girlish appearance and complemented the small dimples that framed each side of her mouth when she smiled. She was half-smiling now in her sleep and I hoped that she was thinking of me in her dreams. The rest of her body was lean and toned from our travels. She wasn’t as tall as Nadea, but where Nadea had the lithe body of a warrior, Jessmei’s seemed to be made for pleasure: soft, sleek, smooth, and curvy in the right places.

“I like it when you look at me when I am sleeping,” she whispered softly. Her clear blue eyes opened and she smiled up at me, increasing the size of her dimples and exposing her perfect teeth behind full red lips. Her eyes were the color of an ocean that cradled icebergs, a pale shade of sky.

“How could I not? You are like a work of art, created for me to appreciate.” I smiled down at her and then gave a small laugh as she flushed red all over her body. That was another quality of hers that I liked, she blushed at almost any compliment. Her hand grabbed my arm and she pulled on me to help her sit up, then she kissed me lightly.

“Thank you for saving me again. I owe you everything.” She wrapped her arms around my shoulder and sighed as I hugged her back.

“No. You don’t owe me anything Jessmei. I did it because I am your friend.” My arms circled her slender waist and I thought about taking her again. Maybe we should just stay here for the day?

“So are we still friends? Or are we more?” she said as she pulled away and looked into my eyes. Her smile was still there but her question seemed serious. I considered before answering.

“We are lovers. I realize that it means a sort of commitment in your society.” Her eyes glimmered and her smile got bigger so I assumed that I was on the right path with my conversation. “But please realize that in my time, we were involved in constant battle. We never knew when we would live or die, so becoming a lover with someone didn’t mean more than a mutual attraction.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” she said with hesitation.

“Let me use us as an example.” She nodded. “If we were both soldiers in the army and were lovers, how much of a commitment should we make to each other?” I figured having her explain what was expected in this example would lead me to understand what she wanted of me in our relationship.

“We would be sworn to each other, we would never take another lover.” I felt a tingle up my spine as she spoke the words so similar to those Iolarathe had screamed while she made love to me. I smiled at myself. Jessmei was so different from the Elven woman, it was ridiculous to compare them. I watched her eyes as she continued. They were tight with anticipation, downcast. Her mouth made small, careful movements as she formed the words hesitantly. She was nervous about what I thought, she seemed almost afraid to look at me, as if she could not stand the possibility that I would disagree with her ideals about love and relationships. “We would be joined together and raise children together.”

“I understand your perspective. But now let us say that was true, you and I were sworn together. Now, say the day after we first became lovers I died in battle. How would you feel?”

“I … I would be devastated. I couldn’t imagine losing you.” The thought made her brows wrinkle in a frown.

“It happens in war. You can never tell who will die. Now, how long would you mourn for me?”

“I don’t know. Right now it feels like I would never want anyone else but you.” She looked in my eyes, seeking confirmation that I shared her feelings.

“Let’s say you go five years without taking another lover, eventually you meet someone else. You don’t intend to, but you have become lonely and this person makes you feel like I did.”

“I doubt it, but for this example I will agree with you.” She smiled.

“Now, you become lovers with this new person, and then he dies. Now how do you feel?”

“I obviously have horrible luck with my lovers. I should probably never take another!” She giggled.

“That is the point I am trying to make. We never predicted who would live or die. How can you commit your heart to someone else when you knew it would be broken? I was lucky and survived through the battles and the wars against the Ancients. However, many were not. It meant that we treated sex as a way to release stress and enjoy our lives. There were no commitments.”

“Did people have many lovers?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have many lovers?” she asked with concern.

“I had one I can remember, but she wasn’t in the army. She was before that time.” I hesitated as images of Iolarathe flew into my head.

“And you did not love her? It was just …”

I did not know how to describe what I felt about Iolarathe, it was not love, at least not in the way Jessmei meant. But it would have been a lie to say she meant nothing to me. She meant everything to me, then.

“No.” I would let her decide what I meant by that as one answer to both of her questions.

“Was she beautiful?” I laughed, remembering that Nadea had asked the same question.

“Why are you laughing? I need to know about my competition for your heart.” Jessmei stuck her tongue out at me and giggled.

“Yes, she was beautiful, but it was a long time ago. She is dead. Everyone I knew or loved is dead.” I didn’t mean to sound so morbid, but it could not be helped.

“Sorry Kaiyer. I forget sometimes about your past.” She pulled me back down on the mat with her and stroked my face and hair as she lay on her side.

“How about children?” she asked hesitantly.

“They were trained and educated with our warriors. Parents could be involved if they wanted to be but we had people that cared for them. They were placed in the army, either as soldiers or as support, when they came of age.” She nodded.

“Did you have children?”

“No. At least I don’t remember. I would think that I would remember them. Don’t you?” She nodded in agreement. Then she bit her lip again and looked down at me. I waited for her next question and she took a deep breath before she asked it.

“Do you want to have children?” She could not disguise the eagerness in her voice.

“I always wanted to kill the Ancients and never thought of my life after that. It seems like a logical choice for some. I like children, but I took care of the whole army. In a way I had hundreds of thousands of children.”

“What about now? That is all behind you. Do you want children now?”

“I have not considered it. Are you getting at something?” I realized we had been doing the very thing that would end up conceiving children.

“My moon flow should begin today or tomorrow. I wanted to know if I should be excited or disappointed on the outcome.” She was carefully studying my face.

“What do you want?” I asked as I reached up and ran my fingers across her face. She closed her eyes and enjoyed my touch for a few moments.

“I am unsure. On one hand I believe that my father and mother would be horrified if I was to have a bastard. On the other hand, the thought of bearing your child makes me very happy. It makes me feel warm all over.” She smiled wide enough for me to see her dimples.

“What is a bastard?”

“It is a child born out of marriage or joining.”

“Is that bad?”

“It is if you are a member of royalty!” She smirked “My father wants to marry me off to another noble family so we can strengthen our export policies.” I recalled her talking briefly about this when we had eaten lunch together and the night we first made love.

“I see. So it would be simpler if you were not pregnant?”

“Yes.” She nodded.” But that means nothing. Would you be upset if Father asked me to marry someone else?” she stuck her tongue out at me again.

“Yes.” I realized that an honest answer might not have been appropriate. I did care for Jessmei, and I would be interested in seeing and raising any child she would give me. However, I had lived my life without the sense of commitment that weighed on her heart. This time we spent together I would always fondly remember. But if circumstances drove us apart I didn’t see reason to punish myself.

“So … should I make breakfast while you ready the camp?” I was surprised that she wanted to change the subject, but grateful that she wished to continue our journey. I nodded and we set off on our separate tasks.

By the time I readied the horses and packed up our sleeping area she had finished making a small pot of thick oatmeal. It had been our usual fare for the last few weeks, but Jessmei was a capable cook. She always managed to make it tasty and slightly different each morning. Even though I wasn’t that picky with my food, I was glad she took the time to prepare it. After a half of an hour we had eaten and loaded the rest of the equipment on the horses. Then we were off toward Nia.

“I will always remember this cave and the time we spent here,” Jessmei said looking back from atop her horse as we made our way through the thick forest to the trail that led south. My eyes met hers and I smiled in agreement. It had been a very pleasurable week.

We were in the northern part of Gradar and it would take us another week to get out of the forest and into the milder parts of Nia. We were two miles east of the main highway. I didn’t want to risk the roads where the empress might have sent her forces to recapture Jessmei, so we had stuck to small game trails as our means of travel. We hadn’t passed many people during the last two weeks. Just a few trappers who eyed us warily and then continued on their way with only a short word of greeting. The lack of contact was fine with me.

The terrain was rocky and covered with tall evergreens. Spots of the ground were still coated with large chunks of snow that had not melted with the heat of yesterday’s sun. The forest carried the scent of sap, ice, and wet needles. There were also hundreds of small streams that we used for fresh water and fishing.

The journey was easy and pleasant since Jessmei was very skilled with conversation. She kept me chatting about my past, what memories I could remember, and what kind of food we were going to feast on when we got back to the castle. It was the same topics she had been talking about since we began our journey but I never seemed to get bored speaking with her.

We had been on the small trail heading south for a little over an hour when we decided to break and enjoy a midday meal. There was a good amount of jerked venison left over, enough for probably three more days, a few fish I smoked, and we had found some wild carrots. We were about to mount our horses again when I smelled the blood coming from Jessmei. Almost as soon as I noticed it, she excused herself to the deeper parts of the woods to tend to her menstruation. She returned after ten minutes and mounted her horse without looking at me.

We rode in silence for another hour.

“Do you want to speak about it?” I asked at last. She looked back at me and sighed, and then her frown turned into a smile.

“Sorry Kaiyer. I did not mean to be so quiet. I was just thinking. Sometimes I get emotional during this time. I realize that this is the simplest solution, but for a few hours today I thought about how beautiful our child would be. I was happy that you weren’t opposed to the idea so maybe a part of me wanted, well, do you understand?”

“Of course.” I had little experience with handling women’s emotions. From what I could remember, Alexia and Shlara didn’t want to spend time talking about their feelings. I did understand what it was like to want something that would complicate my life.

The trail took us out of the forest and into a grassy clearing that stretched out for almost twenty miles of gentle hills and dales. To our east in the distance was a steep mountain range that looked like teeth jutting out into the sky. Since we were no longer in the shelter of the trees, a brisk breeze made the grass appear to be a wavy emerald ocean. The path widened a mile down the field and I could see half a dozen plumes of smoke from a grove of pines to our west.

“It looks like a village,” I said.

“Should we avoid it?”

“Probably. Let’s get closer. It might be nice to get some new food.” I tapped my horse forward and Jessmei’s followed.

“Food and maybe a bath?” She laughed. “The last bath I took was in the river when you saved me. I feel so grimy. I can’t believe that you can stand the smell of me.”

“You smell great, like flowers.”

“We don’t have any money do we?” she said with concern.

“No, perhaps we might be able to trade. But if the village is too big we should avoid it.”

The village was composed of thirty dwellings circled by a log and mud wall about chest high. There were many shaggy cows around and I guessed it was a dairy village. A few children were sitting on top of the wall and they waved to us as we approached.

“It’s a good sign that children play freely here. We should go talk to them and see if we can get a bed for the night.” She nodded in agreement, I didn’t want to deny her any pleasure, and the small village seemed harmless.

A middle aged man emerged from behind the wall and looked at us cautiously. He barked a command and the children scattered off of the wall and into the village.

“Good afternoon strangers. What can I help you with?” His voice was strong and had a gravelly quality to it. He looked at Jessmei first, surprised by her beauty, and then his eyes darted to the swords at my side.

“We are travelers en route to Nia. We don’t have any money, but would be willing to trade for food and shelter for the night.” Jessmei’s words flowed smoothly out of her mouth. The man looked at her in shock.

“Why are you going to Nia?” I got the feeling that he didn’t like conversing with women.

“That is our destination,” I said to him shortly.

“Are you two daft?” He was getting angry. Jessmei turned to look at me and then the man seemed to sense the confusion on her face.

“You haven’t heard?” he gasped.

“No. What has happened?” I felt the words leave my mouth and the dread build in my stomach.

“Nia’s capital has been conquered by Losher. The king has been killed. The whole country is fucked like a whore that just got her mouth broken—ah sorry, miss.” He took off his hat and smiled sheepishly at Jessmei.

“The king is dead?” Jessmei’s words were almost softer than a whisper. Her skin looked as pale as it did when she had almost died of hypothermia.

“That’s what I heard. The Losher army is still at the city. Supposed to be there all winter. There isn’t much food and many people are leaving the capital. There are highwaymen and other atrocities on the main road heading north into Gradar and south into Brilla.”

“My father is dead?” Jessmei repeated. Her voice sounded dead and empty. The man seemed confused and looked to me with his face bent in question. I pulled my horse next to hers and managed to grab her as she slumped over her saddle. Her arms wrapped around me and she pushed her face into my chest. The man looked around in embarrassment as she sobbed uncontrollably in my chest. The cries quickly turned to screams of anger as she dug her nails into my arms.

“What about the rest of the royal family? The queen? The duke?” I asked the herder, afraid to even ask of the duchess. My stomach felt like it had ice in it.

“I just know that the king has been killed. I get my news from travelers that have come by.” He looked around nervously and I saw a few other villagers take interest in our exchange. A few of the children were also peeking at us from behind the homes. “Is she going to be okay?” he asked sincerely.

“We had not heard of these events. Her family lives in the castle.” I ran my hands through her hair and kissed the blonde waves. Her body was shaking against mine.

A middle-aged woman and man walked up behind the man. They pulled him away from us with a smile and apology and whispered to him. They asked him what we were doing here and why the girl was crying. He explained that we had not heard the news of Nia and we were heading there to visit family. Jessmei’s frantic cries were getting worse and more villagers seemed to be congregating toward the entrance of the wall to see what the commotion was.

“We can put you and your wife up for a few days,” the woman said to me. The other man with her nodded and looked up at us with concern on his weathered face.

“Thank you. We don’t have any money but I—“

“No. Don’t even think about it lad. She looks devastated and you look like you haven’t had a thing to eat in two months. It will be our pleasure. Greta and I don’t get many visitors out here and the company will make us happy,” the man said. I nodded and tried to smile down at them while Jessmei continued her teary cries of anguish.

“Thank you. I’m Kaiyer and this is Jess.” I didn’t know if I should use her full name or not but it wouldn’t hurt to be too cautious.

“Greta is my wife and I am Rayat. The man you have been speaking with is Ves.” I nodded at each of them. Greta and Rayat were probably a dozen years younger than Ves but all three of them possessed the tanned, stout features of ranchers.

They led me to the other side of the town, to a tiled roof house that was one of the largest in the small village. In the back area of the dwelling was a small well, vegetable garden, and a stable that held bays for four horses. A few hundred yards away I saw a broad expanse of wooden fencing and another large barn. Brown cows with shaggy coats dotted the landscape past the fence.

“We’ve got two horses that my son and daughter are using to survey the herd right now. They will be back at nightfall, so we’ll keep one of your horses in the main area when they get back,” Rayat said apologetically.

“No worries. Thank you for letting us stay with you.” Jessmei had stopped crying but was softly repeating the word “dead” over and over again.

“We’ll put you up in my daughter’s room. It is this way.” They led me through the small front foyer, through a hallway, and into a tiny room with a simple flower embroidered bed that would fit Jessmei’s contorted form and little else. I set the princess down carefully on the bed, but she didn’t release the death grip on my arms.

“Don’t leave me!” she almost screamed. Her voice sounded lost. She tried to pull me down on top of her but my swords got in the way. I pulled the sheathed weapons out of my belt lashing and set them on the floor next to the bed.

“Poor dear,” Greta sniffled in an attempt to fight back her own tears. “I’ll go get you some warm tea, milk, and soup. Just wait here. We’ll be back.” Our hosts disappeared, but I heard them whisper to each other.

“That girl is really upset. Do you think it was her parents that died?” Greta asked Rayat.

“Who knows? They both need rest and food. Her husband looks like a walking skeleton. I wonder how long they have been married.”

“Bring them this soup and some milk. I’ll brew the tea.” The woman’s voice developed an edge of caution. “Tira and Jiure will be back in a few hours?”

“Yes. The swords make me nervous. These are the first refugees we have seen since Nia was conquered.” His voice faded as he walked out the back door and closed it.

Jessmei was repeating my name like a song, low, keening. I touched her hair softly and kissed her forehead, but her eyes were far away and she did not respond. I had felt the pain she was experiencing now, and while I had cried the last of my tears for my brother and father, I knew how difficult it would be for Jessmei to recover from the loss of her family.

Rayat knocked on the door and entered with two steaming bowls of soup, a large pitcher of water, and a smaller container of milk. There was also a huge wedge of cheese on the plate that smelled better than the soup did.

“Tell us if you need more, son.” He nodded at me as he backed out and softly closed the door.

Jessmei suddenly stopped crying and pulled away from me. Her eyes looked wild and I met her gaze.

“You are all I have left, Kaiyer. Everyone else I’ve ever loved is dead.” Her hand came up to stroke my face cautiously. “You won’t leave me will you? I don’t want to be alone.” I smiled down at her and kissed her fingertips. Her eyes were red and soaked with tears.

“No. I won’t leave you. Also, we don’t know if they are dead. They might be alive.” I tried to comfort her. “Here, drink this.” I handed her a cup of milk but she pushed it away.

“How could there be any survivors? If my father is dead, then my mother, brother, uncle, Nadea, Greykin, Cerra, Yera, Siliah, Damina, and Levie are all dead.” Her eyes were glazed glass. I suddenly wondered if our abilities to recall memories were even useful. Sometimes they caused so much pain.

“We aren’t sure of anything Jessmei,” I whispered. “Can you try to drink this milk?”

“I don’t feel hungry. I wish I was dead with them.” She rolled over on the bed and looked away from me and the offered glass. I sighed and reached my hand out to stroke her back.

“Eat some food for me. Didn’t you just say that I was the only one you have left? You are the same for me, Jessmei. All of my friends are your family. If they are gone then you are the only person I have left as well.” She turned around and nodded. Tears were still coming down her face slowly, but she reached up her hands past the milk for the bowl of soup.

“What are we going to do Kaiyer?” she asked me. Deep in those eyes I saw a small flicker of hope. Again I would become a leader. Like I had so many times before to so many thousands of people.

I remembered all the faces of the men and women I had commanded. I recalled Paug’s shy grin, Nadea’s face when she scrunched her nose up in anger, Greykin’s bellicose voice, and I remembered Iarin’s faraway look of relaxation.

All of them, at one point or another, asked me what we should do. What action should be taken? How would I solve this problem? I always had the answer.

I looked into Jessmei’s teary eyes and leaned in to kiss her softly.

For once, I didn’t have an answer.

I didn’t know what to do.

Chapter 3-Nadea

It was so cold I couldn’t sleep. Or maybe I slept but my dreams only contained the same darkness, fear, and agonizing sadness that I felt when I was awake. Sometimes the pain seemed unbearable, but I had already cried until my eyes turned into dead riverbeds and my body shook with dehydration.

I did not know how long it had been since they had brought me water, nor how long I had been imprisoned. Time didn’t exist in absolute darkness.

I had never imagined I would spend the last days of my life in the dungeon.

The Loshers beat me half to death after they dragged me in here and chained my arms up to the ceiling. Then they left me dangling like a piece of meat waiting to be carved. I screamed and tried to kick them with my good leg. They had just laughed and punched me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and causing my vision to blur. My leg bled so profusely from the stab wound that it sounded like rain falling on stone. The Losher men ripped off part of my shirt and tied a rough bandage around it to prevent any more blood from dripping. They probably didn’t think I would live long enough to get an infection.

I thought about Paug’s body lying lifeless on the floor while his life drained out of him. The red of his blood seeped through my brain, mingled with the king’s and fed my insanity. He looked so surprised when Nanos stabbed him. I wished I could have comforted my young friend in his last seconds.

His blood filled the room.

The king’s blood filled the room.

Nanos smiled as the Losher soldiers dragged me away.

Greykin screamed as I ran from him.

I recalled the four men talking amongst themselves after they had ripped off part of my shirt. I remembered shouting for help but no one had come. One of my captors tried to kiss me and I had bitten his nose. He had hit me a few times in the face and then punched me so hard in the chest I felt a rib crack. It was funny that I didn’t feel pain in my face or ribs now.

Either the cut on my leg was very bad, or the fever was close to taking me.

I was at sea, adrift in darkness and waves. I sank deeper into the saltwater. It was cold at first, but then it became warmer, like the hugs my father would give me when we sat in his study and he told me of my mother.

A sound jolted me awake. My nose inhaled sharply and the scent of urine and fecal matter almost made me gag. I’d always had an amazing sense of smell, so it didn’t take me more than a couple deep breaths to realize that the rancid odor came from me. They hadn’t unchained me to let me relieve myself so I had no choice but to do it in my pants.

I’d also experienced my useless moon flow. The scent of my menstruation was impossible to separate from the other stains on my body and the shit that mixed with it in my undergarments. At least they wouldn’t want to rape me now.

Another sound emerged from the darkness. Metal on metal, and I saw a light slowly begin to glow from the hallway to the left. It cast a reddish glow on the rough stone walls and made my prison seem even more of a hell. I looked at my ripped shirt, stained leather pants, and a dried pool of blood that covered my boots and the hay beneath it. Something skittered away from the light on the right side of my field of vision but I didn’t have enough energy to turn my head. It was probably a rat that would consume my corpse after I died.

The light got agonizingly intense and I tried to close my eyes. It was so bright that my eyelids and lashes couldn’t shelter me from the piercing glare. The pain of my fever and leg became overshadowed by the agony that shot through my brain. It sounded like many sets of boots walked across the stone dungeon floor, but I didn’t possess the strength to dare the light. I moaned in pain but it came out in a dry rasp. Like a death rattle.

I heard the metal door of my cell open and it made a creak as it moved on un-oiled hinges. There were more boot steps and I guessed that people stood in front of me. The light was so bright through my eyelids that I couldn’t stand it. I tried to moan again and I got out half a gasp.

“Well. Here she is.” It was Nanos’s voice but it echoed in my head like he was yelling at me from across the castle hallways. I should have wanted to kill him, but all I wanted was to die.

“The instructions indicated that she should be alive.” The voice sounded warm and full, it reminded me of a baritone singer. I cracked my left eye open slightly and was rewarded by a searing jab of pain into my brain from the light.

“She is alive,” Nanos argued in defense.

“My empress wishes to question her,” the voice spoke again.

“She can,” Nanos said quickly. A pause stretched on for a few minutes. I heard feet shift on the floor of my cell.

“What of the human boy?” I decided that the voice was beautiful.

“Dead. Unfortunately, he attacked me and I had to defend myself.” Nanos sniffed in disgust.

Anger filled me and I opened my eyes against the pain. I pulled with all my strength and the chains that shackled my arms. The ceiling came down in a shower of stone and dust. Before anyone moved, I jumped forward and wrapped my hands around Nanos’s throat. He screamed in horror and then choked on bile and blood as my grip crushed the life from him.

At least, that was what I tried to do. In actuality I managed to crack both my eyes open a bit, moan a whisper, and shake my body like a wind chime that had been hit with a gentle breeze.

“The boy attacked you?” the voice asked. It looked like the Ancient general who had demanded that the king surrender. I had forgotten his name, if he had given it to the king those many weeks ago when they had made their exchange of demands from the wall around the castle.

“Yes. As did Nadea. They conspired to kill me.” Nanos frowned when he looked at me.

“My empress asked that you capture the human boy named Paug and the human woman named Nadea. You have failed to do this.” The Ancient had been studying me, but he glanced back to the prince. “My empress does not accept failure.”

There were two guards accompanying Nanos. One of them held the small candle that caused me the agony. Even in its dim light I saw my cousin’s face pale. His mouth hung open in shock.

“No. Wait. I did everything she asked of me.” His voice became frantic but the Ancient seemed uninterested in his concerns. “Paug is dead, but Nadea is still alive. She can answer all of the empress’s questions.”

“I do not believe that will be possible. This woman appears to be close to death. She is dehydrated. Her leg wound is festering, and she has an extreme fever. Humans are frail and weak. She will die today or tomorrow. This will not please my empress.” The Ancient sniffed and then made a small frown with his angular features.

Nanos turned to one of his guards.

“How much food and water have you given her?” his voice went up in pitch as he squealed in fear. I smiled and tasted blood in my mouth. I hoped that I died and the empress ripped Nanos apart for being such a backstabbing piece of shit traitorous bastard. The two guards exchanged nervous glances.

“I’ll get her some, sir,” the meeker one said before he quickly ran out of my prison.

“Can you speak, human?” the Ancient addressed me. His eyes had a strange silver hue to them and they almost seemed to glow softly with the candlelight. I tried to say yes but I only gurgled.

“This is disappointing.” The Ancient shook his head and crossed his arms. “She will be very upset with you, King of Nia.”

“What … what will she do to me?” Nanos’s voice quavered.

“I do not know, human. But I would recommend that you attempt to save this woman’s life. Then my empress might only remove your arm for the death of the boy.”

“Remove my arm?” Nanos gasped in horror.

“Yes. I have seen her do worse to our kind who failed her in less of an extreme manner than you. The empress made it very clear in my orders and to you in the treaty documents. The boy and this woman needed to live so that she could question them about the O’Baarni.”

“But I did what she asked of me! I didn’t fail her! I gave her the Kingdom of Nia!” The prince threw himself at the Ancient’s feet and gripped his pants. Tears began to streak down his face and I struggled to smile. I wished that I could be alive to witness him scream when he was punished.

“You are correct, you delivered Nia. However, one might argue she would have taken it in short time by force or your father might have given it to her peacefully. You made the recommendation for betrayal, and agreed to have the O’Baarni’s companions ready for questioning. Your proposition satisfied my empress but now she is out one third of the deal and looks to be out of another. I believe she would have chosen other alternatives had she known you would not fulfill your promises.” The Ancient sniffed the air again glared at me in disgust.

“She has shat herself and I cannot endure it any longer. I recommend that you make sure the woman lives and pray that the empress has mercy.” Without another word, the Ancient walked beyond the bars of my cell and toward the exit of the dungeon. Nanos looked as if he wanted to plead more with the man, but my blonde cousin thought better and instead turned to the guard that returned with food and water.

“Feed her and find a medic. I want her guarded and placed in the infirmary so that she recovers!” the prince screamed at the two guards. They snapped to attention and nodded. Nanos turned to look at me; he could probably see that my eyes were half-closed. He opened his mouth to say something, reconsidered, huffed, and walked two feet out of my cell. The asshole stopped suddenly and faced the guards again.

“Bring the medic here, bring water to wash the prisoner, and bring fresh clothes for her. She cannot be seen by anyone but you two and the doctor. Do not let them leave. I do not want anybody to know Nadea is alive.” His guards nodded again and Nanos stormed out of the cell with a dramatic swing of his cloak. The light from the candles made the bars to my cell cast rough shadows so that he looked like a caged monster as he stomped down the hallway and up the stairs out of the dungeon. The guards said nothing until we heard a distant door open and slam shut.

“I’ll get a medic, you take care of the water and clothes,” the one holding the candle said to the other as they moved toward the exit. During their short transition out they found a torch mounted to the wall. A warm glow soon bled across the dungeon hall and leaked through the bars of my cell.

The thick door slammed from the hallway up above me again and then I was alone.

It was foolish of me, but for what seemed like hours I hung there, desiring to die more than anything else. Wishing that my life would just end so I wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of loss, failure, and sickness. I also wanted revenge on Nanos and knew that my death would bring it. I closed my eyes and prayed to the Spirits that the darkness would last forever.

“Nadea,” I thought a voice called my name.

“Psst! Nadea.” I struggled to peel open my eyelids. The voice sounded like it came from my right, in the opposite direction of the exit. I tried to twist my head and see who spoke, but my strength failed.

Shadows danced in the hallway as a trio of dark figures moved quietly toward me.

“Nadea, can you hear me?” the figure in the front whispered. Coal darkened his face but I recognized his blue eyes in the dim light of the torch.

“Runir?” I coughed out blood.

“Shhh. Shit. Don’t talk.” He reached out to touch me and pulled back. He looked up at the chains anchored to the ceiling and manacled to my wrists. Then he examined the floor and my cell. He seemed indecisive. The dark figure to his right inspected the gash on my leg while my friend talked.

“We came to get you out of here. My father and I have a few hundred troops that managed to escape. We are camped out to the northeast in the High Forest.”

“This wound is very infected and must be cleaned. We can’t take her through the sewer like this,” the man examining my leg interrupted and Runir grimaced.

“Okay Nadea, we are going to clean this and then take you.” He reached out and touched my hair. It felt good to have affectionate human contact after what seemed like an eternity in the darkness. I saw the other warrior open up a small travel bag and search through the contents.

“Fuck. I don’t have the right medical equipment. We’ll need to come back. Curse the Spirits,” Runir’s friend growled.

“Wait,” I croaked out. My throat seemed to be made of sandpaper and my tongue was so swollen that I had trouble pronouncing words.

“Shhh. Don’t talk. We’ll return soon. Just hold on, please.” Runir whispered.

“Nanos,” I whispered. Each word left my vocal cords in a searing roar of agony.

“I know. He’s trapped here too. We will rescue him as well. You’ll be easier to break out since they are keeping you in the dungeons by the sewer. We’ll return in a few hours.”

“No.” I tried to speak but my voice had reached the limit of what I could do today. I wanted to scream that Nanos had betrayed us all, killed his father and Paug.

The door above opened suddenly and the three would-be rescuers disappeared, sliding slippery and smooth into the darkness of the dungeon like frogs into a deep lake.

“Where are you taking me?” a voice filled with fear asked.

“Shut up and walk. I’m not here to answer your questions.” It sounded like a dozen heavy sets of boots coming down the stairs. When the group passed the torch, the entire dungeon became engulfed in their flickering shadows. When they got into my cell they lit additional torches. I struggled to keep my eyes open but even when closed the firelight seemed to burn into my brain like a hundred suns.

“Duchess Nadea!” a mouse-like voice squealed in shock. I cracked my eyelids apart as much as I dared and saw a small man with glasses, a tiny mustache, and thinning hair. He wore the white attire of a medic and carried two leather bags overfilled with gauze, vials, and other medical supplies. “What is she doing here?” he turned to ask one of the guards.

“She is a traitor. But the PrinKing needs her alive for questioning so you are instructed to fix up her leg.” I saw four other men with the original two guards and the medic. The new guards were Losherians and each carried two steaming buckets of water.

“How is the duchess a traitor?” the mousey man asked.

“If you don’t shut up I will kill you here and find another medic,” the guard said easily.

“I need some more supplies. The water is good but also a stretcher, table, more light, and someone to bring me other tools from the infirmary.” He set down his bags, causing a rat the size of a small dog to scurry around the cell and dash through the bars away from us. The small man let out a shriek and almost jumped into the arms of the guard that had just threatened to kill him. It would have been comical in any other situation, but the Losher soldiers didn’t seem to possess a sense of humor, Nanos’s men worried about me dying, and it would have hurt too badly for me to laugh.

“Get to work asshole!” the prince’s guard berated the small man, pushing him away from him. The medic stumbled and slammed into me. I let out a grunt and my vision swam. The guards yelled, I felt like I had to vomit, and then everything went dark.

I awoke slowly, my mouth tasted like bile and my body was on fire. I was burnt everywhere but I couldn’t stop from shivering.

“It will be okay, Duchess,” the mousey man’s voice echoed. I realized I lay on a table. A thick sheet covered my naked body. I tried to raise my head, but my strength failed.

“I am stitching up your leg. It is infected, but I already cleaned it. I need to force water into you every half an hour. Sleep for now and I’ll wake you soon.” I knew it was the medic, but it sounded like he yelled at me from a quarter of a mile away.

“She is strong, but I might have to amputate if the infection doesn’t clear. I probably should do it to be on the safe side, but I want to give her two more days to see if she can recover.” The voice trailed away. It was foolish, but the thought of losing my leg was more horrifying than my life. I wanted to cry.

“Everything will be okay Naynay,” a voice consoled me from the darkness of my subconscious. It sounded like my father’s voice, but I knew that was impossible. He was dead, along with everyone else I ever loved. I would have no one to cry to, no one to love, and no one to miss me.

I was alone in the darkness of my sleep.

Chapter 4-The O’Baarni

“It’s been eight years,” I said to the old man when I walked into his tent. A tiny brazier burned in the middle of the small space, and its intense incense smell climbed up to my nose. The smoke smelled sharply of pine needles and ancient trees.

“And?” he said softly. He looked up from the leather bound book he was scrawling in and regarded me with a look that was part humor. The expression threw me off guard for a second and I wondered what I was going to say next. I was foolish. I should have prepared for this conversation.

“We have been training for too long without attacking a major tribe. We are strong now. I want to conquer one.” I spoke with confidence.

“We have attacked many of their caravan transports, sacked some of the smaller tribes, saved almost three thousand humans in the last eight years, and our ranks have swelled immensely, all because of your leadership,” he said as he bobbed his chin and took a deep breath of the smoky incense. His head had thin streaks of gray hair that fell down past his shoulders like spider webs.

“Yes. I was considering a larger prize, I think we are prepared to attack them directly.”

“Sounds like a good idea. Which tribe will you attack? What will be the intent? Are you going to kill them all, or only free their humans, or perhaps just take equipment from them?” He went back to his book and made careful marks in it. It seemed that he was going to be ignoring my response.

“I hadn’t planned that far, actually.” I felt my insides seethe. Fuck me. I would never make this mistake again. Entas was too smart and I should never come to him without working out the details. I was always thorough when I devised our other raids. Emotion had gotten a hold of me this time. Maybe I wasn’t ready.

“Do you know who would be best suited for this mission? Who will go? How are you going to bring everyone? If you leave one of your commanders behind, how will they respond?” He didn’t make eye contact with me as he spoke.

“I will prepare that for you immediately,” I replied as I began to plan which tribe we would attack and our goals.

“You aren’t preparing that for me, Kaiyer,” he said suddenly as he stopped writing and looked back to me. “The plan is for you and the O’Baarni. I have already done what I can for you. I taught you this magic, I instructed you in battle strategies, I explained to you what I understand of leadership. I lack the charisma, intelligence, and battle prowess you possess. You are the only person that can lead this army to victory.”

I nodded and was about to speak when he continued.

“Why did you come here to visit with me?”

“I wanted to ask you about the eight years,” I fumbled over my words.

“What about it?” His brows knit together. Entas never got angry, only a deep expression of concentration ever alerted me when he wasn’t pleased.

“I lost track of time. I hadn’t realized that much time passed since you found us.”

“Whose fault is that?”

“It is mine, obviously.” I let out a deep breath and saw him smile slightly.

“So why are you coming to me? Did you want to tell me how happy you are that the skills that took me hundreds of years to learn only took you eight?” His smile got bigger. He was always digging into my answers as if I knew something that I never told him.

“No. I was upset that we had not made a major move against the Elvens yet. I was angry at you, but that is foolish. If I am going to get agitated, I should blame myself for not keeping track of time and preparing.” I smirked. It was almost worse that he never got mad at me

I felt like even more of an idiot.

“So go plan, if you want my opinion of your efforts come back so I can see.” He looked back to his book and scribbled more. This was him dismissing me. I looked over his hunched form and wondered how old my teacher actually was. He often hinted that he had been alive for over two thousand years. Sometimes, when he coughed for what seemed like an hour and spit blood out of his mouth I believed his tale. Other times when he was excited about something, he almost appeared younger than all of us.

“Kaiyer,” he said as I turned my back to leave.

“Yes?” He had an unusual expression on his face.

“Do you ever feel as if we have had our conversations before?” He squinted at me and coughed a little.

“There are many lessons you’ve had to teach me over and over before they could penetrate my thick skull.” I laughed at him, but he looked worried. “Why?”

The old man sighed and turned back to his burning incense. Finally, he spoke again.

“I never taught you anything you didn’t already know. You were always the teacher.” His voice was sad.

He did this sometimes, speaking in riddles that never made sense to me. I used to lie awake at night and try to puzzle through his confusing references to our relationship. He’d given me the permission I thought I needed now, and I would act.

I left the old man’s tent without another word. As I made my way to my own dwelling, the cool night air cleared my mind and eased the anxiety his cryptic words caused.

“Kaiyer!” a voice called from a nearby campsite. I recognized Malek’s tenor, so I walked over to a group of his warriors that gathered around a small cooking fire. I remembered all of them by name and could recall the circumstances that brought each one into our group. Malek sat cross-legged near the flame. His gray-streaked hair was tied back in a ponytail; he was the only one I knew of who had experienced a change in his appearance after being changed.

“Hello my friend,” he said softly as I walked over to his fire.

“Malek,” I said to him in greeting. I turned to his group of five warriors, two women and three men, and nodded to them. “O’Baarni.” They nodded back and smiled nervously.

Malek was the third commander to be promoted under me after Thayer. We rescued him six years ago when our small troop of magically enhanced warriors sacked a caravan, delivering a slave trade between the Elven tribes of Balist and Turring. We only had a small group of warriors at the time and had managed to kill the fifty Elven soldiers who protected the merchandise. Malek had impressed me then. As soon as the attack started, he found himself a sword and butchered a few of the guards himself, an almost impossible task for a human.

“Did you eat yet?” he asked me.

“I had a small meal a few hours ago, but I could eat again,” I responded. His warriors quickly disappeared and within a few seconds gave me a large dish filled with lamb, asparagus, and fruit. I nodded to them and sat down on a small block of wood around the fire. Malek grabbed a plate from one of his lieutenants and moved from the ground to a seat next to me. The food was delicious and dripping with juices. I used to be concerned with the logistics behind feeding the soldiers, but in the past few years Shlara, Alexia, and Gorbanni took over those roles and delegated them down through their own ranks.

“Did you talk to Entas?” he asked around a mouthful of his meal. I noticed that we were now alone by the fire, the only company we had was the full face of the bright green moon. It hung above us so close that I felt as though I might be able to jump up and grab it.

“Yes. I will be planning an attack shortly.” He nodded, and we were silent for a few minutes as we ate.

“He isn’t doing very well,” Malek said with worry in his voice.

“He has been sick for a long time, but he’ll eventually outwit what ails him,” I said with a smile. Malek continued to look worried and he glanced up to the moon to avoid eye contact.

“I spend more time with him than you since he is helping me with my magic. He doesn’t show it around you, but the coughs have become worse. He has to use that incense all the time now or he feels intense pain. He doesn’t want anyone to worry, but I can see the agony he is trying to hide.”

I finished consuming my food and set the rounded piece of metal down on the ground out of the way. I didn’t know what Malek wanted me to say or do about Entas. The old man was dying, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. He had been dying for a long time.

“We will not be lost without him,” I said to reassure my graying friend.

“I know. I know. I feel like I will be lost for a while though. He seems to understand me better than anyone here, including you.” His eyes met mine and quickly glanced away.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing really Kaiyer.” He smiled grimly, his mouth a rictus of irony, his eyes sad. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have brought it up.” He hesitated

“Don’t pull that shit. You did bring it up, explain,” I demanded. Malek was often moody and overthought problems.

“Sometimes I want to talk about things that don’t have to do with killing Elvens, or training other people to kill Elvens, or the logistics of managing an army of people intent on killing Elvens.” He laughed suddenly. “Entas is good conversation during those times.” He looked at me over his now empty plate.

“You can speak to me about whatever is on your mind my friend,” I reassured him.

“Ha ha! I’ve tried that before, Kaiyer. Remember when I carved the wood block into the bear a few years ago, after we met Shlara?” I nodded. “You asked me what it was, I said: ‘A bear that I carved.’ You asked why and I said, ‘Because I wanted to.’ You said: ‘I want your troops to launch their Fire blots farther.’ Then you stared at me like I was an idiot.” He laughed again. “No my friend, I love you in many ways, but you have little appreciation for art or other creative outlets.”

“I respect art!” I said in my defense.

“You respect a finely made weapon or the random arrangement of Elven corpses after you kill them. But anything that doesn’t have to do with their annihilation is a waste of time in your mind.”

I frowned as I considered his words. It only took me a few seconds to realize that he was right.

“It will change after they are dead, Malek. I will devote myself to other things. I want to focus on what is important. Do you understand?”

“Yes. I look forward to that day, Kaiyer. What will we do with ourselves when there is no more war left?” He smiled wistfully and looked back up to the moon.

I shrugged and heard a throat clear half a dozen yards behind me. Malek and I both spun around to see Alexia in her dark leather armor walking toward us. Her short blonde hair shone orange as she got closer to the fire.

“Sorry to interrupt.” She looked at Malek and then back to me. Her eyes were a light bluish-white and they made her seem almost as alien as the Elvens. Alexia was pretty, not as beautiful as Shlara, but she had sharp bird-like features I found pleasant.

“No, no. Sit down,” Malek said to her as he gestured to another wood stump near the fire.

“I can’t, I need Kaiyer.” Her eyes stared intently into mine even though she addressed Malek. “My scouts reported a group of Elven riders leaving the Goulix tribe lands and traveling northward.”

“How many?” Malek and I said as one.

“Almost half a thousand.” Her lips curved as she looked to Malek. “I think that they are trading some of their human smiths.”

Malek and I both shot to our feet in excitement. Her face was a full smile now that she couldn’t hide. Goulix was known to have the finest weapons and armor within a three months’ travel. We had gathered enough information to suspect that most of it had been crafted by magically changed human slaves. They had been one of the tribes that I had desired to destroy, but their numbers were too great, their warriors too well-trained, and their equipment outclassed the goods we had pillaged.

“How can you be sure?” I asked her as we set off toward my tent. Malek signaled for his men to get Gorbanni, Shlara, and Thayer.

“I am not, but my scout reported several caravans full of ore, weapons, armor, and smithing tools.” My mouth watered, even if the human smiths weren’t part of the group, the ore and weapons would be worth taking.

I nodded and realized that Malek wasn’t with us anymore. I frowned in annoyance and then predicted that he would probably meet us at my tent shortly.

“Will you come to this attack? We haven’t worked together in a while,” Alexia asked as we neared my area of the camp and approached the large leather tent.

“We will talk about it inside my tent,” I said carefully. I hated committing to battle strategies without knowing the full details.

“Bah. Just say you will come. My warriors have almost forgotten how fearsome the legendary Kaiyer is in battle.” One of my guards opened the tent flap as we approached and asked if I needed any food or drink. I nodded to the offer of water and then took my place by the thrashed planning table that held our territory sketch. There was no one else in the tent but Alexia and I.

“Kaiyer,” she said gently, and I looked up from the map.

“Just say that you will come.” She smiled at me reassuringly. “I have done well with my soldiers. Reward us with your presence.” Her eyes showed no hint of weakness in them and I knew that I should give her this.

“Fine,” I said with a smile. “But only if it makes sense after we plan.” She nodded but didn’t hide her smile, it softened her face and bridged the gap between pretty and beautiful.

She almost never smiled.

The flap opened and Shlara entered.

“You need to tell me how you did that. I’ve been trying to get him to spend time with my team and he always wiggles out of it.”

“Persistence!” Alexia laughed and shook her short blonde hair back.

“I thought I was.” Shlara looked at me and pursed her lips in annoyance. I was saved from her next words by Gorbanni and Thayer’s voices outside the tent. The flap opened and the two muscled warriors joined us at the table. They were wearing various pieces of leather and chain armor that we pillaged from raids on caravans. Malek was thin enough to wear Elven armor, but Gorbanni, Thayer, and I were too large, so we had to make do with what we salvaged.

“Feed us the info, Alexia,” I said as we moved to the wooden table in the corner of my tent. It had a map of our territory etched on a piece of patchwork parchment. There were marks on it for each of the tribes within a two-week travel.

“Malek?” Gorbanni asked.

“He’ll get here when he gets here.” It wasn’t like him to miss strategy meetings, but he could make his own decisions.

“An assembly of Goulix are moving from their estate. They left this morning and appear to be heading northwest. I would bet they are going to the Hoittor Tribe. My scout said they are escorting ore and smith tools.”

Everyone got the implication and tried to hold back their excitement. We lacked anyone in the camp that made arms, and while we had some rudimentary forging equipment, every army needed a skilled smith.

“Could it be a trap?” Thayer asked.

“Possibly, but we’ve never attacked Goulix or Hoittor. We’ve just been focusing on the smaller tribes. If they knew our camp was here, they would crush us.” Alexia smiled while she made light coal marks on the map.

“How many?” Shlara asked.

“Five hundred or so. My scout made a rough deduction and came back quickly to report. It is a three-day ride back here. They work in trios, so the other two are still observing. I should get another update in four days. We will be able to guess their route better at that point.” My friends nodded and turned to the map on the table.

We had established a great working relationship when planning the moves of our army. It had been built on trust, accountability, and the understanding that we would make mistakes and learn from them. Within half an hour we solidified a plan for the possible routes that the Goulix caravan might take. I would be positioned with Alexia’s forces overlooking a small canyon that the convoy would pass through to reach the Hoittor estate. Thayer, Gorbanni, and Shlara would cover alternate passages in case we were mistaken about Goulix’s destination.

“We’ll adjust once we get the second report from Alexia’s scout,” I confirmed after we reached a conclusion. “I will update Malek.” I heard his familiar boot steps approaching.

“I am here.” His face was white and a frown of pain replaced the normal smile.

“What is wrong?” I asked.

“Entas has died.”

Chapter 5-Kaiyer

Entas’s passing wasn’t as devastating as the death of my brother and father, but the memory still felt like a hole in the chest. I didn’t have to carry the pain alone though. Malek, Shlara, Thayer, Alexia, and Gorbanni were surrogate children to the old man. We comforted each other and the troops. Our friendship and love got us through the hardship, and then we had focused on what had really mattered: killing our enemies.

But that ache lay in my distant memories. Perhaps I remembered him because of the loss Jessmei just experienced. Thoughts of her made my heart sink in pain. I wanted to be with her now, to comfort and help her get through this. But we had finally agreed that I should journey back to Nia alone. She was understandably clingy and scared, but I had assured her that I would return to her. Though she was scared, she was not selfish enough to insist I remain with her after the initial shock wore off. Princesses were accustomed to sacrificing their needs for those of their country and family. She had lived her whole life resigned to the fact that she would be married to someone she did not love, or even know, just to pad Nia’s coffers. Losing me when she needed familiarity and comfort came naturally to her and she bore our parting with grace. Her initial passionate and uninhibited displays of agony had subsided and she regressed to the composed, if less cheerful, girl she had been.

I untied myself from the large oak tree in which I slept and checked my surroundings. My lofty bed was about a six-hour jog to the north of the capital of Nia and a two-week run from the village of Merrium, where the princess hid. I had decided to leave the horses with Jessmei and our adopted family for a variety of reasons. I moved faster through the forests on foot, and therefore, avoided the main roads. I also felt that I owed Greta and Rayat for our time at their home. Jessmei agreed and figured that the gift of the steeds, plus my help around the ranch, was fair compensation for our stay.

I opened my pack, grabbed a handful of jerked beef, and slowly chewed on it. The tough, sinewy meat helped wake up my mouth so I could focus on my task. I had traveled at an easy-paced jog for the last two weeks, sleeping for six hours every night before journeying onward toward Nia. I caught a rabbit or two almost every day, so my travel rations hadn’t suffered. Even as I ate in silence, I heard several rodents scurry about the forest floor. I was the perfect hunter, and it would be almost trivial to catch and cook any of the game that roamed these forests.

But I did have somewhere to be, and the smoked breakfast helped remind me of the beautiful girl I had left back in the small village. She prepared these rations before I departed and had insisted that I use them. Thoughts of Jessmei made me smile and I almost regretted taking this journey. I could have been waking up in her soft, comforting arms instead of the cold tree branch.

After I finished the jerky, I climbed down the fifty feet to the needle-covered ground and took a deep breath of the brisk morning air. I did a quick stretch to work the kinks out of my muscles and get my joints lubricated. I didn’t do my usual warm-up routine since the sun would be up in half an hour and I wanted to be in the city before it hung too high.

Despite advice from Rayat, I had traveled west through the forest and hit the main road leading south into Nia. For a week of travel, I saw no one, and then I came upon refugees and the sorts who become parasites off of people in need. The latter were easy enough for me to deal with; common brigands and robbers I exterminated when they tried to harm me or when I witnessed them attempting to exploit or rape refugees.

Lost souls without prospects, the refugees had little information, save what I already knew: Nia had fallen, the royal family was dead, and there was no hope. Most of the refugees fled as the Losher army was arriving. So they hadn’t witnessed the outcome of the siege.

There was nothing I could do for these hungry people, as much as I wanted to. I saw in them the same desperate, wretched faces of the enslaved humans from my time. They were hollow with grief. They had seen great horror and loss. I shared rations and information when I could, but I did not allow them to slow me down. The success of my mission took precedence and would help all of us. I contemplated telling them about the small village in which Jessmei hid, but then decided against it. An influx of refugees would stretch the resources of the village and possibly put the princess in danger. As I traveled closer to the city, the groups of refugees became larger, more frequent, and told conflicting stories about what had happened at the capital of Nia. After my fourth attempt to figure out what actually transpired, I decided to avoid the refugees. I would find my answers when I was there myself.

Nia’s capital squatted on a grassy hill surrounded by about four square miles of shallow dales dotted with sporadic oak and juniper trees. The city and the spider-like castle that perched over it were so massive that the metropolis could be seen from even ten miles away. My eyes were as powerful as an eagle’s, so as soon as I left the forest of oaks and pines I easily identified the damage to the walls, and the different uniformed soldiers that stood atop the beaten battlements.

On the south side of the castle spider and her web city, the wide Stone River provided easy transportation for goods inland or to the ocean. I didn’t see boats moving on the water, but there was a massive array of tents, stables, and wooden supply structures which sustained the army of twenty thousand troops. They flew burgundy flags with various icons of horses and stars on the banners. I guessed they were the emblems of Losher’s forces.

I continued on the road south, past more refugees who eyed me and my swords suspiciously. Greta gifted me with a long, thick, hooded cloak before I left, and I took it out of my pack and wrapped it around my body to conceal the weapons. Before the road changed from dirt and rocks to smooth stone, I happened by a beaten tree branch that served as a walking stick, and my makeshift disguise was complete.

My stomach growled angrily and reminded me of lunch. I guessed there were a few more miles to go until I reached the city and I still hadn’t puzzled out getting past the army. There looked to be confusion around the entrance to the distant gate, so I gambled I would be able to walk in unnoticed if I exuded enough confidence. As I worked out the plan in my brain, I heard horse hooves far ahead of me. It drew my attention out of the future and toward a new possible threat.

Two dozen Losher riders rode down the path on leather-armored mounts. The road was still busy with refugees and no one seemed to be concerned in the throng, so I just bowed my head down and kept walking toward the city. The riders passed without appearing to notice me or the other refugees.

“Why didn’t they attack us?” I asked a beaten down group of men that walked past me.

“The king has surrendered the city to the Loshers. They have stopped their siege,” one of the men said.

“The king is alive?” I asked in surprise. This was a version of the tale I hadn’t yet heard. Jessmei would be extremely happy if it was true.

“Aye. He surrendered so he wouldn’t be killed.”

“Naw. The king is dead. The prince is the king now, and he surrendered,” his friend yelled at me like he was deaf and didn’t realize the volume of his own voice.

“I heard that the princess was joined to the Losher war chief. He took her in the king’s own bed with blood still on his armor. That’s why the Loshers stopped attacking,” another man said with confidence. I smiled and thanked them for the info.

As I neared the walls, I saw that the north gate was closed and appeared to be guarded by twenty Losher soldiers. The majority of the army camped next to the east entrance of the city, so I took a wide detour through the field that surrounded the walls.

As I approached, I noticed citizens entering and leaving the gate via the throng around the Losher camp. I didn’t know what the code of conduct was for situations where a human army has conquered another human army and now needs to live with them. All of my memories involved conquering Elven tribes and then massacring their men, women, and children. We had no need for friendly rapport or diplomacy.

The Losher people had dark black hair, wiry muscles, and rich bronze complexions. They would have reminded me of Vanlourn men, save the Vanlourns I had seen were of a darker skin color and shorter than these Losher men. The invaders paid me no mind as I walked through their camp toward the entrance to Nia. Cooking fires burned, music played, and small clusters of warriors engaged in gambling: either with dice, cards, or fist fights.

In front of the massive gate stood half a dozen soldiers of Nia. The guards seemed nervous but looked into the campsite, and the various Losher women that flitted about in leather riding pants, with interest. I ducked my head down and nodded slightly as I made my way through the raised portcullis into the body of the conquered city. The plan worked even better than I expected.

The main street was called the King’s Road, and it ran north and south. I entered Nia on the Queen’s Path, it would take me straight through the heart of the capital and into the back side of the castle, wrap around the inner courtyard behind the interior wall, and then continue west through the opposite entrance. When I dashed through the city evading my Elven pursuers during the night of Jessmei’s kidnapping, I had not spent much time examining the condition of the city, but I recalled it being well-kept. That night the streets were clean, the homes and buildings had been in good repair, and the flags of the country flew glamorously from every structure that stood over forty feet tall.

After three months and a siege, the capital seemed a different city. Stray canines and rats that were almost the size of the dogs patrolled the alleyways looking for something to consume. Half the dwellings had broken doors and windows left unrepaired. Pieces of furniture, clothes, and silverware littered the sidewalks, yards, and alleys, poured forth from open doorways, like drunkards that had vomited and then passed out in their own filth. Small kitchen gardens were faded dead brown, their spindly plants gone to seed from lack of water and attendance. The rancid scent of feces and death filled the air, the streets were slick with it. Great mounds of glinting green and black flies coated indistinguishable heaps as they consumed discarded bodies.

I grimaced in disappointment. The absence of hygiene in the city would lead to sickness if it wasn’t addressed. My army had really never needed to worry about illnesses. The Earth kept us healthy through most viral attacks, but we still made sure to build careful latrines, pull our cooking water from upstream, and eradicate vermin that might spread disease through our ranks. We didn’t want to use additional magical energy for consequences we could easily prevent.

Men scurried about the streets like scared insects. They paused in each alley to assess their surroundings before scurrying onward. The stink of their terror was almost worse than the smell of conquest that saturated the fallen capital. The majority of the citizens I encountered scampered toward the south end of the city, and while my ultimate destination was the castle, I figured I could take a detour to see where they were going.

As I continued south, I noticed the massive holes knocked out of the east side of the high walls. I didn’t know what kind of machine had caused the damage, but it looked similar to the hole I remembered Malek’s mages made in the dam when we used the water to drown the thousands of Elven troops we lured into the trap. One of the books Paug had showed me contained diagrams of massive siege engines utilized to take down fortress walls. The concepts intrigued me and we launched into a long discussion about what technologies had evolved because humans did not use magic.

I passed a small group of Losher soldiers that eyed me suspiciously but didn’t challenge me. I breathed a sigh of relief since I didn’t want to attract too much attention to myself before I determined what had happened in Nia and the fate of Jessmei’s family. It had been difficult to convince the blue-eyed princess that I needed to journey back here. We had argued for weeks before I figured out an angle that swayed her.

“I’ve lost everything except you. You cannot go,” she had cried in dismay when I told her that I wanted to return to Nia.

“We don’t know that for sure, Jessmei. Your family might be alive and they might need my help.”

“They aren’t alive. They’ve been killed. Murdered by the Losher barbarians. You want to put yourself in the middle of thousands of them? Absolutely not!” Tears rolled down her cheeks like rain drops down the spines of the dead pine needles that the coated ground. Her beautiful face was red and puffy from the week of constant sobbing.

“Jessmei,” I pulled her into my embrace as another fit of crying assaulted her. “If your place was reversed with your brother, and somehow I hid here with him and thought about going to rescue you, wouldn’t you want us to make a rescue attempt?”

“Fuck my brother. He’s an asshole!” Jessmei screeched into my shirt. I almost laughed because Nanos was an asshole. But I’d never heard the princess use such strong words.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say that about Nanos. We didn’t get along at all, but I know he loved me.” She pulled away from me wish a sniffle. “I should have told him that I loved him too. Now I can’t bring him back.”

“What about Nadea, your father, and your mother? Wouldn’t you want someone to investigate and attempt a rescue?” I questioned her. The whites of her eyes were etched red and pink with thousands of tiny lines and glassy with tears, the contrast with the red made the blue of her irises bright and brilliant.

“They are dead Kaiyer. I can feel it. You will die too if you go back to the castle. Just stay here with me. This is a nice village. We can live here for the rest of our lives. I will give you children and we can watch them grow. I don’t need to be a princess; I just need you.” Her mouth curved into the dimpled smile and her eyes lit up with adoration. She was gorgeous, and when she used her charm I found her hard to resist.

The sincerity of her words shot through me, and for a second I considered them. Maybe I didn’t need to kill Elvens or learn what happened in my past. Perhaps the memories would come, but if I decided to spend the rest of my life with Jessmei, it would not matter that I had been the driving force behind the annihilation of another race. I might be able to forgive myself for the crimes I committed to become imprisoned. I loved horses and the work around a ranch. The idea of sustaining a family with my own efforts did appeal to me. I was sure that I could come to love Jessmei.

Then I realized why it wouldn’t work. Jessmei would grow old and I never would. I would toss and turn at night worrying about the Elven presence waiting to enslave us once they grew in power. When I thought of what our children would look like, I imagined little Paug-like kids with blonde hair and blue eyes chasing me around and pleading for attention.

I missed my young friend too much to abandon his memory.

“What about Paug?” I whispered to her as my hands caressed her neck while we embraced. Her eyes met mine after I spoke and she began to cry again.

“I forgot,” she sobbed again and then threw herself back into my chest and cried for a few more minutes. “You have to go save them if you can. If they are alive. You have to come back.”

“I’m hard to kill Jessmei. I will come back with our friends,” I said, and then I had kissed her deeply to drive the point home. After we had agreed on my quest she still asked me to stay for a few days, she had wanted to prepare the jerky for my journey, but she also wanted to make love many more times. We had little privacy in the house we shared with Rayat’s family, but we discovered a tiny glade a mile and a half from the cottage. The spot was next to a small spring surrounded by alder, maple, and pine trees. We had enjoyed our private clearing as much as we savored each other’s bodies.

The sudden noise of a crowd pulled me from the reverie of remembering our last bout of love making. I had walked into the southern bazaar. A few hundred people stood in a roughly constructed line where Nia soldiers were distributing bread and vegetables. No one seemed to notice my presence or care that I observed them. Even the large group of Losher soldiers that passed up and down the crowd paid me little heed as I wandered around the bazaar clearing, trying to discern the logistics of the line and food distribution process. They must have figured that a lone man could not do any damage against an army that had successfully sacked a city.

I was looking forward to proving them wrong.

“Hey friend,” a voice called out from behind me. I turned to see a large man with a ripped shirt and gravy-stained pants addressing me from the doorway of a tavern.

“Yes?”

“You thirsty? Got us beer in here if you got money.” He smiled a toothy grin.

“I have some. A beer sounds good.” The various highwaymen and robbers I had slain on my way here all carried coin, and I might be able to gain more information about the state of the capital in a tavern. I walked toward the door and the man stepped aside to let me pass into the dark building. The inside stunk of bad body odor, blood, and vomit. The room was about sixty feet wide and deep, filled with twenty-one men hunched around dusty tables. They whispered to each other guardedly and sipped mugs of sour-smelling brew. Most of them wore hooded cloaks like mine that covered their faces and bodies. The conversations paused when I entered the dank den, but resumed once I took a seat at the bar.

The bartender asked for three brass coins that I handed to him. Then he gave me a small glass filled with lukewarm ale. I cautiously took a sip and was thankful that the drink tasted better than it smelled.

“Will you buy me a beer?” the man that invited me into the tavern asked as he took the stool next to me. I nodded and threw three more brass coins on the table.

“Thanks friend. Were you a soldier? Why are you still in the city?” He gulped a swig of his brew and then sighed in pleasure. His oily skin stank like rotten onions and his clothes reeked of shit.

“I was not a soldier. I’m searching for friends.” Another man sat at the stool next to me.

“Who you looking for? Maybe we can help,” the newcomer said from my right side. His heart beat fast and nervously.

“I don’t think you know them.” Something was wrong.

“Ahh, that’s too bad. Just trying to help. You wouldn’t be able to buy me a beer, would you?” the newcomer said. He didn’t smell as bad as the man to my left but he couldn’t seem to open his right eye all the way and a large piece of his ear was missing.

I threw three more brass coins on the table to get him a drink. One of my looted pouches held around ten King coins, which Paug had told me were the largest form of currency in the kingdom. I also had thirty-eight Nia coins and almost eighty of the small brass coins.

“Thank you. So what were you saying about your friends?” Ear asked again.

“You don’t know them.”

“Ahh. We know everyone. We’d love to help you out! Just keep buying beer for us!” Smelly said from my left. I smiled and nodded at him, wishing I understood why I was so uneasy around the two dirty men.

“I will have to get going.” I had only drunk a quarter of the ale but my instincts were never wrong.

“Wait! We really want to help you. Just tell us about your friends,” Smelly said as he dashed for the door to block my escape. He smiled a toothy grin and his heart began to beat as fast as Ear’s.

I spun around and blocked a dagger thrust from Ear aimed at my kidney. I didn’t expect his attack, so I mistakenly left his arm free after my parry. He ripped the blade away in surprise, cutting a shallow slice across my forearm.

Smelly launched a wild right haymaker at my face, but I easily ducked under it. The missed punch threw him off balance and I grabbed the heel of his left foot and took it with me when I stood upright. He let out a sharp shriek of pain when gravity slammed his back and shoulder into the dirt-covered wood floor of the tavern.

“I cut you bad bitch,” Ear said around a grin. He waved the dagger in the air at me with menace and licked his lips. I looked at the other patrons in the bar and they all stood up and moved away against the wall so they wouldn’t accidentally be injured.

In a single smooth movement, I drew the curved long sword I had taken from Jessmei’s Elven captors and sliced across the throat of Ear. Then I took a careful step back and drove the point through Smelly’s skull and into the floorboards beneath him.

Shit Brother! Don’t dull your blade like that. Thayer’s voice echoed in my memories.

Ear reached up to his cut neck with a horrified expression on his face. He gurgled out something unintelligible as I pulled my sword out of Smelly’s head and slammed it down into the air, stopping it suddenly so momentum carried all the gore off of the blade. Ear collapsed on the floor and thrashed for a few seconds in a pool of his own blood before he lay still.

I smiled at the remaining denizens of the bar. Most of them edged toward the back of the tavern where I guessed there was another exit. No one else drew a weapon. I didn’t want to assume that the rest of the men in here were part of the plan to kill me, but the itch of the healing cut on my arm reminded me of what happened when I let my guard down.

“I thought you were dead, Skinny.” The muffled voice was familiar.

In the far corner, a massive man rose from his seat. He wore a tattered cloak of a dark gray color, stained with what I hoped was mud. The cloak obscured most of his face; what little peeked through was wrapped in bandages. The crowd looked back to him and the combined beats of their hearts sounded like thunder.

“Greykin?” As I spoke, ten of the men in the room made a dash for the rear door. Three others slid around me carefully and went out the front.

“Aye, lad. I didn’t realize that you had walked in, or I could have stopped what just happened, my apologies. How are you still alive?” The Old Bear beckoned with his hand and I moved closer.

“I am confused. Why should I be dead?” I looked at the remaining group that stood nervously around the big man. These men wore swords and carried themselves in a manner that made me guess they were soldiers.

“Don’t worry about them. They are with me.” He coughed violently. The sound was wet and sick.

“What happened in the city? I haven’t been able to get a clear account from anyone. I just heard that the royal family is dead.” I sheathed my sword and sat down in the stool at his table. He groaned softly as he lowered his body to the seat.

“I’ll answer your questions, but then you will answer mine.” His voice wasn’t friendly and I suddenly wondered if putting away my blade was a good idea. I nodded in agreement and he continued. “The Losher Army is being commanded by a group of Ancients.” My blood chilled with his words. “They knocked down the walls and made demands that the king surrender. The king was reviewing the treaty document and scheduled a meeting to work through it with the Council. Somehow the Losher army got into the castle and attacked.” He gestured to a man at the bar and the warrior brought him a beer.

“I’ve spoken enough. Now you must explain some things. We thought you burned to ashes in the city, we found a body that Runir concluded was yours. But here you are, so he must have been mistaken. Where were you? If you would have been here I can’t help but figure that many of these tragedies would not have happened. You were a Knight of Nia and your job was to protect the kingdom. Yet when we needed you the most, you disappeared.” Greykin spat on the ground in disgust and I heard the heartbeats of the surrounding men begin to accelerate.

“I was ambushed by Ancients in the city. They planned to lure me out and I foolishly fell into their trap. I was lucky and survived. I believe that the burnt body was one of the Ancients I had set afire with magic.”

“So where were you during the invasion?” Greykin suddenly hollered and slammed his fist down on the table. One of Greykin’s men jumped, but the others took deep breaths to calm themselves. I guessed they were preparing to fight me at the big man’s command and the thought made them afraid.

“I am getting there. Relax, friend.” I smiled but the expression didn’t seem to please the axe man. “After I killed the last one, I saw a group of Ancients leaving the city. They had Jessmei with them. I didn’t think I would have time to go back and grab a horse, so I set off after them on foot.”

“You ran after Jessmei’s captors on foot? You are either an idiot, or you believe I am.” Greykin’s fist closed around his beer mug and the knuckles on his giant hand turned white. His voice bellowed like an angry moose.

“Yes. It was very difficult. But I caught up to them after three weeks and killed them as they attempted to cross the Styasi River. Jessmei is safe.”

The axe man’s grip loosened on the glass with a gasp. He reached up with his hands and pulled back his hood. The left side of his face was bandaged and a long red mark of blood ran the vertical length of the dirty wrap. His expression was skeptical.

“Jessmei is alive? She hasn’t been taken prisoner?” he whispered.

“She is safe. She told me you killed one of the Ancients that besieged her chambers. We heard news that the king and royal family are dead. We didn’t know that there was a siege. Now that I understand Ancients are involved I can see how the walls were breached so quickly.” Greykin stood from the table and his men came to attention.

“Where is she?” he demanded. I couldn’t tell if he was angry, but his heart thumped like a frantic war drum.

“Tell your men to leave,” I said calmly. He looked like he might object, but then he nodded to his guards and they dispersed upstairs or to the back of the tavern near the exit.

“There is a small village called Merrium about two weeks’ northeast of the city. She is staying with a family there,” I said softly after I was sure no one other than us could hear my words.

“I know of it, although I have never been there,” he whispered.

“She didn’t want me to leave, but we needed to know what really happened. Is her family dead?”

Greykin stepped around the table toward me and I shot to my feet. Before I could pull my sword, I realized he wasn’t attacking me and I relaxed. His bandaged face broke out into a massive smile and he wrapped me in a hug that almost squeezed the air from my lungs.

“She’s alive!” he shouted as he picked me up my off my feet and crushed me further. “I can’t tell you how happy I am Skinny! My little Jess is still alive!” The giant shook me like a rag doll and I felt his belly seizure as giant explosions of joyous laughter gushed out of him. I laughed with him until he set me down and composed himself.

“How is she?” The growl was gone from his voice.

“She is worried. We heard that her family is dead. Can you confirm?” I asked again.

“Aye, lad.” His face fell again before he continued. I saw the king’s dead body with my own eyes. Also,” he paused and looked at me again. “Paug is dead. His body lay next to the king’s. He held the king’s sword in his hand, and I believe he tried to defend his liege.”

Coldness gripped my stomach. I suspected that Paug, Nadea, Iarin, and Greykin had been killed, but the reality of my friend’s demise hit me harder than I would have realized. Paug had been my closest comrade and I almost felt that he was a younger brother to me. Images of his shy smile and the sound of his quirky laugh filled my head. The sadness turned to anger and my mouth tightened around my teeth. It was another death I could attribute to my enemies.

“Nadea and Iarin?” I asked.

“Iarin left the city before the Losher Horde arrived. At the time I thought of him as a coward, but now I realize he made the right decision.”

“And Nadea?” I prompted again. Greykin sighed and folded his hands on the table.

“I didn’t see her body with the king and Paug’s. The last people I saw them with were Nadea and the prince. The prince was captured and forced to sign the treaty. I have a few men secured in the castle, but they have been unable to locate her. I fear the worst.”

“But she might be alive?” I felt a little flutter of hope.

“She could be. But I doubt it, Skinny.” He frowned when he realized that his beer mug was empty. He made a gesture to one of the guards at the far side of the room and one moved to fetch him another glass of ale.

“But Nanos is alive? What of the queen?”

“As far as I know, he is alive. The treaty he signed with the empress is allowing him limited control over the kingdom, at least until she arrives and takes over the country. The queen is alive as well, but I have reports that she has locked herself in her room to mourn for her husband.”

“When will the empress arrive?” I took a deep breath. It was difficult to even say the word without shaking, my blood pressure rose and I felt my pulse pound in my head as I imagined the Elven woman arriving and taking control of the kingdom. The old familiar rage surged up through my body, searing and bitter.

“I doubt she can make the journey here in the winter. She is probably dug in deep in the Northland Fortress. My guess would be a few months into spring.” I nodded and my mind drifted to thoughts of Nadea.

I hoped that my friend was alive, but Greykin’s words made me assume the worst. Our last moments in the bathtub of my room danced into my memories like butterflies. It would have been wonderful to spend another two hours together before the alarm cried out. The wish made me angry at myself. The beautiful woman was probably dead and all I thought about was the missed opportunity I had to fuck her.

“We all believed you were dead. No one knew that you had gone after Jessmei,” Greykin said with sadness.

I leaned over the table and put my head in my hands. This world was so new to me, and the two people that were the largest part of it were now dead. The loss seemed unbearable, worse than my memories of losing my father and brother, the feeling stronger in its freshness.

“What are your plans?” I croaked out.

“I have a few men loyal to me. My plan is to infiltrate the castle during the night, grab Nanos and his mother, and then make a mad break to Brilla with them. They will get protection there. The castle is locked down tighter than a virgin’s daughter, but before the castle fell, Nadea researched ways in and out of the castle via the sewer.” I felt his hand grasp my shoulder. “Now that you are here, that will be much easier. We can rescue them, and then reunite with Jessmei. Then we’ll send out the word for the loyal soldiers to meet us in Brilla. With the rest of the royal family safe we will work toward taking back our kingdom!” Greykin’s voice grew more passionate toward the end of his plan.

“Have you determined the way in and out of the sewer?” I asked.

“Not exactly, but we are meeting tonight to puzzle it through. You’ll come?” He squeezed my arm and I looked up to him with a firm nod. Action fit my personality better than hopeless despair. If there was any chance we could save Jessmei’s brother and mother we should make an attempt.

Chapter 6-Nadea

“Find your father,” the voice drifted to me. I smiled at the sound of the words and walked to the window of my room, where the command came from. It overlooked the mountains that separated Losher from Nia. The distant tips of the Teeth were always covered in frost, even during the hottest of summers. It must have been winter, because a light snow fall sprinkled the oriel ledge, and the remote peaks looked saturated with white. Somehow I felt no cold, even as I stepped onto the dark gray stonework of the ledge and my bare feet clutched the edge.

It was forty feet down to the foot of the tower, but I had climbed the rough stone wall hundreds of times for fitness. This time, the trek seemed shorter. As soon as I grasped the ledge and sought the first familiar footholds, my feet touched the ground. I looked up and confirmed that the corbels of the oriel window hung far above me.

“Find your father,” the familiar voice whispered again. It was a woman’s timbre I recognized, but I couldn’t recall the face of the speaker.

I faced the dark gray stone of the tower where my room was housed. To my left was a path that led to the center gardens. To my right, a steep set of slate stairs would take me down to the wall of the keep. I decided to go toward the garden. Father sometimes walked amongst the trees there.

My bare feet left light smudges in the thin layer of snow and I noticed outlines of my steps on the stone path behind me. I wasn’t dressed in my normal pants. Instead I wore a delicate lavender dress that looked similar to the garments my mother exhibited in various paintings Father commissioned.

The garden lay only a hundred yards away from my room, but I seemed to walk through the grounds of the deserted keep for hours. The sun rose and fell half a dozen times while I lost my way or got distracted by a part of my home that diverged from pleasant memories.

Just as frustration began to worm into my chest, I rounded a gentle bend and came to the garden where I spent most of my childhood. The courtyard was the starting point of a natural brook and I heard it softly trickling against the rocks and stones on its path toward the south side of the citadel. During the spring and summer, the garden was home to birds, squirrels, and a score of different species of butterflies. My mother had planted thirty varieties of hardy fruit trees that were all in season; their rainbow-colored assortment of ripe ovals caught the snowflakes easily.

Several stone benches squatted along the path of the creek and I saw a dark figure sitting hunched upon one. The figure appeared to be staring intently into the swirling water at the foot of the bench. Though his form was concealed, I knew exactly who he was. I had studied his shape for what seemed like endless waking and sleeping hours.

“Kaiyer?” I walked across the wet snow toward him. At the sound of my voice he turned in his seat and gave me the carefree smile that made my stomach spin. “Why are you here?” My question put words to my confusion since I did not recall ever taking him to my home.

“Why are you here?” he repeated back to me with a shrug. He was still painfully thin, but his eyes seemed to glow a beautiful green. His body movement and the expression of his face made the spinning of my stomach increase in speed.

“I was born here. This is my home. Do you like it?”

“I wasn’t born here,” he said with another shrug. Before I could press him again to see if he liked the keep, he stood up and began to walk out of the garden.

“Wait, where are you going?” I asked, but he ignored me and walked down the path opposite the entrance. This one should have taken us to the barracks, but the pursuit of the strange man took me to the courtyard’s wall.

This was one of my favorite places. Below the gray stonework lay five hundred feet of cliffs, and the pass that wound through the mountains and into the bowl valley of Nia.

I used to sit here for hours and watch the world stretch out for hundreds of miles. The view was especially beautiful when the sun set and painted the green valley in fire. The grassy moors became a rolling sea of gold and the lines of the city softened and smudged like the drawing of a child.

But instead of the empty valley I expected, I saw thousands of armored figures. Their screams rose to my ears, the chaotic roar of a hungry animal. The alien army attempted to storm the keep but there were only two ways up: the south road, composed of a dozen switchbacks that ascended the cliff face past the main city, and the west wall’s hidden foot path. Both were easy to defend and I saw Nia soldiers bravely holding the lines against the avalanche of attackers.

Just as I leaned farther over the stone wall to get a better look, an arrow cut the air between Kaiyer and me. I gasped and felt the terror claw into my stomach. There were too many attackers. The fortifications would soon be overwhelmed.

“Who are they?” I stepped back to avoid another possible arrow. Kaiyer didn’t move from the ledge.

“The O’Baarni,” he said. His face pained and full of remorse.

“Aren’t you one of his generals? Stop him from attacking!” I begged him. The roar below grew louder as if a hungry animal coiled below us. I needed to get away from them. I felt as if their hate was intended for me alone.

“There is nothing I can do. They are here for me. They won’t stop until she has me.” The air seemed to be on fire now and ash mixed with the snow that landed on his cloak and hood. “They have broken through. Run Nadea. Save yourself.” He pointed below as he spoke and I carefully peeked over the edge to see darkly armored figures race up the switchbacks.

“We must hurry!” I screamed in fear and twisted to face him. He was gone in the split second that I turned my head away. “Kaiyer?” I looked for him, frantic that I had lost the strange man when danger lurked so close. The sound of an opening door creaked behind me and I spun to see the ends of his cloak disappear into the darkness of the nearest tower. I dashed after him and managed to catch the door before it closed.

“Kaiyer?” I was right behind the man, but now I couldn’t see him. The inside of the tower’s foyer was bare and dusty, with a circular stairwell that ran up being the only possible way he would have gone. Remembering the army outside, I pushed the door shut and lifted a heavy bar over the wooden portal before I began my sprint up the stairs.

Every ten steps, a well-placed arrow slit allowed gray light and tiny bits of snow into the stairwell. After I passed four of them, I pressed my body against the cold stone and risked a timorous peek out of the small slit. I expected to spot the army swarming the grounds of the keep, but instead I saw a gray, milky mist that swirled with the gentle snowfall. The opening was made thin to let arrows pass through, so I couldn’t lean my head out to examine further, but I didn’t hear the roar of the attacking warriors. Only the soft moan of the wind whipping down the stairs accompanied the frantic beat of my heart.

The light grew brighter as I continued to run up the stairwell. I could not judge how long I traveled, but it seemed as if my ascent would reach the sun. The light grew so bright I had to squint my eyes to protect them from a burning pain. I looked out the arrow slit again and gasped. I was so high that the window angled down on the tips of the Teeth Mountains. The peaks were like islands that were swimming in a milky cloud ocean. A giant white bird flew by my window and spun lazily in the air as it glided to meet its mate. They circled around each other a few times and let out cries like battle trumpets calling a charge. Then they soared away from me, toward the closest mountain.

“Find your father,” the woman’s voice called again. It sounded closer and I turned to continue up the stairs, but realized that I now stood in front of the familiar door to my father’s study. I knocked twice and then entered.

The room had the recognizable smell of fire, books, and sage oil. The office looked as it always did; to my right were his large desk and the enclave of book shelves loaded almost to capacity with well-used tomes. To my left was the sitting area with several comfortable green sofas, coffee tables, and lamp stands. A small fire in the hearth cast most of the light into the room, but the flame burned weak and created deep shadows in the corners.

My father sat in his favorite leather chair with his back to me. Paug sat at my father’s desk, scrawling in a massive book. Over his shoulder leaned a woman with long red hair that seemed more fire-like than the actual flame that burned in the hearth before my father. She whispered into Paug’s ear while he frantically tried to transcribe her words on the paper.

I forgot about my father and stepped toward the desk to examine what the boy was writing. Neither of them noticed my presence and I leaned down to see Paug scribing ancient text in the book.

“What are you writing?” I asked Paug. He continued to scrawl without looking up at me.

“Paug? What are you writing?” I demanded. He stopped his hand and looked up at me. I gasped in horror, his eyes had been removed and only bloody black holes remained.

“What she tells me to write,” he said enthusiastically. The combination of his eyeless gaze and boyish smile scared me more than the attacking army.

“Did you do this to Paug?” I yelled at the woman. He had gone back to writing and she ignored my question. I noticed that her ears were long and pointed. They pierced the lustrous fall of her bloody copper hair like the mountain peaks rose out of the clouds.

“Ancient. Answer me!” I demanded as I slammed the flat of my hand down on the desk. She stopped whispering and glared up to my face.

“Did you wake Kaiyer?” Her voice was beautiful and husky, a purring mountain cat. Her skin shone flawless like bleached linen and her eyes glowed silver and blue as they reflected the heat from the fireplace. They burned as they looked into my eyes and I felt them spin me as a riptide would.

“Yes,” I whispered. There was something I needed to tell her, but I couldn’t remember. The frustration chiseled at my brain like a woodpecker. Paug’s quill scratch on the parchment and the wood crackling in the fire were the only sounds for a few seconds.

“Then I have no more use for you, girl.” Her full red lips twisted into a cruel smile.

“What do I do now?” I begged her. She seemed to consider my question again before answering.

“Find your father. Ask him where to take Kaiyer,” she said coldly before she bent down to whisper in Paug’s ear again. It was her voice that I had been following through my dream.

I walked to my father and cried out in dismay when I touched him and felt the brittle naked spines of shoulder blades instead of warm skin and muscle. A skull faced the fire, dark sockets staring into the blaze, oddly reflecting the twisting flames as if the empty holes held large black eyes. The bones were old, bleached white as the Ancient woman’s skin. My father’s joining and insignia rings encircled the long bones of the skeleton’s fingers.

“Wait!” I called back to the woman. “My father is dead!” I heard sounds outside the study. The army had broken through the door at the base of the tower. Their screams raised in a horrific crescendo as they ascended the stairs. I looked around the room for an escape route, but there was no other way out save the door I had entered.

“Find your father!” the Ancient said angrily as she stood up from Paug’s side and glared at me.

“He is dead! They are all dead!” I felt tears flowing down my eyes.

“Then you should die as well!” the Ancient screamed as the door to the study smashed opened. Warriors ran into the room with swords drawn. Their armor was etched with images of death and predatory animals. Their helmets were in the shapes of horrific dragons, rams, snakes, bears, and wolves. The first one through the entrance swung his sword and cleaved Paug’s head from his shoulders. Blood sprayed over the books, desk, and the beautiful woman. The color stained her face and chest the same hue as her hair. She shrieked as another ran his blade through her breast in a savage movement.

I tried to run but hands grasped my arms and forced me to my knees. The room quickly filled with dozens of the warriors and I realized I wasn’t in my father’s study anymore. I lay in my cell deep beneath the Castle Nia.

“Are you okay Nadea?” a concerned whisper asked next to me in the darkness. Gentle hands kept me from falling out of my pallet. I recognized the voice as Gerald, the mousey medic who had been caring for me for the last two weeks.

“Water,” I croaked out. Before I finished the thought, a leather skin pressed to my lips and I drank until nausea replaced thirst.

“Nightmare?” a girl asked. It was his daughter Inada’s voice.

“Yes,” I lay down again. The sheets that covered me were soaked in nightmare sweat and I wanted to kick them off my body. Then I remembered I was naked underneath, and although I knew they had seen me unclothed before, I didn’t want to expose myself.

Boot steps echoed down the hall and I heard someone clear their throat at the entrance of my jail.

“Food,” a guard said as he set down a tray on the table at the other side of the cell. They didn’t bother to lock the small jail; the only way they thought we might escape was through the door up top. I recalled speaking to Runir in the darkness but guessed that was only a dream. I had experienced plenty of those as my body struggled to overcome the infection-induced fever.

Inada brought me a small plate of cheese, carrots, bread, and broth. I nibbled on the cheese and slowly sipped the soup. It was hard to drink and eat when I had to use my other hand to wrap the sheet around me, but I managed the effort.

“Looks like your appetite has increased!” Gerald said enthusiastically. He walked over and put his hand on my forehead. “Still slightly feverish though.”

“I feel much better. Thank you.” I took another careful bite of the meat and my stomach grumbled in surprise. “Also, thank you for not taking my leg.”

“Don’t thank me, Duchess. It was a risk that might have cost your life. The air by the Teeth must be exceptionally healthy. Most people wouldn’t have recovered from such a wound.” He frowned and turned back to his soup. The three of us ate in silence and it provided me a chance to piece together my dream.

The memories of it had already faded, but I remembered looking for Kaiyer and then my father. I recalled Paug’s mutilated face and the beautiful Ancient woman. It wasn’t the first time I had heard her voice and I doubted that it would be my last. She seemed insistent that I find my father. They were just dreams at any rate, not important to my life right now.

Even though a dream had led me to Kaiyer.

“What is wrong?” the girl asked me. I looked at her in surprise. “You look really mad. Father and I are happy that you are alive!” She smiled shyly. Inada was a cute girl, maybe eight or ten years younger than Jessmei. She had curly chestnut-colored hair and big brown eyes.

“Sorry, child. Thinking about something else that frustrated me.” I smiled down at her and tried to forget about Kaiyer. I had spent most of my life engrossed in the search for him and now that the man was gone I didn’t want to agonize about what could have been.

Gerald brought the tray up the hallway and around the corner once I finished the meal. I assumed the guards had a table and chairs there because I often heard dice, cards, and laughing. I needed to relieve myself, so I asked Inada to help me limp over to the wood toilet that Gerald asked the guards to bring down for me to use. It fit over the hole in the corner of the cell that led down to somewhere deep and dark in the bowels of the sewers under the city. Every other room in the castle had working plumbing, and even though the intricate pipes were only a few hundred yards away, no one had ever bothered to update the dungeon.

I returned to my bed by the time Gerald had made it back to the cell. The medic had become an amazing ally and spent a large portion of his time trying to negotiate more food, better linens, and whatever necessities we needed. He was a shy man, so I assumed that confronting the armed warriors made him nervous, but he did it anyway.

“Drink more water,” he handed me another skin, and although I thought I wasn’t thirsty I drained it all in two large swallows.

The door above us opened suddenly and I heard many boot steps. We had been left undisturbed by Nanos for the last few weeks, and now that I was conscious I hoped that it wouldn’t be him. I doubted I would be able to keep from trying to kill him. I pulled the sheet around my body and wondered if I should have asked Gerald to get me some clothes. I did not think that I could wear pants over the cut on my leg, but at least a tunic and skirt or dress would have kept me from feeling powerless.

The steps grew closer and I held back a gasp. It was the Ancient general who had observed me hanging like a piece of meat. He was escorted by another of his kin, two Losher soldiers, and two Nia guards. They walked toward my cell and the two Ancients stepped into the tight space. Gerald and Inada moved into the farthest corner from the Ancients. Gerald’s arm carefully tried to shield his daughter. Both of their eyes were open in awe.

The general sniffed the cell and looked around without much interest, licking his lips with a slim reptilian tongue. The other Ancient with him was a woman; her hair coiled down her shoulders in a braid of gold. She wore a bored expression until she noticed I looked at her, and then she glared at me with fierce intent.

“The king is correct. You seem to be on the path to recovery.” His eyes settled on me. They reminded me of the emotionless orbs of a lizard. I didn’t know if he expected a response. Gerald had set up many oil lamps here so there was more light in the dungeon than there had been the first time we had met. The lights shined off of their hair and eyes as if they were made of metal.

“The medic says I still have a fever,” I replied carefully. The Ancient stepped forward and reached down toward my leg, I tried to squirm away but forced myself to stop. If he wanted to see the cut on my leg he would, putting up a fight would probably just anger him. The cut was expertly bandaged and wrapped. He leaned down a foot or so from my leg and sniffed like an animal would have, then grunted in satisfaction and stood up straight.

“My empress will be pleased.” He nodded down to me and smiled. I felt a chill run down my body and clutched the sheet closer to my chest. “As will the king. I believe that he is worried about the length of his ruling term.” He laughed and the woman at his side snickered with him. Both of their voices formed a song as their mocking harmonized.

“Continue her treatment. The empress intends to be here within two weeks,” he said to Gerald. The medic turned a sickly state of green and then nodded in fear. Without another word, the Ancients and their entourage left my cell and then continued out the corridor to the exit of the jail. The door slammed once they had left the dungeon and a deep silence filled the inky darkness.

“I have to get out of here,” I whispered to Gerald after ten minutes had passed and I was sure that no guards stood within earshot.

“How? The only way out is out the door. Your wound is still precarious. Any aggravation will open it again and create another infection,” Gerald pleaded.

“We have to think of a way. I can’t be here when the empress arrives.” I didn’t want to speak to her; she would ask me questions that I would be afraid to answer. Also, if I was gone she might kill Nanos, which would be the kind of ironic revenge that would suit the traitor.

“I know of a way,” a voice whispered from the darkness of the dungeon opposite the door. The three of us gasped in surprise as shadows sunk out of the inky blackness the torch light had been unable to push back.

“Runir?” I asked to the dark forms.

“Aye, Nadea. Sorry we took so long to return. We had to move our forces. A scout from the Losher army found our campground. I am so relieved someone has already fixed your leg. I was afraid …” I could see the mixture of concern and relief on his coal-smeared face. He had two men and another woman with him. They all wore dark stained leathers and had their faces blackened. “Once we have gotten you out safely we can come back for Nanos and his mother.” I wanted to tell him about Nanos’s betrayal but I didn’t want to say anything in front of Gerald and Inada. They didn’t need to know about the real reason Nia had fallen. I would have plenty of time to explain things to Runir and his father when we escaped.

“There is a way out through the sewer?”

“There are hundreds. The sewer is almost as big as the castle itself and there are even legends of catacombs beneath this dungeon.” I nodded and felt my face split into a smile. Nia was three hundred years old, but had conquered this vast land from the country of Angron, which had wrestled it from the Kingdom of Awough. The castle had been updated and built upon hundreds of times, and no one quite knew what secrets lurked in its depths.

“I do not advise moving the duchess. Her leg cannot take the strain of walking,” Gerald said.

“I need clothes,” I said, ignoring Gerald. Even if my wound reopened and became infected again it would be better than waiting for the empress here.

“We thought of that,” Runir said as one of the soldiers with him produced a pack of dark fabric. I opened it to find black boots, silk socks, loose black pants, and a dark gray tunic. It looked like it would all fit me and there was a leather belt just in case it was too big.

“Help me put this on, Inada,” I asked while I scooted to the edge of my makeshift bed. The men turned their backs while the girl and the woman assisted me into my new attire. The pants were the most difficult to don, but they had ties on the sides of the legs that allowed me to wrap them around my cut instead of sliding them over the injury.

“I am ready,” I tried to get up and felt Runir’s arms circled my waist. I let out a gasp of pain as my leg reminded me that Gerald was definitely correct in his diagnosis. Another one of the men got on the other side of me and I wrapped my arms over both of their shoulders and pulled myself up on my legs. It had been more than a month since I had exercised, but I still had strength in my upper body.

“What about us?” Gerald squeaked.

“You must come with us,” I said through gritted teeth. I knew that Gerald’s wife, Inada’s mother, had died just a few years after the girl had been born. There was nothing left tying them to the city, and if Runir really did have an army, it would need another medic.

“Very well,” he sighed and packed up his medical tools with amazing efficiency.

“We must leave as soon as possible. Before the guards return,” Runir said, he pulled slightly on my waist and I limped a careful step toward the exit of the cell. Then I took another.

