Legacy of Death: Revenge (Legacy of Dreams Book 2)

by Thomas J. L. Green

  “Excuse me, but we need to talk,” Chloe Voidwalker bumped into Zerae before she made it back to the camp.

  “What is it?” Zerae cut back sharply.

  “I have a proposition for you. While I did make the scene at the matron, the truth is, I have nobody capable of doing military strategy, any of it. I would like to ask you to join me as an advisor, who shall attend all leadership meetings with me and handle the positioning and strategy for my clan,” Chloe laid out straight.

  “Seriously?” Zerae stared.

  “Yes, seriously,” Chloe confirmed.

  “Are you seriously telling me that you don’t have any competent military strategist among the twelve hundred Faye you have brought for this mission?” Zerae asked strongly.

  “Well… how shall I put it… Sibyl does the strategy. Sibyl isn’t here,” Chloe revealed.

  “What plan do you have if I refuse?” Zerae pried.

  “I don’t know… I guess we would ask Leena for the same thing? Maybe,” Chloe raised her shoulders.

  “I accept. I have to sort something out over the next couple of weeks, but when I return, we can set it up. I will need detailed knowledge about your forces composition and capabilities,” Zerae agreed.

  “Thank you.”

  “Oria,” Zerae greeted as she entered the tent.

  “War leader… I am sorry, but I need to ask you… why are you here?” Oria asked back carefully.

  “I am not the War Leader, not anymore. I am merely here to see Astril and Leena, should they be present,” Zerae replied calmly.

  “Is she alone?” sounded from the back.

  “Come on, Leena, there is no way I would ever go arrest either of you,” Zerae shouted back.

  “Let her pass, Orie,” Astril confirmed.

  Oria bowed and made way. Zerae entered the main room of the tent. Inside were Astril or Leena. Leena was in the process of eating a huge leg of ham and, judging by the bones around the table, she already had one. Astril had her hands on her blades; she was tense like a drawn bow.

  Leena is pale and visibly weak, the last trip to the Dream World has seriously drained her. I can’t send her anywhere anytime soon. Astril looks ready to murder anyone and anything that threatens her or Leena. She is not willing to get captured should it come down to that.

  “Chill, both Voidwalkers and Darkscreams said that they aren’t following Mathilde’s lead anymore and that they will go to a full clan war where you are to be prosecuted. There won’t be any trial for as long as Mathilde doesn’t find an excuse,” Zerae laid out.

  “Hmm… sounds good,” Astril smiled and visibly relaxed, “did they really do that?”

  “Yes. I am sorry to ask this, but did you manage to make contact with count Salazar?” Zerae asked Leena.

  “Yea. He will meet us in Alexandria in about a week… depending on which day it is… I’m not sure,” Leena breathed.

  “Then let’s pack up and go. We can intercept him on the way if we arrive earlier than he does,” Zerae ordered.

  “Sounds like fun,” Leena smiled and got up to dress. Astril and Zerae stared at each other awkwardly.

  “I am sorry… I overdid it… more than just a bit,” Astril broke the silence.

  “It’s alright. Get ready; we need to move before Mathilde gets here and can stop us,” Zerae ordered.

  Astril leaped up, teleported to Zerae and hugged her tightly.

  Again… she moves so fast I can barely track her. I have spent decades sparring, training and fighting next to Astril… yet I can’t deny the fact that what she has shown in the past week is completely beyond anything I had thought she was capable of. She might just be trying harder than usual due to the circumstances… but I just can’t shake the feeling she has been hiding it from me for all these years and these glimpses are her slipping up when her emotions take over. Why would you hide something from me, Astril?

  They prepared quickly. Leena went to the storage to a grab a couple of smoked cow legs.

  “That’s quite some hunger,” Zerae observed.

  “I need to feed my flame,” Leena revealed and bit off a large chunk of meat.

  “You sound motivated, what happened?” Zerae pried.

  “I need to kick someone’s ass… and he’s strong. Really, really strong,” Leena replied.

