Gods Of Blood And Fire (Book 1)

by A. J. STRICKLER

  He had denied it when they accused him of having feelings for the woman, but looking back he was certain they could tell how he felt about her. He had acted so ridiculous, it was time he stopped fantasizing about her. What would a magnificent woman like her want with a half-breed anyway? What kind of life could he give her? He was starting to understand why his mother hadn’t married Elu.

  He took a piece of leather that he had wrapped around his wrist and tied his hair back. He would let her sleep most of the night, he needed to be alone for a while to try to get his mind off of her. He always knew there could be nothing between them, but it hurt to hear her say it.

  These were the times he missed his mother and brother. They would understand. He thought a great deal of his friends, but sometimes he felt very alone, they didn’t comprehend what it was like for him. They couldn’t, they were human.

  He walked on cursing himself for being so melancholy, the self pity had to stop. His mother always told him when the children of Thieves Port teased him, “You can’t change what you are, Kian, ignore their taunts, only you can make yourself a lesser man.” She could always make him believe in himself, he hadn’t realized how strong his mother had been until he had gotten older. He shouldn’t complain, his life could be much worse, he could still be stuck in Thieves Port.

  A twig snapped, he spun and drew his sword in one motion, the moon light reflecting off the polished Elven blade. A figure was standing just a few yards from him dressed in a robe with a deep cowl, there was no doubt by the shape that the stranger was female.

  He had not heard or saw their approach. “Who are you?” He asked.

  “You do not know me, Kian Cardan, but I know you.” The woman’s voice was smooth and almost soothing, but Kian was wary.

  “How do you know my name?”

  The woman began to walk very slowly in a circle around him. “I know many things, swordsmen like you are in grave danger and do not even know it.”

  Kian gripped his sword tighter. “I’m not afraid of you. I do not fight women if I can keep from it, but I will defend myself.”

  The woman giggled. “The danger is not from me, silly. No, I find you very interesting and have no wish to harm you. The danger is from another that has taken interest in your skill with the blade. I just came to warn you to be on guard and to not be so trusting.”

  Kian sheathed his sword, the woman was offering no danger. “Why would you warn me, milady?”

  “I have found few men of courage and virtue in this world and I find the traits very endearing. I wish I could help you more, Kian Cardan, but a warning is all I can give. Heed my counsel or you will face a horror like nothing you could ever imagine. ”

  “What or who is the danger?” As he finished his question the woman vanished before his eyes, leaving Kian to wonder if the conversation had even happened at all.

  When the first light of morning came the men rode back into camp. Endra woke and rolled out of her mammoth cloak, sleep still making her head fuzzy, concerned that the birds were singing and she could feel the warmth of the sun on her skin.

  Kian hadn’t gotten her up for her turn on watch. Her first thought was something must have happened to him in the night, but she saw him sitting near their small fire poking the embers with a stick.

  “Why didn’t you wake me?” she asked.

  “I wasn’t tired and I had to think on some things. Besides, you needed the sleep.”

  Endra said no more, she could see something was troubling him and this time she would keep her mouth shut. Beside she had a pretty good idea what it was.

  K’xarr walked over to the fire, chewing on a piece of dried beef. “We found out Abberdon has invaded Bandara and there is work to be had, the Bandarans are outnumbered and hiring men as fast as they can, but most of the companies in the area have already joined the Abberdonians. The Bandarans have lost their King, he died not long ago and the new King is young and untried.”

  Vandarus interrupted. “Yes, Prince Cain is King now, his father King Aaron wasn’t much of a military man but he was our King and was well liked by the people. King Havalon, the ruler of Abberdon, is a warrior King and a fine strategist. This isn’t the first time that bastard has crossed our border. My country will be hard pressed to stop the Abberdonians if this ends in a full scale war. From what I’ve heard Prince Cain is a good man but he’s young. Bandara will need all the help it can get.”

  Cromwell slapped Vandarus on the back. “Settle down, blondie. I’ll save your homeland for you. If that’s the side we take.”

