《Koronos the Kazarian》


 CHAPTER ONE: OMNI

    It is known and has been passed down through the ages in stories, there exists an endless sea of realms in the Cosmos: a multiverse of endless universes, each with their own set of rules and physics. Some of said realms are similar to yours, some are very different indeed, but the one we shall focus on for this story is only slightly like the one you know and call home. Here in the realm of Omni, on Terra Primius, majik is real. Technology is similar to yours, but it does not progress as does the technology you are familiar with, if it was the sixth to thirteenth century of your realm, instead it stays the same through eons untold.


    Sometime in the ancient, distant past, majik was more plentiful, it is said, but those days are gone, and now it is a rarity. It was used too liberally, and too irresponsibly and the world paid a high price; it was scarred and drained of much of its majikal essence.


    Terra Primius has five continents covered with a multitude of mountain ranges. Titans, the largest continent, has one such mountain range, that is particularly rugged and volcanic, known by outsiders as; ¡®The Helfire Mountains,¡¯ but the locals call it by the old name, ¡®Kazar,¡¯ and it¡¯s where the wildest of people call home. They are of the Kazarian people, a scattered, tribal people that are a xenophobic subspecies of humans. Yes, there are humans here; I did say this realm is similar to yours, but that¡¯s pretty much where the similarities end. Kazarians do not like technology very much, even though there isn''t much technology within the realm of Omni already. These wandering tribes are too difficult to rule over and the mountains are too rugged for a proper military campaign and supply logistics, so the kingdoms and empires leave them be.


    Kazarians are a semi-nomadic, hunter-gatherer people, and live a simple life; they almost never leave the Helfire Mountains unless they are forced to, usually from being taken by slavers. The Southern Helfire Kazarian people are a little bigger, tougher and stronger than normal humans, they have darkish skin with a slight blue tint, pale silver irises, hair that looks like spun silver strings and they are more resistant to the cold mountain air and high altitude. Their tribe is called the Thunderfel of Kazar.


    One particular Kazarian is far from his village on a hunt, tracking his prey the furthest he¡¯s ever gone: right to the very edge of his people¡¯s hunting territory, down into the foothills of the Helfire Mountain range. His name is Koronos Thunderfel of Kazar, and although he¡¯s not fond of bragging, he¡¯s one of the best trackers and hunters of his tribe and he trained very hard to proclaim such a title. Even as the Kazarian people are concerned, he¡¯s stronger than most but still moves with the grace of a dancer; powerful, deadly and dangerous. He wears traditional attire of his people; animal furs, beads, feathers and traditional tattoos adorn his large frame. His hair in long braids that reach his waist. A face hard as stone but not displeasing to behold, perhaps some might call him beautiful.


    This season has been a difficult one for his people, the game did not come like it always has for generations, so the hunts have been long, and the distances are dangerously far. It is known, one should never leave Kazar, only danger awaits in the world of kings, laws and the rules of men. From the rise he climbs on to see where his quarry went, he sees a village of men, far off in the morning mist; this is too close. ¡°I¡¯ve come too far¡­¡± he says quietly to himself as he grips his spear a little tighter. His hunting companion, Black Bane; a big black wolf catches the scent of something on the wind, ¡°what is it Black Bane? We should go back.¡± But it¡¯s too late, an arrow hits Black Bane in the neck and he yips and falls over, ¡°noooo!¡± Being distracted by his wolf companion being killed, he doesn¡¯t notice the bowman firing at him and an arrow hits Koronos in the thigh as he hears yelling in a strange tongue. It sounds almost like his language, but different and peculiar and very difficult to understand, because the language of the Kazarian is the old tongue, a variation about 1000 years older than the language of the Omegaland people.


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    He sees the first rider approaching fast on a horse, with a leg injured, he cannot outrun a horse or even a man now, so he takes aim with his spear and with a massive force he hurls it with speed and accuracy into the man¡¯s heart, knocking him clean off his mount.


    A moment later, an arrow flying from a nearby bush grazes Koronos¡¯s head, slicing it and making him see stars from the impact. The other riders are upon him now, being dizzy and disoriented, they take him down with a hit in the back from a club. They proceed to kick him and hit him with clubs, making it easy to tie his arms together at the wrists.


    They have a great prize, capturing a Kazarian alive is very difficult indeed and rarely achieved. The men wrap his head and leg in bandages while he looks at them with burning hatred, they want him alive because he is a valuable product. They try to give him a drink of their waterskins, but he spits it back in their face and gets backhanded in the mouth for the insolence.


    He is hauled to the nearby village where they toss him into the back of a wagon, four men with swords are guarding him, to make sure nobody tries to steal their prize and to ensure he doesn¡¯t escape. Koronos images killing them a hundred times in a hundred different ways by the time they reach the closest city with a river port. It¡¯s a city of men, a real city, like nothing he ever imagined, with so many people in one place; he wonders how men could build such things. The ladies of the town look at him with great interest because he¡¯s a near perfect specimen of man or Kazarian and built like a stone wall with such exotic looks. The men guarding him ensure nobody can approach him. He¡¯s taken down to the docks where he is put on a fairly large river boat to head down-stream, still in chains, naturally.


    Men shouting, lines hauled in, and the boat goes underway, down river. Each city is even bigger and grander than the last one, peppered with villages and towns; each bigger than anything he¡¯s ever seen or imagined, people beyond count. What Koronos notices is that there are no other men in chains, what he¡¯s unaware of is that it¡¯s illegal for another Omegaland citizen to own another Omegaland citizen; however, he¡¯s not a citizen.


    At first, he thinks they are approaching another village, but it goes on for leagues and only gets bigger and more grand; this is all one city, it¡¯s one of the largest cities on Terra Primius and seat of the Omegaland Octavian Empire; Octavia. Up until now, Koronos has managed to mask his awe but now he loses all composure, for what he is seeing defies all of his frames of reference; temples and public buildings as large as small mountains, palaces and mansions larger than the biggest village he¡¯s ever seen up until a few days ago. Thousands and thousands of people, how can they hunt here, he wonders?


    He thought the vessel he was on was huge, but now he sees gigantic barges and naval warships that make it look like a raft, as they dock. The older man that seems to be the leader of the four men that have been guarding him, departs for an hour and returns with a handful of new men; one is fat and soft and seems to be robed in fancy clothing and opulence. This opulent man seems to be called ¡®His Lordship,¡¯ and is excited at seeing Koronos and shakes the old man¡¯s hand as his men place a chest of coins on the ground before him. The men that have been guarding Koronos step back and allow the new men, who are bigger, better armed and armored, to take possession of the prize.


    Although the men are bigger, Koronos is still half of a head taller than the biggest of them, but the four of them easily manage to drag him up the dock and toss him in an iron cage mounted on a large wagon. By now, a crowd has gathered around to gaze at this rarity. even here in a city such as this; an adult Kazarian man in his prime, big, powerful and deadly. The children try to touch his silver hair through the bars of the cage and are either pulled back by their mothers or warned away by the guards. He¡¯s feeling fear from the uncertainty of his future for the lack of agency, but refuses to show it externally, so he closes his eyes and thinks of home.

 CHAPTER TWO: THE GOD EMPEROR

    After several days of being held in chains in the courtyard of the lord¡¯s manor, Koronos is inspected by a healer to see how his wounds are healing, to ensure he¡¯s ready for presentation to the emperor. The healer is an older woman with long red hair that was likely beautiful in her younger days, garbed in moderately opulent robes as is befitting of someone of importance. Then she speaks to him, in a broken, heavily accented version of the Old Tongue; the language he speaks, ¡°I¡¯m not here to harm you, I¡¯m a Healer, may I see your wounds?¡±


    He doesn¡¯t see her as a threat, and her presence is a welcome change to the constant presence of the guards, so he nods in approval.


    She carefully unwraps the wounds, with the demeanor of how one might act with a wild animal, ¡°hmmm, it¡¯s only been four days since you were wounded?¡±


    He hasn¡¯t spoken in days, so he clears his throat to speak, ¡°yes¡­ why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s remarkable, no one heals this fast, not even your people,¡± she says in dismay, now looking at him with even more interest than she already had, looking at him as if she suspects something but is afraid to voice it aloud.


    He simply shrugs, unconcerned, ¡°I¡¯ve always been a fast healer.¡±


    The Healer steps back from him cautiously, almost with reverence, she¡¯s still holding back something and nearly says it, but glances at the guards, at the lord of the manor that is standing across the courtyard talking to one of his advisors; ultimately, she decides to hold her tongue. Koronos makes no change to his expression and remains stoic, even though he finds her behavior odd, even for a Flatlander.


    She walks over to the lord, and they have an exchange of words, he seems pleased and places a bag of coins in her hand. She leaves but not before glancing back at Koronos one last time.


    The following morning, he is woken with a bucket of water being tossed on him by the guards, they say something to each other and laugh. Koronos thinks about how it would be pleasurable knocking their teeth out with his fist, as he stands. They take him back to the wagon with the cage and toss him in. No sign of the lord though. Going through the streets in the early morning, the city is just beginning to wake up and begin the hustle and bustle of the day.


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    When they reach Titan¡¯s Palace, the gate is ridiculously ornate and gilded in gold with a half dozen guards armed with pikes, and short recurve bows, allowing them entry, but only after they make sure his chains and the cage is secure. The palace is a gigantic compound of unimaginable opulence, and grandeur with servants, guards and aristocrats going about their business.


    He¡¯s taken into the largest of the structures in the center of the compound, there appears to be other captives here that are likely slaves, but they aren¡¯t in chains like Koronos. Guards are everywhere in this antechamber, some guarding chests of coin and treasures, some just standing at the thresholds for added security, some guarding important aristocrats as bodyguards. Here he waits for hours until finally the portly lord that brought him arrives, but with someone he hasn¡¯t seen yet. He looks like some old scholarly fellow and he speaks to Koronos in the Old Tongue, it¡¯s still heavily accented but not as broken as the Healer, ¡°I am Calvion, your translator. You will soon be presented to the God Emperor Octavius, I have been told to warn you; you will refrain from being a savage in His Imperial Majesty¡¯s presence, nor shall you make a scene in the throne room or punishments will be severe, do you understand?¡±


    Koronos slowly looks down at him with contempt, ¡°I am not property to be presented.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my friend, you are now,¡± then he backs away, even with the iron cage between them, he is still terrified of the imposing presence of Koronos. ¡°Do not attempt to escape, even if you manage to subdue your guards, you will never make it out of the palace alive.¡±


    The guards take him out of the cage, two guards on each side of him, his hands chained together and escorted into the massive throne room with a ceiling thirty paces high. Inside there are even more guards and hundreds of aristocrats and courtesans. A room that was designed to do one thing; inspire awe. At the end of the room, elevated on the top of stairs, to place the seated ruler above his subjects, is a massive golden throne. Seated in the throne is an imposing figure, as big as Koronos, sits the God Emperor: Octavius, and flanked on each side with guards and advisors that are standing. He looks to be of the age of mid-thirties, totally bald head, dark beard, wearing an elaborately embroidered and jeweled toga.


    Octavius gestures to the guards to escort him closer, right to the base of the steps to the throne, and it¡¯s there that he feels it, Octavius and Koronos lock eyes, they both feel it, they sense each other beyond the five senses. Koronos doesn¡¯t understand what it is, but he can feel something is very different with Octavius, as well as three advisors next to him, the closest thing to describe what they are sensing is a halo or radiance that normal mortals cannot sense. And the advisors feel it about Koronos too and they all start looking at each other as the emperor stands and shouts a couple words and the entire court gasps.


    Calvion looks terrified as he quietly whispers to Koronos, ¡°he commanded the room to empty.¡±


    People hurriedly exit as the royal guards escort everyone out until the entire throne room is empty except for Calvion, the three advisors and the elite royal guards, all while Koronos¡¯ and Octavius'' eyes remain locked.

 CHAPTER THREE: THE EVERLIVING

    Calvion looks as though he could wither and die, all color draining from him while the throne room empties. Then the emperor speaks in the language of the Omegaland people, Calvion starts to translate when Octavius stops him with a word and hand gesture. As it turns out, Octavius speaks the Old Tongue because he was alive when it was used in this land 1000 years ago. ¡°You no doubt have questions, savage. What is your name?¡±


    Koronos remains silent and regains his stoic composure, acting unconcerned as if he meets emperors every day, ¡°I am Koronos of the Thunderfel of Kazar.¡±


    Octavius continues, ¡°of course you do but are too proud to ask, no doubt, Koronos Thunderfel of Kazar. You are Everliving, that¡¯s what you sense about me and my advisors, and we sense it on you. That doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t be killed, son, it means you are hard to kill, and you will live for a long time, as have I, I am over 1200 years old. You see, I was born when this city was still called Titans, but 1000 years ago I conquered it and renamed it to ¡®Octavia,¡¯ a good name I think.¡±


    ¡°Are we gods?¡± Koronos reluctantly asks, but his curiosity finally overcomes his stoic pride. Meanwhile, Calvion tries to make himself as small as possible, hoping nobody will notice his existence.


    ¡°See, that¡¯s what I like about Kazarians, practical people and straight to the relevant conundrum! The truth is, don¡¯t know; maybe, maybe not, all I know is that I¡¯m the oldest of our kind that I¡¯ve encountered¡­ that is still alive.¡± Octavius states it as a matter of fact, he¡¯s killed Everliving in the past and he is deciding if he should ¡®collect¡¯ Koronos or kill him. And in that moment, he decides.


    ¡°You will remain here as my guest, you will learn civilized languages, learn to read and write, but most importantly, you will learn martial arts and advanced combat because you¡¯re of no use to me dead. Do not try to escape or you will never know who you are and what we are, and my guards will kill you. This old scholar will teach you languages.¡± Octavius gestures at Calvion, ¡°you will be paid handsomely, beyond anything you ever dreamed of, Sage. Do not fail me.¡± With that statement, he nods to the female advisor, turns and walks away, his two other advisors, and his personal royal guards follow him in tow.


    Calvion bows all the way to the floor in supplication, while Koronos wonders why a man would bow to another man. The captain of the royal guards looks confused that Koronos doesn¡¯t bow, but more so that Octavius seems to not care that he didn¡¯t bow, and he wasn¡¯t gestured/commanded to make him bow.


    One advisor stays behind, the one that Octavius nodded to. She is a lovely young woman that doesn¡¯t appear to be of Omegaland ethnicity, but she only appears to be young, but since she is Everliving, she could be much older. She speaks in the Old Tongue but not as well as the emperor, ¡°I am Cassi, short for Cassiopeia. Do I have your word, Koronos, your word on the memory of your ancestors that you will behave yourself and be a proper guest, not a mindless savage, if I remove your chains?¡±


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    Koronos is a man of his word and because of that, he is reluctant to agree, because he will keep his word, ¡°yes.¡±


    She continues as the guards remove his chains, ¡°this is a great honor that is extended to very few, especially some savage from Kazar that is low born, your kind are usually slaves¡­ on the rare occasion that they aren¡¯t killed while capture is attempted.¡±


    Calvion¡¯s color is starting to return, now that he knows he will survive the day and that he will be staying in the royal palace, a position very few scholars ever achieve.


    After a few minutes of walking slowly, Koronos gives in to his curiosity once again, he asks, ¡°so, what are we and why are we?¡±


    Cassi sighs, ¡°There seems to be no discerning pattern to where or why Everliving are born, you are the first Kazarian we¡¯ve ever encountered or even heard about that is one of us. Each of us seems to have a different special ability, I can move things from a distance with my thoughts. What is your ability?¡±


    Koronos thinks this question over for a moment, ¡°I¡¯ve always been good with animals, I¡¯ve had pet wolves and other exotic pets over the years, they seem to understand me.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, okay, you¡¯re an animal whisperer, perhaps, how interesting. Here''s what we do know; the older we get, the more powerful we get. That¡¯s why my father is so powerful.¡±


    ¡°Your father?¡± says Koronos and he stops walking.


    ¡°Yes, the emperor is my father.¡±


    ¡°So, he¡¯s over a thousand years old, so he has many sons, no?¡± Koronos asks while thinking that must be where all the people in the city come from.


