Realms of Valen - Blasphemous Crusade (War of the Gods Book 2)

by Rickk Berry III

  “I see you survived my arrow,” Alyssia observed.

  “Yes, I survived your cheap attempt on my life. It'll take more than a toxic arrow to do me in,” Kaidia growled.

  “Oh, confident. I like it,” Sesaria said with a grin.

  “Sure you do,” Kaidia said, raising her sword.

  Sesaria and Alyssia drew their own swords and stepped apart, looking to get on either side of Kaidia, whose dark blue hues flicked between one elf, then the other, ignoring the beauty of the two and focusing on just how deadly the pair were. In a sudden burst of movement, Kai threw a blazing bolt of fire toward Sesaria and launched herself in the opposite direction at Alyssia, wanting to attack the bitch who shot her with an arrow, up close and personal.

  Alyssia brought her short sword up in time to parry Kaidia's first strike. But it left her open and Kai took that moment to slam her forehead into the elf's nose, breaking it with a satisfying crunch. Alyssia backpedaled as pain lanced through her head, blood streamed down over her mouth and chin, and unavoidable tears blurred her vision. Kaidia was counting on that natural reaction and pressed her attack, taking another slash at the half-blind elf. Alyssia managed to block the attack, but her sword was jarred from her grip and clattered to the floor.

  Kaidia closed in to finish off the wounded Alyssia, but paused as she sensed movement behind her. The god whirled around and slammed her elbow into Sesaria's cheekbone as the elf lunged at her from behind.

  “Ankle biter,” Kaidia growled. Sesaria took a few steps back, then launched herself at Kaidia head on. Their swords clashed and Kai slammed her fist into the elf's rib cage. Sesaria grunted, pushed Kai's sword aside with her own, and swung an elbow at the other woman's face. It connected with a dull thud, causing Kaidia to step back and gather herself. Sesaria took a moment to do the same.

  Alyssia stepped up beside Sesaria, working her broken nose back into place with a wince. Sesaria glanced at her.

  “She hits hard,” one twin said to the other.

  “She does. That hurt,” the other replied.

  “Converse later,” Kaidia growled.

  “Impatient,” Sesaria huffed.

  “I have things to do later,” Kaidia said with a shrug.

  “How can you have things to do if you're dead?” Sesaria asked, tossing her braid with a jerk of her head.

  “You two had your chance at killing me. You gave it your best shot, you failed. I'm just here to kill you so you don't cause me anymore trouble,” Kai answered.

  “Best shot?” Alyssia asked.

  “Not even close,” Sesaria snarled. With that, the pair shot forward and attacked in unison. Kaidia blocked Sesaria's sword strike and barley dodged Alyssia's sword, but she couldn't dodge the knee that rammed into her gut. She wasn't sure which twin's knee it was, she was just sure it hurt.

  She fought back with a left fist to Alyssia's chin and a sword thrust at Sesaria's gut. Alyssia stumbled backward with a curse as Sesaria twirled out of the blade's way. The twins came together, presenting a unified target for Kaidia. The god set her feet and pushed off, launching herself at the twins.

  The pair of elves raised their hands at the last moment, a bolt of fire and a bolt of lightning mingled together, collided with Kaidia's chest, and sent the deity flying backward. She impacted the wall and, thanks to the force of the magical assault, went crashing straight through the stone. She tumbled to the ground and rolled, disoriented. She only barely took notice of both elves running out of the hole in the wall that her body had made. They ran right at her, then leapt over her and ran toward the center of the training yard.

  As Kaidia pushed herself up and focused her eyes, she took noticed of what the twins had so quickly converged upon. A stone altar stood in the middle of the training yard, a twin on either side of it. It was plain in design, flat and smooth on all sides. Every square inch of it was inscribed with runes that Kai didn't recognize.

  The twins held their swords at their sides and each put their free hand on the top of the stone. As they did so, the runes became suffused with an eerie, pale glow. Kaidia stood, natural curiosity giving her a moment's pause. The altar's glow intensified, causing Kai to narrow her eyes against the bright light. Within moments, it grew so bright that she had to close her eyes against it. When it began to fade, she opened her eyes and looked back toward the altar.

