The Destroyer Book 4 (36 page)

“Excellent. Prepare the vessel for me.” I dismounted and began to take my bags off of the pack mules.

“Yes, Mistress.” I heard him scurry around behind a group of branches and then he tugged a sleek-looking canoe out of the thicket. For the next five minutes, the gangly human helped me move half of the supplies from the mules to the canoe. Each bag made the small row boat sink deeper into the river and I wondered if the vessel would be safe out in the ocean.

“Is that everything, Mistress?” he asked once he placed the last bag.

“Yes. Now review your instructions.” This part of my plan was outside my realm of control and I felt uneasy leaving it to the human.

“I am to take this horse and these mules south for four hundred miles, to the Kilour Lands. There I will sell them, keep the profit, and disappear into their slave workforce for a few months.” He stood at attention and repeated the words with his fist over his heart as if he was saluting.

“Good.”

“You have packed enough supplies for me?” He opened one of the packs to find the duplicate camping equipment. His idiotic question made me want to smack his loose-looking head until it flew from his shoulders.

“Yes. You should leave immediately. I’ve already laid tracks heading in all directions, but they might only follow those for a week until the ruse is discovered. Then they will come after you.”

“Ohhh. Your concern warms my heart. You are actually quite nicer than he is.”

“What are you speaking of human?” I reminded myself that I needed the sklad alive to throw the trackers off of my tail.

“Oh nothing, Mistress, speaking to myself is all. Sometimes I wonder if we really understand this world of ours and the lives we come into contact with. For example, let us assume that you could kill the person you hated the most, but that choice would also kill the one you loved the most. Would you want that?”

I got into the boat and found the oars. “You should go now.”

“I have to push you off.” He moved to the boat’s stern and gave a weak push while grunting. “But if you could kill the person you hate the most, would you?”

“I don’t care for this conversation and am becoming annoyed with you.”

“Ahh! So maybe I would be the person you hated!” He hooted with pleasure and gave another push on the boat that created absolutely no movement. “But then your love would die. I don’t think it would be worth it.”

“My love is lost to me anyway. Move out of the way.” I got out of the boat and took the skinny human’s place at the stern. The boat moved easily with my strength and gently slid back into the water.

“But is he dead? Would you wish him dead?”

“No. Of course not. I love him. Why are you asking these questions?” I waded knee-deep into the water and jumped into the canoe with little fuss.

“I figured as much, like I said earlier, you are a nice Elven. What if the person you loved was also the person you hated? What would you do then?” He bobbled his head sideways like a bug was trying to fly into his ear.

Before he could react, I grabbed onto his thin neck and pulled him out of the water. I held his dangling body in the air while he gasped in surprise.

“I would get into my boat and leave this place. If a pesky human started asking me ridiculous questions instead of following my instructions, I would gut him and let the fish feast on his innards.” I lowered the shaking man back into the water and slowly let go of his throat. “Fortunately, you are about to leave on your travels, which makes me happy and prevents me from even thinking about disemboweling anyone.”

“Yes, Mistress. Of course, I was just leaving. Great talking to you! Glad to be of help!” He skipped quickly through the water and jumped on the back of my horse. He gave a quick wave and then kicked the animal forward into a trot that led him southward through the grove of pine trees.

The river was already taking the canoe downstream, so I couldn’t be sure that the bard followed my orders. Even if the man failed it would still be difficult for anyone to find me. The letter I left Relyara would throw them off, the tracks I laid in all directions would confuse them, and then the real set of prints that the bard’s new steeds would lay would waste more of their time. They could search the coast in all directions but they would find no trace of me to follow.

My life was my own now. There was no one to answer to but the Dead Gods and my memories. I was free of everything but the longing for Kaiyer.

That would never go away.

The cold stone held my arms, shoulders, and head like a lover’s embrace. I swam through my incomplete dreams and woke delirious with fever. The Earth roared through my blood immediately and the discomfort disappeared from my weary body.

I sat up and took account of my surroundings. I lay upon a granite pedestal in an empty cavern. A single brazier cast a dull glow from the foot of my bed, but its weak light filled the space. The distant corners sucked the light away, leaving an empty void around me.

I wore a simple robe of thin white canvas, a shroud like Entas had worn at his funeral. Where were my friends? I could not even hear the sounds of the army nearby.

Slowly, I remembered Iolarathe’s execution. I heard her screams. I remembered my anger. My hate. What my friends had done.

I remembered what I did after my love had been burned in front of me.

I remembered the feeling of Malek’s sword against my skull and reached up to feel my head where the blade had struck. There was no wound there, I must have healed already. My kind could heal from almost any injury, as long as it didn’t separate the brain from the spine or totally obliterate the heart.

Malek’s blow should have killed me.

I swung my hips over the side of my pedestal and found my legs strong beneath me. Now that I was more aware, I could feel the flow of a breeze coming from behind me. I walked in that direction and came upon a tunnel that led me away from the empty room.

“Did you see his body?” The question drifted down the tunnel.

“Naw. It was covered in a sheet. Bloody as all fuck. They ripped him into pieces.” A second voice replied. I slowed my walk and crept closer to them.

“Served the bastard right. How many died last week? Four thousand?”

“I don’t think there is a count yet.”

