Authors: Jason A. Cheek
Destiny
| Destiny | |
| Number I of The Last Paladin | |
| Jason A. Cheek | |
| (2016) | |
| Rating: | ★★★☆☆ |
Book Two of The Last Paladin Series. Dragged back to Irlendria after his battle with the Demon Knight, Startüm defeats the Priestess of Loviatar and the forces set against him, only to be left severely wounded and hunted by the Horde. To make matters worse, the Alliance of Aurenko lays in ruin and its member races are on the brink of war. Somehow Startüm must survive and discover what has happened to the Alliance during his exile.
Back on Earth, the United States is still reeling from the aftermath of the Tuonellian’s raid. While at an archeological dig in Europe, an ancient secret is uncovered that threatens the future of both worlds.
From out of the Darkness
The air was forced from Megan’s lungs as she slammed hard into the ground, nearly passing out from the pain. Something cracked in her chest as Megan pushed herself up to her hands and knees. Seeing her assault rifle in front of her, Megan dove for the weapon without a second thought. Gripping the M4 with both hands, she rolled onto her back firing as soon as she saw the glowing red eyes. Armor piercing rounds slammed into the monstrous face at point blank range as Megan wordlessly howled emptying the entire clip in one long burst, but as soon as the bullets stopped, the shrieking creature batted the rifle from her hands with a swipe of its claws. Chunks of bloody skin hung from its nightmarish face as it rose above her. Megan’s scream filled her ears as the fang-filled maw open to rip her face off when the monster’s head disappeared in a spray of blood.
The scream died on her lips as Megan was blinded by a fountain of gore spraying from the headless corpse. The sounds of combat around her were incomprehensible as Megan struggled to clear the blood from her eyes. An involuntary scream escaped her lips as powerful hands effortlessly picked her up like a child. Before she could do more than flail around blindly, she was gently set on the ground a short distance away.
Using the sleeves of her MCCUU, Megan managed to wipe enough of the blood away to meet the eyes of her rescuer as her jaw suddenly dropped open in shock.
BOOK TWO
OF
Copyright 2016 Jason Cheek
Published by Jason Cheek on Amazon
Cover Art by Leonardo Black
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Amazon.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
I would like to thank a whole bunch of people for their continuing support, encouragement and tolerance: Patrick and Wendy Fields, Deanna Mitchell, Richard Webster; Allen Ashton and Leslie Atkins who endured endless discussions with me on the plot and the storyline, Leonardo Black (dleoblack) who make the incredible artwork for the cover and the concept I had come to life, Elliott Kay who kindly offered free advice on writing romance scenes, beta readers like Aharon Morgenstern, Nathaniel Heinicke and others who helped to tweak the story and make it better, along with the many others out there whom I have missed: the artists (of every stripe), fellow writers who have shared their work and creative inspiration with me and lots of others over the years, all the critics who have reviewed my work – even the most hostile reviews have provided valuable PR and feedback for improving the errors in my work, and, most importantly, everyone who took the time to give a positive review to let me know that they enjoyed my writing. Without those positive reviewers and fans, Destiny would never have been completed.
Most importantly to my family and their continued support and patience, since without them I wouldn’t be the man I am today. Also for Rowan and Kanchin (now dead) who have fill our home with so much warmth and love.
Location Irlendria / Startüm Ironwolf:
Hearing a warbling cry ring out behind us over the howling winds of the storm, I felt Frostbrand’s claws grip my shoulder even tighter as her tumultuous thoughts filled my mind.
As if in response to her mind-speak, the entire valley began echoing with answering calls from the various packs hunting for us below. Still staring intently down the slope, Frostbrand’s growl reverberated deep in her chest as her twin sister, Starfire, weakly lifted her head from my other shoulder. For a long moment, I felt Starfire’s small body tense in my arms as her glowing yellow eyes scanned the darkness behind us, before closing once again as she rested her feverish forehead against my neck.
Breathing heavy, I pushed on forcing my way through the deep snow. I was exhausted and growing weaker by the moment, but somehow I found the strength to put one foot in front of the other. Ever since the last battle I had been driving myself on pure willpower alone, because there was nothing else left. My hair and armor were encrusted with chunks of ice from the extreme cold and Loviatar’s hunters were closing in, but it didn’t matter.
Since my very first breath life had been nothing but a fight for survival. I had been called a perversion of nature due to the prejudice of my home world and was sentenced to death by the member races of the Alliance of Aurenko. Before the charge could be rescinded, my Father’s people had been destroyed along with my parents while I was left fighting for my life on Earth. Through it all, I had learned one profound truth about myself.
No matter what happened, I would never give up. I would never give in. Death would have to pry my stiff dead fingers from around its throat before it would take me.
Ice crystals coated my face as I leaned into the blowing wind climbing the frozen ridge. The storm was getting worse. In the time it took for me to reach the top of the valley the falling snow had reached my chest and wasn’t showing any signs of letting up. Initially, I had hoped the fresh snow would hide our trail long enough that we could escape without another fight, but that had proven to be impossible. Already the sounds of pursuit were getting closer.
