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

by Thomas J. L. Green

  “I know you can save yourself, but you have a lot of stock and men around and I can guarantee you they aren’t getting anywhere without my help. Tomorrow, you will understand why,” Lucas remarked.

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Jean admitted.

  “I admit it was a lucky coincidence that we had met here, but I wouldn’t refuse such a beautiful opportunity and well… here we are,” Lucas breathed with a wide smile.

  “I shall see for myself what is happening, but if it is as bad as you are saying, I accept. Get me, my storage and my people safely to Xona and you will have your things, for a modest price of two hundred thousand gold,” Jean agreed.

  “Two hundred thousand? Are you fucking kidding me?” Lucas exclaimed.

  “That’s over ninety percent discount… I am being very generous in here,” Jean insisted.

  “Alright, I shall get you the gold, it shall await you in Xona,” Lucas confirmed.

  “Now I’m really curious how you will get that amount of money, but I suppose that’s a professional secret, isn’t it?”

  “Of course, it is. I also need a longsword. Darksteel, balanced by the hilt, nothing extraordinary, I just need it to last a while,” Lucas replied.

  “Let me guess; this sword is actually for you,” Jean observed.

  “What would make you say that?” Lucas asked.

  “This is a generic sword for about five hundred gold, thousand gold if it’s made by me directly. I’ve got about forty of those around the shop… I might have one here,” Jean mused, bent down and pulled a black longsword out of a holder by the side of the wall, “this one’s a prototype, but fully functional.”

  Lucas took a sword and swung it through the air a few times.

  “Yea, that’s about it, five hundred you said?”

  “One thousand.”

  “For a prototype? Seriously?”

  “It’s a sword I made; it doesn’t go under a thousand,” Jean insisted.

  Lucas shook his head and tossed a heavy pouch on the table.

  “So, in summary, you are getting yourself a new sword and suit for about one and half thousand gold, while you are getting stuff to impress your new potential lovers for about two million gold before discounts. Have you ever considered buying a brothel? It would save you a lot of money even in the short term,” Jean laughed.

  Lucas sighed. “Any other brilliant suggestion?”

  “You could also get less demanding lovers, I mean, you could build yourself a harem of Xona noblewomen for this type of money,” Jean proposed.

  “I get your point, Jean,” Lucas sighed.

  “I will start working on your stuff,” Jean smiled, “Zeke! Take Lucas down and help him pick a suit. Pleasure dealing with you.” Jean rose and offered him a hand.

  Lucas shook it and followed Jean’s assistant to get himself the suit.

  “Ah! You’re back!” Luna exclaimed as she saw Lucas returning to the provisory camp. She was just sparring with Raven, who was getting used to the fixed shoulder, “let’s take a break, I need a moment with Lucas.”

  “Sure,” Raven agreed.

  “Should I be getting worried?” Zoey asked pointedly.

  “Maybe,” Luna mused as she walked to Lucas.

  “What is this about?” Lucas pried.

  “I will tell you in private, it’s not for prying ears,” Luna chuckled. She led Lucas away into the forest, enjoying Zoey’s inquisitive stare.

  “I think we are far enough,” Lucas evaluated.

  “For Zoey maybe, but Raven’s hearing isn’t so easy to avoid,” Luna evaluated.

  “I’m getting moderately curious.”

  They walked for a while longer.

  “This should be about far enough,” Luna started, “I want to cash in on the favor I got from you back in Redwall.”

  “I’m listening,” Lucas narrowed his eyes.

  “I want some time with Miranda. In particular, I want at least four continuous days in a city, without marching anywhere, while she has a paid vacation, so she has enough time for me without distractions,” Luna laid out.

  “What makes you think I can even do that?” Lucas tried.

  “She told me who you are, so you can stop pretending.”

  “Did she? That sounds like a lot of a medium favor,” Lucas contested.

  “Oh and I want it as soon as possible while having enough time to spend half a day in a city beforehand,” Luna added, “and don’t try to screw me on this because I will tell Miranda if I’m dissatisfied with your delivery.”