  So the camp was packed up and the group prepared to leave. They were about twenty days ride from Turill, Bandara’s capital. Maybe less if they kept to the Gold Road. “The Church is strong in Bandara, maybe the children and I should just go our own way,” Endra said.

  K’xarr thought for a moment. “No, I think it will be fine. With this war going on the agents for the Church won’t have time to be hunting for a woman and her children. I can’t believe you’re that important to them. We’ll just watch our step and it will be okay.” Endra resolved to go on with them, she didn’t want to leave anyway. The countryside should be safe enough for them if they kept to themselves.

  The days passed slowly while they waited for night to fall so they could travel on. The children were enjoying the warm weather and were doing well. Kian had said nothing more of his feeling for her and he was much more reserved when they were together now.

  He was still very nice to her, but the sparkle had gone out of his eyes when he looked at her. She didn’t like it, she missed the way he got excited when he was around her.

  The more time they spent together, the more her affection for him grew. She had been too much of a coward to say anything about her true feelings and now it was too late. Maybe it was for the best, but it gnawed at her all the same.

  Neither K’xarr nor any of the others had mentioned leaving her and the children behind lately, and in truth they hadn’t seen anywhere that would be a very good place for them to stay. Time was growing short, if she was going to leave before they got to their destination it had to be soon.

  They had ridden in to the Kingdom of Bandara at night and it was hard to tell what the land looked like, but at daybreak she saw how truly beautiful the Kingdom was.

  It was just as Vandarus had described it. Full of fine-looking pasture land for all the cattle and sheep herds they saw. The countryside looked like a field that had been sewn with small farms, most of which looked very well maintained and the crops in the farmer’s fields grew in abundance throughout the land. Endra could tell the war had not reached far into the Kingdom yet.

  “Your homeland is lovely, Vandarus, it’s no wonder you’re so proud of it,” Endra told the young warrior.

  “It is a true paradise, isn’t it? I wish we had the time, I could show you Turill. You would not believe how beautiful it is.” The Bandaran smiled broadly at her, pleased she appreciated his homeland.

  A passing merchant had told them that the armies were to the north and had only just engaged each other. After hearing that K’xarr had pushed them on harder, he didn’t want to get there too late to be hired on. He had also started traveling by day again. It was dangerous but they had made good time.

  Vandarus had drove K’xarr crazy until he had agreed to offer their services to the Bandarans first.

  Endra saw K’xarr drop back to come alongside her. This would be it, they were less than a day out of Turill, the great walls of the city loomed in the distance, time for them to stay behind, safe or not.

  K’xarr ran his hand through his dark wavy hair, he looked tired to her. “Endra, I’m sorry we couldn’t find a good place for you and the children, if you want to risk it you can ride on into Turill with us.”

  “Yes, I would like that, thank you K’xarr.” She knew it was foolish but couldn’t stop herself from agreeing to go with them.

  “We will see you settled somewhere in the city before we leave. Turill is a huge city,
perhaps you and the little demons will go unnoticed,” he said.

  Endra tried not to smile too big but she just couldn’t help it, maybe it wasn’t too late to make things right with Kian? Staying in the city would be dangerous and she would have to be careful. It might be all right if she stayed to herself and kept the children hidden. She told herself she would only stay for a little while, but she knew that was a lie. She had tied herself to these men and she wouldn’t leave them now.

  Vandarus galloped over to K’xarr, he pointed urgently down the Gold Road. Endra turned in her saddle to look. She saw a large group of men in red and gold chasing a man down the road towards them.

  “Those men are dressed in the uniforms of the Royal Guard of Bandara K’xarr,” Vandarus said.

  “Everyone, off the road,” K’xarr ordered. The man that was being pursued was on a small white horse, clearly he would not be able to out run the men who were chasing him. They would pass by the group in a matter of seconds. They were traveling so fast there was no way they would stop to trouble their group. So K’xarr had them ride just off to the side of the road so the guardsmen could pass easily.

