After I finished the jerky, I climbed down the fifty feet to the needle-covered ground and took a deep breath of the brisk morning air. I did a quick stretch to work the kinks out of my muscles and get my joints lubricated. I didn't do my usual warm-up routine since the sun would be up in half an hour and I wanted to be in the city before it hung too high.
Despite advice from Rayat, I had traveled west through the forest and hit the main road leading south into Nia. For a week of travel, I saw no one, and then I came upon refugees and the sorts who become parasites off of people in need. The latter were easy enough for me to deal with; common brigands and robbers I exterminated when they tried to harm me or when I witnessed them attempting to exploit or rape refugees.
Lost souls without prospects, the refugees had little information, save what I already knew: Nia had fallen, the royal family was dead, and there was no hope. Most of the refugees fled as the Losher army was arriving. So they hadn't witnessed the outcome of the siege.
There was nothing I could do for these hungry people, as much as I wanted to. I saw in them the same desperate, wretched faces of the enslaved humans from my time. They were hollow with grief. They had seen great horror and loss. I shared rations and information when I could, but I did not allow them to slow me down. The success of my mission took precedence and would help all of us. I contemplated telling them about the small village in which Jessmei hid, but then decided against it. An influx of refugees would stretch the resources of the village and possibly put the princess in danger. As I traveled closer to the city, the groups of refugees became larger, more frequent, and told conflicting stories about what had happened at the capital of Nia. After my fourth attempt to figure out what actually transpired, I decided to avoid the refugees. I would find my answers when I was there myself.
Nia's capital squatted on a grassy hill surrounded by about four square miles of shallow dales dotted with sporadic oak and juniper trees. The city and the spider-like castle that perched over it were so massive that the metropolis could be seen from even ten miles away. My eyes were as powerful as an eagle's, so as soon as I left the forest of oaks and pines I easily identified the damage to the walls, and the different uniformed soldiers that stood atop the beaten battlements.
On the south side of the castle spider and her web city, the wide Stone River provided easy transportation for goods inland or to the ocean. I didn't see boats moving on the water, but there was a massive array of tents, stables, and wooden supply structures which sustained the army of twenty thousand troops. They flew burgundy flags with various icons of horses and stars on the banners. I guessed they were the emblems of Losher's forces.
I continued on the road south, past more refugees who eyed me and my swords suspiciously. Greta gifted me with a long, thick, hooded cloak before I left, and I took it out of my pack and wrapped it around my body to conceal the weapons. Before the road changed from dirt and rocks to smooth stone, I happened by a beaten tree branch that served as a walking stick, and my makeshift disguise was complete.
My stomach growled angrily and reminded me of lunch. I guessed there were a few more miles to go until I reached the city and I still hadn't puzzled out getting past the army. There looked to be confusion around the entrance to the distant gate, so I gambled I would be able to walk in unnoticed if I exuded enough confidence. As I worked out the plan in my brain, I heard horse hooves far ahead of me. It drew my attention out of the future and toward a new possible threat.
Two dozen Losher riders rode down the path on leather-armored mounts. The road was still busy with refugees and no one seemed to be concerned in the throng, so I just bowed my head down and kept walking toward the city. The riders passed without appearing to notice me or the other refugees.
"Why didn't they attack us?" I asked a beaten down group of men that walked past me.
"The king has surrendered the city to the Loshers. They have stopped their siege," one of the men said.
"The king is alive?" I asked in surprise. This was a version of the tale I hadn't yet heard. Jessmei would be extremely happy if it was true.
"Aye. He surrendered so he wouldn't be killed."
"Naw. The king is dead. The prince is the king now, and he surrendered," his friend yelled at me like he was deaf and didn't realize the volume of his own voice.
"I heard that the princess was joined to the Losher war chief. He took her in the king's own bed with blood still on his armor. That's why the Loshers stopped attacking," another man said with confidence. I smiled and thanked them for the info.
