By the Sword (32 page)

Ittonifer spun around to face his wife. Roselyn had moved to higher ground with Uittan, but she was still staring at him with the same defiance that she had the first day he laid eyes on her. He never should have allowed himself to fall for the stubborn wench’s beauty.

They stared at one another for several moments. With that prophet at her side, it was not likely that he would be able to get to her. His grimace turned into a smirk. If he couldn’t kill Roselyn, he would kill the one person that she would give her life for.

His mind flashed to a place and time many years earlier. Over seventeen years ago, Ittonifer had sensed that Roselyn was plotting to leave him. But then she had become pregnant.

It had been Roselyn’s worst fear that he would kill the baby if it were a female. As fate would have it, the child was a girl.

Ittonifer had taken the infant from Roselyn’s fragile arms just moments after she had given birth. He brought the baby to the city’s butcher. Many Malinorian families brought their newborn daughters or malformed sons there. Babies were a delicacy among Malinor’s elite.

When the moment came that the butcher was about to decapitate the child, Ittonifer stopped him. Ittonifer had realized then that Roselyn would hate him forever if he killed her firstborn. When he had returned to Roselyn’s room to tell her that their daughter had been spared, she had already fled his castle.

He had decided to keep the child alive as a bargaining tool with other rulers and kings. He knew that she would grow up to be beautiful like her mother. It turned out that he had never needed her for that. He had simply taken the other countries by force. But it had been satisfying to know that Roselyn was alive somewhere, thinking that her daughter was dead all this time. She deserved at least that much pain for turning her back on him and leading a rebel country.

Today, Ittonifer would finish the job that he should have done in the first place. Chrissa was no longer his daughter, but a traitor of his empire.
Like her mother.

*****

Hundreds of Malinorians fell at the hands of the Chirian army. Edandir’s army fought with a renewed vigor, with the relief of the other soldiers.

After taking down several more enemies, Edandir searched again for Ittonifer. The man had been making his way toward Roselyn and Uittan earlier. He had intended to stop the man before his unexpected ally had unleashed its pandemonium on the battlefield. It had caught the Malinorians off guard again.

Ittonifer was running out of surprises.

The general scanned the field once again for Malinor’s cruel ruler. Ittonifer was standing at the base of the hill that Uittan and Roselyn stood on. He blinked. They were conversing with one another.

Edandir could not imagine what Roselyn would have to say to that man, or why Ittonifer would be wasting his time talking rather than fighting.
Very strange.

Edandir started in their direction. Now was the time to finish off Ittonifer for good.

*****

“She’s alive,” said Ittonifer.

Roselyn’s heart pounded against her ribcage, as her knees grew weak.

“You are cruel,” said Roselyn.

Alive?
No… it can’t be. There’s no way that he would have spared her.

“I spared Chrissa’s life that day, but you had already left me. All of these years you have lived without her while she has been here with me. I enjoyed the irony for a time, but today I will finally kill her.”

Roselyn trembled. All of that time, Chrissa had been
existing
as the daughter of Malinor’s oppressive ruler. She really was alive.
A living young woman now.

But he said that he is going to kill her.

Ittonifer had already turned away from her, walking back toward the battle. Roselyn started to run down the hill, but Uittan gently held her back.

“Wait! Why would you kill her now?
Your own daughter.
The one that you have raised!”

Ittonifer stopped.

“She turned her back on me and has joined Sanctus… like you.”

“Where is she?”

“Fighting, but not for long.”

“Don’t fear, Roselyn,” said Uittan.

Roselyn ignored the prophet.

“Ittonifer, stop! You can have me. Just don’t touch my little girl!”

He didn’t stop this time. He started running toward the raging battle. She would never be able to save Chrissa from him. Her child was in trouble and she couldn’t even help her.

“God, save my baby girl!” she cried.

Enveloped in a cloak of helplessness, Roselyn sank to her knees and wept.

*****

Ittonifer was stalking toward Chrissa now.

Instead of retreating, Chrissa saw Ittonifer and started to run toward him.

“Chrissa, get away from him!” shouted Edandir.

He will kill you!

The girl jumped into the air and swung a diagonal arc with her sword at her father’s stomach. He merely stepped aside and avoided the blow. With Ittonifer’s superior size and skill, she did not stand a chance. He sent Chrissa’s sword flying out of her hand with one powerful, perfectly angled swing.

Chrissa dove for her weapon and managed to block Ittonifer’s next stab just in time, but now he had her legs pinned to the ground. He began to press all of his weight down on her arms, forcing her own sword down toward her neck.

“Stop!” Edandir shouted.

Edandir broke into a sprint. He was not going to allow Ittonifer to end the life of the child that he never deserved.

Out of breath, Chrissa knew that she would be dead soon. The blunt end of her sword was almost at her neck. She closed her eyes, avoiding her father’s cold glare.

“I always knew that you hated me, but how could you do that to Jalarn?” she said.

“He meant as little to me as you always did. I only use those that benefit what I want.”

A tear slipped down her cheek. It would be the last one she would ever cry.

The blade of her weapon grazed her neck.

“Edandir!” Ittonifer snarled.

Ittonifer leaped away from Chrissa just in time to stop Edandir from impaling him.

Chrissa managed to stand, but she could barely see through her tears.

“Chrissa, get out of here,” said Edandir.

She ignored Edandir and came at her father while his back was still turned away from her.

