“You bastard!” Malvrok said. “I’ll fucking kill you! You betrayed us all!”
“Sorry, Mal,” the tall commander of the Fortress watch said. “I had to do it. Otherwise he would have killed my whole family. But now, I’m a rich man.”
“About that, Duncan,” Graytooth said. “I lied!” The Councilor swung around in a circle, building speed with the axe before it collided with Duncan, cutting him in half.
“Well, thanks for that, Graytooth,” Malvrok said spitting out more blood. “Though, I would have liked to have killed him myself.”
“Where is Abner?”
“He left a day ago to earn his Aksah, I wouldn’t have the faintest idea where he is now,” Malvrok said. A smirk crept over his face. “After all this, you still lost.”
“We’re done here,” Graytooth said. He drew a short sword from one of his Vanguard. “Kill them and be done with it.”
Abner closed his eyes as the sword of another Vanguard pierced Talia’s chest. However, he couldn’t close his ears to shut out her screams. When Talia couldn’t be heard anymore Abner opened his eyes, tears running down his face for the only mother he’d ever known.
“No!” Malvrok struggled against the two men that held him. He was struggled like a child trying to break free of the Alilletians.
“My axe is too good for you.” Graytooth laughed looking up at the glistening sword that Abner now recognized as his master’s. “You can rest knowing you died by my hands impaled on your own sword.”
Malvrok cast his glance to the side, looking at his house for one last time. His eyes widened as far as they could when he saw Abner staring straight back at him. Abner’s fist was clutched around his sword, his knuckles turning white. He couldn’t look away this time. Malvrok looked up into Graytooth’s angry eyes one last time as the Alilletian drove the sword through his stomach.
30
Burning Embers
The world slowed as Malvrok slumped to the ground, the sword sticking out of his stomach. Without warning, Abner scrambled to his feet. His own sword clutched in his hand as he broke from cover, ignoring Lois’ shouts as she called him back to her. Abner ran regardless, aiming straight for Graytooth and any Alilletian that got in his way, screaming his lungs out.
Two of the Alilletians drew short axes, turning to face him and looked to provide sport for their friends. Abner in turn, obliged them. Swinging his sword that crashed mightily against the first Alilletian’s axe. He countered a blow from the second before splitting open the first, sending his guts to the ground. Abner finished the second with a spinning strike to his heart. Two more of the giant men fell by his blade before a circle closed around him, each man with a large axe.
“So you’re Malvrok’s boy, Abner,” Graytooth said, stepping through his men. “Tell me, boy, do you like what we did to your master?”
“No,” Abner said. His teeth grit together, clutching his sword tighter waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
“Gripping your sword isn’t going to do anything. Go on, why don’t you take a swing? You’ll end up with it inside you like he did. Although it’s a pretty sword so I might keep it,” Graytooth said.
“I’ll kill you for what you did,” Abner said.
Graytooth laughed and shook his head. “Hold him still and bring me the sword.”
Two Alilletians behind Abner grabbed his arms and held his head. The only useful weapon he possessed were his feet. Even then they proved ineffective against the giant men of the north. A third man handed Abner’s sword to the Councilor.
“A very fine blade,” he said. “Now you’ve just killed four of my best men and you expect me to let you walk away. You just committed treason against the highest authority in Alilletia. I’m afraid the only way to punish you is to kill you. We can search your body for any traces of the amulet if you don’t wish to inform us of where it is.”
The Alilletians gathered around, watched as Graytooth swung the sword several times to get a feel for it. His giant hand barely fit the hilt. In the mud, Abner looked to Malvrok’s body, hoping it would spring back to life and slaughter Graytooth. He hoped Lois had the sense to escape as Graytooth raised the blade that would end his life.
A roar broke out across the training field and a short-handled mallet struck Abner’s sword, knocking it out of Graytooth’s hands. Torvak smashed into the Alilletian lines as they turned to investigate the commotion. His war hammer swung upwards a dozen times and taking out as many Alilletians, bashing in their skulls.
