Gestation
Page 29
The dwarf’s tears stop. I boil with rage and an insatiable desire to take it out on the blacksmith, but father wouldn’t forgive me for that. The whole thing was Rachel’s fault, after all.
“Where were they taken? Where are they right now?”
Eleven flames leaped up in the room, and the blacksmith could see that I had skeleton arms and nothing but darkness under my hood. The effect was immediate: it was like someone had jabbed him with hot iron.
“Ah-h-h! I don’t know anything! They were taken away, and then Teurus’ fanatics burned their house! Destroying the whole family wasn’t enough for them!”
“What do you mean, destroying the whole family wasn’t enough?”
“Ye-e-es…” The blacksmith went back to his crying and hiccupping. “That’s what the new priest said at the parish meeting. He took them away himself.”
Apathy and emptiness overcome me.
But the blacksmith continues.
“But I don’t believe that. I remember what Arman was capable of—when he and his wife moved here, he broke my arm in a fight, and I was the one with a hammer. He went with them because he was going to find Camelia! They wouldn’t have been able to kill him.”
“…keep talking…” If there’s so much as a chance…
The flames all merge into a single fire hanging between the blacksmith and me. The darkness under my hood scares him, and I can see the coward shaking.
“He could have killed them if he wanted to,” the blacksmith says with a quiet sniff. “They told him that they had taken Camelia and would be passing judgement on their son, and that’s the only reason he went with them. When the priest said they had destroyed the killers, I didn’t believe him. Arman could have killed their whole detachment. No, something’s fishy.”
“You’re going to live. Although… Why did you call your daughter a slut if she was only fifteen?”
The blacksmith peers into the darkness, checks my height and voice.
“You’re…you’re Sagie?”
Hm, he guessed… But that’s fine. I slip off my hood, though the shroud of darkness and my gloves stay on.
“I’m death, and Sagie was sent to Hell for his sins. This is just his shell. Do you know what they call people who decide to look under my hood?”
He shakes his head so vigorously that it looks like it’s about to fall off.
“Answer me!”
“She was almost eighteen, and I’m sure she was a wanderer! We decided that the timing with the murder was just a coincidence, and that she ran off with some man.”
“Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. I was only ever her father by chance. She never called me father, and she spent all her time in the city.”
“I’m going to let you live.”
I don’t need him anymore. The temple of Teurus and its priest are my new targets. Morning will come soon, so I decide to wait.
Turning on stealth mode as soon as I leave the house, I run back to the city.
I meet the sunrise right at the door to the temple, prepared to kill anyone who gets in my way. I’ve waited two years for this, and I can wait another couple of hours. It turns out, I have an aura of my own now. The guards stay away from the odd boy standing across from the temple. Passers-by give me a wide berth, too, and the birds are afraid to fly down onto the ground.
The city wakes up, shopkeepers show up to sweep the street outside the stores, and I notice a mother and her child walking by. The boy sees me and bursts into tears. His mother turns, notices me, picks her child up, and runs off. Death has come to Imir.
The door to the temple opens. I step across the road, pulling my hand out and adjusting my cloak as I do so. A woman screams nearby.
The priest is waiting for worshippers at the altar, but I’m the only one who walks in.
“Hello. You’re the new father abbot at this temple?”
“Yes, my son. What brings you here?”
“I knew Nikon, the old father abbot. What happened to him?”
The priest looks closely at my face under the cloak.
“Ah, well, he was killed in his cell a couple of years ago.
“How? He was strong, and he had the protection of the god.”
“The thief broke in at night and killed him, taking the key to the storage locker.”
“Was he caught?”
The priest grimaces.
“No, but his sins were atoned for by his parents.”
“What happened to them?” My heart stops. I need the answer, but I’m afraid to hear it.
“Why do you ask about the parents? Ah…you’re Sagie?” The priest looks at me with an arrogant, satisfied look on his face.
I couldn’t care less that he figured out who I am. With one blow, I force him to his knees and start to choke him. The priest gets a good glimpse of the skeleton hands gripping his throat.
“The god won’t let–”
“Your god isn’t here! I’ll kill you before he has the chance to show up.”
The darkness under my hood instills terror in the priest. It’s all he can see.
I tighten my grip.
“They…” I let go slightly. “They ran away, I swear! Your father broke out, picked the lock, and ran off. Your mother was supposed to be executed first, and she was here.” I have a hard time controlling myself, and I start to empower my arms. “Wa-a-ait!”
