The Destroyer Book 2 (33 page)

“I wish I could have grabbed the swords from my room,” I said regretfully. I would have also liked some new clothes. I was still wearing the attire that the duke had provided me. They were slightly better than the loose training clothes I wore when Nia had been attacked, but only because they didn’t smell like two months’ worth of blood and sweat. The clothes the king had made for me were the finest garments I recalled ever owning, and while they wouldn’t solve our current problem, I did miss them.

“Don’t worry, Skinny. I shall protect you from the rats that live down here. I believe that I saw one that outweighed you by a few dozen pounds.” Greykin chuckled and slapped me on the back. The sound bounced off the dark stone walls, passed through the slimy bars of the cell and fled down the long hallways of the dungeon.

“Careful!” Beltor hissed. The duke was probably twenty years younger than the warrior, but when he spoke the axe man listened and obeyed with a quick nod and a whispered apology.

I still didn't understand the concept of royalty. I was accustomed to a life where the strongest and most capable was in command. Somehow that practice became diluted, twisted, and misshaped into a society where someone’s value was attached to their bloodline. It wasn’t even that I believed that the king, his brother, or Nadea lacked the ability to lead this world, but it was strange that Greykin would follow the duke without question, and would do the same to Nanos now that his father was dead and the young man was king.

Perhaps the Old Bear saw Beltor command an army, make wise decisions, deal with failures, and teach his followers. Those steps seemed imperative when creating a strong bond of trust and loyalty with those you lead in battle.

“Do you believe Nadea is down here?” I whispered to the duke.

“Yes. I have to believe,” Beltor said as he scratched absently at his own uniform.

“You have to believe?” I asked.

“Yes. What other option is there? She is either here in the castle as Nanos promised, or she is dead. I refuse to consider that she is dead.” His voice was full of conviction, like he was speaking of the sun rising the next morning.

“Nanos said she is down here. He should be here in a quarter of an hour or so with the queen. We will grab the duchess, get my men, and escape north, to Jessmei. This will be easier than getting home from my favorite tavern piss ass drunk.” Greykin snorted and flexed his shoulder muscles in a show of bravado.

“You seem very confident,” I said.

“I’ve made it home from my favorite tavern piss ass drunk many a times, Skinny. Do not doubt my ability to accomplish great things.”

I nodded seriously but the duke chuckled.

After a few minutes of silence, I found myself thinking of Nadea. I hoped the young woman was safe, but I had my fears. She had been held prisoner for a month and a half here, and I was sure that the Elvens had been doing their best to break her mind and body.

There is nothing that cannot be fixed, Kaiyer. I am a perfect example.

Alexia. I remembered little of our relationship, but I knew it would come in time. Memories were slowly surfacing, as in a dream, smoke and fog solidified into concrete shapes and people.

A door to the dungeon level opened from far away. I was sure that the duke and the Old Bear couldn’t hear it, so I informed them.

“Can you hear anything else?” Beltor whispered as the tension between the three of us elevated.

“It sounds like one pair of footsteps.” I could have told him if it was Paug, Greykin, Jessmei, or Nadea, but I didn’t know the cadence of Nanos’s footsteps well enough.

We waited until the steps became loud enough for the other two men. I guessed it was Nanos because of the frantic pace, and was proven correct when he stepped into our sphere of torch light.

“Greetings,” the young man whispered.

“We’ve been waiting. Are you going to be taking us to Nadea?” The duke got straight to the point.

“Yes. She is down another level. I have guards loyal to me ready to help with the Losher men that are guarding her.”

"Where is your mother?" Nadea's father asked.

"There are men guarding your daughter. I didn't want to risk her. She will meet us at an escape route I have planned," Nanos replied.

“There are Losher men guarding her?” the duke asked with concern.

“Yes. The Ancients have been trying to speak to her.” He glanced at me and then back to Beltor. “But my cousin is very strong-willed. From what I understand, they have gotten nothing out of her.”

“How many Loshers?” Greykin asked.

“Four. I have the same amount of men, although I don’t think we need them with Kaiyer here.” He grinned slightly at me.

“We will take all the help we can get,” I said and smiled back at him. It was beginning to seem that I had been wrong about Jessmei’s brother.

