The Fall of Kyrace (3 page)
Read The Fall of Kyrace Online
Authors: Jonathan Moeller
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #Horror, #Dark Fantasy, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Historical, #Myths & Legends, #Greek & Roman, #One Hour (33-43 Pages)
Lightning exploded out of the sky, screamed down Mathanius's raised sword, and stabbed into his chest. The blast threw him to the ground, his sword bouncing from his grasp, smoke rising from his robes.
It was Rykon's last chance.
He seized his sword and buried the blade below Mathanius's ribs. He shrieked in pain, clawing at the sword, but his eyes turned towards Agia, not Rykon.
"Why?" he breathed. "Why?"
"For our people," said Agia, voice bitter. "For our city, which even now burns."
Rykon wrenched his blade free, and Mathanius, the traitor of Kyrace, shuddered and died. Agia bowed her head, fresh tears falling from her eyes. Rykon put his hand upon her shoulder, and she slumped against him, weeping.
A thunderous crash rang from the lower city as the Legions smashed their way through the inner gate.
"Come," said Rykon, "we must go."
###
The tramp of iron-shod boots echoed over the Tower of Storm’s courtyard.
Tyndaros looked up from the final statue, shaking with weariness. Eight of the nine statues had been shattered, lying in broken pieces across the courtyard. Arcane power hissed and snarled through the earth, the energy crackling along his skin.
It was almost done.
He lifted his gashed palm, let some blood fall upon the final statue, and began to sing.
Men in the black armor and purple cloaks of the Imperial Guard marched into the courtyard, accompanied by crimson-armored battle magi. Then came the high magi and more Imperial Guards, and finally the Emperor himself, proud and stern atop his horse, his black armor chased with gold.
The Archon of Kyrace stopped singing and looked at his conqueror.
Behind him, fine cracks spread across the final statue.
“So,” said the Emperor, “we meet at last.”
“Yes,” said Tyndaros.
The cracks widened. He felt the power shuddering, like a vast storm about to break. The elementals bound within the Broken Mountain were stirring.
“And it is over,” said the Emperor.
“Yes,” said Tyndaros. “For me. And for you as well.”
The Emperor sneered. “Kill this old fool. Make him suffer.”
The high magi and the Imperial Guards started forward.
Behind Tyndaros, the final statue shattered, and the elementals bound within the mountain were free.
The earth shook and sent men sprawling to the ground. The courtyard walls collapsed, and the Emperor fell from the back of his horse. The sound of cracking stone rang over the quaking city like thunder.
And the top of the Broken Mountain began to burn.
###
Even from ten miles away, the explosion almost destroyed the fleet.
Rykon stood with Agia at the stern of their ship, helping her stand as she joined the other stormsingers in throwing all her power into the fleet’s sails. He saw the top of the Broken Mountain explode, saw it erupt in a whirling storm of ash and molten stone.
The thunderclap reached his ears, enormous and deafening. The sea heaved and shook, the ships bouncing like toys, and Rykon just managed to keep Agia from falling over the rail into the gyrating waters.
And as he leaned against the rail, he saw the Broken Mountain collapse, saw the hanging towers of Kyrace vanish in the raging flood of molten stone, saw the Imperial fleet disappear into the billowing plume of the ash. Ancient Kyrace, in all its pride and beauty, with all its ziggurats, and temples, and libraries, and scholars and stormsingers and slaves, vanished in the Broken Mountain's inferno, never to be seen again.
Along with the Emperor, the Legions, and the high magi of the Nighmarian Empire.
A colossal wave spread from the island, a towering wall of water, and Rykon feared it would capsize the fleet. But Tyndaros’s warning had proven true. The northern face of the Broken Mountain had buried Kyrace and the Imperial Legions, but the southern side of the island had shielded the fleet from the wave.
“He knew all along,” said Rykon, staring at the burning island. “The great elementals within the mountain had kept it from erupting for all these millennia. He knew Kyrace would fall, so he waited until the Legions had entered the city…”
“And killed them all,” whispered Agia.
Together they watched their home, and their enemies, burn.
###
A few days later the fleet arrived at New Kyre.
With its leadership dead, the Empire had erupted into civil war, the remaining Kyracian colonies overlooked.
Rykon led Agia into New Kyre with a sense of hope.
Together, they could make their people strong again.
THE END
Thank you for reading THE FALL OF KYRACE. If you liked the story, please consider leaving a review. You can read a free novel set in the world of the Empire and Kyrace, CHILD OF THE GHOSTS,
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Other books by the author
The Frostborn Series
The Orc's Tale (Tales of the Frostborn short story)
The Third Soul Series
Computer Beginner's Guides
The Windows Command Line Beginner's Guide
The Linux Command Line Beginner's Guide
The Ubuntu Desktop Beginner's Guide
The Windows 8 Beginner's Guide
The Linux Mint Beginner's Guide
The Ghosts Series
Ghost Dagger (World of the Ghosts novella)
Ghost Aria (World of the Ghosts short story)
Ghost Claws (World of the Ghosts short story)
The Fall of Kyrace (World of the Ghosts short story)
Ghost Omens (World of the Ghosts short story)
The Demonsouled Series
The Dragon's Shadow (World of the Demonsouled novella)
The Wandering Knight (World of the Demonsouled short story)
The Tournament Knight (World of the Demonsouled short story)
The Tower of Endless Worlds Series
Otherworlds
About the Author
Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.
He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works.
Visit his website at:
http://www.jonathanmoeller.com
Visit his technology blog at:
http://www.jonathanmoeller.com/screed
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