The Destroyer Book 3 (13 page)

"Let me go back to earlier," I said with a small smile and she nodded in agreement.

"We were slaves to the Elvens; that much I told you. My life wasn't as difficult as others. My father was a trained blacksmith and he instructed my brother and me in the trade. We could have been out in the fields or servicing our masters in their homes directly. Either option was less appealing because we would have more interaction with them. More interaction meant it was more likely I would be killed or beaten." I looked to her face and she nodded in understanding.

"The Elvens lived in groups of extended families. They would own pieces of land where they would farm and raise cattle. They would also trade goods and services with nearby families. I'm not sure exactly how their leadership was implemented; at least, I don't have a clear memory of it now. I think a group of elders led the family. The head elder wasn't quite a king. Paug gave me definitions for various leaders in your language. I think the closest one that fits is chieftain." Nadea nodded again. Darkness had fallen completely now and it would have been impossible for us to see each other if we were mere humans.

"My father and brother were skilled and worked directly with the chieftain's closest family. There were only a dozen or so horses in the stable, but it kept me busy for most of the day." I chuckled suddenly with a realization. "Maybe we did have the most perilous job of all the humans. I don't recall ever seeing the chieftain, or even the elders, but their children used the stables often." Nadea returned my smile and leaned forward.

"The chieftain's eldest daughter was the most dangerous. I didn't know much about her, but the other slaves would warn me not to cross her. There were tales about her endless cruelty. She apparently murdered humans daily for pleasure; she even killed her own kind for displeasing her. Rumor said that her father couldn't even control her and she was the true ruler of their tribe. She was powerful and vicious and everyone feared her. I didn't know how many of the stories were true, but there are normally some grains of truth in those tales."

"She would come to the stable?" Nadea asked with concern. I nodded.

"She seemed to enjoy riding and would visit three or four times a week. She would bring an entourage of trainers, or the children of the other elders with her. I was always afraid of them, but she seemed to wear terror around her shoulders like a cloak. Even the other Elvens who accompanied her seemed to fear her. Once, a spirited horse threw her off her saddle. She promptly ripped its legs off and then left it to die on the track outside the stables. I had never really seen an Elven do anything violent; I was afraid of them because humans are supposed to fear them, but when I saw her do that I felt real terror."

"She sounds insane. What a horrible life. I'm sorry, Kaiyer." Nadea reached out to me again and clasped our hands together.

"When she came into the stables I tried to avoid her notice. I thought that if I did a really excellent job keeping the stables clean, and if I always had her horse ready for her, she wouldn't want to murder me. It was a ridiculous belief. Horses were worth much more than humans, and she only rode the nicest in our stable. If she could kill a horse with so little thought, with such brutality, I knew that she would do the same to me if I ever upset her. But it was the only hope I had. The only power. If I was perfect, if I pleased her, it was at least possible that I could escape her wrath." Nadea shook her head and looked at me in understanding.

"I did catch her notice though. She began to come into the stables more. Almost every day, sometimes she would visit twice. She started to stare at me when I prepared her horse, or when I did my chores around her friends. Normally, the Elvens would only speak to me when they needed their horse, but they would never pay attention to me.

“One day, she dismissed her riding coaches and we were alone in the stables. I tried to concentrate on my work and avoid looking at her, but she watched me for what felt like an eternity. I expected to die that day, but instead of killing me, she asked me what my name was." I smiled sadly at Nadea.

"Then what happened?"

"I told her. A few days later, we became lovers. I had never been with a woman. She showed me what I needed to do to please her. I never understood what her motivation was, but I often wondered why she took a human as a lover. She was beautiful, and from what information I gathered, she had many suitors from different Elven families vying for her."

"You are quite handsome, Kaiyer," Nadea breathed. "It is hard to resist your charms. If anyone could seduce a ruler's daughter, it would be you."

"I think part of me foresaw that she would kill me one day. There was no other way for it to end. There was no way we could be together."

"Did you speak about any of this with her? Did she tell you she would protect you or keep you safe?" Nadea asked.

"No. I was too afraid to hear what her answer would be. I also feared that it would push us faster toward whatever end she had in store for me."

"So you were trapped. You must have been terrified."

"Don't feel too sorry for me, Nadea." I smiled at her. "She was beautiful, even for an Elven. I had never experienced sex, so I enjoyed myself. This sounds twisted, fucking crazy, but I came to love her. I wanted to be with her, and even though I knew our relationship would eventually kill me. I didn't care, I just wanted to share myself with her."

"Was it just carnal then? Did you and this woman have a relationship beyond just sex?" Nadea stood up and let go of my fingers. Then she walked over to the head of my cot and sat next to me on the bed. The right side of her body touched mine and she took my scarred hand in her own.

"No. I wish I could say it was, but we had conversations as well. I think we went horseback riding a few times. Or at least, she promised that she would take me, since humans were not allowed to ride horses. I have not remembered everything yet. She would mostly ask about my life and responsibilities around the stable. I know I tried to find out more about her, but she was always elusive." I looked from our entwined fingers to Nadea's face. We sat close enough for me to feel her warm breath on my cheeks. "I loved her for the wrong reasons. But I still loved her."

"More than Shlara?" Nadea asked with concern.

"In some ways. Yes." Nadea didn't look happy with the answer, but I continued.

"I don't know for sure how long we were lovers, but the affair ended suddenly. One day I needed my brother's help with a new horse. He assisted with the shoeing and broke a tool. My father was working in the smithy next to the stable, so I walked over to get a new tool."