“First, let's bust Nadea out of her cell. Afterward, we will go up to the castle, retrieve my men, get your mother, and then we are all getting out of here.” Greykin laid out his broad plan and Nanos nodded.

“Nadea first. Let us move,” the duke commanded.

“Follow me,” the young man said as he quickly exited the cell and walked the way he had come. After about a minute of walking through the dark cells he spoke up again softly.

“I didn’t realize you had men here, Greykin. Can they help us with this?”

“I only have a few and I didn’t know what the situation would be like down here. They are preparing our escape.” The big man huffed. “I’ve got everything under control.”

“Where are we going to go after we escape?”

“North. Kaiyer foiled the Ancient’s kidnapping attempt. Jessmei is safe in a village waiting for us to return,” Greykin said with an amount of glee I didn’t think he was capable of expressing. He was obviously happy to tell Nanos the news.

“That is great news! I feared for her every night. I know Mother had as well. She will be overjoyed to hear Jess is safe. Which village is it?”

“Are you nervous, Nanos?” I blurted, interrupting the conversation before Greykin answered.

“N-N-No,” the young man stuttered. “Why would you think that?” He stopped walking and turned to me. I saw his blue eyes flash dangerously in the torch light. I had seen that look on his face before, the day I threw him in the creek.

“Your heart is beating very quickly.” I frowned at him.

“I have a right to be nervous. We are about to engage in combat, rescue my cousin, then my mother, and then flee my castle. I might die doing this!” His voice turned into a shriek at the end that cut through the empty cells like a whip and caused a few rats to scurry away from us.

“Okay,” I said with a shrug.

“Don’t worry, Nanos.” The duke stepped between us and laid a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “We will get through this. I know that the last two months have been difficult for you. I know you miss your father and your kingdom. Once we get Nadea and your mother, we will leave the castle and lick our wounds. We can do this, and you can do this with us. Your people need you to be strong. It is at times like these that kings are born, not just in name, but in action and blood. Do you understand?”

Nanos nodded and wiped the back of his gloved hand across his left eye.

“Yes Uncle. We are almost there. Then everything will begin to be made right.” His throat caught slightly on the words.

“I didn’t mean to give you a hard time.” I remembered what it had been like to lose my father and brother and felt a smidge of pity for the little bastard.

“I forgive you, Kaiyer. We’ve had our differences. Truce?” He held his hand out and I shook it.

“If you ladies are done reciting sonnets to each other, I would like to kill some Loshers.” Greykin chuckled as he laid his giant fingers on my shoulder.

“The stairs down to the next level are right over here. My men are waiting down there. Kaiyer, they won’t recognize you, so can you stay in the back?” I nodded and took the rear position behind the other three men as we formed a single file and descended the twisted stairwell. How massive was the dungeon of this castle? It seemed that the network of cells, hallways, and passages were never-ending.

“Can you hear anything?” the duke whispered.

“Not now. I will concentrate and try again though,” I said as I pushed more Earth through my body. The memory of being chased by the Elvens was fresh in my mind, so I was surprised how much easier it was for me to focus the power through me.

“Let’s keep moving!” Nanos hissed from the front of the line, and my sensitive ears rang from his voice.

“I want to know what he hears. This may be a trap. What if the Ancients guess what you have planned?” the duke whispered.

“Fuck me. This isn’t a trap. My men are waiting. There are enough horror stories about these dungeons. We can’t let Nadea stay imprisoned here much longer.” His voice was urgent and splashed around my head like a cymbal.

“I hear four heartbeats down below, and a woman screaming in pain. It echoes off the walls and it is hard to tell exactly where she is.”

“You can hear Nadea?” the duke gasped in horror. “She is screaming?”

“I’m not sure. We should make haste with Nanos,” I said as calmly as I could. My blood pulsed in my ears. I’d rip the faces off of each of the Loshers torturing Nadea. I would break each of the bones in their bodies slowly, then cut off their limbs and burn them alive. They would suffer for hurting her. They would know her pain a hundredfold.

