Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga)

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  The thick gravy and chunks of mixed vegetables were delicious and the bread soft and warm. It tasted delicious. Brooke consumed everything, as did Cage yet he was still hungry. He paid for two more large bowls and bread. His hunger finally abated and settled. Brooke too looked better with a full stomach.

  He stood from his chair and stepped outside with her. He kissed her on the lips and headed to the castle while she went another way.

  “Halt! State your business!” An armored warrior commanded.

  Cage stopped near the six story inner wall. Before the open entrance stood six armored soldiers. Cage stopped and said “I’m here to speak with the commanding general. Please retrieve him.”

  “So you are the one the outer wall soldiers warned us of. I’m sorry, but unless you tell me the reason why you wish an audience for such a busy individual, I must insist you leave and not waste the general’s precious time.”

  “Fine.” Cage figured as much. “If you must know, I’m on a mission to deliver a message from King Tate of Vlara. Now unless you don’t go get the general I will make my own way in.” The implications had the six grip their swords.

  “Men, stand down!” A middle aged man in dark armor ordered as he came around the corner of a nearby building with a squire boy carrying letters and documents. Full plate armor encased the enormous man, all except his head. The only part of the armor that wasn’t midnight black is a dark green insignia of a dragon painted on the breastplate and centered over his heart. The older man took one glance at Cage to say “Put your anger away, you wouldn’t stand a chance if he chose to fight us all. By your appearance with black hands and eyes, am I to assume that you are the one named Cage?”

  It was Cage’s turn to be surprised. His didn’t show any outward signs of it though. In a calm tone he said “It appears I’m at a disadvantage. Who are you and how do you know my name?”

  The man said confidently as only a true soldier does “I am Commander General Corbin of all Emrocan forces. As to your name, I received a coded message from my old friend General Kurk of Vlara… Before I reveal anything further you have something you wish to deliver to me in person correct?”

  Cage reached into his shirt as several blades rang as they were unsheathed. General Corbin looked seriously to his men. “I ordered you to sheathe your weapons.” Cage pulled out the right letter and approached the general. The gate soldiers stepped forward with intent and got scolded. “If you do not listen when I give a direct order I’ll have you quartered in the stables and put on latrine duty for a month.” That threat stopped the six. The general took the letter, looked at the unbroken seal of wax and broke it between his gloved fingers. He pulled the letter from the envelope and began reading. Everyone stood in silence as Corbin read it for several moments. “It says I must see your hand to verify your identity.” Cage made a fist and stretched it out. “It is you, the one with skulls in your hands. It also says you have a beautiful companion by the name of Meeka, where is she?”

  Evenly he spoke, but Corbin saw a terrible anger in those black eyes. “Taken as a slave from the Laqura Empire.” This got all of the soldiers attention. “Now can you take me to Skylar so I can finish my task and can go kill all them bastards.”

  One man chuckled and said “If they have her, she is good as gone.”

  Before any of the men knew what happened Cage charged the person who spoke, used one hand to grab his throat and leveled a stiffened finger right in front of his eye in clear meaning of a soon to be lost eye. Cage grinned and said “Please say that again. I so want to hear you say your alright with the idea of slavery. My love has been taken by slavers and you have the balls to say it is hopeless? Would you rather I start with you? I don’t care one way if you live or die. Anyone who stands between me and my woman will die. Now will you stand in my way or shall I choose between either crushing your throat or rip out your eye first?”

  In a strangled voice the soldier whispered “Forgive me.”

  Cage dropped the man and turned around, hearing gasping. Swords came free until Corbin said “Men, you should know, General Kurk told me the man you are about to attack toyed with his elite men and broke King Tate’s nose. None of you shall stand a chance or did you just forget his speed or the strength it required to nearly strangle a man with a single hand? I will not order his arrest for the private had it coming for saying something so insensitive.” The five stopped. “Good then. Cage, if you would, please follow me and cease hostilities. I will let you meet mine king.” The general led the way with Cage and the squire following.

