The Destroyer

by Michael-Scott Earle

  The Elven people are not used to experiencing anything other than pleasure. They are mentally unprepared for the serious wounds that we will inflict upon their bodies, minds, and souls.

  My own voice echoed in my head as I faced the woman. Her eyes were still surprised, but she cunningly waited to see what I would do to her friend before attacking. She feinted the same movement her companion had made, but I pushed my blade up to parry above my head instead of taking the bait. She danced back with a quick back cut that would have ripped me in half had I been more aggressive. Then she executed a series of carefully constructed horizontal and vertical slashes that targeted my chest and thighs. I managed to dodge each one by an inch or so. She smiled as she saw me give up ground. Then she did the same combination of movements again.

  I came in quickly after her first horizontal cut flicked past my stomach. I reached around with my left hand and grabbed the back of her elbow, drawing her to me like a lover. The closeness of our bodies left her right arm trapped in between us, her sword rendered useless.

  The hilt of my sword smashed into her face from above. She grunted in pain, but she couldn’t fall back since I had trapped her to me with her left arm. I pulled back my right arm and smashed the pommel again into her beautiful face. This time I heard the skull crack and echo through the room. I let go of her body and she fell to her knees, free of me but not free of the abuse. I wound back my arm again and punched her in the face a third time with the hilt of the sword. She was probably already dead, but the force of the impact snapped her head back and sent her body sliding across the floor like a drop of rain down a slanted roof.

  “Who are you?” the leader screamed at me. He was backing away toward the door. His friend with the broken wrist struggled to his feet. He tried to move away as I walked to him.

  “No no. Forgive me!” he screamed as he felt my hand close around his esophagus. I didn’t bother to choke. I just crushed the bones into each other and let go. His body twitched a few times like a fish that had just been gutted. I watched the light fade from his eyes as he died.

  By the time I looked back to their leader I realized that I had made a mistake letting him watch his friend die in my grip. His armor-covered hands rose toward me in a movement I recalled. I felt the massive blast of force, fire, ice, and pain slam into me. My feet left the floor with the power of the magic he had used. I heard wave after wave of explosions and my eardrums popped. Everything went black for a second and there was another impact behind me, bringing me back from unconsciousness.

  I coughed up blood and felt my skin and lungs repairing themselves. My eyes burned, but I forced them open. I was forty feet away from the last Elven, almost on the other side of the Great Hall. I climbed to my feet and coughed again. The last of the black smoke oozed out of my chest and into the air. My fine shirt was on fire in the front. I grabbed onto it with my left hand and ripped it off of my torso. I had slammed into one of the columns that held up the roof. I couldn’t see where the sword had gone, but it wasn’t in my hands anymore.

  I noticed the shocked expressions of horror on the surrounding faces, but none as horrified as the Elven leader.

  “Who are you?” he screamed again.

  “How did you get here?!" he screamed louder and backed away. His magic threw over the table where I sat with Paug. I was going to need to jump over it to get to him.

  Then he turned and started to run.

  “Sword!” I yelled to the king as I leapt over the table and ran to the door. He tossed his through the air and my hand closed around the guard as I swung my body to the exit. I slid for a few feet on the Elven woman’s blood. By then I had reached the door of the hall.

  “We have to kill them or they will report back,” Thayer’s voice said in my head.

  I sprinted toward the doorway and into the Receiving Room. He was up ahead and turned the corner. I grabbed onto the door frame to help me turn. My feet hit the opposite wall as my bottom half went the direction I had been going. For a few seconds, my speed and the way I took the turn allowed me to run on the wall instead of on the floor.

  I saw him mount the set of stairs ahead of us and I gave chase.

  The stairs twisted in a spiral and I tried to figure out what he planned. I couldn’t see him, so I assumed he thought I wouldn’t know on exactly which level he would exit. Perhaps he didn’t realize that I could hear his heart beating its staccato of panic.