Jessmei's brother sprinted down the rest of the stairs, but his pace was like a turtle’s, and I had no more patience. Greykin and the duke’s plan of subterfuge was too slow. Every second we wasted was another moment of agony for Nadea. It had to end now. I should have just walked into the castle, sword in hand, and killed everything in my path until I found her. It would have been faster and infinitely more satisfying.

“Let’s go!” Nanos called out to his soldiers when we reached the bottom of the stairwell. They were wearing light chain mail and had the hoods of their cloaks up over their faces. One of them grunted as they flanked the sides of our band and matched our pace.

“Where is the screaming coming from?” the duke demanded.

“Over there,” I said, pointing toward the east side of the dungeon, opposite of where our stairs were. Greykin and Beltor turned in the direction I pointed, but Nanos and his guards did not.

Suddenly I realized, too late, that Nanos had been lying the whole time.

A guttural bark of rage escaped my throat just before the four Elvens drew short swords. I had been so focused on Nadea’s screams that I didn't pay attention to their heartbeats. Elven hearts were chambered slightly different than human’s and beat much slower. These Elvens must have been wearing unwashed human clothing, because I had not detected their alien scent either.

I dashed to my left and delivered a sidekick to the face of the Elven that flanked me. The blow knocked his chin up and back, but this one was a halfway decent fighter. He stepped away from me enough so that the impact and angle of my foot didn't snap his neck like a twig. His body still flew ten feet and bounced satisfyingly off of the wall of the dungeon.

I heard more footsteps coming from the direction of the screams. But I also heard the air part from the side of me where the other Elven was probably swinging his sword. I didn’t have time to look, so I dove to the ground with a backward roll. The man snarled as his blade passed through the air and not my body.

I continued my dodge into a handspring that landed me at the foot of the stairs we had earlier descended. This gave me some space between my attackers and a split second to survey the situation.

It didn't look good.

Beltor was face down on the ground with an Elven kneeling on top of him. The pointy-eared fucker had his knee into the older man's back and was twisting his arm over his head. The duke wouldn't be able to get out of the hold without breaking his shoulder.

Greykin was wrestling one of the other Elvens, both of them seeking control over the Elven's short sword. Fortunately, the Old Bear had the better position and was leveraging the blade down with all his weight, toward the throat of the struggling Elven.

Unfortunately, there were four more Elvens running at us from the opposite sides of the stairs.

Nanos pulled his weapon out but it was a long decorated blade that would not help him in the close quarters of the dungeon hallway. He looked indecisively between me, the Elven I had dodged, the one I had knocked back into the wall, the duke, and Greykin.

Fire and Wind flowed through me and I held my hand out toward the Elven that was moving in my direction. His eyes grew wide at the last second when my power climaxed and released. Fire, pain, force, and death pulled from my body and shot out of my palm, a blast of hate and malice. It leapt upon the man like a thousand hungry, orange wolves. The magic pushed him back through the air, as if gravity had been reversed, then ripped the life from him.

It was beautiful.

His flaming carcass collided with Nanos as he was about to strike Greykin and knocked the young man to the ground in a surprised yelp. Ashes, bones, and bits of flame scattered everywhere, making it seem as if the sun had erupted and been swallowed in an instant. The Elvens running toward us shouted in alarm and skidded to a halt, afraid that the attack was aimed at them. I noticed that two of the Elvens carried small bows and arrows in their hands.

This would not get any easier.

But at least the magic hadn't drained me as much as I thought it would have. The food and rest from earlier in the day must have rejuvenated me. The power of the Elements whipped back into my body and hungered to be released again.

It isn't alive, but your subconscious directs it like you direct your own emotions.

Greykin was blinded by the blast and the Elven he had been about to kill used the opportunity to shift his weight and bucked the big man off of him. I jumped across the span between us and planted my knee down firmly into the monster's face. The blow smashed his nose, skull, and brain onto the thick stone tile of the dungeon.

"Hold O'Baarni, or your duke will perish!" a voice called out from the group of Elvens in front of me. I glanced up at them and made eye contact with their leader, the one who had spoken to Nanos a few hours ago by the garden. He pointed next to me, where the Nadea's father had been sacked by the Elven. The serpent held a long dagger to Beltor's neck.