The Destroyer Book 3

by Michael-Scott Earle

  "We are the empress's chosen soldiers. The best warriors, tacticians, and Element users." Vernine's voice filled with rare pride.

  "I can recall Isslata telling me that she is the best Elven warrior alive. She said it several times actually." I chuckled and Vernine laughed a little with me.

  "My friend is very boastful. But she is not entirely incorrect. Isslata is quite notorious amongst our people. Perhaps there is none in our army that is her better. But she rarely engages in the type of combat that would pit her skills against our other warriors." This was interesting to me. I never saw Isslata do more than behead Nanos's guard. She had been fast, but her opponent had practically been defenseless. "But the empress chooses us because of potential only she can see. Then we are entrusted to her for training and tutelage. We serve her because of the love she shows us." Vernine's tone reminded me of Isslata when she spoke of Telaxthe. They both seemed to have complete adoration for their leader.

  "So the empress has an army, but an additional private army within? Seems redundant." We approached the green tents.

  "Do you recall our empress telling you how she studied the Destroyer?" Vernine looked at me with a pewter eyebrow raised above her ruby eyes and I nodded back. "Perhaps he would have lived a few years longer if there had been a more loyal force between him and the rest of his army?"

  "The empress fears one of her generals will try to overthrow her?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

  "No. Of course not. But I'm sure that the Destroyer did not have those fears either. She won't make the same mistakes he did. Wait here, O'Baarni." We reached the clearing before the empress's tent. I nodded to Vernine and thought about what she had said while she walked across the clearing and down into the large white pavilion. I hadn't needed a personal army loyal to me because I had five generals who were my best friends. I trusted my life to them too many times to count. They would never have betrayed me.

  I had betrayed them.

  If I had known I was capable of killing Shlara, would I have raised my own army to protect myself? My stomach turned at the idea of planning to murder my best friend and then using loyal soldiers to protect myself afterward. Soldiers who trusted me. Soldiers who believed I was the best hope for our entire race. I had made a mistake in the midst of fear and passion. As much as I hated myself for what I had done, I knew I would have never been able to plot such an act of betrayal and treason. I would have sooner killed myself than allow it to happen, if I had known.

  Vernine's green armored guards certainly didn't seem like an elite force. They were as skittish around me as a wild stallion about to be neutered. They exchanged too many sideways glances with each other and tensed up whenever I shifted my weight slightly. Alatorict's soldiers had acted the same way. It was true that they were not as strong as me, or as fast, but the six of them could easily defeat me if they wanted. I wondered for a few minutes if the empress gave some directive that I was to be unharmed and her guards were nervous that they might have to disobey her and kill me if I became aggressive.

  I had not figured out why she always sent women to guard me. Did they believe I would not kill one of their females? I almost laughed at the idea. In Nia I had killed both the male and female assassins who ambushed me. In my army, men and women had trained and fought and died as equals. The same was true of the Elvens. Nia seemed to have some cultural differences between how men and women were treated. Nadea was expected to wear dresses and pursue gentler interests than a man, though these mores had not seemed to influence or stop her from doing what she wanted. Yet even in Nia women were regular members of their army and did not seem to be held to different standards. Perhaps Telaxthe trusted her female soldiers more, or they just happened to be the most capable.

  Ten minutes passed, then another. Finally, the sun sunk behind the distant slope in the west that hid the ocean from the city. The sky turned from amber to a blood red that splashed the horizon like a spilled glass of wine. The slide into evening brought a light, chilly wind that reminded me of the last night’s storm. The breeze carried the scent of water, clovers and rosemary.

  Vernine emerged from the tent a few minutes after the sun set. She beckoned to me and my circle of guards took me across the clearing to the mouth of the pavilion. Telaxthe’s sentries roughly patted my tunic and pants in search of weapons. When they were satisfied, Vernine nodded her head to me and walked down the small series of wood steps into the belly of Telaxthe's dwelling.

