The Destroyer Book 3 (41 page)

"We can pull energy from the Earth and use it to make ourselves more powerful. The power makes us faster, stronger, tougher; we can also create external air and fire with it," the smaller of the other men said. I nodded and tried to remember the conversation I had with Kaiyer those many nights ago.

"Can you teach me how to do it?" I knew what the answer was before I asked.

"It is not just the teaching aspect of it, Jessmei." Iarin smiled. "There is some painful magic involved to transform your mind and body."

"But you could change me?"

They exchanged careful glances and the larger man replied.

"It would be possible. Our clan believes in gifting all capable warriors that swear allegiance to our brothers and sisters."

"In that aspect we differ greatly from Thayer or the other clans," the smaller of the men said and the other two nodded.

"Thayer?" my uncle questioned.

"There are six clans of the O'Baarni." Iarin was excited. "Shlara, Malek, Alexia, Gorbanni, Thayer, and our clan of Turnia." He gestured each time with a piece of boar impaled on a dagger.

"How many people in each clan? Do they all use your magic?" Beltor asked.

"Hard to say exactly. We have around fifty thousand O'Baarni. We are the smallest though and only have permission to occupy two worlds. The largest is Shlara's."

"How many worlds can Shlara's clan occupy?" Beltor seemed to have forgotten about his food.

"Any they want. They are probably on a dozen," the largest man said.

"They are the most powerful," Beltor stated.

"They have influence," the smaller man said carefully. "It would take a great deal of effort to explain how the clans make decisions about land titles, laws, and resources to someone from an outlier world."

"We are the strongest clan single warrior-to-warrior," the larger man leaned forward and said around a mouthful of meat. "Since our clan's inception, we have averaged the greatest number of victories in the Games. Our combat prowess is unquestioned and our leaders are undefeated." I didn't really comprehend what he meant, but I nodded and tried to paint my face with an expression of awe.

"You shouldn't expect them to understand any of what you just said, Anax." Iarin smiled at me and took another cut of boar. "Remember that this world knows nothing of or our kind or the Games."

"Forgive my questions, Iarin. If we are such a backwater world, why were you here to begin with? You've been known as one of the best mercenary guides for the last dozen years and I doubt being here was a hobby."

"You are correct, Duke. I've been stationed here to scout potential threats or opportunities for our clan. Discovery of a Pretender will earn us some leverage with the other clans and could give our clan the opportunity to expand to another world or two."

"So your whole purpose for being on our world was to find Kaiyer?" I asked.

"No. That was a chance encounter."

"Isn't he your friend? Why would you want him to be executed?" Iarin had always seemed so relaxed and kind. Now that I thought about it, his mannerisms were similar to Kaiyer's.

"Yes, he is my friend, but my clan gifted me. This has given me the opportunity to join my people again and serve Kannath and Turnia directly, my loyalty is to them." His voice sounded remorseful. "Even if I was not the one who found him, he is a danger to you. If he raised an army, the clans would unite under a common banner and decimate this world. They would set an example of absolute destruction. Removing Kaiyer will protect you and every human on this planet."

"The man that left a few hours ago, was that Kannath? Is he going to bring Kaiyer here?" my uncle asked.

"Yes," the large warrior, Anax, grunted in annoyance. He grabbed one of the small plucked birds that was roasting over the fire and took a greedy bite out of its breast. He wasn't an ugly man, but his size, mannerisms, and desire to kill my love made me think of him as almost monstrous.

"Want some?" He had noticed me staring at him and held out the body of the cooked bird. I shook my head quickly. Then I occupied my eyes and hands with the small slices of boar on my plate. My mind desperately tried to think of what I could say to convince these men not to bring Kaiyer to their clans.

"What if Kaiyer does not want to return with your leader?" Beltor asked.

"Kannath will explain that Jessmei and you are here. Kaiyer will come,” Iarin said with a nod.

"The empress?"

"She owes Kannath some favors." The shorter man whose name I didn't know said. "Back when she wanted her people to compete in the O'Baarni Games, Kannath and Turnia vouched for them. Kannath had been the champion for the last three sessions of the Game so his vote of confidence convinced the other clans to let them enter."

"So she will give Kaiyer over?"

"To do that, the Pretender would have to be her prisoner. That is highly unlikely. Elvens are forbidden to attack or detain any of our kind."

"She sent assassins to kill him the night they abducted me!" I cried out.

"I'm sure Kannath will overlook that. As long as we can bring the Pretender to the other clans it won't be worth mentioning to them. I think he has a soft spot for the empress, actually. He probably didn't expect her or her generals to do so well in the Games."

"Why would he doubt her?” Beltor asked

"Elvens are slightly weaker than our kind and they do not heal as quickly. The Games are a series of physical trials, most of which pit contestants against each other," Anax said around the bones of his meal.

"But they won?"

"Yes. The empress won five times in a row. Her generals also placed very highly. It was unthinkable."

“But if they had never before participated, why did you assume they would not be victorious?” my uncle asked.

“They should not have been able to win.”

"If Kannath was the previous champion, does that mean that the empress beat him?" Beltor asked.

"He chose not to compete the year the empress entered the Games. Kannath and Turnia had just been given permission to form our clan. He was busy managing an exodus to our own worlds. And he has not found a need to compete since." Anax did not try to hide the pride from his voice.

“You believe if he did compete, he would have bested the empress?” I broke in. The men all smiled at each other.

“Without a doubt,” Iarin said.

"Is there a Council of the clans?" Beltor asked.

"Yes, Duke." Iarin nodded. "Our clan leaders confer as needed on matters affecting all the O’Baarni."

"How does this Council feel about our world and my kingdom being attacked by the empress and her race?"

"They gave her this world. So I doubt they care,” the smaller man said.

