Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga)

by Laszlo,Jeremy

  Gnak marched along with his men, the great cart behind him, looking out at the faces staring back at his army. Giants by the hundreds had come to stand at the fringes of their passing, watching and gauging their intentions. From three lifetimes of memories, the orkin chief knew that giants were not men who gathered under a banner, but instead lived as singular family units unless it was the season for their mating. Here and now, however, they had felt the rumblings of Gnak’s army and they had come from both the mountains and the dunes to look upon him and those he led, including the enslaved giants that pulled the cart containing his secrets.

  Though they had not yet made move to attack, he could see the rage clearly upon their faces as many took cautious steps towards his army. He did not want a confrontation. He wanted only to pass by and then go into the mountains to build a city, but he feared the giants had other intentions.

  He had the power to pull the will from the living, but had never tried more than three at once. At that time, just three had been a strain. These were hundreds.

  Scout patrols had gone out at regular intervals, but none had yet returned. They were overdue. Had been for hours. He knew they were dead. If he stopped, he risked the giants attacking. If he continued onward he risked the same. He dared not give an order that put them at further risk and as such gave no order at all but to continue on. For hours the situation grew more and more tense as the giants’ numbers grew, but still they made no move to intercede.

  Slowly and inevitably the sandy dunes turned to more solid ground as sparse grasses became the norm among now rocky soil. From the south a great cloud of dust arose and even though they were miserable and deadly, Gnak hoped it was a sandstorm. Such a thing might drive away the giants.

  Hour after heart-pounding hour the cloud of dust grew nearer and larger and he was forced to admit to himself that it was not a storm, though as of yet its cause had not been revealed. Another hour passed and the giants between his army and the dust cloud began looking out over the dunes towards the cloud as well, and then their angry gazes would return. Whatever it was in the desert that created the cloud, it too made the giants uneasy and as another hour passed, those in the path of the cloud began to disperse, heading both east and west as if to clear a path.

  Less than another hour passed and the cloud’s creators were revealed as mounted goblins cresting the dunes by the thousands. Riding the trained warthogs that were common in the desert, the small armored riders thundered over the dunes in ranks nearly half a mile wide. Gnak was relieved. Onward the mounted goblins came and he tried to estimate their numbers but was forced to guess, believing that there were between twenty and thirty thousand of them.

  Safely passing the giants, the goblins came bounding over the dunes, shouting and cheering as they rode. In their wake the giants closed the gap and continued to watch as events played out. Still the riders came nearer and his army began to cheer as well, some raising their hands in greeting, but the mounted goblins never slowed. Gnak realized their intentions too late.

  Raising his arm to halt the procession of his army, he called for them to rise to fight but it was of little use. His men were pulling carts and carrying supplies. They were not prepared for a battle. Throwing the heads of his scouting parties as they neared, the mounted goblins crashed with his army as screams and battle cries erupted across the rocky plain. Though he realized in that instant it would be a bloodbath, his nightmare was confirmed when the giants in the distance saw their own opportunity and charged as well.

  Pantak and a handful of warriors still blessed by the old gods summoned their blessings and sprang into the fight, as Gnak watched on in horror.

  Forced to the edges of the battle in order to not stomp their allies beneath their feet, those blessed warriors among the orcs fought savagely an enemy who kept in constant motion. Near impossible to kill, the armored goblins swept through his ranks again and again leaving a path of death in their wake, only to exit the other side. Back and forth they careened through Gnak’s massive army that was near helpless against them, slashing some and trampling many beneath their mounts as they charged. And then the giants arrived.

  Bashing and crushing anything that moved, the giants stomped into the fray leaving puddles of blood and gore beneath them. Snatching goblins and orcs alike from the ground, they sent them sailing through the air before reaching down to snatch up yet more victims. All was pandemonium.

  Using the only power he thought relevant, Gnak summoned those lives lost to himself and restored them to all the dead he could see, returning them to the fight. Everywhere he turned screams arose as mounted goblins hacked and slashed, darting between the legs of the giants as they passed.

  Everywhere around him he could see and feel the orbs departing those that fell, and again and again he restored life to those that were able but it made little difference. His forces were being slaughtered.

  Gnak looked on as Pantak collided with a giant head on, and put his two arms to the test against the giant’s four. Punching and bashing the two brutes fought on, pummeling one another with blows that shook the ground. Back and forth the titans surged, and Gnak realized that there was hope. Reaching out, he plucked the will from the giant.

  Freezing mid stride, the giant leaned precariously forward and, taking the moment to his advantage, Pantak leapt into the air, driving his elbow down upon the giant’s exposed neck. Even with the raging battle the snap was audible as the giant tumbled to the ground amidst a cloud of dust. Again Gnak helped Pantak lay waste to a giant and yet again, but the process was slow. They needed a faster way to fight the things, and then an idea occurred.

  “Do it!” Jen screamed inside his head, and Gnak did not delay.

  Turning, he looked back to his two nearest captains and motioned them to him. He had no time to explain in detail, and so did the best he was able with few words.

  “Gnak use magic. Make you giants. You kill giants, yes?”