“Wait. I forgot something.” I tried to pull against Runir’s arms but I lacked the strength.

“What?” Runir whispered in annoyance.

“Walk me back to my cot.” He did and I reached into the pillow. My fingertips brushed across an iron key that the Losher guards hadn’t found secreted in a pant pocket. Gerald had taken it out of my pants when he had operated on my leg. The man asked what it was for but I declined to answer and he never spoke of it again.

“Let’s go,” I said as I slipped the key into a pocket of my new pants. Runir saw the movement but didn’t question me about it in front of the others.

The darkness of the sewer waited hand in hand with my freedom.

Chapter 7-The O’Baarni

“This is unexpected.” Shlara couldn’t hide the grin that appeared on her face after her guard announced me. I had never been inside of her tent. The interior was exactly as I would have guessed: impeccably maintained, with a simple bed, planning desk, collapsible shelf system that held clothes, half a dozen sitting pillows, and a rack for her war gear. Other than the pillows, it looked identical to mine. She liked to have her commanders meet nightly to review training and battle strategies. I preferred everyone to stand so that we didn’t waste too much time debating.

“I wanted to speak with you. Do you have a moment?” I felt the surge of nervous energy rise through my chest and I focused on calming my heartbeat and breathing so Shlara would not detect the change. I had gone over this in my head already dozens of times, anticipating what she would say, how she would react. I had planned for every possible outcome that I could imagine, but I wasn’t naïve enough to believe I had thought of every possible reaction she could have. This task felt more impossible than any of the recent battles. I was good at killing Elvens, but terrible with women.

“Yes! Of course!” It appeared that she had been stretching. It was summer and her skin glowed from the exertion and the four candles that burned in corners of her tent. The light played off of each angle of her taut muscles. The nipples of her breasts were a darker chocolate color than the rest of her tan body. “Let me put on some clothes. Are you hungry? I will have food prepared.”

“No, I am fine thank you.” I had seen her naked many times before when we bathed, but I was briefly mesmerized when she slipped a thin white night shirt over her shoulders. It came down to cover her hips and the tops of her thighs. The material immediately stuck to her slick skin and I understood why she hadn’t been wearing it while she stretched.

“Water? Wine?” She turned to look at me as she knotted her loose hair into a ponytail behind her head.

“Either would be fine.” She nodded and called out for refreshment to be brought.

“Join me on the pillows?” she walked over to the pile and placed three on top of each other so that she could sit high enough to cross her legs. The motion didn’t seem exaggerated, but I still noticed the entrance between her thighs. I really didn’t want to sit close to her, but I expected this outcome so I nodded and knelt down on one a few feet away.

Within a few seconds an attendant came in with a basket filled with two large flagons of wine, cheese, and various wild berries. She passed me a flagon and popped the cork off of hers with a slight movement of her thumb.

“We should toast to your amazing victory yesterday. It was quite a genius idea to flood them with the dam.” She raised her jug.

“The idea was everyone’s. I was just the facilitator.” I raised my flagon anyway.

The wine tasted good. As did the cheese and berries. I could engage my generals in conversation for hours if I just asked them about their team. I asked them about who was struggling, who was showing potential, who would be promoted next. It kept them talking and gave me valuable insight into how they were feeling and what they might need my help with by revealing what they valued and worried about in their teams. Shlara particularly enjoyed talking to me about her troops, she spoke quickly, as if she knew she had more to say than I had time to listen. Her hands flitted around as she spoke. Her long, capable fingers became her warriors as she gestured to indicate a particular maneuver that was hard for someone, or a new training technique she was particularly proud of.

By now they didn’t really need my thoughts or advice on their people. Especially not Shlara. If I died tomorrow, she would pick up the pieces of the O’Baarni and put them back together in something better than I created.

“So. You have never visited my tent. Does this mean we will be lovers tonight?” She stared at me with hungry eyes. I had lost track of the time during our conversation. We each finished our first flagon of wine and almost completed a second.

“No. Not tonight Shlara. I have something more important to speak with you about.”

“Ha!” she burst out laughing. “Only you would think there is something more important than us being lovers. I disagree.” Her cheeks flushed and I noticed her erect nipples push out against the thin silk material of her small gown. We could only get drunk if we ignored the Earth flowing through our bodies. I doubted she would do that, so I guessed that she was becoming aroused, not intoxicated.

Shlara was beautiful, with thick brown hair a few shades lighter than black. Her eyes were a light green, spring sunlight filtered through leaves, bright and perceptive, sharp and appraising as her mind. Her body was toned by countless hours of training and practice. She was strong, quick and deadly.

She was not soft, she was not pretty, she was fierce and powerful and confident. She was incredible.

The heat in her tent was stifling and small trails of perspiration ran down each tan curve of her skin. She was the best warrior in the entire army, the strongest, the quickest, and the most cunning. The only other warrior that might possibly beat her in combat would be me, but it had been a long time since we tested each other.

“I can see you drinking me in Kaiyer,” she purred from her spot a few feet from me. I had lain down on my stomach during our conversation and realized that my erection was hidden.

“More wine?” She raised her eyebrow and licked her purple-stained lips.

“No, that is fine.” She smirked and called out for two more flagons and water. Perhaps I should have objected but I didn’t.

“I won’t need anything else tonight. You may retire.” The girl nodded, blushed at me, and quickly left the tent. I realized that I had been holding my breath.

“Now that everyone is out of earshot …” her voice trailed off with the implication of her desires.

“I wanted to speak with you about Malek.” She practically fell backward off of her perch of pillows after the words left my lips.

“Malek? Why do you want to talk about him?” she demanded in surprise.

“He spoke with me about you—”

“Stop right there,” she commanded. “Let me guess what he said: he loves me and wants you to talk to me about fucking him.” Her eyes had narrowed dangerously at me.

“Not exactly. He does love you—”

“Yes, yes, I have heard it all before. So why are you here?” She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward on her makeshift seat, giving me a perfect view of her body and its secrets. I tried not to be distracted.

“You should give him a chance.” I grabbed the third flagon of wine she had placed near me and took a long swig to occupy myself.

“He put you up to this didn’t he?”

“It isn’t like that Shlara. He cares for you and I know that you two will find happiness together.” I looked into her eyes and smiled.

“You are such a fucking hypocrite, Kaiyer,” she spat the words at me. Her anger caught me off guard.

“I don’t understand.”

“No. Of course you don’t. If you did, we would be making love to each other right now and not be having this pointless conversation.” She sighed and took a swig of her flagon. “If that is all you wanted to speak to me about, then you should leave.” She nodded toward the closed flap of her tent.

“I don’t understand, Shlara.” My mind spun. I had anticipated that this conversation might be difficult, but I had not expected her to so quickly shut down the discussion. I was reminded of when I had first been changed and forced to fight Thayer. He beat me so quickly and effectively that I did not even comprehend what I had done wrong or how I could improve. I had not felt that way in a long time.

“I’ve spent the last ten years telling you how I feel. I’ve done everything you have asked me to do, I am your best general, and I am practically your right hand,” her words slurred together from the alcohol. We had drunk enough to poison a horse, and she must have prevented the Earth from healing her blood. “When I want to be your lover, it cannot happen because sex means so much to you. Yet when Malek wants me, you come to tell me I should just fuck him so that I will be happy. Why are you so different than Malek? Are you not allowed to have happiness?”

“I do not mean it that way-”

“Then what do you mean? I am the one that doesn’t understand you,” she interrupted me.

“It is because I am the leader of the O’Baarni. I don’t want the other generals to think I am giving you special treatment.” I had said these words so many times that they were easy to repeat, even drunk.

“Fuck you, Kaiyer. Do you really believe that will make a difference? Don’t you realize that you already give me special treatment?”

“What do you mean?”

“You already give me the best assignments and the first choice of the new recruits. You already let me direct most of the operations here. You could put Alexia and Gorbanni under my command and you wouldn’t even see a difference in their performance.” She sat back and crossed her legs again.

“Gorbanni and Alexia might disagree, but you are right about the other points. But you get those responsibilities because you are the best, not because I am giving you special treatment. If there is a recruit that you feel would be better working with someone else, you assign them correctly. I respect your judgment and I trust you to run the parts of the army you currently manage.”

“So what difference does it make if we are lovers? It means nothing more than happiness, just like you said Malek and I should have together. I want a reason besides rank.” She glared at me again. She looked beautiful even when she was angry, possibly even more so. I knew this would be the next logical argument she would take, and had already planned my response.

“Because it has the potential to cost me two friendships,” I sighed.

“Whose?”

“Yours and Malek’s.”

“I am sick of this discussion. Malek thinks I am an object for you to give to him. If you agree, then you are a bigger fool than he is.” She crossed her arms and concealed her breasts.

“You are not an object, Shlara,” I tried to apologize.

“You say that, yet you and Malek are discussing and dictating what I should do as if my opinion does not matter. Malek asked you to speak to me. And you agreed. Neither of you considered that I am a person capable of making my own choice. I am not just looking for someone to fuck. If you don’t want me, I don’t just want the next man in line who does. I don’t want Malek. I want you. But that does not mean that I belong to you. I am not yours to give to Malek.” Shlara took another swig from her wine. “Good night, Kaiyer,” she said without emotion. I was surprised by her dismissal of me and I searched her green eyes for confirmation.

“Sorry,” I apologized quickly. “Thank you for your time tonight.” I pushed off with my hands and launched myself to my feet. My head swam for a spit second and I took a small step back to balance myself. I walked to the exit flap and looked over my shoulder. She stared at me intently but didn’t say another word. Her face had about as much emotion on it as it did when she read a battle strategy map.

A few of Shlara’s warriors nodded as I left the perimeter of her tent and walked back to my own spot in the camp. The air blew cooler outside than it had been in her dwelling, or perhaps the effects of the wine and her half-naked body raised the perceived heat. I needed some release and a brief sprint to circumnavigate the camp would help take the edge off of my hunger. I cut a line to the outskirts of the camp and ran around the soft fires and sharp conversations that took place around them.

A few other warriors jogged on the dirt trail we had worn around the site. I was in no mood to converse with anyone else or have a training partner, so I passed them all with ease. My footfalls landed hesitantly at first as the gallons of wine tried to disrupt my balance and thoughts. After the second mile, my head cleared and my pace became easier.

It was difficult to figure out where I went wrong with Shlara. I wasn’t used to failure and our relationship always struggled when I tried to convince her that we should keep our union professional. She couldn’t seem to see the situation from my point of view and I had run out of ways to say the same thing to her.

I stopped running for a second as a realization struck me. I was so opposed to us being lovers that I had never clarified why she wanted to be my lover. She always positioned it as something that would benefit me, but I wondered if there was more at stake in her argument. Ten years was a long time to carry an interest in someone that did not return the affection. She could easily have her choice of any of the men or women in the army.

Did she love me?

I realized that Iolarathe had not entered my mind once while I had been in the tent with Shlara. Maybe Shlara was right and I needed the release and comfort that she could provide. Would I stop dreaming about Iolarathe if Shlara slept in my bed every night?

But what of Malek? Of course he would be too proud to admit it hurt him, but it would. He had admitted to both of us that he loved Shlara. How could he stand knowing she chose me and not resent me, not hate her? It would change the dynamic between the three of us. Aside from the obvious issue of favoritism as I had already discussed with Shlara, I would lose the bond I had with Malek. How could the two of them, or the three of us, ever work effectively together?

I began to run again. A small river ran on the outskirts of the camp and I wanted to rinse the sweat from my body before I returned to my tent to stretch. The path here was rockier, but the light from the green moon was enough for my enhanced vision to guide me. The moon shone half full and the edges of it bent slightly as the atmosphere of the planet twisted the light that it bounced off the sun. Entas had told me that each star in the sky was another sun that had other worlds that spun around like dancers; many of these other worlds had their own moons. I once asked him how he knew so much and he laughed at me for a solid minute and then told me I should only worry about the sacrifices I would make.

I had never pressed him again.

Half a dozen men and women bathed in the river, but they paid me no heed. I waded into its icy grasp and then submerged myself until I couldn’t differentiate the beating of my heart from the pulse of the Earth and the Water around me. My extremities numbed and my toes tingled as the water slowed my blood. I came up for air and repeated the process until my mind became as relaxed as my body.

The night air was still warm and I didn’t bother to dry off before I walked back to my tent. It was a few hours after dinner and the camp life died down to spats of soft whispers instead of the roar of a celebration. I only encountered a few sentries and couples whispering to each other as they strolled along the paths between the cooking fires. Our last battle had been such a pivotal victory that we gave everyone but Thayer’s warriors a break. They were doing a cleanup and pillage of the Elven remnants.

I nodded to my attendants as I approached my tent.

“You have a guest, sir,” one of them said. “Would you like some food or drink?”

“Water, bread, and cheese would be excellent,” I said. I was sure Malek waited inside and I knew that this conversation would be quick. He would be disappointed with the news, but maybe the eventual outcome would be what he wanted. Shlara had dismissed me easily. Perhaps she would stop pursuing me?

“Where did you go?” Shlara whispered when I pulled open the flap of the tent.

“I went for a run to clear my head.” I tried to hide my surprise. She lay in my bed with a thin sheet covering her naked body. I assumed she was naked because of the pile of clothes neatly stacked on the chest at the foot of the raised mattress.

“Looks like you also swam in the river. We should get you out of that wet uniform and someplace more comfortable,” her voice muttered in sultry overtones while she bit her bottom lip. I was about to respond when a voice called my name from outside the tent. I held my hand up to Shlara in our sign language to wait and then walked to the flap. It was my attendant with a large tray of water, bread, fruit, and cheese. I thanked him quickly and carried the meal inside my dwelling.

“Remove your clothing, bring over the food, and get in bed with me,” Shlara demanded impatiently.

I almost started to undress at her command but stopped myself.

“I thought you weren’t interested anymore. You dismissed me rather easily.”

“We should not speak about anything that doesn’t involve our lovemaking.” Her face narrowed.

“Shlara …” I began.

“Stop. I’ll give you what you want if you give me what I want,” she pleaded with me. She sat up slowly and kept her hand across her chest to keep the sheet from falling off of her breasts. I was surprised that she acted so modest but I realized that the act of keeping them hidden from me at this moment made me desire to see them more. She must have realized the same thing.

“What do you mean?” My head spun and I could feel myself become more aroused at the thought of her beautiful body in my bed, her legs wrapped around my hips, her mouth moaning my name, and her wet entrance accepting me. Fuck, I didn’t understand women. Hadn’t she just kicked me out of her tent?

“You want me to pursue other lovers, I desire you. Let’s be together tonight. One night of passion and lust. Tomorrow morning, if you still want me to find someone else, I will.” She smiled lightly, as if to prove her nonchalance about the implications of us being together, then beckoned with her finger toward the bed.

I realized I held my breath and I slowly let it out as I tried to control the thoughts battling in my mind. Shlara was my best general and even though she said this wouldn’t damage our relationship, I couldn’t shake the apprehension. My body certainly disagreed with my brain. Shlara had to see my erection trying to rip free from the crotch of my wet pants as I stood before her.

“You are always so methodical and cautious,” she said it like she read my mind. “But there is no risk here. You’ve told me before that you don’t have any lovers?” I nodded but recalled Iolarathe demanding that she would be my only lover. That was a lifetime ago; before she killed my brother and father. I needed to stop thinking of her. I needed to forget the past and focus on eradicating the Elvens. Shlara was my best weapon in that effort.

If she needed this from me I should give it to her.

I walked toward the bed and set the tray at the foot. My tunic was wrapped around my body and secured by a light cloth belt that went across my waist. I undid the tie and shrugged it off before dropping it next to the tray. Her heart beat rapidly from the other side of the bed and her green eyes burned brighter than the oil lamps in my tent while she studied my bare chest.

I don’t know how long we gazed at each other; it felt like we hung balanced on the precipice that would alter our relationship forever. Neither of us wanted to speak for fear that we would both slide either down the cliff or away from it. Then I realized that we had been approaching this confrontation for a long time. Warmth spread across my body. I was blushing and the thought of it made my face burn more. She smiled back eagerly and took a deep breath when I stepped toward her.

My right hand reached out and ran through her dark brown hair. It felt cool and smooth when compared to the hot air inside of my tent. Our eyes remained locked and her mouth opened slightly and let out a soft moan at my touch. Her left hand reached up to touch mine as it stroked her hair and her right reached across the bed to my stomach. I gasped when her fingertips brushed against my abdominal muscles and trailed down toward the bindings to my pants.

“Kaiyer!” a yell sounded in the distance outside my tent. I had been so focused on listening to the sounds of Shlara’s heart and body that the shout came across like a cymbal crash next to my skull. Both of us gritted our teeth and looked toward the exit.

“Kaiyer!” The frantic voice was Thayer’s and the sounds of his footsteps approaching my tent broke the trance I shared with Shlara. I glanced back to the woman and saw outrage replace the look of lust on her face.

“What is wrong?” I demanded after I sprinted out of my tent. I tried not to sound mad but I probably did a poor job of it.

“You aren’t going to believe what we found,” Thayer said. He was covered in sweat. The bald man was escorted by four of his commanders and they looked exhausted.

“Did you finish your assignment?” I asked through a clenched jaw.

“Of course!” his face broke into his massive grin. “Come quick! You need to see this, Brother.”

“What is it?” I asked

“I don’t know what the fuck it is. A piece of Elven Magic and I’ve never seen anything like it.” He was practically bouncing from foot to foot like a child when they want to show their parent something they have found.

“You didn’t bring it?”

“Hell no! I don’t want to touch the thing. We found it in their camp. It’s about fourteen miles from here, should take us a little over an hour to if we run.” He was already taking steps toward the direction of the Elven campsite.

“Let’s take horses. I’ll come.” Shlara seemed to materialize out of the darkness beside me.

“Good idea, Sister.” Thayer smacked his head. “Can we go? We must hurry.” I called to my attendants and they brought my horse and spares for Shlara, Thayer, and his men. We mounted up and launched the steeds into a neck breaking gallop. Without armor on we could run as fast as horses, but it made little sense to spend our own energy.

Shlara’s hair seemed to fade into the darkness of the evening air while we rode. She looked at me with an eyebrow raised and then mouthed the question on both our minds. I nodded and turned my attention to Thayer’s back as he led us away from our night of passion.

Chapter 8-Kaiyer

The sounds of boots on the wood floor of the hallway outside drew me out of the memory. I reached across the bed to pull Jessmei’s body to me and startled when I didn’t feel her. My chest hurt for a second and I realized that I missed her tremendously. It wasn’t just the touch of her skin or our lovemaking. I longed for Jess’s smile, giggles, and the happiness that seemed to radiate out of her like heat from a fire. Thoughts of her reminded me of Nadea and Paug. I would see Jessmei again soon and I could take her into my arms. Paug and Nadea were gone from me forever, as were Malek, Thayer, Alexia, and Gorbanni.

Gone like Shlara.

I sighed again and forced the self-pity out of my consciousness. There was nothing I could do today to bring Paug and Nadea back, or resurrect the friends who had imprisoned me. The only solace I had now was action.

Action and revenge.

The heavy footsteps stopped pacing outside of my door and I imagined Greykin’s knock before he did.

“Enter,” I said loud enough to pass through the door.

“Are you ready?” he wheezed after the door opened a crack.

“I’ll be ready in ten minutes.” He nodded and closed the door. I listened to his boots walk away from the door and toward the stairs leading down to the main room of the tavern his men filled. He broke out into a tortured cough before he reached the end of the hallway. The whole building groaned and shifted as the big man leaned against the wall for support.

I completed a few warm-up exercises and donned my clothes before I exited the small room they gave me. I guessed the time to be a few hours before midnight, so I made an effort to creep down the stairs silently. My efforts proved fruitful, and I slipped unnoticed into the assembled group of soldiers as they whispered instructions over a rough map of the city.

“Our best entrance option is through one of the drains that lead into the river.” The warrior that spoke stood next to Greykin and instructed the other nine. “There are a hundred entrances into the sewer. This one in particular,” he pointed to a spot on the map, “I used to play in when I was a street kid and I know it well. Over the last few weeks I have spent more time exploring it and I am confident it can get us into the underground network of catacombs beneath the castle.”

“Good job, Danor.” Greykin nodded and the other men quickly mirrored the Old Bear’s movement of approval. Danor reminded me of Runir. He was tall, muscular, and handsome; but while Runir was clean-shaven and blonde, Danor wore a brown mustache and shaved the top of his head.

“What about things that live beneath the castle?” one of the soldiers asked. The room was lit by three small candles stuck into the table next to the map. Their tiny flames cast shadows of uncertainty and doubt across the faces of the gathered men after the words were spoken.

“What are you crying about?” Greykin demanded. “We are the king’s finest and we show no fear toward any other man or beast.”

“Yes sir.” The soldier stood up straighter and tried to hide his uneasiness. “I’ve just heard stories of creatures living in the sewers.”

“I didn’t notice anything while I was down there and I doubt we will see anything tonight. Keep your torches lit and your wits about you,” Danor said with enough confidence to convince the other warriors.

“We’ll have Kaiyer with us as well. He is a capable warrior.” Greykin nodded at the map. A massive roach walked across the rough drawing of the city and the Old Bear crushed it underneath his thumb.

“Can we trust him, sir?” One of the soldiers who stood next to me whispered so quietly that everyone leaned toward the center of the group.

“He was about to be knighted by the king. I would trust him with my life.” Greykin spoke angrily as he wiped the roach off on his shirt and glared at the man who questioned my worth. Then he noticed me standing behind the warriors and his eyes softened.

“Are you ready Kaiyer?” he said as the rest of the men spun around in surprise.

“Sure.” I shrugged and rested my right arm on top of the swords at my belt. Their handles dug into my skin, sharp and reassuring.

“You’re carrying extra torches, water, and some medical supplies.” He nodded over to a lone backpack resting against the far wall. I donned it and followed the other darkly clad men as they slipped out of the front door into the streets of Nia’s capital.

“You’ll need this as well,” the Old Bear said as he passed me a thick dark scarf. It smelled like flowers and sword oil. Before I could ask him or the other soldiers what the cloth was for they ducked out the door. I put the fragrant handkerchief in my pocket and followed.

This night was colder than the last few weeks had been. An angry wind from the north helped hide the stench of the dying city and disguised the sound of our passing. We didn’t spy any Losher guards patrolling, but we still crept through the back alleyways to avoid any possible problems. The journey took a half of an hour and the only incident we had was when the group stopped to let a pack of roaming street dogs pass. These animals eyed us hungrily but fled to find easier prey after Greykin snarled at them.

The grate was a semi-circle about four feet in diameter. Danor lifted it up and motioned for someone to head down into the darkness. There was a slight hesitation as the other men glanced into the abyss. My eyes easily pierced into the black depths and I saw the smooth, worn stone of a floor thirty feet below us. I grabbed on to the edge and flipped into the opening, ignoring the rust-covered iron ladder that the other soldiers would have to use.

“Make a light,” Danor whispered down a second before I pulled the Earth and Air through my body. A small stream of flame shot out of my palm and I aimed it toward the tip of an oiled torch I took from my pack.

With the aid of the fire I could see that I stood upon a narrow, elevated path above a canal. There was another pathway across the sewer with periodic metal bridges that extended between each raised stone shoulder in case anyone should desire to cross. The channel only had a trickle of water in it. The foul smelling fluid oozed in the direction that would take it away from the city, toward the river. I looked up and noticed that the ceiling formed a smooth half-circle shape like the domed cavern where Nadea and Paug first woke me.

“It doesn’t smell as bad after a rain, but rain makes it much more dangerous. The water runs deep and quick,” Danor remarked to the other soldiers once they descended the ladder to stand next to me. They winced at the stench and tried not to show the fear that their quickly beating hearts betrayed. These were brave men when confronted by battle, but the deep darkness under the earth could be more terrifying.

“Lead on,” Greykin commanded. Danor nodded and adjusted a scarf around his neck so it covered his mouth and nose. The other warriors pulled up their scarves and I remembered the kerchief the Old Bear gave me. The scent of oil and flowers was much better than that of shit, death, and sulfur.

We paused briefly to let another one of Greykin’s men light a torch off of mine and then Danor led us up the path toward the castle. The torches did little to relieve the oppression of the darkness. The air was thick, rank and stale, and it felt as if the pressure of the earth and the castle above us was pressing down on my back and shoulders as we walked. Even my eyes had a hard time making out the shapes in the deepness of the dark, and I imagined the uncertainty and fear was great for my human companions who could see little outside of the faint circles of light from our bobbing torches.

Our guide carried a piece of chalk and he marked the wall every twenty feet so that we would be able to find our way back. For the next half an hour, there was no conversation, just the sound of our footfalls, the scraping of the occasional chalk marking, and the wet, slurping slime of the sewage.

Danor veered to the right and into a narrow hallway that angled up away from the foul stench. After a few steps, we stopped and he began to speak softly. I brought up the rear, but my heightened sense of hearing allowed me to catch the mustached man explaining that we had to journey down another level of the sewer before making our way underneath the castle. Or so he believed.

Was the big man’s plan foolish?

I had agreed to help under the assumption that Greykin had a solid plan and knew the sewer system well, that these sewers were just an easy series of tunnels leading to the castle. Now it appeared they were more like a complicated maze of passages, pipes, canals, and ladders. It seemed premature to attempt a rescue without knowing the exact route into the fortress. I had no doubt that I could find my way to the castle without their aid, but I didn’t want to spend all night down here. I probably should have asked Greykin if there were other infiltration options.

The second ladder led down almost sixty feet. The sound of water echoed stronger here, and when I finally set foot on the stone below I could see we were in another canal tunnel like the one above us. This deeper cavern was twice the size, with much more sewage flowing through its center. The stench was worse, and I was thankful that I had nothing in my stomach to vomit.

Every so often, something would scurry away from our light. I could see that they were large rats, but the other soldiers grew more nervous at the unexpected movements. We trekked for another half of an hour, made a few turns that Danor marked with chalk, lit a second round of torches, and then came to a tight hallway. This corridor was narrow, and forced us into a single file. I noticed the heart rates of my companions increased, and I guessed they were close to mental exhaustion. During the exploration I had positioned myself at the front of the line between Danor and Greykin so I could hear any discussion they might have.

“How much longer?” the Old Bear whispered past me to Danor.

“Right up here. There are four different paths. I’ve explored the one I thought led to the castle, but got hit with a dead end.” Danor looked back apologetically at Greykin but the big man just grunted in annoyance. “It goes down a far ways and is a squeeze. Be careful Kaiyer,” Danor said as he lifted a heavy grate over a massive iron ladder. The draft emerging from this opening breathed cold and wet. The hole didn’t smell as bad as the air around us. I grabbed the rough iron rung and started my descent.

Danor was correct about the distance down the ladder. It hung inside a tight stone shaft so narrow my back scraped across the opposite wall as I tried to climb down while holding my torch. The fire from the brand and the tight, close air of the tube made me sweat as I had in the humid jungles of Vanlourn. After what I guessed to be a half an hour of descent, I hit bottom and gratefully set my foot on solid rock.

I looked up to the tunnel from where I came, it looked like a man-made, hollow stone icicle protruding from the domed ceiling above me. I was now in a massive, open cavern, nothing like the system of tunnels and aqueducts humans had built above us. My field of vision was obstructed in places by isolated stalactites that crumbled like broken columns. I knew my boots touched stone, but I couldn’t see them through the thick layer of mist that flowed a foot off the ground like an opaque gray blanket. The torchlight extended only fifty feet from me but my magic allowed me to perceive a few extra yards into the blackness. I saw no other walls or man-made masonry work down here.

There was the sound of movement in the distance behind me and I spun around to see something disappear back into the mist outside of my field of vision.

It was much larger than a rat.

I heard Greykin’s labored breathing from the shaft above me at the same time that I saw the fog part on my right side. My sword came out instantly and I turned to face the creature, but it had already retreated. I wanted to run though the darkness after it but I guessed that the Old Bear would be mad if I didn’t greet him after he descended the ladder.

“Greykin,” I called up to the big man.

“What?” he yelled down the shaft. He still sounded very far away.

“There is something down here. A large animal I think.”

“I’m going as fast as I can. What else do you want me to do?” He started to cough, and it echoed off of the shaft and spread out into the cavern like the dammed river I used to kill the Elven army so long ago. The tube had been tight around my body and I guessed from the tone of his voice that the Old Bear was having a frustrating time descending.

“I just wanted to tell you.” I cringed at the sound of his echo and scanned the edges of my vision for movement. Nothing.

“Maybe you should teach it how to read!” Greykin called down after his coughing spasm ended.

“I don’t think that will be possible. Paug only spent a few hours teaching me. I don’t have any books in my backpack to use as an example.” It seemed like a weird request.

“It’s a joke, Skinny! If you see it again put your fucking sword in it ‘til the damn thing dies!” he yelled. I nodded and looked around me again. Perhaps Greykin’s shouting and coughing scared the creature away.

“What was it?” the Old Bear said as he landed heavily on the ground next to me.

“I don’t know.”

“Was it big?” He pulled out his axe. His large body was covered in sweat and his breathing came out in ragged, pain-filled gasps.

“Yes.”

The rest of the soldiers followed down the ladder and we fanned out with our backs facing each other, weapons drawn.

“I didn’t notice any creatures last time I was down here,” Danor whispered to Greykin and me.

“Where do we go now?” I asked the handsome mustached man.

“If we head a quarter of a mile north, we will see the foundation support beams of the castle. Each has a stairway that leads up them. I’m positive that one of them will lead us up to the dungeons beneath the fortress.”

“Let’s get our asses moving then. If this thing was going to attack, it would have done so by now,” Greykin commanded.

“I tied a rope around the ladder last time since there are no walls to chalk. Head that way.” He pointed in a direction I assumed was north and began to walk. A few of the other men lit additional torches to ward off any creatures.

There was another sound of movement to our rear, but I guessed no one else but me could hear it. The creature sounded like it was just outside of the edge of our mist-obscured vision. I thought that we might have scared it away, but I realized that it was stalking the group.

“It is behind us,” I whispered as loud as I dared. “It sounds as if it is dragging something large and wet.” Everyone stopped moving and tightened the circle.

“Throw your torch at it Kaiyer,” Greykin asked. “You’re almost out anyway.”

“Light another one first!” a soldier spoke with a crack of fear in his voice. He handed me a spare brand and I fed it to life with mine.

“I’ll listen for it again,” I said and the group grew quiet. Their hearts were beating fast and their breathing came in excited gasps.

“There is moving water to our north?” I asked.

“Yes. There is an underground river that feeds into the ocean. You’ll see it as we get closer to the support structures,” Danor whispered. “Do you hear it?”

I was about to respond when the same scraping noise emerged from our west. I threw my torch toward the source of the noise as quickly as I could. The brand flipped like an expensive coin until it landed on the ground, spraying bits of charcoal and oil above the fog. The creature made a loud hiss that I was sure everyone heard and then it slithered away out of the light. It moved like a snake that had just had sand kicked it its face. I imagined the creature was coiling back and getting ready to strike.

“What the fuck was that?” one of the men asked.

“It was huge!” another soldier said a split second before the large serpent creature struck forward and clamped its massive jaws around his midsection. The man screamed as the serpent pulled him in its maw and up into the air high above our heads.

“Wurm!” Greykin bellowed. I never imagined anything could scare the Old Bear, but I understood his terror when I saw the wurm. The creature’s hide was scaled like a lizard, covered in oily, congealed mucus. The scales shone gray, brown and green, the putrid decaying mucus glistening in our torchlight. It was at least six feet in diameter, with small, mutated arms growing out of the sides of its swollen belly at sporadic intervals. Each arm ended in a misshapen claw, dripping black slime. The arms twitched as if attempting to walk, but it moved like a snake, slithering with powerful flicks of its muscular body.

The monster thrashed its head sideways like a dog playing with a toy. The man ripped in half, spraying blood and limbs over us and ending his scream in a cantata of dynamic volume changes. Then it pointed its massive jaws up to the ceiling and gulped down a large chunk of the meat and leather armor. Its bird-like jaws opened in three pieces instead of two. Dozens of fist-sized black eyeballs lay on each side of its maw and I imagined that the beast saw in all directions at once.

“Kill it!” Greykin screamed as he jumped toward the monster and landed a powerful overhand chop into the snake’s armored flank. It gave a terrifying scream as his blow cut through the scales and I noticed several rows of spiky teeth inside its mouth cavity. It whipped its tail around and knocked the big man aside as if he weighed ten pounds. Then it dove toward another of my companions.

The warrior tried to slash the monster across its eye cluster, but he moved too slowly and it bit into the side of his right shoulder. Repeating the tactic the beast had with the earlier meal, it lifted this soldier into the air and shook him like a rag doll. The man screamed in horror until his torso tore loose. The soldier fell down on the misty ground in front of the snake, but the creature seemed more interested in consuming the man’s limb before going for the kill.

I jumped forward past the other warriors who were frozen with fear. I bent back my left arm and then spun it forward, harnessing the energy of my run, my hips, and power from the Earth. My attack landed true and I cut across the serpent’s chest in a diagonal path that sundered two of the mutated arms off of its front side. The beast screamed and dropped the arm it had been about to swallow. The stench of blood and gore overpowered my nose through the scented scarf I wore and I almost stopped to vomit.

Fortunately, I realized that the monster was coiling back its grotesque body to strike at me. I threw myself backward and managed to roll clear of the snapping jaws. The creature’s breath reeked of shit and disease. I imagined that even a cut from one of those teeth would probably end someone’s life by way of painful infection.

The rest of the men charged forward and aimed savage cuts at the beast. A few of them connected but bounced off of its armored scales as if it were crafted of stone. The monster swung around its tail again and crushed a terrified man beneath its long torso.

Greykin let out another battle shout as he slammed his axe into the wurm’s belly like he was chopping down a tree. The creature screamed again in surprise and my brain threatened to liquefy and pour out of my ears. The screech echoed across the massive cavern and I wondered if there were any other monsters that now knew we were down in this underground. I dropped my torch and sprinted forward, taking a gamble that the monster would coil back in the familiar way and attempt to strike at the Old Bear.

Luck was on my side and the creature proved predictable. As it darted forward to sink its horrible teeth into my friend, I leapt on top of its carapace-covered head and drove the point of my long sword deep in between the two opposing clusters of eyes. There was a slight resistance as the blade slid past the armored skull before I felt the tip penetrate the squishy brain. The beast flopped on the ground next to Greykin. Then it began to twist, thrash, and coil as its reptilian brain sent false signals to the rest of its putrid body.

The big man let out a yelp as he threw himself out of the way to avoid being crushed. I flipped off of the creature’s head, dashed away, and then winced in disappointment when I heard my sword snap. I hadn’t been quick enough to yank it out of the wurm’s skull and it had rolled on top of the blade’s handle. We watched it coil around itself and thrash its many grotesque, clawed appendages for a few seconds before the Old Bear commented.

“Fucking burning cow shit on a stick!” Greykin cursed.

“I have never seen anything so horrible,” Danor said. His face was white.

“Can we do anything for Cedrig?” my big friend asked. I assumed he spoke about the man whose arm the monster had ripped from his body. He was still screaming but the blood poured out of his body like a river. Danor nodded and grabbed a medical pack out of my backpack. The other men seemed to still be in shock and they waited until the creature had stopped moving before they approached Danor to help with any possible first aid.

“The creature’s mouth was putrid. He will probably succumb to an infection, if he has not already lost too much blood,” I said to the big man, but he stared at the corpse of the massive snake and I didn’t think he heard me.

“Greykin?” I asked as I touched his arm. He blinked several times and looked at me.

“I never believed I would see one of these monsters. I thought they were myths to scare children. If we didn’t have other pressing matters, I would want to have some of our sages study this creature.” He sighed. “Of course, we need to take back our kingdom first.”

“It smells like corruption,” I said as I wrinkled my nose. The big man laughed and put his hand on my shoulder.

“You are quite the stoic my thin friend. I don’t think there is anything that concerns you. Everyone else shat their pants, aye, including me, but you actually did something.”

“Not true Greykin, you were the first to attack it.”

“I happened to be the closest. Thank you for slaying the beast. I thought it was the end of the road for me.” Greykin put his giant hand on my shoulder. “The more we are around each other, the more gratitude I owe you.” His words filled with emotion and the big man’s eyes shone brightly in the torchlight.

“You would have done the same for me.” I smiled at him and shrugged a little. I knew he would have ripped apart mountains to save his friends.

“Too bad about your sword,” he remarked as we approached the giant corpse and my broken blade.

“I have a spare.” I pointed to the short blade at my hip. It was only a foot in length, but I could kill with the weapon, as long as it wasn’t another monster-sized mutated serpent. I thought about grabbing a blade from one of my dead companions, but they had all dropped into the sea of mist. It might take me hours to find one.

“He’s gone,” Danor called over to us. The other men took off their skull caps and bowed their heads.

“We should bury our comrades,” the mustached man said as he handed me back the unused medical kit.

“It will take too much time, lads. We have a mission to accomplish. I don’t want to stick around here with all this blood. There might be more of these monsters, and I am sure they all have noses.” The men looked shaken by his words. Danor sighed in worry and then nodded.

“How much longer?” Greykin inquired.

“Ten minutes at the most,” he said and the group began to walk again. The mists seemed to grow thicker and the men jumped at imaginary noises. Every minute that passed could be counted by the Old Bear asking Danor about our time, and I didn’t think it helped relieve the group of their fears.

After he asked the fifth time I heard another scraping noise behind us. I was at the back of our party and didn’t like the idea of being the first meal it would target. I pulled my blade out of its sheath and spun around to run backward.

“There is one at our rear,” I spoke as calmly as I could over my shoulder.

“Are you sure?” Danor almost screamed in panic.

“Should we run?” I said as I looked down at my short sword. I doubted it would penetrate the creature’s skull. I would have to use the Elements if the creature attacked.

“We are almost there. Hold the line,” Greykin shouted in encouragement and I turned around to face the backs of my companions.

We continued to move, so quickly now that when I felt a cold trail of sweat down my back I was not sure if it was from fear or exertion. I had experience fighting men and Elvens; I could use my weapons and magic. I could heal myself if I made mistakes. These wurms were new. They could rip me apart with little effort. I had always been skilled, disciplined and hardworking, but also lucky. For the first time I felt my life was not in my own hands.

Perhaps this was the night my luck would run out.

The sound of the river had grown so loud that I was sure the other warriors heard it roar. I couldn’t see through the darkness and mists, but I estimated that it lay less than a hundred yards away. We all ran now and I found it difficult to listen for the sliding sounds of the monster over the cascade of the water, the slamming of boots into the stone, and our fearful breathing.

In correlation to our running speed, the thick layer of mist that hugged the ground had grown almost two feet high, making it impossible to see anything below our knees. When one of the men tripped and fell, screaming with fear, I wasn’t surprised. He collapsed in front of me and I bent over to pull him upright. As soon as my hands closed around his shoulder I smelled the putrid stench of the mutated snake descend upon me like a sticky spider web.

I dove to my side and narrowly avoided its snapping jaws. The creature aimed for me and not my fallen comrade, but the warrior still screamed as if the monster had sunk its beak into his own torso. I continued my roll and came to my feet in a crouched position. I somehow managed to keep my torch and my sword in my hands. This snake was smaller than the first beast we encountered, but still reeked of death and poison.

“Get up asshole!” Greykin screamed as the slime-covered creature made another darting strike. This time it went for the man who fell instead of me. The man’s scream of terror turned into one of wet, bloody pain when he was yanked off the ground and crunched in the creature’s powerful jaws.

“Follow Danor! Run!” the Old Bear shouted, and the group of warriors scattered. Danor sprinted in one direction like a rabbit running for the shelter of a bush. The Old Bear followed him and most of the others did the same.

Two of the men either didn’t know which direction Danor and the rest fled, or they felt so much terror that they ran without thinking. They split off from the main party and ran to the west, in between the wurm feasting on the corpse and the group. I hoped that they would be able to realize their mistake and join us before the creature finished its meal.

“The support structures!” I caught up to Danor and Greykin in a few seconds. Our guide pointed toward a massive colonnade a quarter of a mile in the distance. Although it was pitch black in the cavern, the towers appeared to be backlit by purple and blue light. The pillars seemed to grow out of the ground and connect to the ceiling like man-made stalagmites. Each support column was almost as thick in diameter as the towers in the castle above. Haphazard bridges and slack ropeways connected the structures like the ancient vines that grew between the trees of the Vanlourn jungle.

“The first one is no good! Run up the stairs of the second!” Danor called out as he altered his destination to aim toward the larger pillar, which was an extra two hundred yards away.

“Watch out!” I yelled as I saw movement to our right flank. This was a different wurm than the one that had just attacked us. It had a slimmer torso and was a blood rust color instead of the brownish green. A soldier tried to move out of the way, but the serpent proved too fast. Its set of beak-like jaws closed around his shoulders and crushed his skull as easily as I would pop a grape between my thumb and pointer finger. The monster picked the corpse off of the ground and repeated the same gesture as other lizards when they latched onto meat. They shook their heads frantically side to side until their razor sharp teeth and the momentum tore the body into a piece small enough for them to guzzle.

“There are at least two of them!” I croaked out through a stomach full of icy fear. I couldn’t recall being more terrified in any of my memories.

Finally, we reached the base of the massive support structure. We ran around it to the left until we came to a narrow set of stairs that hugged the face of the wall. Danor scurried up on all fours and we followed in the same frantic manner. After two hundred stressful steps, the stairs widened into a platform and the crumbled remains of what had once been a bridge to another column. The group collapsed on the solid part of the landing and gasped for breath. I wasn’t winded from the sprint up the stairs and posted at the top in case the creatures decided to follow.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” The Old Bear pounded his fist into the stone platform over and over as he cursed. Each one of his blows seemed to shake the ancient structure like an earthquake and I wondered if the wurms would hear. “Roll call. Who is here?” The men called out their names. Six of us remained, including Greykin, Danor, and myself.

“That’s nine we have lost. They were good lads too.” The big man’s voice filled with remorse and pain. “I hope the prince is fucking grateful. If he makes one snide remark about how long we took to rescue him, I’ll rip his fucking ears off.” I would have smiled, but something on the pillar caught my eye and I got off my knees to look at the wall of the vertical beam.

The stone was odd. Most rock is porous, but the slabs of the support column seemed to be made of smooth metal. I knocked my fist against it, but the material retorted like rock. The seams of the slabs were set amazingly tight and I ran my fingers across the surface to feel their construction. Small, almost seamless indentations by each of the cracks separated the blocks that composed the structure. Whoever built these pillars must have cut each block perfectly.

“What is wrong Kaiyer?” Danor asked me.

“Nothing. Just looking at this support tower. Where next? Up?” Our guide nodded and we moved off of the platform and continued up the narrow stairs that hugged the pillar.

We ascended forty feet to another bridge that ran fifty yards before connecting to the closest pillar. The air here was clear of the mist and fog that clouded below, I could see other bridges extending toward an eerie glow that backlit a massive colonnade.

“What is the light coming from?” I asked everyone, but I meant it for Danor.

“What light?”

“The shades of purple and blue.” I pointed at the pillars in the distance. Now that we stood higher on the elevated steps, the origin of the glow seemed closer.

“I don’t see anything, Skinny. It’s as black as my shit after I eat four pounds of plums.”

“There is light over there. None of you can see the violet color?” The other soldiers shook their heads.

“We need to go up more and hope that there is an entrance to the dungeon sewers below the castle. Let’s keep moving.” Danor started the climb upward and the rest of the men followed.

“Coming?” Greykin asked me. Something about the light was familiar. I felt myself drift toward it. A soft voice seemed to call my name.

“Kaiyer?” Greykin’s rough voice shook me from my effort to remember. I nodded at the big, bearded man and walked to the stairs.

A recognizable scraping noise echoed behind me and Greykin’s mouth opened to shout a warning. Without thinking, I harnessed the Earth and pushed myself off of the stone bridge, backward through the air, and away from jaws intending to eat me.

The wurm screamed and hissed as I evaded the surprise attack and landed next to it. Part of its body coiled around the overpass, and I noticed that this particular creature’s arms were not as misshapen as the others we had encountered. They were still small, but set in even rows of centipede-like trails down its belly. The arms ended in long, sharp claws that the creature used to climb up the pillars. My short sword lashed out and cut a wide gash into the monster’s side, spraying pus-filled blood across the bridge and enticing another scream of outrage from the beast’s maw.

It was probably not one of my best decisions.

The bridge had little room for me to maneuver, so when the wurm thrashed around, I couldn’t avoid the swing of its tail. Greykin screamed my name as the slimy tail smacked into me and threw me into the air like one flicks away a small bug. My stomach lurched when my boots left the platform and I tried to spin so that I faced the direction of my plummet.

I fell about thirty feet and slammed my body into the pillar next to the bridge. I managed to thrust my short blade into the stone plates of the tower, which helped me hold on, but the movement cost me the torch I held in my other hand. The lighted brand spun lazily down into the darkness and my vision swam from the impact to my face. I tried to hang on to the sword buried in the rock and adjust my eyes to the reduced light.

The monster hissed from above me and slid across the bridge away from my companions toward the pillar where I clung. It would not be so easily robbed of a meal.

My eyes finished adjusting to the lack of torchlight and I noticed that the coil of stairs was only five feet beneath me. I thanked my luck again and let go of my stuck sword, dropping the short distance to the skinny stairs. There was no safe way to retrieve my blade. I would have to pull so hard to free it from the stone wall that the effort would accidently fling me off of the column. My magic could kill the beast, but it would have made me feel better to have a weapon in my hand.

I darted up the stairs as fast as my legs and limited vision allowed. I reasoned that if I could make it to the top before the creature I could escape, or at least not have to worry about it attacking me from above. It would be a small advantage that might give me a few more minutes of precious life.

I did not see the serpent or my companions when I reached the far side of the bridge. The men had probably moved farther up the stairs. I did not want to run across the platform and possibly draw attention to their location.

The sound of the wurm skittering on the other side of the column reached my ears a fraction of a second before its decaying smell punched my nose. I threw myself across the bridge and slid on my belly atop the thin layer of disgusting mucus the beast had left in its trail.

The monster screamed in disappointment as I evaded it again. It hung inverted from the pillar, where I stood only moments ago. The tiny arms on its belly must be amazingly strong to be able to hold up the creature’s massive bulk. It moved like a cross between a snake and a centipede as it slithered and climbed down the pillar toward the bridge with the efficiency of a victorious predator.

I channeled the Earth through my body quickly, feeling the beat of my heart throb strong and pound against my skull. I closed my fist around the thin, elusive breeze from the river below. Power built in my hand and I released it at the slime-covered mutation as the monster reached the bridge and coiled itself back to strike me.

An elliptical sphere of maroon-colored energy erupted from my palm and flew toward the serpent like a hawk diving for the kill. The wurm screamed in panic as the air in front of it burned as hot and bright as a thousand green suns and melted the putrid flesh from its maw and eyes. The creature had probably never seen light brighter than the torches we carried with us today. It reared up and twitched in death throes similar to the first beast I had killed. I backed away to prevent one of the creature’s seizures from knocking me off of the pillar again.

The stench of the roasted wurm’s putrid corpse brought me to my knees and my body wrestled with my willpower in a war over the bile in my stomach. My gut was empty but I lay there thrashing around and dry heaving for longer than it took for the monster to finish smoking. Finally, my stomach realized I wasn’t sick and it stopped the forced process of cleansing.

I rose to my feet and looked over toward the column I suspected my companions had climbed. The bridge was still intact. I crept over the platform that joined the metal gangway.

Then I stopped and glanced back over my shoulder.

I stood close to the source of the strange, glowing lights. Greykin probably thought I was dead, again, and I figured he would be happy to find I was alive, even if I followed a few minutes behind the group.

I changed direction and crossed two other bridges and went up one long row of stairs. Any noise might bring another attack from a wurm or any other creature that lived down in this dark, damp place.

The farthest pillar from where Greykin and my friends ascended cast the purple and blue glow. As I grew closer, I heard a faint hum, almost like the sound of the river. But while the river moaned with the chaos of life, the drone from the column sounded a constant pitch. It reminded me of wheels being turned at a mill.

The only way to reach the glowing pillar was via a thick braided metal rope suspended over a dizzying drop, the rusted remnant of a bridge that once connected the pillars. I took a deep breath and traversed it, hand-over-hand, while my legs dangled over the dark void.

This column appeared similar in design to the others, but as I grew closer I noticed its surface was embroidered with careful, intricate etchings of trees, birds, mountains, and celestial bodies. It was smoother than the surrounding pillars, it looked less like something man-made and more like a crab or snail shell. I circled around to the opposite side and found the source of the glow.

The column had glass windows, and the illumination came from the other side of the oval panes. From inside. The glow was too bright after hours of darkness. I had to shield my eyes for a few seconds until I could look without pain bringing forth searing tears that blurred my vision.

My view through the thick glass was obscured by dust and dirt. I wiped my palm across the smooth surface, but the grime was on the inside. I stepped back to look for a way into the structure. I felt disappointed that I had decided not to risk grabbing my sword. I could have smashed through the glass easily with my hand or foot, but I didn’t want the scent of my blood on the air for the creatures to track.

Above the platform were five pairs of windows, twenty feet between each set. I leaned back over the side of the railing and glanced down to see a dozen more sets of lit glass. Directly underneath me was a balcony with a metal ladder. I grabbed onto the ledge of the bridge and flipped myself over so I hung from my hands. Then I swung my legs a few times to gain momentum and made the jump to the smaller platform. A thick dark metal slab served as the door. Instead of a handle it had an indentation shaped like a left hand. I placed my palm against it firmly and wondered what to do next.

“Open,” my voice said in the language of my memories. Gears snapped and whirred on the other side and the door became slack. I pushed it inward and cringed when the creaky hinges screamed, the sound almost as loud as one of the toxic serpent beasts.

The inside of the structure was perfectly circular in shape, with a stairwell in the center carved of smooth white stone. There was no light in the room save the blue and purple glow that drizzled from the stairwell above and below me. Other than the stairs, the room was empty. I closed the door behind me and heard the hinges fasten again. Then I walked to the steps and moved up toward the glow.

I broke into a chilled sweat once I reached the next level. Twenty stone platforms circled the room in neat rows.

They were identical to the bed I lay on when Paug woke me. I touched the one closest to the door. It was cold and still, but no dust covered its surface. Light emanated from small holes where the walls met the ceiling. I took a deep breath and moved up the stairs again. I was starting to remember voices. My mind struggled to fight the emotions they brought with them, like when I was a child and tried to keep myself from vomiting.

The next four levels were all the same: empty, dust-free platforms arranged in neat rows. My lungs agonized over their duty and my skin was covered in a thin layer of nervous perspiration. I finally sat down on the step and almost sobbed. I didn’t want to go any farther.

It can be the two of us together forever. I heard Iolarathe’s voice in my head that day I met her on the battlefield.

What did you do Kaiyer? You betrayed us all! Malek’s voice screamed in my mind. It bounced around in my brain and became Gorbanni’s voice, then Thayer’s.

“I don’t remember!” I yelled out loud as tears came to my face. The voices grew more urgent and my limbs weighed thousands of pounds.

You won’t feel anything again Kaiyer.

He’s too fucking tough to die.

I’m so sorry my friend. Why did it have to be this way?

It is a prison. He shouldn’t be able to escape.

Now we try to live with what he has done. With what we have all done.

He loved Shlara, didn’t he?

She loved him.

My head cleared after what felt like a few minutes and I took the kind of breath I would if I was preparing to go underwater. Tears streaked my face and I wiped them away as I struggled to my feet, fighting dizziness and nausea. I continued up the stairwell past ten more rooms all lined with the stone platforms. Finally, I reached my destination.

It was a room with a high ceiling that extended to what I assumed formed the base of the castle’s foundation. A fine network of etching covered the ceiling, walls, and floors. The detailed art formed a picture of a single tree with thousands of branches and roots. In the center of the room stood a smaller stone platform with a metal globe on a raised, circular dais. The sphere was a little larger than a skull. Etching that resembled the walls decorated its smooth surface. I walked to the middle of room and carefully stepped around the stone dais. Then I sat down on it as I regarded the orb.

“What do you think it is?” Thayer’s voice asked after he opened the chest to show Shlara and me.

“Entas would know, but I don’t.” I frowned when I thought of my dead friend. I often missed him, but the pain was worse during moments like these, where I had only questions and no answers.

“Why does it glow?” Shlara asked.

“Maybe it likes you!” Thayer laughed.

Thayer found one of these devices in the Elven camp. They were old, so old that the Elvens had not even created them.

I reached out a trembling hand and laid it across the metal of the cold globe. The surface warmed quickly and I smiled.

It was still working.

Chapter 9-Nadea

“What the fuck was that?” one of Runir’s men squeaked. Our ragtag group of escapees slid to a surprised halt when the sounds of screams echoed through the flooring of the labyrinthine sewer.

“Whatever it was, it sounds far below us,” Runir said with a tinge of concern to his voice.

“How deep do these sewers go?” Gerald asked as he pulled his daughter close to him.

“No one knows for sure. The hills that the capital is built upon have many hollow caverns that extend down almost a full mile.” I smiled at the small man. “Don’t worry though. We’ll be out of here in less than an hour. Isn’t that what you said, Runir?” My blonde friend nodded and then pointed in the direction we had been moving. One of his soldiers took the lead. He carried a hooded oil lantern which made a thin stream of light in front of us. Another of Runir’s men bore a softer lamp and brought up the rear.

“I feel like we have already walked forever,” Inada said in a soft whine. Her father hushed her, but I sympathized with the girl. The king was a benevolent ruler and had not used the dungeons for their intended purpose. But dungeons were built as vehicles for torture and death. It seemed that the souls that suffered here were barely kept at bay by the light of our lanterns. The darkness of the tunnels had been oppressive and we all breathed a sigh of relief when we left them for the stink of the sewer.

The trip also felt like it took forever because I had to swing my lower body forward with each step while my arms draped across Runir and another of his warrior’s shoulders. I hated not being able to walk with my own strength, but this alternative was better than waiting for the empress to interrogate me.

“It will be all right, Nadea. We’ll get there soon and have more medics examine your thigh,” Runir leaned in a whispered in my ear. I gritted my teeth and nodded. He was just trying to help, and I felt thankful that the blonde man was rescuing us, but I didn’t want to be reminded about my leg anymore. At first I worried I would lose the limb, and now I wondered if I might never walk on it.

I sighed and shook my head sadly. I really should worry about more important problems. Nia had fallen, the king was dead, killed by his own deceitful son, who also murdered one of my closest friends. The princess had been kidnapped and the Ancients would soon enslave the world. Oh, and the only man who could help had been incinerated and was lost to us forever.

Another scream echoed through the sewer and the group halted in surprise.

“That sounds closer,” the warrior in the front whispered. Fear coated his voice like sticky sap.

“Keep walking,” Runir said calmly.

The shadows of our bodies seemed to twist and bend around the curves and pipes of the sewer. The dark, ghastly forms made it seem as if we fled from ourselves instead of the sounds of the screams and the Ancients in the castle. I wondered what would happen after we escaped and reunited with the small army that was still loyal. Where would we go? We might garner support from Brilla, but if Nia fell to Losher and a few of the empress’s mages, then our southern neighbors would be just as easy to tear apart. I didn’t know how far we could run to escape her influence. If Kaiyer’s fears were right, then she wouldn’t stop until her whole race enslaved us again. Maerc and Runir probably had a plan.

“Did something move behind us?” Gerald’s voice was a soft shriek.

“I saw nothing,” the warrior at the end with the lantern said.

“You weren’t looking!”

“Neither were you. Keep your eyes front and let me do my job!” the soldier barked. The smell and darkness was starting to grate on everyone’s nerves. We probably walked another fifteen minutes, but it seemed as if a day passed. Then the soldier leading turned an abrupt corner and led us down a narrow stone hallway. Half a foot above our heads rusty pipes dripped with what smelled like water, but I didn’t want to risk tasting the liquid to find out.

“Up,” Runir commanded the group as we approached a stout looking metal ladder. The man in the lead removed the hood from his lantern, exposing us to a warm globe of light. Then he carefully climbed up the ladder. Once he reached the top he made a clicking sound with his mouth and my friend let go of me so the next person could climb. “Nadea,” he whispered and I grabbed on to the handrails and pulled myself up the rungs.

“Keep your leg straight, Duchess!” Gerald seethed. I sighed in annoyance and struggled to straighten my knee. The position made it awkward to ascend, but I slowly climbed my way to the top of the ladder. I could smell a light breeze from the direction I guessed was the exit.

“Just another fifteen minutes,” Runir said with a smile after everyone reached the top. Inada’s cute face lit up and I smiled along with her. We were almost there.

“Whatever screamed down there won’t be following us past this iron.” The final soldier up the ladder swung a hefty grate over the hole on the ground. Gerald breathed a huge sigh of relief and then smiled. Runir motioned with his head and we set off on the last part of our escape.

The air smelled cleaner and soon I saw light reflect off of the stone walls in the distance. I could hear birds chirping and feel a cool breeze waft into the sewer. Our pace picked up as the tunnel formed an opening that I almost mistook for the sun because of the beautiful sight of freedom.

Then we were out.

The sun struck painfully bright on my sensitive eyes. How long had it been since I saw daylight? A month? Both of my arms draped around my escorts so I couldn’t free my hand to cover my face. Instead I bowed my head and shut my eyes. Inada giggled and skipped away while Gerald chased after her.

“We made it.” Runir’s shoulders heaved and I felt tension drain from his body.

“I need to tell you something.” I cracked my eyelids open to make sure that the medic and his daughter were far enough from us.

“What is it?” He looked at me nervously.

“Alone?” He glanced at the other man who helped holster me up and I was let loose. I leaned on Runir and then staggered over to a boulder near the entrance to the sewer so we might speak in private. I sat down and the sun-warmed rock spread its heat through my body as soon as I touched it. The sensation forced me to recall the bath I shared with Kaiyer. I caught my breath and a lump formed in my throat.

“Nadea?” Runir prodded as he sat next to me. I looked over at him in time to notice him glancing at my breasts, then his eyes turned up to my face and he blushed. I knew my friend had feelings for me and he probably imagined I would thank him for saving me.

“Nanos killed the king. He betrayed Nia and somehow got Losher soldiers inside of the castle. He was working with the empress and also murdered Paug, who was trying to defend me.” The words flowed out of my mouth so quickly that I hadn’t figured out the right order for them. It was like a torrent of ill rain sweeping over a city and creating a flash flood.

“Wait. Huh?” Runir looked as if I just told him I was a man.

“Nanos, Greykin, the king, Paug, and I were in the main Planning Room after the king received the treaty document from the Ancient.” I spoke softly so that no one else could hear and carefully so I wouldn’t need to repeat the words. “The king dismissed everyone for a short recess before he spoke to the Council about the terms of the document. Then the alarm sounded. Somehow the Losher army had gotten into the castle proper. Greykin was leading us to the Safe Room, where the queen waited, but on the journey there Paug fell. Greykin held off six Losher soldiers while we fled. We got separated from the king and Nanos. When Paug and I caught up to them, the king was dead and Nanos stood over him with a bloody sword. The asshole gave me some sob story about never getting his way and how he had accepted the empress’s treaty on behalf of the kingdom.” I paused to gauge my friend’s reaction. His eyes opened wide and his jaw hardened in anger. “I fought with him, but I couldn’t kill him before more Losher soldiers showed up and sacked me. During the battle Paug picked up the king’s sword. He hit Nanos with it but I doubted he did much damage. Then Nanos stabbed Paug through the stomach and the boy died on the ground next to the king.”

Tears stung the corners of my eyes. Paug had looked almost as surprised as Nanos when the blade connected. He had hardly even begun to live his life, and now it was over, violently. Images of his dying face flashed in my memory. His eyes had gone cloudy and distant before his body fell to the ground. I wondered what he thought about in those last seconds. I hoped the distant look in his eyes meant he was not aware enough to feel the pain of death. I wished I could have told him what a great friend he had been, how much I enjoyed his company, how much I appreciated the countless ways he had helped me during the mission to find Kaiyer. How brave he was for trying to save me.

“I need to think.” Runir put his head in his hands and covered his face.

“Do so on the way to the camp. We need to inform Maerc and then figure out what to do with what is left of the army.” The blonde man looked up at me and nodded. His eyes were watery but I doubted he would cry. I knew this story was hard for my friend to digest. Nanos, Runir, Jessmei, and I practically grew up together. My father would take me to visit the capital at least four times a year for many weeks at a time. Nanos had always been a little spoiled and petulant, the kind of child who stormed off in anger if he lost a game, who pouted and gave up if he was not easily the best at something. Still, it was shocking to think of what he had done. It was a grave betrayal, and as much as the prince and I had clashed and argued, I never would have expected such treason and cowardice from him, nor the callousness and cruelty he showed toward me as I hung wretched and dying in his dungeon.

I stood with his help and we called out to the rest of our group. We were in the clearing of a sprawling oak forest. The tunnel emerged from the side of the hill next to a creek that took the runoff from the sewer toward the ocean. My eyes finally adjusted to the sun and I smiled for a split second as a family of squirrels ran across the network of tree branches above our heads.

“My warriors will meet us about three hundred yards into the trees. They will escort us to the camp,” Runir said. His eyes looked lost as he tried to piece through my recount of Nanos’s betrayal.

The forest was surprisingly thick for oaks and we took about thirty minutes to make it to the meeting location. I was sweaty and exhausted by the time we arrived at the rendezvous. My muscles felt out of shape from hanging so long in the dungeon, and every step sent tremors of shock through my joints. I was thankful that it was winter in Nia and the air was chilled.

“How are you feeling?” Runir asked when I stepped wrong and gasped in pain. There were half a dozen armed warriors waiting for us, and they saluted Runir and me when we approached. We saluted them in return and they formed a circle around the group.

“Fine.” I didn’t want to tell him how I actually felt. He nodded and turned back to his task as my beast of burden.

After what seemed like a four-hour hike, the forest gave way to a cliff that showcased a beautiful waterfall and a small river that led into a refreshing pool of moving glass. The pool drained into a smaller river and danced through a gully toward the ocean. A narrow trail clung to the side of the steep slope, and I gritted my teeth when I thought about how difficult it would be for me to traverse the path on my injured leg.

“I’ll carry you down,” Runir said. The other soldier wiggled out of my grasp and he took the lead down the slope.

“No. I’ll walk down it myself.” I didn’t want someone to haul me down like a sack of vegetables. It was bad enough that I had to lean on them for support.

“Please let him bear you, Duchess. Your stitching will be damaged and the wound will become reinfected,” Gerald pleaded. I glanced over to the mousey man and his daughter. They both looked as exhausted as I felt. I realized he was right and nodded to Runir. Before I could situate myself my friend lifted me up as easily as I picked up my sword. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gritted my teeth as he picked his way down the rocky trail to the shore of the river.

“You are strong,” I said after the ten-minute hike placed us at our destination. I was surprised that he had been able to carry me the entire descent, so I felt I owed him a compliment, but I hoped he wouldn’t read too much into it.

“You don’t weigh a lot, Nadea. You lost some weight in the dungeon. Did they feed you?” He set me down on the sandy beach carefully.

“No. Not until Gerald began taking care of me.” I wondered what Kaiyer would have looked like back when he was a general in the O’Baarni’s army. I imagined the sun reflecting off of polished plate armor, his shoulders and arms thick and broad with muscle. He had been strikingly handsome even when he appeared at famine’s door. I wished that I could have seen him after a few months of good food and exercise.

No. It was probably better that I would never see Kaiyer in his full athleticism. I had already begun to fall for him. I still felt soreness spread through my chest whenever I recalled his green eyes and easy smile. His face seemed free of all possible stress and I would never have believed that he was a mighty warrior if I had not witnessed it myself.

“You okay?” Runir asked, pulling me from of the memory of Kaiyer dismantling the Vanlourn soldiers who had tried to capture us shortly after we woke him.

“Yeah. Sorry. I was planning our next steps.”

“Nadea …” He licked his lips nervously and stared into my eyes. “Did they,” he looked back to the other soldiers before whispering, “do anything to you, in the dungeon?”

“No. They attempted but I kicked a few of them.”

“Thank the Spirits. I would have torn the whole place down if they violated you.” He gritted his teeth and turned his face away from me.

“How much farther?” Now that I was out of the prison I didn’t want to imagine what might have happened in the dark cell. The dried leaves of the oak forest crunched beneath us like bones, but the sun began to fight the winter’s chill and was warming my skin through the branches of the trees.

“The camp is a quarter of a mile past this river and through more trees. My father will want to hear this news.” I looked at the water. It flowed quickly but didn’t look that deep from up close. It was almost a stream. “I’ll carry you across again?” I nodded and he scooped me up in his arms and forded the river while the remainder of the group followed us.

Before we arrived at the camp, another set of sentries met and escorted us the rest of the way into the perimeter. I was surprised at the organization and activity of the army. Tents were set up strategically, latrines built on the far corner of the settlement, and all the soldiers either worked on equipment or trained. I would have guessed that morale would have been lower and the camp a quiet reflection of the despair the men must have felt at their hopeless situation.

In the center of the cantonment stood a large tent flying the orange and purple colors of Nia. Maerc stepped out of the canvas flap and his blue eyes lit up when he saw me. He wore his informal chain armor and the polished links caught the first rays of the sun’s descent.

“Duchess Nadea is present! Salute, you dogs!” he yelled. Everyone within earshot stopped their activity and saluted me at full attention.

“Come inside, Duchess.” He turned to his son after I limped in and sat down. “Can you bring her some food?” Runir looked at me with concern and then darted out the flap. I realized that I had lost Gerald and Inada, but then I relaxed when I recognized their voices outside the general’s pavilion. They were given rations and directions to the medical tent where they would help with the wounded.

“I thought you died, Nadea. When Runir found you in the dungeon it was the first piece of good news we have had in a long time.” Maerc never smiled and the movement split the lines of his face like the rain carved furrows in ancient granite. I nodded and grinned back, but my expression was forced. Runir’s father was a stoic general and I had never seen him smile. He may have been happy to see me, but he’d just lost his kingdom and the king, so I doubted he felt any real joy. His grin made me feel uneasy.

Something was wrong.

“Tell me of what happened after the meeting. That was the last time we saw each other.” He sighed in sadness.

I recounted the same tale I had told Runir. Halfway through my narrative, the blonde man returned to the tent with a bowl of broth, bread, and a chunk of cheese. I took a few small bites of each and sipped the soup. The food warmed my body and made me long for sleep. I noticed the two men seemed impatient, so I set aside the tray and continued with my story. After it was over, and I explained to Maerc that Nanos had betrayed us and was keeping me alive so that the empress could interrogate me, I picked up my food again.

“I’m going to kill that fucking runt,” Maerc finally spat after his face had regained most of its color. “I always cut him too much slack because of his father. I never thought he would do something so cowardly. The king and I believed his behavior would mature as he aged and grew used to small doses of responsibility.” Runir opened his mouth to give his opinion but I interrupted him.

“How did you two escape? Did you see my father?” The questions had been bouncing around in my head since my dream. I assumed him dead and almost didn’t want to ask the question.

“Last I saw of him was during the meeting. He split from me to go gather the Council. Once the Losher army invaded the interior of the castle I tried to rally our troops to make our defensive perimeter in the hallways. We had anticipated the possibility of that scenario and had procedures for where we would fall back. Unfortunately, the Loshers knew exactly what we were going to do and stopped our maneuvers. I suspected that we had a traitor, but I didn’t think it was the prince.” Maerc put his head in his hands.

“The call went up that the king had fallen and by that point the Losher warriors were so entrenched in the castle that they actually defended it from us,” Runir continued for his father. “We called a retreat and fell back to our secondary location. Then we moved around the perimeter of the city for a few weeks until we ended up here. We have almost two thousand loyal troops.”

“We have to find out if my father is alive and rescue him,” I said. The Ancient from my dreams had made one thing clear in her cryptic messages: I had to find my father.

“It is too risky.” Runir shook his head. “We need to retreat, regroup, and plan a way to take the castle back.”

“You were just about to charge back in through the sewers to save Nanos, but now that it is the duke you don’t want to be ‘too risky?’” I saw him wince at the words. I should have regretted them but I didn’t; if my father was alive, he needed me.

“It’s not like that, Nadea.” He frowned.

“I agree with Runir. We were ready to go free Nanos before we knew that he betrayed Nia. Now that I have heard about the deal he struck with the empress, I do not think we are safe here. He will comb the countryside trying to find you. We must fall back to a safe area where we can resupply and work with another country to strengthen our tactics. Brilla is the best choice for us. Surely you see the validity in our plans?” Maerc’s face looked similar to Runir’s as he tried to convince me of their decision.

“Let me consider for a moment.” I leaned into my chair, food forgotten, and struggled against the overpowering emotion that ran through me. If my father was alive, I couldn’t leave. He would have knocked down the walls of Nia’s capital to save me. There was no way he would let Maerc convince him that they would be better served by retreating. But how would I rescue him? I didn’t even know if he lived or where they had him captured in the castle. We didn’t have enough troops to siege the massive fortress. The situation seemed hopeless. Weight bore down on my shoulders and I felt exhausted.

“I have a question for you, Maerc,” I said softly. He leaned in to hear me better.

“Yes?”

“Are you still sworn to Nia?”

“Yes of course!”

“And to the royal family of Nia?” I continued.

“Absolutely, but you know that this is the best decision!” He tried to convince me again.

“I agree with you at this moment Maerc, but I need more time to consider. Do you believe my father to be dead?” The older man hesitated and looked to his son. I couldn’t understand the glance they exchanged.

“Yes, Nadea. I feel that he has perished. It pains me to think that Beltor is gone, since we grew up together much like you, Runir, Jessmei, and Nanos. He is my best friend and I swore and oath to protect his family.” He leaned back in his chair and wiped the stress from the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “The prince obviously kept you because of the empress, but he would have no reason to keep your father alive.” I nodded and tried to swallow my tears.

“Then I am the last living member of the royal family,” I stated. The two men paused and looked at each other again. “Jessmei is a prisoner of the Ancients, the king is dead, Nanos is a traitor, you believe that my father is dead and the queen was never part of the line. Am I correct?” They nodded.

“We … are at your command, Nadea,” Maerc agreed. “But please understand your position. There isn’t much of Nia left and we must do what we can to preserve it.”

“I understand your reasoning. As I said earlier: I will need time to plan our next steps. Your counsel is welcome though, and I will consider what you have told me today.” Maerc’s face went white as he realized that I was taking control. Runir looked flabbergasted.

“Where will I be sleeping?” I rose on one leg and reached down to cradle the half-finished tray of food and soup. I didn’t believe Maerc would challenge my authority, but I wanted to be alone so I could strategize.

“Wait,” the general said as he stood. He glared at me. I met his gaze and didn’t back down from the icy blue stare. He was sworn to the royal family, and if I needed to muscle him into submission, I would. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I prepared to fight.

“What is it?” I asked and was surprised at how calm I sounded.

“Sit down, Nadea. Before I turn what remains of our army and kingdom over to you, I would like a few questions answered. Questions everyone has had for a while, but the king and your father instructed us to keep to ourselves.” His mouth twisted into a sneer and I felt my body suddenly get cold.

Oh shit.

“Can it wait until tomorrow? I am exhausted from your son’s rescue.” I forced the words out as confidently as I could, but they lacked the strength of my earlier commands.

“No. This will only take a few moments. Sit.” I sighed and returned to my seat. I had wondered how many people knew of the circumstances surrounding my research of the O’Baarni. I did not realize that it had been my father and the king who had kept others from prying.

The bowl of soup rested in my free hand and I lifted it up to my lips and took a long sip. I was still hungry, but I also wanted to buy myself even a few more seconds. I wouldn’t lie to Maerc, but the truth would be something he may have a hard time believing.

“I’ll get to the point.” He cleared his throat and suddenly looked nervous. The sun began to set and its orange glow was softened by the white canvas of the tent. It reminded me of lazy autumn days spent exploring the keep on the eastern border. “How did you find the ruin that housed Kaiyer? Explorers, treasure seekers, and historians have been looking for hundreds of years for any evidence of the O’Baarni. You took four. Granted, you are an exceptionally intelligent girl, but many of the generals and nobles wondered how you were able to do it.” He smiled a bit to soften the question. I noticed Runir shuffle uncomfortably to my left.

“I don’t understand what this question has to do with anything relevant at the moment. Kaiyer is dead, the king is dead, Nanos has betrayed us to our enemies, and we are trying to pick up the pieces and put the kingdom back together. Why are you so interested in the methods I used to find the ruins?”

“People talk, Nadea. Your father’s soldiers told us stories of you. Maybe it was because you lost your mother so young, but rumors were that you locked yourself in your study and carried on conversations with imaginary creatures. Some wonder if you have dealings with demons or the Ancients.”

“Stop right there.” I held up my hand. “Have I ever demonstrated any sort of odd behavior around you?”

“No, but that—”

“How about you, Runir? Do you think I strike bargains with demons?”

“No! Absolutely not.” The blonde man smiled and shook his head.

“So there isn’t anything else for us to speak about. I found the ruin that housed Kaiyer’s body by researching ancient scrolls that were previously undiscovered. It is as simple as that.”

“Documents that no one has seen but you,” Maerc argued back.

“They are fragile and could not be moved or they would disintegrate.”

“Where are they stored now?” the general asked earnestly.

“In my father’s keep. In my study. I still don’t see why this is so important to you.”

“It is important because I don’t believe you,” the general said flatly.

“Fuck you, Maerc. I don’t have to explain myself to you. I’m leaving. Where is my tent?” Anger grabbed hold of my brain and forced the words out like a waterfall. I struggled to my feet and tossed my bowl aside. I had finished all of my soup so it didn’t make much of a mess on the rug.

“Sit down, girl!” Maerc shouted as he slammed his fist on the table and stood again. I smirked back at him and crossed my arms. I could argue with Greykin all day long. Runir’s father was half of the old warrior’s size and a quarter as intimidating.

It took all of my focus and strength, but I managed to take a step closer to him without limping or wincing in pain. I drew myself up as straight and tall as my leg would allow and glared at him.

“I am the commander of this army, by law and by blood. You do not give me orders. You do not call me ‘girl,’” I seethed the words.

“This is why I suspect you, Duchess.” The general reached into a pocket and withdrew a folded piece of yellowed paper with the purple royal seal on its opening. I held my breath and counted to ten, it allowed my swimming vision to right itself. “I wanted you to come clean, but I should have suspected you would just lie. You’ve been lying your whole life, haven’t you?”

“I don’t know what you are hinting.” I couldn’t bluff this. The letter was probably from the king, and he knew everything. I looked over my shoulder at the flap of the tent and saw the shadows of guards posted at the exit. There was no way to escape past them with my injured leg. I wondered if I would have been better off with an interrogation by the empress.

“Maybe I should read this letter to you,” Maerc opened it carefully and cleared his throat. “You’ll want to sit back down for this, Nadea.” He eyed me over the rim of the paper. Runir shuffled again and I glanced over at him. His face contorted in agony and I guessed he must have known what the letter said.

“You need not read it,” I said as I sat down, my body shivered like it did when the temperature suddenly changes. “I can guess what is written there. It is from the king, correct?” Maerc nodded his head. “How did you get it?”

“He gave it to me a few days before the siege started and made me swear never to open it unless he died. I believed it would be instructions for protecting his family, the kingdom, or maybe knowledge of a weapon that the ancient castle might hold. I never thought it would be about you.”

The blonde man finished speaking and I sat in silence for a few minutes. My father and I almost never spoke of my secrets. I understood why the king might want Maerc to know; I wished it hadn’t come to this.

I wished I did not have to tell anyone.

“Why don’t I begin by reading his letter and then you can comment on it.” The general cleared his throat and began. I was sure that Runir already read it, so Maerc probably wanted to recite it to destroy any ambiguity I could use as a defense with his son.

The coldness of fear gripped my stomach as soon as the first words of the king’s letter left his mouth and my secrets were laid bare before both of them.

Chapter 10-The O’Baarni

“What brings you here, human?” the old Elven’s voice sounded like paper being slowly torn.

“I am seeking someone, one of your kind,” I said. My hand strayed down to my belt to rest upon the hilt of my mace, but it had been countless years since I wore the weapon and my palm met with empty air.

“If you have come here to kill me then be done with it.” The Elven resembled a gnarled gray tree, the kind that grew out of hardened cliff sides and didn’t realize that they were dead, even after the wind has twisted and ripped all their leaves away.

“No, Old One. I mean you no harm, and I apologize if my movement may have convinced you otherwise.” I looked down at my hand, slightly ashamed that it seemed to have a mind of its own. The venerable Elven grunted and turned back to his task. We stood in an ancient temple, buried hundreds, maybe thousands of feet under the earth. I followed her trail down here and it had been three days since I felt the sun or wind on my face.

The man shuffled away from me and slowly brushed off the top of a long stone platform. It almost looked like it could serve as a bed. Perhaps his robes were once blue, but they had faded to a gray that matched his hair, skin, and eyes. He reminded me of a statue, both in appearance and in his slow, jerky movement.

“I am seeking someone, one of your kind. I believe that she has come this way.” I repeated. He seemed to remember me again and then the decrepit Elven turned around with suspicion.

“What is your business here?” he said again. I sighed. How old was this husk? I had never seen an aged Elven, but this man looked like he may have sired the rocks that built this temple.

“Has anyone passed here recently? A woman with copper-colored hair?” His eyes lit up for a second. He had seen her; even this befuddled golem couldn’t forget her beauty.

“Yes. She passed this way, two months ago, I think, but it is hard to tell time. It may have been years.” I nodded. It wasn’t years ago. I spied her in the distance almost three weeks ago as she crossed one of the mountain passes twenty miles from me. I thought I had been gaining ground, but then I lost her when I missed the descending path she took to this place.

“Did she say where she was going next?” I jarred him out of whatever reverie he was experiencing and wondered how long it had been since he conversed with someone living besides me.

“She used the Radicle,” he said plainly. I waited for him to give an explanation, but his tone seemed to infer that I should understand the word he spoke.

“What is the Radicle?” I asked. He was the first person I had talked to in the last half of a year, but I wanted to finish the conversation so I could continue with my pursuit. He smiled at me and closed his eyes.

“How the knowledge has been lost. Even amongst our masters, time destroys all. Will you sing one of our songs of the world with me Human?” His voice began to rumble softly and alter in pitch every few seconds. I wanted to snap the old man’s body into three pieces, but I wouldn’t get what I wanted from that course of action. Besides, I wanted to be done murdering Elvens.

“No. I won’t sing with you. Answer my question.” I tried not to let anger infiltrate my voice. He obviously didn’t care if I killed him.

His baritone voice grew louder and erupted into a song. It did sound beautiful, and although it lacked words, his voice reminded me of tree leaves blowing in the wind. His face seemed to lose much of the age by the time he finished. He smiled at me and took a huge breath before he addressed me again.

“The Radicle is how we got here, human.” He looked down to his task and continued to polish off the top of the stone table. Yellow and green light bounced off the strange metallic walls and illuminated the massive dome. This temple contained dozens of them, filled with too many stone tables to count.

This was the fourth temple I had followed Iolarathe to, and although I didn’t understand why she visited these places, this was the first one where I had found a living Elven. I wasn’t about to give up on my inquiries so easily.

“How Elvens got here? What do you mean?” I demanded. She must have been seeking this Radicle object.

“You ask the same questions the woman asked. It saddens me to know that our ways have been forgotten. Why haven’t you remembered human? I see the power of the world is strong in you. My teachers wondered if this day would come, when one like you would forget how to use the Radicle.” He shook his head slowly in disapproval.

“What did you tell the woman? Can you explain what the Radicle does?” I folded my arms across my chest and sat down on the cold stone bench. This place smelled of earth, mold, water, and moss. I felt my anxiety build in stark contrast to this ancient place.

“The Radicle helps us grow new worlds. It is the vessel of expansion for the masters.” He smiled slightly and bobbed his head like an owl. He noticed that I didn’t seem to understand so he continued. “We use the Earth to move our bodies and spirits between them.”

“How does it work?” The hair on the back of my neck stood as his words struck a chord in me.

“She also asked me that. I will show you.” He pointed down a long corridor behind him. I nodded and he slowly moved toward it, dragging his robe and body like a snake that was about to freeze to death. This temple lay under a massive rainforest. Roots of the canopy pushed into the structure, past the green-gray stone of its walls, and dangled from the ceiling like the fingertips of a hand about to capture us.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose farther and I couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness. It had been six or seven months since I visited the village of the beautiful blue-haired Elven woman that claimed to be Iolarathe’s friend. She had given me directions to chase after my lover. Had I covered my trail enough? Did I leave too many clues? I was chasing Iolarathe as they were hunting me.

“Here is where the seeding is controlled,” the old man said as he walked into a smaller, circular room. In its center stood a pedestal, encircled by a stone table similar to the benches in the other rooms. On the pedestal sat a globe with fine etches on it. Networks of vines, knotted branches, and roots played across its surface from the ambient light of the room.

“This seeding has access to forty-six other worlds that will sustain life. It has seeded only seventeen of them.”

“Worlds?”

“Spheres that circle different suns. Set at the right distance to have correct temperatures and satellites to support oceans.” I remembered Entas telling me similar tales many, many years ago. Did the old man know of these devices the Elvens possessed?

“You can create a world using this chamber?” My mind spun impossibly fast. I never imagined such a feat was possible.

“No. This transports our people and the masters to the various worlds that can support life.” His voice began to show some semblance of passion and emotion.

“Did the woman use this?” I remembered the current purpose of my life. She had always been my focus.

“No. She wanted to, but this Ovule only contained enough power to send one person. She sent her companion and told me she would come back when she obtained another Ovule.” He pointed at the small metallic sphere that sat atop the pedestal.

“She had someone with her?” I hadn’t recalled seeing anyone else when I spotted Iolarathe climbing the mountain range.

“Yes. But when she found out that this Ovule would only send one, they argued for many hours. The Elven woman with the coppery hair you are asking about sent the human across the void to seed world four eight seven seven six three nine.” He moved to the Ovule and placed his hand upon it as he spoke. Suddenly the room darkened and a golden network of bright lines descended on the walls and ceiling around the room.

“It is there,” he whispered, and one of the marks on the wall started to glow as it formed a dot.

“Who made this place? Your masters? Who are they? I didn’t think Elven had any masters.” I stared with wonder at the etchings along the wall. It almost looked like a network of spider webs, yet more organic and asymmetrical. Was each twist a new world? Were humans on them? Elvens?

The old man laughed softly and took his hand off of the globe. The golden lines that glowed suddenly faded and the ambient light in the room became brighter.

“You are our masters. Humans that wielded the power of the Creation have ruled our kind for millennia. I do not mean to mock you, I just find it unusual that you do not seem to know these things. How could this be? I ask myself, but realize that you will not remember how your kind lost the knowledge.” He smiled at me again.

“Your masters built this temple? They created the Ovule and the Radicle?”

“I do not know. The magic might even be older than them. But perhaps they were the creators. I was tasked with tending to the Radicle and helping those who have made the journey or wish to make one.” I nodded to his reply.

“How does the Radicle work? Why can the Ovule only send a single person?”

“I will answer your last question first. The Ovule only has enough energy to send or receive a certain amount of life force.”

“Can it be recharged? How do you gauge how much energy it has to send?” I could tell that I asked the questions too quickly. His old mind was almost gone and he struggled to keep up with my queries.

“I do not know how to recharge it, Master. Once you use it, the Ovule will inform you of how many life forces it can send through the Radicle.”

“Answer my earlier question, how does it work?” I smiled at him and tried to appear friendly. I had started to believe that I had overcome my hatred of their race, but as I spent more time here, I began to despise his scent, voice, mannerisms, and his haughty attitude. I wanted his answers more than I wanted to murder him, so I kept my disgust in check. I didn’t want to kill anymore. I only wanted Iolarathe.

“You channel the world through the Ovule, and then it will display the map of seed worlds to which you may journey. You may request information about each world, its human and Elven populations or weather, for instance. More importantly, it can discern how many seed worlds the destination Radicle can reach.” He took a deep breath and his eyes glazed.

“Continue, please.”

“I have lost my thoughts. Please forgive me, Master.”

“You were explaining the Radicle. How do you select a world and how does it send you?”

“The Ovule guides you in your selection. Then you lie down on a pedestal, draw Life from it, and then sleep. When you awake, you will be at your destination. I would show you but this Ovule is …”

“Is it really that easy? Can anything go wrong?” I almost spit at him. This was taking too long. I wanted to leave this place and be out under the open sky. I could not shake the feeling that danger was near us.

“It is a simple process, which is why I do not know the answers to your deeper questions. There is always a possibility that things can go wrong, but I have never heard of such a thing. Of course, it has been many centuries since I have had contact with anyone besides you and the two that came before you.”

“Who came with the copper-haired woman?” I asked with a jealous burn in my chest. Fuck me. I thought I was past this.

“A human girl. I cannot tell your ages, but she was not yet a woman.”

“A human?” I didn’t believe his words. Why did Iolarathe travel with a human girl?

“Yes,” he said with a nod.

“That doesn’t make much sense. The woman hates humans. What did this girl look like?” The old wizened Elven leaned back in his heels and I thought for a second that he might faint. Then I realized he was just trying to recall.

“She was a beautiful girl, with long auburn hair and green eyes. They looked like yours, actually,” he said as a gentle smile creased his face and interrupted the countless wrinkles. My body went cold and numb as soon as the words left his gray lips.

“She had green eyes like mine?”

The Elven man nodded.

“I can see a resemblance in the cheekbones and mouth also. She looked remarkably like you. Her scent was similar as well.” He inhaled slowly and then closed his eyes. The coldness grew in my body.

“What did the girl call the Elven woman?” I knew the answer before the old man spoke.

“She called her ‘Mother.’ I found it odd, but didn’t ask questions. They were both upset that only one of them could leave this world. They spoke of humans chasing them.”

“The girl used this device, and then where did the Elven go?” I tried to stay calm in a storm of emotions. How did I not know this? Iolarathe’s trail was incredibly hard to follow, but I should have seen some evidence of a child accompanying her.

The old Elven stared at me for almost a minute before answering.

“The woman claimed knowledge of another Ovule. It was part of her argument with the human that finally convinced her.” He nodded to himself, pleased that he remembered.

“Did she say where it was located?” I growled. I felt at my limit of frustration. The years of wandering alone through the wilderness had whittled down my patience and conversation skills.

“No,” he said quickly. He was lying.

“Is there another path out of this temple?” I’d let the old man have his lies. I had a few guesses as to her destination and I was used to tracking the woman.

“She left through the south canyon. It follows a spring until it meets a river two miles from here. It is the farthest I have ever traveled.” I was surprised he didn’t lie again, but he probably believed I wouldn’t catch her.

“What of the girl?”

“I assume she has awoken on seed world four eight seven seven six three nine.” This too sounded like a lie.

I wanted to ask him more, but I suddenly sensed another presence. The disturbance stopped my volley of questions and I listened to the empty place. I heard nothing unusual, but my intuition had never failed me. It was as if the still, dead air of the forgotten temple pulsed like a stone crashing into a pool of water. The old Elven seemed to sense the same disruption I did, and he looked at me with a question. I pointed to the small passage that led farther up the tower to what I assumed were his private chambers. He moved toward it, but they were too fast.

I jumped sideways across the smooth floor to avoid the throwing spikes that targeted my center mass. The old Elven didn’t even scream as the missiles tore through is back, skull, and legs. Maybe he had already predicted that he would die today.

I rolled on my shoulder into a side handspring that carried me high off the ground. Then I pushed my feet off of the wall of the temple and threw myself through the air toward the other entrance to the chamber. It was a risky move, but it paid dividends, I collided into one of the three attackers and smashed my elbow into his jaw. His face shattered into a dozen bone fragments and he tumbled backward off balance.

The two other O’Baarni were women, but I didn’t have time to register their faces before they drew their curved long swords in a perfectly coordinated attack to rip me into four pieces. I managed to parry the flat of the top blade with the palm of my hand, but the lower one sliced me across the rib cage deeply, cracking bones, tearing muscle, and cutting my flesh. I registered the pain like it was the bite of a fly. Giving an opponent the satisfaction of an injured gasp wasn’t a winning strategy.

“Surrender Kaiyer!” I recognized her face and her black hair, although it was longer than I remembered.

