Leonidis didn’t reply but felt another sharp prod from the tip of a soldier's sword in the small of his back. Then slowly the lattice gate inched its way upwards with a groan much to the applause of the enthusiastic audience.
“Time to die, thief!” hissed the soldier into his ear.
Suddenly Leonidis threw back his elbow and it connected savagely with soldier’s nose and the man stumbled back a couple of steps dropping his sword before sinking to his knees and clutching his bleeding nose.
“You broke my nose!” the soldier yelled trying to stem the gushing blood.
Unarmed and dressed in simple white short tunic with a narrow belt and barefoot Leonidis strode out into the centre of the oval arena and presented himself in front of the King’s podium bowing stiffly. The arena was built entirely of stone with tiers of carved seats looking down into the sandy enclosure which ran in horizontal lines around the amphitheatre. The seating closest to the arena floor was raised several feet from the battle area and separated by a thick wall guarded by soldiers brandishing swords. King Gomorrah was sat on a deep feather-filled cushion cradling a goblet of wine with his beady excitable eyes fixed on Leonidis. A cloak of the finest coloured silk with a rich golden sheen hung draped over his hulking shoulders and a red velvet hat was perched on top his head. Lavish jewels adorned his thick fingers and his bloated stomach strained against his shirt. Next to him was the slender Mordechai, his thin cruel lips parted into a half-smile and his dark eyes locked onto Leonidis. Seated around the King in close proximity were high ranking officials who had proven their worth to the crown, loyal followers, counsellors and men of title and the remainder of the arena was populated by citizens of Tarlath enveloped in a cacophony of noise.
King Gomorrah slowly raised his right arm and the arena grew deathly quiet.
“Leonidis, son of Narius you have been found guilty of immoral practices and Royal law decrees that you are sentenced to death for your law breaking. However, as King I have decided to award you clemency and waive the mandatory death penalty and allow you to fight in front of us today.”
A great roar of approval erupted from the crowd and Leonidis scanned the multitude of nameless faces sensing their lust for bloodshed. The King lifted his arm once again and waited for the noise to dissipate before continuing to speak.
“The price of your freedom is victory,” yelled Gomorrah. “Go thief and select a weapon and prepare to face one of my arena animals.”
“Beast! Beast! Beast!” chanted the spectators.
Leonidis narrowed his eyes and bowed again, keeping his eyes on the King who looked back with a smirk on his round face. Spinning on the balls of his feet he turned his back on the noise and strode over to the wooden rack weighed down by an array of weaponry at the perimeter of the arena floor. Bending down he grabbed a fistful of sand and rubbed it onto his sweaty palms for grip as his eyes raked over the weapons. There was a wickedly sharp sword, a two handed halberd with cutting blade, beak and apical spike, a short throwing javelin, a six foot thrusting spear and a light round shield made out of wood but no head protection or armour. Leonidis selected the shield and slipped his left arm through the forearm and hand grip straps. Then he tested to see how it felt. Satisfied with the weight and feel of it he pulled out the sword and hefted it in his right hand for a few moments then turned to face the King’s podium. Gomorrah gave a nod of his head and then another heavy grilled gate slowly rose on the other side of the arena as the crowd cheered deliriously.
Suddenly there was a bloodcurdling roar of hatred and a beast of colossal size stepped through the entrance, its small deep-set dark eyes fastening on Leonidis who took a step back with his breath caught in his throat. It was over seven feet tall, massively built with coarse bristly black hair covering its feet, legs and upper torso. The Meldling was slightly stooped and carried a hump on its back that rose from its muscular shoulder blades. Its neck was short but the creatures face was the image of nightmares. A long hard snout protruded from its hairless face and upturned curved tusks hung in its lower jaw that were almost a foot long in length.
