by Eric Vall
The dim green glow of the tattoo faded away until there was just the ordinary tattoo on his back again, but his shoulders and spine were littered with welts, lesions, and deep cuts. I reached out once more with my magic, and it easily surged forward and closed all of the wounds. The skin stitched back together in the areas where we had exposed the muscles, and soon, his back returned to its original state, save for the green tattoo.
I can get rid of it, Miraya whispered. The tattoo can be used to track members of the sect, and it would be best if we could keep him with us for now.
“Good, then let’s do it,” I told her.
Use my sword form, Miraya instructed, I can channel my magic better through it.
I grabbed the Sword of Hatra from storage and held it tightly in one hand.
Place the tip on the tattoo and focus, Miraya said.
I did as she told, and the sharp point of the sword rested lightly on the tattoo as I focused on my magic. Then I felt Miraya’s power flow through the sword, and it nearly took my breath away.
The tattoo on Aleksey back smoked as Miraya and I focused on the ink. The smell of burnt flesh filled the room as we worked, and I could hear Laika and Pyotr cough.
There, that should do it, Miraya told me, and I pulled the sword off his back.
The tattoo was gone, and in its place was an ugly burn the size of my fist. I quickly healed the burn and left him with a silver scar that stood out against his skin.
The Green Glass Sect should no longer be attached to him at all. If they try to find him, they will sense nothing, and perhaps they will think he is dead.
“I hope they do,” I responded to her quietly. “If they think he’s dead, they won’t try to find him.”
I turned back to Laika and Pyotr.
“Have either of you ever seen anything like that?” I asked and gestured to the nasty scar.
“Once,” Pyotr responded with a furrowed brow. “It was a member of a different guild that we had captured, before your time, granddaughter. The tattoos were used to mark each member so they could communicate. The marks also acted as a type of beacon to find each other in case one of them were captured, and unfortunately for us, we didn’t know that last part until we were ambushed.”
“Why was I never told of this?” Laika asked with a frown.
“I was young then, and my grandfather led the Blue Tree Guild at the time,” the older wolf explained. “Our enemies killed dozens of our guild to free one of their own. My grandfather was a cruel and vengeful man, so we hunted down the rival guild and slaughtered every last one of them. Most of us were against it, but we still participated because we were ordered to. I am not proud of it, and neither is anyone else involved. After that, the guild decided it was time for a new leader, so they elected me, and we decided to pretend the slaughter never happened.”
Laika’s eyes narrowed.
“Are there any other secrets of my guild I should know about?” she asked sharply.
“No,” Pyotr answered.
“Okay,” I said after half a minute of silence, “let’s put him back in his cell for now. Maybe once he’s recovered a bit, we can ask him more questions now that the curse is dealt with. I’ll need to talk to Ruslan and the elders about this first, though. Nike and Alyona should know as well.”
“Of course, Lord Evan,” Laika replied with a bow. “I haven’t received word on the princess, so I assume she is still asleep.”
“Thanks, I’ll let her sleep then. She deserves it.”
I helped Pyotr drag Aleksey’s limp body back into the cell and chained his arms back up.
“What is the plan now?” Laika asked as we walked from the room.
“Now,” I growled as I clenched my fists, “I find out whoever the hell is in charge of the Green Glass Sect, and I burn them alive for all the pain they’ve caused Rahma.”
We may have taken care of the echidna problem, but there were still large issues to deal with.
And killing everyone in the Green Glass Sect was my number one priority.
End of book 4
End Notes
Thank you for reading Dragon Emperor 4! I hope you really liked it. I’ll start working on the next Dragon Emperor as soon as this book has 100 reviews, so leave a review right here!
Amazon doesn’t update readers when an author comes out with a new book unless you follow that author on the store. Make sure you click this link and then click on the follow button. Then Amazon will update you a few weeks after my next book comes out.
If you want to get notified of my books the day that they come out, make sure you follow my Facebook author page and join my Facebook fan group. If you don’t follow me on Amazon or join my Facebook page, you’ll never get alerted that next book is out.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by Eric Vall
