The Destroyer Book 2 (55 page)

"I don't agree with this," Malek huffed.

"Me either," Gorbanni said. We all looked at him in feigned shock. "What is that look for? My horses can't see at night!" He smiled and expected a laugh, but he didn't get one.

"The night will burn brightly. Have no worries," Alexia muttered from her position at the table. She pointed at a token on the board. Thayer nodded in agreement but Shlara shook her head.

I walked over to gaze down at the map. Thayer’s bear tokens were a mess and looked like they hadn't moved since I left. Shlara, Thayer, and Alexia probably spent their time discussing what the Elven general wanted with me.

Iolarathe.

Her name drifted into my mind and spun into a smoky image of her. She looked exactly as I remembered her. Perfect red lips with flawless white skin. Her hair bled energy from the sun and converted it into the glittering of her eyes. She had seemed to express remorse at the death of my father and brother. Did she really mean it, or was it an attempt to befuddle my mind? I did see a small tear float down her face. I didn't think that their kind felt sadness. Only hate, lust, and hunger.

My fingers reached down and interrupted Thayer's hand. I quickly rearranged his pieces, and then I set a few of Shlara’s dragon markers on the east flank, and the ram tokens representing Gorbanni’s troops that would drive up the west flank. I put Alexia’s snake tokens back in the reserve section and split a few of Malek’s wolves from Thayer to Shlara's side. The process took less than ten seconds and my generals stood by in absolute silence. They must have sensed that I grew tired of their mock democracy. I valued their input, but I was the ultimate authority here. I was the leader.

My skull token was the only piece off of the board. I placed it with the second wave of the bear tokens. It made a thick wooden smack when it touched the table.

"No," Shlara and Malek said at the same time as Thayer walloped in glee.

"Malek will direct the field. Alexia will support him," I confirmed and shot Shlara and Malek a glare. Malek sighed and nodded. Shlara glared back at me but said nothing else. She would be with her own troops and waiting for the signal from the field commander. Once the flag rolled she would be in the thick of battle and trying to protect Thayer's flank.

"This is the end my friends." The words came out hollow. It did feel like the conclusion of an era. None of them wore their helmets, but they all wore the invincible armor that had been crafted for them. We looked at each other across the table for minutes in silence as the crickets sounded their mating calls with the last light of the day. The sun was setting and its honey-colored rays dyed the white of my tent the color of fire. Like her hair.

"This is hard for me to say." Thayer cleared his throat when his voice cracked slightly. I remembered how he bullied me when I first had been drafted into my Elven masters' fighting force. I had ripped his stomach open with a concealed dagger and somehow the action earned his respect. He had stood by me since then.

"I've worked hard for this day. We all have. Thank you all for putting up with me. I can be an asshole." He looked around them and nodded at their smiles, and then he turned to me. "Brother, you could have left me dying on that barrack floor after you cut me open, or left me to die in the wilderness hundreds of times when I said I couldn't go on. But you didn't. You saw something in me that I did not. You saw past my stupid mistakes and knew I would lead warriors and take back our lives. Thank you." He cleared his throat again and pulled his cloak over his shoulders. The colored cloth hid the bear etching on the massive chest piece of his armor.

"It is funny," Malek said with a smile. "When we were slaves, we were so afraid of dying. We were afraid of their whips and their powers, we were afraid of what they could take from us. Somewhere along the line, I stopped fearing death and pain. Now I only fear failure. We have endured through pain, we have endured through cold, we have endured through great loss. We have endured because we have hope that we can be free. That our children will be free. How different tomorrow’s dawn will be, because of us. Because of our endurance. Thank you for letting me be a part of this.” He looked to Shlara quickly, but then turned toward me.

"I have seen impossible things. I've seen humans create a new world without the guidance of our masters," Gorbanni spat the last word. "I've seen our people live lives of purpose, have children, and experience love. When this is over, I plan on doing some of that with four of my favorite women." He laughed and we all joined the cheerful blonde man.

