The Destroyer

by Michael-Scott Earle

  I couldn't really be part of that family until my mind was clear. All that I thought of was her. Everything I ever accomplished was to find her. To end her the way she ended my father and brother.

  I was so close now. Sometimes it seemed that she was right next to me, I could feel her breath on my cheek, hear the swish of her thighs brushing against each other in their leather riding pants. I woke up at night after dreaming of our bodies struggling to become one. I felt her silky hair on my face and would wake, brushing the phantom locks away. Our love happened so long ago that the memories should have faded, but I couldn't forget. I still tasted her tongue and body. Her scent lingered on my skin upon waking. Every shadow, every flash of red or glint of sun seen from the corner of my eye would send a small electric jolt of anticipation and fear through my stomach as I turned to look for her. It would never be over until she was dead by my hand. Then I would be free from her and the Elvens.

  I walked back to my tent. Let the rest of my army have a break. I would train and plan for them. There was still work to do.

  Chapter 24-Kaiyer

  "Are you okay?" Iarin's voice echoed in my ears. I opened my eyes and saw Paug and him looking over me. I was flat on my back on the cold stone floor of my training room. Light from the opened gate filled the space we occupied like an orange blanket. The gate led out to a large courtyard that had been sealed off with wood fencing.

  "Absolutely." The smile came easy to my lips as I pushed back the memories and focused on my friends. I must have succeeded in my quest to end her. I no longer felt tormented by her presence, I no longer warred with my desire and repulsion toward her, she was dust, as Malek’s letter had said, along with everyone else I had ever loved or hated. I could pursue my goal now unhindered by emotion. "I am ready to go again." I flipped my legs under my body and sprang to my feet.

  "Are you sure?" Iarin asked with concern. "You've been hitting it pretty hard for the last hour. I know you said you wanted to rest for five minutes, but we've been calling your name loudly and you didn't wake up."

  "No I am fine. Are you both ready?" They sighed and nodded. "Great! Let’s begin."

  I walked over to the side of the large room where there were several dark gray bags of sand and lead beads. I lifted the largest up onto one of my shoulders and squatted. It was a comfortable load for me, around a few hundred pounds, and I jumped up with the weight. The movement caused me to shuffle forward for a few feet and I repeated the motions until I had reached the far corner of the room. Once there, I moved the bag onto the other shoulder and hopped back.

  My breathing had picked up and my body filled with energy. I had torn and ripped the muscles in my legs, back, stomach and shoulders with the movement. They healed quickly, becoming slightly larger and stronger as my body forced them to adapt.

  "Half a minute break!" Paug called out from his desk. He flipped over a small time glass and scribed my training notes on a thick leather bound journal. We had been tracking my progress during the last three weeks while I used the new room. I had made great improvements.

  "Handstand dips for two minutes!" Paug turned over another counter.

  I flipped my body over onto my hands and brought the top of my head down to touch the ground before pushing it back up until my elbows locked. I repeated the motion until my lungs burned and the sweat dripped off of my body.

  "Keep going!" Iarin shouted. "You are almost there." The woodsman had proved an invaluable training partner. He didn't have the strength that my magic granted me, but he already knew the exercises and was well versed in the kind of verbal encouragement that I needed to push my performance.

  "Time! Half-minute break!" Paug shouted as I collapsed to the floor.

  "One hundred and six!" Iarin said.

  "New record! Great job Kaiyer!" I think I groaned out something. Perhaps this was a bad idea. My muscles were screaming as they tried to heal.

  "Weighted pull-ups for two minutes!" Paug yelled again. Both Iarin and I sighed and sprinted over to the iron rings that the duke's men had drilled into the thick stone ceiling twenty feet above us. I jumped up to a dead hang and felt Iarin's hands grab around my ankles as he dangled from them.

  "Shut up and pull Kaiyer!" the normally mild-mannered woodsman yelled when I started to scream at my fiftieth repetition. I don't know how much he weighed but it seemed like I was pulling a mountain off of the earth. Each lift ripped apart the muscles in my hands, arms, stomach, back, and legs.

