Rise of the Champion (The Sword of Kirakath Omnibus #1)

by Billings, Ryne

  Nicolas did not look amused by that question, and he actually grew serious. “My business has dried up a bit, so sacrifices had to be made. We can talk inside.”

  Though curious, Caleb merely nodded and followed him into the inn. It was built similarly to the Blue Sparrow Inn with the tavern to his left and the stables at the back of the building.

  In a hurried effort, Caleb put his mare in one of the empty stables and headed to the tavern.

  Upon arriving, he saw that Nicolas was sitting on one of the tables.

  “So what's going on?” Caleb asked.

  “Did you know that Katie brought in about seventy-five percent of my revenue? She's a damned good thief, and she always stole from the richest of the rich. I can't tell you how many times she brought me jewelry and other goods that belonged to my father. It always made me laugh. She knew that I would recognize it, but she stole it anyways.”

  Caleb shook his head, amused by the story. It sounded like Katie. She was a unique person, to say the least.

  “Katie stopped by here six months ago. She wouldn't tell me what happened, but she said that you two had different paths to walk. Her path involved her leaving Caldreth. She was headed to Telmir last I heard, but I don't have any contacts that far out,” Nicolas said quietly. “I don't know where she is now. I know that she's not on this side of the Skyfell River, but she could be anywhere else by now.”

  That news made him frown. While he had primarily come to Nicolas for information, he had hoped to find out where Katie was too. The thought of having her at his side again made him feel warm and safe.

  “That's unfortunate,” Caleb said, shaking his head. “I'll have to manage then.”

  Nicolas looked at him strangely at that. “What brings you to my neck of the woods, Caleb?”

  “I've gotten myself in trouble again,” Caleb said, chuckling nervously. “I guess you could say I have a knack for it.”

  “Will your life be in any more of a danger in an hour than it is right now?” Nicolas asked with a raised eyebrow. He did not seem surprised at all by the possibility that Caleb was in danger.

  “As long as I hold the Sword of Kirakath, I'm not in danger,” Caleb said with a wry smile as he stroked the pommel of his sword.

  “In that case, you owe me a story,” Nicolas said with an excited smile. “I never heard what happened since we last met up. Katie told me what happened between our first meeting and our second, but I get the feeling that what has happened since then has been even more amazing.”

  Caleb sighed as he sat down on the table in front of Nicolas. “I don't know if it'll be as exciting as you believe, but I'll tell you the story.”

  Nicolas looked interested at that moment.

  “After you gave us the information, Katie and I left for the Black Crows' base. We arrived there with no difficulty, and there were roughly twenty-five bandits present. That's not including Cain Fell, their leader. Anyways, they had a bandit stationed at each corner of their camp in sentry towers. I took them out with the bow you gave me, and then I walked into their camp.”

  “You walked into a camp with twenty-two armed opponents waiting for you?” Nicolas asked. “That's insane. They outnumbered you by twenty.”

  “Twenty-one,” Caleb corrected. “I told Katie to stay back while I dealt with them.” He almost grinned at the shocked expression that Nicolas was sporting at that. “She started doing her knife throwing eventually, so she clearly helped. By the end of it, she killed quite a few, and I killed even more.”

  “How many men had you killed?” Nicolas suddenly asked.

  “Cain Fell was the twenty-sixth man I killed,” Caleb said with a frown. He had since killed ten more men. Though killing came easy to him, dealing with it afterwards was not as easy. His dreams were often filled with the faces of the men he had killed. “After all of his subordinates were dead, I went to fight him alone. Thanks to the Sword of Kirakath, I killed him.”

  “You're not a very good storyteller,” Nicolas remarked.

  “I'd rather forget my quest for revenge than tell stories of it as though it was a grand adventure,” Caleb said flatly. “Anyways, I met up with Katie afterwards, and we parted ways.”

  “That was seven months ago,” Nicolas stated. “What has happened since then?”

  “Well, I didn't do much the first six months. I tried to adjust to a small village and live a normal life, but I just couldn't do it. I ended up giving up on it after a month. Until a month ago, I was just traveling and honing my skills as a hunter,” Caleb explained.

  “What happened a month ago?” Nicolas asked curiously.

  “Three assassins came after me,” Caleb answered quietly. “I killed them, despite the fact that I didn't have my sword or my bow with me.”

  It was clear that Nicolas was surprised to hear that assassins were after his friend, but he appeared to be more puzzled by something else. “How did you kill them?”

  “I tapped into the sword's magic,” Caleb said with a frown as he drew his sword and held it horizontally in his lap. “I don't understand it, but the Sword of Kirakath is not a normal sword. It is a powerful sword of magic, and I can tap into its magic even when I'm not touching it. It feels like my blood is set on fire, but the pain is small compared to what it gives me. My strength, my speed, and my fighting skills are all boosted to levels that leave me feeling invincible. Only a master swordsman would be able to best me when I'm under its influence.”

