Deadly Intentions (Blood Feud - Volume 2)

by David Temrick

  “My father was barely a hundred years old when this occurred, but it forever changed his and all of their lives. For the next five hundred years the ancient black dragon protected her children in the marshes, chasing off or killing all who sought to kill her monstrous children. The orcs were further mutilated and deformed as they began to inter-breed with one another, producing a progressively more evil and vile race as they continued.”

  “Over those five-hundred years the dwarves pulled away from the others, taking to brooding in their mines deep in the mountains. The elves hid themselves in their vast forests, becoming wild and learning magic of their own making. The dragons stood vigil over the marshes of the mighty black dragon.”

  “During one of their routine sweeps over the marshes they heard the call of the ancient black dragon. My father said it was the strangest call, one of fear and horror. When the dragons got closer they could see that the millions of orcs had swarmed the ancient black dragon and were tearing her plates off and feasting on her body.” Drake took another steadying breath before continuing.

  “When I came of age, one-hundred of your years, my father shared the vision of that day with me. I would spare you the sight, but suffice to say that it was a grotesque display. The dragons couldn’t help her of course, for if the orcs could overpower an ancient dragon and the mother of their race, the dragon host stood little chance of defeating them.” He sighed, looking off at the eggs in the distance.

  “When the dwarves heard that the ancient black was dead, they called for war. The elves joined them, their shame making them foolishly act out of anger. The elves and dwarves fought together for hundreds of years, but the orc numbers never seemed to diminish. Many of the alliance of dwarves and elves perished and eventually the death toll became too high for either of the races. The elves pulled away from the war, angering the dwarves.”

  “For three thousand years, orcs fought elves, elves fought dragons, dragons fought dwarves, and everyone paid an incredible price in blood. All four races killed each other without mercy until Henjis’ father called them all to the peace talks.” Drake looked away from everyone, remembering his old friend.

  “When he was slain,” He continued his voice heavy with emotion. “It was unclear who the culprit was. There were no marks on his body; he simply died in the middle of his speech. The dwarves blamed the orcs, who had long used poisons on their blades in battle. The elves blamed the dwarves bloodlust. The orcs blamed the elves and their magic. The dragons though, they blamed everyone. For another thousand years the wars intensified. The land was raped bare; the oceans ran red with the blood of millions of lives, orc, dragon, elf and dwarf.” Drake rubbed his face with his right hand, sighing deeply.

  Tristan was dumbfounded, he knew of the dragons’ arrival on this world, and why they fled. He had no idea the cause was so long in the making. Thousands of years, millions of lives, it was such a great waste of power and life. Drake took another deep breath as he continued.

  “Henjis and I were born shortly before his fathers’ murder. He didn’t take it well. We were great friends, but his pain was more than I could take away. Eventually I gathered Raithia, Kumanius, Socolis and Ryanite to me. Together we convinced Henjis that we needed to flee the world of our birth and start new, here on Amesdia. I was convinced that together we could reform this desolate planet into something peaceful and happy.”

  “Just before our chosen time, I found a bronze dragon hatchling.” He smiled paternally at Lesariu.

  “She was little more than a baby when we found her, but together we accelerated her growth until she was large enough to use her magic. While we waited for her growth I assembled some of the more peaceful dwarves, the youngest of course. Henjis convinced some of the elves to come with us, bringing with them the more valuable tomes and scrolls; their purpose was more suited to intense study and reflection.

  We were almost ready to create a gateway to this world; it was quite difficult and took all of our combined power to do. My father found out what we intended to do though. When he came to our departure point I was sure he was going to try and stop us.” Drake swallowed hard before he continued.

  “Instead he provided the necessary power to force the gateway open so we could flee. His last words to me were; Guard them as though they were your own.” A single tear fell from Drake’s eye.

  “I was the last to leave and when I looked back to thank him, I saw that he had fallen from the sky. He spent the last of his magic to give us a future. My father crashed into the cracked earth below as orcs came rushing out of the nearby marshes and swarmed all over him. They began ripping his plates back and feasting on his body. I gathered my power, hoping to kill the orcs below. Then I felt his pressure in my mind, it was so weak and quiet I could barely hear it over the thunder that crashed about the gateway. Go! Thrive and learn from our mistakes!” Another tear fell from the same eye as Drake remembered the painful moment in his past.

  “The orcs began swarming towards the gateway then. I flew with all the speed I could muster, trying to get through the gateway so we could close it on the other side. Unfortunately a dozen or so orcs made it through with us and promptly disappeared while we focused our power to close the gateway.” He paused and reached for a pitcher of water Tristan hadn’t noticed before.

  While his grandfather drank deeply Tristan considered what he had learnt. The orcs he fought were thankfully fewer in number than the millions they had left behind, but even so they proved to be a terrible force in the field. He wondered where the trolls, wargs and giants came from though. Perhaps they were already here when the dragons, elves and dwarves arrived.

