Chaos Awakens (Dragons of the Nether Book 1)

by Megg Jensen

  The city looked different than he remembered. It had been a year since he'd made his last pilgrimage to Agitar. Back then, the city had been bustling with activity. Orcs filled the streets hawking wares and bartering with customers. Today, it was quiet. The streets were empty. Doors were closed. Agitar was as quiet as a cemetery.

  A door was flung open. Crotus hung back, almost afraid. A child ran out, her laughter tinkling in the stale air. An adult orc ran after her, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her back in the house. He slammed the door without looking at Crotus.

  "Strange," Crotus said to his wife. Then he remembered Hacun wasn't there. His heart sank. He'd left her behind, for what? A city that had gone silent. He thought of his orcs, camped outside the city, waiting for directions. He hoped he would have good news for them.

  Crotus made his way into the center of Agitar. There was not an orc to be seen. He'd intended to ask the first orc he encountered a slew of questions. Maybe it was a holy day he'd forgotten? Or perhaps a day of silence? Where was everyone? He wouldn't know for sure until someone told him, so on he went toward the king's castle.

  At the bottom of the steps to the castle, two hulking guards stood with helmets on their heads and full armor covering their bodies. Each held a tall spear with a sharpened tip. As Crotus approached, their spears locked in an X, preventing him from going any further.

  "I am Crotus, leader of the village of Gunder. I'm not here to steal the throne for myself. My people are waiting outside the city. We're requesting sanctuary from the human invaders. I need to speak with whoever is in charge."

  The guards remained still as statues.

  Frustration grew in Crotus’s chest. "There is a human army headed this direction! They defeated us at the pass. They number in the thousands. We could not stand against them, so we came to Agitar for help!"

  The door to the castle burst open. Dalgron, general to the king's armies and Crotus’s childhood friend, stepped out, his face weary.

  "Old friend!" Crotus called out.

  Dalgron noticed him, his face lined with sadness. "Crotus, please tell me you're not here to fight for the throne."

  "No, I brought my village here for sanctuary."

  "Your entire village?" Dalgron responded in disbelief.

  Crotus shook his head, his eyes downcast. "All but one. Hacun remained behind to give us time to escape."

  "From the humans?" Dalgron asked.

  Surprised, Crotus tried taking a step forward, but the guards continued to block him. "You know they breached the pass? They're marching here next! You need to muster the troops."

  Dalgron's eyes locked on Crotus’s. "There will be no armies marching out to meet the humans. Not now. Not ever."

  "I don't understand."

  "Go home, Crotus."

  "We can't. My orcs will die!" Crotus couldn't believe the words coming from his old friend's mouth.

  "Don't you think I know that?" Dalgron snapped. "I have no control over this."

  "I don't understand." Crotus wondered, for the first time, if old age had addled his own brain. He had to be misunderstanding Dalgron. Or hallucinating. None of this could be real.

  Dalgron tapped the shoulder of the guard on the right. The spears snapped back to attention as Dalgron walked between them. He put an arm around Crotus’s shoulder. "Come home with me. We'll talk. I'll explain everything."

  Crotus followed his friend through the city to his home inside the military barracks. In the past, orcs would spend their time practicing for battle and forging weapons. Now the practice fields had been abandoned.

  Dalgron motioned for Crotus to enter, then closed the door behind both of them. He struck a flint, lighting the dark room.

  "Why don't you open the curtains?" Crotus asked. "It's a beautiful day."

  "Sit. Then I will tell you." Dalgron pointed to a chair.

  Crotus sat.

  "You know King Rafe abdicated the throne, offering it to whoever could take it?"

  Crotus nodded.

  "Well, it was quickly claimed." Dalgron sank into a chair opposite Crotus.

  "By a coward who refuses to fight the humans and aid his fellow orcs? I can't believe any orc would do that."

  "You're right. It wasn't an orc."

  Crotus’s jaw dropped. Had the humans beat him there? Had they already defeated the orcs?

  "It's not what you think. It's not what any of us anticipated." Dalgron took a long drink from the cup on the table next to him. He offered Crotus a cupful of mead, but he refused.