  Did she just blackmail me?

  “Is there anything else you desire?” Lucas pried poisonously.

  “Yeah. I need money. Our entire company does, in fact. How about you send us on a mission where we can get some? I mean, I suppose we should now go back to the navy to rejoin our legion, but since I will be busy seeing Miranda, we might as well get a mission in the meantime, one that gets us some loot,” Luna stated.

  “Have you talked about it with sergeant Red?” Lucas inquired.

  “Yes. He also said that we are willing to do something that’s more dangerous than would be standard for a single company,” she revealed.

  “I can work with that. I’ve got a mission you can do, but three-quarters of the loot shall be mine.”

  “Three quarters? Seriously? We would have to rob the Xona treasury for this to be worth it. You get a quarter and it won’t be too dangerous,” Luna countered.

  “Half and I send Raven with you,” Lucas offered.

  “Deal, but whatever Raven takes goes from your share,” Luna agreed.

  “He’s rich enough, make sure he takes nothing,” Lucas commanded her.

  “Sure thing, boss,” Luna agreed happily.

  “Looks like you want something more,” Lucas observed.

  “An advice, actually. I ran into Kayleanne in the last mission; I lost worse than just badly. She was so fast I couldn’t even touch her and she was strong enough to cut my bones…. how the hell do you fight someone like this?” Luna asked. She had lost her share of fights before, but never this badly.

  “With great difficulties, I’m afraid. In general, powerful people have no holes in defenses and no weaknesses. On top of it, they have something extremely strong which has no real counter. There are two ways to go about it, either outnumber them, withstand the main strength and wear them down or have your own thing, one which is hopefully stronger,” Lucas explained.

  “Err… could you illustrate it on an example?” Luna tried.

  “Take Miranda as an example. Were she to fight you seriously, she would stay at least thirty feet away and bombard you with the black flame until your regeneration gives out. When you try to get close, she teleports away, when you do manage to get close, she swats you off with Scitalis and teleports away anyway. The black flame is the one extremely strong thing I mentioned, the rest of her skills are the defenses,” Lucas laid out.

  “Hmmm… I don’t have anything I could call extremely strong,” Luna breathed sadly.

  “You have Nightweaver, which should be more than enough,” Lucas smiled.

  “I don’t know how to activate it, it’s just a regular sword without it,” Luna sighed.

  “I’m pretty sure the activation phrase is something James told you more than often. Just dig through your memories and remember some phrase he used a lot around you,” Lucas advised.

  That seemed to have cheered Luna up. “Thank you.” She turned to head back to the camp.

  “Go ahead, I have something I need to take care off,” Lucas remarked.

  Luna left. Once she was gone, Lucas lied down by the tree and took out a cigar made of black lotus. He lit it up and let the drug send him into unconsciousness. Zerae had summoned him. He didn’t want to go, but he knew he had to.

  It didn’t take Lucas long to arrive at Zerae’s dream pocket.

  Leena’s trying to spy on me. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s well planned and precisely execute
d, but not good enough to get me. He blocked Leena’s spyglass and walked to sleeping Zerae. Nightmares… again. I wonder how long she shall have to suffer through these… because I’m running out of patience. He gazed down on her and changed her dreams to be nicer. He made a chair and sat down next to her bed to watch her sleep. I’ve done all emergency calls already, so I might as well take a break.

  “Morning,” Lucas remarked when Zerae woke up, many hours later.

  “Nnhhgg… can’t you knock?” Zerae complained as she looked around. She had a small pack of kittens and bunnies sleeping on her while Lucas was lying on the grass, looking at the sky.

  “I can,” Lucas mused.

  “Doesn’t sound like you have any intention of starting to do so,” Zerae observed.

  “No. What do you have for me, War Leader?”

