Realms of Valen - Dragon in the Dark (War of the Gods Book 1)

by Rickk Berry III

  Unlike Adathir, Nadia had been prepared for the blast and rolled back to her feet the moment she hit the ground. When she stood, she found Rykar by her side.

  "That was crafty."

  "Thank you."

  "Quite welcome."

  Adathir's sword came crashing down a few city blocks behind the temple, out of reach. The mountain of a god that was Adathir pushed himself to his feet, before stepping over to one of his dead soldiers on the ground, bending down, and picking up the dead man's discarded war hammer. For a normal man, it was a two-handed weapon. For Adathir, it was easily a one-handed weapon. Both Nadia and Rykar eyed the massive god and his new weapon of choice.

  "What was that you said earlier about him hitting like a hammer?" Nadia asked, a brow arched, her eyes never straying from Adathir.

  "Oh, irony... you cruel bitch," Rykar replied with a sigh.

  "Together?" Nadia inquired.

  "Might as well," Rykar answered.

  The pair rushed toward Adathir, eyes on their enemy, weapons ready to strike.

  * * *

  Kaidia groaned. She couldn't see. Everything was black, but instead of panicking, the woman felt extremely calm and at peace. She took a breath and didn't taste the dust of a crumbled building as she thought she would. The air tasted sweet.

  "Wakey wakey, sleepyhead," a soft voice said, sounding as though it were coming from everywhere, surrounding Kaidia. She recognized that voice. She hadn't heard it in years, but she knew it instantly.

  "Ashlin?"

  "Look at you, correct on the first guess."

  There was a long pause as Kai thought to herself.

  "Am I dead?"

  "No. You are, however, standing at the border between life and death."

  "How?"

  "You took a pretty nasty hit."

  "Right, I remember."

  "Good."

  "Why am I between life and death?"

  "Because I stopped you from crossing the border."

  "What? Why would you do that?"

  "I can't let you cross. It'd look bad if a god died so easily. Beyond that, you're not done in the world. Your story isn't over. You have so much left to do."

  "Oh... but... you're here."

  "Not exactly. I'm not entirely dead. I live on inside you, in a way. It's why you've felt different since that day. It's more than just the emotional impact. I became a part of you. So, in essence, I'm always with you. If you die, we both die. I'm not ready for that."

  "Then why did you wait four years to talk to me like this?!"

  "It takes you being in a very deep sleep for me to talk to you. We both know you don't sleep well. Thus, I rarely do more than appear in your dreams or come across as a faint whisper in the back of your mind that you're not sure you heard."

  "And here I thought I was going insane."

  "Dear, you were born half insane. It's part of your charm."

  "Sure it is. What happens now?"

  "Now you wake up. Nadia and Lord Vaikos are fighting Adathir valiantly, but I fear they won't be able to overcome him. They need your help."

  "Right. As much as I'd like to lay here in the dark and talk to you, they probably need me."

  "They do. Don't worry though; we'll talk again sometime soon enough. I'll be here for every moment of the rest of your life. It's a journey I think will take many years. And when you close your eyes for the last time, I will be waiting here for you. I will be the last thing you see."

  "That is morbidly comforting, love."

  "Good. Now get up!"

  * * *

  Adathir's hammer slammed into Nadia's stomach, lifting the young woman from her feet, and sending her through the air until she smashed into the ground. Rykar immediately went on the offensive against Adathir, thus neither lord nor god saw Nadia getting up onto her hands and knees, only to cough up blood that splattered onto the ground. If it hadn't been for her armor, she'd be in even worse shape.

  Rykar couldn't manage to strike Adathir. The massive man blocked every strike of the lord's sword with the metal shaft of his war hammer. Adathir blocked Rykar's next attack and shoved the smaller man backward a couple of steps before turning the war hammer loose with one hand. His free hand snapped out and a ball of fire erupted from his palm, speeding straight for Rykar. The noble slashed at the fireball with his sword. The moment blade and flame came together; an explosion resulted, slamming Rykar to the ground.

