by Brent Tyman
Web of Lands 2
Brent Tyman
Copyright © 2020 Brent Tyman.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
ASIN: B0869PRP32
Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.
Contents
Web of Lands 2
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Afterword
Chapter 1
The smooth melody wafted through my ears as I sat on the cold chair. I stared at the mirror in front of me and frowned. My hair had gotten a tad longer, and a beard had replaced the stubble I usually adorned.
I ran a hand along my cheeks and watched the man in the mirror as he did the same.
This wasn't me.
The melody came from the sword currently gripped in my hand. It was the same one that I had used to weaken Andra, before I ended him for good.
The events of that day played through my mind. Andra, the supposed top mage of Fulgrem, wanted immortality and used everything at his disposal to get it. Even thinking of his experiments to steal my peoples runes made my blood boil.
That was all in the past, and I was now the supposed king of Frostburn and Fulgrem.
The king of Frostburn title seemed a tad redundant. We had gotten everyone away from Frostburn, and now my people have settled in the capital of Fulgrem instead.
One would think I would be more pleased, and I should be.
Except for the voice in my head.
I was angry that the others had given me this burden. I genuinely thought I would breathe my last on that throne.
Yet, the black God was a vengeful one it seemed, as not only did I survive, something now lives in my head. It slivers around in my mind, and I swear I could hear whispers in my sleep.
I had tried everything to make it stop. Reasoning with it, arguing with it, even trying to appease it.
Yet it would not stop.
I hadn't talked to Eliandra and Lunara for weeks now, as I feared this voice had some measure of control over me. Tessa was the only one I allowed near me. The others such as Flavious and the trio gave me my space. I was thankful for that, as my will had been beaten down as of late.
This wasn't me.
This infernal crown…
Laughter touched my ears for a moment, mixing along with the sword’s melody, and before I knew it, the voice spoke.
“That sword won’t protect you from me. I am always here, always watching. It simply amused me to see you struggle with finding a way to silence me.”
Get out of my head!
“Don’t be so cold to your protector. I am all knowing, all powerful and must feed,” the voice said.
It had claimed to be Frostburn, but after all these weeks with it in my head, I still had little knowledge on what that meant.
It also didn’t help that it responded to my thoughts, which was strange enough as it is. A fitting reward for all my service to my people.
“I am running out of patience, my dear supplicant. I have endured your weeks of wallow, only because of necessity, but now, I have had enough of your insolence. It is time for you to perform my bidding,” the voice said ominously.
I still couldn't tell if it was a male or female voice, it sounded so strange as it spoke in my head. It was as if someone was gripping my temples and speaking directly into my forehead.
I tried to project my thoughts directly to it, to ensure that it answered my questions.
What do you want from me?
Laughter met me again, and I wished that it had a physical form so I could pierce its flesh with the sword in my hand. See if it would laugh then.
“I am a God, I want for nothing. Yet, I am displeased with the entertainment available. Watching through the eyes of that old king had been terribly boring and I need to be free.”
It also kept saying it was a God as well, but it never explained which one. There was no God called Frostburn, and the black God was nameless. There were other Gods in our culture but we mostly worshiped the black God exclusively. Although we acknowledged that there were many more gods in this plane of life.
Free from what? I tried to project to it.
“Observing. Gods observe and after all these millennia, I have grown tired of it all. I wish to walk the land again and kill as I did before,” the voice said.
This was the first time it had detailed what it wanted. At first it had demanded my cooperation, and pain lanced through my head every time I refused. This was real progress, and the man in the mirror’s eyes sparkled with interest.
You want to walk the land again? How would I do such a thing?
The voice paused as it considered my question. It didn't laugh as it had did every time I refused to help it, but now it seemed it would try to have a conservation with me. I could only hope it bore fruit.
“Hmm, you are still defiant. Still hoping to be free of me. This is the result in me choosing a strong candidate to inhabit. Hmm. Perhaps a more hand off approach will work,” the voice said.
Suddenly, hot pained sliced between my temples and I growled reflectively as I gripped them, dropping the sword. The smooth melody winked out as the sword hit the floor and all I could hear was laughter. The voices laughter.
“Listen to me carefully, supplicant. I am a God, one of many but far more powerful than you can ever imagine. I go by many names, but for now, you may call me Frost.”
All I could think about was the voice in my head and the pain that came with every word. I could feel nothing else, no other sensations. I couldn't even breath. I could only listen.
“In order for me to walk the earth again. I must feed. But my diet is not simply the souls of mortals. No, it is of other Gods like me. Asterlia is where I am from and it houses many Gods, many opportunities for fun are present. I wish to take revenge on the others that forced me to wallow in that ruin of a planet you call Frostburn.”
It was from Asterlia? I barely had time to think about this detail before it spoke again.
