Gods Of Blood And Fire (Book 1) (91 page)

Kian took the ring. He knew better than to refuse a gift from a Goddess. “I thank you, Lady Syann.”

She put her hand on his shoulder. “I hope the day never comes that you need it.”

Kian put the ring on his finger. “You have been kind to me and I hate to ask, but I need a favor from you.”

“I don’t usually do favors for mortals, it usually starts one down a dangerous path, but for you I will make an exception.”

When he told her what he wanted, she wished she had said no.

***

That night as Endra lay with her head on Kian’s chest, she noticed the black ring he now wore on his finger. He was asleep, but she had to ask. She touched his face gently waking him. “Where did you get that ring?”

Kian wrapped both his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. “A Goddess gave it to me,” he said still half asleep.

Endra didn’t sleep well that night and when she awoke in the morning Kian was gone.

***

“I knew you would come sooner or later, I just didn’t know you would appear out of thin air on top of my tower.” Tavantis slowly turned. The wizard had been taking in the morning air on top of his ancient spire.

Kian stood not ten feet away, a long sword in his hand. The swordsman glared at his twin, but said nothing.

“Well, Brother, I don’t know how you got here, but I see you have come to kill me.” The wizard adjusted his mask and cleared his throat. “You have good cause, I can’t deny that. I have had my chances and completely failed in my attempts to kill you. Instead I managed to only make you stronger.” The sorcerer gave a gurgling chuckle and shrugged his shoulders. “Who knew?” Tavantis moved to the edge of the broken battlements where he and Kian had fought before. He looked down, then turned and faced his brother. “I don’t think you will fall for any of my tricks this time, will you?”

Kian shook his head. “Why didn’t you just come with me? I didn’t lie to you. I would have done anything to help you. Why couldn’t you have just trusted me?”

“I don’t like you, Kian, it’s simple as that. I will never be the brother you want. It’s far too late for that.” Kian thought he heard regret in his brother’s voice.

The wizard’s finger slightly moved, Kian saw it. “It doesn’t have to be this way.” The swordsman pleaded.

“My life is misery, there can be no other way.” The wizard’s hidden dagger slid out of his sleeve and in to the palm of his hand. The former assassin was smooth and fast, but Kian was faster. His sword flew from his hand. The wizard never saw it until it buried itself in his belly. The dagger fell from Tavantis’s hand and the crippled wizard’s knees buckled.

Kian ran to him, catching him before he could fall from the tower. Blood dripped from the mouth of the leather mask. “I should have used a turtle instead of the panther,” the dying wizard joked.

Tavantis collapsed into Kian’s arms. The swordsman held him so he would not fall from the broken edge of the tower.

“Finish what you started, Brother. You have done the right thing. I would have never stopped coming for you and those you love.”

Kian reached down and shoved the long sword deeper into his twin, then he let go. Tavantis tumbled through the air towards the ground. Kian thought he could hear him laughing.

The swordsman fell to his knees. He stared down at his brother’s broken body, lying in the rubble at the foot of the tower.

Syann appeared behind him. “This was a dark favor, Kian. Let me return you to Turill now. This is over.” She helped the grief-stricken warrior to his feet. “They’re all gone now,” he said looking at the Goddess.

“Justice be done, Slayer.” Then the pair vanished from the tower.

***

It was a very warm the day they left Turill. Late summer in Bandara could be very hot sometimes. K’xarr had decided that it was time his small company moved on. He announced throughout the city the week before he was looking for warriors to form a mercenary company. Only a handful of men responded to his proposition. Most were unsavory and known for a variety of nefarious deeds, but it made him feel better that the group had grown a bit larger. It would be safer for them that way.

The Queen had said her goodbyes. She stood on the battlements of Turill with General Ansellus and Isabella watching the band ride out of the north gate.

It was hard to see Rhys go. She would miss him terribly, but as Raygan rubbed the roundness of her belly she knew he would still be with her in a way. Raygan realized then it was not just Rhys she would miss. “I wish I had known how much they all meant to me before now,” she quietly said to herself.

“What did you say, Majesty?” Ansellus asked.

The little Queen looked at the man who would now command her army. “I said, do you think we will see them again?”

Ansellus looked at Isabella and grinned. “Majesty, I would say the question is not will we see them, it’s when.”