  They passed the wall and entered a wide open courtyard. He then asked “How did you know my name?”

  “My old friend sent a carrier pigeon. He explained of a lone man who beat his best men and fought him with a grin. Kurk mentioned black arms and the reference to a cage, but the C was large and I knew it was a name.” Corbin then pulled out the letter he had been given and whispered “Burn, burn, burn.” The letter ignited and turned to ash, destroying it irreparably, further proving the Vlaran king spelled it.

  Back in the city Brooke felt like a child again, seeing everything for the first time. Many peddlers offered her their wares, but she carried no money. Many told her to move on, but some answered her questions about their works and what some things were for. She didn’t get lost, but she did find so many buildings and crowds bothersome. She liked nature and open spaces, but the city is made of stone.

  Thick clouds began rolling in and many outside vendors were packing up to avoid the coming rain.

  A thunder boom off in the distance told people to head inside for the rains were coming. Brooke took the storm’s warning and headed back to the Blazing Trail.

  Along the way she heard the sound of a shattering pot and instinctively looked with many others. Then she heard a man yell “Look at what you did you stupid whore!” And then came a slap followed by a cry of pain from a woman. Brooke moved and came upon a woman in a dress bent over as a man slapped her face hard enough to turn her head to the side. He slapped her again, but then Brooke noticed she didn’t protect her sixteen year old beautiful face. She covered her slightly swollen stomach. A woman would only sacrifice her face for one reason. Pregnancy. She shielded the unborn from attack.

  Without even considering her own position, Brooke yelled at the man with lots of gold jewelry and gems. “Do not strike her again! Can you not see, she is pregnant!”

  “She is my servant, carrying my child. I’ll do with her as I please. She spilled wine on my clothes.” He then cruelly smacked the girl again.

  Brooke had seen enough.

  Chapter 4

  “Squire, head to the war room and tell the captains I’ll be there shortly.” General Corbin stated.

  “Yes, My Lord.” The boy replied and hurried off, barely keeping the many documents in his possession from spilling over the floor.

  “Your timing was impeccable, Corbin. I would have hated to wait all day for those men to pull you from this busy place.” Cage commented as servants and rich men moved everywhere in the enormous castle.

  “Agreed. I am glad too. I will have to reprimand those guards for not heeding my orders and making me repeat myself. I am thankful you chose to spare the one fool’s life. If I were in your place and my wife were taken… I wouldn’t have allowed that comment to pass either. But in Kurk’s report he explained you are also a mage. Do you have the power to know where this Meeka is?”

  “Move off to the side and I’ll show you.” Cage moved towards the wall to get out of the constant castle’s traffic flow. Corbin raised a bushy brow and followed. Cage activated the spell and brought up the image of Meeka and the other captives in shackles, constantly heading north. “This is my Meeka. We were separated on the Tribal Plains. After I deliver Tate’s letter, the job will be done and I’m going after her. If you have any information that might tell me their destination or where slavers usually take captives, I’ll be very grateful and you’ll have sent someone to royally screw
up their operation.”

  The general rubbed his shaved chin, watching the magic and the slave convoy closely. He wasn’t a sorcerer, but knew many and it required much strength and focus to see what he did in such clarity. “I know that area and they will be leaving the plains in about four days time… As for what they do I shall tell you along the way.” Cage canceled the magic and followed the burly warrior. They found the stairs and people moved aside and acknowledged the commander general with a bow or curtsey. “How much of the Laqura Empire do you know?”

  “Nothing except that you are at war with them and that they allow slavery.”

  “What of their lands?”

  “Sorry, but in the map I bought back in Vlara is all I saw Jalara being the only piece of land on the paper being Empire territory.”

