Gods Of Blood And Fire (Book 1)

by A. J. STRICKLER

  Kian shrugged; he didn’t like the little necromancer at all. Siro made his skin crawl, he was more than willing to leave the little man behind.

  They started out from the tower, Kian and Tavantis walking side by side. They were soon joined by the Raygan. The Queen of Bandara looked unhappy. “Why don’t you use your magic to take us back?” the young woman inquired. “It would be easier on all of us and much better for the children.”

  “I’m not strong enough to take more than one person with me, Majesty, you will have to forgive my lack of power, believe me if I didn’t have to make this trip I would not, the walk will be very painful for me.”

  The Queen looked away from him. “I wish I could say I felt sorry for you, but I don’t.”

  “I would never have expected any sympathy from you, Majesty. I understand that is a trait you seem to lack.”

  “You are simply a detestable man.”

  The sorcerer smiled beneath his mask. “That is the opinion of most people I have come across, Your Majesty.”

  So the little band headed out from the tower as the last snowflakes of winter fell. Spring would come early this year. Kian and Tavantis walked together and Isabella and the Queen followed, carrying the two children. The little girl waved over Isabella’s shoulder to the dark-haired Goddess who silently wept as she watched the little girl leave. Octavia walked back into the frozen wood turning her back on the child she had grown to love.

  ***

  “What the hell is that?” Rhys blurted out. Endra rode a little closer. “My God, Rhys, it’s a forest dragon, it’s dead, I think. It should be hibernating this time of year. Something must have awoken it.”

  They dismounted their horses and slowly walked towards the beast, both still holding the reins of their horses in their hands. Endra looked the carcass over, the cold weather had kept it from rotting too quickly.

  “It’s covered in sword wounds, someone killed it.” She looked at the healer. “You don’t think…”

  Rhys shook his head. “I would not be surprised by anything he did, but a dragon? Alone?”

  “We have seen no one else beside the men from the Church and this beast has been dead too long for it to have been them, besides they were headed in the other direction.” Endra said excitement rising in her voice.

  Rhys almost said no man could have killed a dragon by himself, then he thought better of it. Endra might think he was saying Kian wasn’t a man and she was touchy about such things. “If it was Kian, he has done something I have never heard of.”

  Endra smiled. “It was him. I can feel it.”

  Rhys gave her a skeptical look. “Let’s go, he might need us, he shouldn’t be that far head.”

  Endra’s smile faded. “This creature was killed well over a week ago. Do you think he traveled through the storm and is already at the tower?”

  It was Rhys turn to grin. “No one could have survived that storm. It would have even killed Kian. I think you’re feelings about the dragon are wrong my dear. It’s been dead too long for Kian to have killed it. He just couldn’t be that far ahead of us.”

  Endra remounted her horse, looking dejected. Rhys could tell she was concerned. “I’m sure he’s just up ahead, we’ll catch him soon.” The two headed on into the forest. Rhys could not have been more right about where Kian was.

  They pulled their horses to a stop as the little group made their way out of the gloom. Night was about to fall as Endra and Rhys spotted Kian with the others in tow.

  Endra leaped from her horse and ran throwing herself into Kian’s arms.

  “What in the world are you doing here, woman?”

  Endra pulled back. “Rhys and I followed you, we didn’t think you should do this alone. I guess we’re too late.”

  Rhys passed them, he too had dismounted and had pulled Raygan into a gentle embrace and was looking at her baby with relief.

  Endra gasped as she noticed the masked figure standing with the two women. “What is he doing here, is he your prisoner?”

  Kian looked at her with pain in his eyes and a touch of shame. “He’s not my prisoner, Endra, the Dark One is my brother.”

  The others had gone to sleep. Endra, Rhys, and Kian still sat around the small fire where they had cooked their meal. “How can you trust him, Kian? I mean, after what he did to you, not to mention Raygan.”

