by James Fuller
Fall of a King
Book Two
Brothers of Blood
James Fuller
Kindle Edition
License Notes
Copyright 2013 by James Fuller
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is a work of fiction. With the exception of recognized historical figures, the characters in this novel are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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Acknowledgement
Thanks to all the wonderful people in my life who have stood by me and never given up on me.
Prologue
The afternoon sun burned brightly along the northern coast of the Misty Sea, keeping the normally haze-covered waters clear and visible for miles. It was not often that the fishermen of Belta were blessed with such a day; every fishing boat within the small town’s harbor was out in deeper waters, throwing their nets in the hope of a bountiful catch before the weather turned again.
The Misty Sea had been given its name for good reason - the majority of the time, it was embraced by a dense, unrelenting fog which hindered the fishing vessels, making them unable to drop their nets into the deeper, more abundant waters. Instead, they were forced to hug the coastline. Every year, Belta lost at least one of their dear friends to the mist, the sea, or whatever dwelled within it.
Thane wiped the trickle of sweat that cascaded down his brow with the dusty sleeve of his worn, brown tunic before it stung his eyes. He looked over to the large pile of wood he had already chopped, grinning with satisfaction. His gaze lingered on the pile that still awaited his axe blade and his grin turned into a grimace. He rolled his shoulders, working out some of the tension from the long morning before letting out a long sigh.
Setting his heavy axe aside, he went to the clay water pitcher that waited for him in the shade of a mangrove tree, along with a large chunk of goat’s cheese and several sweet fruits his wife had left for him, before she had gone to tend to some things in town.
Thane drank deeply from the pitcher, rapidly filling the tin cup beside it several times. Much of the water did not find his throat – instead, it trickled down his neck and chest, soaking into the wool fabric of his tunic, cooling him slightly as it mixed with his sweat. Setting the jug aside, he picked up one of the sweet fruits and inspected it for the telltale blemishes of a parasitic worm that sometimes found their way into such jungle fruits. It passed his scrutiny and as he bit into the juicy, yellow fruit - he was surprised to find he was hungrier than he first realized, so he quickly inspected another.
“Thane! Thane!” A thick-accented, bearded man cried out as he rounded the corner to the back of Thane’s cabin. “Oh, by the Creator’s will, there you are!”
Thane smiled at his large, eccentric friend, knowing that whatever his hurry was that it would be over-dramatized as usual. “Ottis, my good man, calm yourself before all the town believes you have been possessed by the spirits.” Thane laughed, reaching for the water again.
“It is your boy, Thane!” Ottis bellowed out, his eyes glistening with tears. “He... he has been killed...”
The clay pitcher slipped from Thane’s hand, shattering on the hard-packed earth beneath him as Ottis’ words hung in the air. “What did you say?”
“He must have gone near the caves again….” Ottis began.
Thane’s face went ashen. “One of the winged beasts?”
Ottis swallowed back his own grief. “I am sorry my friend, it was too late when I arrived… I…I couldn’t do anything.”
Thane’s legs nearly buckled beneath him as he fought back the wave of anguish which nearly claimed his senses. “Take — take me to his body.” He whispered, his voice cracking with turmoil.
Ottis’s face twisted with sympathy as his eyes averted from Thane’s. “I... I... could not retrieve his body, before...”
Thane’s legs finally gave out and he slumped to the ground, not even registering the clay shards lacerating his shins. “Why was he near the caves... he knew the peril... why... why would he risk such a thing... ?” he sobbed to himself, no longer fighting the tears that streaked his dirt-stained face.
Ottis went to his lifelong friend and knelt in front of him, “I...” he paused, trying to find the words to comfort his friend, but he knew there were none. “I just...”
“No Ottis, no words of consolation.” Thane replied sternly, looking up at Ottis; his eyes were cold and filled with a silent, dangerous rage. “Does she know yet?”
Ottis shook his head, “I came straight to you, Thane…she does not know.”
Thane pushed himself to his feet and walked past Ottis.
“Where are you going, my friend?”
“To avenge my son.”
Ottis followed Thane into the small log cabin. “This is madness, Thane! You are besieged by grief and not thinking rationally.”
If Thane was listening, he did not show it. He threw open the large wooden trunk in the corner of the simply decorated room and retrieved a large, long bundle of wrapped leather. He pulled the dagger from his belt and sliced the leather cords holding it together. The covering fell to the floor and his hands tightened around the smooth haft of his war-axe. Several years had passed since he had held the brutal weapon, yet instantaneously, its familiarity in his hands returned. The decorative gold and silver inlay within the redwood haft warmed beneath his angered grip, almost as if something within the weapon awakened to its master’s touch after years of dark slumber. The polished iron blade gleamed proudly - even in the low light of the room - as if to prove its prowess still remained. Thane placed the weapon down on the table and returned to the truck to retrieve his spiked, iron-banded shield.
