The Destroyer Book 3

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “You’ve done well my friend. But there is more work to do.”

  “I know. But my love for her has driven me insane. She only refuses me because of you. You have to help me.” His eyes pleaded, showing a weakness that only a woman could produce in a man. “Tell her again that you do not love her. Tell her to be with me.”

  “Don’t be a fool, I cannot force anyone to love someone else, Malek.”

  “Try harder.” His voice filled with resentment.

  “You are acting like a child. Not the leader of my army.” I was angry now, and I heard both of our hearts start to beat faster at the prospect of an argument.

  “Stop.” He waved his palms toward me. “You are the child, clutching onto her affections without returning them. I love you, Kaiyer. You are my brother and best friend. But it sickens me how you treat her.”

  “I treat her as I treat Alexia.”

  “Who loves you as well, but will never tell you so.”

  I sighed and closed my eyes. I did not understand why Malek believed I could force Shlara to love him, or why he would accept that love even if it did somehow work. How could he find happiness with her, knowing always that she would prefer to be with me?

  “I’ll talk to her again.” I already knew what her answer would be, but I figured this was the only way I could end this conversation. I understood why Malek loved the woman. Shlara was incredible. She was my best general, the most devoted, ambitious, and hardest working warrior in the army. She was brilliant and beautiful and she was as dedicated to the freedom of the human race as I was.

  She was the one I should have been in love with.

  “You’ll convince her?”

  “I will try my best.”

  “Thank you.” He smiled and the tension in the air melted.

  “Now, about this citadel.” He flipped the stone up in the air and caught it in his right hand with a wide grin. “Give me a few more hours and I’ll have a much better under--“

  A screech sounded from outside. It was the unmistakable sound of Elven magic descending from the sky in a lazy arch. A few seconds before the explosion, the roar of battle penetrated the inside of the old green tower.

  We did not speak, but sprinted across the large space of the top floor and flung ourselves out of the small window like thrown spears, scraping our shields and weapons against the edges of the stone as our bodies twisted in the air to thread the narrow gap. The ice covered rock was some seventy feet below, but the fall wouldn’t damage us enough to be of concern.

  For a few seconds my body hung in the air outside the tower and I got a glimpse of the battle below. The gorge that hid the citadel was a hundred yards deep, in the left corner of a path that traveled east and west across the mountain range. One of Malek’s scout teams had seen it when backtracking on our path to ensure that the Elvens weren’t doing something crazy, like traversing the north facing cliffs in an attempt to flank us.

  Apparently the Elvens had traversed the north facing cliffs and flanked us.

  In the distance I saw a few hundred of Alexia’s soldiers engaging twice the number of Elvens where the elbow of the road disappeared past the mountain wall and obscured my vision. It was hard to tell how many Elvens had ambushed us. They swarmed like ants from the edges of the north side of the cliffs and descended like a golden ocean wave of weapons.

  A group of forty Elvens turned the corner into the ravine and sprinted up the slick, icy rock toward the entrance of the citadel. Elise and the seven O’Baarni who had been in the ancient structure fell back into the doorway for protection. The portal was just wide enough to allow three or four of our enemy to stand abreast, so I doubted my soldiers would be able to defend against forty Elvens for long.

  I pulled Earth into me, filling my blood with its power and my brain with its energy. When I had first learned to harness the power, I had to be touching the ground to use it. Now I could call upon it at any time and release the magic to empower my muscles and senses, or to spit giant balls of burning hate at my oppressors.

  The back row of Elvens burst into orange flame like dried wood chips. They didn’t even get a chance to scream as my fire engulfed and snuffed their pathetic lives from their golden armor. I felt my brain go numb and spin slightly as I pulled my knees to my chest and rotated my body backward. My left hand yanked at my mace and the slip knot of leather came loose at my hip, allowing the heavy weapon of screaming demon skulls to be raised over my head.

  Then I fell into the group of unaware Elvens half a second after my fire devoured them. My legs snapped out before I landed on the back of some asshole with a ridiculously large wreath of red flowers tied around his shield. His spine crumbled into liquid when I hit him, but before he could crumple to the ground, my mace shattered the skull of the warrior standing to his left.

  I was in the thick of the two dozen Elvens now, with enemies on all sides of me. Fortunately, I had surprised them with my sudden descent into their group and only a handful of vermin were actually facing me, with their strangely-colored eyes opened in shock. The surprise would only let me get a few swings in before they attacked, so I would have to make them count. I stepped toward the nearest Elven, a woman with long silver hair braided back like a horse’s tail. But before my mace contacted her ripe little skull, Malek landed gracefully behind her, removing the top half of her brain and helmet with a precise cut from his long blade.

  I shuffled to Malek’s left and delivered a wide strike to the nearest Elven. My opponent managed to get his right sword arm up in time to block the blow with his blade, but his legs and hips were not prepared for the force of my swing. My mace met little resistance, crushing blade, forearm, shoulder, and skull in quick tandem. Malek stood against my back so I could sense his movements, cuts, and blocks as he cleansed two Elvens from our world and tied up three more that rushed to surround us from his direction.

