The Exile's Redemption (The Heart of a Tyrant Book 1)

by Reece Dinn

  Yobrez would be two days walk from the lake, three depending on the pace he set for himself. He longed to be at Mir-Ainez already, to be at Nam-Laftoz and finally put an end to his torment.

  A pack of sehseh attacked the dozens of lilnac picking berries from the bushes. Some spotted the pack and cried out as they fled, but the rest were too slow to react and the sehseh pounced. Three lilnac were torn apart in moments, the sehseh's sharp teeth and claws ripping through their flesh with ease. The survivors scattered in many directions and the sehseh pack split up to catch them. The slowest lilnac were caught quickly, but most managed to escape.

  Two lilnac ran towards Beroz. He licked his lips, and then in one swift motion drew Mutumuz and swung it in front of him as they made to dash past him, killing both in one stroke, to his surprise. He quickly set to work on the two carcasses, skinning them, then cutting off the biggest cuts of meat to fill his sack with. He had no desire to carry a bulging sack of meat with him so left some for the sehseh.

  The creatures had not dared to attack Beroz, evidently smart enough to not antagonise him. Two sehseh sat a short distance away, watching him while they devoured their catch, their yellow eyes unwavering, ears pricked up.

  That night, when he'd set up camp, he cooked all the meat, deciding he'd eat the rest cold the following day as he travelled. The smell of all the cooking meat made his mouth water, having not stopped to eat again. Brubah was good at suppressing hunger, but when he stopped it he was left starving. Tomorrow don't use Brubah.

  Before it'd gotten dark he'd thought he'd seen the faint outline of Mir-Ainez. He'd only ever seen the mountains once before, and that was from a distance, not much closer than he was now. Hope I reach Yobrez tomorrow. Before dark.

  The meat was juicy and tender, the two lilnac must have still been nila to taste so good. He'd made sure to cook the meat for less time than the night before, and was pleased with the results. He devoured as much meat as he could, savouring the lilnac's strong flavour, relishing the taste of its juice in his mouth. He washed it all down with the leftover nibec, enjoying the way the drink burned his stomach.

  Die. His hand throbbed again. He spat out the piece of meat he'd been chewing. Not while I eat. He grumbled to himself as he picked up the meat he'd just spat out and shoved it back into his mouth, not wanting to waste any of his delicious meal.

  Mir-Ainez loomed over the village of Yobrez in the distance, dominating the landscape. These mountains were far bigger than any he'd ever seen, the smallest one here bigger than the largest he'd come across in either Mir-Ru, Mir-Akaz or Mir-Tolkz, reaching high above the clouds. Each mountain held a presence, he could almost feel some kind of power within them.

  This harder than I think.

  He reached Yobrez just before sunset. The village was quiet, only a few villagers were around, and those that were gave him a wide berth. To his relief no one called him a ludenez, but people did seem unsettled by the sight of him. The whole place smelt of vomenic, everyone he passed seemingly carrying sacks of it. Not see river. Other side of village? It'd been a while since he'd had vomenic, the thought of the flaky white meat made his mouth water.

  He'd managed to go most of the day without using Brubah, only having to resort to it near the end. Eating the cold, leftover meat had helped him last the journey, but he found that he was still starving by the end of the day.

  He stopped two men that passed him. 'Mofar. Where do I find the Lial?'

  'He's away,' said one, a thin man with a lazy eye. 'Gone to see Lial in Shonaz. Not return for two days, I think.' The man's good eye surveyed Beroz's face.

  Beroz nodded, a little relieved. Last thing I want is to answer the Lial's questions. 'Need rest for the night. Two nights, maybe. Where the sturaz?'

  'Yes, Apochal. Rest here. There's empty furaz on the north side. Sturaz in south.' The two men didn't wait for him to ask another question, eager to be away. They hurried away the first chance they could.

  Think people treat Apochal with respect. People treat me like I annoy them. Should beat these people. Teach respect. He grumbled to himself, not meeting the eyes of anyone else as he first headed to the sturaz, eager to acquire vomenic and nibec.

  An old woman sat outside the sturaz when he finally found it, long after sunset and Kez's glow bathed the land. She was sat with a young man, the two engaged in conversation. The old woman grimaced when she saw Beroz.