  Though they obviously thought him mad, both nodded their heads as their bodies froze lifeless. Turning, Gnak summoned the wills from two of the largest mountain giants he could see and returned to their bodies the will of his captains. Both beasts went down in twitching and spasming heaps.

  Turning his attention to the mounted warriors he had yet another plan, and raising his arms he pulled the will from the mounts, not the riders, of those nearest him. As they went down in glorious fashion, Gnak watched as the riders’ mounts behind those he felled tripped on the fallen mounts and riders before them, and a domino effect of confusion and twisting, rolling mounted goblins ensued. Again and again he repeated the act as his men began slaughtering those who fell from their mounts.

  Turning, he watched as the first of his altered giants rose from the ground, swiveling its head this way and that before registering what it was that had happened to him. With a roar the giant began snatching mounted goblins and squishing them between his fingers as he flung them away. The second giant began to rise.

  Feeling the earth move beneath his feet, Gnak turned just as an immense foot settled beside him, squishing those nearest him to pus and jelly. With a luck that had just saved him from the same fate as those beneath the giant, Gnak dove aside and rolled back to his feet, turning to look up at the beast that had nearly trod upon him. What he saw put a fear into him that he had never experienced before.

  Looking up, he saw a great shadow settle over him as the giant hand snatched him up from the ground. Dangling from one leg, Gnak watched as the giant rose and heaved his massive arm back to send Gnak hurling through the air. In that final moment he thought to pray to the god he served.

  “Ishanya grant me the power to…” but then he stopped.

  She had granted him the power to save himself, and reaching out for it he tore the will from the immense man as its movements ceased. Gnak dangled high above the battlefield. Hanging. Stuck. Knowing injury was the likeliest option, Gnak did the unthinkable and shifted to the giant.

  With a shudder he reali
zed his mistake as his body jerked, releasing his orc body to fall to the ground. His legs twitching beneath him as he was overcome with pain, his muscles convulsed and over he toppled in a seizure-like fit, directly towards his orc body below. He shifted again.

  In his own body he scratched and clawed at the soil with his bony fingers, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he lunged away, but not far enough. Like a boulder hurled through the sky, the giant’s head crashed down upon his legs, shattering the bones as his vision darkened around the edges and bile spewed from his mouth. Pinned to the ground, he heaved a mighty breath and pulled with his arms as fragments of his bones tore through his flesh. If he continued, he would bleed to death before help could come. He only had one option.

  Out from the cart the goblins built came the king of trolls, though old and withered he moved his slow achy bones with all the haste he could muster. All around him the dead rose and hurried back into the fight, but the ancient troll moved with a different purpose.

  To the toppled giant he came, and rounding the immense beast he found the frozen body of the orc chief. Looking around for something to use as leverage, he was unable to locate anything of use. Disappointed by the fact, he strode to the creature’s head and placing his back to it, bent his ancient knees. Lodging his shoulders beneath the knobby spikes upon the creature’s head, he pressed up with all his might, straining his ancient muscles. In one of his knees a loud popping sound was both heard and felt as pain exploded there, but the giant’s head lifted several inches. With trembling legs the troll king held the great weight. Again, Gnak shifted.

  Pulling once again with his arms, Gnak heaved his shattered legs out from under the giant, vomiting as he reconnected with the pain. Digging his ruined hands into the ground he pulled, dragging his wretched body behind him. Twisting his torso, he was forced to reach back to a gruesome view. Grasping one of the larger bones protruding from his leg, he dislodged it from the rock it was snagged upon, and again he reached out and dragged himself until he was clear.

  Trembling, his legs gave way beneath him, but Gnak could not let the old body fail him. Rising, he grasped up his ruined orc body and flung it over his shoulder. Looking up as Pantak collided with another giant, he summoned away the thing’s will and watched as his captain felled the massive foe, driving his fist deep into the foul eye of the creature.

  On and on he hobbled forward, as a great cheer sounded behind him. Turning he watched as one of the giants he had made an ally, lifted one of its smaller desert kin off its feet and brought it back down to smash over his knee with a scream and a crack. Discarding the broken giant, the ally beast moved on. So too did Gnak.

  Turning back towards the wagon that was their only solace, he moved forward slowly, favoring his injured knee as yet another cheer arose. Daring not to hesitate further or slow his return, he finally reached the wagon and tossing his orc body inside, the troll climbed in after, straining and gritting his teeth through the pain. Gnak shifted.

  Out from the cart the goblin king leapt, pulling his twisted blade from his belt as he landed. Though casualties were high, the battle was winding down. Those giants that had not been destroyed were turning to flee, his own giving chase. The mounted goblins had been all but destroyed, a few thousand still attempting to do as much damage as was possible. Nearest those enemies that remained, Gnak summoned the dead back to life and watched as they rose to meet their attackers. Meet them they did.

  Though they were slow, injured, and ill equipped, the dead stood guard and fought savagely those who came at them on mount or foot. Those who fell, Gnak would raise again to continue to fight until there was no fight left. Within an hour the battle was finished, but it was far from over.

