War of the Fathers: War of the Fathers Universe: Volumes One - Three Box Set (War of the Fathers Series Box Set Book 1)

by Dan Decker

  He wanted to scream in rage, but he clamped down his jaw, refusing to give them the satisfaction. Perhaps that was what they wanted so they could say he screamed like a child.

  Grabbing a wooden blade with his other hand, he fended off the blows as best he could, but they continued to come.

  When one took him in the groin, he doubled over in pain and the beating continued unabated. While they weren’t hitting him as hard as they might, the easiest target was his back, and the blows showed no sign of abating.

  Pain lashed through him as they hit the bruises on his upper back, aiming for where they knew he was weak. While the pain was becoming unbearable, he was glad for it because they left his lower back alone, all trying to further the injury he’d suffered during his lashing, not knowing that the worse one was below. Multiple times their own swords clattered together instead of hitting his back. For this he was glad, it was a small mercy in an ocean of pain.

  When he saw that the speaker was limping and holding his hand at an awkward angle, Jorad smiled, wanting the man to know he was pleased with what he’d done.

  He couldn’t see the speaker’s mouth or hear what he said, but he imagined the man’s face was writhing with pain.

  It was only fitting.

  The pain soon became too much, and Jorad collapsed, yet still, the beating continued, up and down his body.

  It’s strange, he thought, just before blacking out, pain is becoming a friend. It was the one constant in his ever-changing world.

  Chapter 24

  Daen woke up as the sun’s light disappeared. The floor was cold and the blanket he’d been using to cover himself had shifted during the day. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, the events of the night before like a nightmare he hoped would disappear and fade as most dreams did. Unfortunately for him, it hadn’t been his imagination.

  The floor of his uncle’s home wasn’t very clean, but Daen hadn’t given it a second thought after arriving in the early morning hours. Lucky for him uncle Cural tended to be an early riser, a habit he’d developed while serving out his commitment as a Radim and had kept through the rest of his life even though he’d not sworn the oaths.

  Cural had taken one look at Daen, ushered him in, and got him some water.

  “What happened to you?” his uncle had asked after Daen sat at the kitchen table.

  Daen chugged the glass of water and set it down, allowing his uncle to pour more. He downed this too in another few gulps.

  Daen gave his uncle a considering look. He very much wanted to ask about Semal’s claim that he was a trueborn son of Adar, but he couldn’t bring himself to utter the words. Cural had been like a father because Daen’s mother and father had died from an illness when he was young.

  Or so he’d been told.

  Cural had never wanted to talk much about either of Daen’s parents, saying he didn’t like to be reminded they were gone, but perhaps it was because he wanted to minimize the risk he’d be caught in a lie.

  “Semal is dead,” Daen said at last.

  Cural looked up sharply. “How?”

  “Killed by the Kopal.”

  Daen should have considered his words more carefully, but he spoke without thinking and didn’t regret it until after they’d already come.

  Cural was silent as he stared at Daen. “Come again, son?” he finally said after several long moments had passed.

  “One of his guards belonged to the Kopal. He killed Semal in the basement of his home, looking for some book Semal denied knowing anything about.” He wasn’t ready to mention the book existed.

  Cural tapped his fingers on the table while he worked his jaw as if weighing what he was he about to say next.

  “You must stay out of this,” his uncle said.

  “I can’t do that.”

  Cural arched an eyebrow. Before Daen realized what he was doing, he found the story spilling out. He told of Linel’s experience while on patrol, about the assassin in the night, how Linel had hidden at Semal’s home, and how they’d been chased by the Kopal. After he was done Cural affixed him with cold, hard stare.

  “You should have come to me instead of going to Semal. That was your first mistake, I could have protected you.”

  “How?” Daen demanded. “What could you have—”

  “You’ve cost us the only resource who knows anything about the Hunwei. If Linel’s story is true—it lines up with Jorad Rahid’s—we must prepare for the Hunwei.” He shook his head. “The timing of this is suspect, it is all suspect. It is not a coincidence that just as we’re getting word of the return of the Hunwei, Semal is murdered.”

