"Ah! Good, you’ve finally returned. That trouble in the mountains had me worried that you’d gotten yourself killed."
Alto lifted his head enough to see Beck walking towards him from his father’s house.
"A bit cold out here, don’t you think? A nice fire should fix that, though." Beck turned and gestured to one of the men who followed him out of the house. Three of them removed the stoppers from flasks of oil and splashed them on the house. The fourth struck flint to steel until the torch he held caught a spark. The mercenary protected it from the wind until the flame had taken and then he straightened and turned back to Beck.
"Oh dear, seems I’ve forgotten something. What was it…"
Alto lifted himself up and felt the cold and confusion drain away from him. His tears forgotten, he reached for the sword at his side.
"No matter," Beck said. "Let’s have that fire now."
The man took Beck’s signal and stepped forward to touch it to the oil sprinkled on the house in multiple places. Flames leapt slowly at first, and then climbed faster. A moment later, a scream pierced the stillness.
"Oh! Must be I forgot someone inside. Now who could that be? Ah yes, a young girl. Oh well, I can get another whore anywhere."
Alto didn’t need to look to know who it was. Caitlin was inside. Alto drew his sword and started forward.
"This again? You fool. You couldn’t beat me before; why do you think you can now? All of this could have been avoided, you know. You could have given up and saved your family and friends."
Rather than waste time with words, Alto broke into a jog and smashed into the evil knight. Beck knocked his sword aside but couldn’t stop the charging warrior from slamming his shield into him and driving him back.
"You’ve already lost, farm boy!" Beck spat at him. "I’ve killed your entire family, but don’t worry, my men had their fun first."
Alto snarled and struck out with his sword, hammering it into Beck’s and driving it down. He caught the knight's blade with his shield to keep the sword at bay while he thrust his broadsword at the knight’s chest. The point of Alto’s sword slammed into the steel breastplate and slid off to the side without even leaving a scratch.
"So much for your magic sword, boy!" Beck taunted after he saw the blade deflected away. "And without magic, you’re nothing but a peasant that got lucky."
Beck punched Alto in the face with a gauntleted fist and staggered the young warrior back. He advanced and thrust his long sword at him, but Alto managed to move his shield in to intercept.
"More magic," Beck sneered when Alto’s shield defeated the attack. "Anything else and I’d have stuck that shield to your belly. Just give up, boy, and I’ll kill you quickly. That’s more than your family got for the trouble you’ve caused us."
Alto slammed his sword into Beck’s armored shoulder, earning a grunt from the man but little else. The knight slashed up and knocked Alto’s sword out and away, and then the skilled warrior somehow managed to flip his sword under Alto’s and knock it back the other way. Alto struggled to keep up but the next strike pulled his blade from his weakened fingers and sent it flying.
"Now what? You’ve got no sword?" Beck teased.
Gasping for breath that his battered body needed, Alto stumbled back a step and reached for the troll’s dagger on his hip.
"A dagger? Against plate armor?" Beck laughed at him. "You’re not just a farm boy, you’re also the village idiot!"
Alto lunged forward and used his shield to pin Beck’s blade between them. He thrust the dagger in blindly and didn’t realize he’d hit anything until his fingers were crushed against Beck’s armor.
"What—" Beck wheezed, his eyes and mouth wide.
Alto pulled the dagger out and jammed it in again, and then he pushed the dying knight away. Alto stared into the wide eyes of the dying knight and growled, "And what are you when your magic doesn’t work?"
Beck fell back to his knee and stared at Alto, and then crashed forward and lay still on the ground. The other four men-at-arms stared at their fallen leader while Alto scrambled to sheathe his dagger and run to his broadsword. His movement spurred them into drawing their own blades and charging at him. Alto killed them all using nothing but brute strength and a berserk fury that allowed him to pay no mind to his own safety.
Caitlin’s sobbing pierced the avenging warrior's red haze. Reminded that she was still alive and trapped inside the burning house, he looked up at the house that was nearly sheathed in flames. Without a second thought, he rushed into the building. His shield smashed aside burning doors and furniture while he searched for her.
Caitlin was tied to the fireplace, her clothes ripped where it mattered most. Her skin was split and bruised from abuse. She saw Alto and cried out, and then lapsed into a coughing fit that didn’t end until she passed out.
Alto cut her down and grabbed a blanket his mother had made off of what remained of their couch. Beck and his men had smashed and cut up the furniture, either looking for gold or simply because it was fun for them. Alto wrapped Caitlin up in the blanket and carried her out.
Once Caitlin was safe in the barn, Alto returned to the yard and picked Beck up so he could stare down at him. The knight was dead. The light gone from his eyes forever. Alto spat on him and smashed his face with his fist until he couldn’t tell if the blood coating Beck’s face and Alto's fist came from the dead man or himself.
