The Sword of Vengeance (The Chronicles of Bruk the Barbarian Book 4)

by Philip John Bruch

  Nightfall knew that he had to act first and he had to act fast. He knew full well that whenever she remembered her past that she would come looking for him for vengeance and there would be no place that he could hide where she couldn’t find him.

  In the early afternoon Nightfall looked towards the east and he smiled. A band of about forty some riders were heading northwards. They didn’t see him yet.

  Nightfall spurred his mount on and headed straight towards them. After a few minutes it became apparent that they had finally seen him.

  The band of riders turned and headed straight towards him. Nightfall stopped and watched them come. He laughed and then he got off of his horse. He watched the riders getting nearer and nearer. He looked at Night and said, “Stay! I have a little business to take care of and then we will be on our way again. Stay!”

  Nightfall then started to walk towards the advancing riders. He walked for about ten or fifteen paces and then he stopped and waited patiently.

  The riders noticed that the man dressed in all black had dismounted and he foolishly walked towards them and then he stopped and watched them come. They all laughed at how stupid the man was.

  The riders were outlaws and they were on their way to the outlaw sanctuary to sell some things that they had picked up when they had found some unlucky travelers. They also wanted to replenish their supplies.

  The outlaw sanctuary was a large village or small city where only outlaws were permitted to enter. It was a sanctuary and home for outlaws only. No one but outlaws knew where it was located. Any normal citizen who heard about it or accidently found it were immediately executed with no exceptions. Any outlaw that betrayed his outlaw brothers and told the location of the outlaw city to someone would also be executed.

  The outlaw city was named Freedom and many outlaws lived there full time running stores and taverns. You could find any goods and services in Freedom just like you could find in any normal city. Every year Freedom got a little larger and a little larger.

  It was getting harder and harder to keep the outlaw village a secret.

  Nightfall counted forty- six riders; all of them were outlaw scum. He hated outlaws! He watched them get closer and he laughed. They didn’t know that they were riding towards their doom.

  The large man in the front saw the man dressed in all black just standing there like he didn’t have a care in the world. Something was wrong. He shouted, “Stop!” All of the riders stopped at his command. They looked from the stranger in black to their leader wondering what was going on.

  The leader looked at Nightfall and then he quickly scanned the whole land all around the man in black. He was looking for another band of outlaws or some other group of warriors. No man rode in the grass lands alone, no man.

  He didn’t see anyone else and then he looked back to the man dressed in all black and snarled in anger. The man in black was smiling! Who did he think that he was? The man didn’t show any fear at all, none at all.

  He said to the man at his right, “Look at that fool. He is smiling. He must be retarded and he doesn’t realize that his life is in our hands. Go and show him the error of his ways but don’t kill him just yet.”

  The man laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t kill him but by the time that I am done with him he will be begging for death.” He then dismounted and drew his sword. He made a sign and five other men dismounted and joined him with their swords in their hands.

  The six outlaws looked at their next victim and they noticed that the man dressed in all black was sitting down now. He was looking at them and laughing!

  The six outlaws became very angry and they quickly advanced with their swords thirsting for blood. The man in black just watched them come and made no effort to stand up or draw his weapon. He truly must be crazy!

  Nightfall watched them come and he laughed. He was sitting down in the grass waiting for them to get close. When they were about five feet away he said a word and then he stood up.

  The six outlaws froze in place and they couldn’t move. Nightfall stood up and took his sword out and then he walked forward towards the now helpless men. He quickly chopped them all down without any hesitation.

  The outlaw leader watched his six men be sliced apart by the stranger and he swore and said, “Kill him!” Thirty nine outlaws dismounted and ran at Nightfall with their swords out and held ready.

  Nightfall said a word and all thirty nine men froze in mid-step and they couldn’t move. They were helpless. Nightfall laughed looking at his next victims.

  Nightfall looked past the frozen men and straight at their leader. He was still astride his horse and he probably would flee the second that Nightfall tore his men apart. Nightfall didn’t want the man to ride away. He wanted the man to watch him kill all of his men and then stay where he was and wait for whatever happened next. He did not want the man to ride away seeking safety.

  Nightfall said two words and the leader and his horse were frozen in place and all they could do now was watch how Nightfall was going to butcher the thirty-nine men.

  Nightfall slowly walked up to the first man. The man’s eyes were wide open and full of terror as he watched Nightfall raise his sword and bring it down in a powerful stroke that almost cleaved the upper torso of the man in two. Nightfall said a word and the man fell to the grass and lay still.

  Then Nightfall slowly and deliberately walked among the remaining thirty-eight men and cut them all up into pieces. Arms, heads, and parts of legs and chests flew into the bloody air and littered the high green grass. Blood was everywhere and Nightfall’s laughter haunted the grass lands as he killed and killed and he loved it.

  The outlaw leader saw his men being butchered and he could do nothing to save them or to end their misery. He had never in his whole life seen such savage disregard for life before as the man in all black showed to his men. His men were like nothing to the man in all black. He laughed and laughed as he chopped up the thirty-eight helpless men.