  "Time! Half-minute break," Paug called.

  "Eighty-eight," Iarin called back.

  "Wall flips for two minutes!" Paug yelled. I was already up and placing the ball of my left foot against the smooth stone. I pushed off of it, twisted my body in the air, and landed on my feet with a spring. Then I repeated the motion with my right foot. This one was easy but still got my heart to pump.

  "Time! Half-minute break," Paug sang.

  "Seventy-two," Iarin called the count.

  "Log flip is next," Paug said, and I walked up the small set of stairs outside to the open courtyard where we had set up other training devices. One of them was a large log, measuring four feet in diameter and twenty feet long.

  "Twenty flips!" Paug called. I squatted down and dug my hands beneath the end of the log closest to me and began to lift. I got it chest high before I had to squat and propel it over my head. Then I walked my hands down the length of the timber, each step making it more vertical until with a final push, it toppled over end.

  "That's one," Iarin said next to me. I shot him a glare as I sprinted around it to pick it up and repeat the movement. "What? I'm happy drinking beer at the tavern all day. You're the one that wanted my help." He laughed and I forced a smile before I gritted my teeth, tensed my body, and lifted the log again.

  "Done!" Iarin called up from the dungeon. The sun was slowly sinking into the west and the air started to cool.

  "Half a minute before weighted pushups!" Iarin and I both groaned again. He pulled out a cloth strap and shrugged as we walked back down the stairs.

  I got into the push up position and Iarin, who was beginning to look and weigh like he had been spending a lot of time at the tavern, sat on my back. He wrapped the strap under my chest as Paug yelled to start.

  "Ninety-two!" Iarin yelled after Paug called time and I face planted into the cold stone.

  "Yes! New record!" Paug yelled. At first he had wondered why I wanted to write everything down but he understood now. "We are almost done with this set!"

  "What's next again?" I sputtered from the ground. The sweat from my body drenched every part of me.

  "Back bridge flips across the room to two arm horizontal holds, then back again. Get ready."

  I got to my feet and walked to the far side of the wall. When the boy called out to start I leaned back as if I wanted the top of my head to touch the floor behind me. Before I made contact with the ground I stopped my fall with my palms on the stone. I held there for a few seconds, my back bent and stomach facing the ceiling. I continued the movement into a brief handstand and finally landed on my feet. It was a break session in my routine so I tried to do them slowly. When I reached the opposite end of the room, my heart was beating at a calm rate.

  This next exercise looked like a push up, only my feet didn't touch the ground. My palms pushed against the floor while my back and stomach forced the rest of my body into a straight line parallel to the tiles. I slowed my breathing and relaxed. I could feel my muscles experience tremendous amounts of tension, but I was able to keep up with the healing. Paug called time after two minutes and I repeated the sequence.

  "What is next?" I called out when I had finished.

  "Just a jog around the courtyard to relax. That is all you have for the rest of the day." He closed the book and put the quill into a holder. "Do you want to eat here when you get back?"

  "Yes. I'll need to stretch." I began to walk out the door. The day was heading into dusk now. "That was it? I thought there was more?" I said over m
y shoulder.

  "That was all you had written down in your log. You've been exercising almost all day. We'll bring back a lot of food!" He called cheerfully as he and Iarin walked out the opposite door that led back into the main castle.

  I took a deep breath of fresh air and began a light jog through my private courtyard. The fence that protected prying eyes from my yard was similar to my lifting log. As I got near the wall I jumped up, grabbed the top of the stacked logs with my hands, flipped myself over, and landed in the soft grass on the other side.

  Running around the inside perimeter of the castle walls was my favorite part of my exercise. I usually did four or five laps which I figured to be less than twelve miles. Along the way I could study the castle, watch the troops train, and exchange pleasantries with various servants that I ran past. I went at a casual pace and it took me about three quarters of an hour to get back to my private area. Fall was in midsession and a brisk wind from the north cut through the castle. Normally I finished my jog before the sun had fully set, but today I was not so lucky.