“There are many steps to take, but I shall allow you some autonomy to carry out the first one. Go about your business, kill in my name if you wish. But when you see the blue pin of Vulenchia, press down on it. Do this for me and it shall please me. Fail and you will face my wrath.”
As if the pain was never there to begin with, it was gone in a flash. None of the pain lingered, and I let in a massive breath of air before releasing.
For some reason, I felt so much better. The man in the mirror had some color return to his face and the gloom I had felt for the past few weeks felt like it had been a dream.
Whatever that thing Frost was, it had either gone from my head and slithered away deep enough where I couldn't feel its presence any longer.
I had a choice to make now, should I go along with what it had said to do or find a way to get rid of it for good.
&n
bsp; If only Flavious offered any answers to this. Ever since I had put on the crown, he had claimed ignorance of its true nature ever since. I knew that he had far more knowledge that he had shared with me, but he had refused to give it.
In any case, I had a moment of reprieve, and it was time to stop wallowing in my own circumstances.
I gave the man in the mirror one last look and vowed to myself that I would never look like him again.
“Tessa!” I called and watched as the beautiful blue skinned Dryvela waltzed in through the door. As always, she had done up her hair just as I liked it, black tresses that smoothly arched around her shoulders. She smiled at me as she closed the door behind her.
She still wore that sensuous slave attire that she knew I loved and walked in a seductive manor as she headed towards me. Her eyes twinkled in the light as she laid each of her arms around my shoulders and squeezed them gently.
“What can I do for you master?” she said in a breathy whisper.
I half considered whisking her away to bed at this very moment, take some time to enjoy my newfound resolve.
But I was a king and had a kingdom to rule.
Even if I only realized it now.
“I need a shave and a change of clothes. Shave first,” I said as I got up from my chair and headed to the bathroom.
I looked back and see a strange expression on Tessa’s face, as if she didn’t know what to make of that request.
“Uh, yes master. Right away,” she said after a moment. She followed me to the bathroom and grabbed a chair for me to sit on while she gathered up the rest of the tools she needed.
I watched as Tessa fiddled with the myriad of drawers and cupboards in the bathroom. Once I had become king, I would naturally get the room the old king of Fulgrem stayed in. The bed itself was fit for ten people to sleep in, and the amount of extravagant paintings bordered on being more gaudy than anything else.
It was far better than living in Frostburn, however; the weather wasn't trying to actively kill me.
Tessa pulled out a short blade from a cupboard while I removed my top. As a slave of Frostburn, she had been extensively trained in all aspects of taking care of her master. Dryvela, as far as I knew, tended to be more passive, especially with that shadowy ability of theirs. To disappear into the shadows was not only perfect for sneaking up on someone, but for also escaping into the darkness. I was lucky to have her on my side and she had been nothing but a blessing after my coronation as king.
“Master,” she whispered as she twirled the knife in her hand. She smiled widely as she looked upon me.
“Why are you looking at me like that, do you want to…” She let the rest go unspoken, but I knew exactly what she meant. Ever since my self-imposed wallowing in my room, Tessa had been my sole relief. Her touch was magical after staying away from both Lunara and Eliandra.
I had to see them as soon as possible.
“Perhaps soon, I want to see the others and not look like a vagrant,” I said. Tessa nodded as she took a step behind me and I saw the knife flash in the corner of my eye.
The people in Fulgrem had a strange contraption for shaving. What Tessa held was a knife with a blade, but imbued with copious amounts of prime by a mage. The knife would slice off any hair as if it were butter, but it bounced off skin like as if it were striking a wall.
It was both elegant and strange. The truth sayers wouldn't dare bother with such a trifling matter such as shaving, as most liked to keep their beard. If one of my men wanted to shave, they did it the old-fashioned way, with a real knife at the throat.
“Tessa,” I said as she sliced away the hair from my chin. “Tell me of what is happening outside these walls. What are people saying of me?”
She had been happily humming to herself as she worked, but the knife stopped just a short distance from my eye. Because of its magical properties, the end of the blade glowed a light blue, which was the only sign that it were magical at all.
Tessa resumed her task before speaking.
“Well, none of the Frostburnians dare speak ill of their king, absent as he is,” she intoned, as if to gauge my response to that. I smiled for her to continue.
“But the people of Fulgrem, the Fulgremians, as they like to call themselves, speak in hushed tones and near whispers. They hate having a foreign king in power, you can see it in their eyes. The fear of death put forth by us is starting to wain and they realize we are just as beaten down as they are.”
I pondered her words for a moment. It was true that I had heard whispers, that suggested the people of Fulgrem were realizing we weren't as all powerful as we seemed.
