“What is happening” Royster asked.
“Derrick is dead” Ezra replied. “The idiot stopped running and stood his ground. He was able to get one of them, just not the other. Mary is searching his body I think, well not anymore. They are on their way back this way, she knows you are still alive”.
“What can we do” Royster said worried.
“We can trick her” Ezra replied. “She is going to come looking for you and will focus on you. I can surprise her from behind. She will never see me coming, you are going to have to fight off her henchman for a little while”.
“What is a little while” Royster asked nervously.
“A couple of seconds” Ezra replied. “Just try to stay away from him, make him chase you. If that bow is any good then I should be able to hit her easily”.
“The bow is snapped” Royster replied.
“Well then I have to get up close” Ezra replied. “How good are you at acting?”
~
“Turn back or die, I won't ask you again” Royster said as he held twin blood swords.
“Are you serious?” Mary said as she stopped her horse. “Your power level is laughable”.
“I am the killer of Trum Barron” Royster said as he pointed on of his swords at Mary.
“Then Trum was weaker than I thought” Mary laughed. “I killed your little friend and now you will be next”.
“Then bring it” Royster said as he tensed. “You see I have killed the rest of your men, one even went riding off in fear. Maybe if you show me a good time little girl I will let you live”.
“As if I would do anything with you” Mary laughed.
“I think after I kill your man I will tie you down and have my fun” Royster replied. “I am the strongest Unarmored of all, even Telrin Fallow refused to follow me. You sent a novice and he was killed quickly. The Sullied, is that what you call yourselves? You should call yourselves the soiled, that is what your man did in his pants when he saw me”.
Mary sent her man out to get Royster, Royster waited for him to close distance then dropped his weapons and took off running. Mary was confused at first until her man picked up one of the swords. Mary turned around quickly just as Ezra swung, he cut the small woman in half at the waist then shoved his sword into her heart. She still had a vacant look on her face when she passed, her guard snapped back to himself and looked over at Ezra who was now down on the ground and screaming in pain. Ezra could feel the man coming at him but could do nothing, the pain in his head was the worse he had ever felt. Royster had stopped running away though and was now coming back, his would be attacker froze for a second then turned around to meet the threat. Ezra could feel the battle but still could not move, Royster was giving his opponent a good battle but only had so much power he could use and his opponent was a competent swordsman. When Royster felt he was running out of power he backed away, his opponent had been cut three times on his forearm and thigh and started carrying the weapon lower. The two clashed again as Ezra could feel the pain slowly fade away, Royster was able to get another cut in but his power drained quickly. Ezra had just gotten off the ground and grabbed his sword when Royster’s power went away entirely. His opponent was bloodied but still able to swing a sword. Royster was quickly disarmed and fell with a punch he never saw coming. His opponent went to stab him but was a step too slow as Ezra stabbed the man from behind.
“Thanks for the assist” Ezra replied as he helped Royster to his feet. “Let’s take the best horses and find Celeste”.
CHAPTER 12
Telrin looked over at the fat politician, Senator Bludworth was ultimately in charge of the invasion and along with various generals thought he was more important than what he really was. Currently the man along with his generals were just talking to hear themselves speak, Telrin had other problems. The High Council proved more difficult than he imagined, Telrin knew the place was built to withstand a siege but didn’t think the few men hiding there would be a challenge. Telrin became angrier, he assumed there were only a few old men in the mountain but had no way to tell for sure. What was for certain was that his Sullied were stymied at the mountain and whoever was in the mountain was good at holding out. The only good news Telrin had was that the Unarmored in Azard had been virtually wiped out, the only ones that remained were in the mountain. At least those in the mountain could not go anywhere or send any messages, the majority of his Sullied were at the base of the mountain and would kill any who tried to leave. The other news Telrin had heard was bad and undetermined.
In Ramy everything seemed to be going well, Alan who he had personally found came up with a way to turn others into Unarmored. Telrin had of course tried the technique only to see it fail, Alan was the only person who could create Unarmored. Telrin saw it as a blessing that Alan had stood up a school and was creating more Sullied from the populace. Those new Sullied were supposed to replace his regular men at the mountain, but it was not to be. Trum Barron had clashed instantly with Alan for minor problems. Telrin had told the boy Alan was in charge of training and he was in charge of everything else. Trum had insisted Alan had plans to rebel and the two had fought, at least for a little while. The Knights of Justice led a group of City watchmen and many citizens took advantage of the infighting and killed everyone including Trum. The loss of Ramy was a hard blow but the things he had heard after that is what had him worried.
