Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) (202 page)

“They volunteered for this because they have faith in you, and they were nothing in their old lives. You have given them purpose.”

“I’m sure you are right, my love, but it is not what the gods intended, I have twisted Thurr to my own will and do not have the foresight to know what effect it may have in the future.

“I disagree,” Sara admitted. “Like it or not, my handsome king, you are a god among mortals. I believe it. Borrik believes it. Hell, the whole city believes it. We believe in you, and all of us are exactly how you created us. We are precisely what
our
god intended.”

“I’ve pondered that at length,” Seth admitted, thinking back to all of his discoveries and failures. “I managed to study Gorandor and commit his aura to memory, and I am not like him. I am much more akin to humanity than to the gods.”

“But you have the ability to change that, at will. If you can put me back the way I was before all this, can you not recreate yourself in the image of a god?”

“I’ve asked myself that many times, and I think it could be possible, but not yet. My power, life, and mind have expanded beyond belief, but even so, I don’t think I could maintain my consciousness, my thoughts and memories were I to alter myself so drastically as that. In honesty, I don’t think I would survive past dismantling the form of life that I am now. I think that would take more power than I can even conceive of at present.”

“But it is possible?” Sara asked.

“I think so, should I choose to follow that road. But I fear it would be the end of me. I don’t think I could live with myself having consumed so many lives, no matter my reason for doing so.”

“You will find a way, love,” Sara said and Seth knew it was in an attempt to reassure him. “But in the meantime, can you see what it is you wanted, from here?”

Though he was always vaguely aware of his surroundings, Seth no longer spent every moment of his life living in the present world. They had traveled nearly to the Valdadore border in what felt like just moments.

Focusing his thoughts and his vision to the east, he sent tendrils of himself sprawling across the vast expanses, touching and studying every form of life as he went. Far beyond his mortal vision he delved into the city of Valdadore where he found things both familiar and disturbing.

In the streets were men that were not men at all, and taking a look into the aura of these creatures he knew them for what they were. Somehow, another race of werewolf had been spawned and now inhabited the city. Delving deeper towards the castle he found the knights’ training grounds overrun with the creatures, both young and old. Locating a group of healers within the masses of wolf men he studied their bloated, god-infused auras and watched as one of them poured power into that of a young wolfling. The pup began to expand and grow at an unnatural rate and within moments the healer moved on to yet another pup. Valdadore was breeding the creatures. His brother was breeding an army.

Reaching further still, towards the castle complex in a quest to seek out his brother the king, Seth touched upon a presence there that should not have been. Reeling, he examined the woman. She was young of body, but filled with power. Like his very wife she was an abomination to mankind, feeding upon her own race. Seth knew the aura, he’d seen it before. But where? He tried to recall the girl, but could not. How one of the changed could have survived when Sara had purposely put them to death was beyond him. Did it mean there were more in the world that had escaped the death planned for them? The young woman was powerful, and growing more so at a steady rate. In months she would be as strong as Sara. How was it possible? What had he missed? Something had gone terribly wrong. Perhaps this was the thing that had been tugging at him.

Abandoning the girl, he delved into the castle itself and felt the bile rise in his throat as tears began to sting his eyes. There sat his brother upon the Valdadorian throne, changed into something barely recognizable to Seth. Gone was his bright gleaming aura infused with the light of Gorandor and in its place a shadowy darkness that fed upon his soul.

“What is it, Seth?” Sara questioned, but so far away did her fearful voice sound that Seth let the question pass, ignored. How was it that his brother would turn away from Gorandor, and to Ishanya no less? It had to be a trick, a ploy the goddess was using to taunt him into a confrontation. Perhaps she knew of his plan? Was Garret the champion created to destroy him? Was that the warning Gorandor had brought? Was that his purpose in coming to seek Seth out?