  The long haired man winced as he tried to sit up. Adathir stepped over and looked down at Rykar. Inside his helm, the dark god was smirking.

  "Oh, my Lord, did I hurt you?" Adathir asked, his tone mocking.

  "Nope! Just knocked the wind out of me," Rykar replied, his usual wise-ass self.

  "Apologies, Lord Vaikos. Here, let me help," the massive man said before he lifted a foot and stomped down on Rykar's armored chest. The armor dented, but did its job of protecting its owner. Rykar gave a bit of a shout. His chest wasn't crushed, but the jarring effect of the stomp didn't help matters any. Adathir raised his foot to stomp again and Rykar lifted his hand. The lightning bolt that exploded out of the lord's hand collided with Adathir's chest and sent the massive man flying into the air, only to drop him to the flagstones with a nasty crunching sound, smoke drifting up off of him.

  Rykar just smirked to himself.

  "Bastard."

  * * *

  Eris was perched up in the crow's nest of the Blade Maiden, watching the battle unfold through her spyglass, since she didn't have quite the long distance vision a pure-blooded elf had. She had to look away when that second lightning bolt was cast. The bolt disappeared into the grey clouds that covered the sky and kept the sun from view.

  The ship was out of the docks, the portside facing inland. The dwarven cannon Eris had managed to get her hands on was protruding from the side of the ship, waiting. The half elf had been struck by a lovely idea while watching the battle. Now she was just waiting for a chance to put it into action. The mariner peered back through her spyglass after the lightning bolt had faded. She could see Adathir slowly standing up, his breastplate melted and scorched. The dark god didn't seem too concerned about it as he walked over to Rykar once more. The lord was still lying on the ground. Nadia was pushing herself to her feet, but she looked to be in bad shape. Blood was trickling out of the girl's mouth and Eris winced at the sight.

  "Poor girl."

  Adathir stopped between Nadia and Rykar, seemingly trying to decide which one he wanted to eliminate first. Judging by the gestures the large man was making, he was talking, and standing in one spot. This was her chance. Training her eye on Adathir, the half elf took a deep breath, focusing further, eyeing Adathir's damaged armor.

  The spyglass was of dwarven make and was also linked to the cannon by means of sorcery. When Eris shifted her eye through the monocular, the cannon shifted its aim. Eris had taken awhile to get used to it, but it had been worth the time spent learning to use it. Now she was practically glaring through the spyglass, directly at the damaged armor covering Adathir's chest. She let her next word out in the faintest of whispers, so as not to disturb her aim.

  "Fire."

  * * *

  A thunderous boom rang out in the distance, causing Adathir to stop in his deliberations on who he would kill first. Nadia and Rykar looked at one another, then to Adathir, who was looking between them both.

  "What the hell was that?" the god asked the two warriors. Before either of them could answer, a cannon ball fell from the sky and smashed into Adathir's chest, hammering the massive man into the ground with the sickening sound of metal and bone breaking.

  Rykar and Nadia looked from Adathir, to each other, then back toward the docks, then to each other once more. Then Rykar simply burst into uproarious laughter. Nadia shook her head. The man was truly insane.

  Adathir groaned and rolled onto his hands and knees, then pushed himself up. Rykar stopped laughing simply because it hurt. Nadia eyed Adathir, seeing blood leaking from the mouth
slits on his helm. She grinned, elated that the cannonball had caused that much damage. They might win at this rate.

  Rykar pushed himself to his feet and readied his sword. Nadia brandished her own, and gave the nobleman a nod. Together, they charged at the wounded god. Adathir's reaction was quick and violent. He whipped around, dodging Rykar's strike in the process, and used his armored forearm to swat Nadia's sword aside before his fist collided with the young woman's jaw. Nadia staggered backward, seeing stars. Adathir then hooked the toe of a boot under a short sword on the ground, kicked it up, caught it, then turned and flung it, end over end at Rykar, who had skidded to a stop and was just turning to charge at Adathir again.