  Elise and the rest of the search group were taking the brunt of the assault at the doorway. I spared a quick glance over my shoulder and saw them force a push out of the entryway, putting pressure on the dozens of our enemy that suddenly found themselves pinched between us. My look toward the tower proved to be a bit too risky, and I blocked a sword swing destined for my shoulder. However, I was too slow to parry a short spear jab from another attacker aimed at my stomach. I attempted to twist my body out of the way and realized that if the thrust didn’t take me, it would punch through Malek’s backside.

  The combination of plates and chain of this light armor did little to stop a thrust from a well-trained Elven spear arm. The steel point tore through the metal, my stomach, and connected with the back side of the shield that hung from my shoulders. It missed my spine by half an inch, but the wound was enough to kill a normal human and take one of my ordinary soldiers out of the fight for long enough to mean certain death.

  I was hardly ordinary.

  My right hand grabbed the shaft of the pike to keep the Elven from yanking it out. The two Elvens that flanked him swung their sabers with the premature glee of victory, both blades foolishly aiming for my head. I squatted down low, ignoring the sound of my organs and muscles ripping against the blade of the spear while I listened to the ring of the swords banging together a few inches above my helm. I pushed out with my legs and embraced the pain of the lance tearing again at my insides. The Elven let go of his weapon too late and the upward swing of my mace combined with the push from my thighs separated his skull from his shoulders. It spun off into the air behind his dead body, whipping the plum of his helm around like a spinning tail.

  “I heard shields are more effective if you carry them in hand!” Malek yelled at me over the sounds of weapons and screams.

  “It saved your ass!” I shoulder checked one of the Elvens to my right, pushing her away, and then slammed the side of my helmed head into the face of the one to the left of me. It made a satisfying wet crunch and the man’s legs gave out.

  I yanked the spear out of my stomach with my right hand and used t
he shaft to push on the shoulder of an Elven aiming a swing at my skull. The knock caused his attack to go wide and spin him slightly off balance. Then my mace exploded into the back side of his neck and drove the life from his body.

  “Archers!” Elise’s team had reached Malek and there were only a few Elvens left in our midst. However, forty yards down the slope toward the main battle, a trio of Elven archers had peeled off of their main force and were pointing their notched arrows in our direction.

  One of the remaining Elven warriors swung her sword at me and I parried quickly, so I might maneuver my body with her between me and the archers. The woman was fast and countered my parry with a quick thrust toward my blood covered groin. I slapped the flat side of her blade with the staff of the spear. She twisted her sword up toward my right hand, forcing me to loosen my grip on the long weapon before I turned my back to the archers as the twang of their strings screamed in my ears.

  Two arrows hit the shield on my back with the kicking strength of a horse and knocked me forward a few feet. I heard the third arrow pass behind my head, so I was thankful for the helpful push. I was suddenly standing much closer to the woman who had just tried to stab me than either of us had planned. But I was quicker to act and latched my free right hand over the elbow of her sword arm and dug the butt of my mace in the same spot over her left arm. She was missing her left hand, and I assumed Malek had cut it off in the midst of swordplay. It was a tactic he often used.

  I pulled her to me and kneed her in the stomach. Air exploded from her lean armored frame and then blood exploded from her face when I repeated the movement another time. I threw her body away from me and into the remaining two warriors behind her. She probably wasn’t dead, but two men from Elise’s team quickly dispatched the trio.

  “You okay?” Malek slid on the ice next to me.

  “Yes.” The archers had been killed by Elise and the soldiers that had been searching the floor of the citadel. My stomach began to itch as the organs and muscles healed themselves. In a minute or two there would be little evidence of the mortal wound. I sighed and wished I could have been wearing my heavy armor. We hadn't expected to get caught by our enemies here and I wondered how they had made it past Alexia's scouts.

  “Looks like Alexia is holding them.” My gaze had already shifted to the battle below our position.

  “There are more to kill.” I was running down the slope now, shield off my back and in my right hand. The thought of killing more Elvens filled my mind and drove out all other worries and concerns. I felt more alive on the edge of death in battle than when I was managing the army or talking to my friends.

  “Fire now!” Malek screamed from his run a few feet behind me. Three massive streaks of blue flame sheared the wind around me, traveled down the slope, and smashed into the ranks of Elvens a few hundred yards into the mass of armor.

  I jumped into the air, mace raised high and landed into the thick of the Elven forces again.

  Chapter 17-Kaiyer

  I gasped and choked on too much air that I suddenly didn’t need. My heart raced from the battle before I realized it had all been a memory. I was still sitting on the pillow in front of the empress, her guards, and generals, all of whom stared at me in a mixture of shock and disbelief.

  I moved my hand to my stomach and almost expected to find wet blood from a hole the spear had left in me. I sighed when I only felt the thin cloth of the green tunic Vernine had given me a few hours earlier.

  “Pretender.” The voice sounded deep and gravelly. I turned to my right to see three new additions to the dinner. The man seated in the middle drew my attention first. He wore his light brown hair braided up and tied at the top with a knot of suede and hawk feathers. His skin was tan and rough. His face handsome and wide. In fact, everything about him was stocky and muscular. His chest could have doubled for a small horse’s and his arms were layered with slabs of muscles thicker than my thighs. He wore tan leather pants and a sleeveless tunic that was only a few shades off from his skin. The hide was decorated with blue embroidery of bear shapes standing as if ready to attack. Beads of blue and green glass hung from leather strips on the ties of his clothes and gave color to the tanned garments.