  Kian threw a small stick into the fire and watched the embers float off into the sky. “He’s my brother, Rhys, my family. Even after what he has done, I have to give him a chance. His story is one of loneliness and sorrow, he lashed out trying to make everyone feel his pain and he blamed me. In a way I guess it is my doing, I left him and my mother. I should have stayed with them and none of this would have ever happened and Gildor and Elu would still be alive.”

  “You are not responsible for anything he has done,” Endra said.

  Kian only looked at her. “Now that we are together again, I think he will be alright, we just have to try and understand him. There is a great deal of hate in his heart. It will take time for it to work its way out. I will just have to be patient with him and hope we can forgive each other. Rhys, will you take a look at his injuries tomorrow and see if there is anything you can do for him?”

  “Of course, it’s the least I could do after what you did for Raygan and her baby. How did you get to the tower so fast anyway?” Rhys said, trying to change the subject.

  Kian spread his hand out to the fire. “What was fast about it? Between the dragon and walking through that damn storm, I thought I would never get there.” The swordsman stood and brushed off his pants. “I’m going to check around the camp, I will return shortly.” Kian quietly walked out into the dark.

  Endra gave the healer a big smile, as Rhys looked at her with his mouth hanging open. “I would have never believed it,” he said.

  Endra lowered her voice. “What I can’t believe is he has any faith in that masked bastard, brother or no brother.”

  Rhys nodded his agreement. “We should keep a close eye on him. Kian is too trusting for his own good. It wouldn’t hurt anything to watch him closely, even if the wizard is telling the truth.”

  “I hope he is it, would break Kian’s heart if that cur was lying about having a change of heart. His mother and brother have never been far from Kian’s thoughts since I have known him.”

  Rhys wrapped his blanket tighter around his shoulders. “I will sleep much better when we get back to Turill.”

  Across the camp Tavantis slowly closed his eyes.

  “Your wounds are like nothing I have ever seen. Your flesh seems almost melted. The damage doesn’t look to have completely healed either. You say it’s like this all the way down the left side of your body?” Rhys asked as he examined the wizard’s face.

  “I assure you, my good healer, there is nothing you can do for me. My wounds are unnatural, given to me by an angry God for my pride and impertinence, they will never heal.”

  Rhys said nothing and handed the sorcerer back his mask. “Perhaps I could find you something that would ease your suffering. The injuries must be very painful.”

  “No need. I have learned to endure the agonies of the foolishness of my past. May I ask you a question, healer?” Rhys nodded.

  “I find it strange that you travel with my brother and his compatriots. I thought that men that live by the sword would not be the kind of people you would keep company with.”

  Rhys pondered the question. “I’m not a fighting man, that is true, but I do understand the reason for them. Many warriors are good men, noble and courageous; they fight to protect people from the evil in the world, men like your brother.”

  Tavantis grinned as he pulled the mask back over his ruined face. “I take it that you feel like I’m the something that you may need protection from?”

  Rhys looked right into the wizard’s eyes. “I don’t trust you. Maybe you’re telling the truth, but it will take more than just your word after the things you have done.”

&
nbsp; “Don’t worry, I will prove my true nature to you, healer Morgan, in that you can trust.”

  The trip out of the Adorn took longer than Endra thought, but they were traveling with two small children and the Queen. The walk was taking a toll on the young monarch, she was unaccustomed to physical hardships.

  The weather was getting warmer by the day but it was still very cold at night and the ground was still covered in several inches of wet snow.

  Endra slowed her pace and dropped back to where the Queen walked. “Would you like me to carry your baby for a time, Majesty?”

  Raygan gave her a soft smile. “I would be very grateful. Endra.” The Queen handed her child to the warrior woman.

  “Has he a name yet, Majesty?”

  “Corwin. I have decided to call him Corwin.”

  Endra touched the baby’s nose. “A fine strong name, Majesty, come little Corwin, let us give your mother a rest.” Endra walked on, even without the baby Raygan struggled to keep up, but she managed to keep pace with the taller woman. “Endra, the girl child has no mother, and I was charged to find her a good one, would you be interested?”