  The blade plunged into the noble's shoulder, stabbing through armor, cloth, and flesh. The force of the blow knocked Rykar off his feet and he fell to the ground with a metallic crash. While Rykar cursed and jerked the sword out, Adathir turned and advanced on Nadia, who was still a bit dazed. It wasn't every day that one was punched by a god, after all.

  She slashed at him with her blade, only to have her forearm caught in the grip of Adathir's left hand before she could complete the first attack. His right foot kicked the inside of Nadia's right knee, dropping the warrior to said knee before he threw another punch, this one striking Nadia across the face and slamming her to the flagstones. Barely hanging onto her consciousness, the younger Valengaard tried to gather herself. Adathir raised a foot to stomp down Nadia's back, but he was stricken to the ground by a massive force that knocked him clear across the body littered courtyard, away from wounded Nadia and Rykar.

  Kaidia was glaring out of her broken helm, one eye visible, the other still hidden. She stood across the courtyard from Adathir, the rest of her armor scratched, but little else. Adathir got to his feet, growling. Kai pulled off her helm and let it hang from the fingers of her left hand.

  "I am just going to assume you missed me," the mercenary said with a smirk.

  "I should have known you weren't dead," Adathir responded, ignoring Kai's statement.

  "I think the building did more damage than your little energy bolt," Kaidia retorted.

  "Oh, I'll make sure to hit harder next time," Adathir spat back.

  "Please do. Also, I meant to ask you why the city is empty," Kai replied, arching a brow.

  "Ah, this was a bustling port city, wasn't it?" the dark god asked, glancing around.

  "It was," Kaidia answered.

  "Well, it did take a lot of life force to resurrect me. I imagine my priests rounded the citizens up and sacrificed them to bring me back," Adathir surmised, though he obviously knew that what he spoke was the truth. The dragon god's expression darkened.

  "An entire city murdered to bring such a waste of breath back to life. Atrocious," Kaidia growled and drew her sword with her free hand.

  "Sticks and stones, my fellow deity, sticks and stones," Adathir said with a chuckle as he stooped to pick up a two handed sword from the ground. Nadia and Rykar were watching the pair of gods, wary of the coming fight.

  Rykar had managed to push himself to his feet, the left side of his breastplate stained with blood from the wound in his shoulder. He held his sword in one hand, but knew Kai's intention was to keep the fight between herself and Adathir. He and Nadia were too battered to be of much assistance. Nadia was sitting up; but not on her feet, a hand holding her head and covering one eye. The other eye was flitting back and forth between Adathir and Kaidia.

  "Last time we did this, I killed you," Kai stated, smirking.

  "I won't allow that to happen again," Adathir replied.

  "If only you had the power to back that up," Kaidia mocked.

  Adathir snarled at that and charged toward the black armored woman. Kai stood calmly and waited until he got within a few feet, then flung her ruined helm at his face. The startled Adathir skidded to a stop as he jerked out of the helm's flight path. His eyes followed the helm for a moment. He looked back to Kaidia just in time to take a bolt of magical energy to the face. It exploded on contact and sent him sailing backward, like an arrow from an archer's bow. He slammed through the face of a grand house and hit the floor as the house collapsed on top of him.

  "Hm. I suppose the well-to-do family that owned that place isn't around to be pissed off about that," Rykar remarked to himself.

  The broken timbers and rubble of the house shifted and started to fall to the side as Adathir pushed his way to his feet. He walked out of the rubble and shook his head. His helm was damaged and his armor was even more damaged than it had been before his express trip through someone's front door.

  "Alright, I admit, I probably earned that one," the massive man said as he pulled his helm off and tossed it aside. Underneath was a handsome man. Clean shaven, with somewhat long blonde hair pulled back into a short ponytail. His eyes were a pale blue, his features striking. But something was off about him. Just looking at him, one could sense something wasn't quite right.

  "Just making us even," Kai responded.

  "You say that as if I could have a clean slate with you," Adathir chuckled as he bent and picked up the sword he'd dropped when he'd hit the house.