Garret’s blessing was altered as well, unlike anything Seth had seen before, but nonetheless, he easily discovered the limits of his brother’s powers. Nothing would be able to stand before the king of Valdadore. Not now. Nothing but Seth… and that was it. That was the purpose of Ishanya’s betrayal. She meant to pit brother against brother, and force Seth to kill Garret. This was her final attempt to control him. He would be given the choice, kill his brother, fall before him, or bend knee to the goddess.

“She’s gone too damned far, Sara. Ishanya has to die.”

Chapter Three

Sara stood and waited for Seth to explain further. It had taken him nearly twelve hours just to acknowledge her first question, but now, as before, he stood like a statue, staring off into the distance with pained features and tears in his eyes. Something had gone horribly wrong, and the last thing the world needed was Seth in a depressed mood.

“What is it, Seth? What do you see?” she asked again, waiting yet another hour without so much a blink from her husband. “Seth, you need to answer me, tell me what it is so we can face it together.” With her words she saw his facial features stir, only slightly, and then his muscles, previously rigid, fell slack as he inhaled deeply and turned to face her.

“She’s gone too far, Sara. She’s turned him into a monster. He is building an army of monsters, and it is all because of me.”

“That isn’t fair, Seth. You can’t shoulder the blame for what the gods do. What is it that has happened to Garret? Is he OK?”

“He is no longer a follower of Gorandor, and has traded his faith in the god of honor to Ishanya. She has created of him a champion unlike anything else we have seen.”

“To kill you?” Sara asked, hardly able to speak the words and already knowing the answer.

“To taunt me, I think. Garret has turned against me, and she has given him more power to make him bold. He will come, and when he does there are no good outcomes.”

“But Valdadore is destroyed and most of what remains of its armies followed us to Drakenhurst. Surely he will not march against you alone?” Sara asked more than stated.

“No, he won’t. He has wolven troops just as we have, and there was a woman like you as well. She’s powerful, though not your rival yet.”

“But she’s not of your making?” Sara questioned.

“She’s of yours,” Seth answered solemnly.

“But how? We stuck to the plan. They all fell, even King Sigrant’s wives, we watched them perish.”

“I wish I knew, but there isn’t time. We need to return to Drakenhurst before the contingent from the north arrives.”

“They likely already await us, Seth. You’ve stood here for days,” Sara said, watching the look on Seth’s face turn dark.

“Drakenhurst is under attack,” he said, reaching out his hand.

Looking down, reaching to take her husband’s hand, Sara realized that it was not his intention. Watching within his palm as he raised it, she witnessed as small fibers began to take shape in his hand, stretching and connecting before they began to flow like liquid until a small golden bracelet was formed, framed around a single black opal. Surprised at the extent to which his abilities were growing, Sara was again caught off guard as Seth took her wrist as the bracelet dismantled around her flesh only to grow and reconnect once more in a solid piece about her.

“Simply give it the command,
Seth protect me
, as Borrik does,” Seth said, turning back towards the west and extending his great leathery wings before leaping into the air.

Sara hadn’t a clue what to expect, and reaching down to touch the peculiar bracelet as her husband climbed towards the clouds, she whispered the words and felt both the pain and euphoria that came with one of Seth’s alterations. At first, she thought he had fooled her into taking away what she had become, having made up his mind due to seeing what had become of Garret, but that idea faded all too quickly.

From Sara’s back she felt the flesh stretching and the bones becoming solid before they protruded from her skin-tight tunic. In seconds the new appendages tore through the leather, extending further still, into great leathery wings like those of her husband. He had given her wings, given her the ability to fly just as she had asked him for just a few months before.

Testing out her new wings, she spread them and closed them again with a smile spreading wide across her face. Her smile quickly faded to be replaced by a wicked grin, Sara looked up into the clouded sky where her husband circled high above.

“Jump,” she commanded her enchanted boots, and drove herself upward with all her might as she exploded skyward. There would be no time for taking it slow, it was learn the first time or suffer the pain of failure. Propelled into the heavens by her immense strength and aid of her boots, Sara spread her wings, feeling how the wind filled them, and mimicked her husband as best she was able. Above, and ahead, Seth soared westward, using his massive wings to propel him at a pace that defied reality. He was a god, whether he believed it or not.