  He went up three flights of stairs and ran down the hallway. I was gaining ground on him, even though the king’s large sword hampered my movements.

  Then he did something I hadn’t expected. He turned a corner quickly and met with a dead end, an ornate window looking down to the distant ground.

  He glanced back at me as I turned the same corner. Then the Elven ran toward the window. A deadly shower of beautiful, vibrant glass blanketed his armored form as he crashed through it, light glinting in a rainbow of colors as he fell.

  I ran up to the broken opening and looked down to my prey. He had survived the steep drop and was limping away. He looked over his shoulder at me with a smile. It was almost sixty feet to the ground.

  The smile turned back into terror as I leapt from the window and crashed into the ground. It hurt terribly, and my legs almost snapped with the impact. My ligaments groaned and complained in the fraction of a second before I rolled forward and came to my feet. My body struggled to restore itself, but I had been hurt worse in the past and recovered. Within seconds I could feel the energy of the Earth repairing the minor injuries to my legs.

  His heart beat faster than a small bird’s. I didn’t need to run after him. He was limping slowly. As I drew closer he tried to skip his body ahead by thrusting his hips forward and jumping. We were in the open training area on the opposite side of the wing from my room. He would never make it to the gate of the castle before I reached him.

  “You aren't supposed to be here! Your leaders made an oath!” He was almost crying now. Finally, he fell down on his backside and raised his arms. “I surrender!” he said as tears came down his cheeks. He was so afraid, he forgot that he had a sword at his hip that he might use to defend himself. My brain was trying to puzzle out what he had just said, but before it could send a message to my mouth so that I might ask him for more detail about my 'leaders' my arm was already moving.

  The king’s sword sliced off the top four fingers of his right hand. He gasped in terror as he brought them down to look at them and screamed. My next cut took off the rest of his hand. I didn’t think it was possible, but he screamed louder.

  I tried to see how loud I could get him to scream before he died. He only lasted three more minutes until he bled out, and he didn’t get louder than when I had cut off his hand. His display of pain disappointed me.

  I told him so before his eyes closed forever.

  Chapter 19-Paug

  “I’m sure news has spread across the four directions by now. We had almost two hundred people in that celebration and at least sixty guards that witnessed what happened.” Maerc frowned as he picked at his fingernail. “Did you speak to the envoys?” He looked to the king.

  “No. They are locked in their rooms with guards for their protection. They asked to see me but I didn’t want to meet with them until I had answers.” The king leaned back in the thick leather chair and sighed. Then he glanced up to the ceiling. It looked like he hadn’t slept all night. His eyes were bloodshot and he still wore his attire from the banquet, it was as fresh and unrumpled as it had been the night before. We were all here: Maerc, the king, the duke, Nadea, and Grandfather.

  We sat in the king’s private audience chamber. He summoned me earlier in the morning. It had seemed like only a few hours had passed since I had found Kaiyer in the courtyard of the castle and walked back with him, and thirty guards, to his room. He was standing in front of a pile of flesh and blood; the remains of the Ancient captain had been neatly sliced into thin strips. Except for his head, this rested on top of the heap lik
e the crown jewel of some cabal treasure pile. The reddish armor flickered beneath the blood and hair.

  “He gave you your sword back? He didn’t try to resist you when you found him?” the duke spoke up from the corner where he sat with Nadea. Her face was void of expression but as I looked at her she smiled at me.

  “He asked if he could bathe, put on new clothes, and come back to the feast,” the king laughed a little. “As if nothing had even happened.”

  “They came in peace; will the empress see this as a sign of war?” Grandfather asked as he twirled his mustache.

  “She already intended war eventually. They did kill four of our guards on their way to the hall. If killing four is a sign of war, I believe they made the first move,” Maerc said. He picked up a warm cup of wine and drank a sip.

  “When will he be here?” the king asked.

  “Ten minutes or so. I have my best men bringing him. I still believe it is a terrible idea for you to meet with him. He is a monster and it was a mistake to wake him,” Maerc glared over at Nadea.