    Cassi quickly answers because it¡¯s a sensitive subject matter for her, ¡°no, Everliving rarely have children, and when they do, they are almost always Everliving. I am the only child my father has ever sired, that is Everliving. He fathered a son once, but he wasn¡¯t Everliving, and died hundreds of years before I was born.¡±


    ¡°How do I cure it?¡± He asks, a little too quickly and feels a little foolish for asking.


    ¡°Cure what?¡±


    ¡°This, Everliving thing, I don¡¯t want it, I want to have many sons.¡± Koronos states, and seems devastated because he is doing the math in his head; two children in 1200 years¡­


    Her reply starts out with amusement in her voice, but her tone turns more somber by the time she finishes the reply, ¡°you don¡¯t cure it, silly, it¡¯s part of you, for always.¡± Then they both remain silent until they reach his apartment. ¡°I trust this will be suitable? And, you will be joining us for dinner, as do all important guests.¡±


    The apartment looks like something suitable for a king or foreign ambassador to stay while visiting, but the reality of the Everliving phenomenon weighs on him like a dagger in his heart, so Koronos simply nods as a numbness overcomes him.


    Initially, Koronos planned to escape at the first opportunity that was presented, but now he isn¡¯t sure why. Go home and do what? Live out his days through eons with no sons, wandering the mountains aimlessly with a tribe that will see him as broken and pitiable? No, he can¡¯t go home now, he has no home.

 CHAPTER FOUR: THE WEAPON

    Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, months turn into years. Through Calvion¡¯s fear of failing the emperor and with his infinite patience he teaches Koronos and helps him learn various languages of the realm, and to read and write. The greatest fighters and generals in the land teach him martial arts, swordsmanship, tactics and strategy. Octavius weaponizes him and he goes along with it because he feels he lost his way and purpose, nothing matters anymore but his pride will not allow him to just lie down and die; so, he becomes a weapon, and the rugged mountainous homeland of Kazar becomes a distant memory, like a fading dream in the morning light. The cruelty of Octavius becomes more and more apparent as well, but he cares not.


    One day, Cassi finds him intensely practicing his swordplay forms, as she¡¯s observed him do so often, ¡°why do you train so hard, Koronos?¡±


    ¡°I cannot live the life I want, so I will be what the gods have made me.¡±


    ¡°And, what¡¯s that?¡± Cassi asks with concern in her tone, over time, she has grown fond of him.


    ¡°The greatest warrior the world has ever seen, the greatest warrior in the empire is not enough.¡±


    Battle campaign after battle campaign, he carves through the enemies of the empire like a hot knife through butter, and his body count of fallen foes goes into the thousands, they all fall before him. As his reputation grows as a hero of the empire, so does the wedge drive between him and the emperor; for Octavius starts to become jealous of his fame and starts to see him as a threat to his power and throne.


    Octavius decides it would be best to not just kill him outright though because Koronos is too popular, so he calls on a special session of his closest advisors. This is a shortlist comprising his three Everliving cohorts; Cassi with the power of telekinesis, Polaris the Seer with the power to see possible futures, Arcturus the Mindbender with the power to sway the weak minded, and the mortal Calvion the Sage that possesses more knowledge of Koronos than any man alive.


    Calvion has ingratiated himself with the emperor, and is now one of his trusted advisors, and it is Calvion who ultimately comes up with the idea and devises a way to entrap Koronos. A cunning plan that will make Koronos an enemy of the state, through insubordination of a direct command of the emperor.


    Cassi maintains her silence as she listens to them work out the details and concerns. She tries to mask her horror at the plan; however, she doesn¡¯t mask it well enough because Arcturus the Mindbender senses her feelings.


    After the meeting is adjourned Cassi tries to get to Koronos to warm him but it soon intercepted by Octavius and eight Elite Royal Guards and he says to her, ¡°Where are you off to, my dear daughter?¡± Spoken with contempt dripping from his words. Shaking his head, he finishes with, ¡°you¡¯d dare defy me and betray me, your father, for a savage from Kazar!? You¡¯re a disappointment, you¡¯ve always been a disappointment! You should have been a son!¡±


    She doesn¡¯t answer him and lowers her head.


    He and his guards personally escort her to her royal apartments, ¡°Four of you will guard the princess to make sure she stays there until my Court is held tomorrow morning,¡± Octavius says to his guards.


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    The next morning, Koronos is summoned to a special session of Court to discuss a new war campaign, which is odd to Koronos, that they aren¡¯t meeting in the War Room with the generals, like usual. Once he reaches the Imperial Throne Room, he is disarmed as per usual, no one is allowed to be armed in the presence of the emperor except for the guards. Upon entering he notices that nearly all the Elite Royal Guards are present and all the most lords and generals that reside in the capital.


    There is Emperor Octavius, seated on his throne like the day they first met. Calvion calls for Koronos to step forth. Koronos senses something is wrong, the way the Everliving are glancing at each other, and Cassi won¡¯t even make eye contact. Then Octavius speaks, ¡°You have become a great hero of our glorious empire, our greatest weapon. I have a task for you, one I can only entrust to you¡­ given your particular heritage and intimate knowledge of the Kazarians. They are a thorn in our glory, they¡¯re resistance defy our empire and I can no longer allow this. I need you to take a company of 500 of our most elite warriors into the Hellfire Mountains and beat them into submission or eliminate them if they will not submit.¡±


    The entire court gasps as Octavius takes a long pause, weighing and watching Koronos, but he gives them nothing, no expression and stays stoic and proud. Then he finally continues, looking smug and haughty, ¡°will you obey your emperor¡¯s command?¡±


    Koronos simply says, ¡°no.¡±


    The emperor looks at Calvion and nods, then Calvion says, ¡°so you would defy your emperor¡¯s command?¡±


    Defiant as ever, the Kazarian spits on the floor at the base of the steps to the royal throne. Cassi covers her face with her hands, unable to emotionally process what is coming next.


    The room gasps again, even louder than before as Octavius stands and shouts while pointing at Koronos, ¡°Seize this savage!¡±


    The guards move in to take him since ranged weapons are not permitted in the Throne Room, but the first one is met with a bone shattering fist from Koronos into the front of his neck, crushing his throat and snapping his neck instantly. The second one is quickly disarmed and picked up like a doll and dropped over his knee, breaking the guard¡¯s back. Now Koronos has a sword, the Elite Royal guards quickly surround the emperor to protect him.


    Four more guards close in on Koronos but they die so fast that it¡¯s difficult to process what happened, what most people see is a spray of blood with heads, arms and legs being detached and bodies cut clean in half, guts and blood spattering across the pristine marble mosaics of the floor accompanied with the dying men¡¯s blood curdling screams as they quickly perish.


    Koronos begins to carve through the guards protecting Octavius, the guards try and try to stop him as they all die in blood spattered carnage. Ten dead, then fifteen, then twenty. Finally the only thing between the emperor and Koronos is the captain of the guards and he¡¯s the only one in the room with the skill to stop him, just as they are about to engage in mortal combat, Octavius pushes the captain aside and yells, ¡°enough!¡±


    Octavius displays his power for the first time in hundreds of years and shoots lightning from his hand, hitting Koronos in the chest, instantly burning and blowing the tunic clean off of him, knocking him back and down into a kneeling position on one knee. Koronos has the wind knocked out him and his chest is burned, his whole body smoking as more guards rush into the Throne Room and subdue him.


    With Koronos finally restrained, Octavius continues, ¡°what madness! The sentence for insubordination to the emperor is death, it is the law!¡±


    Cassi quickly gets in front of Koronos. "Wait, please, I beg you, father, spare his life¡­¡± as she kneels in supplication.


    Moments pass in total silence, Octavius looks around the room, everyone watching, waiting, he thinks maybe he should show mercy now, to look good. ¡°Very well, I sentence Koronos to Life¡­ of hard labor at Fort Blight, in the Valley of Death!¡±


    ¡°Life¡­¡± Cassi silently mouths.

 CHAPTER FIVE: SOMETHING AWAKENS

    It¡¯s been three weeks of being transported upriver, then a long march on foot, in chains. Maybe things would have turned out different if his power manifested, but his Everliving power has yet to manifest¡­ until he was hit with that lightning attack from Octavius. A strange feeling started stirring inside his mind, a part of him awakening. He can feel it, something feels different, he can sense the animals around him, even with them not in his sight. Each night he has vivid dreams of flying through the night skies or running through the forests in the darkness. Sometimes he is the predator, other times he''s the prey, and sometimes he slips between the two. It doesn¡¯t feel like a dream; it feels real.


    Upon clearing a narrow pass, where the trees grow huge and are twisted and blighted looking with a fog that obscures the sky, the sun and the mountains of the valley rim are not visible in the best of circumstances. One could easily become lost here with no way to find their direction once they wander off the narrow winding pathway. No songbirds are here, only the occasional baritone call of a raven, as if warning you to turn back. The very air feels thick and heavy, it¡¯s a place that makes you feel uneasy¡­ unwelcome. This is a valley that is barren of green things; it is gray, blackened, and blighted. It¡¯s the Valley of Death.


    Ages ago, there was a great majikal war, it was the war that drained the world of much of its majik, and ultimately scarred this once sacred and mystical valley.


    They walk a hard day, being driven as fast as humanly possible by the guards, they are warned to not be outside at night because of aberrations and horrors beyond imagining come out at night here in these cursed lands. They barely reach Fort Blight before darkness befalls them, it¡¯s an ancient fortress from another age, rebuilt and refitted to serve its new purpose as a prison. Koronos can feel something in the stone walls and portcullis here, something protecting them from what lies beyond the walls, some type of ancient warding.


    Once they assemble in the courtyard, the Warden in charge of the other guards is a gnarled rugged-looking middle-aged man, hardened from battle and from dealing with condemned men on a daily basis for years on-end proclaims an announcement with a rough, harsh voice befitting of his appearance, ¡°I am Warden Iconus. Welcome to your new home, boys, for the rest of your miserable, wretched days, unless otherwise noted in your sentencing by imperial decree but even if that be the case, you¡¯re never leaving this place alive. Your only escape from here is through death, so if you be a weak man, do us all a favor and kill yourself tonight, it should be easy enough to hang yourself somewhere here, just do it away from the other men so you don¡¯t disturb their rest.¡±


    Whilst the Warden was talking, the condemned men see two other prisoners carrying a dead body and toss it on the back of a wagon. Further inside the fortress they hear prisoners screaming at them, it¡¯s hard to make out what they are saying from the cacophony of noise, but one could guess, something about the new men being meat for divvying up amongst the established prisoners, more or less. Some of the new prisoners piss themselves while guards laugh.


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    The Warden makes his way to Koronos and says with sarcasm dripping from his tongue, ¡°Oh, we should be so fortunate, look here boys, we are graced with a genuine war hero!¡± Then he directs his words directly at Koronos, ¡°I don¡¯t care who you used to be, blue savage, here, your miserable hide belongs to me, do you understand me, boy?¡±


    There are strong men, there are weak men, then there are the few men that defy comprehension with how strong they are; Koronos ranks amongst the latter and with a dexterity and speed that defies his large size. Perhaps the warden didn¡¯t believe the stories and reputation of Koronos, or he is overconfident, but for whatever reason, it proves to be a final and fatal mistake.


    Like the legendary flight of Icarus flying too close to the sun, Warden Iconus gets too close to Koronos, and finds his fate sealed as was the fate of Icarus; his face is suddenly smashed-in from a headbutt that¡¯s more akin to a sledgehammer as blood splatters the guards standing on each side of him. The warden flies back several feet and crumples to the ground with blood pouring from what remains of his crushed face, and the massive force of the impact snaps his neck like a twig might snap from being stepped upon. His death comes instantly as the guards rush-in and commence ferociously beating Kononos with clubs, the beating continues for a good minute until he is beaten senseless, bruised, and bleeding. The prisoners behind the bars scream and yell with howls even louder than before and even cheer for Koronos.


    The purpose of converting the ancient fortress into a prison colony is ulterior; this was once home of the greatest and most powerful Everliving, she was simply known as The First. Her power was beyond anything the world has ever seen and maybe ever will, she built this fortress and ruled over what was once a vast empire. She forged a mighty weapon to help channel and focus her powers. Through centuries of being channeled with her unimaginable powers, it somehow absorbed some of her essence; it is simply known as the Sword of the First. Ultimately, she was destroyed in the ancient war that scarred the world.


    Somewhere down in the bowels of the fortress is her crypt, hidden, secret and sacred. Octavius knows of this legend and has the prisoners searching for the sword, but eons have passed, for centuries nothing has ever been found. So, Octavius has all but forgotten the original purpose of the prison, and now it¡¯s basically just a miserable prison to send people to rot. So, they dig through solid stone and rock, day after miserable day and they don¡¯t even know why.


    After the guards finish beating Koronos, they throw him in isolated confinement, a place that is simply called, The Pit; it''s a dark, black cave deep below the surface, in the lowest depths of the fortress. In the dark isolation, time has no meaning or purpose, he isn¡¯t even sure how long he lies there on the cold stone floor. The guards assume he will die from the severe beating they administered, and most men would die, but he is Everliving, and they don¡¯t die very easily. Here in the dark hellhole as he tries to recall the majestic meadows and mountain peaks of his home to try to bring him some measure of peace, he senses it, something below him, calling to him; something¡­ powerful.

 CHAPTER SIX: THE SWORD OF THE FIRST

    Slowly, Koronos gets his strength back, the object beneath him in the ground is pushing his body to heal faster and somehow sustaining him, it calls to him, it wants to be in the hands of an Everliving, almost as if it has agency of will. His eyes start to see in the darkness, not because his eyes are adjusting to the absence of light, it¡¯s something supernatural. He is seeing in total darkness and beyond the darkness, through the very floor, a halo similar to an Everliving is radiating from below and it¡¯s like music, a choir of his ancestors singing with incredible beauty.


    But how to get through solid rock without tools? He starts to scratch the floor, then he begins to hit the floor, then hits the floor harder and harder, calling upon the Everliving power within him. The bones in his hands start to crack but so does the rock under him. Suddenly, not understanding how, but his spirit connects with it, and the floor explodes upward, knocking him back.


    Now the choir is louder and with a purity of sonic beauty that is enough to make the celestial seraphim weep. A radiance like that of the sun with the coming of the dawn from the chamber below; it¡¯s the crypt of The First, she¡¯s beautiful and radiant even in death. Lying on her perfectly preserved remains, on her chest of golden gleaming armor is a sword sheathed in a glowing radiance. It¡¯s the Sword of the First, an ancient artifact from another epoch, and a power beyond anything the world has ever known. A weapon not meant for mortals to wield, only in the hands of an Everliving can it be used at full power, and it chooses Koronos to be its master and he alone does it answer.


    As he takes the sword into his hand, the fortress and the ground on which it rests begins to rumble and shake. Blocks, stones and rubble start to fall and tumble to the ground. As waves of pulsing energy emanate from the sword, The First begins to glow; then her body turns into pure light and energy and shoots upwards to the heavens and vanishes. Even in death, her will was so powerful that she kept herself anchored to the mortal realm for thousands of years, until the sword could be passed to someone worthy. Koronos doesn¡¯t understand, but he just witnessed someone ascend to godhood.


    It¡¯s a greatsword but is somehow lighter than it would normally be for a sword of its size, it would normally be meant to be used with two hands, but Koronos is big enough and strong enough to wield it with one hand if need be. After the rumbling, it left a hole in the ceiling of The Pit, with a pile of rubble underneath it to conveniently climb out. Any guards that try to stop him on his way out are quickly dispatched in splatters of blood, severed limbs and entrails, accompanied with their screams and death cries.


    Out in the courtyard, the guards on the towers shoot arrows at him but he deflects them with the sword, then he hurls the sword at them, and it cleaves them in half, the spinning, whirling sword continues through the air in an arc, returning to the hand of its master. Some of the prisoners join in with the or the dispatching of the guards, until all the guards are dead or fleeing into the cursed land beyond the walls of the fortress.


    Koronos stands on the wall above the portcullis as the ragged men gather below him in the courtyard and he shouts to them, ¡°Listen to me. I care not what dreadful crimes you may have committed or possibly unjustly accused of; in this horrible place you have paid your debt to society from whence you came, so go, live, be free!¡±


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    The prisoners look at one another, some run out of the gate, some stay as some of the prisoners that are ex-soldiers get on one knee and swear fealty to him, right then and there. They know who he is by repute, and now they have witnessed what he can do firsthand, they know greatness when they see it.


