Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign (Worlds of the Crystal Moon, Book 1) (70 page)

The barbarian looked in his direction.

Double D smirked as the barbarian grumbled and turned back around to continue to pee into the large hole that was provided for the Bloody Trough’s patrons.

Double D shook his head from under his invisible veil. Many of the men from the north were crude. When drinking, the less educated liked to drop their pants around their ankles to show off their manhood. They did not care for privacy or modesty. This animalistic display did not bother the assassin, in fact, the barbarian’s mannerisms made his job easier.

Double D moved toward his prey. With the big barbarian’s back to him, he slid the mask to the top of his head and re-materialized. With a big smile crossing his face, he looked down at the leather pants that were bunched around the barbarian’s legs. A large knife rested in a sheath on the big man’s belt. It was army issue—the pride of the barbarian kingdom carved into its handle. The assassin moved closer and crouched into a position where he could retrieve the blade.

The man was so drunk, his stream of urine was moving all about as he swayed back and forth. At one point, the stream caught the edge of the barbarian’s pants. The splash from the spray landed on Double D’s hand.

Disgusted, the assassin pulled his victim’s blade free of its sheath. He lifted the tip of the weapon within a width of a fist of the barbarian’s buttocks.

The blade—three hands long, half a hand high and half a finger thick at its widest point—had hooks that ran along the top of the blade and rolled back toward the assassin’s hand. The barbarians took pride in their craftsmanship. They claimed that a sharper blade could not be found in all of Southern Grayham.

Savoring the moment, the assassin shoved the blade into the barbarian’s rectum. A twinkle of satisfaction filled Double D’s eyes as he lifted upward in the direction of the hooks and then ripped the knife out.

Chunks of the barbarian’s flesh fell to the floor of the shed as Double D ducked to avoid the barbarian’s elbow as the man from the north spun around.

Blood flowed freely in all directions as the barbarian’s drunkenness caused him to lose control of his spin. His leather pants tightened around his feet and caused him to fall face first into the hole.

The assassin made sure he gave his victim the necessary moments to roll over so that he could see his face. Satisfied that the barbarian knew his imminent death had been dealt by the hand of a man he had earlier degraded, Double D nodded. He pulled the mask back over his face and darted out of the shed, leaving the barbarian bleeding profusely and lying in a pile of piss and garesh.

The screams the big man released were horrific, but his cries would go unanswered. The barbarian’s tormented sounds would leave an everlasting impression in Double D’s ruthless mind. He would relish his enjoyment of the moment as he made his way to the other side of the village to enter the second leg of Skeleton Pass.

The people of Gessler would find the barbarian the next morning. He was covered by maggots and flies, and small, flesh eating bugs called sysers. The barbarian was unrecognizable—his face eaten to the bone, and there was no telling how many drunken beings pissed on him during the night and had not realized it.

CHAPTER 26

Sick of this Royal Crap

SAM, SHALEE, BJ, AND Helga arrived in the town of Empire five nights prior to Double D slaying the barbarian in Gessler. Empire was a small town with little military presence, despite being a part of Brandor’s kingdom.

Sam won his first fight in front of this populace who worshiped the Goddess of Fire. His fight was to the death, and his ribs took an awful beating. They were bruised, and the skin above them was lacerated, and Sam did not have the necessary Peaks to heal before his next fight.

Meanwhile, Shalee worked with Helga to increase her power. She continued to astonish the older woman with her successes. Shalee had still suffered just the one failure since her first day of training in Angels Village. For privacy, the girls practiced outside of Empire in a heavily wooded area. Not one soul bothered them, and this spot proved to be the perfect place to go back to each night.

Helga’s staff was planted in the ground, and the orb at its top was providing light. The older woman took a step back and watched as Shalee commanded Precious to rip a massive tree from the ground and send it high into the air. Foreseeing a bad outcome, Helga grabbed her staff, pulled it out of the ground and then put up a protective barrier.

The trunk, almost three paces in diameter, smashed into the ground. The area around them shook. The noise was deafening, and the tree limbs splintered in all directions. Wooden missiles thumped against Helga’s magic and fell to the ground as harmless pieces of kindling.