“Lemarti,” I stated. It had been almost a year since I had encountered any of my soldiers. They wore snake-etched leather armor that was much easier to travel in than the plate we all used to wear.

“I’m sure there is a misunderstanding.” She frowned and narrowed her dark eyes at me. Her hair was long and black like a pool of spilled ink. I didn’t recognize her companions but they were probably also part of Alexia’s command. “Come with us so you can explain.”

“No.” I didn’t smile. “There was no misunderstanding.” I saw their eyes open in shock. They hadn’t expected me to admit my guilt.

The man whose face I had broken struggled to his knees. He wouldn’t fully recover for another five minutes, but I saw his jaw beginning to realign. The O’Baarni were almost impossible to kill without cutting off a major limb. I wouldn’t have a chance barehanded. Especially against three of our warriors.

Especially against Lemarti. She had been one of my bodyguards and spent countless hours training with me. In our past sparring matches, I beat her, but now I carried no weapon and was outnumbered.

Lemarti opened her mouth, but I interrupted her question by dashing toward the other woman that circled me. I guessed that she was the less experienced warrior and my sudden attack did catch her off-balance for a split second. Her sword cut to my hip and I felt it dig into the side of my stomach on my right. My arm shot down and trapped the blade against my wound so that she couldn’t pull it back out. I continued my movement forward and slammed my hand into her throat. The force broke her neck like a piece of brittle wood. She might be able to heal the damage, but in the meantime, her limbs wouldn’t respond to any of the directions her brain sent. I easily pulled the curved weapon from her grasp while her paralyzed body fell back onto the cold stone floor.

I almost didn’t get my new sword up in time to parry Lemarti’s attack. It was aimed at my shoulders and her second cut came in low, toward the injury that her companion inflicted earlier. I blocked this one as well, but realized it was just a feint when her leg came up in a front kick and slammed with precision into the side of my right knee.

My leg screamed and buckled sideways. It was bearing more than half of my weight, so I fell down to it and desperately adjusted my right leg so that I remained upright. Lemarti’s sword came crashing down on my upturned blade. She was slower and weaker than me, but her position gave leverage, and our blades screamed in frustration when they connected.

She attacked again with whip-like strikes of her weapon that kept me from standing or returning any sort of offense. In the meantime, her male companion rose to his feet and reached for a small quiver at his belt. I guessed they were more of the metal darts he threw at me earlier. They would be heavily poisoned to ensure I stayed at the edge of death and unconsciousness.

I needed to get away from Lemarti, and my broken knee had almost healed, or at least, I thought it was strong enough to carry my weight. I blocked her next series of attacks and made a half-hearted riposte toward her crotch. She blocked the thrust and spun away, so I took the opportunity to push backward with both feet and launch myself to the other side of the chamber with a roll.

The man with the darts launched the missiles at me in three quick successions. I swept the first two aside with my blade, but the last one sunk into my right shoulder a few inches. I felt the poison begin to crawl through my arm with the strength of time and the urgency of death.

He smiled at his victory and then drew his sword. It was a waiting game now. They just needed to stay alive until the drug pulled me into a coma. I guessed the toxin would only need a minute and a half.

It was gospel throughout the ranks of my army that I was a master of the Earth, but when I first struggled to control the Air I was worse than terrible. Entas would constantly berate me in front of Thayer and Alexia for my failures, while giving praise to my friends. Eventually I became adept with Air, and I spent many hours alone practicing the techniques until I mastered the Element. By then, the rumors in the army had already been set and I saw little reason to demonstrate that I was skilled with Air and the esoteric Water.

I hardly ever used Air during battles, and Lemarti probably counted on a physical fight of Earth versus one of Air. I could use that surprise to swing the conflict my way. I was going to need some luck, or I would be captured and fail in my goal.

The poison grasped my chest and fought against my heart when I drew more Earth and forced Wind through me. There was absolutely no breeze in this temple, but the movement of our bodies during the battle created some motion. I had reached the point of my magical understanding where I pulled and pushed the Elements to wherever I wanted and in whatever manner I needed.

The fire leapt toward the man like a crossbow bolt. He anticipated my magic and dove out of the way as a twisting dolphin through water. Lemarti dove forward with a vertical cut at my head. Her attack was slow, just a movement to keep me occupied while the toxin did its work. I blocked it and the next three attacks she swung at my upper body.

My injured knee supported my weight, but I wasn’t moving very fast because of the poison. She pressed another flurry of attacks, one high that I parried, and then another lower at my legs. I couldn’t deflect the last one and it scraped across the same knee she had just broken.

I winced in frustration but didn’t cry out.

The man who had dodged my Fire jumped into the melee and I found myself backed up against the wall, frantically blocking both of their assaults while they danced around me. Both their attacks were perfectly coordinated to prevent me from parrying, and I guessed that the pair often trained together. He would attack high while she aimed low. Then Lemarti would press my strong left side and the male would target my injured right leg. I had to make sacrifices with my parries, blocks, and movements to protect my head and other vital points. Within a few seconds of their combined effort, I was covered in shallow wounds, my skin slick with blood. I could no longer see through my right eye due to a nasty cut Lemarti had inflicted above it.

I needed space, another sword, and to be free of the poison flowing through my veins. I wanted to kill these fuckers. If I did not, Iolarathe would escape me, I would die at the hands of my friends, and I would never see the daughter Iolarathe and I had created. The daughter I had just learned of and yet desperately wanted to meet.

I needed to take a risk. I was already fucked and had little to lose at this point.

Overconfidence led to failure. When someone was successful, they tended to repeat the same maneuvers mindlessly. I was hoping this would prove true now. Lemarti and her partner had whittled me down and were sure of their victory. They launched their next volley of coordinated attacks in the same manner as their first onslaught. After a few more exchanges, I recognized their pattern and realized I only had one chance to succeed in a counterattack before the poison or blades rendered me unconscious.

Lemarti came in fast and straight at my abdomen while her partner cut across my right leg. Whereas before I had blocked Lemarti and tried to sidestep the man’s blade, this time I dove forward toward her thrusting sword. It sunk into my stomach and exited the small of my back. The weapon missed my spine by a few inches but still inflicted a wound that would have killed a mortal human. My right hand closed around her wrist and my left arm swung at the man’s head with as much strength and speed as I could muster.

His blade ripped into my calf, shearing the muscle and digging into bone. But my weapon reached its target unchallenged. It cut his skull in half like an over ripe watermelon. Lemarti screamed in victory when her sword penetrated my gut, but it instantly turned into a shriek of horror she realized that I had killed her companion.

She tried to yank her weapon out of my body, but I expected the movement. It was the last mistake she would make. My blade angled down at the tail end of my swing and took both of her arms off at the elbows. The limbs shot out blood and sprayed me in a waterfall of crimson. Her scream lasted less than another second before I pulled her sword out of my midsection and then slammed its point into her skull.

My vision spun vertically, swam, and plummeted into near darkness. All I tasted was a mouthful of copper and the poison. I wanted to faint, but instead I crawled on my knees to the other side of the room, past the strange pedestal, and to the body of the other O’Baarni whose neck I had broken. With my last bit of strength, I took the head from her shoulders.

I couldn’t risk anymore of them finding me. Or Iolarathe. Or discovering that we had a daughter.

The room had been beautiful before I arrived here. But now it was drenched in blood, ruined by violence, and its immortal caretaker was dead. My knees gave out from the poison and the side of my face dove into the cold stone tile. My skin burned and the cool smoothness helped comfort me. My chest tightened uncontrollably and I fought to catch my breath. I figured I would be unconscious soon. I should have felt remorse that I murdered three of my brethren. Fuck, one of them had even been someone close to me. But my only regret was that I would lose precious days on Iolarathe.

Chapter 11-Kaiyer

The surface of the Ovule pulsed for a split second before the familiar network of golden glowing lines flowed across the walls and ceiling of the chamber in a surprise of color. I looked at the knotted network of lines, braids, and ends but didn’t find the world that the old Elven indicated. Was that because I stood in a different temple?

My eyes drifted slowly around the roots as I examined them. I gleaned information about each shimmering dot as my eyes set upon it. One planet was mostly water, only able to support a small population of humans and Elvens. Another had tremendous weather patterns, and a larger proportion of humans to Elvens. Some had moons that affected their tides or their rotation.

My head filled with the memory of enormous spheres of blue, green, and brown spinning in black space, dotted with the far off glare of millions of stars. Iolarathe’s trail had grown cold by the time I recovered from the effects of the poison. I wanted to learn everything I could from the old Elven, but his death forced me to spend countless hours alone with the strange glowing orb. I recalled attempting to tease out its secrets as I had struggled to understand magic. Finally, I gave up, left the dead device in the desecrated temple, and followed the Elven woman.

Why did I chase Iolarathe? What fueled my obsession? It seemed we had created a child, but I did not know when the conception had occurred. Was it before she murdered my father and brother? When we met before the last battle and she asked me to surrender, to run away with her, did she know then she carried our child? Why didn’t she tell me? Did I ever meet the girl? The questions bounced through my head while the Ovule bounced from point to point across the webbed star map.

Shlara and my other commanders were pursuing me, and I knew that Lemarti’s group was part of their plan. I couldn’t remember anything about the woman, except that she had been my bodyguard. Did they send others to capture me? What had I done to make an enemy of my best friends? My brain struggled to remember, but I only recalled the sounds of white gulls flying overhead, the gentle murmur of waterfalls as they fell off the edge of islands that floated in endless blue skies. Sudden fatigue made my muscles ache. I was tired of running and working. I wanted to go back to the dreams where my mind was free to roam without the heavy weight of my body and its struggles.

“She said she would find another Ovule. She said that the human rulers possessed one. She would steal it and return here. The girl took the Radicle alone.”

It sounded like the old Elven’s voice, but I didn’t remember him saying that to me when we spoke. Did I follow Iolarathe to human settlements? I thought about Jessmei’s beautiful face, creased with worry while she waited for me to return with news of her father, brother, mother, Paug, and Nadea. She mattered now, this time mattered now.

Eventually I would remember the mistakes I had made in my past, learn what I had done to incur the hatred of my friends, my fellow generals. What I had done that had prompted them to imprison me forever in a deathless sleep. In this present time, there was one thing I could do that might help atone for my past transgressions.

“How many people can you send through the Radicle?” I wondered aloud, trying to determine the energy remaining in the device. The old Elven used the globe effortlessly. Not only was I unable to remember how to use it, I could not even remember if I had ever known how to use it. I hoped something here would trigger a new memory, or I could figure out the correct sequence of thoughts or movements needed to operate the Ovule through trial and error.

The small sphere spun in my hand, with just enough friction to generate a mild warmth. I had been so mesmerized by the glowing patterns on the wall that I had not realized the images of roots and intersections projected there were reflections of the lines etched in the orb.

Instead of seeking information about a planet, I focused on gleaning information about the Ovule from the device itself. It resisted at first, but I pushed a bit of power from the Earth through my body and into the small globe. I held back, the power, using only a little for fear of destroying it.

Or it destroying me.

Voices screamed and shouted in a familiar, yet incomprehensible language. Lean, strong men and women loomed over me, concern on their faces. They gathered around tables and poured hot, molten metal over—

I screamed as I realized they were pouring the mercury over my own head. The pain was incredible and my body struggled to keep up with the healing. It was too much damage too quickly. The air filled with the scent of my burning skin and hair. I choked and gagged as the steaming metal flowed into my mouth and down my throat, silencing my protests with burning quicksilver.

They chanted something alien. I could feel them harness the power of the Earth and Air. The metal slid over my face to cover my cheeks and chin. It smothered me with its lava weight and my eyes sealed closed behind layers of the hard substance as it began to cool on the surface.

I yanked my hand away and stumbled back over the stone bench. The light from the walls of the Radicle instantly became dark, leaving me enclosed in pitch blackness and silence.

For a brief second I believed that the sudden darkness meant that I really did have a layer of metal over my skull. But then I noticed the purple glow from the rooms beneath me. I hesitantly reached my fingertips to my face and sighed when I touched my familiar skin. I tried to piece together what they were saying. The language felt familiar, but as I tried to translate, my head began to ache with the effort. I was pushing myself too hard. Greykin and the other men bent on rescuing the prince and queen were probably in the castle now so I couldn’t spend any more time with this magic. I needed to help them with the rescue attempt.

Then I needed to get back to Jessmei.

Then I needed to figure out a way to kill all these fucking Elven assholes.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light beneath me and I could make out the smooth surface of the Ovule. The orb was slick, as if it were molten hot and liquid. I debated taking it with me, but I was unsure as to what would happen if I removed it from the pedestal. If I carried it with me in my pack it could be lost or stolen. I doubted anyone knew the location of this temple, or they would have already disturbed it and used or taken the Ovule. Even if someone knew of this place, I didn’t think any Elvens would be able to make it past the wurm monsters.

I felt confident that I could return to this room many years from now and it would be as I left it. I took one last look at the Ovule as I climbed down the stairs back toward the doorway that would take me out of the temple. The cold stone tables stood as silent sentries to my passing and their presence reminded me of the place that Paug, Nadea, Iarin, Greykin, and Jessmei woke me.

There were many platforms here, this temple must have been made to send or receive many people to other planets. The cavern that had imprisoned me only contained one bench. Did Malek pick this world for a reason? I felt a strong desire to return to the jungles of Vanlourn and explore my resting place now that I remembered more about the Ovule and Radicles. I did not recall seeing an Ovule in my chamber, but at the time I awoke I was disoriented and did not even know what to look for.

The door out of the temple opened easily and I peered out into the endless darkness. I didn’t spot any of the disgusting snake monsters, but that wasn’t conclusive. The mist climbing from the underground river was so thick that someone could stand twenty feet from me and I wouldn’t see them. I inhaled deeply through my nose, searching for the decayed, putrid odor that radiated from the foul creatures. I smelled only the dampness, crumbling stone, and fungus that made up the general scent of the underground.

I jumped across the endless void above the mists and grabbed onto the edge of the bridge that dangled over the entrance to the door, then I flipped myself over the ledge to land on top of the rickety structure. I cautiously retraced my steps through the network of support pillars until I came back to the spot where the spider-like wurm had tossed me off and separated me from Greykin. The stairway where they had fled looked undisturbed, so I set off after them. It had probably been an hour since we parted, but it was hard to tell for sure, the flashes of memory always disrupted my concept of time and reality.

I ascended the stairs through a few twists and paused to take another breath. I didn’t detect anything rancid, so I assumed the serpents hunted elsewhere. I was glad I wouldn’t have to encounter anymore since I had lost both of my swords and didn’t want to risk using magic on the narrow stairway. My mind floated away as I fantasized about a herd of wurms tearing into hundreds of Elven soldiers on a battlefield. One of the steps crumbled beneath my foot and I silently berated myself for daydreaming about Elvens being eaten by monsters.

My army must have missed some of the Elven fuckers. It would have been difficult to kill all of them. When Thayer and I escaped with our small band of humans, we wandered the world for many years, hiding in caves and forests, dodging Elven patrols until we grew skilled enough at fighting to mount an offensive. Perhaps these Elvens did the same and had waited for a time when the O’Baarni forgot their magic and grew complacent.

Once I finished ridding my planet of their kind, I would use the Radicle to travel to other planets. I would free humans from their servitude across all these worlds.

I would start on the world where my daughter had been sent. Of course, I didn’t really know how long I had slept, but if there was any chance that she still lived I would find her. Then I would free her from whatever slavery she endured. The old Elven said that humans were once masters of the Elvens and he indicated to me that it was a benevolent care. He had never seen what happened on a world where the roles were reversed. He never watched his people raped, murdered, enslaved, or used as beasts of burden. Nor did he have to live with hate driving every muscle of his body. Nor did he wake up and think of revenge each day.

I reached the top of the stairs and it spread out into a canopy of thick stone tiles. I saw chalk marks on the ground and smiled with relief. Then I picked up the trail after Danor, Greykin, and the other men. I had traveled thousands of yards away from the glow of the temple below and the darkness enveloped my sensitive eyes to where I could only see half a foot in front of me. Luckily, I still carried my pack on my back and the spare torches it contained. I pulled one out and used the power of the Earth and Wind to bring it to life. After its warm glow illuminated the space, I listened for noise from my friends, wurms, or any other possible creatures that dwelled down here. I heard nothing threatening, so I continued to follow the faint chalk line.

The trail led me to a stout iron ladder that ascended past the scope of my vision. It was dusty and red with rust. On closer examination, I noticed hand prints had disturbed the layer of dirt on the bars. If the rungs were strong enough to hold Greykin’s massive frame, I figured I would be safe climbing up, even though the metal looked as if it might crumble in my grip.

As I climbed, I wondered how the castle had been assembled upon the support beams, temple, and voluminous underground network of caverns. Did humans build it, or Elvens? How many years did it take to construct? I did not recall seeing any Elven structures of this size during my military travels across the world, so I guessed that it may have been constructed by humans during the period after I had been entombed. Paug once told me that the history of the giant fortress was so ancient and that ownership passed through so many different hands that it was impossible to know who had originally created it or its exact age.

If it was built after I had been entombed, then I must have slept for a very long time.

My heart and head felt heavy as I realized all of my friends were surely dead, and they had died hating me. I would never have a chance to apologize to them. I could never make it right. And I would never meet my daughter. Even if I found the world Iolarathe had sent her to, thousands of years had passed. She had surely perished, hopefully of old age. Hopefully after living a free and happy existence on a world without slavery. A world I had devoted my life to securing for her. But I would never know what she had endured.

Soothing breezes, floating islands, large white birds fly by, and I’ll allow the calm sound of water to relax me forever.

I let out my held breath and then took another to relax my fears. The iron of the ladder felt rough and I wrung my hands around the edges of it to help pull my consciousness back to the task at hand. Jessmei and Greykin needed my help, and while I didn’t care that much for Nanos, or his mother, they were important to the princess and the Old Bear. Rescuing them would piss off all the Elvens who had sacked the castle. Any deed that would upset Elvens was worth doing.

The ladder turned into a massive metal grate with a small door attached by a hinge the size of my fist. The hatch was open, but I listened carefully to make sure I didn’t hear anything. Once I was satisfied, I ascended through the portal and into the smooth stone tunnels of the sewers that I imagined ran from the giant spider fortress that sat atop of Nia’s capital city.

There were more chalk lines leading off to my right. I closed the door at my feet so that someone didn’t accidently fall down into the massive chamber. Then I set off after the chalk marks, hoping that I would catch up with them before they entered the castle.

Did Greykin have a strategy for the rescue attempt once they were inside the castle? I had made many mistakes on this mission, but the most obvious was not asking anything about the plan before agreeing to help. Even without a specific strategy, I could easily handle any humans I came up against, and the Ancients of today seemed weaker than any one of the hundreds of thousands of their vermin ancestors I had exterminated in my other life. As long as I was not grossly outnumbered, I could grab Nanos and his mother and walk out through the front door, killing anyone, human or Elven, who tried to stop us.

The chalk line made a sharp turn into a narrow hallway, but the line was then smudged out and continued in another direction. They must have journeyed down this route, determined that it didn’t lead into the castle, and moved onward. I walked for another half hour, past two more branching hallways that they had investigated, until I found a mark that was not crossed. I believed I had only spent an hour or so in the temple of the Radicle, but it must have been longer, or I would have caught up with them by now.

The smaller side tunnel took me to another ladder that led up forty feet to a wooden trap door. There used to be a lock on the latch from the bottom, but it had grown rusty and been broken by a hammer blow. I pushed on the hatch, winced at the loud screech the hinges made, and then moved into the dark passages of the dungeon.

I had not spent much time exploring the dungeon. My training area was technically in the dungeon, but I could access it without venturing into the darker parts of the underground. Paug mentioned that the jails were vast, but I did not imagine they could be any larger than the caverns and sewer system through which we had traveled.

The chalk marks led me away to what felt westward, but I was so disoriented from the spelunking that I could only guess at the direction. Unlike the markings made in the dank tunnels below, these were confident and sure. I suspected that either Danor or Greykin knew this territory. I walked for another quarter of an hour past cells that were only occupied by rats and metal bed frames that looked like tortured skeletons. The air was musty, undisturbed, and reminded me of the temple of my memory where I met the ancient Elven and learned of Iolarathe’s plan.

The path carried me up to a wide stairwell that led up to the next floor. I expected some of the pens to be occupied by prisoners captured by the Loshers, but the cells I passed were empty and surprisingly tidy. Even with my keen ears, I sensed only my quiet footsteps, the hiss of the torch, and the occasional scurry of a rat.

This floor had lit torches on the wall and I figured that this level must be in use. I paused on the edge of the stairwell where the hallway was and carefully listened for signs of life. I heard nothing, but I smelled the overpowering scent of blood and feces coming from the corridor to my right. The chalk marks showed that I should go to the left. After a few seconds of pondering, I decided to explore the right first.

I crept down the dungeon, cursing that I hadn’t been able to keep either of my swords. The torches on the wall were dark, but the one in my hand still gave me light. I continued another sixty feet across the dingy stone and rounded a corner. There were more cells here, doused torches, and bodies of four men stashed into the farthest cell. As I came toward the barred entrance, half a dozen rats fled away from the corpses in random directions. The dead were dressed only in their undergarments and had their throats slit. The blood from their wounds poured freely into a drain built in the center of the cell floor.

I didn’t recognize the bodies of the men. Their complexions were slightly darker than most of the humans I recalled seeing in Brilla or Nia. They had creased faces from too much wind and sun exposure, and their hair was thick and dark. I guessed that these were Loshers, and that Greykin’s warriors took them by surprise, killed them, dragged them here, and used their clothes. If that was the case, then they did an excellent job; I had seen no scuffs or blood marks on the floor.

I spun around and went down the hallway in the direction of the chalk markings. It turned a corner and revealed another endless corridor with empty cells on each side. I marveled at the amount of space devoted to imprisoning people and wondered why the builders of the castle would have thought they would have needed to contain this many prisoners. I preferred violently ending my enemies. It was less maintenance, and you didn’t have to worry about them seeking revenge. Of course, Malek did choose to make me a prisoner instead of killing me.

Perhaps I should have been thankful for his decision.

A cell to the left looked as if it had been used recently. It contained three beds with mattresses, metal food plates, buckets, and stacks of soap. Lonely shackles dangled from the roof and I wondered if one of the occupants once hung from them. A heavy door swung off its seal up ahead of me and I heard voices bouncing off of the cold stone walls like cymbals carried by the change in air pressure.

“Those fuckers probably went to the bar,” a voice said. Two sets of armored boots tromped down stairs. There was a right turn in the corridor about sixty feet ahead of me and from the sound of the man’s words, I estimated they were almost to the corner.

I sprinted back down the hallway, swinging my torch and channeling Air to extinguish the sputtering flame. It went out, leaving a trail of smoke I hoped was far enough down the corridor so that the men wouldn’t smell the sulfur. One of the torches on the wall hung unlit and I slid into the spot of darkness on my stomach just as the boots crossed the corner a few hundred feet from me.

“She is gone?” the larger of the two guards said. He wore leather armor of light brown. I suspected that he was a Losher soldier.

“This morn’ er medic told us she fella bettar, so da king probby ooved her.” His accent was thick and the words slurred almost to the limit of my comprehension. He wore chain mail, with a sun emblazoned on his tunic.

“Eh. Too bad. Any idea where he would have moved her?” the larger guard asked with a dry chuckle. Both of their hearts beat steady and I assumed that they weren’t alerted to my presence.

“Mayabe back up in da castle,” the guard wearing the embroidery laughed deeply. “Let ga, ya hard wha Uritr said, Ancient scared shit out of da king when day dout she would die. If you da anything da her you might half da answer da the king.”

“I’m not afraid of that little fucker.” The man spat on the ground. “No one kicks me in the face. I’m going to put my prick in every hole of that bitch until she’s pregnant.”

“Edder a kick da face dem having you dick ripped off. Dey prob wend up. Let’s go.” The bigger man nodded and they turned around and walked back down the corridor toward the exit.

The exchange confused me. They had mentioned the king but I thought he was dead. Were they talking about Nanos? Who was the woman locked in the cell? Was she lying to the Ancients? The heavy door slammed up ahead of me, and I realized too late that I should have killed one and then interrogated the other. I sprinted down the hallway after them, hoping that the next corridor they went through was another part of unoccupied dungeon.

I listened carefully at the door and caught the sounds of wind, half a dozen voices, footsteps, and distant yelling. This door must have opened to the courtyard in the castle, the way the entrance to my training room did. I contemplated kicking the thick slab of wood out off of its hinges and killing the Losher men. Then I realized that this would trigger the horrible alarm and put Greykin at risk.

After a quarter of an hour, it grew quiet, and I carefully opened the door. The exit led to a stone archway which was part of the Royal Gardens. Wind blew cold from the ocean to the west and I tasted the dew of early morning. The sun looked to be a little past dawn, but the arch sheltered me from its lukewarm rays.

I visited the garden before with Jessmei, so I remembered the way around to the main parts of the castle. The thought of lunch we shared those many months ago gave me a small smile and made my heart ache to see her again. That meal was the first time I met her brother Nanos. The young man had been arrogant, spiteful, and belligerent. I would have preferred to let him rot here with the Losher army and the Ancients, but Jessmei would want to know that he was safe, along with their mother.

Where would Greykin go? Probably the Royal Quarters, which was in the North Wing of the massive fortress. It would be a difficult journey to make with any kind of stealth. I crept through the garden and reviewed my memory of the castle. Perhaps I could scale the outside wall of the tower where the king held his meetings, enter through one of the high rooms, and work my way down to the main levels. It might be easier to do without discovery. Greykin and Danor wouldn’t take the path, but if we both found Nanos and his mother, then we would find each other.

The paths of the garden were still being meticulously maintained, and several gardeners wished me a happy morning as I walked past them. I smiled and nodded in return, and then I realized that I might be able to just freely walk around the castle. I didn’t have any weapons, and wasn’t wearing any sort of uniform. Guards would just mistake me for a poorly-dressed servant, my clothes were almost rags after all the traveling I had done in them. I did my best to appear confident as I opened one of the small side doors that connected the Royal Garden to the wing of the fortress where I had briefly resided.

I didn’t know how much damage had been inflicted on the castle during the siege and resulting occupation, but the inside of the hallways were as I remembered them. The dark wooden beams hung over the thick rugs that covered masterfully cut gray stones. The same paintings and other works of art hung on the walls. Even the indoor plants looked identical to what I recalled.

I worked my way to the familiar stairwell that would take me up to the floor where Paug, Nadea, Iarin, and I had stayed. It seemed so long ago that I roamed these halls. I felt a bit like a prisoner then since the king and Nadea wanted to keep the empress’s spies from finding out about me. Their plan had failed, the empress got me out of the castle for long enough to coordinate a siege, kill my friends, and conquer their home. Anger churned in my stomach as I thought about Paug and Nadea. The two people who had become my new family were now dead.

Time seemed to be a never ending circle. Here I was again, plotting revenge against an Elven that killed two people I loved. Of course, this instance was different. I had been in love with Iolarathe, I knew that now, and somehow I had made a mistake that cost me my friendships and sent me searching after the Elven while my own kind chased me.

I bore no love for this empress. I would rip the life from her slowly and relish every second of her demise.

A servant with a large basket of laundry passed me on the stairs and nodded to me. She dressed in Nia colors and was probably a little younger than Paug. I smiled at her when she went by and felt more confident of my plan.

“Excuse me,” I said to her back. She turned around and gave me a skeptical frown.

“I was supposed to start work today and I am lost. Someone told me to come up here to get my uniform.” I pointed down at my shabby tunic and pants I had worn for the last two months.

“Oh. You are actually in the wrong wing. You need to go to the West Wing and then down to the servants’ quarters in the basement. I’m surprised they told you the wrong wing.”

“They probably did tell me the correct wing. I just got lost.” I smiled at her. “This castle is really big.”

The girl thought to herself and glanced down at her sack of laundry.

“I have to take this to the basement to be washed. Afterward, I can show you where to go.” She pursed her lips nervously and looked around the vacant hallway. “We have to hurry though. I’ll get in trouble if I am away too long.”

“Thank you. I’d appreciate that. What is your name?”

“It’s Bethany. What is yours?” I suddenly realized my mistake, I didn’t have a name prepared and feared she would recognize mine.

“Paug,” I blurted out. I didn’t know if the boy’s name was common, but she smiled and continued to walk down the stairs. I followed her and did my best to look meek.

She carried the basket down to the first floor, walked a few hundred yards down hallways that I tried to memorize, and then took a side door to the basement. There were almost a dozen servants here, washing clothes, folding, and using a furnace to heat air that dried racks of sheets and garments. Bethany set down her basket and turned to an old woman who folded linens with the same efficiency that Thayer handled a sword.

“Paug here is new and got lost. I am going to take him to get situated.” The old woman eyed me suspiciously for a few seconds. I smiled at her and raised a hand to wave shyly.

“Fine. Get back here quick though.” The woman’s eyes narrowed. For a second, I thought she might have recognized me. ”Show him where the food is too. He looks like he is about to starve to death,” she instructed the girl before she turned back to folding. I sighed in relief and followed Bethany as she bounced out of the basement.

“It’s on the other side of the castle,” Bethany said to make conversation over her shoulder at me.

“How long have you been a servant here?” We passed two Losher guards and I looked down at the ground. They ignored us and continued to walk in the opposite direction.

“My whole life! There is plenty to do here. That was my grandma. She takes care of me now.” I glanced back at the Losher soldiers as they walked away. I could easily run behind them, pull one’s sword, and kill both in less than a second. My heart beat quicker as I thought about running around the castle, sword covered in blood while I murdered the people who had killed my friends.

“Are you okay, Paug?” the girl gaped at me with concern.

“Sorry. Just got distracted.” She took my scarred left hand in her right and pulled me along with her.

“Let’s go. Don’t look at those soldiers. I try to avoid them. We are almost there. I take a longer way because I don’t want to pass by the entrance to the Royal Quarters.”

“Why is that?”

“There are lots of those guards there, and I don’t like the way they look at me. I also once saw an Ancient!” She squeezed my hand eagerly. We passed another group of guards. Some wore Losher armor, but some wore Nia colors. I looked at the ground and hoped that they didn’t recognize me.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what they looked like? That is what everyone else does.” Bethany ignored the guards we walked past and they did the same to us.

“Sure. What did they look like?” I feigned interest to keep the girl talking.

“It was a woman. She was very beautiful. She had long hair with a gray sheen so it looked almost like metal. She had wonderful smooth, white skin and her eyes were red! Her ears were tall and went up to the top of her head. Can you believe it?”

“I don’t believe it.”

“You should. I never lie.” The girl stuck her tongue out at me. The expression reminded me of Jessmei. But it was just the playful movement. Jessmei was five or six years older than Bethany and many times more beautiful.

“Is it safe with the Ancients and the Losher guards here in the castle?” I asked her. She twisted her mouth as she tried to consider her answer.

“Grandma tells me to be careful around the new guards. There are fewer servants now and a lot more work. Maybe you can help us with laundry today?” I nodded and she smiled joyfully. Children were resilient.

We walked for another ten minutes and entered the opposite wing from the one where I had stayed. I had never been to this part of the castle, but the place had the same rich decor as the rest of the massive stone fortress. Bethany pulled me to a large stairwell that took us deep down to the heart of the fortress, where the servants traveled through the veins and arteries like blood.

The stairway ended in a giant room with three sets of doors on the other side. The entrance to my left was guarded by double swinging doors and servants moved quickly through them and up the stairs past us carrying trays of food. They smelled delicious, and my stomach growled in pain. It had been a while since I fueled my body.

“You look hungry Paug. Let’s get you food before we get you your attire.” I was going to argue, but another servant ran by and I caught the scent of meat, cheese, and bread. My stomach lurched again and I grinned at the girl.

“Sounds wonderful. Thank you.”

“It won’t be as good as the food they are carrying,” Bethany said. “But we may eat stew and bread from the kitchen, as much as we want.”

“As much as we want?” I smiled at her. I didn’t think she knew how much I could eat. She laughed at me and pulled me through the swinging doors.

I stopped as soon as I stepped into the room. This was truly the heart of the castle. Atop ten massive stoves, gleaming silver and copper-colored pots bubbled and steamed with stew, soup and other temptingly aromatic concoctions. The yeasty tang of fresh bread came from five ovens, baking enough loaves to feed an army. Or at least me. Cooks prepared meat, fowl and fish on a long wooden work table while servants chopped vegetables with dizzying efficiency. My salivary glands stung as the scents hit me and I realized how famished I was.

“Everyone is expecting breakfast soon, so they are getting ready.” I smelled eggs in the air and my stomach felt like it was trying to rip out of my skin and devour the food on its own power. In the far corner of the large room were two long tables. A handful of servants sat upon the benches and ate steaming bowls of stew while they whispered to each other.

“Sit down, Paug. I’ll get you a bowl. Do you want some water with it?” I nodded and watched the girl dash expertly between the cooks. I sat down at the table next to the smallest group of servants. Thoughts of Greykin, Nanos, and my rescue attempt were replaced with thoughts of sating my hunger.

Bethany set a bowl of stew, some boiled eggs, and a hunk of bread down in front of me. The scent made my mouth water and I grabbed the bread and dunked it into the rich, oily broth. It was scorching hot and seared the roof of my mouth and tongue, but I healed almost as quickly as I swallowed it down with pleasure.

“Whoops. I forgot water. Let me grab some.” I grunted and devoured another bite. By the time Bethany returned with a full glass I had finished the stew, eggs, and bread.

“Wow, you really were starving. Let me get you some more.” I inhaled the second and third plates as quickly as the first. I still felt ravenous and gave her an appreciative look. She was impressed with my appetite, but did not treat helping me slake my hunger like the irritating chore it was. I worried about the other duties I was keeping her from, but she did not seem concerned. I figured growing up as a servant in the castle had accustomed the girl to putting others before herself as normal and right.

“You are really hungry! I’ll get you another bowl, Paug. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone eat that much that quickly.”

“Bethany, maybe it would be more efficient to just bring the pot over to our friend Paug,” a familiar voice said from the other side of the table. I swung around to see the man who spoke. He was hard to recognize because the servant’s attire, shaved head, and full beard disguised his usual appearance.

The Duke of Nia was not dead.

Chapter 12-Nadea

“Maerc. If you are reading this letter, then I am dead and with my death our beloved Nia has fallen,” Runir’s father paused, cleared his throat and then took a sip of water. He looked over at me to make sure I was paying attention to the dead king’s words before he continued.

“Before I can release you from your oath to our kingdom, I require two tasks of you. The first will be the easiest to perform physically, but the toughest emotionally. If Nadea is still alive I need you to question and possibly kill her.”

“What?!” I shouted in surprise as I leapt to my feet. I forgot about my leg and pain flooded through my body, causing my vision to swim. I felt nauseated and the room began to spin.

“Sit down!” Maerc yelled at me again.

“Fuck you! He didn’t write that. You are lying.” I couldn’t stop my voice from sobbing. I didn’t understand why my uncle would want me dead. We had always gotten along and I loved him. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I took breaths in ragged gasps. The parchment in Maerc’s hand was close enough, but Runir intercepted my attempt to hurdle the desk and rip the note out of his father’s hands.

“I will show you the letter after I am done reading, Nadea.” Maerc’s voice and face softened. “I didn’t believe this myself when I read it; I grew up with your father and the king. We trained together, led troops together, and shared countless memories. I think of them as my brothers and my lords.” I tried to say something but my words came out a garbled mess. How could he want me dead? My chest felt like someone kicked it and I struggled to inhale. The small amount of food I ate earlier wanted to come up out of my throat.

Runir helped me limp back to the chair and he moved his stool over next to me. I looked at him and saw his eyes were watering. He put his arm around my shoulders to comfort me and I didn’t push him away.

“You will be shocked at my request, and even though you have sworn to serve me as a friend and an advisor, I would understand your hesitation to fulfill this order without explanation.

“As you know, Beltor and his wife attempted to conceive for many years and were unsuccessful. When Satina finally became pregnant, my brother was overjoyed. I’m sure you recall that celebration we had when we all heard the news. Shortly after that, my wife became pregnant with Nanos.”

The sound of my mother’s name brought forth more tears. Runir’s arm tightened on my shoulder and I buried my face in his chest to stifle my sobs. Why was the king doing this? I hadn’t expected an attack from him. Especially from across the grave. I had always lived with the fear and knowledge that someday someone would uncover my secret, but I had never imagined it would be my loving uncle.

“Let us wait a few minutes. We should have prepared you.” Maerc seemed sincerely concerned about me and I heard him pick up his water and take another gulp.

“Father, perhaps we should do this tomorrow? She’s had a rough few weeks and needs some food, drink, and rest.” Runir’s chest quivered as I pushed my face into it. I was practically sitting in his lap now, but I needed someone to be on my side. And I wanted them to think I was frail. I had learned long ago to leverage the power that came with being underestimated by men.

“She already ate. We need to hear her answers to this letter. I’m still not …” Maerc trailed off and I glanced up to catch the tail end of an exchange of looks between the father and son. I pushed myself away from my friend and sat up in my chair, putting some distance between us. Runir wasn’t on my side. He may have been in love with me, but he had always been his father’s son first, and I knew he would do whatever the general asked.

“Please continue. I don’t need a rest. You obviously have a purpose in reading this aloud now since you have disobeyed his last request.” I almost spit the words at him.

“What do you mean?” Runir asked.

“Well. I’m not dead yet, which means your father is disobeying orders. He must have some reason for waiting. Or he just refuses to be a murderer.” I tried not to glare at Runir, but I don’t think I succeeded. This was a fine line I needed to walk.

“Let me finish, girl.” Maerc sighed and looked down at the letter again. I tried not to react to his infuriating insistence on calling me “girl” and waited for him to continue.

“Unfortunately, during the birth, something went wrong. Both the infant and Satina were lost. You never heard of the baby dying, I only found out about it many years later when the midwife told me. I had been under the impression that Nadea was his actual child and that Satina died shortly after her birth. That was what my brother had led me to believe. I confronted him on the conflicting story. As you know, he is a thespian and wordsmith of amazing talent, but he did not fool me. Nadea was not his flesh and blood. She was something else. She was not human.”

Maerc stopped again and leveled a scrutinizing glare at me. I clenched my jaw and tried not to scream. The walls of the tent pushed in on me with resentment. I had always anticipated this revelation. Father had told me we needed to keep my secret and we conspired to ensure no one knew. I wished he had warned me about the king, so I could have planned for this eventuality, or perhaps spoken with the king directly to allay his fears. I nodded to Maerc and he continued.

“When Beltor found out that his wife and child died during the birth, he fled the castle and wandered the peaks of the Teeth for weeks. He told me later that he had gotten lost in melancholy and contemplated suicide. I had always been a little jealous of his relationship with Satina. As you probably suspected, my own marriage is political, and we care little for each other. My younger brother was able to enjoy the freedom to marry whom he loved.

“I digress and apologize. Continuing with my brother’s account: He stumbled upon a strange ruin in the peaks. It was surrounded by trees, and Beltor described it as one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen. The structure seemed to grow out of the ground as if it were carved from the earth. The inside was composed of odd stone that felt like iron. He said that there were dozens of stone beds arranged across the floor like caskets. He explored the building and followed the sounds of a baby crying.

“That is where he found Nadea. A small newborn babe left alone on one of the pedestals in the middle of the Teeth Mountains. There wasn’t another human soul within twenty miles, so my brother was puzzled as to how she arrived there. He searched the structure for her parents but didn’t find anyone. The child was hungry, so Beltor did his best to feed it small pieces of the dried meat he carried. Finally, he decided to take the infant back. During the journey he felt as if they were drawn together by a power beyond his understanding. He made her his daughter in the house and lied about her birth.

“Nadea grew and it became apparent that she wasn’t human.

“The girl was amazingly strong and her intellectual development was rapid. She began speaking and walking after a few months. By the time she was two years old she was easily reading all the books in my brother’s extensive library.

“It was at this age when I first met Nadea and I was impressed. Nanos, by all accounts a very normal child, could not do more than grunt, cry and make out a few words, while my niece of the same age engaged me in a conversation that was more enjoyable and intelligent than those I had with many of my advisors. I remembered her curiosity and her polite demeanor. Beltor was quite proud of her as you can recall, and I felt more jealousy, though I hated myself for it.

“Our various responsibilities kept my brother and I apart, but we still made a point to see each other and our families twice a year. So I watched the young child grow into a woman. While Nadea was exceptional in every way, I never noticed any cause for concern. It wasn’t until recently I learned that when the girl approached puberty, she developed an alarming physical characteristic on her ears. Much like our current enemies, they grew long, and the cartilage came to a sharp point that was easily seen as something alien.

“Once the growth became apparent, my brother and Nadea feared that questions would be asked. They decided that it would be prudent to perform surgery on the ears so that they appeared human.”

Maerc paused to look back up at me. Or more precisely, my ears. They were covered by my thick brown hair and I unconsciously brushed the locks away from the left side of my head to expose them. It was a move I practiced thousands of times with my father until he told me it looked natural. We had been so afraid of what would happen if anyone found out I was something different. With two opposing mirrors I could see the area where the operation had left a slight scar. The cut lay on the top helix of each ear, but was difficult to notice unless someone studied the cartilage closely.

I remembered when he had first told me that I was not his natural child. I was devastated. I cried every night for months. The bond we had felt severed, and I no longer felt close to him, the easy comfort and trust we had with each other was gone. I avoided him and the pained, pitying looks he gave me. Finally, I made myself talk to him and we discussed what this revelation meant. I grew to understand why he had kept this important secret from me until I was old enough to handle the information. I realized that he had always known I was not his blood and it had not mattered to him, so I was able to forgive him for the lie and allow myself to trust and love him the way I had before. He was still my father, he still loved me and wanted the best for me.

He told me the entire story, how he had found me, his theories on where I may have come from, and what we both could do together to make sure I cultivated a successful and happy life. It took almost a year for me to accept my heritage and the importance of lying about who I was to everyone I knew and loved.

“We explored the mountains for months and never came upon the building where he found me,” I said at last. “He was so frustrated that he couldn’t remember where it was. Perhaps he believed he dreamt of my rescue. But since I was here, it had to have been real.” I looked over to Runir and he nodded at me and gave me a half-smile. I felt relieved that he didn’t look at me with fear or disgust. The blonde man and I had been friends for so long he seemed like my brother, although I knew he did not look at me as a sister.

I wiped some of the tears from my eyes again and then did the same for my runny nose. While I was surprised by the direction of this attack, I had prepared for something like this to happen eventually. My emotions were more under my control and I began to plan my next steps to ensure I retained stewardship of the army. I could no longer claim royal blood entitled me to be the leader. I quickly ran through what I knew of Nia’s dynastic history and could not recall a precedent for adoption within the royal line.

“So it is true then?” Maerc asked. His eyebrow rose as if he still didn’t believe the king’s words.

“Yes,” I said flatly, wondering for a moment if I should try to lie. Would Maerc believe me now over his late king? It was a fantastic story and I could claim the king was insane or corrupted by someone. I decided it best to simply confirm what my uncle had revealed, lying was exhausting and it was too late to change what the king had done. “Is there more to the king’s letter?” Now that I had overcome the shock, I was morbidly intrigued as to why the king wanted me dead. The stoic general nodded and continued.

“When Nadea approached the end of her teen years, she suddenly became interested in the Ancients, the O’Baarni, and the various ruins that explorers had stumbled upon in the forgotten wilderness. I wanted to join her with one of the noble’s sons, but my brother convinced me, after many attempts, that she would be more of an asset to Nia if she pursued her interests instead of my political agenda. I canceled my plans for her to marry and she traveled the world doing research. Of course, I sound bitter now, but I let Nanos do the same thing and he chose to stay in Nia, enjoying his privilege and position while contributing nothing to the interests of the kingdom.

“A few years after the girl went on her first exploratory trip, we began to hear rumors of conflict in the Northlands. Six months later, we knew that the Ancients had returned and had somehow harnessed the Northern tribes to their war machine. I never suspected a connection between Nadea and the Ancients. I thought Nadea was my blood, and could not imagine that she would have any other motive than the prosperity of Nia. The impeding war and political dance occupied my time and energy, I did not think often of the duchess. It wasn’t until later that I puzzled out that Nadea’s first excursion had been to the Northlands, and that she did something there to bring the Ancients to our world.”

“That’s fucking bullshit!” I screamed in panic. My heart was beating so fast I wondered if it would jump out of my chest and run away. I started to shiver and felt incredibly nauseous. Bile moved up my throat but I forced it back down and it left a bitter taste of betrayal in my mouth.

“So that is not true?” Runir asked. No. It was more like a plea. He didn’t want the king’s accusations to be true.

“No! Why would I bring back Ancients? All of our legends spoke of the horrible atrocities they committed against us. It is—“

“You say us, but you aren’t even human,” Maerc interrupted me. His statement chilled me to the core and filled the room with a stale emptiness. He seemed surprised that the words had left his mouth. The three of us said nothing for a minute.

“I …” I began as I wiped back my tears. My head hurt as bad as my chest. “I’ve known you for as long as I’ve been alive, Maerc. Father and I never knew what my exact lineage was. All he would say was that I was a blessing that came to him when he most needed it. I don’t look like the Ancients, except for what my ears would have been.”

“I’m sorry Nadea. I spoke out. I …” the general paused and looked at his son. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks. This letter isn’t helping anything.” He set it down and leaned back in his chair and cupped his face in his hands.

“You did travel to the Northlands though?” Runir asked. I gazed at him through the tears. His eyes bore concern and I realized he didn’t want me to say yes.

“Yes, I did. Father and I heard news of another temple similar to the one where I had been found. We had never located the one in the Teeth Mountains. I went to the Northlands to see if I might find it and perhaps some hints as to my own origin.” My memory drifted back to five years ago. The Northlands were an unforgiving land of endless snow, rocky peaks of ice, and sharp cliffs. I could still hear the scream of the winds and feel the pain of coldness as it tried to claim my body.

“Did you find it?” Runir probed deeper.

“Yes. It was empty though, and half-buried in ice. It was similar to what my father described. The walls were made of smooth rock that seemed like fossilized wood. Inside were long stone beds. I didn’t know exactly how they worked, I still don’t, but they are able to transport people across time. We found Kaiyer on a similar pedestal in the Vanlourn temple.”

Kaiyer’s resting place was different from the four others I had discovered. His shrine was more of a small, smooth sphere concealed deep in the earth, like a seed planted into the soil. The others had been larger. Where Kaiyer’s contained hundreds of stone pedestals, his had only a single bench, as if it were crafted just for him.

“The king mentions him later in the letter, but we have spoken enough for the day. I think you need to rest, Nadea. We can continue this tomorrow morning,” Maerc said. Concern touched the corners of his eyes and mouth. It gave me hope that he wouldn’t order my death. At least not today.

“Finish,” I told him. I felt as if the worst part of this interrogation was over. They knew my secret and I could not change that. I was curious about the rest of the king’s message.

“Very well.” Maerc looked down to the letter on the desk and then continued.

“Nadea explored several other areas of the world; she was gone for a whole year when she went to Astical. When she came back, she convinced her father and I that she knew where the O’Baarni was located. She was confident he had been imprisoned by the Ancients thousands of years ago. It was a theory she had told me about a few times before, but now she seemed almost possessed by the desire to journey to Vanlourn.

“Nadea claimed that the only way that the O’Baarni could be awoken was through a series of phrases she had found in a book. There were only two people in the kingdom who could speak the language. I’m sure you know the rest.

“I never believed she would be successful in bringing back the O’Baarni. The man is dead now so it matters little if he was or was not this mythical hero. What does matter is that a night ago I received another letter from the empress. It arrived by messenger crow and was brought to me by Nanos.”

“Now this is starting to make sense,” I interrupted. Anger rose in my stomach again. No. it wasn’t anger. It was rage. I wanted to claw Nanos’s face off of his skull and show it to him while the fucker bled to death. He must have set up this whole affair to discredit me in case his coup failed. Maerc nodded before he continued.

“In the letter, the empress told us that Nadea was one of her agents and she had several more moles in the kingdom. I didn’t want to believe it, but the empress was able to pinpoint the exact dates that the duchess investigated the ruins. Apparently, she helped the empress perform a magical rite that allowed her people to come back from whatever place they lurked.”

“This is ridiculous. Nanos is the traitor. He knew exactly when I was leaving to do each exploration and he has been working with the empress from the beginning. He either forged the letter the king is speaking of or he asked the empress to send it on his behalf.” I looked at Runir for support and saw him nod. His face was blank though, and I couldn’t tell if he agreed with me or if he was just acknowledging my statement.

“There is a little left,” Maerc said.

“Please continue.”

“The letter the empress gave me was probably a distraction. I do not want to believe that Nadea is a traitor.” The breath left my chest again with a relieved sigh. Runir’s father paused to look at me. His mouth made a half-smile.

“However, there are many holes in her story that make me consider the possibility. What did she do at the various ruins she visited? How did she know where to locate Kaiyer? Where did she come from? Why did the empress specifically write to me about her? These are questions I can’t answer now, but if I live through this siege I intend to find out. If I die during this war, then you must ask them for me or force my brother to give you the answers. He is blinded by love for the girl and would never dream of her being malicious.

“If Nanos, Beltor, and I are dead by the time you read this, I fear she might seize control. Nadea cannot be allowed to rule the Kingdom of Nia if she does not have a valid explanation of these events. The people still believe she is of the royal bloodline, and beloved as she is, they will rally behind her if you attempt to expose her secret.

“Find Nadea, ask her these questions, and kill her if she tries to evade them. Make it clear you know the truth of her history. Then rescue my daughter.

“I am sorry my friend. It is a horrible burden I have placed on your shoulders. I have always loved you as if you were my brother and trust you to resurrect the kingdom if the worst has transpired.”

“Then he signed it. It is his handwriting,” Maerc said finally.

“Nanos organized this. He must have influenced his father. The letter also said the king didn’t believe that I was a traitor. I am not. I love Nia and have only tried to do what I can to protect us from the Ancients. You both have known me for my whole life.” I looked back and forth from Runir to his father.

“We’ve known Nanos his whole life too,” Runir said in anger. “If we believe you, we must believe he is the source of the betrayal.”

“I didn’t lock myself up in the dungeon.”

“That is true. But the king had some doubts about your motives. Perhaps Nanos did as well. Can you answer his questions? I want to believe you Nadea, but you admitted that you are not of the royal bloodline. What else of the king’s assumptions are close to the target? Why did you visit the ruins? How did you know about Kaiyer?” Maerc leaned forward and his blue eyes burned into mine.

I sighed, leaned back in my chair, and debated what to say. How much should I tell them? They would think I was insane. Perhaps I was. I was so desperate to find out more about my past that I almost ignored him these last few years. I should have just been happy that I had been adopted by a kind man who raised and nurtured me. Father never complained about my wish to understand more about my past, but I guessed he must have thought that I had not been satisfied with his love.

I would give anything to see and speak with him again. All the journeys and time spent on the Ancients and the O’Baarni were not because his love was not enough. I wanted to tell him that I loved him more than anything else in life. Memories of my childhood flooded into the darkness of my closed eyelids. He had been a wonderful father and I never spoke this truth clearly to him.

“I’ve always had dreams of a woman. She told me of the locations of the ruins in archaic ways and said I would learn more about my past and gain powers if I made the journey to each location.” The men seemed surprised. They didn’t expect me to tell them this.

“A woman? Do you know who she is? How often do you have dreams about her?” Maerc asked.

“I don’t know who she is. Her hair is long and the same color as fire. Her eyes are like pools of hot silver. She is beautiful.” I paused and took a deep breath. “She is an Ancient.”

They looked at each other in surprise and sat spellbound when I continued. It was the minimum amount of information that I could share, but it might spare my life and give me an opportunity to put the next steps of my plan into motion, so I told them everything I knew about the strange woman and the dreams that haunted me for most of my life.

Chapter 13-The O’Baarni

It was one of my least favorite tasks, so dull I hardly ever did it. I delegated the logistics of supplying, feeding, and training the army to my generals almost ten years ago, yet I still had the logs delivered to me every weekend and gave a quick glance through the journals once a month.

I was avoiding something worse. I knew what it was, but I could not bring myself to tackle the issue directly. Instead I stared at the written tallies and tried to determine if there was any process I could improve.

“Kaiyer!” a voice called from the darkness outside my tent.

“Yes Bartu?”

“General Malek approaches.” I sighed. If I would not confront the problem directly it would come to me.

“He may enter,” I said as I turned back to the logs. Alexia’s ledger indicated how much armor we were making. It was completely uninteresting, but I wasn’t really studying it. I was trying to piece together my plan for this conversation. I’d been putting it off for a week so I could be more prepared, but I experienced no sort of revelation in that time.

“Hello, Kaiyer,” he said with a smile as he stepped into the tent. His hair was pulled back into the traditional ponytail that he favored. Most of his troops wore their hair longer. Thayer, Gorbanni, Alexia and I kept ours short. Malek had been a house servant and the length of his locks never interfered with his previous Elven work.

“Good evening my friend.” I forced myself to smile.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” His smile turned into a smirk.

“Sorry.” He waited for me to say more, but I looked back to the journal. Silence became an edge of tension between us.

“You talked to her?” he finally said.

“Yes.”

“It didn’t go well then, or you would have come to me sooner with good news,” he sighed.

“Do you want to sit?” He shook his head and continued to stand. There was no other seat in the room except for the abused stool that I set up next to the planning table where a stack of books rested. For once I regretted the precedent I had set regarding comfort in my own dwelling. We would need to relax while we conversed.

“Bartu! Wine, and some food!” I yelled out. The attendant grunted and I could hear his feet dig into the ground as he sprinted from the vicinity.

“I’m not really hungry or thirsty,” Malek said.

“Me either.” I smiled at him and we both laughed. I stood up from my chair and stretched my arms above my head. Once I would have cracked bones in my back and shoulders with the movement but now my body was perfectly balanced and lubricated. Every joint, muscle, sinew, and ligament had been meticulously trained to understand its place. I sat down cross-legged on the hide floor and leaned against the chest that contained my clothes. Then I motioned for my long-haired friend to do the same. He sighed again and mirrored my action, leaning his back against the frame of my bed on the opposite side of my small tent.

“What did she say?” His voice was mixed with dread. He seemed more nervous about receiving the bad news than I was about giving it to him.

“She was mad at you for getting me involved.”

“Fuck. I should have known.”

“She was angrier at me actually for getting involved.”

“Hurmp,” he grunted. “Do you remember what she said, exactly?” He knew that I had a good memory.

I heard a call outside the tent and Bartu entered with water, a flagon of wine, earth-colored bread, and cheese that looked like the yellow wheel of a small wagon. I waited until he left before I continued. My attendants held a perimeter far enough away from the thin walls of the canvas so that they wouldn’t hear, even with their enhanced senses.

“She didn’t understand why I wouldn’t choose her as a lover. I attempted again to reason with her, but you know that Shlara is hard to convince of something she does not believe.” I took a deep breath and choked down a mouthful of wine.

“So what did she decide?” Malek was about to take a bite of cheese but he set it down on the plate.

“I’m sorry. I tried, but she has already made up her mind.” My eyes met his across the room and held them. I could see the pain in them. He broke my gaze and we sat in silence for a few minutes, disturbed only by the sound of our teeth ripping into the food. Actually, it was only me eating the meal. Malek just looked at his plate.

“I am jealous.” He leaned back against the side of my bed and laughed. “I used to just respect you for your leadership, your discipline, your prowess—”

“You are as fine of a leader as I am, and you are a much more powerful magic user,” I interrupted him with a smile.

“Entas used you as his set piece. ‘Keep working at it and maybe a year from now you’ll be as good as Kaiyer was in his first week.’ I never thought I was as talented as you.”

“The old man didn’t know what he was talking about. You were his favorite student. You are a great teacher and an excellent commander.” I felt my heart beat faster. I didn’t spend much time with Entas when he taught others the basics of channeling the Earth, Wind, and Water. Did he use me as a way to drive his students? The idea didn’t sit well in my stomach.

“I’ve had plenty of women, and it is only a matter of time until they ask the questions I dread.” Malek motioned his hand toward me and I tossed the flagon of wine to him. He caught it deftly and took a long swallow.

“I can’t imagine where you are going with this.” I tried not to smirk. Thayer and Gorbanni would have made a joke of the situation by now. But I knew that my long-haired friend was more sensitive.

“’Tell me about Kaiyer. What is he like? How often does he have lovers? Is he as handsome as they say he is? What does he say to you about my team?’ I feel as though every woman I’ve ever been with would rather be with the Legendary Kaiyer than with me.”

“Find better women,” I spat out.

“Easy for you to say. You can take whichever one you want and never fear you don’t possess her every thought.” Malek’s eyes narrowed as he glared across the tent at me.

“I have not taken any lovers, actually. And I have no need to possess a lover’s every thought. No one should be possessed in any way. Is that not what we are fighting against?”

Malek raised his hands and his glare softened. “I don’t mean it that way. I just want to know that she isn’t thinking of another man, wishing she was with you, when she is with me. She should be with me in her mind and body like I am with her.”

“I understand you, but I stand by my earlier statement. You need to find better women. Most of the people in this army have never even seen me without my armor. I’m just a figurehead by now; I’m not real to them. You choose women who are chasing a ghost.” I beckoned with my hand and drained the last of the wine after he tossed it to me.

“You do not understand.”

“You are in love with Shlara. No one else will compare to her. Yet you wish the women you bed to think only of you. You wish to possess their every thought while she possesses yours.”

We said nothing for a few more minutes, eating and drinking until the silence overwhelmed me.

“It seems that Gorbanni, Alexia, and Thayer have the right idea. They take whatever lovers please them and move on afterward. You overanalyze the emotional aspect of the relationship.” I shook the bottle of wine to confirm that it was empty and looked down at the plate of food we already finished. There was still a large pitcher of water left so I grasped it and drank.

“No. You do,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“If you really weren’t concerned with relationships between lovers, then you would have found one long ago. You obviously see meaning in it, or you would not push Shlara away.” He spoke with conviction. It seemed almost rehearsed.

“That is not true at all. There are other factors at play. Haven’t we talked about this already? I grow sick of explaining my relationship with Shlara to everyone.”

“You’ve talked to everyone about it?” He raised an eyebrow quizzically.

“No. I guess only you and Shlara. But I’ve said the same thing so many times it feels like I have said them to many people.” I smirked.

“So explain it to me again. Since it puzzles me that the woman I love spurns me for someone who wants nothing to do with her. Maybe I can learn from your technique and snare her in a similar fashion.” He laughed for a few seconds until he saw that I wasn’t joining him.

“Malek,” I sighed before I continued. “I don’t think I should be fucking any of my generals. What would happen if I lost respect amongst the army?”

“How would you lose respect? Everyone else takes lovers freely. Thayer screws a different one of his commanders every night.” My mind flashed back to the orgy I narrowly avoided years ago when I wandered around camp.

“Thayer’s troops aren’t as disciplined as the other generals’. He loses their respect.”

“Alexia does the same. Perhaps she is a bit more discrete, but it is not a secret that she enjoys the company of many that she commands. Her troops perform excellently.”

“Once this is all over, then I can take a lover. But right now my focus is destroying our enemies.” I didn’t mention how close Shlara and I had come a few weeks ago when I originally tried to speak to her about Malek. I had done my best to avoid her since then, but she wouldn’t let me flee from her forever. During the meetings with my generals her glances hinted at her desires more openly than she normally did. I was surprised that Malek hadn’t noticed.

“It is a shame that you have to wait to begin your life,” my handsome friend said with a frown.

“This is my life.”

“This is not life; this is a war. This will end, and you will have nothing.” His words were angry, but I almost didn’t hear them. I flashed back to Iolarathe’s lips on mine. The sound of her voice gasping as my tongue ran across her nipples and breasts. The flower like citrus smell of her body. Her face when she strangled Leotol and ordered my father killed.

“I’ve experienced love. It didn’t end well. I appreciate your concern, but my mind is settled on the matter. Attend to your team now.” My voice cracked at the last few words. I had never spoken of my father and brother to anyone. Death among humans was so common, Thayer probably suspected that I lost my family as he did, but I never confirmed. I had never spoken of Iolarathe to him or anyone.

“I’m sorry Kaiyer.” He stood up at attention. “I will see you tomorrow morning at the meeting.” He waited a second after I nodded and then exited the tent. He walked some fifty yards before he let out a whoosh of air in a tempered sigh.

It had been a few months since I thought of my brother and father. The sharp pain Malek’s comment made quickly faded. They were gone now, and the only thing left was revenge, revenge for every human that had lost their family, for every woman raped, for every man who been gelded, and for every child who lost their parents and been forced to live in fear. I would eliminate all the Elvens from the world and we would begin a new age of peace and prosperity.

I sat on the floor of my tent until the oil in my lantern sputtered, reminding me that it was low. I shook my head to remove thoughts of flame-red hair and full lips curved into a wicked smile. Then I forced my mind to Malek and Shlara. I did not mean to end the conversation with him as I had, I was going to need to apologize and talk to him about it until he felt better. He needed more emotional input from me to be an effective general.

I refilled my oil lamp and headed out of the tent. It was deep midnight now, but the camp was active during all hours of the day and night. The different parts of the war machine practiced, ate, rested, and completed assignments no matter what the temperature, weather, or time. I nodded to my attendants as I left the perimeter of my area at the nucleus of the small galaxy of fires. It would probably take me ten minutes to walk through the network of tents, but I decided to go around the perimeter of the camp and arrive at Malek’s subdivision in twenty.

The night air was cold, it felt as though we were a few days away from snow. This encampment lay in a large valley nestled between treacherous peaks. The basin had enough room for an ample farm and many square miles of grasslands where we kept sheep and cattle. The location of the dale remained undiscovered by Elven forces for the last two years and we were probably going to stay for a few years longer. Of course, we were so large now that it would take a substantial Elven army to challenge us.

Like the one they were currently building.

I crossed paths with various smaller groups of men and women training. If they had spare breath or energy, they would nod to me as I passed. But I didn’t think they actually knew who I was. It was dark enough on the perimeter of the camp to obscure most of my features. I wasn’t recognized for anything more than a terrible suit of armor and unequaled combat prowess. There were rumors about my appearance, but they varied so much that most did not really know what I looked like without the skull helmet.

Malek’s area was organized in neat rows of even tents that were perfectly spaced from each other. It reminded me of the crop fields outside of the camp that his group was responsible for growing. I snaked my way through the dwellings until I made it to his large pavilion in the center. There were no guards around his tent, and I momentarily grew worried. I had demanded that they never go unguarded. They resisted the order and accused me of paranoia, but I knew if I were planning to dismantle an army, my first step would be to assassinate the generals.

I carried no weapon, but it didn’t matter, I could easily kill a handful of Elven soldiers without a blade or my mace. Malek’s tent was forty yards from its closest companion, and almost one hundred yards away from the nearest campfire, where I observed his troops taking a meal and talking. I crouched down low and crept through the dead grass and gravel toward the pavilion. They must have dispatched the guards and then pulled their bodies inside to hide them. As I grew closer to the tent, I noticed a faint light that lazily pushed out of the seams of the canvas, two figures cast shadows against the stretched cloth.

I realized that Malek was probably just meeting with one of his lieutenants and had dismissed his guards to have a private conversation. I wanted to ensure his safety, so I continued my silent approach.

“What did he say?” The words were muffled through the canvas and the twenty yards of space, but it was Shlara, speaking in a volume below a whisper.

“You know, the same. Why do you torture me with this?” Malek said. I concentrated on making my breath as long and deep as possible so I wouldn’t be heard.

“The way you feel about me? I feel the same for him …”

“Why the games? Why don’t you just tell him? I feel like I am lying to him.” Malek sounded agitated.

“I have told him. When he came to see me about you I almost convinced him.”

“Shlara, have some pride. He has refused you so many times. Let him go. You know I can make you happy. I will spend the rest of my life trying.”

“I have to try one more time.”

“No! This has gone on for too long. I don’t want him to know that I had any part of this. He’ll believe I have betrayed him.”

“Why would he think that? You are only aiding me. And you are helping Kaiyer too. He just doesn’t realize it yet.” Shlara’s voice was confident and I could feel my anger rising. What was the woman orchestrating without my knowledge?

“There are dark things in his past. He doesn’t want to revisit them.”

“I will help him. He needs me. He needs my love.”

“I need your love. I think of nothing else. Since the moment we met, I have been unable to love anyone else,” Malek’s voice echoed, sad and lost. I felt my heart wrench when I thought about what Shlara and I had almost done. It would have devastated him.

“I love Kaiyer as much as you love me. How hard would it be for you to give up your pursuit?”

“Impossible.” Malek’s voice was full of defeat.

“I’ve told you that you should move on and try to find someone else.”

“And Kaiyer says the same to you.” I winced at the bitterness in his voice.

“I will return to my warriors now,” she said flatly.

I crept backward on all fours until I was a safe distance from the tent. Then I stood and walked back to my own dwelling. The night sky was filled with thousands of stars that slowly spun through the emptiness of nothing, watching over us from the distance, removed and above our petty trials and problems. Entas once told me that the stars were suns, with worlds dancing around them. He had also said there was a star for each person, and that they knew each other like we know our own friends and enemies. The relationship between Malek, Shlara, and I was quickly spinning out of control. If I didn’t find a solution, it could cause irreparable damage to the army.

I thought about the stars in hopes that a solution would come to me. I tried to remove my own emotions from this situation and look at it objectively, hoping detachment would help.

It didn’t.

Chapter 14-Kaiyer

“He’s been asleep for most of the day,” A voice whispered from the other side of the dark room.

“I thought he was dead. The fucking wurm knocked him off of the bridge three days ago. He must have fallen hundreds of feet.” It was Greykin’s voice. I fought away the cobwebs of the memory from my mind and smiled. I had advised the duke that Greykin and his men were roaming the castle attempting to rescue Nanos and the queen. He sent servants to find them and it appeared that they had been successful.

“Did he tell you about Jessmei?” I recognized it as Nadea’s father’s voice.

“Let’s go into the other room.” Footsteps lightly tread across the tile floor and wool rug. A thick door opened from the other side of the room, more footsteps, and then the door closed. They continued their conversation, it carried through the stone wall and door to my sensitive ears. It was the dead of night and the castle slept like a drunken man who had almost died in a bar fight.

“He said she was in Merrium, a tiny cattle village to the north. He halted her kidnappers and rescued her. Did he tell you the same?” the duke said.

“Aye. I sent a scout there to investigate, but he won’t report back for a week at the earliest.” Greykin’s voice sounded deep and rumbled like an earthquake, even when he whispered.

“Was that wise? What if the man is caught and gives up information?”

“It was the best I could do. I have no reason to doubt Kaiyer, but the story seemed impossible. They were on horseback and he ran after them on foot.”

“He also killed three Ancients barehanded, was tossed fifty yards by an explosion of fire, and caused the empress to adjust her plans just to have him eliminated. My daughter thought he was the O’Baarni, and I need little more proof.” I opened my eyes at the duke’s words and stopped myself from sighing. Saving Jessmei meant I let everything else fall apart.

“The princess is practically my own child. I had to know for sure. How about here? Have you found out anything? Is Nadea alive?” Greykin asked with unmasked concern.

“I have discovered nothing.” The duke’s voice was flat and empty.

“No body? Surely someone would have seen her be killed or dragged into the funeral mound.”

“No one saw her after the last meeting.”

“I guarded her, Paug, Nanos, and the king to the Royal Safe Room. Five of the Losher bastards caught up and I held them off while the rest of them fled. We were only a few hundred feet from the combination door.” The Old Bear’s voice was spiced with remorse and failure.

“Nanos is under constant Losher and Ancient guard. I have contemplated slipping him a note or communicating with him.”

“How did you avoid the Losher attack?” Greykin said to change the subject. My ears perked up since the duke had declined to answer this question when I had asked him earlier in the day.

“It isn’t that exceptional of a story: I killed a few when they attacked, but they seemed to be almost everywhere at once. It was definitely the work of a mole; they knew intimate details of the castle. I tried to retreat to our main meeting room, but the way had been blocked. I rallied a few dozen soldiers with Maerc, but it was clear that we would be overrun. We fell back to the perimeter of the garden and we were separated. I then ran into the castle to escape a trio of Losher guards that realized I was someone of importance.” The duke paused as another pair of footsteps entered the room.

“We just received a late dinner request from the princ—er, King Nanos. He is alone in the study. You asked me to report to you when he wasn’t under guard.” It sounded like a young boy.

“Excellent. Thank you,” Beltor said with relief. The footsteps retreated out the same door before Nadea’s father continued.

“This is perfect. I need to have this letter delivered.” I heard a pair of lightly-shod feet take a few steps, and then a drawer opened.

“What does it say?” Greykin asked.

“It asks Nanos to meet an ‘Esteemed Friend’ at the southwestern terrace. There is a concealed spot nearby where I can observe him. I’ll place another letter there asking him where Nadea is. I will then be able to observe how he reacts to the letter and see if he is being followed.” The duke’s voice picked up tempo, it was clear he was nervous.

“Aren’t you afraid of being found out now? You are in the den of the enemy here!” Greykin’s voice grew a bit loud and the duke hushed him.

“No. Only a few of the servants ever saw me. And they can only identify someone with long fine hair, no beard, wearing robes and a crown. The quartermaster knows that I am here. He assigned me to this management position and the other servants just follow my orders because I understand how to run the house. Of course, I’d be a fool to think that some of the older servants don’t know who I am, but I believe that they respect me enough not to give me away.”

“So you have command of the place?” Greykin said in disbelief.

“Yes. In a limited fashion. The Ancients and Losher soldiers would never believe that I was here.”

I realized that I would not fall back asleep, so I leveraged my thin body out of the makeshift cot the duke had dragged into the storage room for me. I performed a long stretch of my back, legs, and hamstrings while the two men continued to speak on the other side of the wall.

“Methinks that we might be better off rescuing Nanos and the queen as soon as possible and retreating to Brilla. I understand your search for Nadea, but should the letter to Nanos include a rough plan to extract them?” Greykin’s voice dipped to a low whisper and I had to struggle to hear him over my stretching.

“I am worried about the situation in the castle if the prince is removed. He is obviously a puppet here, but I wonder if the Loshers would create more disturbances in the city if he was not around to negotiate with the Ancients.”

Greykin grunted in agreement and they were both silent for a few moments. I took this opportunity to enter.

“Glad to see ya, Skinny!” Greykin said with a huge smile. He got up from the stool and embraced me warmly. “I thought the wurm had killed you good.”

“I’m pretty hard to kill.” I grinned and pried myself from the big man’s embrace. His display of emotion caught me off guard. Sudden memories of Thayer, Gorbanni, Malek, Alexia, and Shlara hit my chest like a punch to the short ribs.

“Greykin told me of your fall off the bridge, but you left it out of the story you told me yesterday. What happened?” the duke inquired. The man had an impeccable memory and I had skipped over various parts of how the Old Bear and his men had separated from me.

“It wasn’t really worth mentioning.” I looked at them both and shrugged. “There was another stairway wrapping around the column adjacent to the bridge. I only fell a short way and was able to grab onto the rocks. My swords were lost in the confusion,” I said as I motioned toward the empty leather belt on my waist. I had tossed the sheaths in the other room; they were rather useless without the blades.

Greykin looked at the duke and back to me.

“That was three days ago, Skinny.” He frowned.

“Perhaps I got lost.” I shrugged and forced a smile. I must have been unconscious for longer than I guessed.

“Did you hear any of our conversation?” Beltor asked with an eyebrow raised. He suspected that I did, so I nodded and smiled.

“I need to get information about Nadea. I’ll slip the note to Nanos and then we can wait for him to read it. You both shall come with me.” The duke was used to being in charge and he phrased the request in a way that made it seem as though it was not an order, though it was. The technique was familiar, and I found myself nodding in tandem with Greykin.

“How will you deliver the message to Nanos?” I said with concern. I didn’t want a servant to be captured and have an Elven trace the job back to Beltor.

“We’ll send food to him and have the note concealed with the napkin that wraps the flatware. It isn’t perfect, but I believe he will see it and come tonight.” The duke looked back to the door. It was the only exit out of his office. “I’ll get the request going. You both wait here for a few minutes.” The Old Bear and I nodded again and Beltor rushed out of the room. His drab servant clothing did nothing to mask his authority.

“Where are Danor and the rest of your men?” I asked Greykin

“There are hidden in some empty servant’s quarters. They are foaming at the mouth to get the prince out, but they will have to wait.”

“I missed the story of how the duke alerted you to his presence.”

“We killed a few guards in the dungeon and took their clothes,” the Old Bear began.

“I saw their corpses,” I said, remembering the cell concealed in darkness and stacked with dead men.

“Shit. I thought we hid them well.”

“You did. I got distracted and found them. I doubt they will be found for many more days.” Greykin sighed in relief.

“We made it to the Royal Quarters and managed to base ourselves in Jessmei’s old room. It was close enough to Nanos and the queen’s for us to plan a rescue.” He looked at me to confirm that I understood him and I nodded.

“I just remembered that you only recently learned to speak our language. You sound like a native now. Paug did a good job teaching you.” He frowned as he recalled our young friend. Then his face grew dark and angry. “These assholes will pay. I’ll kill all of them.”

“What happened in the Royal Quarters?” I said to quickly change the subject. The big man’s jaw looked set with muscle.

“One of the servants found us in the room. We almost killed the poor guy before he could say that Beltor knew we were there.”

“We’ll get Nanos and his mother out of the castle. Then we can figure out what to do about the Losher army,” I said with my best smile in hopes that it would reassure him.

“Of course we will!” His face transformed into the boisterous canvas I was used to seeing. “There is nothing that I can’t do. It also helps to have a good sidekick like you to help!” He let out a small chuckle and punched me lightly in the shoulder. He seemed to wince more than I did with the movement and I remembered his injury.

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah. They had fresh bandages and one of the medics tended to me. He said I should stay in bed for the next few weeks, but that isn’t going to happen.” He rotated his arms like he was swimming with his ham-sized fists and smiled at me to show that he was healthy. It didn’t convince me, but I realized that there was nothing to do about it. The big man would rather die than sit around and wait for someone else to save Nanos and the queen.

The duke entered the office again carrying servant’s livery.

“It will be carried out soon. Change into these clothes in case the Losher soldiers see us. Greykin, you’ll have to leave your axe behind, just bring some daggers.” The big man grunted and then accepted the stack of garments from the duke before Beltor handed me the remaining bundle.

“We need to get more stew in you,” Nadea’s father said with concern when I removed my threadbare clothes and began to put on the servant attire. I glanced down and noticed that I did look thinner than normal. My ribs were so exposed that it looked as if I might be able to wrap my hand around one. I could also see the network of veins and arteries easily beneath the crisscrossed scars that layered my chest like a fishing net.

“I ate almost a whole pot of stew before I slept, so I should be fine.”

“Aye. You probably need three more. I’ll get you fed when we get back.” Greykin and I finished putting on our clothes and then we quietly followed the duke out of his office into the dark hallways of Nia’s castle.

We didn’t speak for the ten minutes it took to weave our way through the dead halls of the castle to our destination. I remembered exploring these corridors at night back when I was a guest of Nadea’s. Even though there had been very few people out in the late hours, the halls were still well-lit and the occasional servant dashed across the thick rugs. Now the hallways were lit by a few scarcely placed torches that accented the blackness of the night. We didn’t need to worry about what we wore; the few guards we passed were Nia’s, and seemed more interested in playing dice in a corner than paying attention to our wandering.

“Do you think my clothes and swords would still be in my room?” I asked the duke in a whisper. I fondly recalled the quality garments that the king’s tailor had made for me along with the pair of long swords and assortment of daggers I had taken from the Vanlourn soldiers. The swords were not as nice as those I took from the Elvens who tried to kill me the night Jessmei had been kidnapped, but the blades were better than my fists.

“You can look later. Most of the castle was ransacked by the Loshers, but the Ancients quarantined the East Wing, so it is possible they are still there.” The duke chuckled. “I remember you being rather skilled at sneaking in and out of your room and various private meeting sessions.”

“Let’s take care of the prince first, Skinny, and then I’ll find swords for you.” Greykin patted me on the shoulder.

“Here is the exit to the side courtyard, we are going to dash across to the garden. It overlooks the spot where Nanos will read the letter. He should be there with in half of an hour if all goes as planned.” The Old Bear grunted and we got ready to dart out the thick oaken door. Nadea’s father carefully opened it, glanced outside into the dark night, and then pushed out into the coldness.

It was deep winter, but Nia was south enough to never get below the point where water would freeze. Still, the wind cut through my thin garment as if I were naked. My body was still heated from my day-long slumber and the large pot of stew I had eaten earlier, so the cold didn’t really bother me. Instead, I felt invigorated and decided not to use any magic to keep me warm.

We kept our heads down and followed the duke to an abandoned garden. The trees had shed their leaves and without their raiment they glared down upon us like twisted brown skeletons. The sound of their branches smacking together in the wind reminded me of bones being cracked open. The garden once had a stream that ran around its circumference, but it had been drained and dug up, the lack of water further made me feel as though this was a forgotten part of the castle.

In the middle of the grove was a small tower that rose above the dilapidated garden like a warrior over his fallen opponent. It was constructed of red brick coated in a white, crumbling plaster. The duke produced a key from his pocket, unlocked the door, and we followed him into the turret.

“Maerc, my brother, and I used to play around this tower and in the garden all the time. I know the castle better than most; I can get from one side to the other without being seen. The top floor has a series of arrow ports. We can watch Nanos and observe his reaction to the message,” the duke explained as we climbed the spiral staircase. Greykin and Beltor had their hand against the wall to help guide their way up the steps, but I could see well enough to know that the dust-coated stairs would comfortably carry our weight. The inside of the turret was thirty feet in diameter and it was empty except for the staircase on the wall, a stack of shovels, a broken wheelbarrow, and the wooden planks that separated the floors.

“We can view the spot from these two slits.” The duke indicated twin arrow embrasures with thin rays of moonlight pouring through them. I moved over to the right opening and saw the stone walkway next to the battlements. It was a little over one hundred and twenty yards away, past the dead trees.

“Will anyone suspect we are concealed here?” I asked without trying to sound too concerned. I only saw one way into this small tower and didn’t like the idea of trying to escape it if we were caught.

“No. As I said earlier, no one knows this place as I do. Even if they guess we are here, there is a door on the ground that leads to the dungeons under the castle. I am fearful of going down there after what you and Greykin have told me, but it may be a good escape route if we are forced.”

The three of us fell into silence, lost in our own thoughts and distracted by the view through the small, slotted windows. The Old Bear and the duke shared the one to my left. After ten minutes of peering through it, the big man began to pace around the tower room. He said nothing, but I could hear that his breathing had become more ragged and he shivered slightly. His injury must have started to flare up again. I stopped myself from asking about it, knowing he wouldn’t admit to any weakness in front of me or his liege.

“The prince approaches!” the duke whispered urgently, pulling Greykin back to the window and my attention toward the row of torches.

Nanos and a Nia guard walked cautiously along the stone path toward the bench. Nanos was dressed in a regal fur coat trimmed in dark gray, with purple at the cuffs and neck. He grasped the sword at his belt tightly and his handsome face was etched with worry. The guard seemed a little less nervous, but he pointed to our tower and said something to the prince. The young man shook his head.

“Ha! This tower hasn’t been used in years. The lad thinks no one would watch him from it.” Beltor’s voice rang with victory that I felt was premature.

The prince’s guard carefully reached around the stone bench and pulled out a folded piece of paper from underneath the seat area. He examined the outside of it before handing it to the prince.

Nanos looked around him a few more times, spoke to his man, and opened the envelope. I struggled to listen to them, but the wind carried their words away from us. It took a few seconds for the prince to read the note and then he hastily stashed it inside of the vest beneath his robe. His demeanor had changed from a look of concern to one of absolute terror. He said something sharp to the guard and the man suddenly had the same look of terror on his face. They both backed up against the wall and stared out into the garden, toward the tower.

“I didn’t expect this reaction,” the duke whispered so softly that he might have meant it only for himself.

“He seems to believe he is being watched,” I noted.

“He is being watched,” Greykin stated with a chuckle.

“To our left!” I waved my hand out as I seethed the word. Two shapes seemed to materialize out of the shadows sixty yards between Nanos and the main castle. My gut told me they were Elvens before they stepped into the light of the torches and proved me correct.

The man was slightly shorter than the woman. He had long silver hair and an air of command about him. The woman had hair of gold, the bright color of yellow midday sun. They were both wearing dark, soot-colored robes that blended with the shadows enveloping them as they strolled toward the prince. As they walked, I saw the woman’s robe open, exposing a blue uniform and a thick-bladed sword at her hip.

“Shit! They found him! What do we do?” Greykin’s voice was laced with panic and I could feel it blossom in my own chest.

“I can’t really make out what they are saying,” I said as I tried to strain my ears to listen. The Elven man hailed the prince as soon as he emerged from the shadows. Nanos tried to conceal his fear, but even from this distance, I could tell he was doing a poor job of it.

The two Elvens got within arm’s reach of Nanos and his guard before they spoke any more. The blonde man didn’t bother looking around, so I guessed he had feared it was Elvens watching him. They exchanged a few words before Jessmei’s brother crossed his arms uncomfortably.

“That is their leader. He’s a smooth-talking bastard. I haven’t seen him much in the castle. They spend most of their time in the wing where you and Nadea stayed. They order a small amount of food every few days and occasionally send runners to speak with Nanos.” The duke had scurried over to whisper in my ear.

“I don’t think I can kill both of them without a weapon.” It was a slight falsehood. I could kill both of them. Probably easily, but I didn’t want to risk exposing myself unless it was certain that Jessmei’s brother was in danger.

“No. I was afraid he would get caught, but I hoped he would be able to see the note and escape their notice. I am gambling that the boy is important to their plans and they’ll keep him alive. This proves he is being closely watched.” Once the duke said it, my mind wandered to my memories. I had made hundreds of gambles with thousands of lives.

Crows filled the air and picked at the field of glittering corpses. The blood on their armor shone like the setting sun reflecting on the last waves of the ocean.

I shook my head angrily and looked back to Jessmei’s brother. The Elven leader held out his hand to the prince with his palm to the sky. Nanos shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, opening his own palms toward the Elven. I believed that he was trying to pretend he was not hiding anything, but he was doing a poor job of acting. Sweat trickled down his hairline and his face was unconvincing. The silver-haired Elven’s face was emotionless before, but it slowly transformed into a friendly smile. He shook his hand again and leaned down to appear less threatening. Nanos lowered his hands and then shrugged again, letting his shoulders slump. He reached into his coat and pulled out the piece of paper that the duke had left for him.

The Elven leader snatched the note from Nanos’s grasp. Nanos crossed his arms and stood back, looking to his guard, who returned the young man’s nervous demeanor. The Elven finished reading it in a few seconds and then passed it to his female companion to read.

“Shit,” the duke and Greykin both said at the same time.

The Elven man snatched the prince by the collar of his expensive coat and pulled him like a puppy caught by the scruff of the neck. Nanos’s guard put his hand on his sword and drew it almost halfway before the female Elven grabbed his wrist, twisted it around behind his body, and lifted. His face expressed the intense pain he was in, but he did not scream out, so I doubted she had broken the limb.

The Elven was yelling something urgently at Nanos. Nanos’s whole body shook as if he had just been submerged in ice water. Though I detested the prince, I could not allow him to be killed.

“Want me to intervene?” I asked the duke. It would be hard to hit the woman with magic and not kill the guard she was holding, but it would be even harder to eliminate the silver-haired leader without injuring Nanos.

“No! If they wanted him dead, they would have done it by now. They are only trying to scare him. They want to know who wrote the note.”

Nanos was trying to respond to the flurry of questions. The process continued for almost five minutes before the Elven abruptly pushed the prince away. Nanos stumbled, stepped on the tail of his fur coat, and collapsed backward in a pile of fear and sweat. The silver-haired Elven turned and walked away without speaking another word. The female let go of the guard and began to follow her leader. Before she was more than four steps away, she spun around and drew her sword in a flash of bright lightning. The guard’s head was cut clean in half by her strike and the man’s corpse fell over on top of Nanos, covering him in a spray of blood and brain matter. The woman looked down on the prince for a few seconds, and spoke to him with a grin on her face that reminded me of my old silver-haired trainer.

“She’ll kill him!” Greykin hissed.

“If she wanted to kill him, she would have already,” I echoed the duke’s earlier words and forced my voice to be calm. “Besides, we have no weapons and are too far away to do anything.” As I spoke, the Elven woman turned her back on the prince and walked after her leader, leaving Nanos to climb out from under the bloody body of his guard. The process took him a few minutes of clumsiness and swearing.

“I doubt he is being watched now. Let us act like servants and offer to aid him. Then we can ask him about my daughter.” The duke was making his way down the dark stairs of the tower as he spoke.

“What if the Ancients come back?” Greykin asked.

“I’ll kill them,” I said. No one argued.

Nanos had begun to walk toward the main castle by the time we reached him. He was no longer looking around for someone watching him, so we were able to approach him without his notice.

“My lord! Do you need assistance?” the duke boldly called out as we stepped out of the gardens and onto the path, following the young man.

“Yes. Clean that body up, and have wine brought to my room.” The prince didn’t even glance behind to see us closing the distance. Greykin’s boots were loud and he suddenly turned to look.

“Did I stutter? Answer promptly when—” The sneer on his face froze as he recognized the three of us.

“Uncle!” the young man gasped in bewilderment before he looked to Greykin and me. “How are you all alive?” He licked his lips nervously and his heart began to beat quickly. Instead of the relief I expected, Nanos looked dismayed. My instincts told me this was because he was hiding something, but I tried to ignore this and reasoned that he was upset at the complications our presence added to what was already a stressful situation. We were another secret he would have to keep to protect his kingdom and its people.

“We’ll have time to talk to you about it later. Is your mother okay?” the duke asked as he glanced around the courtyard. I followed his gaze and saw a darkened pathway that led to the back side of one of the battlements.

“We should go over there,” I said as I pointed to the shadowed area. The three other men nodded and we absconded from the twilight and glow of the torches that lined the castle walls.

“My mother is fine. She is upset, of course, but that is to be expected.” He looked to me. “I thought you were dead, Kaiyer? The guards said that the Ancients burned you.” I was surprised at how pleased he seemed that I was alive.

“I just left the city. The Ancients didn’t kill me.”

“Why did you leave?” he asked inquisitively. His heart was racing, like he was running in full armor.

“We can talk about that later,” the duke interrupted. “Where is Nadea?”

“Nadea?” Nanos’s face turned white in the darkness and I heard him swallow his breath.

“My daughter. Where is she?” Beltor pressed. “Is she in the castle?”

“No.” The blonde man glanced between the three of us. “She is in the dungeon. The Ancients are questioning her there.”

“Where in the dungeon?” the duke asked, frantic.

“The special cell they made for her, I can take you.” Nanos paused and looked out into the darkness past the tower and the torch light. “But it has to be early in the morning. Give me a few hours.”

“No. You will take us now,” the duke’s voice cracked with worry. Nanos’s head was already shaking when his uncle voiced the command.

“I need to be sure that I am not followed. I need a few hours to create a distraction. Then I can take you to her safely. If we are caught, they could kill all of us, including Nadea.”

There were a few seconds of silence as we waited for Beltor to accept Nanos’s plan. Finally, the duke asked the obvious question.

“What distraction will you create?”

“I have some allies in the city, drinking friends who haven’t left yet. I’ll ask them to do something at the front gate, then send all of my guards to take care of it. It should attract the attention of the Loshers and the Ancients.” The prince licked his lips and exhaled a slow breath. He smiled when the duke began to nod his head.

“It’s settled then. Meet me in the cell adjacent to Kaiyer’s training room in the dungeon in five hours. That will give me time to get word out and prepare. Where will you hide yourselves in the meantime?”

“We’ll be in the abandoned tower in the west garden.” Beltor pointed his thumb over his shoulder to where we had witnessed Nanos pick up the letter.

“We need to extract Nanos and the queen with Nadea,” Greykin said, his voice was powerful, even at a whisper.

“My mother isn’t fit to travel. She is still mourning Father’s death.”

“Too bad. She needs to get her ass up and meet us with you. We are taking the royal family out of Nia and to Brilla. Then we will regroup with the army and attempt to retake the castle,” Greykin said.

“I’ll do what I can to get her to come. I don’t think retreating to Brilla will do much for us. We have fallen. The Ancients are too powerful. Even with Brilla’s forces we can’t retake the castle.”