    ¡°Stop kneeling like fools, I am no lord or king, I am low-born from the Thunderfel Tribe from Kazar, we don¡¯t have kings and that sort of nonsense.¡± Koronos says to the kneeling men.


    The burliest of the ex-soldiers replies, ¡°but you are¡­ I mean to say, you were a General, so maybe you can be a warchief or warlord, isn¡¯t that what your people call it? You are our warlord, sir. I am Captain Korvax. I have fought a lifetime in many war campaigns and now I will fight for you. Indeed, we will fight for you.¡± All the men kneeling nod in agreement.


    Koronos nods, ¡°Yes, that I can be. Very well, I will be your warlord.¡±


    Some minor details are needed tending to when being a warlord or leader of men. The first thing Koronos does is make the ancient fortress of The First into his headquarters and base of operations. Captain Korvax sees to this task; a good captain is necessary for commanding a lot of men. The men need food, drink and the company of lady friends, the closest town is beyond the mountain pass and it¡¯s barely a town, more like a village. It only exists because of this location to act as a logistical supply station with an ale house/whore house. Because of the horrible nature of this cursed land, no one will make deliveries to the fortress, everything had to be brought in by the guards; since the guards are either dead or gone, the remaining men must do this unsavory task.


    Outside the walls there is a creature from beyond the veil of life that haunts these lands, terrorizes and kills everything it can every night. It¡¯s an aberration straight out of nightmares and its very presence attracts other horrid things from the Nightlands, otherwise known as the great beyond. He is going to have to destroy or send it back from whence it came. If not, the men will leave and Koronos doesn¡¯t fault them for this. No sane man would stay in a cursed valley full of nightmares.


    ¡°Nightfall in the blighted lands, or cursed lands, or whatever charming name you may call it is a fairly ominous affair. First, you have the thick omnipresent fog that blocks out what little light the sun might provide at dusk, making the air feel heavy. Then you have the crows and ravens making calls, along with strange unidentifiable noises that sound like distant screams. These less-than charming screams that the men call ghosts, might possibly be ghosts. On top of this, whatever the thing is from the Nightlands, it is known by the men as something that cannot be killed by anything mortal men possess and it has haunted this valley since the previous epoch. The only refuge is behind the walls of the fortress, any man caught out behind the walls at night will eventually be found by the aberration and killed and their soul sucked out of them, that¡¯s why no one ever tried to escape. And it might be some kind of deity and most likely, immortal. Even with the Sword of The First, it might be unkillable.¡± Captain Korvax explains to Koronos as they stand on the wall, looking out into the fog as the sun begins to set, then continues, ¡°Perhaps we should leave this place and find something better, sir?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but I feel compelled to confront this thing from the Nightlands, the sword hates it, I can feel it. This world belongs to the living, it doesn¡¯t belong here, we do.¡± Koronos says to the captain, not taking his eyes off the rolling fog. ¡°It senses the sword, I feel it, it¡¯s coming, probably tonight.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯re safe behind the walls, right?¡± Queries the captain, trying to not sound alarmed. But Koronos only looks at him with a side glance and doesn¡¯t reply.


    As the sun sets, there is a distant, unnatural roar, followed by wretched screams emanating from every direction that echoes through the fading light.

 CHAPTER SEVEN: ABERRATION FROM THE NIGHTLANDS

    ¡°Fire, use fire against them, tell your men to use torches and flaming arrows, they hate the sun because they only come out at night, so fire is the next best thing. Here we make our stand against the Aberration from the Nightlands and its horde of death.¡± Koronos commands his captain into action as reanimated skeleton warriors come ambling out of the night mist, gathering around the front gate of the fortress. Something darker than the mist is behind them, something very big with glowing red eyes.


    ¡°Y¡­ yes, sir!¡± The captain has been in many fights and doesn¡¯t fear combat, but this is something else entirely, so he¡¯s having difficulty masking his fear. Some of his men are terrified out of their wits and simply in the fetal position on the ground, weeping, vomiting or pissing themselves. The men that are still standing required copious quantities of liquid bravery in the form of many bottles of wine from the former warden¡¯s private stash to remain semi-functional. Something out there is emanating some kind of fear aura, even Koronos can feel but alcohol seems to dull the fear a little.


    ¡°And pray to whatever ancestors or gods you worship.¡± Koronos adds in as the captain is walking away.


    The big thing in the mist is the ¡®Aberration from the Nightlands,¡¯ it seems to be commanding or directing the skeletal warriors, this is a new behavior: for thousands of years, it was content to just feed on the occasional prisoner or guard, here and there. The thing is wreathed in black mist, or maybe composed of black mist, and seems to have an upper body, head and arms with long pointy fingers but no legs, only black mist beneath it. There are ancient protection wards on the walls and gate but it¡¯s very ancient and fading; it should otherwise be noted that the creature also has a newfound fervor to get inside. Some of the skeleton zombie warriors are carrying a battering ram and begin smashing it into the front gate.


    The creature was originally summoned from the Nightlands to kill The First, and the sword that Koronos now possesses is essentially a shard of her essence; and it hates the sword as much as it hated The First.


    On the command of Captain Korvax, the men on top of the wall begin raining flaming arrows down onto the horde. The arrows and bows are compliments of the armory and the former guards, naturally. Some of the men try to shoot at the Aberration but the arrows seem to be ineffective against it. The captain notices this, ¡°don¡¯t waste arrows on that monster, focus on the warriors with the battering ram!¡± Then he takes another swig from an animal bladder flask containing wine.


    Some of the reanimated dead warriors on the battering ram fall, but are quickly replaced, the gate begins to crack as a few of the horde managed to scale the wall and are starting to climb over, grabbing the men on the wall and pulling them over or running them through with decrepit, rusty swords. Kononos springs into action and starts cleaving the zombie warriors on the wall with his sword. When most of them are dispatched, he tries to throw his sword at the Aberration, he hits it right where the heart would normally be, but it didn''t seem to hurt it. It grabs the sword, but Koronos calls his sword back to his hand, the monster resists, holding it in its monstrous hand; now it¡¯s a battle of will power, koronos calls it with all his might and power, it finally breaks free of the monster¡¯s grasp and flies through the air returning to his hand. The monster screams and wails in frustration. Okay, throwing the sword is a bad idea, Koronos decides.


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    A loud cracking noise comes from the gate below, it has just given way, and the horde starts to enter the courtyard as the men scream and die. This carnage invites the Aberration to move in a little closer, the Sword of the First begins to pulse with energy, calling out to Koronos but only he can hear it calling. So, he shouts to his captain; ¡°Listen to me, captain! I must focus, no matter what happens you must hold the horde off me until I¡¯m ready, you must hold them!¡±


    ¡°Aye, sir!¡± says Captain Korvax as he kicks a skeletal warrior off the wall. ¡°May Light save us.¡± The last part was quieter and followed up with a shout to his men, ¡°men, form up around Koronos and make a perimeter!¡±


    Even though they are no longer professional soldiers, their training and experience kicks-in and they follow a command that they do not understand, because that is what a soldier does; hold onto that order in the face of certain annihilation with unwavering trust in their commander. The men do indeed trust Captain Corvax, he was the only thing they had in this awful prison colony to hold onto in their former lives, the only thing that gave them any kind of dignity.


    Koronos holds the sword towards the sky and begins channeling all his power into it causing the sword to glow brighter and brighter, pulsating in waves of energy. The horde begins to surround them and the Aberration comes through the gate below and starts grabbing men and ripping them in half or throwing them in the wall or ground as if they were mere toys. This place has majikal wards and spells, it does weaken the creature considerably but it is driven, so it pushes forward with one focus; get to Koronos. Inside the walls, the flaming arrows seem to hurt and slow it but it doesn¡¯t stop its advance.


    Captain Korvax feels like giving up but he sees the glowing sword getting brighter and brighter and Koronos standing there like a wall with his eyes closed, fearless even with all the screaming and carnage around him; this inspires the captain to continue on, ¡°hold men, we must hold!¡± As he smashes down skeletal warriors with fervor and fury with his heavy flaming torch made into a makeshift maul.


    The pulsating light gets brighter and more intense that it starts to shred the horde nearest to it, disintegrating them like a handful of dust being blown away. The Aberration is close now, it reaches for Koronos but the captain puts himself between the monster and Koronos; so, it grabs the captain in his monstrous hand and picks him up to look at him with pure hatred from the blackest pit of the Nightlands. It opens its gaping maw and gets ready to bite the captain in half, but the pulsating light of the sword starts to disintegrate half of its face, so it drops him to the ground.


    A sonic boom echoes through the night, emanating from above the sword, as a blinding ray of light pierces the gloom in the sky, blowing the clouds and fog away, knocking everyone down and totally obliterating the horde into dust.


    With his eyes glowing bright yellow and crackling energy all around him, Koronos says, ¡°I cast you out of my world and back to the Nightlands, from whence you came.¡± as the sky above him breaks open, to the other side; a rift in space and time to the Nightlands. This rift starts to pull the Aberration apart and into it, the monster screams and roars as the ground shakes. Then it¡¯s gone in a burst of light with the rift closing right afterwards, with a shockwave that blows the rest of the fog away from the valley and the shaking stops, the sword goes quiet, and the light and pulsating stops as well. Koronos falls to one knee, totally drained and exhausted.


    The men that are still alive begin to stand, awestruck at what they just witnessed; the impossible. Captain Korvax goes to help Koronos stand up, shouts to the men, ¡°he saved us all, our warlord saved us, let¡¯s hear it men, for Koronos!¡±


    Men cheer and shout, some fall to a knee whilst weeping, and begin worshiping Koronos as a deity.

 CHAPTER EIGHT: WORD SPREADS QUICKLY

    His men tell the tale in the alehouse at the village of High Point pass, it¡¯s the furthest, northernmost outpost of the Octavian Empire. From there, word spreads quickly across the lands, kingdoms and the Octavian Empire, word spreads of the impossible feat that Koronos accomplished and with how it was achieved: with The Sword of the First. When it eventually falls on the ears of Octavius, by the mouth of Calvion no less, the emperor becomes furious and kills some of his own guards in a fit of rage, it has been said.


    Within mere days of the banishment of the Aberration, green returns to the trees and plants in the valley, and the birds and animals start to return. It seems too quickly to seem possible, as if some power is affecting the environment; that power is Koronos. People of the more oppressed and impoverished areas and ethnicities come to the valley formerly known as the Cursed Valley, the people start calling it ¡®The Realm of Koronos,¡¯ and they simply call him ¡®The Miracle.¡¯ This motley group asks for permission to live within the borders of his lands; it is granted.


    Koronos has his men quickly refit the fortifications in the narrow valley pass that connects the fortress lands to High Point; it¡¯s a place where a few men with ranged weapons behind walls could hold back an army, because he may have to hold back an army soon. The farthest northernmost actual town in the Octavian empire is Castle Ridge, and it¡¯s only a few days¡¯ march. Koronos and Captain Korvax hold a meeting about this.


    Captain Korvax says to Koronos after he takes a drink from a goblet of wine, ¡°if they haven¡¯t already received orders to march on the fortress, then they soon will, sir.¡± He¡¯s an older burly soldier with a full beard and a face as hard and tough as nails.


    ¡°There is a garrison posted there with a company of soldiers, commanded by the notoriously cruel Lord Stone. I have never met him; I only know of him through his reputation.¡± Koronos says as they look over an old map of the region, rolled out on the officers¡¯ old dining table in the mess hall.


    Making a grumbling grunt noise, the captain adds, ¡°aye, I¡¯ve heard of him as well, nothing good either, sir. He gets his men killed in battle liberally, so rumor is that the emperor posted him way up here to get rid of him, essentially. Left to his own devices, he runs Castle Ridge like his own personal kingdom, as long as taxes are collected and sent to the capital, no one cares¡­ Likely a lot of his own men hate him, we could use this to our advantage, which gives me an idea. With your permission, I can send a man into Castle Ridge to do some espionage and offer the soldiers a deal. Would be nice if we could lure away some of his men before the fighting even begins.¡±


    ¡°What would this offer be?¡± Queries Koronos, interested in what the captain has to say.


    ¡°Better pay, better perks, like titles and land in the valley. Last I recall, the pay for an Octavian soldier was shit, and I doubt it¡¯s changed a whole lot in the past few years since I served in the legions. It turns out, I have the perfect man for the job, Sergeant Xavion.¡±


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    Koronos slaps the captain on the shoulder in a friendly gesture, ¡°do it, and since this is your idea, you work out the details of the offer and these titles.¡±


    With only a small window of opportunity, Koronos decides to do some scouting around the valley and the base of the mountains for anything to possibly hunt. This is when he sees it, a huge paw print of some large cat, a print the size of a dinner plate. He¡¯s only heard rumors of such an animal, it¡¯s a gigantic black pantera that stands at shoulder height of a man, from deep in the mountains and weighs at least 100 stone. It¡¯s thought to have been gone from these lands for hundreds of years. Somewhere out in the brush, he can ¡®feel¡¯ its eyes upon him, watching him. Koronos can sense a little about this animal, her name is Shelove and she is cautious, intelligent and curious. He tries to reach out with his mind to the animal to make mental contact; ¡°hello, I am Koronos and I mean you no ill will, my friend,¡± it startles her a little, so the impressive beast runs off into the foothills. She is fast. Of course, she doesn¡¯t understand words, the communication attempt was more with feelings, emotions and intentions, it¡¯s on a deeper level than mere words anyway.


    It is only a few days later when a scout of Koronos spots Octavian legionnaires arriving in High Point village. About half are calvary with Lord Stone in command, mounted upon an enormous black warhorse named Abyss. The lord earned his title in battle, he¡¯s a huge, muscular man that looks like he was forged in the fires of battle instead of being born as a babe to a woman. He even looks a little gray, to match his name: it¡¯s rumored that his family line has Kazarian blood somewhere in their ancestry.


    They have maybe a few days, at most, to prepare for an attack on the pass at High Point fortifications. Fortunately for Koronos, when I call it a pass; it¡¯s barely wide enough for a wagon that occasionally gives way to sheer drops on one side or both sides with treacherous jagged rocks below. In addition to that, as one approaches the fortified gates to the valley beyond, towering sheer cliffs on each side, perfect for raining arrows, rock and stone down on top of unwelcome guests.


    Captain Korvax and Koronos make the day''s ride to the gate of the mountain-pass to prepare for the imminent attack, along with fifty of the new residents that volunteered to help defend their new home. Four of them are there to protect Koronos as bodyguards from assassins, each one is a representative of the main ethnicity groups, more or less, from the valley. They are Pericles; the greatest swordsman in the valley, Hybornyesis; unmatched with throwing daggers, spear and the bow, Skullcrusher; he earned this title by crushing a man¡¯s skull with his bare hands, and the last is a true barbarian shieldmaiden named Corvannafax, renowned for her unarmed martial combat skills, she looks half Kazarian, but of the northern tribes of the hot desert regions of the Helfire Range. Her golden hair, yellow irises and reddish skin is the common appearance of the northern Kazarian people. The new residents of the valley are the people that aren¡¯t welcome anywhere else.


    Evidently the people elected a mayor of sorts, and this mayor decided this was best. Competitions were held to see who the best warriors were. The captain had them swear that they would take a blade or arrow to protect their warlord.


    Assassination attempts are not entirely uncommon, even for battle commanders, a warlord is an even bigger target, so Koronos reluctantly agreed.

 CHAPTER NINE: LORD STONE

    Once they reach the mountain pass gate, the enemy is already at the gate with Koronos¡¯ men raining arrows and rocks down upon them. Fortunately, Captain Korvax¡¯s plan had a modicum of success and about one third of Lord Stone¡¯s men defected, demoralizing the remaining men. It was mostly the foot soldiers but some calvary did defect, taking their horses with them. The enemy is the Octavian legionnaires, in a long column because that¡¯s the only way they can approach the gate. Far at the back, and well out of arrow range is the commander, Lord Stone, astride his legendary warhorse, ¡®Abyss.¡¯


    The legionnaires have men holding shields over the other men, while they try to use a battering ram to break through the fortifications. The raised shields offer them enough protection to make slow progress. Koronos briefly considers opening the gate and carving his way through to Lord Stone, but Captain Korvax emphatically disagrees because it¡¯s too many men, too many arrows, and too likely to become a human pincushion for arrows before he even would make it halfway. And he adds in, ¡°careful now Koronos, that sword is likely to make you overconfident and get you killed, sir.¡±


    Koronos nods to the captain in recognition of his wisdom. ¡°However, there could be another way, I understand that Lord Stone adheres to the old ways, and he may accept a battle of champions to settle the conflict. Signal the legionnaires for a parley.¡±


    The signal of a white flag is raised, it¡¯s acknowledged. Orders on the Octavian side are yelled out and the attacking men withdraw, but Lord Stone will not approach the gate within arrow range for the parley. Instead, his captain approaches halfway and waits.