Someone named Ezra had walked into a Temple of Justice and slaughtered almost all of the unprepared Knights he saw there. Telrin remembered hearing two of his Sullied in Laton were killed by a man named Ezra and doubted it was a coincidence. Ezra fled with a girl, the girl was said to be one of Alan’s. Telrin would not have gotten any of that information if it wasn’t for the single prisoner who managed to escape with the help of his spy while this Ezra was outside killing citizens. It was by luck no one realized that the Renford Fallow, elder of the Ramy branch of the Knights of Justice was family to Telrin Fallow, Warlord of the Sullied. Fallow let one of the hostages go, a former field hand turned Sullied. The rest of the hostages had been executed, the field hand managed to escape and had a troubling story to tell. The field hand had collaborated what Trum was saying all along, Hopkins was planning on leaving the Sullied and rebelling against him. Whenever Hopkins made a Sullied they were beholden only to him, Telrin did not know the made Sullied had an unbreakable bond with their leader. The field hand said he worked as the recruiter for Hopkins and said he could make more Sullied. Telrin would let him but this time keep a closer eye on the process.
“The Sully are not pulling their weight” Telrin snapped out of his thoughts when he heard this. It was Senator Bludworth and the man was looking right at him.
“We have been on the front line of every major battle” Telrin replied. “It is time for others to start bearing the brunt of the attack”.
“Your men are busy playing around that mountain” General Kaven snapped. “You will recall them this instant”.
“Who are you to give me orders?” Telrin said as he stood up. “I am the king of Sully”.
“I don’t care if you are the diety of Sully” General Kaven replied. “That backwater country means nothing”.
Telrin was up and walking across the room as a guard jumped in his way, Telrin’s weapon whirled around his hand and the solid ball connected against the side of the man’s head and sent brain and bits of skull all over the room. Telrin stepped over the fallen man and snatched General Kaven by the throat and slammed his head down on the table. The General struggled to get free from Telrin’s grip, Telrin gripped his weapon near the head of the iron ball and turned the spike side down then drove it into the General’s head. Telrin looked around the room as he walked back to his seat. A guard looked like he wanted to do something but was scared to move.
“Gentlemen it is easy to respect each other while we are in this room” Telrin began. “I do not remember being disrespectful to any of you and yet the late General Kaven decided I was nothing more than
an old toothless dog. My soldiers were on the front line for many battles and we are not the only part of this coalition. We are the reason the grand army of Fale has reached Courier, it is time for someone else to take the lead. As you know my elite troops are being hunted by other Unarmored, I lost quite a bit of them in Ramy. As for the mountain, that is the last remaining stronghold for the enemy Unarmored. My elite troops will stay there until the enemy is destroyed. But I think I may be able to help your pathetic troops finally win the siege”.
“H-How?” Senator Bludworth said shakily. Telrin noticed the man had glanced between the General’s body and Telrin several times as he waited for Telrin’s reply.
“I know of a way to make men and women into Unarmored” Telrin replied as the loud whispering started erupting around the room.
“Can it be anyone Your Majesty?” General Holland asked, apparently forgetting about the late General Kaven.
“Just about” Telrin replied. “It will take time and only one of my men have the capability to make more”.
“What do you need from us to make this happen?” Senator Bludworth said, his earlier fear gone.
“I need a couple of things and assurances” Telrin replied. “I am aware you are now all thinking about what you can do to further yourselves and the Fale. My proposal does not leave this room, it does not reach the Emperor or anyone else. I am sure you all know what you can expect for betraying my trust”.
“Guards leave this room” Senator Bludworth barked. “Anyone not comfortable with whatever he is going to say can leave as well”.
“I assure you that those who stay can become very powerful men” Telrin replied. “I do not want to say too much, but if I were you I would stay”.
“What is your proposal” Senator Bludworth asked.
“Before I begin, what do you know about the gift I have?” Telrin asked. “What do any of you know about it?”
“I know you are supposed to be faster or something” Senator Bludworth replied.
“Most of us are not faster” Telrin replied. “We can just sense movements extremely well. Imagine getting into a fist fight and knowing what punch your opponent was going to throw and when. Imagine you knew how much power he would use, you knew the speed it was coming at and how far the blow would reach. Imagine you knew this before your opponent threw the actual punch”.
“You would be unstoppable unless there is a big size difference” General Holland replied.
“In a fist fight yes” Telrin smiled. “But what if both were armed with swords, then would the size difference matter?”
“Of course not” General Holland replied.
“That is not the only one advantage I have over common men” Telrin replied. “I can read emotions, I know most of you in this room did not truly respect me and probably still don’t. But you do fear me now, until your greed got involved. All except for you General Gladius, you have to leave before I finish my story. You feel different than the others”.
“Get out Gladius” Senator Bludworth said then looked back at Telrin when the man left. “What other benefits do you have?”
“Other than extremely long life?” Telrin replied. “Those are the three benefits all Unarmored share. This last benefit is something I unfortunately do not have. You can have it though, let me tell you a story about a man I know, Alan Hopkins”.
Telrin told the story and was not surprised every man in the room wanted to nominate themselves to undergo the process. The only problem was that the man who was needed to perform it could become to full of himself and seek to do what Hopkins tried to. Tenkay seemed decent enough, Telrin could tell the man wasn’t lying when he said he would be loyal. Terin also knew that was because Tenkay had plans on replacing Barron as his right hand. The assembled men were told of possible devotion to his minion as well as the future devotion many would have towards them. Telrin also explained how others back in their country would view them, it was likely their ruler would not be too happy with circumstances.