  The man on the white horse sped passed them just as two of the guardsmen fired small crossbows at the man’s horse, one of the bolts buried itself in the white horse’s flank, the other just grazed the horse’s rump causing it to fly wide and hit Endra in the thigh.

  Kian looked at her leg, then he kicked his horse, charging after the Bandarans.

  K’xarr stood up in his stirrups screaming, “No, Kian, don’t damn you, don’t do it. It’s not our fight.” Kian either didn’t hear K’xarr or just ignored him.

  The others had not seen the bolt hit Endra and had no idea why he had taken after the guardsmen.

  The white horse stumbled and horse and rider went down. The troop of guardsmen began to slow their mounts. The guardsman who had fired the crossbow was on Kian’s left side. Endra knew the Half Elf was right-handed. It would be awkward for him to strike the man, besides his horse was still running at a breakneck speed.

  She watched as Kian drew his sword with his right hand and tossed it through the air into his left hand and decapitated the man in one unbroken motion. His concentration was amazing.

  Most of the other guardsmen were dismounting, trying to restrain the man they had been pursuing. Kian killed two more of them before they noticed he was there. The Half Elf jumped down from his horse among the surprised guardsmen, blade flashing.

  “Help him, damn it.” Endra yelled then launched her horse forward. Five of them were dead as she joined in the melee. All the guardsmen were fighting on foot but one. He was still on his horse shouting orders. Endra spurred her horse and headed right for him.

  The officer turned in time to see Endra’s horse collide with his sending both of them to the ground. She rolled to her feet the bolt in her leg sending waves of pain through her body.

  The officer was trying to get up as she drove her naked blade through his chest. Endra spun, blood flying from the tip of her sword to find the road in chaos.

  K’xarr and Cromwell were fighting back to back, Rufio and Vandarus side by side. Siro was trying to help the man who had been on the white horse get off the road.

  She looked over to see her children safely waiting on the roadside, then she plunged into the fray.

  Kian was fighting two men at once, so she took the one to his left. He was good, a thrust of his long sword almost took her in the throat. She dropped to one knee and slashed at his leg, cutting it off at the knee. When she stood up, Kian was pulling his blade from his opponent’s face.

  Vandarus was to her right, struggling with a very big opponent; she gripped her heavy sword with both hands and brought the blade down shearing through the side of the large man’s neck. “Thank you, beautiful,” Vandarus said, grinning.

  She looked around for another enemy only to find them all dead or dying on the red-stained road. Cromwell raised his sword to the sky and shouted, “By all the bloody Gods of Tora, Kian, you are a fine traveling companion.”

  K’xarr sheathed his sword. “You both are fucking crazy, if you want to fight wait until we are getting paid for it. Let’s clear these bodies off the road, Siro, see to Endra’s leg.”

  The healer took her by the arm. “Sit, Endra and I will pull out the bolt.” She reached down and ripped the bolt from her leg. “I’ll just take some stiches please.”

  The homely little man just shook his head. “Lady, you have traveled far too long with them. They are starting to rub off on you.”

  The man from the white horse walked over as the others started dragging the bodies from the road. “Thank you all. I would be dead or worse if it wasn’t for you … oh no.” The man’s eyes grew big as he gazed down the road.

  Six men in full plate armor came riding towards them one carried a banner on his lance. A golden shield with a red sword through it on a field of white.

  “It’s the damn Sentinels, we should run,” Vandarus said. “There is no time and they’re going to see the bloody work we have done here,” K’xarr said, drawing his sword and walking forward.

  Kian and Cromwell joined him. Vandarus and Rufio also walked into the road to stand behind their companions.

  Endra jumped to her feet. “I’m not done with your stitches,” Siro said trying to hold her back.

  “There’s not time for them, just get my children out of sight.” She looked to the man that had fallen from the horse. “Please help him with my children.”

  “Of course, lady, I’ll take care of them it’s the least I could do,” the man responded.

