Enemy Known
J.M. Butler
Contents
1. Searching for a Sign
2. Sibling Rivalry
3. To Make Matters Right
4. In Need of Counseling
5. Into the Levthro
6. Kuvaste
7. Return to New Istador
8. The Paths to Death
9. Battling Desire
10. Meat
11. Desperation
12. Need
13. The Para of Reltux
14. The Truth Bringers
15. Leonas
16. The First Problem
17. WroOth’s Conscience
18. The Second Problem
19. Final Preparations
20. Secret
21. Hunting the Machat
22. A Friendly Chase
23. Of Deep Mindreading
24. An Unexpected Alliance
25. Surprise
26. Naatos’s Confession
27. Dawn
28. Family
29. Refreshment
30. Father
31. The Hall of Creation
32. The Restoration of the Tue-Rah
33. Bitter Memories
34. Condemning the Innocent
35. A Gentle Moment
36. Consciousness
37. Peace of Mind
38. The Imprinting
39. A Late Dinner
40. An Evening at Home
41. Serpent at Night
42. A King Second
43. The Eagles
44. Another Brother
45. The Nightmare Before the Wedding
46. The Eagle and the Serpent
47. A Few Things About Vawtrian Ceremonies
48. The “Wedding”
49. What Love Created
50. Sveti
51. Her Elmis
52. Cold
53. Never Give Up
54. Punishment
55. Battle for the Temple
56. Shon Against Naatos
57. Love Lost
58. Sacrifice
59. Belonging
60. Teaser: Troublesome Conversations
Acknowledgments
Glossary
About the Author
Also by J.M. Butler
Copyright © 2018 by J.M. Butler.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
J.M. Butler/Enchanting Chimera Publishing
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Editor: Mary Iamandi of Render Compose http://www.rendercompose.com
Cover Art: Mirela Barbu
Perfume Bottle Stock II: Melyssah6-Stock on Deviant Art https://melyssah6-stock.deviantart.com/
Enemy Known/J.M. Butler - 1st ed.
Paperback ISBN 978-1-948601-03-0
Hardback ISBN 978-1-948601-02-3
Dedicated to my grandfather, Bob Farlow.
It is one of my greatest sorrows regarding this series that I couldn't finish it before his passing. As I drafted and redrafted, one of his concerns was that I would never be satisfied and thus never be finished.
Satisfaction isn't exactly an organic part of my nature, but I'm happy to say it's done, Grandpa. At least the first few books. There's a lot of you in here. Truly, in all of the stories I write. You impacted me far more than you know, and I see your influence daily.
Thank you for pushing me and never accepting any of my excuses. And thank you for reminding me of the importance of finishing my stories.
By the way, I did take out the Keloonseb for this series. But I added more flying. It seemed appropriate to replace the nightmare with a dream.
I love you, and I am grateful to you.
Contents
1. Searching for a Sign
2. Sibling Rivalry
3. To Make Matters Right
4. In Need of Counseling
5. Into the Levthro
6. Kuvaste
7. Return to New Istador
8. The Paths to Death
9. Battling Desire
10. Meat
11. Desperation
12. Need
13. The Para of Reltux
14. The Truth Bringers
15. Leonas
16. The First Problem
17. WroOth’s Conscience
18. The Second Problem
19. Final Preparations
20. Secret
21. Hunting the Machat
22. A Friendly Chase
23. Of Deep Mindreading
24. An Unexpected Alliance
25. Surprise
26. Naatos’s Confession
27. Dawn
28. Family
29. Refreshment
30. Father
31. The Hall of Creation
32. The Restoration of the Tue-Rah
33. Bitter Memories
34. Condemning the Innocent
35. A Gentle Moment
36. Consciousness
37. Peace of Mind
38. The Imprinting
39. A Late Dinner
40. An Evening at Home
41. Serpent at Night
42. A King Second
43. The Eagles
44. Another Brother
45. The Nightmare Before the Wedding
46. The Eagle and the Serpent
47. A Few Things About Vawtrian Ceremonies
48. The “Wedding”
49. What Love Created
50. Sveti
51. Her Elmis
52. Cold
53. Never Give Up
54. Punishment
55. Battle for the Temple
56. Shon Against Naatos
57. Love Lost
58. Sacrifice
59. Belonging
60. Teaser: Troublesome Conversations
Acknowledgments
Glossary
About the Author
Also by J.M. Butler
1
Searching for a Sign
AaQar stepped back from the red stone wall, chalk in hand. This was probably a pointless exercise, yet he could not stop searching for the mastermind who wanted him and his brothers ruined. "Who are you?" he muttered, staring at the list of names and dates.
