Legends of Marithia: Book 1 - Prophecies Awakening: Uncut and Extended Second Edition (8 page)

Aidan marched into the front line of guards,
aimed his sword forward, and readied his shield by his side. “Don't
listen to that witch and her drivel. Is this really the best that
Kassina can throw at us? Men of Greenhaven! Let’s show these
pathetic demons that it is
our
blades that they should fear.
Charge!”

Kassina's pointed at the charging guards and
snarled, “Kill them—kill them
all
, my sweets!”

Her hair was whipped around her face from the
sheer force of her dark army charging past her position.

The guards ran ahead at full speed, as the
demons increased their own pace between the shadows. As the gods
watched the glowing city from the stars, the forces of light and
darkness collided in a fury of blades, shields and claws.

The war had begun.

Kassina - By Nicola Mcintosh

Chapter 4: The Aftermath

“Bring me another cup please, innkeeper, is
that
really
too much to ask?

Life is so sweet, but ever so sweeter with
the aid of an honest drink. I have travelled far and seen much,
even though I don’t remember a lot of it… I’m sure that it was full
of experiences worthy of a songstress!

I may not be so young anymore, but worry not,
as I’m sure that one day I will rise to be a great man, and shall
be etched into the history books.

Yes! They will say, ‘We all remember the
master thief who could outdrink any man, or woman, for that
matter.’ Actually, that’s not what I was thinking at all. Pour me
another cup!”

(Tusdar, Master Thief of Greenhaven)

She sat quietly on her sleek throne, tapping
her long fingernails with boredom. Patience was not one of her
strongest points, and she grew tired of the glacial progress of
Shindar's plans. Immortality comes at an immense cost to a woman
who craves continual excitement and attention.

Kassina was blessed at birth to be an
incredibly beautiful woman. Her glamorous features were enhanced by
her exotically pale skin. It was not difficult to understand why so
many had fallen for her charms and paid dearly with the price she
demanded for fulfilling their wishes.

Her feminine body was barely covered by an
intricately woven dark blue dress that hugged her generous curves.
She was pure darkness, wrapped neatly within a deceptively
attractive shell.

The prince wants an audience with me? This
should prove to be an amusing distraction,
she thought.

Around the perimeter of the room were
countless slaves who were chained harshly to its sleek walls. They
sat naked, shivering, on the icy-cold floors. Their foggy breaths
provided a sickly calming ambience to the room. Some of them lay
almost lifeless with fresh bite marks on their necks, but clung to
their humanity with whatever strength they had left.

Standing and marching around the room, she
toyed with her captives and playfully tapped their heads as she
made her way around. "Teenie weenie little crow, catch my meal by
the toe. If she bleeds, let her die
slow.
Teenie...
Weenie... Little... Crow..."

Stopping in front of a naked young woman that
was barely past her teens, she cocked her head and smiled. "It
looks like you will be graced with my attention today."

The woman shook her head, beads of sweat
forming on her skin as she scrambled to the wall, cowering. The
woman sobbed, "No,
please
!"

Kassina laughed as she crouched down on front
of her victim. She looked her over and reached down between the
woman's legs, forcing her fingers inside her and concentrating as
she dug deeper. "Well what do we have
here
? You are a
special treat. Let me guess, you probably have never been kissed,
have you..."

The woman cried out at her sudden push and
Kassina brought her bloodied fingers to her mouth, sucking them
clean. The vampire's voice whispered with a purr, "I don't usually
play with my food, but how can I resist? Do you know what I like
more
than the blood of a virgin?"

The woman's teary eyes peered over her
shoulder and she shook her head.

Kassina brought her seductive mouth by her
ear and whispered, "Nothing."

Her sharp intake of breath filled the room as
Kassina's head blurred and her fangs sunk deep into the woman's
flesh. Her cries filled the room as the deep sounds of her blood
being swallowed and the vampire's satisfying moans accompanied her
in an intimate symphony of death.

When her body was near depleted and she let
out her final breath, she twitched with her last signs of life
before Kassina stood, stretching out with her replenished power.
Her eyes closed, she ran her slippery tongue around her plump lips
and fangs. Her legs slid as she slowly returned to her throne, her
movements vacant as if her mind had travelled far from her tower.
She sat down gently as if she were a falling leaf from an above
tree, her lips quivering with the aftershocks of pleasure.

With a satisfied grin, she ordered, “I think
he has waited long enough. Bring him inside, and
don’t
hurt
him, as that privilege is always solely mine."

Two skeleton warriors opened the heavy iron
gates, and she snarled wickedly as Prince Derian strolled inside.
The prince's face contorted as he looked around the room at the
many victims dead or dying.

As Kassina sent souls to Shindar’s grip in
the underworld, skeleton warriors were created from the rotting
bones of the fallen and used as reinforcements for the Forces of
Darkness. The bones contained the souls of men and women who now
found themselves trapped inside this new form. Shindar sent their
souls back from the underworld, after they had been enchanted by
magic. These souls were not aware that they had died, and fought
for Shindar blindly, obeying Kassina's every command.