He staggered back and fell to his knees, exhausted. The knight's sword lay beside him. Alto stared at it and then looked down to his own blade. Kevard’s Blade was said to be the protector of the Kelgryn. It had failed him. Always when he drew it, he felt its warmth and its eagerness. Not this time. This time Kevard’s Blade had been dull and lifeless. A lump of unbalanced metal.
He picked up the long sword and felt the weapon hum in his hand. It was designed for killing. Well balanced and swift, few things would stand in his way with it. Alto nodded; he would need a blade such as this if he was going to avenge his family.
He took Beck’s scabbard and girded it at his side while moving Kevard’s Blade to rest across his back. Finished, Alto turned and stared at the ruin of the farm. The majority of his life had been spent with him knowing nothing more than this farm and the lands around it. Now it seemed small and sad. So many people and so many memories gone in an instant of violence and cruelty.
Alto’s eyes fell on the remains of his family that the knight had posted as warnings. He wondered what had become of their bodies. It only took him a few moments to find them in the filth of the hog pen. He worked on pulling them out while behind him the house burned and broke apart, crashing in on itself little by little.
Several hours later, as the sun was setting in the west, Caitlin stepped out of the barn and walked up to him. He rose from where he was pushing the last of the dirt on the graves and stood. She sniffed beside him and stifled a cough. They stood beside each other without speaking until the moon rose behind them in the east.
Alto reached down and pulled the sheath holding Thork’s dagger from his belt. He pressed it to Caitlin’s hands and said, "This knife will cut through anything. Stone, steel, wood, or flesh, nothing will slow it. Keep it safe and use it only when you must; it’s very dangerous."
"I can’t believe they’re gone," Caitlin clutched the knife without thought and whispered.
Alto nodded. "I know, but they are. It’s my fault and I’m going to put it right."
"You’re leaving?" she whimpered.
"I’m taking you someplace safe first," he said. "Then I’m going to kill whoever or whatever is responsible for this. I won’t stop until I do."
"Alto…"
Alto ignored her. "We should wait until the morning, but I can’t stay here tonight. Are you hurt? Can you walk?"
She nodded, fresh tears falling down her face. "They hurt me, but I can walk."
Alto closed his eyes and swallowed. "I’m sorry," he whispered. "I can’t take it back, but I’ll make them pay."
/> "I know you will," she said. "Daddy said it’d be a waste if you ended up a farmer."
Alto felt the world spinning but with a supreme force of will, he made it stop. If he'd stayed a farmer, would any of this have happened? "Sometimes I wish that’s all I knew," he said.
She looked down at the grave in front of Alto. "Is this Daddy?"
He nodded.
Caitlyn swooned but Alto grabbed her before she fell. She shook her head before stiffening and finding her balance. "It was horrible," she whispered.
Alto nodded. "I know."
"You weren’t here!"
Alto opened his mouth to try to explain his vision. He gave up and shook his head. It would sound crazy to her. She was a simple farm girl with no idea of what the world was really like. He’d been the same a lifetime ago. Now he could never go back. He supposed she could never return to a sheltered life of purity, either.
"Let’s go," Alto said. He grabbed her hand and turned away but she pulled away from him.
Caitlyn knelt next to each grave, one at a time, and offered a few words so quiet he couldn’t make them out. When she rose, her cheeks were shiny from tears and red from the cold. She tried to speak but no words came out. She nodded instead and started to walk past him.
She stopped and looked at him. "Where are you taking me? Holgasford?"
Alto stood still and stared at her. "Yes, but, why would you think that?"
"A woman showed up yesterday morning, before those other men. She rode a unicorn with a dwarf behind her. Said her name was Lady Patrina and that she was the daughter of the Jarl of Holgasford."
"Trina escaped? Mordrim was with her? What of Namitus and Karthor and the others?"
She nodded. "She said they were all headed for Holgasford."
"Saints be praised," Alto whispered. A tiny bit of weight lifted from his shoulders. Perhaps he hadn't gotten everyone he cared for killed. At least not yet. "Wait, why was she here?"
"To tell us what you’d done. How you’d sacrificed yourself so they could live. So that everyone could live." Caitlin cast a glance back at the graves and in a trembling voice added, "Except not everyone’s living, are they?"
Alto felt his eyes burning as he stared at the ground.
"She said you were her champion and she’d never met anyone with a more noble heart. She offered Daddy a king’s ransom as thanks for what you done. He wouldn’t take it, though. Said that much wealth is a bad thing. He said it makes a man lazy and invites bad things to come his way."
Alto nodded. His father would say that. He was a wise man, wiser than Alto ever imagined he could be. And now he'd never have the chance to talk to him again. He took a deep breath to settle himself and changed the subject. "Patrina is almost two years older than you."
"She looked older."
"She’s seen a lot this year," Alto offered as an explanation. The withering look his sister gave him reminded him of what she’d just seen and endured. He looked away quickly. "They can keep you safe there."
"While you ride off and get yourself killed?"