The roar of the spectators faded and their faces urging him on in the crowd became nothing more than blurred shapes at the edges of his vision as he stood rooted to the spot transfixed by the Meldling. Leonidis felt his grip loosen on the sword hilt and his legs suddenly became heavy and ponderous as he readied himself to face the oncoming beast. It took him a moment to snap out of his daze and realise that the Meldling was almost on top of him with a speed that belied its size. It swung out with a sharp taloned hand so swift, so sudden, that Leonidis barely had time to move out of the way. Then in an instant the Meldling struck out with its long arms and its talons dug deep into the side of him. He screamed out in pain and rolled away from the animal bringing his shield up just as the creature bore down on him once again. It pounded down on his shield shattering the wood in two powerful blows and Leonidis flung the broken shield to the ground then gripped his sword with both hands and took a step forward. Snarling and snapping its maw the Meldling pounced and he swung his blade but the creature swatted it from his grasp and the sword spun to the sand floor followed by a gasp from the crowd. He could feel blood coursing freely from his side but didn’t dare look down at the wound as the Meldling suddenly attacked once more. Leonidis flicked his eyes beyond the creature to the sword then ducked under a raking arm and dived for the weapon. Sand flew up into his face as he scrambled for the blade and the loose grains made it difficult for him to see properly. On his back he instinctively thrust out with the sword just as the Meldling threw itself at him with a roar. The blade cut deep into the creature, exiting through its hunched back and a spurt of hot blood struck Leonidis in the face bringing a great raucous cheer from the crowd. It bellowed in anger and he could smell its hot putrid breath against his face as the crushing weight of the creature held them both pinned to the ground. The Meldling’s upturned curved tusks thrashed against the sand viciously on either side of his face and he could feel his strength fading away with each passing second. Letting go of the sword Leonidis reached up with both hands and pressed his thumbs deep into the creatures eye sockets and pushed until he hit solid bone. With a screech of pain the Meldling slashed out towards his head with its deadly clawed hand and ripped the skin off above his eyebrow. Gasping in pain Leonidis recoiled away from its swinging talons, his hands trying to protect his face but the creature was too strong and too fast. With a howl of triumph it raked its claws across his face then dug deep furrows into his skin before ripping off half his face. The last thing Leonidis heard was a distant chant from the crowd becoming quieter and quieter.
“Let him live, let him live!” they sung.
Then, mercifully, the world swam from view and he fell into blissful darkness and that’s where the dream ended and the reality began. When he awoke he did so in a sea of hot feverish pain. His face was heavily bandaged and he faded in and out of consciousness as he lay on a hard bed in a small darkened room lit only by a couple of candles. Raising a trembling hand to his face he pulled at the bandages confused and disorientated then sank back into a restless sleep. The next time Leonidis opened his eyes an old woman was sat by his side gently dabbing at his bare face with an ointment and a foul smelling odour wafted over him.
“You will live or you will die.” she had said without a hint of emotion in her face.
Leonidis had craned his neck and looked at the soiled bandages she had removed. Lifting his hand he touched the puckered skin on his face and a wave of intense pain flowed over him making him whimper out loud. It felt moist and ragged to his touch and he moaned softly before the scenery changed once more and he found himself in a world of murky myriad colors swirling, twisting and changing contours almost becoming solid then changing shape before him. Then it was daylight, he could see shafts of warm light through the small window in the room and this time the old woman was sat by the bed, slowly feeding him a spoonful of broth at a time.
“The wou
nd is odour free now,” she had said. “I think you will live.”
Weakly Leonidis had tried to lift his head from the bed but fell back unsuccessful.
“You have lost much blood and your body has spent the last two weeks fighting off infection. Your strength will return in time.”
“Who are you?” whispered Leonidis.
The old woman paused with the spoon hovering next to his ruined face and tried to hide her revulsion but he could see it in her eyes.
“I am Ingrith. Now eat!”
He opened his mouth and felt the hot broth trickle down his throat. It tasted bland and watery.
“What happened?” he croaked.
“I found you barely alive. Your body dumped down an alleyway with rats chewing on your face.” she replied sternly.
“My face!”
“Your face is gone.”
“I want to see.” cried Leonidis with a hint of desperation in his voice.