  Nightfall took his time in the way that he killed the outlaws. He swung and swung his deadly sharp sword over and over taking an arm off here and an arm off there. Once in a while he would drive his sword deeply into a shoulder or slice open someone’s gut.

  Nightfall finally got tired of playing with the helpless men. He looked at their leader and smiled. The man was crying and struggling trying to move but he couldn’t. All he could do was watch the slaughter before him.

  Nightfall killed and killed as he walked towards the leader. He slowly but painfully and surely destroyed all of the outlaw scum leaving pieces of mangled flesh and pools of blood everywhere as he advanced.

  Nightfall stood before the leader. He looked up and smiled. He said, “It appears that all of your men have deserted you. Where were you heading to before you were distracted by my presence? You may now talk.”

  The leader tried not to answer but he had to because he was under Nightfall’s power. He looked down at Nightfall with hatred. He tried not to speak but he said, “We were headed towards Freedom for supplies and to sell a few trinkets that we had picked up earlier.”

  Nightfall laughed. He knew that there was an outlaw city somewhere but no one could ever find it. He hated outlaws and now he would be able to wipe out thousands of them and destroy their city all at the same time. He was going to have a lot of fun and he couldn’t wait.

  Nightfall said, “I will let you lead me to your city and then you can watch as I kill everyone in it and burn the city to the ground with magical flames of death. When I am all done with your city and its people then I will kill you.”

  Nightfall then walked back to where his horse was patiently waiting. He mounted up and rode to where the leader was. Nightfall said a word and freed the horse and the leader from the spell that he had them under his control. He said, “Now lead me to your outlaw city. Do not try and deceive me or try and flee because all I have to do is say a word and you will be frozen again. If you cooperate freely I just might show you mercy and let you
live. Now lead on!”

  The outlaw leader reluctantly turned his horse around and headed back towards the north. He didn’t know what to do but he knew that he had no choice but to do as Nightfall said.

  Near the end of the day an hour or so before it would get dark they were near to the outlaw city. The helpless man stopped his mount and pointed. He said, “Freedom is just beyond that hill in a valley surrounded by hills. There is a sentry on the other side of the hill. There is also one in the north, the south, and the east. No one can get near to the valley without being seen.”

  Nightfall smiled and said, “For being so helpful I will allow you to live after I am done. I give you your life back to you for not trying to hide anything from me. Wait here and I will soon return.”

  Nightfall said a word and the man and his mount were frozen again like they had been before. Nightfall laughed and spurred Night on.

  Within just a few moments Nightfall saw the guard sitting upon a large boulder. The guard saw him and stood up drawing his sword. The guard ran towards Nightfall swearing as he ran.

  Nightfall said a word and dismounted. He casually walked over to where the frozen guard was standing. Nightfall looked into the guard’s eyes and saw the fear and he couldn’t help but laugh.

  Nightfall took out his dagger and plunged it into the guard’s soft midsection and twisted it and then he pulled it upwards opening up the poor man’s stomach and chest in a shower of dark red blood and tiny pieces of flesh and bone.

  Nightfall watched the man’s life depart as he pulled his dagger out and wiped it upon the man’s dirty shirt. He smiled and said a word letting the corpse fall into the grass.

  Nightfall spit at the body and then he walked back to Night and said, “One down and three to go.” He mounted up and rode to the north. Nightfall finally rode back to the waiting outlaw leader about forty-five minutes later. He had disposed of all of the sentries and now it was time to go and pay Freedom a little visit.

  The outlaw leader was crying as he led Nightfall towards the small city. They went around the hill and down the path that led to the bottom of the valley.

  Nightfall looked at the small city and he was impressed with how it looked. It was much larger than he had thought that it would be and it looked to be very clean and the streets were packed with men, women, and children.

  Nightfall said a word and then he dismounted and walked towards the city. The outlaw leader and his horse were frozen in place and all he could do was watch Nightfall walk away with a smile on his face.

  Once Nightfall got close to the city some of the people in the street saw him and shouted warnings alerting some armed men. Nightfall said three words and power flowed out of him like a light blue mist and shot out at incredible speed and quickly surrounded the whole city trapping everyone inside.

  Nightfall kept walking towards the city and the light blue wall of magical fog. He laughed when he saw some men with swords rushing at him and stepping into the magical light blue fog. They immediately burst into a bright red flame and fell into the grass smoldering and smoking, a charred burnt mass of unrecognizable mass of flesh.

  The people in the streets cried out in terror and fled away from the blue mist and the man dressed in all black.

  Nightfall walked straight through the blue mist and he said two words. People that were running away burst into bright red flames and fell to the pavement screaming in pain and then became silent in death.

  As Nightfall walked down the street he pointed at building after building causing all of the structures to explode into a pile of smoking rubble. Everywhere that he looked he brought destruction and death. No one was safe and they couldn’t flee from the city because of the light blue fog.

  The outlaw leader watched in horror as Nightfall destroyed Freedom and all of its citizens right before his eyes. He couldn’t look away because of the spell that Nightfall had put upon him. All he could do was cry and beg for death for what he had caused. He saw men, women, children, and little babies all meet grizzly burning painful deaths while Nightfall laughed and laughed.

