The Destroyer Book 3 (64 page)

Shlara’s team of warriors spent most of their time with shield and spear so it was no surprise that she was so skilled with the weapon set. We circled for a few minutes, testing each other’s defenses with quick jabs that would have broken arms had we not been O’Baarni. Finally, I noticed a small dip in her chest before she thrust toward my right side, and I saw her favor her left foot slightly when blocking with her shield. The pattern might have been a feint, so I tested both sides of her defense half a dozen times to see if she copied the behavior under different circumstances. She didn’t, so I took a chance it wasn’t a ruse and made a move.

When she dipped her chest I threw my body at her left side, tying up the foot that she favored with my own shield. A quick twist of my right arm and a follow through with my hips landed the beautiful brown-haired woman on the ground with my spear a few inches from her neck. My risk had paid off, had she baited me with those movements, she could have set her weapon to meet my jump forward and I would have been skewered.

“How did you do that?” Her green eyes flashed dangerously. Shlara hated to lose and had always bragged that she could best me in combat. We had only sparred together a few times, and each time she had lost. I tossed my spear aside and helped her get to her feet.

“Let’s return to the camp.” The sky was turning a soft pink. The sun would awaken soon and with it I would bid farewell to my friend.

“Very well.” She set her weapons down and walked with me back into the camp. On the way I explained how I planned my move. She nodded during my analysis and asked a few questions about how she could correct the behavior and how I identified it so quickly.

“It was the same as when we reviewed your team yesterday,” I reminded her of the observations I made a few hours ago before Malek told us that Entas had died.

Entas’s temporary tent had been removed. In its place was a pile of dried pine wood meticulously stacked to elevate his coffin three feet off the ground. There were forty warriors standing in the clearing around the pyre speaking softly to themselves. Shlara and I waded through the small group until we made it to Entas’s side. Malek, Thayer, Gorbanni, and Alexia were already there.

“Let’s wait a few more minutes for the sun to rise,” I whispered. They nodded solemnly and I turned away from them to look upon my warriors. Word must have spread through the camp. The gathered throng had grown exponentially in size and it looked like at least half of the army was here.

Finally, the first bit of the sun crested the eastern mountains and the land was drenched in a golden light. Its rays warmed my body and for a moment I believed that everything would be fine. We could do this without Entas, we would vanquish the Elvens and wipe them from this world like fire through a forest.

“Should I begin?” Malek asked. I nodded, and he stepped toward the gathered army and raised his voice.

“It is rare that death comes to us so peacefully, but that is a fitting legacy for our mentor. Without him, there would be no army, there would be no war, there would be no chance of victory for our kind.” Malek paused as his words carried on the Wind. “There would be no peace.”

“His memory lives on in our training and our quest for freedom. We will be victorious over our enemies and usher in a golden age for our race. I wish Entas could be there to see it. Alas, he lived his last few years in tremendous pain. He was ready to leave us to our mission. He gave us everything and left us with the tools we need to flourish.” Malek’s voice cracked a little and he turned to Thayer.

“Once upon a time, Kaiyer and I were in a massive battle against our oppressors,” the big man began. “The two of us were outnumbered a hundred to one and could hardly stand because the field of battle was covered with eight inches of Elven blood, guts, and shit. Then another thousand Elvens crested the hill, ready to murder us. My brother and I knew we were going to have to actually start working now, so we doubled our efforts, slaying dozens of the ugly motherfuckers with each swing from our dull weapons. Yet even more of the assholes kept coming, like a swarm of angry bees. The slick battlefield became an ocean of red blood. We took turns diving under the guts and shit, holding our breath for minutes, and popping up where those ugly bastards least expected us, slaying hundreds anew before vanishing beneath the tide of Elven death. Then Entas came down from the mountains. He breathed fire, lightning, and upheaved the Earth with flicks of his fingers. He wiped out the remaining Elven forces like an ocean wave cleans the shore.” Shlara and Alexia stood at the front of the audience and they tried hard to keep from grinning. They knew the truth of how Entas, Thayer, and I met.

“Kaiyer and I had the situation well in hand, of course, but it was plain to both of us that Entas was someone you fucking listened to if you wanted to kill more Elvens. I learned a lot from the old man, and I will miss him more than he’ll probably ever know.” Thayer stepped back with a satisfied grin on his scarred face. Although his recount of our meeting was completely inaccurate, I found myself smiling at my friend’s exaggerated recollection.

Attention in the crowd turned to me. I was sure that the warriors wanted a flowery speech from their gifted leader, but while I normally would have little problem producing the right words to motivate them, I knew I couldn’t do a better job than Malek’s touching farewell or Thayer’s tall tale. In a way, they both represented Entas’s character. He was wonderful, powerful, kind, and ridiculous.

I stepped toward his coffin and raised my hand. Fire emerged easily and lit the stack of wood beneath him. Within a few seconds, the flames began to lick the sides of the casket like hungry orange tongues.

“First with Fire, then the Wind will take his ashes; the Water from rains will seal his body to the Earth,” I spoke aloud. “These Elements were taught to us by Entas. We will repay his memory by freeing our people!” I shouted and raised my fist in the air. The crowd had grown now and there was a sea of warriors. Thousands of fists raised into the air.

“Entas!” I yelled. They repeated my words and the valley reverberated with the sound. There wasn’t an Elven settlement within two hundred miles and the chances of us being scouted were very slim. I paused after a few seconds and then lowered my fist.