  “Why was it a mistake?” Nadea’s voice was clear and strong from across the room. She leveled her confident gaze at Maerc, unwavering as she narrowed her eyes and spoke again: “Is this not what we wanted? He easily defeated four armed Ancients without harming a single human.”

  “Nadea is correct. He may be our greatest weapon against the Ancients. The question at hand is: what do we do about the story spreading like wildfire?” the king said.

  “It’s already too late,” Maerc said as he got up from his chair and paced the floor. “The Ancients will know we have someone who can kill them. Any element of surprise we had is gone.”

  “I don’t understand what your problem is,” Nadea said. “The king wanted me to bring back the O’Baarni so that he could help us against the Ancients. Kaiyer might not be him but he proved that he could kill Ancients, something no one has been able to do yet. He did it easily. He was part of the O’Baarni’s army and he has seen them fall. He will help us.”

  “So their empress should know about him? How long will he live now that they have identified him as a threat? She’ll send assassins to take care of him in the next few days. He may be able to fight them face to face, but he can't combat poison or a dagger in the night,” Maerc fired back. Nadea was silent.

  I remembered the way Kaiyer had healed from the arrow in his chest and wondered if Maerc was correct. I considered mentioning this, but I felt very intimidated in front of Maerc, let alone the king.

  A knock sounded at the door, deciding for me.

  “Enter,” the king said. Runir, Greykin, Kaiyer, and ten guards walked into our meeting room. Kaiyer and Greykin were eating bright red apples and laughing about something.

  “What is the joke?” Maerc said to Greykin.

  “I was just telling Skinny that if I had been a bit closer to the king last night I would have shat down her neck before I killed the other three ugly bastards.”

  “I didn’t have enough time, and I also didn’t have to shit,” Kaiyer said with a smile. Greykin laughed a deep roar from his belly.

  “Ah. I like this lad,” he said between gasps.

  “Please sit down, Kaiyer.” The king motioned to a chair next to me. Kaiyer nodded and sat down on the leather padded chair.

  “Can I have more food?” Kaiyer said as he pointed to his apple core. The king looked over to Runir and the handsome blonde man ducked out the door.

  “Tell us about last night.” Grandfather said. He leaned forward with interest and began to write on a piece of parchment.

  “What part? It was a long night.”

  “Don’t be an ass. How did you kill the Ancients so easily?” Maerc said in a frustrated tone.

  “Didn’t you see me do it? I am faster and stronger than them. It was easy.”

  “Why did you kill them?” the duke said. Kaiyer looked around the room. It seemed like minutes passed.

  “I killed them because it is what I am supposed to do,” he said as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

  Everyone looked confused.

  “What do you mean? I don’t understand,” the duke said. Kaiyer’s eyes opened and he stared at the ceiling. No one spoke for almost a minute.

  “Kaiyer?” I whispered.

  He didn’t look at me, but he began to speak his language. His voice was full of sorrow.

  “It was the only thing I’ve ever been good at. I wasn’t skilled at anything else. I wasn’t strong and brave like my father. I wasn’t charming and smart like my brother. They died and I got to live. I was in the wrong place. It should have been me. She should have killed me.”

  “Who? Your brother and father were killed?” I asked in his language.

  “What did he say Paug?” Maerc demanded.

  “Yes. I killed them. She was looking for me and I wasn’t in the stables.” He turned his head and looked at me. His voice was tense.

  “What happened after? Do you remember more?” I leaned forward

  “What is he saying Paug?” Nadea asked. I waved my hand to silence her.

  “They made me a soldier. Elvens never fought their own wars. They used humans to do their work. They only did things they enjoyed. I don’t remember how, but I escaped them and joined the O’Baarni’s army. I remember killing hundreds, perhaps thousands of them. It made me happy to see their dead faces; their blood ran between my fingers like the water comes into the bathtub in this castle. I enjoyed their fear and pain. I still do. We killed all of them, Paug. Or so I thought, but they are back. I didn’t finish my job. I will continue where I failed.” His voice had become a whisper and his eyes met mine. They seemed to glow a pale green. “Tell them that they can help me, or stay out of my way,” he said as he pointed to the king. Then he sat back in his chair, folded his arms, and closed his eyes.

