Legacy of Death
Revenge
by
Thomas J. L. Green
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.
Copyright © 2018 Thomas J. L. Green. All rights reserved. Including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the author.
Version 1_2018.01.14
About the Book
This book is the second book in the Legacy of Dreams series. The story so far:
Freedom has a price, one that many cannot pay. The Slaver Union built its foundation upon those who could not afford theirs.. The sprawling business empire had long become the largest industry in a world battered by war and demons. A Grand Tournament was organized to showcase the glory of the Union for taking risks is a part of the business. Yet those risks may take unexpected forms. The Holy Order of Palai had decided to finally put a blade behind its preaching and used the tournament to launch a war. Political intrigue, assassinations and an army of grotesque monsters were all released from the depths of darkness to protect the legacy of the demon prince who controlled the Union. Since faith is not built on compromise, the Order put to blade or torch all which stood in its path. No sacrifice was too great to ensure victory, cities burned and innocents died by thousands. The leader of the Slaver Union fought to the last, his head now rests upon the altar of flames and the Union is no more. The Holy Order of Palai now grieves the loss of its Archbishop and its generals now plan the next move, for while one demon prince had died, seven more remain.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.”
Archbishop Nashimaeal, year 164 of the New Era.
Contents
1Miranda
2Luna
3Luna
4Luna
5Luna
6Miranda
7Luna
8Elizabeth
9Elizabeth
10Zerae
11Zerae
12Zerae
13Elizabeth
14Raven
15Raven
16Lucas
17Zerae
18Luna
19Luna
20Zerae
21Luna
22Zerae
23Luna
24Zerae
25Lucas
26Lucas
27Zerae
28Leena
29Luna
30Raven
31Luna
32Zerae
33Lucas
34Zerae
35Luna
36Lucas
37Zoey
38Zerae
39Lucas
40Zerae
41Lucas
42Leena
43Raven
44Khalia
45Luna
46Zoey
47Raven
48Luna
49Raven
50Zerae
51Luna
52Zerae
53Elizabeth
54Zerae
55Luna
56Zoey
57Raven
58Luna
59Raven
60Zerae
61Astril
62Lucas
63Luna
64Lucas
1
Miranda
“FOOD DELIVERY!” echoed from the door.
Idiots, they’re gonna wake her up! Miranda cursed in her mind and checked on her lover who was resting in the bed next to her, skin pale and cold to the touch, her breathing shallow. She could easily be mistaken for a corpse. Miranda carefully untangled herself from Luna’s chocolate brown hair and gently got up from the bed. Quickly and efficiently, she slid into her pitch-black armor. The boiled leather wrapped around her like a second skin. She swiftly arranged her scarlet hair to not be a complete mess and walked to the door.
“General,” the soldier bowed slightly when she opened the heavy wooden door.
Miranda didn’t respond, but simply passed through into the hallway and closed the door behind her. She glanced over the metal cart filled with food and pierced him with a stare. “Where’s the red meat?”
“Chef said we’re out of all meat but chicken, ma’am.”
“Did he? And he thought it’s a good idea to replace it with chicken salad? Do I look like I eat salad? Do I?” Miranda demanded sharply.
“No, you don’t, ma’am.”
“Exactly. Go back to the kitchens and tell the idiot in a white apron to get something else. Veal, lamb, horse, mutton, deer, those are acceptable replacements for beef. Chicken salad is not. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Now, the next time you shout at my door, you get latrine duty for a month. Also, the buttons on the shirt are meant to be closed and laces on shoes tied. It’s a uniform, wear it as such,” she added in a strict tone.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now off with you,” she dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
He bowed and left.
“Care for a drink?” a calm voice asked from behind her.
She whirled and saw Lucas standing by an open window at the end of the hall. He wore a thousand times patched tunic, had long semi-arranged silver hair around a pale and clean shaven face. He held a bottle of spirits in his hand.
“I see the concept of doors still eludes you,” Miranda remarked and walked to him.
Lucas stepped into the window, caught himself by the eaves and pulled himself up to the roof. Miranda followed him. The view from the temple roof wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was better than the stone hallway. He took a swig and tossed her the bottle.
Miranda enjoyed the view for a moment. The city of Illysaeas was swarming with people. They were slowly removing the bloody stains of battle between the Holy Order of Palai and the Slaver Union, which had happened here barely a month ago. The view even with the bloodstained inner walls was still better than what was behind them. As far as Miranda could see, the lands around the city were a scorched wasteland. Scorched by the forest fire, their very Order had created. She weighed the bottle in her hand and drank half of it in one go.
“How is Luna doing?” Lucas broke the silence. He was sitting at the top of the roof, leaning with his back on an immense bronze effigy of a sword with wings, the holy symbol of Palai faith.