"At one point, I wished I was dead." Alexia smiled and crossed her arms. Her armor was slightly thinner than the rest of ours, but still heavily engraved and molded with twisting snakes. "I never knew what happened to my family. Perhaps they were killed when the Elvens discovered the bodies of the men who raped me." Her expression grew serious and she looked at me. "But I'm not the only one who has lost loved ones and wanted to die. You all taught me to live again. You are my family and I look forward to putting down my swords tomorrow morning. We will still have work to do, but it will be work that I will find much more enjoyable. Every day I am glad I didn't die under the tree where my saviors found me." My friends smiled and nodded; we all knew these stories.

Except for mine. I never told them about my father, my brother, or Iolarathe. As far as they knew, my life began at the barracks with Thayer.

"Damn this talk!" Shlara slammed a plated fist into her other open hand. It sounded like a thunderclap. "It makes me feel as if I will never see the rest of you after today. We've been through worse shit than this and come out okay." She smiled.

"I'm sorry! I felt like it was an appropriate time to express my manly feelings about all of you." Thayer laughed and Shlara joined with him. Her voice bounced off the canvas walls like chimes.

"Don’t worry, Brother," she teased him. "We'll all be here tomorrow. Alexia was right. The real work begins when the sun next rises." She gazed down at the board and frowned a bit, her full lips made a thin line that creased her chin. "I remember how cocky I was. I believed I could do anything. I still feel the same way, but I've taken my bumps, we all have, eh?" Everyone else nodded. "There have been hundreds of battles where I thought I would die; there are thousands of scars to remind me of those who gave their lives for tomorrow. This is for their memory. We'll live tomorrow for their dreams. We will create, we will build, and we will love." She looked into my eyes. "And make children who aren’t forced to fight for their freedom. It will be the rebirth our ancestors always dreamed of." She closed her eyes and sighed. Then they fluttered open and looked at me again.

They all waited for my words of motivation. I'd given thousands of speeches. In the beginning, Entas had practiced alone with me, making sure that every one of my words and phrases rang true with the right amount of emotion. Eventually he told me that the speeches made even his old bones long for a sword so he could destroy hordes of our enemies.

But I was not prepared to speak now.

"We will destroy their hopes and crush their dreams during the next few hours. Then there will be nothing left of those monsters." Iolarathe's voice echoed in my head, apologizing for the death of my father and brother. I ignored it. "They will be a legend. A story that will be told to scare children or keep our descendants occupied around campfires. They will be dust before our wind and sand before our river." I looked around at them. I knew we would all live through this, but tomorrow would be a new life. This was the last time I would see them this way, in their armor, as generals in the most powerful army ever to walk this planet.

"We are the O'Baarni," I said as I saluted them. They saluted back and repeated the words with perfect timing. They grabbed their helmets and rushed out the door of the large tent that flew my skull banner.

It was blood red, like her hair when it caught the light of the setting sun.

In an hour she would be no more.

Malek had already given orders to my attendant and was ordering a runner to summon his commanders. Alexia stood close by doing the same, but Shlara, Thayer, and Gorbanni had already departed to be with their troops. The Elvens would guess we were preparing to attack by observing us for the next few minutes, but we wouldn't be ready for fifteen.

I looked across the rolling valley toward her force. They had learned from us and organized their troops in a rough copy of our chain of command. Their troops were divided into five units, each headed by a general with their own unique icon. Whereas we used animals that conveyed prowess, they used trees and flowers. Each of my generals had unique forces who excelled at specific tasks. Thayer was my heavy infantry, Shlara my light, Gorbanni was cavalry, Alexia had scouts and archers, and Malek controlled the majority of our distance Elementalists. Each general had their own brigades of other troops, but sixty percent of their forces were composed of their specialized units.

"Kaiyer," a woman hailed from behind me. I turned around and saw Permtara donning her last pieces of armor. The metal wasn't as heavily ornamented as my skull plate, but it was etched in the same manner. The nightmare armor and her long red cloak with the black skull indicated that she was one of the elite warriors given the honor of serving as my personal bodyguard for two years.