The blacksmith’s black hair was scorched and full of ash, as was his beard. It was at times like these that Torvak looked like an Alilletian more than ever. With him there were at least a dozen people, each of them with a weapon, breaking through the Alilletian circle in order to save Abner.
“Run, boy, don’t just stand there!” Torvak said at the top of his lungs as he attacked Abner’s captors.
Abner didn’t need to be told twice. He rolled forward, scooping up his sword, cutting at the closet Alilletian to him. The man fell backwards without both legs to support him. Torvak broke free of the Alilletians a split second behind Abner, calling for his men to follow, but the numbers stacked against them were too great.
They burst into Malvrok’s house moments later, Abner quickly snatched up his bow and quiver. Lois was nowhere in sight and there was no sign of fresh blood anywhere.
“Where’s Lois gone!” he asked.
“She was here?” Torvak asked. “By the gods we need to get out of here! The Alilletians are regaining their bearings. Head for the main gate!”
“But Lois was right there!” Abner said.
“It doesn’t matter; she’s either dead or dying. There’s nothing we can do for her now. Now listen, they’ve got men on the gate. I need you to shoot as many as you can. Both of us better survive this, Abner, or I’m haunting you when I come back,” Torvak said.
“I’ll kill as many as I can,” Abner said.
“Good, it’s what Malvrok trained you for,” Torvak said. “Look, there’s the gate.”
Four Alilletians looked out into the forest, each of them with a longbow in hand. They stood on top of the gate, pacing slowly. Another small contingent of four men stood with axes on the floor barring any escape.
“Can you handle them?” Torvak asked him as they ducked behind a house.
“Of course I can,” Abner said. “Can you handle the four on the ground?”
“I just saved your ass by charging head first into a large group of them and you ask me if I can handle four of them? I’m more worried about you not killing those ones up there on the wall,” Torvak said.
“They won’t get an arrow anywhere near you,” Abner said.
“They better not,” Torvak said. “Take them out and keep up with me.”
Abner lined up the first shot sneaking around the corner, holding for a second before firing. As the first arrow leapt across the street to its target, he had another in the air. The first two Alilletians had dropped to the ground, their bows flying over the wall before the others knew was happening.
Torvak ran low to the ground, his war hammer hanging by his side, ready to bring up smashing through the thick furs of the Alilletians. The four men below the gate spotted him, turning just as the blacksmith was upon them. Torvak swung the mighty war hammer up, knocking an Alilletian clean off his feet.
The blacksmith ran into the other three, leading with his shoulder, knocking them all flat. He brought his hammer down on one man, before the rest regained their footing. Abner fired off another two arrows, striking the remaining Alilletian archers on the walls. He ducked behind cover as the last man standing returned fire, his arrow skewing off to the side. There was a roar from behind him and Abner looked back to see Graytooth leading fifty of his men down the street after them.
“Torvak, we need to go now!” Abner said.
“No shit, genius! Follow me! We can lose them in the forest!”
Abner raced out of the For
tress, flinging his head over his shoulder, checking on the Alilletians behind him. Graytooth shouted orders to his men to grab horses from the stables. A group split off while the rest kept on course, hunting down the two escapees. Torvak led the way, never looking back as arrow began to fill the air around them.
As they burst into the thick forest, just inside the tree line, Torvak dropped to his knees. He began scrapping away leaves with his hands, searching for something. “Shoot them!” Abner dropped to one knee, drawing arrows from his quiver. He sent them at the Alilletians with bows, less than a second later. With each arrow that left his hand, another man fell in a bloodied mess, his friends seeking shelter behind the twin walls.
“Finally! Found the fucking thing!” Torvak said. “Watch this!”
