The Sorcerer's Ring: Book 05 - A Vow of Glory

Andronicus
rode proudly down the center of McCloud's royal city, flanked by hundreds of
his generals, and dragging behind him his most prized possession: King McCloud.
Stripped of his armor, half-naked, his hairy body rolling with fat, King
McCloud was bound by ropes and tied to the back of Andronicus’ saddle by a long
rope circling his wrists.

As
Andronicus rode slowly, reveling in his triumph, he dragged McCloud through the
streets, over dirt and pebbles, stirring up a cloud of dust. McCloud’s people gathered
and gaped. He could hear McCloud calling out, writhing in pain as he paraded
him through the streets of his own city. Andronicus beamed. The faces of McCloud's
people crumpled in fear. Here was their former king, now the lowliest of
slaves. It was one of the finest days Andronicus could remember.

Andronicus
was surprised at how easy it had been to take McCloud’s city. It seemed as if McCloud’s
men had been demoralized before the attack had even begun. Andronicus's men had
conquered them in a blaze of lightning, his thousands of soldiers swooping in,
overriding the few soldiers who dared to defend, and swarming the city in the
blink of an eye. They must have realized there was no point in resisting. They
had all laid down their arms assuming, if they surrendered, Andronicus would
take them captive.

But
they did not know the great Andronicus. He despised surrender. He took no
captives, and their lowering their weapons just made it all the easier for him.

The
streets of McCloud's city ran with blood, as Andronicus' men swept every alley,
every side street, butchering every man they could find. The women and children
he had taken as slaves, as he always did. The houses they looted, one at a
time.

As
Andronicus rode now, slowly through the streets, surveying his triumph, he saw
the corpses everywhere, the heaps of loot, the destroyed homes. He turned and
nodded to one of his generals, and immediately the general raised a torch high,
motioned to his men, and hundreds of them fanned throughout the city and set
fire to the thatched roofs. Flames rose up all around them, reaching for the
sky, and Andronicus could already begin to feel the heat from here.

"NO!"
McCloud screamed, flailing on the ground behind him.

Andronicus
grinned wider and picked up his pace, aiming for a particularly large rock;
there came a satisfying thump, and he knew McCloud’s body had ridden over it.

Andronicus
took great satisfaction in watching this city burn. As he had in every
conquered city in his Empire, he would first raze the city to the ground, then
build it up again, with his own men, his own generals, his own Empire. That was
his way. He wanted no trace of the old. He was building a new world. The world
of Andronicus.

The
Ring, the sacred Ring which had eluded all of his ancestors, was now his territory.
He could hardly conceive it. He breathed deeply, wondering just how great he
was. Soon enough, he would cross the Highlands, and conquer the other half of
the Ring, too. Then there would be no place left on the planet upon which his
foot had not tread.

Andronicus
rode up to the towering statue of McCloud, in the city square, and stopped
before it. It stood there like a shrine, rising fifty feet, made of marble. It
showed a version of McCloud that Andronicus did not recognize, a young, fit,
muscular McCloud, wielding a sword proudly. It was egomaniacal. For that,
Andronicus admired him. A part of him wanted to take it back home, install it
in his palace as a trophy.

But
another part of him was too disgusted by it. Without thinking, he reached down,
took out his sling, a sling three times larger than that of any human, large
enough to hold a rock the size of a small boulder, and he reached back and
hurled it with all that he had.

The
small boulder flew through the air and connected with the head of the statue.
McCloud's marble head shattered in pieces, exploding off the body. Andronicus
then let out a shout, raised his two-handed flail, charged and swung with all
he had.

Andronicus
smashed the statue’s torso and the marble toppled, then crashed to the ground,
shattering with a great noise. Andronicus turned his horse and made sure, as he
rode, that McCloud's body was scraped up over the shards.

"You
will pay for that!" an agonized McCloud cried weakly.

Andronicus
laughed. He had encountered many humans in his lifetime, but this one might
just be the most pathetic of them all.

"Will
I?" Andronicus yelled.

This
McCloud was too thick-headed; he still did not appreciate the might of the
great Andronicus. He would have to be taught, once and for all.

Andronicus
scanned the city, and his eyes fell on what was surely McCloud's castle. He
kicked his horse and took off at a gallop, his men falling in behind him, as he
dragged McCloud across the dusty courtyard.