“A great warrior needs heart. He must love someone – or something – more than himself. His brothers in battle, his woman, his homeland. That is where he summons the strength to keep on fighting when every fiber of his weary being cries to surrender.”
I nodded. That sounded like something from one of the epic tales I’d read.
“And soul,” she went on. “The connection with a force greater than our mortal self. For spirit will prevail when all else is gone. Strength can fail; endurance will dissipate given enough time. A heart can be broken by betrayal. Tell me, young lad – do you have the soul of a warrior?”
“Yes.” I answered with the brash confidence of youth.”
She gave me a crafty smile. Rummaging on the table before her, she pulled out a stone amulet on a silver chain. Rubbed it against her sagging bosom to clean the dust from it.
“Take this.” She pressed it into my hand. “When you are truly ready to become the greatest warrior in our world, you need but hold it in the palm of your hand and say, ‘Test me. Train me.’”
I took it. Anything to get away from her. I tried to pay her for it, but she refused. “It is a gift, Magnus,” she said solemnly. “Not from me but from the Goddess I serve. She has chosen you among all men. Deemed you worthy to rise to the ranks of hero one day, your name a legend – if you develop the heart and soul to become a great warrior.”
“How do you know my name?” I stared at her suspiciously.
“I know many things. The Goddess has shown me the Akashic records, the golden tablets on which are written the secrets of the Universe.”
I looked into the deep, dark pools of her eyes and shivered. “Who are you?”
“My name matters not. Truth be told, I forgot it centuries ago. I am known now only as the Oracle.”
Centuries ago? Chatting with the Goddess? The old lady was mad. I threw a handful of coins at her, grabbed the scarf, and hurried away, without realizing I still clutched the amulet.
I wandered the city for hours. Finally, hunger drove me into a tavern where I ordered my evening meal and a stout mug of ale to wash it down. Both were delivered by a buxom blonde wench with a winning smile. I flirted with her outrageously, though she was probably twice my age. To my astonishment, as I was leaving, she whispered she’d love to meet me at midnight, after her work was done.
I tipped her lavishly then dashed outside and down the street to a traveler’s inn I’d passed, where I rented a room so we’d have a comfortable bed. I wanted my first sexual encounter to last for hours, rather than having to lift her skirt for a quick fuck in a dark alley. Then I headed back outside to roam the streets till it was time for our meeting. The combination of nerves and a hard-on that wouldn’t go away gave me boundless energy.
I ended up in a part of town I hadn’t seen before, where the streets were dark and nearly deserted. I’d been spending my time dreaming of the evening to come, making up fantasies culled from bits and pieces of every dirty story I’d heard from older, experienced males. When I stuck my hand in my pocket to rearrange the growing bulge in my pants, I found the amulet.
In my excitement, I’d forgotten all about the old woman and her odd gift. I pulled it out to examine it. The silver chain was old and tarnished, nearly worthless. The amulet looked just as old. A metal disc surrounding a dark lump of rock. I nearly tossed it in the gutter, but something caught the light from a flickering torch in the doorway of a nearby boarding house.
The whole thing was filthy, despite the old lady’s attempt to clean it. I spit on the amulet and rubbed away some of the grime. To my surprise, a faceted stone was set in the heart of the rock. It looked for all the world like the diamond in a necklace father had given my mother on their last anniversary, only bigger.
I looked up at the Seven Stars, shining bright, and remembered the old lady’s words.
To this day, I don’t know why I did it. Perhaps I was saying goodbye to my childhood belief in magic and myths, for after this night I’d truly be a man. Whatever the reason, I laid the amulet in the palm of my hand, looked up into the heavens, and sent the message.
“Test me, Goddess. Train me to be the mightiest warrior in the World of the Seven Stars.”
The next moment, I found myself alone in the barren wilderness, with no idea how I’d gotten there. My first thought was that I’d been conked on the head and robbed by street thugs, then dumped at the edge of town. But when I checked, my pouch full of coins was still tucked into a hidden pocket in the waistband of my trousers.