  Sounds like Lucas did go to see her, after all… and it didn’t go well. Actually, it looked like it went well because this is the most energetic I’ve seen Leena be in as long as I remember. Good.

  They got to their mounts. Wavek, Leena’s mount who happened to be a humongous wyvern, huffed in greeting as they approached. His eyes flared up as he saw Leena carrying the two smoked legs.

  “Not for you,” Leena smirked and chased his prying mouth away from the meat, “but we will get you a fresh cow on the way, don’t worry.”

  Wawek growled and let it be. He clearly wasn’t happy. Soon they took off. Zerae saw Mathilde’s ship was just arriving at the coast and smirked with satisfaction.

  This is going to be a fun trip.

  They flew all the way to Alexandria with minimal breaks.

  “Whoooaaaa… this place is HUUUUUUUUGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEE!” Astril shouted as they caught a glimpse of Alexandria, the city of marble. Alexandria was made of circular walls, all perfectly symmetrical and all made of marble. In the middle stood a hill, on which there were three massive buildings. Palace, the temple of Alnil and the most famous library in the world, the Library of Alexandria. They left their mounts in nearby hills and entered the city on foot.

  “Salazar said we need to be dressed casually, what do you think it means?” Leena tossed up.

  “I don’t care,” Zerae refused.

  “I think he means we shouldn’t wear armor and get a pretty dress instead,” Astril smirked.

  “Got any money?” Zerae countered.

  “Nope,” Astril smiled innocently, “but I can go get some!”

  “No! We are here to negotiate with Salazar, not to go on a thieving spree!” Zerae refused.

  “Boooring!” Astril exclaimed.

  They pressed through the crowds to reach the main square up at the central hill.

  “Here! Got you a dress!” Astril shouted and a dress landed on Zerae.

  “What?” Zerae shouted and looked at Astril. Astril had her armor packed in her hand. She was wearing a tight bright colored dress. Leena was already putting oversized decorated robes over hers. Zerae looked at the dress Astril gave her. It was a skintight leather dress.

  “I am not wearing this,” Zerae refused.

  Leena and Astril both gave her a provocative look.

  “No!”

  “Come on, Zerae, we want to make the count nice to us, least we can do is what he asked us to wear,” Leena pressed.

  “I refuse!”

  “You look really pretty in it,” Astril evaluated sweetly as she went over Zerae with her hands.

  “This dress is too small,” Zerae complained.

  “Intentionally so,” Astril whispered under her breath and grabbed Zerae’s ass.

  “I HEARD THAT!”

  “Whoopsie daisie,” Astril breathed.

  “You will pay for this… Astril… dearly!” Zerae fumed.

  “Here, have a shiny coin,” Astril smirked and tossed Zerae a copper coin.

  “You bitch.”

  “There!” Leena interrupted them. They entered the inn and went to the garden.

  “You will need to leave your weapons here,” an attractive black-haired woman ordered them.

  “Says who?” Zerae turned to her sharply.

  “Captain d’Airelle, royal guard of Xona,” she replied coldly. Zerae took her sword from under the wrapped clothes and put it to the side. Astril took down her sword and Leena put down her staff.

  “Do I look that stupid?” the captain asked.

  Zerae took out her hidden daggers and put them on the pile. All three of them did.

  “Seriously?” the captain gave them the mom
look.

  “I don’t have anything more,” Zerae smiled.

  “Oh come on, it’s my favorite!” Astril complained as she pulled a dagger from out of her hair.

  The captain turned to Leena.

  “Meeeh,” Leena breathed and took out two slender blades from under her dress. Then two more from her shoes and one more from her hair.

  “Proceed,” the captain ordered them.

  What’s with all these hidden weapons? Astril, I understand… but I thought all Leena has aside from her staff is one dagger she uses to cut meat. They are armed to the teeth and have hidden blades more sophisticated and better hidden than anything I have. Is Leena hiding something from me as well? Are they hiding it together?

  They entered the garden. Salazar sat by the side and was just enjoying a meal.

  “Greetings, count Salazar,” Zerae nodded in greeting.