“Your face is gone,” repeated Ingrith. “But you still have your sight and you can speak so you may be of some use to me yet. You are mine to do as I please for you have cost me food and medicine I can ill afford. That life you had before has gone now and when I have nursed you back to health you will work for me.”
“Work for you?” asked Leonidis weakly.
“Yes, a maimed man makes a good beggar. Those who are seen as social victims attract the most coin.”
Ingrith smiled but it was cold and callous. After a couple more mouthfuls of broth she rose from the edge of the bed and looked down at him.
“You have strength in your eyes, I like that. It’s good that you still have your eyes.”
Chapter Fourteen
Outskirts of Llewelyn
Akkadian stared across at Dar Thadian incredulously as he gorged on the succulent meat of wild rabbit by the side of the campfire. For a long time the only sounds that could be heard over the hiss and crackle of the wood in the fire was the sound of his heavy breathing and his laps smacking together as he ate followed by the occasional murmur of enjoyment.
“You know, as you chew your ears move slightly forward. It’s rather unpleasant to watch.” commented Akkadian.
Dar Thadian grunted and tore a leg from the carcass on his bark platter then clamped his teeth onto the meat and chewed methodically before spitting the small bones out into the flames.
“Actually, it’s quite horrific to watch.” continued Akkadian remaining fixated on him.
Ignoring him Dar Thadian scooped up the rabbits head from his plate and grabbed the lower jaw in one hand and its upper jaw in your other and effortlessly pulled it apart like the wish-bone of a chicken.
“How do you do it?” asked the swordsman mystified.
He then chewed along with the Axe-Hound, moving his mouth up and down along with him in unison as though he was eating also.
“Quick, look at me. Are mine moving?” he called out.
With the rabbits head in two halves Dar Thadian greedily feasted on the meat from the cheeks and the jaw muscles turning the skull around in his hands and biting into it emphatically with his mouth.
“Really getting in there with your tongue aren’t you?” said Akkadian with a grimace.
Still refusing to answer him he cracked the top of the head against a small rock on the ground exposing the small brain of the animal.
“Surely not the brain?” winched the swordsman.
Dar Thadian tilted his head back, upended the open skull and swallowed the meat.
“Ahhh…there it goes. How delightful,” muttered Akkadian. “You know, I don’t think you’ll ever woo a woman over dinner because you eat like a savage, uncouth barbarian which coincidentally is exactly what you are.”
After a minute of slow, silent chewing, Dar Thadian finally spoke.
“You talk too much!” he growled.
“And you are a dreadfully dull companion, Axe-Hound,” replied the swordsman lacing his hands behind his head and leaning back against the tree around the campfire. “Tell me, do you like my new look?”
The giant glared across at him and stared at his shoulder-length blond hair, his bright blue eyes, chiselled jaw with a hint of stubble, sensuous mouth and narrow nose.
“You look the same, nothing more than a pompous dandy.” grunted Dar Thadian tossing the empty skull into the crackling fire.
“Nonsense, you great oaf!” snorted Akkadian. “I have whored and drank myself through five forms before you were summoned back into civilisation. Remind me, why are you back amongst the sane again? Is Magdalenian looking to cull the entire population?”
Dar Thadian hissed between his teeth at the sound of his name and his eyes burned with undisguised hatred.
“I will make his suffering last an eternity.” he said coldly.
“That same God that freed you is the same God that can place you back into captivity, you know this, Axe-Hound.”
“I will not be held in chains anymore!” bellowed Dar Thadian. “I would destroy everything he loves before that happens.”
“You do remember why you were held prisoner in the council chamber, don’t you?” queried Akkadian with a frown. “I seem to recall it was on the account of your raving insanity and insatiable bloodlust.”
The giant clenched his jaw in anger and stared deep into the flames of the fire, his face hard and set.
“How long has it been?”
“Does it matter?” asked Akkadian softly.
“It does to me.”
“You have been deprived of freedom for close to 500 years but on a positive note the growth of the population has been quite phenomenal and axe fatalities has been at an all-time low,” replied the swordsman cheerfully. “If that doesn’t cheer you up, do you want to know how many women I have had sex with in that time? The number will blow that thick skull of yours.”