    Captain Korvax says to Koronos, ¡°It will be me; I will go out and meet with his captain in the middle.¡±


    Koronos watches from the wall, and the negotiation is short and the men both walk away from each other back to their commanders. ¡°What¡¯s the answer?¡±


    The burly old captain looks displeased and says, ¡°He agrees, but there are terms; it must be you and him, no champions and it¡¯s to be hand to hand unarmed combat and without armor.¡±


    ¡°That''s smart, he doesn¡¯t trust any of his men to win and he has heard about my sword. Tell him I accept,¡± as he takes off his scabbard strap that goes around his chest, the sword it too long to wear on the hip. His bodyguards look collectively displeased and try to plead with him to not continue this course.


    A few minutes later, they are in front of the gate with his bodyguards standing down, Koronos hands Skullcrusher the sword to hold onto, it¡¯s still in the scabbard and Koronos warns him, ¡°do not touch the grip, only the scabbard, it¡¯s not meant for mortals to wield.¡± Skullcrusher looks like he never fears anything, but in this particular moment looks a little terrified to be holding the sword. All he can manage is a nod in acknowledgement of the command.


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    Captain Korvax is trying to give Koronos some last-minute advice, ¡°He might be a lord, but he is a soldier through and through, and battle-hardened as they come, to be sure. So do not for one minute underestimate him, sir.¡±


    Lord Stone and Koronos square off, looking each other in the eyes, unflinching. Both are only in breeches and boots, no top, no armor, and no weapons. They are both big muscular men of power and strength, each weighing easily twenty stone or more, and a head taller than most men. Up close, it¡¯s easy to see the Kazarian blood in him because he clearly has white irises.


    It¡¯s Lord Stone that speaks first, with a deep voice that sounds like gravel, ¡°I¡¯m happy to put a traitor down, the emperor should have never shown you mercy, I will not. There will be no quarter given here, nor will it be asked. This is to the death, you dog, your death. You should have gone back to your pathetic blue savages in the stinking mountains.¡±


    Koronos says nothing, he knows the lord is trying to get into his head to throw him mentally off balance.


    ¡°Instead, you will die here, alone, surrounded by strangers, strangers that think you¡¯re a freak, dog!¡±


    Unfortunately, the lord¡¯s tactic is starting to work, Koronos is getting angry and tries a leg-sweep maneuver, but it is easily blocked by the lord and is countered with a jab in the eye.


    Koronos, steps back a moment to gather his thoughts, then decides to play the lord¡¯s game, ¡°Yeah? well I heard the emperor sent you way up here to the ass-crack of the empire because you¡¯re a pitiful disgrace, and a shit stain on the integrity of the aristocracy. And your men hate you, that¡¯s why half of them came over to my side, the right side of history. That¡¯s why you agreed to this duel, because you don¡¯t have enough men to take the pass, they belong to me now.¡± It¡¯s not entirely true, it wasn¡¯t half, it was a third, but he exaggerated on purpose, to get under the lord¡¯s skin.


    ¡°How dare you? You bastard!¡± Shouts the lord and takes a wild swing with his first and misses because Koronos dodges it in a quick move.


    ¡°Well now, it looks like Lord Stone¡¯s skin is not so thick after all,¡± speaking calmly as he counters with an uppercut punch into the lord''s belly and a right cross to his jaw.


    The lord spits out blood and replies as he bull-rushes Koronos, grappling him and they both tumble to the ground, ¡°Thick skin or not, I¡¯m going to kill you, dog!¡± He makes a battle cry as he proceeds to punch him in the face as hard as he can, three, four, five times in a flurry of fists, punches that are hard enough to fracture any normal man¡¯s face and skull.


    This is the opportunity that Koronos was hoping for; the lord is off balance because of his rage, so Koronos uses his leg to knock the lord off of him, then is able to grapple him from behind, rotates so they are back-to-back, but he has the lord in a choke hold position and says, ¡°no quarter, your words.¡± With his own battle cry he drops to one knee while using his momentum and with a downward thrust, he breaks the lord¡¯s neck, killing him; the lord¡¯s body slumps to the ground.


    The men of the valley all cheer, and the word of what just happened quickly spreads down the column of legionnaires about the outcome of the duel. The battle is over.

 CHAPTER TEN: AWESTRUCK

    ¡°The battle may be over but the war is not, Octavius will not honor the terms of Lord Stone, you know this, sir,¡± Captain Korvax says to Koronos as they celebrate the victory of the battle back in the fortress mess hall with many the fighting men and as many people of the valley that can fit, the rest spills out into the courtyard of the fortress. ¡°The only option is to fortify even more.¡±


    ¡°Or we can attack, we march on Castle Ridge. Now that their commander is dead and a lot of their men are with us now, the garrison there is undermanned, they are a soft target, and it will throw Octavius off balance. No one even thinks for a moment that anyone would dare attack an Octavian city,¡± replies Koronos to the captain as he takes a liberal gulp of his wine-filled goblet. ¡°The nearest legion is weeks away, from what our spy can ascertain.¡±


    The captain starts talking about the fight Koronos had with Lord Stone, and he doesn¡¯t pay much attention after that because he is distracted. He¡¯s felt her presence for a few days now, Shelove has been watching him and following him; she¡¯s curious about him. She was watching his fight with Lord Stone from a cliff in the distance. He also knows she is in danger here, men will kill her because they fear her; and they should fear her because she¡¯s a powerful animal that can easily kill a man and the horse he is riding upon, if he was on horse. Speaking of horses, that magnificent warhorse named Abyss that formerly belonged to Lord Stone is now in possession of Koronos and in his stables. ¡°Enjoy, celebrate, captain. I want to take out Abyss for a ride and scout around a bit and I¡¯m more comfortable out in the brush anyway.¡±


    As Koronos takes Abyss through the high trails at the roots of the mountains, he feels Shelove is nearby. He knows she¡¯s not hunting him, or his horse. That¡¯s not why she is following him, she is curious about this strange man. She has senses far more acute than humans and knows there is something different about this ¡®man-thing¡¯; she can feel it, some power or aura radiating from him. His horse senses Shelove and gets nervous so he calms and soothes the steed, ¡°it¡¯s okay Abyss, she doesn¡¯t want to eat you, at least not right now. Either way, I won''t let her eat you at any point.¡±


    His bodyguards are following him at a distance, which took some convincing and they are not comfortable with being 40 paces away from him and he often falls out of view on the trails. But he knows they will spook Shelove, and he won¡¯t be able to get close enough. Being on Abyss won¡¯t help him get close either, so he dismounts and slowly walks ten paces towards Shelove, he knows where she is hiding in the brush, a normal person wouldn¡¯t know she was even there, but Koronos knows. Then he reaches out with his mind, ¡°hello again, Shelove. Come out, I won¡¯t hurt you, I want to help you because it isn¡¯t safe for you in the world of men, but you will be safe with me, I can protect you.¡±


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    She slowly moves out of the shadows; silent, huge and powerful. He can sense his horse is near panic at the sight of this huge predator, so he conveys, ¡°calm,¡± to the horse. The enormous black pantera and Koronos slowly approach each other, ever so slowly he reaches out his hand to touch her on the nose, she¡¯s never let anyone touch her before except for when she was a cubling, not man nor beast so she shies away a little bit, ¡°it¡¯s okay,¡± so he pulls his hand back to his side. He stands perfectly still, not in fear, not in a threatening way, simply neutral to demonstrate he is not a threat.


    She slowly circles him without making a sound, she wonders, ¡°what is this ¡®man-thing,¡¯ why is it so different, and why am I drawn to it? He certainly isn¡¯t very much to eat, like all men, and probably wouldn¡¯t taste very good anyway.¡± She¡¯s never eaten a man before because she doesn¡¯t like how they smell, so she figured they don¡¯t taste very good either, also, there¡¯s so little meat that it¡¯s hardly worth the effort. The next thing she realizes is that his hand is on her shoulder. This is not so bad, it is kind of nice, even.


    Koronos slowly pets her, ¡°there, see, I¡¯m not going to hurt you, Shelove. You should go back to the mountains, but if you¡¯re really curious about the world of men, come with me and I¡¯ll show you this strange world, and I¡¯ll protect you.¡±


    ¡°Someday I may return, but I will go with you for now.¡± She conveys to him. ¡°But I will never let you ride upon me like that silly undignified horse.¡±


    He laughs a little bit, ¡°It¡¯s okay, Shelove, that¡¯s why I have a horse. I would never expect you to carry me about, you¡¯re far too prideful and majestic for such trivial things. You¡¯re the queen of the mountains, where the wild things roam free and run like the wind.¡±


    From a distance, his bodyguard''s make the clearing and their eyes widen and jaws drop when they see the sight of this enormous black pantera being petted by Koronos, they are terrified, gobsmacked and awestruck at the same time.


    When they pass through the small village that has recently popped up outside the fortress, the people gasp at the sight of Shelove. Some people fall to their knees and pray, they pray to him because the huge cat is walking alongside him like a companion. A feat beyond mere mortals. Word of this spreads fast across that land like a wildfire being blown by the breeze across the prairie, lending to the legend of Koronos even more.

 CHAPTER ELEVEN: INTO THE HELFIRE

    Wasting no time, Koronos takes his men on a war campaign, they seize the village of High Point pass easily enough, without a battle. This is an important position for the army of Koronos for supply and communication logistics. They move swiftly, before Octavius knows of the defeat of Lord Stone.


    When they reach the scattered men that remained in Castle Ridge, the men surrender without a fight once they see they are far outnumbered and with Koronos astride their former lord¡¯s mount, Abyss, and with a giant black pantera beside him. Shelove is always close to him, she finds the world of men curious and frightening also, she conveys to him that she may or may not fight beside him, but she is interested in this strange warfare behavior of men, fighting over land that is free for all. Koronos tells her, ¡°you are wild and free, you can fight with me if you wish, or watch from afar, the choice is yours.¡±


    Although the Citizens of Castle Ridge are proud, they are also far from the seat of the empire and its cultural influence. They have heard the stories of Koronos, he was even known from before as a hero of the empire, and now he is marching against it, this has them conflicted. However, they form no real resistance against the occupation. Koronos makes sure his men understand this isn¡¯t a normal war, so no raping and burning settlements, some of the soldier''s kinfolk and families are here in this area.


    Inside Lord Stone¡¯s keep, Koronos and Captain Korvax discuss the next move, the former lord¡¯s captain, Halicarnassus, was amongst those that surrendered and joined forces with Koronos and is present at the meeting. Captain Korvax is straight forward with his council, as per usual, ¡°As soon as the emperor gets word that Castle Ridge has been seized, he will send four or five legions to take it back, that¡¯s ten times our current numbers, it will be a massacre. Even in a siege, they will still take the city in only a week¡­ or less. We simply don¡¯t have the numbers to hold back a host of that size, sir.¡±


    ¡°Still, it will take time to recall, form and mobilize a host of that size, then more time to march to here, our advantage is our mobility. I have a plan, captains, I won¡¯t reveal it yet because there may be spies of the emperor in our midst, it would be naive to assume otherwise. You must trust me, my only order that is to be known to you and the men is that we march south to Octavia,¡± Koronos says to his men, he is a powerful and mighty warrior but is also just as cunning as he is mighty. As he speaks, Shelove lounges on the rug and cushions, watching but not looking like she is paying attention, but she is always paying attention, she misses little. She is starting to understand their words because of her intelligence and her connection to Koronos, and through him she is learning quickly. ¡°Also, send a small group of men south, moving fast, their orders are to intercept and interrupt the supply lines of the legions, this will slow them down considerably, this is necessary for my plan to work.¡±


    ¡°Aye, sir, I¡¯ll send my best man, Sergeant Xavion,¡± says the captain, in a proud tone.


    Over the next two weeks, they march straight down the central valley of Omegaland, seizing all the small villages and towns along the way. Koronos is being sure to let it clearly be seen by all in what direction the army is moving, knowing full well that this information will be heard by the generals of Octavius. They reach the great city of Titans Forge, the place of industry and makes most of the armor and weapons for the empire. Koronos gives them a choice, surrender and open the gates in unconditional surrender, and all will be spared, otherwise the city will be razed in fire, and no one will be spared. This is a bluff of sorts because he isn¡¯t sure if they can break the city with a siege before the legions reach them. The city lords and leaders do not dare call his bluff though, and they surrender.


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    Once Inside the city, they burn all the industrial facilities, destroying off the military targets, cutting off any chance for resupplies to the legions of weapons and armor.


    This city was a strategic target for several reasons, the Helfire mountains are a day¡¯s march from the city walls, and he knows the mountains better than anyone. Normally, soldiers don¡¯t go through the mountains because they don¡¯t know the passes and it¡¯s too dangerous. In the cover of night, on the full moon, he takes his army into the mountains and pushes hard to the south with the plan of slipping past the imperial legions and dropping out of the mountains upon Octavia city, far behind them. But first, there is a stop off.


    Koronos rides into the edge of the largest and most powerful Kazarian village of his clansmen, the Thunderfel Clan, the chief is the mighty Kilokovo, the greatest warchief and warrior of these times. Shelove is beside him, like always. He shouts to them in their native tongue, ¡°I am Koronos of the Thunderfel Clan, I wish to speak to Kilokovo.¡±


    Now, Koronos is a big man, even amongst his own people, but Kilokovo is a half a head taller still and weighs in at twenty-eight stone. As the huge man walks into the clearing, to meet Koronos, the tribe gathers behind him. His bodyguards are uneasy about this meeting but have been ordered to stand down, no matter what occurs.


    ¡°After all these years, look what the cat dragged in; behold, it is our lost brother, Koronos,¡± Kilokovo says with a flat tone, while slowly shaking his head in disappointment. ¡°We thought you were dead, we mourned you, we had rituals to honor your loss, yet here you are, very much alive¡­ Why, why did you leave us?¡± Some of the kinfolk of Koronos start to advance but they are stopped with a hand gesture from the chief.


    Koronos looks a little hurt, ¡°it¡¯s not so simple, I wish it was¡­¡± And he goes on to explain the events of the past few years. He does not hold back that he is an Everliving, that would be dishonorable.


    Once he finishes explaining, Kilokovo replies, ¡°so, because of you, we are now all in danger of this emperor?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am sorry for this.¡±


    ¡°And you want us to help you fight him?¡± Kilokovo asks, with his arms crossed, obviously displeased.


    ¡°Yes, without your help, and I fail, he will set out to destroy the Kazarian clans systematically.¡±


    ¡°Then I shall see if you are worthy and test your mettle. But know this Koronos, honor dictates that it will be to the death or submission, and if you should fail, you are not worthy to follow. It will be with a spear and shield, so this shall be.¡± Kilokovo says this in a loud voice so that the clansmen can hear.


    ¡°So, this shall be,¡± says Koronos in agreement.


    A few minutes later, they are both in nothing but loin clothes, spear and shield, squaring off against each other. Shelove doesn¡¯t like this, but she reluctantly agrees to stand aside, no matter what events transpire. She conveys to him, ¡°try not to die, man-friend.¡±


    In a flurry of spear thrusts and swipes and blocks and dodging they fight, Kilokovo is nearly as fast as Koronos but is clearly more powerful in strength, making it an even and deadly match. Kilokovo says, ¡°before you left, you were never a match for me, it seems you¡¯ve learned some things in your long absence, I am impressed.¡±


    Koronos tries a maneuver and misses, this leaves an opening for his foe to crack him in the side of the head with the back of the spear shaft, knocking him to the ground. Kilokovo wastes no time, tosses his shield aside and jumps through the air with both hands on the spear to gain more power to drive the spear into his chest. Koronos quickly rolls to the side as the spear drives into the ground, then he rolls back the other way, snapping the spear head off. This surprises Kilokovo long enough for Koronos to take advantage of the moment and hits him on the face with a headbutt as hard as he can, stunning his combatant long enough for him to get behind him and put him in a chokehold. He knows the chief will die before he will ever submit, but he doesn¡¯t want to kill him either, so he chokes him out, Kilokovo finally loses consciousness and slumps to the ground, but is still alive.