  Cural stood and paced along the kitchen floor.

  “I had no way to know what was coming, uncle.”

  “Where is Linel, why isn’t she with you? She must be protected at all cost. Even though the Rahar has thrown his support behind Jorad, the Rarbon Council is doubtful of his claims. I wish Adar had never left, it would be so much simpler if he were Ghar.”

  It was an innocent statement, but his uncle often talked of Adar as if he’d known the man personally.

  Daen frowned, wanting very much to pose the question he most wanted the answer to, but he was afraid of how he might react should he learn it was true. Would he be angry? Go into a bout of depression? Of all the people to be related to, Adar was a polarizing enough of a figure that it was a mixed bag at best for Daen to claim him as a father.

  Why does it seem Cural knows more of Adar than my mother and father?

  Daen was tired enough that anything he said or did regarding this topic was going to be taken the wrong way, so it was best to leave it alone.

  “Linel’s father went with Tere to find Jorad,” Daen said. “He didn’t return.” Nobody had said as much, but Daen wondered if perhaps the man had been killed by the Hunwei. If so, he was the first casualty of the renewed conflict.

  “What?” Cural let out a long sigh. “I suppose she didn’t take the news very well.”

  “That’s accurate.”

  He rubbed his face and looked at Daen. “I have to go out. You rest while I’m gone.”

  Daen had wanted to argue, but the fatigue was starting to catch up with him, so he thought it best to do as his uncle had suggested.

  Because Daen had joined the Radim three years before when he was sixteen, Cural had long since gotten rid of Daen’s bedroom and had turned it into a mini-armory of swords, spears, axes, bows, arrows, and an assortment of shields and armor.

  Daen hadn’t been surprised because his uncle had never been the sentimental type, but it had been hard to see the room he’d grown up in get cannibalized so quickly. Cural wasn’t one to coddle, and as early as Daen had been able to hold a toy sword, Cural had taught him to fight.

  After the last light of day had all but disappeared, Daen began to look for a lantern when there was a knock at the door. He froze, wondering who it could be. He decided to ignore it, but it came again, more incessantly than before. After it continued unabated, Daen strapped on his sword and stepped to the door. Before answering, he withdrew his blade and held it behind him.

  “Took you long enough,” Linel said, pushing inside. After he shut the door, they were almost in complete darkness.

  “Hang on,” Daen said, fumbling to find the lantern and flint. Using a dagger to strike the flint, he lit the lantern and set it on the kitchen table.

  Linel took a seat in the chair as Daen sat across from her.

  “Before you ask how I’m doing,” she said, “don’t. Just don’t.”

  Daen’s mouth was open to ask that very thing, but he nodded instead. He wanted to ask where she’d gone and what she’d been up to but decided that was close enough to the topic of her father Lous’ death that he ought to avoid it. Instead, he waited in silence for her to speak.

  He was surprised Cural hadn’t yet returned, the man had been gone all day. Now that Daen had a few hours of sleep under his belt, he realized some of the things his uncle had said and done earlier that mor
ning were strange.

  For one, Cural hadn’t looked surprised when Daen had mentioned the Kopal. He’d taken it in stride as if he too believed they were real. Sure, most had heard of the Kopal, but many believed them to be as much a myth as the Hunwei.

  For another, his uncle had accepted Linel’s claims the Hunwei had returned. Cural had always been about keeping weapons handy and even stored food and water in barrels, but he’d rarely talked about the Hunwei. Daen had always figured his uncle had taken those precautions for the sake of being prepared.

  He must have been reading his uncle wrong all these years. It was quite believable he’d done all this because of the Hunwei, keeping quiet about his beliefs because he could see the way popular opinion was going.

  Whatever it was that had kept his uncle so quiet on the topic of the Hunwei hardly mattered now. He seemed to be very much in their camp. And for that Daen was grateful.

