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

by Laszlo,Jeremy

  “Yes, m’lady. We started with a hundred and forty Lycan, ninety-seven of which were female. Using that as our base calculation we figure seventy percent of births will be female, and thus far that seems to hold true. With an average litter of five, our original ninety-seven bitches should have produced three hundred and forty females this first breeding. They did that and slightly better, but sticking to these figures, it gives us a total of four hundred and thirty-seven females at present, which even now Balantine works to mature. Our second round of breeding, which will commence tomorrow, once concluded, should yield us a total of around two thousand females. Once those are bred our ability to keep up will be hindered greatly, but the offspring of two thousand Lycan mothers should rear us near seven thousand more females for a total of nine thousand breed-worthy bitches. Once these are bred we’ll likely just have to wait the natural course. The next breeding we’ll have forty-five thousand bitches. If we can cut their maturing time of litters three and four, even in half, litter five, about nine months from now, would be near a quarter of a million pups. Over a hundred and fifty thousand of those would be female, giving us two hundred thousand bitches. The next litter would be over a million new troops.”

  “And how many males would we have by this time?”

  “By litter five we should have around fifty thousand. Litter six will increase that to over three hundred and fifty thousand.”

  “So litter four, mature in a year and a quarter, would give us a total of three hundred thousand troops?” Anna asked, toying with the idea.

  “Yes, but it is the next litter that makes Valdadore unstoppable.”

  “Does it? What will Prince Seth command in two and a half years when litter six is mature? Dragons? Some other mystical creature bred of legends and nightmares?”

  “There is no way to tell, m’lady.”

  “No there isn’t. And that, dear Ashton, is what will guide Garret’s hand.”

  * * * * *

  The king of Valdadore strode down the streets of his capital city with a grin on his face and hope in his heart. It was the best he had felt in ages. Here and there the streets were still littered with debris from fallen homes and buildings, but for the most part they had been cleared enough to traverse with ease. Zorbin was doing an excellent job overseeing the reconstruction of the city. Now that the dwarf understood what it was Garret saw as their future, things would go even better.

  Reaching square seven, Garret paused and turned to look over the collection of breathtaking buildings. Few of the structures this far into the city had sustained significant damage, if any at all. But even so, he would have the elegant homes torn down to make room for progress. Taking in the view, his eyes settled on the grand home occupying the corner of the square. Unlike the lower cost homes in other parts of the city that had wooden toggles on the doors and iron hinges, the pseudo palace had an intricately carved oak door adorned with a scene of deer pouncing over a fallen tree. Its handle was the antler of a majestic buck decorated in bands of silver and gold, each containing a gemstone. The hinges spun across the door in twisting and curling patterns of silver, engraved with smaller animals such as squirrels and rabbits. Above the door, carved into the keystone that kept the arched doorway standing stood the name Tolbrook.

  For a moment he pondered what happened to this wealthy family, though knew he could likely guess. It was a shame so many good people had been lost. In their absence, however, Garret wondered what would become of their belongings and assets. Then it struck him. He would now have the wealth to hire assassins and mercenaries.

  Turning back towards the castle complex, Garret walked with a purposeful pace. He had a task to assign before Zorbin and his teams of laborers could begin deconstruction of two immense portions of his city.

  Entering the castle complex, the king of Valdadore quickly altered his course for the Lycan training grounds. Nodding to the guard on watch, he waited as the door was unbarred and entered with a simple nod as he passed. Inside, he took a deep breath as he visually took in all that there was to see. The clangs of steel pierced the air within the high walls of the field, above the din of growling, barking, and shouted orders. Even so, the atmosphere altered in a fraction of a second as the field grew suddenly quiet, his entrance having been noted.

  Looking towards those beasts who trained with weapons, Garret located just the creature he sought. Approaching Kanth, he noted as all eyes, both human and feral, swiveled to watch that which would transpire.

  “Kanth.”

  “Yes, King.”

  “Are you prepared to be a commander?”

  “Yes, command,” the beast replied.

  “Sir Grubek!” Garret shouted, summoning one of his guardsmen to begin running in his direction.

  The man was a lowly guard before the recent battles, but proficient with a sword, had been allowed to participate in training the Lycans. He was short for a knight, and not as strong as most, but he was agile and fairly quick-witted. Garret neither liked nor disliked the man, but knew he could be trusted to follow orders.

  “I am going to send you out to the city with Kanth and a small regiment of Lycans,” Garret began.

  “Your Majesty?” Sir Grubek questioned.

  “You heard correctly. The people of Valdadore need to get used to seeing the Lycans, and I have work that needs to be done without the proper manpower to do it.”

  “Yes, your Majesty.”

  “Now, Kanth here will be in charge of his men, you are there simply to watch, explain, and report upon their proficiency. Understand?”

  “Yes, Majesty,” Grubek answered.

  “Yes, King.” Kanth answered as well.

  Looking to both the Lycans and his guardsman, Garret reached into the purse on his belt, and retrieved a handful of coins. Holding his hand out to Kanth, he showed the beast that which he held.

  “Sir Grubek will lead you and your Lycans to sixth and seventh square where you will collect anything and everything of value. Take only those who understand and will submit to your command,” Garret ordered.