  "Who?" It was the only question Crotus could form in his shocked state.

  "An elf." Dalgron said it as if he was spitting vomit from his mouth.

  "What?" Crotus asked.

  "You heard me. Don't act like your hearing has suddenly gone bad. It was a bloody elf. I don't know how he got in the castle, but he did. And now he's using some strange type of magical mind control to keep all of us compliant. It makes me sick. The farther away I go, the more I feel like myself."

  "So why don't you keep running? Get away?"

  "I can't leave anyone behind. He has the queen. He has the guards under his control. There are too many lives at stake." Dalgron slammed his cup on the table.

  "You are the same orc you always were." Crotus clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Honorable. Just. You stay for the same reason I left my wife behind to die. It is the right thing to do, even if it eats away at our insides."

  "And you say the human army is on its way here?" Frustration tinged Dalgron's words.

  "Yes. They got through the pass at the Barrier Mountains. I have no idea how they beat our best orcs." Crotus noticed Dalgron's head dip. "You did send out our best orcs, right?"

  "I may have made a tactical error and underestimated the humans." Dalgron took another long swig from his cup of mead. "I sent my best warrior, Vron, but I forced him to take the newer recruits. I thought it would be a simple skirmish, good practice for them, you know? Damn it all, I should have listened to the faun."

  "Faun?" Crotus asked.

  A knock stopped Dalgron from saying anything else. He rose slowly, crossed the room, and opened the door.

  Crotus squinted, trying to see who stood there. It was an orc, a small child covered from head to toe in a cloak too large for her, and a woman. They pressed into Dalgron's home without waiting for an invitation.

  Crotus gasped as he could see them more clearly. "The faun?" he asked Dalgron.

  Before Dalgron could respond, the faun knelt at Crotus’s feet. "They said we would find you in the city. Your wife, Hacun, was a brave and honorable woman."

  Crotus felt a lump form in his throat. He'd known she would die, but until that moment, until he was forced to accept it, he had pushed it to the side. "You saw her?"

  The faun nodded, her eyes sad. "She helped us to destroy the human's mage. Or at least seriously cripple him. Not only will it slow them down, but it will diminish their strength." She stood and kissed Crotus on the cheek.

  With a fury, she focused angry eyes on Dalgron. "We pushed day and night to get here to inform you of the consequences of your actions."

  He held up a hand. "Before you continue, let me tell you I was wrong to send so few to the Barrier Mountains. I should have listened to you, and I will do so now with an open mind. I'm so sorry, Alyna."

  "I certainly hope so!" Alyna crossed her arms over her chest.

  Crotus took in the scene with a large degree of wonder. A faun bossing around Dalgron? It was too rich.

  Crotus glanced at the strange orc, who stood strong and silent in the corner. The child traipsed about the cottage, touching everything in her reach. He motioned for her to come to his side.

  "Let me see your tusks," Crotus said.

  The hood of the cloak fell back, and the child bared her teeth at him and growled.

  "She's not an orc," Crotus said with surprise.

  Alyna put her hands on the child's shoulders. "No, she's a human. If you lay a finger on her,
I'll roast your balls for dinner."

  Crotus laughed. "I have no plans to hurt her. She's a child. No need to resort to threats."

  "In a time like this, it's all I have." Alyna turned back to Dalgron. "We need to prepare for battle. Now."

  "We can't." Dalgron rubbed his temples. "It's what I've been trying to tell Crotus. The new king won't allow us to fight."

  Crotus stared at his friend in disbelief. The world had truly turned upside down.

  Chapter 36

  Nemia clung to Ademar's shoulders. She was tired, but she wouldn't say it aloud. Ademar had to be exhausted from carrying her all day. Tace had offered, but Ademar turned her down. Nemia knew it wasn't because she was light. It was because he didn't want to trade Nemia for Raseri. The dragon didn't like Ademar. Nemia thought the feeling was mutual.

  "This is getting ridiculous." Tace halted her march. "We're getting nowhere fast. We need mounts. The town of Inab is ahead. They should have some."