Unfortunately, there’d been no way to hide the stench of demon blood left behind in the snow as we climbed. We were all covered in the vile stuff from head to toe and reeked so bad that even a human could have tracked us in the storm by scent alone. Feeling the sharp tang of the girls’ anguish suddenly flowing into me, I fell to my knees as the wild beast inside of my soul raged at their growing fear. The instinctual urge to protect temporarily overwhelmed all thought as my blood burned with the need to charge back down the hill and rend the creatures limb from limb.
Gasping for breath, I managed to slam my iron will back into place before losing control completely. Once again, my Klavikian’s logic had won out over my Werewolf’s instincts, but it had been close. As I grew weaker, the Werewolf inside of me was becoming harder to manage.
Concentrating on the girls held tightly in my arms I let my confidence and love flow into them. Immediately, I felt their distress lessen as the warmth of their love responded back searing my soul. I had shared a deep bond with my Grandsire before his death, but the connection hadn’t been anything like this.
I felt what they felt. I knew what they knew. Their emotions reflected my tortured soul like a mirror. It wasn’t the fear of being hunted down and ripped apart that caused them so much dread. It was the fear of not living long enough to make the Tuonellians pay for what they’d done to our people.
I remembered my Grandsire telling me the stories about bonded life mates. Long ago I’d accepted the fact that I would never have that kind of love. Now I found myself bound to two young girls and it was simply too much take in. Pushing the confusing emotions away, I struggled to focus my thoughts once more on the task at hand. There would be time enough later to figure everything out. First, we had to survive this night.
Climbing back to my feet, I followed Frostbrand’s gaze down the trail we’d left through the deep snow. In the distance, I could already make out the glowing red eyes of the creatures pursuing us farther back down the ridge. Now that the hunters had found our scent they were closing in fast. A low growl rumbled deep in my chest as my yellow glowing eyes met Frostbrand’s.
Turning around I hurriedly began plowing through the snow going over the plan once again with the girls. A second later, I heard the warbling cries behind us suddenly change to sharp barks of excitement as the pursuing Worgs saw us at last.
Even though I’d won the battles against the Demon Knight and the Priestess of Loviatar, we still had no choice but to flee. I had used up the last of my energy healing our injuries. That is, everything except for the ragged gashes running diagonally across Starfire’s face. My healing touch had closed the worst of the terrible wound, but even now it continued to ooze dark tainted blood. The demon’s venom had festered too long inside the lacerations before I could reach her. Even now my healing power wasn’t enough to completely nullify its otherworldly effects. The wound would scar her for life.
No matter how much I hated running from my enemies, there were simply too many for me to fight with any chance of survival. Magic could substitute for the lack of food and sleep for only so long, but I had run out of all three long ago. Even now, my body was feeding off itself to survive. Already I could feel the debilitating effects of the Fring consuming me from the inside out.
A quick look over my shoulder showed the hunters’ hairy forms surging through the snow in leaping bounds. Even from this distance, I could see their black lips curling back from yellowed fangs in anticipation as they growled out their bloodlust. By Earth standards the Worgs were humongous, easily dwarfing a terrestrial gray wolf by over a hundred pounds. Although they were only a third the size of a Shadowfang Werewolf, there were hundreds of them chasing after us in pursuit.
Using my last burst of strength, I made it to the base of the cliff that marked the edge of the valley barely ahead the gray wave. The icy cold air burnt my lungs as I reeled from exhaustion struggling to catch my breath. Thirty yards straight up was the top of the ridge and the path leading to the back way out of Winter Den. Behind me, I could hear the Worgs’ rasping breath growing louder as they closed in for the kill. Squatting in the deep snow Frostbrand’s thoughts came to me as I prepared to jump.
Leaping straight up with all of my might, I shot up the sheer cliff wall as the pursuing Worgs pounced a second too late. As I reached the top of the ledge, Frostbrand sprang out of my arms. Somersaulting into the air, she landed in a three point crouch as I hooked my now free arm over a protruding rocky outcrop. Coming to an abrupt stop, I hung from the edge of the cliff in exhaustion.
Seeing their prey escaping, the warbling howls of the Worgs rang out from below as the Alphas of their Pack began snapping out orders to the weaker males. Immediately hundreds of Worgs split off from the main group as they began searching for another way up the cliff.
Quickly Frostbrand pulled her sister out of my arms as I weakly clamored the rest of the way up the rocky ledge. Panting heavily my senses reeled from the effects of the Fring as I forced my body’s cramping muscles to respond. Climbing on my hands and knees, I ignored the wave of dizziness sweeping over me as I gently scooped Starfire’s limp form into my arms once more. Before I could rise to my feet, I felt Frostbrand’s clawed hands tenderly cup my cheeks as she pressed her soft furry forehead against my smooth skin.
