Death Knight Box Set Books 1-5: A humorous power fantasy series

by Michael Chatfield

  infection. He was one hell of a character, but he was a good person,” Gus said.

  Slowly, the others—one by one—started telling their stories. They laughed and they cried, not sure what emotions pulled on them as they were unable to control them.

  And they didn’t have to. Su looked around at them. They had all been through it together. They had dealt with the good times and the bad; they were a dysfunctional, highly erratic, unusual col- lection of people from all walks of life, but they were family. It didn’t matter that they weren’t from the same clan, or that their blood wasn’t the same: they had created their own tribe and forged their path together.

  Su looked up at the sky and saw the stars there. The silver jewels hung above, drawing one away from their mortal body and worries. He closed his eyes, feeling those who had gone ahead of him, those beyond the veil. It was as if he could see them smiling at him,

  waiting for him on the other side.

  Su raised his glass slightly, poured some on the ground and drank the rest.

  He felt as if he had been cleaned from the inside out. The dark- ness that had crept in had been pushed back. It wasn’t totally gone and there was a new scar there, but he felt as if the clouds had part- ed on a stormy day. With time, the clouds would move away and the sky could clear; he could see that now.

  They drank and ate together, breaking down the barriers that had started to form and bringing them back together.

  Su excused himself and moved to a quiet corner between car- riages. He looked up at the silver stars and the blue moon that hung in the heavens.

  He stood like that for some time, organizing his thoughts.

  “It doesn’t get easier, but I don’t think any of us would like it to be easier,” Anthony said.

  Su didn’t know how long he had been there. He didn’t turn and continued to look to the stars and moon. “The pain shows just how much we cared for them,” Su agreed.

  They fell into silence before Su turned to face Anthony.

  “They said that they were Agents of Chaos. What did they mean?”

  “It means that the next great war is coming.” Anthony turned his eyes from the sky above to Su.

  “The next great war, like the one that the races all fought to- gether, side by side?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  “I thought that it was nothing but an old story, one that those who didn’t want to fight used to try to fight back.” Su accepted what Anthony said. He had fought humans for his entire life, but he had come to trade with them and learned that they were not all bad; it was just that people could be led astray.

  “This war has been going on for a long time. It involves all of the people of Dena, for it’s very soul. The Agents of Chaos work to infiltrate our homes, our cities and create chaos, to disrupt us and turn us against one another so that they can devour Dena and ex- terminate us,” Anthony said.

  Su thought on the state of Dena. Two of the most populous races were in a war against each other, although there had been a break in the fighting for the last three years. It is only a matter of time until one side finds a reason to attack the other.

  “So this war right now?”

  “I’m not sure but I think that the Agents of Chaos are behind it. They might also be behind the reason that there aren’t any more Guardians and only a few people know about us. We’re more of a myth than a reality.” Anthony sounded as if he had more ques- tions left unanswered. “We’re stronger together than apart.” An- thony turned to leave.

  “Thank you,” Su said.

  Anthony looked back. “I just told you what you needed to hear, what your people needed to hear.”

  Anthony’s voice made Su’s heart twist. With his loss so recent, he could tell that he had experienced that same debilitating pain.

  Su looked back up at the night sky, rubbing his leg that had been mangled. Stronger together than apart. If they’re the reason that this war has been going on for so long... A chill ran down Su’s spine, thinking of it. There had been times in the past where a peace could have been reached but then something had happened and stopped it from being established. Now they had been at war for so long that it was just a part of Dena.

  ***

  “I meant to ask you earlier, but that bull familiar...” Su started. “Ah, Bruce?” From Anthony’s left arm, a green bull raised his

  head, looking out on the world. Instead of the anger that had been in his eyes before, they were clear as he looked at Su.

  Su once again felt that bloodline suppression. “How is this pos- sible?” Su asked.

  Anthony looked confused and Su quickly covered up what he was thinking.

  If someone learned that he had a familiar able to suppress our bloodlines, they might hunt him down. For it to be able to suppress my bloodline, even if we’re not from the same bloodline, it must be a pow- erful familiar, closely related to the beast kin.

  “Does he have intelligence?” Su asked, shocked by the light in the bull’s eyes. His body turned brown slowly, but there were hints of green in his hair and his eyes shone like polished emeralds.

  “He’s plenty smart; he just doesn’t speak common. Just com- municates in other ways,” Anthony said as Bruce left Anthony’s

  arm. Bruce walked on the air as he circled around, before he went back into Anthony’s arm.

  “He’s your familiar—is he a clan spirit?” Su asked.

  “A clan spirit? That sounds familiar. Heh, familiar sounding fa- miliar—that’s a tongue twister!”

  Su forced out a laugh as well, not sure what to say. “If I was you, I would be wary about letting others from the beast kin see Bruce.”

  “Oh?”