  “Please, take a seat,” he motioned them, “lady Zerae, I presume.”

  “Yes. This is Astril and I believe you have already met Leena,” Zerae introduced herself.

  “That’s a pretty cake,” Astril remarked as she saw a large chocolate cake on the table.

  “Astril!” Zerae cut at her.

  “Please, help yourself,” Salazar moved the cake toward Astril.

  Zerae sighed. Astril grabbed the cake and started eating like a starved tiger would eat a wounded sheep.

  “So, what can I do for you, War Leader?” Salazar asked straight.

  “I need a favor from Alexander, but I have nothing I am willing to trade him for it,” Zerae started.

  “Then what do you plan to offer me?” Salazar pried.

  “Future cooperation. I have nothing to offer now, but in the future, I can promise a set amount of missions we shall do for you,” Zerae laid out.

  “Why can’t you make such an offer to Alexander instead of me?” Salazar inquired.

  “Alexandria has been at war with Mar Gorash for as long as anyone remembers. There is no cost for which we are willing to get dragged into it,” Zerae stated.

  “A wise decision,” Salazar remarked, “fifty missions.”

  “That’s outrageous! Five missions and you are getting more than what it’s worth,” Zerae refused.

  “Got more cake? I’m out!” Astril exclaimed as she was just licking her fingers. She had chocolate all over her face.

  “Katherine! Have them bring a whole chocolate cake!” Salazar shouted, “back to negotiations, five missions is boringly little. Barely worth the trouble of coming here. Nevertheless, I’m not in the mood for haggling. You are desperate enough to put on a dress when coming to see me, so you are in no position to negotiate. Before we get to the actual deal, I need to ask you how do you communicate with the Palai Order? And don’t try to tell me you aren’t, because anything you are planning is not happening without the Palai Order knowing about it.”

  He is right. I am in no position to negotiate and denying the obvious fact would only make me look ridiculous.

  “Their dreamwalker comes to visit me when I call,” Zerae admitted.

  “To the powerful, money has limited relevance and counter-services are hard to manage and depend on. Instead, we deal in favors. They come in four sizes, small, medium, large and ultimate. The descriptions should be self-explanatory. Fail to meet a favor and you are out of the game. I will take sixteen large favors from you. I will trade one of your large favors in exchange for each small favor you can get me from the Dreamwalker, three of large favors from you for every medium favor you can get and, should you get me a large or ultimate favor from him, I will erase your debt and you owe me nothing. I might even toss in a few medium favors in the other direction, should you bring me a large favor,” Salazar announced.

  “One small for one large? Are we really worth that little?” Leena jumped in.

  “It’s a matter of comparison; really, it is much more about how incredibly precious favors from the Dreamwalker are, rather than the low value on your end. Frankly speaking, I’m actually being very generous in here,” Salazar smiled.

  “Suppose I accept, what exactly am I getting?” Zerae asked back.

  “I shall handle Alexander. Mark me an area on the map and you shall face no obstruction from him or his men, not now and not until our deal is done.”

  “Give me an example of each size of favor, so I know what to aim for,” Zerae demanded.

  “Small favor would be me sending a ship to pick up someone stranded on an island. Medium favor is me sending a small army to handle a bandit outpost or something similar. Large favor is me conquering a minor city for you or arranging something with a political rival. Ultimate favor… well, that’s me stepping down from all my positions and spending the rest of my days as a monk, for example,” Salazar explained.

  “Sixteen large favors, you sure aren’t selling your large favor cheap,” Zerae evaluated.

  “On the other hand, if you can get me a large favor from Lucas, it’s one for one,” Salazar countered.

  “I never told you his name,” Zerae noted.

  “We all know who the Dreamwalker is,” Salazar smiled.

  “I don’t!” Astril exclaimed with her mouth full of chocolate cake.

  “Let’s just say there is something I want from Lucas and, if you can get me to it, I will end up being happy,” Salazar confirmed.

  “I accept your offer, count Salazar.”

  “Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch…”

  “Stomach pain?” Zerae asked poisonously.