“I heard that number from one of Malek’s commanders.”

“It might be close then.” The voice sighed. “I met him once.”

“Kaiyer?”

“Yes.”

“Shit. When?”

“A long time ago. Feels like a lifetime ago, because it was. I got to the final round of the Games, but was bested by Jutea. Afterward, he told me I fought well and if I focused more on my footwork, I’d win the next Game.”

“Damn. I didn’t know you were that old. Why are you pulling guard duty instead of leading a unit?”

“I never much liked the thought of leading. Too much shit to worry about.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“Nope. Not until the Dragon Battle. Saw him kill both dragons himself and chase the third one. No wonder it took Thayer, Alexia, Gorbanni, and Malek to finally kill him. He was one tough asshole.”

“What do you think about the rumors?”

“Which ones?”

“They say he’s still alive. They couldn’t kill him and just told everyone he was dead to ease their fears.”

“The body they brought in looked rather dead to me.”

“But you didn’t see his face?”

“No. That is true.”

I had crept to the end of the tunnel and saw the two men sitting at a table under the bright light of four torches. Past them was a set of rough stairs that led up to a thick oak door. I guessed I was deep in the same dungeons beneath Shlara’s Rest.

The door opened and a third soldier entered. All three of them wore Thayer’s uniform and bore the stout muscle structure and stance of his warriors.

“Tyil, I’m relieving you.”

“Good. The air down here is depressing.” The one who told the story about me stood and nodded down to the other guard. “Chat with you later.”

“Thanks, old timer.” Tyil walked up the stairs. I did recall speaking with the man some forty or more years ago. He was a talented warrior and I was glad he was leaving his watch.

“Any news from the camp?”

“Burrno said Thayer wanted twenty guards in here.” The woman laughed.

“What? That is crazy. To guard a dead body? They worried someone might steal the corpse?”

“Who knows?” The woman took off her sword belt and hung it from a hook on the wall next to the other guard’s weapon. “Burrno said that was the order, but he also said he wasn’t going to follow it. Probably because he knows it is stupid to waste that many guards on a corpse. Let someone take his body. Who the fuck cares? I hope they desecrate it.”

“Yeah. Fuck him.” The man laughed.

“Apparently they are all in a big meeting. Been there for the last few hours.”

“Who?”

“The generals.”

“All of them? Shit. Probably patting themselves on the back for taking him down.”

“The Betrayer name is really going to stick now.” The woman chuckled.

Every second I remained down here was another second closer to Thayer realizing that there were not twenty guards posted. Malek’s sword had not taken my life, and I did not want to waste whatever luck I had by waiting for them to return and finish the job.

I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. If these two guards believed that I was alive, this would be impossible, but fortunately they were lax in their duties. Still, they would hear me approaching and make it to their weapons much faster than I could.

Unless I made a sprint for the blades.

It was reckless, but I didn’t have my own weapons or armor. I forced my blood to slow, and my heart to pause before I made the quick dash to the two sword belts.

The woman saw me first and let out a gasp of horror. I already had my hands on her weapon and it cleared the sheath before the male guard turned. The blade sliced his skull in half at the midline and then I took a step forward against the rim of the table and drove the point of the weapon through the woman’s face.

I stepped clear of the gore that spouted from their corpses and returned to the rack to don the other weapon belt. Once both belts were secure, I opened the door to the corridor. On the other side was another tunnel, roughly cut by unskilled hands, which carried the scent of fire and wind. I listened for any signs of life and then sneaked down the rest of the tunnel and into the open air at the end of the cave.

The mouth exited the side of a cliff face fifty feet above the bottom of a canyon. I recognized the place and knew that I was five miles north of Shlara’s Rest. Near the riverbed below were hundreds of tents organized just as they would have been when I ran the army. I was even able to find the wolf, snake, ram, and bear emblems of my old generals on many of the tents.

There were no guards on the ledge, but there were plenty of soldiers milling about the camp below. Any second, a sentry could look up and spot me. I tried to act as nonchalant as possible and strolled down the path to the bottom of the canyon. I assumed I had succeeded when no one raised an alarm.

Soldiers were posted on the perimeter of the camp, but the path led me past their lines and into the northwest corner of the canyon where Thayer’s army was stationed. I braced for an attack at the first warrior I passed, but he ignored me. Soldiers were returning to their tents after bathing. Some walked the grounds naked, most wore robes similar to mine and carried swords. Only my long hair and beard made me look different from everyone else, so my presence raised no suspicion.

A group of men departed a nearby tent and turned south toward the river. They each wore a fresh robe or held clean towels. I casually moved off of the main pathway toward their tent and listened for heartbeats. I didn’t hear any so I entered the tent and rummaged through the chests where fresh garments would be kept.

In short order I was wearing a stolen uniform and walking again through the camps with a backpack loaded with looted traveling equipment. I was still somewhat out of place amongst Thayer’s army; the men in his group never had long hair and only a few wore a beard. Even the women devoted to the Bear mostly kept their hair cut short. My body was not as muscular as it had once been. The cut of my muscles and veins were easy to see through my skin, but it was obvious that I wasn’t enjoying an abundant amount of food and didn’t carry the stocky build of Thayer’s infantry.