His face was covered in blood from the broken nose and his breath came out in forced and labored gasps. The crushed windpipe would not kill him, but it would prevent him from chasing me for the next quarter of an hour. He looked up at me from the ground with his blue eyes and I could see the hate, fear, and despair in them.
I stepped on his forearm and raised my sword to finish him. There would be no recovery from a beheading and it would mean one less hunter to follow me to the ends of the world. Our eyes met and he attempted to wheeze out a word.
“I’m sorry, my friend.” He struggled against my arm and probably tried to force as much Earth through his body as possible to heal himself. He should have been able to blast me with Fire, but he was only able to harness that particular type of magic when he had complete focus and control.
I brought his blade down and then halted the edge half an inch from his nose with an abrupt movement. He gasped and his body stopped twisting under me.
“I love you too much to kill you, Gorbanni. I am sorry for all the things I have done. You have to let me go. Everything has been taken from me now. I won’t give her the satisfaction of killing me. Go live your life.” His eyes opened wide and he tried to choke something out through his broken windpipe. I didn’t wait to hear what it was. I had already spent enough time not killing the blond horseman and I was sure that Alexia, Thayer, and Malek were close. I had to run. I had to escape.
I left Gorbanni at the side of the river and continued my sprint north. At least I had a blade now so that if I ran into Thayer I would be able to defend myself for a few minutes against the sword master. While the idea of fighting any of my ex-generals caused me fear, none other than Shlara could defeat me in one-on-one combat. Thayer would be a tough opponent though and I wouldn’t be able to handle him in the same manner as Gorbanni. He would be cunning and would no doubt do his best to delay me until Alexia and Malek caught up to our position.
Thayer also knew what I would do when pursued through the woods, he was with me when we eluded the Elvens. He would guess which direction I would take and could calculate the speed of my flight, where I would hide, he would anticipate everything I would do and how I would think. If even Gorbanni was smart enough to cut me off in the gorge, Thayer would be several steps ahead already and had probably set up the perfect ambush with Alexia and Malek.
The canyon wound to the east, the side of the cliff crumbled into a rough staircase of boulders only sixty feet high. I could bound up the slope without losing too much speed and escape into the dense cover of the forest once again. Then I could cut back and head to the ocean as I had planned.
Or was this Thayer’s trap? Would I find him positioned behind the outcropping of trees, ready to strike me down once I crested the ridge? If I stopped I could listen and smell for signs of him, but I did not have time for that. Malek and Alexia were probably gaining ground on me already.
I was often risk averse, yet some of my most glorious victories had come from the times I ignored caution and reason and just did what I could to survive. Thayer knew I was desperate. He would expect me to take this route as an easy way out of the gorge. I decided instead to continue running. Seconds after I passed the escape route I heard heavy booted feet smash into the river bed beside me. As I suspected, he had been lying in wait at the tree line.
I was faster than my bulky friend and the many years of solo travel through the wilderness had only increased my ability to run through the forest. Thayer couldn’t keep up with me and within a few minutes the sounds of his heavy footfalls faded. I still needed to escape the canyon. I saw no way out besides climbing, but that would give Thayer ample time to catch and kill me. The flow of the shallow river had trickled down to a narrow stream. If the canyon ended before I found a safe way out, I would be cornered by the three of them.
I saw another spot on the cliff that I could easily ascend and decided to stop and face Thayer. I might not be able to defeat the big swordsman before Malek and Alexia arrived, but there was a chance, and I could always continue running. I jumped up the rocky canyon wall and then turned when I heard him approach.
He stopped some sixty feet away and drew a pair of thick, long swords from his belt. None of them were wearing their decorative animal armor. Though we could move easily in the massive suits of tempered gray steel, I would have tired them out by now had they been encumbered by the extra weight.
Instead my old friend wore light armor of fitted leather with metal plates in key locations over his heart and around his neck. I doubted the armor would do much to keep my blade from cutting him, but it was better than attacking me while naked. If it took me a fraction of a second longer to pierce his flesh, he could possibly avoid damage altogether.
“Make this easy on us both.” Thayer stood far enough away from me to allow himself time to dodge a magical attack.
“I don’t intend to die today.” I kicked a rock at my feet and it flew in his direction. I was surprised at my aim, but he flicked one of his blades through the air casually and knocked the projectile aside.
I was wasting time.
Thayer’s eyes flickered and I twisted myself sideways in desperation. Alexia had sneaked behind me and one of her twin short blades ripped across the side of my ribs where my heart had been a hair of a second ago. I lashed at her with my sword, but her blade was already in the way and my attack was snuffed before I put any power behind it.
Alexia was unbelievably fast, even for one of our kind, and the only way I could ever best her during a sparring match was by keeping distance between us. This was not possible here, and I struggled to block her quick stabs with Gorbanni’s cumbersome sword and my empty right hand. Alexia’s blades were quickly drenched in my blood and I knew my attempt to flee my old life was about to come to an end.