    ¡°So, this shall be!¡± Koronos shouts to the tribal clansmen.

 CHAPTER TWELVE: OCTAVIA CITY

    As Koronos moves his army through the Helfire Mountains he gathers more and more Kazarian warriors to his cause. This is why he needed Kilokovo, without him at his side he would never be about to rally so many to his cause. It¡¯s a host of about one thousand, roughly half human and the other half is Kazarian, it¡¯s army like none other, and they quickly move through the various narrow valleys and passes. These pathways are unknown to outsiders, this is not because it is some great secret but because outsiders rarely tread there, and when they do, they are usually never seen or heard from again; they are either killed by the environment, a predator or a Kazarian.


    Traveling so quickly, the host reaches the foot of the mountains within mere days, this places them within a day from the great city of Octavia, this is where the emperor and the seat of the empire resides. Thus far they have moved so fast and stealthy that the enemy has no idea where they are. Five legions of Octavian soldiers march northward, many leagues away, believing they will confront an enemy host soon. In addition, the legions are slowed down because their supply chain is constantly being raided and interrupted.


    Koronos has no interest, nor does he have the time or the manpower to do a prolonged siege of the capital city, no, instead he has another plan. The city will be alerted that a host of one thousand is approaching, they will seal off the city, no doubt. So, he takes his personal bodyguards on a mission to infiltrate and open the city gates when the army reaches it, after all, his bodyguards are the best of the best. Unfortunately, such a mission is not for giant panteras, so he asks Shelove to stay behind.


    For security purposes, the city closes the gates at night and requires a security check and inspection to enter. In the cover of night, Koronos and his elite tactical team scale the outer wall easily enough, dispatch the patrols on top the wall silently. His army is coming behind them, but he has a few hours before they arrive, and the city raises an alarm. They move through the city silently across the rooftops, jumping across the narrow alleyway gaps until they reach his destination, the imperial palace. It crossed his mind to try to fight his way to the emperor¡¯s apartments, but it is highly secure, with a large number of guards and locked gates between him and Octavius, he couldn¡¯t make it there without being riddled with arrows from behind iron gates.


    However, the princess¡¯s chambers are not so heavily guarded, in addition, after his long stay in the palace, he has learned of ways to move through it undetected and how to get into the princess¡¯s chambers. She may have shown him how, for late-night secret romantic meetings.


    He enters the princess¡¯s chambers, there she is, lounging on her luxurious bed of pillows, silks and fineries. His bodyguards grab her handmaidens and cover their mouths with their hands to silence them from screaming and to prevent them from calling the guards. Cassi rises up on her knees, calling upon her telekinetic powers. Her various items, silks and things begin to slowly swirl about her, she is poised to fight with a bejeweled, elaborately decorated dagger in her hand. That is, until she sees Koronos, then a mix of surprise and a smile comes over her beautiful, lovely face.


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    ¡°By the gods, after you were sentenced, I thought I may never see you again.¡± she says to him while giving him a warm embrace. ¡°It would seem that Father Fate has a different destiny for you, and as good as it is to see you again¡­ what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve brought an army; they will be here in a few hours. I''m taking the city and I¡¯m going to kill your father because I have no choice, he will never stop hunting me and my people. If I succeed, this will leave a power vacuum in the empire, and you will be the new empress. I have no interest in ruling the Octavian Empire, I only ask that you leave my lands alone and leave the people of Kazar in peace.¡±


    Cassi weighs his words carefully before responding, ¡°Are you even sure you can kill him? He is very powerful, and it didn¡¯t go very well for you last time.¡±


    ¡°I do not know, but I must try, and I have the Sword of The First now, that may be enough to turn the tide in my favor. We shall see.¡±


    She looks at the sword on his back, ¡°mmm yes, I¡¯ve heard of this sword and the deeds you have accomplished, it¡¯s impressive and makes my father very jealous of you.¡±


    ¡°Do you agree to these terms, Cassi?¡±


    She thinks it over for a moment, never losing eye contact, beautiful eyes that see right through you, ¡°he can¡¯t be defeated, he¡¯s never been defeated. I think my father will kill you.¡±


    Roughly two hours later, bells start ringing throughout the city. Shortly thereafter, city-guards begin to assemble on the city wall, straining their eyes to see the army that approaches in the darkness, but their own torches ruin their night vision. The only light is from the moon, called Sleeping Dragon. It¡¯s called this because of the flame-like light they can see on the shadow side. It is said there are cities there and people used to cross over through ancient, majikal portals, but no one knows for sure because it was many thousands of years ago, when majik was more plentiful in the world.


    Unbeknownst to the guards, one of the side gates has a small tactical team that waits, hiding in the shadows. Koronos and his team step out of the shadows and move fast and swift, killing the guards in the gatehouse in mere seconds. The city of Octavia has about one hundred thousand citizens with five hundred guards, one hundred of which guard the imperial palace, but the guards are spread out over four gates. This is plenty of men to hold off an army of ten thousand from behind walls and gates, at least long enough for the legions to arrive, under normal circumstances.


    Guards on top of the wall get their arrows notched and ready in their powerful recurve bows, confident that they can hold off the invaders, because no one has breached the defense of the city for over one thousand years. To their collective surprise, they are horrified when they hear the gate below them begin to open and the enemy horde rush inside and proceed to kill them. It¡¯s a slaughter for the ones that don¡¯t surrender. However, many surrender at the mere sight of the mighty Kilokovo, a Kazarian that towers over everyone; after seeing him pick up soldiers and toss them like a child might throw an unwanted toy.


    Somehow, in all the carnage, Koronos finds and grabs Captain Korvax and they break off a company of men to head straight for the imperial palace while Kilokovo secures the rest of the city. Shelove enters the gate to quickly catch up to Koronos and goes with him, terrifying the city guards even more than they already were.

 CHAPTER THIRTEEN: OCTAVIUS

    There¡¯s fifty guards posted at the imperial palace front gate, it¡¯s made of heavy and thick iron. Koronos stands with his sword held over his head, channeling his inner Everliving power, his bodyguards use shields to deflect and block the arrows being shot at him by the imperial guards from behind the gate. After about a minute of channeling his powers, he unleashes it all in one burst from a focused energy beam that blows the front gate open and clean off the hinges, causing dozens of the imperial guards to go flying backward ten paces or so, likely killing some in the process.


    His men waste no time and rush in through the ruined gate and begin to dispatch the remaining guards, in a bloodbath of battle and carnage.


    Koronos runs into the palace, his four personal bodyguards behind him, they riddle any guards in the path with arrows. Shelove wants to see what happens next, so she follows along with fifty of his men.


    It¡¯s most likely the emperor is holed-up in his throne room because it can hold a lot of his men to guard and protect him, so that is where Koronos heads straight to. He kicks the doors to the throne room clean open, and there he is, Octavius, sitting on his throne, surrounded by dozens of guards. Many of them are holding recurve bows with arrows already notched and the emperor says, ¡°kill him!¡± They let loose but the four bodyguards of Koronos move in between the arrows and their warlord with shields, blocking the volley.


    ¡°Thank you, but hold back now, this is my fight, you are no match for him,¡± Koronos tells his bodyguards.


    Then the Kazarian throws his sword, it whirls through the air, cleaving and mowing down the guards in an arc through the room, but the emperor ducks and is the only one it doesn¡¯t hit. It continues its arc back to the hand of its master, Koronos.


    ¡°Incompetent fools!¡± The emperor shouts the words at the dead and dying men.


    Koronos throws his sword again, but this time, straight at the emperor. The emperor is fast and strong, so he catches the weapon right out of the air with impossible agility and dexterity, and he shouts, ¡°now it¡¯s mine!¡± Behind him, are his advisors huddling behind the throne, and Cassi is there as well.


    Now it¡¯s a battle of wills, Koronos calls the weapon back to his hand as Octavius tries to resist, the mental battle rages on as the emperor strains, but he looks at his daughter and manages to shout to her, ¡°kill him, Cassiopea, I command you!¡±


    She lifts up her hard, aiming it at Koronos and a vortex of air and begins to swirl around her hand and arm, but then she lowers her arm, ¡°no, father, you do it, if you can.¡±


    In this moment, the emperor feels weaker, he loses his grip on the Sword of the First and it whirls through the air back to the hand of its rightful master.


    ¡°You will pay for this treachery, deceitful little whore!¡± Octavius growls those words at her and then fires his lightning attack, using his full power at Koronos. Using the sword, Koronos deflects the lightning away and it arcs towards the ceiling, blowing part of the roof away, causing the whole palace to tremble. Next, the emperor starts to levitate as electricity and energy swirls all around him and his eyes glow and crackly with electricity as well.


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    With a portion of the roof blown off, Koronos calls to the birds of prey that are circling above the city to fly down and attack the emperor to throw his attention off balance, so he can close the distance between him and his enemy and swings his sword at the emperor, cutting him just below his rib cage, the cut would have been a mortal wound but the whirling lightning and energy is making a protective shield around him. In a fit of fury, the emperor yells, ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of you, nature-boy!¡± He then draws his own sword and drops to the ground, landing gracefully as a cat.


    Everliving versus Everliving in a flurry of sword attacks, parries and feints, a sword fight that makes crowds roar with bloodlust in the coliseums of the world. The emperor is still engulfed in his energy shield, protecting him from the hard blows that Koronos manages to slip past the emperor''s defenses. In a narrow moment of opportunity, the emperor manages to knock his opponent¡¯s sword from his hand, so Koronos has no choice but move in closer so the emperor cannot swing his sword, they tumble to the ground. Fortune favors the emperor, and he positions himself on top of Koronos, trying to push the edge of his razor-sharp sword blade into his neck. Even with all his might, Koronos can barely hold back the emperor¡¯s blade. Slowly, the emperor is overpowering Koronos and the blade moves bit by bit closer to its target.


    As the blade starts to greet the flash of his neck, blood seeps out of the cut, suddenly, Shelove bites down hard on the emperor¡¯s shoulder, tossing him through the air like a doll but he lands gracefully by tumbling and landing on his feet. She couldn¡¯t stand by and watch her friend die.


    Octavius shouts at the pantera with pure vitriol in his words, ¡°how dare you intercede with my kill!?¡± Beyond angry, he lets loose a blast of lightning at full power at Shelove, but Koronos has already quickly grabbed his sword and places himself in between them and deflects the blast, but this time he manages to direct it straight back at the emperor, only amplified with his own power, causing the lightning to turn from a pale blue to a yellow color upon the return. The blast is so powerful it punches clean through the protective energy shield of Octavius and blows his chest open and blasting him into the stone wall with enough force to crack it and plant his smoldering, ruined body there against it, thus causing his instant death. Polaris the Seer didn¡¯t foresee this, because the events of Everliving are shrouded in a metaphysical mist, as if the gods have made it so, and with a nexus event involving multiple Everliving, it was even moreso.


    Koronos walks up the throne, stands there looking at it, everyone waiting to see what he will do. Moments pass in total silence until finally he grabs the wrist of Cassi and raises her arm over her head, ¡°the old emperor is dead, hail the new empress!¡± She looks as shocked as everyone else but quickly regains her dignified, and haughty composure.¡±


    The Kazarians in the group of warriors understand what just happened even though they don¡¯t speak the language of men, they say together in the Old Tongue, ¡°exeh torheem na smeh!¡± Translated, it means ¡®so this shall be.¡¯


    He says quietly to the new empress, ¡°and I expect a treaty drafted and your imperial seal on it by this evening, only then will my army leave the city and return home.


    Arctaurus, terrified that Cassi is the new ruler, and how he crossed her, revealing her feelings to Octavias over Koronos, he throws himself prostrate at her feet, begging her forgiveness. She knows how valuable a powerful mindbender can be, so she accepts his apology.


    Cavion looks equally terrified because it was his plan that set all of these events in motion, even though Koronos doesn¡¯t know of this, he throws himself to the feet of the Kazarian nonetheless. ¡°Lord Koronos, I always knew of your greatness, it would be my great honor to serve you as an adviser.¡± Koronos nods in approval as Calvion looks at Cassi, tears in his eyes, silently begging her to not reveal his treachery to Koronos. She remains silent, knowing she may be able to use this knowledge to her advantage in the future.


    Word quickly spreads through the city of the fallen emperor as the day breaks over the seat of the empire, and a new day dawns.

 CHAPTER FOURTEEN: DANGEROUS WATERS

    After the treaty was ratified, Koronos has the Kazarians return to their mountain home. Kilokovo leads his warriors back home, he agrees not to loot and pillage villages along the way, and will go far around human settlements, and he is a man of his word, he would rather die before dishonoring himself. However, a few of the Kazarians decided to remain in the lands of men with Koronos. They chose to go to the new kingdom to learn about the ways of men, besides, they look to Koronos as their new chief. Legends of Kazarians will likely be even more so after the citizens witnessed Kilokovo firsthand, he''s for all practical purposes, a giant.


    Cassi, the new empress of the Octavian Empire, ¡®generously¡¯ offers to allow the army to use the Octavian imperial naval ships to be taken back to The Realm of Koronos. This was not out of the kindness of her heart; it was to get the horde of soldiers out of her lands as fast as possible. If they were to march back, they would have to cross the entire length of the empire, and since it¡¯s upriver, it would take four to five weeks. But by boat, even though it¡¯s longer distance-wise, it will take three weeks, if the weather is favorable. So Koronos accepts the offer.


    The warrior horde is broken up into five units of about 100 men each, aboard five naval vessels. The boats mainly stay within view of the coastline for easy navigation but there is a large area of reefs that go on for leagues, the waves are a little too big to sail through the area for fear of ripping a hole in the bottom of the boat hulls on the jagged reefs, so they sail out into open blue water to go around.


    It¡¯s out here in the open water that they encounter a mighty storm, with mountainous waves, towering over the ships. The driving gale-force wind separates the ships from each other, the lead ship, the Titan Queen, is blown off course, far out into the sea. This is the vessel that Koronos, Shelove and his bodyguards are on. Half the men get sea sickness from the raging waves, even some of the seasoned sailors get sea sickness; puking everywhere, and not always making it to the open deck to vomit over the side or conveniently into buckets. The storm is massive, something from epic tales, it rages on for three days straight, unrelenting, until they are hit with a rogue wave, a gigantic, towering wall of water, the stuff of legends.


    Sometime in the middle of the night, during the onslaught of the raging storm, the night watch helmsman is gobsmacked at the sight and frozen with a primal fear when he sees it, horrified as he clings hopelessly to the helm, it¡¯s a sailor¡¯s worst nightmare. Even if he could manage to yell, it¡¯s unlikely that anybody would hear him over the cacophony of the raging wind, hail, rain, thunder cracks and rumbles, and the crashing waves against the creaking wooden hull of the ship. Men tending the lines see it when it¡¯s all but too late. The gigantic wall of water crashes into the Titan Queen with so much force, it breaks her in half, as thunder and lightning rages all around.


    When the rogue wave hits, Koronos is in his own cabin, a cabin that is usually for the captain. He is trying to get much-needed sleep in his swaying hammock because he¡¯s exhausted from getting very little sleep these past days. Suddenly he is thrown from the hammock and across the room, anything that wasn¡¯t already tied down becomes debris and even some things that are tied down, because the lines that are holding it in place snap from the violent force of the wave. Water rushes in as the ship''s hull breaks away, filling the cabin with water in mere moments, and he is pulled down into the inky black water of the deep sea.


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    Taking one last deep breath, he grabs his only valuable possession; his sword and straps the scabbard belt across his chest with the sword on his back and starts to make for the surface but senses Shelove is in distress. He darts his eyes, struggling to see in the dark water but manages to find her; she is tangled in ropes and being pulled down ever deeper. Even though the pressure of the depth is starting to hurt his ears and the wind in his lungs is fast running out, he tries to free her, nonetheless. Using his dagger that he always keeps in his belt, he cuts the lines until at last, she is free, and they push for the surface as his vision starts to tunnel and darken from loss of air.