  The pavilion had not changed since the last time I was here. The empress and her generals were sitting in the same places as our previous meeting, wearing the colors of their individual banners. The main difference was that the wide area was now bathed in soft lantern light from ten silver wrought lamps that hung from the support beams of the pavilion. The lanterns were etched with entwined vines, delicate leaves, and exquisite images of the sun and moon. Each shade was made of a thin pink silk that seemed to deaden the harshness of the flame behind it while at the same time enhancing the fire's presence.

  The other change to the room was Isslata. She sat at her general's right hand, on the outskirts of the circle. She wore a form fitting pair of gold wool leggings and a matching tunic instead of the leather and chain armor she usually wore. The blouse had blue stars embroidered below where the collar of the shirt parted to reveal the peach tinted skin of her cleavage. Her sword sat sheathed on the ground between her and Alatorict. The cold stare she gave made me wonder if she was intent on drawing the blade.

  "The O'Baarni," Vernine announced with a flatness that came with stating the obvious.

  "Please sit down, Kaiyer." The empress gestured to the small pillow positioned forty feet in front of her. The seat was closer than it had been three days before and I wondered if this was a way of showing that they were beginning to trust me. I could close the gap from sitting to ripping the beautiful head off of her shoulders in less than a second.

  "Thank you." I nodded and forced a smile to my face while I kneeled on the pillow. Vernine took her position a few feet behind Telaxthe and she licked her lips slightly while she glanced around the tent at the other half dozen guards. I took a deep breath of the pine, lavender, and sage scents that filled the pavilion. Then I studied the woman who looked too much like Nadea.

  The empress wore a cream-colored robe made of reflective satin fabric. It seemed to glow in the warm light of the hanging lamps. Across the surface of the robe spun green and gold-colored embroidery of tree roots. They twisted and turned across the empress's clothes like they were alive. I imagined that the back of the garment probably displayed the full trunk and branches of the tree. I almost asked her to turn around so I might see the full beauty of the design. She wore her hair down loose, except for a braided section that ran threaded through half a dozen small golden bells. I was lucky that she didn't have her hair tied back as Nadea always did. The similarities between the two women would have been likely to cloud my judgment. I was not worried about her using my sense of smell to control me again, but that didn't mean that the empress had no other powers at her disposal.

  "I would like to apologize for the long wait between our meetings. I am sure you can guess at the demands my role places upon me. It is no excuse, of course, but I would like to make it up to you tonight." She smiled coyly and Alatorict's mouth curled up into a matching grin. All of her other generals and Isslata stared at me intently, save for the red clothed Yillomar. The large Elven looked terribly bored.

  "Good. I've been pretty horny since you played that little trick on me. I guessed it would only be a matter of time before I got to fuck you."

  A hiss went through the room as if a thousand snakes were lit on fire. My heart skipped a beat as the faces of the gathered generals and guards turned into one of absolute malice. Like rabid dogs they crouched forward, hands on weapons, faces turned toward me with long teeth exposed and snarling. The change was so sudden and swift it was as if they acted as one animal, one life form, and only one Elven in the te
nt maintained her composure.

  The empress let out a loud and mirthful laugh. It came from her belly and echoed in her shoulders and throat. After almost ten seconds of her laughing the rest of her kind seemed to realize that she wasn't upset. Then the tension in the room returned to what it was before I made my vulgar comment.

  "You are quite bold, Kaiyer." The empress finally sucked in enough air to get a phrase out of her pretty mouth. Her laughter did sound pleasant, like Nadea's, but a few pitches higher and of a clearer timbre. The Elvens facing me seemed to relax at Telaxthe's words. Those seated leaned back onto their cushions. The guards at the sides of the tent lowered their small crossbows and exhaled with obvious regret. Isslata set her thick bladed sword down on the wood planks of the pavilion and gave me an exasperated look before she smiled the way she did when she was in the mood to rip my clothes off and fuck me.