I thought I saw a figure in the distance, so I headed that way, hoping to find someone who could tell me where I was. I had to get back. It was nearly midnight, and my lusty tavern wench would be expecting me.
To my shock, when I drew near, I saw it was the old woman. The Oracle, she’d called herself.
“Where am I? How did I get here?”
“You’re in a training camp for mighty warriors. My training camp.” She tossed a bundle at my feet. “Supplies. You’ll need them. Head east.”
I bent down to pick it up. When I lifted my head, she’d vanished.
I whirled around in a circle, but she was gone. The barren ground offered no hiding place, strewn with rocks that barely came up to my shins.
“Wait! Come back! I have to get to town. I’ll pay you well,” I added, out of sheer desperation. My words were carried away by the night wind.
She knew my name. Perhaps she was part of an elaborate plot to ransom me. After all, my father was a wealthy man. But how did she do it? How did she get me here, in the middle of nowhere, in the blink of an eye?
That’s when I started to laugh. This was all a dream. An elaborate nightmare fueled by fears and fantasies. I hadn’t gone to the city. I was asleep in my bed even now. I’d leave in the morrow, when I awoke.
Navigating by the Seven Stars, an unremarkable talent possessed by every schoolboy in the country, I headed east, determined to see what other adventures awaited me in my slumber.
When the sun rose, reality set in. This was no dream. In every direction, as far as the eye could see, a layer of dust covered the ground. Soil baked dry by the heat of the sun. No sign of civilization.
The first day, anger propelled me forward. I’d find that old crone and make her pay. I’d been so close to losing my virginity – and to an older woman at that, one who could teach me all manner of wicked acts. I cursed the bitch with every step.
By midday, half my water was gone, along with most of the single loaf she’d given me. There was still no sign of human habitation, and I decided I’d better ration the rest of my supplies carefully.
That night, I shivered uncontrollably. The night air was cold against my sunburned skin. When the sun rose, I was grateful for its warmth – until it sat high in the sky. Scorching me once again with its blistering rays.
My steps slowed then stopped. I was exhausted. Out of water. I couldn’t go on. I’d die here in this wilderness, and my mother would never know what happened to me. I’d never feel her arms around me again, never see her sweet smile. I loved her so much. I couldn’t bear the thought she might think I ran away. It would break her heart.
I fell to my knees, sobbing.
It could have been hours, it could have been only minutes. But once my tears were spent, I heard the old crone’s voice in my head. He must love someone – or something – more than himself. That is where he summons the strength to keep on fighting when every weary fiber of his being cries to surrender.
That’s when I remembered the scarf I’d bought for my mother. I fumbled in my pocket for it. Wrapped it around my head to shield me from the brutal rays, hauled myself to my feet, and stumbled on.
The cliffs appeared in the distance late on the second day, covering the horizon from north to south. The closer I got, the taller they rose. It was night again by the time I reached the face. That’s when I heard her shrill voice coming from high above.
“About time you
got here. Come on up.”
Up? I’d never climbed anything taller than the hills around our home. The sheer rock face had to be a hundred feet high. Two hundred. Half out of my mind with exhaustion and thirst, I collapsed on the ground, shaking my head.
“Are you a warrior? Or a weakling?”
She taunted me mercilessly all the way up. All through the night. Dawn was breaking when I finally hauled myself over the edge. She’d disappeared again but left the flask along with bread and cheese and meat wrapped in a cloth.
I ate and drank my fill then dragged myself to the shelter of a tree and slept like the dead for hours. The young are resilient and when I woke, I was ready to track the old bitch down and exact my revenge.
To my surprise, I was on a wide green plateau. Trees dotted the landscape here and there. In the distance, in the middle of a flower-filled meadow, stood an ancient stone temple topped with a golden dome. As I drew near, I saw a wide flight of stone steps leading to bronze doors easily twenty feet high.