    Once at the surface he can finally breathe and gather his senses. They find some debris to cling to, Shelove struggles to climb up on the wreckage, but Koronos helps her up, up here she can easily maintain balance on her four legs in the raging storm. She can swim, but she senses danger below in the depths, there¡¯s something big down there. He senses her fear, so he manages to climb up as well and hold on to some boards as something big moves past their meager debris raft, in the lightning flashes he thinks he can see tentacles sliding past, big tentacles belonging to a massive kraken. He attempts to reach out to it with his mind, but it slams the mental door shut in his face, so to speak. It doesn¡¯t want to communicate with him, it doesn¡¯t like land-things, it is curious about them, but it is not friendly. For the next hour it circles around them, they see flashes and glimpses of it from time to time, but Koronos can feel it, even when it¡¯s out of sight.


    In the darkness, peppered with flashes of lightning, with one towering wave after another in the driving rain and hail, they see no other survivors. If there are other survivors, finding them in this hellacious storm is highly unlikely.


    Riding out the storm is all they can do, until the gray dawn approaches, this is when they see land in the distance. They search the dark water with their eyes, Shelove¡¯s eyes are better suited for the dark, they look for signs of the sea monster. He reaches out with his mind to it but finds no mental sign of its presence. He says to Shelove, ¡°I don¡¯t sense it anywhere¡­ It¡¯s now or never; if we wait any longer, I may not have the strength to make such a swim, or we might drift past the land and further out to sea again.¡±


    She jumps in first because she trusts him, and they make for the shore with their last remaining strength. It¡¯s a thirty-minute swim in choppy water, neither of them has ever had to swim so far, the only positive thing is that it¡¯s easier to stay afloat in saltwater than the fresh waters of mountain lakes and rivers that they are both accustomed to. As they crawl onto shore and pass out from exhaustion on the cold, wet sand of the beach, they think it¡¯s the most comfortable place they have ever slept. Sunshine comes through the clouds as the relentless storm finally breaks. But, after days of being blown by gale force winds, they could be hundreds of leagues from where they were when the storm hit. Where are they now?

 CHAPTER FIFTEEN: BEAST ON BLACK SAND

    Koronos awakens mid-day on the cold, damp black sands of the unfamiliar beach. Shelove is lying snuggled against his back for warmth, her eyes open when he stirs. Strange and unrecognizable animal calls echo from the nearby dark and foreboding forest. Far inland in the distance, there is a huge mountain shrouded in mist. ¡°We are on a distant shore, Shelove, we must be cautious and vigilant here. We know not friend from foe in these lands¡­ If there be friends at all.¡±


    She expresses concern through their mental bond. Unfamiliar smells in the area, a predator''s territory, danger. So, he pets her, to sooth her, ¡°we have little choice, we have nowhere else to go. We need to figure out where we are, then find out how to get back home and look for any other possible survivors of the shipwreck.¡±


    After carefully searching the area, they find a puddle of fresh water that doesn¡¯t look too dirty and drink liberally because they are parched from having nothing to drink all night in the open ocean. He finds a straight enough stick that is strong and sturdy, from this stick he fashions a spear using his belt dagger for the pointy end. Then he continues to address his animal companion, ¡°by my estimate, given a whole night of being tossed and blown by the storm, they could be scattered over a hundred leagues, assuming the kraken didn¡¯t get them. That¡¯s an area the size of the Octavian Empire¡­ we may never find them. And after three days in the churning maw in the storm, being carried by the high-speed winds in a roughly westerly direction, we could be 500 to 1000 leagues across the sea, far from our home on Titans. If there is no civilization on these lands that are seafaring, we may never get back home, Shelove.¡± As an alarming animal call echoes through the forest, sounding like a low baritone rumble, so low in tone that they can feel the vibrations all over their bodies.


    ¡°I know not what animal could create such a sound, but my intuition tells me it¡¯s something very large, and whatever it is, I believe it has caught our scent.¡± The Kazarian senses that the call was a warning to them, that it is the lord and master of this area, and they are unwelcome intruders. Somehow, it knows that the scent of Shelove is the scent of a rival predator, and it doesn¡¯t like her, it hates her. Shelove scans the treeline with her bright yellow eyes, she¡¯s afraid.


    About 200 paces away, it emerges from the treeline, it looks like the cross between a flightless bird and a lizard, standing two men-and-a-half tall on two legs, covered in feathers with stripes and patterns adorning its body, looking like it weighs about 2000 stone. Its mouth looks big enough to bite the body of a horse in half or toss it like a toy. Koronos manages to utter quietly to himself, ¡°by the gods.¡± Closely followed by, ¡°it¡¯s time we move. Quickly, into the forest.¡±


    For the rest of the day, until darkness encroaches, they make haste, and go further inland, climbing higher and higher in altitude up the misty mountainside into the vast, ancient coniferous forest where the trees grow into giants towering far overhead, and the trunks as big around as houses. They are able to easily out-pace the beast, leaving it far behind, but how far will it pursue them, where is the edge of its territory? They cannot be certain, so they push on unto the darkness, it¡¯s difficult for Koronos to see, so he uses his bond with Shelove to help guide him in the dim light of the towering, black forest.


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    They push on until they grow too weary to continue much farther, when they come across a small nook in the rocks and under some giant roots of a tree that can provide a modicum of shelter for the rest of the night. Making a fire is unwise and likely to provide a beacon for the beast, if it is still tracking them. So, they huddle in the cold darkness, silent, and try to sleep with one eye open for the few remaining hours before daybreak with bellies growling from hunger pains. If they can¡¯t find proper shelter and food soon, they will perish, because they can¡¯t keep this up for much longer.


    Once daybreak comes, they continue, but the mountain is getting too steep to continue upwards, so they start to work their way around the mountainside in the highlands, until they encounter a wall, a crude wall constructed of tree trunks that stands at about the height of four men. It appears to be a settlement of some kind. Who resides within these walls? After thinking it over, Koronos decides to approach, because they can¡¯t continue out here as things are, and he needs answers as to where they are. Perhaps the ones that reside here have answers?


    There is a small clearing around the structure, and a place that seems to be the entrance, with a heavy wooden gate or door structure. So, he stands in the clearing in front of the door, in clear view, standing relaxed with Shelove next to him, she is sitting on her haunches. Here they wait, giving the denizens within time to assess them, hopefully seeing they are not there to cause harm. There are slits in the walls and in the door, eventually someone will look out and see them, and they do.


    After about 30 minutes, there is a commotion behind the door, until finally, the door opens. A strange sight steps out, it¡¯s a great white gorilla adorned with tribal beads and feathers to display his importance in the community, holding a decorated spear with a finely knapped obsidian spearhead. He looks like he weighs about 300 stone of power and muscle and is as tall as the Kazarian. Four more white gorilla warriors come out and flank the chieftain on each side of him, each nearly as impressive as the chieftain and holding spears of their own. Youngling gorillas peak over the top of the wall, to observe the strange sight of a blue-skinned man with a giant black cat. They have never encountered a Kazarian or anything like Shelove, nor have they even heard tales of such creatures.


    Koronos and the gorilla chieftain immediately sense each other, the chieftain doesn¡¯t understand what it is and is confused. His warriors have never seen their chieftain display uncertainty and begin to look at each other, looking to see if the other warriors notice it, searching for affirmation of their unbelievable observations, but the Kazarian knows what it is, he¡¯s felt it many times before. The gorilla chieftain is Everliving.

 CHAPTER SIXTEEN: WHERE AM I?

    Koronos first tries communicating in the Old Tongue with the ape-tribe chieftain, the chieftain seems to recognize the words, but makes hand gestures in response and the Kazarian doesn¡¯t understand. The ape-tribe denizens might have enough animal nature in them for Kornos to use his special powers to communicate empathically, so he makes an attempt. Between the Everliving link and his special powers, he does manage to convey his intentions well enough to put the chieftain at ease.


    ¡°I am Soulseeker, these are my people, we are the Meibon, people of the forest.¡± Soulseeker conveys this through their empathic bond.


    ¡°And I am Koronos Thunderfel of Kazar, this is my animal friend named Shelove,¡± conveys in return.


    By now, a young woman emerges from inside, she is very dark-skinned, with wooly blond hair in many long braids, with eyes colored like the pale stormy sky. Soulseeker makes a series of hand gestures to her, then she speaks in the Old Tongue, it¡¯s a heavily accented version and difficult to understand, however, Koronos can still make out eighty percent of her words. ¡°I am Nombi. Are you a human, we have never seen your like before?¡±


    ¡°I am not a human man, but I am a man, of the people of Kazar,¡± the young woman is translating for the chieftain, so Koronos maintains eye contact with Soulseeker and addresses him directly. ¡°We were on a boat at sea and caught in a storm, the boat was lost, we swam ashore here, wherever here is.¡±


    After a series of hand gestures, Nombi says, ¡°the humans¡­ I mean, my people call this White Bay Island, it¡¯s the southernmost island in a long chain of islands spanning across the sea. The Meibon have no measurement for such distances, but humans would say it¡¯s many thousands of leagues, it loosely connects Titans with Runheim. Runheim is where my people are from, it is known.¡±


    Koronos makes a note of her adornments, it¡¯s an assortment of the Meibon style beads mixed with bronze and silver jewelry with engravings of interwoven knotworks and patterns. The latter must be metalworks from her people. None of the Meibon have metalworks of any kind, save the headdress of Soulseeker; their spearheads, knives and arrowheads are made with black volcanic glass. She is also wearing woolen clothing, the Meibon only wear many layers of draped beads, not for warmth because they have white fur to stay off the chill of the mountain air.


    Soulseeker makes more hand gestures, then she speaks once more, ¡°come in, rest, warm yourself by our fires, we do not eat meats, but we have bread, nuts and berries.¡±


    Later, after Koronos has rested and fed, Soulseeker approaches, sits across from the Kazarian, and communicates through the Bond, ¡°why are you so different, I sense some halo orlight around you, are you a forest god? And how can we talk like this, I can¡¯t do this with anyone else?¡±


    ¡°We are the same, or similar in the part of being Everliving, and it also has to do with my special powers, I can communicate with animals, I think somehow this Bond is being amplified because of you being an Everliving, or perhaps it¡¯s because you are more intelligent than most animals, or maybe it¡¯s a combination of all of these elements,¡± Koronos says thoughtfully through the mental bond as he pets a sleeping Shelove lying next to him, she¡¯s exhausted and hungry. She can¡¯t eat bread to sustain herself, she requires meat. She will need to hunt soon.


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    Soulseeker looks at Shelove with concern, but Koronos responds, ¡°I told her that she mustn¡¯t eat any of your people, and she won¡¯t; besides, she is particular about what she likes. She likes deer and things like that, however, tell your younglings to not touch her, it would be unwise. I enjoy meats, but not as much as I used to, not since my special powers manifested. Unlike Shelove, I can survive off the foods your people eat.¡±


    ¡°We are not hunters of meat, we use weapons to defend ourselves from humans and beasts in the forest, so I am sorry we have no meat for your animal friend,¡± Soulseeker conveys. ¡°What are we, this Everliving, do we live forever?¡±


    Koronos looks pensive for a few moments, then replies, ¡°I do not know if we live forever, we do live a very long time, many lifetimes of men. We can die, I can personally attest to this. I believe we are born with a special purpose that only the gods understand. The longer we live, the more powerful we become. It seems that we each have different abilities, but it¡¯s possible for some of us to have more than one ability. I have seen this with my own eyes, so it¡¯s possible, I believe, that some of us may have the abilities of another Everliving. Being Everliving does not automatically imply greatness though, from what I have seen.¡±


    Soulseeker, thinks for a few moments, ¡°I do not seek greatness, I only wish to protect my people and keep them safe.¡±


    ¡°And that, Soulseeker, is what makes you great, in my opinion,¡± Koronos conveys as he grabs another piece of bread to eat.


    Then Nombi joins them and finds a comfortable seating position, ¡°you have questions about the men of this land?¡±


    ¡°I do, but you are human, how did you come to be here?¡±


    She looks at Koronos but her eyes are not focused on him, they see past him into memories, ¡°sometimes after the spring thaw, the people of Little Rock Island, that¡¯s the small island in the bay here, they come to the main part of the island to collect mushrooms and springtime foods, setup traps to catch game for furs and the like. It¡¯s not uncommon for the women to bring their little ones on their backs. I was very young, and I don¡¯t remember much, but something caused me to become separated from my family, I was lost in the forest. And I would have certainly perished had a small group of Meibon not found me. They brought me back here and raised me for some years. This is how I learned their way of hand gestures. Finally, it was decided they should try to return me to my people. It was spring gathering time for my people, the Meibon brought me close to the human camp, and sent me to them. Doing this without making contact with them, the humans and Meibon do not have a very good relationship.¡±


    Listening with mild interest while snacking on the bread and popping berries in his mouth, the bread is tasty and more interesting to the Kazarian, his eyes begin to get heavy and start to close and he yawns. ¡°Okay, that still doesn¡¯t explain what you¡¯re doing here.¡± Yawning once more as he says the word ¡®here,¡¯ leaning back on some large woven baskets.


    She starts to continue the explanation in her calm, monotone fashion, ¡°After more years came to pass, until finally when I came of age, my father promised me to a wealthy merchant. I was to be his third wife, and¡­¡± but soon realizes that the Kazarian guest is fast asleep.

 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: CHASE THE SETTING SUN

    Koronos sleeps for many hours in the middle of the Meibon village, the young ones stare at him in fascination, until they are gathered up by their respective mothers and ushered away from him. Amongst the enormous, towering trees, the great white apes of the village go about their daily routine, only slightly disrupted by the presence of their sleeping, strange blue-visitor. At some point, Shelove makes her way out of the front gate to hunt deer, and the denizens of the village give her a wide berth.


    Although it is unfamiliar territory, and she must remain ever vigilant for the island¡¯s apex predator, she is successful because she is a highly skilled and attuned hunter, and she feeds at last on a large deer, then returns with a full and satisfied belly full of meat but the gate is closed. She scratches at the gate to let the denizens that reside within know she has returned. Within a moment, they open the gate and step clear to let her pass. They were looking for her return. She finds her Kazarian friend and curls up next to him.


    He awakens from her presence but doesn¡¯t immediately rise, he gathers his wits and thinks about the next course of action. After a bit, and with Shelove being fast asleep, he rises and seeks out Nombi. He finds her weaving a basket from natural fibers from locally sourced materials; she is sitting with three Meibon, each of whom are also making baskets. They have a small campfire in a stone circle with a clay pot brewing some sort of broth or herbal tea, suspended above it on a tripod composed of sticks.


    The group welcomes him and offers him some herbal tea, which he graciously accepts. They politely ask him questions about where he is from and what it¡¯s like there, how he came to have a giant black cat. He obliges them and regales them about where he comes from and tells them that he is a leader of a nation. After they seem satisfied with certain details using Nombi as a translator, he then asks, ¡°this human village, are they sailors, do they have boats to cross the water?¡±


    In her heavily accented but sweet voice, Nombi respectfully replies, ¡°my people sail the open sea, and there is one boat that can cross the deep blue, it¡¯s the Lucky Lady, but I do not know if it¡¯s docked at Little Rock, no other boat sails this far south in the island chain. You should make haste, because soon, the bay will freeze for winter and it won¡¯t sail until the warmth of spring returns, to free the waters of the sea ice. It is a two-to-three-day journey from here, then you have to find a way to get out to Little Rock Island. The dory I used to flee with might still be pulled up onto the shore where I left it, unless my father came to retrieve it.¡±


    ¡°I see, how many stone can this dory hold?¡± Koronos says as he looks over at the sleeping Shelove, he knows she¡¯s roughly the weight of nine or ten men.


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    Nombi thinks for a moment, then cautiously answers, ¡°I do not know, but it is the length of three men and a bit standing, it took everything I had just to pull it up on the shore a few paces and that was with it empty. I did not turn it over, so it will be filled with water from the rains, which is good; one must avoid allowing a boat to dry out or it will leak water when it returns to the waves, this is known.¡±


    He nods, listening to the information, the Kazarian is unfamiliar with watercraft and sea life. ¡°It may be large enough then. How did you cross the island without being eaten by the huge beast that roams these lands?¡±


    She calmly and thoughtfully responds, ¡°There are several but one is the dominant one, it hunts in the daylight and mostly in the lowlands, night is the safest way to travel across this land, this is known. That is why I waited for the time of the month for Sleeping Dragon to be its fullest and brightest, and I stayed in the highlands as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°You are wise and clever; this knowledge will be of use to me. I thank you.¡± Koronos says to her, now seeing her for the first time as he stands, ¡°Nightfall fast approaches, I will seek out your people and attempt some negotiation for passage, because I have no coin in my possession at this time.¡±


    ¡°Here, take this; maybe you can exchange it for passage or sell it to get coin for passage.¡± She pulls off one of her silver bracelets and offers it to him. He accepts it, unsure how to respond to her generosity.