Fire exploded from the walls rising up above them. Abner watched on as the Alilletians were caught in it, screaming as they died. The Fortress was done, fire leaping onto the nearby houses, spreading quickly, the wood an easily consumable source for the angry orange flames.
“Why did you do that?” Abner asked shocked, glaring at the blacksmith, ignoring the screams from the burning Alilletians.
“They were going to burn it to the ground anyway,” Torvak said. “It was better we did it at a time that suited us. Anyone inside there should be roasted by now. Mal and I planned for the worst case scenario.”
“I can’t believe that just happened,” Abner said.
“Neither can I,” Torvak said scratching his head. “As you can probably guess we didn’t have a test run. Now let’s get out of here and get to someplace safe.”
Abner called for a stop as the pair found themselves in a small grove, surrounded by thick foliage on all sides. It was silent save for the rustling of leaves that found themselves caught in the light breeze. The boy collapsed, his legs ready to give way due to the marathons he had run in the past two days. Torvak knelt, joining him in a brief pause.
“We should probably settle down here for the night, Ab. With any luck we can make it past the Dead Mountains by tomorrow and head towards either Scanor or Conser. We can find some sort of way to work and then we can decide on where we want to go from there.”
“I’d like to spend some time in those cities,” Abner said. “I’ve heard good things about them. I could even become a knight. I was raised here, after all, and am technically a citizen of Tyrain. Why wouldn’t they have me?”
“Because you’re too…”
“Torvak!” Abner leapt up, racing for his friend. A giant double bladed axe swung out of the darkness and buried itself into Torvak’s spine. “Graytooth!” Abner shouted as the behemoth blonde Alilletian broke through the shrubs. His hair was a black sooty mess, his face scared from the flames and his muscular chest covered in scratches.
“Thought you could run from me, boy?” the Councilor said. He slid his other axe off his back, twirling it in confident circles around his body. “Bet you didn’t think I’d be able to find you in this cluster of shit and trees. I have the nose of a bloodhound and tracking your filthy kind has become something of a specialty for me.”
“Was slaughtering everyone inside the Fortress necessary, Graytooth? The lives of all those innocent are now gone, without a moment’s thought from you. How could you do that to thousands of people? You disgust me,” Abner said.
“Ha, you think I’m the face of evil? Malvrok has sheltered you behind those walls that you just burnt to the ground. Wait until you see the rest of the world, then you will know evil is faceless. I killed your people because they were outlaws, thieves and murderers. There is no evil in committing such a deed,” Graytooth said.
“No evil? How can you justify yourself like that, Councilor?” Abner asked. “You slaughtered every man, woman and child like a lamb that was raised for it. You killed the closet man I’ve ever had to a father!”
“Malvrok was a criminal, a murderer and a cheat. His fate was well overdue. I hunted him for many years after he stole that amulet from me, but every time he slipped out of my grasp. It was right that I ended him,” Graytooth said as he walked towards Abner. “Now run onto my axe so we can end this quickly.”
Abner dropped his eyes to Torvak who lay face down in the leaves. “Not a chance.”
He was a flurry of motion, keeping Graytooth on the defensive for a time, whipping blows along every part of the Councillor’s body. Graytooth was no slouch with his axe, carving deadly arcs through the air as he battered away Abner’s much smaller sword, blow for blow. Their weapons crossed, both men struggling against the other, the Alilletian using his overpowering strength to cause a break, then launching his offense.
Abner ducked and dived out of the circular attacks that Graytooth employed, his unique style with the axe was off putting to the youngster. Abner never knew where another strike would come from. Graytooth lunged forward, as if he was throwing the axe but yanked it backwards, causing the head to crash into Abner’s armor. It bounced off instantly, leaving behind a large dent. The force of the blow knocked Abner to the side, throwing his sword out of his hand. Graytooth grinned as he circled, his now, unarmed prey. He raised the axe, bringing it down, Abner leaping backwards, finding his sword.
