Kadorax let out a long sigh. He had hoped the Grim Sleeper would have been the last warlock he would have to fight alongside. “Where’s he staying? I want to know which part of town to avoid.”
The prior laughed and pointed toward the north. “He wouldn’t accept our offer of refuge in the priory, so he’s holed up under a collection of sticks and leaves at the edge of the city for now. It seems he prefers the wilderness to the trappings of modern civilization.”
“And how much did you have to pay him?”
Again, the prior laughed in response. “Someone like that isn’t motivated by the number of gold pieces jingled in their direction. No, all he asked was that he’d be allowed to keep any Gar’kesh corpses he came across throughout the war. Only the gods above know what he intends to do with them…”
“Wonderful,” Kadorax said dryly. “Well, what’s your plan? Where are we needed?”
The prior’s mouth was open on the verge of issuing a response when a low rumble permeated through the entire city. For a split second, the whole mass of people in and around the docks went quiet. Then a roar echoed off in the distance, quickly followed by a second, and then a deafening cacophony erupted all at once as every civilian in Oscine City was overcome by panic.
Kadorax, Brinna, and Syzak had to press themselves in close to the prior and his knights to not be crushed by the tumult in the streets. “Is that your warlock?” Brinna shouted over the crowd.
The prior’s white face and wide eyes gave them all the answer they needed.
“We’re under attack!” Syzak yelled.
Kadorax nodded and grabbed the front of the prior’s shirt. “Get your knights!” he screamed. He was close enough to the old man’s face for some of his errant spit to land on the man’s cheek. “Organize! To the north!”
The prior nodded, and Kadorax let him go. The knights protecting their leader struggled to get a small shield wall established around the tavern, like a beachhead rising above the water in the midst of a violent summer storm.
The three adventurers felt like the only people in the city moving toward the noise instead of away from it. They pushed and shoved, staying close to the buildings on their left so they at least had part of an open path and wouldn’t be lost in the sea of fleeing civilians flooding the streets like a swarm of flies racing toward a fresh corpse.
Oscine City was large, one of the largest settlements in all of Agglor, and it took what felt like an eternity to reach to the northern sector of the town. A wide swath of the houses to their right had been utterly destroyed. A few small knots of armored knights were scattered about the streets, cowering more than mounting a defense, and a veritable horde of jackals was swarming toward them on all fours.
Behind the swarm, Kadorax saw a dark, towering outline marring the horizon. It was a Gar’kesh, and it finally confirmed beyond any doubt in Kadorax’s mind that there was indeed more than one of the jackal gods. Even though Elise and the priors he had met had spoken as though the multiplicity of the Gar’kesh had already been clearly established, some part of him had refused to believe it. Such power was not meant to exist, and it was certainly not meant to exist in pairs or trios or any other quantity exceeding one.
“Stay back,” the bastion ordered his companions, but he was already the closest to the Gar’kesh’s flailing arms and bulging eyes, ahead of the others by more than ten feet. He ran back to rejoin them and tried to swallow back his fear.
“The priory chapter here is huge,” he began. “We wait for the knights. Maybe Atticus. For now, we need to look first to our own survival.”
“We should join the knights,” Syzak stated. His serpentine eyes hadn’t left the silhouette.
Kadorax scanned the streets in hope of finding some answer waiting to be exploited. No such answer presented itself. “If we’re caught by ourselves when the jackals hit, we’re dead.” He pointed to the nearest group of knights. It was impossible to really tell due to all their armor, but he swore he saw their shields shaking in their hands. “We’ll join the knights. But we still need more. If we could wall off each street…”
Another guttural roar broke through the morning sky. Kadorax didn’t wait to finish laying out his plan. He took off for the nearest clump of knights, and the other two followed him without question.
“How do we kill it?” Brinna shouted from behind.
Kadorax didn’t look back over his shoulder as he answered her. “I don’t think we can,” he said, and he meant every word.
About the Author
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Stuart Thaman graduated from Hillsdale College with degrees in politics and German, and has since sworn off life in the cold north. Now comfortably settled in the warmer climes of Kentucky, he lives with his lovely wife, a rambunctious Boston terrier named Yoda, and four cats who probably hate him. When not writing, he enjoys smoking cigars, acquiring bruises in mosh pits, and preparing for the end of the world.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks go out first and foremost to all the fans. Without eager readers picking up copies, telling their friends, and leaving reviews, I wouldn’t be able to keep writing books and penning new adventures.
I’d also like to thank Anna, Josiah, and Tony for putting up with all my bullshit and still pushing me to write. You guys are the best.
One final tip of the cap must be given to a few authors as well: Orson Scott Card, David Dalglish, and R. A. Salvatore inspired me to be a writer. Without those three, I’d have a lot more free time.
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