"If you had any idea what I’ve been through, you would not ask such questions!"
Her eyes narrowed and her chin trembled. "What you’ve been through?"
Alto opened and closed his mouth, clamping it shut loudly. He had no right to speak lightly of what had happened. Not to her. His cheeks warm from shame, he muttered, "Forget it. Come on, let’s go."
"No, I don’t want to go with you!"
"You’re coming with me, damn it!" Alto roared. Seeing the terrified look on her face, he calmed down and stared at her. "I’m sorry, but you’re all that I’ve got left. I can’t lose you, too."
"What about Aleena?"
"Who?" Alto asked, playing dumb.
"Lady Patrina, she said she was going to ride to Portland and tell some girl named Aleena about you."
"Aleena doesn’t matter," Alto said. He meant it; he hadn’t thought of her since he’d found Patrina again. Besides, the fewer people he cared about, the less danger they were in.
"Why’d she think so?"
"It doesn’t matter," Alto snapped. He saw her stiffen and knew she deserved better than that. Better than him, even. "Aleena is a serving girl at a tavern who had a crush on me. I used her as an excuse to get Patrina out of the mines."
"So Lady Patrina likes you too?"
"She did," Alto admitted. "But that’s behind us now. The less people that know about me the better. It’s better I stay dead and buried under that mountain until I do what I have to do."
"You're going to get killed," Caitlin whispered.
"Whatever happens, you will be safe." Alto turned away from her and looked to the east. He tapped his shield, summoning the light forth. His sister gasped at the display of magic. "Come on, we’ve got a ways to go."
Alto considered the path he'd chosen for himself. The knight of the Silver Dragon was dead, but there were more. Fizzulthorp was still alive and behind it all there was Sarya, the dragon. He knew he hadn’t stopped them, even if he had slowed them down by dropping a mountain on a portion of their army.
"We’ve gotten lucky twice now," Alto mused aloud. He ignored Caitlin’s shocked expression. "We’ve foiled Sarya’s plans before she was ready to move. We can’t count on such luck again. Sarya won’t make another mistake."
"What are you talking about?" Caitlin snapped at him.
Alto ignored her as he debated with himself in his head. "I won’t have another chance. I have to go back and finish it, but I’ll need help. No, not them. They’ll just get hurt. I need powerful help. The kind of help that can bring a mountain down."
"Alto, you’re scaring me," his sister said.
He turned and looked at her. "Don’t be scared. I’m going to keep you safe. I’ve done things no man can do; I can do this, too."
"Do what?"
"I’m going to kill a dragon."
###
Afterword by the Author
Victim of Fate is book 2 in my fantasy series, Blades of Leander. If you've made it this far then you know how fast and exciting things are happening for the characters. As the guy lucky enough to write these books, I can only say that things are happening just as fast and furious for me! I've started book 3 of this series, The Broken Path, before my editor and cover artist were finished with book 2. I have to say, it's been burning up the pages I've been so busy with it.
I won't give any spoilers but I will say that Alto is in for a heck of a time trying to come to terms with everything and figure out what he really wants out of life. To complicate his life there will be plenty of opportunities and hazards along the way. Of course it's not all about Alto, every character in these books has hopes and dreams that they want to aspire to. As some of them will come to realize, what cost are they willing to pay to reach those goals?
Finally, let me encourage you to share your thoughts publicly or privately about the book with me. Visit my blog (http://booksbyjason.wordpress.com), my website (http://www.booksbyjason.com), my twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/booksbyjason or @booksbyjason), or look me up on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/booksbyjason). If that's too much, just send me an email at [email protected]. I'm always happy to encourage reviews at the point of purchase, those really help writers such as myself make a living.
Other books by Jason Halstead
Child of Fate
Victim of Fate
Voidhawk (Voidhawk, book 1)
Voidhawk – The Elder Race (Voidhawk, book 2)
Voidhawk – Redemption (Voidhawk, book 3)
Voidhawk – The White Lady (Voidhawk, book 4)
Voidhawk – Lost Soul (Voidhawk, book 5)
Wanted (Wanted, book 1)
Ice Princess (Wanted, book 2)
Bounty (Wanted, book 3)
Dark Earth (Dark Earth, book 1)
Devil’s Icebox (Dark Earth, book 2)
The Lost Girls (The Lost Girls, book 1, a Dark Earth novel)
Traitor (The Lost
Girls, book 2, a Dark Earth novel)
Wolfgirl (The Lost Girls, book 3, a Dark Earth novel)
Black Widow (The Lost Girls, book 4, a Dark Earth novel)
Voices (a Dark Earth Book)
Bound (a Dark Earth Book)
Vitalis (Vitalis, parts 1 – 7)
New Beginnings (Vitalis, part 1)
Vitalis: Resurrection (Vitalis, book 2)
Human Nature
Sex Sells
Victim of Fate Page 26