"Gave her?" both my uncle and I said at the same time.

"The empress requested her own world for her people where she could be free of clan influence. Many of the previous Elven leaders made the same request. After winning the Games five times, the Council couldn't really refuse her anymore. This world is so distant, they didn't mind giving it away, and the empress apparently thought it was a perfect choice," Anax explained.

"Might I,” he looked to me. “We, appeal to your leadership for assistance?" Beltor asked.

"That might be a better question for Kannath, Duke," Iarin said. "I would guess that by the time they even heard your plea many years would have passed. By then the Elvens would firmly secure their position in this world. Tales of what they have done might convince the clans to send investigators, but without any tradable resources, I doubt any clan would want the job."

"But you've been here for many years. Couldn't your testimony expedite the process? You witnessed what the Elvens have done."

“I’ve been scouting economic opportunities for my clan. Unfortunately, this world lacks the resources that would make it profitable to defend. I’m sorry.” Iarin seemed sincere.

“So your clans can take our world, a world inhabited by human beings, and gift it to a race of violent demons because of some victory in a game?” Beltor’s voice was bitter with anger and spite.

Iarin and the two other warriors nodded.

“And there is nothing we can do? No way to convince your clan to come to our aid? We must accept the rule of these Elvens?”

“You are welcome to make a plea to Kannath, however, the focus of his mission is returning the Pretender to the clans for judgment.”

“Kaiyer was our only hope,” I said and the four men looked at me. “You are taking our only hope because he has the same name as someone evil from your past? You care nothing for the plight of the humans on this world.” I stared into the fire and tried not to cry. I was upset at the thought of losing my love, our hope for redemption, but I was also angry at the way these strangers, and Iarin, discussed our world as if it, and all of us, were meaningless, as expendable as fleas washed from a stray dog. I loved my country, and since my uncle had explained what the deaths of our other family members meant, I had taken the idea of being the protector of it seriously. But it appeared we were powerless against the distant unreachable forces deciding our fate.

"It isn't just the name, Jessmei," Iarin said finally. "Your world is in danger with him here."

“Our world is in danger without him!” I spat. “The Elvens attacked my kingdom, murdered my father, and you are negotiating with them to stop the one person who was trying to help us.”

"The lad seemed more than happy to eat and exercise all day. He only displayed any sort of dangerous activity when attacked by soldiers intent on killing our family," Beltor said, his anger matched mine.

"The Elvens are much less of a threat to you than the clans," Anax said. "If the Council finds out about the Pretender and we are unable to bring him back, they will send troops to destroy all sentient life on this world. The Elvens could have done that by now if they wished, but it seems that they simply want to establish a peaceful settlement here.”

"Have they ever destroyed a world because of a Pretender?" Beltor asked. I could tell he didn't believe the claim.

"Yes," the three men said at once. Their faces looked down into the fire. Their flat statement left my heart chilled. My appetite had been waning before and now it disappeared. I had believed the Ancients were the biggest threat to our world, but if these men were correct, even more deadly powers loomed over us and we were on the precipice of annihilation.

“Your people would destroy us all because of one man using a name you dislike?” I was outraged. They were justifying the destruction of an entire planet over a petty rule. A rule none of us had broken. It made little sense to me that even he should face such harsh punishment, but if Kaiyer was guilty, why were we all to pay for his mistake? I clenched my jaw in anger and my uncle nodded at my words.

“Our laws are in place for a reason,” Iarin said sympathetically. “Nia is a prosperous country, but I’m sure you understand the need to stop people who would attempt to undermine what your family has built,” he said gently, but with a condescension that angered me, as if this oversimplified explanation would make my uncle and I understand that the sacrifice of all of us was just.

“Like these Elvens.” Beltor grunted in annoyance.

“No. People who live in your land and take advantage of the freedoms and privileges your society affords them, yet at the same time seek to undermine it and push their agenda, even if it would mean ruining things for everyone else. I can name a few of the groups like this that exist in Nia, but you know of whom I speak.” Beltor sighed and nodded before Iarin continued, “Such happens in every free and successful society. His name, the name he is using, represents chaos and death. It is more than the name alone that we seek to eliminate. It is the way this name will become a rallying cry, a banner behind which all the anarchists and disgruntled misfits could gather and destroy what we have built, as the original Kaiyer did. Our leaders decided long ago that anyone claiming to be Kaiyer be dealt with swiftly, drastically, and without exception.”

My uncle nodded and looked as if he wanted to launch into a debate but the woodsman stopped him.

"We are not playing games with you, Duke," Iarin said with a sigh. "We have to bring the Pretender to the Clan Council. There will be no negotiation on this point."

"If we swore allegiance to your clan as you mentioned earlier, could we appeal to your leaders, would you gift us magic to fight the Elvens?" I asked the big man. He had just taken the last bite of the fowl and leaned back to look at me while he picked his teeth with a wet bone.

"I said that we gift warriors." He smirked at me. "You do not seem like much of a warrior."

"I will learn. Kaiyer taught me a few things when we traveled," I lied a little. I had asked him to teach me how to fight but it had just been an excuse for him to touch me.

"Don't say that name anymore," the smaller man sighed and grabbed one of the roasting birds. "You are completely ignorant. His name is cursed. His legacy is remembered by our people with despair. The real Destroyer was killed thousands of years ago after a bloodbath of a scale that you could not even comprehend. Your man is a charlatan that has befuddled your simple mind with shiny baubles of mistruths and a colorful cloth of seduction. Forget you knew him, forget about us, take your uncle here and find a small farm in a village far away from this empress. Get a husband, raise a family, and die like the human you were born." His voice had risen in anger and he ended the tirade by pointing his fork at me from across the fire.