Thayer sprang up to join our fight. He swung his blades as he leapt and I risked a block with Gorbanni’s sword. The clash of our weapons echoed through the valley and the force pushed me back across the surface of the boulder. Thayer and Alexia tried to rip my flesh open with synchronized attacks while I fended them off with a desperate combination of parries and footwork.
Sometimes fighting multiple opponents was easier than battling a lone assailant. Unless the warriors were trained to fight in a coordinated unit, their attacks would often interrupt each other and their positioning would allow opportunities for strikes that a single opponent could easily defend. I had been challenged by pairs and groups many times in my past and always emerged victorious.
But this was Alexia and Thayer.
They had trained together for decades, and each of their strikes was as perfectly coordinated and lethal as if it came from a four-armed warrior. My only advantage was that I had trained with them as well and could anticipate most of their movements. I could not fend them off forever. One of every six attacks they made slipped past my defense. The rock was now slick with my blood.
I dove back off the boulder and flipped over before colliding with the rocky edge of the riverbank. Thayer was behind me in an instant, but Alexia threw three small daggers down at me. Two sunk into my right thigh before I could sprint away. I gritted my teeth against the pain and pivoted to dodge another pair of horizontal slashes from Thayer.
My leg was suddenly numb. Alexia’s daggers were coated with the same poison she favored on her arrowheads. If I had half a minute to recover I could have ripped out the blades and healed, but my magic was already struggling with the countless wounds across my body. Thayer knew. He timed his sword strikes to keep my right hand from yanking the blades from my flesh.
Alexia paced around Thayer and I like a puma readying for the kill. I tried to keep both of my ex-generals in front of me, but my mobility was hampered by her poison, and Thayer suddenly doubled the speed of his attacks to hold my attention. The chill from my leg spread up to my hips and stomach. I had been close to death so many times, but I always found some way to save myself.
There would be no escape this time.
I didn’t hear Alexia, but I sensed her attack and turned to face her. Thayer anticipated my movement and his sword cut off my left arm at the elbow; sending the remainder of my limb and Gorbanni’s heavy sword skipping across the rocky river like a dancing marionette. Alexia’s short blade pierced my chest below the heart and I felt the air explode from my lungs in a wet gasp. Her ice-blue eyes stared into mine, but they were filled with hatred instead of their usual kindness. I swung my right arm across to punch her in the face, but her second sword ripped into my bicep and I grunted the remaining air out of my dying body.
Then the battle was over.
I struggled to raise my head but my muscles would not move. I felt numb everywhere and even though the Earth screamed through my body like an angry hawk, there was too much blood pouring out of me to keep me conscious. If they pulled the blade out of my chest I could heal in a few minutes, but they would not. This could only end one way.
“I’ve asked this before, but I’ll ask one last time. If you ever loved me, loved us, you’ll explain why you did such horrible things. Why did you betray us?” Malek’s voice filled my ears and I found that I had just enough strength to raise my head and look at him.
“I loved her.”
I was surprised at how light my body felt. If Thayer wasn’t holding me down I would probably float away into the sky. The idea sounded wonderful. I wanted to be free to jump through the clouds.
Malek shook his head and sighed. I saw the muscles of his jaw clench when he pulled his sword from the weapon’s sheath. The movement was quick, or maybe my mind was just so tired that I couldn’t follow their attacks anymore. The surest way to kill one of our kind, or an Elven, was to separate the head from the body.
Malek’s aim was true.
"You'll stay dead this time, Kaiyer."
Chapter 20-Kaiyer
I startled awake with a scream and fought to keep my breath in my lungs. I felt my head split in two and fall away from my body, onto the rocky ground of the river shore, while Malek’s angry face glared at me from above the horizon. His sword was covered in my blood and dripped into the water that snaked through the gorge like an angry worm.
But I was alive.
How was that possible?
“What is wrong?” Fehalda stood with her blade drawn across the campfire. Vernine crouched in a battle stance with her own weapon poised to defend. Both women were naked and the red flames reflected off of their athletic bodies with a slick sheen.
“Bad dream.” I gasped and forced air down my throat with a savage gulp. My head still felt as if it was split down the middle by Malek’s sword.
“You screamed loud enough to wake the Dead Gods.” Vernine frowned slightly and I couldn’t tell if the pewter-haired woman was joking or not. Her red eyes reflected the firelight like angry lava.
“Perhaps it was a bad nightmare then?” I sighed and tossed aside my own blanket. The night was hot but the sweat that covered my body felt like ice and smelled of terror.
“Where are you going?” Fehalda asked when I stood and took a few steps away from the campsite and into the darkness of the night.
“To piss and then rinse off in the river. If you want, you can handle my penis and wash my back,” I said over my shoulder at the white Elven.
“Pfft,” she huffed, and I heard both of their swords return to their sheaths with a single sound.
After I relieved myself in a thick grouping of rosemary, I pulled off my sweaty undergarments and walked the sixty yards to the bank of the river. We had followed it west for the last week, toward Nia. It was the same river I had emerged into after escaping the dragon’s lair. Closer to the capital, it was known as the Stone River.
The shores of the river were lined in slick rocks. I waded into the quick moving water. Though the air was hot and dry, the water was still quite frigid. I doubted most would be able to stand more than a few moments in its icy clutches. I dunked my head under the surface and let the black current numb my body and memories until my breath couldn’t be held anymore.
