It was obvious that when the looters had all they could carry they laid waste to anything else that might have value so no one else would benefit from it. It was wasteful destruction. It was an evil that Nick didn’t understand. How can someone do this? Why would someone do this to an innocent farming village?
It reminded Nick of the way his life had been ruined by the move. All that he cared for and all he had worked for had been destroyed and taken away in just a few weeks by when his father lost his job. He knew that this was much worse, and it filled him with rage. Anger towards the dragon and anger towards the Dead Ones who had helped tear this place away from these people. The abuse in the mines, the loss of their freedom. The stories of her ruthlessness all came to reality looking at this ravaged town.
As Nick was stewing in his anger and rage, Owengar called to him to stand up and to turn around. Nick was feeling anger toward Owengar at telling him what to do, but he turned to see what it was. His rage deepened to a blurred red as he saw wandering in from the tree’s a group of ten Dead Ones pushing a small family of four before them with their swords. Terrible looks of evil across their faces. Nick knew that no good was in their thoughts and this family would suffer.
One called out to them in a sarcastic voice “Glad you could make it for some entertainment boys. Mortis told us some of you would return, and when you did to teach you a lesson. To start things off, you can watch this.” As he said this he grabbed the smaller daughter of the family by her hair. She must have only been five or six years old. She let out a scream and began to cry.
At this, without thinking, the rage that had been boiling inside of Nick erupted. It morphed into a physical power he could feel swelling inside of his chest and spread throughout his arms. It was a feeling of true power. He lunged forward, a cry of anger came from his lips as he swung his fist through the air towards the ground. The energy surged through his body and as he punched the ground. The power swelling inside of him surged out of his fists. A bright white burst of energy exploded from where he punched the ground and raced towards the Dead Ones. A shock wave rippled through the ground. No one could see anything but the bright light and the sound of the massive explosion and cries of surprise from the Dead Ones and the family. They could hear the splintering of wood and the crashing of boulders.
The white light surged past where the Dead Ones had stood. Nick had his head raised. He could see all that remained of the Dead Ones. Their crumpled bodies were sizzling and smoking on the ground. The family had been knocked to the ground but seemed untouched amid their charred remains. Everything else within a one-hundred-foot circle had been destroyed. The only thing left was bare earth. No grass or vegetation not structures or rocks. It had all been completely stripped by the explosive force. Nick had felt all his strength surge with the energy, he swayed a moment and then toppled forward onto his face in the mud and all was black.
Rhen and Owengar stood in amazement. Without a word for the next few minutes they stood staring at the family and the newly cleared area, and back at Nick in shock. It was a massive circular area. The family stood staring at Nicks form lying in the dirt right at the leading edge of the cleared area. The mother was the first to come to her senses and ran to Nick’s body and rolled him over into her lap. When she did this, Owengar and Rhen ran to her side.
Nick’s head lay motionless in her lap. His skin was gray and his body lifeless. His arms hung to his sides limp. Rhen couldn’t see his chest rising and falling as it should if he were breathing. He also noticed a shimmer of blue light on Nicks left hand. It soon faded and, in its place, all Rhen could see was an odd shaped scar he hadn’t noticed before.
“Is he alive?” Rhen asked worried.
“Yes, he is breathing, but it is shallow… Who is he?” She said in awe.
In a reverent voice, Owengar replied, “A true Keeper.”
The Scent of Death Page 22