  Su paused. If he had just met Anthony, he would have turned him over to the authorities. If he was keeping and controlling a clan spirit, it was a great dishonor if he had enslaved it, but seeing the two of them interact and Anthony’s actions... I couldn’t see him forc- ing a clan spirit into submission.

  Su trusted his gut and let out a sigh and the tension that had built up within him. “Clan spirits are spirits that look over a clan. When we create our tattoos, we enhance the power that we can draw out from our bloodlines which extend back through our an- cestors and the clan spirits. Clan spirits can combine with a beast kin, increasing their power greatly, but it is up to the spirit to choose who they want to combine with as they are tying themselves to the bodies of others. They can guide one’s cultivation and in- crease their power in battle, training them constantly—a master in- side of their head and their body, looking after them constantly.”

  Chapter: I Spy

  The next morning, they left the campsite behind. They were all closer together, looking like a group once again.

  Anthony, Aila, and Tommie rode in the back. They took their time; they were so close now they were only a few days from the city.

  Anthony turned his head to the side as he heard something in the distance. “Are we expecting any kind of military around here?”

  “What do you mean?” Gus asked. “Can you hear that?”

  Gus turn his head and focused on listening. “Everyone move to the side. Legion coming through!”

  They reacted quickly. The carts shifted to the side as everyone looked around and started talking, advancing slower than before.

  “Why would the legion be moving?” Anthony asked.

  “There is a reserve training camp nearby. There wasn’t supposed to be any military movements. I have my channels to make sure that we don’t run into anything like this. So it must mean some- thing happened...” Gus trailed off before reaching into his pack and pulling out his cloak. “You should put this on. They shouldn’t do anything but they could arrest you and hold you for some time.”

  Anthony nodded and put the cloak on, hiding his armor.

  “I’m going to head to the front and meet with the riders,” Gus said. His bedar picked up his speed, meeting up with Su before con- tinuing beyond the caravan.


  They didn’t have to wait long until they saw the scouts from the army. They were talking with Gus, who was bringing them back to- ward the caravan.

  He waved Su over to meet with them. More scouts riding on their bedars could be seen in the forest on either side of the road, checking out the caravan and looking for threats.

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  The scouts in the forest continued on. The caravan was brought to a halt with Su’s gesture and they moved farther off the road. He left with a scout, moving toward the approaching army that was hidden by the rolling hills.

  “What should we do?” Aila asked Anthony in a low voice. “We wait. We haven’t done anything wrong and we have pa-

  pers,” Anthony said.

  “Then why are you wearing that cloak?”

  “Pretty stylish, no? Think of updating to a desert retro look—just need a scarf and some of those gnome goggles, roguish scars on my armor, a bit sandblasted. Badassery at its finest!”

  Aila groaned. It looked as if Anthony was back to his same joke-filled self. She hid a smile. It was good to have him back. It made Dena seem less dark than before.

  Su returned with Gus, heading for Aila, Tommie, and Anthony. “I don’t like this,” Tommie said.

  “Come on, Tommie. Stiff upper lip and all of that. This is how you build character,” Anthony said from beneath his cloak.

  Su and Gus looked nervous as they led a massive leader from the bull clan over. She had proud black horns that stuck out of the top of her well-cared-for helmet. Her eyes scanned over the people in the convoy, making most of them look away. Her guards moved with her, fanning around her more out of instinct that had been hammered into them after continuous fighting.

  Her eyes fell on Anthony as her hand lowered to her blade. Anthony felt Bruce stir.

  “This young upstart is thinking about challenging me? She needs another dozen eons and a new spirit!”

  “Bruce, don’t create a scene.” “If she tries something, I’ll act.”

  Bruce quieted down. He didn’t leave but remained there, awake on his arm.

  ***

  Commander Tysien was a large Elephant Kin. She surveyed the group before she looked at the man hiding underneath his cloak; he looked up at her and she thought that his eyes were glowing. She tightened her grip on the sword.

  Filthy human. Hiding among these people. And the story about the Agents of Chaos—that must be a lie that they used in order to try to get him through Selenus. I’ll get to the bottom of this. Can’t trust a human. Even a child.

  Memories she swore that she would never forget appeared in the back of her mind.

  “Take off the hood,” she said.

  The knight did so, revealing his armored self underneath.

  The other guards all looked at him warily, ready to draw their weapons as they circulated their bloodline.

  She had fought beside them for a number of years; they moved as one, a group that had gone through life-and-death trials before.

  “Papers?” she asked.

  “Good morning. Nice day out, isn’t it?” The man pulled out pa- pers and passed them to her.

  She nodded at the man and one of her guards moved his bedar closer, taking the papers and moving back to her.

  She felt as though the whole caravan was looking at her. “Commander.” The guard passed her the papers.

  She looked them over. They were all correct and they had the seal of the guard captain from Enni.

  Being that close to the border, the city guard isn’t going to be some simple-headed fool.