  Nadea was waiting for me when I got back. She was sitting at Paug's desk and flipping through my training log. She was wearing her usual tight-fitting pair of leather pants and close-cut blouse that displayed her athletic body. There was a short sword strapped to her hip which she usually didn't wear around the castle. I figured she must have lit the torches on the wall.

  "Hello Nadea," I whispered into her ear as I stroked the side of her neck.

  "Shit Kaiyer!" she jumped out of the chair in surprise and spun around to face me. "I didn't hear you enter." Her heart was racing.

  "I haven't seen much of you in the last few weeks. I miss you." She leaned backward a bit against the table and put the palm of her hand on my chest. I didn't know if she did it to touch me, or because she didn't want me to move closer to her.

  "I've missed you too,” she breathed out in a sigh. “I've been working with my father and the king on some things." She looked away from my eyes and her heart beat oddly. She was lying, but I decided not to question further.

  "Paug and Iarin are bringing back food. I'm sure there will be enough for you if you want to join us."

  "Sounds like fun. I'd love to. You are really sweaty," she said as she removed her hand and looked at it.

  "I just finished exercising."

  "Yeah. You also stink." She wrinkled her perfect nose at me. Memories of Shlara shot through my head. Did we ever become lovers? I couldn't remember. Sometimes they seemed like someone else's memories.

  I moved a few feet away from her and she gave me a dazzling smile.

  “No more dresses?" I said as I motioned to her attire.

  “My father hasn’t said anything yet. Looks like you are exercising a lot."

  "I have been. Did you read the journals Paug has been keeping?"

  "Only briefly, I was speaking more about . . . well," she paused for a second as she appraised my body. "You look stronger. It's only been a few weeks but you must have gained twenty pounds."

  "I probably weigh one hundred and twenty pounds now." I smiled at her. The door to the room opened behind her.

  "We've got some food!" Paug said triumphantly as he entered. He had two large pitchers of water. Iarin and three servants followed him with massive trays of food.

  "Oh Nadea! Didn't know you would be joining us," Paug said with worry in his voice.

  "I think we might have enough," Iarin said with a laugh as he set a tray down in the corner on a long table we had dragged in here for such purposes. The servants followed suit.

  "Can you bring us more water and food?" Paug asked them. "Also, some chairs." They nodded and left hurriedly. The servants always seemed unnerved by the dungeons and were eager to leave.

  I was already tearing into the food. One of the trays had assorted sliced meats, breads, and cheeses.

  "Most of the time people like to sit and eat. It is considered polite," Nadea said. Her arms were crossed and she frowned at me. I shrugged at her and continued to eat. I was ravenous and satisfying my hunger was more important than making her happy at the moment.

  "He's been working hard all day. You should come watch him tomorrow," Paug told Nadea with pride. "Iarin and I are his trainers."

  "What have you been doing with yourself Nadea?" Iarin asked her as he found a tomato and cut it up into thin slices.

  "Studying and talking with my father," she said. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye and her heart rate skipped around again.

  The servants came in with another plate of food and more chairs. Everyone sat down and began to eat. Conversation lulled for a bit and after a handful of minutes I took a break from the food and began to stretch my muscles.

  "How long did you exercise today?" Nadea asked as she watched me stretch and eat a small apple.

  "We started this morning at dawn," Paug spoke for me. Nadea nodded and looked out into the night air.

  I spent about half an hour finishing my stretching. It relaxed my muscles and cleared my head. Nadea, Iarin, and Paug had finished eating by then, but the food was only half gone so I set about cleaning the trays.

  "I don't think I've ever seen anyone eat as much as you," Nadea said as I got close to the end.

  "I have a good appetite," I said to her with a smirk.

  "Yes you do." She chuckled.

  Iarin and Paug hid yawns behind their hands at the same time.

  "You guys should go to bed. I am going to finish eating, bathe, and then do the same. I'll meet you in the morning."

  "Okay. Good night. Bye Nadea," Paug said as he got out of his chair. Iarin smiled to Nadea and me as he joined Paug in his departure.