  “Let’s go back to Semal’s,” Daen said, breaking the silence, not wanting to let it stretch out any longer. “If we can find the book, perhaps we can learn why the Kopal killed him.”

  Linel shrugged, her eyes far away. “Better than sitting here, I suppose.”

  The fresh air helped Daen’s mood as they walked the city streets. He vigilantly looked for anybody who might be following them, but he saw no indication there was anybody there. He hoped the fact they’d killed Semal meant the Kopal were laying low for the night.

  “Returning through the front door might be a bad idea,” Daen said right before they turned the corner that put them on the street of Semal’s home. He was surprised he hadn’t thought of it earlier, but he attributed it to everything else that had been going on. If I make many more mistakes like that, I’ll be dead. “The Rarbon guards might think we killed Semal.”

  They had left behind three dead guards, Daen had checked the two guards in back and discovered they’d been killed as well. With three dead and Lear missing, he hoped that anybody who’d stumbled upon the dead bodies would first assume the missing guard was the culprit. But he couldn’t count on that being the case.

  “Let’s circle around,” Linel said, “there’s an alley across from Semal’s home.”

  Daen nodded his agreement and let her lead the way. He wondered if they should stop at a tavern or the common room of an inn to hear the night’s gossip. It was likely Semal’s death had been covered up, same as the Kopal guards Daen had killed and the Radim patrol that had gone missing.

  But after taking a hard look at Linel and himself, he decided against it. Her hair was disheveled, and though he would never mention it, there were tear streaks on her face. His pants had a large tear on a leg, and he hadn’t even thought to look in a mirror before going out.

  No, it was better they stayed in the shadows. And wouldn’t it have been a fine thing to walk into a tavern where the Rarbon Guard were getting a drink and be arrested because one of Semal’s neighbors had seen them leave?

  They circled around the block and found an alley that allowed them to look at the front of Semal’s home. Daen pulled into the lead, receiving an annoyed frown from Linel, but her blonde hair made her far more noticeable and prone to stand out. While he kept his hair cropped close to his head, it was dark and stood a better chance of going unnoticed.

  When he saw Semal’s home had two guards on the front porch, he was glad they’d decided to approach it from the alley.

  “Melyah’s nine burning fires,” Daen muttered when he saw who was on guard.

  Lear. There was Semal’s murderer, standing in front of his house as if he hadn’t been the one to kill Semal.

  “Melyah help us,” Linel whispered from behind.

  Daen backed into the shadow on instinct, bumping up against Linel. It was the first physical contact they’d had in days, and it felt strange to touch her. If she felt the same way, he couldn’t tell.

  “What now?” Linel asked.

  Daen shook his head, wishing he knew. “We have to assume Lear blamed us for the murders. It was bad enough having the Kopal after us, but we’re not going to last long if the Rarbon Guard are looking for us too.”

  Chapter 25

  When Linel had suggested they wait for Lear to be relieved so that they could follow him, Daen had seen the wisdom of her idea and agreed. While he couldn’t be certain, he believed that the guard was rotated at ten in the evening. That time was fast approaching.

  To mitigate the risk that they’d be spotted, Daen had convinced Linel it was better for him to keep watch. She’d looked offended until he’d pointed out that she stood out more than he.

  “It better not be because you somehow think you’re better than me. I can assure you that you’re not.”

  “The thought never crossed my mind,” Daen said, glad he hadn’t mentioned he thought a woman was more likely to be thought strange if noticed at this late hour. That would have been a mistake. She was more prickly than usual, and he needed to keep on her good side, so she didn’t disappear again. Their odds of surviving the next few days were better if they stuck together.

  Daen shifted as he crouched behind a barrel of smelly refuse, keeping as low as he could while watching Lear, who looked about as bored as a man normally did while on guard duty.

  He doesn’t appear to be bothered guarding the home of the man he killed. Daen shook his head, knowing that would have eaten away at him. But then again, he’d never murdered somebody in cold blood.