  “Humans were already here, though they fought bitterly amongst themselves. Each of them was seeking to dominate and subjugate the rest. Quickly, the seven of us decided to take patronage of a country and mold it to our liking. We forced the humans to stop fighting one another, at least in open warfare, and talk peace. Most of them agreed, though there were some who preferred to war.

  After the history of our own world had played out, we decided upon a course of action. We gathered up all the warmongers and we were prepared to kill them all. Henjis stepped forward and offered a solution. He would oversee the largest country and those warring humans, the orcs that we could find and any other warlike species were placed haphazardly around the Great Expanse.

  An enormous wall was built with the help of the dwarves and elves we brought with us. I believe the Terumites call is “The Great Wall of Terious”, which was fitting, as it was Terious the dwarven chieftain who designed it. We sealed it using dragon magic and Henjis kept watch on the borders for us.” Drake explained.

  “For three-hundred years we cooperated with one another. The Great Expanse slowly became the only war zone on this world as the orcs, trolls, giants, and blood crazed humans battled one another endlessly.” He said.

  “Wait.” Eurydice interrupted. “Why did Henjis start The Bane in the first place? You said you were like brothers!”

  “I’m getting there little one.” He smiled. “Our host grew in those three hundred years. Each of us had hatchlings of our own, swelling our numbers into the hundreds. We found islands teaming with life for us to hunt on and when those ran dry we began to hunt in The Expanse. It was around that time that Henjis began to believe that this world was becoming, or would become as warlike as our old home. He came to me one night and expressed his concerns. He wanted our dragon host to subjugate the mortals to ensure peace.

  I wouldn’t hear of it. I knew, as he did, that the war began because we interfered in mortal affairs. Out of fear and hatred he began to assume human form, supposedly to gather the proof he needed to convince us of his mad plan. Eventually though, he mated with a sorceress from Deus. We had hoped that this meant he was done with his plan, but then the pair of them began Draconis’ Bane. Originally, the group was supposed to be a movement designed to draw my attention to the growing number of anti-draconic feelings that plagued magic users and
the wild tribes in the Expanse.

  Instead, when his mate found out what he really was, she tried to assassinate him. She raised her daughter to hate and despise dragons. Eventually Veronica Rhodes, the former leader of The Bane, found out who her father was. She murdered her mother in her sleep and escaped to the pirates’ cove you found her castle built above. Out of hatred for our kind, she altered the mission of The Bane to hunt down all dragons and kill them before they could subjugate mankind.”

  The dragons all stirred around them, forcing Tristan’s attention back to the present. It was then that he became keenly aware of how personal this information was. Every dragon here lived with this pain and shame. Their hope became their prison and now they sought to undo the damage done.

  “For fifty years she warred against our kind. At first she and her slayers were little more than an annoyance. Then she began making bargains with the sorcerers, and they slew their first batch of hatchlings. Slowly they gained in power and influence until they slew their first adult dragon.” He nodded his head toward Raithia.

  “Ryanite was their first real victory. Around that time word reached me that a sorcerer had found a crystal that could be manipulated into capturing dragon magic. I couldn’t believe that such a gem existed.

  Around that time I had begun to assume human form so that I could hear firsthand what the humans in my country believed. Contrary to Henjis’ experience, the people of Vallius held me in awe. The King hoped to convince me that he needed a dragon councilor on his staff. I showed up at Vallious Palace one afternoon and was rushed to an audience with the King.

  For weeks he made his case for greater dragon/human cooperation. At that time a lady was visiting the palace and she took a liking to me. We spent one night together before I left. Later, I found out that she was betrothed to the king, and also happened to be betrothed to Roger, the King of Terum. Our child was born and sent away so as not to dishonor her. Though she eventually returned and when the King realized he couldn’t have children of his own, he named his nephew, Dion, his heir.

  In the meantime The Bane secured a piece of this fabled crystal and began to tap the power of dragons using Ryanite as a subject. They captured him and drained his power with the crystal. Then they slew him.” He choked.

  “We were all furious of course, by then though; our powers had begun to diminish. Your father told you about the natural disasters that damaged each of our patron countries. The remaining dragons gathered here as a council. They brought their un-hatched eggs and together we cast a spell over them so they wouldn’t hatch without our magic to help. Bethia was the last of our children. During that meeting I found out that Socolis and Lesariu had also parented human children, and were about to become grandparents as was I.” He looked at Tristan with pride.

  “You, Mina and William were born on the same day, though you were miles apart. We each felt your births and strove to impart the last of our magic to protect you.” He turned to Eurydice.

  “You my little one were something of a surprise. Our magic had long since departed us when you were born. It’s no small miracle that you survived.” Drake said with a wink.

  Euri beamed at his praise, which caused everyone to smile. Their grandfather turned and looked hard at Tristan.

  “Your son is nothing short of astonishing. With the exception of Ruth,” He nodded his head to the human form of Raithia. “We’ve all visited with him and marveled at his abilities.” He smiled widely again.

  Tristan blushed slightly, partly due to the attention (which he still loathed) but mostly due to the circumstances of his son’s birth. Drake waved impatiently, clearly feeling Tristan’s thoughts.