“What of Magdalenian?”
“Countless generations have passed since our paths have crossed. I haven’t seen him for an age, him or Hephaestus. The last news I heard was that he was living in the East near to the mountains and Hephaestus was somewhere across the waters. I can only imagine he still abhors people and prefers his solitude. The man can be quite detestable if I remember.”
“He is not a man.” spat Dar Thadian.
“We are more like them than you think, Axe-Hound. Time changes things.”
“Nothing has changed!” snapped the giant glaring at him. “I can smell the same evil in the land now as I did back then. It is leeched into the very soil I sit on. The landscape may have changed and people dress differently now but the world is still evil. The world has always been evil and it needs to be cleansed.”
“Ahhh…the refreshing perspective of a very angry man who lacks any sense of moral responsibility or social conscience, jolly good. My point still stands and I have seen the changes sweep the land. Did you know it is considered a crime to worship us now? The act is punishable by death.”
“I care nothing for their worship or reverence.” grunted Dar Thadian.
“Not even a little? Do the Piathaleas still sacrifice naked virgins in your name? I like the South, we should totally travel there.”
“Why has Magdalenian summoned me?”
“Only Magdalenian can answer that truly. He will make contact.”
“If he does I will stretch his neck with my bare hands.”
“A darkness is looming Axe-Hound and like it or not our destinies are once again intertwined.”
“My axe has felled a thousand, thousand souls and it will do so again.”
“I fear what awaits us has no soul. The King has created creatures born of Old magic. He calls them his Meldlings and where they go death follows. His greed will see him build an army of these beasts and nothing will stand in their way except us.”
“They have never faced Heimdall the plague God.” spat Dar Thadian.
“We may have answered why you are here then.”
“I am not a dog to do Magdalenian’s bidding.”
“You had good in you once, Axe-Hound.”
Akkadian paused for a moment with his brow furrowed looking off into the distance thoughtfully.
“Did you have good in you once?” he questioned. “I can’t quite remember if you did or you didn’t, it was such a long time ago but alone or together you will eventually have to face the King and his beasts and together we are stronger.”
“Who is this man they call their King?”
“King Gomorrah, a lecherous man of vile qualities. People fear the King for his short temper and likening of violence. Actually, I think you two would get on wonderfully well. You should get acquainted.”
“Do you know where Goru is?” asked Dar Thadian gruffly.
“You’ve been held captive for the best part of half a millennium without alcohol or the soft feel of a woman beneath you and you want your axe?”
“I want my Goru.”
“You are truly unhinged, old boy. But I do not know the location of your weapon. Maybe it’s a national treasure somewhere.”
“I will find it.”
“First, I think we should seek accommodation. Get ourselves a warm bed and equally warm women.”
“No, I have missed the stars,” answered Dar Thadian looking up at the night sky. “Tonight I will sleep under them.”
“Wonderful!” said Akkadian flapping his arms. “By the way, did I say thank you for saving me back there in Llewelyn? Oh that’s right, I was unconscious. How remiss of me. Now if I am to suffer in your company then the very least we need is ale and large quantities of it. Please tell me captivity hasn’t dulled your taste for an intoxicating drink?”
“I will whet my thirst with you, swordsman.”
“Just please don’t start a fight.”
“Captivity hasn’t dulled my taste for a good fight.” growled Dar Thadian cracking his knuckles.
Chapter Fifteen
Pirash
After a vicious war that has been raging on for over a decade the final battle had been won. Tens of thousands of torn bodies lay strewn across the blood-soaked ground and the sounds of fighting had faded and given way to the moans of the dying and wounded. Dar Thadian, blood-soaked and clad in bronze armour and wearing a silver embossed winged helmet viewed the battlefield from all angles, his eyes filled with rage and bloodlust as he scanned the carnage. In his left hand he held the severed head of King Idra and in his right the mighty axe, Goru with its silver etched runes stained red. He lifted the head up to the grey overcast sky and laughed coldly then tossed it unceremoniously to the side.
Four Gods Page 11