Kassina managed to control her anger as she
laid eyes on the half-breed son of her oldest enemy. “Prince
Derian, what a surprise. What brings a spoilt heir like you to a
desolate place like this? Tell me, is there
one
good reason
why I shouldn’t just kill you where you stand? It would save me a
lot of time. Please enlighten me, while you still pique my
curiosity."

Derian stopped in his tracks, held up a
partially ripped dusty scroll, and threw it to her with a swift
twist of his arm. He grinned and approached her confidently. “This
is why you won’t kill me, sorceress."

Kassina raised one hand at him and her other
hand to stop the scroll mid-flight and eased it open in the air. It
hovered in front of her face as she read it. She looked him over
and her eyes narrowed as she spat, “Stay where you are, maggot! I
have not given permission for you to walk around here as you
please. You are far from home, young prince. I thought this was all
but lost in time—where did you find it?”

Derian crossed his arms and raised an
eyebrow. “I have the other half of this scroll in safekeeping at
Greenhaven, and I can get a hold of it for you, but first I need to
know if you will agree to my terms, sorceress."

She rose as smoothly as a snake from her
oversized throne, and looked deep into his eyes. Kassina was not
known to bow to the demands of others. Her eyes narrowed and glowed
as she read and considered his thoughts, and she smiled when her
decision was made.

“I already know what you want, Derian. There
is no need for you to speak your terms, it would just waste our
time. I don’t often meet a man whose dark heart truly yearns to
kill his own father and it would give me no greater pleasure than
to enable that ambition. I am
touched
by your interest in
me, young prince, and I accept your offer. It has been a long time
since I have had myself a new pet. But you should know that even
the gift of immortality comes with a heavy price, and your plans
run greater risks than you may have considered."

“Of course they do, Kassina. I will do
whatever it takes!”

She laughed mirthlessly, her voice turning
from soft to a deeper growl. Her blue eyes glowed red, like embers
in a freshly lit fire, and her fingernails slowly grew into sharp
claws. Kassina raised her arms suggestively, and her smile revealed
her pearly, pointed fangs through her cherry-red lips. “Very well,
Derian, come to me now and let us
seal
the deal, so to
speak. I’m dying to taste your royal blood, I have always wondered
what it would be like."

Vartan awoke suddenly and sat up in shock as
sharp pains seared through his head. He rubbed his face as if to
ward off the pain and whispered, “Damn these nightmares. Derian and
Kassina? As if that could
ever
be possible. What dark corner
of my imagination did that come from?"

Beside his bed lay an empty bottle of white
wine, his dirtied pack, armour and weapons.

I knew this was a bad idea,
he thought
as he took a long swig of water, the liquid hitting his growling
stomach. There was a strange smell that burned in the air, almost
like a bonfire left overnight. He slowly wound a cloth bandage
around his ribs to aid the healing, and gently eased on his
clothing and armour.

This wasn’t his first visit to the Jade Inn,
but it was the first time that he had to pay for a room to sleep
in. After taking a few moments to gather his thoughts and regain
his focus, he felt it was time to get some fresh air. Vartan shoved
open the creaky wooden windows and kept his eyes lowered to let
them adjust to the overwhelmingly bright light. There was a large
gathering of people below him who all pointed at the horizon,
whispering to each other with frightened voices and holding each
other tightly.

What in Marithia is going on?
he
thought. Vartan slowly lifted his gaze, and his skin turned pale in
shock at the sight before him. Greenhaven glowed with a red tinge,
and large black puffs of smoke filled the blue sky.

“No! It isn't possible,” he exclaimed.

Vartan ran hastily downstairs to the inn’s
stables and quickly readied his horse before roughly mounting it.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed the shadow of a man running
at full flight behind him. In a smooth motion, he drew his new
sword towards the man’s chest, stopping him dead in his tracks only
inches away from certain death. The shine of the blade reflected on
the man's chest.

“V... Vartan? What is this all about? You
promised me another drink this morning,” said Tusdar, with his
hands raised defensively in the air.

“Open your eyes and look to the horizon, you
drunken fool. Greenhaven appears to have fallen, and all of
Marithia may be in danger. Amazingly, it just so happens that all
of Marithia includes
you
,” Vartan replied, sheathing his
sword.

Tusdar stood still, staring at him
expectantly. Vartan shook his head and growled, “This is no time
for drinking, Tusdar. I must ride out of here, now!.”

With a stern nod, he whirled his horse around
and rode hard in the direction of Greenhaven, digging his boots
into his horse. Vartan had ridden far from the so-called safety of
the golden city’s walls, but it was worth a try. He concentrated
hard to form words in his mind.

Helenia, if you can read my thoughts, please
tell me that you have not come to harm.

There was no reply, only the sound of cold
wind rushing harshly past his ears. He was riding harder along the
long and winding path leading through the woods, when he suddenly
pulled back on his reins. His horse almost lost its balance as he
barely avoided a collision with Aidan, who was drenched in blood
and bore nasty flesh wounds from head to toe. Aidan desperately
limped onward, almost like a walking corpse, staring vacantly
ahead.

“
Easy
, Aidan, let me help get you to a
healer,” said Vartan, steadying him.

“Vartan… so much death… so much
blood
…
sorceress… taken,” he whispered as Vartan brought some water to
Aidan’s dry lips. He coughed out the initial mouthful as his throat
was suddenly flooded with fluid.