The Destroyer Book 2

by Michael-Scott Earle

  "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."
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br />   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!

  Click here to purchase it on Amazon.

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  To find out more about Michael-Scott and his novels please visit:

  www.michaelscottearle.com

  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 Michael-Scott 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 wa
lked, 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.