“Our struggle is far from finished. Train today as if Entas were watching you. Make him proud. Make the Elvens fear. Get to it!” They cheered again and quickly dispersed. Each part of the army was organized with their own training routine. Within five minutes the camp would be as busy as an ant hill.

We would grow stronger.

I turned back to face the fire. The coffin was encased in orange flames now and the heat was intense enough for me to take a small step away. I didn’t want to join the army in their training quite yet. Someone would have to spread the ashes. For a while my mind just drifted through memories of my dead friend. I remembered the time we first met, when he had saved Thayer and me from Elven capture. I remembered when he taught us how to use our magic to create Wind and Fire. I remembered the countless times he had advised me on strategy and war tactics.

“It was a fine ceremony and an honor to witness,” a voice behind me said. I hadn’t heard anyone approach, so I spun around to see who had spoken.

“Warc?” The sklad looked as I recalled from years earlier, when I was a slave. He was tall and awkward and moved like a drunk mantis. He had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face that was currently stuck in the same stupid grin that I remembered from the only other time we had spoken.

“Hey ho, Kaiyer. I’m glad you remember my name.” He gave a deep bow, practically touching his forehead to his shins.

“I have a good memory.” I looked around us and realized that we were alone. The rest of the warriors were hard at work training hundreds of yards away.

“Tales of this day will travel the land and ignite the resistance you are hoping for.” He winked at me and swung his head awkwardly, as if his upper body had decided to dance but his lower body hadn’t gotten the orders.

“I doubt that, sklad. People want to hear tales of victory, not the details of a wonderful man’s death.” I turned to look back at the fire. It was impossible to see the shape of the casket through the flames now. I was hoping that Warc would get the hint and leave me to brood, but I should have known better. I had to threaten to beat the man to get him to leave me alone.

“Perhaps this is a great victory though? Ho ho,” he laughed, and the sound brought back more memories of the last time we had spoken. “Now the army is yours to command fully. Our freedom from slavery is practically guaranteed.”

“I would rather have him here.”

“If wishes could be granted, we’d all have foot-long dicks, dragons to ride, and harems filled with Elven women.”

I turned to look at the strange man and something in my expression must have scared him.

“Well, if you are into those kind of women. I have always thought them attractive, but chances are I’d lose my foot-long dick and be fed to a dragon if I ever tried to ride one.” His voice had a singsong pattern and the phrase seemed recited.

“You are supposed to ask which one,” he said after I was silent for a few moments.

“Which one?”

“Which one I would have tried to ride: An Elven woman or a dragon? Ho ho!” He bent in half and laughed like a roaring bear.

“Your humor escapes me,” I muttered.

“No worries, Kaiyer. Humor escapes me as well.” He shuffled up near the fire and sniffed the air carefully. “Do you know that our ancestors believed that when you died your Spirit or soul lived on in the realm of the Gods?”

“No. Nor do I care.”

“I thought you might find it interesting, given the current situation. It is apparently a beautiful land, filled with endless clouds, streams, birds, and floating islands that stretch on to infinity.”

“So Entas is there now?” I smirked sideways at the bard. This talk was complete foolishness and I was a few seconds away from telling the man to leave. How had he entered into the camp in the first place? Shlara or Alexia normally updated me when we had sklads among our ranks. The bards always created a delicate situation in the army. They were useful for news and to entertain the troops, but they could easily see our training strategies. If they were then captured by the Elvens, we feared the information would be tortured from them. We usually got a commitment from them to stay with the camp permanently or to leave after a single night of entertainment.

“Spirits are flown there on beautiful ships shaped like fishes or birds and are painted in colors so vivid, imagination could not hope to account for their splendor. Your friend is probably on such a vessel now, watching us from afar.”

“Or he is dead, in the dreamless sleep that lasts forever,” I said flatly.

“Ho ho. You are not very romantic, my friend.”

“Romance has no place in my life.”

“That is nonsense on par with my earlier joke! I saw the two lovely women in the front of your army. They wore their desire plain on their pretty faces.” He poked his head forward a bit and tried to get me to make eye contact with him.

“I am done talking to you, sklad.” I crossed my arms and clenched my jaw. It was taking an effort not to backhand the annoying man across his smirking face. I didn’t want this today. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts of Entas.

Most of all, I wanted to talk to the man again. I’d tell him how grateful I was for everything he had done for me, and for all of us.

“Well then, perhaps we will meet again someday, Kaiyer.” I was a little surprised that his voice had no hint of anger to it. “I’ll leave you to your thoughts. Obviously, on a day like this, one doesn’t think about romance, do they?” I turned to face the man, but he was already walking away with the awkward, clumsy gait I recalled from more than a decade ago. One of the slave songs from a distant memory floated through the air and reached my ears. The song’s name and words escaped me, but the melody reminded me of my brother and father.

Now another member of my family was dead. How many more would find a similar fate before we were free? Would I burn Thayer’s corpse next? Shlara’s? Would they stand over my body and think of things to say?

The sklad was correct about the romance at least. Since Entas died I hadn’t thought once of Iolarathe.

"You feeling okay?" Danor shook my shoulder roughly and the abruptness of his movement startled me enough to flinch. Fortunately, I managed to restrain myself. I could have accidently killed my friend with my magical strength.