    ¡°Also, one moment.¡± She she says as she quickly assembles some food and places it in a woolen blanket, forming a bundle for him to put over his shoulder, ¡°Here is some bread and berries for your journey, chase the direction of the setting sun, you will encounter the place where the land meets the sea, from the black sands you can see Little Rock easy enough, unless the fog rolls in. Gods-speed, master Koronos.¡±


    ¡°Once again, thank you.'''' He looks her in the eyes as he speaks, then looks around at the village, even though they are not like the Kazarian people, it reminds him a little bit of his old life in the Helfire Mountains, and he finds some comfort in this.


    From somewhere in the village, Soulseeker seems to appear from nowhere, as if from the shadows. In fact, he did appear from the shadows, literally; he wasn¡¯t there, then he stepped from a shadow and was suddenly there. No one else seems to think anything of it, it would seem that they are accustomed to this occurrence.


    ¡°Perhaps this is his Everliving power?¡± Koronos thinks to himself but doesn¡¯t speak it aloud.


    Soulseeker makes a series of hand gestures, Nombi translates it into words, even though Koronos knows what the chief conveyed, because of the Bond, but she doesn¡¯t know, ¡°may you find your way home, wherever it may be, over the seas, on distant shores.¡±


    With a nod, the Kazarian turns and calls for Shelove, who was already halfway paying attention and watching with one eye, she quickly joins him at his side. Shadow of the dusk descends upon the land as they slip out of the gate into the darkness of the giants of the forest, chasing the place where the sun hides each night.

 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: LITTLE ROCK ISLAND

    Through the night they go forth, fast moving shadows in the darkness trying to cover as much ground as possible without being noticed or delayed. Although the Kazarian can see in the low-light better than humans, he still uses the Bond with Shelove to guide him over the treacherous, mountain terrain, because her vision is even better in the darkness; getting an injury now would be catastrophic, so it¡¯s better to be cautious and use every advantage at his disposal.


    They come across scattered patches of snow, showing them the rapidly oncoming wintry season that will soon grip the land, and they see something else; a large bear paw print in a snow patch, it¡¯s likely out trying to put on as much fat for its hibernation. This bear is likely as big as anything he¡¯s ever seen in the deepest parts of the Helfire Mountains of his homelands, Koronos estimates that it stands about the height of more than two men when it stands on its hind legs. It would seem the bears rule the highlands, and the giant bird-beast rules the lowlands in this place. He thinks to himself, ¡°If and when men move onto these lands, they will likely kill all of these majestic creatures and try to tame this rugged, wild wilderness, cut down the forest and raise sheep here.¡± It wasn¡¯t spoken but nonetheless, Shelove understands it because of the Bond, and she doesn¡¯t like the thought, not one little bit.


    ¡°When we get back to my lands, I promise to leave the mountains of my realm wild and free for you and your kind. The lowland and valleys will be for people, the mountains and highlands for non-people,¡± he reassures her, as they run through the dark forest. She is pleased with this idea.


    Through the bond she conveys to him, ¡°the more I see of the world of man, the more I dislike it.¡±


    He shows his solidarity by saying, ¡°I couldn¡¯t agree more, Shelove, I couldn¡¯t agree more.¡±


    By the early gray dawn, they reach the black sands of the shores, out in the fog and mist, he can vaguely see the outline and silhouette of an island about a half of a league out in the small bay of the larger island. So, they start searching along the shoreline for the boat that Nombi spoke of, hoping it is still here somewhere. After searching for nearly an hour, they finally catch a break in their fortunes and find the boat. It¡¯s filled with water as she predicted, making it extremely heavy, but the Kazarian is mighty; he pushes it over with all of his strength, dumping out all the water onto the cold, black sand. After dragging the boat into the water, he invites Shelove into the boat, she reluctantly joins him and the two of them are nearly too heavy for the watercraft. Fortunately, the waves are calm this morning, so he doesn¡¯t have to worry about being swamped if he''s careful. ¡°I know Shelove, we haven¡¯t had much luck with boats as of late, but this is the only way for us to leave this place and make it back to our homelands.¡±


    Koronos rows for about a half hour before reaching the docks of the small rocky island. Some fishermen are readying their own boats to check their crab traps and give them curious looks. One of the young men is pointing at them, before an older one slaps his pointing hand to make him stop pointing, possibly his father or uncle.


    The man that slapped the younger man¡¯s hand is a dark-skinned older man with a beard and long mini braids in his graying hair. yells out to the approaching strangers in the Old Tongue with the same accent as Nombi, ¡°Greetings stranger, I¡¯m Cyron,¡± and he throws them a line, pulls them to the dock and helps Koronos tie off the boat. He follows up with, ¡°is your beast safe?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Koronos of the Thunderfel clan, and yes, Shelove is safe, as long as you stay clear of her, she doesn¡¯t like eating people.¡± He says as he takes Cyron¡¯s offered hand in a friendly handshake. ¡°And I¡¯m seeking boat passage to search this island chain and ultimately to Titans, but at this moment, some wine and a hot meal will suffice.¡±


    Cyron gestures in the direction as he speaks, ¡°aye, the former might prove difficult, but the latter is likely, there is a tavern and inn right yonder, the first building off the docks.¡±


    As they walk to the tavern, a stray dog starts barking at Shelove, she hisses at the dog, and it runs away with its tail between its legs as it wimpers.


    ¡°Shelove, we are in an unfamiliar place, try not to terrify the locals.¡± He tells her simply, it¡¯s not a command and he pets her.


    In the front of the tavern, some fishermen are gathered, smoking tobacco while trading fish stories, but they stop talking when Koronos and Shelove reach them, and they simply step back, way back. because Koronos alone is imposing enough, but with a giant black cat next him, it¡¯s simply beyond their frame of reference. Koronos simply nods at them and says, ¡°morning.¡± One of the men drops his pipe out of his mouth. Only one of the trio of men manages to mutter a greeting back.


    Shelove barely fits through the entrance, Koronos briefly thought about having her wait outside, but then decided that could be much worse leaving her outside and unattended in a strange and unfamiliar town. Inside it¡¯s dark with the only light entering through a few glass covered windows and a central firepit. There¡¯s a young tavern maiden sweeping the wooden floors and she simply freezes when she sees them enter the space and her jaw drops. A few patrons are at tables eating their morning porridge and they also freeze and stop conversing. Total silence falls over the space within.


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    After a few awkward moments of silence pass, the tavern maiden manages to get out her words, after stuttering and fumbling, ¡°h¡­ g¡­ I mean, greetings mister, um¡­¡±


    Shelove pays them no mind, she curls up by the fire for warmth as if totally unconcerned, because she is, so Koronos takes his sword off of his back, leans it against a laid bearing post, and takes a seat at the table next to where she lies and he replies, ¡°thank you, who can I speak to about passage off the island?¡±


    The tavern maiden looks over to the table with the gawking men, ¡°um, uh, they might know.¡±


    The men she gestures to are still silently staring, frozen and gawking, but finally, the burliest and oldest amongst them gathers a semblance of wits and speaks, ¡°aye, that might be a problem because the Lucky Lady is finished sailing for the season, I¡¯m her captain. But for enough coin, you might convince ole Hidgken to charter her out to you, and you¡¯ll need thirty men to sail her, but it might be cheaper to buy a boat. That is of course, if there was one for sale on the rock.¡± After a brief pause, he continues, ¡°you¡¯re one of the blue men from the Helfire Mountains, are you not?¡±


    ¡°I am, my name is Koronos.¡±


    The burly man nods,¡°I saw one of your kind once, when I was in Octavia City, many years ago. I saw her fight in the arena¡­ was a sight¡­ And I saw the emperor himself there in his imperial pavilion.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see him there no more.¡±


    The boat captain is even more interested now, ¡°oh? Have you news of Octavia, why will he not be seen anymore?¡±


    ¡°I killed him and made his daughter, Cassiopeia, the new empress.¡±


    Some time passes as he tells the tale of how he killed the emperor of the Octavian Empire and came to be on this island, the part about the white gorilla tribe and Nombi slips past his lips, and he immediately thinks perhaps he should have omitted that part. Showing great interest in the last part of the story, the boat captain takes him to meet the owner of the Lucky Lady, Hidgken.


    Hidgken is also the leader of the community and lives in the biggest, fanciest house on the rock that is more like a great hall. The boat captain has Koronos wait a few moments outside the gate while he goes inside, but after a few minutes he returns and escorts the Kazarian in. Once inside, Koronos meets the boat owner, he¡¯s a portly, older man, dark-skinned like everyone else on the island, with a blond beard but a shaved bald head and they make introductions and have horns of mead, honey wine, filled by his two, pretty wives. Hidgken tries not to stare at Shelove curled up on the floor beside Koronos.


    ¡°I want to charter your boat; however,I don¡¯t have much coin on me, but I¡¯ll pay you when I reach my realm or possibly a special trade agreement.¡± Is what Koronos says, attempting to strike a bargain with the merchant.


    Hidgken takes a generous gulp of mead from a carved drinking horn, stalling as he thinks of his next words, ¡°I think not, may payment could be many months away, if ever. The seas are perilous, especially this time of year, as you have already discovered. If I were to even consider such an agreement, I would need a substantial deposit up front, but as you have stated, you have no coin¡­ But perhaps we can make another arrangement?¡±


    Koronos doesn¡¯t speak and waits.


    ¡°Those savages over there on the big island stole my bride-to-be, I know it. I¡¯m rich, so why wouldn¡¯t she want to be my third wife? Bring Nombi back to me, you know where she is, I hear,¡± the merchant says as he glances at his boat captain for the last part.


    Koronos looks at Hidgken without expression, then replies, ¡°not all women lust for treasures or care for such things, Nombi is one such woman, she is too good for the likes of a soft, lazy merchant, such as yourself. It¡¯s clear that she doesn¡¯t want you. So, my answer is, no, because you¡¯re a fool.¡±


    Hidgken¡¯s face twists into rage, but he quickly remembers how big Koronos is and looks at his giant black cat, he¡¯s not sure if his men could defeat such a warrior and he certainly does have the skills to personally confront him with violence. He leans his head back and he takes a deep breath because he¡¯s not used to someone saying no to him, he¡¯s used to always getting what he wants. ¡°I see, since you won¡¯t accept this, allow me to propose another. There is a witch on the big island, she or whatever it is is big and always in a black cloak, this witch can walk through shadows from place to place. The witch is what keeps my people from living on the big island, we could kill the big beasts there, with traps and things, it¡¯s the witch. It only allows us to utilize the western shore, it won¡¯t let us go inland. However, you were on the island and the witch didn¡¯t bother you, so you can easily go back there. Find the witch, kill it and I¡¯ll take you off the island.¡±


    Koronos immediately knows it must be Soulseeker that the merchant is talking about. He must be pretending to be some kind of witch to frighten the locals, protecting the island from destruction by foolish, greedy men. However, he¡¯s careful to mask his expression, remaining stoic and stone-faced, to reveal nothing. He doesn¡¯t approve of lies and has no intention of killing Soulseeker, so he says, ¡°I¡¯ll find the witch if there be one.¡±


    Hidgken does a wicked, victorious grin, ¡°good, good, so it¡¯s agreed. Once you take care of that, I¡¯ll have my men retrieve Nombi, and eliminate the white gorilla savages, should be easy enough without the witch there, we have the numbers, afterall.¡± With no intention of sailing until spring, he believes he¡¯s fooling the blue stranger; he¡¯s not about to risk his ship. All he has to do is delay long enough until the sea-ice comes, then they have no choice but to wait, then sail in spring, which he always does anyway.


    Koronos considers threatening this man to leave the village alone, but there is no way to ensure that the merchant will leave them alone once he leaves this place. He also briefly considers killing him, but this isn¡¯t really his fight, this isn¡¯t his people, this isn¡¯t his lands, and he¡¯s not willing to start murdering people; he¡¯s a warrior with honor, not an assassin. So, he simply stands and nods, then walks on out, followed closely by Shelove.

 CHAPTER NINETEEN: KAZARIAN鈥橲 ADMONITION

    Unsure what to do next, Koronos goes back to the tavern to think while staring at the flames and embers in the fire pit. After some time of being lost in thought, he hears a commotion outside, so he goes out to investigate and sees Hidgken standing on a half-barrel, shouting to the men that have gathered around.


    ¡°... And furthermore, this menace of the ape-tribe must be stopped! They stole away one of ours, they stole our dear Nombi!¡± Hidgken shouts to the mob of men and women, they shout after him, in agreement. He continues, ¡°this one is a great warrior, he killed the God Emperor Octavius, so he can surely kill one little witch, then we should finish the job, kill all of those vicious savages!¡± The crowd cheers with bloodlust in their hearts.


    Having heard enough of this nonsense, Koronos walks over there slowly, looks at Hidgken, slowly reaches out with his hand as the angry mob falls silent, holding it there in the air in front of Hidgken. The town leader looks curiously at the Kazarian¡¯s hand, recoiling slightly, and then the big blue hand easily pushes Hidgken off the barrel, making him fall on his behind, and the mob gasps.


    Koronos speaks to give the merchant and the crowd an admonition, ¡°close your teeth, lying, lecherous dog.¡± He turns to face the mob and continues. ¡°The Meibon are a peaceful tribe, Nombi wasn¡¯t taken by them, she ran away from this fool!¡± He gestures to Hidgken for the last part and continues, ¡°there is no witch, there hasn¡¯t been any witches on Terra Primius for thousands of years, this is known! Heed my words and heed them well, you will leave the Meibon be and leave Nombi in peace or you will regret it, this I promise to you all! I will say no more.¡± Then he starts to walk to the dory where he left it tied on the docks with Shelove joining him at his side, like she is wont to do.


    Shouting behind him, Hidgken yells to the Kazarian¡¯s back, ¡°I hope you can row that dory to Titans, because I¡¯ll not grant you passage on my ship, not for all the gold in Octavia, not now, not ever! Do you hear me, you blue savage?!¡±


    Ignoring the merchant, Koronos continues walking until he reaches where the dory is tied off and hears a voice behind him, it says, ¡°excuse me, sir, is it true, you saw my Nombi?¡±


    Koronos turns his body and head to look back to see a dark-skinned, middle aged bald man of average build with a blond beard worn in long mini braids.


    The man continues, ¡°I-I¡¯m Syloth, I¡¯m Nombi¡¯s father, is she okay, is she happy? I see y-you have her blanket, her mother, my dearly departed wife made that for her, before she passed away,¡± he gestures to the woolen blanket that is now used as a cloak resting upon the Kazarian¡¯s broad shoulders.


    ¡°I am Koronos, and yes, she is well, and she is happy living with the Meibon. I have spoken with her. She gave me this blanket and provisions for my journey, she showed kindness without asking for anything in return, she is a good woman.¡±


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    The man asks, ¡°Are you going back there? If you do, will you tell her I am sorry for making the arranged marriage? I thought Hidgken could give her a better life than I had. Also, I don¡¯t mind you using my dory, so you can tell her this.¡± Syloth gestures to the boat that Koronos was using.


    Koronos replies, ¡°I am no thief, I¡¯m merely borrowing it for now. Your leader here is a foolish man and will likely make war with the Meibon, therefore it will be a war with me as well. But I will tell her of your regrets.¡±


    Out in the middle of the ever-foggy bay, as he rows the boat to the shoreline, he says to Shelove, ¡°we may be here for some time, and I¡¯d rather be with the Meibon for the winter than in that town with that idiotic merchant.¡±


    She conveys through the Bond, ¡°yes, Meibon is better than humans, humans are ignorant and their village smells like dead, rotten fish.¡±


    Koronos laughs for the first time in many days, ¡°I don¡¯t need your acute cat nose to notice that as well. I find that most human settlements stink of one kind of foulness or another.¡±


    Once he reaches the black sand of the shoreline, he easily hulls the heavy wooden boat up onto the shore to keep it from being washed out to sea and ties it off around a large rock to secure it in place. That¡¯s when Shelove senses it, she conveys danger is near through the Bond.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve had about enough of that beast, I¡¯m going to try to reach it, even though it¡¯s stubborn,¡± Koronos tells her quietly, trying not to alarm it. Using his hand to help guide and focus his powers, he reaches out with his mind, seeking the bird-beast forest lord. Without trying to alarm it, he conveys, ¡°calm, we merely wish to pass through these lands, to the mountains of the bears¡¯ domain.¡± Then he sees it, a shadow in the mist at the tree line about two hundred paces, it¡¯s watching but not advancing.