  The little girl’s face flashed behind her eyes and she made it ap- pear as if she were reviewing the papers closer.

  “All right, I’ll need to check these closer. You and your compan- ions will come with me and my guards back to Skalafell to check your identities and your papers. Convoy Leader Su, you and your people are free to go. Let’s move!” She turned her bedar. He was a scarred older beast but there was a fierce look in his eyes; the other bedar moved back, feeling his power.

  “Commander, this isn’t really necessary. They saved our lives,” Su said.

  “So you have said. I will need a full report. I hope that you can have it to my office within the next day,” Tysien said.

  Su looked as if he wanted to say more, but he figured that it wasn’t going to change anything.

  “Yes, Commander,” Su said with a dejected look on his face. He looked at the armored knight Anthony and his companions with an apologetic look.

  The other members of the caravan looked annoyed as well, but they had the presence of mind to not voice their thoughts.

  Her guards moved around Anthony and his companions, a gnome and an elf.

  Are they all part of his cover? Do they know anything or not?

  Anthony and his group followed after her as they were herded by her guards.

  They moved over the hills and left the convoy behind. Anthony and his companions talked. The gnome was nervous.

  The elf seemed as if she were on a sightseeing tour, acting as though everything were fine.

  Anthony, on the other hand, seemed bored.

  “I spy, with my little eye, something that begins with...T!” “Tree?” the elf said in a tired voice.

  “Nicely done! Your turn!”

  “Pick something a little harder next time,” the elf complained.

  “All right, Miss Big Brains!” Anthony snorted and elbowed the air to his side, giving the guard there a look as if they knew what he meant.

  They snarled at him and lowered their hands to their weapons. “Doesn’t make you bigger, threatening violence. Just means you’re trying to compensate. Don’t threaten violence, just at- tack—doesn’t give them the time to react,” Anthony said, disap-

  provingly.

  Tysien looked back, her eyes carrying a hidden threat. The ten- sion around their group increased, making one feel stifled.

  “I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with S,” the elf said.

  Anthony looked ahead. “Skalafell?” “Correct.”

  They had crested a large hill. A plains stretched out ahead of them. Skalafell was a large city, with some eight hundred thousand residents. A river ran along it, providing shipping for the canals that ran up to the northeast, where Norlund lay, and then cut to the east and the west. East was the front lines; west was more cities and vil- lages and then the coast.

  On the road leading to the southeast, the road that they were on, one could see an entire legion moving out, forty thousand beast kin and five thousand bedar, with a long trailing supporting cara- van following behind them.

  They toted their colors high for the Skalafell legion, showing off each cohort’s own flag.

  Tysien’s eyes drifted to the east where the camp lay, back from the river so it would be hard to be attacked from it, but close enough to receive and send supplies to the front lines. They had their own roads that curved around Skalafell to move troops if needed.

  The camp was dull grays and browns, contrasting against the white walls and red roofing tiles of Skalafell. Boats raised their masts to catch the wind as they headed down the large locks, or drew them in as they got close to the city. One would need to know Skalafell well to see that the ships were all leaving or stopping in the middle of the river, away from the Skalafell docks.

  While the city shone in the light, Tysien couldn’t hear the fa- miliar noise of work in the distance. Her heart felt heavy as they continued on, passing the legion marching down the road with grim looks on their faces.

  Chapter: Skalafell’s Secret

  They headed toward the camp, passing one legion as another could be seen getting ready. There were carriages of supplies being pulled together and the leaders were yelling out to get everything in mo- tion.

  They crossed the river over a wooden drawbridge and then went up the hill into the camp.

  “Camp Leader Jaclu wants to see you,” one of the guards at the gate said.

  Tysien
nodded and looked behind her. “Take them to the hold- ing cells.” She urged her bedar forward into the camp. She moved through the open areas that were now filled with carts and mem- bers of the legion preparing to move out.

  She reached the tallest building in the camp, riding with one foot as her bedar slowed down. She dropped off, handing her reins to the waiting guard in one fluid motion as she stepped forward, passing between the stone walls and heavyset wooden door.

  She went up the stairs in the building, missing messengers who were rushing between rooms inside the building or passing orders to the people outside of the building’s walls.

  She reached out to knock on a door as it opened before her. A messenger dodged around her in a panic; then, seeing who it was, their face seemed to turn white.

  She already ignored them and walked into the room. “Commander Tysien!” Jaclu, the jaguar kin camp leader raised

  herself to her full height. She wasn’t as tall as Tysien, but there was a power in her onyx eyes that made even Tysien tremble slightly.

  “Reporting as ordered!” She rendered a salute and dropped to a knee.

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  “Reporting as you were found. We have a plague rampaging in Skalafell and we have to move out our forces so that they don’t catch it as well and what were you doing?”

  “I was moving with the departing legion to make sure that there were no issues as commanded, but there was a caravan coming toward Skalafell. They had an elf, a gnome, and a human among them.”