“We’ll worry about that when we get there. Make sure your mother is with you when you meet us in the dungeon.” Greykin’s tone of voice indicated that there would be no more discussion on the matter.

“Very well. We’ll meet you three in the dungeon. I’ll need to go and prepare now.” The prince smiled briefly and nodded as he moved toward the door of the tower where we had hidden.

“Wait,” I said. I had suddenly remembered something. Nanos froze and his breath caught. “What did the Ancient say when you found the letter? We couldn’t hear the words that passed between you.”

“He wanted to know what the letter had meant and who had written it. They are interrogating Nadea about you.” Nanos turned around to confront me. Through the soft golden light of the distant torch, I saw the sharp lines of his face as he snarled in anger.

“Interrogating her about Kaiyer?” the duke asked with fear and concern laced through his voice.

“Yes. Everything was fine until this asshole showed up in our kingdom. The only reason they are here is because of him. They wanted to know how he got to this world. She’s the only one who knows for sure. I don’t know exactly what they are doing to her down there, but I’m sure they are torturing her for information.” My body went cold and numb. The thought of Nadea being tortured made my mouth go dry.

“If you had just done what we told you and not created a spectacle, they wouldn’t be here. My father would still be alive, Nadea wouldn’t be in some cell being tortured, and I wouldn’t have been imprisoned here as some sort of puppet king for a fallen empire. Fuck you Kaiyer.” He had moved nose-to-nose with me and I felt his spit land on my face as he spat out the accusations.

I didn’t really comprehend most of his words. I was still too caught up in my fear of what was happening to Nadea. Thousands of horrible scenarios crossed my mind while fatigue seeped into my bones. I couldn’t be hundreds of places at once.

I had acted on impulse and gone after Jessmei, giving little thought to my friends in Nia. I did not mean to sacrifice one woman for the other. I did not realize Nadea was even in danger, and even if I had, Nadea seemed much more capable of saving herself than the princess.

“That’s enough boy,” Greykin said. “Get your plans executed, get your mother, and meet us in the dungeon. We’ll all have plenty of time to argue on our trip to Brilla.”

Nanos nodded, glared at me again, and made a grunting noise as he pulled open the door to the tower and went inside the fortress. The sound of the large piece of wood slamming echoed through the empty courtyard and caused roosting crows to squawk and fly away from their perch across the garden.

“He has been through much in the last few weeks.” The duke put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. “Don’t blame him for those harsh words. None of this was your fault, my friend.”

I smiled at Beltor as well as I could.

“I am not mad at him. His logic is a bit flawed; I need some time to explain it to him.”

“What do you mean that ‘his logic is flawed?’”

“He blamed me for the Ancients coming here, but everyone thought I was dead, including the Ancients. So they wouldn’t have come here for me. They won’t be satisfied until they have brought your entire world under their heel. Their appetite for conquest is insatiable. It was only a matter of time before Nia was attacked.” My head swam with memories of pain and sadness. But I could help. This was my purpose. This was what I was born to do.

“You’re right of course, let’s go back and gather Greykin’s men. We’ll need to get to the room now and wait for Nanos,” the duke said.

“Why did you tell the lad we would be in the tower?” Greykin asked as we sneaked through the dead garden toward the servants’ entrance.

“In case he is caught en route and questioned. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, but what he does know could hurt us.” The big man grunted in agreement.

“He still knows we will meet him in the dungeon,” I muttered under my breath, but neither of my companions heard me speak.

The duke stepped on a dead branch and it made a soft cracking sound. It echoed through the silent night and was answered by an owl on a distant rooftop.

Chapter 15-Nadea

“Wait for me!” I called up the hill at Kaiyer’s back. He turned his head over his shoulder and shot me one of those easy smiles that made my heart flutter. I always believed that I was in excellent shape. Most of the days I spent at my father’s keep involved running, climbing, sparring with his warriors, or hunting in the Teeth Mountains. At night I would retire to my study and be awake half the evening, studying dusty old manuscripts that I had gathered from various parts of the world. Most traders and scholars in the Eight Kingdoms knew about my hobby and those that wanted favor with my father would normally get it by gifting me with precious documents. But still, even though I could out race and fight most of the men at Nia’s East Keep, Kaiyer moved like a hawk up the boulder dotted foothills of the Teeth. His feet hardly touched the ground and his cloak did seem like wings as it fluttered in the wind behind him.

“You’ll get lost! I know this area better than you!” I was annoyed that he ran so far ahead of me, but I couldn’t help but smile. It felt wonderful to see him again. It felt like I hadn’t seen him in a long time. He disappeared over the edge of the rise and my joy turned to panic. I pushed my sweaty body up the hill, scattering small clumps of soft dirt down the gentle slope with every aggressive movement.

It was early morning and the fog gave way to bright rays of sun. It made the air around me seem to glow and the dew layer on the boulders and grass-covered hills reflected the light and heat of the new morning.

“Hurry up Nadea!” I heard his voice in the distance and the fatigue that started to drip into my legs vanished.

I reached the top of the hill a minute after Kaiyer crested it, but the other side did not look the same as the adjacent slope. A steep valley opened below and I didn’t recognize it from my travels around the Teeth Mountains. The valley was void of any grass or boulders; instead the earth was blackened and cracked, like the salt flats in the deserts of Astical. Twisted, burnt oak trees seemed to scream out in pain toward the sky.

In the middle of the valley, the Castle Nia slouched like a crippled spider. Half of it was charred a sickly color of gray and yellow. The other half of the massive structure crumbled apart like a salted cracker. I saw shapes climbing on the once beautiful walls, but from this distance I couldn’t see what they were.

“The O’Baarni destroy everything,” a woman’s voice said behind me. I spun quickly and reached for the sword that was always at my hip. But I must have left it where Kaiyer and I had camped the night before. That was as far back as I could remember.

It was the Ancient woman, her face a beautiful mask of perfect porcelain, her hair the color of blood, or fire, the sun as it set in the ocean. She looked at me, but didn’t seem to see me.

“Where is Kaiyer?” I demanded and reached for the dagger hidden at the small of my back. That too was gone and my brain tried to remember when I had it last, did Kaiyer take it off of me? I recalled almost kissing him in my private library, his hand had grabbed around my waist and I knew he felt it there.

“Find your father,” the woman repeated in a monotonous voice. I suddenly remembered her telling me this in my father’s study in the keep at home. She was with Paug then. Wasn’t Paug dead?

Wasn’t Kaiyer dead?

“Where is Kaiyer?” I asked again. Didn’t I just see him running?

“He’s not yours. Find your father. Since you can’t seem to do what I require, I want to be rid of you.” The woman finally turned her face to me. Her eyes looked like steel but sparkled as water when the sunlight hit.

“Be rid of me? You are the one who keeps talking to me! I never asked for this!” I screamed at her and stepped up the hill. She wasn’t wearing armor, just fitted leather pants and a green blouse. The trousers and shirt both had ornate patterns of trees and roots stitched into the fine material. I wanted to punch the bitch in her smug face.

“Go ahead and try, little one.” The woman’s red lips turned upward in a mocking grin. But her eyes broke contact with mine and looked up into the sky. It seemed she was listening for something, so I stopped walking up the hill and stifled my rage. I heard nothing but the gusts moaning across the barren landscape.

The Ancient whispered words that the air stole before I could grasp them. A few more steps and I came close enough to risk a tackle. She still seemed distracted by what she heard on the wind, so I pieced together a quick series of movements in my head, rehearsed it, tried to guess how she would counter, and then executed it.

My feet dug into the soft, long grass of the hill as I leaned over and sprinted toward the copper-haired bitch. It had been a few years since I wrestled anyone, mostly because it was hard to find women partners strong enough, and men couldn’t seem to grapple and control their physical arousal, but I still remembered the movements and aimed my right shoulder into the nook of her hip. As soon as it connected I would grab behind her legs at the hamstrings and lift. The momentum would carry her to the ground, with me on top.

Of course, there were a few ways the Ancient woman might counter this attack. The most obvious being that she could wrap her right arm under my head and get me in a chokehold or possibly break my neck. To prevent this possibility, I angled my left shoulder against my cheek so that she couldn’t grasp my throat. She could also step back and leverage her upper body down on top of me, snuffing the movement like a burning candle. I already had a twisting strategy in mind if that happened.

I realized I hadn’t hit her yet. Wasn’t she just a few feet from me? I spared a glance up and saw that the woman still stood twenty yards in the distance, farther up the hill than I expected. Her face looked to the sky and her lips were moving quickly, as if she bartered with a crooked merchant at a bazaar. The wind started to pick up, and her hair blew away from me like a bloody flag.

The flag had a black skull embroidered on it.

I could hear the sound of hooves in the distance. It may have been thunder, but the volume was more consistent.

“Are you awake?” I looked up the hill to the woman and our eyes met. Confusion was an emotion I had never seen on an Ancient’s face, but it was plainly etched on hers.

“Nadea?” Runir said loudly with a cough.

“What?” I struggled to pull myself out of the dream. It felt like crawling across sand. I was so tired. So exhausted.

“Did you want company for breakfast?” My eyes opened and I saw the somewhat familiar canvas roof of the tent Maerc had given me. The past few days slammed into my brain as I remembered escaping from the dungeon of the castle, and the uncomfortable conversations that came to pass with Runir’s father.

“I brought you some food. Eggs and such. Are you okay?” His voice whined a bit at the end. I had ignored him since his father confronted me about the king’s letter and I knew my behavior had hurt his feelings. His emotions were the least of my worries. I required time to myself so I could accept the reality of my secret and plan for my kingdom’s future. I also needed to convince them that I was grieving over the abandonment of my father while I traveled south to Brilla with the army.

“Half a minute,” I said with enough power in my voice to make it through the canvas in the tent. I threw the thick covers off of my cot, limped painfully over to the water basin stand, and splashed some of the cold liquid on my face. There wasn’t a mirror in my new prison, but I was sure that my hair looked like a tangled mess from the thrashing of my dream. It mattered little though. Runir had been my friend since we were children and I doubted he would care about my appearance.

“Come in!” I yelled with a forced smile. The handsome young soldier promptly pulled back the flap of the tent, bowed over a wooden tray of food, and scooted into my quarters.

“Hi Nadea.” He stood almost half a head taller than me, but the roof was low and he slouched to avoid scraping the canvas.

“Good morning. What time is it?” I limped over to a set of stools positioned in the corner and sat down with a weak sigh.

“Hour or so after sunrise.” He moved over to the stool and sat down. He didn’t meet my eyes when he raised the tray in my direction. “I hope this is suitable for you.”

“This looks fine. I am ravenous. Thank you for bringing it.” There were half a dozen hard boiled eggs, a hand-sized block of orange cheese, and some earth-colored bread. It was a king’s feast compared to what the other soldiers in what was left of the army ate, and my mouth began to water. I had eaten little in the last few days.

“We have a little cider, but it might be too early in the morning,” Runir said with a wink. I smiled at him around a bite of cheese and grunted. He took the hint and didn’t engage me in any further conversation while we shared the meal.

I tried to remember what I had dreamt, but it was already growing fuzzy. Kaiyer had been in it, along with the Ancient woman who had been haunting me for the last four or five years. I usually remembered my dreams upon waking and wrote them down. The sudden interruption of this dream, and my inability to record it because of Runir annoyed me.

“How is your leg feeling?” he asked, turning his head to look at the flap of the washed-out white canvas tent. The annoyance of the fading dream made his innocent question seem ridiculously stupid and I couldn’t hold back my anger.

“You know damn well how my leg is feeling!” I spat at him. He looked at me in shock, lips hanging open, eyes wide and blue as sapphires in the pommel of a great sword. I felt my temperature rise and my mouth go dry.

“Nadea …” he stammered as his eyes glazed. There was a lump in my chest and my stomach knotted up with sadness. I took a slow breath and forced myself to be calm.

“No, wait,” I commanded. I set down the small apple I had been working on and pushed myself off of the stool. It was a short, painful hobble to the other side of the tent, where my cane rested against a chest of drawers. The bureau was made of smooth iron wood the color of dark coffee and capped with a bronzed fox head. It was beautifully crafted and had been handed down from Maerc’s grandfather, Runir’s great-grandfather.

I hated the gaudy thing.

“This isn’t your fault Runir.”

“I know, Nadea. You’ve been through a lot and I—“

“No, it isn’t okay. You’ve been my friend since we were children, you risked your life to save me from the dungeons, and you have always supported my insane desire to pursue the legends of the O’Baarni. You even spent time with Kaiyer and tried to make him feel welcome.” His face turned slightly red and he glanced at the ground. He wasn’t used to me complimenting him. “I’m angry at my situation, but it isn’t useful to take it out on my kinsmen. I need to focus my aggression on productive things.”

“Like how we will get Brilla’s support and reclaim our home?” Runir looked up from the floor and smiled dashingly. Most women would have melted at the handsome man’s blue eyes, his perfect grin, and his rigid masculine jawline. I knew that Runir wished that I was like most women, but I felt no attraction to him.

“Exactly, how are the troops this morning?”

“In a shitty mood, honestly. If you felt like it, perhaps you could come out and walk amongst them? It would probably raise their spirits. They have seen little of you in the past few days.” He let out a sigh and looked at the plate of food.

“I’ll visit them. Throw me that apple.” I forced myself to smile and found that it came without effort. The fuzzy dream had improved my mood. Was it the memory of Kaiyer? Or perhaps I just needed to get back to doing what I did best: executing my goals. Seeing the troops was a big part of my agenda.

“Maybe you should brush your hair?” he said with a smirk. “It looks like you just woke up from a nightmare.” I forced a dry chuckle out and balanced on the cane while I grabbed the brush that one of the cavalry men had procured for me. After a few minutes of aggressive yanking on the polished wooden handle, my hair was reasonably straight.

“Looks just as good as the mane on my favorite horse,” Runir joked.

“It’s probably the only spare brush within ten miles.“ I wrinkled my nose at him.

“We do have women in the army, you know.”

“I said spare brush.” I stuck my tongue out at him as I ducked out the canvas flap and into the morning air.

“Shhhhharrrrr!” I gritted through my teeth as I bent over my injured leg to exit my tent. I hadn’t really gotten used to walking with the cane, but I would have the rest of my life to get accustomed to the gait. Runir either didn’t hear my gasp over his laughter or ignored it, which was good, since I needed him to stop fretting over me and concentrate on getting what remained of the army to Brilla.

The morning was chilly, and my breath steamed out of my mouth in large puffs of white smoke that rose into the fog that surrounded the camp. The gloom was common this time of the year and helped to conceal the passage of our forces through the forest south and toward the border we shared with Brilla.

“Hail Duchess,” the guard standing ten feet from the entrance to my tent said as she came to attention. I nodded to her and smiled. Yes, I felt like today would be a good day.

“At ease,” Runir commanded from behind me. “Half of the men are tearing down the camp and the others are doing some light training. Whom do you want to see first?”

“Training.” He nodded and led me through the maze of tents in various stages of teardown. I smiled at the soldiers who packed up the equipment and spoke to those that looked low in morale, which meant it took me almost an hour to make it the two hundred yards to the perimeter of the camp to view the warriors training.

“You did well raising their hopes,” Runir commented as we crested a small barrier of dirt that had been erected around the tents. “We all thought you were dead, along with the rest of the royal family.”

“My father is alive. The queen is most assuredly alive, Nanos is a psychopath, but I don’t think he would kill his mother; they always seemed to get along, better than the queen and Jessmei.” I recalled the various family get-togethers between my father and I, the king and his family, and Maerc, his wife, and Runir. I thought nothing of it, but looking back, it was clear that the queen favored Nanos over Jessmei, and the king was the opposite, favoring his beautiful and kind daughter over the spoiled son. My father hinted that his brother and the queen did not have a functioning marriage, but I didn’t want to know the details.

I had never been that interested in the pursuits of the other aristocratic women. My father wanted me to take music, dance, and knitting lessons from my mother’s plethora of handmaidens. But the instruction style bored me and I spent most of my time running around the keep playing explorer. I learned how to dance after I spent years learning the footwork involved in swordplay. I learned how to sew by repairing my light field armor and stitching up cuts from soldiers in my father’s employment. I learned how to sing by reciting old ballads that described great wars.

Thoughts of my recent childhood brought up memories of Jessmei. We had very different childhoods, only sharing the benefits that royal blood gave us. She fully indulged in the upbringing of a noble woman; she could play eight musical instruments and sing almost as well as Tanya Gettil. The princess could knit, sew, and embroider beautiful garments that were prized by the nobility of the Eight Kingdoms. She knew all the traditional and modern dance movements. She hosted fabulous parties and engaged people with amazing conversation. The kinds of conversations that were so warm and sincere that she had quickly built up a parade of admirers that stretched from the nobility of Vanlourn to the chiefs of the mountain clans in the Northlands.

I never told her how much I admired her. The last few conversations we had weren’t meaningful. We broke our fast together a week before the Ancients kidnapped her. I had been upset about the progress with Kaiyer and took some of the frustration out on her during our short meal. Her big blue eyes and innocent face made her seem younger than she actually was, and I often treated her like my little sister instead of my equal. After I had started to pursue the O’Baarni, I would tell her of my travels, the ruins I explored, and the interesting people I met. I should have expected her to chase after me on this latest quest to find the O’Baarni. She had fantasized about my life so much that she wasn’t proud of her own accomplishments.

“My father used to have a saying. Whenever I made a mistake he would always say: ‘The best part about the past is that it is over.’” I took a deep breath as I studied the troops doing light sparring and stretching on a field before me. They looked beaten, as tired and withered as the hunched, brittle oak trees in the surrounding forest.

“He was a wise man.” Runir’s voice filled with pity.

“He is a wise man.” I tried not to spit out the words. Runir didn’t need any more anger from me. “He’s too smart to be dead. The situation during the invasion spun out of control. I’m sure he escaped. I know that he is still alive, and I hate that I made this decision to go south with you and Maerc.” I saw Runir stiffen in my peripheral vision. “But he was right. That decision is over, it was a choice I made, not one that you or your father made for me. I am responsible for my choice.”

“I wouldn’t blame you for feeling some sort of spite.”

“I’m mad at myself, but I shouldn’t be. He would want me to do this for our country. I made the decision and now I need to see it through.” Runir’s face split into a giant grin. I noticed that he had a bit of a beard and it looked good on his chiseled face. “I’m going to need you and your father’s help. I’m not used to being a leader. There was always someone else around that people would turn to for guidance. I looked to my father; he looked to the king. I feel uncomfortable with the role that your father has in mind for me.”

“We’ll help you. You have my word Nadea. I would do anything for you.” He stepped closer and I glanced away from the troops to look into his eyes. It was impossible not to see the adoration in their blue depths. For a second I wondered how our relationship would end, would Runir still feel that way about me at the conclusion of this day? What about when the whole war ended? I would need him to move on with his life, but his affection and friendship had become something I expected and relied on, like the moons rising each night. I knew I did not love him the way he loved me, but I still needed him in my life.

“Let’s start with this.” I glanced away from Runir and pointed down the small slope toward the remnants of our once powerful army. “I’m not much of a soldier, but I understand enough about sword play and morale to determine that something is wrong.” It was an easy question. One I already guessed the answer to but asked so that my friend might feel like he was teaching me warfare.

“They have lost everything. We need to bring back their memories of Nia, give them hope for a future, or they will have no will to live, let alone fight. You can do that. There is power in the royal line, and you are the star that can guide them through this night.” His voice became thick with emotion. I didn’t want to look at him for fear that I would see his eyes shine with tears.

I thought back to Jessmei. Was she still alive? I hoped so, but then I imagined the tortures she might be enduring. She’d been a pain in my ass during the long journey into Vanlourn, but that was mostly because I worried about her the whole time. She hadn’t been unpleasant to travel with, and she was my favorite person to visit when I came to Castle Nia. My father taught me that family is more than blood, and Jessmei was my best friend and sister.

I should have told her how much I loved her when I had the chance. Perhaps my father was wrong, the worst part of the past was when it ended, you could never tell the people that you cared about exactly how much you loved them. Jessmei, my uncle, Greykin, Paug, and even Kaiyer never knew the place they held in my heart.

“You okay?” Runir said with concern, yanking me out of my reverie.

“Yeah.” I wiped the tears out of my eyes. Fuck. I thought I was done with that bullshit. I needed to be stronger to execute what I planned. “Let us walk down amongst them.” I didn’t wait for a response as I shuffled my feet and cane forward, sliding down the makeshift dirt hill a bit with Runir chasing after me.

There was an organization to the training that I understood. This knowledge allowed me to limp my way safely through the chaos of the sparring without risking injury. Within a few minutes I was encompassed by a flurry of movements, grunts, and the bitter scent of sweat mixed with leather.

“Where is your father?” I yelled over my shoulder, the words I spoke sent a chill down my back as I remembered the last two dreams with the Ancient woman.

“He’s in the camp, planning the route to Brilla.” Runir dodged through the ranks of men and women sparring. Even though I carried the cane, my reflexes were faster than his and the surrounding chaos did not worry me.

“I’m going to talk to them!” I yelled back as the gap between us grew larger. I replayed the speech I practiced in my head quickly and wondered how my father would have presented it. Most of the words were his, borrowed from talks I overheard him give soldiers during their training.

“Wait! We should talk to my father first!” I heard him over my shoulder as I ducked under a sword blow. The soldier that swung the weapon gasped in fright and stammered an apology after he recognized me. “Nadea!” Runir screamed a second too late. I ignored him.

“Nia!” I yelled as loud as I could. The pair of soldiers that I interrupted stared at me in disbelief.

“Nia!” I screamed again. My free hand beckoned them to join me as I inhaled and readied my next scream.

“Nia!” the three of us yelled again as Runir caught up to me. The warriors that trained within forty feet of us halted their training and looked at the spectacle.

“Nia!” the four of us screamed.

After two more rounds, the soldiers on the open field stopped exercising and began screaming the name of our home. I continued the chant and beckoned for those around me to follow me as I walked toward one of the large oak trees placed on the edge of the clearing. It took some time for the crowd to part and swarm behind me. By the time I made it to the gnarled tree, my leg had started to hurt and I knew that I was pushing myself too much. Gerald would be upset with me if I damaged the wound anymore, but I felt this was worth the risk.

“Give me a boost,” I asked Runir and the soldier that had almost sliced me with his sword. They didn’t hear me over the roar of the crowd, so I leaned over, cradled my hand, and then pointed to my chest and at a large oak tree branch. They understood what I meant then and lowered their arms for me.

I dropped my cane, stepped into the hands of the two men, and then let them lift me. I grabbed onto the massive gnarled branch of the ancient tree, swung my lower body forward a bit and then pulled myself up on top of it. It would have been a difficult move for most fit men to execute, but I’d spent most of my life climbing on things. It also helped that I was much stronger than a pure-blooded human.

I shimmied out on the limb as far as I dared to go. The branch hung lazily fifteen feet above the ground like a swimming snake. When I reached a safe spot, I stood up and surveyed the army. Their chanting was out of sync, their voices combined like a storm throwing waves against a cliff wall. I held up my hands, palm out, and then lowered them slowly. It took me a few times, but the gathered mass of five hundred fell silent. So silent that I heard my heart beating in my ears. Terror crept up from my stomach and into my chest. My fingertips tingled and the world began to spin slowly.

“Give me strength, Father. I know I can do this.” The words of affirmation relaxed the panic.

Things could not get any worse. I had nothing to lose.

“Today is a dark day!” I yelled. I looked down from the branch and saw the men and women in the back push farther into the crowd in an effort to hear. The crowd shrunk closer for half a minute until I began again.

“Today is a dark day,” I repeated “but you believe that today is dark because we have lost our homes, our families, and our king.” Their heads nodded and I could see Runir right below me pale at the negative start of my speech.

“But today is not dark because of those things. Those losses are only the most apparent travesties. No, the situation today is dire, it is dismal, and it is hopeless.”

They grumbled now and Runir’s face formed a beautiful mosaic of pure panic. I raised my hands again and the quiet came almost instantly.

“It is hopeless because I see that these tragedies have destroyed your spirit. This isn’t how Nia trains: half-assed and tired. This isn’t how Nia lives: in the shadow of our rightful home, dreaming of all that we lost. This isn’t how Nia thinks: that we are beaten.” I paused again before I screamed a question.

“Are you beaten, Nia?”

“NO!” was the unanimous roar from the angry soldiers. On the opposite side of the clearing, I saw troops that had been unpacking the campsite stop and make their way over the barrier toward my impromptu gathering. I waited for a minute for them to join the throng before I raised my hands to silence the crowd again.

“I don’t believe you Nia.” My comment caused more grumbles. “How can I believe that you aren’t beaten when I’ve seen grandmothers sweep out their homes more aggressively than you train? How can I believe that you aren’t beaten when we talk of going to Brilla?” I paused again, letting the last word seethe with anger. My butterflies were gone.

“Brilla?” I said loudly. “Brilla?” I said again louder. “Brilla?” I screamed in outrage.

“Why the fuck are we going to Brilla? Did you all forget that Nia is the ‘Crown of the Eight Kingdoms?’ Did you forget that we are the best soldiers in the world? Did you forget that we have twenty thousand troops in the Northlands waiting for the thaw to come so they can extract a terrible vengeance on Losher? Did you forget that we know this country better than any invading army? Did you forget that Losher has to eat, that they have to sleep, that they have to protect what they conquered? Did you forget that our families are dead? Did you forget that we can’t sleep because their screams invade our dreams? Did you forget that revenge can feed us until we feast on their bones? Did you assholes forget?”

The yells from the crowd almost made me lose my balance and fall out of the tree. My ears started to ring and my chest felt the force of their anger. Their shouts quickly turned into screams and I could see the rage gathering on the surface of the press of the bodies like smoke from a fire. It took me five minutes to calm them down enough to continue. But then I knew that I had them and I squeezed my injured leg to keep from smiling.

“I’m not going to Brilla with you fucking traitors.” The crowd gasped again, worry flooded their faces.

“I will stay here and fight, as our families would have wanted. I’ll pick off Losher soldiers, one at a time, until they whisper my name in fear every night. I’ll steal their food so that they will starve. I’ll poison their water so that they begin to distrust their officers. I’ll kill all of them. Then I will kill the Ancients that brought them here. I possess everything I need here to extract my vengeance. There is nothing Brilla can offer me but pity and months of negotiations.” I changed my tone and accent to mock how Brilla would speak to us.

“Sure, we will help you Nia, but how much money can we take from your coffers afterward? Maybe we can help you Nia, but we have our own problems, like land. Can you give us any of yours once we are done assisting you? Why would we help you take your kingdom back, Nia? Sure you’ve helped us in the past. But the past is the past and we have always envied your magnificent castle.”

The crowd was silent as they turned over these conversations in their heads, multiplying the circumstances of these negotiations until they were probably worse than ridiculous.

“As the Ruler of Nia, I could go to Brilla and engage in these discussions for months while Losher enjoys the beauty of our city and pillages our kingdom. Do you want me to go to Brilla while our beautiful country is raped?”

I didn’t think that their screams could get any louder. But they did.

“Would you rather stay here with me and destroy our enemies?”

I let the cheers of exuberance last for a few minutes. Now I smiled as my heart swelled. This would work. We could do this. I would lead these people, take back the castle, kill the Loshers, kill the Ancients, and save my father.

“It will be hard. We will go hungry. We will be cold. We will lose even more friends between now and victory. But I can guarantee you that we will win. Nothing can beat us because,” I paused before I made my closing statement: “We are Nia and we do not fall!” I yelled as I raised my fists in the air high above my head. The movement and words repeated two thousand more times, like a snap of thunder.

I kept my hands in the air for almost ten minutes until I felt that the crowd became too chaotic. I put my hands up for silence again.

“Train today because Loshers will die tomorrow!” It was a dismissal, but only half of them understood and made a movement to disperse. I looked down at Runir. I had ignored him for the second part of the speech, but it was easy to see the awe mixed with fear on his face.

“Help me down!” I shouted toward him, trying to get over the roar of the crowd. He read my lips and body movements enough to catch me when I scrambled down the limb and lowered myself to the ground.

“What the fuck was that?” he yelled. “Maerc is going to skin you alive!” I tried not to smile. Runir was smart, but only in the ways of battle and military tactics.

“Let’s go talk to your father!” I shouted in his ear. The surrounding crowd grew oppressive. If I was a man, and not a female member of the royal family, I might have been hoisted up on someone’s shoulders like a hero.

“Can you quiet them?” I thought he said as I read his lips. I nodded and raised my hands in the air. We had a small clearing around Runir and me, within a few minutes, the field miraculously fell silent again. I could get used to this influence.

“I need to plan with the general. You all need to continue your training. Let me pass so that we can extract vengeance tomorrow.” I didn’t have to speak loud. The surrounding soldiers separated, creating a path for Runir and me. I picked up my discarded cane and leaned on it heavily. My leg screamed almost as loud as the army had moments ago.

As I passed, the soldiers saluted me in silence. The change in attitude was apparent. Today would not end like it did yesterday.

Maerc and four of Nia’s generals met us on the path to the camp. The general’s face pulsed as red as fresh blood and his fist clenched around the hilt of the sword at his hip. For a second I almost thought he would draw it there and attack me. But then I remembered the army at my back watching the exchange and gave him my best smile.

“We need to talk … Duchess,” he seethed.

“Of course, General, I believe we should plan our next steps in your command tent.” I turned to one of the vice-generals. My father always made it a point to memorize the names of his warriors and I was grateful I had adopted the practice. “My dear Julliar, can you please find my medic and bring him to General Maerc’s pavilion? I have opened the stitching in my leg.” I spoke loudly as I pointed to my injured limb.

“Of course, Duchess!” the bald muscular man shouted before he saluted and dashed off through the tents.

“After you?” I raised an eyebrow to Maerc, who only clenched his jaw muscles before he turned and marched toward his tent. His feet slammed into the loose dirt at every step and was a good thirty yards ahead of me before he realized that I couldn’t limp fast enough.

“Sorry Maerc, I can’t seem to keep up with you. The injured leg is catching up to me today.”

“You should have been resting in your fucking tent.” He glared at Runir.

“I was, but I wanted to talk to my army,” I said with a sigh. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been trying to annoy him but the pain was starting to become a serious distraction. I had definitely ripped all the stitching out and I felt a warm wet stream of blood making its way down the front of my pants.

We made it to his tent and he opened the flap. “Get inside, now,” he commanded.

His pavilion looked much the same as it had a few days ago. I limped over to Maerc’s chair behind his desk and fell into it with a moan that I tried not to overdo.

There were two more stools, but none of the other five men sat. Maerc paced around the desk for half a minute while he composed his thoughts. I had to admit that I didn’t think that he would have been able to control his anger this well. But I probably underestimated him. He was one of the king’s and my father’s oldest friends and best generals.

“Do you even realize what you just did?” He turned and pointed a gloved finger at me. Little pieces of spit flew out of his mouth and dotted the chest of his perfectly arranged uniform

“Yes,” I said plainly.

“Oh really? What the fuck did you just do then?”

“I gave a motivating speech to our troops.” I shrugged and smiled lightly, trying to emulate how Jessmei acted: innocent and charming.

“First of all, that wasn’t motivating, it was disruptive. Second of all, they are my troops. I command and make the strategic decisions. You are just the figurehead to give them hope. Finally, you made it almost impossible to lead them to Brilla. We will need to carefully formulate another speech for you to deliver to them.” He seemed to lose himself in thought as he probably began to piece together a speech that would repair the damage I just inflicted. The other generals shook their heads at me in disapproval and then looked at Maerc. Runir’s face was white as he nervously glanced between the two of us. The relationship between a father and a son was definitely more complicated than that of a father and daughter.

“I am not going to Brilla. So my speech perfectly framed the situation,” I said. It was time to put an end to this.

“What are you talking about?” Maerc stopped his pacing and looked at me with bewilderment on his face.

“I’m not going to Brilla. I am staying here to destroy the Loshers, take back the castle, and save my father. We talked about this a few days ago.” I smiled slightly.

“When we talked about this a few days ago you agreed to go with us to Brilla! You said you would support us!” Runir shouted and the other generals turned at his outburst.

“I lied. I needed time to get the troops behind me. Now they are.” The men stared at me with their mouths opened in amazement.

“You fucking bitch,” Maerc finally said.

“You lied?” Runir asked. The look on his face made my chest suddenly hurt and constrict. It became a little harder to breathe.

“Of course I lied.” I smiled at them. It was all teeth. “I disagreed with your plan, but it was rather clear that I had no leverage. Now I have all the leverage and will be making the correct decisions. Here is the first one: Maerc, I agree that we need to go to Brilla and ask for help. However, neither the army nor I will be making the trip. There is too much work here. Besides, I am not interested in getting caught up in a political game where my inexperience will lead to failure. I’ve prepared these letters.“ I reached into my vest and produced four letters. “This is for the King of Brilla and his Council, the open envelops are copies I made for you to review during your journey. I have chosen a squad of your men to accompany you. You’ll be much more effective at negotiating aid from Brilla than I will.”

I slid the papers across my new desk and the general frantically snatched at them before they fell off the edge.

“Weatan, we need a detailed survey of the existing farmlands in Nia. There has to be someone in the army that has this knowledge and can get us a map. I am going to put you in charge of our long term supply train. Understand?”

Weatan was probably twenty years Maerc’s senior and had proven himself as a powerful warrior who helped train Greykin’s generation. The older man looked suddenly confused and stepped toward the tent flap, then realized what he was about to do and stopped himself. He glanced toward Maerc for instruction but the general still stared at me in disbelief.

“Yabar, you will be in charge of documenting the supply chain of the Losher army. I’ll need to see where they are the most vulnerable within the week so we can start strategizing our offensive maneuvers.” The man had practically been born in the military and his skin looked like aged leather. He crossed his arms and smirked at me.

“Corvan, I need to figure out where to stash this army. I know that you have contacts with traders and have been responsible for most of the road patrols for the last ten years. You’ll be acquainted with the best places to keep us concealed.”

“You’ve gone on quite enough, Nadea.” Maerc gained some of his composure back and was chuckling lightly to himself. I remembered the many times I shared family meals with the man. He was as much of an uncle to me as the king. However, I had my kingdom to save and while Runir’s father may have thought that he was doing the same thing, his plan would only tie our army up for precious months.

“You are done. Go back to your tent. We’ll put together a nice speech for you to say to the troops tomorrow. I can forget about this mistake you have made.”

“Guards!” I screamed. Before the five men realized what was happening, four soldiers stepped through the back and front flaps of the massive command pavilion. They already had their swords drawn and wore full chainmail.

“Where are my guards?” Maerc asked with a tint of syrupy fear.

“They’ve been put in charge of packing for your journey. These are personal guards from my father’s keep, like me, they didn’t agree with the trip to Brilla. There are a dozen more of my men outside your tent, but I didn’t want to cause a scene.”

I sat back and stared into Maerc’s eyes. The anger slowly turned into hatred and I wondered if there would be blood on the floor. My warriors already had their blades ready, but the generals were gifted swordsmen. Julliar was known as one of the best duelists in the kingdom, and if he was present they might have actually drawn. I didn’t know where Runir would have ended up in that brief struggle, and thoughts of losing another one of my loved ones made me play my game quicker.

“Corvan, Yabar, and Weatan, you are dismissed. I’ll need an update on your progress this evening.” I turned to look at the three men. They glanced at Maerc, then at Runir, then at the guards.

“I’m not going to repeat myself,” I said coldly. Fear slowly crept into my stomach and I tried to hide it from my face.

“Yes, Duchess,” Weatan said quickly before disappearing through the tent flap. Corvan and Yabar saluted me and then made a quick exit shortly after the older man.

The tension still remained in the tent.

“You made an agreement with us,” Maerc hissed through his teeth.

“Do you serve Nia?” I asked angrily.

“Fuck you! You half-blooded bitch. You are the only one that needs to be questioned that way. You aren’t even human. You aren’t even of royal blood; you’re one of the monsters we are trying to fight. I will walk out of this tent, then tell them who your father really is!”

“Are you finished?” I asked. The pain in my leg caused my vision to blur but I kept my face and voice from revealing this weakness. This whole operation had been such a gamble and I was nearly spent.

“No.” He looked at the surrounding guards. “Do you know she isn’t your liege’s daughter? She is some Ancient spawn he found in the Teeth Mountains. Did you know?”

My guards didn’t answer. They just stared at Maerc like statues of death, swords drawn, waiting for me to command them to life.

“Are you finished?” I said again calmly.

Maerc didn’t say anything for almost a minute. His blue eyes stared at me in cold hatred.

I matched his gaze and intensity.

Finally, he broke.

“Nadea, what are you doing? We need Brilla’s help; they’ve been in alliance with our kingdom for over fifty years. This was what the king wanted! There is no way that the men you have here can stand against Losher’s forces. It is suicide.” The anger faded from his voice.

“I already told you that I agree with you. That is why you are going. No one can do it better than you. I will cut off as many pieces of Losher’s army as I can. By the time you get an army from Brilla, our main force will return from the North. Then we will crush what Losher armies remain and take back our castle.” I glanced to Runir. “You can go with your father, but I think we would both prefer that you stay here. I need your help managing the army, and he’ll want you to be around to prevent me from doing something ridiculous.”

The blonde man turned to look at his father. Maerc nodded.

“You can ride with him out of the camp if you wish. I have your bodyguards and a squad of soldiers ready to receive you. You should make it to Brilla in less than three weeks. I’ve detailed the process to communicate with me in one of the letters.” Maerc nodded. The anger was gone from his face completely now and only sadness remained.

“How did you do this?” the general asked quietly. I stared into his eyes and saw the glassy sheen on their edges. I let out a long sigh and started to feel regret. Maerc loved his country as much as I did, he would gladly sacrifice his life if it meant that Nia would continue to exist. He was a proud man, intelligent and steadfast. If we had seen eye to eye, it would have been a great partnership.

“I could do it because you thought you beat me. You thought you had information that would ruin me if someone found out. You thought I was ashamed of it and that I had something to hide.” I looked at Runir. “You thought I was an injured and broken girl that you saved from certain death. But most importantly, you underestimated how much I love my father and want to murder Nanos for his betrayal.”

Runir nodded as he considered my words.

“I should have done what the king’s letter told me to do and killed you.” Maerc spat out the words in desperation. “I love your father too, the king as well. They wouldn’t have wanted this. They specifically ordered me to execute this plan.”

“It is too late to negotiate. You wanted to persecute three days ago. Now it is my board. Have a safe and productive trip to Brilla. When you bring their army up in the spring you will have cooled off and we can work together again for the benefit of our country.” He tried to get another word in, but I held up my hand “You are dismissed, General. You as well, Commander.” I nodded to my warriors and they inched closer to the two blonde men. They got the point and exited without looking at me again. The pair of guards behind them followed them out the front door.

“The general might try to do something stupid,” one of my men said.

“If he does, then kill him.” The words came out of my mouth; I felt my breath give life to them. But they were cold and dead on my lips. Like someone else controlled my voice. Someone with hair the color of blood and eyes that glowed silver.

“What about Runir?” he raised an eyebrow. My father once told me that sometimes being a leader meant making the kind of decisions that no one else could make.

“Let’s hope he doesn’t do anything stupid,” I said.

I meant those words with all of my heart.

Chapter 16-The O’Baarni

“This isn’t going to end well. Is it, Brother?” Thayer whispered through ragged breaths that came steaming out of his mouth in giant puffs.

“There are only thirty of them.” I looked at him sideways with a smirk. He grunted but didn’t smile.

That’s when I knew that we probably wouldn’t escape.

We were cut off from the rest of the escapees, almost fifty miles north of where our temporary campsite lay secreted away. We had spent the last year pushing in this direction, trying to put distance between us and the Elven clan that created us. Unfortunately, I hadn’t correctly judged the tenacity of our former masters. They did not want any other Elven tribes capturing my friends, so they sent five hundred warriors in pursuit. I didn’t realize that Iolarathe’s tribe was one of the largest and most powerful within a thousand miles.

I hadn’t realized that they were the first to be testing human magic. If the other Elven tribes learned of us, the news would spread like a lethal virus. More Elven families would start experimenting, and there would be a disruption of Iolarathe’s family’s push for dominance in the land.

“They have been relentless. Perhaps they know it is you and me?” Thayer slowly peered down the cliff wall. The snow had been falling for two weeks, the world was painted with white.

“We will have to move out when night falls,” I whispered. My body convulsed and shivered for a second. It was fucking cold and it had been almost a week since either of us ate. We had discarded most of our clothing during the chase to throw off their trackers. They brought dogs with them this time, but I knew that my enemies’ sense of smell was on par with ours. I doubted that they even needed tracking beasts, but the animals were expendable and handled the colder weather easier.

Now we only had our undergarments and weapons left. There was little else to discard to throw the hunters off of our trail.

“What do you think about just going down there, killing as many as we can, and then calling it a day? I’m sick of running Brother. Let’s be done with this. It is a good day to die. We gave it our all. We just were not meant to be free.” I heard the hopelessness in his voice and the emotion began to leak into my own soul.

“Fuck that. You don’t die until I tell you. You swore you would follow me until the end. The end is us living free, in our own home, farmlands and cattle stretching out as far as our eyes can see, with no worry of these bastards chasing us anymore. We just have to evade these fuckers, get back to the camp, flank them, and finish them.” I sighed in relief and warmth flooded my body. I said the words with such conviction that I actually believed them. This was good, because I wasn’t going to be able to make anything happen unless I believed it first.

“In this fantasy land, are there beautiful women? I’m fucking horny and looking at your face isn’t doing it for me, Brother.” His cocky grin returned.

“Of course there are. You can have as many women as will put up with you. But let’s get out of this situation first. What are your ideas?” I crawled to the edge of the cliff to view the horizon. I didn’t see any movement below in the trees, but I knew there were at least thirty Elvens in the forest and half as many dogs. After a few moments of scanning with Thayer I moved deeper into the cave and stretched my arms.

“You’re the idea man, Kaiyer. I only kill shit. You tell me how to get out of here and I’ll follow.”

“If they knew we hid here they would have flushed us out. They probably think we scaled the cliff and went farther north. I’m thinking that we descend and backtrack the way we came. They will figure it out eventually, but it will give us a few days’ lead.”

“Sounds good. Let’s do it.”

“There is also a possibility that they have already gone up the other side of the cliff but did not see our tracks or pick up a scent, and believe we did not come up this way. They will search around the bottom of the precipice and realize that we are hidden on its face. If that happens, we should go up right after they circle to confuse them.”

“Okay, Brother. Let’s do that,” Thayer said with as much conviction as he had shown in response to my earlier statement.

“The second alternative leads us farther from our friends,” I murmured.

“Shit. Okay. Let’s do the first one. I like that one better anyway and we can kill a few of the Elvens.” He blew hot air into his cupped hands and rubbed them together.

“It is odd that we haven’t seen any of them. I figured that they would have at least brought the dogs to the cliff face to sniff. Then they would have known we climbed the cliff.” I leaned up against the damp wall of the cave. Its mouth didn’t stretch far back into the rocky formation, so I assumed that it was home to some bats during the summer months.

“You are surely a prophet, Brother, four of them approach now!” Thayer whispered as he flattened his body against the edge. I pushed myself down and joined him as quickly as I dared to avoid disturbing any loose rocks.

Thayer had been correct in his observation. There were four Elvens at the bottom of the cliff face, about two hundred yards below us. They had three dogs that looked more like giant wolves: four hundred pounds of barely controllable teeth and claws. The dogs paced back and forth at the base of the wall we had ascended.

“Their clothes look warm,” my friend said with longing. The Elvens wore snow-colored long cloaks, pants, and fur-lined jackets. The attire probably wouldn’t fit our wider frames, but they would offer some protection against the elements. Thayer and I protected ourselves with an effort of will and a slow drain of our Earth. We couldn’t keep it up for much longer.

“But their bows look deadly,” I remarked. They would easily kill us if we dared to climb the cliff face with the sun out. Even as I spoke, the Elven hunters looked up at the steep wall, trying to identify if we were scaling the icy surface.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I hate feeling trapped. What now?”

“We should stick with the first plan. There might be a few of them up above, but once it is night we should be able to either sneak by or kill a few. The sun will set in a few hours. You should rest while I keep an eye on these assholes.” Normally Thayer wouldn’t have let me offer to take watch. But we were exhausted and had been on the run for so long that his scarred face broke out into a grateful grin.

“Thanks, Brother.” He shifted his weight back into the cave, where it was slightly warmer.

The Elvens continued to examine the wall of the cliff. Our tiny cavern was well hidden, so I felt no worry of discovery. Thayer and I had climbed westward across the bluff, hoping we would throw off the scent of the dogs. It was a stroke of luck finding the cave. A cracked boulder created a dark shadow that made the nook invisible, and we had only seen the crevice when we climbed above it and looked down to the ground. There was a possibility that we could stay here for a couple of days, but I doubted it. Iolarathe’s family had pursued us almost eight hundred miles north over the last year. Our original group of sixty escapees had dwindled to a few dozen.

At the beginning of our exodus, we did our best to cut the massive force into bite-sized pieces that we could destroy. We initially scattered and headed the four directions of the wind. Thayer and I had circled back toward the tribal lands with a few of the training mates we knew would not buckle under the most dangerous of tasks. The other escapees had clear instructions to travel for twenty miles, cut north, and proceed to the highest peak of the distant northern mountain range. We’d meet at the base of the peaks in two weeks, stay for a week to catch stragglers, and then continue onward to look for a new homeland.

When the Elvens got to the trail of the main group, they figured that we had all gone our own way, scattered like rabbits when the hawk calls. They set off in pursuit, and from our hiding places in the trees behind them, we overheard them talking about how easy this assignment would be. They also spoke about how much they looked forward to skinning us alive and bringing back our heads. The Elvens believed that we were stupid, unorganized, and running in fear. To them, this was no different than sport hunting boar or deer. They brought plenty of luxury pavilions. Their tents were stocked with food, alcohol, minstrels, and human slaves so that all of their comforts would be fulfilled.

They had planned to hunt us down like trophies. At the end of the week we exterminated them like vermin.

Our victory left us drunker than any wine and solidified my role as the leader. I had made promises to them and delivered. Even when our masters tried to kill us, I had proven my mettle and triumphed over the Elvens in a way that must have completely demoralized them.

Then I made a mistake that would bring ruin.

We looted all the Elven’s equipment, weapons, and supplies. It was such an unexpected windfall that I decided to make camp at the base of the northern mountain we had originally set as our waypoint. We established a small farm, set up fencing for livestock, and assigned working roles for our band of powerful humans. At the foot of the mountains, I thought we could start our new lives, free of the Elvens. We would be our own masters and create our own destiny. I believed that we had crushed our enslavers so completely that they would never try to hunt us again. I thought that we had fled far enough away, and I believed that, even if they attempted to hunt us down again, we would deal with them as easily as we did the first time.

Obviously, I had been proven wrong. Or I wouldn’t be freezing, hungry, and hiding in a cave on a cliff while thirty of the fuckers and their dogs tried to find me. My mistake cost many human lives.

I awoke with a start and almost gasped out in shock. I must have fallen asleep. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. I cursed myself. The sun was beginning to set, spilling golden oil across the endless treetops to the south. I slowed my breathing and focused on listening. All of my senses were enhanced by the Earth that flowed through my body. I could see better than an eagle, smell better than a wolf, and hear better than an owl. Our enemies didn’t experience the same sort of benefits when they harnessed the Earth. The Elvens were naturally stronger than humans, possessed better senses, and could heal themselves quickly. Their natural abilities were only enhanced slightly through the use of magic.

But even with magic flowing through my body and my ears seeking surrounding sounds, I didn’t hear anything. I did hear the unending racket of the forest: mice scurrying around in the cliffs, the hoot of an owl a mile away, the distant howl of a pack of wolves several miles to my east, and the chill wind passing through thousands of trees and their needles. Thayer’s heart sounded like the twin slams of thunder from behind me and I remembered that he slept. It would be time to move soon, so I relaxed on the flow of Earth and carefully crawled the few feet back into the cave.

My friend shivered as he fought off the cold. As I studied his almost naked body I was suddenly overcome with emotion. We had survived so much together. We would probably die tonight, put down like hunted animals. But we were okay with that ending to our lives. Better than death under the yoke of our enslavers.

Thayer came awake instantly when my fingers closed around his ankle. We had our roles of hunter and prey reversed so many times that the actions surrounding the tasks were second nature. He didn’t make a sound as he sat up and looked at me.

I signaled to my ears and eyes, gestured outside, and gave the negative signal with my hand. He nodded. I pointed up, indicating that we would climb, then I made the signal for the sun and the same negative signal. He acknowledged again and prepared himself by stretching his neck and shoulders.

The period of dusk when the sun sets is the best time to move unseen. Something about how the glow faded from the sky made it more difficult to discern objects than when the light shone from above or when it was true night. It would be a small advantage that would last a quarter of an hour.

I poked my head out of the cave slightly and focused more of the Earth through me; I still didn’t hear or see any sign of our pursuers, so I let out a deep breath and signaled to Thayer. A few seconds later we were making our way silently up the face of the cliff. It wasn’t the plan I had told him of earlier, but he wouldn’t mind the change.

Climbing up surfaces was easy for us. We could pull ourselves up with the strength in one finger and crush the rocks we scaled with our bare hands. However, doing the same exercise with complete silence required absolute mastery and a bit of luck. We needed to predict which handholds would be secure enough without crumbling. We also needed to be constantly aware of what our feet and legs were doing, as they could create rockslides if placed incorrectly, or disturb animals that might give away our position.

The sun had fully set by the time we reached the top of the cliff. With its departure, the glowing orb took all the light from the sky and sucked what little heat there was out of the air. The frigid conditions made it that much harder to find handholds, and even a steady stream of Earth flowing through me didn’t keep me from shivering.

When we were twenty feet from the edge, I paused to listen for our pursuers and still heard nothing. When we reached the top, I neither saw nor heard any signs of our captors in the clearing.

I flipped my body to the top of the cliff and helped Thayer pull himself to his feet. We sat still and listened, catching our breath and silently giving thanks to our bodies and minds for getting us this far. Perhaps we would make it back to our friends alive.

I signaled northward to my friend and he grinned, splitting his scarred face into a painting of triumph. I wanted to tell him that we weren’t safe yet, but I didn’t want to get his spirits down, so I stood up off the ground and crept into the trees.

We walked for a few hours, and while the pace would have been fine for me when I was a normal human, now I could do a sustained run faster than a horse. The slow speed through the forest was more of a test of patience than of stealth. Both Thayer and I just wanted to run, we could move faster than the wind through these trees, leave behind deer with our speed, and escape these Elvens forever.

But running would create noise. It would disturb wolves, owls, mice; the forest would be aware of our presence and the Elvens would as well. We were also beyond exhausted, and even jogging would take an incredible toll.

A sharp crack of wood rang out from a distance of about two hundred yards in front of us. Thayer and I immediately sunk down to the ground, becoming one with the floor of snow, needles, and leaves that we had been swimming through like silent sharks.

“Shut up, eh?” an Elven voice hissed from the same spot. I signaled to Thayer and we began to creep forward.

“We’ve lost them. No sign or track for three days. They are halfway to Zetirma by now,” another voice said in annoyance. My teeth gritted and muscles tensed at the timbre of their voices. It would be a shame that I wouldn’t be able to make them scream as I killed them.

“You can relax all you wish, but I’ll feel safe when I am back home, drinking some wine and warming my loins deep in my favorite woman. Until then, grab that fucking piece of firewood and stay aware.” The voice was an urgent whisper, filled with fear.

Thayer and I were close now and through the thick shrubbery we could see the two Elvens carefully sorting through saplings and gathering other wood in a small clearing. They performed their tasks without speaking anymore and they frequently looked over their shoulders to ensure their partner was still working. They must have taken our threat seriously. It was too bad that their single mistake would cost them everything. But that was how battle worked.

Cutting someone across the throat could almost never be done silently. Death came too slowly, giving them a chance to gargle out a warning. I preferred ripping into the brain with something sharp and pointy, as the first Elven learned when he felt my hand grab the side of his jaw from inside his mouth and rip his face toward me. The point of my dagger stabbed through his eye socket and into the soft organ beneath the skull. Then the asshole felt nothing.

Thayer was more flamboyant than I. In a swift movement he decapitated the other Elven, then sheathed his sword and caught the head and corpse before it toppled to the ground.

The Elvens ran tall and slim. Their boots fit too small, but we were able to squeeze into their fur-trimmed leather coats and pants. They also carried small blocks of flint, curved long swords, small saws, and a hand axe. It took us less than a minute to re-outfit ourselves and continue on the path northward.

I was worried that we might run into the larger group, but as we continued for an hour we didn’t see any sign of them or any recently made trails. After the second hour of travel, Thayer tapped me on the back and gave me a big smile.

“I think we’ve lost them, Brother,” he whispered and I nodded.

Then we heard howls from behind us. It wasn’t wolves, it was the sound of the Elven’s tracking dogs.

“Shit!” we both said at once before we ran. Our unclad feet left deep and easily traceable gouges in the needles and mud of the forest floor, but at this point we didn’t care.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have killed those two assholes?” I gasped in between leaps across a small set of boulders.

“Fuck it! I like running anyway! I feel free!” Thayer yelled.

His jubilation did not stop the howls behind us from growing oppressively louder. We could outrun Elvens or dogs if we were in optimal condition, but we had gone weeks without consistent food or rest, stressed physically and mentally by their pursuit. Even if we fell into their hands, we had led the last of the trackers away from our main camp. The belief that our kin could evade capture and live out their lives in freedom was enough for us, if we were to die, we would die at peace knowing they lived.

We ran until the sun came up again, spraying the entire world with a fresh coat of amber blood in its dawn glow.

“Throw me that axe, Brother!” Thayer yelled. “I can’t run anymore. I’ll hold them off for a bit. You keep moving.” The tone of his voice sounded hopeless.

“Fuck you! You’ll stop running when I say so!” I shouted back at him with a smile on my face.

“You just don’t want to die alone! I always knew you were afraid of something!” He laughed and picked up the pace.

“I just really like this axe. I’m going to bury it in one of them if they catch up to us.” This got another laugh from my friend.

We were animals now, some sort of bizarre cross of human, deer, squirrel, and bird. Our feet only seemed to touch the ground every twenty yards, the rest of the time we spent in the air, bouncing off trees, sliding across old snow, or scrambling over boulders.

We would not be able to keep it up for much longer, and I had no plan besides running. Maybe the situation was hopeless. We should turn around and kill as many as we could before they ended us. I did not voice my fears, so we continued to run.

Hours later, the sun was out in full glory. It had snowed weeks ago and what was left of the pure whiteness melted from the top of the trees, making the branches and forest floor glitter with the sun’s rays.

We emerged from the thick canopy into grassy hills that were sprinkled with granite monoliths. I could see that the slopes led up a few miles to a canyon that ascended to a mountain range.

“We’ll lose them in the canyons. The dogs can’t climb and I’m sure there will be a network of caves.”

“What is it with you and caves, Brother?” Thayer laughed as he sprinted ahead of me. I didn’t know how we still managed to run. Every joint in my body screamed and all of my muscles just wanted to quit.

I heard the arrow cut through the air before it hit him in the back of the left leg. He went down in a tumble of limbs but didn’t make a noise. He was too well trained.

I spun around and dove to my left proactively, the missile intended for me passed harmlessly overhead. How the fuck did they get so close? Another arrow screamed at me from the tree line one hundred yards behind us, but I managed to knock it out of the way before it went through my chest.

“We’ve been expecting you, human,” a voice called from where the arrow originated. “Release your weapons. We aren’t interested in killing you.” Figures emerged from behind the trees. There were a dozen of the bastards, and half held arrows notched and aimed at me. I looked to where Thayer had fallen and saw that he had crawled behind a small boulder to give himself cover.

“Poison,” he mouthed to me silently, pointing to the arrowhead he had removed from his leg. There wasn’t anything strong enough to kill us, but we could be rendered unconscious with what would end normal humans.

“We don’t want to do this the hard way. You already walked into our trap here. Why don’t you lay down your weapons, we’ll give you food and warmer clothing, maybe even some wine?” I didn’t recognize the Elven woman that addressed me. She had hair the color of gold and skin tanned by many days in the sun.

The hand axe I took from the other Elvens was a bit awkward to throw, but it still sunk into her beautiful face with a satisfying thud that smashed her skull in a showering of bone, blood, hair, and eyeballs. She managed to get a scream out, which impressed me, but then the damage done to her brain by the axe’s blade cut off the howl.

Her friends were shocked by my sudden movement, but that lasted a fraction of a second before they released their arrows. I threw myself to the ground in an attempt to sink into the long grass. I rolled left, toward Thayer, who found the situation extremely funny, and laughed like I’d just been kicked in the balls.

Somehow, no arrow found me. I made it behind the boulder that hid Thayer. We got to live another thirty seconds.

“Good show, Brother.” His words were slurring, and he struggled to hold his head up from his broad chest. “Let’s fight it out.” His skull fell forward and then he picked it up again. I heard the Elvens dashing up the hill toward, us but Thayer’s eyes glazed over like a frozen lake.

“Wake up!” I yelled in his ear. He grunted and his eyes rolled back into his skull.

I sighed. We had talked about this before we escaped from Iolarathe’s lands, what would happen if we were ever trapped and certain there was no escape.

We wouldn’t be slaves again.

I pulled my dagger and put it to my friend’s neck. I only had a few seconds to end his life and then mine. We had agreed that this was what we wanted. This would be our ultimate escape. But now that I held the blade, I couldn’t stop my hand from shaking. I didn’t want him to be enslaved, but I couldn’t find the strength to drive the point into his neck.

I couldn’t kill my friend.

He’d be mad at me. He’d curse my memory. They would murder me and enslave him again. The thoughts bounced around in my head as I prepared to break my promise. I drew my sword with my left hand, keeping the dagger in my right. I could probably kill four of them.

Maybe.

Maybe if I was lucky, they would accidently kill me and I would never have to explain to Thayer that I broke at the last second and couldn’t fulfill my commitment.

An explosion knocked me down with such force that I dropped my weapons. My ears rang and I tasted burnt air for a few seconds. These assholes were throwing serious magical power at us. Fire and Wind users were rare amongst Elvens. Only a few of the bastards could harness the power effectively enough not to kill themselves. We must have been more important than I thought.

Another explosion erupted, and even though my ears rang, I could tell it was farther away, down the slope, toward the Elvens. I grabbed my sword and dagger, thinking that one of the fuckers must have made a mistake and turned himself into charcoal. I dashed around the boulder and sprinted through the smoke, and down the field toward them.

But my enemies were no more.

Instead, a small old man stood in the clearing. His head did not even reach my shoulder, he was thin and withered, with the gaunt yet fierce look of the long malnourished. He was human, scraggly gray hair hung past his shoulders. His beard had small beads made of bone stitched into the gray strands. His arms and body still crackled with energy.

“Hello my young friend,” he said as I stopped in front of him, sliding on the wet grass as my brain grappled for clarity. Who was this man? I was not aware of any humans, save the ones who had joined us, who were not living in slavery. Slaves rarely survived long enough to grow this old.

We eyed each other carefully for a few seconds. The Elvens resembled burnt leaves. Even their swords were twisted by the heat of what this human seemed to have done to them.

“Hello,” I squeaked out.

“I’d shake your hand and introduce myself, but you seem to have weapons in them,” he said as he eyed me mischievously.

I considered for a moment and then realized he could have easily done to me what he did to the dozen Elvens baking on the surrounding ground. I sheathed my sword and dagger and held out my hand.

“Thank you for rescuing us. I’m Kaiyer; my friend taking a nap behind the boulder is Thayer.” I smiled as the older man clasped my wrist. His grip was firm.

“Ah, the Gods used to say that lightning and wood don’t mix, and maybe they are right with you two. At least for your enemies it seems.” The old man’s lips broke into a smile that bent his face like soft clay. His grin almost went from ear to ear and reminded me of a monkey I had once seen.

“I’m not so sure about lightning and wood mixing, but we would have surely been captured without your help, friend. Thank you again.” I had heard of Gods. The Elvens worshiped them, but forbade their slaves from learning about them. “Let’s go see to your companion. If you will carry him, I have a home a few miles through the canyons. You can both rest there.”

“You are too kind,” I said. My voice cracked a little with relief. I shouldn’t have been so trusting, but the man had saved us, and seemed sincere. We went back to Thayer and I checked his pulse. He was still alive, although his heart beat very slowly.

“He’ll be fine I am sure,” the old man said as I examined my friend. “You both seem to be capable warriors.”

“We are more like animals, forever hunted, with no freedom. They will probably send more trackers. Are you sure you want us to come to your home?” I spoke the words without even thinking, and instantly regretted it. I might have just talked myself out of a fire and warm meal.

“Everyone is running from something, Kaiyer,” the old man smiled again and laughed. It sounded like a bird’s laugh. “Let’s go. I’m guessing you’re hungry and thirsty. It has been a while since I have had guests and I am eager to entertain!” He skipped through the grass up the hill and I felt my legs burn keeping pace while Thayer hung over my shoulder.

“How did you kill them?” I asked after we traveled in silence for ten minutes.

“I used magic.”

“Fire and Wind?” I said in amazement.

“Of course!” He turned back at me with a dry chuckle. “Elvens aren’t the only ones who can use all the Elements. In fact, there are many secrets that even Elvens don’t know.”

“Like what?” I gasped out. Partially in surprise and partially because I had to climb up a steep bed of rocks carrying Thayer.

“Maybe I can teach you. If you are interested, of course.” The old monkey man leaped impossibly high, up a twenty-foot cliff face, and chuckled at me. “It would be very interesting teaching you things. Quite ironic, actually,” he muttered loud enough for me to hear. It made little sense to me so I decided not to reply.

“Almost there. Try to keep up, Son of Lightning,” he heckled me from ledge above. His chittering sounded like a laughing squirrel.

I grabbed the cliff wall and scaled it with a few grunts and curses. The task was difficult now, but it would have been impossible to even imagine before the Elvens changed me. Thayer was shorter than I, but he was wider and loaded with more muscle mass. I guessed he outweighed me by thirty pounds.

“You haven’t told me your name,” I panted after I reached the top. Our savior bounced far ahead of me now and I had to sprint to catch him. The movement jarred Thayer violently on my shoulder and he let out a groan.

The small monkey man didn’t answer my request until we made it to his cave; it was actually a network of corridors dug deep into the mountains. The place was a maze stuffed with books, maps, weapons, mushroom gardens, and room to train.

“My name is Entas,” he said, after I had settled down next to a fire and he handed me a steaming cup of spicy soup. “I’m glad that you made it here, Kaiyer.”

“Me too.” I smiled back to him.

Chapter 17-Kaiyer

“You look like you are sleeping with your eyes open, Skinny,” Greykin whispered, ripping me from my memories.

“I was thinking about the past.” My voice choked a bit

“Are you feeling okay?” Beltor asked with concern.

“I’m fine.” I wiped my eyes. I had cried a few months ago when I remembered how Iolarathe killed my family. These were completely different tears now.

They stared at me for a few seconds, trying to weigh my words against the tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Sometimes I remember parts of my past life.” I smiled at them, remembering my surrogate father. I had learned much from the strange and brilliant old man. Some of which was slowly trickling into my memory and muscles. One fact I was certain of: before I met Entas, I felt weak, even though I could use the Earth magic. The recollections after Entas had trained me showed me a different version of myself. More powerful and confident.

“Anything that can help us right now? Maybe some sort of magic word? One that will kill all the Ancients within a mile would be useful.” Greykin smirked.

I laughed a bit, despite the disparity of our situation: Sitting in a large dark cell underneath Castle Nia and waiting for Nanos to deliver on his promise didn’t create a pleasant sensation in my stomach. This felt wrong. I didn’t like Jessmei’s brother and I didn’t trust him. If he wasn’t a prisoner in his own home and fearing for his life, I wouldn’t have believed he would help us.

“I wish I could have grabbed the swords from my room,” I said regretfully. I would have also liked some new clothes. I was still wearing the attire that the duke had provided me. They were slightly better than the loose training clothes I wore when Nia had been attacked, but only because they didn’t smell like two months’ worth of blood and sweat. The clothes the king had made for me were the finest garments I recalled ever owning, and while they wouldn’t solve our current problem, I did miss them.

“Don’t worry, Skinny. I shall protect you from the rats that live down here. I believe that I saw one that outweighed you by a few dozen pounds.” Greykin chuckled and slapped me on the back. The sound bounced off the dark stone walls, passed through the slimy bars of the cell and fled down the long hallways of the dungeon.

“Careful!” Beltor hissed. The duke was probably twenty years younger than the warrior, but when he spoke the axe man listened and obeyed with a quick nod and a whispered apology.

I still didn’t understand the concept of royalty. I was accustomed to a life where the strongest and most capable was in command. Somehow that practice became diluted, twisted, and misshaped into a society where someone’s value was attached to their bloodline. It wasn’t even that I believed that the king, his brother, or Nadea lacked the ability to lead this world, but it was strange that Greykin would follow the duke without question, and would do the same to Nanos now that his father was dead and the young man was king.

Perhaps the Old Bear saw Beltor command an army, make wise decisions, deal with failures, and teach his followers. Those steps seemed imperative when creating a strong bond of trust and loyalty with those you lead in battle.

“Do you believe Nadea is down here?” I whispered to the duke.

“Yes. I have to believe,” Beltor said as he scratched absently at his own uniform.

“You have to believe?” I asked.

“Yes. What other option is there? She is either here in the castle as Nanos promised, or she is dead. I refuse to consider that she is dead.” His voice was full of conviction, like he was speaking of the sun rising the next morning.

“Nanos said she is down here. He should be here in a quarter of an hour or so with the queen. We will grab the duchess, get my men, and escape north, to Jessmei. This will be easier than getting home from my favorite tavern piss ass drunk.” Greykin snorted and flexed his shoulder muscles in a show of bravado.

“You seem very confident,” I said.

“I’ve made it home from my favorite tavern piss ass drunk many a times, Skinny. Do not doubt my ability to accomplish great things.”

I nodded seriously but the duke chuckled.

After a few minutes of silence, I found myself thinking of Nadea. I hoped the young woman was safe, but I had my fears. She had been held prisoner for a month and a half here, and I was sure that the Elvens had been doing their best to break her mind and body.

There is nothing that cannot be fixed, Kaiyer. I am a perfect example.

Alexia. I remembered little of our relationship, but I knew it would come in time. Memories were slowly surfacing, as in a dream, smoke and fog solidified into concrete shapes and people.

A door to the dungeon level opened from far away. I was sure that the duke and the Old Bear couldn’t hear it, so I informed them.

“Can you hear anything else?” Beltor whispered as the tension between the three of us elevated.

“It sounds like one pair of footsteps.” I could have told him if it was Paug, Greykin, Jessmei, or Nadea, but I didn’t know the cadence of Nanos’s footsteps well enough.

We waited until the steps became loud enough for the other two men. I guessed it was Nanos because of the frantic pace, and was proven correct when he stepped into our sphere of torch light.

“Greetings,” the young man whispered.

“We’ve been waiting. Are you going to be taking us to Nadea?” The duke got straight to the point.

“Yes. She is down another level. I have guards loyal to me ready to help with the Losher men that are guarding her.”

“Where is your mother?” Nadea’s father asked.

“There are men guarding your daughter. I didn’t want to risk her. She will meet us at an escape route I have planned,” Nanos replied.

“There are Losher men guarding her?” the duke asked with concern.

“Yes. The Ancients have been trying to speak to her.” He glanced at me and then back to Beltor. “But my cousin is very strong-willed. From what I understand, they have gotten nothing out of her.”

“How many Loshers?” Greykin asked.

“Four. I have the same amount of men, although I don’t think we need them with Kaiyer here.” He grinned slightly at me.

“We will take all the help we can get,” I said and smiled back at him. It was beginning to seem that I had been wrong about Jessmei’s brother.

“First, let’s bust Nadea out of her cell. Afterward, we will go up to the castle, retrieve my men, get your mother, and then we are all getting out of here.” Greykin laid out his broad plan and Nanos nodded.

“Nadea first. Let us move,” the duke commanded.

“Follow me,” the young man said as he quickly exited the cell and walked the way he had come. After about a minute of walking through the dark cells he spoke up again softly.

“I didn’t realize you had men here, Greykin. Can they help us with this?”

“I only have a few and I didn’t know what the situation would be like down here. They are preparing our escape.” The big man huffed. “I’ve got everything under control.”

“Where are we going to go after we escape?”

“North. Kaiyer foiled the Ancient’s kidnapping attempt. Jessmei is safe in a village waiting for us to return,” Greykin said with an amount of glee I didn’t think he was capable of expressing. He was obviously happy to tell Nanos the news.

“That is great news! I feared for her every night. I know Mother had as well. She will be overjoyed to hear Jess is safe. Which village is it?”

“Are you nervous, Nanos?” I blurted, interrupting the conversation before Greykin answered.

“N-N-No,” the young man stuttered. “Why would you think that?” He stopped walking and turned to me. I saw his blue eyes flash dangerously in the torch light. I had seen that look on his face before, the day I threw him in the creek.

“Your heart is beating very quickly.” I frowned at him.

“I have a right to be nervous. We are about to engage in combat, rescue my cousin, then my mother, and then flee my castle. I might die doing this!” His voice turned into a shriek at the end that cut through the empty cells like a whip and caused a few rats to scurry away from us.

“Okay,” I said with a shrug.

“Don’t worry, Nanos.” The duke stepped between us and laid a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “We will get through this. I know that the last two months have been difficult for you. I know you miss your father and your kingdom. Once we get Nadea and your mother, we will leave the castle and lick our wounds. We can do this, and you can do this with us. Your people need you to be strong. It is at times like these that kings are born, not just in name, but in action and blood. Do you understand?”

Nanos nodded and wiped the back of his gloved hand across his left eye.

“Yes Uncle. We are almost there. Then everything will begin to be made right.” His throat caught slightly on the words.

“I didn’t mean to give you a hard time.” I remembered what it had been like to lose my father and brother and felt a smidge of pity for the little bastard.

“I forgive you, Kaiyer. We’ve had our differences. Truce?” He held his hand out and I shook it.

“If you ladies are done reciting sonnets to each other, I would like to kill some Loshers.” Greykin chuckled as he laid his giant fingers on my shoulder.

“The stairs down to the next level are right over here. My men are waiting down there. Kaiyer, they won’t recognize you, so can you stay in the back?” I nodded and took the rear position behind the other three men as we formed a single file and descended the twisted stairwell. How massive was the dungeon of this castle? It seemed that the network of cells, hallways, and passages were never-ending.

“Can you hear anything?” the duke whispered.

“Not now. I will concentrate and try again though,” I said as I pushed more Earth through my body. The memory of being chased by the Elvens was fresh in my mind, so I was surprised how much easier it was for me to focus the power through me.

“Let’s keep moving!” Nanos hissed from the front of the line, and my sensitive ears rang from his voice.

“I want to know what he hears. This may be a trap. What if the Ancients guess what you have planned?” the duke whispered.

“Fuck me. This isn’t a trap. My men are waiting. There are enough horror stories about these dungeons. We can’t let Nadea stay imprisoned here much longer.” His voice was urgent and splashed around my head like a cymbal.

“I hear four heartbeats down below, and a woman screaming in pain. It echoes off the walls and it is hard to tell exactly where she is.”

“You can hear Nadea?” the duke gasped in horror. “She is screaming?”

“I’m not sure. We should make haste with Nanos,” I said as calmly as I could. My blood pulsed in my ears. I’d rip the faces off of each of the Loshers torturing Nadea. I would break each of the bones in their bodies slowly, then cut off their limbs and burn them alive. They would suffer for hurting her. They would know her pain a hundredfold.

Jessmei’s brother sprinted down the rest of the stairs, but his pace was like a turtle’s, and I had no more patience. Greykin and the duke’s plan of subterfuge was too slow. Every second we wasted was another moment of agony for Nadea. It had to end now. I should have just walked into the castle, sword in hand, and killed everything in my path until I found her. It would have been faster and infinitely more satisfying.

“Let’s go!” Nanos called out to his soldiers when we reached the bottom of the stairwell. They were wearing light chain mail and had the hoods of their cloaks up over their faces. One of them grunted as they flanked the sides of our band and matched our pace.

“Where is the screaming coming from?” the duke demanded.

“Over there,” I said, pointing toward the east side of the dungeon, opposite of where our stairs were. Greykin and Beltor turned in the direction I pointed, but Nanos and his guards did not.

Suddenly I realized, too late, that Nanos had been lying the whole time.

A guttural bark of rage escaped my throat just before the four Elvens drew short swords. I had been so focused on Nadea’s screams that I didn’t pay attention to their heartbeats. Elven hearts were chambered slightly different than human’s and beat much slower. These Elvens must have been wearing unwashed human clothing, because I had not detected their alien scent either.

I dashed to my left and delivered a sidekick to the face of the Elven that flanked me. The blow knocked his chin up and back, but this one was a halfway decent fighter. He stepped away from me enough so that the impact and angle of my foot didn’t snap his neck like a twig. His body still flew ten feet and bounced satisfyingly off of the wall of the dungeon.

I heard more footsteps coming from the direction of the screams. But I also heard the air part from the side of me where the other Elven was probably swinging his sword. I didn’t have time to look, so I dove to the ground with a backward roll. The man snarled as his blade passed through the air and not my body.

I continued my dodge into a handspring that landed me at the foot of the stairs we had earlier descended. This gave me some space between my attackers and a split second to survey the situation.

It didn’t look good.

Beltor was face down on the ground with an Elven kneeling on top of him. The pointy-eared fucker had his knee into the older man’s back and was twisting his arm over his head. The duke wouldn’t be able to get out of the hold without breaking his shoulder.

Greykin was wrestling one of the other Elvens, both of them seeking control over the Elven’s short sword. Fortunately, the Old Bear had the better position and was leveraging the blade down with all his weight, toward the throat of the struggling Elven.

Unfortunately, there were four more Elvens running at us from the opposite sides of the stairs.

Nanos pulled his weapon out but it was a long decorated blade that would not help him in the close quarters of the dungeon hallway. He looked indecisively between me, the Elven I had dodged, the one I had knocked back into the wall, the duke, and Greykin.

Fire and Wind flowed through me and I held my hand out toward the Elven that was moving in my direction. His eyes grew wide at the last second when my power climaxed and released. Fire, pain, force, and death pulled from my body and shot out of my palm, a blast of hate and malice. It leapt upon the man like a thousand hungry, orange wolves. The magic pushed him back through the air, as if gravity had been reversed, then ripped the life from him.

It was beautiful.

His flaming carcass collided with Nanos as he was about to strike Greykin and knocked the young man to the ground in a surprised yelp. Ashes, bones, and bits of flame scattered everywhere, making it seem as if the sun had erupted and been swallowed in an instant. The Elvens running toward us shouted in alarm and skidded to a halt, afraid that the attack was aimed at them. I noticed that two of the Elvens carried small bows and arrows in their hands.

This would not get any easier.

But at least the magic hadn’t drained me as much as I thought it would have. The food and rest from earlier in the day must have rejuvenated me. The power of the Elements whipped back into my body and hungered to be released again.

It isn’t alive, but your subconscious directs it like you direct your own emotions.

Greykin was blinded by the blast and the Elven he had been about to kill used the opportunity to shift his weight and bucked the big man off of him. I jumped across the span between us and planted my knee down firmly into the monster’s face. The blow smashed his nose, skull, and brain onto the thick stone tile of the dungeon.

“Hold O’Baarni, or your duke will perish!” a voice called out from the group of Elvens in front of me. I glanced up at them and made eye contact with their leader, the one who had spoken to Nanos a few hours ago by the garden. He pointed next to me, where the Nadea’s father had been sacked by the Elven. The serpent held a long dagger to Beltor’s neck.

“If you surrender, we will not harm the duke, or your friend. We do not actually wish you any harm,” the man said with a smile.

“I find that hard to believe.” I stood up from the corpse of the Elven I had killed. My knee was soaked with his blood, skull fragments, and brain matter. His body twitched as the spinal column tried to send its last few signals to his legs.

“Our empress wishes to speak with you. She has invited you to be our guest for a few weeks until she arrives from the North.”

“Ah, that sounds pleasant. I would be delighted to stay,” I said through clenched teeth. The Elven I had kicked into the wall moaned and began to stir.

“You would be?” The silver-haired Elven seemed surprised.

Their duke must live Kaiyer!

The voice echoed across my brain. My stomach spun when I realized whose voice it was. She sounded as if she were screaming at me from an impossible distance. It bounced off of the still pools of my memory and awoke flashes of recollection like ripples. The scent of her hair and skin mixed with the more present smell of weapon oil and blood.

She was dead.

The absolute certainty of her demise punched me through the chest like a spear. I remembered her screaming my name in pain. I remembered her asking me a question. What had she asked me?

How was Iolarathe in my head?

“Of course, I have a few conditions.” I forced myself to smile and relax my body. A cold sweat formed on my brow and along my spine. The idea of surrendering to them made me want to vomit until my throat turned inside out.

I thought again about killing the duke myself, then destroying the rest of the Elvens and killing everyone else in this castle who was my enemy. Iolarathe’s voice didn’t condemn the action, but a vision of Nadea’s face stayed the Fire in me that threatened to fill the corridor with a quick and satisfying end to all of our lives.

“I am sure we can come to some agreement. What would your conditions be?” he asked. The two Elvens next to him carrying the bows were women; I recognized one from earlier, she had cut down the guard who accompanied Nanos. She raised her bow, but the man with the silver hair waved his hand and she lowered the weapon. “The duke, Greykin, Nadea, the queen, and Nanos are given safe passage out of Nia.” The other Elvens looked shocked at my request, but their leader didn’t flinch. “That is an interesting condition. What are your others?”

“I’ll have your answer before I continue.” I glanced down at the Elven that had the dagger to the duke’s throat. He scowled at me and then licked his lips.

“I’m afraid I can’t let Nanos or Nadea go. The others may leave.” He gazed thoughtfully at the crusty ceiling of the dungeon with a delicate pointer finger on his angular chin. His companions fidgeted when I said nothing.

“What are your others?” he finally asked

“I want to see Nadea.” The duke grunted from the floor in agreement.

“I am afraid that is impossible as well.” He frowned.

“You aren’t giving me much reason to surrender,” I hissed as I felt the Earth course through me faster. The Elven women next to the silver-haired man raised their bows up as I spoke. Their movements were in slow motion and I saw the fear plain on their faces. They didn’t think that their arrows would stop me. They were right.

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” the silver-haired Elven shouted and moved his arms out to prevent his guards from releasing their arrows. “Please understand that I cannot give up my only source of leverage. Surely the safety of your friends is important to you, yes?”

I nodded and felt the walls start to breathe and shudder with me.

“We let them go, unharmed. Nadea and Nanos remain here, protected, to guarantee the safety of my people while you await my empress.”

“I don’t give a shit about Nanos. I want to see Nadea.” My voice was a long growl.

Beltor gasped suddenly, pulling my attention away from the Elven leader. The dagger at his throat had started to draw blood. His face was pained as his captor yanked his head back.

“O’Baarni, the voice you heard screaming was some other human we tortured to distract you. If you wish, we can walk you over so that you can see for yourself. Nadea is in another part of the dungeon and we will not show her to you. I can promise that your friends will leave this castle alive and unharmed. Do we have a deal?”

The duke was unable to move his head, his already clenched eyes tightened. I looked over to Greykin and the big man gave me a look of defeat.

“I know what you are thinking, O’Baarni. You are debating if you will be fast enough to kill my brother with the dagger to your duke’s throat. Then you are thinking you might be able to dodge the arrows, and then you might even think that you can kill the rest of us.”

I couldn’t hide my smile; I had been pondering those exact scenarios. My show of teeth made one of the females grin like a cat. I focused on her for a second and saw that what I had first mistaken for fear was actually excitement.

“You might be able to kill us; you might even survive. But there is still one reason you should consider surrendering before you throw away the duke’s life.” The Elven raised a slender finger and smiled slyly. I wanted to break his hand and punch his face in until it dyed the stone floor of this dungeon crimson.

“Oh? Do tell.” I still remembered Iolarathe’s words; I wouldn’t do anything to risk Beltor.

“If we do not report back with your surrender in the next ten minutes, the women guarding Nadea will kill her.” The duke and Greykin let out heavy breaths at the same time. The silver-haired Elven paused to gauge my reaction. I didn’t give him one, so he continued. “I imagine that your mission here was to rescue Nadea, Nanos, and the queen. I’ll give you the queen and guarantee that, as long as you wait here for my empress peacefully, no harm will come to Nadea.”

“What happens after I speak to your empress?”

“I cannot speak for her. I assume that after she has spoken to you, she will have no further use for the hum—Duchess Nadea, and will let her go.”

My eyes met the duke’s and I saw the desperation in them. I glanced back to Greykin and he seemed beaten. I should have planned this rescue mission. Better yet, I should have told them to stay in their rooms while I handled everything myself. My friends ended up being a liability and had cost us our goal.

At least we weren’t dead.

“I’ll inspect the cell to make sure it wasn’t Nadea that was being tortured. You’ll prepare five horses, food, and supplies for the duke, Greykin, and the queen. I’ll ride with them out of the city walls, for two days. Then I’ll return and surrender.” I did the math in my head as I spoke, figuring out how my friends could create a false trail with the horses and make it to the village where Jessmei was hidden by foot.

“Two of my warriors shall accompany you. If you do not return by nightfall of the third day, then Nadea will die.” The Elven leader was a quick thinker.

“I don’t need an escort. I will return per my word.” The woman next to the leader smirked and shook her head after I spoke.

“I don’t trust you O’Baarni. I remember the White Bay Treaty all too well. My sisters will accompany you and keep you from harm.” He smiled and motioned to the Elven holding the dagger to the duke’s throat and the man slowly lifted the duke while keeping the blade on him. I tried to search my mind for anything about the White Bay Treaty, but I remembered nothing of that name. I stepped over Greykin and offered my hand to the Old Bear.

“Can we be civil? I will show you that the woman was not Nadea if you wish.” The silver-haired Elven’s voice was like honey now that he was getting what he wanted.

“Fine,” I said. The man removed the dagger from Beltor’s throat and slid it into the leather case on his leg.

“Go tell them to stay their hand. We’ll send another runner in ten minutes,” the Elven leader ordered the woman next to him. She nodded and put her arrow back into her small quiver, threw her bow over her shoulder, and walked toward us. She picked a path in between Greykin and I, brushing up against me and glaring into my eyes with her golden-speckled orbs.

“Show us now.” I slowly pushed the Elven with the dagger from the duke and wrapped my arm through his, supporting him, his face was ashen.

“Of course. This way.” Their leader pointed through the hallway behind them and turned like a dancer, leaving his back to us and calmly walking away from the group. I wanted to kill him, but restrained myself for Nadea’s sake.

“I’m sorry Kaiyer. We should have suspected this was a trap,” Beltor whispered into my ear. The other two Elvens walked behind us.

“They had my mother; they told me they would kill her if Nadea somehow escaped. I’m sorry Uncle.” Nanos pushed in between us as we walked. His voice a high-pitched whine.

“Maybe you should have been man enough to work that into our earlier conversation you nitwitted, ass-sniffing shit head,” the Old Bear snarled.

“The boy is terrified, Greykin, let him be,” the duke whispered back.

“I’ll let him be after I kick his asshole out his mouth.”

“Silence!” I barked. The Elvens turned around to look at me, but I knew they had heard the conversation. I needed a clear head to think and I didn’t want it to seem like we were divided.

The corridor grew darker as we walked deeper. I felt Nanos place his hand on my shoulder for support several times. The black emptiness did not seem to trouble our guides enough to light a torch, so I opened my palm and used a little magic to create a small flame. It gave enough light for the humans to see.

We came upon four torches casting a globe of light around a cell. I could smell blood and feces and knew we had reached our destination. Inside the room, an Elven man stood over a human woman tied to a table with leather straps. She was naked, her skin pale in the dim torchlight, bloody hand and fingerprints stood out starkly on her skin in several places. Her hair was roughly shorn, blonde and grimy with sweat and blood. Her stomach was cut open, the incision crossed her entire abdomen and gaped horrifically, fresh blood still oozing from the wound. The Elven was twisting her intestines around a thin piece of wood, as if it were a ball of twine. The woman whimpered helplessly as she noticed us, afraid we would bring more pain.

“See? It is not your Nadea,” the Elven leader said. Nanos took a step back and vomited violently.

“This is barbaric!” Beltor spat at the man in anger. The woman’s eyes widened in hope as she dimly comprehended his words.

“This is nothing compared to what has been done to my people.” The silver-haired man lost his perfect smile. The tension between our two factions became elevated again.

“End her life. You’ve made your point and gotten what you wanted. She need not suffer anymore,” I said softly. The woman closed her eyes. I was unsure if she was relieved or terrified by the prospect of death. Probably both.

“Yes. I agree with you, O’Baarni.” He nodded to the torturer. The Elven calmly pulled out a small vial from his case of knives, pliers, and needles. He walked over to the woman and grasped her cheeks in his hand, squeezing harshly to force her lips apart. She struggled briefly but finally opened her mouth. She could not turn her head, but her eyes opened and stared at me as he poured it down her throat, letting go of her and wiping his hands on his blood-stained apron with detached efficiency. We watched silently as her eyes clouded and fluttered shut. Her face relaxed and her ragged breaths slowed as she died quietly.

“She won’t feel anything anymore.” He smiled back at me and took a deep breath. I felt my anger flare up again and I wanted to rip his face off of his skull.

“Get us our horses and supplies. I’m sick of looking at you.” The Elven frowned and his men tensed behind him. I wondered how far I could push his control over his guards.

“Of course, O’Baarni. We will take you to the stables, deliver the queen, give you supplies, and let you be on your way.” He pointed an open hand down the corridor in the direction that I assumed led to the surface, and we resumed our prior formation.

“I can understand that you don’t enjoy my company. But I’ll have you know that even though you have killed many of my kin, I bear you no ill will,” he said as we walked up the stairwell.

“It must be nice having such control over your emotions. I’ll have to exterminate a few dozen more of your kind and see if that has an effect on you.” I matched his pleasantness of voice. I was rewarded by angry hisses from his guards.

“It isn’t control of my emotions. It is love,” he replied without missing a beat.

I waited a few paces before replying.

“I sense you want me to be curious and ask you with wide-eyed bewilderment what love has to do with anything. But I would prefer that you just shut the fuck up so I can continue to plan how I will rip your life from your ugly body.” The duke gave me a glare like I had just kicked him in the balls and Nanos turned another shade of white, which I wouldn’t have believed was possible. The silver-haired Elven laughed deeply from the belly.

“I like you, O’Baarni. You’re different than all the other ones I’ve dealt with in my negotiations. There is no subterfuge with you. What clan do you belong to again?” I tried to remember anything about a clan and I couldn’t. Did he mean family?

“I didn’t say.”

“Ah yes, you can keep your secrets, although I have my guesses.” He laughed again. “No. It is for love of my empress that I bear you no ill will. She would like to put our schisms behind us and find a way for coexistence.” He looked back to me to make sure I was paying attention. This was the longest I ever remembered talking to one of their kind and I was feeling ill.

“She will explain her philosophies better to you when she arrives in the castle.”

“I can hardly wait.” If I could have forged a sword out of my sarcasm, I could have cleaved his skull in four pieces. They propped open a door and we came out into one of the castle’s gardens. Dawn was approaching, bringing the promise of a new sun that would dispel the fine layer of dew that coated everything.

“She is eager to meet you as well.” He smiled at me again. He was good a controlling his facial features, but I easily saw the malice behind his eyes.

Chapter 18-Nadea

I devoted the early mornings to myself. The air was just above freezing and sometimes a fine layer of frost coated the long grass and tops of the oak trees. It wasn’t as cold as in the North of course, but my lungs still burned when I did my morning exercise routine of rope climbing, pushups, and squats.

The squats were the most difficult. My injured leg did not have a full range of motion. Gerald thought that I would never be able to walk correctly again and he would be horrified to see me attempting these movements. Whatever Ancient blood I had did seem to help me heal a bit faster, so I hoped that the exercise might strengthen the shredded muscles. Fortunately, the wound was no longer infected and there was no danger of losing the limb.

We had moved our campsite six times in the last three weeks and the strategy kept us safe from Losher patrols. We also managed seven successful raids against farm houses and supply wagons that provided munitions to the camped army.