  “From the things you know, the pirates are making a storm that makes sailing impossible. The fighting’s moved inland, which means us Faye will be doing a lot more of it now. The pirates are preparing their troops and setting up battle lines, which will be done in two to four weeks. Full-scale war shall start at that point, or whenever shall your men reach the battle lines,” Zerae revealed, “there also might be a rebellion or two in cities controlled by them, but likely nothing major.”

  “I’ve mostly known that, but thank you,” Lucas smiled.

  “I don’t have anything more, but I wonder if you would have a moment,” Zerae stated.

  “Perhaps,” Lucas smirked.

  “I want more space in here. Could you make me a piece of sea with a beach?” Zerae tried.

  “Sure,” Lucas confirmed and got to work. He spread his arms and the dream pocket expanded. Dozen minutes later, there was a piece of sea and a beach.

  “Want some fish in the water?”

  “Yes.”

  Lucas made a bunch of various fish for the piece of sea.

  “Is there anything more you desire?” Lucas tried.

  “Desert, I need some practice fighting in the sand and dry heat,” Zerae stated.

  Lucas made further expanded the pocket and made a desert in it.

  “I’ve also pondered some hiking, but the mountain you made the last time is pathetic,” Zerae remarked.

  Lucas made the mountain so tall the top was not visible from the ground.

  “Better,” Zerae smirked, “care to get some sword practice?”

  Lucas made the black sword he got from Jean appear in his hand.

  “A sword… shall I take it that you intend to be more honest with me?” Zerae asked provocatively.

  “Perhaps.”

  “Tell me, Lucas, how does one get a favor from you?” Zerae pried after a long spar. They were both breathing heavily.

  “That’s a tricky question, what’s the story behind it?” Lucas demanded.

  “Salazar made us pay him a lot of favors for his help. Favors he is willing to trade for favors from you at a very good ratio. So… how do I get favors from you?” Zerae pressed.

  “You don’t. I don’t give out favors unless I get something very specific in return,” Lucas revealed.

  “Do I have anything specific that you would desire, Lucas?” Zerae smiled innocently.

  “You do, but it isn’t a one-time thing. You and the Faye shall do a set of tasks for me. I shall either give you a small favor for each mission or something larger once the war is done,” Lucas proposed.

  “I’m not going to be running after crumbs. I shall see at each mission if I want to do it or not and promise I shall do the reasonable ones. Once the war is done, you shall clear my tab with Salazar. If you overdo it with the mission, I shall get extra favors,” Zerae stated.

  “Why do you trust me so blindly?” Lucas inquired coldly.

  “I already trust the Order more than I am comfortable with, so I might as well go all the way. Plus, I need to trust someone, I don’t like it, but I don’t have a better strategy,” Zerae sighed.

  “Worley Williams, one of the captains of the Storm pirates. I need him dead and his ship sunk. Secondly, I need to know which of the other captains is the best strategist,” Lucas announced.

  “Why Worley?”

  “As far as my intelligence suggests, he has the fastest ship from their fleet. At some point, my men shall stop the ongoing storm and at that point, it will turn into a race,” Lucas revealed.

  “Why the strategist?”

  “At the start of the war, things are too complex for any strategist to do better than the intuitive types of generals. But as the war progresses, things simplify due to losses on both sides, which makes the strategically gifted commanders more and more troublesome. That’s why they need to be taken out first,” Lucas explained.

  “Why are you teaching me this?”

  “I am afraid I cannot answer this question, at least not at this time,” Lucas refused.

  “Can you handle another round?” Zerae tossed up as she raised her sword.

  “Always.”

  34

  Zerae

  “Did you get anything?” Zerae asked Leena as soon as she woke up.

  “He blocked me as soon as he entered your pocket,” Leena sighed.

  “Let’s do the memory review.”

  “So, what do you think?” she asked a few hours later.

  “He is good, really good, better than me in every aspect. His creation is perfect, his traveling untraceable and his defenses are beyond what I could imagine possible,” Leena evaluated, “and he’s a fucking asshole!”