  "I can see why Isslata enjoys you." Telaxthe must have noticed the gaze Isslata gave me. The other generals turned to glance over at Alatorict's commander, but she didn't break eye contact with me or seem intimidated by their attention.

  "I find it odd how you have created unique relationships with some of our warriors. It is normally not acceptable for your kind to be involved so with ours. Perhaps the words from your mouth do not correlate to the actions of your body?" Alatorict was hard to read with such a large smile always painted on his face, but I got the feeling he was angered by the attention Isslata had just received. I knew from various conversations that she didn't like her general, but I thought that she respected him enough to follow most of his orders.

  "Sometimes memories are as an ocean wave. Mine churn against the beach. Sometimes shells are exposed and sometimes they are hidden by the sand. Most of the experiences I have had with your kind have been unpleasant. Recently, I recalled an Elven who helped me, though she had no apparent reason to do so."

  "Who was this?" the black-haired general with the piercing blue eyes asked.

  "She is long dead. Jayita was it?" She nodded and opened her mouth to ask another question, but I interrupted, "I don't care to understand the way your hereditary traits work, but Fehalda looks very much like my old friend." They looked to the white-haired woman with the onyx eyes.

  "What tribe is she?" Fehalda was more interested in the conversation now that I had mentioned her.

  "Does not matter. She is long gone as I said." I turned to the empress. "Was there going to be dinner involved in this meeting? I could eat an entire cow and maybe a turkey for dessert." Fehalda's jaw tensed up in annoyance when I didn't answer her.

  We will cut them down. One by one. Army by army. They will flee from us as children flee from night creatures.

  My own voice echoed in my head. I couldn't place when or where I had said those words.

  "Of course. I apologize for the delay. Have the guards not been providing you with enough food?" Telaxthe seemed genuinely concerned and she motioned behind her. I heard a servant beyond the thick curtain climb another set of steps and leave the tent in a hurry.

  "Our friend has quite the appetite, my empress." Alatorict smiled at me and I felt the tension in the room relax even more.

  "Of course he does. His kind takes more than they would ever need." Yillomar suddenly seemed interested in the conversation; he leaned forward on a hand and spat the words out, glaring at me with lips half-open and tongue hanging across his teeth.

  "As you are taking this world?" I shrugged and rolled my eyes.

  "It is what is due to us after lifetimes of oppression!" He tensed the network of muscles on his exposed forearms. I imagined he wanted to leap from his chair and kill me. However, he had no weapons at his side and I guessed that Telaxthe had told her generals to be on their best behavior. Or maybe she had planned this outburst to see how I would respond to his words.

  "Everyone has a sad story to tell, dog. My story tonight is that I am hungry."

  "Did you call me 'dog'?" His teeth clenched together so tightly I heard them grind throughout the room like stone scraping. The large red-haired Elven slowly rose to his feet. His eyes spoke no words besides murder.

  "Yes. Now go find an ass to sniff and a tree to piss on. Your yaps and yips annoy me." The tension in the tent had returned full force and I saw the guards standing behind Yillomar step slightly to the side so they could fire their crossbows at me.

  "You must be an idiot or insane." He turned to look at Telaxthe. Fehalda and Dissonti shook their heads an almost imperceptible amount, but the empress did not move.

  "Or he doesn't know any better," the empress said after a dozen seconds of silent consideration. "Sit. Perhaps the O'Baarni will want to frolic with you after we have conducted our business for the evening." She turned to me and produced a mischievous smile that reminded me again of Nadea. "Yillomar brings up an interesting topic and I must confess I am even more curious about you now that we have met."

  "I am flattered," I said sarcastically.

  "It seems that you understand none of our ways, or even your own ways. You cannot provide us with any history as far as your clan or world. Yet you claim to be the Destroyer."

  "I never claimed to be this person. My name just happens to be Kaiyer." I glanced over at Yillomar and he nodded at his empress's words. I guessed that his outrage was slightly exaggerated.