Shaking his head, he cast the chalk aside and returned to his chair. He slumped in it and continued staring at the wall. When that Machat told them that someone wanted to enact the darikov against them, he hadn't been surprised. It was understandable that someone would hate the three of them so much that they would want to destroy the brothers' families and leave them wifeless and childless before, perhaps, at last ending them or leaving them to destroy themselves. But there was one problem: who could have actually done it?
The simple white lines on the dark red stone mocked him. There were many who would want to destroy them, but few who yet lived and were capable of it. His timeline and the list of events took up the entirety of the south wall. He'd even had to push the couches, tables, and benches to the other side of the room.
Even so…nothing made sense.
AaQar cursed under his breath. He unsheathed his hunting knife and placed it against his wrist. Still staring at the compilation, he slit deep. He had done this so many times before he barely felt it. The lack of pain almost
nullified the purpose. His blood was clear. It ran like water, pooling onto the table. Within seconds, his flesh healed back. He sliced again in the same spot. It was a difficult task to wear down a Vawtrian's natural healing abilities without venom or poison of some sort. Some days he tired even of trying. Why couldn't there be an enemy strong enough to destroy him quickly?
He scoffed, closing his eyes. Why had Elonumato sent a Neyeb woman to stop him and his brothers? Not that that was acceptable. If she had been satisfied with killing only him, it might have worked. But then Naatos had to lock with her. The future of their family relied on her.
As he healed, AaQar cut yet again. His gaze drifted along the names. Velsher had been drowned, burned, and beheaded. AaQar had seen to that himself. Berof, Tri, the Marnope, and others were likewise deceased. But more importantly, none of them had had anything to do with both Rasha and Mara. There was no need to add Amelia into that analysis.
He leaned forward, clasping his hands together. Yet somehow…somehow all of them except Amelia had known this attacker. Or the attacker had known them.
AaQar paused. Rising, he shook out his arm. Perhaps their secret enemy had faked his death. He picked up another piece of chalk and removed the tapestries from the other wall. They flopped over the couch thrust up against the far corner. Pages had slipped from the table onto the couch arm beneath it.
Clenching the chalk tight, AaQar wrote out the names of those whom he knew for certain were dead. The ones he himself had killed. Then he added those he had witnessed his brothers killing.
That left a substantial number whom Naatos, WroOth, and QueQoa had killed but which he himself had not witnessed. While QueQoa would not be able to join them for a few days yet, WroOth and Naatos could add their names. Unless one of them had witnessed the death of an enemy personally, the name would not be added to this list.
AaQar tucked the chalk in the small pocket on the inside of his long silver-blue sleeve. It was getting late. Naatos and WroOth would likely be waiting.
Murmurs of conversation and clanging weapons echoed down the halls. It had been a full day since the Machat attack, which had led to the deaths of all the Talbokian mercenaries stationed here. For being a relatively peaceful people, the Machat had demonstrated their capacity for ferocity and poetic cruelty. Unleashing the guaras Naatos had created to guard the passages and later to keep the villages and towns in check had been a brutal method for destroying the Talbokians. But the reinforcements had arrived. These new Talbokians had come from several of the now evacuated and imprisoned waypoints. And from the sounds of their joviality, the mercenaries were not concerned. Yet.
That was all well enough. For the moment, AaQar had no desire to speak with them. Knowing Naatos, he had already handled matters, and it was better than Naatos brooding over Amelia and her absence.
He turned the corner toward the common room he and his brothers had designated for their meetings when he heard familiar footsteps behind him. His hand nearly to the handle, he stopped short and turned.
Naatos rounded the corner, appearing remarkably relaxed and assured given the tremendous strikes to his confidence in the past two days. "Feeling better, AaQar?" he asked.
"You look better," AaQar said, clasping his hands before himself.
Naatos's expression darkened. "Do you intend to avoid all my questions on your well-being?"