“Poorly,” Miranda sighed, “she’s still in backlash and her spasms are improving slowly at best. But I don’t think you came here to talk to me about my personal life, have you?”
“No, of course not. My target is leaving today, so I’ve come to brief you.”
“Your target?”
Lucas pointed toward the city square. A black-haired man in well-polished white armor was just putting his saddlebags on a horse, while a unit of his own royal guard was busy keeping at bay the crowd of people which had gathered around him.
“Prince Raven sure seems to be popular,” Miranda remarked. “So, what’s the plan?”
“I shall go make sure the prince stays inclined toward our cause. You head to Xona and start the process of finding the new archbishop. Make sure it doesn’t happen too fast though, we don’t exactly need one for the next campaign,” Lucas stated.
/>
This means we are going to do something so bad the new archbishop wouldn’t agree with it, no matter who we choose, Miranda thought to herself and smiled poisonously. “I’m listening.”
“War reparations from the last campaign, funeral of the former archbishop and gathering of supplies shall keep us out of action for about the next two years, give or take. Give your legions a vacation and tell them to get ready for a long campaign. Once the propaganda for the Holy War to avenge the death of Archbishop Nashimaeal fills our coffers with enough gold and our ranks with enough recruits, we are heading east. From your legions, 9th, 11th, 13th, 18th, 21st, 27th, 28th and 29th shall go with Elias or Merewen; you are to take the harshest of your soldiers from the 3rd and head west of the Zaraguzza highlands. Your work won’t be pretty; I shall need you to destroy as much of the infrastructure of the central plains as possible. Burn the fields, shatter the bridges, block the canyons, salt the earth, destroy the dams and crumble the roads. We need to isolate the local cities; your task shall be to make it happen and capture as much food supplies as you can. We are going to wage war in lands too distant to establish supply routes, so we need to disrupt their lines to equalize our footings.”
“This is the point where Nash would tell us we have gone mad and must change the plan,” Miranda stated sadly.
“Why don’t you say it yourself?”
“Because I don’t care. Not anymore. There was a time when I believed I could make the world around me a better place. Now I know I can’t. But I can kill demons, so for as long as we are doing it, I’m fine with watching rest of the world burn,” she admitted. “I mean, now you command me to go cause a famine which shall wipe out entire cities and I just don’t care. You are still the worst boss I’ve ever had, by the way.”
“I’m always ready to disappoint.”
“What do we do about the Faye? We shall be warring just outside their borders; they will get involved sooner or later,” she asked coldly.
“For as long as the Daughters of Dreams stay in their lands, we shall not touch them. If they oppose us, we figure out how to deal with it on a case by case basis… or well, army by army basis. Would you happen to have anyone you can still trust inside so we can establish contact?”
“One, but I don’t know if I will be able to reach her. Most of my sisters whom I used to trust have long left the clans. But Faye are still my sisters, I don’t want them to die,” Miranda breathed, “especially not by my hand.”
“I will see what I can do, but there won’t be much we can do without some goodwill from their side. Any other objections to the plan?”
“No, but I have two requests and two demands. First, I want a fight against a demon prince. I couldn’t fight freely against Collward and you ended him before I got a rematch. I want a shot at another one, without limitations this time around. Second, if we are fighting the Faye, I refuse to kill them. I shall not turn against the Order, but any force I command shall not kill a single Faye during this campaign. Third, I want to stay anonymous when it comes to our dealing with the Faye. My name shall not be mentioned, ever. Fourth, I want Luna to not ever be put under my command. I don’t want her to become my subordinate… I’ve had too many work romances and they just don’t work if one is the boss of the other one,” Miranda requested.
“Alright, I shall pass it down through the line of command, just don’t tell Merewen or Elias. I denied all of their requests and said I shall do the same to you.”
Miranda laughed. “And you sent Merewen to dig up the corpses from the collapsed fortress Slaver Union left behind. She will not be happy the next time you show up.”
“Well, hopefully, she will calm down before it happens.”
“Poor Elias, he’s never getting the navy wages increased, is he?” Miranda grinned.
“For as long as they loot everything they get their hands on, keep selling whale oil behind the Order’s back and his commanders keep doing assassination contracts, they will keep getting paid the same they are now. Since the navy is mostly made from former pirates, I don’t expect this to change anytime soon,” Lucas revealed.
“Luna’s sure gonna love the navy,” she smirked. “She doesn’t exactly grasp the concept of private property, so she will fit right in.”
“I hope so. Anyway, the prince has left so I shall go set up our accidental meeting,” Lucas concluded and rose.
Miranda looked at the bottle in her hand and only now realized it’s empty. “For Palai,” she said for a goodbye.
“For Palai,” Lucas agreed and leaped off the roof.
Miranda followed him with her eyes as he ran across the rooftops until he disappeared over the city wall. She tossed the bottle away and went back to Luna.