  'How ugly,' she exclaimed.

  'I Apochal,' Beroz snarled.

  'Mofar,' she said, bowing her head.

  'Mofar,' he muttered back.

  'What happen?' asked the young man, examining Beroz.

  'Have big fight,' said Beroz, sullenly.

  'Lose?'

  Beroz grunted, not wanting to answer. Lose to Ro-Lial. No shame. Why feel it? The Ro-Lial's wicked face flashed through his mind again, his wicked laugh, that body wreathed in flames. His freshly healed skin prickled.

  'Old Lial Bastinaz stronger than you,' said the young man.

  Beroz frowned, feeling his tough, scarred skin crease. 'He a Lial.'

  'I know.'

  Before the man irritated Beroz further he turned back to the old woman. 'Need food, nibec. Get me some.'

  'Yes, Apochal,' she said with reluctance. He handed her his travel sack and she disappeared inside, hobbling as she moved, body hunched over.

  'You go up there?' asked the young man, pointing to the mountains.

  Beroz nodded.

  'Brave man. Think you die though. Many ludenez there.' He frowned. 'Lial go up there. Apochal not. How you go?'

  'Ro-Lial say yes. Need to go.'

  'Why?'

  'Shut mouth, lobkak. Will crush your skull if you speak again.' Beroz raised his scarred hand at the man, clenching it.

  Die. He pulled his hand back as it throbbed again. Nukuk. Why not leave me?

  The man nodded, looking away nervously.

  The old woman reappeared a short time later carrying a sack of stuff clearly too heavy for her. Beroz snatched it from her and slung it over his shoulder with one hand.

  The young man produced a small pouch from his furs and offered it to him. 'Lipnic?'

  'Get rid,' Beroz spat, turning his back to them and walking away.

  That night he struggled to sleep, his thoughts turning to the dangers that awaited him up in the mountains. Thinking about it made him feel weaker than he already did. Several times throughout the night his hand throbbed and that same one word passed through his mind. For the first time he felt like he might actually give it what it wanted. He stayed up half the night drinking nibec, hoping it would silence the voice in the back of his mind.

  Die.

  Chapter Sixty Eight

  Beroz reached the foot of the mountains early evening two days later. The river on the far side of Yobrez had delayed him, the river too deep and wide to cross easily. He'd had to travel far downstream before he'd found a narrower place to cross. The water had been shallow enough to wade through, but had left his boots and furs soaked right through afterwards, and with several bites taken out of them by vomenic.

  Wish could rest for longer. He was exhausted, despite the day and a half he'd spent resting in Yobrez. It was an effort just to set up camp for the night. Kez's green light made the snow glow, the whole landscape around him green and tranquil. He still had the taste for vomenic and cooked two of the fillets he'd gotten from the sturaz, eating them raw as there was no wood for a fire. He devoured them greedily, washing them down with nibec, then finishing with some nuts, before swiftly falling asleep soon after.

  The mountains were even more impressive up close. In the morning light they dominated the landscape, their presence felt all around. The pit of his stomach bubbled. The mountains vibrated with an energy that shook the air and penetrated his whole body, making even thinking difficult.

  Can't go back. There were many ludenez up there, far more than he'd have ever encountered, maybe even double the number of the horde threatening to attack Oa
raz. Thankfully no ludenez ever left Mir-Ainez, for some reason.

  Nam-Ainez up there too. Nam-Ainez, the oldest and most ferocious ludenez in the land. It was said the ludenez was older than even the oldest Lial, that it was three times the size of a mirac, and was strong enough to crush a man in one stomp, and fast enough to chase him to the ends of the land. Most who faced it didn't live to tell the tale. Few escaped, even fewer claimed to have defeated it in battle, and those that had hadn't killed it. Hope doesn't see me.

  There were enough provisions in his sack to last him a couple of days, then he'd have to hunt. He checked that Mutumuz was as sharp as it could be, running his finger along its edge. It drew blood, a drop dribbling down its edge, he wiped it away on his furs. When he was ready he began his journey.

  Steep mountain paths, narrow passes, deep crevasses, slippery canyons, and perilous drops, he'd only walked half a day and already he'd nearly died ten times from slips, trips, and stumbles. Traversing them was a challenge, the constant vibrations passing through him from the mountains weakening his body, making it difficult to even walk. Brubah helped a little, but even that proved challenging to maintain.

