Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) (218 page)
Authors: Laszlo,Jeremy
Sara stood and turned. She no longer had the ability to heal. Though she was filled with a hundred thousand years’ worth of life, she was frail. She flung herself over the edge of the gorge. She was full of power, and the only god she believed in was her husband. Closing her eyes before she hit bottom, Sara whispered, “I love you.”
* * * * *
Seth felt the end of Sara’s life as if it were his own. So connected to her and so used to her aura was he that he realized too late what it was she had done. Her power rushed into him like a tidal wave, becoming one with him, and the pain of his task subsided. Seth redoubled his efforts as Ishanya flung images of his dead wife at him, showing him her twisted, ruined body. But he drew her power into him, slowly twisting it to his will and consuming it, becoming one with it. Sara had bought his salvation with her life. And though her loss devastated him, he could see now that it had been the only way. As Sara’s final power ebbed into him, he turned his gaze on the withering goddess. “You’ve taken everything I loved! You’ve taken my life, a life I could have had with Sara and our children. No longer will I allow the gods to meddle in the affairs of men!”
Reaching out with his power he drew what remained of Ishanya to him and let her fear wash over his pain for a moment before snuffing out all that remained of her. Taking the goddess’s power and infusing his own, he knew now the only path to set Thurr free. Seth summoned all the gods to him. There were more than he had even known of. Some were minor beings, and some, like Lorentia, Gorandor, and Ximlin were mighty. Even so, he dwarfed them all. It was Gorandor who nodded his understanding and knelt before Seth.
They had been right all along, Seth’s closest companions. He
was
a god, but not like those they had grown fearing and respecting. No, he had walked among men and learned the most important lesson of all. Compassion.
But for the world to be free, some sacrifices would have to be made.
Seth killed the gods. One at a time at first, consuming the weakest as his power grew, and then all together. So vast was his power, Seth could feel other worlds. He’d never imagined such a thing before, but he understood them now. He could see fate and time as if they were his own hand. He could recreate Thurr as he wished and bring back his wife, brother, and father. Even his mother. He could do as he wished and live whatever life he chose.
But he couldn’t. It was wrong. Not to want the life that was stolen from him, but abusing the lives of every living thing on Thurr to suit his own wants. No matter how much his heart yearned for what could be, he had to let them go. If he wanted the gods gone for good, and wanted to do better than they had, there was only one way…
Shifting back to the mortal plane, he looked up at a giant beast of a man, who was weeping like a beaten child. Wracked by uncontrollable sobs, Borrik didn’t even notice when Seth opened his eyes. Securely held in the man’s furry arms, Seth patted Borrik on the arm and watched as realization came to his friend’s face.
“By the gods, you’re alive!”
“I am.”
“Can you bring her back?”
“I can bring them all back, but I won’t.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m sorry, friend, I have to hurry.”
Seth reached out across the world of Thurr and dismantled every temple to every god on every continent of the world. He destroyed every book and every bible associated with the gods. He reached into the hearts and minds of all men and other manners of intelligent creature and removed all memories of the gods, including himself. Gnak had shown him the way and his vast power had given him the means. There was nothing he couldn’t do. Reaching out to his men, he restored their humanity, undoing the meldings he had done of necessity. Then, reaching up to rest his hand on Borrik’s chest, he siphoned all the changes he had put into the man back into himself, restoring the human he once knew.
Borrik was no longer a priest, but neither would there be need for him to be a warrior. Either way, Seth had given the man his word. He would be powerful and live a long life. Seth left his friend all the power that he contained. He would live for a thousand years if nothing befell him.
Moving so fast no other being could witness his doings, Seth smiled at his friend before stepping off the edge of the chasm he had created only minutes before. Reaching into himself, he unleashed the core of his being, the part that gave him the ability to destroy, and set it loose inside himself. As his mortal shell plummeted, that which bound his power together was broken and his magic was unleased, unrestrained upon the world of Thurr where it would remain for all time, wild. No longer would a god control the fate of the world and its beings. Seth vanished from existence.
Epilogue
Kanth clung to the cliff face, climbing down slowly. Looking down over his shoulder, he released his grip and plummeted the final twenty feet. Already she had healed and stood there watching him as he approached. “Queen Anna,
ok
?” he asked, seeing a confused look on her face.
“Yes, but I’m having a hard time remembering why I’m here.”
“Kanth too. Was battle. We fell?”
“I think so.”
“Kanth head hurt.”
“Mine too. What about Garret?”
“King die. Sorry, my queen.”
Kanth was surprised Anna didn’t cry. She showed no emotion whatsoever. It was as if she didn’t care her mate had died. Maybe it was why she had other mates and fed on them. It was not important. If she was not upset, then she was not upset.
Looking around, Kanth could see another body as well. It was of a woman. He recognized her, but didn’t know her. She was twisted at odd angles, and blood was pooled about her head and lips. Approaching the body, Kanth admired the woman. She had been beautiful. But the dead didn’t need luxurious clothes.
Reaching down, Kanth stripped the woman of her jewelry. Admiring her boots, he walked around the corpse and gasped. Never in a million years did he expect what he was seeing. There, between the woman’s mangled legs, a babe hung half in, and half out of the woman’s body. It was fully formed, its mouth opening and closing before it coughed once and began to wail.