  His broad face and muscular stature reminded me of Thayer, although this man was far more handsome than my old friend. But he was unmistakably O’Baarni.

  “You must be Kannath,” I stated. His eyes narrowed as he weighed me. Their light blue color was an interesting contrast to his dark skin.

  “Aye.” His right hand rose to point at me and I noticed a pair of bear tattoos engraved on his shoulder. “You looked asleep, yet you were speaking.”

  “I grow bored easily. Especially around Elvens.” He nodded, but it was apparent I hadn’t satisfied his question. The woman sitting to his left glared at me. Her hair was dark black, braided and tied up high as Kannath’s but had white feathers decorating it. Like Kannath, she wore leather decorated with the same color beads and embroidery. She also had the bear tattoo on her bare shoulder.

  “What is ‘Lenaan’?” the man sitting to Kannath’s right said. He had blonde hair, shaved close to his skull on the sides, with a long mane braided up in the middle. A few of the Elvens in the half-circle shifted in their seats slightly when he asked the question. I turned to look at the empress and was surprised by the expression of concern that briefly passed over her face.

  “I’ve heard the word before, but do not know what it means.”

  “You were repeating it,” Kannath said.

  “I doubt that.”

  “Everyone here in this tent has been sitting for the last five minutes listening to you repeat it with your head bowed down as if you kneeled in front of a clan leader,” the woman next to Kannath growled. Her voice was deep and rugged like Kannath’s.

  “I do not remember.” I shrugged.

  “Regardless, you have been accused of using the name of our Betrayer,” Kannath spoke again. “Is this true?”

  “I use the name because it is mine.” Yillomar shot me with a glare.

  “I will bring you to the Council for judgment. We will leave at once.” Kannath rose from his seat.

  “No,” I said as I turned my head away from him and found my wine. The glass was currently full, so I set about draining it in one quick swallow and then nodding to my Elven attendant to refill it.

  “You do not have a choice, Pretender.” It didn’t sound as if my response had bothered him at all.

  “There are plenty of choices. I am choosing to have dinner with Telaxthe and her generals.” I turned to the empress. “What course are we on?”

  “We will take you by force if necessary.” Kannath’s dark voice sounded like wind echoing off of a mountainside, but he didn’t seem angry.

  “That is a nice story,” I mocked with a sigh. The artichoke was half-eaten on the plate in front of me and I grabbed a leaf, dipped it in some of the sauce, and ate it. The vegetable had long since gone cold.

  “Or I could threaten someone you care for.” Kannath’s voice edged toward anger.

  “Such as?” I turned to look at the trio. Kannath still sat back on the pillow provided for his ass, the man to his side had a stupid smile on his face and his muscular arms crossed. The woman’s face was red and an angry vein pulsed on her forehead. Somehow the hot emotion made her more attractive.

  “I have a young blonde girl and her uncle. Apparently, they are the rulers of this kingdom.”

  My stomach knotted and a thousand questions sped through my brain.

  “How did you acquire them?” Telaxthe asked nonchalantly.

  “They were already destined for this city. They had an escort of your personal retainers, but I convinced them to leave the two in our care.” The empress nodded. She made a slight smile toward her new guest. I noticed Vernine had moved toward the rear of the pavilion and almost disappeared behind the curtain.

  “Come with us and no harm will befall them.” He looked back at me. I would have thought
that he was lying, but I knew the tell patterns of a human heart. Kannath did have Jessmei and Beltor.

  “The Pretender is my guest, Kannath. He has committed to stay for the next few days and give us assistance in this world.” Telaxthe gave me a cat-like smile that left no doubt in my mind as to what would happen if I decided to leave.

  My game suddenly became more difficult. If I went with Kannath, I could probably kill them all when I got to Jessmei. Then we would figure out how to get back to Nadea’s army. I might be able to circle around Nia and reach them before they made it here. I could guess at their possible location given the route from Fisherman’s Gorge and Nia’s capital, but Isslata would make quicker time to Nadea on a direct path.

  “Is the Pretender your prisoner here?” the man to Kannath’s right asked.

  “Of course not! He is free to go whenever he wishes,” Alatorict answered for his empress.

  “Then the Pretender should make the choice that results in less death,” the raven-haired woman said with a growl.

  The tent grew silent as all eyes turned back to me. I searched my imagination for an answer, but the empress came to my aid.

  “Kannath, you have stood for us in the past, when our kind struggled to find purchase with the clans. Do you recall?” Her words were warm and sweet like honey.

  “Yes. Now you have what you ultimately wanted and I am after what my clan needs for the same leverage.”

  “This I can understand.” She glanced to me and I was again struck by how much she looked like Nadea. Then she returned her eyes to Kannath. “We had planned a small game tonight after our dinner. It should be of interest to you.”

  “Oh?” Kannath said with a slight raise of his eyebrow.