“What do you get out of this?” General Notsam asked. “I have let the others ask a bunch of questions but no one has asked that one”.
“Allegiance” Telrin replied. “If I ever go to war, you and your men go with me. There are different sects of Unarmored, those that chose to not to group up die. While you will no doubt form your own sects I want your word you will help me in my time of need”.
“You want us to betray our homeland?” General Gladius asked.
“I don’t care about land” Telrin replied. “Our sect will transcend kings, just imagine it. Already I am being paid handsomely to join this war. If I had many more men under my command I would make even more, we would make even more. No king would dare get on our bad side, I think if it all goes to plan we can have over two thousand Sullied by years end”.
“That is an impressive number” General Notsam asked. “I think your calculations are wrong”.
“They are correct” Telrin replied. “Each Sullied made will be weaker than their creator, I do not know where the division stops so don’t ask. You would all be fools to put everyone on the same power level. You will create Sullied using your most trusted people, have them create more”.
“If that happens then the new people will only be loyal to them” Senator Bludworth said.
“What do you care?” Telrin asked. “If their creator is loyal only to you then you will never lose. I think however you need to have criteria when picking out your own leadership. It helps to have men that are already loyal”.
“And what happens if we decide not to help you?” General Notsam asked.
“Do you really need me to answer that?” Telrin replied.
“I suppose not” General Notsam replied.
“I want to know when do we start?” Senator Bludworth asked.
“I want you to draw straws” Telrin replied. “Whoever draws the short one will go first. All of you can't go at the same time and I doubt anyone in this room wants to let the first person who goes turn them into an Unarmored. It will be slow process to get all six of you done, but well worth it when you see the results”.
“I think we should start as soon as possible” Senator Bludworth replied.
“And we will” Telrin said as he thought about Tenkay. He would need to brief the man on what to tell these idiots. Telrin knew many of them planned on doublecrossing him once they received the gift, unfortunately for them it would not work and Telrin would make Tenkay give them a vow of silence until every member in the room was completed”.
~
Telrin breathed a sigh as he finally entered Kass, Mary had sent him a raven and wanted him to hurry. Mary had told him a weak Unarmored had appeared in Kass and so far had never moved. Mary could sense her from days away from the city and wrote a letter quickly, since then she had been updating him using messengers and ravens to different cities. What made him pause was the last message he received two days ago. An Unarmored suddenly appeared in Kass which should have been impossible. Only two explanations made sense, either there was an Unarmored that could hide their gift which wasn’t unprecedented, Telrin remembered the Devourer had managed the trick. Or one of Hopkins people had escaped and was now trying to set up some where else. Maybe it was this Ezra Telrin had heard about but he doubted it. Ezra took off with a woman that was also an Unarmored, Mary would have noticed two gifted. Telrin thought more than likely someone was attempting to make their own sect. Telrin would capture this person and force them to make Sullied, those Sullied would be given specific directions to join the battle at the mountain and seprated from their creator.
Traveling by himself had given Telrin time to think, the Fale he had made an agreement with were now slowly coming under his control. Telrin had to use a bit of trickery to see it done, after Tenkay changed General Gladius and Senator Bludworth, Telrin had Tenkay give them instructions on not ever challenging Telrin and to fight as one whenever Telrin needed them. When they created their own Sullied they were to tell them th
e same directions. Telrin then quickly ushered them out of Tenkay’s presence, it was unlikely Tenkay would ever meet any of them again except under dire circumstances. The Unarmored the others made would be weaker than normal but still able to slaughter elite troops if they put in the time training, that was the problem with most Unarmored.
Being able to predict moves was one thing, doing something about it was another. Everyone personally under Telrin kept in shape, becoming too fat would get someone Telrin’s personal attention. People like Mary may have a different skillset, her ability to use people like puppets made her one of the strongest Unarmored around. Telrin still had the little slip of a girl keep in shape, Trum Barron was deadly and he barely used his power, it was all due to keeping your body fit. Telrin came upon the building Mary was in, Trum was sure Mary knew when he entered the city even with his armor on. Trum had made his armor special after being with the Devourer, together they had figured out a way to reflect magic. Using the same technique as making the swords, the Devourer had made his armor. When anyone tried to sense him their gift would give them an incomplete reading, people would know he is an Unarmored but his strength level would be hidden. It also prevented anyone who wished to fight him from being able to lock on to him with their tendril while he could still use his on them. Telrin definitely had to keep his armor on around Mary, if he didn’t he was sure the girl would take advantage.
The small woman had eyes for him, her entire body language told him as much. She looked at him the way a fat man looks at dessert, if Telrin was honest it made him uncomfortable. Once Telrin held a meeting of his strongest Sullied without wearing his armor, later that night he found himself in her bed. Mary was not the type of woman he went for but he always found himself thinking about her, wearing the armor would ensure they stayed strictly in the master/subordinate role. Trum came to the door when Mary opened it and smiled, next to her was Ken Wilson.
The Blood Blade Page 12