Instantly energy surged through my exhausted body as Frostbrand collapsed in front of me. Wrapping an arm around her, I caught her before she could hit the ground holding her tightly to my chest. Frostbrand’s small arms weakly clutch my neck as fresh power continued surging through my veins as the effects of the Fring receded from my mind.
Rising to my feet, I immediately understood what had happened. Frostbrand had given me the last of her remaining energy reserves. I also understood the why. In her mind, she was giving us the best chance to survive this night. The only problem was she had given too much.
Already I could see the black rings around her irises from the effects of the Fring growing inside her as I grimly hugged her to my chest. Unfortunately, I knew we would all be in dire straits soon enough if I didn’t find a safe haven for us to recover our strength. Temporarily recharged I surveyed the situation with fresh senses.
In the distance, I could see the outline of the misshapen bony carapaces of the Scourge as they broke through the snow in a wide swath heading directly for us. In a matter of minutes, the creatures would be scaling the cliff. Looking farther down the ridge of the valley, the second group of Worgs was already out of sight. Any time now they would be finding the back way up the ridge. We had to break free of the enemy now to have any hope of escape.
Taking a tighter hold of the girls, I took off heading further up the rocky trail. From my memories as a child, I knew the ridge wrapped around the backside of Winter Fang Rock. Further behind the mountain the path connected to a hidden rock formation that bridged the gap between this peak and the next on the opposite side of the Otso River. My Father’s people, the Klavikians, called the twin peaks ‘The Gateway’ while my Mother’s people called them ‘The Fangs’.
If we could make it over the archway in time, I could smash the causeway and stop the hunters from following after us, or, at least, force them to take the long way across the river. It would take many days of hard travel before they could reach the mountain. By then we would be long gone.
I knew the overwhelming power I felt rushing through my veins was a magic induced high, but I wasn’t complaining. Right now I’d take all the help I could get.
Similar to Terran Eskimos using food to supplement their lack of sleep during long hunting trips. Magic could be used to supplement the lack of food for Werewolves. The only problem was that once it ran out, we crashed hard. I had to break contact and find us food and shelter before that happened.
Pushing the pace as fast as I dared in the icy storm I ran along the twenty-foot wide trail, but as soon as I hit the backside of the mountain, I was forced to slow down once more. Where the mountain before had blocked the worst of the storm, I now was facing its full wrath unprotected. Even with my darkvision, the visibility dropped to nothing as the icy footing became truly treacherous, forcing me to slow to a careful walk as I followed along the winding path.
The snow had been stripped away by the blowing winds. All that was left was a thick icy sheath covering the entire path as the trail suddenly shrank to a width of three feet. The thin coating of ice covering the ledge made it look twice as wide, but that stability was only an illusion. Any weight and that ice would crack in an instant.
As I bent low to make a smaller target for the hurricane strength winds buffeting the summit, my armored shoulder dragged against the rocky side of the mountain rising above me in the dark. Only in this way could I make sure I stayed as far away as possible from the icy ledge and the dark gaping chasm that dropped to the churning Otso River far below.
It felt like the wind would rip me off the side of the mountain if I lost my focus for a second. If I could have found a protected alcove, this would have been an ideal place to make a last stand. If not for the lack of food and visibility, I could have held an entire army at bay since they could only come at me one or two at a time.
That was the crux. We needed food to replenish our bodies’ spent energy reserves, and the girls needed my healing. Don’t get me wrong, sleep would have helped too, but it was last on the list of priorities. If needed, I could go days without sleep, but the food issue was another matter altogether. Werewolves had to have large amounts of food to survive.
A Werewolf’s accelerated metabolism was our greatest strength. At the same time, it was our greatest weakness. We could recover quickly from terrible wounds that would kill most creatures and had super strength, but those abilities came at a heavy cost. Without enough food to power our supercharged metabolisms, our bodies would turn against us, literally consuming us from the inside out.
The massive amounts of power I’d been throwing around weren't helping any either. Channeling magic or holy energy was extremely hard on the body. Food and drink were the primary means that wizards, sorcerers and even paladins used to recover their body’s strength after channeling their powers while sleep was a close second.
I had long ago surpassed both my body’s physical and magical limits without food, water or sleep and I was hurting. The Italian sub I’d eaten yesterday felt like an eternity ago. The infusion of energy Frostbrand had gifted me had temporarily halted the effects of the Fring, but as soon as the power ran out. My body would once again start consuming itself from within.
Helplessly I looked down at the feverish girls held in my arms. Children were always more susceptible to the effects of the Fring than adults. They were both wasting away, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. If I didn’t break free of the creatures hunting us soon, they were going to die.
The sound of claws scraping on the stone behind me was the only warning I had before the Scourge attacked. By instinct alone, I dove forward on the path before me as two misshapen shapes suddenly leaped over my head from out of the darkness.