  “Yes, King. Follow knight. Gather wealth. King… All Lycan, my command.”

  Garret wondered if he understood the Lycan correctly. Could it be that there was an inherent command system among his new troops? He had to see it for himself.

  “Show me,” Garret ordered.

  With something between a bark and a growl, Kanth unleashed his command with a snarl, baring his teeth as every Lycan within the training grounds fell to their knees in submission, twisting their heads up and back exposing their throats. All of them. Even infants fell silent. Only Kanth and the humans within the grounds remained standing and as such Garret caught the eyes of his Anna who quickly began to stride towards him.

  “Very good, Kanth. Choose fifty of your most intelligent.”

  “Choose fifty what for what?” Anna asked, her stride fast yet elegant.

  “I am sending Kanth and fifty Lycan troops out into the city to do some work.”

  “Don’t send any females,” Anna stated.

  “Why? Are they not as fit to do work as the males?” Garret questioned.

  “They are, but there have been some setbacks and we need all the females here.”

  Garret didn’t like the sound of setbacks. He could only imagine what Anna meant by saying such a thing and immediately his imagination chose the worst case scenarios.

  “What kind of setbacks?”

  “Nothing we can prevent, I am afraid. As you know, love, this whole process depends on Balantine, but she is just one woman. Even working night and day she will soon be unable to keep up. Ashton has done the figures and I will be the first to admit that they are disappointing.”

  “How disappointing?”

  “Three hundred thousand mature troops in just over a year. A million mature in two.”

  Garret took the blow like a hammer to the chest. His insides began to knot. This couldn’t be right. It couldn’t be happening. There had to be anothe
r way to speed up the process.

  Turning away from Anna, Kanth, and Sir Grubek, Garret paced away, seeking a solution. Silently he prayed to Ishanya, searching for an answer that was not readily apparent. He knew with all of his heart that two years was too long. In a few weeks he’d have enough human handlers for the Lycans, and hopefully more than a few teens blessed with abilities to replace the mages and warriors he had lost. Still it would not be enough to face the likes of the demon who took Seth’s place. He needed more troops. He hoped to hire mercenaries, but it would require looking to the west where now the demon prince held a kingdom of his own… Unless he looked south.

  Turning back towards his allies, Kanth stood with gazing eyes, watching him. He wore a feral gaze, one that reminded Garret of the first time he had ventured south to war. His brother had arrived with an army of wolf-like creatures not too different from the one that now stood before him. Taking a deep breath, Garret strode back to his comrades.

  “Kanth, collect fifty males and go with Sir Grubek to collect all the wealth you can from sixth and seventh square. When you have returned all that you have collected here, go then to temple row and gather all you can from all temples but that of Ishanya.”

  “Yes, King,” Kanth replied, bowing his head before turning as a collection of fifty Lycans silently separated from the masses to join him without a word. It was eerie how they operated.

  Watching as Sir Grubek signaled for the gate guard to permit them to leave, Garret turned back to Anna.

  “It seems that you have devised a remedy?” Anna asked, one eyebrow arching.

  “I have. If I am to wait a year or more for my army, then I must keep the demon prince busy.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “I will hire assassins to attack him, send warnings to foreign kings telling them that Seth is amassing an army in preparation of attacking them, and with the bulk of the wealth that we are collecting, I will bribe all of the goblin and orc kingdoms to invade Drakenhurst.”

  “I love the way your mind works, my big, strapping, conniving king. Perhaps now that a plan is in place to ravage the demon’s hold on Thurr, you could put your mind to use devising a way to ravage me as well?”

  With a knowing smile, Garret took Lady Anna’s arm as she discarded her bloody apron upon the ground. Watching the last of the Lycans disappear through the gate of the training complex, Garret held up a hand signaling the guard to leave it open for himself. Allowing Anna to pass through first, he admired the way her ass swayed within the simple dress she wore before following her out. He already had a plan for her. A few hours locked away in the throne room with orders not to be disturbed should do the trick. If you couldn’t have your woman on the throne, what good was it to be king?

  * * * * *

  Three months later…

  Kneeling atop the northernmost tower of castle Drakenhurst, Sara watched as King Dolmas and his contingent of blessed warriors climbed atop their mounts and turned their steeds to the north. Her husband had won a powerful ally in King Dolmas and it had taken almost no effort. Seth had repaired the man’s inability to please a woman or seed their bellies, and in so doing restored to him his manhood. Grinning down over the city, Sara bid the king a silent farewell, knowing he would likely sire a dozen bastards and an heir before the fall.

  Winter was coming to an end and with the approach of spring, many plans were taking shape in an effort to expand the city’s farm yields and livestock holdings. The people of Drakenhurst had finally settled down these past months and more or less accepted the fact that they were ruled by a man who returned from the dead with giant leathery wings and his collection of beastly allies. They had finally begun to see Seth for the kind and caring man he was. Those who hadn’t believed his intentions were for peace, had just seen him singlehandedly thwart an attack from a neighboring kingdom, coming out the other side with an ally instead. Sadly, however, Sara knew it was not to last much longer.