Chapter 34

E
pilogue

Raven slowly rose from her bed, she was still moving a little slow. All the witches had gathered to see her. She liked the term “witch” it was much better than many of the names they had been called before.

Her tower was warm, so she walked past her slippers. They all surrounded the small crib where her brand new daughter laid. Her sisters were cooing and making faces, they all looked like fools.

“She favors you, Raven,” Jade said as she joined the others at the crib. “That’s a good thing, my dear, K’xarr is not nearly as beautiful as I am.” Raven reached down and pinched her little girl’s cheek. “Is he, Delilah?”

***

His eyes snapped open and he slowly looked around, he lay on the floor of his summoning room. When he sat up, he could see arcane runes had been drawn on the floor. When he looked closer, he could tell blood had been used to create them. He could smell it.

“Oh Master, it worked, it worked.”

Siro was standing outside the circle of runes, clapping his hands and jumping up and down. “What worked, you twit?”

“What is the last thing you remember, Master?”

Tavantis rubbed his head, his mask had been removed. “My dear brother running a sword through my guts and pitching me off the top of the tower. I should be quite dead, Siro, would you explain to me why I’m sitting here talking to you?”

Siro shifted from foot to foot. Tavantis knew he was about to hear one of the necromancer’s loathsome stories. “I ran down to get you after your brother and the blonde woman left.” Siro stopped for a moment and rubbed his eyes.

“Have you been crying, you idiot?”

Siro looked at his master and sniffed, his eyes were red rimed and swollen. Tavantis sighed and shook his head.

“Finish the tale, Siro, then you may weep all you want.”

“Yes, Master, well you were near death and fading fast. I didn’t know what to do, so I cast the preservation spell I use on my undead to keep them fresh, it didn’t stop you from dying, but it slowed the process down.”

Tavantis stood up. “Well, for you trying to preserve me like a barrel of salt pork I feel quite good. Now, how did you keep me from dying?” The wizard stretched his arms and he realized it didn’t hurt and his voice, it was no longer strained. “Wait a moment; give me a mirror, Siro.”

“I knew you would want one, Master.” The little necromancer slid a hand mirror across the floor to him.

Tavantis took note that Siro didn’t step into the circle.

When he gazed into the mirror, his scars and burns were gone, he looked the same as he did before the Beast’s curse. “Siro, you do not possess the kind of power it would take to break the Beast’s curse. Only my death could do that. What have you done, you ugly little toad?”

Siro looked uncomfortable. “You were dying and I don’t do well with living things. You know that, so I had to summon help.”

“Who, Siro?”

“Master, you were mostly dead, and I knew you wouldn’t want to be one of my special people. I couldn’t think of anyone else, so I used your summoning spell.

“Damn it, Siro, who did you summon?”

“Malaiss,” the necromancer whispered.

Tavantis smiled into the mirror, admiring his fangs. “So death did break my curse. It seems I owe the Lord of Vampires a favor. You have done well, Siro, very well.” The little necromancer giggled with glee.

***

Fall was coming quickly, the wind whipped at Bishop Lyfair’s robes, he was getting too old to walk back and forth from the cathedral to the palace. He would start taking a carriage, that would be much better for his feet.

The air was cold after the rain they had earlier in the day and a fog was settling in. He couldn’t wait to get to the palace and have a hot bath and warm brandy.

“Are you Bishop Lyfair?” A man had appeared from out of the fog.

“Yes, I am Bishop Lyfair, who are you?”

“I am an acquaintance of the late William Blackthorn. May I have a word?”

The Bishop was cold, he didn’t want to talk, and he hoped to never hear the name of William Blackthorn again. “Make it quick, I’m in a hurry, my son.”

The man stepped closer. The clouds parted and the moonlight allowed Lyfair to get a look at the man’s face.

The Bishop recoiled, thinking it was the swordsman, Kian. The man was Half Elf, but his hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and he was dressed in a simple black robe. He looked identical to the half-breed slayer, yet there was something different.

“Forgive me, Your Eminence, but I made a bargain with the late duke, if anything ever happened to him I was to pay you a visit. I truly detested the man, but a deal is a deal.” The Bishop had no chance to scream.

The vampire dropped the Bishop’s dead body onto the street and wiped the blood from his mouth. He put his hands behind his back and walked back into the fog, humming a song he had learned from his mother.

THE END