  “It sounds fearsome,” Nicolas said in awe.

  “It is, and I hate it,” Caleb admitted. “It doesn't just leave me with pain now. It feels me with bloodlust. I'm barely able to control myself when I use it. It only goes away when the sword's magic leaves me, and that only happens after all of my enemies are dead.”

  “I don't know much about magic, but I do know that a sword like that can't be a good thing,” Nicolas said.

  “Once this situation is cleared up, I plan on speaking with an acquaintance of mine. He knows about objects of magic, and this sword is right up his alley,” Caleb said, shaking his head. “But the most important thing right now is the assassins that are after me. Three came the first time and seven came the second time. I killed them all, but they killed a villager before I could do anything.”

  Nicolas nodded his head grimly. It was clear that he understood how big of a deal it was to Caleb. “Anyone who can spare ten assassins on you has a lot of resources. Do you have any idea why they are after you?”

  “No, I don't,” Caleb said.

  “Well then-” Nicolas began before coming to a sudden stop. “Shit! Someone's coming.”

  Caleb barely had time to jump off his table when the door flew open and several cloaked figures began to enter through the door.

  Within moments, ten cloaked figures were standing in the room in front of the door. They all wielded one-handed swords.

  Caleb raised an eyebrow as he paid close attention to their weapons. They were all the same type of short sword with a square pommel and a circular hand guard. The most peculiar thing about their swords was that their blades had a single edge, and the blade angled back at the last third of it.

  “That’s a sica,” Nicolas muttered. “It’s specially designed to get around shields, and I’m told it hurts even more to be run though with one of those than a normal sword.”

  Caleb decided to take Nicolas at his word for that.

  “Caleb of Kirakath, if you remove your belt and give yourself up, your friend will not be harmed and your death will be made as painless as possible,” one of the assassins said as he stepped forward.

  “Friends don’t let other friends die,” Nicolas said under his breath. “Unfortunately, I’m not armed right now.”

  “I understand,” Caleb said loudly. It was clear that the first assassin thought that Caleb was talking to him. His left hand slid down to his belt, but it moved to the handle of the knife at his right hip. Before any of the assassins even realized what he had done, he tossed the knife
out to his left side.

  Moving with lightning fast reflexes, Nicolas caught the knife by its handle and threw it while Caleb drew his sword.

  The leader of the assassins fell to a thump as the knife was buried to its handle between his eyes.

  “Nine to go,” Nicolas said as he tensed.

  If he threw the knife, then there must be another weapon in the room he can use. He wouldn’t disarm himself without good reason.

  “Go and get it,” Caleb said as he steadied his hands. “I’ll hold them off.”

  “On it,” Nicolas said as he dashed towards the bar and leaped over it.

  With his task in mind, Caleb focused intently on his sword. Give me your power!

  He felt the Sword of Kirakath’s power flow through him, seemingly setting his blood on fire as it always did.

  Everyone’s eyes turned to him at that, Nicolas quickly becoming forgotten by the assassins.

  The first assassin that came at him had picked up their leader’s sica, and he brought down both swords in a swift downward strike.

  With ease, Caleb blocked the swords, his bloodthirsty eyes unnerving the assassin.

  The assassin did not have long to be unnerved though. His eyes soon became glazed over as a knife slammed into the right side of his head.

  Caleb glanced at the bar momentarily. He immediately saw that Nicolas was standing behind it with ten knives sticking into the top of the bar’s surface. An eleventh knife was in his right hand.

  As the assassin began to go limp, Caleb brushed him aside with his sword and stood ready to fight.

  It was easy to see that not all of the assassins were dimwitted. As soon as Caleb had managed to take out the dual wielding assassin, two more had moved forward swiftly. They went in, swinging their swords horizontally. The blades moved parallel to each other, only about three inches separating them.

  The damage that they would have done had they hit Caleb would have been crippling.

  However, Caleb’s fighting capabilities were far beyond that of his enemies. He simply brought his sword up in a powerful uppercut that disarmed them and left them momentarily stunned.

  Using the opening, he spun around, decapitating them both with one powerful swing.

  His eyes narrowed as he spotted another assassin running at him, preparing to thrust. He was not sure if he could bring his sword in a defensive position quickly enough to deflect the blade, but it was not necessary.

  The assassin dropped his sword as a knife suddenly slammed into the side of his neck.

  Caleb quickly stuck his left hand out, grabbed the assassin’s cloak as he approached, and he flung the dying man off to the side. As the assassin crashed to the floor, two more knives soared through the tavern and struck down two assassins.

  One of the three remaining assassins came charging at Caleb, but he was different than any of the others. Though Caleb had thought that he wielded a sica like the others at first, he came to realize that the blade’s shape was different. Its blade was slender and curved. From his recent travels, he recognized the sword as a scimitar.

  He was barely able to bring his sword in front of him in time to block the quick, sweeping slash.