  "The fact that you cannot, is not my fault," Kaidia muttered. Adathir growled. In unison, the two combatants lifted their hands and flung bolts of fire at one another. The two fireballs collided in midair, exploding and kicking up dirt and debris, obscuring Kaidia from Adathir's vision and vice versa. The dark god started forward, toward the cloud of dust and smoke, intent on simply walking through it to confront Kaidia on the other side. He even got one step into the cloud before Kaidia came leaping through it. Before Adathir could react, the mercenary's elbow slammed into his jaw. The force of the strike, combined with the fact that Kai's elbow was armored, sent Adathir reeling backward, a splash of blood hitting the ground from a wound on his jaw.

  The big man managed to regain his footing just in time to duck a swing of Kaidia's sword. When he ducked down, the dragon god's knee collided with his face, knocking him backward. He stumbled and fell over backward before rolling back to his feet and launching himself at Kai from his crouched position. His attempt to tackle Kai to the ground failed as the mercenary fell to her back and planted her feet in his torso, flipping him over her with a practiced ease. Adathir landed with the sound of metal crunching against stone. Kaidia jumped to her feet, as did the dark god.

  Without a moment's hesitation the two gods swung their swords at each other with such ferocity that when the blades met, the sheer force and power of the strikes rang out with a thunderous clash of metal on metal that kicked up dirt and sent a shower of magically spawned sparks across the bloodstained flagstones. Magical energies coursed through both blades, thanks to the pair of warriors.

  Again and again, the two gods viciously slashed at each other, only managing to catch one another's blade. Each metallic ring of Kai's sword on Adathir's produced another clap of thunder that rumbled the ground beneath their feet, beneath the dead bodies, and beneath the feet of Rykar and Nadia. Strike after strike caused deafening cracks that sounded like explosions to reverberate through the air and the ground.

  Finally, Kai's blithsite sword won out over the steel blade of Adathir's salvaged sword and shattered it. The shards of steel rained down to the ground as the hulking man stared at his broken sword. The pommel of Kaidia's sword brutally cracked Adathir in the skull, knocking the dark god to his back. Kaidia saw her chance to end the fight. She leapt into the air, turning her sword in her hands, pointing it downward, prepared to use all of her strength and weight to drive it down into Adathir's chest. Adathir managed to regain his senses before Kaida could deliver the killing blow. At the last moment, the freshly resurrected man raised his hand and with a desperate desire to hang on to his second chance at life, released a massive fireball that engulfed Kaidia before exploding. The shockwave drove Adathir down into the flagstones with such force that they cracked underneath him. Kai was sent through the air, slamming down, face first, onto the stone.. Her swo
rd had been ripped from her grip in the explosion and now Rykar was staring at where it had landed, blade buried in the ground, right next to his foot. The half of the blade that wasn't buried in the flagstones and the ground beneath was actually touching his boot. It had just narrowly missed plunging through his foot.

  "Well now... that was almost unpleasant," the man muttered before gripping the hilt and trying to dislodge the sword. It wouldn't budge. He really hadn't expected it to. He was sure Kai would worry about it after the battle was over, if they all survived.

  Kaidia pushed herself to her feet and ran her fingers through her hair as she got her bearings. Blood trickled from a wound above her left eye, likely from when she'd hit the ground. Her armor was smoking, the spaulder on her left shoulder had been torn off, and a few of the plates on her chest, stomach and her legs had fallen off and could be seen strewn on the ground between her and Adathir. The dark god was pushing himself up as well, shaking his head before looking to Kaidia. The two started circling one another. Looking on, Nadia was reminded strongly of two wolves that were sizing one another up.

  Adathir abruptly threw a missile formed of magical energy, one of the simplest of offensive spells, at Kai. The mercenary batted it aside with a simple warding spell. The missile hit the ground and exploded, throwing up fragments of rock and dirt. No one on the battlefield batted an eye. Kaidia responded with a bolt of lightning that was knocked aside much as the magical projectile had been. Adathir threw a fireball, Kai threw one as well, each god swatted them aside like they were pesky bugs. The two deities decided to stop playing around and planted their feet. Adathir had his back to his temple.