  Nightfall walked down every street destroying every building and all of the people inside of the city. Quite a few of the braver outlaws charge at him with swords raised but they all fell dead and the smoke from their burning bodies joined the fires of the buildings.

  Many tried to get away by trying to run through the light blue mist but they never made it. They burst into flame and screamed as the magical crackling flames devoured their flesh.

  Within an hour Freedom and its people were no more. The site was now nothing more than a smoldering heap of rubble and charred bodies. Nightfall said two words and the light blue mist disappeared.

  Nightfall looked around and he laughed. He felt that he was now ready to go and face his little sister. He felt powerful and it had felt good to use his power. He would have no mercy on anyone anymore and everyone that heard his name would shudder. He felt like a new man.

  Now it was time to pay his little sister a visit.

  Chapter 22

  After about an hour of tedious slow decent they finally made it to the bottom of the valley and looked towards the city. It was only about a few hundred yards away and it still looked to be empty of life.

  They walked forwards and within a few minutes they were walking down a narrow street. They were heading towards the large building that they had seen from above. It was the largest building in the city and it was in the center of the sprawling city. They figured that building would be a good place to start their search. It had to have been an important building to be so huge and in the very center of the city. Bruk thought that it might be a temple or a palace.

  They walked across an intersection and crossed a public square that was right before the large building.

  Bruk stopped and swore. He reached out with his left arm stopping Red and he drew his sword with his right hand and stood at bay tense and ready.

  A beautiful female walked out through the double entry doors of the building. She was naked except for a slim piece of golden cloth tied about her loins and another golden cloth hiding and supporting her shapely breasts. She was wearing golden sandals and in her right fist she held a fiery red flaming sword. Her hair was short and on fire just like the sword was. Her soft tanned flesh reflected the light from her hair and the sword.

  She smiled and looked at Bruk and said, “Finally!”

  Bruk said, “Who are you and don’t you know that your hair is on fire?”

  “My name is Regan the High Lord of the Gods of Fate. My hair is always is on fire; don’t you think that it is sexy?”

  Bruk and Rose both laughed. Bruk said, “Why are you here?”

  Regan said, “Adronis the High Lord of Light told me that you would be coming. I got here first and I temporarily removed all of the dangerous animal life that was in here. I put them all in a safe place temporarily so that you wouldn’t have to fight your way to the city.”

  Bruk said, “That was nice of you but what do you want from me?”

  Regan laughed and said, “You have been my warrior for the past three years and you didn’t even know it. You are my champion, didn’t Adronis tell you that?”

  “He did say something about it but I didn’t realize that it was really true,” Bruk said.

  Red didn’t know what to say or to think. She was totally shocked to meet a god. She was also even more impressed by Bruk now, knowing that he worked for the gods. He was so much more than just a mighty warrior!

  Regan laughed again. She put her sword away and looked at Bruk with a grin and said, “You came here for the crystal skull didn’t you?”

  Bruk nodded and said, “Aye that I did. Sardgesha and his brother want it for some reason so here I am.”

  Regan smiled and said, “It is in this building down in the catacombs beneath it. It is also guarded by a powerful demon. I couldn’t remove it because it belonged there. Its only function is to protect the crystal skull.”

  B
ruk asked, “Does it have flesh and does it bleed?”

  Regan laughed and said, “Aye it is made of flesh and if your sword is sharp enough then it would bleed. It is a very powerful creature though and I would advise you to just go back the way that you came and forget all about the crystal skull.”

  “I can’t leave. I gave my word and I will retrieve the skull one way or another,” Bruk said.

  Red said, “And I will help him!”

  Regan laughed and laughed. She looked at the warrior woman and then back at Bruk. She smiled revealing her sharp fangs and said, “So be it! I knew that you would proceed. You impress me and I am not easily impressed. You will find a door in the room beyond the throne that will open to a long stairwell that goes downwards for a long time. Stay on the steps and do not touch the walls or the ceiling as you descend. When you finally reach the bottom you will see two large doors. One will lead to your death and the other one will lead you to the crystal skull and its guardian. Be careful which one that you choose. That is the limit of how much I can help you. I would rather that you just left but I know that you are determined to complete the quest that the twin sorcerers sent you on. There are other dangers inside that I can’t warn you about so be very careful and remember that all is not always what it seems to be. I wish you luck and I will wait for you here.” She then stepped aside to let Bruk and his companion pass.

  Bruk and Red walked forwards and past Regan and through the open double entry doors. They entered a very large and spacious foyer. The room was dark but light just enough to see in. The floor was tiled with golden tiles and covered with a carpet of dust. No one had trod these floors for a very long time.

  Red looked around in wonder at all of the splendor of the room and all that it contained. Everywhere that she looked she saw gold and precious jewels. Sparkling gems were scattered on the floor and heaped in piles upon dusty tables. She would make sure that she helped herself to some of the treasure on the way out.

  Bruk completely ignored the treasure and led the way across the foyer and into the throne room. The throne room was even larger than the foyer was. It too was tiled with golden tiles and the throne was made out of solid gold.