  After the door closed I looked to Nadea.

  "So what is really going on?" I asked her.

  "What do you mean?" she said. Her heart started to beat faster.

  "You lied earlier." I set down the apple core and drained the last pitcher of water.

  "When?"

  "When you said you had been working with your father and the king." I got out of my chair to close the massive wood door that led to my outside courtyard. After it was closed I placed two heavy iron bars over the latches to keep the doors from opening. Nadea hadn't answered when I turned back to her. Her face was troubled.

  "How did you know that?" she asked me with a challenge in her eyes. I shrugged.

  "You just confirmed it." I winked at her. Our eyes met for a few seconds and she finally frowned and sighed.

  "The empress sent an envoy last week. He offered new terms to the king." She looked over to me. I could tell she wasn't happy.

  "Let's walk and talk. I need to bathe. I think my smell is going to make you sick." She smirked and nodded in agreement.

  We walked out of the training room and into the hallway. Air passed through my body as I forced the torches in the room to extinguish behind us. Nadea had already moved past me and didn't notice my magic.

  "Tell me about this envoy," I said while we climbed the stairs up from the dungeon.

  "It is impossible to tell their age," she said as she came over to me. The passage way was dark but I easily saw her face. "He showed up last week and asked for a meeting."

  "And?"

  "He made the king an offer. Several offers actually." We made it to the main part of the castle and she hadn't said any more. Part of me wanted to scream at her to tell me what the bastard wanted, but I was tired and relaxed from the day of rough exercise. My skin was sticky from the exertion and I just wanted to get into the hot water of the bathtub.

  There were servants moving throughout the halls, preparing and delivering dinner. It was still early in the night.

  There was a break in the servant traffic and I looked toward Nadea with an eyebrow raised.

  "This is . . . difficult for me to talk about with you," she said.

  "Why?"

  "Because the envoy wanted to meet and talk to you."

  "That would have been a bad idea. I would have torn him limb
from limb." She looked frightened for a moment. "He isn't in the castle anymore is he?" My muscles tensed again, tired as I should have been I now felt primed to attack.

  "No. He left a few days ago," she said quickly, before another stream of servants passed us.

  I opened the door to my room and invited her inside with a hand gesture. I thought she would object, but she glided in without question and I closed the door behind her.

  "Sit down there," I instructed her, pointing to one of the padded chairs next to the sofa in my room. I walked through the room and inspected the rafters in the ceiling. Looked under the bed, opened the dresser, and looked out on the balcony. I hadn't heard any heartbeats in the room, but it was better to be paranoid than dead.

  "What are you doing?" she said, puzzled.

  "Making sure the room hasn't been disturbed." I walked into the bathroom. I had told the girl that cleaned my room that I liked to bathe around this time; she was eager to please me and always left a dozen large candles burning. "Come in here and let's talk more." I turned on the hot water spout and began to peel the sweaty clothes from my skin.

  "Wait, what are you doing now?" she asked from behind me when she walked into the bathroom.

  "You said I smell, so I am going to bathe." I threw my sweat drenched clothes on the stone tile and stepped into the tub. The water was scorching hot but that was how I preferred it. I leaned back in the tub and sighed. I didn't remember having hot baths in my memories.

  "Tell me what the Elven—I mean Ancient envoy wants with me," I said.

  "He wanted to meet you, first of all," she called out from the main room.

  "Come in here," I said.

  "No! I can't be in there when you are without clothes!" she argued

  "I don't understand."

  "It is improper for a lady to be around a naked man that is not her husband," she said.

  "Just come in here. I don't understand you people. You need to talk to me about the envoy." Her angry boot steps echoed as she walked in the room, she kept her eyes to the ceiling. "You'll need a chair." I remarked and she huffed angrily. Returning with one quickly she slammed it down and sat facing away from me. She crossed her legs and her arms. It was a good thing she had agreed to come in so easily. I didn't have enough energy to argue with her anymore and would have just yelled into the other room from the warm water.