  Caleb normally would have knocked back his attacker and finished it quickly, but he was not trained to be a fighter, even if the sword’s magic turned him into a warrior. He was growing exhausted.

  The assassin punched Caleb unexpectedly, making him fall backwards and drop his sword.

  He stumbled to the ground in a sitting position as the assassin walked up to him with his sword poised to end the fight.

  Caleb was not ready to die though.

  As the assassin swung his sword at Caleb to cut his head off, his right hand swung in front of him. In his hand, he held the sica of one of the assassins he had felled. It knocked the scimitar from the assassin’s hand easily. Caleb then kicked the assassin back, rose to his feet, and moved towards him.

  On instinct, Caleb reached down, picked up his sword, and brought it around in a wide, fast arc.

  He easily cleaved the assassin’s head from his shoulders.

  As the assassin’s head hit the ground, Caleb saw that the other two assassins had been taken down already. It seemed that Nicolas had talent with knives.

  Caleb exhaled a deep breath as he felt the fire in his blood suddenly become snuffed out as the magic of the Sword of Kirakath faded away.

  Despite the fact that he had used the sword’s power quite a few times in the past year, he was unable to get used to the sensation of having such incredible power fill him and then to have it suddenly disappear.

  “You’re pretty good with that sword,” Nicolas said, sitting on the bar with one of his knives in his right hand.

  “That’s the sword’s magic,” Caleb said, shaking his head. “Without it, I doubt I could have beaten any of them.”

  Nicolas looked skeptical of that claim, but he did not outright dispute it. “If you despise that sword as much as you appear to, then why do you rely on it so much? You might not be much of a swordsman now, but that could be fixed.”

  Caleb looked away at that. He could not deny that being able to rely on his own skills would be a vast improvement over relying on the Sword of Kirakath, but he was not sure he wanted to become a warrior. While he gained basic fighting skills from his father, he had always wanted to be a hunter. He had tried to play the part of a warrior before, and it seemed that assassins were hunting him because of it.

  “We’ll deal with that later,” Caleb said with a sigh. “I need to deal with this assassin problem at its source. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to find out who is after me or who hired them. That’s not my area of expertise.”

  “You know, I think that’s right up my alley,” Nicolas said, making it sound as though he did not understand Caleb’s subtle request. “If someone is willing to keep coming after you after they’ve lost twenty assassins, then they have to have vast resources. I’ll find out who they are, and you can deal with the problem at its source.”

  “Thanks,” Caleb said with a grin. “I knew I came to the right person.”

  “Of course you did,” Nicolas said with a smile. “There’s no better person to help than your friend, after all.”

  For the first time in a long time, Caleb truly felt content, despite the danger looming on the horizon.

  “Now, I think we should get rid of their bodies. After that, you can get cleaned up and I’ll cook a stew. I’ll meet with my contact tomorrow.”

  Chapter 5

  About an hour after sunrise, Nicolas Edge was walking up to the front gates of Caldreth.

  Because of his purposes there, he wore a charcoal gray hooded cloak over his fine black clothing, though the hood was down. The cloak was pinned together at his neck by a pin that bore the emblem of the black raven, the insignia of House Edge.

  “What do you want, Nicolas?” the sole gate guard asked with crossed arms over his dull gray banditine cuirass.

  “Do you intend to stop a noble at the gate for no reason?” Nicolas asked dryly. It was not the best kept secret around the city that he had tied to the Thieves’ Guild. If it was, then he would not have been forced to operate outside of the city. He did not have to worry about people knowing what he did though. What people knew did not matter. What they could prove, on the other hand, did.

  “I’m sure no one would give a rat’s ass if I refused to let you enter. Everyone knows that even your own family despises you,” the guard replied, stroking the hilt of his sword.

  With narrowed eyes, Nicolas brushed aside his cloak, revealing a scimitar at his left hip. “Say another word, and I will challenge you to a duel to the death. You have not only insulted my honor, but you have insulted the honor of my family. Do not forget your station again, commoner.”

  The guard looked furious at the young man’s words, but he did not say another word.

  Nicolas inwardly sighed as he walked through the gates. He hated acting the part of a noble, but
it had its advantages. He was part of one of the most powerful noble families in the city of Caldreth. Even if his family was rather small in that day and age, it wielded a considerable amount of power. After all, he counted the magistrate as his uncle.

  On instinct, he made his way down a side street and headed towards the part of the city that the Thieves’ Guild operated out of. That part of the city did not have a special name or anything, but it was easy to recognize. The streets looked run down, beggars were on every corner, and a good number of houses had wooden boards covering the windows.

  In short, it was the bad part of town.

  Once he was in the right part of town, he made his way into an unmarked back alley. As he entered the alley, he took a deep breath. A single door stood in the alleyway, and it was also a reminder that he was as far away from Castle Caldreth as he could possibly be without leaving the city.