It was the two failures that still bothered me. The first happened a few days after I took command of Nia’s forces. We had completed our first sortie, and I became too confident. We raided a caravan delivering grain to one of the Losher satellite camps between the Teeth Mountains and Nia. The raid went successfully as well, but our escape collided with a scouting brigade. We lost fifty of our one hundred and forty-four men.

The second failure was the last mission. Two dozen highly trained soldiers infiltrated the Losher camp in the dead of night to assassinate one of the tribal leaders and then plant evidence in a competitor’s tent. We’d spent almost every waking hour over the past three weeks perfecting the plan, selecting the troops, and training. They departed three nights ago. They should have returned within half a day. I assumed they were dead.

It was my fault, and although I didn’t know exactly where the failure took place, I had been overconfident and attempted too bold a move. Now Losher would be sure of our existence and would hunt our army.

“There should be a guard with you,” Runir said from below me. I fought back a sudden gasp and almost lost the grip on my rope. My mind had been so occupied with my thoughts that I did not hear him approach.

“I like to spend time alone exercising.” I climbed down the rope carefully in between words.

“Yes, I know. As would anyone else that spends more than a few days observing our camp and you. Your time isn’t your own any more. If you were to be killed at this point, Nia would be lost forever.”

I had started my pushups while he was talking and only managed a grunt. The ground felt cool and soft as my palms pressed into the dark earth by the tree.

“My father has probably reached Brilla by now. How do you think he is faring?”

“This is part of the reason I exercise alone, Runir. I need time to meditate on such things without interruption. If you want to offer me silent support then you may, otherwise I’ll see you during our morning meeting.” I finished my pushups and began my next set of squats.

“You shouldn’t be doing that with your—” he stopped mid-sentence as I shot him a glare. He turned his back on me and climbed the rope. It was a good thing he faced away because I couldn’t help but smirk.

Runir had been upset the first week, refusing to talk to me or add any of his thoughts to the tactical meetings I ran. I put him in charge of a few of our successful raids, and he started to speak to me again. It was good to have my friend back, but I broke trust with him and would need time to rebuild our relationship.

“Damn it man, you’re on my rope!” I tugged it from the bottom and swung him around a bit. Runir pulled himself up to the branch and smiled at me. I made my way up carefully, slapped the top of the knot, and then worked back to the ground.

“How many more sets?” he shouted from the top.

“Two!” I replied after I began my pushups.

He didn’t speak again until my last set of squats. My heart and lungs screamed and I limped around the tree twice to cool my muscles.

“You’ve changed.” His voice floated from the top of the oak.

“Being imprisoned and losing your family will do that.” I started my stretching routine, taking care with my injured leg.

“No. I meant before that. For the last couple of years, really.”

“What do you mean?” I looked up at him while I stretched my hip flexors.

“You weren’t as determined. Whenever I saw you we would run around the castle, have mock fights, and … I don’t know. You had joy.”

“We only saw each other a few times a year. As I recall, I beat the snot out of you in those mock fights.” I smiled up at him but he didn’t return the grin. “You followed in your father’s footsteps and became a soldier. I did my research. We grew into adults. I didn’t change.”

“Maybe.”

I stretched for a few more minutes, letting the silence hang.

“Spit it out then, Runir. Why do you believe I changed?”

“I don’t know why. I just think that you did.” He glanced down from the branch.

“You must have some sort of suspicion or we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Out with it.”

“Okay.” He sighed. “But you can’t get mad at me. Agreed?” He looked down at me and furrowed his blonde eyebrows. His hair was long enough to tie back now. Along with the beard it made him seem like a warrior from the Northlands. It looked good on him.

“Didn’t we just discuss that we aren’t children anymore? You know it will make me mad, but you’ll say it anyway. Speak.”

“He did something to you. It is what I think.” He lay on the branch with his face away from the ground.

“Who did something to me?”

“Kaiyer.” He practically spat the name.

“What? Are you daft?” Rage built up in my stomach.

“You’ve been different since you returned with him.” His voice grew angry to match mine.

“You just told me that the change has been over the last couple of years! Before Kaiyer was even involved.”

“The last couple of years you spent looking for him. I’ve seen him do magic. He must have some sort of spell over you to make you act different. This is just my observation. Take it for what you will.” He climbed down the rope after he finished speaking.

“How do you think I am different?” I tried to calm myself.

“I just saw the way you looked at him. I’ve never seen you look at anyone that way.” He sighed heavily when he reached the bottom and faced me.

“You shouldn’t be jealous of a dead man.” I meant to say it in anger, but it choked off at the end of my throat and came out drenched in sadness. My eyes stung a little and I glanced away from my tall friend.

“I wish you would look at me that way,” Runir said with a frown as he stepped toward me. I couldn’t tell if he noticed how my voice croaked.

“Your logic makes little sense.” I tried to change the subject. “You said I had changed over the last few years. Kaiyer only woke half a year ago. How does that fit into your fantasy?” I crossed my arms and scowled at him.

“I’m a soldier.” He shrugged and smiled. “I don’t understand magic. He could have been manipulating you from wherever you got him.”

“I will not talk about this anymore with you. I know what this is really about.”

“What is this about?” I realized that he stood very close to me. I was tall for a woman, but the top of my head only came up to his nose so I had to look up at him.

“The usual male bullshit. We’ve been friends for a long time, so you think you deserve my affection. A new man comes around, and you blame things on him. Kaiyer is dead. You do not have to protect me from my feelings for him. The way I feel about you has nothing to do with him.”

“No Nadea. This isn’t about that. Of course I am jealous of him, but there is a more powerful emotion I have always felt for you.” He stepped closer and put his hands on my shoulders.

Oh shit. How did I get here?

“We need to go to our meeting.” I tried to move away but his grip gently held me in place.

“You have to know how I feel about you. How I’ve always felt about you?” His blue eyes looked down into mine, questioning.

“I know how you feel.” I turned my head away from him.

“You know that I love you?” My heart dropped into my stomach. Maybe I should have skipped the exercise this morning. Of course I knew how he felt. It was impossible not to see it. I had ignored it for years, because I did not feel the same way, but valued his friendship. As long as the words remained unspoken, I did not have to hurt him.

“Yes,” I answered flatly. I saw confusion slowly cross his handsome face.

“Why didn’t you say anything? Do anything? Tell me?”

“I’m sorry. What did you want me to do, Runir? Fall in love with you just because you love me? It doesn’t work that way. Did you not realize that we are in the middle of a war?” I managed to pry his big hands off of my shoulders.

“You could have told me you knew. You could have shared your feelings with me.”

“And you could have developed a backbone and told me yourself, and not used Kaiyer as subterfuge.”

“Nadea, you deserve happiness. I can give you happiness if you will let me.” I could tell he had practiced this speech. He probably rehearsed it in his head, like a playwright testing dialogue.

“Can we sit? My leg is throbbing.” I pointed over to the tree. I knew that I was going to have to put an end to this now and somehow salvage our friendship. Luckily, I had practiced my own rebuttal many times as well.

“Of course, I’ll carry you.” He reached for me but I shook my head and limped over to the enormous oak. I found a thick root to sit on and admired the view of the camp for a minute while Runir gathered his thoughts.

“I’ve been putting this conversation off for a long time.”

“I don’t like where this is going.” He sighed.

“You knew we were going to have this talk, or you would have told me about your feelings sooner.” I chuckled.

“No! I was just waiting for the right moment.”

“And this?” I said pointed to the tents a few hundred yards from the tree. “Is your idea of the right moment?” I looked away from his downcast eyes and back to the camp.

“I don’t have a problem with women. I’m the son of Maerc, I am practically royalty, I’m handsome, confident, charming, and one of the best warriors in the kingdom.”

“Don’t forget humble,” I said to him with a smile.

“I was making a point. Women fall all over themselves when I enter a room, and I’ve received offers of marriage from various noble houses. I’ve courted scores of women in the past five years, visited their estates, met with their families, I—”

“You are going somewhere with this? I’m getting a little bored hearing about your exploits.” I gave him one of my smirks.

“My point is that none of them held a candle to you, Nadea. None of them were as intelligent, tough, beautiful, or even had a scrap of your personality. I thought that one of the available women in the kingdom, any one of them, could take my mind off of you. None of them did. All I want is you; all I’ve ever wanted is you, Nadea.” He looked down at his lap when he finished and let out a sigh. I was about to comment when he spoke again.

“I was mad when you usurped the army from Maerc, because I felt that you betrayed my trust. The event alienated my father from the woman whom I planned to spend the rest of my life with.” He glanced over to judge my reaction but I held a straight face. “But then I realized that this was just another quality about you that I loved. I always knew there was something different about you. The crying when my father interrogated you about your heritage and the king’s letter, I am guessing that was a ruse?” I nodded and tried not to smile.

“We both fell for it. I should have known you had a trick tucked away. When we were children you would always bend the rules to beat me. That’s why Nanos never wanted to play with you. I’d never seen you cry unless you were tricking us to win at some game. I should have suspected that it wasn’t real.”

His mention of Nanos brought back the memory of the young man standing over his dead father, holding a bloody blade. Anger and resentment mingled with satisfaction on his smug face. When we were children he followed Runir and me around whenever I visited the castle. The prince always whined when he didn’t win any of the mock battles or hiding games we played with the other kids, so he became someone that I tried to avoid during my visits.

“But that is just another part of you that I love, Nadea. You create your own situations. You convinced the king not to marry you off and instead support you in this quest to find Kaiyer. You managed to locate the man, resurrect him, and bring him to the kingdom. You were rumored to be crazy; the gossip in the kingdom about you, your father, and the king was not pretty. But you proved them all wrong.” He looked down at his lap again and didn’t speak for a few minutes.

I leaned back against the tree and gazed up through the branches. The sun had risen and was burning off the thin layer of fog that hid the top most branches. Did oak trees twist and bend because of the years stacked on them? Or did bending and twisting allow them to survive all those years?

“My father told me how he found me when I was ten years old, I think, somewhere around that age. Even then, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Can you guess?” I asked Runir.

“What you are now? A powerful woman who commands a kingdom?”

“No,” I laughed lightly. “A good guess though. I wanted to be a mother.”

“A mother?” The look of bewilderment on his face was satisfying.

“Yes. Father told me stories of my mother, really his wife, and how she died giving birth. She had made all these plans for her baby, what she would teach it, how she was going to love it. I cried for so long when I found out that I wasn’t this wonderful woman’s daughter. That my real mother abandoned me somewhere alone to be eaten or to starve.”

“Why would he tell you that? It is horrible!”

“No, he didn’t tell me the last part. I just jumped to that conclusion. Eventually he managed to convince me that I couldn’t possibly imagine the situation surrounding my birth; perhaps leaving me on that cold pedestal in a forgotten temple in the Teeth Mountains had been the only way to save me from a worse fate. Maybe she prayed to whatever Spirits would hear her for the baby to be found and saved. They must have heard because a desperate man, in need of someone to love and care for, found me.” I tried not to choke up again thinking about my father. “If I could be half of the parent he has been to me I’ll be forever thankful.”

It was a long time until Runir spoke again.

“So why all this? You should have just married and had children like you wanted. You could have had them.” I looked over to the handsome blonde man as he struggled with the last words. “You can have them with me, Nadea.”

A dove sounded from a few trees away from us. It cried a lazy succession of two short hoots and a third long one.

“I had my hand in all sorts of activities at the keep. When I wasn’t running around bugging the soldiers or the staff I stuck my nose in my father’s countless books. So even at ten, I knew about horses.”

“Horses?” Runir was confused.

“Yes. What happens when a horse and a donkey breed?” I asked.

“A mule,” he answered quickly.

“And what happens when a mule breeds with a horse, or a donkey, or another mule?” I asked him with all the smile that I could muster.

He took a few seconds to piece together the puzzle.

“Oh Nadea. I am so sorry. I didn’t even think of that.”

I laughed lightly. I had gotten used to my circumstances. I would bear no children.

“I am sure that I am, as you said, an ‘intelligent, tough, and beautiful’ mule.” I worried that Runir might not let that last statement die. I had only tested my theory with one man, but I was confident in my hypothesis.

“I would never call you a mule, or horse, or any beast of burden,” my friend said.

“I know you wouldn’t. You’d never hurt me.” I looked back down into the dirt around the base of the tree, but the ants there didn’t seem to care about our struggles.

“How do you know for sure? Which men did you …” Runir’s voice trailed off and he raised an eyebrow.

“It really isn’t any of your business,” I sighed but wasn’t angry at him.

“Kaiyer?” he whispered, and I saw the hurt in his eyes.

“No. It was in Astical. You should let this lie. I am confident in my findings.”

“Maybe the,” he paused and considered his words. “Men were sterile?” He pressed again and I heard the pain in his voice. He would not let this go until I beat him over the head with my answer.

“Staril has a few children, so I doubt he is sterile,” I said flatly.

“Staril?” He gasped.

“Yes.”

“But he is a tyrant! A brigand! How did?” He shot up to his feet and paced around without finishing his sentence.

“Staril is a fine man. The rumors about him are mostly false.” I recalled the year I had spent with the Merchant King of Astical. “It was more of a business arrangement.” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth. Runir’s eyes met mine and he looked more betrayed than when I stole the army from his father.

“Explain,” he spat out.

“Sit!” I commanded. The blonde man huffed and took the root next to me. His arms crossed his chest and he clenched his jaw.

“Father and I knew he had books relating to the O’Baarni and Ancients. He didn’t want to trade them to us, but he offered to let me stay with him while I studied. I believed some of the rumors you did, but after a few months with the man, I realized he was just ruthless in business. He gave me access to all of his documents. Eventually I became close to his children and his wives.”

“So then you let him fuck you?”

My hand shot out and smacked him across the face before he even registered my movement. The sound echoed out through the fields and one of the nearby doves took flight.

“No. I liked him. He is intelligent and handsome, I made the decision. Part of it was to test my theory. Part of it was political. If my theory proved wrong, and I did conceive with Staril, we would marry and then he would bring tremendous aid to Nia in our coming conflict. I didn’t see any downside to the situation.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Runir rubbed his jaw and looked away from me toward the camp. He sniffled and I saw that I had struck him hard enough to make his nose bleed. I didn’t regret the slap.

I hadn’t thought of Staril for almost two years. Perhaps it had been a foolish decision to become his lover when I visited. But I couldn’t think of a better way to test if I could have a child. Any other union between a noble house or royalty would hinder my research into the O’Baarni, and any sexual encounter with a random man would have been disastrous for Nia if I actually wasn’t barren.

“Do you love him?” he finally asked, his voice full of pain.

“Of course not. I respected him and was grateful to him for his help.” Staril had been a skilled lover, intelligent, handsome, and he became the de facto ruler of a country that was even more chaotic than Losher. We spent countless hours discussing the legends of the O’Baarni, but I never felt more than a passing affection for him. Once my research completed and it appeared that I was correct about my inability to conceive, I left.

He never made me feel the way Kaiyer did.

“Do you speak with him anymore?” Runir’s voice changed and lost most of its anger.

“No.”

“Did it bother you that he has multiple wives? How did they feel about you in their husband’s bed?” Runir asked. He was probably trying to piece together what my life had been like in the distant country.

“They treat women differently in Astical. That part of my life is behind me, and I’m sure I have less remorse than some of the women you have bedded.” I chuckled and punched him lightly in the arm. He grunted in agreement and gave me a slight grin.

“How about adoption? Your father raised you as his. Surely that would satisfy your dream?” Runir said after we had sat in silence for another ten minutes.

“Yes, it would. Yes, I will. But not today. If we are alive after this war, there will be plenty of orphans. That will be my purpose.” He nodded and wiped the blood from his nose. I could tell the question he turned over in his head but he surprised me with a different inquiry.

“So why the O’Baarni? You seemed suddenly very passionate about finding him, and then six months later knew exactly where one of his generals was imprisoned.”

“It wasn’t that quick.” The sun finished burning up the layer of fog, and a slight breeze ruffled the leaves of the oak tree. It would be a chilly day.

You are avoiding my question. We’ve both been too honest so far,” he joked. “Very well. It was actually a few pieces that came together. I had always been interested in the history of the Ancients, especially with the history of the O’Baarni. How could one man kill an entire race of people? But then I questioned some things. The histories, both written and spoken, conflicted with each other. Some said that he was a hero, some a terrible scourge. Some said the Ancients were a race of horrible beings that enslaved us. Other accounts claimed that the O’Baarni really enslaved humans and the Ancients.” I looked over to Runir and he nodded. I had already told him this tale. “There were a few consistencies in the stories though. The first one was that the O’Baarni was so powerful that he could not be killed and instead was imprisoned.”

“Who imprisoned him?”

“Some writings say it was the last Ancients, some say humans. Some say both.” I was talking quickly. I felt connected to my past when I spoke of the Ancients and the O’Baarni.

“What do you believe?”

“Staril and I discussed this often. He had this book, it was ancient, and claimed to be only the copy of an even older lexicon. It was one of the oldest books I had ever touched.” I recalled sitting for hours by the fire in my study in Astical poring over each page.

“What did it say?” Runir seemed sincerely interested.

“The book claimed that the O’Baarni was imprisoned by his closest friends, the generals in his army.” I smiled in satisfaction when Runir’s eyes opened wide. I remembered lying awake at night wondering what exactly happened between these powerful beings. What could have caused them to turn on their leader?

“And Kaiyer…”

“Said he was a general in the O’Baarni’s army. He must have been one of the people that imprisoned him!” I couldn’t help but smile. Then the pleasure faded when I remembered with a sharp pain.

Kaiyer was dead.

“But he knew little. The man could fight obviously, and he used amazing magic from what I saw. But …” Runir looked at me and winced. “Did he tell you how to defeat the Ancients? Did he tell you anything useful?”

“No,” I said sadly. I should have spent every waking second with him. I should have pestered him more, asked him more questions, and tried anything to learn from him. Instead, I kept my distance. I had run from what I feared the most.

I had tried to keep myself from loving him.

I would have been forced to tell him I could not give him children. Maybe it would not have mattered to him. But it would have mattered to me.

My plan of avoiding him and shielding my feelings had not worked. I had never been able to stop myself from thinking about him. I still could not stop.

“You okay?” Runir ripped me from my reverie.

“I didn’t see his body.”

My friend raised an eyebrow in an effort to give me sympathy. “He might still be alive.”

“No. If he still lived, he would have helped us when the castle was attacked. You don’t need to protect me from his death.”

“I was jealous of him. I still am, actually.” The blonde man smiled and glanced back up to the branches. “I confronted him in the hallway once.”

“You did?” I didn’t think the two had exchanged any words alone.

“Yeah. I said that I didn’t like how he looked at you. I told myself I was trying to protect your honor but I was … ahhh. Doesn’t matter.” He leaned back and took a deep breath, letting the silence hang in the air like the leaves. Finally, he spoke again.

“I guess I should have expected what he was capable of from seeing him fight. But I thought I would intimidate him. He threw me around like a newborn puppy. Scared the shit out of me.” He turned to me with a big smile. “If I knew he was a great general in this O’Baarni’s army, I wouldn’t have stuck my neck out for you!”

I laughed at the absurdity of it all. Runir saw Kaiyer kill three Ancients bare handed, and then attempted to muscle the man out of my life. He probably deserved to get beat up.

“How did you figure out where he was imprisoned?” he tried to ask nonchalantly, but I knew this had been a point of concern with the king and my father when I announced that I would journey to Vanlourn.

“It was a dream,” I said.

“A dream?” He sat up inquisitively. I had already hinted to Runir and his father about the Ancient woman, but we spoke nothing of it after I retired to my tent that afternoon.

“Yes. I kept having the same one over and over. I thought I was going insane.”

“What was the dream about? The woman?” The blonde man was fully engaged now. He had been wondering about this aspect of my plan for a long time.

“Yes. She told me that I could find him in the southern jungles. She said he would be hidden in a temple on the west side of a valley between the two largest peaks of a vast jungle.”

“From that you figured out she meant Vanlourn?” Runir chewed on his lip.

“Yes. She also told me how to wake him, what to say, and the rules.” The memory of the dreams sent a shiver down my spine. The beautiful woman had eyes of cold steel and her voice was so full of malice that I had been afraid to act on any of her instructions.

“Rules?”

“She said only a human could say the words that would bring him back. She said if I attempted them I would be destroyed.” The lie came easily to my lips. I wasn’t ready to tell Runir the truth. The woman made it clear to me that I was the only one who would be able to wake Kaiyer, but I had told my father and the king that I needed someone who spoke the Ancient language.

“So you needed Paug.”

“I didn’t need him for the ceremony. I could have taught the words to anyone. But I didn’t know what to expect when the O’Baarni awoke. I knew they spoke a different language than us. Paug was the best solution.”

“You’ve already heard this, but—”

“I know. It seemed like a gamble. What if he awoke and destroyed the world?” I had gone through the argument hundreds of times with my father, the king, and Paug’s grandfather.

“I guess the alternative was also pretty bleak. Now it is even worse. Kaiyer wasn’t the O’Baarni, he couldn’t help us, the Ancients ended up taking over the castle, Nanos murdered his father, the woman I love doesn’t feel the same way and almost became the wife of one of the most infamous conquers in all of the Eight Kingdoms. A bad situation all around.” He smirked at me.

“There is still hope.”

“You might still fall in love with me?” Runir said with a mischievous smile on his face that made me laugh.

“We aren’t beaten yet.”

“If anyone can figure out a way to win this war, it is you.” He smiled and got up from our makeshift bench on the roots. I followed his lead and rose from my seat. My leg had quieted down, but it still throbbed lightly.

“I’ll lean on you, if you don’t mind.” I didn’t even finish the sentence before he was at my side with an arm around my shoulders. We had to carefully navigate our path through the roots before we made it to level ground and I was thankful for my friend’s support.

“Do you still have those dreams?” he asked when were halfway to the camp.

“No.” The lie came easily to my lips.

“Maybe the Ancient in your dreams wanted revenge on Kaiyer? He didn’t seem to like them very much. According to what he and Paug inferred, he was responsible for the deaths of many of them, especially if he was a general. Perhaps he killed her or her lover or something?”

“Maybe.” I searched my memories about the dreams but didn’t come to any conclusions. I never wondered about the connection between the two of them, and that also seemed strange to me.

“Something is afoot,” Runir said suspiciously. I saw several horsemen galloping into camp toward my tent. Within a few minutes we were there and it was already filled with the remaining generals and my personal guard. They whispered in hushed tones and their faces grew grim as I entered.

“What news?” I demanded. No one spoke for a few seconds.

“I don’t want to repeat myself.” I looked at the man who wore riding leathers and appeared out of breath.

“Duchess,” the scout stammered. “Nanos has declared that the duke is dead. He claims himself rightful king and ruler of Nia. He invites all the royalty and nobility in the kingdom to the castle two weeks from now to celebrate his ascension, swear loyalty to him, and be rewarded for their support of his crown.” His face grew paler as he said the words.

“Very good. Thank you for your report. Dismissed.” The man turned tail and fled out of the tent as quickly as possible. I broke away from Runir’s arm and limped to my chair behind the desk in the pavilion. The room stood silent as the dozen men watched me.

I leaned back and closed my eyes for a few seconds. I let my thoughts drift through various patterns, plans, and gambles. Finally, I opened my eyes. It seemed years passed, but in actuality only a few seconds escaped me.

“Soldiers of Nia,” I whispered. “Which of you will escort me to the Royal Ball in two weeks?”

I could only hope that Nanos would look as shocked as these soldiers when he saw me at the ball.

Chapter 19-The O’Baarni

The Elvens kept their newborns in a special nursery building on the inside of their tribal compounds. I never really puzzled together what they thought of their young. Humans carried a strong emotional attachment to their offspring, laughing when they laughed, comforting when they cried, and wailing when the young ones died. Like most tools, Elven children were probably treated the same as a nice weapon or a horse, something that the mother and father used to gain more power and influence in their community. I hoped that they held some shred of love for their children. Especially at times such as these, when I watched their nursery burn to the ground, killing scores of the baby maggots.

They may have felt no sadness at the loss of their offspring, but the Elvens certainly got fucking angry.

I was counting on that.

It took only a few minutes for the whole estate to be up in arms. Once the Elvens noticed what my band of merry pyromancers had done, they frantically swarmed around their houses, attempting to put out the fire with buckets conveniently placed near the nursery, the wells, and the small pond on the outskirts of the compound. The wood pails were already filled with what appeared to be water, and since the Elvens moved with such haste to save their offspring, they didn’t question what was actually in the buckets before they tossed the contents onto the roaring flames.

For a brief second, I wondered at the differences between our two races. We had used a special oil that carried an indistinct scent. I had always guessed that Elvens possessed the same heightened sense of smell we did, but perhaps they were so desperate to save their children that they didn’t think to sniff the contents of the pails before they threw them on the inferno.

The oil fueled the flames to impossible heights. The fire chased the arcs of liquid backward, igniting a few of the Elvens attempting to extinguish the flames.

“This is almost as satisfying as killing them single-handedly,” Alexia whispered from below me.

She had climbed the pine tree from where I was observing the inferno. I looked down beneath the branch and did not see her. She giggled softly and I realized she was dangling upside down like a spider from the same branch on which I perched.

“Your team set up the buckets of oil perfectly,” I whispered to her. She silently scampered up the side of the branch and straddled it, facing me. Her short blonde hair was concealed by a black cowl.

“I thought they would smell the oil and not fall for the trap. This is working so well, Thayer’s group might not even see any action. Let us move in and finish them?” she asked.

“No. Wait until their elders come out. Should only be a few moments.” She nodded and then spun around on the branch to face the fire half a mile in the city below our shared perch.

“Burn you fucking bastards,” she whispered again, but the words were spoken so softly that I might have imagined them. Alexia had joined our small resistance a few years ago when Thayer and I scouted the perimeter of a neighboring Elven tribal estate. We had stumbled onto four Elven men raping her repeatedly, something that most of their kind enjoyed doing if the opportunity presented itself. After Thayer and I had killed the rapists, we brought her back with us to Entas. She had been our first recruit since our exodus from Iolarathe’s home.

I didn’t believe that anyone else was more committed to destroying the Elvens than I, but Alexia came close in dedication. She was a skilled warrior and her ability to walk through a forest without making a sound added to her effectiveness at murdering our enemies.

“Kaiyer,” she whispered urgently and I saw a sudden rush of activity to the north of the nucleus of the inferno. A few dozen armed Elvens were escorting the elders of their tribe. They would be proficient in magic, and would probably combine powers to stop our fire. Entas had predicted as much.

“Let’s go. I’ll follow your lead.” I had hardly finished speaking before Alexia grunted and launched herself effortlessly from the branch we shared. My eyes traced her falling body through the darkness. She rebounded skillfully off three thick branches before landing on the nettle-coated dirt below the tree canopy. A second later, I was on the ground behind her, sprinting across the forest toward our prey.

She cut north before we hit the clearing, allowing us to attack the party of guards and elders from their left, the perfect approach, as it was both away from the fire and their line of sight. Unlike my lithe and graceful companion, I was as loud as an angry bear as I followed her. Luckily, the roar of the inferno and the screams of our enemies drowned out the sound of my plodding footfalls.

We ran out into the clearing, dashing toward the small cluster of Elvens guarding their elders. There was an empty space of three hundred yards, and we would only have a few seconds to sprint across it before the guards found us. Alexia and I led this mission because we were the fastest runners in our army, so I was confident we would be able to make it there in time. But to further the odds in our favor, our team of six archers began to pepper the guards from the other side of the camp.

Chaos erupted in the band of Elvens when the first volley of arrows showered their ranks. Then Alexia and I smashed into them like two ravenous animals.

My friend cut the left leg out from one of the leather-clad Elven soldiers with her curved short sword and then slammed the blade of her dagger into the spine of another. I sliced the neck out of the Elven as he fell and then speared the point of my blade through the skull of the only armored bastard left who did not have an arrow in him.

One of the elder Elvens ducked down to escape the rain of arrows and saw the brief flash of carnage Alexia and I made in the back lines of her group.

“We are under—“ she screamed but couldn’t finish. Alexia kicked her in the face, shattering the old woman’s nose, jaw, and teeth in a satisfying crunch.

Not that her alert would have mattered.

The other guards had not even noticed that Alexia and I closed the distance behind them. I picked one on the left of me and removed his head from his shoulders with a crimson spray of my sword. Then I kicked the back of the other’s legs and caught his face with my fist as he fell backward. Entas just wanted two of them alive.

Alexia’s dagger flew over my shoulder and I heard it sink into the skull of an Elven who had noticed we had incapacitated their leaders. More screams sounded from the other side of the burning nursery. Thayer and his team fulfilled their part of the mission and were providing a violent end to the Elvens that attempted to extinguish the fire.

Then the battle ended.

I inspected the woman Alexia had kicked and the other elder I had punched. They were alive but wouldn’t be able to chew food for a few days. Elvens didn’t heal as fast as we now did.

A runner from Thayer’s group approached as Alexia and I tied and gagged the two elders.

“It is done.” She spoke in an excited slur.

“Run the perimeter again. Meet at the slave housing in three minutes,” I commanded the woman. She nodded and sprinted off to execute my order.

Alexia signaled to her archers and they picked up the pair of bound Elvens and started ripping weapons and armor off of the corpses of their guards. We needed all the equipment we could get.

“I hate it when you call it ‘slave housing.’ I wish you would call it ‘human housing’ or something else.” My friend almost never voiced her feelings, so I was surprised by her small whisper.

“No. slave housing is appropriate,” I said to her as I increased my walk to a run. Our destination was half a mile from the main Elven estate and we expected that a half a dozen guards would lay in wait. If those Elvens had any emotion, they would be concerned about what was going on in the rest of the camp. This wasn’t an attack that we could execute in silence, and I was sure that the Elven soldiers heard the sounds of the distant battle.

“Why?” Alexia spoke just enough to make her voice carry over the wind to me as she caught up to my stride.

“Because it angers you. It angers me too. We’ll be slaves until they are all dead. You’re a slave to your memories.”

We stopped at the tree line after a short climb. The slave compound held about a hundred of our kind in three large long houses. A few scattered torches lit the log buildings, but this night was dark, and the light the flames gave out didn’t comfort the four Elven guards who huddled close together. I increased the sensitivity of my ears so that I might listen to their conversation.

“Should we go?” one of them whispered to the other three.

“It’s only been a few minutes. A runner will come soon,” a female voice spoke.

“I will go look. I’ll be back in a moment,” the first male voice said.

“Don’t leave, asshole. We’ll all be punished if they catch you abandoning the post,” another man said.

“What if it is Gittarum attacking?” the first male said again.

“They wouldn’t dare! Our sentries would have seen them. Just wait!” the female demanded.

That was an interesting tidbit of news. Gittarum was another Elven tribe that had their lands about twenty miles from here. They would be next on our list and it felt comforting to know that our enemies didn’t even consider that humans were attacking them.

“Kaiyer, look to the north of the houses.” Alexia gently touched my arm. I looked in the direction she indicated and saw a group of four humans circling outside the log buildings. They attempted to peer around the corner at the guards, but little escaped Alexia’s vision.

“I am going to go and see. Fuck waiting,” the Elven said as he stepped up the path toward the main estate.

“Stop! We will all get reprimanded!” Two Elvens walked after him and tried to hold him back.

“I’ll go with him.” The fourth voice was deep for an Elven, he had not yet spoken. “I am curious about the screams too. If it is nothing, we will return quickly. Otherwise, we will say it was our idea.” The four started to bicker more.

“They are going to ambush the Elvens,” Alexia said.

“Yeah. I don’t think it will go well, but I admire their mettle.” I grinned back at her. She looked at me for a few seconds before a slow smile crept to her face.

“Are we going to help them?”

“Of course. Let’s see if the guards split first.” I heard the rest of Alexia’s team climb up the hill behind us. One of them whispered to her that the elders and equipment were secure with Thayer’s group.

We watched the humans watch the Elven guards argue for a few minutes before they finally agreed to leave their post and investigate. Two of them moved at a slow jog up the path toward the main estate.

I turned to Alexia’s team.

“End them quietly.” The three warriors nodded and disappeared into the forest behind us like they were sinking into a still pool.

“You just wanted some alone time with me didn’t you?” Alexia smirked.

“Perhaps. Do you think the four of them can kill the two Elvens?” I chuckled at her.

“No,” she said quickly. “I’ll move closer.” She didn’t wait for permission; she launched herself from our ledge and down the dirt slope like a bounding deer. Her every footfall managed to land on something solid and silent. Within a few seconds, she had made it the few hundred yards to the log houses and had expertly flipped onto the thatched roof of the nearest structure.

The Elvens spoke between each other, their voices excited by the possibility of an attack or being punished for their companions’ desertion. I saw the four humans decide that they would not come upon a better opportunity for revenge, so they left their place of concealment and crept toward the two guards.

Alexia perched on the roof of the house where the men hid. She looked over in my direction and put a hand up to her ear and then pushed her thumb downward before touching her ear, signaling that she thought they were loud, but the Elven’s hadn’t noticed their advance.

The man in the lead of the humans had a thick crop of dusty blonde hair. Unlike the other three men who looked like they might shit themselves or run at any moment, his face was locked in calm concentration. He carried a wood axe, another a pitchfork, and the other two had makeshift clubs. I hoped the humans would be able to kill the Elvens before the reptilian bastards drew their own finely crafted weapons.

I couldn’t help but hold my breath as the humans neared their prey. Perhaps I should have moved closer, but I figured that Alexia could slaughter both of the guards easily and I was curious to see how the brave men would fare against the Elvens.

“Should I engage?” Alexia signed from the roof.

“Let’s see if they are successful. Jump in when you wish.” She nodded, and her grin grew with pride.

I was impressed with how near the four men got before their discipline faltered. They were about four feet away when the man at the back raised his weapon and let out a war cry that was a mix of insanity and panic. Then they charged.

Maybe the man believed his screech would terrify the two Elvens, but I knew better. Compared to normal humans, Elvens were more than three times as fast and twice as strong. The guards looked surprised for half a second, which was an eternity to Alexia and I, but not even a fraction of a blink to the humans. By the time the leader of the men was close enough to swing his axe, the Elvens had already drawn their swords. Alexia decided she needed to intervene now and began an elaborate flip off the roof of the long house, her lithe body twisting in the air like a spider dangling from silk.

I jumped down the slope and sprinted toward them. I figured the fight would be over by the time I got there, but I wanted to be within melee range just in case.

The male Elven blocked the clumsy swing from the leader’s axe and shoulder charged him, knocking him over like the human was made of bundled straw. The female Elven was the better warrior, she side-stepped the inexpert thrust from the pitchfork and cleanly decapitated the man wielding the farming tool.

Then Alexia landed with her short sword buried into the top of the Elven’s skull. The force of the impact took the blade down halfway through the bitch’s back and sprayed her thick crimson blood everywhere.

The remaining Elven warrior did not react to Alexia’s landing or the death of his companion. He deftly whipped his sword around with a horizontal cut at Alexia’s shoulders. For a brief second, I worried that she had not seen the attack coming. Of course, Alexia did not need my concern. She spent countless hours sparring with Thayer, me and the rest of our band. Even our worst warrior could defeat most Elvens. Our training was intense and effective. We were all deadly and ruthless.

The blonde woman bent slightly at the waist and the weapon harmlessly swept over her shoulder blades. I had reached the melee by now and planted a firm jump kick into the Elven man’s ribs. I heard several of them break and the man let out a surprised scream. The force of my running attack should have sent him sprawling, but the human that he had knocked to the ground grabbed the Elven’s ankles. The guard flipped over like a coin and smashed his face into the dirt.

Alexia was already in the air and landed on the Elven, sinking her long dagger into the man’s neck.

Then our enemies were dead.

The blonde woman and I crouched down and looked back toward the road where the other two guards had gone. They should have been dead by now, but we didn’t want to take any chances.

“How many guards are there?” Alexia asked the blonde man on the ground.

“Four. The other two went up the road.” The man didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“Hold,” I commanded, and the three men left alive lay still on the floor. We waited for another minute in silence. Alexia and I didn’t expect any more resistance, but we knew how much a mistake could cost us.

Then we heard the faint hoot of a dove from up the road a few hundred yards. It was the signal that the Elvens were dead.

“Get up,” I commanded as I examined the three humans. The leader stood shorter than me by half a head and was as lean as a whip. I saw dozens of veins pushing out against the skin of his bare arms. The other two men were in poorer shape. They were probably only in their early twenties but looked much older due to malnutrition.

“Who are you?” the blue-eyed man asked my friend. She smiled to him and turned to face me.

“I’m Kaiyer, this is Alexia, and we are the O’Baarni.”

“How did you kill the Elvens so easily?” He glanced back to Alexia again with astonishment in his eyes. She shrugged and looked at me. The woman didn’t like meeting new people.

“We can talk about that later,” I said to him.” We are freeing you and your fellow slaves. I assume they are gathered in these houses?”

“Aye. We have been planning an escape for the last few months. One of my friends was going to start a fire in the main house of the Elvens, then we would overpower the guards and escape.”

“What?” he asked after Alexia and I exchanged a look of bewilderment.

“We started a fire, actually,” I said to him.

“I don’t care who started the fire. We are ready to go. We are planning to escape north. These people think I can lead them to safety. I don’t know what I am doing, but I’ll die before I disappoint them.” The man smiled and pushed his fists together nervously. It brought back a memory of me fleeing my old home. Of course then I had a group of elite and empowered warriors accompanying me. This man just had endless courage.

“We will help, friend. That is our purpose here. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Gorbanni. You said your name was Kaiyer, and this lovely lady is Alexia. Correct?” We both nodded. Alexia didn’t like to be reminded of her beauty. She did not smile.

“Let’s meet your followers.” I gestured toward the long houses.

“We are simple folk. Servants, farmers, and some ranchers. We don’t know how to …” He sighed as we walked toward the dwellings. The other two men looked at Alexia in speechless awe.

“What service do you perform for the Elvens?” I heard the nervous whispers in the long houses. Many of them were fearful that Gorbanni’s plan had failed and they would shortly be slaughtered.

“I cook for their soldiers,” he said.

“Do you enjoy it?”

“No. But there are far more difficult jobs and sometimes I can sneak food to my friends.” We made it to the door of the long house. I could tell from the sounds inside that most of the men and women hid there.

“I don’t need a cook. I need warriors. More than warriors, I need leaders of men and women. Someone others can look to in times of hardship and desperation. Someone who can inspire. Someone with enough balls and insanity to convince a group of half-starved, weak humans that they could overpower their Elven masters and lead a revolt.” He grinned, still a little stunned. “Are you interested?” The man’s blue eyes lit up as I spoke. This was one with mettle. If he was this brave now, with no reason to be, after he was changed and trained he would be an incredible leader.

“We want freedom. At any cost.”

“Your first assignment is to support what I say in here. Do you have any family amongst the slaves?”

“No. My parents were killed many years ago by Elven horsemen who grew bored attacking straw targets. My sister committed suicide after she was violated by guardsmen every night for months.” He choked the words out.

“We understand. Our anger and need for revenge fuels us as well. You will have a home with us, and then you will have your freedom. Introduce me to your people. Tell them my name and that I will lead them to safety.” I nodded to the door and he quickly opened it.

The scent of unwashed bodies in a tight space slammed into my sensitive nose when I first entered. I could also smell sickness and my eyes darted to the far corner, where someone must have gotten so nervous that they vomited. There were over eighty men, women, and a few children. Gorbanni was the fittest out of all of them and looked like he may have been providing additional food to help keep the rest alive. Disgust filled my stomach. How could the Elvens rely on us for all of their base needs and still treat us this way? Their horses were probably treated better.

“This is Kaiyer.” The humans in the room stared at Gorbanni in confusion. They had expected him to die. They had expected the next person to walk through the door to be an Elven guard who would use force and death to punish and scare them away from ever attempting another revolt. Gorbanni had not only survived, but brought back hope. “He and his companion killed all the guards. He has promised to lead us from this place.”

“Your leader Gorbanni speaks the truth.” I paused to watch their expressions. Their faces were full of fear and surprise. “We have killed all the Elvens in this estate.” I paused again after I let the words slowly flow out of my mouth. There was disbelief.

“Every Elven you have ever known is dead. Every Elven who has ever harmed you is dead. Every Elven who has raped you is dead. Every Elven who has killed your friend, your brother, your sister, your mother, your father, your child, is dead. But their kind still enslaves ours elsewhere. We will save them, as we have saved you, with your help.”

“How can this be?” One of the older women spoke from the front of the room. I looked to Gorbanni and raised an eyebrow.

“Grety, the two of them easily killed two Elven guards. I have never seen anything like it. They move so fast that I could only see blurs. There are more of Kaiyer’s people here as well. I believe what he says,” Gorbanni said with absolute confidence, though he had seen no evidence of us killing everyone in the camp.

“You are all free now,” I continued, “some of you know who we are. You have dreamed about us all your lives. You have cried at night and asked for a way to fight back. All of you have wished for the power to protect yourself and the ones that you love. Their suffering weighs on your conscience and causes you more agony than our oppressors ever could.” They nodded and some of them wept.

“We are small now. But we will grow. We will teach you how to fight, how to kill, and how to ease the suffering that you feel. Then we will move across this world and do the same for all of our kind, freeing them and teaching them. During this process, we will extract a terrible revenge on the Elvens, returning every agony we have endured thousands of times. Tonight we began by burning their nursery. Your enslavers watched their children roast before their eyes and then we killed every last pointy eared bastard in this place.” There were gasps from the room and the whispers started again. Some believed me, but most didn’t. The idea seemed impossible to them. It would have seemed impossible to me had I still been the young stable boy I was.

“Most of you believed that Gorbanni would fail tonight, so you did not prepare to leave. But we are leaving at once, walking through the carnage we brought to this place, and traveling through the wilderness to our home, where you will learn to fight. Where you will find justice and revenge. Where you can serve the loved ones you have lost.”

I looked over to Gorbanni. He stood up as straight as an arrow, tears rolling freely down his cheeks.

“Follow me now. We are the O’Baarni and this day will be the start of our salvation and the Elvens’ nightmare.” I turned and walked out the door with Alexia behind me. We made it a few dozen yards before the door opened and they followed us out.

“Walk slowly, but don’t look back,” I instructed Alexia.

Behind us the humans gasped at the sight of the two Elvens Alexia had butchered. Now they started to believe.

“Kaiyer!” Gorbanni caught up to us. I didn’t turn around, instead letting him move up next to me. “I think they are all coming.”

“We are heading to the main area of the estate. They will see what my warriors have wrought. Then they will commit to following us, at least for a few days. The travel through the wilderness will be hard. You must keep their spirits up and continue to reinforce the vision I gave them. Can you do this?”

“Yes!” He nodded and smiled, suddenly realizing he had tears on his face. His cheeks flushed and he quickly wiped them away with the dirty cuff of his shirt.

“Don’t be ashamed of your tears, my friend. I’ve cried buckets of them.” He grunted and looked back at his people.

We took ten minutes to walk into the main area of the estate. Most of the buildings had finished burning and the thick scent of smoke and roasted flesh hung in the air.

Between Thayer’s team, Alexia’s team, and my small group that had held the perimeter, we had forty O’Baarni in the main square. They were still stacking up Elven bodies and looting supplies.

Our warriors must have seemed quite impressive to the humans. Each man was a walking wall of muscle and sinew. The women were lean but strong and moved like mountain tigers. It was easy to put on brawn when the Earth healed all tears, breaks, and sprains in a matter of hours. The O’Baarni spent most of their days training, exercising, and building our home. Their eyes burned with a zealous purpose and every task was performed with the efficiency of someone who had executed the movement thousands of times.

“Everything is good, Brother.” Thayer broke off from his team to give me an update. His smile made his scarred face almost look handsome and beads of sweat rolled down his shaved head. He looked at Gorbanni and nodded.

“Gorbanni, this is one of the leaders of the O’Baarni, Thayer.” They shook hands, Thayer’s enveloping the smaller man’s like he had crushed a small bug.

“Nice to meet ya.” He turned to me. “We’ll be ready in three minutes. How many are coming?”

I looked at Gorbanni, who quickly gave the number of eighty-two. Thayer nodded and walked back to his team to bark out orders.

“I’ll take the rear,” Alexia said quietly, but she didn’t leave.

“Okay.” I smiled at her and faced my new friend. “Go back with your people, Gorbanni. Tell them that we are leaving soon. Point out the bodies and the carnage our warriors created. You are all capable of this. We will show you how. Let them know the way through the wilderness will be hard.”

The man nodded, turned to walk away, halted, and then spun to face me.

“Thank you for saving us.” His eyes teared again. “I thought I would die tonight. I couldn’t take it anymore. Everyone I have ever loved was gone. I had no hope. I knew it wouldn’t work. I knew the guards would kill me. I didn’t care. I was a coward. I’m not fit to lead these people. But you are. I’ll follow you until I die Kaiyer. You’ve given me a purpose.” He didn’t wait for a reply before he sprinted back to the closely grouped band of his followers.

“Let’s hope we can get them all to the campsite. Then the real work will begin.”

“Aye. This was a successful mission. Entas will be happy with us. It couldn’t have been executed any better.” Alexia walked away as I grunted in agreement.

“Kaiyer,” she said over her shoulder. “Gorbanni isn’t the only one who would follow you until death. I was reborn the day you and Thayer saved me. I have a purpose that fills me more than I ever dreamed. Thank you.” I hadn’t expected this from her and I didn’t know how to respond.

“You’re welcome, Alexia,” I whispered, but the words were wrong. They were not enough. How could words express the hope and the feeling of comradeship I had with her? It would take years to properly express how I felt. I knew that she heard my words, though she had joined her team across the smoking estate by the time I had said them.

This was the beginning of our army, and we would not fail in our quest to save humanity.

Chapter 20-Kaiyer

“Do you miss your friends, O’Baarni?” The voice was laced with mockery and lifted me back to the present in a disorienting spin.

“Will you miss your life when I rip it from you, bitch?” I spat at the golden-haired Elven who had been tasked with escorting Greykin, Duke Beltor, the queen, and I out of Castle Nia.

The woman’s eyes were a vibrant green, like oxidized copper, and were flecked with small pieces of gold. They narrowed slightly and her long fingers paused in their task of pulling her thick hair into a loose side braid. I expected her to spit back something in anger, but she seemed to have her emotions under control as much as her leader did.

“That would mean an unfortunate ending for your pet human. What is her name again? Nadea? I’m sure her life is worth more than mine to you.” Her pink lips spread into a malicious smile. The other Elven woman chuckled from across the small fire pit where the three of us sat.

I did not reply, instead focusing on the piece of venison the other Elven spun over the flames. This woman had pewter hair with streaks of rust color running through it. The silver-haired leader of the Elvens in Nia told me that my escorts were his best soldiers. I did not want to risk Nadea’s life by killing them. The golden-haired Elven was the same warrior who killed Nanos’s guard the night we gave him the duke’s letter. She had also been rather eager to put an arrow in me when our plan failed in the dungeons under Nia.

“He’s still quite feisty,” the woman cooking said to the other in the old tongue. I tried to forget her name, but I had always been good with names. She was Vernine. “He seems capable with the horses.” She looked past me to the three beasts we had ridden from Nia.

“I like him,” the golden-haired one said back in the same language. Her name was Isslata.

There were rumors that I spoke the ancient tongue, but since they believed most of the O’Baarni did not, Isslata and Vernine had tested me for the first few days of our journey together. I did my best to pretend I could not understand them, but I had almost lost my composure last night after Isslata spoke in detail of Nadea being raped by a dozen Losher soldiers. I drew on the skills I had honed while hiding from Elvens, maintaining my breathing and heart rate to appear calm and indifferent. When they did not get a reaction from me, they began to converse freely in their tongue. For the most part it had been plans for ensuring I did not escape, and their theories on where Greykin, the queen and the duke would travel after we parted.

“You like the O’Baarni? I should be surprised but I’ve known you long enough not to be,” Vernine said as she threw her pewter mane back over her shoulder and tied it with a thin strip of leather. I sometimes struggled to understand them. The language had changed a bit from what I knew and some words were accented differently.

“Yes. I really want to fuck him,” Isslata said. Luckily, Vernine’s gasp of shock covered the sound of my stomach tightening.

“Are you speaking truthfully?” Vernine’s mouth opened in amazement.

“Oh yes. You weren’t there in the dungeon. The O’Baarni completely disrespected Alatorict. I’ve never seen him so mad. I want him to say those things to me while he takes me from behind. It will be delicious.” Isslata stared at me out of the corner of her eyes and shivered. I focused on the roasting piece of venison and tried not to feel sick to my stomach.

“If you’re too dumb to spin the meat, I’ll do it instead,” I seethed at Vernine, interrupting what she had been about to reply to Isslata. She glanced down at the food in surprise and reached out to turn it absentmindedly. The fire was tall and was keeping the darkness at bay. We only had another night before we needed to return to Nia, but it would not be a problem if we maintained our current rate of travel.

“I thought Alatorict and you were …” She looked to Isslata.

“For a few months. He started to bore me. I believe he is still infatuated with Fehalda.” The woman stretched her arms and sighed. “He was fun for a while. The O’Baarni will be more entertaining.”

“A human though? The idea disgusts me.” Vernine glanced at me and then back to the piece of meat on the fire. Her eyes were the color of rubies and reflected and magnified the gleam of the flame.

“Not just a human. The O’Baarni are different. They have been chosen by their clan to take the gift of power.”

“He doesn’t look like much. He is starving and half-dead.” They both turned to study me. I glared back. Isslata had mentioned a clan again. I wanted to find out more, but I forced my breathing to stay normal.

“This one killed Greretal and his team when they were here six months ago. He also killed seven of Fehalda’s best warriors,” the golden-haired Elven said with a hint of smugness. She broke her eye contact with me and turned back to her friend.

“I heard that, but didn’t believe. Greretal had a reputation, but I never saw him fight, so perchance he was not as good as they say. Seven of Fehalda’s warriors should have done the job, though.”

“Perhaps it isn’t true. Of course, this one spoke to Alatorict like he was used to killing our kind easily.”

“Aren’t they all arrogant?” Vernine unsheathed a long knife and cut into the large piece of venison.

“Yes. But they have amazing strength and endurance.” Isslata looked down from the night sky and at the food. “How’s it look?”

“Almost done. You speak about O’Baarni from experience?” Vernine’s mouth formed a coy smile. Isslata giggled softly.

“Twenty years ago I was traveling through Asek. I had a few days to relax between assignments and I was staying at this horrible human establishment, bored to tears and contemplating killing everyone in the whole town just to generate some excitement.”

“That wouldn’t have gone over well.” Vernine laughed understandingly.

“This O’Baarni comes into the inn. His name was Testar. He was from Malek’s clan and seemed just as disinterested with the current situation as I was.”

My breath caught in my throat at the mention of Malek. Luckily, they were engrossed in Isslata’s story and they didn’t seem to realize I was listening.

“We spent a few days in bed. I was so sore, I thought I’d never be able to use my pussy again. We must have fucked over twenty times. It was unbelievable.” Isslata sighed again and looked back at me. I kept my eyes locked on the fire and the piece of meat there.

“You are incorrigible.” Vernine laughed and leaned away from the flames. She glanced at me and fluttered her eyelids slightly. Her skin was the color of white cream and a slight blush crept to her cheeks.

“You’re as wet as I am now. Don’t deny it.” Isslata giggled and twisted her finished braid around her fingertips.

“Maybe,” the pewter-haired woman said finally. “This is done.” She cut off a hunk of the venison and put it on a thin tin plate. She looked over to my direction and passed it up over the fire.

I never would have imagined that I would share a campfire and dinner with two Elven women who were talking about their sexual exploits. It was absurd. I believed I had eradicated their kind. I suddenly missed the company of Greykin and Nadea’s father. We hadn’t spoken at all during our sojourn since we didn’t want to risk any hint that Jessmei was alive and in a small village to the north. The big man had given me a bone-crushing hug when they separated from us a few hours ago. Beltor also embraced me, whispering in my ear to find Nadea. The queen ignored me when we parted, like she had most of the brief ride. The woman complained almost every minute of our travel. I couldn’t help but think that the king had been cursed by a horrible wife and son, but blessed by a beautiful and loving daughter.

Thoughts of Jessmei filled my head again, taking me peacefully away from the disgusting conversation the Elvens were sharing. I remembered Jessmei’s soft touch, her dimpled smile, even her concerned frown had imprinted in my memory. She seemed to be the exact opposite of her mother; Jessmei never complained and found happiness in every occasion. I recalled our long talks while we lay together after our lovemaking. She had shared and educated me about my new world, the different kingdoms, and the way her culture evolved throughout history. During the weeks in the cave, it seemed that we had done nothing else but relax on the sleeping mats and talk in between intense bouts of sex.

“Is the food good, O’Baarni?” Isslata asked in Paug’s language as she took her third small bite.

“Do you lack taste buds or do you just have no opinions of your own?” I ate another mouthful of the meat and didn’t look up at her. The woman growled softly and then was silent.

“No Isslata, I don’t think you’ll be fucking that one,” Vernine said in the old tongue, her voice doing the mocking now.

“I’ll have him. I always get what I want. The empress told Alatorict she won’t reach the castle for two weeks, but I figure she will be at least another month. There is plenty of time.” Isslata spoke with confidence.

“I doubt it. The only object he seems interested in putting in you is his sword, and I mean the sharpened metal one, not the flesh one you would prefer,” she said with a snicker. “He’ll be locked up in custody and will probably only be visited by Alatorict.” Vernine laughed.

“Want to make a wager?” Isslata set down her plate and dabbed her lips with a piece of white cloth.

“What is the point? You will lose.” The gray woman cut off another chunk of venison and put it on her dish.

“I’ll make it interesting.” Isslata’s voice drew out at the end with a teasing tone. Vernine considered for a few moments before answering.

“Alright. What terms?”

“You’ll join the O’Baarni and me for the second round of fucking.” Isslata’s lips curved into a cruel smile.

“Absolutely not.” Vernine almost spit her food out. I had already finished my plate of meat, and I could have easily eaten the rest of the deer haunch had the nausea not been sinking into my stomach like ice water. I pulled my cloak around my shoulders and curled up on my bedroll, with my back to the fire and the women. Whatever Nadea was going through was hundreds of times worse than this. I could endure them for another two days.

“Ahhh. Cold feet? You seemed confident before.” Isslata’s voice was filled with mockery.

“I’m not letting a human touch me, let alone fuck me,” Vernine said with disgust.

“A minute ago you determined that it wouldn’t happen. Now that your body is in the game you aren’t so sure anymore.” Isslata laughed. “Besides, if I started riding him at this moment you know that you would want to join us. Don’t lie to yourself or me.”

“No. You aren’t going to fuck him and this bet is pointless.”

“I guarantee that you will enjoy yourself. He’ll be able to handle both of us easily. You might be disgusted now, but you’ll feel differently when you taste my entrance while he’s thrusting deep inside of you.” Isslata’s voice came across as an excited rush. The thought of doing anything with either of them made me want to vomit more.

“He might not want both of us at the same time.” Vernine’s words meant that she was already coming to terms with the bet.

“Males are all the same. Even though they only have one penis, they want as many women at the same time as they can possibly get. We are both beautiful; he’ll have no problem letting me bring him another tight sheath for his sword.”

“You are horrible, Isslata.” Vernine laughed.

“You enjoy me. Admit it.” The gold woman returned the laugh. There were a few minutes of silence as Vernine considered the terms.

“Alright. This is an interesting bet; I am disgusted and intrigued at the same time. What do I get if you fail?”

“Hummm …” Isslata began before Vernine interrupted.

“I want your sword,” the pewter-haired woman said. She must have already been planning to ask for it.

“It has been in my family for five generations. It was forged during the period of the Treaty.” Isslata’s voice was disappointed.

“And you’re asking me to fuck a human.”

“But it will be enjoyable for both of us!” Isslata snarled.

“Then you better win. Don’t worry. I’ll trade you mine so you won’t be weaponless.” Vernine laughed but it was an emotionless exhale.

“I’m not willing to bet my sword,” Isslata said flatly.

“A moment ago you were quite positive that I would be licking you while the human fucked me senseless. Now you’ve lost all your bravado. What happened to Isslata the undefeated weapon master of the Alatorict Legion? I’m extremely confident that you’ll still be the best warrior in this army, even without your family’s sword. Besides, I might give you the opportunity to win it back.” The woman with ruby eyes laughed again.

“Have you forgotten that this was your wager? I thought that Single—”

“Fine! Agreed,” Isslata spit out, interrupting her companion. Vernine gave a small clap and mock cheer. They were silent for a few moments as they continued to eat their food.

“What is his name anyway?” Vernine asked.

“Ahh. You would like to know the name of the man who will saddle you?” Isslata said with venom.

“Don’t be mad, lover. This was your idea after all. You always let your ego disrupt your greatness. That is why you aren’t closer to the empress.”

“What do you know of it?” Isslata asked sadly.

“I know many things. But I serve the empress directly, not Alatorict. It would be unwise for me to give you advice. Besides, you understand what you should do; you just fight against the yoke of command.”

“This is why you are my favorite. You don’t treat me like the others. They all fall over themselves to make me happy.” Isslata sighed the words, but her friend only grunted in reply and took another bite out of her dinner.

There was silence for a few more minutes as the women finished their meal.

“He went to bed early. Normally he eats much more,” Isslata observed.

“Already you are losing time on our friendly wager. I’ll help you out though. Just to show you that I am a good sport.” Vernine laughed again.

“O’Baarni,” she called softly. Then she continued in the language Paug taught me. “There is more food. Are you awake?”

I didn’t move, thinking that they would decide that I was asleep and leave me alone.

“You couldn’t be sleeping during our chatter human. Besides, you look too thin. There is unfinished meat here.” She raised her voice loud enough to wake up Greykin during one of his drunken slumbers. I rolled over and glared at her.

“Eat more food. Isslata and I were just speaking of how starved you look. The venison will go bad if you don’t finish it.”

“Fine.” I got up and realized the nausea had passed. I sat down and looked at the two Elvens. Objectively, I could see that they were beautiful and alluring, but a faint tinge of nausea still remained when I thought of touching them with anything other than a sword. Why had their words disgusted me? Iolarathe had murdered my family in front of me, and yet my memories of making love to her did not fill me with the same revulsion as merely hearing Isslata and Vernine speak of doing the same thing. These women had done nothing to hurt me. The deep-seated hatred I had for their entire race still fueled me.

“Try not to thank me for cooking it. It wasn’t difficult at all and I don’t enjoy praise.” Vernine grabbed my plate and filled it.

They watched me eat for a few seconds. I guessed what they were imagining, but I remembered that I was supposed to be clueless and tried to keep my face neutral.

“Do you get off watching me eat?” I asked them.

“I definitely don’t,” Vernine replied. Her words were emotionless. “But I have an imagination.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I said to keep up appearances. The pewter-haired woman shrugged and cleaned her knife.

“What is your name, O’Baarni?” Isslata asked. Her head was half-tilted and her eyes glowed from the fire.

“You know my name.” I took another bite of the food.

“No. I know what you call yourself. That isn’t your name though.” Isslata pursed her full lips.

“It is the only name I know.” They both frowned and I realized that I might have made a mistake.

“Who gave it to you?” Vernine said with a laugh.

“My father did.” I did not know why, but I sensed they were growing uneasy.

“Your father must have hated you then,” she snorted.

A few minutes passed and they both stared into the fire, with occasional glances out of the corner of their eyes. I felt the tension building. Were they waiting for me to explain my name to them?

“I won’t say that name.” Isslata crossed her arms and sat back on the log, finally breaking the silence.

“Why?” I asked, regretting the word as soon as it left my mouth. The Elvens exchanged puzzled looks.

“You are asking why a sword is sharp, why horses have four legs, why we drink clean water. We don’t speak the name of the Destroyer for the same reasons that you don’t say his name.”

“The Destroyer?” I asked. The edges of my vision clouded and darkened. I suddenly felt my body fall down through the earth, then slow down like I was submerged in thick, warm mud. It was hard to move. So hard to move and to think.

You destroyed everything I ever loved!

Malek’s voice bounced through my head and his words repeated their echo. It screamed louder until I covered my ears, trying to escape the sound of his rage.

We trusted you. We followed you. We believed in you.

The words slammed into my brain and my stomach twisted into knots of pain.

As suddenly as it began, the voices stopped. My body ached tremendously, like when the Elven man had harnessed Fire and sent me hurling into the pillar in the Great Hall. I felt like a giant broken bone. My vision still had not cleared but the taste of blood in my mouth and softness against my back grounded me for a moment.

My black vision turned into perfect gray squares that swirled and dissolved into my room at Castle Nia. I sat up slowly, it seemed as if gravity was trying to force my brain out of the bottom of my skull. The last time I remembered feeling this hungover was when my brother sneaked two bottles of Elven wine out of one of their parties and we drank all of it in the loft of the stable.

The balcony door was open, spilling the early dawn light into my room. Maybe I had been up late drinking with Iarin and Paug? Fuck, if I was hurting this badly, they probably felt much worse. I shook my head to clear it and the pain faded like the recollection of my brother.

What did I have to do today? My brain churned through my muddy memories. I would exercise before breakfast. Paug and Iarin would be sleeping off the wine until after lunch. I’d get them after I finished my routine and had a bath. Was I meeting with Nadea today? Something in my memory was telling me I needed to find her.

My head pounded again, so hard this time that I didn’t even have the strength to moan. I will never drink again. Especially not that distilled wine and potato mixture that Iarin got from a guy he met in a bar at the harbor who had promised him it was dragon’s blood.

I shifted my body to my side and began to roll out of my massive bed to the left when I stopped cold.

There was a nude Elven woman lying flat on her back next to me.

Her hair was a golden color. More yellow than Iolarathe’s red-tinged mane, but more metallic than Jessmei’s. It spread out like dead summer grass across the hill of pillows where we rested our heads. Her skin was a light peach and stretched tautly over small, perfect breasts and long, athletic muscles. Her body was cross-cut with faded scars, bruises, scabbed over bite marks, and deep nail scratches that looked as if they were recently made by an animal. The Elven’s legs lay open and through the golden curls of her pubic hair I could see the swollen pink lips to her entrance.

Isslata.

The memory of her conversation with Vernine a few minutes ago slid in to my brain like a hot dagger.

As I expected, I turned over to my right and saw the naked form of the pewter-haired Elven woman. She was lying on her side and had twice the bite marks and scratches that Isslata had on her body. Perhaps it just looked worse because her skin was paler than her partner’s. Dried blood left a caked trail from her nostrils and over her red lips. Her mouth was upturned into a dreamy smile.

The room reeked of sex. Even with the window open there was no mistaking the smell of sweat, vaginal mucus, and my seed. My sensitive nose picked up their scent, it was all over me. I felt nausea grab a hold of my stomach and chest.

I crawled down the foot of my bed and stumbled on all fours as quietly as I could across the bare stone tile toward the bathroom. What was I doing back in the castle already? We had at least a full day and a half of riding ahead of us. How did I fuck Isslata and Vernine? I closed the door to my bathroom and looked in the mirror with trepidation.

My face was covered with thin scratches that had almost healed. My neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen, thighs, and legs were a disaster. There were probably hundreds of shallow cuts and over twenty deep bite marks. I spun the wheel next to the faucet and grabbed cold water as it poured into the sink. I threw some on my face and tried to drink every other handful. The nausea overcame me and I knelt down to the toilet and vomited. The bile smelled of bitter wine, bread, and boar meat. None of it tasted like venison. It took a few minutes after I finished vomiting for my stomach to realize it was empty, then I choked down as much water as I dared, washing out the sour residue in my mouth and rehydrating.

I looked back in the mirror and saw that my body had healed itself. My skin still stunk of sex and the thought of having the women’s scents on me almost made me want to vomit again. I turned the metal wheel that controlled the cold water of the bathtub and jumped in before I considered how chilly it would be. My muscles shivered uncontrollably for a few seconds before I got used to the temperature. There was a small wooden box filled with soap and I quickly built a thick lather across my chest.

The last time I had been in this bathtub, Nadea was with me. We had been close to making love, but then the alarm had rung and we became separated. Now I was here again, washing off the filth from two other women who would never compare to her. What the hell had happened?

I remembered them saying the Destroyer.

My stomach constricted when I recalled the name. A lump formed in my throat. I still didn’t remember anything. Even the words that Malek said to me had seemed to fade away. Maybe I passed out or fainted. Then Isslata and Vernine carried me back to the castle.

The tub was three quarters full of icy water and I spun the flow lever closed. I sat for a few minutes and turned the situation over in my head, trying to make sense of it but only coming up with more questions. I would just have to ask them, once I had the courage to get out of the bathtub.

There was a loud knock on the door from the hallway outside the room. Isslata moaned from the bed and then the knock sounded even louder.

“Fuck it’s early,” she complained. I heard her feet quickly dance across the cold stone floor before the door creaked opened.

“Where is he?” Alatorict’s voice demanded.

“Who?” Isslata said innocently.

“Don’t be smug with me. You’ve been in here a week with him. My patience is at an end.” He actually sounded angry.

I’d been in the castle for a week? How was that possible?

“I’m afraid you’ll need to be a bit more specific. I can’t really think straight because of how well fucked I am. Who are you looking for again?” Isslata’s voice tilted and Vernine started laughing from the bed.

“The O’Baarni. Why are you being so difficult?” His voice hissed frustration.

“Oh, I couldn’t imagine why I would be so difficult. Perhaps because we’ve been discussing your promotion and breeding strategies during the last two weeks of our travels?” Isslata’s voice was filled with anger now.

“This isn’t the time to discuss that. Let me enter.”

“Of course, come in. This is, after all, your castle until the empress arrives. I’ll just discuss your methods with her when she gets here.” I heard Alatorict’s booted feet walk into my room.

“She understands why I have my methods.” His steps paused for a second. “It reeks in here.”

“We’ve had a busy week, Alatorict, no time for anything that isn’t carnal,” Vernine said with an exaggerated sigh.

“It smells like a good time. A very, very good time.” Isslata’s voice turned husky and syrupy.

“Where is he?”

“The bathroom. I heard the water running a few minutes ago. But he might be taking a shit so you should knock first,” Vernine answered.

“Fine. You both are dismissed. I won’t require your services guarding the O’Baarni anymore. Return to your original assignments.”

“Good. I need a break from the man. I don’t think I could have handled another day like yesterday.” Vernine laughed.

“You said that every night this week,” Isslata moaned suggestively.

“Get the fuck out!” Alatorict screamed like a wounded lion. There was silence from the women. I heard footsteps move around the room and then out the door. I should have been trying to piece together their relationship, but my brain was too muddled. It seemed that Isslata might report directly to Alatorict, but I didn’t get the impression that Vernine did. At least they both feared his anger enough to leave.

Once the door to my suite closed Alatorict sighed and then knocked on the bathroom door.

“Enter.” I put my hands on the edges of the metal tub and squeezed. He wore a dark blue robe with bright yellow stitching in the shapes of moons and stars. His long silver hair was pulled up into a top knot that had small sunflowers braided through it.

“Good morning, O’Baarni. Did you have a pleasant rest?” His smile was fake, but I guessed he was trying to befriend me. He must have risen to power through his charms.

“I think you know the answer to that,” I said without a smile.

He smirked and scanned the room, noticing the chair Nadea had occupied those many months ago. A lifetime ago. I had already lived too many lives.

“May I?” He gestured to the chair, after a moment’s hesitation, I nodded. I knew it was irrational, but I almost wanted to tell him not to sit there. He would dissolve the memory of her being here, so close to loving me. He grabbed it and put it in almost the same spot Nadea had so as not to face me. I closed my eyes and thought of her, the way she looked at me after finally giving in to my persuasion, the way her skin had felt when I finally touched her.

I yanked the plug out from the drain and then turned the frigid water back on, dunking my head underneath the downpour of cold to bring my mind back to Alatorict. I heard Alatorict saying something, but I could not make out the words. Eventually most of my body was numb and I pulled out of the stream.

“You didn’t hear me.” He seemed slightly miffed.

“No.” I gave him a stare. I was annoyed that the water didn’t somehow inform me of how I had gotten back into the castle or how I ended up having sex with Isslata and Vernine.

“Have you broken your fast?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Is this a social visit or do you want something specific from me?”

“You look stressed, O’Baarni. I would have thought you would be a little more relaxed after the week you just enjoyed. Did you forget our appointment?” His smiled faded into a slight frown.

My brain was still foggy and aching. I needed to get some answers out of Alatorict and while I didn’t remember agreeing to meet with the man, this would be an opportunity to learn more about the empress’s agenda. Forgetting our appointment was really the least of my memory concerns.

“I have not eaten breakfast yet,” I said.

“Excellent. Let us take a walk. I have a favorite spot on my balcony that I think you will enjoy. The servants will then have time to clean and air out your suite.” The man laughed and then stood up, walking out of the bathroom and into my main room. “I believe your clothes are still in this dresser,” he called out.

I pulled myself out of the cold water and grabbed a nearby towel, drying off as I walked into the bedroom. Alatorict opened the balcony doors all the way and was sitting at my small table and looking out toward the beaten city. There was a score of dirty plates haphazardly balanced on the ledge of the table, leaning up against more than twenty empty bottles of wine.

The clothes that the king’s tailor made for me were folded expertly in my drawers. I quickly pulled on the undergarments, pants, and one of the thick red tunics. Then I grabbed the polished leather boots at the bottom of the dresser and slipped them on over silk socks. The attire fit like a second skin and I didn’t miss the threadbare servant’s uniform I had been wearing for the last week.

“Ready?” the Elven asked after I finished putting on the footwear. I nodded and he gestured to the door. “Leaving,” he said after a loud knock to alert his warriors. There were four Elvens outside of my room, all women in form-fitting leather armor and knee-high plate boots. They eyed me with a combination of nervousness and curiosity when I stepped out into the corridor.

“Tell them to give us an hour on Nadea,” Alatorict commanded one of the guards. She nodded and left down the corridor toward the west. “Get a servant to clean his room,” he said to another guard, who saluted and followed down the hall.

“This way.” He pointed down the hallway to where Nadea and the duke’s rooms had been and began walking. The Elven warriors took position behind me as I followed him.

He led me to the duke’s old quarters, which I should have expected since they were the nicest in the wing. My room was large enough for me, but the duke’s chambers were easily six times the size, with multiple rooms connecting to a main living area. The furniture was elaborately crafted. Thick, dark wooden posts formed a massive bed, dressers, tables and chairs. Lavish red and purple rugs covered the polished marble floors, and as I walked past the bathroom entrance I could see that the tub was large enough to fit five people.

Most of the desks and dressers had maps and thick leather-bound books resting upon them. I glanced at the drawings, but my mind must have still been fuzzy from whatever affliction affected my memory, as none of the designs or landmasses looked familiar.

“Out here.” The balcony wrapped around most of the castle wall. The position gave a breathtaking view of the oak-dotted hills, river, and a part of the city. A fine layer of soupy fog was struggling against the sun’s early morning heat.

Three human servants were organizing place settings at the attractive wood table in the center of the balcony. Two other servants carried a covered tray that looked like it contained enough food to feed myself, Alatorict, the guards that had followed us to the balcony, and the five humans. The lid couldn’t conceal the scent of the meat, fruit, and pastries from my sensitive nose. I felt my stomach grumble with regret from the dinner it had lost this morning.

“You may leave,” Alatorict said to the humans when the servants had finished setting the table. The two that carried the tray of food looked around confused for a second, then set the container down on the edge of the table, bowed, and quickly left with the others. They had relief plain on their faces when they departed. I sat down and watched as Alatorict lifted the lid and the scent of the eggs, bacon, fowl, fruit, and pastries assaulted my nose.

“Our hunters have been quite successful. The weather in Nia allows for farming and gaming through all seasons.” He piled a dish full of steaming meat and handed it to me. “The hills to the south create amazing crops of grapes and excellent wine, perhaps not as well as the vineyards of Brilla, but good enough for our needs. Will you pour?” He nodded over his shoulder at the bottle on the table while he put food on his own plate.

My hand grasped along the cool neck of the wine bottle and I fought against the desire to smash the thick glass into the back of his head. Instead, I poured it into the tall glasses set before us. He thanked me sincerely before taking his seat across from me.

The breakfast was delicious, but I hardly noticed at the speed I ate. The silver-haired Elven had only taken a few bites by the time I sucked down the food on my plate and went for a second course. I expected him to make a comment about my appetite, but he spent the rest of the meal gazing out across the hills, sampling each small forkful like it was an exquisite dining experience. We continued this way for ten minutes.

“Do you ever wonder about history?” he asked after he pushed his half-eaten plate away and directed his attention back to me.

“What do you mean?” I said around a mouthful of eggs. I had almost finished all of the food that they brought out to the table and my stomach felt like it could hold more.

“What I mean is—“

Loud boot steps interrupted him. Someone walked from behind me and joined the other two guards on the far side of the balcony. As Alatorict glanced over my shoulder, a brief flash of anger passed over his face before it smoothed back to his normal calm.

“What I mean is: Is it factual or something created?” He took a sip of his wine and waited for my answer.

“Factual,” I blurted out. The answer seemed obvious. History was fact, stories and myths were created. The sun had won over the fog and was heating the cold stone of the balcony.

“So you would say that every memory that you have is accurate?”

“The memories I can recall.” I poured myself a glass of water, my headache was coming back.

“But isn’t history made up of memories?” He raised an eyebrow. He was leading me somewhere and I wondered if it was a path I wanted to walk down with him.

“Of course.”

“Tomorrow, when asked, you, my guards, and I will have a memory of this breakfast. Correct?”

I nodded.

“Will they all be the same?”

I shook my head slowly.

“No. They will be from different perspectives. And like you said, some memories you might not recall. I doubt I’ll be able to remember exactly how many mouthfuls of food I just ate, and I’ll never guess the amount you consumed.” He smiled.

“What are you getting at?” I asked.

“Those details are unimportant, but there are other things about this conversation that will be forgotten, twisted or changed depending upon who is recalling the memory. Do you agree?”

I considered before answering.

“History may be inaccurate, since it is written from memories,” I said.

“Exactly. How old are you, O’Baarni?” He drained the glass of wine and then held it out to me while he looked at the bottle on the table.

“Does it matter?” I looked at the empty glass for a second, my eyes following the small drop of red liquid at the bottom of the crystal.

“You look young. Just an observation, I don’t mean to pry. I understand your aging slows significantly when you are gifted with the Elements.”

“I don’t really remember.” The truth would only confuse him. I smiled carefully at him and poured his glass full of the wine.

“Ahh. You have been with the Elements long then?” I shrugged and drained the rest of my water. “When were you gifted?” I saw his eyes dart over my shoulder at his guards for a second. It seemed the Elvens had become much more familiar with our process for empowering humans while I slept. We never called it gifting, but the term made sense to me.

“I have lost track of how old I am.”

“You look quite young. But I imagine that you have problems remembering your early childhood, or even things that happened a few years ago.” He smiled at me again.

“You have no idea.” I returned his smile sarcastically.

“It is a human trait, one that even gifting doesn’t really resolve. But the Elvens are different, as I am sure you know. We have excellent memories and recall details without error.” He looked to the hills again.

“I am starting to bore of you, Elven. Get to the point.”

“My point is simply to make a comparison. We can still make errors, but our memories are more accurate than yours. This is not an opinion or judgment, but simply a fact of design. But even we run into the issue of perspective. Even our records can be corrupted by those who record them. Perhaps it is impossible for anyone to truly know unadulterated history. I do not mean to bore you, in fact, this is the most interesting dialogue I have ever had with one of your kind.”

He grabbed the bottle and tilted it toward my glass, filling it after I nodded slightly.

“Which clan are you from?” He met my eyes.

“You mentioned a few days ago in the dungeon that you had a guess. Tell me.” I leaned back in the chair and raised my wine glass before sipping it. If this asshole wanted to fence words with me, maybe I could get him to reveal something useful.

“Before I spoke to you, I guessed Thayer. His sons tend to fumble around rather clumsily, killing and smashing anything that disagrees with them, with as much finesse as an ox.” I felt my stomach chill and my back broke out into an icy sweat. I remembered my breathing and let the Earth increase its flow through me. I picked a point on the hills and stared off into it, refusing to meet Alatorict’s gaze.

“Now that I have spoken to you, I would guess Malek’s clan. You have this confidence that his family wears around their shoulders like armor. However …” he trailed off, leaning forward in his chair. “There is the question of your name.”

I looked over at him but my head was hurting again. He wore a coy expression on his angular face.

“Your name does not fit. None of your kind would ever call themselves Kaiyer.” I heard a sharp release of breath from the guards behind me, but Alatorict had my full attention now.

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow and tried to hold back my excitement. I was finally getting somewhere with the annoying man.

“You must have a tremendous amount of hate, not only for us, but for your own kind. Perhaps you figured this outlier seed planet would have no memory of …” he paused. I realized he was struggling to say my name. It stuck in his throat, refused to come up, and fell back into his stomach. A brief flush of embarrassment crossed his face.

“This world would not know of your Betrayer, our Destroyer. The clans did a good enough job cleaning up after him.” My body was numb. It made sense for the Elvens to call me the Destroyer. Why would I be known as a Betrayer? I recalled the memory of the temple deep underground where I fought and killed Lemarti. I had admitted to doing something and she didn’t believe me. What had I done? There were no voices inside my head. No memories. Only the emptiness of the hills, the annoying shower of Alatorict’s colorful words, and the careful breathing of the three guards behind us.

“Then I thought you might be one of Shlara’s.” I tried to keep my eyes from widening at the mention of her name, but I couldn’t. “But Shlara’s clan would never fraternize with our kind.” He waited for me to reply but I didn’t.

“I am puzzled by you, O’Baarni. You wear no colors or animal totems, you call yourself by a name neither of our races would use to curse even their worst enemy, you possess an affection for the humans of this planet, and you exhibit a strong disgust for our race, yet are willing to spend a week holed up with two of our women.” I heard a sigh and some nervous scuffling from the guards. Alatorict’s eyes darted behind me and burned with malice. I guessed Isslata had been the late arrival and he did not want to order her to leave in front of the other soldiers.

“Your guessing game is fun. What other clans might I belong to? Walk me through your logic,” I said to the man with a smile. The fire left his eyes and he grinned mirthfully. Alatorict thought of himself as intelligent and probably enjoyed explaining how his mind worked.

“Not Gorbanni, you would proclaim your affiliation at once and you would have eaten this meal on horseback.” I snorted my water and almost laughed. He smiled and continued. “Perhaps Alexia? But no, you wouldn’t interfere with our conquest of this world.” His mention of their invasion brought my thoughts back to the castle. To Nadea and Jessmei, to Paug’s death.

His statement made little sense to me. Alexia would have gladly interfered with the empress’s plans. She would have gone insane knowing that Elvens were attempting to enslave humans again.

“Turnia’s came to mind. But I prefer to think of them as Thayer’s clan anyway. And again, you would have admitted as much when we first met,” he continued, slender finger on his chin as he looked up into the blue sky.

“I am done with this discussion now.” The wine glass made a hollow ring when I set it down on the wood table. “Take me to Nadea.” My head hurt again. It radiated down my spine and to my feet.

“You know I can’t allow that.” He waved his finger in the air.

I almost ripped the table off the floor of the balcony, grabbed the silver-haired bastard by his scrawny neck and shook him until his bones turned into jelly. Instead, I let out a long breath and glared at him.

“Don’t look so hostile, friend.” His lips turned up, but the smile did not crease his cheeks or eyes.

“I am not your friend. Fuck you. I’d rip your body into a thousand pieces, drink your blood out of this glass, and then piss you out into your empress’s mouth before murdering her as well.” The man shot to his feet and I felt magic rip from the ground and flow to him. I stood up a quarter second after him. There was no way that he could cast anything with me this close. I would kill him first or he’d roast himself. Three swords drew with one sound behind me.

“Damn your words human!” His eyes began to glow bright yellow, and I tasted the air burning. “Our empress gave us life, made us her children. You disrespect her again, and you will die.”

“The only thing keeping you alive right now is Nadea. I will see her, or your empress will mourn all of her ‘children’ in the castle by the end of the day.”

He was silent as he regarded me. I couldn’t make out his pupils or his thoughts past the magic in his body and the mask of anger he wore. The guardswomen slowly approached from behind. Their footsteps were too quiet to hear, but their hearts beat like galloping horses running in fear.

Pull the Fire from him, rip it out of his body and destroy him.

Entas’s advice brought a memory to me like a scented wind delivers the smell of rain. I knew that I could take Alatorict’s Fire from his body as easily as he took it from the Earth. I was about to do so when the light released from his eyes and I felt the power drain from him, filling the space between us with heat. He sighed and rubbed his temples.

“Put those away.” He waved to the women behind me. I heard them sigh in relief and ease their swords into their sheaths. “Please sit down again, O’Baarni.” He motioned for the chair, but I remained standing. He didn’t seem to notice as he sunk back into his seat with an exhausted breath.

“Bring me the treaty scrolls,” he ordered the guardswomen. He poured himself the rest of the wine and took a shaky drink.

“The empress was going to discuss this with you. I’ll just explain to her that you left me with no choice.” He set the glass back on the table when Isslata handed him four tightly bound bundles of rolled parchment. She moved behind the silver-haired man and then gave me an unmistakable look of adoration. She wore tight leather armor and knee high boots under a thin cloak of blue silk. Her attire was similar to the other guards, but was embroidered with thread that matched her hair. Her heart was still beating wildly and a light sheen of perspiration allowed her skin to reflect the sunlight. She bit her lower lip and her hand absently stroked the hilt of her long sword. Our eyes made contact and she mouthed something to me that I didn’t catch.

“Four times,” Alatorict said sadly. “My memory hasn’t faded, O’Baarni. There are four of your forsaken treaties here. Each ends the same.” He shook the bundles of paper and I looked at them confusion plain on my face.

“Your people, and I don’t care which clan you are or aren’t from because all of you have had the same contribution over the last two thousand years, have made four promises to us. Each one copied down carefully on these scrolls, agreed to by your leaders, and signed by ours.” He held up a scroll. “This is the most recent, made twenty years ago between the leaders of your clans and our empress. It promises us this world, just as all the earlier ones promised us a home. You know how it always ends, some of the O’Baarni show up on our world, just as you did. They claim that they are defending their humans, or other such nonsense. Then more of your kind appear and push on us until—”

Alatorict must have read the confusion on my face. He stopped talking and looked at me in amazement, his mouth hung open, the next word dangling from his tongue.

“I was wrong to engage in this conversation with you.” His face paled. “I have become too emotional. As you can imagine, this is a sensitive topic for me.” I nodded and leaned back in the chair. I tried to piece the bits of what he revealed together. How long had I been sleeping? I knew nothing of a treaty. Was this something hidden in my memory? I couldn’t imagine ever agreeing to make peace with the Elvens. I almost asked the obvious question, but then stopped myself. They carried all the leverage right now, and Alatorict had left me with more questions. I would have to be coy about my past until I spoke to Nadea.

“Take the O’Baarni back to his quarters.” He looked down at the scrolls and waved his hand absently, not even bothering to make eye contact with me.

Before I rose, Isslata dug her nails into my arm and was pulling me out through Alatorict’s suite and into the hallway toward my room. The other two female guards followed us quickly. I didn’t remember the walk back; my head was spinning out of control from the possibilities.

Isslata’s lips were suddenly on mine. Her passionate kiss took me from my broken memories and slammed me into the present. The woman’s right hand gripped tightly through my hair, pulling my face into her eager mouth. Her left hand scratched at the front of my tunic in a rushed attempt to open the ties. I realized that my hands wrapped around her hips and I tried to push her away from me.

“I’m so fucking wet for you,” she seethed into my ear before she bit the lobe. She slid through my grip and pushed her body against me, moving her left hand to circle my neck. If this were a fight I would be in serious jeopardy, you never wanted to let someone get control of your head. “Did you see his face? He can’t figure you out and it irks him so much.” She moaned and moved her mouth down from my ear and ran her tongue across the ridge of my jaw. Her scent reminded me of waking up with her a few hours ago.

I should have felt nausea again. I should have wanted to walk into the bathroom and puke out the food I had just eaten. But my mind was gone, drifting and dreaming through what memories I had scraped together, trying to find out an answer. It acknowledged Isslata’s actions like it viewed a painting on a wall, or a tree that I didn’t need to climb.

My body was not so aloof. I felt my erection pushing through my pants and against her groin.

“Bed,” she murmured the word while ravaging my neck with her mouth. Her legs and hips leaned away and pulled me toward the place we had shared for the last week.

“No,” I said without conviction or emotion. The words didn’t stop my feet from moving after her.

“You want me standing? Fine.” Her lips met mine again and her tongue swirled against my teeth, flicking and tickling the roof of my mouth. Somehow my shirt had been untied and she pulled it off of my chest. This gave her a whole new area to bite, kiss, and lick.

Mostly bite.

“When did the Destroyer die?” I asked.

“What?” She stopped unfastening my belt.

“When did the Destroyer die? I can’t remember.”

“If you are going to talk about the Destroyer while you fuck me, then this might top the last week of nights I spent with you.” She moaned and bit the skin below my rib cage.

“Isslata. Really. When?” I was focusing now. I could get her to tell me. She was in heat and wouldn’t think about my questions. My fingers moved from her slender shoulders to smooth her golden hair away from her face and the tips of her ears. She looked up at me from where she was kneeling.

“I am unsure. Many years before the Treaties were signed.” She made a sudden movement with her hands and my pants came undone and fell to my ankles.

“How many years?” I couldn’t feel her nails dig into my skin anymore. Or her bites. Everything was numb. I glanced down through fog and saw her take my penis into her mouth. The woman begun to lick and suck on the tip with an erotic purr, but it was someone else that she was pleasuring. I was hundreds of miles away.

“How many years?” I asked again. My lips felt like I was talking in water.

“Maybe two or three thousand years before. Our kind never kept track, and yours didn’t either.” She moaned out each word between wet sucking sounds.

Kaiyer was five thousand years away.

Chapter 21-Nadea

“Stop looking out the window,” I said to Runir. He moved his hand quickly away from the curtain of our carriage as if he had been bitten, then glared at me like I was the one who had done the biting.

The carriage bounced harshly over a bump in the cobblestone streets and I grasped the plush velvet seat to steady myself. It was a difficult task to get any movement out of my body with the tight corset constricting my chest. The dress I wore was fashionable thirty years ago, and I almost laughed at Countess Detoria when she recommended that it would be the best attire for me to wear to the ball.

At least, if I wanted to go in disguise.

I had imagined my plan would be more difficult to execute. Instead, the countess was delighted to see I had survived, “as beautiful as ever,” which somehow seemed to be the pertinent detail to her. I had only ever seen her at a few banquets, she had missed the last one and said she did not care for parties anymore and would be happy to help me go in her stead.

Well, it hadn’t been quite that easy.

I had to tell her about Nanos’s betrayal. About the Ancients trying to take over Nia. About me taking control of the army from Maerc. About what I wished to accomplish at the banquet. She had bobbed her ancient head and made faint humming noises after each of my recounts, and then, when I finished, she gave me her ideas and listed what she wanted in exchange for her cooperation.

Her terms were agreeable and prudent, she wished to heighten her family’s control over its already respectable wine trade. They were things I could easily provide if the banquet went as I hoped. Then the old woman granted me access to her wardrobe, stables, and personal guard.

“I always show up in style Nadea. Your figure isn’t quite as good as mine was back in my youth, you’re spending too much time on thuggish undertakings, but this should still fit you,” the countess had said when she pulled the silver and blue monstrosity I was currently wearing out of her closet.

It was stiff and thick, the material caked in gaudy beadwork and sharp crystals that dug into my skin in some places and scratched others if I dared to move. The skirt was so heavy it actually slowed down my existing limp. One of the countess’s handmaidens had shown me how to squeeze my body into a corset that constricted my waist down the required inches needed to make my muscular figure somewhat close to the measurements the countess boasted in her glory days. My rib cage was also reined in by the sharp boning in the corset, making it difficult to breathe, especially while seated. The boning ran all the way down to my hips, digging into them and forcing me to sit straight and tall to avoid a puncture wound. My breasts were smashed upward and together, to the point that they almost reached my chin when I looked down to read. This seemed particularly useless, as my entire face, neck and chest would be covered by a long veil that was conveniently still seen as fashionable for elderly countesses.

“We are approaching the castle walls.” Runir’s voice cracked a little.