  Towering over the alter, which was no longer aglow, was a hulking humanoid creature much like the demon that Rykar had stayed back to fight. This demon, as Kaidia was sure it was just that, was several times taller, however. He was also handsome, in a way. He wasn't deformed, just the opposite in fact. Instead of roaring, he spoke.

  “Dragon God. You have been irritating me to no end these past few days. I had hoped these two could get rid of you, but for all their beauty and skill, they seem incapable of doing so. I think I should just do the job myself,” he said, his voice deep, rumbling in his chest.

  “You're welcome to try, Khamora,” Kaidia growled in return, instinctively knowing who she was looking upon.

  “Feisty,” the demon said with a chuckle before starting forward. He took no heed when Kaidia's eyes flared a telling, brilliant blue and he paid for it in the next moment. Kai's massive blue dragon swooped out of the sky and slammed bodily into the demon, smashing him to the ground, and crushing his altar in the process. The elves only just got out of the way of the two titanic bodies as they fell toward the stone floor of the training ground.

  The dragon drew its head back, fire at the back of its throat, prepared to roast the demon's face. At the last moment, then massive demon slammed his fist into the side of the dragon's head, the jet of flame melting flagstones instead of the demon's head. The blue leviathan's head snapped back around and it let out a thundering, enraged roar. The demon pushed the dragon away and stood up, only to get cracked across the face with the dragon's tail, sending him sprawling into the outer wall of the training grounds. The wall, ancient and brittle, crumbled under his weight. The demon stumbled and the dragon rushed into him, claws digging at his flesh, pushing him out of the grounds, leaving the Kaidia alone with the two elves once more.

  “You two had to know that would happen just as it did,” Kaidia accused.

  “We were hoping he'd get to you before you could summon your companion,” Alyssia admitted.

  “We gambled, it didn't pay off,” Sesaria said with a shrug.

  Kaidia looked around. There were several pillars in the yard, from the looks of it, they had once held up a roof to shade part of the grounds. At some point in the past, the roof had been destroyed, judging by the damaged and scorched tops of the pillars. The god had a few ideas about just how to use those heavy stone columns to her benefit, if she could get the elves to them.

  She didn't have another moment to ponder it, however, as the twins attacked in unison. She side-stepped Alyssia's sword stroke, and deflected Sesaria's attack. She then launched her own attack at Alyssia, a vicious sideways slash of her blade. The elf danced backward to avoid the strike, ponytail bouncing with her movements. Sesaria attacked from behind and Kai managed to turn in time to deviate the course of the elf's sword with her own blade, but she couldn't avoid Alyssia's fist as she took advantage of the moment. The punch cracked Kaidia in the jaw and sent her stumbling back a few steps.

  Alyssia pressed her attack and was kicked backward by an irritated Kaidia, who couldn't whirl around in time to block or evade Sesaria's next attack. Kai managed to jerk to the side just enough that the sword just cut her forearm between two plates of her armor instead of running through her stomach.

  She had no more than hissed at the sting of the cut than she had to bat away Alyssia's next attack with the flat of her black sword, only to have Sesaria nearly land another killing stroke.

  Kai jumped backward and put distance between herself and the nimble elves. She took a moment to appraise the situation. She was starting to feel the heat of the sun beating down on her heavy black armor. Even she would succumb t
o fatigue at some point. The elven twins had on much lighter armor, giving them an advantage in regard to the heat, not to mention agility.

  “Come then, elflings. Attack me,” Kaidia taunted.

  The two elven siblings looked confident to the point of arrogance. They knew of their advantages, but seemed to be drawing out every moment they could, taking their time. After several long moments of walking closer, they lunged for Kai. The dark-haired woman spun away from Alyssia's attack, dodged Sesaria's, then grabbed the braided twin by the head, and flung her through the air, intent on breaking her neck. Sesaria slammed straight into one of the pillars. She hit it with a cringe-worthy thud and fell to the ground, stunned, but most certainly not dead.

  Alyssia rushed to her sister's side and helped the dazed Sesaria to her feet. Sesaria growled and fixed Kaidia with a glare.

  “Finally you show some of your strength,” she said. In her free hand, magical energy gathered and crackled. Kaidia took a step backward and waited. She could dodge the attack. She was somewhat reluctant to start throwing magic around. Like any mage, using her power took a toll and burned up precious energy. Not to mention that it would turn up the smothering heat if fireballs and lightning bolts were sizzling through the air.