  Endra was taken aback by the Queen’s inquiry. “I love children, Highness, but my life is a hard one as you have seen.” Endra slowed down and moved closer to Raygan. “I already carry another child, Majesty,” she whispered.

  “Oh Endra, I didn’t know. I’m…” Endra put her hand to the Queen’s mouth. She gave Kian a quick glance. He was talking with Tavantis and hadn’t seemed to have heard. “Kian does not know yet so please say nothing.” She looked down at her heavy clothing, it still covered the fact she was with child and she was still too much of a coward to tell Kian.

  “I understand, of course, I will remain silent,” the Queen said lowering her voice. “You were the first I thought of to take the girl. I know no one else. I would help you in any way I could if you decided to take her. I would keep the child myself if I could but I don’t know how I much time I could devote to the little one with Corwin being so young, and the fate of my Kingdom is still undecided,” the Queen said.

  Endra sighed and looked at the child Isabella carried. “Let me think on it, Majesty.”

  Raygan smiled. “Of course, take all the time you need.”

  That night as the camp slept, Kian was making his rounds of the camp’s perimeter. Endra came awake, she had been dreaming. It had been a nightmare, but she couldn’t remember what it was about. She opened her eyes to find the two-year-old girl sitting beside her. The little girl stared at her intensely. Endra turned over and the child inside her kicked her as she did. “What do you need, little one, it’s too cold for you to be out of your blankets.”

  The dark-headed girl cupped Endra’s cheeks with her chubby little hands. “Mama?” Endra’s heart beat hard in her chest and a lump came into her throat as she looked into the little girl’s dark eyes. “Yes, little one, I’m your mother now.” The child crawled under Endra’s blankets and quickly fell fast asleep. The woman from the north let out a sigh. Now what would she tell Kian?

  It just seemed right to keep the girl. Endra already felt like she belonged to her. It was odd to feel that way, but that made it no less true. She put her arm around the child and went to sleep, hoping she made the right choice.

  The Goddess looked at the child and the woman from Sorrack sleeping together in the glow of the campfire. It had taken little of her power to sway the warrior woman to accept the child as her own. She could rest easy now that the girl was in good hands. Despite what she had been told about the woman from the north, the Goddess trusted her. She would see that the girl was safe. The child was out of danger for now and that was something. Octavia glided away from the camp, the child might be out of danger but she wasn’t so sure she was.

  The little group moved faster after they came out of the forest. Endra was riding her horse and the Queen was on Rhys’s. Each carried a child. Everyone else walked along on foot. The miles faded behind them as they traveled through the open farm land.

  The day was overcast but warm for winter. Endra noticed Kian had been continually looking behind them. Now he had stopped on a small rise. She turned her horse and rode back to see what he was doing. “Do you see something?”

  “Men on horseback, perhaps a hundred,” he said.

  Endra strained to see but could not quite make out what he saw. The movement far behind them and she didn’t have his sight, but she didn’t need to see them to know who the riders were. “It’s the Church, Kian.”

  There was nowhere to hide; the Church knights would be on them in a matter of minutes. Kian called Tavantis and Rhys over to him. “What can you do, Brother?”

  Tavantis looked, he could see the knights now. “I can take the women and children, I think, but that would be my limit, and I don’t think I could comeback for you and Rhys, my magic would be spent.”

  Kian clutched his twin’s shoulder and looked at the healer. Rhys gave a slight nod of agreement. “Do it then, Rhys and I will make our own way back if we are able.” The three men turned and walked back to the group side by side.

  “Majesty, Endra, get off the horses,” Kian ordered. The two women complied. “Take the children and stand beside Isabella.”

  As they did, Endra gave him a questioning look. “Get them out of here,” the swordsman said looking at the masked wizard.

  Tavantis pulled his twin into a parting embrace. “Farewell, my brother.” The Dark One triggered his ring. The hollow needle pumped the black fluid into Kian’s neck.