Before Graytooth recovered from the blow that he’d expected to cut Abner in half, the young warrior had closed the distance between them, leaving a large cut on the Councillor’s hip. He roared in pain, flinging the axe wildly in the direction of the boy. Abner turned, facing the Alilletian once again, ready to strike.
The sound of a snapping bowstring broke across the silent grove and Abner ducked as he sensed the arrow behind him. It sailed over him, missing his head by no more than an inch, impaling itself into Graytooth’s massive chest. He roared in anger, ripping it out, taking another wild swing at Abner.
Abner rolled under the axe, stepping around Graytooth, slicing open his calf as he went. No Alilletians were in front of him as more arrows began to fill the air. He dropped low, grabbing his bow and quiver, breaking through the undergrowth with the Alilletian pack hot on his trail. He had the world in front of him with nothing holding him back. The Fortress was lost, and so was anything he had held dear in the past.
31
Deal
Lois woke somewhere deep in the forest to the smell of smoke coming from the west. Her last memory had been of the Fortress erupting into flames as she rushed to save a dying child from a falling post. Her eyes were hazy, but they quickly cleared, allowing her to take in her surroundings. She could hear the shouts of men far into the distance.
Lois’ weapons were beside her and it was clear someone had rescued her from the Fortress. The rain continued to fall, a few drops breaking through the canopy above. She scanned the tree line, looking for anything that could give her a hint as to where she was. Lois saw a crouched, hooded figure sitting on a tree branch. She pulled her bow close, trying not to draw attention to herself.
Whoever they were, they did not seem threatened as the young warrior rose into a crouched shooting position. She drew back with the arrow, looking for a second before releasing, sending it into the trees. The figure somersaulted, completing several full turns before hitting the ground lightly.
Lois growled and grabbed another arrow, sending it straight at her target. It was useless as a black leather covered arm snatched it out of midair, throwing it back to her feet. They stopped two meters away, and Lois could now see they wore the garb of a Hunter; however, this man had a strange presence about him.
He was tall and no doubt muscular underneath his armor. The Hunter removed his hood to reveal short black hair, eyes with a blue tinge. He had several scars down the side of his face, giving him the look of a veteran.
“Lois Behan, I presume?” he said in a slow deliberate tone.
“Who are you?” she asked. “I can tell you’re no Hunter.”
“You’d be wrong,” the Hunter said. “I came here from the West Anacore Huntrey and I have a job opportunity for someone with skills like you, Lois. My name is B
arros and I was a friend of Malvrok’s. We were rather close and I have seen you many times over the years but it is only now I have chosen to reveal myself to you. If you succeed with this, I ensure you that you will be well rewarded.”
“And why would I work for you? What is the job?” Lois asked. “I can’t kill Vampires like you can.”
“But you can get close to a certain boy they call Abner in ways that nobody else can. He is the war child of Malvrok and I know he can trust you. When you two are reunited, I need you to earn his trust and become one with him,” Barros said.
“I ran when I saw the Alilletians got a hold of him,” Lois said. “How can you be so sure he’s alive?”
“After knocking you out and dragging you here, I saw him escape into the forest.” Barros began to pace with impatience. “I know your home has been lost but I give you an opportunity. If you agree I will take you to the Blood Brotherhood where they will teach you to become a blade in the darkness and once you find Abner again, I will pay your weight in gold for each year you keep him by your side.”
“I could fight in arenas for mountains of gold, rather than take yours.”
“Yes, but without you, Abner will not succeed at what he was born to do.”
“And what was that?” Lois asked.
“Do as I say and you will find out.”
“What’s to stop me from walking away right now?”
“Your life for one,” Barros said. “And someone you love dearly. Bring her out!”
From out of the shadows, Margaret Behan was escorted by two men, holding her by her arms, keeping her upright. Bruises lined her face and she looked up at her daughter. Her mouth was shut, a rope serving as a gag.
The Toldar Series Box Set Page 21
