Sons of Evil: Book 1 Book of Dread (36 page)

As Landri’s chest pain
subsided, he rose to his feet. A strange calm settled over him, a feeling that
a long journey had been completed or a test passed, that he knew what he had to
do. Regardless of what had happened over the last ten years, Landri was still
king. No one could deny that. Or change it.

He stalked from his throne
room, waved the guards that started to escort him away, and headed for
Kaelesh’s chambers. He had better be there, Landri thought grimly. Even as a
tiny pit born of doubt started to form in his gut, Landri smiled, thinking of
the look on Kaelesh’s face when Landri demanded answers or else.

What had his chief advisor
really done for him lately? Where was the book? Finding it was the only real
task he had been set, and there had been no mention of progress for weeks. Landri’s
smile grew. Yes, Kaelesh had much for which to answer.

Landri breezed past the guards
posted at Kaelesh’s door and burst in without knocking.

Kaelesh was there, slowly
pacing while reading a book. Rather than being shocked or insulted at the
king’s sudden intrusion, he simply closed the book, smiled, and said, “My king.
How may I serve you?”

This measured calm on the part
of Kaelesh really didn’t surprise Landri, but it infuriated him nonetheless. He
bit back a nasty retort, knowing he needed to save his anger for the right
moment. He wanted to slap at Kaelesh with it when his chief advisor was off
balance. He felt his lip quiver, and could hear the vibration transferred to
his voice when he said, “The reports from Dalusia are…interesting.”

“How so?”

“You’ve not heard?” Landri
asked with open incredulity.

“I hear many things, my king. I
am only uncertain to what you refer.”

“Open slaughter of civilians. Of
women and children.” Landri couldn’t stop his voice from going up a half-octave
with each sentence. “Our own troops scattering. Some abandoning their posts and
fleeing the army.”

Kaelesh held his hands out. “What
would you have me say?”

“Tell me you knew nothing of
it, Kaelesh.” To make sure the sarcasm in his tone wasn’t missed, he added. “Lie
to me.”

“No need for that,” Kaelesh said
with a shrug. “I did not order such atrocities, but I was aware they were
likely to occur.”

“You
were—” Landri turned bright red. He wanted to lash out physically, but he knew
better than to strike Kaelesh, even if he was king.

Kaelesh’s face suddenly went
hard, as if he had tired of this game. “If you don’t have the stomach for such
things, don’t blame that weakness on me. You’ve participated in your share of
foul deeds.”

“Those were not women and
children.”

“They were living beings. And
much of what you’ve approved has brought about the deaths of women and
children, just not so swiftly and brutally. But why so squeamish? Afraid your
legacy will be tarnished?”

If Landri wasn’t already red
with anger, the flush of embarrassment the words caused him would have had the
same effect. “You dare—”

No words could have been
crueler than the laugh that passed Kaelesh’s lips. “Of course I dare, my
beloved king. What say you, Praad? Have we not done enough to merit more
respect?”

Praad stepped from the shadows
in the corner of the room. “I would say so.”

Landri could feel the anger
swept away, to be replaced by the claustrophobic feeling he always had when
Praad was about. “What’s he doing here?” he asked. He meant the question to be
stern, an accusation, but his voice sounded small and weak.

“Oh, yes,” Kaelesh said. “I
forgot how uncomfortable my brothers make you. But this is a trivial matter of
no importance. I have something to show you, my king, something which will help
you forget about this news that has upset you so.”

Landri wanted to snap back
with some sort of retort, but his energy was quickly leaving him, as was his
courage. “What is it?”

“Follow me.”

Kaelesh went past him to the
open door, and Landri dutifully followed, almost as if in a trance. Praad moved
next to Landri and took his arm, escorting the king along. Some part of Landri
wanted to scream, to flee, but that part of him could no longer push its way
into action. He felt as if he was dreaming, and could only watch events unfold.

They made their way down from
the upper levels of the castle where Kaelesh’s quarters were located to the
main floor, and there headed for the steps to the lower levels. Along the way
they passed several guards, each of whom seemed uncertain what to do beyond
standing at the strictest attention. It was rare for three such important
persons to move about without an escort, but any of the guards that made the
slightest motion to provide such protection were quickly waved back by Kaelesh.
None regretted the dismissal, preferring to keep away from the quick-to-anger
king, his intimidating chief advisor, and the eerie Praad.

There were several lower
levels in the castle, the uppermost being the kitchens and various storage
areas, and further down the dungeons. On the dungeon level the guards acted
differently, already at attention and far less nervous at the sight of three
passing through. These looked unabashedly to Kaelesh, and at a quick shake of
his head knew they should remain at their posts.