As I neared the walls, I saw that the north gate was closed and appeared to be guarded by twenty Losher soldiers. The majority of the army camped next to the east entrance of the city, so I took a wide detour through the field that surrounded the walls.
As I approached, I noticed citizens entering and leaving the gate via the throng around the Losher camp. I didn't know what the code of conduct was for situations where a human army has conquered another human army and now needs to live with them. All of my memories involved conquering Elven tribes and then massacring their men, women, and children. We had no need for friendly rapport or diplomacy.
The Losher people had dark black hair, wiry muscles, and rich bronze complexions. They would have reminded me of Vanlourn men, save the Vanlourns I had seen were of a darker skin color and shorter than these Losher men. The invaders paid me no mind as I walked through their camp toward the entrance to Nia. Cooking fires burned, music played, and small clusters of warriors engaged in gambling: either with dice, cards, or fist fights.
In front of the massive gate stood half a dozen soldiers of Nia. The guards seemed nervous but looked into the campsite, and the various Losher women that flitted about in leather riding pants, with interest. I ducked my head down and nodded slightly as I made my way through the raised portcullis into the body of the conquered city. The plan worked even better than I expected.
The main street was called the King's Road, and it ran north and south. I entered Nia on the Queen's Path, it would take me straight through the heart of the capital and into the back side of the castle, wrap around the inner courtyard behind the interior wall, and then continue west through the opposite entrance. When I dashed through the city evading my Elven pursuers during the night of Jessmei's kidnapping, I had not spent much time examining the condition of the city, but I recalled it being well-kept. That night the streets were clean, the homes and buildings had been in good repair, and the flags of the country flew glamorously from every structure that stood over forty feet tall.
After three months and a siege, the capital seemed a different city. Stray canines and rats that were almost the size of the dogs patrolled the alleyways looking for something to consume. Half the dwellings had broken doors and windows left unrepaired. Pieces of furniture, clothes, and silverware littered the sidewalks, yards, and alleys, poured forth from open doorways, like drunkards that had vomited and then passed out in their own filth. Small kitchen gardens were faded dead brown, their spindly plants gone to seed from lack of water and attendance. The rancid scent of feces and death filled the air, the streets were slick with it. Great mounds of glinting green and black flies coated indistinguishable heaps as they consumed discarded bodies.
I grimaced in disappointment. The absence of hygiene in the city would lead to sickness if it wasn't addressed. My army had really never needed to worry about illnesses. The Earth kept us healthy through most viral attacks, but we still made sure to build careful latrines, pull our cooking water from upstream, and eradicate vermin that might spread disease through our ranks. We didn't want to use additional magical energy for consequences we could easily prevent.
Men scurried about the streets like scared insects. They paused in each alley to assess their surroundings before scurrying onward. The stink of their terror was almost worse than the smell of conquest that saturated the fallen capital. The majority of the citizens I encountered scampered toward the south end of the city, and
while my ultimate destination was the castle, I figured I could take a detour to see where they were going.
As I continued south, I noticed the massive holes knocked out of the east side of the high walls. I didn't know what kind of machine had caused the damage, but it looked similar to the hole I remembered Malek's mages made in the dam when we used the water to drown the thousands of Elven troops we lured into the trap. One of the books Paug had showed me contained diagrams of massive siege engines utilized to take down fortress walls. The concepts intrigued me and we launched into a long discussion about what technologies had evolved because humans did not use magic.
I passed a small group of Losher soldiers that eyed me suspiciously but didn't challenge me. I breathed a sigh of relief since I didn't want to attract too much attention to myself before I determined what had happened in Nia and the fate of Jessmei's family. It had been difficult to convince the blue-eyed princess that I needed to journey back here. We had argued for weeks before I figured out an angle that swayed her.
"I've lost everything except you. You cannot go,” she had cried in dismay when I told her that I wanted to return to Nia.