Unable to keep pace with her husband, Sara swept across the sky as quickly as she was able, albeit more unsteadily than she would have liked to admit. All in all, however, she was enjoying herself even if the situation ahead might be dire.

* * * * *

Seth approached the city at a harrowing pace, merely a blur to those who might be looking skyward. Fires sprawled below as great columns of smoke rose towards him to be swept away by the wind. Tasting the auras of those below, he found that they were indeed the force who had been moving on his city, but there were many, many more than there had been originally. Somehow he had overlooked something. Perhaps one among them was blessed with the ability to cloak things from his vision, or teleport them as Sara’s abductor had been able. He needed a moment to study this adversary.

Folding his wings, Seth plummeted like a wayward rock before spreading them anew just moments before settling atop his castle’s highest parapet. Below him, the citizens of his city worked to staunch the flames of burning buildings, and clear the streets of rubble whilst his troops defended the walls. The world was not the mystery it once was. Fire was a living being, born of destruction like himself. Its only purpose was to destroy, but Seth was the master of destruction. Reaching out with his power, Seth engulfed the flames, snuffing their lives in an instant before turning his attention towards the invading army. Reaching out anew, he began to tear away the god-infused umbilicals of power to those blessed that dared attack his capital. Angry with himself for having failed his people, feeling as if he had abandoned them, Seth leapt into the air once more, diving towards the center of the invading force.

Planning to blast them all off their feet as he touched down at their center, Seth was caught off guard when just a fraction of a second before he unleashed his will, the army vanished, leaving the field empty of all but the dead. Turning this way and that, he sought them out in all directions, but could not locate them as cheers arose from the walls of Drakenhurst.

As he turned to face his defenders upon the wall, a great roar erupted as he was bashed from behind and as he fell, he realized he was once more surrounded by the enemy. Hitting the ground, Seth tucked his wings and rolled to his back as he threw his defenses up, snuffing out a multitude of fireballs, lightning, and ice that had been cast at him. Summoning his power, he unleashed a blast in all directions, tossing the thousands of soldiers from their feet all around him. Rising, he sought out those with blessings once more, searching for the adversary he could not find, but again the army on the field vanished, leaving Seth to look upon a black iron helmet that teetered on the ground at his feet.

Seth had had enough already, he was in no mood for playing games with an adversary who would not openly face him. He had bigger, more important things to deal with. There was no time for this nonsense. Looking up as both Borrik and Sara circled down to join him, Seth was suddenly seared by pain as fire blasted him in the face. His flesh melted and eyes burst by magical fire, Seth watched as the army reappeared, and again was forced to snuff out hundreds of magical missiles launched at him. Reeling from the pain, Seth took a deep breath and dismantled his face, reconstructing it in an instant as Borrik roared from the air above him, casting his own fireballs. Sara landed next to him with her blades drawn, her wings retracting into her body, and then the opposing forces were gone, vanished like wraiths. Again.

Spinning, Seth looked out upon the field. There were hundreds of dead, where Drakenhurst’s defenders had landed blows with their ballistae and catapults. There were bits of abandoned armor, like the helmet at his feet and pennants of the invading force stuck down into the soil as if claiming the land as their own, but there was no living soul upon the field aside from himself, his wife, and his most trusted ally.

“We cannot fight a battle like this,” Borrik growled, settling to the earth behind Seth.

“No, we can’t,” Seth agreed. “But the only other choice is something I had hoped to abandon.”

“It was you that said to save the many a few would have to be sacrificed,” Sara said, and Seth saw the seriousness in her face. He no longer had a taste for blood. He would not kill multitudes to see his will done.