“Don’t worry. This will work out fine,” I reassured him. I’d never seen him this afraid.

“We are walking into the bear’s mouth. If you are discovered before the banquet, we won’t even have an opportunity to fight. I’ll lose my life, my country, and the woman I love in one swoop. I’m going to be a little worried.” His eyes pierced into mine and he tried to force a smile through his fake mustachio.

I’d made him shave his beard, cut his hair, dye it black, and then wear this ridiculous mustachio as a disguise. I was more concerned that he would be discovered by any of the remaining guards at the castle that knew him than of anyone discovering I wasn’t really the Countess Detoria. He looked so outlandish that my guards all agreed that no one would believe it was Runir.

“This is no less dangerous than you sneaking into the dungeons to save me. Besides, the worse possibility here is that we get to go down in a splendid display of bravery, killing hundreds of Losher warriors before we reveal Nanos for the snake he is.”

“Aye,” he said after taking a moment to consider. “I actually didn’t see many Losher soldiers. Do you think they’ve left?”

“The scouts are reporting to the main army.” I shrugged, or attempted to shrug, but instead the torturous dress creaked painfully and restricted the gesture. “One of the runners would have alerted us to any danger before we got here.”

We rode in tense silence for the next few minutes. The dress made it almost impossible to be relaxed. We traveled almost a full week from the Detoria Estate to get here, but had stopped only recently for me to don this silvery blue lung and bladder prison. I had not been able to tighten the corset on my own as well as the handmaiden had, but it was still much more restrictive than anything I had ever worn. The carriage stopped and a knock sounded on the top of the roof. One of my personal guards, dressed as a coachman, indicated that the castle’s sentries approached.

“Good luck,” I whispered to Runir before I put the silver veil over my face. He sighed and then opened the door to step out.

“The Countess Detoria,” he said loudly. I heard a muted reply from the guard.

“She requests a room in the Royal North Wing. Whom do I speak to about that?” There was another reply that I couldn’t quite hear.

“Fine.” His voice dripped pompous disdain. “She is weary from her travels. Direct our carriage. Where will her personal attendants be staying?” Another reply sounded, but I was again unable to understand the words.

“Follow his orders, coachman,” Runir said as he opened the door and jumped back into the seat next to me.

“That was Gerolf. I never liked the guy, spent too much time trying to impress Nanos. He looked right at me and suspected nothing.” Runir knocked on the roof and the carriage moved again.

“Some of them will be people you do like. Be careful,” I squeaked out a deep breath and tried to sigh. There was no way I could ever fight in this dress, so I prayed to the Spirits that we would not be discovered. At least the cane and my limp made me look old. I just had to bend my back a little to complete the transformation.

The carriage rolled for a few more minutes before shouts from outside caused the vehicle to creak to a stop. Runir and I both tensed and held our breath. Then we moved again.

“Why didn’t you have one of your personal guards be your escort? This mustache is itching like a spider clinging to my lip and I know someone will recognize me,” he said the words quickly with his exhale.

“Because you would have gone crazy sitting back in the campsite wondering what was happening.” He nodded and moved his hand again to the curtain of the window. “Put your hand down.” He grunted and put it in his lap, clenching the fine velvet of his uniform to wipe away the sweat.

The horses stopped again and the knock came. Runir stepped out with a sidelong glance of apprehension.

“Welcome to Castle Nia, sir!” a familiar tenor said pleasantly from outside the carriage. My body broke out into a cold sweat when I realized who owned the voice.

Herin.

If anyone would see past this farce it would be the royal family’s herald and house master. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“The countess is weary from her week of travel and wishes to be shown to her suite. Will you escort us, usher?” Runir’s voice came across full of disrespect.

“Of course, friend. Whenever your lady is ready I can discuss her room with her. I’m sorry, I don’t recall your name, but you do look familiar—”

“Jervin. I’ve been under employment with the Detorias for the past four years. I believe that we met two years ago at the Spring Ball?” Runir’s voice sounded rehearsed, but I doubted Herin would notice. Jervin was actually the name of one of the countess’s personal assistants.

“Ah yes, I recall meeting a Jervin with Countess Detoria.”

“Of course you do. I hate to repeat myself; my lady is tired and wishes to be shown her suite.” Runir gained more confidence in his voice.

“Oh my apologies! Yes, I have five servants here. They will handle all of the countess’s luggage and lead you to your room. We were a bit surprised that she wished to attend this ball, but have still prepared one of our best rooms for her.” Herin spoke quickly with his apology. The man was good at smoothing political tension, and I felt extremely happy that he hadn’t been killed during the invasion, but I wished that he wasn’t here right now. I’d only spent a handful of hours practicing Detoria’s walk and mannerisms. Herin would quickly spot the fakery.

“Why would you think the Countess Detoria would not attend?” Runir sneered in anger.

“Well, we just—”

“Is this not a banquet for the royalty and nobles of Nia?” My friend continued his tirade

“Well, yes but—” Herin gasped.

“And is the Countess Detoria not one of the most powerful and well-respected nobles in the realm?”

“Yes, Jervin, but you see-”

“So I find it hard to believe that you would not consider that she would attend a meeting that would involve rebuilding our country. Really, good sir.” Runir puffed in annoyance.

“Oh no Jervin! We just have not seen the countess for quite some time, and she did not alert us to her intention until a few days ago, well past the other attendees of this ball.”

“Oh, I understand. You are seeking to compare the countess’s punctuality to that of the other nobles?” Runir raised his voice again so it would be obvious that his lady could hear inside of the carriage. “See here man, you don’t have the look of a warrior about you, but I’m sure you are familiar with the customs of our family. We don’t take kindly to insults thinly disguised as comparisons.”

What was Runir doing? I feared this would prompt Herin would now seek me out in order to make up for the slight. I did not need him paying particular attention to me.

“But that was not what I implied—” Herin sounded frantic.

“It is not what you are implying, but how it is taken. I understand that you are the king’s man, and not a soldier. So I can forgive this slight, but my ladyship might not be so kind, especially because she is tired and wishes to go to her suite. I will gladly give her your regards while you greet the other nobles who might need your assistance.” I realized now that Runir was trying to prevent Herin from greeting me now by creating a reason to hurry us through the welcome process. I supposed I could avoid him for the rest of our stay in the castle, while here I was trapped in a way that would make it easy for him to look closely at me. The veil could not hide everything. It was hard for me to know for sure if I was holding my breath or the corset was choking the air out of me while I waited for the herald to respond.

“I’m sure that would please the king,” Herin said finally. “I meant no disrespect to the countess, I’m sure you know that. If you or the countess needs anything, please ask for me.”

“I will do so.”

“I am Herin, good sir, and thank you.” I let out a pained sigh of relief when the herald quickly walked away.

Runir, the coachman, and a few of my guards assisted in the removal of our baggage from the top of the carriage and the horses we brought. We had packed more than I would ever have thought to bring for a week-long stay at a castle, but the countess advised me in her practices and I complied to keep up appearances.

“My lady?” Runir spoke softly when he opened the door to the coach. I took his outstretched hand and let him guide me down the steps and on to the cobblestone pathways of the inner castle ramparts.

For a few seconds I was blinded by the change in brightness. The sun glared in full force and the inside of the carriage had been dark. The veil prevented much of the light from getting to my eyes but it still reflected off the smooth walls of the fortress.

It was a cold day, and a biting breeze made me shiver. Runir threw one of the countess’s fur coats over my shoulders and the gesture reminded me that I was supposed to be an eighty-year-old woman. I bent over slightly, putting more of my weight on the decorative cane. Then I took Runir’s arm and dragged my legs across the cobblestones toward the massive castle.

It really did look like a giant spider, with its hundreds of window eyes looking down upon the streets of the city.

It felt as if I was about to be ensnared in its web and never released.

I brought five guards with me, two from the countess’s employ who agreed to support our plan. The other three were from my father’s personal staff who had stood by me when I threatened Maerc.

There were almost four hundred yards between the stables and the main entrance to the castle. The distance seemed enormously long when one was trying to hobble at an old woman’s pace, but the speed gave me the opportunity to look around and determine how many Losher soldiers were here.

I didn’t see any.

There were countless servants running to and fro, about two score of Nia’s uniformed sentries, and maybe a hundred or so personal guards, brightly clothed heralds, and coachmen of various other nobles.

“Losher?” I whispered to Runir quietly enough so that the attendants leading the way with my baggage couldn’t eavesdrop.

“I noticed a few squads on the roads through the city, but I didn’t get a good look, someone wouldn’t let me gawk out the window.” He sounded angry, but I kept my head down and tried to creep like an old woman. I felt frustrated by the speed I walked but as long as I continued this pace I would be okay.

The main entrance to the castle had been redecorated in a theme of dark green and gold, instead of its usual purple and gold. The area bustled with servants, Nia soldiers, and private guards of the upper crust of the country. I didn’t know how many people would attend this banquet, but I imagined there would be at least five hundred. The Great Hall would easily fit as many, and Nanos would need to coax all the support he could into the city.

The attendants exchanged words with Runir, explaining that they reserved a suite in the North Wing. I smiled under my veil; Runir had grown up in this castle and knew every back route and passage in the massive fortress. From the North Wing, we could travel to any other part of the castle in fifteen minutes of walking, or less than five if we ran.

Eventually, the servants explained they would hurry on ahead to set up my room, and they gave directions to Runir. He agreed to release them from our presence since I would prefer to have my suite ready by the time I got there. After the servants gave us their directions, we both had a good idea of which room it was: Maerc’s family suite.

“We’ve lucked out!” Runir gasped. I nodded and thanked destiny and the Spirits for the small triumph. That particular suite was familiar to my friend and me. We spent time there as children, and the rooms had a hidden escape route. It was hidden in the wall of one bedroom, and the passageway would lead us almost anywhere in the castle.

“This will make our secondary objective easier.” Runir’s face quickly dropped its smile with my words, but he knew better than to argue with me in front of our warriors. “In fact, you five set up the room.” I gestured to the guards. “Your ladyship’s legs are cramped from all the sitting and she must visit some the castle’s beautiful gardens. Let’s go Jervin.” The other guards nodded, but I saw the concern on their faces before they proceeded down the hallway after the attendants that were responsible for my luggage.

“What are we doing?” Runir said in confusion.

“We are walking to the East Wing.” I readied for his outburst.

“This is not the plan!” He suddenly hushed as a group of servants scurried around a corner and walked past us.

“We are going to wander for a bit. I want to see what the East Wing looks like.” I slowly continued my trek, ignoring the fact that he had stopped walking.

“Nadea!” he whispered. I turned around to see him standing with his arms crossed over his chest, with one hand fiddling with his fake mustachio.

“Runir!” I said his name as a command and then spun to continue my walk. He sighed loudly and caught up with me.

“You’re going to get yourself killed. Let’s just stick to the plan.”

“The plan will probably get me killed as well.” I snickered behind my veil. “Let’s go the servant’s route.” He grunted and we walked the next ten minutes in silence, passing several servants and two bored looking guards.

The East Wing was where my father and I traditionally stayed during our visits, and it was where Paug, Iarin, and Kaiyer roomed when we had last been in the castle. When I had been a little girl, I slept in my father’s suites. But once I started to investigate the Ancients, the O’Baarni, and possible locations of Kaiyer, I requested my own quarters and use of the library.

Every time I left my room I would carefully conceal my notes, maps, dream journals, and reference books in a hollowed out stone in the floor. When I last left the documents, I had gone to watch Kaiyer train with Paug and Iarin. The four of us shared a meal together and then I had accompanied the handsome man to his suite. My mind drifted to memories of the hot water of the bathtub, his lips on my legs and stomach, and the desire in his eyes when I took off my clothes. I shook my head angrily and forced the recollections away. Remembering my final few moments with Kaiyer wouldn’t help me now.

If the documents were still hidden in my room, I needed to retrieve them. I had contemplated including them with the books I sent home with Paug and his grandfather, but part of me fantasized that Nia would have been able to hold back Losher’s invasion, and I didn’t want to chase down the writings later.

I didn’t know if the Ancients could use my notes for anything, but the thought of those bastards obtaining my life’s work made my stomach churn. My guess was that they wanted to interrogate me about Kaiyer, or else they would have killed me instead of leaving me to rot in the dungeon for the empress.

What did that woman want? Why would she want Nanos to kill his father and then take over the kingdom? Why didn’t she just destroy us outright? She had the army to do it. Why did she kidnap Jessmei? Why was she having this banquet? There were so many unanswered questions. Runir and my generals had stayed up late almost every night discussion her possible motives. None of them made sense.

Not for the first time, I thought about my father. We used to play battle games together on his well-worn wooden board. He would often make moves that I didn’t understand until it was too late and he had captured my general piece and won the game. Even the times I had crafted an elaborate plan he had easily seen through it and beaten me. Although I had never defeated him, he told me that I was the best challenger he had ever played. His words were flattery for his daughter, but part of me wished they were true. I felt like I now played a game with the empress but I was so outclassed that the Ancient didn’t even realize that I was participating.

I wished every second that my father could be here with me. Together we would have been able to figure out how to defeat the Ancients and restore Nia.

He couldn’t be dead. He had to be somewhere in this castle.

“Can I help you find something?” A voice pulled me out of my memories and back to the task at hand. I felt my body tense up, but then realized it was a young servant girl and relaxed.

“No, we are fine,” Runir said. She smiled shyly at him.

“Oh, okay. It looked like you were going that way.” She pointed toward the passage that led to the East Wing.

“We are just walking around little one. My lady’s legs have cramped and she is enjoying some exercise.” Runir gestured to me and the girl blushed. The upper crust of our society wouldn’t pay much attention to servants, so I turned and kept hobbling in the direction we had originally been going. I heard the young girl turn and continue on her path.

“Stop thinking negative thoughts,” I said when she walked safely out of hearing range.

“I’m not! I am thinking completely reasonable thoughts.” The tone of his voice forced me to smile and I almost laughed.

We passed a few other servants, but none stopped to question why we headed toward the East Wing. Every few moments I had to stop to catch my breath. The corset under the dress was digging into my ribs so badly that I couldn’t fill my lungs with enough air. I did some calculations in my head and realized that at the rate we walked it would take another twenty minutes before we made it to my room.

If we didn’t get stopped by a guard or Ancient.

“It seems like you are walking twice as slow now that we are in the East Wing,” Runir mumbled as he offered an arm. It would complete the masquerade, so I took it. I didn’t even realize what he said until a few seconds later. We had finally made it to the East Wing.

The air was silent and still. Our footsteps cut through the emptiness and bounced off the thick stone walls of the hallways like swords slamming into shields. Or perhaps it was just my nerves causing every footstep to sound so horribly loud. The tight dress clogs the countess had given me squeezed my feet painfully and didn’t help our attempt at stealth.

We ascended the stairs in the North Wing before we came over to the east so we were on the same level as my suite, my father’s room, and my semi-private library. That was another place where Kaiyer and I almost kissed. Runir had barged in and ruined the moment. I shot a glare at my tall blonde friend and then sighed. He had only been trying to protect me, and it was probably better that I had done nothing carnal with the man I thought was the O’Baarni.

“Almost there,” Runir whispered after five more minutes of walking that seemed like five hours.

“This wing looks deserted,” I said breathlessly. My heart beat a thousand gallops a minute and sweat coated my back through the tight corset. If we got out of this alive, I was going to burn every one of these horrible garments I could acquire.

“Good. I hope this will be easier than expected.” We turned a corner and saw the door to my room.

It was unguarded.

We both breathed a long sigh of relief. Runir had expected the whole Ancient army to be lying in wait for us at my doorstep. I had almost started to believe the same, and now that we were here I realized how stressed I actually felt.

“It’s locked,” he whispered as he glanced around the hallway and jiggled the handle on the thick oak door to my room. I saw massive beads of sweat roll down his neck. It was cool inside the castle; he was just as nervous as I was.

“I lock it when I leave, of course.” My laugh came out like gravel. I pulled the iron key from my sleeve and unlocked the door. Runir pushed his body in front of mine and went through first, holding his arm back to keep me from entering so he could make sure it was safe.

I heard footsteps from down the hall heading toward us. Runir grabbed my arms and pulled me into the room. I closed the door as softly as I dared and twisted the lock on the handle. The click sounded as loud as the castle’s alarm bells.

We leaned against the oak, breathlessly listening to the footsteps. They were hard boots, definitely not something a servant or noble would be wearing. They turned the corner and grew deafening. Runir’s face was inches from mine as we listened at the door, his eyes filled with panic. His breathing was as labored as a running horse. I put my finger up to my lips and tried to smile, but I was scared too.

There was a muffled conversation and then the sound of laughter. I couldn’t make out the words through the thick oak, but it didn’t sound like our language. It was the Ancient’s tongue, full of rich vowel sounds and sharp T’s. The boot steps grew closer and Runir reached for the decorative dagger at his belt. If the Ancients heard us breathing through the door, the small weapon wouldn’t help. A few of their warriors tore through dozens of ours on the night of the banquet.

Then the footsteps passed my room and echoed away down the hallway. The voices continued talking and another bout of laughter erupted.

When the steps faded away into nothing we both let out a long breath. I felt dizzy and gasped. The damned corset was going to strangle me. Runir sat down on the ground and I mirrored his movement, fighting against the darkness at the edge of my vision. I really needed a glass of water and a place to lie down for a few minutes.

After I got what I came for.

My room seemed to be in the same state as when I left it, but there were subtle changes to the books I had stacked on my desk, maps I had spread out, and the clothes in my armoire. There was no dust on the wood tables or surfaces. Either the space had been investigated and reassembled, or servants were still cleaning it.

“Where is it?” Runir panted from his position on the floor. I tried to get up and failed about a quarter of the way and had to lean against the door. The sweat on my back felt like ice and I fought against the desire to shiver. The end was in sight. I just needed those damn documents.

I walked to my dining table, shifted it over a few inches, and then rolled up the rug that the leg had kept in place. Under the rug were the stone tiles of the floor, one in particular looked identical to the rest, except it concealed a hollow shaft. I pried it up and sighed in relief.

My writings were still there.

I pulled out the carefully folded map, a few small notebooks, and my dream journal. They were bunched together in a bulky stack tied in leather. Once I lifted the precious documents out of the shaft I covered the hole with the tile, replaced the rug, and asked Runir to move the table back in place.

“I didn’t plan how we would get them out of here. Shit.” My dress was tight across my chest but had a poufy skirt that flowed to the ground. Runir’s velvet and silk uniform wasn’t tight, but it would not conceal the bundle. The jacket he wore was more for looks than for padding.

Runir’s face mirrored my frustration as he looked down at his clothes and spun to look at the seat of his slacks.

“Tie them around my injured leg.”

“Your injured leg?”

“Trust me.”

I sat up onto my bed and pulled my skirt up to expose my thighs and stockings. Runir grunted and grabbed the bundle of documents and books, hesitantly looking down at my legs as I dangled them in front of him. I cleared my throat.

“Sorry.” His face turned red as he knelt down between my legs and started working. I couldn’t see exactly what he was doing on the other side the voluminous skirt, but I heard him untie the bundle and then felt him cinch it tightly around my bandaged leg. The pressure aggravated the pain in my leg, but I knew if I had it on the other side the bundle would bash into the injury and make things worse. Besides, I was already limping on that side.

“I’ll need something else to tie in here so it doesn’t fall,” he whispered.

“In my top drawer. I have some lace fabric.” He scurried over to the drawer, opened it, rummaged through, and then found the thin bits of ribbon. He knelt back down and I felt him wrap the lace around my leg a few more times.

“It’s going to fall.”

“Let me walk on it.” I got up and eased my steps. It was hard to move my good leg with the lump in my thighs, but it worked. I circled the room with my cane as quickly as I dared. I reasoned that I would seem even more like a limping old woman now with the bundle.

“Feels fine. If it slips, we’ll re-tie it.” Runir nodded and I pointed to the door.

“Anything else you need in here?” My friend asked. I followed his gaze and looked around my room. Every piece of clothing and furniture had a memory attached to it. But they were just objects that could be replaced. The documents strapped to the inside of my thigh were the most important possessions I owned, besides the sword I lost when I had been captured.

“No. Let’s get to your father’s suite.” We moved to the door and listened again. After a few moments of silence, Runir carefully poked his head out and then gestured for me to follow him. I closed and locked my door behind me and we started to walk, or hobble, the way we came.

Then we heard more footsteps.

They were coming from the direction we needed to go. Runir and I looked at each other in panic. We’d already walked sixty feet from my room and the footsteps were too close for us to turn back. There was another hallway that would take us deeper into the East Wing, but also led to a flight of stairs. I pointed in that direction and we moved quickly through the turn while we tried to keep our steps as quiet as possible.

The footsteps continued to follow us, we kept walking and looking straight ahead. They were following us and getting closer. These were gentler than the boot stomps we had heard earlier, so I hoped they belonged to a servant wearing soft-soled shoes.

Whoever it was would come upon us in thirty seconds if we didn’t do something drastic.

There was another turn ahead leading us deeper into the wing, away from the stairs. I hoped the person behind us would not take that path. I hobbled toward the bend and we made it around the corner unseen.

Then we pulled up short and stopped.

I knew that Kaiyer’s room was in this direction, but I didn’t expect it would be guarded. Two Ancient women stood at attention in front of the door that had been his. They wore light blue-dyed leather armor with gray metal plates on their boots, shoulders, and forearms. They were a good hundred feet away, but they both turned and stared at us icily when we came around the corner.

“Are you lost, humans?” The voice sounded from behind and Runir spun around, a small gasp escaping his lips. I somehow remembered that I was supposed to be an elderly woman and turned to face the speaker in a slower fashion.

Another Ancient. She was armored like the guards at Kaiyer’s door, save that her leather pieces were etched with golden designs of stars, moons, and flowers. The thread matched her long golden hair, which was halfway pulled up into a topknot. The rest of her hair fell in a mismatch of braids and loose ties down over her back and chest. Her eyes were a strange green color, bright and alien, with gold flecks that matched her hair.

“I’m afraid we are.” Runir spoke surprisingly well, but I could hear the panic in his words.

“I do not believe that you are allowed in this part of the castle.” The woman’s voice was the soft warm purr of a mountain cat. My breath came out in ragged gasps and my body shook in terror.

I felt the ties on my books slip.

It was a small slip, but I was drenched in sweat and it caused the bindings to slide down my bandaged leg.

“My lady needed some exercise after our long journey. We were looking for a garden and must have gotten lost,” Runir recited our rehearsed script. The woman’s green eyes lazily turned to me.

“Your lady?” The woman’s hand rested on the hilt of her sword. I was glad that the veil covered my face so she couldn’t see my panic. I recognized this woman. She had been in my cell with the silver-haired general.

“Yes, I—” Runir tried to continue, but the Ancient held up her right pointer finger to silence him. Her nails were filed into pointed talons. The woman’s strange eyes looked up and down my blue and silver dress for a few seconds.

“This is very interesting.” Her beautiful face twisted into a smile that was mostly white teeth. “Who is your lady?” Her eyes met mine through the veil. I felt the books slip down my leg even farther. My heart was slamming into my ribs like it wanted to break free.

At least if this woman killed me, I wouldn’t have to deal with the fucking corset anymore.

“She is the Countess Detoria; we have traveled for the past two weeks and her—”

There was no disguising the panic in his voice now. His words came out like a plea and his hand slid down to the short sword at his hip.

Oh, please don’t touch your sword my friend. She’ll kill us. My brain tried to scream.

“Interesting.” The woman put her pointer finger to her chin and tapped it in thought. She glanced from me to Runir. “What is that smell?” She frowned slightly as she sniffed the air in annoyance.

“Smell?” my friend choked out in confusion.

“Yes.” She inhaled again, licking her lips, and looked to me and back to Runir. “It is you, male.” She leaned in close to Runir and sniffed his shoulders and then moved up to his face. The woman was about as tall as me and she had to stand up on the balls of her booted feet to reach him.

“It is my hair dye,” he blurted when she tilted away from him. “I am going gray, so I dye it.” The Ancient nodded thoughtfully.

“Ah, that explains it. What is your name, human?”

“Jervin,” my friend answered. I remembered to breathe, but then the binding of books slipped down my leg another inch. Before I could close my legs around the bundle, they caught on the edge of my stocking. I almost cried out in relief.

“I see. Jervin, and the Countess Detoria.” The woman looked back at me again, twisting the corner of her mouth up in a half-smile.

She knew. My legs wouldn’t move. They felt like blocks of cold, wet stone.

Maybe two seconds passed, maybe two years passed, as the woman’s green eyes stared at me.

“The best way to reach the main part of the castle is down this corridor.” The woman finally pointed a sharp finger past Kaiyer’s old room. “Then make your second right. That hallway will bring you to some stairs. Take them down three flights and there should be servants there to guide you to your room, or perhaps a garden.” Her eyes bored into mine through the veil. “That is, if you aren’t too tired of walking.”

“Thank you for your help,” Runir said with undisguised relief. The woman looked from me to him

“I would escort you myself, Jervin.” His name rolled off her tongue like she was tasting wine. “But I have someone else to attend to. Be careful. Not everyone in this castle likes humans as much as I do.” She laughed lightly and walked past us.

We didn’t move for a few seconds. The woman with the gold hair strolled in between the guards and into Kaiyer’s old room without looking back at us. The door slammed shut behind her and caused me to startle.

“Let’s go my lady.” Runir touched my arm and I wrapped my grip around his bicep. I felt him shaking, or perhaps I was shaking so badly that I thought it was him.

The sentries made no expression as we hobbled past them. Even with their plain lack of attention it still seemed to take forever to make our way to the next turn and down the stairs to the base of the East Wing.

It wasn’t until I had gotten back to my room, stripped off my corset, ripped off the gray wig, washed the stink of fear from my body, and examined my notes that I felt more relaxed.

“Mission accomplished,” Runir toasted me across the dining room with a half-full bottle of wine as I pored over my writings. “That bitch let us get out of there easily. For a second there, I was worried.” He took another deep swig. I could tell he was getting a little tipsy but I didn’t care. The official functions started two days from now and the other guards would handle Runir’s duties for a night.

“You had me fooled. I didn’t think you were afraid at all. I thought you would pull your sword out and kill her.” He snorted at my words.

“Naw. I feel way more confident about the next step in your plan.”

I nodded and looked back down at my books. Then I picked up my dream log and turned to a random page. The Ancient we encountered outside of Kaiyer’s room was terrifying, but not nearly as horrible as the one in my dreams. Except that the one with the red hair couldn’t hurt me.

“Do you think she is staying in Kaiyer’s room?” Runir brought my attention back to him with the mention of Kaiyer.

“I don’t know. It seems odd to have the door guarded unless their leader is there.” I closed the book again and took a deep breath. It would take many hours to forget the constricting feeling of the corset around my lungs.

“I hope we don’t see her again during this trip. Once was enough.”

I nodded at Runir again and evaluated our plans for the next few days. I didn’t tell him that I was confident the Elven had recognized me. It would only cause him stress and make him want to give up on our plan. That was not an option. At this point I realized two certainties. One was that the woman knew I was Nadea. The second was that she had done nothing about it.

The most obvious question was: Why hadn’t she done anything? But the more important question was: Will she do anything?

That question kept me awake most of the night.

Chapter 22-The O’Baarni

I saw them coming over the small hill that blocked the view of our stables and house from the rest of the Elven’s estate. Iolarathe’s copper-red hair blew back from her beautiful face like a burning flame in a gentle breeze. She laughed at one of her companion’s comments; her voice was music across the tall green grass that separated us.

There were ten of them. Three stayed on the crest of the hill while seven, led by Iolarathe, made their way toward the stable where my brother worked on the horse. The trio of male Elvens at the top of the grassy slope seemed older than the rest. I had never considered who they were, but it suddenly occurred to me that one of them may have been her father. They glanced in my direction and yelled something to the Elvens walking to the stables.

“Father, give me your hammer,” I said without looking back. The Elvens strolling down the hill turned to look at me. Iolarathe’s eyes widened in what I believed was panic.

“What?” Kai asked from behind me. He stopped pounding on the piece of iron he was working.

“Your hammer.” I held my hand out and felt the leather grip make contact with my palm. “Stay inside the smithy,” I commanded him before I stepped from the shadow of the doorway and into the full sun. I began walking toward Iolarathe and my mind felt completely at ease.

The Elvens seemed surprised, and they should have been, for they had never seen a human like me. They would never expect that I used the Elements with the precision of their best mages and elders. When the Fire came to my body, they didn’t even draw their swords. I harnessed it to the Wind and unleashed it at the three men on the hill. They smiled at what they thought would be an easy kill and too late they realized their fate.

The magic left my hand in a stream of hate. It burned the ground to blackened ash on its path toward them. They screamed in panic as it ripped the meat from their bones and erupted into a small sun that forced the other Elvens to shut their eyes. Now they knew fear.

Now they knew death.

Iolarathe didn’t draw her sword, but the other six men did. Three approached me with practiced grace but little thought of group tactics. The Elvens really didn’t know how to fight. Even Iolarathe’s tribe, one of the most powerful in the land, got their strength through politics, bullying, and clever use of human slaves. To the Elvens, combat was a game they played for land and mating rights, defending tribal honor, or for exercise. It wouldn’t be until twenty years later, after the O’Baarni had annihilated almost half of their population, that they would start to take our threat seriously and study any martial arts.

By then it was too late.

The closest of Iolarathe’s lackeys made a vertical cut with his long sword. He was slow and clumsy; the blow came from his arms instead of his hips and legs. It was like dodging a slap from a child. I stepped back a few inches while winding up my right arm with the hammer. After the blade had cleared, I unleashed the backhanded blow like a coiled snake. The hammer felt only a slight resistance as the Elven’s head disappeared into a spray of tiny bone shards, brain matter, and bloody mist. My left foot kicked up quickly and slapped into the side of the blade. This caused his dead fingers to release the weapon as his headless corpse toppled over like a tree. The sword sprang into my left hand with a poetic ease I had gained from countless hours of practice.

The left was my good hand.

I cut through the arms and skull of one of the Elvens with three quick cuts. Then I cleaved the torso of the third into four pieces as smoothly as paint moves across clean canvas. Their screams sounded the same as the thousands of other Elvens I had slain: pain mixed with equal parts of fear, disbelief, and hate. They were so arrogant that they never believed they could be killed by a mere human. When I took their lives, they spent their last seconds wondering why their superiority had failed them.

Two of the Elvens were guarding Iolarathe, the third had advanced toward me but hesitated long enough to see me butcher his companions. They were all males. Were these her suitors?

He feinted a thrust, but it was a practiced move. I didn’t even bring my sword or hammer up to block before he finished the feint and made a smooth transition into a sidestep and overhead swing. He was on my right, so I flipped my hammer to counter his clumsy attack. My parry smashed his hands into the grip and the man screamed when the pain shot up his arm and the sword slipped out of his broken fingers. I hit him with my shoulder and then tripped his right foot as he backpedaled. When he collapsed to the ground I stepped on his groin before driving my blade through his throat and neck. His last breath was a painfully liquid sounding gurgle that was almost as pleasant to my ears as her laughter across the meadow.

I threw my father’s hammer at the Elven to the right of Iolarathe. The tool weighed around four pounds and was built for pounding iron flat, not flying through the air, but I’d spent thousands of hours throwing rocks, swords, daggers, spears, axes, and anything else I could use for practice. My makeshift weapon flew true and smashed the face of the man into a pleasant bowl shape.

The last Elven male had rolled to the ground, not realizing that I was flinging the hammer at his companion and not him. He didn’t come up quick enough, so my sword found his skull and carved a canyon into it. I wrenched the blade free of his brain matter before I slammed it down into the empty air. The blood flew off of the edge and coated the grass in a line of red. It was the finishing stroke of my paintbrush.

Iolarathe stood a few feet from me. Our eyes met, but I couldn’t read any emotion in her silvery orbs. Her skin was as perfect as I remembered, impossibly smooth alabaster that highlighted the full redness of her lips and long reddish eyelashes. Her eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight and I felt like my mind would spin forever while I stared into the silver swirls there. Finally, she gave me her wicked smile and opened her mouth to say my name.

“Kaiyer.” I woke to Shlara’s whisper by my ear. “Wake up, Kaiyer. I brought you some lunch.”

I exhaled deeply and crashed back into reality. It was a dream, of course it was a dream. Iolarathe had murdered my brother and her men killed my father. I had been sentenced to live the rest of my life as one of their experimental human warriors. I didn’t know how to fight or how to use the Elements before that time. There was no way I could have defended my family.

“I have bread, meat, cheese, peppers, and apples,” Shlara continued to talk after she woke me. I was lying on a grassy slope next to the river where the army camped. It was late spring and the heat of the day brought out plenty of flowers, insects, birds, and people, all taking advantage of the cold water coming down from the mountains.

“Here.” Shlara handed me a sandwich wrapped in parchment. She was wearing a simple gray tunic and pants. Her hair was braided back behind her head but had purple flowers woven through the knots. The purple brought out the color of her green eyes and tanned skin. It was unusual for her to put any decorations on her body.

Our eyes made contact briefly, but she glanced away and prepared her own food. Once she finished, she sat on the slope beside me and looked out onto the clear water of the river. There were about thirty men and women bathing, splashing, and frolicking in the current. They must have had leave for part of the day. We were only a week’s march from the main force of the Elvens, and I couldn’t imagine taking time to bathe unless I had completed my duties.

We were a week’s journey from victory.

“Thank you,” I said without looking at her. I raised the food in my right hand and took a small bite.

“It is a peace offering. Do you accept?” I heard the laughter in her voice. It made me chuckle before answering.

“Yes. I accept that you are a pain in my ass.” I looked over at her and smiled.

“Not fair. You just don’t see my perspective.” She stuck her tongue out at me.

“I see your perspective. It is terrible. That is why we are arguing. That was also why I called a break in our meetings, walked a mile from my tent, and took a nap in a deserted field. So I wouldn’t have to think about your perspective anymore.” I frowned at her.

“Fine. Want me to leave?”

“No. Stay. Let’s speak about something else. I am tired of arguing with the five of you about the tactics for this battle.” I sighed and ate another bite of the sandwich before I washed it down with a drink of wine.

“You are only really arguing with Malek and I. Gorbanni, Thayer, and Alexia are indifferent.” I shot her a glare and she smiled charmingly.

“Thayer agrees with me. He just doesn’t want to risk your displeasure,” I said with a chuckle. “You run this army with more of an iron fist than I ever did.” She took a small bite of an apple before she turned her attention back to the men and women in the distant water.

We ate in silence for a few more minutes. A few of the troops in the river glanced over in our direction every so often. They must have recognized Shlara; they were probably her troops since her camp was closest to my tent. The other armies were half a day’s run away, near other water sources and hunting grounds. The full army of the O’Baarni had swollen to such a huge number that we could no longer have all our warriors occupying the same five square miles of land. That was where part of our argument began. My friends all wanted to be involved in the final battle with the Elvens, but some would have to be reinforcements, unless we could find a larger battlefield.

“Why did you bring the swords?” I asked.

“I figured you might want some exercise. Also, last time I sparred with the great Kaiyer, I got my arm broken in five places and was completely humiliated.” She leaned up on one of her elbows and swept back the dark brown locks of hair that had strayed from her braid and fallen over her gorgeous face.

“That was almost thirty years ago,” I said. Shlara had somehow convinced Malek that she was in need of a greater challenge than what he offered as her trainer. He had always been wrapped around her finger and agreed to her demands. He came to me and requested that I begin working with her because of her prowess.

“It wasn’t really a fair fight. You said I wouldn’t be a challenge alone, so you told me I had to fight you with my own squad,” she said through a smirk.

“I remember. I also remember how much that angered you.” The chuckle came to my throat easily.

“You had me all figured out.” Shlara laughed and rolled over to lounge on top of me. Her braid spun down and tickled the side of my face. “I was so mad. I felt like you had insulted me.”

“I did!” The laughter felt wonderful and I realized I was more than a bit stressed about the final battle.

“Aye. You had me beaten before I even grabbed my weapons. I couldn’t even see straight when we got into the dirt to fight you. I didn’t even give any orders to the squad. You went through us like a scythe.” She smiled and propped herself up on her elbows. Her fingers traced along my jawline.

“I’ve learned much since then.” Her voice became huskier and I felt her body press into mine. “You’ll lose to me now. Care to see?” Her mouth dropped closer to mine and her eyes closed expectantly.

“Shlara,” I said in protest as her lips almost touched mine. She stopped her kiss and moaned in frustration. Then she rolled her body away and crossed her arms.

“Making love to you would have been my preferred form of exercise, but I knew that you wouldn’t have gone for that, hence the swords. Don’t deny me that at least.” She spat out the words in a huff.

I didn’t reply. I just sat up and gave her an apologetic look before I grabbed the bottle of wine and took a swallow to clear my throat. After the drink I gazed at the river again, smelled the sweet air, and wondered what the mountains in the distance thought of our relationship.

“Kaiyer.” I looked back to her. “You will keep your promise?” Her eyes betrayed her fear.

“Is that what this is about?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “It is what this has always been about. You’ve put me off long enough. Within two weeks, we will crush those fuckers. I’ve waited because of what you promised. I haven’t pressured you. I agreed to let you be.”

“Haven’t pressured me? We have spoken about this so many times, and you have always pressured me. Admittedly in a very pleasurable way,” I replied with a sigh as I stood.

“And you’ve promised many times. I want to hear it again.” Her eyes pleaded.

“I promised. Once this war is over we will be lovers. I stand by it,” I said it with as much conviction as I could muster. Did promising something make it true?

After this last battle, my family would be avenged. Iolarathe had probably died years ago in some random scuffle, killed by an O’Baarni warrior who knew nothing of her crimes. After this, I could be sure of her demise. I would have closure. I would move on with my life. Shlara was one of my best friends and without question my most talented general. Building a life with her would be a fitting legacy. My father and brother would have been proud to know that I had chosen her as a mate. She was the woman I should be with.

“I will give you children. As many as you want. They will be as beautiful as you.” Shlara’s smile couldn’t get any bigger. Her eyes glazed over as she imagined our offspring. “This will be the beginning though. Your people will need you to lead them, probably even more than during the war. We will have to rebuild our civilization. I don’t know how we will do it, but you and I will figure out a way. We can do anything together. We will have peace and prosperity for ages. Our descendants will bless us and give thanks for the hardships we went through for their freedom.”

As she lay in the tall grass and spoke of the dreams I had given her I was taken by her beauty. The grass provided a pillow for her perfectly built body. The simple clothes she wore couldn’t hide the curves of her long muscular legs, taut stomach, and full breasts. Her eyebrows rose as she saw me examining her.

“Do you like what you see?” She bit her bottom lip in excitement.

“Of course.” I smiled.

“You don’t have to wait. You can have me now.” She beckoned me with her finger and the movement reminded me of Iolarathe. I shouldn’t be comparing the two women, but it was suddenly her in the hay of the loft of the stable instead of Shlara in the long grass. My mouth went dry and I looked over at the swords.

“Let’s spar instead.” I tried to conjure up a smile as my vision shifted back to see the brunette woman nod in excitement and spring up from the ground. I must be going insane. At least I would only have to deal with thoughts of Iolarathe for another week. Then I would wash the memory of her from my mind and focus on what was important. Shlara needed my attention and love. She didn’t deserve to have my brain occupied with thoughts of the Elven woman who had murdered my family.

The Elven woman who had been my only lover.

My friend was loosening her joints with the routine we had developed over our decades of practice. I mirrored her movements to warm up my own muscles. It was a possibility that there were better warriors in our armies than Shlara, but I did not know of any. She had bested Thayer several times in the last five years and he refused to practice against her now. It was a fact that Shlara’s army was held in high esteem, and they reminded the other armies of it often.

“Maybe we should make a wager?” She smirked mischievously and I guessed what she would bet.

“Let’s just concentrate on the match,” I said.

“How do I know you will not hold back?” She smiled again.

“I won’t hold back.” I looked over to the river and saw the people there had stopped to observe us. The water was eight hundred yards away, out of earshot with the sound of the current and the breeze, but it was easy enough for their enhanced vision to see that Shlara sparred with someone. They had probably figured out who I was by now. It was rare that I made public appearances without my horrific suit of armor, so most didn’t recognize me. I actually preferred it that way so I could walk amongst the troops without them treating me any differently.

“Then, you think you will lose?” Shlara grinned and picked up a sword.

“I don’t lose.” I smiled back at her and hoped that it shook her morale.

“So let’s wager.” She licked her lips again and placed a finger on her chin. “If you win, I’ll agree to your strategy. I’ll hold the west flank while Thayer drives the middle. Malek will side with me after I convince him, and we can focus on killing Elvens.”

“And if you win?” I smiled. She knew exactly what I wanted. We had been going around in a circle arguing about this battle for almost a week solid. It was getting old, and having her agree with me would put the matter to rest.

“I get to have you early, as much as I want, every night. Starting tonight.” She bit her bottom lip again before she tossed me the sword. I caught it and spun the handle in my palm to feel all the sides of it.

“You know I’m not very good with swords,” I said.

“Sounds like an excuse to me.” She kissed the air toward me. “Oh, great Kaiyer! Leader of the O’Baarni and Destroyer of the Elven race. Do you fear your best general’s sword that much? Or do you just fear my bed?” She raised an eyebrow and laughed.

“I am stating that I am not that good with swords, perhaps you should use a mace?” I was trying hard to keep myself from laughing as we circled each other. We were on a steep slope, and whoever held the higher ground would have a clear advantage.

“The sword is dulled so I don’t hurt you too badly. Pretend it is like a mace, or if you like, I can cut down a stick from the tree over there and you could wave it around like a club.” She smiled again and got into her stance. Her posture was perfect, down to the smallest angle of her foot. It had to be; she led thousands of men and women into battle and trained the warriors who would train them.

“Deal?” She raised an eyebrow. Wispy strands of hair that had escaped her thick braid fluttered slightly in the wind.

“Deal,” I said. Almost before the words were out of my mouth, she attacked.

I figured her first few attacks would hesitantly test my defense and attempt to find holes. I was either mistaken in my judgment, or she already knew the holes in my defense. Her attacks came in fast and low, forcing me to drop my center of gravity and block her horizontal swings. The parries put my sword dangerously close to the side of the hill, where it could get tangled in the grass or rutted in the soft dirt.

Her quick flurry of swings left her head open, so I popped a swift kick at her face after she finished her initial onslaught. I didn’t think that I had telegraphed the movement, but she moved her head out of the way easily and attempted to catch my leg with her free hand. I collapsed my hamstring around her grip and flexed my hips and body forward. My kick turned into a knee that collided with the side of her cheek and sent her reeling back before she grasped my extended limb. As she pulled her head away, she made a quick cut with her sword and sliced the top of my thigh apart.

“I thought you said the blades were dulled?” My skin began to itch and close around the wound.

“I wouldn’t shave my legs with them.” She smiled and spit out blood.

“I think I just lost a few hairs there.” I grinned.

“No Air.” Her face went blank again and her eyes hardened.

“Making the rules up as you go along?” I said in mockery as I got into my stance and moved back a few steps. She circled toward the river, giving me the higher ground unexpectedly.

“No. You’d win if we brought Fire into this.”

“You should have thought of that before we put the stakes so high.” I felt the smile fade from my lips. I was quite skilled with the magic that could create Fire, but none of my generals were very aware of that information. Or so I believed. The first few years when I practiced with Entas, Thayer, and later Alexia, my skills had lagged behind my two friends. Now it was not the case, but I had spent countless hours alone, training the power until I was confident that I could rival Malek with my skill.

“Kaiyer!” She frowned as she pleaded.

“Fine. I hadn’t considered using it anyway.” I smiled down at her and made a quick series of cuts at her head.

I thought I was stronger than her. Each of my blows could cleave through a tree that stood as thick as a man. My first one angled down to cut her skull in half, but she brought her sword up in time and deflected it with a simple turn of her wrist. I changed the direction of the blade and slammed it back again, not really aiming for her head, but the handle of her sword. The shock smashed through my arm and she held her weapon. Her face was a blank mask of concentration. The swords we crafted were forged in fires so hot that only our magically enhanced bodies had the strength to pound the blades, temper the steel, and sharpen the metal. Shlara had claimed these were dull, and I believed her, but they still screeched like hateful eagles and created showers of blue sparks when they connected with our rapid parries.

She made three quick vertical cuts and then a long stab that left her exposed. I blocked each one carefully and let her thrust travel to the outside of my sword on my left side. I guessed that this was a feint and she was expecting me to take the easy bait, pull my weapon free of her attack, and slice into her open flank. Instead, I grabbed the inside of Shlara’s right arm, pinned it to my blade, rolled my body underneath her reach, and then brought my sword through in a deep cut that should have disemboweled her. Before my blade’s edge could find her belly, she sprung off the ground and laid her body flat. My sword ripped through empty air beneath her jumping form, and I used the momentum to carry me through my missed attack. I tried to clear her sword with my blade, but felt a long cut across my back.

“You’ll have to do better than that, my love.” She attacked low again in the same three swing combo. I blocked in a similar fashion, but avoided retaliating immediately. I was getting a feel for her rhythm and I wanted to be more methodical next time I pushed my offense. It had been many years since I sparred with someone of equal speed and strength as me. The Elvens could only hope to be a challenge with numbers, and while I had a close group of personal guards to train with, none of them were of Shlara’s caliber.

We exchanged a few series of cuts to feel out each other’s defenses. She seemed to favor the low attacks against me, but I didn’t understand her strategy. Maybe I had done something those many years ago that convinced her that there was a hole in my defense there. Perhaps she was preparing me for a change in her tactics. The guessing kept me off balance and I didn’t concentrate on my offense.

Shlara started on her series of low cuts again, but I knew that she was planning to change her last swing. I parried her first two strikes and then she suddenly changed her grip and came in high on her last attack. I was close enough so that it would have ripped open my chest if I hadn’t expected the movement. I was able to duck under and make a quick cut at her arms while she was still on her backswing. She halted her twist and then pivoted around to block my strike. The instant her sword contacted mine her eyes opened with surprise. I had feinted the attack toward her arms, and instead slammed the palm of my hand into her beautiful face.

There was a horrendous crack as the bridge of her nose shattered and her head snapped up to look at the sky. The blow would have been avoided in a normal battle situation, where we all wore helmets, but the lack of protection gave me an edge that she probably wasn’t used to defending. She was still an amazing warrior and she backflipped down the slope and skidded to a halt about forty feet from me, dodging a dozen of my strikes that almost cut her in half. Her face was a mess of blood and broken cartilage, but it mostly affected her vision. I could tell her eyes were watering and she was trying to flush out the pain with her tears.

She would heal within the next minute, so I pressed my attack again. I took three steps down the slope and then launched into the air, traveling the short distance between us and thrusting my sword out to spear her stomach. She stepped to my flank and swung her weapon at my hips, a risky move that paid off when I couldn’t twist my body out of the way. I felt her blade tear into the side of my abdomen. I flicked my blade up at the last second and cut into the shoulder of her right arm. But like my earlier wound to her hip, it wasn’t enough to end the fight and would mend in a few dozen seconds.

I made a quick, vertical attack at her collarbone and she raised her sword to block. The sound of our blades smashing together was almost deafening, but I could hear her grunt from the force. I smiled and pushed down on the blade, then released the pressure suddenly, brought the weight to my side and tried to slice off part of her arm.

She was ready for the tactic and only lifted her weapon enough for the brief second of pressure. Her sword shifted around to block mine, and she kneed me quickly in the hip where I was still healing from the cut she gave me a second ago.

The pain should have been excruciating, but I’d dealt with plenty of torment in my life. I shrugged off the screams of my body and pushed her down against her stable leg when she launched the knee. She tumbled down to the rocks on the edge of the water and came up easily from a somersault.

We had some distance again and the ground was becoming more level and rocky as we got closer to the river. A small crowd had gathered around the shore to watch us spar. I couldn’t get an exact count before Shlara kicked a rock up from the slope at me and then tried to take my arm off when I blocked the stone with my weapon.

I twisted to the side and narrowly avoided her blade across the arm, but in my haste to vacate the space, I made my lower left side open to attack. She whipped her weapon around and sank it deep into my thigh, meeting the hard bone beneath and almost cutting through that as well. I pulled my sword and knocked her blade free of my flesh. My leg fought to keep control of my stability, but I didn’t utter a grunt of pain from the wound. Shlara moved back and began to circle me like a hunting wolf, a wide smile painted with bloody lips. She smelled victory.

“Concede?” she asked as she spit out blood.

I shook my head and smiled. The movement seemed to anger her because she came in recklessly with a cut aimed at the leg she had already maimed. I swept her blade past me with a back step that almost toppled me over onto the hill. Then I tried to counter with a thrust of my own, but she easily blocked it and moved out of the way.

“You lost, Kaiyer. You can’t fight me with your leg like that.”

I didn’t respond and the smile faded from her face. She circled me again and I had to hobble to make sure I was facing her. My leg was healing as quick as it could, but it would still take a few more minutes. It was time I didn’t have.

She swung horizontally again but it was a feint, at the last second she stopped her weapon before I blocked and then thrust toward me. I twisted my body, but the side of her blade still ripped through my shirt and across my chest. I had to knock the sword away with my free hand to clear it.

The stones around my feet were slippery and coated with my blood. Shlara’s bleeding had stopped, but her nose was still shattered beyond recognition. She circled me again like a lioness playing with her prey.

“I can’t believe it is taking you this long to finish me,” I taunted with a smile. She frowned and made an attack toward my uninjured leg. She hinted at this swing so I saw it coming. I blocked it and spun around my edge to catch her arms. She hissed in annoyance as she came away with a small cut across both of her forearms.

“You’re good, Kaiyer. I thought you would be slower.” She smiled at me and I noticed the lust in her eyes. I had come to recognize that look after all the years we spent together.

“You might still win, as long as you don’t lose hope,” I said sarcastically. It got a laugh out of her.

She came in low with her usual three cuts. The movements had to be a set up for something. She couldn’t possibly be using the same combination against me in this manner. She would know that I would eventually find a hole in the attack and win. I played the exchange safe, trying to move as little as possible so that my wound would heal quicker. At the end she retreated out of my reach before I counterattacked.

“I might have to cut the other leg out from under you. It will be fine though, I’ll send some of my best lieutenants to carry you to my tent tonight.” She smirked as she angled toward the uninjured side of my body. I grunted in annoyance.

“No witty reply?” she laughed as she made the same low cuts against me. She moved slower this time, lazily cutting her horizontal slashes so that I might easily block. “You must be getting tired. Just give up so you’ll have energy for me tonight.” Her eyes narrowed and she came in for another series of strikes aimed at my thighs.

I had an exceptionally high pain tolerance, but bending to combat her attacks was tearing up the wound in my leg and putting extreme pressure on my lower back. I didn’t think I would be able to handle much more of it. But I hated to lose, especially if winning meant that I would get her compliance for the strategy I wanted us to execute in our final battle.

Losing meant she would finally have what she wanted from me. Though I would enjoy spending my nights with her, I had gone so long without risking a relationship, I was determined not to put our army in jeopardy a few weeks before we crushed the Elvens and finally liberated our race.

Maybe I was just being an asshole.

Shlara came in for her series of low attacks. Before she could make her first cut, I kicked a loose stone from the bank of the river into her face. She turned her head in time so that it bounced off her jaw, but it threw her momentum off enough for me to close in the gap. My leg screamed in agony as I put my weight on it with my sprint. Then the limb howled in frustration when I skidded to a halt and slammed the point of my blade through the bicep of her sword arm.

She tried to move away from my thrust, but she had been too busy trying to push her own attack and dodge the rock, so she misjudged my strength. Or perhaps she hadn’t misjudged my strength, she just didn’t think I would be willing to endure the pain.

She let out a gasp of shock as her arm turned useless and her sword dropped out of her hand. I thought I had gotten lucky and won our little match with a quick gamble on my leg. But I should have known better. Shlara was my best warrior, she was driven to win as much as I was. So when she used her left hand to trap my grip on the pommel of my weapon, swung her impaled arm out, and pushed my own blade into my stomach, I guessed that she might have wanted to win our wager a little more than I did.

I stumbled back as I felt the sharp metal spear through my abdomen, but she had latched onto my arm with hers. Then her left leg wrapped behind my hips and she tightened her body around mine like a snake. The effect caused me to collapse backward onto the smooth stones of the riverbank, driving the point farther into my stomach.

“I fucking win!” she screamed into my face as she pushed down on me. The movement slammed the blade deeper. The air from my lungs was being squeezed out by the pressure she was putting on my chest. My vision started to dim and black spots appeared in front of my eyes.

My left arm was still trapped against her hand, against my sword, impaling myself. My right was free though, and I reached out to my side, hoping to reach a river stone I might use to bash Shlara off of me. But there was nothing.

I tried to think of what I could do to win. It seemed hopeless, but there was always some way out of even the direst situations. My brain was losing oxygen and blood so fast that all I heard was the sound of my heart beating. Forcing the Earth through me. Forcing the Water through my blood.

Earth.

Water.

Shlara had not excluded those Elements from our match. We needed Earth to control our strength and healing. Water was almost never used since it was so similar to Air and could not be combined with Fire. But I knew how to use Water. I had done things even Entas had not believed.

Things he made me swear never to teach anyone else.

I grabbed onto Shlara’s neck with my right hand and tried to focus. I yanked the power of the Earth from the ground into me in a swell of energy. Then I brought Water from Shlara’s body, through her skin, and into me. She gasped in surprise as her muscles overheated instantly. I pulled the magic back into me and felt the addicting surge of power, life, and strength.

My left hand broke free of her grip and I held her leg against me with my arm. Once she was trapped, I rolled her over so that I was on top of her. Her eyes were wide with fear as she tried to struggle but suddenly had only the fortitude of a normal, mortal human. I ripped the sword out of her arm and laid the blade across her throat.

“I win. You’ll talk to Malek and agree with my plan?” I smiled down at her.

“Yes.” Her voice was a whisper and I saw the terror in her eyes. “What did you do? I … I can’t move.” She coughed and blood erupted from her mouth in an ill-sounding gurgle.

Oh shit.

I put my ear down to her chest and listened. Her heart was beating too slow and the air sounded weak in her lungs.

“I need water, now!” I screamed at our observers. A few looked to each other in confusion, as if I had just woken them from a dream. A woman ran forward with a water skin.

I grabbed the bottle and popped open the cork. I poured the water into Shlara’s mouth as her body started to seize like a fish out of the river.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Come back to me!” I said as I tried to hold her down against the ground. She was weak now, and I could keep her grounded easily. Entas had warned me against attempting to use Water.

Could I reverse the magic?

“Slowly pour the water on her chest,” I told the woman who brought me the bottle. She nodded, took the container from me, and did as I instructed.

I tapped into the Earth again, creating a surge of excess energy in my blood. I ripped open the front of Shlara’s shirt, her skin was turning white. The slow stream of water from the bottle was centered over Shlara’s heart. I placed my hand between the stream and her skin. Then I tried to reverse what I had done before: pushing my Earth into Shlara’s body by using the water.

It didn’t work.

“No. No. No!” I screamed. How could I be so fucking stupid? I should have given up and let her win. Tears fell down my face and landed on her dying body. I had killed my best friend, my best general. All because I didn’t want to lose a petty argument.

How much water is in a human body?

I lifted her off the riverbank. The women gasped as I ran toward the group of people standing in the current. They parted way for me, but I paid them no mind. Nothing mattered but Shlara.

My leg wasn’t fully healed and I tripped a few dozen steps into the water, I fell down to my knees but didn’t lose my hold on her twitching body. I cursed my clumsiness and struggled a few more feet into the river’s icy blue torrent.

Then I repeated what I had tried before with the liquid. This time there was much more water and the energy it made coursing around us seemed to help. I felt it rip through my body, dance through my insides, my organs, through my hands and into Shlara. Her eyes shot open and she gasped as liquid flowed into her mouth from the river. She tried to sit up in my arms, but the current was too strong. After a few more seconds I stopped pushing the Element into her and pulled her out of the flow, cradling her soaking body against my chest.

“Cold.” Her teeth chattered as she clutched the front of my bloody tunic. I nodded and carried her out of the water. Her seizures grew worse as we left the current, but I figured coldness from the river on a hot spring day would be better than a seizure caused by dehydration.

“Get firewood and set it over there.” I gestured to a spot on the river’s edge. Half a dozen men ran off toward the campsite.

“Is she going to be okay?” the woman who had assisted me asked as I sat down on one of the rocks with Shlara in my arms.

“Yes. Leave us.”

“Aye, Kaiyer.” She gave a signal to the rest of the people gathered. They shot concerned looks our way and slowly departed. Within moments, the men returned with firewood and lit it for us. Once they had finished, I looked at the departing mob and nodded. They saluted and ran back toward the camp.

I inched myself closer to the fire so that Shlara would get the full heat. It was a little past midday and the flames made it almost hotter than I could stand, but she needed the warmth.

“Kaiyer,” she muttered into my chest after a few minutes.

“Yes?” I asked with relief.

“Did you win?” her voice was barely a whisper.

“Yes.”

“Harmph,” she said in annoyance. Then there was silence punctuated by the cracking of the firewood.

“Kaiyer,” she spoke a bit louder.

“Yes?” I wanted to crush her body to me, but I didn’t know if she was using her Earth yet. I didn’t want to smother her.

“You’ll have to break my nose again so I can set it. I think it healed wrong,” she complained.

“I’ll fix it,” I said eagerly.

“How did you win? I don’t remember,” she finally asked after a few more minutes of shivering silence.

“I cheated. I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” She tried to lift her head to look at me but I cradled her too close and I was too strong. I didn’t want to meet her eyes.

“Can you use your Earth?” I asked after she said nothing for a while.

“Yes. It is slow.”

“You’ll be okay?”

“I’d be better if you told me you would make love to me tonight.” She coughed but I thought it was an attempt at laughter.

“You lost.”

“You cheated,” she spat.

“I said I was sorry.”

“My head hurts.” She had stopped shivering.

I rubbed her back carefully with my left hand, regret floated through my mind. I should sleep with her tonight. It would fix our relationship.

Fuck. This war would end in a week or two. Afterward, Shlara and I could be together. There would be no more Elvens and no more revenge.

No more Iolarathe.

“Kaiyer.”

“Yes?” I stopped rubbing her back.

“You’re a fucking asshole.” She finally lifted her head to stare at me. Her nose had healed and it didn’t look crooked. She smiled her full grin at me and winked.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

She laughed too. But I was sure it wasn’t for the same reasons.

“Why did you keep attacking me low?”

“Hummm?” She raised an eyebrow.

“You seemed to prefer this combination of low attacks. What was your strategy?”

“Oh, that.” She sighed. “I just laughed a little inside when I saw you bent over before me.”

“Oh. I see. And I’m the asshole, huh?” She smiled and giggled. It sounded less painful than her earlier laughter.

Then our lips met suddenly in a kiss that had been long overdue. It was deep, passionate, and washed away all thoughts of the Elvens from me, for a moment.

Chapter 23-Kaiyer

The door to my room opened suddenly. The change in air pressure disrupted the memory of Shlara’s kiss and what might have happened between us afterward. I looked over from my seat at the table on the balcony and saw Isslata close the door behind her.

“Good afternoon, O’Baarni.” She smiled pleasantly. Her light brown leather boots extended up past her knees and made a staccato click on the stone floor as she walked toward me. She wore a larger than normal smile on her face. It looked slightly mischievous.

The thoughts of Shlara slipped away and I grinned at the beautiful Elven woman. I had spent the last week on a short list of tasks while I endured my confinement, and Isslata was one of them. I hated to admit it, but she was also the most enjoyable of the tasks. The woman unbuckled her sword belt and dropped the leather-clad blade on the dresser where my clothes were kept.

She walked out on to the balcony and slid her hips around the edge of my chair. Then she lowered herself gently into my lap and threw her legs across the table. My hands gripped her waist as she landed on me and she sighed before her lips pushed against my mouth. Her tongue and mine danced together for a few minutes as her fingers roamed across my chest and my fingers squeezed her hips and slender thighs.

She finally broke our kiss and leaned away. Her eyes burned into mine with desire and there was no way she couldn’t feel my erection pushing against her ass through the fabric of our pants.

“Umm,” she moaned softly as she wiggled her body against my groin. “You should shave this.” She touched my two-week old beard with the tips of her gloved fingers.

“Why?” I asked with a smile.

“Because I have a surprise for you tonight.” She smirked and gave me a final smoldering look before she leaned her legs down and rose out of my lap. Her hair was tied up in some sort of half-ponytail knot that kept the majority of her golden hair back, but it still looked like a beautiful mess. She began to unbraid part of the mane as she walked toward our shared bathroom.

“What surprise?” I asked while I attempted to keep concern out of my voice. I wasn’t too fond of surprises. Especially when Nadea and I were prisoners to our enemies and I had to sedate my only ally by fucking her every night.

“You’ll enjoy it. I promise.” She looked over her shoulder at me while she finished untying her hair. It fell down her back like a wave of water that caught the sunlight.

“I’m going to bathe. Will you join me?” she took off her blue leather tunic and dropped it on the ground before she made it into the other room.

“Are you going to tell me more about this surprise?” I heard the faucet turn to fill the tub, but she didn’t reply. I got out of my chair and drank the rest of the pitcher of water that had been left on the table by one of the servants. Then I walked across the cold stone floor toward the bathroom and past the sword that lay on my dresser.

Isslata had let me examine the weapon a few days ago. It was a thick gray piece of steel that was crafted in the same manner as the weapons I recalled from my past. It was etched with flowers and vines that formed a groove in the center of the blade. Thayer would have appreciated its weight and width, but he would not have cared about the designs. The way Isslata casually left the wicked blade laying around our room was a constant reminder of the leverage she and Alatorict had over me. Any act of aggression on my part would mean the death of Nadea.

In the bathroom, she had already removed her clothes. I got a perfect view of her naked backside, rounded ass, and taut legs as she tested the temperature of the bath with her left hand. Their bodies were probably an inch or two taller than the average human, and they tended to be leaner. But Isslata had claimed to be one of the empress’s best warriors and her body carried at least twenty extra pounds of muscle that made her figure look more human. Aside from the difference in hair color, the pointy ears, and the light peach-colored skin, her body looked very similar to Nadea or Shlara’s athletic frame.

“The surprise?” I asked again. She turned around and gave me a view of her pert breasts and the manicured golden curls of her pubic area.

“This water feels so good,” she said as she stepped into the bath. “Take off your clothes and join me.” She pointed at me with a long finger that bounced through the air like she was drawing small circles.

“I already took one this morning after I exercised.”

“Getting clean isn’t the primary objective of bathing with me, no?” she smiled and leaned back into the water. I remembered seducing Nadea into the same bathtub with me many months ago. The memory was painful. I missed her more than I thought possible, especially after all the recent memories of Shlara. The two women were very similar in both physical appearance and personality.

I was sure that neither Nadea nor Jessmei would appreciate my current situation.

I had a horrible record of fucking Elvens given my insistence on ending their race’s existence.

“How was your morning?” I asked from the chair next to the bathtub. She frowned in disapproval.

“It was excellent.” I knew she was responsible for training the various units of Alatorict’s small army and served as his bodyguard. I had tried to extract more information from her about battle strategies, their numbers, or anything I could use. The progress I was making was slower than I wanted, but there was nothing else for me to do with my time.

“What did you do for your exercises this morning?” She asked as she leaned back against the rim of the tub and began to wet her hair. The bathroom counters and shelves were now filled with various scented soaps, oils, and brushes she preferred to use on her body when she was in the bath.

“The usual: pull-ups, squats, and handstand pushups,” I said with my careful smile. She nodded back and closed her eyes.

It was the routine we had grown accustomed to for the last few weeks. We danced around each other’s questions and attempted to learn more about the other while not giving up our own knowledge. In two hours, dinner would arrive and we would continue the match over the excellent meal while we sat on the chilly balcony. Then the servants would clear the plates and we would spend the rest of the night and most of the early morning enjoying each other’s bodies. We would collapse in a fit of exhaustion for a few hours before she would wake up and leave to work with her army.

“Do you grow tired of our games, O’Baarni?” she asked suddenly. Her glittering eyes opened to their full almond shape as she stared at me intently.

“What games?” I attempted ignorance, but the hair on my neck stood. Was it a lucky guess on her part or did she have some mind reading powers?

“This.” She waved her hand back and forth between the two of us, spraying drops of water from her fingertips across the stone floor. “These conversations.”

“You’ve been fishing for Alatorict. He wants results that you haven’t produced,” I said. Her eyes darted up and met mine with an icy glare.

“Alatorict does not wish to be involved with you anymore and has made your safekeeping my responsibility.”

“Until the empress arrives?” I chuckled and uncrossed my arms, leaning forward to emphasize my point. “You aren’t that interested in me, just pleasing your empress.”

“And you aren’t interested in Nadea?” She grimaced and then laughed mockingly. “O’Baarni, we can continue on with our current arrangement. I’ve enjoyed your presence, your body, and your talents. We don’t have to change anything. However, I would prefer to have something to give my empress when she arrives. If only to make Alatorict look the fool. I’m sure you would like to have a bit more information at your disposal when you first meet with her. Yes?” She nodded and licked her lips.

“Why do you wish to make Alatorict look the fool?”

“Ahh. Well, I could answer that question. But then you would have to answer one of mine. I will tell you the truth and you will tell me the truth. Think of it like the game we have been playing, but we’ll both win.” She smiled enthusiastically and clasped her wet hands and fingers together.

“What if I don’t want to answer one of the questions?” I felt my heart pound. This was probably a bad idea, but if she was offering me answers and she was sincere about being truthful, there was much to gain. I could get precious information about Nadea’s location and be gone from the castle.

“I have the same fears you do. I’ll answer all of your questions to the best of my ability. If either of us is unsatisfied, then we can stop. We’ll take turns asking and answering.”

I tried to run through the many different questions she might come up with and my possible defense.

“I’ll even let you go first, lover.” She opened a bottle and poured some of the contents on her hair. The room now smelled like lavender with a hint of vanilla.

“What is the surprise?” I said after a few more moments of internal struggle. Time to take a risk.

“Are you in agreement?” She smiled wide, exposing a row of perfectly arranged teeth. I nodded and she clapped her hands together in mock applause.

“The surprise is that Vernine will join us for dinner tonight.” Her smile grew coy as her voice grew huskier. “She’ll be staying for dessert and breakfast as well.”

“Ahh.” I sat back and relaxed. I had expected whatever she had planned to be more diabolical in nature. I still hadn’t remembered the week I had spent with the two women in my room. Maybe when I saw Vernine again it would spark my recollection.

“Does my surprise please you, O’Baarni?” she purred from the tub. Her eyes were on fire.

“Yes.” I nodded back to her and smiled.

“My turn. Am I the—”

“No,” I interrupted her. “You just asked a question.”

“No, I did, wait, that wasn’t my question!” She pouted, and when she realized I would not budge a low growl escaped from her chest.

“How many Elvens are in Castle Nia?” I asked with a smile on my face.

“There are two hundred and ninety,” she said the number quickly and her heart didn’t flutter, so I doubted that she was lying, although I didn’t really know if I could judge honesty through the beating of Elven hearts as I could in humans.

“Am I a better lover than your pet Nadea?” her grin was wicked. Isslata thought she knew the answer already but I guessed she wanted me to admit to her prowess.

“Nadea and I were never lovers,” I said with a smile back. Her eyes widened a bit in shock.

“That is surprising. But you are full of surprises.” I nodded.

In truth, Isslata was the best lover I had had, or at least, that I remembered. Iolarathe had been mainly concerned with her own pleasure. While I had never failed to reach a satisfying climax with her, I suspected as long as she had felt pleasure, she would not have cared about my needs. She was my master, and I her slave. Sex had not changed that dynamic. I remembered Iolarathe as more attractive than Isslata, but my recollections of the red-haired Elven overflowed with the emotions that her face and body elicited. I recalled every painfully beautiful detail of her face, her hair, her body, but memories were always colored in unreliable perfection.

Jessmei’s lack of experience and fitness couldn’t compare to Isslata’s Elven stamina. Isslata made my pleasure more of a priority then her own. She always had a different position, movement, or activity to keep me excited. Lovemaking was still so new to Jessmei that she often got caught up with what she was experiencing and forgot about me. It was something that she would learn either with me in the future, or with her next lover.

I frowned slightly at the thought of the beautiful blonde princess. She should be safe in the small village where I left her. Once Nadea was safe, I would return for Jessmei. I doubted my friend would be thrilled to find out that the princess and I were lovers, but I would deal with that once the situation arose.

“Where is Nadea in the dungeons?” I asked.

“She isn’t in the dungeons anymore.” Isslata smirked at my confusion.

“Where is she?” I felt my voice rise slightly and I tried to control my anger.

“Relax, O’Baarni. It is my turn.” She smiled at me and rose out of the tub. The late day sun passed through the windows and made her wet body shimmer in a hue that matched her golden mane. She grabbed a thick towel from an iron rack and started to dry off her hair and shoulders.

“What clan are you?” I guessed this question was coming.

“I’m not from a clan.” Her head snapped around to look at me and her eyes narrowed.

“You must give me more than that.” She had finished drying off most of her body and discarded the towel on the floor before she sauntered toward me.

“I wasn’t in a clan. I know of them, but I wasn’t part of—” I stopped when Isslata straddled my legs and sat on me. Her fingers ran through my hair and she turned my face so she might whisper in my ear.

“Then who gifted you?” her teeth lightly scraped against my earlobe and she let out a soft sigh of pleasure.

“It is my turn. Where is Nadea?” I pulled my head away to make eye contact with her.

“She has a room in the castle proper now. I haven’t found out where yet.” I tried not to let her see the relief I felt. Part of me had expected the Elven to admit that my friend was dead.

“Who gifted you?” Isslata went to work on my jawline with her lips and tongue. Her hands pulled gently on my hair, moving my face in a direction that would make it easier for her to kiss me.

“You wouldn’t believe the truth,” I said. I inhaled sharply as her tongue probed around my ear and flicked inside the canal. My erection was begging to be released from my pants so that it might sink deep into her.

“If it is the truth, then I will believe it.”

“Elvens did it,” I admitted. Perhaps I was drunk off of her kisses, but I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

“You’re right. I don’t believe it.” She laughed lightly in my ear and then pulled back her lips to look into my eyes. The sun set fast this time of the year and the light had begun to turn a deep golden color. It reflected in her eyes like fire. She studied me for a few seconds.

“Say it again.”

“Elvens gifted me.”

“I believe you. Why would we do such a thing?” she said with confusion.

“It is my turn.” I frowned, trying to concentrate on my next question while her hands lightly scratched my chest through my tunic and then worked down to my stomach. “How many Elvens in your empress’s army?”

“My dear O’Baarni, are you still hell bent on murdering us all? I thought I had calmed you down some.” She made a clicking sound with her tongue and her fingers finished descending my abdominal muscles and started to stroke the erection pushing through my pants.

“Are you going to answer, or are our confessions over?” I gasped from her administrations.

“She has over eight thousand in your Northlands. We have two hundred thousand more ready to make the journey with Ovules once the empress decides it is safe for them. There are others scattered across the worlds, but there are only half a million of our race left.”

I remembered the temple I had found with the old Elven who had spoken of an Ovule, and how Iolarathe had used it to send her daughter, our daughter, to another planet. But in the last memory I had of speaking to Iolarathe, she had not mentioned a child. And I was sure she had died. The timeline of my past was still jumbled and I was not remembering things in chronological order.

The Elvens were using the Ovule to move to this world. Alatorict had spoken about a treaty between the empress and the clans that involved them being given this “outlier world.”

“Why did my people gift you, O’Baarni?” She leaned her head down a bit to meet my eyes and she relaxed her grip on my penis.

“They wanted humans to fight their wars.”

“No. You are mistaken or lying.” Her face twisted into a snarl and her fingers tightened around my shaft painfully.

“That is the truth. You may choose to not believe it and we can end this conversation, or you can ask questions on a different topic.” I tried to keep my voice calm.

“What world were you gifted on? I’ve not heard of such a thing.” Her voice was still angry but her grip had relaxed.

“This world.” I knew better than to remind her that it was actually my turn for a question.

“No. You lie to me again. There has never been an Elven presence on this planet.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously and her heart raced.

“All of my memories of this world have Elvens in them. I am not lying to you.” I reached up my hands to touch her shoulders gently. If she got too aggressive this would turn into a physical confrontation. Isslata had a short temper.

“Then your memories are wrong,” she seethed. “We know our history. There have never been humans gifted by us, and there have never been Elvens on this world. Your fucking clans didn’t allow us to migrate here until the last treaty was signed.”

“I don’t know anything about a treaty, Isslata. All I remember is being gifted and trained for war by your kind.” She looked into my eyes and I saw her grind her jaw tight.

“Your story is too ridiculous to be a lie. You are confused. Perhaps you don’t remember the Radicle journey here?” I felt her shoulders and body relax. She returned to gently rubbing my shaft.

“I remember what I know.”

“How many moons?” She smiled now and bit her lower lip mischievously.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been on eight different worlds. Most have a unique satellite arrangement. You claim to have been gifted by Elvens on this world. In your memory, how many moons were there?”

“One.” I felt a chill run down my neck and spine.

“Exactly. What did this one moon look like?” She smiled in victory.

“It was large and light green. I could see the craters on it with my naked eye, even when I was a normal human.” The moon in my memories had been beautiful; I had spent many nights looking up at it.

“This world has two moons. You’ve seen them of course?”

“Alta and Yaha.” My mouth went dry as I said the names Paug had taught me.

I had traveled through the Radicle.

He won’t die. This is impossible. What do we do?

I heard Gorbanni’s voice in my mind, but it sounded like it was a mile away. My head spun and darkness crept into the corners of my vision. I was going to faint again, or black out, or do whatever it was that I did when the memories surfaced too quickly.

“Relax, O’Baarni.” She dug her nails into my arms and brought my attention to the present. I breathed out a deep exhale to steady my nerves. “Let us avoid this topic for the time being.” Isslata shook her hair back from her face and made slow rocking motions with her hips. The movement forced her naked body to rub down into me. “It is your question.” She began to untie the leather laces to my pants.

My questions could not be answered by Isslata. The pieces of the puzzle were coming together, but I did not want them to fit the way they were. Something had happened between me and my generals. I knew this from the words Malek had carved into my tomb, I knew this from the memory of Lemarti coming to capture me. I knew it was true, but I had fought against accepting it because it was still unclear what had happened. Because I did not want to believe it.

I had betrayed my friends. They had tried to kill me and failed, so they had sent me to this world.

I still did not know what I had done, or how much time had passed. Isslata believed it had been five thousand years since the Destroyer lived. I did not know how long we could live, but I did not think even Entas had lived that long.

If I really was the Destroyer, the Betrayer, it meant that I was over five thousand years old. That had to be impossible.

I thought back to the Ovule and the Radicle. I had found a shrine under Castle Nia that looked to be crafted out of a strange stone or metal. If Elvens had never been on this world, then who had built the massive structures? Who had constructed Castle Nia on top of them?

Isslata made a small gasp of pleasure when her hands freed my erection from my pants and undergarments. Her fingers deftly closed around the head and stroked gently. My body tensed up from the change in sensation and a moan escaped my lips.

She let out a low purr and used her hand to push the base of my shaft against her crotch. The hair that covered her entrance tickled for a slight moment before she rocked her hips forward more. I felt the wetness of her entrance rub against the bottom of my erection and the organ grew painfully stiff.

“I never think you will fit inside me.” She was intently rocking her entrance against the base of my penis now, and her words came out in a pant that hissed through her teeth. I leaned my head down and took her left nipple in my mouth. Then I gently sucked on the small nub of flesh until she gasped with delight.

Maybe I had already accepted the truth of my past. That I was alive after thousands of years. That I was on a different world. That everyone I had ever loved or cared for was dead. That I had betrayed them all. If this was who I was, it explained why I was here with Isslata, enjoying her body and ignoring the disgust and guilt I should have felt. Forgetting about the human women I was supposed to be helping. Forgetting about all the humans I could be helping. Betraying them all for an Elven once again.

I needed to free Nadea and we needed to escape this castle. Isslata was an Elven, and they were my enemies. They only wanted to enslave everyone that they could not control. I was using her right now more than she was using me. If I knew where Nadea was, I wouldn’t need Isslata.

Her fingers clasped firmly against the back of my skull and her grasp led my lips to her other nipple. I licked and kissed this one eagerly and I was rewarded with another gasp of excitement from the naked woman. Her body was trembling and her breath came out in ragged sighs of pleasure. Isslata reached orgasm very easily, so I didn’t doubt I would get her there with just my mouth on her nipples and the base of my manhood rubbing against her opening.

She had other plans though. Her legs straightened and brought her hips up off my lap. She leaned forward and our lips met for a hungry kiss with our tongues battling to occupy each other’s mouth. One of her hands moved down and wrapped around my shaft, angling it away from my stomach and out toward where her vagina was waiting above me.

Isslata’s entrance was always well lubricated, but it normally took a few tries to get my full length into her. My tip fit inside and then she pushed her body down until she met a slight resistance halfway down my length.

“Ohh,” she moaned into my mouth before she ended our kiss. “Almost.” She raised her hips again, I looked down at our laps and saw my half-wet penis slide from her entrance as she withdrew from me. She knew my length and stopped her body’s retreat before my erection completely slid out of her. Then she slowly pushed herself down and made it three quarters of the way before catching again. Her face was a mask of pain and pleasure as she withdrew a second time. I let her slide a few inches before I grabbed her hips and forced her down all the way onto me with a sharp, wet sound. She gasped in surprise at the sudden movement and her eyes rolled into her head when I slid into her tight body.

She moaned and leaned her head away; her golden hair fell free of her shoulders and touched my legs. She rocked her body back and forth on my lap for a minute before I pulled forward on her hips. The movement pushed her hips down on me a half an inch more, causing her to gasp and jerk her head up so that her face was a few inches from mine. Her eyes opened wide as she looked down at me and her legs started to tremble.

Isslata’s vagina gripped me almost as strongly as her hands, but when her climax rushed through her body it caused her to squeeze my shaft like she never wanted to let me go. Her eyes closed and she bit her lip, letting out a soft scream of pleasure. Her body shook and her nails dug into the back of my shoulders, ripping through my shirt and cutting the flesh beneath the fabric. The pain gave a spice to the bliss I was feeling from her orgasm, so I used the strength in my arms to lift and slam her down onto me while she enjoyed her climax.

“Oh. Oh. Oh. Fuck that feels so good!” She probably screamed loud enough for every Elven in the castle to hear. But she did that almost every night.

Her frenzy seemed to dwindle after a minute and she pushed her mouth into mine for another deep kiss. I tasted blood on her teeth and I figured she must have bit her lip or tongue during her climax. I was still controlling her hips and she let out a little grunt of pleasure every time I brought her body down on my hard shaft.

“If you keep that up I’ll come again.” She moaned in quick gasps each time I thrust into her.

“That is the point,” I whispered before I kissed and bit the soft part of her neck under her chin. My kiss caused her to sigh.

“Mmmmm. Okay, but I want to save some for tonight,” she muttered like she was drunk.

“You should have thought of that before you slid me inside of you.” I lightly nibbled the sides of her neck again and pushed her down on my erection. Then I left my length impaled into her and raised my hips while I forced her body down more. I felt the gate to her womb brush against the tip of my penis and her breath caught.

“I want you to fill me while I climax.” She leaned away from me and pushed with her legs; the movement slid me out of her partially but dragged my length across the front of her warm, silky wall. “Just relax and let me please you.” She blew back a stream of gold hair that had gotten in her face with a puff and raised her hips again. Then she brought her tunnel down with a rocking motion that made my penis scrape against every side of her entrance. It felt wonderful and I didn’t think I would last more than a few minutes more in that position.

“You still have a question.” She smiled and then her eyes narrowed and her mouth opened when she forced me out a little too far and I almost slipped from her tunnel.

“Are you worried about us conceiving a child?” I had thought of the daughter I apparently had with Iolarathe. I had no more memories of her, so I didn’t know if it was true. Isslata and I had been fucking each other for the past three weeks and I had filled her with my seed at least four times every night.

“Haha!” she laughed. “A human and an Elven? If our kind did actually gift you then they didn’t give you much of an education. We can’t mate, O’Baarni. I thought you would have known that. Or have you been trying to impregnate me for the last three weeks?” She smiled wickedly as she increased the tempo of her hip gyrations.

“I’ve heard of children made by our kind,” I tried to brush over the comment.

“It would be an interesting union, but I think you have heard a falsehood. If it was at all possible, I’m sure such a child would be destroyed, either by us or by your clans. At any rate, I am already with child, so your seeds won’t find fertile ground in their quest.” She moved forward and continued her rocking. I was thankful for the change of position; the backward angle she had taken would make me orgasm in a few moments.

“You are pregnant?” I tried to say it calmly but she rolled me deeper into her and my breath caught.

“Yes,” she muttered and closed her eyes.

“Who is the father?” I was surprised. Was I jealous? I knew I should not be, but there was something deep and dark in most men that made us want to impregnate everything within our radius, as instinctual as the desire for food and water. I did not love her, but the animal part of me still wanted to claim her.

“It is my turn for a question, O’Baarni.” She opened her eyes and then her mouth formed a small circle shape. Our bodies were making quick wet slippery sounds as she rode me.

“Ask.” I gritted my teeth in annoyance. I needed to plan my next questions. It really didn’t matter who made a child with my lover.

“Did you kill Fehalda’s warriors?” she smiled wickedly and rolled her hips in a circular motion.

“Who?” I didn’t know who Fehalda was, but I remembered Vernine and Isslata saying the name at the campfire many weeks ago.

“There were a dozen of our warriors. Apparently they were Fehalda’s best, but I can’t imagine them being better than me.”

“I still don’t really know what you are talking about.” She was probably speaking of the Elvens who had attacked the castle the night Nadea and I had almost become lovers. Three of the assholes had kidnapped Jessmei. Seven of the others I killed, but one escaped. I remember Greykin saying he had killed one when they broke into Jessmei’s room.

“They were supposed to capture you and the human princess. Only one of Fehalda’s warriors returned. He claimed you killed seven of them single-handedly. The warriors sent to kidnap the king’s daughter never returned.” Her breath was getting quicker and her nails dug into my shoulders.

“Ahh I remember them.” I pulled her back down onto my lap again and pushed my hips up out of the chair, forcing my penis deep into her and leaving it there. My mouth attacked her nipple again, sucking and biting on it. She moaned loudly in appreciation and her body began to shake.

“So? Did you kill them?” she gasped the question in a rushed, hot breath.

“Yes.”

She made a loud moan of pure ecstasy. It echoed off the bathroom walls like a lion’s roar. Her vagina started to spasm around the erection that I had driven into her. Her face became a twisted visage of pleasure and pain that looked more animalistic than human.

“O’Baarni!” she seethed my name. “How?”

“It is my turn now.” I smiled at her and ran my mouth from her breastbone up her chest, to her neck, and to her lips, licking, biting, and sucking while she screamed in ecstasy. This climax seemed to last longer than the one I had given her earlier. When I finally reached her tongue I silenced her screams with a kiss.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Ugghhhh!” She forced my face away from her mouth and panted as the last twitches of the climax shook her. Then she leaned her head on my shoulder while she wrapped her arms around my torso and the back of the chair.

“Ask. Don’t stop fucking me though.” She moved her hips to press me against her walls. She was incredibly wet now and I guessed that it would be difficult for me to climax inside of her unless we switched positions so I could thrust quicker.

“When did you last see Nadea?” I moved my hands down to her ass and cupped her small butt cheeks.

“Five seconds before I entered your room.” Her nails lightly traced down the nape of my neck.

“What?” I almost threw her off of me, but her hands tightened around the back of my neck and her nails dug into my skin like picks into soft clay.

“How did you kill Fehalda’s warriors?” she whispered into my ear before she licked the lobe and inside the canal.

“I ran through the city, they followed me but ended up spreading out, I killed them one at a time.” I remembered the frantic battle through the dark streets of Nia and then the long chase after the three Elvens that had taken Jessmei.

She moaned in pleasure with my answer but said nothing. Her grip didn’t loosen on my neck and I felt warm drops of my blood drip onto my shoulders. I was still deep and hard inside of her, but we both seemed to have forgotten that for a second.

“How did you see Nadea? Describe the situation,” I fished again.

“Ahh … Nadea. Nadea. You should forget about her, O’Baarni. She isn’t even your lover, and there is no way she could do this all night with you like I can.” She laughed. “Actually, I have done this for weeks with you.” Isslata relaxed her grip on my neck and sat back. Her eyes were wide and unfocused. She brought her fingertips up to her mouth and ran her long tongue over the bloody nails there. The taste of my blood sent a shiver down her body that I felt through our connection. “How perfect are we for each other? All of our appetites run in parallel. I will guide you through the predicament you are in if you’ll let me.”

“Answer my question.” I forced my shoulders to relax. Her eyes focused again on my face, but she continued to lick my blood off of her nails.

“I was strolling to our suite like I normally do after my training. Your pet human was walking by with her escort. They were heading to her room, or so her chaperone said.” She smirked and put her hands on my hips.

They were probably moving Nadea around to different rooms in the castle. That way it would reduce the chances of me escaping and finding her. Nadea was tough, but I didn’t think there would be a way for her to overpower a single Elven guard that would be taking her to a new location. She could be in a room right next to me and I wouldn’t even know.

Unless I could hear her.

I filed that thought away for use later tonight. I had been told originally that Nadea was in the dungeon, and there would have been no way I could hear her from that far underground. But if we were in the same wing, I might be able to sense her voice if I channeled Earth and concentrated. It was worth a try.

Isslata seemed to know that I needed to change positions, she pushed her toes into the smooth stone of the bathroom floor and raised herself off of my legs. My penis slipped out of her and I gasped in surprise when the colder air contacted my slick skin. She spun around quickly and sat on my lap with her back pushed against my chest. Her hands grasped my length and then I felt myself slide into her warmth with an accompanying wet sound. We both sighed in pleasure once I was again inside of her.

“What do you think?” She leaned into my chest and positioned her right cheek against my left. Her hair fell over my scalp and back.

“Think of what?”

“My offer. I can help you.” She nuzzled me with her nose and her voice dropped to a whisper. Her body rocked again, forcing me to scrape against the side of her velvety walls.

“I’m not sure what you are offering, or what it will cost me.” My hands wrapped around her waist and my fingers dug into the sharp bones of her hips.

“The empress will interrogate you. She’ll want to understand why you came to this world and what clans you are aligned with. Tell her you won’t discuss it without me there. Then I can advise you.” She gasped in pain or pleasure at my grip.

“I don’t see how Nadea is freed in this agreement. Nor do I know how useful your advice will be, or what you are getting out of this arrangement. Try again.” I eased my grip and ran my fingers up and down her bare back. She made a growling noise again. Then she leaned forward and put her palms on the tops of my thighs by my knees, using her arms and legs as leverage, she moved her entrance on my shaft. Our bodies were now soaking wet from our sweat and her wetness.

“What if I could free your human?” she said after half a minute of impaling herself on me. Her breath came out in gasps.

“How would I know she is free? Why would you let her go? Won’t your general and empress be angry with you?” I wrapped my hand across the front of her body and cupped her breasts. Her nipples where hard and she unleashed a cry of pleasure when I pinched the firm mounds.

“The empress just wants you. Nadea is here for leverage. If you’ll agree to stay, then the human may go free. The empress will probably let her go after she speaks to you anyway. The king’s niece will be useful if kept alive.” Isslata leaned back into me as I fondled her breasts. Her hips moved in a circular pattern.

“How would I know she was free?” I asked again.

“You can see her leave the castle.”

“How do I know you won’t pursue her and capture her again?” I released her breasts and pushed her down on my shaft again. She shuddered and exhaled a deep moan. We’d been fucking each other for almost an hour now, but we were just getting started. We could continue for most of the night without tiring. Dinner would arrive soon though, and Isslata had said Vernine would join us.

“We don’t care about your damn human, O’Baarni!” She looked over her left shoulder at me. The glare was angry for a second before she closed her eyes in pleasure. I could feel her walls relax and then clamp around my shaft like she was flexing a muscle. She bit her lip again. Blood speckled on her teeth, lips, and a small amount dribbled down her chin. This was normal during our bouts of passion. One or both of us would finish with light wounds by the end of the night. It was fortunate that we healed so quickly.

