Bloodlust (17 page)

Lukor's axe clanged against his, and their gazes locked. Spit sprayed out of the goliath's mouth as he grinned savagely, his eyes wild, the only part of his face visible considering the war helm covering half his face, the other half cast in shadows.

"Don't you know who I am?" Lukor growled through gritted teeth. Their joint axes shifted toward the goliath, then toward Lukor, and back to the goliath.

Ivy slipped around them, but Lukor held the goliath's attention. With his eyes, Lukor signaled Ivy to hold her ground. She grimaced in response.

Lukor freed his axe and readied to throw a hacking blow, but the goliath jumped to the side and pivoted around to face Ivy. His axe clashed against her sword, and Lukor seized the chance to strike, only the goliath had yanked out another axe to meet his. A formidable, swift opponent, the goliath held them both at bay until Ivy sliced his right hand off, and Lukor's axe relieved him of his remaining weapon. Lukor's foot knocked him flat on the ground, and Ivy's sword held him there.

"Who sent you?" Lukor demanded.

The goliath looked from Lukor to Ivy and lifted his head so swiftly the sword pierced his neck. Blood leaked from around the blade, and his eyes rolled back. His chest heaved twice more before stilling.

Lukor slammed his axe into the ground, narrowly missing the goliath's fingers.

"Not a friend of yours, I take it," Ivy said idly. She stomped her foot onto the dead goliath's chest and retrieved her sword. The yellow grass turned green as she wiped the blood from her blade.

"Did you know him?"

She blinked. "You think he came after me?" Her scowl would have intimated anyone else.

"Perhaps." He yanked the helm off the goliath's head. Smeared war paint concealed his features, and Lukor removed the goliath's tunic that covered his chainmail to wipe the paint away. Still, he did not recognize the goliath.

Ivy had stalked off, and he ignored her. In the goliath's satchel, Lukor found a note addressing Balog as Golock. Which meant not only was Nazro no longer the goliath ruler, but neither was Grumm, next in line after him. Someone was killing off the goliath rulers, and if Balog was not the mastermind, who knew how long the killings would last. And with all the unrest, it might take some time for the goliaths to be united under a leader and be able to march with the trolls against the barbarians.

Wonderful. His happiness after learning the decoded messages' meaning evaporated. His mission was far from over.

A small patch of blood clung stubbornly to her blade, and Ivy used leaves to scrub at it. When Lukor had not been paying attention, the goliath had mouthed her name. As the goliath had attacked them both, she was not certain who the true target had been. Her thoughts turned to the group of goliaths she'd slain. They had been heavily armed as well. Could they have been looking for her?

She glanced over her shoulder at Lukor, who still checked the goliath's dead body. Perhaps Lukor had been the intended mark. Not for the last time, she wondered who exactly he was.

A bird sang sweetly, softly from a good distance away. Its wings flapped easily, with no signs of distress. A gray body with a small white patch and sharp bill came into focus, and Ivy scrambled out of the bushes and held up her hand. The male falcor landed on her arm, and she examined his feathers.

Father meet goliaths convince join trap.

Oh no. No, no, no.

Her hand trembling so much she almost dropped the bird, Ivy examined his other wing.

Father war trolls goliaths humans dragons elves dwarves.

On the neck read
Orchid
.

The only friend Ivy had, if she had one.

Ivy readied to destroy the message by ruffling his feathers when she spied yet another code word after dwarves. The feather had been twirled instead of bent. The code for her name.

Her father had declared war on the entire world, to the inclusion of his daughter.

Lukor rolled the body over but found nothing else of significance, other than revealing a small hole within the ground. He bent his head down and blew into the hole before whistling two soft, low notes. Half a minute later, a furry burrower popped out its head.

He scratched out a message to Golic on a large, tough leaf, telling him he was leaving the Rocks and would be home as soon as he could. The burrower blinked its beady eyes as Lukor hesitated. If another goliath intercepted the message, they would be able to locate him.

Before he could think too long, he shoved the leaf into the burrower's pouch, and the small creature left. Then he stood, clapping dust from his hands.

