by Tyler Krings
“No,” said Fate.
The man of umber skin looked at him, his eyes filled with sadness, and sighed. “I did not lie to her. I told her I was not the one of whom she spoke. I have not been for some time.”
“You could have stopped all of this.”
“Would you have rather I killed you, my son?”
Fate’s knees found the ground. “Yes! Goddamit YES! Kill me! End it. Do you know how many gods, your children, have died for this?!”
The Creator nodded. “Do you?”
Fate looked at his father before dropping to his knees. His hands began to shake, “I…wanted to make the worlds better.” The pain from Spellhound was getting worse.
The Creator placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “So did I.” He looked at the girl before them. “She and her daughter will live. It is my…last gift.”
“So, you are leaving. Again.”
“My time has come, Caelad.”
“That’s not possible.”
“All things come to an end,” said the Creator. He placed a hand over the wound in Fate’s chest. “Even me. Take this gift, and this advice, my son. Remember, no matter how good your intentions, it is the means that matter most. There are always consequences.” The wound in Fate’s chest closed itself under the Creator’s guidance, but the pain remained.
Fate stared his father and they shared a last moment. He drew the Natheran sword from his belt. The sword that had belonged to the young natheran. The words Born in Flame in high speech flared to life along the silver steel. The Creator offered no resistance as the Lord of Fate slid the blade into the Creator’s heart.
“I know,” said Caelad, “I am Fate.”
Epilogue
Ham leaned on his elbows and watched the light blossom from the corpse of the dark man. He propped the charred remains of Rom up on a rock so he could see the spectacle. The Lord of Fate took Ana into his arms and disappeared in a flash. The light from the dark man’s chest rose into the sky like a small sun.
Ham gestured, “I reckon that’s gonna explode.”
The general nodded. “Yes. I suppose so.” The light grew blinding.
“So. What just happened exactly?”
The older man shrugged. “The war ended.”
The light expanded.
“So, what do we do now?” Ham asked.
The general sighed. “I think we’re about to find out.”
The light exploded.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to send a special thank you to everyone who supported and helped me with this project, my first ever published novel. To my alpha readers; Nikki Cook, Tiffany Key, Ben Williams, Mom and Pa, I want you to know y’all read the worst manuscript possible and should probably give the final copy a go.
To my editor, Alana. You are truly awesome to work with and your insight was invaluable. I look forward to working with you in the future.
To my cover artist, Jeff. You put together an amazing cover and I already have some ideas for the sequel.
To the wonderful ladies at Buoni Amici Press. I’m so glad we met. Thank you for all the hard work that made my life so much easier.
To my children, you weren’t very helpful. In fact, you were the opposite but I love you anyway.
To my wife, you’re beautiful and amazing and I couldn’t have done it without your love and support. Love you, babe.
About the Author
Tyler lives in North Carolina with his wife, a couple of rescued pups, a cat, and feral children.
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Before starting down the road to writing fantasy fiction, Tyler acquired a bachelor’s in religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. But with this wealth of knowledge came the unfortunate burden of a large amount of student loans. Since thousands in debt is not the easiest to pay off, he went back to school and got a bachelorette in nursing. And more debt.
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At least he can afford the payments now.
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Due to his dashing good looks and an exemplary wit (or pure dumb luck), Tyler now works as an assistant nurse manager in a level one trauma center. Between working full time and ignoring his children’s cries of pain and hunger, he occasionally finds time to write some fantasy. His first ‘loves’ of fiction include the works of Neil Gaiman, Dan Simmons, and Robin Hobb. He even named his dog FitzChivalry.
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The other one is Willard.
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Visit my website at http://www.tylerkringsbooks.com/