  How would it feel to kill Lear? Daen wondered. They could sneak up on Lear when he left, and run him through with a sword before he knew they were there.

  As much as the thought beckoned to him, Daen didn’t dwell on it. It would be better to follow Lear and learn who else was involved.

  The Kopal were like an overgrown weed in a garden that was threating to overrun the vegetables. They had to be removed without mercy; otherwise, they would come back, stronger and worse than before.

  He heard two men approaching before he saw them and sunk further back into the shadow of the barrel to keep from being seen.

  After they had passed his hiding spot, he looked out and saw that it was the replacement guards. He waved at Linel who nodded her head and slinked off into the shadows.

  Daen couldn’t say for sure, but he believed the guards always headed towards the city center once they were off duty. Linel was going to go up to the next street and be in position in case they took a different turn than expected.

  The guards conversed for a couple of moments, but even cupping a hand around one ear didn’t help him make out a word they said. Daen felt a small triumph when Lear and the other guard did indeed go in the direction of the city center.

  If he were honest with himself, and he tried to be as much as possible, it was more of a guess than an observation that had led him to say that was the direction they would go, but he hadn’t been about to say that to Linel.

  He backed away from the barrel and moved as fast as he could, but was still careful where he stepped to make sure he didn’t kick a rock to alert the guards to his presence. When he came out of the alley on the other side, he left the shadows and walked as if he weren’t trying to hide. It was late but not so late that there wasn’t the occasional person moving about. Most were drunks, but not all.

  He walked as fast as he figured would appear innocuous and turned at the street where he’d agreed to meet Linel, but when he got to the corner, she was nowhere to be seen. He took one step out into the intersecting street, thinking she might have followed Lear, but she wasn’t there either. He caught a glimpse of a disappearing back that belonged to one of the guards.

  It took every bit of self-control Daen could muster to not break into a run, but he followed, going far faster than he should, fearing all the while that the guards behind him might notice. When he made it to the street where Lear and the other guard had turned, he looked back at Semal’s home. The guards hadn’t moved and didn’t even appear to be looking his way.

  It was a good thing they hadn’
t come to investigate what he was doing because he might have had to kill them. And that would have been a mistake. Not all the Rarbon Guards would be Kopal.

  Lear and the other guard were several blocks ahead of him, and they were alone. He had expected to find they’d taken Linel captive.

  Perhaps she’d gone to the other corner. If that were the case, she was better off than Daen if Lear realized he was being followed.

  Putting Linel out of his thoughts with a silent prayer, he moved to the side of the road and increased his speed. He stayed in the shadows as best he could so that if one of the guards looked back, they would be less likely to notice him.

  The two guards walked together most of the way, making Daen think that they were required to report back to their headquarters before going home for the night. He also considered the possibility that the other guard was Kopal as well and that they were going to a meeting.

  When they came to a street where they would have needed to turn left to go to the Rarbon Guard headquarters, the other turned in that direction, but Lear went right instead.

  Daen’s pulse quickened as he watched Lear go around the corner. He ran to close the distance, but when he came around the corner, Lear had disappeared.

  Chapter 26

  Soret shifted as they approached the gate to the Verag army grounds. She was uncertain if she’d made an enemy of Xarda by pushing so hard, insisting she enlist in the army as soon as possible, but she didn’t regret what she’d done for a moment.

  If I’m to survive, I cannot afford to let regrets get in my way. Even though she meant the sentiment sincerely, it was difficult to not wonder what her father was doing back in Zecarani. If Adar had found Barc as Jorad had suggested, she hoped her father hadn’t turned the anger he felt for Jorad towards Adar. That would be foolishness in the extreme because Adar would never tolerate such behavior. He’d cut Barc down without giving it a second thought, perhaps taking note to mention it one day to Soret.

  Soret shook her head, uncertain at the feeling of awe she felt for Adar. The man was as solid and unyielding as a rock. The only person she’d ever seen persuade him of anything had been Jorad, and even those situations were hard fought and had left both Jorad and Adar frustrated.