"We don't know that for sure, Jessmei. Your family might be alive and they might need my help."
"They aren't alive. They've been killed. Murdered by the Losher barbarians. You want to put yourself in the middle of thousands of them? Absolutely not!" Tears rolled down her cheeks like rain drops down the spines of the dead pine needles that the coated ground. Her beautiful face was red and puffy from the week of constant sobbing.
"Jessmei," I pulled her into my embrace as another fit of crying assaulted her. "If your place was reversed with your brother, and somehow I hid here with him and thought about going to rescue you, wouldn't you want us to make a rescue attempt?"
"Fuck my brother. He's an asshole!" Jessmei screeched into my shirt. I almost laughed because Nanos was an asshole. But I'd never heard the princess use such strong words.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't say that about Nanos. We didn't get along at all, but I know he loved me." She pulled away from me wish a sniffle. "I should have told him that I loved him too. Now I can't bring him back."
"What about Nadea, your father, and your mother? Wouldn't you want someone to investigate and attempt a rescue?" I questioned her. The whites of her eyes were etched red and pink with thousands of tiny lines and glassy with tears, the contrast with the red made the blue of her irises bright and brilliant.
"They are dead Kaiyer. I can feel it. You will die too if you go back to the castle. Just stay here with me. This is a nice village. We can live here for the rest of our lives. I will give you children and we can watch them grow. I don't need to be a princess; I just need you." Her mouth curved into the dimpled smile and her eyes lit up with adoration. She was gorgeous, and when she used her charm I found her hard to resist.
The sincerity of her words shot through me, and for a second I considered them. Maybe I didn't need to kill Elvens or learn what happened in my past. Perhaps the memories would come, but if I decided to spend the rest of my life with Jessmei, it would not matter that I had been the driving force behind the annihilation of another race. I might be able to forgive myself for the crimes I committed to become imprisoned. I loved horses and the work around a ranch. The idea of sustaining a family with my own efforts did appeal to me. I was sure that I could come to love Jessmei.
Then I realized why it wouldn't work. Jessmei would grow old and I never would. I would toss and turn at night worrying about the Elven presence waiting to enslave us once they grew in power. When I thought of what our children would look like, I imagined little Paug-like kids with blonde hair and blue eyes chasing me around and pleading for attention.
I missed my young friend too much to abandon his memory.
"What about Paug?" I whispered to her as my hands caressed her neck while we embraced. Her eyes met mine after I spoke and she began to cry again.
"I forgot," she sobbed again and then threw herself back into my chest and cried for a few more minutes. "You have to go save them if you can. If they are alive. You have to come back."
"I'm hard to kill Jessmei. I will come back with our friends," I said, and then I had kissed her deeply to drive the point home. After we had agreed on my quest she still asked me to stay for a few days, she had wanted to prepare the jerky for my journey, but she also wanted to make love many more times. We had little privacy in the house we shared with Rayat's family, but we discovered a tiny glade a mile and a half from the cottage. The spot was next to a small spring surrounded by alder, maple, and pine trees. We had enjoyed our private clearing as much as we savored each other's bodies.
The sudden noise of a crowd pulled me from the reverie of remembering our last bout of love making. I had walked into the southern bazaar. A few hundred people stood in a roughly constructed line where Nia soldiers were distributing bread and vegetables. No one seemed to notice my presence or care that I observed them. Even the large group of Losher soldiers that passed up and down the crowd paid me little heed as I wandered around the bazaar clearing, trying to discern the logistics of the line and food distribution process. They must have figured that a lone man could not do any damage against an army that had successfully sacked a city.
I was looking forward to proving them wrong.
"Hey friend," a voice called out from behind me. I turned to see a large man with a ripped shirt and gravy-stained pants addressing me from the doorway of a tavern.
"Yes?"
"You thirsty? Got us beer in here if you got money." He smiled a toothy grin.