2
Luna
“Sorry... I’m hungry,” Luna whispered sweetly into Miranda’s ear. They lay entwined together in bed covered by thick feather blankets. Luna’s body was still cold. Not corpse-like cold, but much colder than it should have been. The backlash from overuse of magic continued to hold her in its firm grasp. Miranda smiled tenderly and gave Luna a soft kiss. Her heat poured into Luna and tasted like nectar of heavens themselves. It made her purr. Miranda gently disentangled herself from Luna’s arms and reached for the food-laden table. Luna’s mouth filled with saliva as she hungrily followed her with her eyes. She loved Miranda’s bright red hair and piercing green eyes; she couldn’t get enough of her. Miranda cut a slab of a horse into small pieces and fed one to Luna. She reached out with her hand to softly stroke Miranda’s back. Her arm clenched in a spasm. It struck the side of the bed and Luna shook as if in a seizure. It passed in but a moment.
“Sorry,” Luna made an awkward smile.
“It’s alright, you will get better,” Miranda reassured her as she went on with feeding her.
“I don’t know,” Luna turned her look sideways.
“I do. Your body is getting warmer; you will be fine once your regeneration kicks in,” Miranda leaned in to kiss her. She knocked over a wine bottle from the table into the bed.
Luna caught the bottle in a lightning-fast move.
Miranda pinned her down with a stare. “Oh, really?” she smiled softly and reached under the bed.
“I am sorry… really, really sorry,” Luna blurted.
“Are you?” Miranda sneered and pulled out an iron cane. “Tell me, darling, how badly should I beat you?”
“You should not beat me at all,” Luna replied carefully.
“So, you find it acceptable to fake not recovering to make me take care of you when you are actually fine?” Miranda insisted and narrowed her eyes.
“Ehh… well… no.”
“Then tell me, dear, why shouldn’t I beat you to the point where you can only eat through a straw?” Miranda whispered. She slowly stroked Luna’s cheek with the tip of the iron cane.
Luna gulped. “How about you just… you know… forgive me?”
“Do you have the feeling forgiveness is on the menu? It’s not, but I still haven’t figured out how to pay you back for this, because it needs to be something special, something more creative than the good old whipping, something better than drowning you in horse shit, something truly special.”
“I changed my mind, how about you just beat the shit out of me in a fit of rage?” Luna tried.
“Hahahaha, no. You won’t get it nearly this quick or easy. When did you actually recover and started faking it? Hmm?” Miranda demanded.
“Few days ago,” Luna breathed.
“Lying, I shall note it down as another thing you shall pay for. In retrospect, I think the point when you started faking it was when your body temperature started changing, which was about the second or third day since I returned. That’s three weeks of you making me take care of you by shamelessly abusing me being worried about you,” Miranda remarked poisonously. “Do you even know, what’s the worst part of it?”
“That it was worth it.”
“You shitty little bitch,” Miranda sn
eered.
“Look, I know I wasn’t exactly honest, but you were taking care of me so sweetly I just couldn’t help myself and if I have to take a beating for it, so be it.”
“You are playing dirty, you rotten cunt,” Miranda protested.
“Am I a bad person for wanting more of you?” Luna smirked, “I am sorry I lied to you, I just wanted to spend more time with you.”
‘Because it might be the last time,’ a rough voice snarled into her mind.
Shut the fuck up, Wolfie!
‘I’m just being realistic.’
“You are so sweet I almost want to forgive you,” Miranda whispered sweetly. “Almost.”
“Sorry, I don’t know how I will handle being without you for two years,” Luna turned serious.
“I might have brought an iron cane to beat you, but it doesn’t mean I’m just going to abandon you. Of course, I will stick around, idiot!” Miranda retorted angrily.
“How? You travel all the time, while I will be stuck in Xona. Sooner or later you will be sent off on a mission.”
“You are such a stupid little runt. Lucas has sent me to Xona to choose him the next archbishop. The clergy will take a year to gather and when they do. You know, what’s gonna happen afterward? I will walk in there, announce that the great general shall not promote any of them without my approval and all hell will break loose. Did you think I would just leave you there? I will be there next to you every fucking day so calm the fuck down!” Miranda exclaimed.
“It’s going to take way over two years. You don’t know what will happen in one year, much less in two, or three,” Luna contested.
“I will figure it out! You are the most insecure little bitch I’ve ever met, but I’m not going to leave you because you are off for a year or two,” Miranda exclaimed.
You say that now when I’m here. Will you say the same after we haven’t spoken for a year? Two? Three? Will you even remember my face by then?
‘Probably not, you aren’t exactly pretty.’
Shut up, furbag!
Luna caught Miranda’s mouth for a kiss. She poured all her emotion into her. “Thank you,” she whispered into her ear and hugged her strongly.
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