It was not a nightmare.
The realization brought the chill to my heart and stomach. My friends really did chase me down like a rabid beast and murder me. I could remember the pain of their weapons and I saw their faces so clearly. They meant to kill me. My friends hated me for some reason, and it was not because of what I did to Shlara. I must have done something else to incur such wrath. Something that prompted them to chase me themselves instead of sending soldiers after me as they had in the past.
My head ached when I tried to remember. What more could I have done? What could have been worse than what I did to Shlara? They had tied Iolarathe to a stake and began to burn her. I was bound and powerless. I could not stop them. I could only watch the woman I loved die at the hands of my friends.
“Kaiyer.” I thought it was Iolarathe’s voice for a moment, I was so absorbed in the memory of her beautiful face twisting in agony as she burned. I turned and saw Fehalda at the river’s muddy shore. “You’ve been standing in the river for an hour.”
“Neither you nor Vernine has come to wash my back.” I gave a short laugh and walked to the shore.
“It is your watch.” She glanced at my naked body when I emerged from the water, but I imagined she was more interested in the numerous scars that decorated my skin than the sexual gratification I could grant her. She had made it clear on more than one occasion during our week of travel that she would butcher me if I even considered touching her.
“Fine. Go to sleep,” I said as we walked back to the camp.
She glared at me and then walked to her bedroll without another word.
“Do you wish to speak of your nightmare?” Vernine asked from her bedroll. Her red eyes regarded me seriously.
“No.” I sat down on a rock next to the fire and stared into the parts of the flame that matched her eyes.
“I can only imagine your plans for our return, but I doubt the empress will understand if you choose to be so terse with her.”
“I will deal with her when we meet.”
“That is exactly the kind of language that makes me question your intent. That and your long and legendary history of decimating our people,” she replied.
“What do you recommend?” I turned away from the fire and glared at her. Vernine rarely revealed any emotion, and she made no indication now that she understood she was irritating me.
“We will return to Nia with you. General Fehalda will beseech her sister to meet with you again, since you saved both of our lives. The empress will ask us what you wish to speak of, and we will not have an answer. You are the Destroyer, the scourge of our people, the Betrayer of your own. She will never agree to meet with you. She will likely unleash her army upon you again.”
“You’ve already told me all of this.”
“If you will explain to us what you want, what you will offer, and why the empress should trust you, we will have a better chance of success in negotiating with my sister on your behalf,” Fehalda said from her bedroll. Unlike Vernine, Fehalda’s voice and face clearly conveyed her exasperation.
“I wish to keep it private between the two of us.”
“We will both be in the room. We will find out then,” Vernine sighed.
“I will only speak to her alone.”
“You are so fucking stubborn!” Fehalda swore. Our eyes met across the fire and I could not mistake the malice there. “I owe you for saving our lives, but if not for you, our lives never would have been in danger. I will not allow my sister to spend any time alone with you. I do not trust you. If you want our help, if you really want to speak with her, you will tell us exactly what you want so that we may prepare her.”
“We want to help you,” Vernine said. “Give us what we need to set up this meeting.” Fehalda nodded at the gray woman’s words.
We had argued about my plan almost every hour as we traveled to the capital. I felt my resolve crumbling under their constant assault. If I told the
m, the empress might give her answer directly to the women and refuse to speak to me. This would put a bend in my plan, but I would still be in the castle and could devise a new course then.
“Fine. I will tell you.” Even Vernine looked shocked, but they quickly regained their composure before I continued. “I have holes in my memories. I don’t remember everything, and the memories do not return chronologically. I have slowly been able to piece together the different parts of my past, but when I first awoke, I did not even know my name. Telaxthe studied the Destroyer. I want her help understanding the missing pieces of my other life.”
They didn’t speak for a few seconds but I saw them glance sideways at each other. The firelight reflected off of their eyes and I realized that other than Vernine’s eyes, both of them were colorless shades of black, white, and gray.
“What would you offer in return for her assistance?” Vernine leaned forward in her bedding and the fabric fell away from her shoulders to expose most of her chest and breasts. Our travel so far had been uneventful, but the movement made my body recall the many nights I spent licking every inch of her white skin and fucking her while Isslata watched or participated.
“What do you think she would want?”
“So, you don’t even know what you would offer?” Fehalda let out an exasperated sigh.
“I have some ideas, but if you both are sincere about wanting to help, then tell me what she wants. You know her better.”
“She wants you gone from this world! That was the whole reason Vernine and I came after you at Nia’s East Keep.”
“I am not leaving this world.” I met her black eyes. “What else?”
“You could show us which Radicle you came from,” Vernine offered.
“Perhaps.” I wondered if Nadea had already told the empress everything. Maybe Vernine and Fehalda didn’t even know that Nadea was Telaxthe’s daughter. They must have left the castle immediately after the duchess’s capture.
“That is not enough. She wants him gone. By way of the Radicle, or death,” Fehalda said flatly.
The Destroyer Book 4 Page 23