“Thane, think about what you are planning on doing!” Ottis pleaded, his eyes lingering on the long-retired weapon.
Thane turned on his friend, the rage in his eyes matching what was about to escape his lips. Within a heartbeat, the barely-controlled fury vanished and agony replaced it, his eyes looking beyond Ottis.
“And what does my husband plan on doing that requires so much thought?” Zada asked, suddenly coming into the cabin, a woven basket full of fresh foods from the town’s small marketplace in hand.
“Zada... Sorin is...” Thane started to say but his voice faded, grief causing it to taper off.
Zada placed the basket on the counter and turned to her husband at once, hearing the barely-checked disorder within his voice. “What is it, my love…? What happened?” She asked, her voice growing with concern, her eyes catching the glint of the war-axe’s polished blade and the shield Thane held by his side. “What is the meaning of all this? Sorin is what? Where is my son!”
“Sorin is... dead.” Thane replied, tears breaking t
hrough once again.
“What?” Zada cried out. “No... No this cannot be... we saw him this morning, he was going hunting... no, I do not believe it! I will not!”
Thane went to his wife, pulling her close to him. She buried her head into his broad chest, muffling her sobs. For a long while the cabin was filled with only the stifled cries of a grieving mother.
Finally, she pushed herself back, trying to regain a thread of composure for the sake of her dignity. “How did it happen?”
“The beasts,” Ottis replied, his voice full of remorse.
The words nearly broke her again, but she stilled her emotions as best she could. “What are you planning on doing, Thane?” She looked to the war-axe, lying across the table.
Thane’s jaw firmed, “I am going to slay the beast who took Sorin from us.”
“I have been trying to talk him out of it, Zada, I swear to you.” Ottis cut in. “But he will not see reason. Maybe he will listen to you.”
“So, you would risk leaving me childless and a widow?”
Thane licked his lips. “I must avenge him, Zada... I must.”
“Listen to your wife, Thane, you cannot...” Ottis stopped short as Zada raised her hand to silence him.
“No one has ever returned from what you intend.” Her voice was flat.
“Of this I know.”
Zada nodded her head slowly, biting her bottom lip as tears streaked down her face. She forced her trembling body to stiffen. “Bring me the heart of this beast, or do not return at all!” She replied sternly.
“What?” Ottis stammered out. “Zada, you cannot be serious! This is utter madness!”
“Blood demands blood!” Zada replied coldly, reciting the ancient saying of their people.
Thane grabbed his blade from the table and retrieved his shield from the floor, before stopping in the doorway and turning to his wife. His eyes said everything his voice could not.
I may never look into her beautiful green eyes, run my hand through her sleek long brown hair, or taste her silken soft lips upon my own ever again. Yet, any words that he could have uttered would have weakened his resolve. His pride demanded this of him. The door banged behind him as he left the cabin.
“Keeper’s balls!” Ottis muttered, looking hard at Zada. “You just sent him to his death, woman!”
Zada swallowed hard and forced herself to look at her dear friend. “What would you have had me do?” She cried out, her control all but gone. “His pride demanded revenge; had I denied him he would have been a broken shell of a man, from this day until his last. I honor his pride at the price of my own. What more can a wife do?”
“The minds of lovers are worse than the minds of fools!” Ottis muttered as he went for the door.
“Where are you going?”
Ottis turned back to her. “To make sure your husband returns to you in one piece.”
Thane marched down the dirt path that he knew would take him close to the cliff-side caves with grim determination. Had his steps not been full of anguish and rage he might have absorbed the beautiful, vivid colours of the jungle around him.
“Turn back, Ottis.” Thane called out behind him, his tone empty and flat. “You will not dissuade me from my course.”
“I no longer intend to,” came Ottis’ replied, catching up to his smaller friend.
“What are you about man?” Thane asked, seeing the hunting bow, quiver and long sword strapped across Ottis’ wide back.
Ottis grinned solemnly. “You did not think I would really let you die alone, did you?”
“This is not your battle, my friend.”
“Is it not?” Ottis countered, drawing a confused look. “Have we not been kinsmen since we both suckled at our mother’s tit? Have we not stood side by side in battle, time and time again? You are more a brother to me than my own whelp of a blood brother. No - you are wrong, my friend - this is where I belong.”
Thane smiled at his friend’s words, for he knew if the roles were reversed that he would be doing the same. “We are both unlikely to return from this...”
Ottis snorted and spat. “Bleh, I know it. Do not be telling me again, lest I change my mind about the whole damned thing.”
Silently, the two warriors crept through the dense growth, towards the rocky cliffs where several of the great scaled and winged beasts resided. In the distance, they could hear the loud, distinctive calls that their people had spent centuries avoiding.