  He clambered up a sharp rise, desperately clinging to the slippery rocks. The mountains were indeed much taller than any other he'd encountered, most of their peaks disappeared into the clouds, and continued rising way past them. He wondered what it would be like to be so high in the sky. The climb up any of them appeared far too dangerous to attempt however.

  He felt the mountains' vibrations most of all in his stomach, they made him nauseous. Gripping anything properly was infuriating, he had to squeeze his hands tight on every handhold just to keep hold.

  At the top of the rise there appeared to be flat ground, or so it had seemed when he'd surveyed the area from a higher point. Hopefully the flat led somewhere.

  Not knowing where he was going didn't help. Nam-Laftoz could be anywhere. He'd no idea if it was on the ground, up in the mountaintops somewhere, or even underground, although that seemed unlikely. He tried to sense where it was, hoping to detect at least one Lial's Raiz, but there were so many sources around that it was impossible to differentiate what was human and what wasn't. Some people could, but he wasn't practised enough to do so.

  Creatures howled and screamed constantly, their cries echoing through the mountains, leaving him on edge at all times. He kept a constant watch for enemies, but to his relief none had shown themselves, yet. Other than sensing sources of Raiz there'd been no sign of anything living so far, not even a little lilnac. If it wasn't for sensing so much Raiz around him he'd have believed the mountains empty.

  He crested the top of the rise. There was indeed a flat area, but it didn't go on for long before dropping into a massive valley, deeper than any he'd ever seen. In the valley he found the source of the noise. A large pack of sehseh, numbering in the dozens, were attacking a herd of mirac twice their number, sehseh biting, clawing and slashing at the mirac in a great feeding frenzy. Some sehseh were curling into balls and hurling themselves, mauling their victims with the spikes on their backs. When they felled one mirac more sehseh dived on it, ripping its body to shreds, not even eating it, behaving almost like ludenez. Some mirac fought their attackers off, several impaling them on their horns and flinging them away. The carnage before him made Beroz hesitate. He hadn't the strength to pass through this unscathed and the last thing he needed was another wound.

  The ground rumbled as the mirac desperately fled. Most of them were trying to flee down the valley, snow cascading with them as the stampede grew. Some mirac slipped and fell, tumbling downhill. The fallen were soon slain by the sehseh.

  When the mirac were too far gone the sehseh returned to feast on those that they'd slaughtered. There were more than enough for them to eat. It was soon clear why the sehseh had ripped the bodies to shreds. With the pieces of the corpses scattered around it was easier for the sehseh to eat as a large group, rather than all trying to consume the same meal. There were far more bodies than there were sehseh to eat them though. Five feasted on one corpse, rather than splitting up so they had more to themselves. It didn't make sense.

  Beroz's stomach grumbled. Take some for me. He descended into the valley, drawing Mutumuz in case any sehseh tried its luck. Several of them raised their heads as he approached, muzzles dripping with blood, their yellow eyes regarding him, ears pricking up. They buried their heads back into their meal when they saw he wasn't an immediate threat.

  A downed mirac lay on its side, its brown fur drenched in its own blood, but it was still alive, breathing heavily, bleeding out of its neck. It watched him approach out of a barely open eye.

  'Sorry', said Beroz. 'You near dead. I hungry.' He raised Mutumuz to stab down into its neck.

  Something growled behind him.

  A sehseh stalked towards him, baring its teeth, blood dripping from its chin.

  'No. Mine.' He twisted Mutumuz around and pointed it at the creature. 'Want to fight me?'

  Two dark shadows appeared from around the mountains to his right. They flew quickly, growing bigger every moment, heading straight for them. Their bellows echoed through the valley.

  The sehseh howled in response. Within moments they were on the move, abandoning their food and fleeing.

  Glowing red light emanated from the shadowy forms, confirming what he already knew. Ludenez.

  'Nukuk. Why two?' he muttered under his breath, readying himself for the fight. It'd been a while since he'd fought a ludenez, he hoped he'd have the strength to kill them in his weakened state. He clenched his scarred hand, wondering if this was where he would die.

