Slesh was off in the distance, leaning against a tree, unable to sleep again.
“Where are we going?” I said. She didn’t move or respond. “Aysta?”
She looked up.
“Where are we going?”
“I don’t know how to describe it other than a red mountain.”
“I don’t see any mountains on the horizon.”
“It’s there.”
“What if it’s not? Can we go home?”
“Home to where? Do you have a home left? Your parents sold you to be the whore of a prince. They do not want you back. Their purse would be forfeit.”
I didn’t say anything. I thought about it a while and then I said, “I don’t care. I don’t like this place. It gives me bad dreams.”
“This is the place bad dreams come from,” she said, into the fire.
I didn’t speak to her again for a time. Something was … different. I think it was that she reminded me of this place. Not just that I was here with her, but that she was part of this place now.
I lay down by the fire and tried to sleep but was woken by dreams. I saw blood, rivers of it, and I was in it and it was crushing me. I couldn’t breathe and just as I got sucked underneath I woke. I had that dream twice before I realized I would not be sleeping.
Aysta was sitting in exactly the same position I had left her in. The fire was reflecting in her eyes and she looked like a statue. I could only watch her a moment before I had to turn away.
No matter how hard I tried, sleep would not come. I thought maybe a short walk would tire me sufficiently for sleep. I stood and looked into the jungle and it was terrifying. I decided I would not go anywhere that the light of the fire could not reach.
I walked away through some vines and leaned against a tree with my back toward the fire. I put my arms around myself as a cool breeze was blowing, making the leaves rustle like coins in a pocket.
I heard a cracking, like a branch being pulled down. My head snapped in that direction but nothing was there, just the breeze making the trees move as if they had souls. A shiver went up my back and I turned to go to the fire … and screamed.
But no scream came out. The orc had his hand over my mouth as another orc lifted me and carried me into the jungle. I fought and kicked and bit their hands but nothing distracted them from their task.
I felt more of their filthy hands on me as they put a bag over my head and struck the bag so hard I saw colors and felt faint. I was flung over one of their shoulders and then another blow was delivered so I would not fight.
I could only feel the beating of the monster’s heart as they carried me into darkness.
SLESH OF ULRIK
I woke with a fart and then burped. I’d managed to actually drift off a bit without any ale, which was rare.
I had skinned and eaten a lizard the night before. I’d cooked it over the fire but I’d felt so hungry I don’t think I waited long enough. My stomach burned and I went into some bushes and tried to vomit, but little came out.
Looking back, I saw Aysta staring into the embers of a fire. She noticed the sunlight on her face and stood.
“Where’s Chloe?” I asked.
“She was taken.”
“Taken where?”
“Where we’re going.”
I paused just a while until it hit me what she meant, then I ran and grabbed my swords. I went running off into the jungle when I heard, “You will not find her.”
“But I’ll try.”
“You will fail. But I know where she is.”
“Where?”
“I told you. At the red mountain, waiting for us.”
I walked back to Aysta and looked her in the eye. “What’d the witch do to you?”
“She opened my eyes and I now see everything. Do you know what it is to see everything? To be on the level of gods?”
“We’re going back to her. She possessed you with something.”
“She’s put nothing in me that was not there before.”
“That’s not true. You’re different.”
She glanced away. “I must go to the red mountain.”
“I don’t see any damn mountain. All I see is an assassin with a weak mind.”
She turned away from me and began walking. I looked into the jungle. I could search for the rest of my life in this place and never find Chloe, so I followed Aysta, convinced that this search for a non-existing red mountain was going to be both our deaths.
But soon the damnedest thing happened.
We were walking up a small incline and I was looking out over the horizon as we walked. At the very bottom of my field of vision I saw some discoloration. The discoloration turned to something dark, and as we kept walking and the sun went from behind us to on top of us, bloody hell if I didn’t see a red mountain.
Like some iceberg climbing from the depths, it grew larger the longer we walked. It didn’t take long for me to see that it was massive, and I couldn’t figure how I didn’t see it before. Something like that should have been visible from the sea, much less from just a day’s journey away.
The path widened, as if it had been cleared, and I walked next to Aysta as she quickened her pace.
“What do you think you’re going to find there?”
“Answers,” she said.
“To what?”
“Why I’m here.”
“You’re here because you chased that damn prince halfway around the known world.”
“No, that’s not why we’re here. We were brought here for a reason. Whoever is waiting for us on that mountain knows the reason.”
As we grew near to the mountain, I could see it was made of fine red sand that somehow stayed consistent when I put my hand to it. It was cool to the touch, almost cold, and it didn’t break away in grains as sand should have.
“It’s on the other side,” she said.
Aysta began to climb and I followed. I was curious now. Besides, what else was I to do?
We kept at it a long time. The mountain was neither steep nor difficult to climb, but it was tall and took some work. My legs pumped and I pushed into the ground with each step to ensure I didn’t go tumbling off the side and break my head open.