"Goodbye, Ivy."

"Pardon?" She looked flustered, a bird in her hand.

He hadn't paid her much attention since they'd killed the goliath, hadn't realized she'd found another bird. From the faint lines on her face, her scowl, and her "v" brows, the message wasn't good.

Ivy's fingers fiddled with the feathers, her gaze still on the Rocks. She released the falcor, its feathers bent in many directions. A long message if he had to guess.

Lukor opened his mouth to reiterate his farewell but instead asked, "What's wrong?" He did not think she would respond, but he made no move to leave in case she did.

"My father..." She shook her head and stiffened as a different bird flew straight toward her. Again, she fiddled with its feathers before looking at him, shoulders slumped, head tilted, lips pursed. "My father sent this bird."

Lukor noticed a small silver purple thread tied around the bird's neck. "What did he tell you?"

"Nothing. There's no message. Or perhaps someone else received the message first." She shook her head.

"What are you going to do? Warn him of the coming ruination of your race?"

She didn't blink at his sardonic words. "I don't trust him."

But another barbarian she did. Whomever she'd sent the first bird to.

With a sigh, she released the bird with perfectly smooth feathers, not bothering to return a message. Interesting. Did family mean that little to her?

"Do you get along with your father?" she asked, her gaze on her ruined skirt.

"My father died a long time ago."

"Before he died then."

"Another goliath killed him when I was five years old. I don't remember him."

Sorrow filled her eyes. "I'm sorry. My relationship with mine is... We do not always see similarly on issues."

"Would you do anything he asked of you?"

"Of course not!" she said too swiftly, too forcefully.

A likely story. Blood was all barbarians cared about. If anyone held an axe to her father's throat, she'd strike that person down, even if the axe-wielder was Lukor.

He had stalled long enough. "I will see you again one day, Barbarian-Princess."

Ivy dipped her head, almost bowing. Then she did bow, bending her knees slightly, her head near the ground but not touching it.

He placed his right hand across his body to his left shoulder and bent at the waist.

Lukor straightened, and they stared at each other. Her beautiful face a mask, frozen, before an emotion flicked in her eyes. His arms spread, and she nestled against his chest. He bent down to place his head on hers, rubbing her back. Despite being a barbarian, she'd saved him. His heart pounded in his chest like punches, and he struggled to breathe as she lifted her head to look at him, her lips inches below his.

"Lukor Dalthu Cagan Ig Lob Tog Yambul Wraog Grukk Uzul."

Lukor stiffened at the sound of his full name, as did Ivy. She staggered back out of his embrace, her hand at her throat. "Uzul? You're in line to become golock, aren't you? Aren't you!"

Ignoring her, Lukor whipped around in time for Golic to clasp his shoulder and thump his chest.

"It is good to see you," his friend said, two tightly wrapped braids on either side of his head swinging.

"You received my message already?"

"Yes. I was already out, doing some spying." Golic nodded to the west. " Golock Balog. You should have been ruler after Grumm. You must return home."

Ivy wiggled her way in between them, her hair fluttering in the slight breeze that had started to blow, eyes wild. "Please, Lukor, you have to kill this Balog. As golock, you could stop this. You can rule the goliaths and spare the barbarians. I'm not even asking for aid. Merely stand back and watch. That's all I want. There can be a treaty between barbarians and goliaths and—"

He spat in her face. All of the tenderness he might have felt for her, all of the gratitude fled. A barbarian had killed his sister. They had to pay, the bloody savages. Just look at her sword. Look at her ruined armored dress.

Ivy stood unnaturally still as Lukor backpedaled a few steps before stalking away, Golic beside him. Ordisium, his home, called.

Once they were out of earshot of that barbarian princess, Golic shook his head. "A lot has changed since you were away."

Lukor did not glance over at his friend but still saw him rub his shaven chin, casting glances at him.

"I understand why you left," Golic continued, "but we need you. Grumm angered the barbarians. Their barbaron had sent a small envoy — only two brutes — and Grumm had them slaughtered. Took five maces and nearly twenty arrows apiece to slay them."