  Releasing the dead, he watched as thousands crumpled to the ground. Summoning their auras to him, he clung to them, bringing them into himself. But still he was not finished. There were two yet that had to be claimed. Two that now knew his ability and could discover his secret. He questioned whether he could trust the men, but in the goblin’s mind he knew that such things were better left without loose ends.

  Turning to their fleeing backs, he watched them as they still gave chase to and fought the giants that fled. They were some distance away, likely a mile or more, but Gnak dared not let them return. Raising his goblin arms towards the orc warriors in giant bodies, he summoned their lives to him and watched as both pursuant giants froze in their tracks. Loose ends…tied.

  All about the battlefield men clamored for their shaman and cried out in pain. He could hear their cries, and could hear too their prayers. Many called out to Ishanya as they lay dying. They were beginning to believe.

  Turning, he went in search of a healer for his very own bodies, and fortunately Kukta was not difficult to find as the last of the sun’s rays vanished from the sky. All he had to do was follow the white light.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  It was two weeks before the army was ready to move again, as the many shamans and Kukta worked around the clock treating those who were injured. A large tent had been erected for the shamans to treat the wounded and they were rarely seen outside the structure. Being the only magical healer, Kukta needed time to recover after each healing and was wearing himself too thin. Often Gnak would enter the tent to visit his injured men, appearing in whichever one of his bodies he currently controlled. He had ordered Kukta to rest on three separate occasions, though the healer barely listened. Knowing their time was growing short, he went to visit them once again as the camp was packed up to march.

  His numbers had been diminished by over thirty thousand, but since the battle two more goblin kingdoms had come, and though his army had been a hundred thousand strong before its reduction to seventy thousand, he commanded nearly ninety thousand once more.

  Striding into the immense tent filled with the wounded, Gnak peered across the rows of tables where the injured normally lay. This time, however, the room was entirely vacant except for what appeared to be one last patient. Looking across the tent he could see a gathering of both orcs and goblins as white light emanated from an orc with its back turned to him.

  Striding across the room, Kukta rose to greet him and Gnak froze in his tracks. Looking first to the false orc, he then turned his attention to the gathering around that last table. There, another orc shaman chanted a prayer as his hands were alight with magic. Smiling to the boy he had saved, Gnak clasped wrists with Kukta and pounded him on the shoulder. The orcs were learning. Hope for the future was abundant.

  It was late in the afternoon when the army began to march once more, and a full two days before they reached the point where they turned north into the mountains. From there the going was exceptionally slow as the army climbed ever uphill. Parties were sent ahead to fell trees and build a temporary road of logs up the mountainside, in an effort to speed the ascension, but even so it was a tediously slow process.

  Bouncing and trundling over the uneven wooden throughway, Gnak rode the cart on and off for six days and nights in his various bodies, until it finally came to a halt. Stepping out from the goblin mechanism, he saw before him what had before been a difficult hurdle to climb.

  Where before had been the crater and a cliff face beyond, now stood a roughly hewn stone staircase that climbed the side of the mountain face. It was several yards wide at the narrowest point and would allow several men to climb abreast one another, but none would be climbing yet. It was time for the troll king to visit his people.

  Ordering his captains to keep his army where it stood, Gnak entered the wheeled cart where his alter personas awaited him. Shifting into the ancient leader of the race of trolls, he stepped forth from the cart and approached the stairs.

  For long hours he climbed the stone staircase, turning and doubling back at regular intervals as it climbed skyward. Where once had been a near solid mat of vines upon the rock wall, they had been mostly cleared away for construction of the stairs. His people had done well in following his orders.

  Night fell
around him as he topped the great staircase to see the plateau above, as again he was greeted by an entirely new sight. His joints ached, and he felt sluggish and weak. Looking about, he was impressed. The entire troll camp had been relocated to the plateau, and the statues of past troll kings had been carefully removed to make more space. Winter was coming, and if he wanted the trolls to work at a reasonable pace they needed easy access to the only heat source that could invigorate their bodies within seconds. They needed to be near the crystal. Here is where the construction of his fortress would begin.

  Turning to stride between the rows of long stone and timber houses, Gnak took his ancient body directly to the multi-faceted prism without so much as greeting his people. But they understood. They knew his age and could judge his speed.

  Rounding a corner he found himself before the treasured gem, and stepping up to its surface the rainbow hues of light washed across his skin. Laying his hands upon the crystal, Gnak got to witness for the first time in person, a sensation the likes of which he could not believe.

  As if he were struck by lightning, power and heat lanced through his achy body, washing away all the centuries of his life in an instant. Though he knew the sensation was only temporary, he indulged his senses longer than needed, clinging to the stone as his core temperature rose. It was the best feeling he could recall. It was like happiness, excitement, fear, and triumph all rolled into one, and he relished it.

  Thoroughly warmed, but against his own desires, he released the stone that was a holy artifact among his people. Then turning away from it slowly, he looked out among the many faces who stood watching him. Though they were not all visible with the newly added buildings atop the cliffs’ surface, he knew all of his people were here and that most were near enough to hear his words and recognize his voice.