  Nemia closed her eyes, willing her visions to help them. Nothing. She hadn't had a proper vision since leaving Agitar. If she hadn't found Tace and Ademar, she might have wondered if her visions were hallucinations.

  "We also don't know if we're being followed,” Ademar said. “If we show up in Inab, someone will notice the human guy traveling with two orcs."

  Tace snapped her fingers. "That gives me a good idea. Put Nemia down."

  Nemia slid off Ademar's back, landing on two shaky legs.

  Tace reached down, pulling Nemia's hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ears.

  Nemia reached up with shaking hands, yanking her hair back down over her face.

  "No, let them see it." Tace smiled.

  "But if they see it, they'll recognize me." Nemia's lower lip trembled.

  "Recognize you as anything other than a child with a birthmark?"

  "I'm the princess," Nemia whispered.

  Tace squatted, her face now level with Nemia's. "No one knows the princess has a birthmark, do they?"

  Nemia took in a shuddering breath. The princess was dead—at her hands. But still, what Tace said was true. No one would know her. Only the king and queen and Sabniss's parents knew the truth. None of them were here. "But the people who see me will remember. I don't look like everyone else."

  "Exactly," Tace said. "They'll be so focused on you, they won't look at me. If the Consecrated has orcs watching for me, your face might be enough to distract them."

  Nemia wasn't sure how she felt using her disfigurement as a distraction. She'd always been taught to hide her face, to be ashamed of it. It made her ugly. It made her unfit. A tear escaped her eye. She wiped it away before Tace could see.

  "If you're uncomfortable, we don't have to do this." Tace stood. "I don't think you're ugly, if that's what you're thinking, Nemia. You're a beautiful young girl. So what if you have a birthmark on your face? It doesn't change who you are inside."

  But Nemia knew it did. The birthmark grew when she first touched magic with Azlinar. It brought out her evil side. It made her do things she didn't want to do. It made her kill Sabniss.

  Nemia swallowed hard, then nodded her head in agreement. She pushed her hair behind her ears. The wind blew, tendrils of air dancing across her cheeks. It was the strangest sensation.

  "You stay here," Tace said to Ademar, "with Raseri."

  Ademar's face fell, and Nemia giggled.

  "The two of you need to learn to get along if we're going to continue to travel together." Tace scratched Raseri under the chin. The dragon leaned into her nails, cocking its head to the side. "Okay, now that that's settled, Nemia and I will head into town. Hopefully, I can secure some mounts for us."

  Ademar reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of golden coins. "Take these. That should cover the cost."

  Tace whistled as he dropped them into her open hand. "Where did you get these?"

  "Hugh taught me to always carry extra money. You never know when it'll come in handy," Ademar said. "I've never had to use it until today, actually. I mean, I've used orc currency, but not these."

  "Yeah, this would buy a year's worth of food." Tace's eyes were wide. "Where did Hugh get this much gold?"

  Ademar shrugged. "I didn’t ask."

  "I promise I'll be frugal with it," Tace said.

  "It's yours," Ademar said. "Do what you need. Get us mounts so we can continue on our journey north.”

  Tace stared absently at the coins. She looked up. "Sorry, it's just that I've never seen so much gold in one place before."

  "Go," Ademar shooed them away.

  Tace placed two of the gold coins in her pouch and hid the rest in a pocket in her breeches. "Let's go. The village isn't far. Hopefully, we can secure mounts and get out quickly."

  "Hey, get some food, too," Ademar called.

  Tace waved to him as she and Nemia disappeared into the forest.

  Nemia reached out, touching every plant and tree they passed. "I've never been outside Agitar before. I'm fascinated by the variety in nature."

  "Never? You never went to the park on the western edge of the city to play with other children?" Tace asked.

  "No." Nemia plucked a flower from the ground. "When I was very small, my parents kept me indoors for fear I would be orcnapped or injured. They also didn't want anyone to see me. Every morning and night, my face was slathered with ointments promising to erase my birthmark. When they were forced to bring me out for appearances, they would cover my face with makeup. It never did a perfect job, so they would make sure to keep me far away prying eyes. They claimed it was for my health."