“Okay. I agree to stay. You free Nadea. I see her leave the castle. What is to prevent me from leaving?”

“Your word that you won’t.” She pushed down harder and quicker. The wet slippery sounds of our bodies filled the tiled walls of the bathroom.

“Unlikely. I’ll leave as soon as I know she is safe.”

“Then,” she paused and let out another long moan, “you won’t know what the empress wants from you. You won’t know what her agenda is.”

I stayed silent for a moment, my brain spun around the idea Isslata had presented me while it tried to ignore the sensations my loins were feeling as she ground her body against me. I could escape this castle at any time. They probably understood that they wouldn’t be able to contain me.

“Let’s say I agree to stay after you have freed Nadea. Alatorict won’t let her go.” I guessed there was a schism between Isslata and Alatorict, but I didn’t know how deep the divide went. Was Isslata betraying him to gain favor with the empress? I couldn’t imagine she was helping me out just because she enjoyed how I fucked her.

“I will worry about Alatorict. Nadea will be freed. You’ll stay in the castle until the empress speaks with you. When she does, you’ll ensure that I am present. Agreed?” The last part came out in a squeal of pleasure. The orgasm was building in my groin. Her pace was so quick and her movement forced me so deep into her that I couldn’t hold back much longer. She must have felt my body begin to tense because her nails dug into my thighs painfully and she made the familiar moans that were an indicator of her own climax.

“I want to see Nadea face-to-face.”

“Impossible!” The word came out in a frenzied gasp. She had to raise her voice to get over the sounds of our bodies coming together.

“You are going to sneak her out of the castle. Bring her to me before so I can see she is alive and unharmed. Then I will agree to your terms.” The buildup overcame me. I tightened my left hand around her hip bone and pushed her down on my erection so that I forced myself as deep as I could into her tunnel. My right hand came up to her shoulder and grabbed her smooth skin there, pushing her body down more and bending her back like a bow being pulled. Her tunnel tightened and my first orgasm punched through us like the strike of a hammer.

My shaft tugged and I felt the painful but deeply satisfying release of my seed into Isslata. I bit her left shoulder to keep from shouting in ecstasy. She felt my body filling her entrance and her own orgasm crashed into her. She tried to twitch, either to fight against the pleasure or to enjoy the sensation as much as she could. However, I held her down against me so tightly that she couldn’t do more than tense her walls around my penis and flex her leg muscles.

Her voice was not trapped though.

“Yes. Yesssss! Yessssssssssss!” she screamed like a banshee and another orgasm sent my seed into her womb. I stopped biting her shoulder and pulled her face down sideways to my lips. Our mouths devoured each other’s and I couldn’t tell if the blood I tasted was mine or hers. Probably hers.

Our climax passed and she leaned back against my chest with a sigh. I was still hard and inside of her. The combination of my seed and her wetness made her channel seem impossibly warm and moist, but the sensation didn’t bother me. My hands and fingertips stroked her arms, belly, and breasts while she purred appreciatively.

“I can’t bring her here,” she muttered.

“You will find a way. Unless you are jealous?” I smiled when I said it. I knew I would have her agreement shortly. This affair with Isslata was turning out to be more beneficial than I had hoped.

“No,” she laughed. “Although, she should be jealous of me. Every woman in the castle should be envious.”

“You flatter me.” I smiled. I could only remember having sex with two other women. Iolarathe had enjoyed the pleasure I had given her, as had Jessmei, but Isslata indicated that I was giving her an above average performance.

“I will bring her to you. Do you agree to everything else?” She swung her right leg over my hips and sat on me sideways. The movement released my penis from the grasp of her vagina with a slippery sound. She wrapped her arms around my neck and our eyes met.

“Yes.” I smiled up at her. “It is my turn again. Why do you call yourselves Ancients? You are known as Elvens.” The O’Baarni was the old human language. It actually meant: “the ancient race.”

“Oh,” she said and opened her eyes. They stared into mine with mirth. “These outlier worlds are hardly ever visited. Sometimes they develop their own myths or petty religions. We were surprised when our initial investigation found that they had history that included our old conflicts. But of course, most of your kin are dumb and forgetful. They got their names mixed up with their events and their sides. We did not name ourselves when we stepped through the Radicle. They gave us the name and we accepted.”

I heard movement coming down the hall from outside my room. It interrupted the question Isslata was about to ask me and the disturbance sounded like three or four boot steps. She must have heard it as well; she raised an eyebrow and gave me a puzzled expression. Within a few moments there was a knock at the door.

“It is probably the food.” She slid off of my lap easily and grabbed a thin silk robe that matched her eyes. I got a last look at her gleaming body before it was hidden behind the fabric. Before she left the bathroom she turned to me.

“I’ll bring your pet tomorrow or the next day. Agreed?” she asked while she bound the sash around her thin waist.

“Agreed.” I stood out of the chair and retied my pants.

“I ruined another one of your shirts.” She gave a mocking frown before she danced playfully into the other room. I looked at the tunic and saw that her claws had ripped the back to shreds. I was running out of the fine garments that the king’s tailor had made for me.

“Ahh food! Excellent!” Isslata giggled from the main area of my suite. I heard footsteps walk into the room and the clink of flatware being arranged. I walked to the sink and turned on the cold water, splashing some on my face to bring me down from the adrenaline rush the lovemaking had just given me.

“Oh, here comes dessert as well,” Isslata purred loud enough for the guards and servants to hear.

“Good evening Isslata,” Vernine’s soft, velvety voice drifted through the rooms.

“Put that on the table,” Isslata said in annoyance. I walked into the room and saw her directing the human servants. One of them was Bethany, the girl that I had met when I had first entered the castle and been directed into the servants’ quarters. She noticed me and her eyes grew wide with confusion, but she knew better than to greet me.

I smiled at Vernine and she licked her lips. She was wearing a dark red combination of leather pants and a silk blouse that seemed to match her eyes. Her hair lay braided down her back and tied with a group of half a dozen wild roses. The three of us stood around awkwardly for a few minutes while the servants finished arranging the feast on my small oak dining table. When it looked like they were finished, Isslata shooed them out the open door to my room and into the hallway. Then she closed the door behind them and turned back to us, a look of lust plain on her face as she eyed Vernine.

“You started without me didn’t you?” Vernine smiled slightly at the golden woman. “I can smell him all over you.”

“Couldn’t help it.” Isslata stalked over to Vernine like a panther. “Besides, there is plenty left for you.” She purred as she moved her head toward the other woman’s. Vernine moaned and met her lips eagerly. Their kiss quickly turned into a battle of aggressive licking once Vernine’s hand ran across Isslata’s chest, into her half-open robe, and grasped her firm breast. I felt my erection tense with their demonstration. Flashes of the week the three of us spent in my room suddenly appeared in my memories, but it seemed like déjà vu and not a real memory.

“Hummm … Dinner first, lover.” Isslata broke the kiss and glanced over to me. She bit her lip and sighed. “We can’t keep the O’Baarni waiting. He needs to satisfy all of his appetites tonight.”

“Agreed. I don’t want him going hungry.” Vernine’s normally impassive face looked wild with desire. Her eyes reflected the setting sun that slid through the doors on my balcony and made them glow with hunger.

I remembered to exhale and sat down on one of the plush seats. There was more than enough food to feed eight of us, but Isslata was never one to live below her means.

And I did have an appetite.

Chapter 24-Nadea

“The day is beautiful,” Runir said as he walked out to the balcony, dodged my massive dress and petticoat mixture, and then flopped into the seat beside me. He was covered in sweat and I figured that he had been exercising in his room. I smiled at him and then turned to look out at the city.

I didn’t go out on the balcony often, and when I did I made sure I was in disguise. The late afternoon sun cast a shadow on the east side of the castle, so I doubted any would recognize me in the countess’s dress with my face exposed. Still, I nervously dropped the veil every few minutes just in case one of our enemies happened to glance this way.

The banquet was a few days away and my excitement made me restless. I was eager to get my talons on Nanos if I found the opportunity. I would wrap my fingers around his throat and squeeze. The dreams of revenge kept me awake at night. The moment was so close I could almost feel his blood drip down my hands.

“Still no sign of Losher?” Runir grabbed a pitcher of cold water and poured himself a glass.

“I’ve seen a few patrols on the perimeter of the walls, but none inside of the city. It looks like the noble quarter is being rebuilt.” I pointed to the northwest area of Nia that was closest to the castle. There had been scaffolding and workers moving on rooftops most of the day.

“Do you think they returned to their homeland?” Runir asked.

“Unless they went south to Brilla.” I sighed. We were cut off from all communication from my army. They would know exactly where the Losher force had gone.

“Where are the boys?” He looked over his shoulder into our suite for the other guards.

“They went to train. At least that is what they said. I bet it is a mixture of training, gambling, and who knows what else.” I grabbed a small metal file and worked a sharp angle out of one of my nails. The last few days of waiting had been tough for me. I spent them locked up in the suite with only my journals, Runir, and the guards to keep me company. Runir’s constant attention had worn my nerves down to a nub of fiery anger. I would have loved to send him with the other men to explore the castle and gather information, but the risk of him being discovered was too great.

He seemed thrilled with all the alone time we were getting. At least we had our own rooms so I had a few hours of solitude before the blonde man ostensibly grew concerned for my safety and created reasons to come to see me.

“Can we talk about the banquet again?” His question was a whine. Fuck he was annoying me. I’d seen him command squadrons of men in life or death situations, I knew he was brave, yet he had the spine of a wet rag when we talked about the banquet.

“No,” I spat. It was the tone of voice I used before I went to my room to be alone. I stared icily at him.

“I just want to review it with you. Nanos will give his speech, and then what will we do?”

“We’ll work the party and gather information. The purpose is to observe and get a feel for the attitude of the nobles.” I sighed. “This will not be dangerous if you don’t make a fucking mistake.” He winced at my words and I realized I was being a bit hard on him. “Sorry. I know you won’t make any mistakes. I am tense and nervous also.” He grinned like a dog given a rib bone for a treat.

“I’m surprised Nanos hasn’t tried to set up a private dinner with you. Countess Detoria has a massive amount of political clout. You probably got one of the best rooms in the castle, but I guessed he would have been kissing her—your—ass every day for support.” Runir smiled.

“I agree.” We had discussed this before and the conversations were spinning in maddening circles. Perhaps my friend thought I would have a new epiphany about the situation. “I can think of a few scenarios, one being that Nanos doesn’t really know what he is doing. Jessmei was always in touch with the aristocracy, knew who contributed what to high society, and what their agendas were. Nanos preferred to play fight and bully.” Runir nodded solemnly. Although Jessmei was a few years younger than both of us, she had been the darling of our childhood group. A fact that had infuriated her brother.

“Yes. But if he is being coached by the Ancients, would they let him make those kinds of mistakes?”

“No. They have set this up for some purpose. They need Nanos for something, otherwise they would just take the castle, kill the royal family, and declare their empress the ruler of Nia. The nobles might have resisted and fled to Brilla, or Brilla could have counterattacked in the spring once our main forces returned from the North.” I found myself asking what the empress’s plans really were. Again.

“It seems that they want the castle and the nobility. They banked on Nanos’s cooperation over his father’s, but they should have used Jessmei instead.” Runir nodded his head in agreement with his own theory.

“Maybe. Jessmei would never have cooperated, perhaps the empress suspected that from the intelligence she gathered. So she kidnapped Jessmei for leverage against the king. Nanos was the eager and willing back-up plan. He had probably been feeding the Ancients information since we were first aware of them. Fucking bastard.” I recalled the blonde prince standing over his dead father. His face had been angry. Angry that I discovered his betrayal and angry that I witnessed his cowardice.

“Do you think Jessmei is alive?” Runir looked down at his glass of water and then finished the beverage in a quick gulp.

“Perhaps.” My throat formed a lump. I didn’t want to talk about her. She was either dead or alive. Nothing I could do now would change that. Even thinking about what horrible fate she suffered at the hands of the Ancients would just distract me from the task at hand.

“She is a smart—” A quick series of three knocks on the door followed by two spaced out ones interrupted my friend’s words. It was the signal that our warriors were returning. We relaxed when the door slowly opened and my guards entered.

“Any updates?” Runir asked as he got out of his chair to greet them.

“A few,” my lead guard said. His name was Westar and he had been in my father’s service for the last twenty years. “Nanos hasn’t met with any of the other nobles yet and they are quite offended.”

“Any news of the Losher army?” I asked.

“They have been relocated to our keep.” Westar’s face scowled in anger. “The leader of the Ancients had some sort of agreement with the Losher chiefs. Apparently they have a strong alliance.”

“This seems odd. Our men will just come through the pass in spring and retake the castle if Losher’s army is not here for support.” I tried to figure out what the new position of the army meant.

“Perhaps it is a feint? They could be back in Nia within a week. It will take four more months for our warriors to push through the mountains. It was probably safer for the Ancients to move the Loshers off of the board for some time instead of trying to manage them here. I’m sure they are watching the southern border in case Brilla sends troops from Sapphire.” Runir’s reasoning was sound, I nodded as I studied the faces of the men. Something was amiss.

“What else?” I probed.

“There is a rumor …” Westar’s voice trailed off into silence.

“I like rumors. Do tell.” I smiled and tried to relax. This dress was a little looser than the one I wore during my carriage ride and brief exploration of the castle, but it still squeezed my torso uncomfortably. The countess was a good forty pounds lighter than me and her age had pulled all the muscle and fat from her body.

“It sounds unbelievable, but apparently a man who matched Greykin’s description was seen with a group of riders a few days’ north of the castle.”

“You’re right. That does sound unbelievable,” I said with a laugh and a sigh of relief.

“It seemed he rode with two Ancients. Or at least, Lord Cartor’s man said he saw their ears and hair when they rode. This man is positive that it was Greykin, and you must admit that the Old Bear is hard to mistake. But it makes little sense that he would ride away from the city in the company of Ancients.” I nodded and brought back the painful memory of my last moments with Greykin. He had thrown himself at half a dozen Losher warriors to buy time for Paug, the king, Nanos, and I. Greykin was a stout warrior, but well past his prime. He wouldn’t have been able to take on that many soldiers and live.

“I would guess Lord Cartor’s man is mistaken,” I sighed heavily. Greykin and I had our differences and he was more often than not a pain in my ass, but he was a great warrior, devoted to the crown, and steadfast in what he believed. Another casualty of Nanos’s treachery.

“Aye.” The guards pulled out cards and began to set up a small game on the large oaken table in the middle of the central room. I looked over to Runir and then nodded my head for him to join them. He’d be able to dig a little deeper than I would. The hardest part about being a leader seemed to be getting accurate information from the scouts and troops. No one wanted to pass bad news up the chain of command.

I closed my eyes for a second and then reopened them, gazing down across the sprawling, beaten city. The sun would set in a few hours and I saw workers attempting to fix homes that had been destroyed in the siege. Everywhere I looked I noticed evidence of Nanos’s crime. The banquet could not come soon enough.

Runir and I made a small journey a few nights ago to investigate my father’s room, but it was guarded by Ancients and we got as close as we dared before returning. After the banquet, I would be willing to take more risks since I would understand more of the empress’s plans for Nanos and the noble families.

There was a loud knock on the door. It almost sounded like someone kicked the thick wood. In a whirlwind of activity, the men in the room moved to strategic locations in the suite. They didn’t draw their swords, but one of the guards on loan from the countess had a light crossbow already loaded that he pointed deftly at the entryway to our suite.

Runir gave me a quick glance and then crept toward the door. It was much too early for dinner to be served, and even if it were servants, they would not knock that way. Then I realized and panicked. I should have known the other shoe would drop. That Ancient with the gold hair wouldn’t let me stay here for long. I should have told Runir of my suspicions.

“Greetings, human. I see your hair has not turned gray yet.” There was no mistaking her voice. I tried to peer over casually from my seat on the balcony. Then I realized my face was not covered by the veil so I moved the material over my nose. It probably wouldn’t matter; the woman knew I was here. Knew I was Nadea. She came to put me back into the dungeon. Fuck.

“Can I help you?” Runir’s right hand held the door and his fist closed and opened twice. That was the signal for the guards to prepare for a fight. They still didn’t pull their swords though. The room was big, but didn’t have enough space for six men to fight whatever warriors the woman had brought with her.

“I need to speak to your,” the Ancient paused and laughed lightly. “Countess?”

“She is resting at the moment. Is there anything I can help you with?” I had to applaud Runir. His words sounded confident.

“You can wake her up so I can speak with her. Be a good pet and invite me in?” Her voice was honey-coated but I tasted the mockery in the question.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. She really needs her rest.”

“Listen, fool. We can do this the way you and Nadea would prefer or the way I would prefer. Letting me come inside would be the way you would prefer. Understand?” My heart froze at her words. The game was done. I got up and tore off my veil. The balcony was about thirty feet from the gardens below, but the walls of the castle were smooth. I was a great climber, but by the time the dress came off, the Ancient bitch would be on me.

“Hold on.” Runir looked at me and I tried to mask my fear while I nodded. I didn’t think I fooled him, Runir knew me too well. He swung open the door slowly and the woman with golden hair strutted in like she owned the castle.

“Shut the door,” she said over her shoulder without looking at the blonde man. “Ahh.” Her eyes focused on me from across the room and balcony. “I didn’t believe that you were sleeping.” She looked around at my guards and smiled when she saw the crossbow.

“All these rats trapped in a cage, and now the kitten has entered. Whatever will you do?” The Ancient was clothed as she had been a few days ago: high boots with armored plates, form-fitting leather armor with golden stitching and decorated chain mail over her shoulders. Her sword hung from her side and the blade looked impossibly wide for a woman of her size. She stood about as tall as me, but the weapon must have weighed seven or eight pounds. I noticed she carried a small satchel over her left shoulder so as not to impede her weapon coming free of its sheath.

“What do you want?” I mustered up as much courage as I dared. My voice sounded surprisingly fierce to me, but it just made the Ancient’s smile widen.

“What I would really love is for your little boy to pull the trigger on his crossbow. I’ve done my training for this morning, but it has been a few days since I killed anything.” She glared at the man with the crossbow and I saw beads of sweat roll down his face like rain down a stone wall.

“Put down your weapons. If she wanted to kill us, she would have by now.” I looked back at the woman. “She came alone, so I’m going to assume this is a peaceful visit?” I nodded when I said the words and did my best to smile.

“Why yes it is. Would you prefer a private conversation, or do you need your,” she glanced around at my guards and laughed whimsically, “muscle here?”

“We can speak in my bedroom.” I blurted with a pointed finger toward the door to my private room. I was suddenly curious as to what she wanted. I started to fantasize that I wouldn’t be dragged to the dungeon after all. The woman nodded, and if it wasn’t for the staccato slams of her boot heels on the stone floor, I would have thought she floated across the tiles and through the door to the bedroom. She moved with impossible grace.

I made my way across the balcony and through the main room. Runir gave me his look, but I smiled at him and he seemed to relax for a brief second.

My bedroom was large and connected to a private bathroom. In front of a small fireplace stood a table that would seat two comfortably. The woman made her way in that direction and I began to panic. I had forgotten that my notes and journals were left open on the table.

“Oh. You have a much nicer bed than in my suite.” The woman suddenly made a turn and walked toward my bed. It was actually Maerc’s room and the bed was a gigantic affair of dark wood infused with iron and engraved scenes of battle. It would hold half a dozen people on it with ease. The Ancient woman tossed herself on it and lay back onto several pillows with a sigh.

“Yes,” she seemed to purr. “Much nicer.” I crossed my arms and debated standing in between the bed and my table, so that the Ancient would look at me instead of the documents I foolishly left out. I decided that it would be best to talk to her from the other side of the room by the door, to keep her from looking toward my writing.

“I thought you wanted to speak privately?” Sweat trickled down my back and under my corset.

“I do. Your bed has distracted me.” She sat and regarded me for a second before continuing.

“Why did you return?” she asked.

“I have business here.” I tried not to fidget, but the sweat under the tight material made my skin crawl and itch.

“What business?” She looked away from me and examined her nails. They were sharpened to dagger-like points.

“I heard the prince was hosting a banquet for the nobles of Nia. I am a noble, hence I am here.” I smiled.

The woman laughed heartily from my bed.

“You are interesting, human. I can see why he likes you.” My mouth turned to ash. He? Her silver-haired leader had not seem to give a shit when I hung dying in the dungeon. Were we having dinner with him?

“Why are you here?” I went on the offensive, but the words came out weak.

“I’m afraid I need to interrupt whatever you might have been planning for the banquet. You will change into these.” She reached around her hip and grabbed the satchel, and then she tossed it to me before continuing. “Then you shall accompany me for dinner, afterward you will return here, pack up your things, and leave with your pet mice.”

I looked into the satchel. It had the familiar gray and black garments that the servants wore. I knew she just said something about dinner, but I couldn’t focus on anything other than the last part of her command.

“Leave tonight?”

“Yes. I can’t have you scurrying around here, getting into trouble. It will just make us all look bad. You will need to leave. After dinner of course.” She smiled and leaned back into the pillows. “I am taking this bed,” she muttered to herself with a sigh. Her comment about the bed made me angry, but I forced it into my stomach.

“I cannot leave before the banquet,” I said through gritted teeth. The Ancient’s eyes opened lazily and she glanced over at me. Her lips curved up into a menacing smile that reminded me of a mountain cat.

“I don’t think you understand what is going on here, human. You come with me now and then you leave tonight. The other option is that I walk into the other room, kill all of your guards, and then take you to the dungeon where you will rot for the rest of your short life.”

“Why dinner? Why the servant’s clothes?” I asked, trying to buy time while my brain spun. Fuck. I had almost made it, but I was caught. Perhaps I should thank the Spirits for the fortune of this situation; I could be back in the dungeon. This Ancient was giving me a possible escape. I didn’t know why, but I would need to take it. Freedom gave me the possibility of still being able to do something for Nia. If I ended up locked in the cell, that meant the small guerilla army would flounder and die. Visions of getting Nanos alone in a dark corner during the banquet and strangling the life out of him or ripping his throat open with a dagger danced in my head before they faded. I felt my eyes sting and water with disappointment.

“You ask too many questions and don’t think enough, bitch. Put on the clothes now.” Her eyes flashed dangerously.

“Fine,” I spat and walked toward the bathroom.

“No human. Put them on in front of me,” she said before I took two steps. I turned to look at her, I didn’t understand their facial expressions that well and thought she may have been joking. She licked her lips slightly and then waved a finger at me. I sighed and twisted my hands around the back of the dress to undo the straps.

“Remove all of your clothes first,” she instructed.

“I think I know how to get dressed,” I growled.

“Do exactly what I say. I’ve already explained what the consequences are. Are you an idiot? Should I repeat myself?” Her voice sounded frustrated. “I’ve been very generous, human. Shut up and be a good girl for the rest of the night or I’ll start to take my anger out on your friends in the next room. Understand?”

I nodded and finished ripping the old-fashioned dress off of my shoulders. There was a layer of petticoat underneath and I took that off as well. Then I unfastened the corset, kicked off my shoes, and stood there in my undergarments. She was threatening my guards, but not physical harm to me. She needed me for something.

“Take them off.” She waved her finger at me.

I grabbed the thin silk material that supported my breasts underneath the corset and untied it. Then I wrapped my left arm over my chest and then used my right to pull down the cloth that I wore over my hips. I pushed my thighs together and then faced her. I tried to look angry, but the loss of my clothes made me feel vulnerable and embarrassed.

“Uncover yourself,” she commanded.

I removed my arms from my chest. I had smaller than average breasts from the various exercises I enjoyed. She eyed them with what I thought looked like hunger.

“Feet apart.” She smiled and the words came across with a purr.

I moved my bare left foot out so that it lined even with my shoulder. I stood with my hands at my sides. Servants used to assist me getting dressed when I was younger, but the only other people I recalled seeing me naked were Staril and Kaiyer. The memories of my time with Kaiyer were fresher in my mind and had been a much more enjoyable experience than this.

“Don’t fret, Nadea.” Her eyes ran over my body. “Nothing bad is going to happen. Turn around slowly.”

I moved slowly until I faced the wall where I had closed the door.

“Stop.” My back was to her. “Turn your face to me,” she said as I cranked my head over my shoulder to look at her. She still sat on the bed. My heart pounded through my chest and I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t know if it was possible for a woman to rape another woman, but I was pretty sure this bitch could find a way.

“Bend over at the waist.”

“What?” My voice came out in a squeak of panic and I couldn’t help but tremble. Fuck her. I will not let her rape me.

“You heard me. Don’t worry. I won’t touch you until after dinner.” Her words scared me even more, but I did as she asked, bending so that my upper body was parallel to the floor and my ass pointed at her.

“Spread your legs more,” she demanded again. I wanted to scream at her, to tell her no. But I knew where that would lead. Were the guards listening at the door? I panicked with the thought that Runir would hear what she commanded and charge in with a glorified sense of bravado. The Ancient woman hadn’t even batted an eyelid at the crossbow pointed at her from a half a room away. She was either insane or extremely confident of her combat prowess.

I shifted my feet out a little more and said a silent prayer to the Spirits that the movement would be enough.

“Spread your ass cheeks,” she whispered.

“Fuck no!” I said with what courage I could muster. My body was cold and shaking. I had never known fear like this. Even when I had first been thrown into the dungeon and the Losher men tried to rape me I fought back and kicked at them. They eventually gave up and left me alone but the feeling and knowledge that I might protect myself was present in my mind then. There was nothing I could do against this woman. She’d kill Runir, my guards, and then imprison me if I didn’t do what she commanded.

“Spread your ass cheeks,” she insisted again in the same manner. I was surprised that she didn’t raise her voice.

I reached back with my right hand and pulled my butt open to expose my sex to her. My fingers held like that for ten seconds before my legs ached, especially my injured one.

“Do you enjoy showing me your pussy, bitch?” she moaned.

“No. I hate it. I hate you,” I gasped out in pain.

“You’ll feel different at the end of the night. Do you understand that I could have you right now if I wanted to?”

“Fuck you.”

“Exactly. But I want you to agree with me. You understand that I can have you right now if I wanted to, yes?” she repeated. I didn’t answer her immediately.

“Agree, unless you want to upset me,” she purred.

“Fine!” I almost shrieked. In my mind I begged Runir not to come inside the room. I should have locked the door. Damn it all. Damn this bitch.

“Fine what?” she pressed again, her voice mocking.

“I understand that you could have me right now if you wanted!” I gasped. The pain in my legs was distracting me from the shame and embarrassment in my chest. I had never felt so powerless. I needed to figure a way out of her web.

“Excellent. Good girl. Stand,” she said with pleasure in her voice. I exhaled in relief as I stood up and took the tension out of my lower back and thighs.

“In the bag you will find a white towel. Take it out,” she commanded. I bent down gently and moved my hands through the bag until I found it. It looked like a flour sack.

“Rub that towel over your body. Stop when I tell you.” I turned around to her with puzzlement on my face. “Do it!” she commanded again with a wave of her finger.

“I grow sick of your attitude Nadea. Next delay in your action or ridiculous question will result in the death of one of your guards. Do you understand?” Her voice rang through my head like the alarm of the castle.

I started rubbing the towel over my body and didn’t realize that I was covered in a thin sheen of perspiration. I didn’t know if it came from fear or from the uncomfortable position I had taken when I exposed myself to her. After half a minute I finished rubbing my armpits, stomach, legs, feet, face, and neck with the cloth. It smelled of onions and bread, confirming my belief that it once carried flour or vegetables.

“Enough.” She sprang out of the bed with ease and walked a circle around me, eyeing my naked body like a cat about to kill a mouse it had just hamstrung.

“Very good human. See? This whole night will be easy and enjoyable for you if you do what I say. I promise no harm will come to you.” She smiled again as she stopped her patrol in front of me. Her face leaned in close and our eyes met. There were golden flecks in the green orbs and they caught the light from the sun that streamed in through my window.

“Put on the rest of the clothes in the bag.” She leaned back against the footboard of the bed and crossed her arms while I bent down again and removed the garments from the satchel.

The underclothes, long skirt, and thin wool vest fit as well as I expected. There was a small piece of black and white ribbon that I held up carefully as I looked at her with my eyebrows raised.

“For your hair. Tie it back.” I complied quickly and pulled my dark brown hair into a thick ponytail. The ribbon made a large bow and I felt the ends drape down with the hair and tickle the nape of my neck.

“Now we go to the kitchen.” She pointed to the door of my bedroom. “After you.” I walked to the door and swung it open to my main suite.

The guards stood, unnaturally still, around the perimeter of the room. They stared forward in an obvious attempt to avoid eye contact with me or the Ancient. Except Runir. His face was red with rage and beads of sweat ran down his forehead. He must have heard everything. His hand grasped the hilt of his sword so tightly I feared the pommel would pop off from the handle.

“This little mouse will be back tomorrow morning. Pack your clothes and equipment, she will be departing shortly after dawn. If I see any of you outside this room, I will kill you and your precious Nadea.” The golden-haired woman rested her left hand on my shoulder and her grip tightened. “Let’s go girl.” She pushed slightly and I moved toward the door. My brain seemed disconnected from my body, almost as if I watched her push me out from Runir’s point of view.

I opened the door and walked into the hallway. My torturer closed the door behind us and released her hand from the possessive clutch it had on my shoulder.

“Move. We have an appointment to keep.” I nodded and began to walk toward the kitchen. We continued down the long hallway for a minute before she spoke again.

“Walk naturally,” she said in annoyance.

“My leg is injured. You saw the bandage? I normally walk with a cane.” I tried to make the annoyance in my voice match hers and gambled that she wouldn’t want to waste any time going back to the room to kill my guards.

“Tonight you don’t walk with a cane, and you walk naturally. Understand?” Her eyes narrowed with anger and I nodded.

We took the stairs down to the first level of the castle. There were small kitchens on every odd floor, but the main one was below the West Wing and produced most of the food. I wondered how many soldiers, guards, and nobles where in the castle today. I would have had a better estimate at the banquet, but since it was close to dinner time I might make a guess from the stress of the cooks in the kitchen.

“Do not speak.” I nodded as we approached the massive swinging double doors to the kitchen. The pleasant aroma of venison, quail, pheasant, boar, bread, and cheese wafted into my nose. The scents pulled me out of my daze and reminded me that this horrible woman was taking me to dinner with someone. I needed to figure out whom it was before I got there so I could prepare myself.

I already had a few guesses.

The kitchen was a frenzied symphony of smoke, crashing pots, yelling cooks, and demanding servants. My escort held me back with a careful arm as a group of men and women, arms impossibly full with covered platters of food, flowed past us like rushing river water. Once they passed, she spotted a gap in the flow of their movements and pulled me with her to the main table. There sat a balding fat man looking like a bloated spider in the center of a web. He sorted through stacks of papers, yelled orders, and randomly sampled food set before him. He seemed completely in control of the hectic storm that raged around him.

Until my captor cleared her throat to get his attention.

“Hello, Mistress!” The man fretted and stuttered like a boy asking a girl for a first kiss. What I had assumed was grease on his bald forehead turned into sweat. He wiped his hands nervously on his dirty white apron.

“Is it ready?” she barked.

“Not yet. My apologies. It will be ready in ten minutes.” The man’s face betrayed the terror he felt as he stood up to bow before her.

I understood his emotion. This woman wore fear, hatred, and power like a cloak around her.

“I suppose if I drove a stake through your bloated body and cooked you over a fire it would mean this whole fucking kitchen would cease to function. Yes?” she snarled.

“Y-y-y-yes!” Silence fell suddenly over the massive kitchen. People still continued to move about their business, but they had an ear and eye glued onto what I guessed would be a tragic end to their boss.

“But I believe you could run the kitchen with only one eye. Perhaps even missing a few fingers as well. Don’t you agree?” She smiled and the nausea in my stomach spread through my body like a fever. The man gasped and took a step away, but the woman reached across the table in a blur and grabbed him by the throat. He must have weighed two hundred and fifty pounds at least, but she yanked him over the table like he was a stuffed toy made for a child. Papers and half-eaten plates of food spilled everywhere.

“Which do you prefer to lose? The right or the left?” He waved his arms frantically through the air as she balanced his body on the edge of the table. She must have relaxed the grip on his throat because his answer came out in a sob of terror. “I didn’t make that out human. I’ll just decide for you.” Her right hand moved to the man’s face and his scream filled the room.

“It’s ready!” A girl carrying a silver-covered tray about the size of her small body ran to the table and pushed the platter down with authority next to the Ancient. The woman paused in her makeshift surgery and turned to the girl.

“It is all there?”

“Yes.” The servant must have been about fourteen or fifteen years of age. Her jaw was firmly closed but I saw no terror in her eyes, just anger.

“Excellent.” The Ancient smiled and moved her fingers away from the fat man’s face. She let go of the front of his throat. “I like you little human. What is your name?” The golden-haired demon leaned down as she faced the servant.

“Bethany is what I am called,” the girl said.

“No one will get their food if the kitchen staff doesn’t move.” The Ancient glanced around the room at the fear-stricken servants. They jumped into action like a hundred mules being whipped at the same time.

The woman looked back over her shoulder at me and then pointed to the massive tray. I quickly grabbed the platter and heaved it onto my shoulders as I had seen servants do. The balance was a little tricky because of its weight, and I suddenly had a new respect for the servants I had seen carrying similar trays with apparent ease. This one must have weighed at least twenty pounds and was larger than some of the shields the guards used.

“Bring three bottles of wine and five pitchers of water to my room in ten minutes,” she said to the girl. Bethany nodded and smiled slightly. I guessed she was happy to be trusted with this task, but probably also worried that she would soon be in the diabolical woman’s presence again. “By that time, I’ll have had a chance to examine the food you prepared. If it is incorrect, I’ll throw you from the balcony.” The girl’s eyes opened wide and she let out a small gasp. The Ancient had already turned and walked toward the double doors that led out of the kitchen.

“It will be okay,” I whispered to the girl quickly. The tears rolled down her face, but she hadn’t cried out. I wondered if she was confident she had prepared the food correctly or if, like me, her mind would be seized with doubt and terror until the Ancient gave her verdict. She nodded and I wanted to pull her to my chest and cry with her.

“Move, bitch!” the Ancient woman shouted at me from the kitchen’s exit. A few of the other servants looked at me with sympathy as I made a dash for the door, but I couldn’t return their eye contact. I didn’t think any of them would recognize me since I wasn’t a common figure in this castle, but if anyone knew I walked around in servant’s clothes it would complicate matters.

“Where are we going?” I asked after a few minutes of walking through the halls. We headed toward the East Wing, so I ruled out the possibility that Nanos had found out about me and was behind the mystery dinner.

“My room. Do not speak anymore. Your questions annoy me.” She increased her pace and my injured leg struggled to keep up to her long strides.

We turned a corner to head toward the stairwell and there were four Ancients walking the opposite direction.

“Isslata,” the man in front greeted my escort. She stopped her walk and spoke to the group in their flowery language. I kept my eyes on the ground and tried to find a position between my shoulder and arm that could comfortably balance the heavy tray. The five minutes of their conversation felt like an eternity, but eventually the woman parted with the other four and beckoned me to follow her.

“Isslata is your name?” I asked. I expected her to lash out at me again, but her face seemed lost in thought, whatever news the other Ancient had shared did not seem to excite the vicious woman. I let the question sit in the air for a few minutes and decided that I didn’t want to push it.

We reached the base of the main East Wing staircase. From the intelligence we had gathered, I knew most of the noble guests were being kept in the North or West Wings. The Ancients occupied almost the entire East Wing and very few servants climbed their way up and down the stairs. The stress of dealing with our conquerors was plain on each person’s face as they rushed to complete various tasks.

Isslata’s boots made obnoxiously sharp noises as she ascended the steps. I moved to the side of the stone steps and grabbed the thick wood railing to help pull myself up, but my leg and the weight of the tray did not cooperate. I hated feeling feeble. My body was normally strong, but fatigue and fear were ravaging my muscles. At the end of the first flight of stairs the woman stopped and looked down at me with her arms crossed.

“You are weak, stupid, and slow human. The only pleasing quality you possess is your beauty. But even that will fade in a few years.” She tapped her foot impatiently but only got a few clicks sounded before anger fueled my climb and pushed me up to meet her.

“Two more flights?” I asked, and she nodded before she started up the stairs. The third floor was where I saw this woman a few days ago while I walked with Runir. It was the floor where my father’s room had been. Where my room had been. Where Paug, Iarin, and Kaiyer had stayed.

“With whom am I having dinner?” My leg screamed in agony by the time I made it up two more flights of stairs, but I had grown used to the constant pain and throbbing it generated.

“You’ll find out soon.” She smiled at me wickedly. I knew then it was the general of this army. The silver-haired Ancient who was controlling this castle and manipulating Nanos. I couldn’t guess why he wanted to meet with me over something as pleasant as dinner, but it seemed I would know shortly.

“Are we going to Kaiyer’s old room?” I said as we turned in that direction.

“Do not say that name!” She was suddenly angry. Angrier. From what I had experienced so far, the bitch seemed to be irritated all the time.

“Kaiyer?” Before I saw her movement, I felt Isslata’s fingers wrap around my throat and her nails dig into the side of my neck. It was obviously the wrong word to say.

“Yes, you human bitch. That name. Don’t be fooled. He is powerful, but he is not the Destroyer. We’ve already done more than enough to bend your kind to our will.” Her left hand casually reached up to steady the tray I almost dropped as my other hand grasped her wrist. She was so unbelievably powerful. I knew I was stronger than most normal humans because I was half-Ancient, but I couldn’t even comprehend how someone her size might crush my windpipe so easily. I tried to gasp out a response, but it came out with a wheeze. She let me go and I stumbled onto the thick rug that decorated the landing of the stairwell. I dropped the tray as I fell back, but it slid from my shoulder into her deft hands.

“We own this world now. There is nothing the O’Baarni or you can do to change that fact.” She glared down at me. My breath came out in painful wheezes that were fueled by adrenaline. At least she wasn’t trying to rape me.

Yet.

“Get up. You don’t want to keep him waiting do you?” Her anger seemed to have faded and was replaced by a beautiful smile. This woman was fucking crazy. Her emotions spun from one end of the spectrum to the other quicker than the words left her mouth. Were all Ancients like this?

“Fuck you and fuck your boss. I will not have dinner with that smooth-talking asshole; he’ll need to interrogate me in the dungeon with Nanos like before.” I shot to my feet and forced my body to relax. She was faster and stronger than me, but I’d tackle her when she set her tray down to fight me. I was sick of her and my fear.

“What?” She looked at me in confusion and disgust, as if I had two heads.

“Fuck you! You don’t own me. I’ll die before I’ll dine with that asshole.” I stepped forward and aimed a jab at her nose. It was a quick shuffle and I did a good job of not projecting the strike. The sucker punch would have caught most trained warriors off guard, especially if they had looked as confused as Isslata seemed to be.

I’m sure the blow would have made Greykin proud, but the woman’s face seemed to blur out of the way at the last fraction of a second. My fist traveled past the point where I should have contacted her nose and I felt her hand glide over the top of my arm and then touch my chin. My body spun over backward and the air exploded from my lungs when my chest and stomach slammed into the carpeted floor. I gasped and spun from the ground to my feet. My chest was screaming for oxygen, my injured leg yelled a violent protest, and my lungs seized from the impact with the floor.

The Ancient laughed. Her voice sounded like that of a singer’s. I crouched on the ground a few feet away from her and her eyes had closed in mirth.

“Oh, you stupid human.” She still supported the tray of food with her left arm as easily as I might hold a piece of cloth. “You are wrong on both accounts.” She controlled her bell-like laughter finally and smiled at me. “You see, I do own you. Do not question that fact. But you’ll be happy to know that you are not having dinner with Alatorict. Didn’t I say this night would be enjoyable for you?”

“Alatorict is the man with the long silver hair?” I questioned.

“Yes. There is nothing enjoyable about him. Believe me.” She smirked.

“Then—” I began to ask but I never finished. I flew off the ground like I was a bug being thrown across a field. My chest, head, my whole body felt numb and my muscles constricted. I saw Isslata take a few steps toward where I stood before she lifted off the stone tile as well. There was a sound like a piece of paper being torn in half, only it boomed so loud that every single fiber of my existence resonated with the sound.

I fell for what seemed like forever. Light turned the world white, then red, and then black. I thought about my father. Was he still alive? Was he in the castle? I had my earliest memory of visiting this castle. I must have been four or so, maybe five. Jessmei was just learning to talk and acted as my shadow for the month we stayed here. Nanos and Runir had struggled to beat me at their mock games of combat. Why weren’t we children anymore?

Air came ripping into my lungs and I sat up with a gasp of shock. My whole body hurt, especially my ears and the back of my head. I reached around with my left hand and my hair was coated with thick blood. I pressed carefully on the wound. I didn’t find anything broken on the skull or I probably wouldn’t have ever woken from my faint.

The air filled with dust, smoke, and heat. I realized I was at the base of the stairwell that led up to the West Wing. Somehow I had been thrown off of the third floor, fallen some sixty or seventy feet, landed on my back, and lived. It was a fucking miracle. But what had happened?

I rolled over and tried to stand, but my legs didn’t seem to want to work. I panicked, thinking for a brief second that I damaged my spine in the fall and would never be able to walk. Then pain from below my waist flooded my brain and I got dizzy. I coughed and it came out in a thin spray of blood that covered my hands. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of pushing, I stumbled to my feet.

Now that I swayed upright, I could see over the fog of dust covering the world. The stairs leading to the East Wing looked like they had been smashed by a hammer. All the hallways on that side of the castle had collapsed, as if under the pressure of some unseen yet massive weight. Whatever force ripped through the wing had tossed me out of the way of a certain death beneath thousands of pounds of stone.

I heard a ringing in my ears, but it was so faint that I thought it was in my head. The tone of it brought back a memory of Kaiyer. I remembered sitting in the bathtub with him and then we had—

The ringing. It was the alarm. We were under attack.

Not we. Not humans. The Ancients were under attack.

What force would attack the Ancients and rip one whole wing of the most massive castle down to rubble? Did the Ancient’s even have enemies besides the O’Baarni’s army?

Had Kaiyer’s troops somehow found this place? How did they get here? My mind spun so fast, I got dizzy again. Suddenly there was pressure on the back of my skull and I opened my eyes to notice the cracked ceiling. I must have fainted again. Nausea clenched my stomach like a jealous child with her prized toy.

I got to my feet quicker this time and looked around for the golden-haired Ancient. I didn’t see her, but I saw the scattered tray of food that I had carried. Dizziness hit me again and I started to stumble. The ringing in my head seemed to lower in volume and I reached my hands up to touch my ears. They came away bloody and I realized my ear drums were probably blown by the force that had knocked down the walls of the castle.

My body ached. I bent over on the ground and clutched my stomach. It felt like I was trying to digest glass. I coughed again and instead of the thin mist of blood, a thick splatter of red came out of my mouth and fell to the floor. I stared at it through swimming vision before the realization hit me.

I was dying.

The thought penetrated my brain and traveled through my body in a quick shock of sadness. I had felt the terror of impending death before, but not with this sickening acceptance. When I had hanged in the dungeon, death had tempted me, a welcome escape as simple as the release of falling asleep. I had wanted it, both as an escape from pain and a final, fatal fuck you to Nanos. Though the hope that I might somehow live had never left me in complete despair. In the jungles of Vanlourn, just after we had woken Kaiyer, when the Vanlourn troops had us cornered, I had accepted that we were going to die. I did not want it then, but I knew it would be mercifully quick and painless, and again, I had the little bit of hope that we could get out of it. And we did.

There was no hope now. There was nothing that could save me from internal bleeding. It didn’t matter if Runir showed up suddenly to carry me out of the castle. It didn’t matter if Kaiyer came back from the dead to kill all the Ancients. If I mustered the strength to stand and flee the castle, it would only change where I died, not how. No power would reverse the damage that had already been done to me. Even if my father were here, he could do no more than hold my hand and comfort me during my last few hours.

I wished my father were here.

My eyes began to water. I didn’t want to die like this. Not only was I alone, but I hadn’t made the impact on the world that I wanted. I had accepted that I would never conceive children, but Nia was my child, and I hadn’t done everything I needed for her people.

My people.

I saw the light from a window reflect off of something on the floor a few yards from me. It interrupted my thoughts and I found myself unable to consider anything besides discovering what the shiny gleam might be. I crawled over to the object and cleared away some small, loose rubble.

It was a blade, a steak knife from the kitchen. I had probably carried it on the tray and the fall set it free to land here near me. I stared at its simple wooden handle and slightly serrated edge. I picked it up and I tested the sharpness of the blade against the flesh of my thumb. The single-sided blade wasn’t as good as a dagger, but it easily parted the skin.

The weapon would probably do the trick.

I fought to my feet again and smiled, fuck self-pity. I placed one foot in front of the other until I was suddenly running down the hallway toward the North Wing, my pain forgotten and my death repressed. I had a purpose now. There was still something I could do before my life ended.

If it really was an alarm and if we really were under attack, I knew exactly where Nanos would be heading.

And I knew how to get into the Safe Room.

Chapter 25-The O’Baarni

I jumped off my horse before we reached my tent. The massive black steed sensed my frustration and huffed in annoyance when my attendants tried to grab his reins. The roar of my army filled the air of the valley. The sound made me grit my teeth when I thought of what Iolarathe had said to me.

Why would I surrender when I was so close to victory?

My armor weighed over seventy-five pounds, but moved about me like a second skin. My body was strong, flexible, and practically indestructible. It didn’t mind the weight of the thick, skull-etched metal plates, the armor’s matching shield and mace, or the pain of the metal squeezing my muscles and flesh. The ground did mind, however, and I sunk into the soft grass a few inches when my booted feet slammed into it. One of my assistants, Bartu, deftly grabbed the clasp on my cloak and removed the long piece of red cloth from my armor before I stepped into the tent.

“What did she say?” Malek asked. He and Gorbanni had already ducked inside of my small pavilion. Though neither had said, or could even know her name, the mere mention of Iolarathe, by him, sent a shock through my body. She had never completely left my thoughts in the past thirty-six years, but my generals did not even know she existed. Hearing Malek say “her,” knowing he meant her, had seen her, left me uneasy in a way I could not explain or shake off. I concentrated on slowing my breathing and heart rate, on looking and acting as I always did. I contemplated brushing the question off and going back to the plan, but my generals were smart, and might have insight I did not. I rotated my helmet and pulled it off my head.

“She wants a treaty and my surrender—” Shlara hissed suddenly, interrupting my flowing words. Alexia and Malek also frowned. Thayer just laughed with his hands clutched to his stomach and his eyes closed in mirth. The movement accented the massive white scar that ran down his face.

“She wants us to surrender? The Elvens have gone cow-fucking-crazy!” Alexia said in a burst of humor that was unlike her.

“No. They want me to surrender.” I felt the anger slowly fade. Iolarathe wasn’t stupid, but her offer was. Perhaps I missed something? I rethought the words she spoke on the battlefield a few moments ago. I had been trying so hard to resist my feelings perhaps I had missed a key detail that would explain her illogical request.

“Ahh. So you surrender, we negotiate a treaty, then in twenty years we’ll be back where we started, only without our best weapon. Fuck those bitches. Don’t they see our army? We’ve got them outnumbered so significantly it is laughable. How could they even think we would consider a deal?” Malek grabbed a bottle of wine that I kept on my dresser and polished off the remainder.

The tent exploded into what was now familiar conversation. It was a complicated verbal dance and everyone seemed to understand their place. I wanted to sit down, take a swig of wine and forget they were here. The six of us had spent nearly our whole lives battling Elvens for our freedom. Most of the decisions we made had been made around this small, worn table. Made after discussions that were variations on the same basic conversation. Everyone had a role and a predictable argument.

Thayer would be the extremist. His ideas were almost never reasonable, but a direct path to accomplishing our goal. He would suggest attacking them directly, relying on our strength and ignoring strategy or finesse. Ignoring the possibility that we might not always easily overcome them. Gorbanni preferred to suggest superior positioning of our armies and feints that would draw the Elvens into obvious plans. Alexia’s solutions were indirect. She would suggest starving the army out or doing multiple small sorties to press and confuse the Elven generals. Malek took in all the information and painstakingly analyzed every bit until he was sure he had the one and only correct answer. Shlara made better decisions than I did. She could take all the arguments, cut through the shit, and figure out a strategy that would combine the least risk with the greatest chance of victory.

“Did she say anything else?” the beautiful brunette asked me with an eyebrow raised.

“She said a few things.” I tried to brush over the details. “I made a mistake, I was angry and I didn’t pay close enough attention.”

“Why did you take your helmet off?” Gorbanni asked with puzzlement. The others stopped argument and turned toward me.

“She wanted to see my face,” I answered.

“Why?” Shlara demanded.

“She wanted to make sure he was a man and not really a demon!” Thayer laughed again and the rest joined him.

“Too bad we know you are far more than a man,” Malek said with a huge smile on his lips. Had I heard those words before today? Had Entas said them? I felt strange and stifled, as if I had been drowning and come up to breathe only to find the air was just more water. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes to dispel the unease. I forced myself to grin and glanced back at Shlara. She still looked concerned. Her brows pushed together and her bright green eyes searched my face.

“We are missing something,” I said. “The demands were pathetic. Laughable. Made to enrage us. What are they trying to accomplish?”

“It doesn’t matter what they are trying. They will fail. Tomorrow we will crush them.” Gorbanni tossed back his sandy blonde hair and brushed his fingertips against one of the engraved rams on his armor’s shoulder pauldron.

“No.” I folded my arms across the demonic skulls on my chest. “We are attacking now.” There was silence for a few seconds.

“It is almost nightfall.” Malek winced. I had expected him to be the cautious one.

“It doesn’t matter. We see better than they can at night,” I said.

“We haven’t placed my troops and I’m going to take the brunt of this shit storm,” Thayer said with a grin. This was good news to him. If we didn’t attack tonight he would have been up all night either training or fucking. He could never find calm before a battle.

“You haven’t placed them yet?” I looked at Shlara with eyebrows raised.

“No. My apologies.” She sighed and took a step toward the table. We had our various tokens arranged in the patterns that represented our different armies, type of troops, and rough numbers.

“I don’t agree with this,” Malek huffed.

“Me either,” Gorbanni said. We all looked at him in feigned shock. “What is that look for? My horses can’t see at night!” He smiled and expected a laugh, but he didn’t get one.

“The night will burn brightly. Have no worries,” Alexia muttered from her position at the table. She pointed at a token on the board. Thayer nodded in agreement but Shlara shook her head.

I walked over to gaze down at the map. Thayer’s bear tokens were a mess and looked like they hadn’t moved since I left. Shlara, Thayer, and Alexia probably spent their time discussing what the Elven general wanted with me.

Iolarathe.

Her name drifted into my mind and spun into a smoky image of her. She looked exactly as I remembered her. Perfect red lips with flawless white skin. Her hair bled energy from the sun and converted it into the glittering of her eyes. She had seemed to express remorse at the death of my father and brother. Did she really mean it, or was it an attempt to befuddle my mind? I did see a small tear float down her face. I didn’t think that their kind felt sadness. Only hate, lust, and hunger.

My fingers reached down and interrupted Thayer’s hand. I quickly rearranged his pieces, and then I set a few of Shlara’s dragon markers on the east flank, and the ram tokens representing Gorbanni’s troops that would drive up the west flank. I put Alexia’s snake tokens back in the reserve section and split a few of Malek’s wolves from Thayer to Shlara’s side. The process took less than ten seconds and my generals stood by in absolute silence. They must have sensed that I grew tired of their mock democracy. I valued their input, but I was the ultimate authority here. I was the leader.

My skull token was the only piece off of the board. I placed it with the second wave of the bear tokens. It made a thick wooden smack when it touched the table.

“No,” Shlara and Malek said at the same time as Thayer walloped in glee.

“Malek will direct the field. Alexia will support him,” I confirmed and shot Shlara and Malek a glare. Malek sighed and nodded. Shlara glared back at me but said nothing else. She would be with her own troops and waiting for the signal from the field commander. Once the flag rolled she would be in the thick of battle and trying to protect Thayer’s flank.

“This is the end my friends.” The words came out hollow. It did feel like the conclusion of an era. None of them wore their helmets, but they all wore the invincible armor that had been crafted for them. We looked at each other across the table for minutes in silence as the crickets sounded their mating calls with the last light of the day. The sun was setting and its honey-colored rays dyed the white of my tent the color of fire. Like her hair.

“This is hard for me to say.” Thayer cleared his throat when his voice cracked slightly. I remembered how he bullied me when I first had been drafted into my Elven masters’ fighting force. I had ripped his stomach open with a concealed dagger and somehow the action earned his respect. He had stood by me since then.

“I’ve worked hard for this day. We all have. Thank you all for putting up with me. I can be an asshole.” He looked around them and nodded at their smiles, and then he turned to me. “Brother, you could have left me dying on that barrack floor after you cut me open, or left me to die in the wilderness hundreds of times when I said I couldn’t go on. But you didn’t. You saw something in me that I did not. You saw past my stupid mistakes and knew I would lead warriors and take back our lives. Thank you.” He cleared his throat again and pulled his cloak over his shoulders. The colored cloth hid the bear etching on the massive chest piece of his armor.

“It is funny,” Malek said with a smile. “When we were slaves, we were so afraid of dying. We were afraid of their whips and their powers, we were afraid of what they could take from us. Somewhere along the line, I stopped fearing death and pain. Now I only fear failure. We have endured through pain, we have endured through cold, we have endured through great loss. We have endured because we have hope that we can be free. That our children will be free. How different tomorrow’s dawn will be, because of us. Because of our endurance. Thank you for letting me be a part of this.” He looked to Shlara quickly, but then turned toward me.

“I have seen impossible things. I’ve seen humans create a new world without the guidance of our masters,” Gorbanni spat the last word. “I’ve seen our people live lives of purpose, have children, and experience love. When this is over, I plan on doing some of that with four of my favorite women.” He laughed and we all joined the cheerful blonde man.

“At one point, I wished I was dead.” Alexia smiled and crossed her arms. Her armor was slightly thinner than the rest of ours, but still heavily engraved and molded with twisting snakes. “I never knew what happened to my family. Perhaps they were killed when the Elvens discovered the bodies of the men who raped me.” Her expression grew serious and she looked at me. “But I’m not the only one who has lost loved ones and wanted to die. You all taught me to live again. You are my family and I look forward to putting down my swords tomorrow morning. We will still have work to do, but it will be work that I will find much more enjoyable. Every day I am glad I didn’t die under the tree where my saviors found me.” My friends smiled and nodded; we all knew these stories.

Except for mine. I never told them about my father, my brother, or Iolarathe. As far as they knew, my life began at the barracks with Thayer.

“Damn this talk!” Shlara slammed a plated fist into her other open hand. It sounded like a thunderclap. “It makes me feel as if I will never see the rest of you after today. We’ve been through worse shit than this and come out okay.” She smiled.

“I’m sorry! I felt like it was an appropriate time to express my manly feelings about all of you.” Thayer laughed and Shlara joined with him. Her voice bounced off the canvas walls like chimes.

“Don’t worry, Brother,” she teased him. “We’ll all be here tomorrow. Alexia was right. The real work begins when the sun next rises.” She gazed down at the board and frowned a bit, her full lips made a thin line that creased her chin. “I remember how cocky I was. I believed I could do anything. I still feel the same way, but I’ve taken my bumps, we all have, eh?” Everyone else nodded. “There have been hundreds of battles where I thought I would die; there are thousands of scars to remind me of those who gave their lives for tomorrow. This is for their memory. We’ll live tomorrow for their dreams. We will create, we will build, and we will love.” She looked into my eyes. “And make children who aren’t forced to fight for their freedom. It will be the rebirth our ancestors always dreamed of.” She closed her eyes and sighed. Then they fluttered open and looked at me again.

They all waited for my words of motivation. I’d given thousands of speeches. In the beginning, Entas had practiced alone with me, making sure that every one of my words and phrases rang true with the right amount of emotion. Eventually he told me that the speeches made even his old bones long for a sword so he could destroy hordes of our enemies.

But I was not prepared to speak now.

“We will destroy their hopes and crush their dreams during the next few hours. Then there will be nothing left of those monsters.” Iolarathe’s voice echoed in my head, apologizing for the death of my father and brother. I ignored it. “They will be a legend. A story that will be told to scare children or keep our descendants occupied around campfires. They will be dust before our wind and sand before our river.” I looked around at them. I knew we would all live through this, but tomorrow would be a new life. This was the last time I would see them this way, in their armor, as generals in the most powerful army ever to walk this planet.

“We are the O’Baarni,” I said as I saluted them. They saluted back and repeated the words with perfect timing. They grabbed their helmets and rushed out the door of the large tent that flew my skull banner.

It was blood red, like her hair when it caught the light of the setting sun.

In an hour she would be no more.

Malek had already given orders to my attendant and was ordering a runner to summon his commanders. Alexia stood close by doing the same, but Shlara, Thayer, and Gorbanni had already departed to be with their troops. The Elvens would guess we were preparing to attack by observing us for the next few minutes, but we wouldn’t be ready for fifteen.

I looked across the rolling valley toward her force. They had learned from us and organized their troops in a rough copy of our chain of command. Their troops were divided into five units, each headed by a general with their own unique icon. Whereas we used animals that conveyed prowess, they used trees and flowers. Each of my generals had unique forces who excelled at specific tasks. Thayer was my heavy infantry, Shlara my light, Gorbanni was cavalry, Alexia had scouts and archers, and Malek controlled the majority of our distance Elementalists. Each general had their own brigades of other troops, but sixty percent of their forces were composed of their specialized units.

“Kaiyer,” a woman hailed from behind me. I turned around and saw Permtara donning her last pieces of armor. The metal wasn’t as heavily ornamented as my skull plate, but it was etched in the same manner. The nightmare armor and her long red cloak with the black skull indicated that she was one of the elite warriors given the honor of serving as my personal bodyguard for two years.

For the first twenty-five years, I had never had bodyguards. I had never needed them. After one battle, during which I was cut off from the rest of the troops, surrounded by Elvens and nearly killed, Shlara had come up with the idea, and the other generals agreed it was wise.

She called it the O’Baarni Games. They were a mix of fitness tests, barehanded combat, and weapon matches. These games lasted two weeks, with one winner from each general’s force chosen as victor. The challenges took place every two years, and the winners served with me until they were beaten in the next round of games, or until they had served five terms. Our troops liked the events because they were able to challenge each other and prove their strength. The winners loved the prestige and the perks the position offered. They would each have armor crafted for them by my master smith and they would train with me weekly. I enjoyed their company and looked forward to a fresh group of powerful warriors to mentor.

I smiled at Permtara as she approached. The Games were still new and nearing the end of the third term. Permtara was one of Thayer’s soldiers. She had won the honor the first year of the Games and beat the competition in the following two games. My other guards were all new this year, but Permtara might be the first warrior to be forced to retire from my service.

“Word is you’ll be fighting with my brothers?” Her grin reminded me of Thayer’s and I guessed that she was his daughter. She kept her hair shaved short and her broad nose, shoulders, and stocky build further convinced me she was his offspring. Unlike him, her weapon of choice was a one-headed axe that she wielded almost as effectively as her father danced with swords.

“The word is correct.” I saw the other guards dashing toward me from their tents on the perimeter of my staging area.

“Excellent.” She beamed.

“We will ride with their second wave.” They nodded with my orders. This was the first, and likely last, battle this particular team would guard me. I had gotten to know them all rather well and I believed them to be more than capable warriors.

“Any special instructions?” Lemarti asked. She came from Alexia’s army and had made a few attempts over the last year to bed me.

“Yeah. Keep Kaiyer alive and kill lots of Elvens.” Tarkas laughed. He was from Shlara’s group and one of the rare humans who joined the O’Baarni as a middle-aged man. The process of learning the Elements slowed his aging, but his salted gray hair and wrinkles gave him a presumed amount of authority over the other guards.

“Obviously.” Lemarti tied her short black hair back across her forehead and scowled at him.

“Who will command the field?” Loto asked. He was Gorbanni’s representative and possessed a keen mind for battle. He often engaged me in deep discussions about tactics and training.

“Malek,” I said simply as attendants clasped the cloak around my shoulders and moved to do the same with my guards. I turned to look at the last member of my entourage. “Ready?”

“Aye, Kaiyer,” Jutea spoke with a smile. Sometimes I walked through the camps without wearing my armor. On one such occasion I visited Malek’s camp and sat next to the pretty blonde woman. She had offered me a cup of beer and asked me for a story. I believe she realized who I was only after I left and had similar motivations as Lemarti, but she never expressed those feelings.

“Meet me near Thayer’s troops. I will be there shortly.” They moved toward their horses, mounted, and trotted toward the bear banner. After they departed I donned my helmet and walked over to where Malek and Alexia reviewed my troop placement with their commanders.

I stood in the background to observe them assign the runners and flag signalers their duties. After ten minutes the group of two dozen or so men and women dispersed in a swarm of excitement. They saluted me as they passed.

“We are waiting for you to take position with Thayer’s warriors,” Malek said.

“Everyone is ready?” He nodded and I turned to Alexia.

“As soon as you ride down I’ll move back with mine.” She smiled and looked behind me, distracted for a second by the attendants tearing down my tent to place the wooden platforms that Malek would use to direct the field.

“Leave now.” She saluted at my command and spun without another word, sprinting down the hill away from the battle to where her army was placed out of the view of the Elvens. I’m sure Iolarathe knew we had almost a hundred thousand warriors there, but if we had to pull them out it would be even more demoralizing.

“Kaiyer …” Malek’s voice trailed off and I turned to look at him. He still had his helmet off and his face looked concerned.

“Something is wrong?” I asked.

“You tell me.” He frowned and glanced back over his shoulder to make sure no one stood in hearing distance. Any who wanted to pay attention to us could hear our conversation, but everyone within earshot seemed occupied with the vast amount of preparations.

“Everything is fine. This is the end of the road. Think of all we have accomplished my friend.” I smiled underneath my helmet and the emotion came through my voice.

“Did you know her?” he asked. My back went numb and I tried to breathe.

“Who?”

“The Elven general. She knew you. I saw it in her eyes and how she sat on her horse.” He nodded as if he was agreeing with himself and brought his hand up to touch the gray hair at his temple. He had always been sensitive to these things, irritatingly perceptive.

“Maybe in another life. As much as a human can know one of their kind.” I didn’t lie, but it was too late to tell the full truth. I could tell that he knew it was an omission, but also knew not to press me further. Not right now.

I extended my gauntleted fist. Each knuckle of my glove was a screaming, demonic skull. “Steer us to victory,” I said. He nodded, smiled, and took my hand in return.

Then I was on my horse and down again amongst the troops. The wind picked up with the approaching dusk and the last rays of sun fought to stay over the mountains we had pushed the Elvens against.

This was the end of their existence.

My massive warhorse ripped craters into the soft grass of the knoll when I rode him down the slope toward Thayer’s army. The warriors gave a cheer that sounded like angry thunder and parted before me. I plunged deep into the swarm of armored bodies and made my way to the middle of the mob, where my personal guards stood out like an island of red in the sea of Thayer’s brown.

The Elvens had amassed their forces on the distant hill slope. Their standing army was slightly larger than Thayer’s, but each of Thayer’s troops could massacre three or four Elvens. Strange feelings of dread began to build in my stomach. This didn’t seem right, but my brain wouldn’t tell me why. It was probably because I felt nervous about what my role would be tomorrow. Would I be needed anymore? Shlara seemed convinced that we had to rebuild a civilization committed to prosperity and not violence. I agreed with her, but didn’t know how to live in a peaceful world.

“I want their general.” My guards nodded at my command but didn’t comment. The air was thick with hundreds of thousands of men and women standing at attention, waiting for a flag to signal our advance. Excitement and stress pressed down from the darkening sky and made my armor feel even heavier.

The flag at the front of the lines waved.

A scream echoed a thousand times as Thayer’s warriors dashed forward to cover the mile between the Elven forces. Hundreds of fires lit up the dark blue sky as fireballs flung from our gathered troops and spun toward the Elvens in the distance. The space was a little too far for most magic to travel, but a few balls of molten hate landed before our enemy could deflect them. A few seconds after the blasts erupted I heard their distant screams of surprise.

The flag heaved up again and our wave surged forward. We were the mounted section of Thayer’s troops. We would skirt the back side of the first wave, then pick off any Elven forces that may have emerged from the other end of the wall of pikes, swords, and shields. Then we intended to wrap up the east flank to lead the initial charge of Shlara’s army. My band of warriors rode point of this deadly arrow.

My feelings of misgivings began to disappear once my angry horse devoured the short distance between our lines. As soon as my mace liquefied the first armored skull of an Elven, my fears completely vanished and only the calm flow of the battle consumed my thoughts.

Thayer’s initial assault hit the Elvens with such force that it shattered Iolarathe’s defending lines and left hundreds of the bastards on the other side of Thayer’s attack. They would have turned around and carried an advantage on Thayer’s back side if not for our second wave. I rode like a storm of death and killed four more Elvens before they even realized my horse was upon them.

It was almost too easy, slaughtering them from horseback while they stood on foot. They didn’t have enough leverage to block the massive weight of my mace from the high angle, and the steed gave me amazing reach when I leaned off the saddle. I pushed my way eastward in the planned path, and even though I was efficiently killing each Elven I rode past, there were more than enough for my bodyguards to enjoy.

A roar rose from the direction of the enemy army. At first I thought it was the sound of Thayer’s initial wave reaching Iolarathe’s command center and killing her. Then the scream formed a crescendo that flooded my head and caused my horse to stop dead in its tracks.

I realized that it wasn’t the roar of humans.

The noise was something else. Something horrible.

My guards closed around me and I turned to look toward the Elven lines. The sun had almost fallen past the mountains, but there was a thin sliver of orange light pushing up over their edges. It backlit the army and cost me precious seconds in identifying what had made the mind-curdling scream.

There was a movement in the sky and my eyes strained to search for the source of the disturbance. Then I saw another movement to my left, where the western part of Gorbanni’s troops pushed up the side of Thayer’s flank. My vision finally found the creature and my heart stopped beating. My blood froze. Fear sank into me.

It was a dragon.

They were myths. Legends that had been the inspiration for art, song, and children’s tales. They were not real.

No matter. If it lived, it could die. If something could die, we could kill it.

The monster suddenly swooped into the air, ascending like an eagle that had caught a sudden wind draft. Then it dove with its massive wings pulled tight against its sides, so that it looked like a fat, falling snake. Just before it hit the ground a few hundred yards behind me it thrust out its wings to stop itself from a nosedive into the army. It smashed into the earth like a meteorite, sending a shock wave out of the point of impact that knocked down human and Elven foot soldiers alike, while every horse screamed in fear. Even my battle-hardened steed reined up and foamed at the mouth.

Scores of my troops died the second the massive winged lizard made impact with the ground. The creature plunged so quickly that none of them had been able to run from the impact zone. It happened so fast, I wasn’t even sure they saw the monster plunge from the sky.

Hundreds of arrows unleashed at the monster along with twenty balls of flame. All of the arrows found their mark, but only a few dozen actually penetrated the creature’s thick scales and lodged into the flesh. The rest were easily repelled, like hail bouncing off of a stone road. The volleys of fire thrown by the best of our Elementalists did little more than annoy the beast. It ignored most of them, batted a few aside with a powerful wing stroke, and even took one right in its massive jaw with no effect.

The creature was so enormous that even from a few hundred yards away and on horseback I still had to bend my neck to see where its head rose in the sky. Arrows that my warriors lodged into its chest looked ridiculous, like a splinter stuck in my arm. The monster looked up to the rising moon, let out another scream of rage and then bent over on itself like it was trying to sniff its crotch. Then it whipped its long neck out and opened its maw to release a stream of phosphorescent green magma that spread over my troops like a blanket of heat and oblivion.

Thousands of my soldiers screamed in fear, in pain, and then in death. The dragon’s breath wasn’t like the Fire that we harnessed and released into the air by channeling the Elements. It resembled a sticky liquid that coated everything it touched and consumed it like ants ate a carcass. The wind smelled of burning flesh, toxic fumes, and the ground after a lightning bolt has just impaled a tree. Only a dozen seconds had passed, but the dragon killed at least twenty-five hundred of my warriors without taking any damage.

The Elvens to my north shouted in victory and pressed their attack forward against Thayer’s front line. I had been studying the serpent while my guards fought off eight long-eared fuckers who pushed through Thayer’s first wave with a desire to end me. The sounds of their struggle brought me back in time to block a spear thrust that slid past Jutea’s guard a fraction of a second after she screamed out a warning.

I knocked the lance up with my shield after I had blocked it and Jutea carved through the place in the attacker’s armor where the shoulder and neck plates met. Then Tarkas cut through the other side of the throat to remove the head from the Elven’s body. We had a few seconds of space and I turned back to look at the dragon. It was hard to tell its exact color in the twilight, but the fires seemed to reflect off its scales like it was made of thousands of mirrors.

The claws struck down with a swooping motion and came up in a bloody stream. The ground was so thick with troops that by striking out in any direction it easily killed dozens of men. The air was filled with arrows and balls of fire, but the creature did not seem damaged or even slowed by the assault. It made the same bending movement again, with an ominous fluidity. Then the winged serpent unleashed another blast of sticky green lava that coated thousands of our warriors and burnt them alive inside their armor.

“Behind!” Permtara pointed and then struck downward with her axe. Her chop cut the arm off of an Elven who had thought it a good idea to attack the group of us with no coordinated effort from his companions.

I turned around and my stomach sank seconds before another wave of force toppled the foot soldiers surrounding us and sent our horses into a frenzy of fear.

Another winged serpent had crashed into the distance where Shlara’s troops were positioned. Unlike the first dragon that landed, this monster wasted no time showing off its plumage and releasing a torrent of molten flame. This particular wave flowed like an orange-colored sea from the creature’s mouth and destroyed everything in its path. Trees, horses, and Shlara’s warriors all exploded into plumes of fire with the intense heat.

I screamed Shlara’s name but couldn’t even hear my voice over the sound of another roar. Then a third dragon slammed into the ground fifty yards from me and threw my steed and I into the air. I managed to twist my body and land standing. My horse had fallen on its back near me but was struggling to do the same. My guards had all sprung to their feet, but their horses were in the same confused mire; the animals weren’t trained on fighting dragons or rapidly recovering from being thrown around like toys.

The giant winged creature made the familiar bend with its neck and I sprinted toward its legs.

“To me!” I shouted as loud as I could, hoping that my guards heard it and had quick enough reactions to follow me before the lava erupted from the creature’s mouth and engulfed them.

I could run as fast as a normal horse, but my steed was not a normal horse and I missed his sudden speed as the universe slowed to a painful crawl. The monster seemed miles away by the time its head came down and its maw opened to spew more of the deadly fire. I dove forward and rolled while my heart and lungs seized with terror. The whooshing sound behind me and the screams of thousands of more dying was the only assurance that I was still alive.

I stood under the creature surrounded by liquefied corpses. It’s clawed foot was so massive it could have taken my warhorse in its talons as easily as an eagle holding a field mouse. I unleased a powerful strike with my mace against what I hoped was a sensitive spot in the creature’s heel. The blow would have crushed a fully-armored Elven, or even one of my own troops, creating damage that could never be healed.

My mace bounced off of the heel of the dragon without scuffing a scale.

I’d left craters in trees with half as much force. This creature didn’t even realize I had hit it.

Fucking shit this was bad.

“What now?” Permtara shouted over the sounds of the battle, the wails of the dying, and the cheers of the Elvens as they swarmed behind the dragons to finish the carnage. We turned to the sound of another inhale of breath as the first dragon to our west unleashed another menacing volley of molten flame. My guards had been quick enough to reach my spot beneath the monster.

Loto and Tarkas had taken their swords to other parts of the creature’s legs but were experiencing the same disappointing results. Even our magically crafted weapons seemed completely ineffective against the lizard’s scales and size.

Loto and Tarkas were testing other spots of the creature’s legs for weaknesses, but it seemed impervious to our weapons unaffected by any strike they could muster. I had to stop thinking of the beast as a human, or elven, or animal. It had to have some point of vulnerability, but could be anywhere. If it lived, it could die. And I would kill it.

“The eyes!” I yelled, thinking that removing the creature’s optic input might reduce its offensive capabilities. It didn’t even flinch when I tried to smash its heel in with my mace, so I gambled that it wouldn’t notice six armored warriors trying to climb its scaly hide any more than I would notice a few fleas trying to bite me in the midst of battle.

My shield had thick leather straps for my arms and could wrap over my shoulders in case I wished to wear it while wielding a weapon with two hands. I doubted when the smiths crafted it they thought I would be climbing the leg of a mythical dragon. My mace also had loose leather straps, so I tied it onto my belt. I jumped as high as I could and felt my gloved fingertips dig into the half-inch break between the scales. My hands and body held firmly, so I kicked my feet up to find purchase with my boots.

The animal took a quick step that jarred my arms. I maintained my grip, but realized my boots were too thick to fit between the scales and slipped off their smooth, mirrored surface. This would be a climb of only arm and grip strength.

Up the leg of a dragon.

Carrying more than a hundred pounds of weapons and armor on my shoulders.

At least I would die doing something noteworthy.

I pulled up with my left arm and grabbed with my right. Then I repeated the movement half a dozen more times as quickly as I could while I tried to keep my legs from swinging too much and disrupting my grip.

I was on the rear left leg of the beast and close to where its tail was whipping through the air and slapping into the ground to kill more of my troops. My position on its leg was the luckiest one I could have chosen. The leg’s knee bent back like a dog and as I passed the joint the angle bent toward the front of the serpent, creating a slope where it was less climbing and more crawling up a smooth hill.

I paid no attention to my guards as it took all my energy and focus to find each handhold and steady my grip on the slippery, swaying legs of the monster. I felt a sudden shift in the weight of the dragon and heard a scream below me. I risked a glance down and saw that the monster had reached one of its back claws to scratch the front leg Loto and Tarkas had been climbing. The talon ripped through them, painting the back of its scaly leg with gallons of their blood. I did not see my other guards and hoped they had stayed on the ground or chosen a safer path to follow me.

Was there a safe way up a dragon? I should have paid closer attention to the stories of them when I was a child.

The creature’s back was lined with rougher scales that formed a sharp ridge of spikes where they met with the spines on top. The thick, ropey limbs that controlled the membranes of the wings were the size of pine tree trunks. They twitched to help balance the creature as it twisted around and unleashed another plume of fire and death upon our rear lines. I grabbed a large spike and held on as the ground beneath me spun dizzyingly.

Could the monster even feel me? I had to believe it did not. If I let myself believe the creature knew I intended to climb across its neck and poke it in the eye I would probably just abort the mission now, crawl over to Iolarathe, and agree to her treaty.

The thought almost made me laugh.

The dragon rocked again and I clung tightly to the spike. When its movement finally settled, I sprinted as quickly as I dared across the thick spines of its back and then grabbed onto a jutting, mountainous scale positioned right next to the dragon’s neck joint. The spine was thinner than the rest and twisted up to the massive head. It would work well if I could just hang on a few more seconds.

I heard a shout behind me and turned to see Permtara ascend the leg of the winged serpent and grab onto its spines. She crawled up the ridges on the back toward me, but then the creature suddenly flexed its shoulders. Its long, spiky tail whipped into the air and circled around before cracking down exactly where Permtara clung. Her armor was instantly cleaved in half like an apple by a sword. Blood spray coated the polished scales. The powerful warrior did not even have time to scream.

Now I knew how horse flies felt.

The dragon’s neck flexed into the air again and I steeled myself for the stupidest part of my plan. Depression and doubt suddenly filled me. Even if this was successful, there were still two more of the creatures. We were seriously fucked.

The monster’s neck aimed down and it opened its maw while I sprinted toward the flame. I felt like I was running across a round tree trunk while a tornado attempted to blow the tree down around me. Somehow my booted feet landed on the right spines and scales and I made my way to the creature’s smoldering mouth. Fire oozed out in a twirling drivel of heat that could incur the envy of the sun. My armor sizzled as I came within five yards of the jaws.

I felt the Fire from the blast pull toward me. Wind was easy to harness now, it screamed through the air at this altitude. I slid across the scales over the creature’s brow, bent over the lip of its massive eyelid, and shoved my arms into the huge reptilian pupil. Then I unleashed the Elements in a stream of agony I hoped would fry the creature’s eye and cause it so much pain that it would get the fuck away from us without extracting further damage.

The creature made a choking sound and fell forward. The river of fire cut off so suddenly that my eyes took a second to adjust to the absence of light. Then I was falling with the beast and riding on the top of its skull as it crashed to the ground. I tried to jump at the last moment before it landed, but my timing was off and I ended up smashing into the battlefield like a stack of bricks.

I got up as quickly as I could. My back screamed in pain and I figured I had ruptured some or most of the discs along my spine. They would heal in a half a minute so I could attempt to take the next fucking lizard’s eyes away. The dragon did not rise, but it twitched and I recognized the movement.

The beast was dead, but its brain still sent signals to the body.

A scream of triumph went up amongst my warriors when it became apparent that the animal was vanquished. Our shouts of victory were quickly overshadowed by the deafening roar of the other two dragons. I looked at the first monster that had landed and realized that it glared directly at me. I felt a wave of fear assault me. Its burning eyes were horrible and ancient.

“Kaiyer!” it screamed into my head a hundred times in echo as its mouth opened in my direction. A surge of fire and wind as a ball of purple magic appeared at the creature’s forehead. Then the sphere sped toward me like an arrow. I ran southward, toward a spot the dragon I just killed had already laid to waste. The ball curved in the air to chase me and I tried in vain to push it back away with Wind and Fire of my own.

My head exploded in pain, my body burst into flame, and then reformed in a second. My armor melted around me but then reformed to its original shape. The magic consumed me and killed me.

Then I was reborn in a collision of Water and Fire. Earth and Wind.

“Your time is at an end. There will be no more of you, Fallen One.” The creature’s voice echoed in my head and made me scream. I couldn’t bear its words; they were more painful than the power that just ripped through me.

My vision cleared from the smoke and blackness to see the gigantic lizard bring down its clawed foot in an attempt to crush me into the ashen ground. Somehow I dove to the side and the impact of its pummel shocked my skeleton numb. I had to think. There was no way for me to beat this thing on the ground where it could claw me, bite me, use Elements on me, or breathe fire on me. I sprang to my feet and a shock of pain ripped through me. Something was still broken in my back, but I didn’t have time to figure out what it was at the moment. Instead, I dashed through the creature’s legs hoping to avoid another frontal attack. I was fucked if the dragon decided to just fling itself down on the earth, but I didn’t see another position quite as defendable. I was a rat trying to kill a carrion beast.

A big fucking claw ripped through the air and tore a massive trench in the ground next to me. I spun out of the way before it cut me in half, but the animal moved with unreal speed. Even with my heightened senses and trained reflexes, I knew that I was just delaying the inevitable. My mace was ineffective; my strength useless and my magic would do nothing unless I could again reach the eyes.

I dove to the ground as the dragon shuffled its four feet and attacked me with its back leg. The claw missed me, but ripped across my shield. I heard the thick metal rip apart and I felt a slight tug on my back as the strap tore loose from my shoulders. My shield had blocked countless Elven arrows, parried thousands of weapon hits, and the thick gray metal had never seen a scratch. Our smiths had used the Elements to super heat a volatile blend of metals that could only be found deep in the earth. It had thus far been indestructible.

The dragon had ripped it open like an old piece of parchment. I might as well have been wearing my undergarments when I fought the beast. Each of the dragon’s scales was probably tougher than three of my shields put together. If no weapon could break through, and if no magic would penetrate, how was I going to defeat this thing before it crushed me into the earth?

Suddenly an idea slammed into my head like a punch to the face. I was trying to use force to directly damage the creature. But I knew how to kill things without doing any external damage.

As I had almost killed Shlara.

I rolled on the ground sideways while I attempted to pull the thick plated gauntlet off my left hand. I wasn’t sure if I needed to touch my bare skin to the dragon’s scales, but I didn’t want to risk it not working when I would probably only be able to make one quick attempt before it killed me. The gauntlet unbuckled and my hand slid free by the time I got close to the dragon’s leg.

Then I grabbed a scale and pulled the Earth into me.

Earth controlled and fueled my own body. But only because it was the easiest Element for humans and Elvens to harness. It didn’t move fast. It was forgiving. And it could imbue our bodies with amazing strength, speed, and endurance.

But the other Elements could also be used as internal or external power. Entas never wanted me to experiment with Water and I saw why when I had hurt Shlara. But if I harnessed the power to kill this giant mountain of fucking fire, teeth, and claws, then it would be worth ignoring Entas’s words of caution.

The Earth ignited my powers and I ripped the Water out of the dragon. It poured into me like a rushing river. An endless torrent. I felt the creature thrash against me and attempt to scream, shoot fire, anything to stop me from draining this most important Element from its body. My own body swelled with power. I had never felt so indestructible.

Time slowed down and stopped.

The colors of the night intensified until I saw that the dragon was actually light brown, with flecks of gold glittering in each of its scales. The plates were as beautiful and intricate as mosaic slabs designed by an artist. An artist who valued organic beauty over symmetry. The stars in the sky burned like suns and the green moons glowed like Iolarathe’s face after we made love.

I observed the human army. The O’Baarni. My army. They were trying to regroup after the terrible damage the dragons had wrought upon Thayer and Shlara’s forces. They fell back to the foot of the hill where we had begun our attack. The retreat flag was raised, but sat still as a stone statue. No wind ruffled the yellow and green striped banner.

I saw Malek facing me. His finger pointed at the dragon. My friend’s mouth opened in a scream, but I heard no sound. I noticed every fiber of hair on his head and perceived every bead of sweat stuck to his cheeks.

I turned to the Elven camp. I ignored their troops. I found her at the crest of the valley. Her hair wrapped around her shoulders, a jealous ray of the setting sun. Her eyes stared into mine. Their silver was so pure they looked blue in the light of the cosmos. Her deep red lips were parted, exposing the perfect row of white teeth clenched in frustration. There was fire on the battlefield, and her golden armor caught all its life and outlined her wondrous body as if she burned on a pyre.

I spent years there, watching her. I allowed my awareness to float forward. The dragon above me whined a last cry of desperation, then the gold-tinted scales faded to a light gray, then white, as its magnificent body shriveled into a mummified statue. It crumbled into dust, shattering into a million grains of powder and raining down upon me like a sudden snow storm.

Four seconds had passed since I touched the dragon.

I knew this because the cosmos knew this. At that moment, either drunk off of the power I stole from the beast as ancient as time itself, or because I had always had it inside of me, I understood everything the stars did.

I walked a few steps toward the last dragon. My shield lay discarded at my feet, cut open like the skin of a peeled orange. My step kicked it into my grip and I felt the weight of the broken pieces against my bare left hand and the plated gauntlet of my right. I pushed the metal and found the breaks inside of its makeup. I joined the shield back together and changed the construction of the metal. It would never break again.

I did the same with my mace and armor.

The last dragon screamed at me and our eyes met across the three hundred yards between us.

“You are next Recatolusti’catri,” I said to her without speaking. She still heard me. I saw her eyes narrow and tasted her fear. I knew now of the deal she struck with Iolarathe. I had just ended the monster’s mate and offspring.

She pulled her head up in a move I now understood was an exhale to fill her fire sack. A few minutes ago, the movement had seemed graceful and quick, but now I saw the beast’s age. I knew that she was the last of her kind on a world that had been plagued by their evil manipulations for too long. I continued my slow walk toward her and she unleashed the molten flow of fire in an angry river. It would not stop me.

Nothing would.

I admired the beauty of the flame, its warmth, its intense swirl of color, and the way it destroyed the grass on the ground as the river made its sprint toward me. The torrent of her breath wrapped around me, it tried to consume me and use my life to burn brighter. Fire didn’t care about the end. It just cared about the beginning. The first second as it kissed a new lover, the excitement of newness. I ripped the heat out of the lava.

The Water I had pulled from Recatolusti’catri’s mate made this easy.

The smoke cleared as I walked out the other side of the torrent. My armor steamed, but my skin was cool beneath the thick plates.

The dragon screamed again.

“How did you know?” she asked me in my head. It bounced around again in my skull in her thousand voices, but I could follow them now without pain. “You were not supposed to remember!” I didn’t understand her words, but I saw the muscular arms of her wings beat and I knew that she intended to jump into the air. I started to run and forced Earth into my limbs. There was no longer any limit to the amount of power I could harness.

She sprung off the ground and beat her wings furiously. I made the strongest leap that I could, pouring every ounce of newfound power into my body. I grabbed the edge of one of her claws with my bare left hand as she continued to climb into the sky. The old bitch rose quickly, within seconds I could barely see Malek below, signaling for our armies to push another attack on the Elvens.

I tried to pull the Water from her, but it did not work. I realized that her talon was a nail, a dead growth not connected to her bloodstream. I reached up with my right arm and clutched the sharp talon with my other hand. She shook her claws and thrashed in an effort to lose me. I felt hundreds of times stronger than I had a few minutes ago, but her strength combined with the downward curve of the claw and our rapid ascent made it almost impossible to hold on to the smooth surface.

But I did.

She tried again, swinging her feet and flapping her wings in a joint effort, like a child trying to kick a leather ball by moving her arms back while her leg kicked. My grip slid down an inch and I felt the sharp edge of her talon cut into the palm of my bare hand.

“Die Kaiyer!” she screamed into my head again as she dove. My stomach flew up into my throat, and I wondered if those tiny, glittering objects beneath us were fireballs from my army.

Fucking shit on a dragon’s ass we were high, I meant to say, but I only gasped when my hands slipped away from the talon. For a precious second I felt weightless and then I tumbled. Recatolusti’catri screamed in victory and climbed higher as I drifted toward the earth. I spun around a few times in free fall while my stomach caught up to me. The ground was fast approaching and I knew there was no way out of this predicament.

I hoped the dragon considered her participation in this war finished. The O’Baarni would be victorious tonight. My death would be worth the sacrifice.

I thought of my generals’ speeches in my tent before we had left for the battle. Their words moved me to tears knowing I would not see them tomorrow.

Especially Shlara’s words.

Maybe I had always known this would happen?

Maybe I knew that I would die before this war ended. Perhaps that was why I resisted her. Why I put off being her lover for so long. Why I hadn’t wanted to talk to my generals about what life would be like after we destroyed the Elvens.

It did not matter. I died the day Iolarathe killed my father and brother. Every step since then had been about revenge. It had been a quest to right a wrong that could never be fixed. Iolarathe knew she would die this day. That was why she had tried to negotiate with me.

My last thoughts were of her when I hit the ground. After all, dreaming was as close as we came to death before we actually died.

When I dreamed it was always of Iolarathe.

Chapter 26-Kaiyer

I sat up with a choked-off gasp. In my dream I felt the last part of the impact with the ground and the pain had been horrific. My body seized uncontrollably as it remembered the collision. I tried to roll back my tongue into my throat but I ended up biting it anyway and the taste of my own coppery blood filled my mouth like a cup of foul water.

I forced myself to focus on something else, anything else that would bring my muscles under my control. The ceiling of my room in Castle Nia twisted and turned, as if I looked at it from the bottom of a lake. My head hurt again, like it had when I was at the fire with Vernine and Isslata. Blackness attacked the edges of my sight.

“Fuck!” I said out loud. It was about four hours after lunch and Isslata would be here at any moment. If I passed out on the cold stone floor, or fainted, or did whatever I did when these black outs happened, she would ask me uncomfortable questions.

“You are still alive.” I couldn’t tell if it was a question or a statement. But I recognized the voice.

“Iolarathe?” I sprayed blood on the inside of my visor when I tried to say her name.

My helmet? I smelled the leather and the metal of it, but how was I wearing my armor in my room in Nia?

“Can you move?” I felt pressure on my chest plate. It was a soft shaking that turned my head to the left. I saw her ornate, armored leggings and boots. They were engraved with thousands of small tree branches and leaves. Each leaf looked like it was another type of metal that had been attached to the gold plates with loving perfection. The ends of her sword sheaths rubbed into the grass next to a wicked-looking pole arm that the woman tossed on the ground beside me.

“I’m going to take your helmet off, Kaiyer. Do not move,” she commanded, but I heard concern in her voice. I felt my helmet twist and then it lifted free of my head with a rush of cool air. It was morning somehow. I was still lying on the floor of my room, but I could see the sunlight of late dawn before it turned into early morning. Her hair hung down into my face as she leaned over me from her crouched position.