Despite having been tutored by learned scholars, I’d never heard of this temple. Nor had I seen anything so grand in our modern-day world. Awed, I mounted the steps and ventured inside.
I’d slept most of the day, and dusk had fallen. The interior was cool and dark, without a source of natural light except for a few stars I glimpsed through a circle in the center of the dome, open to the heavens. Flickering torches set high on the walls stretched into the distance. The place was far bigger than it looked from outside.
From what little I could see, the temple was empty, except for a raised dais under the center of the dome with what looked like a throne atop it. Huge braziers surrounded the dais, piled with glowing hunks of some sort of incense. It smelled exotic, like the whiff I got of the goods from a spice market I passed in the city. Smoke from the braziers hung in a cloud around the dais, obscuring my view. Was there a statue on the throne?
I came closer and nearly cried out in fright when the statue moved. Stretched out a hand and beckoned me nearer.
Then I saw it wasn’t a statue. It was a woman. A beautiful woman in a long purple gown with silver-blonde hair flowing nearly to her waist.
“Who are you? What is this place?”
“I told you before. My name is not important. This is the temple of the Goddess.”
Told me before? I rubbed my forehead. My mind was playing tricks on me again. Maybe I was delirious and this all an illusion. Even now, my body might be lying at the foot of the cliff where I collapsed, life seeping away.
“This is no illusion.” She spoke as though she’d read my mind. “You told the Goddess you want to be a great warrior. The greatest warrior who ever lived. I believe those were your exact words.”
Her appearance had changed, but I recognized the slightly mocking tone of her words. It was the old woman who called herself the Oracle.
“You! You heartless bitch!” I charged at the dais, ready to throttle her, female or not.
She waved a hand, and suddenly I was rooted to the spot.
“Let me go! I swear by all the gods, I’ll send you to the seventh hell for what you did to me!”
She laughed. A full-throated hearty laugh. “You made it, didn’t you? Now tell me, what did you learn?”
“I learned I hate you,” I spat.
She was unfazed. “Hate alone is not enough to make a warrior great. What else?”
“I learned not to drink all my water the first day,” I shot back.
“Self-control. Planning for the unknown. Good. What else?”
I remembered the scarf and how the memory of my mother made me rise and keep going when I wanted to lie down and die. How, despite exhaustion and fear, I climbed a cliff I thought unsurmountable.
“I learned…I learned I can go far beyond what I ever dreamed I could.”
“Congratulations, young warrior. You passed your first test.”
Thus began my training.
Chapter One
Melisandre
Drums.
I heard the faint sound when I entered the temple. A slow somber beat, muffled, like the single leather-wrapped head of a wooden stick striking an animal hide stretched over a hollowed-out log.
At first, I thought it was the pounding in my head. Goddess knows, it hurt badly. In the last few hours I’d fought my first real battle, felt the weight of deciding life or death for another living being. Faced a fiery doom at the hands of my lover, the dragon lord, then watched him consumed by flame when I defended myself with a power I never knew I possessed. Ended with another unbelievable flight on the back of a mythical beast.
All in all, it had been a hellish night.
I just wanted to curl up in Drayke’s arms and sleep, safe in the fortress hidden deep within the heart of Mt Jarazal.
I’d left my dragon lord outside, on the wide terrace in front of the doors to the temple where he’d shift back to his human form. Though he said it grew easier each time, I knew the process was still painful. I couldn’t bear to watch.
While I waited, I wandered through the temple.
Something was different. I didn’t realize at first what it was until I drew near the dais. The throne was gone. In its place stood a stone altar. Two objects lay on it, side by side.
I moved closer. Ventured up the steps of the dais for the first time. The faint sound grew louder when I picked up the object nearest me. As if a second drum had taken up the slow, steady beat.