  “Hmm… well I shall find you a map of the empire’s lands. For now, just remember these names of towns and cities. When those of Laqura steal someone for the slave markets, they are often taken to the markets in Bepop. From there slaves are sold and sent all over their lands by the many interconnecting rivers.

  “Here is where you will find trouble, if you are going after this Meeka. The Empire declared war on us again last summer and we held them off till the winter storms barred their way. They resumed their assault when the snows melted. Since then they have captured our city of Soloro and Kidi in the past month. We expected them to then take the next logical city of Dalaran, but they sent their main force and swept through the plains, capturing many of the tribal people. Those villages didn’t stand a chance without mages… by those beads… you are the Utala chieftain? What of that tribe?”

  “I’ve recently been appointed to that position. I’m going after them as I said. Meeka wasn’t the only one captured.”

  “Very well… Back to what I was saying, With Kidi and Soloro in enemy hands you’ll have a hard time freeing the captives. They will be taken to Soloro first, forced to the coast where a temporary port is being finished before sailing to Dragon’s Port. From there they will resupply and sail straight for Bepop to unload their acquisitions and return to do it all over again. Our kingdom of Emroc’s territory ends between the border line from Wayward Way to Dragon’s Port.”

  “Do you have any suggestions I can consider to slip through their defenses before they reach this port their building?”

  “It is nearly impossible. Spies I’ve sent mostly end up killed and scouts are forced to flee. The empire seems to have a surplus of mages at their disposal who use their magic to spot my men before they have a chance. Our own mages are spread thin and do what they can, but whenever we try getting through, what we think as a chink in their armor, they surprise us with a trap. Right now I need every person willing to fight just to push those men out.”

  Cage grinned. “Too bad the dragons don’t intervene in human affairs. They would wrap them up nice and neat within a day.”

  “We are agreed in that.” Cage only meant it as a joke, but it seemed dragons were as powerful as many believed.

  “What haven’t you tried doing?”

  “Slipping through the Frozen Forest.” Corbin laughed for the first time and a maid looked as if she never heard him do such a thing.

  “What is so funny about a forest?”

  The general stopped and looked directly and seriously at the tall man. “Is that meant to be a joke?”

  “Not at all, Corbin. I’m not from these lands.”

  “Then you should know I would rather face the army coming at us alone and unarmed before stepping one toe in that forest. It is haunted and filled with innumerable ways to die from traps to fall in or ancient magics that kill any who disturb so much as a snowflake. Only sorcerers of the second class and above are known to t be foolish enough to stand barely a chance of passing through and even they hesitate to consider crossing that place. No army or man can pass through there without being obliterated. It is suicide you’ll find if you head there. Even Laqura avoids those lands. Because of it, they cannot easily send their armies down to us all at once.”

  “Why is it called Frozen Forest?” Cage asked and began walking up again.

  “Because it is forever frozen, but some plants manage to survive or so I have been told. In legend, it is said a great sorcerer fought a dragon and their power was so great that the land is forever at war with itself, even after the two killed each other. Even in the height of summer, that forest is forever gripped in snow and clouds. It is a cursed place to be sure.”

  Then if I cannot find a way through to find Meeka before she reaches Soloro I’ll do just that. Nothing will stop me from freeing her. Cage thought while the general studied him and couldn’t tell what he saw.

  Corbin prided himself on reading people as easily as a book, but all he could learn from Cage is his movements didn’t waste energy and that only happens to those who are skilled in the art of war and survival. Few men ever gave the general pause, Cage stood at the top of that extremely short list.

  “Ah, General, just who I was looking for!” Came a loud voice as the two reached the end of the winding stairs.

  Corbin took a look and bowed slightly at the waist and put a fist over the dragon emblem and his heart. “Good day, My King and to you Reece. I have been seeking you as well.” He stood tall and rested a hand on the pommel of his sword out of casual habit. “King Skylar, this here is the one known as Cage, the man General Kurk informed us was coming.”