  “If the events had not come to pass as they had; we might all be fighting a war with an invisible foe.” He dismissed. “As it is, we know that a group moves to destroy the eggs here, kill your son in Delhi and finally to rid the world of our kind. We can only guess at their leader, but at least we know who the worst threat is right now.” He concluded.

  “Boris and his sorceress.” Tristan said somberly.

  “Precisely.” Lesa said.

  “Should we tell him?” Otis asked playfully.

  “Oh definitely. I love watching his expressions.” Ruth answered enthusiastically.

  “Tell me what?” Tristan answered ominously looking around himself with narrowed eyes.

  Chapter 4

  King Boris stalked through the ancient halls of Kumia Keep. The fortress was built into the side of an impressive mountain range. A clever collection of traps and troughs funneled the rainwater into a long river, though it must have taken years to fill it. The river ran in a looping way around the estate and helped to ferry supplies and food to various rooms and chambers scattered around the grounds. Walls rose up from the cobblestone ground at their feet. The long sections stood twelve feet high, the towers rose to twenty and the royal apartments rose fifty feet into the clouds that hung in the cool of the morning.

  Service tunnels had been dug into the mountain, giving supplies and travelers from the city below the keep access. Each tunnel was expertly carved from the rock and every few feet housed a support structure that kept minor earthquakes from caving the entire works in on itself. At the base of the mountain was another large series of walls, both to defend the passages and as a defense for the city.

  The snows had started weeks ago and Boris chaffed to be back out in the field. If it hadn’t been for those damned dragons he would have broken Prince Tristan’s lines and scattered his forces. Then he would have been free to march on Kenting and later the rest of Vallius would fall at his feet. He stopped a moment, steadying his breathing and pushing aside his ambitions.

  “Here and now.” He chastised himself in barely more than a whisper.

  The King looked out the nearby window on the snowy, fog-obscured vista that was Kumia town. The Terum citizens were off on their daily routines, satisfied in the knowledge that he would watch over them. The troublemakers and decedents had been crucified or impaled in the town square, which was little more than a packed dirt four-sided marketplace. When the bodies had finished twitching and the last of their muscles slackened, filling the air with the repugnant stench of their filth, Boris had ordered them decapitated and their heads now rested on pikes at every intersection and marketplace all over the city.

  To serve as a warning.

  With winter upon them Boris took the time to fully equip his army, even managing to force the metal smiths into making plate mail breastplates and helms for the giants. The work was tedious, but they had managed to create a score of passable breastplates, which consisted of several large sheets of inch thick plates. It was fused and formed into a patchwork-inverted triangle to protect the giants from further ballistae to the chest. The helms served to protect them from those damned Vallius lancers and their accursed spears.

  The orcs had returned north with their troll servants to wherever it was they came from. It was still rather unclear to Boris where they lived and why they were so eager to help him. He tried to dismiss it as trivial, but there was still a nagging doubt in the back of his mind. The mercenaries from the north were easier to understand, they fought out of bloodlust and for coin, which was in ample supply in Terum.

  Boris walked into the main dining hall to find the sorceress Cyrisa kneeling in front of the fireplace. The flames died down as she looked over her shoulder at him. Her annoyance was a fleeting mask, replaced by a fawning smile as she wished him a pleasant morning. Again he found his mind clouding over as she offered him the seat at the head of the table.

  He sat down to her left as servants came in baring a tray of jerked beef, rye bread and mead. Still he ate soldier’s rations, the King of a country and yet he ate simple fare. He sighed theatrically as he bit into the beef and tore the bread in twain. Taking a long draught of the mead he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “How fare you this morning my King?” She asked smoothly.

  He harrumphed, her King h
e brooded. I’m sure that’s what she thinks I am, he thought darkly to himself. The truth was that months ago he had begun to block her subtle magic from his mind, though for the most part acted as though she still held him in her sway. It irritated him that he needed her magic to fight Prince Tristan.

  “I didn’t sleep well,” was all he said in reply.

  “I could make you a tonic, to help you sleep soundly.” She offered a little too eagerly.

  Oh I’m sure you could. He shot in his mind at her. He mastered control of his eyes, keeping himself from narrowing his gaze accusingly at her. He focused his mind and forced himself to calm down.

  “No need.” He said simply. “I’ll sleep better tonight.”

  “Oh?” She asked.

  Now I know she’s been spying on me. He thought with irritation. “I’m riding east to check on the forward positions today.” Boris replied. He chaffed under her scrutiny. Shortly after their defeat in Sutten, Boris and his legions returned to Terum to find the country in turmoil. He began restoring order, naming himself Royal Regent and taking over administration of Terum.

  The sorceress arrived a few months later and offered to help him weed out his opposition. It was through her help that he rounded up all the terrorists and troublemakers, had them executed and mounted for show. His rule was absolute and the people feared and respected him. Boris made deals with Oceana to his south and the tribes of the Expanse to the north for food and weapons. He bargained with Vallius land that he had yet to claim, and yet the tribes embraced the chance to bloody King Dion and his sons.