  Nemia paused in her story. The rest was painful to recount. She'd never said it aloud to anyone before. Even with Tace, who she trusted, she was embarrassed.

  "If you don't want to continue, it's okay." Tace patted Nemia's shoulder.

  "No, I want to." Nemia lifted the flower to her nose, taking a deep breath. The flower smelled like hope. "When I was eight, my mother took me aside. She said I was unfit to be a princess, that Drothu had frowned on me. If I was worthy to take the throne, they wouldn't have marked me so. Then she brought in Sabniss. She told me Sabniss was now Nemia, and I was now Sabniss. That we would exchange lives."

  Nemia recalled how she had sobbed, how she had begged her mother not to toss her aside for the beautiful slave orc.

  "My mother said she couldn't bear to let me go," Nemia continued. "She said I would stay on as a handmaiden."

  "Instead of letting you truly change your identity, she forced you to stay there and watch another girl take your life?" Tace stopped her march.

  "Yes," Nemia whispered. "I worked in the throne room, doing everything Sabniss ordered me to do. I was reduced to nothing more than a servant. But at least my mother could still see me, and I could still see her."

  Tace planted her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry if this is disrespectful, but your mother was extremely selfish. If she truly loved you, she would have let you go completely."

  Nemia had often thought the same thing, but she loved her mother unconditionally.

  Tace reached over, pulling Nemia into a hug. She rested her chin on Nemia's head. "I could never do that to a child of mine. From this day on, you are my little sister. I will never disrespect you."

  Nemia hugged Tace back fiercely. "Thank you," she mumbled into Tace's arm.

  When the two broke apart, Tace readjusted her cape. "I'm not usually so emotional. Don't get used to it. I'm just completely disgusted at how you were treated. And your father? What did he say?"

  "To him, I was dead. I was a ghost in his throne room." Nemia rolled her eyes. "It hurt for a while. I was never as close to him as I was to my mother. I was an abomination, not a beloved child. He loved Sabniss, though, that was clear. He treated her so wonderfully. At first, I was jealous. Then I grew to hate him."

  It was hatred which lead her to kill Sabniss. Not only did Nemia not want Sabniss on the throne, but she also wanted her father to suffer. She looked up at Tace. Sh
e would never, ever hurt Tace the way she hurt Sabniss or her father.

  "Bastard. I don’t care if he is the king." Tace began walking again. Soon they were on the edge of the forest, looking out into the village. "Don't talk. Let me take care of everything, okay?"

  Nemia pursed her lips. She'd do as Tace asked, and soon they'd be headed north again.

  Chapter 37

  "Excuse me, sir." Tace tapped the male orc on the shoulder as he stood outside a barn baling hay. "Do you have any mounts for sale?"

  He turned around, glanced at Tace, then recoiled when he saw Nemia's face. Tace squeezed Nemia's hand, reminding the young orc to keep quiet. She hated hurting Nemia in this way, knowing full well it would, but that birthmark could keep them from being recognized.

  If the Consecrated were chasing them, they were looking for a female orc and a human man, not a female orc and a disfigured child. Maybe it would be enough to distract them.

  "My sister and I are headed home to Agitar." She figured another lie could only help. "Our mother has fallen ill. We want to see her before she dies."

  Nemia sniffled and rubbed her eyes. Good girl.

  "Do you have money?" he asked, clearly not giving one whit about their story.

  Tace reached into her pouch, pulling out one gold coin. "Our parents gave us this in case of an emergency. Will this be enough?"

  The orc's eyes glinted for a moment until he composed himself. "Yes, but not my best. I have two mounts I can sell you. You look hungry, too. I'll throw in some food for your journey."

  Tace loosed a genuine smile on him. Her gold coin could have bought four mounts instead of two, but his willingness to add some food showed he had a conscience. If she'd been back in Agitar, she would have bartered. Today, all she wanted was to get the mounts and leave.

  "Thank you so much," Nemia squeaked out.

  He looked down at Nemia again. "What happened to you, child?"