  “You scratched me,” Kian said, holding his hand to his neck. “Sorry, it was my ring, it has a sharp edge,” the wizard said, holding his hand up so Kian could see the ring. “Hold hands, girls. I’m going to take you home.” Raygan and Isabella grabbed each other’s hands.

  “Wait, what’s going on?” Endra asked.

  Tavantis grabbed her hand and the Queen’s. “Revenge, my dear.” And then they were gone.

  Rhys turned to Kian. “What’s he talking about?” Kian touched his neck and looked at his hand. His knees buckled and he had begun to sweat. “Kian.” Rhys ran to his side and tried to hold the Half Elf up.

  “I think he poisoned me.”

  “I’ll get my bag.” The healer started for his horse, but Kian grabbed him by the arm. “There is no time, my friend. Get on the horse and ride. I will hold them as long as I can.”

  “I won’t leave you,” Rhys said shaking his head violently.

  “I’m most likely dead already. Let me use what time I have left covering your escape. Tavantis has betrayed me and he has Endra and the Queen, one of us must live to help them. Now go find K’xarr and Cromwell, tell them what has happened.”

  Rhys reluctantly headed for his horse. He was angry and wished Kian wasn’t right. Rhys jumped into the saddle and took one last look at the swordsman standing alone in the snow. It was against everything he believed in but the healer put his heels to the horse’s flank and rode to the south.

  Kian watched him for a moment then turned his attention back to the company of men riding towards him. He reached down and pulled Malice from its scabbard. He could sense the sword’s need for blood and death, that had never happened before. He could feel the blade’s hate. The sensation was almost overwhelming.

  He staggered to his right and his vision blurred, he felt weak, his stomach knotted, and he vomited. Black ichor splattered the white snow around his feet. What had Tavantis done to him?

  “Take him alive,” he heard a voice say. He looked up at the circle of armored men sitting on their warhorses. Then he leaped at the knights. He thought he could hear Malice laughing.

  ***

  The bodies of twelve of his knights lay dead in the bloody snow. There were several more wounded and the rest were weary.

  Oliver had never seen anyone fight like the Half Elf had, he had to be a minion of the Beast. The half-breed had come at them like a wave of death. His evil blade slicing through his knight’s armor as if it w
as not there, cleaving bodies, severing limbs, the creature had been merciless.

  Just when he thought they might not have brought enough men, the abomination had fallen to his knees and its eyes had rolled back in its head. Then the half-breed lay still in the red snow.

  “Commander, is it secured?” The Lord Justice’s voice brought the commander back to the present.

  “Yes, Lord Justice Milara, he is in chains and still unconscious. Perhaps we should just kill it now.”

  Lord Justice Milara shook his head. “No, it must answer some very important questions for me first, then we will burn it in the purifying flame of God.”

  Commander Deverall thought the thing’s death could not come soon enough. He never wanted to face that monster again.

  The three women and the children found themselves just inside the gates of Turill; the Dark One stood facing them. “Have no fear, I have no need to harm any of you now. My vengeance is complete, the Church will kill my brother and our mother can rest in peace. Farewell ladies, it has been a pleasure.” He bowed to them and vanished, leaving the women unsure of what had just happened.

  Tavantis returned to the tower. Siro had just finished stitching up the cut Isabella had left in his scalp. The wizard patted him on the shoulder as he entered, a rare act of approval that shocked the homely necromancer.

  “I want to be alone for a while. I will be in my study.” Tavantis walked into his private room and closed the door. He sat down in his chair, took the ring from his finger, and dropped it on to his desk.

  He picked up the empty vile he had taken from the Phoenix Queen’s tomb. The black blood was gone. His brother was infected with it now and the Church would kill him without question. His quest was at an end. Kian was finished.

  He thought that it would make the years of pain go away, his mother was avenged, but it had changed nothing. He had killed his brother as surely as he had driven a blade into him. Why didn’t he feel any better? Perhaps it was because he was the one to blame for what happened to his mother? No, he thought, it had all happened because of Kian. If not for him everything would be different. He was just glad he had not told his brother the truth or he would be dead now.