Many had died in the siege of Terorra, the capital of this nation. Thousands of deaths on both sides. I cared little for the native people that lived here, but the amount of casualties from our army had been hard to swallow. Decades of using the specter magic had made the pain of losing a comrade a thing of the past, and I was now revisiting that pain all over again.
“So the Fulgremians are dropping out of line?” I asked and but I saw Terra’s hair flash in the corner of my eyes, as if she had shaken her head.
“Not just yet, there is definitely resentment but all of our men in that intimidating armor has helped keep order so far. I think there is confusion on who is actually in charge. Eklis and Flavious are in constant shouting matches in the throne room, the dark elves have also withdrawn back to Dunara. There is uncertainty in the air,” she said, and I sighed.
“And I’ve been sitting here, avoiding it all,” I said. Tessa ran her free hand down along my head and rested it on my shoulder.
“No, you have been trying to cope with the burden as best as you could. None would dare fault you for that. I am glad you are back to your old self,” she said and ran the blade across the left side of my neck to get rid of any remaining hairs.
“What triggered this change in you, I wonder?” she asked and I shrugged in response. I wasn’t entirely sure how to tell her I had a self-proclaimed God in my head a few moments ago, but now it had gone.
“It was simply time to wake up,” I said to her.
The next few moments passed in silence as Tessa finished shaving me. I preferred having a little stubble, but clean-shaven would suffice for now.
Tessa cleansed the rest of the fallen hairs off my body. She also admired the runes displayed prominently on my chest. For some reason, ever since I had put on that crown, my runes had grown far more intricate that I had ever imagined, which was troubling. They were a part of my soul, and yet they had still changed into new ones. Neither Flavious nor the others offered any explanation on this, which was about as much as I could expect from them at this point.
“Should I summon the others here?” Tessa asked tentatively as her gaze broke from my bare chest. I smirked in satisfaction as she looked at me with desire in her eyes.
“No, I will see to them myself. If anyone comes for me, direct them to the throne room until I return,” I said as I made to leave.
As if to show the usefulness of her ability, a shadow streaked across my feet, towards the entrance of the bedroom. The shadow warped for a split second into a Dryvela like form before Tessa appeared, as if she had just teleported there. She thrust out of breasts, which were far more prominent in that attire of hers.
“Please,” Tessa drawled as she stepped near me, blocking the way out. “Haven’t I been your everything these past weeks. Don’t I deserve some reward?” Tessa fluttered her eyelashes at me and I had to look away, else I could be caught in her spell like a fish on a spearhead.
She was right; I had relied on her almost exclusively and she had proven to be exactly what I needed. Perhaps a reward was in order.
I stepped up to her and latched my lips onto hers. As if she had been waiting for this from the start, she curled her arms around my neck and her tongue danced with mine with a passion.
One of her hands searched for my own and she directed me to one of her glorious breasts, enticing me to squeeze. I lau
ghed in her mouth as I pulled back. Again, she looked up at me, begging me with her eyes to take her to bed.
“I would love nothing more to give you a more fitting reward, but not right now.” I said. Tessa’s face fell as if I had said I would throw her out of my service.
“But once the day of over, I will return and…” I didn’t manage to get the rest of my words out as Tessa kissed me again, with somehow even more burning passion than before. She had all of me for the past few weeks and still wanted more. It reminded me of Lunara.
Tessa pulled back on her own this time and slid a hand across my chest as she swept past me, which reminded me that I needed to get dressed before I left.
I quickly put on the royal garb that had been commissioned for me a week after my coronation as king. It was of the finest silk that Fulgrem offered and featured some of the etched runes of my people. Each one was singular as to not refer to any specific person, but together, it represented a message of power and authority that I demanded with my role of king. I made a silent vow to myself to never stray from the path laid before me, as I put it on for the first time.
I took a final look at a mirror and the man I saw was me, Ordan Strix. The Slayer of Saina. I didn't feel like a king just yet, but I would make sure that everyone would now see me as one.
I headed for the exit and waved a hand to Tessa who opened the door for me.
There were around twenty guards stationed around this corridor, ten of them hovered around the entrance to my room. They seemed surprised when I swept past them, before snapping out of their stupor to follow me.
“Is there anything you need, my king?” one of them asked as they took positions to cover my flanks.
“I’m going to the throne room, you can start by telling me where Eklis or Flavious are,” I said, and they all exchanged looks with each other.
“Both should be in the throne room, my king. We… shall take you there,” another guard said, as if coming to some silent agreement amongst themselves.
I let the guards lead me to the throne room and enjoyed the commotion I was making already. For the past few weeks, I had barely left my room and had everything such as food brought over to me. Eklis and the trio had tried their best to help me snap out of whatever ailment I had, but for some reason, I couldn't say what was wrong with me. The so-called God had somehow made me desire not to reveal its nature to everyone around me and I wondered if I could do so now.