  I did a poor job of hiding my emotions as I turned to look at the other people in the room. For the first time since the cliff face I wished that I was back home at the lighthouse.

  They looked concerned, probably because of the expression on my face.

  “He said,” I paused and swallowed, “he said that he really hates Ancients and he wants to kill all of them. He would like us to help him do it.” It didn’t feel like a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth.

  “Well! Call me a six-breasted cow and milk me all morning! Isn’t this the answer to our problems?” Greykin bellowed happily. Kaiyer opened his eyes and smiled at him.

  “Does he know how to teach us to kill them?” the king asked me.

  “I’ll remember,” he said in our language. “I taught others.”

  “When will you remember?” Nadea asked, her face hopeful.

  “I am not sure. Sometimes I feel wind on my face and remember something, then a few minutes later I will see my reflection and recall something else. Then I will go for days without remembering anything.” She nodded.

  “Okay. So what is our plan? Just wait until our savior remembers how to teach us? Can he teach us to be as strong and fast as him? That is magic. There is no more magic in the world,” Maerc said.

  “No,” Kaiyer said. The door opened and Runir entered with a plate of bread, fruit, and cheese. He put the plate on the table close to Kaiyer and nodded at him.

  “No?”

  “No. It will be winter soon. I will spend the next few weeks preparing before I leave. Their armies are north and will rest for the winter. I need to kill as many Ancients as I can before the spring starts. When I remember more I will return and teach you.” Kaiyer took an apple and cut it in quarters as he was speaking. When he finished everyone started talking at once in disagreement.

  The king raised his hand.

  “Kaiyer, so I understand correctly: you are going to journey alone to the North and confront the empress’s armies by yourself, and then come back when you feel like it to teach us your powers?” The king’s face was full of disbelief.

  Kaiyer nodded and took a large bite of cheese and apple.


  “That is insanity, you’ll never survive the winter, let alone the thousands of men she has in her command,” the duke said.

  Kaiyer sat up suddenly, rigid as a pole. We stared at him.

  “What is it? Another memory?”

  “Empress?” he asked. “What is that?”

  “It is like a king, actually, a queen. A chieftain that is a woman. She commands the Ancient forces,” I said to him.

  “What is her name?” he demanded.

  “We don’t know,” I said. He looked angry.

  “Why not?” He looked furious now. The guards began to get fidgety as his voice raised.

  “She never called herself anything other than that. Do you know her?” the king said.

  “What is the color of her hair?” he said with venom. The king sat back in his chair like he had been slapped.

  “Spies say her hair is light brown,” the duke said.

  Kaiyer let out a sigh and relaxed. He slumped back into his chair and took another bite of apple. The sound of the crunch echoed in the room.

  “Why? Do you know her?” Nadea said with cautious interest

  “No,” Kaiyer said as he went back to his apple and cheese, suddenly uninterested.

  We watched him eat another few bites of food. The sudden mood change had surprised us all. He saw us watching him and frowned.

  “Do you all want any?” he held out a piece of bread toward the king.

  “No thank you,” the king said. “We were talking about you leaving. I will say that we are all against it.”

  Kaiyer didn’t answer. He just looked down at his food and continued to eat, like he hadn’t heard.

  “Did you hear the king, lad?” Greykin said after the silence had stretched. The room had grown hot and uncomfortable. Kaiyer didn't seem to notice anyone's concern.

  “What reason do I have to stay here? In the North I can kill them. Here I will not be able to kill them,” he said flatly.

  “You’ll die! I don’t care how good of a warrior you are. You can’t survive the winter in the North. It is too cold and you’ll be overwhelmed by the empress’s forces,” Nadea said from the back.