AaQar chuckled dryly. "If I do not wish to answer them, then yes." He paused as a large silver cat padded around the corner. It was smaller than a Malian tiger but larger than a wolf. Patches of its fur had been shaved away, and large cloth bandages swathed those portions of the creature's flesh. AaQar frowned. "Is that…a silver puma?"
"Essentially." Naatos glanced down at the cat as it sat. It began grooming itself, rubbing its thick furred paws over the top of its head.
"If you are trying to replace Amelia, I cannot suggest a cat. It will make you work just as hard for its affections. Harder perhaps."
"If only that were true." Naatos held up his hand. The silver puma pricked its ears up, then reared onto its hind legs and pressed its front paws to Naatos’s chest. With a deep rumbling purr, the silver puma rubbed its head against his hand. "Surprisingly, it seems to have forgiven me already."
"Surprising indeed." AaQar eyed the puma. "What did you do?"
"I used one of the Bealorn capilas. It was too dangerous to risk it turning on Amelia if her scent gets masked or she does something foolish."
"So this is a gift? Or a peace offering?" AaQar was not entirely certain that the puma would suffice as either.
"A gift. I make no peace offerings. That's for her to do. She will return to me soon."
AaQar sighed, not in the mood to argue with Naatos further. "I have been constructing a timeline and a list of our enemies. For the moment I am working off the assumption that none of our enemies have risen from the grave."
"Generally a safe assumption," Naatos said. The puma dropped back to all fours and butted its head against his leg.
"You need to add those whom you have killed to the list. Then we can look to see which ones remain."
"Whoever he is, he will show himself soon enough." Naatos rubbed the large cat's head. "And when that happens, we will make him pay ten times what he has caused us to suffer. One hundred times for the pain he has given our wives and children. I have also completed a series of options that should provide more than enough vengeance for all of us."
AaQar resisted the smile that plucked at his lips. So that was what Naatos had been doing. "I am sure they are both creative and brutal. Speaking of which, where is our missing member?"
"Still with the Machat, most likely. Until that Awdawm is eliminated, her elmis won't entirely compel her to return, but they will wound and influence her. Hopefully." Naatos straightened, folding his arms. The puma butted his leg again, giving a chirping meow. Naatos frowned a little and nudged it back with his foot.
"I meant WroOth."
"He and I eliminated some village south of Ilskam. Then he chose to fly a little longer. You know him and flying at night."
"Ah." AaQar clasped his hands behind his back and rounded the corner to stride down the hall. The open window at the end let in the cool night air. It looked out over the largest open range of the Mallakish Mountains and in the general vicinity of WroOth's favorite flying and plummeting.
The mountains stood dark and tall against the indigo night. The wind cooled his face, carrying with it the scent of pine and upturned soil. All at once, a pillar of flames reared up on one of the lower peaks. It looked as if a single tree had burst into flame.
AaQar frowned. "Is WroOth planning to stay out all night?"
"He said nothing of it to me." Naatos came alongside AaQar. The cat followed and rubbed against the back of Naatos's legs, knocking him off balance. "Enough, Cat. Go play."
"If you want to impress Amelia, you'll need a better name for it than that." AaQar returned his focus to the burning tree. Clearly that was WroOth. He was the only other person on this world who could light up a single tree without setting an entire forest aflame. But there was no signal in the color. The flames were simply orange and gold. An extravagant use if WroOth simply intended to ward off the cold. Particularly if he was to return soon. "Why don't you call the cat —"
"I intend to let her name it. It is hers. Or will be when she decides to grace me with her presence." Naatos too stared out the window, but his tone was no longer pleased.
"Poor decision," AaQar said. "If you have it for more than a day or so, you should name it. That will show that you care. That you are invested. Choose something meaningful. Romantic, if you can. Changes must be made." AaQar glanced at Naatos, half-amused, half-concerned. For all her weaknesses, Amelia was going to shred Naatos like a two-day boiled chicken. She didn't even realize how much power Naatos's mistake granted her. If so much didn't depend on it, AaQar might have laughed more. But he struggled to find humor in such dire situations as WroOth did.
The f
lames on the tree continued to burn, neither changing their color nor fading in intensity. No outline of a dragon or anything else shadowed the light. AaQar tapped his fingers on his arm. What was WroOth up to?
"Changes will be made," Naatos said. "But not all at once. And not too quickly."
AaQar narrowed his eyes at Naatos. "Why?"
Enemy Known Page 1