  Skylar is one giant of a forty year old looking man. King Skylar stood at Cage’s height, but where Cage is lean Skylar is knotted with muscle. Two large hammers hung from the king’s hips and were as menacing as their wielder. The king wore a tight shirt and pants to accentuate his muscular form. Over his heart was a silvery stitched dragon and on his brow displayed a ring of gold with a, octagonal ruby set directly in the center. But unlike his overwhelming appearance, Skylar had a kind face and blue-green eyes. Upon his shoulder perched a golden eagle named Reece. Cage figured he stood before a mage. Hearing Tate’s name put a smile on the king’s face. “Well then we can multitask. There has been a development that has been reported directly to me while you were out.”

  The king turned and proceeded down a balcony hall with the silent eagle perched on a shoulder. The hall looked over the entire great city. A rumble of thunder made Cage see how the sky darkened with thick thunderheads. General Corbin followed the king with Cage. They reached a thick metal door and a personal guard opened it to allow the King and the two inside. Like Tate’s castle in Vin’re, Skylar led them into a private meeting hall and sat in his elegant throne. He gestured them forth and when Corbin stopped so did Cage. The eagle Familiar remained quiet and stayed put. The only thing making it look alive is when it blinks or twitches its head and beak. Skylar began speaking without delay. “The Magical Council has finally responded. Whatever happened recently to have them so rattled seems to have passed. Zikon is gathering four dozen sorcerers to aid us and will arrive by tomorrow to fight off the Laqura mages. It is good they did so for as you were out checking the troops I got word a band of mages is coming to further reinforce those to the east. I do not need to tell you how much we need to get those men off the plains. Without the tribal people on their lands, the enemy will find it all too easy to send their forces through the flat terrain. The ten thousand won’t breach our home and they know it, but we cannot allow them to stay and have time to make weapons or worse, control our entire eastern coast. If that were to happen, all trade with Vlara will cripple us. We also need to be sure they don’t find a way to cut off our supply of iron and steel from Mirim Mines. So when the sorcerers arrive, allow them a night’s rest and you’ll send them and all of the battle mages from the guild to get them out. We lost two cities already, we cannot allow them to take more of our land or my people.”

  “If we are truly receiving aid from Twilight’s sorcerers then we might be able to drive them back, but it won’t be enough to reclaim Kidi or Soloro before winter. They will be repairing defenses a
nd will be done by the time we arrived.” The general spoke.

  “Then to make it that much harder, why don’t you take a mage and destroy the port under construction near Soloro? If it gets completed they can more easily send supplies to further strengthen their hold on that city and sail more men to that location. It would be faster than sending supply trains from Dragon’s Port, which I assume they also hold. Screw with their war machine enough and their morale will wither enough that some might desert and you’ll have it easier to fight. If the foothold isn’t destroyed you’ll likely lose more lives to kick them out or lose the war completely.” Cage commented and got a surprised look from the king and general.

  “My tactical advisors also say this, but why is it you speak of it?” Skylar leaned back and waited for an answer.

  “Because my love has been captured and likely on her way there as we speak. I can use your diversion of attacking those to the east while a small force destroys their port. They will likely have guards and mages protecting the docks from sabotage, but if you decide to get rid of it I can swing around from the west with greater ease. And I’ll kill and disrupt their plans as best I can along the way.”

  “You would use me?” King Skylar asked in amusement.

  “It is no different than you using people. Your goal is to kick all Laqura ass out of Emroc and to do that you use Corbin here who in turn commands your forces who will ultimately either succeed or die in battle for those they love. So yes, I’m going to use you to save the woman I love and all the other slaves I come across. After I see my women and people to safety I’ll go to this slave market… what was that place again… ummm… Bepop? and use all my skills to destroy the central hub of the slave trade. If they lose their free labor and have to do more things themselves it will make their plans that much harder to achieve their desire for conquest. I have no tolerance for drug dealers or slavery. I might die, but more than likely a lot more will go before I.”