Nearing the top, the air grew thin. The sun was going down; we wouldn’t make it back before darkness descended, and I didn’t know if she planned to spend the night up there, but freezing to death sounded about as bad as falling off the side. Suddenly I thought climbing hadn’t been the best idea I had ever had.
“It’s over this ridge.”
We climbed a bit farther and I heard something, a low rumble, almost like the ground was quaking. As we pulled ourselves up over the ridge and stood on a small plateau I could see what it was:
Thousands and thousands of orcs, as far as the horizon.
2
I stared for so long with my mouth open that my tongue went dry and I had to swallow to get rid of the feeling. The orcs were grunting quietly, but they weren’t moving. They were standing in lines … almost in formation.
“Quite a sight, isn’t it?”
I turned around and saw the witch. She moved effortlessly up the small embankment and stood in her long black and red robes, overlooking the orcs. They looked up suddenly and howls and roars went up as they fell to their knees.
“They worship you,” I said.
Behind her, I saw two orcs dragging a body up to near the embankment leading to the plateau and drop it before standing back. It was Chloe, bloodied and bruised, but still alive. I jumped down the embankment and checked on her. She was in shock and her skin was cold to the touch. I took off my shirt and wrapped it around her shoulders. She looked up and saw the witch and looked at me.
“She told me,” she said, shivering, “that she knows you. That you serve her.”
The witch laughed. “My dear child, at one time Slesh was my greatest general and saved my life after the last sword had fallen. He has served me for a hundred seasons, longer than you have been a
live.”
Chloe was silent a moment. “You’re … the queen.”
“Indeed, child. Slesh, be so kind as to lift her to her feet.”
“Why?”
“There was a time when you did not question my orders. When you simply obeyed.”
“That time has passed. What do you want with her?”
The queen drifted down and stood before us, Aysta staring at her but not speaking.
“Do you think this is chance that you should be here again? And with her?” she said, glancing to Aysta. “I have waited decades in this cursed place. Long enough for a little girl to become a woman. A woman with power and ferocity not matched by anyone in the Empire, not even you, great General.”
“You brought her here,” I said. “You killed her parents.”
“I gave her strength. I gave her fire and purpose. What is a family in comparison to such qualities? That is what the lowly are there for, to be used to mold the great in the fire of their destruction.”
“Kandarian didn’t kill Emma—you did,” I whispered.
“I needed you, General. And that little whore proved quite useful. I admit it is painful to watch as the blood magik takes hold of your own son, but quite thrilling to see the world through his eyes.”
“Why would you do this? I saved your life and you bring me nothing but pain?”
“Life is made of pain. Joy is the illusion. Joy is the flavor on the rotted meat that you can only taste a hint of but never possess. I have brought you to me to lead armies with her. She will bring us victory where the two of us failed.”
“We failed because we fought for greed while the emperor fought for the defense of his homeland. We will again fight for greed and we will again lose.”
She shook her head. “Not with her. Not with you.”
“Why didn’t you have your puppet just kill the emperor?”
“If it were ever discovered that Lucius was controlled by blood magik, the Empire would revolt. Even with Lucius as emperor, the people would never accept my rule. I know that. I would be killed and so would my seed. They must be forced to accept the inevitable, not tricked. I was never deluded about this.” She pulled a blade from her robes. It was bright silver with red markings up the middle and it seemed to bleed. Small droplets fell from the blade to the ground. “With this blade,” she said, “we will turn the world to dust.”
“I don’t want the world to be dust. What use is it to rule over dust?”
“Because you rule over it! That is the point that you never understood. Power is its own end. There need be no other reason.” She stretched out her hand and touched my face. “So much pain, my old friend. So much pain, and for no purpose. Do not let the pain consume you. Let it go.” She looked to Aysta. “Come down here, dear.”
Aysta flipped off the embankment, landed like a cat, and walked to us. She stood before the queen, staring at the blade.
“This blade requires blood. You will provide that blood. You will rule the world, Aysta. As my princess. For who gave birth to you more than I? Who created that fire in your eyes if not me? Who forged this body as stone if it were not my actions?” She took her hand and put the blade in it. “Thrust it into your heart and fulfill your destiny.”
I shook my head. “You can’t do this.”
“It’s already done,” the queen said. “And you’ve played your part well, General.”
I hesitated and looked away. I was trembling; rage and confusion and pain coursed through me like slush in my veins. I touched the hilt of my blade and the queen saw it.
“Oh,” she said, “if that is your desire, then strike your queen down, General. Do not hesitate. For I would not.”
I swung upward with the blade, trying to catch her throat, but she was no longer there. I caught only air as the queen appeared several paces away, a grin on her weathered face.
“I cannot let this happen,” I said, stepping toward her. “You nearly burnt the world last time.”
“Yes, and it likely will not survive another such war. You must strike me down.”
The blade swung downward and the queen simply stepped aside. I spun with it in an arc and she dipped and moved as I swiped at her legs, then she disappeared and was behind me.