  "It is the same as claiming to be the Destroyer." I heard footsteps descend the stairs beyond the emerald curtain that separated our current meeting area from the rest of the pavilion. "Let us begin dinner and we can tell you of our theories." Eight Elven servants emerged from the curtain on my right side behind Yillomar carrying elaborately carved wooden trays that displayed images of stag and fawn.

  The man who had served me last time, who I suspected was actually a trained warrior, set the tray down in front of me and then poured a large glass of white wine before pulling the cover off of the platter. His movement exposed a plate topped with five wood skewers impaling an assortment of different colored tomatoes, fragrant dry cheeses, basil leaves, and smoked venison. Scattered across the dish was a swirl of dark pepper and shavings of orange peel.

  There were no forks or knives on the tray, so I grabbed one side of the foot-long skewer and pulled off a succulent mouthful of the food. The empress's cook was many times better than whoever made my meals, and I had to force down a sigh of pleasure once my taste buds realized how delightful the pepper smoked venison tasted in my mouth. After I chewed through the initial bite, the citrus of the orange along with the sharpness of the basil came through and provided a wonderful aftertaste. I couldn't hide my pleasure then and I felt a smile creep up to my cheeks.

  "Tell Kaiyer your theory of his origin, Jayita." Telaxthe took a small bite of a tomato at the end of her skewer and smiled at me while she chewed.

  "Gladly." The black-haired woman took a sip of wine and then smoothed the front of her teal silk robe. The fabric was a few shades darker than her eyes, but the silver spiral swirls that were embroidered on the silk reflected enough of the light to make me second guess my sense of color.

  "You were born of Malek's clan and gifted recently, within the last ten years or so. Something happened to cause you hardship during a sortie on a conflict world. Yellow Fifth or Eighth I would guess. Perhaps a lover or friend was killed while you assisted in one of our relocations." Her face hardened and while I didn't know at all what she was talking about, I guessed that this story could have been personal. "You went back to your clan leaders, but they did not give you retribution. Whomever you lost was important enough for you to risk your soul and execution by your own people for revenge. So you found a route here and are looking for the Elven who wronged you." She took another sip of wine and then raised a night black eyebrow in question.

  "That is a descriptive story. You got the revenge part almost correct. I did find the Elven who wronged me a long time ago." I finished the first skewer and quickly went to work on a second.

  "You are from Alexia's clan. You are here to thwart us as
your kind has in all the previous treaties you’ve pretended agreement to. There is no mistake that news of you first appeared after we had come to this world in search of our freedom." Fehalda had not touched her meal yet. It was hard to read any sort of emotion in her dark eyes, but she seemed confident of her words.

  "Why Alexia?" I wondered.

  "You are here alone; your clan is so filled with hate you don't even like yourselves. The answers that you have given us in the past few months have been meant to cause confusion, another sign of your alliance. The way you fought my warriors in the streets of this city," she pointed at the side of the tent that faced the walls of Nia, "reflect the training known to Alexia's brood."

  "As I recall, I was ambushed by your assassins and had to run through the streets to escape." I finished my second wooden skewer and paused before taking another. "Which part of trying to survive reflects Alexia's clan?"

  "The way you navigated the city. You claimed to be ambushed, but my report was detailed in your movements and the tactics you used." I remembered that there was one warrior I let escape. He must have given Fehalda a recollection of the event in a way that convinced her I knew the city much better than I did.

  "Then I let myself get captured by Isslata. Perhaps this is just a trick to get close to your empress so I can end her life?" The room went silent and tense again. I ignored them and ate the next skewer. I made sure my enjoyment was plain on my face now. It was too hard to hide it.

  "Alatorict?" I turned to look at the lean man with his braided metal hair. I was getting more information out of their theories than I hoped.

  "Exiled from Malek's clan for an unspeakable act. You were high in the command structure; maybe even a commander. Your body has a great deal of scars on it, which makes me believe that they may have tortured you for the crime you committed. I've heard that the clans have developed ways to block access to the Elements for the purpose of torture." He took a sip of wine before continuing.