* * * * *
Anna pushed off the gorge wall where she had been leaning and rushed to Kanth’s side. She recognized the woman though her fangs were gone. It had been the enemy’s queen. The one who had changed her. But if she had died, then Anna should have changed back. Something had gone wrong. The enemy queen had been altered somehow and died a human, leaving the link between them broken. Anna would remain a monster forever. And this… This was their child. She should kill it. But it was valuable. If they won the battle, she could use the child as a means to rule Drakenhurst. If they lost she could use it as ransom.
Kneeling between the shattered legs of Drakenhurst’s queen, Anna pulled the small babe from the birth canal, reeling at the scent of so much blood. Devoid of a knife, she bit through the umbilical, drinking deep of the young blood before tying off the cord. Pulling the bloodied leather tunic off of the deceased woman’s body, she gingerly wrapped the babe. She needed to find something to feed it.
“We need to find a nursing woman, or at least a goat.”
“Yes, Queen.”
Holding the babe with one arm against her breast, Anna sprang upwards, digging her free hand into the freshly rent soil and digging in her toes. Even as powerful as she was, it took her several minutes to reach the top using only one hand. Kanth rolled over the edge and standing, reached down to take the babe and then hoist her up. All around them the field of battle was empty. A trail of dust to the south proved that the orc, troll, and goblin army marched away. To the north only human remnants of her husband’s army marched away. She had no idea what had happened, but something was different. Even though her wish had been granted, and the enemy queen was dead, something felt… off.
“Where are the Lycans?”
“Gone, my queen.”
“Gone where?”
“Dead.”
“All of them?”
“All. Dead.”
“We lost the battle?”
“No bodies. Kanth not know.”
“What do we do?” Anna asked, looking all about the empty field of battle. Across the gorge only a single man remained. He watched them from the opposite side, seemingly just as lost and confused as they were.
“Kanth think we go.”
“To Valdadore?”
“No. Valdadore weak. Not home.”
“Where is home?”
“Forest.”
Anna pondered it. Valdadore meant a throne, but it didn’t feel right. Nothing felt right. She no longer even felt her connection to the now deceased enemy queen. The child likely would not be safe there either. Maybe Kanth was right. Maybe they should hide. “Is there a place we could go?”
“Kanth know a place.”
* * * * *
Borrik stood looking down into the gorge. Sara’s body remained broken at the bottom. She deserved to be buried. Across the gorge Garret’s young lover, now holding a babe, and another man, spoke in hushed tones. He watched them a few moments as they turned and began fleeing the field of battle in haste. He wished he could recall all that had happened, but it seemed he had taken a blow to the head. He remembered Sara, however, and knew that somehow he was bound to serve her. Even in death.
Discarding his armor which seemed entirely too big, he was cautious to climb down the steep wall. Reaching the bottom nearly eighty feet below, he walked to Sara’s side and knelt down, brushing her eyes closed with tears brimming his own. Straightening her limbs to their normal positions, Borrik noted a bloody coil between her legs. It was a severed umbilical cord. Sara had been pregnant!
The baby the people had fled with was
her
child… Hers and his friend… whatever his name was. His head hurt so badly… He needed to retrieve the babe. It was heir to Drakenhurst. But he couldn’t leave just now. If they had meant to harm the babe, they would have left it here or stomped its skull in. No, for now it was safe.
He would find them, but first he had to pay his respects and give Sara a proper burial before the carrion birds had their way with her. Reaching down, he picked up the small leather bound tome that lay beside her body. It had been her husband’s. He’d keep it to remember them by.
-End
Thank you for joining me on this journey through Thurr and getting to know a few of the people I’ve carried around in my head for more than a decade. It is both a relief and heartbreaking to be bringing the story of Seth, Garret, Sara, and their many companions to an end. Of course the story of Thurr is not yet over. I intend to write a great many more series in this world using characters you already know, and some you have yet to meet! I hope you’ve enjoyed Seth and Garret’s story, and loved them every bit as much as I do.
Also, if you would be so kind, please return to Amazon and leave a review for the entire series right here:
AGE OF THE GODS
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Clad in Shadow (Poetry for a Burdened Soul)
The Blood and Brotherhood Saga
Age of the Gods
(Fantasy, Ages 15+)
The Choosing (Book One of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Chosen (Book Two of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Changing (Book Three of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
Crimson (Book 3.5 of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Contention (Book Four of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
Orc Destiny Trilogy (A Blood and Brotherhood series)
(Dark Fantasy, Ages 13+ for gore and violence)
Twisted Fate (Orc Destiny, Volume I)
Fallen Crown (Orc Destiny, Volume II)
Three Kings (Orc Destiny, Volume III)
The Beyond Series
(Adults only due to extreme mature content)
Beyond The Mask (The Beyond Book One)
Beyond The Flesh (The Beyond Book Two)
Beyond The Soul (The Beyond Book Three)
Children of the After series
(post-apocalyptic, Ages 10+)
Children of the After: AWAKENING
Children of the After: REVELATION
Children of the After: EVOLUTION
Children of the After: REBIRTH
Left Alive series
(Zombie Apocalypse, Adults only due to extreme mature content)