  In the stone outpost, it had been much cooler, but out here, with the sun at its zenith, Kaidia was seriously considering the shedding of her armor. Sesaria raised her hand and flung the raw, sorcerous power at Kaidia, who ducked the attack. When she straightened up, she found both twins rushing to attack her. She evaded the blade of one, only to take the pommel of the other elf's sword straight to the side of her head.

  Kai stumbled backward, shaking her head. The twins surged forward again, but Kaidia was ready this time around. Alyssia attacked with a downward stroke of her sword, only to miss. Kai's boot slammed into the side of Alyssia's skull. The elf jerked to the side and straight into one of the stone pillars, effectively taking a second blow to the other side of her skull, leaving her ears ringing and her body heavy as the entire world tilted precariously before her eyes.

  Kaidia's sword clashed with Sesaria's as the other twin went on the offensive. As the blades locked, Kai grabbed hold of the elf's armor with her free hand and, with a surge of magical power, lifted the elf from her feet, only to throw her into another of the columns. A second pulse of energy coursed through Kai's hand and released, a bolt of energy burned into Sesaria's chest with such force that the pillar at Sesaria's back shattered and crumbled down on top of the woman, burying her.

  The god turned her attention back to Alyssia just in time to catch a kick to the jaw that sent her sprawling onto her back. She rolled to her feet, trying to blink the stars from her vision. Once her vision focused, Kaidia saw Alyssia pulling her sibling from the rubble. Kai growled in frustration. This two on one fight wasn't going to go her way in the long run. She was powerful, but she had the sneaking suspicion that the twins had been gifted with unnatural power by their god.

  Sesaria, aside from a little blood streaking the side of her face, looked unharmed by the column's weight crashing down on top of her and the sorcerous blast that had smashed her into the column in the first place. The twins spoke quietly to one another for a moment before turning on Kaidia with the free hands raised. Crackling energy manifested in their palms, sparking and sizzling.

  Kai couldn't rush them, so she set her feet, waiting to see if she'd have to block the blasts or if she could dodge them. The standoff dragged along, stretching out each moment, the god and two elves glaring at one another. The elves coiled to launch their attack and had to jump backward as several large spikes of ice crashed into the ground where they had been standing a moment before, interrupting their assault.

  Kaidia's grip on her sword tightened as she looked around for the source, expecting to find Echo standing somewhere nearby. But it wasn't Echo standing atop one of the ancient columns nearby, it was Nadia. The younger Valengaard jumped down to stand beside her sister, a smirk on her lips as Kaidia gawked at her.

  “I take it my dramatic entrance was a winner, then?” Nadia asked with a jovial tone.

  “Hell yes!” Kaidia said, wrapping her free arm around her sister's neck, kissing the girl on the cheek. “Fuck, it's good to see you awake.”

  “Yeah, remind me to ask you about all that when we're done,” Nadia said, playfully pushing her sibling away.

  “Sae didn't fill you in?” Kaidia asked, brow quirked.

  “Sae... may or may not know I'm awake,” Nadia admitted slowly.

  “Oh, you're going to get yelled at when we get back,” Kai said with a grin.

  “If we get back,” Nadia said, readjusting her leather armor. Kaidia peered at her sister, taking in the details of her face, her posture. Nadia was awake, eager for the fight, but it was obvious that she wasn't at her best. Either way, Kai was glad for the backup.

  “Wait, how did you get here?” she asked.

  “I used a portal from my bedroom to your place. Vex told me that you were in Silver Lake, last she'd heard. So, I used another portal from your place to Silver Lake, then another portal from there to here once one of the acolytes at your temple showed me the place on a map. I stepped out of the portal out back. Saw your dragon fighting some big bastard... demon I'd guess. Made my way in the hole those two made in the wall and waited for a moment to attack,” Nadia explained.

  “Glad you showed up, he's a demon god, apparently, and how was that fight going, by the way?” Kai asked. Nadia gave her sister a sideways look.

  * * *

  Khamora panted heavily, his body covered in sweat, blood seeping from wounds that had been opened up by the claws of Kai's dragon.