  The two ludenez were massive, far larger than any he'd faced before, near double the size of an ankaroc. Each had horns that were longer than a mirac's, the sight of them making Beroz tremble. Their purple tainted fur hung loose from their bodies like it'd been torn. Now he was certain this was where he would die.

  Lightning. Beroz breathed in deep to calm his nerves and readied a bolt in his free hand. He waited, struggling to keep it primed. He despaired to find he had to pour a considerable amount of his Raiz into it to give it any kind of strength. He immediately felt light headed.

  The ludenez swooped down, hurtling towards him, their eyes flaring. Beroz fired at the nearest one, striking its wing, but it had little effect.

  'Nukuk,' he spat, drawing the Raiz back. Using a little Hakah he leapt up over them as they converged on him, the ludenez crashing down, clawing at the snow like he'd disappeared underneath it. He landed and charged at the rear of the nearest one. It lashed out at him with a long tail, aiming for his legs, but he skipped over it and slashed the tail, smirking to himself as he cut deep, nearly severing tail from ludenez.

  The ludenez didn't like that. It twisted around, bellowing madly, and surged forward, snapping at him with huge crooked teeth. Beroz ducked under its lunge then stabbed up into its underbelly. Foul smelling dark purple blood splattered down onto him, entering his mouth and running up his nose, making him gag. He stabbed up again and again, turning away as each wound released more blood.

  The ludenez screamed, but didn't fall, instead hitting him hard in the sides with its rear legs while flapping its wings frantically, Beroz grunting with each hit he took. He hacked at one leg, then the other, putting everything he had into each attack, hoping the strength of his scarred hand would aid him. The ludenez screamed as its legs buckled and it lost its footing. He scrambled out from under it before it crashed down, his muscles straining from the effort.

  The other ludenez pounced on him immediately, hitting him with its wings as he tried to turn, beating him into the snow. He rolled away, then attempted to use Hakah, but it took too long for his strength to build and the ludenez struck him again, stopping it. He drew the Raiz back as he scrambled away. The ludenez flung itself at him, slamming him back to the ground with a wing as he got back up. It spread his wings out wide and screeched, eyes flaring.

  Wind. Seizing the moment to focu
s his Raiz better he pushed out as much he could to create a great gust of wind, the biggest he could muster, and sent it at the ludenez. To his satisfaction it was blown up into the air, flailing its legs as it tried to stop itself from being blown away.

  The other ludenez writhed around, trying to rise but its wounded rear legs kept buckling whenever it put weight on them. Seeing the futility of standing it flapped its wings and began to lift itself off the ground. Beroz created a small fireball to torch it with, but as he did the ludenez behind him recovered and dove down at him. He threw the fireball at it, but missed, the flames skimming over its back.

  Drawing the Raiz back he ducked and the ludenez passed over him. To his surprise it landed, twisted round, and charged, lowering its head, aiming its horns at his chest. Beroz cried out in panic. Gripping Mutumuz in his scarred hand he desperately lashed out as the horns came hurtling towards him.

  Sword connected with horn and the horns shattered from the force of the blow, horn shards pelting him as the ludenez crashed into him. The air exploded out of his lungs as he was flung back. Wounds he thought were healed reawakened as he landed, sharp pain in his back a worry. Crying out in agony he scrambled back to his feet. The ludenez came at him again, seemingly not realising it'd lost its horns as it lowered its head. As it reached him he dove onto its back and stabbed down, blood spitting out of it and into his eyes, stinging them. He punched the ludenez in the head with his scarred hand and it plunged head first into the snow, its legs kicking up in the air as it did, chucking him from its back. He hit the ground hard, inflicting yet more pain on him. With all the Raiz he could gather, which wasn't much, he used Brubah, but it was so weak that its effect was minimal.

  There was barely a moment's respite from the onslaught before he was attacked again, this time by the ludenez with the wounded legs coming at him from the air. It hit him as he struggled to his feet, knocking him back with a wing, then it bit at his head, but he scurried out of its reach. He flicked Mutumuz out at it as the ludenez went for him again, and scored a blow on its face. It screeched, eyes flaring. With a cry of pain he punched it in the wound he'd made with his scarred hand. It screeched even louder and flew up over him.