“I’ll start with their champions, if I can target them fast enough. This has to be a blessed ability of one of them.” Focusing his mind on the present, Seth prepared himself as best as he was able to begin delivering blows. Each previous appearance of the enemy only lasted a second or less. For him, it should be enough, but still complicated when the opponents had the upper hand of launching their attacks before they even appeared.

“I am their target,” Seth proclaimed, “you should steer clear of me until…”

Seth’s advice came too late as again he and his companions were enveloped in flame. Smoldering from the magical burn, Seth reached out and snuffed the lives of two blessed mages nearest him. Above him, the sky exploded into a series of concussive booms as the hair on his neck and arms stood up. A great blast of lightning cast down from the heavens, but Seth was ready. Raising his fingers to the sky, he let the bolt come, and wrapped himself in its energy in preparation of casting it at his next opponent, but again the army surrounding them was gone.

Repairing his flesh, Seth looked to Sara’s wounds, but she had already healed. Looking to Borrik, he saw that already his burns were scabbing over and new hair was beginning to sprout where it had been singed away. None of them was likely to fall, but Seth knew that a battle such as this could go on for an immeasurable amount of time. It was like a siege, with the constant threat of death outside your door, even when no enemy was present.

Watching Borrik take back to the sky, and Sara pacing about a hundred yards away, Seth prepared himself for the return of the enemy. With his defensive shield in place, and his power at the ready, Seth stood stock-still for any sign of the army’s return, but none came. An hour passed and then two without a sign of the invading force. Night fell upon them and still no sign of another attack came.

“Maybe the mage behind this was injured and they are unable to return?” Sara suggested from across the field.

“I don’t think so, love. They know that I will be ready for them now, and want to keep the advantage of unpredictability. They’ll be back.”

* * * * *

Standing in the street, the king of Valdadore looked over what were once some of the most magnificent homes in all the kingdom. Now that they were reduced to little more than rubble, he watched as engineers guided his Lycans to sort the reclaimed building materials, mostly wood and stone, and haul off what was waste. Although he expected there to be a lot of fuss over his decision to dismantle the two city districts, it seemed Zorbin had done well in reasoning with the labor guilds. In fact, in order to save the engineers’ laborers’ time, most of the stone being pulled from the rubble was being used to repair roads and even portions of the city wall, saving them weeks in quarry and transport time. All in all, it appeared as if his plan to house the Lycans was a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Turning away from the construction, Garret strode towards the castle complex with his shoulders high. Everything was going to plan, and he had a meeting in an hour that he looked especially forward to.

“Your Majesty,” came a call from behind him. Garret stopped and turned, somewhat annoyed at the interruption to his thoughts. Down the road, running and out of breath, a young man wearing the sigil of a messenger of Valdadore raced to meet him. Waiting as patiently as he was able, Garret allowed the boy the time to cover the distance and bow before speaking in return.

“What is it, boy? I have important business to attend to.”

“It’s Drakenhurst, my king. It’s under attack.”

The boy’s words hit Garret like a brick, they were so unexpected. This was perfect. It was even better news than anything Zorbin or Ashton had given him in days. Oh how Ishanya was smiling upon him. It was as if the world bowed to him, and laid everything he wanted on a silver platter at his feet. “You’ve seen it with your own eyes?”

“Yes, your Majesty. I stayed camped in the forest just outside Seth’s capital and raced here as fast as my steed would carry me.”

“Was it a large force?”

“Large enough, my king. I should think it will be a long drawn-out battle.”

“Why?” Garret questioned. “The demon prince can lay waste to an army in moments.”

“Because, my king, I have visited his city and spoken with his guards in the taverns. He tells them that all life is precious and he has no intentions of war. And this army is unlike any other, it appears and disappears like shadows in the darkness.”

“It must be a ruse,” Garret replied. Surely the creature inhabiting his brother’s flesh had not given up on destroying the world. Perhaps it meant to wear out the invading army and take over their bodies or some other such plan. There was no telling what such evil was capable of. What Garret did know, was if the city was under attack, it might just provide him with the distraction he needed.