  Endra limped over to stand in the road to Kian’s right. They would most likely die on this road today. This might be her last chance. “I feel the same as you do, Kian, I was just too afraid to tell you,” she whispered. They looked into each other’s eyes. Endra felt in that moment that fate had stepped into her life once again.

  “What the hell is the Sentinels anyway?” K’xarr asked. Vandarus cleared his throat. “Church knights that protect people who travel the Gold Road. They patrol it, looking for bandits and the like. They are well known for their skill at arms.”

  K’xarr nodded his head. “Well, let’s see how hard they are to kill.” Endra and Kian both refocused their attention back to the knights in the road. There was not time now to sort out what Endra had just confessed.

  The knights had pulled up several yards in front of the group and their leader rode forward. “I will know what has happened here now,” the knight demanded. All the Sentinels had their visors down and lances at the ready. Endra knew it was going to be a hard fight at best. Rufio was the only one with any plate armor and Cromwell and Kian wore none at all.

  “I will tell you what happened, you armored cur,” Cromwell said stepping forward. He quickly drew his two-handed sword from his back and charged the knight. The man could not get his horse to move back fast enough. Cromwell’s great sword came down on the warhorse’s neck, severing its head and covering the big man in its blood. Knight and horse fell together. “Let us enter hell drenched in the blood of our enemies,” the Toran bellowed.

  Horses reared and the rest of the knights charged together, lances lowered. “Try to get them off their horses,” K’xarr yelled. Endra saw Kian duck a lance and cut the front legs off the horse, pitching the rider head first through the air. She dove to the side just in time to avoid the point of a lance. She staggered back to her feet, the wound on her leg was bleeding freely now.

  Cromwell had ripped the helmet from the man he had downed and drove his sword through the knight’s head. Covered in blood, the Toran looked like a mountain ogre standing in the road daring the knights to come on.

  Kian was battling the man he had unhorsed. K’xarr had somehow dismounted another and was fending off a rain of blows from the knight’s mace.

  The three horsemen remaining charged Cromwell, lances lowered, she couldn’t get there in time with the wound from the bolt slowing her down. E
ndra watched as Cromwell raised his sword and charge the knights on foot. The Toran was insane.

  The knights to the right and left miscalculated, not expecting their target to run head long at them. The knight in the center’s lance took him low in the abdomen, sliding straight through the big warrior’s body. Cromwell dropped his sword and the barbarian and the horse crashed together with a loud thump. The horse stopped when it hit the massive man.

  The Toran slid back and wrapped his arms around the horse’s neck and pushed until the beast rolled over spilling the rider to the ground. The broken lance was still in his body as he pulled the Voltakar from his belt and drove it right through the fallen knight’s breast plate.

  He grinned at her, black blood dripping from his mouth onto the road. She saw Kian had killed the knight he had been fighting and was advancing on one of the other horsemen. Rufio was engaged with a knight on foot who was wildly swinging a morning star at him.

  She heard Vandarus scream as a warhorse bit him just below the collar bone. Endra could almost hear the flesh rip as it was torn away.

  She ran to the animal and cut one of its back legs off. The horse reared on one leg, hurling the knight off backwards. As it tried to balance on one leg, the horse fell backwards onto its rider as he was trying to regain his feet.

  Endra dodged the flaying beast’s legs and slid her sword through the crease between the knight’s breast plate and his pauldrons down into his heart.

  As she looked for another enemy she saw all six knights and their horses were down. Cromwell let out a terrifying Toran war cry and collapsed on the road, the broken lance still in his body.

  Her head was swimming. She had lost a lot of blood but she needed to find the children. Was it getting cold? She collapsed, the last thing she saw was Kian’s face as he caught her falling body.

  The glow of a camp fire woke her. She lay on her back and she could see her leg wound had been bandaged. She felt much better. Better than she thought she should.

  Endra propped herself up on her elbows and looked around. Cromwell lay on the other side of the fire stripped to the waist with his wounds bound. Vandarus was beside him rubbing something into the horse bite he had suffered.