For the first twenty-five years, I had never had bodyguards. I had never needed them. After one battle, during which I was cut off from the rest of the troops, surrounded by Elvens and nearly killed, Shlara had come up with the idea, and the other generals agreed it was wise.

She called it the O'Baarni Games. They were a mix of fitness tests, barehanded combat, and weapon matches. These games lasted two weeks, with one winner from each general's force chosen as victor. The challenges took place every two years, and the winners served with me until they were beaten in the next round of games, or until they had served five terms. Our troops liked the events because they were able to challenge each other and prove their strength. The winners loved the prestige and the perks the position offered. They would each have armor crafted for them by my master smith and they would train with me weekly. I enjoyed their company and looked forward to a fresh group of powerful warriors to mentor.

I smiled at Permtara as she approached. The Games were still new and nearing the end of the third term. Permtara was one of Thayer's soldiers. She had won the honor the first year of the Games and beat the competition in the following two games. My other guards were all new this year, but Permtara might be the first warrior to be forced to retire from my service.

"Word is you'll be fighting with my brothers?" Her grin reminded me of Thayer's and I guessed that she was his daughter. She kept her hair shaved short and her broad nose, shoulders, and stocky build further convinced me she was his offspring. Unlike him, her weapon of choice was a one-headed axe that she wielded almost as effectively as her father danced with swords.

"The word is correct." I saw the other guards dashing toward me from their tents on the perimeter of my staging area.

"Excellent." She beamed.

"We will ride with their second wave." They nodded with my orders. This was the first, and likely last, battle this particular team would guard me. I had gotten to know them all rather well and I believed them to be more than capable warriors.

"Any special instructions?" Lemarti asked. She came from Alexia's army and had made a few attempts over the last year to bed me.

"Yeah. Keep Kaiyer alive and kill lots of Elvens." Tarkas laughed. He was from Shlara's group and one of the rare humans who joined the O'Baarni as a middle-aged man. The process of learning the Elements slowed his aging, but his salted gray hair and wrinkles gave him a presumed amount of authority over the other guards.

"Obviously." Lemarti tied her short black hair back across her forehead and scowled at him.

"Who will command the field?" Loto asked. He was Gorbanni's representative and possessed a keen mind for battle. He often engaged me in deep discussions about tactics and training.

"Malek," I said simply as attendants clasped the cloak around my shoulders and moved to do the same with my guards. I turned to look at the last member of my entourage. "Ready?"

"Aye, Kaiyer," Jutea spoke with a smile. Sometimes I walked through the camps without wearing my armor. On one such occasion I visited Malek's camp and sat next to the pretty blonde woman. She had offered me a cup of beer and asked me for a story. I believe she realized who I was only after I left and had similar motivations as Lemarti, but she never expressed those feelings.

"Meet me near Thayer's troops. I will be there shortly." They moved toward their horses, mounted, and trotted toward the bear banner. After they departed I donned my helmet and walked over to where Malek and Alexia reviewed my troop placement with their commanders.

I stood in the background to observe them assign the runners and flag signalers their duties. After ten minutes the group of two dozen or so men and women dispersed in a swarm of excitement. They saluted me as they passed.

"We are waiting for you to take position with Thayer's warriors," Malek said.

"Everyone is ready?" He nodded and I turned to Alexia.

"As soon as you ride down I'll move back with mine." She smiled and looked behind me, distracted for a second by the attendants tearing down my tent to place the wooden platforms that Malek would use to direct the field.

"Leave now." She saluted at my command and spun without another word, sprinting down the hill away from the battle to where her army was placed out of the view of the Elvens. I'm sure Iolarathe knew we had almost a hundred thousand warriors there, but if we had to pull them out it would be even more demoralizing.

"Kaiyer . . ." Malek's voice trailed off and I turned to look at him. He still had his helmet off and his face looked concerned.

"Something is wrong?" I asked.

"You tell me." He frowned and glanced back over his shoulder to make sure no one stood in hearing distance. Any who wanted to pay attention to us could hear our conversation, but everyone within earshot seemed occupied with the vast amount of preparations.