  “That’s dreamwalking, what about the rest?”

  “The seduction part seemed to have gone well. The deals were alright as well; I think he’s trustworthy. More than anyone else we are dealing with, in fact,” Leena smirked.

  “I didn’t feel like I’m getting anywhere,” Zerae contested.

  “You are. He is kind to you, kinder than he should be. That’s a good start and it’s something that will really help us later,” Leena countered, “by the way, how often does he come around?”

  “Only when I call him, so far I have done it twice,” Zerae revealed.

  “Try to call him every day. I mean, training is the most effective when done regularly, isn’t it?” Leena smiled innocently.

  “Neither of us has time for that,” Zerae challenged.

  “How do you know he doesn’t? It costs nothing to try if he refuses you will know… otherwise, it’s a potential opportunity. About your time… how was it… there is no victory without sacrifice?” Leena retorted.

  “Did you just use my own quote against me?”

  Leena just grinned.

  They soon got to the chasm where they needed to descend their people so they can reach the cavern city. What they couldn’t help notice was a small fortification built next to it. That was not supposed to be there. They landed with their mounts nearby and walked toward it.

  “Alright, girls, we are here to talk, don’t kill anyone unless forced to,” Zerae commanded as they were approaching an encampment. Illuminated by large fires, black flags with a skull waved above it in the wind.

  “This really doesn’t look like locals,” Leena observed.

  “I know,” Zerae remarked, “why are you so nervous?” she turned to Astril as she realized.

  “No reason,” Astril smiled forcefully.

  They walked toward the gate.

  “Got lost, girls?” an armored man shouted from above it.

  “We are here to see your leader, wake him up and bring him here,” Zerae ordered the man.

  “Huuuuh? That’s not how it works around here, lass,” the man chuckled.

  “Tell James Astril needs to talk, now,” Astril shouted back.

  “Sorry, didn’t recognize you in the dark, I will fetch him,” the man confirmed and disappeared.

  Zerae and Leena both turned to Astril.

  “I had spent some time with the Skullraiders when we took the ten years off,” Astril smiled awkwardly, “it’s a long story, I will tell you later.”


  “Yes, you will,” Zerae sneered in murderous voice.

  “Ehm,” a deep suggestive voice interrupted them.

  They all turned to face the man. Few meters in front of them stood a tall, muscular man in a heavy steel armor. He was covered by a long cloak with a hood, under the hood peered piercing blue eyes planted in a handsome face. All his clothes had the same color as his long hair, midnight black.

  How did he get there? There are tracks behind him leading from the gate, by them he jumped from the wall and then walked to us... just how did he do that silently in this armor?

  “Hey, James,” Leena greeted him as she weaved to his side. She softly grabbed him by the waist as she pressed herself on him.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked suggestively.

  “We are here for the chasm; we need to find a way to safely descend people into it since it is connected to the underground caverns. I am Zerae Hellwind, War Leader of the Faye clans and I wonder if you and your men wouldn’t be able to help with that,” Zerae laid out.

  “I am James, the Bandit King, leader of the Skullraiders. Suppose I could do what you desire, what’s in it for me?” James smiled pleasantly.

  “We will feed you the way you like,” Leena whispered suggestively as she pushed herself onto him, “right, Astril?”

  “Eeeehhhh,” Astril wheezed awkwardly.

  “Stop being such a pussy!” Leena scolded her.

  “But he will make himself warm! Not like last time!” Astril contested.

  “That’s the least I could do, provided I would agree,” James mused.

  “Meh,” Astril wheezed, walked seductively to James and caught him from the other side.

  “We will even use the potion… you know which one,” Leena added.

  “Context. Give it to me, now!” Zerae commanded.

  “Remember when we were sent to hunt a bandit group about twenty-five years ago? The time only me and Astril returned? Well, we didn’t exactly kill them like we said,” Leena started, “rather, we made a deal with him, so he doesn’t kill us.”

  “This was a secret!” Astril shouted.