The ladies rolled with laughter. After a few exchanged glances of amazement, the foolhardy women wondered if the people in town had heard the collision. They decided it was best to stop training for the night and started a fire after collecting the kindling. They would sit for a bit and talk.

“Oh, my Lord, that was loud,” Shalee giggled as she held her stomach.

“I know, Child. I hope no one comes out here to yell at us. I had no idea you were going to send it that high. I bounced when it hit.”

“You should’ve seen your face. Your eyeballs were popping while it was coming down. I’m glad you put up a wall. We could’ve been punctured.” Shalee pointed in the direction of the town. “I’d bet those fire worshippers would love us for making all this kindling.”

Helga knew the younger sorceress was commanding power most students would never command in their entire lives. How was such a thing possible? Sure, Bassorine had said Shalee could handle an exponential growth, but to develop this fast did not make sense. Shalee had long since passed Helga’s abilities, and there was no real reason the student needed her around. She felt so close to the young woman, and this was the main reason why she stayed.

Helga thought back to what Shalee had said in West Utopia. She knew Shalee viewed her as a mother, but was this bond strong enough to survive the news? The moment had come to let her student know that she had surpassed her abilities.

“Shalee, I have something to say. I must admit, I’m nervous about telling you this.”

Shalee could see the worry in the eyes of her friend. “What is it? Why the long face?”

“Child, I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you that I cannot teach you any longer.”

“Why? Do you have someplace to go? Did I mess up? I can fix it if you’re upset. I don’t have so much pride that I can’t apologize.”

“No, no, no, Child. It’s not like that. I’m not mad, nor do I want to stop being around you.” Helga took a deep breath. “Your power has grown beyond mine. I cannot teach you because you’re stronger than I am.”

Helga scooted next to Shalee, pulled her close and then hugged her. “I’m sad to say this, but I fear I’m not much use to you any longer.”

Shalee returned the embrace. After a moment, she pulled away with tears in her eyes. “I already knew my abilities were beyond yours. Remember, you bonked your butt. I just didn’t want to say anything.” She smiled and wiped her eyes. “Just because you can’t teach me magic any longer doesn’t mean I can’t learn from you. You, BJ, and Sam are all I’ve got. I need you now more than ever. Who else would I shop with when Sam needs to buy me stuff?”

“Then, you want me to stay, Child?”

“ Lordy, Helga, aren’t you listening? Of course I want you to stay. I need you.”

An enormous sigh escaped Helga’s lips. “Then it’s settled. You’re stuck with me for good.” They embraced again.

A long series of moments went by before Shalee questioned, “If you’re not able to train me, then who is ... and where do we find this person?”

After a moment of thoughtful consideration, Helga answered. “We’ve already been to a town where there’s such a person. His name is Amar, and he lives in Lethwitch. He’s much stronger than me, and he could continue your training. He is the only man on Southern Grayham who has traveled to Luvelles to study the arts. If you’d like, we can seek him out.”

Shalee shook her head. “I don’t want to leave Sam until after he has met with the King of Brandor.” She groaned. “All this fighting Sam has to do makes me sick. I hate that he won’t let me use my magic on him. I can’t stand watching him get more stitches. His ribs look terrible.”

The younger sorceress grimaced and changed the subject. “Let’s pass on finding Amar for now. I’m sure I can think of something to challenge myself until the moment is right. All we have to do is think of something absurd and then try it.” She slapped her hands together. “Bam
,
we have another lesson.”

“I suppose your logic makes sense, Child. Perhaps you can try raining down fire or manipulating some other outlandish control over the elements. Who knows what you’re capable of?”

Shalee agreed. “I might need to do something like that to get the king to listen to Sam. Maybe you and I can figure out something clever to speed things up.” Shalee smiled, “Give up a high-five.”

Unbeknownst to the women, they were being watched from the shadows. The stare of the being within his hiding spot was filled with disturbed thoughts.

The sorceresses stayed by the fireside through the night talking about girl stuff. When morning arrived, the moment had come to go back into town and eat breakfast with the boys. The swine meat, greggled hash and eggs were delicious, and the conversation was pleasant. Afterward, everyone prepared to go to the arena for Sam’s final fight.