She removed the armored mask and her beautiful face was only inches from mine. It had dried blood on it, as if she had caught the spray of someone else’s artery. The dangling strands of her hair tickled all of my senses and reminded me of the countless hours we had spent in the hay of the stables lifetimes ago. I tried to move my arms, I needed to touch her, to know that this was real and not a memory.

Wasn’t this a memory? Isslata would be here soon. I was in Nia. I had to find Nadea.

“You fell like a star. Like a burning black star. My troops are holding a retreat, but we won’t last. Your armies have broken us.” Her face looked like it had when I declined her proposal yesterday. Not yesterday. Thousands of years ago.

“How did you get here?” I coughed out. It was dry, so my body must have healed the bite I inflicted upon my tongue. I didn’t understand how she stood in this castle. Wasn’t she dead?

Wasn’t I dead?

“I rode for an hour north to where I thought you fell.” She smiled now and her gloved hands brushed my cheek. Her fingers slipped across my skin and I figured I was covered in my own blood. “It is the end. My people are no more. I wanted to celebrate my failure at the scene of your death.” Her hands moved back and stroked my hair. This also felt sticky and wet. I had probably hemorrhaged in my armor when I landed and somehow healed through the damage.

“But you are not dead. This leaves me with a difficult decision.” She smiled and I was reminded of when she had told me to clean her feet. Her lips were deep red and contrasted with her white skin in a way that made my own mouth water.

“Did you kill the dragon?” She raised a coppery eyebrow and licked her lips. All of her kind constantly licked their lips, but when she did it my heart fluttered instead of beating with rage.

“Recatolusti’catri?” I felt my arms and hips again. The fingers on my left hand grabbed the stone tile of my room’s floor.

“You know her name?” Iolarathe kneeled down and pushed my head on top of her legs. I saw her face easier now and she didn’t have to crouch.

“Did she return to the battle?” I asked instead of answering. My voice was getting stronger.

“No. She carried you away. Then you fell. I thought you killed her.”

“I don’t remember. She shook me loose I think.” My brain was muddy and the feeling of her armored legs and her gloved hands on my skull distracted me.

“That makes the decision easier.” She smiled in sadness.

“Why did you kill them?” I asked. I was the boy again who had collapsed at her feet along with their bodies in front of the smithy. Her wicked smile came to my memory and I heard her tell them to take me away.

“It would be impossible to explain in our last few moments together. Will you believe me if I say I didn’t desire their deaths?” She tried to plead with me yesterday, but now she looked deflated.

“It didn’t seem that way at the time. It seemed that you took joy in strangling Leotol.” I felt anger returning. I clutched my hand against the soft dirt I had smashed. Yes. I was getting stronger.

“I never knew his name.” She frowned and the sadness looked sincere. “All these years and I didn’t know the name of your brother or father.” She brushed her hair back so that it didn’t dangle in my face anymore. I felt the need to kill her again, yet I did not mind the long tresses filling my senses.

“Kai was my father’s name,” I spat out.

“Our kind enjoys killing, as does yours, Kaiyer.” Her right hand caressed the hair above my brow and her left pointed to the skulls emblazoned on the chest piece of my massive armor. “I made the wrong decision back then. At the time, I felt like it was the correct one, but I have come to regret my choice. I’ve regretted it every day since then.” She looked down at me and her silver eyes hid behind the thick veil of her long reddish lashes.

“It has been more than a fair exchange hasn’t it? The lives of your brother and father for my whole race?” She sneered suddenly but her hands continued to gently brush across my face.

“What about the others? We’ve been your slaves for our entire existence.” I felt my body ready for battle.

“That is not true. You don’t know the truth of the past. We were your servants back before your history was written. Before that, we both heeded the Gods.” She frowned.

“I don’t know what you speak of.”

“No. Why would you?” She slowly lowered my head and pushed herself away from me. I sat up by using my arms to press into the grass, but my legs didn’t want to work in my armor. I looked to my left and saw the door to my room and the stone walls of the castle, but the scene was like a faded picture reflected in a glass window.

“It would not suit your agenda.” She turned and walked toward her horse. The beast was a stark contrast to my own mount. It was white, sleek, and decorated with thin gold armor, colorful silk braiding, and golden bells that gave a slight ring when the animal stepped. Her foot moved past her discarded pole arm and the weapon seemed to spring off the ground and into her hands. The spear had a three-foot-long curved, pointed blade on one end that was guarded by rows of sharp spikes. The butt of the shaft ended in a point.

“My agenda?” I questioned her as she patted down the animal with one hand and attached the long weapon onto her saddle. I suddenly feared her leaving. This would be my last chance and my fucking legs still didn’t work.

“Revenge!” she turned and screamed at me. Her face looked terrible and beautiful. The screech seemed to echo off the trees that had luckily not impaled me when I fell. “It was always about you! It was about your pain! Why didn’t you just find me and kill me? You’ve known where I’ve been. You knew which tribe! Why didn’t you murder me a few months after you escaped? You could have ended me.” My mind spun with her words. “You didn’t need an army; you didn’t need to kill millions of my people,” tears streamed down her cheeks and she sobbed, “for my mistake,” she finished with a gasp.

“This is not about you and me. This is about the enslavement of my people. It is about a life of terror, pain, and suffering. You set nothing into motion that would not have happened eventually.” I did not know if I was consoling her or myself.

“And now you have what you wanted, Kaiyer. Your family is avenged and mine is dust. Your people will live and breathe forever and mine will be forgotten. You will—” she stopped suddenly, interrupting herself before she spoke about what would happen for me. Her horse skittered to the side a bit, annoyed at her mistress’s tension.

“You will love now, and I never will.” She turned away from me and finished tying down her pole arm.

“Wait.” I got to my feet hesitantly. My legs worked but were still wobbly.

“I’m not leaving.” She faced me and wiped under her eyes with her gloved hand. It was coated in my blood, the crimson smeared across her face like war paint. I must have looked confused, because she smiled slowly. “Our people came from the World. We bond with the trees and other plants which come from the Gods. There is nothing left for me Kaiyer. I tried to fight you and failed. You think that we are monsters that should be exterminated. But we love in our own way, create art, and serve our Dead Gods as they instructed us. We do everything your kind values. Our only sin is the need for servants; just as you use cattle and horses, we used the humans. Do the cattle have the right to annihilate your species?” She drew her sword slowly from its leaf-encrusted scabbard. I reached down to clutch my mace and took a step away from her. I did not feel like I was in any condition to fight.

“We don’t rape cattle. Or torture cattle. We don’t abuse cattle. And we are not cattle.” My voice came out in a growl.

She drove the point of her slightly curved sword into the dirt so that it stood up like a tower. Then she moved her shoulders around in a stretching motion. “I’ve never seen much of a difference, except that I love you.” She looked at me again and her eyes burned like they had when we made love. “You were all I ever cared about. The rest of your species held no meaning for me. Perhaps it is my nature. I won’t apologize for the way humans have been treated. I will apologize for the mistake that ended your family’s existence and forced you into this role.” I didn’t understand where she was going with this. It would only make me angry. Maybe she wanted me to fight her.

Maybe she wanted me to kill her.

“What now?” I stepped away. I knew the answer before she spoke.

“Now we dance. One of us will survive, and the other shall return to the soil.” She pulled her sword out of the ground in a fluid motion. “Are you ready, my love?”

“Stop calling me that.” I flipped open the tie of my mace with my left hand and grabbed the handle as it fell. I had repaired my shield but lost it before I jumped onto the dragon’s talon. Iolarathe’s mouth twisted into the smile that had haunted my dreams for most of my life.

“Hate the truth?” She stepped forward with a thrust that wasn’t fully committed, and my mace smashed it aside easily. Her blade was long, curved and thin, capable of quick strikes that could rip through most armor. It’s shape actually reminded me of the sword Nadea used.

Was I dreaming or remembering? Was I awake?

“Truth depends on perspective.” I shuffled my feet back with her next flurry of swings. These were aimed at my head and would have been difficult for me to block had I not used the armored gauntlet on my right hand to slap aside a few of her cuts. Sparks flew from her blade as it contacted my mace and the nightmare armor. She was fast for one of her kind, and her attacks came at angles calculated to force my blocking arm into awkward positions.

“Then tell me your perspective.” She made a slash down to my legs that I stepped into and blocked with my mace. She must have guessed that I would make that motion because she dashed forward and slammed the side of her right shin into my face with a dazzling, quick round kick. I felt my head spin but I went with the movement, rolling to the ground and springing to my feet in time to block a high chop with her sword that would have split my skull into two pieces. I couldn’t tell if I was sluggish from my fall or if she was really this good of a warrior.

“Don’t hold back,” she prompted me when I lunged forward and tried to smash her torso with my mace. She danced around the clumsy strike and spun behind me. My body bent back suddenly and I flew through the air for two dozen feet before I slammed into one of the massive trees that surrounded us. She had kicked me in the back with strength I didn’t think Elvens possessed.

“I hate you!” I screamed through a broken jaw that was already healing. “You took everything from me and then left me to die. I thought you loved me, but I meant nothing to you, you used me.” Earth flowed through me with my anger and I felt my bones quake.

She hadn’t pressed her attack. There was a crater in the grass where my body had landed. She smiled again and looked at the dent I had made in the soil. A slight breeze picked up and her hair blew back from her face like it was on fire.

“No.” She shook her head and took a small step toward me. “You hate yourself because you love me.”

Her sword darted at me and she made a quick dash. Her thrust would have pierced my heart had I not gotten my mace up in time to block it. It was a feint, and as soon as my weapon swung a wide sweep she pulled back on her blade. My parry passed harmlessly in front of her and she stepped against me. Her left arm caught my elbow, preventing my mace from returning to strike her, and then her right leg wrapped around the back of my left knee. She grunted and shoved. Suddenly I was on the ground with her on top of me. Her hair covered my face and shoulders, drowning me in the scent of flowers and citrus. Shlara did this same take down on me last week. How had I fallen for it again?

“I’ve watched you in battle, Kaiyer. You carve through my kind like a strike of lightening through the air.” The point of her blade came up to my throat and pushed against the skin there. “My spies say that you’ve never been bested by one of your warriors. Is that true?” She licked her lips. The combination of her body pushing against me and her hair in my face drove me insane. I needed to get away from her and return to Nia.

Why?

This was where I wanted to be. This was the memory I was searching for. It was what I had dreamed about since Paug and Nadea woke me. Even in my memories, I was always thinking about the wickedly beautiful Elven woman who took me as her lover and then killed my brother and father. Wasn’t this where I ended her life?

“I have never been beaten,” I said. Her smile grew larger. I was drowning in her eyes. The silver matched the blade of the long sword she held to my neck. She had to twist her upper body away from me to keep from impaling me.

“Then why haven’t you killed me?” Her eyelids fluttered and her voice filled with mockery.

“You’ve got me pinned to the ground with the point of your blade at my throat.” I smiled and exhaustion filled my muscles instead of Earth. I didn’t remember anything after the fall, but if it was morning, and we had fought early last night, it must have been at least fourteen hours. Was I done healing? I should be dead.

“I see,” she said with a laugh. The music of her voice made my breath catch in my throat. She swung her left leg over my hips and straddled me but kept the weapon at my neck. “Let go of your mace.” The smile faded from her face and her expression turned cold. I didn’t move for a few seconds, and then she snarled and pushed the point of her blade into my neck, piercing the skin half an inch. I released the mace from my grip and grabbed the stone with my bare left hand.

“O’Baarni?” a voice called at my door. I sat up from the cold tile and looked over to the speaker. One of the Elven guards had opened the door to my room and stood with a foot inside while the rest of her body was protected by the oaken slab of wood.

“What?” I gasped. It must have sounded angry because the woman’s expression turned slightly more fearful than it had been.

“We heard shouting. Do you need something?”

The guards never spoke to me. Isslata would order them to summon servants, and they complied with sidelong glances in my direction. Every thirty minutes, a third guard would come to check in with the two at my door. He or she would ensure I was still there, and relay the message to whoever was holding the duchess captive, keeping Nadea alive in half hour increments. This was the only leverage Isslata and Alatorict had over me. The only reason I obeyed.

“No. Leave me alone.” I turned away from her and lay back down on the stone floor between my bed and the bathroom. My heart pounded like a racing horse. I took a few deep breaths and my body relaxed.

It had just been a memory.

I felt calm once again. Exhaustion had left my joints and dizziness had left my head. I went to the table for some water, but the bottle of red wine next to the decanter of water suddenly looked much more tempting. I ripped the cork out, put the jug to my lips and drained half of it in a few satisfying gulps. Fuck I wished I could get drunk. The Earth was too intertwined with the beat of my heart after so many years of using it. Ignoring the flow to prevent the subtle healing that kept me sober required a horrendous effort. I was too exhausted to let myself get drunk.

The wine did succeed in making my head pound again. I staggered to my bed and sat down on the edge. I replayed the last few moments with Iolarathe in my brain until the words she said blurred. Soon I only remembered the sensation of her hair on my face and the sound of her heart beating in a calm cadence. The sun would set in less than an hour, Isslata would be here any minute and I didn’t want to appear distracted. It had been a few days since she agreed to show me Nadea, but I still didn’t believe that she’d honor the arrangement. She would lose all leverage and be left with nothing but my word and my desire to speak to the empress.

“You always did exactly what I told you, didn’t you?” She bit her lower lip and then licked them. “Raise your left hand toward my face,” she commanded again. I thought about resisting her, but I was curious. And I wanted to touch her. I slowly raised my hand and my exposed skin was covered in burns. Probably from when the dragon had engulfed me in flame.

Her gloved right hand grabbed my left as soon as my arm extended. She brushed her forehead against my fingers. Then she pushed her face down until I was caressing her cheek, her chin, and her lips. Her skin felt like I remembered, impossibly smooth and cool to the touch. Her lips were moist and a thousand memories of our lovemaking jumped into my mind. Her eyes closed and she made a soft sigh of contentment as she forced my hand to caress her face. After a few moments she didn’t have to hold my hand up anymore. I was softly touching her temples, brow, eyebrows, nose, and mouth.

Minutes passed in silence. Finally, her eyes opened and stared into mine. Her right hand wrapped around my wrist like a vice. She smiled slowly. It was one of sadness.

“Now I will give you what you want.” She pulled the blade from my throat and brought her left hand together with mine. My palm made contact with the pommel of her weapon and she pointed the blade up, so that the long edge touched the side of her neck, a small sliver of skin unprotected by armor.

“Finish what you started.” She dropped her hand from mine and closed her eyes. The breeze turned into wind for a few seconds and it tossed her hair from my face, across my arm, and covered her blade like blood. Then it changed directions and blew her fiery mane back from her head to expose her perfect neck and the edge I now held against it.

I heard her heart beat in sync with mine. Her breath filled her chest and then she exhaled in calm, regular sighs. I inhaled the scent of her body and her hair from the few feet that separated us and it brought back the hundreds of memories of her wrapped around me. I could taste the bittersweet revenge on my tongue.

I pulled Iolarathe’s sword away from her neck and cast it aside as if it was an angry viper intent on biting me. It made a sharp sound as it tumbled through the dirt and came to rest a dozen feet from us. Her eyes opened in surprise but she didn’t resist when my fingers entwined themselves around her thick coppery hair and pulled her face down to mine.

I never would have believed that the feeling of her mouth on mine could have been as wondrous as it was in my memories, but it was. Her mouth tasted better than I imagined. Our bodies remembered each other instantly, as if no time had passed. She flicked her tongue against my teeth, across my lips, and deep into my mouth. I pulled down on her hair, forcing our kiss to end. She gasped as we parted and made a soft whine. The kind a starving animal would make if teased with food. It was an involuntary, primal sound that came from deep within her and excited me more than any other woman ever had. It was the sound of lust and surrender. The sound of desire that demanded fulfillment. My tongue traced the ridge of her perfect jawline, away from her mouth, and then my teeth softly grazed her neck. She tried to pull her face down to kiss me again, but could only gasp in frustration as I held her pinned by her hair.

My tongue, lips and teeth made her sigh, moan and purr in bliss. I had dreamed of doing this to her so many times, I did not even have to plan the next movement that would cause her pleasure. It was ingrained in my body, like the movements I practiced when training to kill. After a few minutes of torturing her neck, jaw, and earlobes with my mouth I let the tension out of my grip and allowed her head to move. She immediately attacked my lips with animal ferocity. Snarling, biting, kissing, and licking until I tasted blood and thought about pulling her head back again so I could access her throat.

“Ohh Kaiyer.” She pulled back suddenly. Her eyes were wide and the silvery irises glowed like spinning mercury. “I always worried about hurting you.” I saw my blood on her teeth and lips. She noticed her hands were still gloved and she hastily yanked them off before she ran her palms over my armor. My left hand was already bare but I unbuckled the right gauntlet. She then wove our fingers together and lay down on top of my chest plate, pushing my arms up over my head into the soft grass and kissing me softly. Her hair spread around and covered us like a red canopy that blocked out the rising sun. The kiss slowly grew in heat and intensity until our mouths and tongues battled again. I broke my right hand free of her hold and grabbed a fist full of her thick hair again, forcing our lips and mouths together and breathing into her mouth. She moaned in appreciation and the sound of her pleasure filled my lungs and echoed through my stomach.

“Move your hands down a few inches.” She broke our kiss and panted the words out. My fingers crawled down from her head to the scaled gold metal that protected her upper back. I felt a series of buckles and I quickly unhinged them, pulling the leather straps through hoops until I released four of them. I could not feel any more.

She sat on top of my hips and raised her left arm, there were more buckles there keeping her armor locked onto her torso. I unbuckled her left arm, and then her right. She sprung to her feet and unfastened the matching gold belt that hung against her hips. The plate girdle came away with the armored skirt and I saw various knives, pouches, and throwing needles that had been concealed in the leather. With the belt off she shrugged her shoulders in a smooth motion and the layered armor that protected her upper body slid to the grass. She wore a thin violet tunic underneath her chest piece and it was damp with sweat. The fabric did little to hide the shape of her lithe torso, full breasts, and erect nipples. She bent to unbuckle her boots and then she halted.

“Shouldn’t you be taking these off?” she asked with her mischievous smile. She pointed a long finger to the high leather boots and I reached for them.

The boots unbuckled from the side so I just had to peel them off her long legs. By the time I had removed them, she had released her armored greaves. As soon as the armor fell to the ground she pounced on me again. Her nails lightly scratched my scalp while she lay on top of my chest plate and kissed me. My fingers roamed over her almost naked body, rubbing her back, thighs, and calves while we moaned in each other’s mouths.

I needed to feel her skin against mine. I broke our kiss and reached my shoulder plates. Each one had a small set of screws that I spun a few times to release. Iolarathe watched me do the first one and then her deft fingers quickly undid the other pauldron.

“I was wondering how you took this ugly thing off,” she said. Her voice was husky and made my mouth water.

“There are twenty-four more screws.” I’d never wanted to be out of this armor quicker. I needed to kiss her again and feel her body against mine. Everything else was forgotten.

“Fuck.” She spotted another group of fasteners on the side of my arm plates and worked on those. Then she stopped her fingers and sniffed. “Are you bleeding? It smells fresh.”

“Yes.” I nodded. “The screws often tear through the leather.”

“Why?” she questioned in anger. I smiled back at her.

“The armor doesn’t shift around me if it is tight. I can move better in it and deliver more powerful attacks.” I was halfway done with my side but Iolarathe had stopped taking them out and was trying to make eye contact with me.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“The pain helps me focus. All my generals wear armor like this.” I looked into her eyes and tried to read the expression there. It was a cross between worry and disbelief. “It will feel better once you remove the rest.”

“Of course.” She searched the armor. I moved my hand up to her neck and massaged the skin there. She moaned and gave me a sidelong glance of unfulfilled desire.

What was I doing here? I had made a commitment to Shlara. I wanted to kill Iolarathe. I needed my mind back in the present so I might focus on finding Nadea. My stomach flopped and my head started to hurt again.

“I need you.” She stopped pulling out the screws and took a deep breath; maybe she sensed my questions, sensed I was elsewhere. The movement of her lungs made her chest swell and her nipples pushed up against the thin, damp fabric. Her body shook and trembled slightly, but it wasn’t from the cold.

The concerns fled from my mind as I drew her face back to me to kiss her again. Her nails scratched against the metal of my chest plate. The sound they produced reminded her of our task and she attacked the rest of my armor with lust. After half a minute that seemed to last an hour the final screw was unfastened. Then I broke the pieces from my torso, arms, and legs. The seams of the demonic plates were carefully concealed in the skull etching, and I had to show her where to hold and pull so they could twist free.

Instead of a purple silk undergarment, I wore the brown leather armor that all my troops wore. Except mine was no longer brown. The screws and fall had caused me to bleed all over the leather and it was now a dark shade of red. The blood didn’t bother Iolarathe though. As soon as she tossed the last of the skull metal aside she pushed me to the ground and straddled my hips again so she could grind herself against my erection.

“You smell so good Kaiyer,” she growled and leaned down to kiss me again. It was a brief one, her tongue flicked across my lips again as my face tried to return the motion before she moved away.

“My blood?” my hands reached up and gripped the lower part of her back above her perfectly shaped hips. She gasped when my fingers dug into her muscles and drew her down against me. Then we both moaned when she lay on top of me and attempted to burrow into my chest.

“All of you. But your blood smells amazing as well,” she whispered into my ear and licked the lobe with long movements of her tongue. I could only stand it for a few dozen seconds before I kissed her again. Then my hands roamed over her body until I finally found the bottom hem of her silk shirt. I tugged it up and then she moved her lips away from mine, licking my face before sitting upright to let me pull the garment off of her torso.

Iolarathe’s body looked as amazing as it had in my dreams. Her pink nipples stood erect from perfectly round breasts. Her skin glowed as fresh snow and felt as smooth as the finest polished marble. I moved my palms back down to the sides of her hips and rubbed my thumbs slowly up the well-defined abdominal muscles of her stomach. My cracked, tan, blood-caked hands seemed completely undeserving of touching such a fine canvas.

Iolarathe whispered my name and the sound made me look up from her stomach to her face. She had one of her long fingers in her mouth and her teeth sank into the skin around the nail. Her eyes closed halfway and I could only see a sliver of their silver color through her thick coppery lashes. My hands worked up to the top of her abs, traced across her rib cage, and carefully grasped her breasts. They were the perfect combination of softness and firmness. My fingers squeezed them as roughly as I knew she enjoyed.

“Ohhhhhhh!” she moaned from her stomach in a deep, guttural, exclamation of lust. Her hands rubbed against my chest and scratched the skin beneath the thin leather. I continued my assault on her breasts, rubbing them deeply and pinching her small, hard nipples. Her body seemed to melt into my grip as she gave herself up to the pleasure my fingers delivered.

Her hips started to rock up and down against me. Her grinding forced my breath to hiss out of my mouth in surprise and pain. My body ached to be inside of her and the teasing movements of her hips against mine only exasperated me.

I sat up more and moved my hands away from her breasts, down her back, and cupped her firm butt. My mouth made contact with the base of her neck, her collarbone, and the valley between her breasts while I tried to cross my legs so I could sit more comfortably with her on top of me. She gasped with joy and dug her nails into my scalp. I felt her calves wrap around my hips and the change in her position let me get my knees where they would support her on my lap. This reduced the amount she could push herself against my penis but allowed me freer access to her body.

My hands roamed up and down her bare back while my fingertips lightly traced her spine and the smooth muscles there. Our lips met again in a wondrous kiss that returned me to the stables where we once spent countless hours pleasuring each other. After the kiss ended I pulled on her lower back. This forced her upper torso to arch and gave my mouth access to her nipples.

She gasped my name while I hungrily kissed, licked, sucked, and bit on the pink nubs of flesh. I used one arm to support her body as it leaned away from me and then brought my other hand to give attention to the nipple that I was not pleasuring with my mouth. She moaned in ecstasy and her hips trembled every time I ran my teeth lightly over her nipple.

“Shirt,” she gasped out as her fingers tugged at the front of my thick leather shirt. I released her breasts and leaned away from her. Her hands grabbed the leather and yanked it over my head. Then her arms circled my neck, mine wrapped around her lower back, and we pulled each other into a tight embrace. Our voices became one sigh of pleasure as the skin on our upper bodies made contact.

“I love you,” the words trickled out of my mouth without my consent, but as soon as my voice gave them life I knew them to be true. There had been no one else but Iolarathe. She never left my thoughts. As we clung to each other on the floor of the forest I felt a serene peace fill my mind. Perhaps it was the touch of her skin, or her hair, the scent of her body. Perhaps it was the relief of admitting and accepting this truth I had been fighting so hard to suppress.

“I know. I saw it in your eyes yesterday. You looked at me the same way you did all those years ago,” she muttered into my chest and then sighed in contentment when my arms pulled her closer to me.

“You knew I wouldn’t take your offer. How could I?” My fingers traced down the smooth skin of her back. Her hair wrapped around my hands and arms. How many times had I wanted to run my hands through the red mane? More than I could count.

“I need you inside of me. I’ll give you all the answers you want after you make love to me again.” Her breath was hot and moist in my ear. We were kissing each other fiercely again, with our exhales turning into gasps of pleasure and whines of desire. I shifted my weight forward on my legs and lowered her down onto the bed in my room.

She was suddenly gone. My arms circled a pillow and I lay face down on the plush blankets that covered my bed.

“Fuck!” I yelled as I slammed my fist into the headboard of the bed frame. It was crafted of thick oak but my knuckles smashed through it, snapping the top half off in a jagged piece and crushing it against the stone of the wall.

There was a light knock on the door and it opened softly.

“O’Baarni?” It was the same guard who had come in earlier. She choked out my name with undisguised terror. I glared at her before I swung myself off of the bed and stalked toward her.

“I told you to leave me alone.” My voice was a gravel growl. Her eyes widened in panic and she retreated into the hall, slamming the door shut before I got to her. I punched my fist into the piece of oak. It was braced by thin strips of steel and looked like it would withstand plenty of abuse. My blow still cracked it in the center and buckled the steel hinges that held it against the thick door frame.

“Get Isslata!” the guard demanded of her partner. I heard booted feet dash down the hall to my left.

Yes. Get Isslata. I would take my sexual frustrations out on her. I leaned my face and arms against the cracked wood and a shudder passed through my body. Maybe a cold bath would make me feel better? Perhaps it would wash away the thoughts of Iolarathe. I needed to do something to end the madness of my memories.

“Come back to me, love.” Her fingers caressed my shoulders, tickling the skin there with her sharp nails. I turned and her hands slid around my neck until her arms embraced me. “Where did you go?” she said with a soft smile. Her clothes were now removed and I looked down her sleek body to where the thin strip of coppery hair did little to hide her entrance.

“This isn’t real. I am dreaming.” My arms wrapped her waist and I let her pull me toward the bed. My clothes were gone as well and my erection dragged exquisitely across the smooth skin on the lower part of her toned belly.

“I am dreaming too then. I’ve always been dreaming of you.” She lay back down on the grass and her hair pooled like shiny metallic blood. Her legs spread deliciously and my eyes drank in the vision of her beautiful body laid before me like a feast waiting to be devoured. I knelt before her and licked across her stomach. The movement caused her back to arch up and a husky moan escaped her mouth.

I worked my way down her stomach slowly, taking time to enjoy the sweetness of her skin and the moans of pleasure that she gave me. After half a minute I made it to her entrance and used the flat middle part of my tongue to lick the pink petals of her flower. The lips to her tunnel were already wet and ready for me. Her arousal tasted like I remembered and I couldn’t keep myself from probing into her depths to drink more of her.

Her hands gripped around my head and held me against her entrance while her hips bucked with the sensations my tongue whipped through her body. It seemed that I had just begun licking her, but her legs squeezed against my shoulders in the pattern I remembered from the stables. I pushed my tongue deeper into her and then flicked it up against the tender nub of flesh at the top of her wet lips. I knew she loved it when I did that and it only took a few movements of my mouth against the small pink marble before she reached a climax.

Iolarathe’s orgasm claimed her like a storm tossed a ship at sea. Her body twisted and thrashed underneath me. She screamed my name. She tried to push me off of her but while once she possessed the strength to tear my head off easily, I was now much stronger than her and wouldn’t be moved. She tasted so good that I never wanted to drink another wine and I would not let her stop me from pleasuring her at the apex of her orgasm.

Eventually her waves grew smaller and she exhaled in relief. I took one last lick with the back of my tongue, passing it over the outside of her folds and ending at the top of her entrance. She gasped and trembled a little with my last lick and I looked up so that I could see her face. Her eyes were closed but her mouth hung open slightly so that her ragged breaths could leave her body quicker. The movement of her chest made her breasts move up and down hypnotically and I wanted to taste them again.

“So good,” she whispered and moaned when my mouth made contact with her breast. Her hands scratched down my bare back lightly and then moved to the front of my shoulders. She pushed me away and I stared down at her with a questioning look.

“Inside of me.” She bit her lip after she said it and reached down with her right hand to touch my erection. I gasped when her fingers danced around the shaft and gripped the base. I moved my knees closer to her and then leaned down so that our mouths met.

“Iolarathe,” I whispered her name before our lips touched. She moaned into my mouth and the sound of her desire filled my mind. Her hand led me to her opening and set the tip of my penis against her entrance before she shifted herself downward in an attempt to force me inside of her. She only succeeded in getting the head a little wet so I rolled my hips forward and pushed an inch or so into her before her tightness prevented me from going in more.

She felt incredible. So wet and warm. My memories did not do justice to the perfect combinations of sensations, scents and sounds produced when I made love to her. I backed out until the tip slid out again and she whined in frustration. I was enjoying my power, being able to take control now instead of being a weak human her mercy. I pushed back into her, almost getting my full length in before her tightness stopped me. I looked down where our bodies joined and watched in fascination as my wet erection slid all the way out of her. She did not seem to want to release me, and when I pulled free she echoed the earlier whine of frustration.

“Stop teasing me,” she gasped breathlessly. I smiled and slid into her again as slowly as I could, relishing the feeling of her walls around my erection and the sight of her pink lips devouring my member. My penis slid halfway in and I knew she was more than wet enough for me to make it the rest of the journey. I glanced from our joined bodies back to her beautiful face. Then I finished my movement deep inside of her.

Her body pushed to meet mine and her face looked like it was in absolute agony. I reached the apex of my slow thrust and we both moaned in unison. The sensation was better than I remembered and from the look on Iolarathe’s face, she enjoyed the same amount of pleasure. No other woman could compare to this. Not Isslata. Not Jessmei. Iolarathe had always been what I needed.

Except that she was dead.

This was a memory.

“You are so deep in me. Oh Kaiyer.” Her syrupy voice brought me back to the recollection and the need to orgasm inside of her overwhelmed me. I fought against it and my body trembled with the effort of resistance. After half a minute it subsided and I remembered to breathe. I opened my eyes and saw hers were also closed and her mouth moved with silent words.

I pulled out of her halfway and slowly pushed my length into her tunnel. Then I counted to five before I repeated the motions. She picked up on my rhythm by the third stroke and forced her body against mine in an effort to get me deeper inside of her. After two minutes of the slow thrusting she stopped saying my name and just relaxed in an empty eyed daze. She would come alive to meet my thrusts and then relax her legs afterward to lie back in the grass.

My body was begging me to increase the tempo and I felt the absolute need to release into her. Each thrust brought me closer to climax and my brain forced my hips to slow their movements. I reached down, cupped the sides of her thighs and pulled her body into me with my last thrust. I went impossibly deep into her and her eyes gained life with a surge of passion.

“Yesssssss!” she hissed and thrashed with another orgasm. She sat up against me and wrapped her long legs around my hips like I was the only anchor keeping her from flying into the sky. Her orgasm caused her channel to grip my penis and attempt to milk the seed from my sensitive organ. The crush of her velvety tunnel wasn’t expected and I bit down on her shoulder to keep from losing control. She gasped at my teeth and her nails dug into my back like ten daggers. My nostrils smelled blood, hers from where my bite had ripped open her perfect skin, and mine from where her claws pierced my back. The scent distracted me from my potential orgasm and I managed to relax while she rode hers with my penis deep inside of her.

“Soooo much better than I remembered you. How can you be better? Oh Kaiyer,” she murmured into my ear after her orgasm subsided. I sat on my knees but my upper body was erect. My palms cupped the bottom of her ass so she wouldn’t slide away from my erection. Then I carefully leaned down and lowered Iolarathe onto her back so that I might continue making love to her.

This time I made my penetrations faster and I used my hands to push and pull her body with my thrusts. She gasped with each movement inside of her and held her legs spread out higher so I would have better leverage. For what felt like the rest of our lives there was nothing but Iolarathe, the sensations of our bodies struggling to become one, and the wet sounds as I slid into her.

“Fill me. I need you. I need you to release inside of me.” She was having problems speaking and her words came out slurred together. “I love you Kaiyer. I’ve always loved you. Fill me please,” she whimpered and her body started to tremble and twist in my grip.

“Climax with me,” I told her through gritted teeth. The sensation surged up from my loins.

“Yes. Oh please, yes!” she screamed before I pushed deep into her as the orgasm hit me like a tornado.

I lost myself in the feeling of her. The scent of her. The sound of her. My body was confused and couldn’t decide if it experienced pain or pleasure from the climax so I cried out but also kissed her. She seemed to scream into my mouth then moaned again every time my orgasm rocked me and released another volley of seed deep into her. We were the only two people in the world. The first man and woman. No one else mattered for the few dozen seconds where we climaxed together and I filled her.

Then the storm passed. We collapsed onto the ground and moaned in contentment. I lay on top of her but supported most of my weight with my right arm. I was still hard inside of her but I didn’t want to pull out of her tunnel. She felt so good, I knew that I could make love to her again in a few minutes.

“Amazing,” she sighed and raised the fingers of her right hand to my face. I smiled down at her and we looked into each other’s eyes for what seemed like eternity.

“What was your plan after you found me?”

“I believed you would be dead. I was going to lie on top of your body, slit my own throat, and die. It would be a fitting end to my legacy.” Her face was sad and serious.

“You wanted me to kill you earlier?”

“Yes. No. Maybe.” She smiled and sat up and kissed me on the lips before lying back on the grass. “I wanted you to tell me that you loved me. If you didn’t, then I would have been fine dying. There is nothing left for me. Especially if she is still alive.”

“Recatolusti’catri? What deal did you make with her?” I knew that the ancient lizard had agreed to assist the Elvens, but their kind always needed payment. Often it was a price that would be too horrible for most people to fulfill.

“It isn’t worth voicing. I was desperate and I failed.” Her eyes were sad again. “I love the Destroyer of my race. How can I lie here with you and be fulfilled? You must feel the same way about me.” She looked up at me with sympathy and frowned. What would my brother and father think about Iolarathe and me?

What would her people feel about us lying together?

“There is only one thing that matters now.” She continued without waiting for my response. “There is nothing left for me here except for you. Will you leave with me?” Her eyes glowed brightly with the reflection of the sun and her teeth bit the bottom of her lip.

“What do you mean?” I said

“Your kind will kill me. I must flee.” Her words were laced with sadness.

“I can speak with them. You need not flee.” As I spoke the words I knew it was not true.

“No, love. You know they cannot forgive me.”

“If I forgive you then they will,” I said, but my words were hollow in my head. I knew Shlara would not accept Iolarathe. None of them would.

“We have little time. I should already be gone. Your warriors are probably searching for you as we lie here. There is an endless wilderness on this world. You and I can be together for the rest of our days, like I offered you yesterday. Come with me. I don’t know what you expect of a mate but I will agree to anything. I don’t want to exist without you anymore.” She spoke quickly but brushed the tips of her soft fingers across my cheeks. The look of adoration on her face was easy to read.

I considered her offer. I had defeated her armies. Humans were now free of Elven control. We were free to build our own civilization and cultivate our own art, love, and societies. There would be celebrations, there would be planning, there would be building, there would be cities built as in our histories.

None of it interested me.

I had only one goal my entire life: revenge on the Elven kind. Now that my quest was over, I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted. I didn’t want peace and the only reason I had been interested in the future beyond the war was because of Shlara’s passion for it.

Shlara.

Unless my body was found, she would search until the end of her life for me. She loved me. Probably as much as Iolarathe, but I had kept the dark-haired woman at arm’s length because of my feelings for the Elven seductress who killed my family. This wasn’t a choice between Iolarathe and my kind. It was a choice between Iolarathe and Shlara.

Shlara’s face flashed in my mind. Her green eyes, the way her mouth curved into a smile or frown depending on what I said. The determination that drove her to be the best warrior in my army, and then the best general I could have ever imagined. Shlara and Iolarathe were very similar. Except the woman I had spent the last thirty years of my life commanding would give me a known future of children, of purpose. We would lead a new generation to greatness.

Wouldn’t Iolarathe and I create a child, though? I remembered the old Elven man in the shrine that spoke to me of the Ovule. He said Iolarathe had visited and sent a girl away. Isslata hadn’t thought it was possible for us to create offspring.

“You will bear a daughter for me,” I said to Iolarathe with confusion. Was I mixing up my memories?

“Our kind can’t breed Kaiyer, or else I would already have borne you many children. I can’t count how many times you filled me with your seed while I was in heat.” She took my statement as a question. “But we can try. Every day I would want to try two or three times. Say yes.” Her eyes pleaded with me.

I weighed the two women and felt my head hurt again. This was a memory. I already made this decision. Whom did I choose? I tried to force my brain to remember but it wouldn’t. It didn’t seem like a memory or a dream. It felt like I lay in the room at Castle Nia waiting for Isslata, and at the same time I lay here with Iolarathe.

Then I realized what my decision would be.

But before I answered a voice screamed my name. Iolarathe and I both tensed suddenly and looked to my left. At the edge of the clearing Shlara had stopped. I had been so engrossed in my decision that I did not hear her approach.

There was no mistaking what had transpired between Iolarathe and I. I lay naked on top of her; my penis was still hard and inside the beautiful red-headed Elven. Her hand stroked my face gently and froze for a second when we heard Shlara scream my name. Iolarathe must have been caught up awaiting my answer as well and had not been listening for approaching footsteps.

Shlara’s dragon helmet only covered the top part of her face. It left her mouth and jaw exposed and there was no disguising the look of panic painted on her mouth.

The look of disbelief.

The look of anguish.

“No!” she screamed in pain. The shriek dug at my soul to tear it apart, it smashed into my heart to stop it from beating, and it ripped at my stomach until nausea filled me. Shlara drew her sword and charged toward us.

Iolarathe pulled herself away from her grasp around my hips and kicked me in the chest. I flew back half a dozen feet and somersaulted onto my head. Years of training took hold and my body flexed. I spun to land in a crouched and ready position. Iolarathe had used the kick to fling herself to her feet. I felt a sudden surge of Fire and Wind before a bolt of silver incandescence slung from the naked Elven woman and flew toward Shlara.

“No!” I screamed, but I didn’t even hear my own voice over the sound of Iolarathe’s magic. Shlara expected the attack but couldn’t get out of the way completely. It hit the plate clad woman in the shoulder and spun her around like a small stone. Her body rolled across the grassy clearing and I felt a gasp leave my throat.

Iolarathe staggered back from the energy the Elements had cost her. She took a few steps to her horse and ripped her pole arm out of the saddle tie. Then she turned to face Shlara and saw that the human was getting off the ground and coughing smoke.

Shlara’s left shoulder and arm appeared to be broken. Her armor was scorched and the steel had melted a bit, twisting the dragon etching into something that looked like it spawned from hell. She still had her sword though, and she quickly closed the gap between herself and the Elven.

I moved to intercept Shlara, but my general’s blade lashed out a few feet from my face before she engaged Iolarathe. The look on my friend’s face was one of pure hatred. I tried to say something, but my voice caught in my mouth. I could only imagine what she thought of me now and I doubted any words would ever repair the betrayal.

They circled each other, neither saying a word nor attempting a feint. Iolarathe had the reach advantage with her dangerous looking pole arm, but Shalra still wore her armor. Suddenly my general danced forward and aimed a complicated series of cuts at the Elven woman’s head. Iolarathe blocked them easily and spun away, her hair trailed a second behind her like a fiery shadow. Before Shlara pressed another attack, the Elven countered with a low thrust with the butt of the weapon that the brown-haired woman jumped. Iolarathe must have expected the movement, because it seemed to be a set up for her to make a sharp jab with the large curved blade.

Shlara was one of the best warriors I knew, yet even she looked surprised at Iolarathe’s feint. Still, my friend had trained for hours every day and her body was a finely crafted weapon in itself. She bent backward through the air and the edge of the pole arm scratched across the outer side of her left flank but didn’t penetrate the engraved armor.

They circled each other again and Shlara initiated another exchange by cutting horizontally at Iolarathe’s legs. My lover blocked the slash, but my general changed the angle and pushed through to a thrust. It was blindingly quick and the Elven woman twisted her naked body a thousandth of a second too late. Shlara’s blade cut a shallow wound across Iolarathe’s white skin above her hip. Red blood streamed out of the wound and splashed down her right leg. The red-haired woman didn’t seem to even notice she had been injured.

“Stop Shlara!” I commanded from the side of the battle. I tried to move into their circle to interrupt them. Shlara glanced at me and Iolarathe used the opportunity to make a quick thrust with her weapon. It cut through the human’s armor and gave my friend a wound that matched the one she had just given Iolarathe.

“Fuck!” Shlara screamed from pain as she reeled away and blocked the follow up attack from Iolarathe.

“I will explain this! Both of you drop your weapons and we can talk.” They ignored my words and continued to circle. I realized that if I intercepted, it might allow one of them to take advantage of my interference and kill the other. I needed another person here so we might sack both of them at once.

Shlara made a quick series of cuts to test Iolarathe’s defenses and then kicked her leg out toward the Elven. The surprise attack caught the naked woman in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her lungs with a loud gasp. Iolarathe spun away with a broad sweep of her pole arm, but Shlara ducked under it and then slashed the Elven woman deep across her back.

Iolarathe seethed in pain but recovered enough to dodge Shlara’s next flurry of strikes and get some space. The small victory seemed to give Shlara more confidence and she dashed forward again, slamming the Elven woman with a flurry of powerful overhand blows that brought my lover to her knees. Shlara feinted a final slash that Iolarathe moved up to block, but instead, the brunette woman delivered a front kick that crashed into the kneeling Elven’s chest and threw her back into the air. I heard the crack and knew that at least two of Iolarathe’s ribs were broken by the impact.

“Shlara, stop!” Both women turned to look at me for a second, but quickly turned their attention back to one another. The pain was gone from Shlara’s eyes. There was no longing, none of the bitterness and frustration with which she normally regarded me. Only pure hatred.

Iolarathe got up slower than I expected and used her pole arm as a crutch to help her rise. I saw the pain in her eyes and she coughed. I rushed to help her but as I approached she gave me a look I had not seen since my days as her stable boy. A look of cold authority that made me feel powerless for the first time in decades.

“No,” she said to me, looking back to Shlara. The momentary distraction only gave an advantage to Shlara. I circled them, trying to decide how to intervene without hurting either woman.

Shlara, confident of her immediate victory, charged in with the same overhand attacks. I thought Iolarathe would have blocked the same way, but instead she kept her weapon vertical. My lover timed the parry so that Shlara’s blade passed down on the outside of the Elven woman’s body and drifted away. Shlara was thrown off balance and Iolarathe let go of the haft to step past Shlara’s guard. Then the fire-haired woman punched the green-eyed beauty in the jaw and then elbowed her in the nose with her right forearm. Shlara tried to bring her sword around to cut at the Elven, but her enemy had stepped in too close and checked the arm.

“Stop! This is over!” I yelled at them. “It is all over!” I lunged at Shlara’s sword, but again it was Iolarathe who stopped me with a swift swipe at my arm with her dagger-like nails and another deadly glare.

Suddenly they were both on the ground, rolling across the dirt and grass. Shlara screamed in frustration but Iolarathe’s face was a mask of concentration. Strength wasn’t as important as technique when you wrestled an opponent, and Iolarathe seemed to have the same capabilities that her foe possessed. However, Shlara still gripped her weapon tightly in her fist and Iolarathe had to keep the edge of the blade away from her as she attempted to gain leverage on my general. I watched them, looking for an opportunity to pry them apart without hurting either one.

Iolarathe gained the top position and straddled Shlara. With her right hand, she held the wrist of Shlara’s sword while she tried to beat in the human’s face with her other palm. Shlara still wore her helmet though and while a few blows connected, they just glanced off of the helm. After half a minute of struggle, Iolarathe leaned down to choke Shlara with her left hand. My general must have been waiting for that opportunity, because she bucked her hips, pulled with her sword arm, and sent the Elven spinning off of her. Shlara let go of her weapon and grabbed onto Iolarathe’s wrist so that the naked woman wasn’t able to spin free.

Shlara spun to stand and dragged Iolarathe a few feet toward her. I could tell the movement was unexpected and my lover slid onto her stomach. Shlara pulled the Elven’s arm up high, leaned her shin into the extended limb, and broke the elbow with a loud snap.

The sound cut through my body like it was my own back being broken. Iolarathe cried out in pain but more so in failure. Shlara pulled on the limb again and my lover unconsciously pushed herself toward the armored woman to relieve the tension on the shattered bones. Shlara repeated the move and stood close enough to her sword to pick it up while she maintained control of Iolarathe’s broken body.

“Enough Shalra!” I yelled, but my general did not acknowledge me. She kicked Iolarathe over on her back like a sack of flour and then stepped on her throat. Iolarathe’s legs spread over the grass and her left arm tried to pry the boot off her esophagus. I stepped toward them.

Shlara raised her sword in the air, looked at me, and brought it downward.

Suddenly her body hurled through the sky. A blast of pure Fire erupted around her. The force lifted her armored form across the clearing and slammed it into one of the trees that stood on the far perimeter, silent observers of the unfolding drama. Shlara screamed in agony as the Fire heated her armor and cooked her flesh to ash. The flames resembled what the dragons had spewed from their mouths: sticky, amazingly hot, and hungry for destruction. It spread to the tree and began to burn there as well.

I lowered my arms and stood to my feet, screaming Shlara’s name in panic and running over to her smoking armor. My head swam like I had just harnessed the Elements. Then I stumbled and fell onto the grass. It was stained with the blood Iolarathe had lost and it made the green blades slippery. Why couldn’t I move?

“Kaiyer!” Iolarathe yelled at me. I turned to look at her, but my vision was fuzzy. She was stumbling to her feet as well and cradling her broken right arm with her left. “We have to go!” Tears streamed down my face. I couldn’t tell if it was because Shlara was dead or because of the heat. I heard the sound of hooves approaching but they seemed very distant.

Iolarathe grabbed my shoulder and yanked me to my feet.

“What the fuck was that?” She slid her naked body under my arm and pulled me toward the horse. The animal had moved away from the battle and stood about fifty yards from us on the other end of the clearing.

“Who killed her?” I asked her. My voice came out in a whisper.

“Who?” Iolarathe didn’t seem to understand that Shlara was dead. Tears streamed down my face and I felt myself begin to sob.

“Shlara. She was going to kill you,” I choked out the words.

“And you stopped her. Get on the fucking horse.” She pushed me toward the saddle.

“I stopped her?”

“Get on the fucking horse!” Iolarathe screamed in panic. Hoof beats tore up the ground a few hundred yards through the forest. It sounded like an army approached.

“Did I kill Shlara?” I whispered. I felt my energy returning. And I grabbed onto Iolarathe’s pale shoulders. She winced with my grip but I didn’t care about her broken arm.

“She was going to kill me. Please get on the horse, or we will both die,” she pleaded with me.

The impact of what I had done flooded my mind. I remembered raising my hands. I remembered the energy flowing through me. Then I remembered Shlara’s body twisting back on itself as my magic slammed into her.

I had killed her.

I had killed Shlara.

I screamed and kneeled on the ground. My head felt like a hammer smashed it and I smelled smoke everywhere. It didn’t matter though. Nothing mattered anymore. Shlara was dead.

The woman who had spent the last thirty years of my life confessing her love to me. The woman I could count on for anything. The woman whose only desire was to make me happy and bear my children. The woman who wanted to build a life with me and protect our people.

The woman I should have chosen.

I had killed Shlara.

I was the Betrayer.

I heard screams in the distance. My eyes opened and I wasn’t in my room anymore, or the clearing where Iolarathe had tried to pull me to her horse. I kneeled on a scorched piece of glass, surrounded by rubble. The sun set to the west, behind the main part of Castle Nia. It stood like the massive spider but no lights or movement seemed to come from its hundreds of windows.

I had killed Shlara.

I was the Betrayer.

A sob racked through me again. I realized I was naked but I also recognized the scent of burning. A large piece of wood smoldered behind me. I turned to look at it and knew that it was the remains of my bed. I scanned the ceiling and only saw open sky. My room seemed to have vanished; something burned it while I had been recalling Shlara’s death. Whatever caused the damage did more than burn just my suite. The whole wing of the castle looked to have been hit by a giant hammer. The ceiling and walls around me had been transformed into dust, sand, and small pieces of burnt wood.

You loved her! Fuck you Kaiyer!

Malek’s voice echoed in my brain and grew so loud that I had to cover my ears and scream until the sound disappeared. I slammed my head into the rubble until my skull cracked and drove me dizzy. Finally, the voice stopped its screaming. Then I started to heal.

I was a monster. Hated and feared by Elvens and humans. I killed my best friend and probably did worse things to save Iolarathe from the fate she should have suffered. I had chosen a life of what? Living with the murderer of my family instead of the woman who had been faithful to me? I was a fucking idiot. I ruined everything I had ever loved.

Everything I ever cared for was gone.

I wept for what seemed like hours. Thinking about Shlara and what our lives should have been. She had been cunning, beautiful, and full of love for me. Nadea reminded me so much of her that it hurt me to think that she was also in danger and I would be responsible for her death.

I shot to my feet.

My friend was still alive. She lived here somewhere in this castle.

It wasn’t too late to fix things here. This was the present. It was a different world. It was a different life. I’d made a mistake that I could never atone for, but I might start by reuniting Nadea with her father.

I looked down at my naked body and realized that I had caused the destruction to the castle. I was powerful and the magic of the Elements was always at my disposal. The Earth flowed through me and I listened to the thousands of voices screaming in terror throughout the giant fortress.

It seemed like forever, but I finally found a heart that beat in a familiar pattern. She ran away from me. I knew her breathing and would never forget the sound of the blood pumping through her body.

She did remind me of Shlara after all.

I walked through what had once been my door and into the shattered hallway. Then I sprinted through the rubble, my bare feet left burning impressions that melted the loose rubble, turning it to glass. I rounded a broken corner and came upon three Elven guards who peered through the dense cloud of dust that hung in the air like laundry. They didn’t even have a chance to draw their swords before I crushed the skull of the first warrior, broke the neck of the second, and then ripped the lungs out of the third.

Then I continued my sprint into the belly of the castle.

Nothing would keep me from Nadea.

Not even Iolarathe’s memory.

Chapter 27-Nadea

I loved this feeling. There was no pain, no worries, no desire, save one. This is what butterflies must feel like during their short lifespan.

Rush to propagate and then die.

Except I would murder instead of propagate.

Guards, some Nia and the rest Ancient, ran past me toward the East Wing. I hid the knife in the sleeve of my servant’s tunic, but I didn’t think it really mattered. They took one look at my bloody face, mistook it for fear or horror, and ran in the direction I came. I must have passed thirty or forty guards on the way to the North Wing and they did nothing more than give me a sidelong glance.

I reached the main corridor that led between the various wings. There were a few human soldiers stationed there. I slowed down to a walk to pass between them and the hallway to the North Wing.

One of them stood in front of me and said something. I couldn’t hear over the ringing in my ears and I pointed back toward the East Wing and gave a pleading look. The men exchanged looks of fear and let me pass. As soon as I was out of their immediate sight I ran again.

Nanos.

Nanos.

Nanos.

I repeated his name like a mantra. It was in time with my footfalls and it kept the blurry sides of my vision at bay.

Move.

Move.

Move.

My head started to hurt again, along with my chest and my leg.

Now I didn’t feel like a butterfly.

Fucking move Nadea.

Fucking move Nadea.

Fucking move Nadea.

The ringing in my ears grew louder and the sound of the alarm chimed again. I felt pain in the same spots the fall hurt me and I cried out in agony. The stone wall of the decorated corridor supported me for a second and I struggled to catch my bloody breath. I couldn’t run anymore. I needed to stop. I had made it so close but the pain overwhelmed me. It seemed as if I had been running for days and I wanted to sleep. Fuck I wanted to sleep so badly.

Fuck no Nadea. It hasn’t been days. Just ten minutes. Focus.

Tears rolled down my face and caused my vision to blur more. I wiped my fingers around my eyes and then drew back in shock. My hands were coated in blood instead of salty water. I didn’t know exactly what kind of injury caused someone to bleed out of their tear ducts, but I guessed it was something even worse than coughing up blood.

I’m not going to die before Nanos.

My arms pushed me away from the stone support and I stumbled to the other wall across the wide hallway like a drunken sailor on a rocking ship. The stone felt amazing against my face and hair. It was smooth and cool. I felt so hot and uncomfortable. I felt so tired.

“Fucking move!” I screamed out loud and pushed my feet against the ground and leaned my body forward. My brain didn’t have to work to walk, my feet and legs knew what to do and they moved quickly to keep me from falling. I passed another corner and saw a group of servants huddled in fear in the hallway. They appeared to be talking about the panic in the castle, but the sound of the alarm ripped through me like an axe. I couldn’t listen, or think, or do anything more than put one foot in front of the other.

How was I going to murder Nanos? I was an idiot. He would be surrounded by guards, locked in the Safe Room. My legs didn’t want to walk and my mind was slipping away into redundancy. He would be impossible to kill, even if there was a small army with me. I stopped walking and leaned against the wall again. I was in the same part of the hallway where Paug, Greykin, Nanos, and his father fled from the Losher forces. Greykin had stayed behind to save us. Paug had tried to protect me with the murdered king’s sword.

They would need vengeance.

They would need vengeance.

They would need vengeance.

My legs moved again. I coughed and my insides felt like they were filled with sharp glass and rock salt. For some reason I always thought I would die old, in a plush bed, surrounded by children and grandchildren. I would tell them stories of my younger days, the adventures I had, the loves I enjoyed, and the experiences I treasured. Of course that was a ridiculous dream. I couldn’t have children and I should have known that I would die alone.

Move Nadea.

This was the corner where Greykin had thrown himself on the half dozen Losher warriors. Or maybe there were thirty. Fuck I couldn’t remember anymore. I stopped and wiped the blood from my eyes again. Some poured out my nose, making it hard to breathe while I walked. If my brain had hemorrhaged, I probably would have been dead by now. Unless the part of me that wasn’t human was keeping me alive. I had always been tough and strong. Or at least, I pretended to be.

I’m so proud of you Nadea.

My father’s voice echoed in my mind. I was a child and had just read my first book on the historical treaties of Nia. We sat in his study and discussed them at length, well into the night, until he finally told me it was my bed time. He had said that before he tucked the thick blankets over my head.

Then darkness.

I gasped and realized I was lying face down on the plush rug of the corridor. I must have fainted, luckily my skull had missed the hard stone on the floor, or I might have damaged myself.

Ha.

My body screamed all over when I pushed myself to my feet. I couldn’t get upright and I ended up stumbling into the wall. Then I took a few seconds to steady myself before continuing onward. I was so close. I couldn’t stop now. The room was only a few turns away. My father needed me to be strong. I had to avenge his brother. Nanos needed to pay.

I kept a hand on the stone to keep myself from tumbling again. I felt like the castle spun around me and I begged it to stop moving. The alarm sounded again. It was so fucking loud. I screamed and covered my ears. The movement almost caused me to fall to the ground, but I pushed up with my legs and slammed my shoulder into the wall, forcing myself to stay upright.

The vertigo passed and I moaned in relief. I moved again, hugging the wall this time with both of my arms. I tried not to think of what I would do when I actually got into the room. There would be guards, Nanos would immediately recognize me, and I’d only have one chance to sink the knife into the fucking bastard’s throat before they killed me.

I remembered growing up with him, Runir, and Jessmei. He’d been a little asshole then and I should have known he would grow up to be a traitor. I thought back to the conversations he participated in, all the planning we did while he was present, even the talks with Kaiyer where he weaseled into the room. He had been feeding information to the Ancients the whole time. I should have known.

Could I have known?

I stumbled around the last corner and reached the place where Nanos had killed his father and Paug. I saw the door to the Safe Room across the thirty feet of empty tile. It was closed, but I knew the combination that would open the complicated locks on the massive steel slab. I held my breath and rushed over the floor, willing my body to stay upright without the aid of the wall. I felt like a stalk of wheat in the wind. My torso seemed to twist out of my control, my legs went one way, my head bobbed the other direction, and my arms spun like I was doing a drunken dance. Then I pressed against the cold steel.

I almost cried with joy.

Only the royal family and their closest guards knew the combination to the triple locks on the door. Keys could be lost, keys could be stolen, but memorized combinations could only be forgotten.

It was unfortunate for Nanos that I still remembered them.

The first lock spun open with a click. Then I twisted the second. This one was letters instead of numbers. After a few painful seconds it too opened.

I reached down to the third lock and suddenly coughed. Sticky lung blood flew out of my mouth and coated the dial. I wiped it off the disks and fought against my vision blurring again.

Fuck. Come on Nadea. You can do this. Please.

I tried to encourage myself but it was no use. I could not see the dial anymore and I didn’t remember the combination. My fingertips were numb and my arms felt as if they weighed more than my entire body. I had failed. I’m sorry Paug.

I’m sorry Father.

My eyes drifted closed. The cool steel of the door felt wonderful against my face. I could just lie against it and rest for a bit. I was so tired. Someone else would take care of Nanos. Someone else would kill him.

“Open the door human!” I opened my eyes. The woman from my dreams stood before me. Her hair seemed to glow bright red, like the blood that fell from my face and splattered against the stone floor. I nodded at her and smiled. I wouldn’t have to worry about her anymore. She couldn’t haunt me after I was dead.

“He is inside. Hurry.” She glared at me and then glanced back down the hall. “You must get through this door.”

“I forgot the combination. I can’t see.” My words came out syrupy and slow.

“You see me. Hurry Nadea. Don’t you want to kill him?” I think it was the first time the woman had used my name. I grunted and reached my fingers out to the dial, missed it, and almost fell.

“Fuck!” the Ancient and I said at the same time.

“Tell me the combination. Quickly.” I suddenly felt pain in my hand. Hers wrapped around mine and held it up to the lock. The pain burned like I held an ice cube and it helped focus my mind on telling her the combination

“Four, Seven, Twenty.” Her fingers moved mine clumsily against the dial in the right direction. “Back to eight,” I said at last.

She released me and I looked to her face. Her mouth was twisted and I wondered if our touch had hurt her as well.

“Open it!” she commanded. Her voice sounded distant. I was dreaming. Soon I would sleep forever.

But not before I killed Nanos.

My frozen hand closed around the handle of the door. I didn’t feel the steel anymore, but my shoulder strained with the effort of pulling the massive portal away from the wall. It moved a few feet and I knew I had just enough space to fit through it.

“Don’t close it behind you,” her voice whispered in my ear as I stumbled past her. I nodded and grabbed the inside handle as I walked into the darkness of the corridor beyond the door. My body leaned forward accidentally and the steel slipped out of my grip. I gasped and wiggled my bloody hands at the shifting weight of the door to keep it from closing.

But I was too slow and weak.

I knew there was no turning back, but the finality of the clicking locks reinforced this fact. My breath caught and my vision swam again.

“Damn it girl,” the woman’s voice whispered in my ear. I turned to face her, but she had already vanished into the dark hallway.

The Royal Safe Room wasn’t just a room but a series of suites with full plumbing, stored food, water, and air ventilation. It would hold twenty people for at least a month in comfort, longer if supplies were rationed or if there were fewer mouths to feed. The door led to a long hallway speckled with four-foot-high stone pillars. They were perfect spots for crossbow guards and the corridor was a gauntlet of pain that would provide any attackers with horrible losses. Lit torches hung on the sides of the entrance by the door but the rest of the tunnel was unlit, so I couldn’t see how many guards held the passageway.

“What are you doing here girl?” a voice demanded from much farther down the dark corridor than I expected.

“I am here to see the king. I have news of the battle.” I almost said prince but I stopped myself. My legs stumbled forward and I felt my head start to spin again. I should be dead by now.

“How did you get in here?” he demanded.

“I’m injured.” I tried to make my voice sound weak and pathetic. I probably didn’t have to try too hard. “I have to tell the king about our attackers.”

“She needs help!” a woman shouted, and I heard boots sprint in my direction. Within a few seconds a female guard wrapped her arms around me and helped me walk down the corridor. I could smell the fresh oil on her chain mail. The scent brought the memory of my fourteenth birthday. My father had given me a long sword; it was a beautifully crafted blade. I hugged him, danced with him, and kissed him a hundred times between playful swings with the ornate weapon. He had seemed overjoyed by my reaction, but I knew he had hoped I would prefer the loom I had also received.

“Who hurt you?” another guard demanded when we reached the turn that would lead to the main suite. He was older and wore a graying mustache.

“We are under attack. I must tell the king!” I tried not to smile through my words. This would be easier than I thought. I hissed in pain when the woman adjusted her grip around my torso and lifted me up more. It was far too early to smile.

The two guards exchanged quick looks before the man spoke again.

“Very well. Bring her this way.” I was lucky. They hadn’t recognized me. Then again, I wore servant’s attire and my face leaked blood as a thatched roof leaked rain.

“My lord. A servant has news of the attack,” the mustached guard said when the three of us entered the lighted area of the main room. It was decorated with extravagant tapestries of landscapes, deep brown wood book cases stacked with popular tomes, and thick purple rugs. A dozen guards sat around the perimeter of the suite. Some played a card game while other watched over the gamers’ shoulders. They all stopped what they were doing and gave me their full attention.

Nanos sat back comfortably on one of the luxurious looking leather couches. His eyes were closed and a pretty dark-haired girl stroked his scalp. The woman wasn’t wearing much of anything, but he wore brown suede pants and a dark green tunic with the emblem of Nia on his left chest, over his heart.

That was where I would plunge the knife.

Nanos’s face scrunched up in annoyance and he slowly sat upright on the leather sofa with an exasperated sigh. The girl moved her hands down to his shoulders and looked concerned for his well-being. She’d shortly be much more concerned with his health. Or so I hoped.

I lowered my head in a bow and the movement let my hair dangle in front of my face. Would he realize it was me? I moved my hand in my sleeve and felt the wood handle of the knife. The feel of the weapon gave me comfort and clarity. The pain faded from my stomach, chest, and head.

Nanos will die. I will kill him.

“The Ancients should be defending the castle.” Nanos seemed bored with this situation.

“My lord.” I tried to disguise my voice by raising it a few pitches. “The East Wing has been destroyed.”

“By whom?” Nanos sat up and the girl rubbed his shoulders urgently, he moved his arm back and pushed her away with a grunt of displeasure. She looked shocked and humiliated for a brief second before resuming her look of concern.

My vision clouded and I felt my legs lose their strength. I tried to take a step toward him, but my injured leg collapsed underneath me and I cried out. The guards on either side of me caught my arms and prevented me from stumbling. But the movement of their support jarred me, and my hand twitched around the handle of the weapon I held concealed in the long sleeve of the shirt. My small steak knife squirmed free of my grasp and bounced, first hitting the thick rug, then cartwheeling off of the fabric and onto the smooth stonework of the tiled floor.

Everyone in the room froze and watched the blade dance across the floor like they were watching Tanya Gettil perform her best sonnet. The clatter of the weapon stopped with a high-pitched whine and I tried not to moan in disappointment.

“Why did she have a knife?” Nanos sneered at his guards. He glared at me in disgust and the world came crashing down on my shoulders. I was so close.

I was so close.

“Sorry my lord. I didn’t think to check her for weapons. She is just a servant,” the woman holding my arm said with obvious fear.

“Yeah, that’s your fucking problem. You aren’t pretty enough to be a fuck toy, but you’re too stupid to do anything else.” His mouth twisted in an arrogant smile as he berated the woman, but then he looked down at me.

“Why did you have a knife, girl?” Nanos bent over a bit at the waist to look at me. The pain was building in my stomach again. It came on like a wildfire and consumed my insides. I tried to say something, but it gurgled out of my mouth with half a cup of blood. My vision turned dark for a second.

Fuck.

“How did she get in here?” Nanos walked over to the knife and picked it up from the tile. He studied the blade and looked extremely puzzled.

“She came through the main door,” the woman guard said.

“Obviously, you fucking idiot. How did she unlock it?” He stared down at me and I met his eyes through the long dark strands of my hair.

His blue eyes grew wide with shock. He stepped toward me and grabbed the top of my hair, yanking it back to pull my face up.

“Nadea!” he shouted in surprise. His mouth hung open and he turned my hair over in his grip. My neck didn’t seem to have any strength in it and my skull rolled around in his hand.

“How the hell did you get here?” he suddenly laughed. “I can’t believe my luck. She was right. Everything that I wanted is coming to me. You managed to escape the castle and I thought I was in deep shit. But then your fucking hero showed up and I am in good graces again.” He shook his head and smiled at me before he let me go. My head fell down to my chest again and the world spun for ten seconds.

“Were you going to kill me with this, Cousin?” he held up the blade. “Kings can’t be killed by common toys. Or didn’t your fucking father ever teach you of such things?” He laughed again and paced in front of me.

“Hold her up,” he told his guards, and they pulled me to my feet so that I stood up straight. A rough hand pulled my hair back so that my face was level with my asshole cousin’s. He walked in a tight circle in front of me and his look of glee was unmistakable. He took the flat side of the knife and tapped it against his chin while he thought about what he would do.

My mind refused to help me out of this mess and I accepted that this was the end. I had done everything I could. I escaped the dungeon and gave what was left of the forces of Nia a purpose. Then I infiltrated the castle again to gain valuable intelligence.

Now my only opportunity to avenge the people I loved was lost.

I had always done everything well. When I failed, I learned from the mistake and improved. That was how a successful woman should lead her life. But now, the one time when failure was not an option, I was failing. Failing my father, failing Paug, failing my uncle, failing my country, failing my people. Blood filled my mouth again but I didn’t let it trickle down my chin.

“Who did this to you?” He said it with mockery. He didn’t really care what had happened to me.

I spit out the blood in my mouth. It flew the few feet that separated us and connected with his nose and eyes. I may not be able to kill him, but I could piss the bastard off before I died.

“Fucking shit fuck!” he screamed like a baby and fell back away from me. The guards tightened their grip on my arms and yanked my hair back. Nanos wiped his nose with his fingers, looked at them, and then wiped the rest of his face with his fine green tunic.

I smiled at him.

“You could never be the docile little girl your father wanted you to be. I wanted to kill you in the dungeon, but they needed you to learn about Kaiyer. Now they think you are already dead. No one needs you anymore.”

He stepped toward me again. His hand grabbed my jaw and yanked my face toward his so that we stood eye to eye.

“Looks like you’ll bleed out in ten minutes anyway, Cousin. Think of this as a mercy killing. I’m putting you out of your misery, and mine.” He tensed his shoulders and the blade of the knife entered my stomach with a frigid kiss of ice. I gasped, and more blood flowed out of my mouth.

“Drop her!” my cousin commanded, and my back hit the ground.

Nanos and the two soldiers stood over me. The fear was plain on the guards’ faces. Murdering someone was a crime in our country and killing a member of the royal family went against every vow the guards had ever spoken.

I moved my hand to the handle of the knife; it felt as if it was all the way in my stomach, and agony spread from the wound to the rest of my body.

“After she bleeds out, cut her body up and throw it down the trash chute. I don’t want anyone to find her corpse in here,” Nanos said. The guards startled like someone had thrown ice water on them.

“What the hell was that?”

“It came from the door!” the male guard yelled with fear. I hadn’t heard anything, but then the sound came again and there was no mistaking it.

It sounded like a battering ram slammed into the steel door of the Safe Room.

“They are breaking in?” Nanos said in confusion. Another screeching cry came from the door. Somehow it was louder than the blaring alarm. The guards jumped up and I saw a flurry of armored figures dash to the hall. Most carried crossbows or short swords.

“Stop them! Protect me!” Jessmei’s brother yelled at his guards and then he moved behind the couch. I couldn’t move my head to see him but he returned to my field of vision holding his father’s hand-and-a-half sword.

The beautiful weapon looked out of place in the traitor’s grasp.

I love you Nadea.

My father’s voice echoed in my mind. I missed him so much. I wanted to see him, to tell him how much I loved him, and how much I appreciated the life he gave me.

He could have left me to die in the shrine of the mountains. Instead, he treated me like the child he lost. He treated me like I had been given to him by the love of his life.

Sleep my darling. Tomorrow is a new day. Your sword will still be here.

He had been disappointed that I never found a mate. I remembered the conversation about Kaiyer. Father knew that I had feelings for the O’Baarni. He was happy about it instead of fearful. He wanted me to love and to feel love.

It sounded like the door ripped open. There must have been dozens of soldiers out there to break down the steel portal that quickly. I couldn’t move my head; all I could see was Nanos quaking with his big sword. I heard a scattering of crossbow bolt fire and screams from the other room.

And I heard bones breaking.

Then there were footsteps. Bare feet walking down the hallway. It sounded like one person. Who could have killed more than a dozen soldiers in a few seconds?

My father and I rode through the foothills of the Teeth Mountains. The air pulled my hair away from my body and made a long brown flag. We came up here often. It was close enough to the keep to be a day long journey, but sometimes during the spring or summer we took a few guards and camped through the night.

If this is what you want to do, I will allow it.

He hadn’t been thrilled about the idea of me hunting down the O’Baarni, especially when I asked to go to meet Staril in Astical. My planned journeys would cost several stones of gold, require too much travel, put me at risk, and keep me from him for possibly more than a year.

It is what I want. You know why. Can you convince the king?

I grinned at him and he smiled back with a sigh. He had tried to guide me, but I always ended up getting what I wanted from him.

“I can explain!” Nanos said as he backed up away from me and the entrance to the corridor. His face looked horrified.

“Of course you can.” The voice came out like a growl but there was no mistaking whose it was. It yanked me from the memories of my father like no other voice could.

Kaiyer.

He came into my peripheral vision and I tried to turn my head. I couldn’t quite see him and I attempted a moan to get his attention, but my body had stopped obeying me. All I felt now was coldness and creeping darkness.

And sleep. I had been fighting it for so long, I could not resist it anymore.

He stepped toward the prince again and into my field of vision. He was naked, or at least seemed to be. It was hard to tell, because he was covered in blood. It ran down his arms and legs like thin crimson paint. Draped across his shoulder was some sort of intestine that coiled around him like a snake. I didn’t understand how he was still alive or where he had been. I must have died already.

“She came here and attempted to kill me.” My cousin’s voice quivered like a terrified child.

“You probably deserved it. You probably deserve much worse.” Kaiyer turned his head and looked down at me. My heart skipped a beat and everything turned to black night except for his face.

Then even Kaiyer faded away from me.

“Nadea. Nadea. Come back to me.” I opened my eyes again, but it was all I could manage. He held me in his arms as I dreamed he would have. His face was just inches from mine, but it seemed an eternity away. His green eyes looked like an endless forest. I could walk through those trees forever with him. I wanted to tell him so many things. I wanted to ask him so many things. I wanted to know everything about him. I wanted him to know everything about me, to explain my heritage. He would still love me, even if he knew I was an Ancient.

I wanted to sit with him in my father’s study and share memories, discussions, and laughter. But there was no time for us. I could not feel him holding me. I could not feel anything but the cold and numbness.

Then I felt nothing.

The End

Thank you for reading this novel. Don’t forget to write a review!

Kaiyer and friends continue their struggles against the Elvens in The Destroyer-Book 3. Keep reading for an excerpt!

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Editing and e-book formatting by Ginger Earle

Cover art by Daniel Kamarudin

Typography, illustration and print book formatting by Jason Faraci

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2016 by MichaelScott Earle

An excerpt from: The Destroyer-Book 3

The O’Baarni

I preferred to spend my early mornings alone.

I awoke at dawn to exercise and stretch as I watched the sun slowly warm the world and wake my troops. Normally, my lieutenants would arrive in my tent for our breakfast and strategy meeting just after I had finished, but we had decided not to meet today. Malek was working with a new batch of recruits, Thayer was doing some survival training with his troops, and I had given leave to Gorbanni and Alexia.

I could let my friends have a day off, but I did not want a break. I studied the map on the table, calculating the various risks to our army against the damage we could do to our enemies. It was somewhat refreshing to do this on my own, and I was so absorbed in it that I only realized the sun had already risen to mid-morning when I heard footsteps approach. A throat cleared at the entrance of my tent and I debated dismissing the visitor.

“Enter.” I changed my mind as I wiped some of the lingering sleep out of my eyes. The footsteps hardly sank into the soft grass outside my tent, so I guessed a female was visiting. It wasn’t Alexia, the blonde woman made absolutely no noise when she walked, and she would just come into my tent without alerting me to her presence.

A dark-haired young woman, maybe a few inches shorter than my six-foot height, carefully ducked under the canvas flap. She carried a large wooden tray with bowls of steaming gruel, a pot of tea, and two covered dishes that smelled like eggs with beef. The woman’s hair was tied back in a high ponytail and her eyes glittered a bright green.

“Kaiyer?” Her eyes searched my face and I heard her heart thunder in her chest.

“That is me.” I guessed who this was, but I didn’t understand why she had entered my tent.

“I’m Shlara.” She smiled confidently, and I understood why Malek had told of her beauty. She was painfully thin though, and I saw the blue network of veins beneath the smooth skin of her arms and neck. She was wearing a set of our dark gray training tunics and pants. It hung tight around her famished body, revealing a pitiful lack of muscle and an emaciated over-emphasis of bone.

“I’ve heard about you.”

“I’ve heard about you as well. I brought you breakfast. Have you eaten?” She seemed to second guess herself; it was past breakfast time for the rest of the army.

“No, actually, I haven’t.”

“Why aren’t there chairs in your tent?” she asked with a frown. She looked for a place to put the food and the only open spot was either my cot or the table where I stood.

“I’ll take that. Thank you.” I grasped the wooden tray and wondered for a second how she had gotten the extra plates. Even though the woman was thin, the meals were carefully rationed by the cooking staff. The tray almost didn’t fit on the side of the small table. I grabbed a bowl of gruel, dipped a wooden spoon in it, and shoved it down my throat. It burned like molten fire, but my mouth healed almost instantly.

“Why are there no guards outside your tent?”

“Why would I need guards?” I didn’t look up at her.

“Couldn’t someone come in here and assassinate you?” she answered with a question.

“Who would want to assassinate me?” Our eyes met and I smiled at her mirthfully.

“The Elvens of course!” Her brows knit and she seemed outraged with the idiocy of my response.

“I doubt they could get through the camp.”

“What if they did?” She folded her arms and bit her lip.

“If an Elven somehow made it through the camp and got to my tent, I’d probably have to kill it. You may find this hard to believe, but I’ve killed them before.” I chuckled.

“What if they send a half dozen?” She didn’t seem to understand my lack of concern.

“I doubt half a dozen could make it through the army. But I’ve killed that many before.” I turned back down to the map and ate another spoonful of the gruel.

Half a minute passed before Shlara cleared her throat again. I looked up at her and noticed she was eyeing the plate of food with one eyebrow raised.

“I forgot to thank you for bringing the food.”

“No. You thanked me. I brought food for both of us. I wanted to have breakfast with you.” She unfolded her arms and smiled confidently, but I heard her heart race with nervousness.

“I see why Malek likes you so much.” Her smile brightened at the mention of Malek. “But I have plans this morning. Perhaps we can have lunch a few months from now, after you begin your training.” Her grin faded.

“I have wanted to meet you for so long. We traveled such a great distance.” She tried to regain her composure.

“Malek mentioned something of that to me.” He had actually been bragging about Shlara for the last week. She had led a group of over two hundred men, women, and children through the wilderness to find us. She had orchestrated the group’s escape and killed four Elvens with various weapons the slaves had crafted.

“We have been searching for your camp for sixteen moon cycles. I’ve heard stories of you and your army. I didn’t want to wait for you to come free us.” She regained her confidence and pushed her pretty chin up into the air boldly.

“Because of this, you think you deserve some of my time?” I stared at her.

“You normally have breakfast with your lieutenants.” She licked her lips nervously and her heart betrayed her poise.

“Yes.”

“Just think of me as your next lieutenant then. Actually, consider me your next general.” She smiled again and I had to force myself not to grin back. Malek was never wrong about people and this girl already impressed me. She bordered on arrogant, but not without cause.

“You are quite confident.”

“I will be your best general. I am very smart. I have only been in the camp a week and I have twenty ideas to improve your logistics.”

“Logistics is something we need help with. Alexia and Gorbanni will want to hear your ideas.”

“Don’t you want to hear them?” she sat down on my cot and smiled at me again. Her heart beat as fast as a hummingbird’s. I could not tell her age, but I guessed she was probably a few years older than I was when the Elvens had changed me.

After Iolarathe had killed my father and brother.

“If they are good ideas, I’ll be informed of the changes.” My words pushed through clenched teeth. I wasn’t particularly mad at the girl, but the memory of Iolarathe made me want to crush skulls with my mace.

She shot to her feet. “I’ll be going then.” She took two steps toward the tent flap.

“Wait.” She stopped suddenly and then slowly turned around to face me. I handed her a bowl of gruel and she grinned with surprise. “Did you make an appointment to see Alexia?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Don’t use this method with her. She’ll break your nose and remind you of why we have ranks.”

“I understand.” Shlara’s eyes widened as she nodded. She grabbed the spoon and took a small bite of the mushy oat cereal.

We ate in silence for the next ten minutes. Shlara tested her luck and stepped closer to the map on the table so she could see what I studied. When I didn’t lash out at her again her heart started to beat at a normal rhythm.

“You are different than I thought you would be,” she whispered.

“You are a slow eater.” I smirked at her.

“I thought you would be uglier.” Her pulse skipped into a canter again and she gave me a charming smile.

“Why?” I almost laughed.

“The tales say that you kill dozens of Elvens with a wave of your hand. They also say that you sacrificed your soul and body to gain dark powers from the Dead Gods.”

“Dead Gods? I’ve never heard of such things.” I knew that the Elvens had some sort of religion, but I never felt a desire to learn about it.

“The Elven’s worship them. I’m surprised you don’t know more about them. They have a pathos and creation foundation. We weren’t allowed to worship them of course, but I knew of them.” She smiled and I noticed her body relax with the conversation.

“I find it hard to believe that Elvens think anything is more powerful than they are. In the tribe I was raised in, we were expected to worship Elvens. But now I don’t spend any time talking to them. I just kill them.”

“I didn’t think you would be so single-minded either.” She smirked.

“Today I am.”

“What tribe were you raised in?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter. Are you done with your breakfast?”

“No. You are right, I am a slow eater. Tell me about being changed.” She took a quick series of bites and looked at me over her bowl.

“It hurts. Women say it feels like childbirth, only the pain is in your spine and skull.” Her green eyes grew wide and flashed with worry. “I don’t think you should be concerned though. The pain is temporary and Malek will take good care of you.”

“Can I ask a favor?” She set her dish down on the table. I noticed it was still a quarter full. She probably needed to eat twenty bowls every day for the next four weeks to get her weight up to a healthy level.

Our eyes met and I was struck again by her beauty, even with the malnutrition affecting her body. I knew Malek would have his hands full with her. He had a soft spot for pretty girls and this one would make his head spin. If it wasn’t already.

“I believe you are rather presumptuous, Shlara.”

“I believe you are falling in love with me, Kaiyer,” she said with a cocky grin. I laughed.

“Fine.” I waved my hands at her in surrender and stepped away from the table. “What do you want?”

She waited a few seconds before answering.

“Malek is wonderful, and I enjoy spending time with him,” she paused dramatically and looked at me again. I was about to press her to continue but then she spoke. “After I gain enough weight, he will change me into one of the O’Baarni, we think in about two weeks. But I want you to change me.” Her heart sped up again.

I stared at her a moment, but her resolve held firm and she didn’t balk when our eyes met.

“Why?”

“Kaiyer, your story drove us to leave our enslavers. We wandered for so long, we lost so many,” her eyes drifted away from mine for a few seconds, “but we persisted, because we knew that you would take us in your arms and teach us. We believe in you.” A blush came to her cheeks and she broke our eye contact again to look at the ground.

I felt myself growing angry. This was not how I wanted my brethren to view me. I did not even want them to think of me, but of our cause. I wanted them to devote themselves to our freedom, not to me. I was not a hero. I was not a savior. I was just a boy trying to atone for the death of his family.

“What did your people do?” I asked with a sigh. I needed to change the subject so I might consider the proper response to her request.

“Most of us worked on the farms for the Tulcita tribe.”

I nodded. The Tulcita tribe was more than a few hundred miles southeast of us and too big for my small force to handle. We had disrupted some of their deliveries, but had never confronted them directly. Shlara was probably correct to leave and seek us out; my army was several years away from destroying Tulcita and freeing their human slaves.

“We were afraid to involve too many outside of the field workers. We didn’t want our plans discovered. A few of my people know how to hunt and fish. That was how we survived,” Shlara finished and we stood in silence for a few more moments.

“We need farmers. It is fortunate that you came to us. Are you skilled at growing crops?”

“I am skilled at everything I do.” Her eyes beamed at me and I wondered if there was a hidden promise in the emerald orbs.

“Excellent. I have no lack of warriors, but food is an issue. We’ve got a few bags of wheat and corn seeds, as well as some vegetables. But this is Gorbanni’s realm. You should see him immediately.”

“Will you change me then?” Her visage of confidence broke for a flash.

“I think you have potential. You have proven that you can manage a large group of people against adversity. You’ve gotten special attention from Malek. He is going to take you under his wing and develop you. This is all you will get for the time being.”

“Why won’t you change me?” her voice cracked and I saw the depths of her maturity.

“Malek is going to.”

“I want you to.” She crossed her arms in front of her small breasts and I felt the anger coming off of her.

“I want all the Elvens destroyed. Give me that and you can have whatever you want from me.” I looked down to my map and pulled the lid off of the plate of eggs and beef. The smell of salt, pepper, and protein hit my nose and my stomach reminded me that one small bowl of gruel would not be enough.

“Change me and I will kill all the Elvens you want.” She stepped closer than I would have expected and put her hand lightly on my bicep. The woman definitely had gumption.

“That isn’t how you will build a relationship with me, Shlara.” I looked into her eyes and briefly at her fingers on my arm. She didn’t pull her hand away.

“Why not?”

“Because you earn trust with me by proving yourself consistently.”

“I have proven myself!” Her face became enraged and her grip flew from my shoulder. “I’ve done something no one else has been able to do. No one but you. You know what I endured. Why won’t you honor me?” Her voice was laced with anger.

“It isn’t honor. It doesn’t matter who changes you. Elvens changed me so I could serve in their war machine. Do I owe a debt of gratitude to those fucking bastards? Did they honor me?” She backed away and shook her head. I interrupted her as she opened her mouth to speak again. “But the real reason I’m not going to change you is because you are a self-absorbed brat. This isn’t about you, or your needs. It’s about the future of our race and the death of millions of our enemies. If I tell you to do something, you don’t fucking argue with me. You do it. You don’t come to me asking for boons, you come to me telling me how you can help me, and then you deliver. Everything you have said since you entered my tent has been about you. I don’t give a shit about you until you provide results to me. Do you understand, girl?”

Her heartbeat sprinted again and her face betrayed absolute panic. She hadn’t expected the conversation to go like this.

“Y-y-yes,” she stuttered.

“Good. Thank you for breakfast. Get out.” She turned white and retreated a step. Then the girl turned and dashed out the tent flap so quickly that I thought she had already been changed into one of the O’Baarni.

I sighed again and looked down at the plate of my food. I speared a chunk of beef and eggs and then put it in my mouth. It should have tasted good, but it felt like sand against my tongue.

“I like her,” Entas’s voice drifted from my cot.

“You are worse than Alexia.” I turned to the old man and smiled. I hadn’t even heard his heartbeat, let alone his entrance into my home.

He stretched across my bed with his left foot flat on the padding and his right leg crossed over it. He absently stared at the apex of my tent and chewed the end of a long blade of grass. His bamboo walking stick rested against the bottom of my cot. It was never more than two feet from him.

“Enjoying breakfast?” he asked without looking at me.

“Want any?”

“I already ate, but sure. I need more meat on me bones.” He sat up a little and plucked at his threadbare shirt and pants. His flowing white hair came down to his shoulders and he kind of did look like a cross between a skeleton, ghost, and monkey.

I walked over to him with the spare plate and dished some of the egg and beef mixture onto the dish. He frowned and shook his head, putting more back onto my plate until he only seemed to have half of an egg and less than a bite of beef. I shrugged and joined him on my cot. We ate in silence for a few minutes until I finally spoke.

“I’m waiting for you to tell me how badly I mistreated her.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Really? I thought Malek had already convinced you that she was our secret weapon against the Elvens by now.” I laughed at the thought, but my friend spent more time with my old mentor than I currently did.

“Of course not. You have an ability to tell people exactly what they need to hear. When the girl came in here, I believe she was intent on warming your bed.” Entas gave his dry chuckle.

“Humm, I didn’t get that from her.”

“No of course not. You are blissfully ignorant to the ways of women.”

“Thanks. I think.”

“But you are savvy in the ways of leading men and women. Shlara is now intent on proving you wrong and making you appreciate her. She is en route to our gray-haired friend so that he can change her immediately. She’ll probably train twenty hours a day until she earns your respect.” Entas finished the last bite off his plate, set it on the ground, and then leaned back down on my bed. He was so short that his legs didn’t even touch my back when he stretched out.

“That is ridiculous. She won’t survive the change. She is too weak from starvation.” I frowned.

“Ahh my friend. Never underestimate the willpower of a woman who wants something. Malek will try to convince her of your logic, but she’ll get her way.” I nodded and hoped it wasn’t true. Maybe I had been too hard on Shlara, but I didn’t have a place in the army for someone who would not follow my instructions. I hoped she wouldn’t take the risk.

“Was there anything about her conversation that interested you?” Entas said after a few moments of relaxed silence between us. I searched my memory of the conversation and wondered if this was one of the old man’s fancy riddles.

“Not that I can recall.”

“Really? Nothing?” I looked at him and our eyes met. He squinted at me in concentration. I wasn’t passing this logic test.

“Help me out here. What did I miss?” I finally shrugged my shoulders and gave up on the riddle.

Entas glanced up at the ceiling of the tent again and I could tell he was debating giving me the answer.

“She mentioned the ‘Dead Gods’ of the Elvens. Does that interest you at all?” His eyes stared deep into mine and I realized this was the most direct conversation we had experienced in the past year or so. My mentor had let me run the army for the last five summers and only cared to see me if I had a problem. When I did come to him, he normally asked me a series of bizarre questions that gave me the answer I was looking for only after I meditated on them for a few hours.

“No.”

“Why doesn’t it interest you?” The monkey man sat up in his bed and leaned toward me. His voice was just a whisper.

“I don’t really give a shit about their religious beliefs. They didn’t let us have any, so why should I care about theirs? The knowledge won’t help me kill them easier, will it?”

“Oh, no of course not. Do not worry Kaiyer. This isn’t a test. I just wanted to see if you wondered about the topic. You normally seek out knowledge about everything …” his voice trailed off and he raised an eyebrow to look at me.

“Not this time, Entas. I have to plan our next assault.”

“Ahh yes.” He bobbed his head like an old monkey. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

The old man scooted around me on the cot, got to his feet, and then snagged his walking stick with a smooth flip.

“Ahh wait,” he said before he strolled out of the tent. He cupped his right ear dramatically and I heard a distant scream. It was one of complete and total agony and seemed to grow so loud that it became hard to tell if the voice that made it was a mile away or a hundred yards. Then, the woman’s screech cut off suddenly. She had either died or passed out from the pain. It was a scream I had once made many years ago.

“One of these days, you need to teach me how to know everything that is going on in the camp.”

“I don’t know everything that goes on in the camp, Kaiyer. I just know the important things. That’s what you need to learn.” The monkey man smiled at me with his characteristic chuckle and then he walked out of the tent.

I took the last few bites of my eggs and then gathered up the plates. It was a short walk to the dining tent, and from there it was an even shorter walk to see if Shlara had survived.

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