It was a diamond, the largest I’d ever seen, fashioned with an intricate multi-faceted design. When I lifted it from the table, the facets caught the light streaming in from the opening in the dome above. Glittering rays danced around the room and for the first time, I saw symbols carved in a relief running at the top of the walls. The same figures, repeated over and over. A stylized dragon, breathing fire. A wave cresting. A spiral that seemed to whirl as I watched, like a tornado. A winged upright figure. But it was the last that drew my eye. A chunk of rough, dark rock, protruding from the wall, with a diamond at its center, as big as the one in my hand.
It caught the sparkle of light from the one I held, sent it shooting around the room. Picking up the reflection, sending it from wall to wall until the entire ceiling was filled with dazzling rays of sun, illuminating the golden dome.
I gasped. Every rock in the frieze held a huge diamond within it.
Power so great it can turn a lump of coal into a priceless jewel. The power of the earth. The second element the Lord of Darkness seeks.
I heard the voice of the Oracle so clearly, I whirled around, certain she was somewhere in the shadows. But the temple was empty.
I put the diamond down, and the sparkling rays disappeared.
The second item was a scroll, so old and fragile it crumbled in my hands as I unrolled it. But not before I read the words inscribed there.
Fate whispers to the warrior,
“You cannot defeat the storm.”
The warrior whispers back,
“I am the storm.”
I heard footsteps and turned around with a smile. But it wasn’t Drayke coming toward me.
More invisible drums took up the rhythm, the sound echoing off the walls. The stranger walked in time with their cadence, as though they beat to herald his arrival.
He looked like a character stepped from the pages of an epic tale. Broad chest, bare and glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. A dark half-tunic slung around his narrow hips, sandals held on by thick leather thongs that crisscrossed up his calves. He had a long blue cloak over his shoulders and gold cuffs as wide as the palm of his hand circled his thick wrists. A huge sword hung from the belt around his waist, and I saw the hilt of a dagger protruding on his other side.
He stood head and shoulders above the average man in our kingdom. A rough stubble couldn’t hide the square jawline and chiseled planes of his face. The faint line of a scar on one cheek didn’t detract from his looks but rather added a dash of bra
vado, though he cut such an imposing figure he didn’t need it. He had a high forehead and dark thick hair down to his shoulders.
As he drew nearer, I saw a medallion around his neck. A metal disc on a silver chain, surrounding a black hunk of rock with a glittering diamond in its center, as big as the one I’d held in my hand moments ago
The drums beat louder and faster as he came up the steps to where I stood, towering above me. I felt their deep vibrations flowing through me. Keeping time with my heartbeat, madly pounding.
The stranger took a knee but didn’t incline his head. Instead, his deep blue eyes looked straight at me, unfazed by my royal title. I knew instantly this man bowed to no one.
His gaze traveled up and down my body, lingering on my breasts before returning to my face. I glanced down and realized my nipples were visible under the thin white shirt I wore, standing out in hard little peaks from the cold wind hitting me when I rode on the dragon’s back.
He raised one eyebrow and gave me a wicked smile. In the past, I’d have called his behavior arrogant. Insolent. But the rhythm of the drums was stirring a dark desire deep in my core, as raw and savage as their primitive beat. Now I saw it as dominant. The wanton wench Drayke’s passion had awakened within me responded with a shiver of lust.
“Forgive my appearance, my queen. My journey was arduous.”
The drumbeat quickened, rising to a crescendo. Sending the vibrations thrumming through my entire body. He showed no notice, and suddenly I wondered if only I could hear it.
I didn’t recognize the stranger’s voice, or his face. But I knew those deep blue eyes. I’d seen them before. Here in this very temple. They were the eyes of a shadowy figure the Oracle showed me that night long ago. The eyes of the warrior.
The One the Goddess decreed would join me in my mission – and in my bed.
Coming August 2018
Ready to be seduced by a pair of hot warrior twins?
Fire Born_a Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance Page 11