  “Mmmhmmm,” Astril confirmed.

  “Good,” Zerae smirked, “that’s what you get for eating one and a half chocolate cake… do you seriously have to eat like a pig all the time there is chocolate involved? There is this thing called silverware, next time, use it!”

  “Mmmhhhh… ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!”

  “Leena, I need a minute,” Zerae turned to her.

  “Hmmm?”

  Zerae focused and teleported on Wawek. She now sat behind her.

  “This feels like it’s about something Astril shouldn’t hear,” Leena observed.

  “A little. You have experience with men, how do I get under one’s skin?” Zerae asked.

  “I can give you some tips, but what man?”

  “Lucas, the Palai Dreamwalker.”

  “That fucking bastard?! To hell with him.”

  “What did he do so bad?” Zerae pried.

  “He stole my collection!”

  “Collection of what?”

  “Err… my personal things, yes, personal things! It’s unforgivable!” Leena stuttered.

  “Okay… the second thing I need is for you to figure out a way how to look into my dream pocket from yours. Some way which he will not be able to see,” Zerae requested.

  “He’s an evil asshole; there is nothing else to it! Why bother?”

  “There is something off about him, but I can’t place it.”

  “Off? In what way? If you want, I can just look at your memory of the meeting,” Leena proposed.

  “I don’t know; there’s something strange about him… something that makes him somehow familiar, yet completely alien at the same time. Anyway, we will do that, but I want to know what happens between him entering my dream pocket and waking me up. I’m not saying there is nothing in there, but this has become too important to neglect any opportunity to gain information,” Zerae laid out.

  “Okay, I will start working it.”

  33

  Lucas

  “Now this is not the man I expected to meet here,” Jean Pierre Castagnet greeted the unexpected guest. Lucas finished pulling himself in through the window and took a seat.

  “Hello, Jean, I’ve come to place an order,” Lucas smiled and helped himself to the bottle of brandy at the table.

  “Zeke, tell the merchants I shall see them later!” Jean shouted at his assistant through the door, “I am listening, agent Lucas, what can I make for you?”

  “First, this sword,” Lucas pulled the greatsw
ord of Edward Collward out of his dream pocket, “I need it partially re-crafted. It needs to be something sharp, elegant; it needs to look amazing!”

  “The core needs to stay to retain the magical properties, but I will see what I can do, anything more?” Jean confirmed.

  “I need a suit, one like the golden one, but black and without symbols. Something modern.”

  “Something to impress a woman?” Jean interrupted him.

  “Yes,” Lucas confirmed.

  “Do you desire anything more?” Jean pressed.

  “What is that?” Lucas pointed at a weapon. It was a long polearm; it had two crescent blades and a sharp tip.

  “Fang, it belonged to a very famous general,” Jean revealed.

  “So, it is Khalia’s old stick, I almost didn’t recognize it. I want it, re-forged, modernized and enhanced. It needs to be borderline indestructible,” Lucas commanded, “then I will need armor. It needs to be something truly special, something like dragon scales with melted starlight and boiled manticore hide?”

  “The Order doesn’t have enough money for that,” Jean observed, “I mean, the sword reforge will be expensive because I will have to do it myself, the suit is well… a suit, I’ve got over a dozen down in the shop so that will be at most five hundred gold and you leave with it today. I believe you do have enough money for that. The halberd, on the other hand, is a priceless relic I keep for collection purposes, any work on it shall need to be done solely by me and finally, the armor is completely out of your Order’s pay grade. No offense.”

  “Give me a list of materials you need for the armor; I will get them, so all I pay is work. I will pay for the sword and the suit, in part, I will accept the halberd as a gift and pay for the work done on it, again in part,” Lucas revealed.

  “In part? A gift? That’s not how it works. I suppose you plan to offer a counter-service in exchange,” Jean contested.

  “I will get you out of here all the way to Xona, safe and sound,” Lucas stated.

  “Even if I needed that, which I don’t, I could arrange that myself rather easily. Last time I checked, the road wasn’t even blocked,” Jean remarked as he narrowed his eyes.