I felt a stabbing pain in my back as her fingers embedded into my spine. I fell to my knees, my face and legs and arms all frozen in a stance of pain. She walked before me and stood looking down. Running her fingers over my face she said, “My champion, my protector. I am sorry.” She looked to Aysta. “Kill him. Strike him down with the blood sword and unleash the power I have placed inside you.”
Aysta walked to me. She stood above me and held the blade before my eyes. Lifting it, I could do nothing but watch as a drop fell and hit me in the face.
I’m sorry, Emma. I failed you.
The blade swung down.
3
I felt the wind of the blade against my face and another spatter of blood as it hit my tongue. But the blade wasn’t inside me.
Aysta had missed and swung backward, the blade rooting up to the hilt inside the queen’s breast. The queen looked calm, almost serene, as the blood began to flow out of her and onto the red dirt. She fell to her knees.
Aysta pulled out the blade and turned to her. “I serve no one.”
With a swipe of the blade, the queen’s head tumbled off her shoulders and onto the ground. Aysta picked it up by the hair, the calmness still visible on the queen’s face. She went up the embankment and shouted to the orcs. They looked up and she held the queen’s head high.
Shrieks and screams went up from the orcs; the two that had brought Chloe were weeping. Aysta glanced to me and then back at them.
“You served her. Now you serve me. Together, brothers, we will take what was stolen from us.”
The orcs were still in shock and hardly replied, but soon a chant of some sort began going through them. Within a few moments they were all stomping their feet and paying homage to their new queen. Aysta turned to us.
“Join me,” she said, “be my general as you were hers.”
“I fought in one war for a mad queen. I cannot fight another for the same.”
She turned away from me and back to the orcs, lifting the blood sword. I scooped up Chloe and ran off the side of the path onto the slope of the mountain. There were no stones and I slid on my backside, trying to use my free hand to guide and slow us. I didn’t want to be there. I didn’t know Aysta anymore, didn’t know who that person was leading an army of orcs. She seemed as dangerous as the queen.
We reached the bottom and I lifted Chloe onto my shoulders as we sprinted into the jungle. I ran until my legs felt like they might break and then I lay down underneath a tree, unable to catch breath, as Chloe did the same.
“Did they hurt you?” I gasped.
“Only a little. They hit my legs with hammers. I don’t know if they’re broken.”
“Can you move them?”
She tried, and though they moved a little they were clearly broken.
“We need to keep moving and get you to an apothecary.”
“Why didn’t you tell me she was the queen?”
“Because she wasn’t anymore. It didn’t matter who she was.”
“And you’re the general my mother spoke about. She said there was a general in black armor that led the queen’s armies and that he was the most feared man in the kingdom. That was you.”
“So it was. But that was a lifetime ago, when your mother was just a girl. I am not that person now.”
“She said you burned entire villages. Killed thousands of innocents.”
“Aye, child, that I did. But it was a different time. And I didn’t know it then, but the queen held sway over me. As she held sway over Kandarian and Aysta.”
She paused. “Is Aysta going to lead that army into—”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because whatever the queen did to her corrupted her soul. Or maybe lifted the veil on her
eyes and released her corruption. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we leave here as quickly as possible.”
“How can you say it doesn’t matter? She’s going to march an army of orcs into our land and you don’t care?”
“Since when has it ever been our land? It is the emperor’s land and he can fight for it all he wants.”
“So you won’t help?”
“Help against an army of orcs? What exactly could I do against them?”
“You could warn the emperor so they don’t catch him unaware.”
“And you think he’d believe me?”
“You’re the queen’s general.”
“And if he knew that, I would be sent to the gallows as quickly as she would have been.”
“Or we could join Aysta and kill her once she has trusted us.” Chloe forced herself up. “I won’t let the entire realm fall because you refuse to choose sides.” She began walking away.
“Where are you going?”
“If you don’t care, maybe the prince will.”
“They will rape you and leave you in the sand for dead.”
“I’ll take that chance.”
Sitting in the shade of the tree, I swore under my breath and rose and began to follow.
LUCIUS KANDARIAN
I woke to the sound of screaming and realized it was my own. I was lying underneath a canopy, the sunlight bright in my face. Rags lay about me, soaked with black. Elfred was sitting next to me. He leaned over with a rag soaked in water and dabbed my forehead.
“Calm, my prince. Calm.”
“I saw them, Elfred.”
“Calm, My Prince. You’ve been in a sleep for a day and a half. You had the fever and were bleeding through your pores. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
“I saw them.” I was shivering and it was making my teeth chatter. “I saw them all, the faces of each woman I’ve killed. They waited for me in the darkness and they said, ‘Welcome, murderer.’ I saw it, Elfred, each face.”
“It was a nightmare brought about by the fever.”
Empire of War - An Epic Fantasy (The Empire of War Trilogy Book 1) Page 18