At the far end of the dungeon
a cell which was had never been occupied stood locked. As Kaelesh and party
approached, a guard unlocked the door, moved into the cell quickly, and
unlocked a second door at the back of the cell. Beyond this another stair
descended, a spiral stair which fell into shadow after only a few steps.

Kaelesh excused the guard with
a nod, took a torch from the wall just outside the cell, and led the way down
the darkened stair. Landri followed, his insides already turned to ice from
Praad’s insistent grip, his mind unable to even start wondering why Kaelesh had
brought him here. His breath came in short, shallow gasps, his lungs having to
fight to keep working. He was only faintly aware of Praad closing the second
door behind them as they descended the stair.

Landri had never ventured into
this lowest part of the castle, did not even know it existed. His father had
been here once, exploring as a young boy, had descended these same stairs to
find it led to a rat-infested access area to the sewers. But what Landri saw
when he reached the bottom of the stairs was a large room, larger than any in
the castle. It was well-lit, with torches along each wall and several braziers
placed about the room. The area was warm and close, but did not reek of the
sewers and was clean and dry. Landri took no note of the other doors which
provided alternate egress from the room, doors which connected it to secret
entrances outside the castle walls. It was through these that Kaelesh had been
able to arrange for the construction of the chamber, right under the king’s
nose.

The chamber was filled with
over two hundred men and women, each dressed in black hooded robes highlighted
in red. They faced the bottom of the stairs, each kneeling, and as Landri,
Kaelesh, and Praad entered they bowed as one, their hands stretched out and their
palms flat on the ground as if in worship.

Landri did not think they
bowed for him, but even had he hoped so, the notion would have been quickly
dispelled as Kaelesh said, “Rise, my acolytes."

They did as he told them, then
waited in silence for him to command them.

“What do you think?” Kaelesh
asked Landri.

Landri
could not make his voice work, but he had no reply regardless. He could almost
feel the life being sucked out of him through Praad’s relentless and now vise-like
grip, as if Praad were some sort of vampire.

“That’s right,” Kaelesh said. “You
do not think. You never really did. I should tell you how much I appreciated
you opening the way for us to enter Corterra. In that you proved of some worth,
and your role as king has yielded certain advantages as well. But you have
always been but a pawn in a game, Landri, useful in your way but easily
sacrificed when the time comes. I suppose it would not shock you to learn that
the time is at hand.”

Landri was only vaguely aware
of the meaning behind Kaelesh’s words. He only wanted the energy to pull free
of Praad, to curl up somewhere and have the world go away, to be rid of the
paralyzing fear and dread. Little did he understand that Kaelesh was ready to
grant him this last, unspoken wish.

“Behold, my king, the Servants
of the New Order. Skilled in the dark arts. Fearless. And hungry. They will
rule not just in Longvale, but in Corterra. The dark powers are ready to claim
this world, and to rule it forevermore.” He turned from Landri to his expectant
servants. “Corterra is ripe. Take it. It starts now, here. The old must pass
away so that the new may rule.”

Kaelesh stepped to one side
and gestured at Landri with an open hand. “Feast upon him.”

Landri had never shown true courage,
and the end of his life would not bring about such a transformation. But such
was the effect of Praad’s grip upon him, upon his mind more so than his arm,
that when the Servants of the New Order closed upon him, he did not even
scream.

Uesra’s belief that the
norgoblins would not return had proven correct. It had been five days since the
encounter, and they had traveled undisturbed, with no indication that they were
being followed or tracked, and with nothing impeding them. They knew that was a
circumstance that would not last, but they were grateful for their good fortune
while it lasted, and covered as much ground as they could each day.

The weather had been brisk but
clear, but today heavy gray clouds covered the sky. Darius looked off into the
distance, and through the gloom could see the shadowy outline of the Grim
Mountains. A gust of wind made him shiver, and he pulled his elven cloak more
tightly about him to ward off the cold. He looked up at the clouds, missing the
sun already, thinking this day would be a less comfortable one but glad they
were already moving. As he gazed skyward his eyes caught movement, and he
squinted to better focus on what it was he saw.

The first snow had begun to
fall.

End Book 1

(The story concludes in
Sons of Evil: Book 2 Reckoning)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dave Adams
lives in central Pennsylvania with his wife, daughter, and son. He has had over
twenty short stories published in various magazines, mainly in the genres of
fantasy, science fiction, and horror. This is his third novel.