"When I came out of the stable, I saw a large group of Elvens coming down the hillside to the stable. The chieftains' daughter was at the head of the group. I ducked back into the smithy and hid with my father. The Elven men ran into the stable and exited with my brother. She started to strangle him and my father ran out with his hammer to save his son."

"Fuck," Nadea said in disbelief.

"Her suitors butchered him as she finished choking my brother. I ran to their sides. I was going to pick up the hammer and try to kill her, but I really just wanted to die with them. My brother and father were all the family I had."

"Why didn't they kill you?"

“There was a rumor of her being with a stable boy. She came to the stables that day to prove it false. When they found my brother there, they assumed he was the stable boy in question and she killed him to show how little she cared. That the idea disgusted her because she, like all of them, had so little regard for humans. We were animals to them. When they asked her what to do with me, she told them to take me to their human army for training. I remember the way she looked at me, like I meant nothing to her. She regarded me with as much concern as the horse she had brutalized. I hated her then. I hated her for murdering my family, and for pretending to love me when she did not.”

"Fucking bitch," Nadea spat and then stood. She paced around the tent for a few steps but there was not much room to walk. "How could she do that to you? I want to scream. You have so much reason to hate them, especially her."

"I do hate them. You know how I feel about them." She nodded and then sat down on the chair across from me. "I think she may have saved my life. At least, she explained to me later that she had little choice and she regretted her decisions." I remembered the conversation Iolarathe and I had on the battlefield before our last struggle.

"You spoke to her again?"

"Yes. I wanted revenge. Her people had been experimenting with humans as warriors as a way to fight for more territory without risking their own lives. Elvens are so much stronger and quicker than humans, it did not work. But her tribe had been changing us with the Elements. It was a messy process. Most did not survive. But my anger gave me strength and I lived through the change.”

"Did she visit you during this change?" Nadea's voice was angry.

"No. I didn't see her for a long time. Until the day of our last battle." Her face looked shocked, but I didn't want to change the pace of my recollection. So I continued speaking. "They eventually had around fifty of us in their small army. They began to train us in the art of warfare and combat. It was a mistake. Eventually I led a group of us in revolt. We killed the trainers and escaped into a nearby river with canoes we crafted. They tried to come after us, but we eluded them multiple times." I paused again and wished I had some water.

"Then you created the army?" Nadea nodded while she asked.

"Yes. I had a mentor. I can tell you about him another time. We learned how to harness our powers beyond our bodies, how to fight, and we freed other humans. Eventually we grew in size, won victories, and made dents in the Elven population. I don't think they took us seriously until it was too late and we had already gained too much power. Toward the end of our struggle, the Elvens finally seemed to get organized. They started using larger scale tactics, they did break offs, feints, used territory, and they managed to win a few of the smaller battles that Shlara and I did not plan. In the end though, we had their entire army out positioned, and it came down to one final battle."

"And you saw her again?" Nadea said in amazement.

"I thought she might have died somewhere along the way. I almost always thought about her. Most of the time I hated her for what she did. I wanted to kill her and all of her kind, as vengeance for my family."

"I can understand vengeance . . ." Nadea's voice trailed off and I thought about Nanos.

"The general of their army asked to meet with me under a flag of truce."

"It was her!" Nadea finished my sentence in shock.

"Yes." I smiled. "It had been thirty-six years. She asked for me to surrender. It was a foolish request because one of our soldiers could kill multiples of hers and she was completely outnumbered. She tried to explain about the death of my brother and father. She told me that she did love me. I didn't want to believe her words."

"What did you do?" Nadea leaned forward again in her chair with rapt attention.

"I went back to my generals and we began the attack. I thought that her request was odd. It burned in my mind, but I didn't voice my fears with my generals."

"She had something planned with the dragons?"

"I had never seen a dragon, only heard tales of them. Somehow the Elvens had three on their side." I closed my eyes and saw their glassy bodies and the heat of the molten flame. I remembered Recatolusti’catri screaming at me.

"They killed my warriors like ants. They were the most fearsome creatures I could have ever imagined. We managed to kill two of them after taking heavy losses. I almost got the last one, but she escaped and flung me through the air to what I thought would be my death."

"You didn't die though." Nadea squeezed my hand again and I looked into her beautiful face. I suddenly wanted to pull her to me and kiss her. I needed to drown out these memories with her body and the sounds of pleasuring her.

"No. She found me lying in a field. We spoke again and the hate I had for her vanished. Then we made love while our two races killed each other twenty miles away. Afterward, she asked me to flee with her into the wilderness. I would leave everyone behind. Shlara, my people, my role as their leader and the world they expected me to create for them out of the ashes." I looked into Nadea's eyes for a few moments before I answered the question I knew she would ask. "I said yes."

Nadea jerked her hand away.

I closed my eyes.

"So you left with her? She killed your brother and father! What were you thinking?" Her voice was angry and some of the footsteps outside my tent stopped for a moment.

"Shlara found us. I didn't know how to explain it to her, nor would she have listened had I tried. She attacked. I used my magic and killed her."

"She attacked you?"

"No. She went after Iolarathe. I tried to stop them from fighting. When it became apparent that Shlara was going to be victorious and kill . . ." I put my face in my hands and couldn't hold in a sob. "It just happened. It came from me. She screamed when the fire tore apart her body. I hear it over and over in my head." The memory triggered the scent of fire and death.

The tent fell silent.

"Your generals captured you afterward?" Nadea finally said.