"I have some. A beer sounds good." The various highwaymen and robbers I had slain on my way here all carried coin, and I might be able to gain more information about the state of the capital in a tavern. I walked toward the door and the man stepped aside to let me pass into the dark building. The inside stunk of bad body odor, blood, and vomit. The room was about sixty feet wide and deep, filled with twenty-one men hunched around dusty tables. They whispered to each other guardedly and sipped mugs of sour-smelling brew. Most of them wore hooded cloaks like mine that covered their faces and bodies. The conversations paused when I entered the dank den, but resumed once I took a seat at the bar.
The bartender asked for three brass coins that I handed to him. Then he gave me a small glass filled with lukewarm ale. I cautiously took a sip and was thankful that the drink tasted better than it smelled.
"Will you buy me a beer?" the man that invited me into the tavern asked as he took the stool next to me. I nodded and threw three more brass coins on the table.
"Thanks friend. Were you a soldier? Why are you still in the city?" He gulped a swig of his brew and then sighed in pleasure. His oily skin stank like rotten onions and his clothes reeked of shit.
"I was not a soldier. I'm searching for friends." Another man sat at the stool next to me.
"Who you looking for? Maybe we can help," the newcomer said from my right side. His heart beat fast and nervously.
"I don't think you know them." Something was wrong.
"Ahh, that's too bad. Just trying to help. You wouldn't be able to buy me a beer, would you?" the newcomer said. He didn't smell as bad as the man to my left but he couldn't seem to open his right eye all the way and a large piece of his ear was missing.
I threw three more brass coins on the table to get him a drink. One of my looted pouches held around ten King coins, which Paug had told me were the largest form of currency in the kingdom. I also had thirty-eight Nia coins and almost eighty of the small brass coins.
"Thank you. So what were you saying about your friends?" Ear asked again.
"You don't know them."
"Ahh. We know everyone. We'd love to help you out! Just keep buying beer for us!" Smelly said from my left. I smiled and nodded at him, wishing I understood why I was so uneasy around the two dirty men.
"I will have to get going." I had only drunk a quarter of the ale but my instincts were never wrong.
> "Wait! We really want to help you. Just tell us about your friends," Smelly said as he dashed for the door to block my escape. He smiled a toothy grin and his heart began to beat as fast as Ear's.
I spun around and blocked a dagger thrust from Ear aimed at my kidney. I didn't expect his attack, so I mistakenly left his arm free after my parry. He ripped the blade away in surprise, cutting a shallow slice across my forearm.
Smelly launched a wild right haymaker at my face, but I easily ducked under it. The missed punch threw him off balance and I grabbed the heel of his left foot and took it with me when I stood upright. He let out a sharp shriek of pain when gravity slammed his back and shoulder into the dirt-covered wood floor of the tavern.
"I cut you bad bitch," Ear said around a grin. He waved the dagger in the air at me with menace and licked his lips. I looked at the other patrons in the bar and they all stood up and moved away against the wall so they wouldn't accidentally be injured.
In a single smooth movement, I drew the curved long sword I had taken from Jessmei's Elven captors and sliced across the throat of Ear. Then I took a careful step back and drove the point through Smelly's skull and into the floorboards beneath him.
Shit Brother! Don't dull your blade like that. Thayer's voice echoed in my memories.
Ear reached up to his cut neck with a horrified expression on his face. He gurgled out something unintelligible as I pulled my sword out of Smelly's head and slammed it down into the air, stopping it suddenly so momentum carried all the gore off of the blade. Ear collapsed on the floor and thrashed for a few seconds in a pool of his own blood before he lay still.
I smiled at the remaining denizens of the bar. Most of them edged toward the back of the tavern where I guessed there was another exit. No one else drew a weapon. I didn't want to assume that the rest of the men in here were part of the plan to kill me, but the itch of the healing cut on my arm reminded me of what happened when I let my guard down.
The Destroyer Book 2 Page 6