“Wait for what? You killed my mother and think I’m going to let you go? I’ll eat you, drink your soul, and make it suffer!”
The priest is trying to say something.
“She said she hadn’t seen you and didn’t believe you could kill anyone. The worshippers were enraged at Nikon’s death and demanded blood. Right before we hung her, Arman broke through the line of guards, freed her, and ran off.”
“Where are they??”
“I don’t know…”
I let the priest go. He coughs before continuing.
“They were seen on the road to No Man’s Land in the south. That’s all I know. The god didn’t help us in our righteous efforts, and we lost the track.”
“If anything has happened to them, I’m coming back for your soul and your god.”
I toss the priest away and run out of the city. Tears stream down my face. Everything I cared about and loved, everything that was good and dear in the world was gone. Father, mama… I’ll avenge you! I promise, just stay alive.
∞ ∞ ∞
In the south of Katain, there was a city named Viral that was famed for its culture and considered a resort area by the players. It had the best restaurants, brothels, casinos, nighttime shows, and concerts. The whole city was always a whirl of fun.
Three men were sitting at a table.
“I told you, Tiamat, they have the best beer here. And the food! It’s amazing. When they bring out the meat in the cream sauce, you’ll realize that coming here was worth it.”
The two-meter giant, who was dressed like a barbarian, nodded lightly and glanced at the bottom of his empty cup.
“I know. There’s something dirty and uncomfortable about just making an avatar and using your strength like this. I feel five orders weaker, almost helpless.”
“But that’s the only way you can enjoy this ale. Come on! If you’d come here in your own body, the whole city would have died, and the food would’ve been spoiled. Set, why so sad?”
“They don’t have wings. Remember how much we liked them?”
“Stop it! Just enjoy what they have. Soon we won’t even get that.” Idzumi polished off his glass with a single pull.
Tiamat and Set glanced at each other before looking at Idzumi.
“They’re fast. Is that why you asked us to come here?”
“Yep. Akashi said that the humans have completed their first stage of development, and war is about to start.”
“Who are they going to be fighting?”
“Undead raised and guided by the small pantheon of the last era.” Idzumi smiled, his whol
e expression beaming happiness, excitement, and anticipation. A thousand fires burned in the night sky, and people danced around them. The magical scene calmed him down when he was feeling agitated.
“Finally, the kids will have a decent opponent.” Tiamat glanced at the fires, deciding to have a little fun and turning them into the figure of a phoenix. The fiery bird covered the moon, and the city was plunged into shadow.
“The little ones have had enough fun in the sandbox. It’s time for them to see what it’s like to fight a real enemy.” Set decided to join the fun, too, and a giant dog with three flaming heads appeared on the mountain next to the city and howled terrifyingly at the phoenix and the moon. The glasses on the table shattered.
The trio laughed merrily even as panic broke out around them. The people there had been enjoying themselves without realizing what awaited them, but rumors were about to break out regarding the bad omen.
End of Book 1
Book Recommendations:
Thank you for reading this book. If you enjoyed it then please join our Facebook group. I would like to also introduce you to some other great works.
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Book 2 End of an Era is available for order now.
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What would a badass and successful fighter think about being transferred into the body of a helpless and powerless child in Urban Tokyo of another world? His entire family is left behind in another universe, and he is now alone with only his bare hands to protect himself. Why not find out in the epic new novel Changing Masks by Nicholas Metelsky.
Fayroll by Andrey Vasilyev is an exciting adventure story about Harriton Nikiforov, a journalist forced to write a story about the newest online craze ‘Fayroll’. Along the way he meets a variety of interesting characters and finds a life changing epic quest that will change his life forever. This series was a best seller in Russia when first published.
Fayroll:
More Than a Game
The Road East
Winds of Fate
Gong and Chalice
Sicilian Defense
Under the Black Flag
Different Sides
The Crown and the Key
Word and Steel
The Right to Choose
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I also want to recommend Realm of Arkon, a great series written by a friend of mine: G. Akella. He is one of the most popular and best-selling LitRPG authors in Russia. Book one is currently available for free until the end of the month on Amazon.
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Andy finds himself in a life and death struggle as he must adapt to his new environment and undergo the ancient ritual to become a Dragon to survive after accidentally falling through a portal to another world. Read this exciting adventure now by the best-selling author Alex Sapegin available on Amazon: Becoming the Dragon
Wings on my Back
A Cruel Tale
Crown of Horns
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