As the two neared the edge of growth - before it broke into open, rocky ground - they could see a dark, coopery, scaled beast perched on a ledge near the mouth of a large cave opening. The beast stretched its massive, leathery and crimson wings. Its maw opened incredibly wide, letting out a deafening bellow of dominance and several of the beasts that circled in the sky shrieked their understanding, distancing themselves from the larger Sire.
“Keeper’s balls, he is big!” Ottis muttered, a hint of fear in his tone. “Has to be nearly two scores bigger than my largest plough horse!”
Thane slid his banded iron shield from his back and strapped it in place on his left arm. He gripped the haft of his war-axe tightly as he watched the beast use its dagger-sized claws to cut into the rock face, stripping out head-sized pieces with ease as it sharpened its talons.
“What is the plan then?” Ottis asked. His bone hunting bow was in hand and he fumbled around for an arrow.
Thane’s demeanor hardened at the sight of part of his son’s torn leggings resting beneath the ledge the great coopery beast stood on. “We kill it!” Thane hissed, stepping out from his shadowy hiding spot and into the open gravel pit just below the cliff. The giant, reptilian head snapped to awareness at the sudden movement, its slitted eyes glaring down at the creature who stalked so boldly into its domain.
Thane matched the beast’s glare with one more determined than the monster in front of him. “I am here to slay you, cursed beast!” Thane screamed at the top of his lungs, slapping the flat of his axe blade across his shield in defiance.
The monster reared up on its muscular hind legs, its massive wing-span darkening the earth below the cliff as it let out a blood-curdling shriek in acceptance of the small creature’s foolish challenge. Suddenly, the beast’s tone altered - no longer as proud and fearless. It echoed with a hint of pain as it went down on all fours again.
Thane noticed the small arrow shaft embedded in the side of the huge creature’s neck and turned to see Ottis pulling back on his powerful war bow. The next arrow grazed off the beast’s scaled right shoulder; if it even noticed, it did not show. All that showed now within the beast’s eyes was hatred.
The beast launched itself from the cliff’s edge, its wings thrown wide as they caught the air currents, slowing its descent only a little before its huge, weighted frame slammed into the rocky floor below. The sheer force of the creature’s mass shook the very earth and nearly caused Thane to lose his balance…and his nerve. But the beast gave him no opportunity to retreat. Its giant maw snapped forward with frightening speed for a creature of its size.
Thane put his large iron shield between him and the beast. With a loud clang, the impact threw Thane back more than a dozen yards and into the hard gravel. When he finally realized he had stopped, he was shocked to find his shield and axe still in hand. Before he could rise to his feet, the creature was upon him, its vicious head looming above him. Its reptilian eyes staring down with loathing as it opened it jagged, fanged mouth; the beast’s breath was rank with rot and gore as it bore down on him.
The shaft of an arrow plunged into the beast’s eye. It roared in agony and thrashed its head back and forth, trying to dislodge the wicked barb.
“Get up!” Thane heard Ottis cry and he rolled to the side, barely avoiding being crushed by the beast’s massive, taloned feet. But the beast also heard Ottis and turned its attention towards the creature that had wounded it, forgetting about Thane.
Thane charged after the monster, wasting no time questioning his luck. His w
ar-axe sank deeply into the scaled armour of one of its hind legs. With near impossible speed, he pulled the blade out and struck again, hoping to hamstring the massive beast. The creature howled in fury and tried to use its long, thick barbed tail to swat its attacker aside, while another arrow found its way through the beast’s scales and into its chest. Thane had anticipated the attack and launched himself over the muscular tail as it came for him. He rolled to his feet, surprised that after all these years his fighting prowess had remained mostly intact.
The beast’s neck and chest was riddle with arrow shafts now and dark crimson blood oozed from many wounds. A large flap of meaty flesh hung torn and slick with gore from Thane’s axe strike and the beast clearly was favouring its other leg.
Thane was about to attack the beast’s other hind leg when he heard Ottis’ deep battle cry, and knew his friend had used all of his arrows, and would now charge in with his massive two-handed sword. Thane grinned to himself - they might very well slay the monster yet, but that thought was quickly quenched. The beast opened its jaws and a violent, fiery inferno erupted from its gaping maw. Ottis had no time to react before the beast’s flames were upon him. His screams were sickening, intense flames blistering and melting his flesh nearly from his bones in the span of heartbeats.
Thane watch in stunned horror as his friend’s charred and blackened body crumpled to the rocky earth. He had not even realized that he was screaming a battle cry of rage and agony, his legs propelling him forward without thought. His war-axe arched across with unfathomable strength, lacerating through the beast’s thick, scaly hide and deep into its flesh, chipping into bone. The beast growled in anger and its head snapped back towards him, its jaws open wide, ready to end the painful threat.
Thane’s blade slashed up, catching the beast’s jaw, shattering bone and continuing through, severing the lower jaw nearly clean off. The creature howled in anguish and withdrew its head away from the wicked blade; its body thrashed, slamming into Thane and throwing him to the ground.