  She knew her husband needed time to explore his abilities and devise a way to rid the world of war. It seemed like an impossible task, but she knew if anyone could find a way it was Seth. And even though he had turned a mediocre, poorly designed city into a thriving machine in just a few months, and realized that he had a path that was his own, Sara could still see the pain in his eyes. Seth was not yet whole. She feared that without his brother he never would be. But at least now he had a purpose and a direction.

  Standing upon the narrow ledge of the tower’s roof, Sara stepped off and plummeted down, smiling at the collection of children gathered just outside the castle gate below who gasped in surprise as she fell. She loved the children, and even now was overseeing the building of a shelter for all the orphans. It was slow going, with so many men busy with other projects and winter’s cold refusing to relent, but by summer she imagined that every child in the city would have a warm bed to sleep in and hot meals.

  Striking the cobblestones and bending her knees to absorb the impact, she stood and twisted to peer at a wall of fur just inches away.

  “Good morning, beast, where might my husband be?”

  “Beast is it, my queen?” Borrik replied with an almost jovial tone. “Can you not simply track your husband by scent as I do?”

  “I could if you weren’t smelling like that! Yes, I called you a beast. Borrik, you are absolutely horrendous, please take a bath.”

  “It has been a while,” Borrik admitted.

  “You think? You smell like rotting meat and donkey piss.”

  “Oh, so you jumped down here because you were attracted to my scent. Gotcha,” Borrik joked.

  “What has gotten into you?” Sara asked with a smile, jabbing a finger into the great werewolf’s chest. “And where on Thurr is my husband?”

  “Sorry, my queen, we’ve been playing with the children and I have to admit it’s put me in a good mood.”

  “Playing? With children?” Sara almost couldn’t believe her ears. That was something she wanted to see with her own two eyes.

  “Yes, my queen. They were playing in the street out front so we joined them for a while. The king has since decided that he should go meet those children with blessings in the academy.”

  “Has he now? Well I suppose I will go and introduce him then, as I have met most already. You just concentrate on that bath, beast man.”

  Without so much as another word, Sara turned and walked out the gate to the street beyond, smiling at her run-in with Borrik and the thought of the giant werewolf playing with children along with her husband. What was this world coming to?

  Standing inside the academy antechamber, Sara looked across the vast room as her husband stood before a group of children seated on the floor. She was beginning to realize that months of peace had changed them all. Grinning at the revelation, she realized that she had never before seen Seth around children. Not like this. She’d seen him alter and augment teens with his abilities, but never just talk to them, and certainly never play with them. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was a natural part of his persona that she’d never experienced before. She could certainly see it being so, at least before all the war and killing. It was nice to see a bit of the innocent, pre-war Seth returning to the forefront. Too bad it wouldn’t last.

  “So here you are!” Sara said overly loud, feigning surprise.

  “Alas, I have been discovered!” Seth jokingly replied. “Guard me, my miniature heroes, from the wrath that is my beautiful wife.”

  Sara smiled as the children giggled and turned to watch her approach, none of them rising up for mock battle.

  “It seems you have been betrayed, my good king,” Sara taunted. “These be my minions.”

  With that the younger children laughed more excitedly whilst the older of them simply smiled and nodded in agreement. Walking to her husband’s side, she held her hands out as a pair of the youngest children rose to hug her around the waist. At just seven years old, they were too small to understand the dangers and consequences of their bles
sings. Such was Sigrant’s kingdom, however, that young children had been forced to worship one god after another in hopes of gaining a blessing in order to claim wealth for the parents. In large part it had been a great success for bolstering his army, but now it left behind a legacy of children sworn to and blessed by the very gods that wished them dead. Even now Sara could see the pain and anger behind her husband’s smiling eyes. This was why he had come. Not to meet and greet the children, though she was certain he enjoyed it just the same. No, it was to steel his resolve. It was to remind himself why he couldn’t give up, why he couldn’t give in, and why he couldn’t let the gods win.

  Looking from the children, whose arms were still wrapped about her waist, to her husband, she met his eyes and they shared a knowing look. Soon Seth would need to focus himself once more in order to begin the next stage of his plan. Sara knew her time with him was limited, and as such she wanted to make the moments memorable.

  “Remember when I said that King Seth would allow each of you to fly?” Sara asked, to a cacophony of shouts and applause. “Well, here he is, who’s going first?” She asked, grinning at her husband’s astonished look.

  It was just seconds later when Seth leapt up into the air in the giant antechamber, holding a young girl who clung to him like a cat about to get a bath. There he hovered with her in his arms, flapping his tremendous wings just below the rafters. Once, Sara imagined, he could have grown to be a wonderful father. The gods had likely stolen that future from him now, but at least it was nice to get a glimpse at what could have been.

  * * * * *

  Lowering the last of the children to the ground, Seth settled his eyes on Captain Xander who had arrived some time ago, but had gone ignored until present. Patting the young boy on the head who had been the last to accompany him into the air, Seth watched his wife and the captain converse in hushed tones a moment. It was obvious that whatever they discussed was important. Both faces were drawn and serious, but that did not deter Seth from smiling in appreciation at the woman he adored. She truly was something else.