Ittonifer spun around and then slammed his gauntlet into her jaw. She stumbled backward and landed on her backside. Weaponless and dazed in the muddy grass, she shut her eyes until the dizzy spell passed.

She opened her eyes to see Ittonifer standing over her again. This time she looked him right in the eyes. He had to be a monster. No human could be that heartless.

“I’m about to do what I should have done to you years ago. You always were disappointing, but I never took you to be a traitor.”

Chrissa spat at him, shaking as rage surged through her.

“You betrayed me from day one,
Father
.”

“Wench.”

Ittonifer drew back his elbow, ready to drive the blade of his sword straight through her, but Chrissa looked past her father at Edandir.

The general blocked Ittonifer’s lethal stab with his sword. Here was a man that actually cared for her.

Ittonifer laughed hollowly as he swung his sword at Edandir’s stomach. The general blocked it.

“Get out of here, Chrissa!”

Chrissa got up and ran away, fighting another wave of nausea. Too weak to rejoin the battle, she ran to a clearing, away from the other warriors, and watched Edandir and Ittonifer fight one another.

“You know I’ll finish her after I’m through with you,” Ittonifer sneered.

Chrissa’s stomach knotted and she vomited.

Chapter Twenty-One

Edandir blocked another swing and attempted to drive his blade through Ittonifer’s chest, but once again he missed.

“Look around you, General,” Ittonifer said. “You’re losing. Even those giants are useless against so many of my men.”

“Your army isn’t as large as it had been before Chira came.”

Ittonifer studied Edandir for a moment.

The thunder had ceased and the downpour had transformed into a light drizzle. Queen Roselyn’s melodic voice resounded hauntingly in the damp evening air alongside Uittan’s solemn, deep one.

“When I am finished with you and the little traitor, I’m going to slit your precious queen’s throat.”

Despite the evening’s damp chill, Edandir’s face flamed with fury. He fought the obscene man with a greater ferocity than before.

“You may think that she’s protected from me,” said Ittonifer, “but when I kill her daughter that will all change.”

Daughter?

“Oh, didn’t she tell you? Roselyn and I were married long ago. Then, she left me to join your pathetic country. Now she’s getting what she deserves. You will, too.”

Roselyn was Ittonifer’s wife? The mere idea of that amazing woman being married to the sick tyrant was outrageous.

“Her heart will be filled with grief and rage when I slay Chrissa,” Ittonifer went on. “She will run to me and then I will kill her.”

Edandir jabbed at his enemy’s stomach, but Ittonifer blocked it with maddening ease. The earth rumbled again.

“General Edandir, look out!” shouted Sanere.

A crack in the ground branched out and rushed toward Edandir. He leaped backward and barely missed stumbling into the dark abyss.

Ittonifer stared at him from across the division.

“Two can play at this game!” Ittonifer said.

Magic.

Dark, rancid smoke emerged from the deep trench as a low growl resounded from within.

Edandir backed away.

Ittonifer’s jet-black eyes watched in fascination as a long reptilian foreleg gripped the soft earth. It clawed at the muddy ground with its free leg and then pulled itself up. Enormous, black bat-like wings rose out of the chasm followed by a warty, bearded face. It roared, showcasing layers of sharp teeth.

Its pupil-less red eyes stared into the general’s. It towered over him, at nearly three times the height of the giants. It was another monster, but even
uglier
and more hellish than the ten demoniac creations before it. He wondered where Ittonifer had found it, or if it was yet another product of his species modification experiments.

It stepped toward Edandir with its teeth bared. Its decaying body bent toward him, inching its snout close.

Edandir held his breath as a sickening odor emerged from its mouth.

“The Lord is my protector and redeemer,” said the general.

“We’ll see. After Roselyn and Chrissa are gone. Come, beast.”

The animal backed away from Edandir and flew across the trench to Ittonifer like an obedient dog.

Ittonifer jumped on its back and it lifted the two of them into the sky. Its deafening, high-pitched cry echoed off of the nearby mountains. Some of the soldiers stopped what they were doing and gaped at the gigantic flying animal coming toward them.

“It’s just another one of that devil’s cheap tricks!” shouted Endil as he clobbered his mace into a foe’s forehead.

Edandir would be forever grateful for the God-fearing warrior.

“Don’t give in to what you see!” shouted Edandir.

Many listened, but some began to run as the dragon neared them. Several of Edandir’s men had been caught by the animal’s strong jaws and swallowed whole.

Ittonifer laughed as he directed the monster toward Chrissa.

*****

Talya didn’t know where she was, but a thick mist surrounded her in an otherworldly forest. Everything was white – the trees, the leaves, the dirt. She was walking barefoot on its soft floor. No sticks or dried leaves scratched the soles of her feet. The painful bruises and wounds that had weakened her before were no longer there.

A flowing, white gown now replaced her tattered, bloody tunic and pants. She had always abhorred dresses, but she didn’t mind this one. It seemed as though it was made just for her. It allowed her to run as fast as she wanted to and she was able to jump over the quiet brooks that flowed through the alabaster bush.

For a moment, Talya wondered if she was dead, but if she had died, her Lord would have met her already. She felt lonely for Him.

“Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for ignoring
You
for so long. Forgive me for all the lives I have taken. My enemies are the ones that needed
You
, and I took away any chance they had of finding You.”

Talya sank to her knees and wept, feeling ill as she thought of all the damage that she had caused.

She raised her hands to the sky.

“Lord, I know now that all I need is
You
.”