  “You're like a big, dangerous, goddamned cat,” Khamora snarled.

  The dragon growled and eyed the hulking demon, sizing him up for another attack. Khamora, sensing the dragon's appraising gaze reached for a nearby tree. He wrapped his hand around the massive trunk and ripped it from the ground. He brandished it at the dragon like a big club. The dragon responded with a roar that caused the very ground to shudder.

  Khamora surged forward, swung the tree at a Kai's dragon, aiming for the beast's head. The dragon ducked under the swing, raised back up on its hind legs, spread its wings out, and breathed out a jet of flame, catching the tree ablaze in Khamora's hand. The demon god threw the tree to the ground in a rush of sparks and smoke.

  “Damn it!” he shouted, giving the dragon a cross look.

  * * *

  “Any tips on these two?” Nadia asked, jerked her head to the twin elves standing behind the line of icy spikes that had buried themselves into the ground of the training yard.

  “Yeah, be careful. They're dangerous,” Kai answered.

  “Oh, gee, Kai... like I couldn't figure that out for myself?” Nadia retorted.

  “Well, you did just wake up from a coma,” Kai shot back with a playful grin.

  Nadia looked at her sibling for a long moment. “Okay, I suppose that's fair.”

  The sisters looked toward the elven siblings when they heard a deep crack. The elves had their free hands up, palms toward the sky. The spikes of ice that Nadia had thrown were starting to splinter and break apart, turning into a fine dust that was streaming into the twins' open palms.

  “Which one do you want?” Nadia asked.

  “The one with the ponytail. You take the one with the braid,” Kaidia answered without hesitation.

  “Got a grudge against Ponytail?” Nadia asked with a raised brow.

  “She managed to shoot me with an arrow,” Kaidia responded.

  “Really?” Nadia asked, surprised.

  “Yeah. It was laced with Hell's Bane,” Kai elaborated.

  “What? How the hell are you alive?” Nadia demanded, looking to her sister.

  “I'm tough, apparently,” Kaidia said with a shrug.

  Nadia just shook her head, her eyes refocusing on the twin elves. The ice spikes were gone and had reformed in the palms of the elves as large, spiked s
pheres akin to those found on a flail, only made of ice. A few tense moments passed before the elves abruptly started their attack, flinging the icy formations at Kaidia and Nadia as hard as they could. Kaidia's hand shot up and a wall of fire roared up out of the ground with it. The ice melted into water, which instantly evaporated, filling the space between the two pairs of sisters with steam.

  Kaidia and Nadia launched themselves into the cloud of steam in unison, running out the other side, weapons drawn, slamming into the elven twins. Kaidia completely bowled Alyssia over, throwing her to the ground. Nadia crashed into Sesaria and shoved the elf back into one of the free standing columns. Sesaria grunted and slid down to a knee. Nadia stomped her foot against the side of Sesaria's head, effectively smashing the elf's skull between the sole of her boot and the column, cracking the stone of the pillar.

  Kaidia grabbed Alyssia's ponytail in her free hand and jerked the elf to her feet, Alyssia screaming as she was jerked upward. A moment later, the pommel of Kai's sword impacted the side of the elf's skull, dazing her.

  Sesaria, head bleeding, let off a fireball right against Nadia's stomach. It wasn't a powerful one, but it burned and sent Nadia stumbling backward, it's whole purpose to gain Sesaria some breathing room. Kaidia looked up, startled by the blast of heat, and Alyssia took the moment to mimic her sibling's ploy. Kaidia found herself engulfed in a wave of flames and jerked backward, turning her elven prey loose.

  Nadia's breath had been burned from her chest by the blast of fire she'd taken and Kaidia's eyes were momentarily blinded. Sesaria and Alyssia jumped at the chance to attack, even if both of them had slightly blurred vision from the blows to their heads.

  Kai sensed the attack coming and ducked out of the way. Nadia managed to get her sword and axe up in time to catch Sesaria's sword against the crossed blade and haft of her axe, stopping its downward strike. She kicked Sesaria in the stomach, putting some distance between herself and the elf. Alyssia backed up to stand beside her sister. The elven siblings didn't have time to gather themselves as the Valengaard sisters immediately went on the offensive.