    Through the Bond, it conveys, ¡°you seem to be okay, but I do not like your furry friend. Go, be gone then.¡± Then it silently fades back into the mist of the dark, looming, giant trees of the ancient forest.


    Koronos thinks he figured out why the giant bird-beast doesn¡¯t cross the sea ice to Little Rock Island when it freezes; perhaps it is too heavy for the ice? Furthermore, even if it can swim, falling through the unstable ice and being trapped underneath it would be a death-sentence. Even if it did make it across the ice, the island has jagged cliffs of some kind or another all the way around it, the narrow steps carved into the rock can barely accommodate Shelove, let alone something as big as the Lord of the Forest.


    The Kazarian and his animal companion make their way back to the Meibon, retracing the path they took not even a day ago. They push hard and reach the village before midnight. Then he reaches out with the Bond to Soulseeker, to let him know he has arrived, without alarming the entire village. The village tribal chief is pulled from his slumber and answers by opening the front gate quietly, trying not to disturb the sleeping.


    Soulseeker conveys through the Bond, ¡°welcome back blue traveler, in truth, I am glad of your return because I have many questions¡­ But I trust your plans to venture afar didn¡¯t happen as you had wished?¡±


    Through the connection they share, Koronos replies, ¡°Trouble comes this way, we must make ready. They are coming for Nombi but even if she were to leave, it wouldn¡¯t matter, the leader of Little Rock Island wants your people eradicated. I believe they will come soon, with fire, arrows and malice.¡±

 CHAPTER TWENTY: BLOOD ON SNOW

    Winter arrives with freshly fallen snow in the early morning hours as the Meibon tribe makes preparations for the possible attack. The peoples of Little Rock Island have the numbers and the technological advantage with crossbows and high-powered composite bows. Even though Koronos is mighty and powerful, he¡¯s still susceptible to an arrow or a crossbow bolt in the heart as any man. He is fast enough to dodge and block such weapons on a small scale, but if it¡¯s one hundred men firing arrows, he can¡¯t avoid them all, nor can he block them for the Meibon. In an open field, the Meibon will be slaughtered and inside the village walls they will also be slaughtered with flaming arrows from above; the outcome doesn¡¯t look good for the Meibon. Shelove agreed to assist if and when they are attacked, it¡¯s not going to be enough; even though they could kill a lot of the humans in the fight, but not before the humans could kill many Meibon.


    Koronos is a warrior and will fight no matter what, but this isn¡¯t looking like a battle they will win, not in any capacity that will feel like a victory. So, he figures he has one chance to turn the tide of the likely outcome. He says to Shelove, ¡°I must do this alone; you would only agitate an already volatile situation.¡±


    Shelove reluctantly agrees to stay behind, and she conveys to him, ¡°If you are killed, I will lose a friend and likely be stuck here on this island for the rest of my life. So, it would be preferable if you return.¡±


    On the freshly fallen snow he silently moves through the dark forest of the early morning hours; the snow makes his steps all the quieter and even more stealthy. With his spear in hand and sword slung over his back, he has no intention of using either, but holding the spear in his grip offers some familiar comfort as he works his way to the lowlands of the island to the territory of the Lord of the Forest.


    Smaller weaker animals can more easily be influenced and controlled; however, he¡¯s learned that great and mighty beasts can resist his powers. Shelove can resist his powers, the Kraken of the Deep could not only resist his powers, but it could also hurt his mind when he reached out to it. The Lord of the Forest is somewhere in between the two, and it¡¯s more likely to attack him and try to eat him than to have a conversation.


    Several hours pass with no sign of his quarry, then he finds its tracks in the snow; it¡¯s hard to miss because it¡¯s so big. It might still be in the vicinity, so he reaches out with the Bond, slowly and gently, so as not to alarm it. His hand outstretched with his eyes closed to allow for better concentration.


    ¡°You again, why do you keep bothering me, man-thing?¡± The great beast queries.


    Cautiously, he replies, ¡°I am Koronos. I¡¯m here to warn you that men are coming to kill the Meibon.¡±


    With a clearly irritated response, it responds with, ¡°that¡¯s the domain of the bears, but if they wander into my domain, they are my food if I so choose, so why should I care? You¡¯re food as well, if I so choose but I¡¯ve never had my food talk to me before. That¡¯s the only reason I haven¡¯t eaten yet.¡±


    ¡°After they kill the Meibon, they are going to kill all the bears, then you and all of your kind after, this is what humans do,¡± snapping back, perhaps a little too quickly and with a little too much attitude.


    A moment of silence passes, but then it responds, ¡°Hmm, I see. Perhaps I¡¯ll kill them all, but I don¡¯t need your help to do it, maybe I¡¯ll just eat you now. You¡¯re big for a man-thing but still just a snack for me, but a snack is better than nothing, Koronos.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re mighty but you still can¡¯t kill them all, not if as many come as I think; no, you will need my help, they will kill you if you try to fight them alone,¡± this time he responds with more calm.


    The beast is now clearly agitated, and conveys, ¡°you tiny, insignificant man-thing, what help could you possibly provide? I could run you down and kill you easily, you can¡¯t even help yourself, let alone something as magnificent as I, and I believe I¡¯ve heard enough of your nonsense; but if you can survive until nightfall, I¡¯ll consider accepting your meager, laughable aid." Then the door to its mind slams shut, severing the Bond, only silence remains.


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    Ever so slowly, it was closing on him as they conversed, it managed to close the gap that would have allowed Koronos to outpace it. From out of the shadows, it emerges. With no pretense of moving silent now and charging at him with the sound of roaring thunder, in this close-range, it clearly has the speed advantage.


    All the Kazarian can do is out-maneuver it by leaping behind a smaller giant tree, putting it between them. He circles around the tree, keeping it between him and the toothy maw of the Lord of the Forest. Now it''s a battle of the most determined; if he tries to run, it will close on him. All he can do is keep the tree between them, hoping it will grow tired of it and leave. For a few minutes this persists, then it stops, giving him a window to try to run, Koronos knows it¡¯s a ploy to give him a false sense of security, a false sense of hope. However, what it doesn¡¯t know is just how fast he really is.


    Koronos breaks away from the tree in a full sprint, granting enough distance to throw his sword at it while holding his spear in his offhand, he doesn¡¯t want to kill it, just let it know he can hurt it. The mighty Sword of the First whirls through the air, spinning towards its target, but the beast wheels about and with a huge force, hits the spinning sword with its tail, driving it hilt-deep into a tree.


    He tries to use his powers to recall the sword, but it¡¯s buried too deep into the tree. Given more time and concentration, he might be able to retrieve it, however, time is not on his side because the great beast charges him. So, he does what anyone would do, run a full sprint with all his power and strength as the beast matches his pace. He deftly jumps over a huge log weighing at least sixty to seventy stone, and the beast knocks it aside like you or I might kick a small stick in the pathway.


    After a few moments, he clears out of the forest only to be standing at the edge of a cliff with jagged rocks of the rugged shoreline below. Jutting out of the very edge of the cliff is a stunted, twisted tree but it¡¯s not big enough or high enough to climb to get out of the reach of the beast that chases him. It crosses his mind that this could be it, this might be how he dies.


    The beast knows this land and it stops so it can corral its quarry with its large body into the jutting cliff area, leaving no place to run or hide.


    Maybe he can try to slip past it by doing some fancy maneuvering? No, judging by how fast it can whip its tail, it would likely hit him and break every bone in his body or near enough. He looks down at the spear in his hands, closes his eyes to focus, to make ready to meet his end. But with one last act of defiance as the beast opens its toothy mouth to bite down on him, or more accurately, bite him in half, he reaches back with his spear in hand and hurls it with all his power and strength into its open maw.


    With a tremendous force, the spear buries in the back of the creature''s mouth, stopping it cold. It pulls his head back and bites down on the wooden shaft that¡¯s sticking out of its mouth, the spear is buried deep. It tries to use its powerful tongue to pull the spear free, but it doesn¡¯t have the manual dexterity to remove it, instead merely breaks off more of the wooden shaft.


    Koronos feels the door of the Bond open again. The beast conveys, ¡°okay, you win, but only if you pull this out of my mouth, I can¡¯t get it out.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t bite my arm off when I reach in?¡± Unsure if he can trust this creature or not.


    It becomes annoyed and conveys, ¡°why would I do that? I¡¯d still have this stuck in my mouth and I don¡¯t think I can get anyone else to pull it free.¡±


    It lowers its head and opens its mouth as blood trickles out on the freshly fallen snow, staining a patch of it red. Koronos looks down at the red stained snow, then into the open maw of the beast. Despite the cold wintry air, partly from the running but not only from running, sweat beads on his brow as he slowly reaches into the jagged maw. Its teeth are as long as a man¡¯s forearm and he learns that they are indeed sharp when he scrapes against one with his arm; and he nervously and slowly reaches in further until his hand grasps the broken bloody shaft of the spear.


    ¡°This will hurt, so don¡¯t bite down.¡± Koronos is asking more so than in a commanding tone.


    The beast conveys back, ¡°just get on with it.¡±


    With one hard pull while gripping the slippery, blood-covered spear shaft, he pulls the spear free. Then the beast rises up, regal-like and haughty, similar to how royalty might look down upon their peasants from a palace balcony.

 CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: STROMHYND OF HELVLAD

    Shortly after the Kazarian left the small island, Hidgken met up with two local trappers. Telfron, the elder of the two and his brother Syler; they have successfully been to the big island many times over the years, and not just on the shores.


    They know how to move unnoticed and not get the attention of the Lord of the Forest and its kin, as well as the huge bears in the highlands. Seasonally, they make trips there to trap animals in the winter for furs and hides, which catch a high price on the mainlands of this part of the ocean; the continent of Titans and the great island realm of Runheim. Only people that have intimate knowledge of the island can do this type of endeavor. Most people would perish but they are skilled and were trained by their father, and his father in turn for several generations. They prefer to keep the knowledge to themselves; they don¡¯t need any competition. Most importantly though, they know where the Meibon village is located and that¡¯s information that interests Hidgken.


    He didn¡¯t become successful by relying on luck alone, so Hidgken hatches a plan and decides to hedge his bets by sending his personal white raven, it¡¯s an expensive and a specially trained type of raven that goes where it¡¯s trained to go and then return, and it¡¯s trained to fly to the north, to Helvlad Island. This is where his nephew lives and rules with a cruel, iron-fist. His nephew¡¯s ways are brutal but effective, and he needs some brutality now, ¡°to oppose that huge Kazarian savage,¡± in his own thoughts.


    Large hands open the tiny note wrapped around the leg of the white raven and places the note behind a magnifying device; the large hands belong Stromhynd, the nephew of Hidgken. He''s a big strong man with a face that looks like it was carved out of rock, not one trace of compassion in his features or expression. Much of his younger days were spent pirating, smuggling, slave trading and fighting. Unlike his uncle, he never let himself become soft and portly, even though he¡¯s in his late thirties, he is as strong as he ever was but an even more skilled fighter from all the years of experience.


    Now that it''s known there is no witch on White Bay Island, it¡¯s open for exploitation and industry. Hidgken tells him that ¡°a big Kazarian wants it all for himself and I need help in dealing with him.¡± Stromhynd wastes no time in assembling his men and sets sail. With the winds this time of year and currents, he can make the journey in a day. Even though it¡¯s about twenty-five leagues, and the weather can be treacherous this time of year, he can make it in his sturdy and swift sailing ship called, Aggressor. It used to be a pirate/smuggling vessel, now it¡¯s mainly used for ¡®legitimate¡¯ mercantilism, more or less.


    The next day he arrives at Little Rock Island during a snowfall under overcast skies. Wearing furs upon his shoulders to keep the chill off, the first thing he does when he steps off his boat is kick a dog off the docks because it was barking at him, breaking some of its ribs in the process. It yips from the kick, and it plummets into the icy drink, it belongs to Cyron¡¯s son; the boy that originally pointed at Koronos when he first arrived at the docks. So, foolishly the boy runs up to Stromhynd, ¡°hey, mister, don¡¯t kick my dog like that!¡±


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    Stromhynd backhands the boy in the mouth and says, ¡°I never said you can speak to me, boy.¡± While his men still on the gangplank and on the boat laugh.


    Most of the men on the docks know who the big man is, as well as Cyron knows the man, who he is, and where he is from, and whom he is related to, but against his better judgment, comes up to the large man and says, ¡°try hitting me like that.¡± And he gets Stromhynd¡¯s short sword in his belly instead, it came so fast he didn¡¯t have time to even try to move or block it. He falls to his knees while clutching his wounded belly, spitting up blood.


    ¡°You¡¯ll die slow, dog, perhaps you will linger on to your miserable life long enough to feel the maggots feast on your guts¡­ one can only hope.¡± Stromhynd says in a deep dispassionate voice as he kicks Cyron in the face, and then continues on to his uncle¡¯s mansion, with his men laughing as they follow him. He takes great joy in hurting animals and people alike. Men that were friends of Cyron for his entire life simply step aside and let him and his men through, and they say nothing because they are afraid they may see a similar fate, while Cyron¡¯s son screams and cries, hugging his mortally wounded father that is destined for a slow and agonizing death.


    All of this was happening while Koronos was searching for the Lord of the Forest and he is unaware that even more men will be coming, fighting men with experience.


    Back in the Meibon village in the mostly mountain air in the quiet morning hours, Koronos meets with Soulseeker outside his hut, under an awning. ¡°We should meet them outside of the walls, in the field nearby, or they will burn this place to the ground. In the event we win, you won¡¯t have a home left, and right at the start of winter,¡± says the Kazarian through the Bond.


    Not knowing how warfare actually works because he¡¯s never been to war, the village chief replies with, ¡°no, we should stay behind the walls for protection, that¡¯s why my people build the walls in the first place.¡±


    ¡°These walls are good for keeping out small groups of men, bears, predators and even the mighty Lord of the Forest, however, if your walls were constructed of stones and the huts were made of rocks and had slate roofs, I would agree. Our foes will rain flaming arrows down upon us, many will burn and die. These fortifications cannot withstand a real attack by a company of warring men,¡± is the response back, not in a cruel way, but with a touch of concern.


    Soulseeker nods in acquiescence but changes the subject, ¡°I am pleased you will fight with us, but why would you? You are more like them than you are like us.¡±


    ¡°In appearance only, my Everliving friend, in appearance only. My people are more like the Meibon than they are like the humans. If we are successful in routing or defeating our foe, I would like to winter here amongst you and your people.¡±


    Placing his large gorilla-like hand upon the Kazarians shoulder as the warmth of a firepit crackles nearby, ¡°you are welcome here with the Meibon, Koronos.¡±

 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: BATTLE ON WHITE BAY ISLAND

    An adolescent Meibon watches in the brush beneath a great, towering tree as approximately one hundred men come up the pathway in the distance, he¡¯s eager to prove himself to his people and he wants to impress the strange blue man that spends a lot of time with Soulseeker; if the chief thinks he''s important, then he¡¯s important. Simple as that.


    Snow from the previous days has given way to yesterday¡¯s warmth, so now it¡¯s patchy and in places where the sun has trouble reaching, yet the air still has a chill in it. The Meibon youth is a sentry tasked with watching the mountain pathway that leads to the Meibon territory, so he breaks into a run on all four limbs, racing back to the village to raise the alarm.


    There isn¡¯t much time, the Meibon have twenty to thirty minutes to make ready for the confrontation before the humans reach the clearing, they designated to engage, however, this was anticipated, and preparations were made. Not very many Meibon slept well last night, they¡¯ve never been in a real battle before. Koronos tried to prepare them as much as possible in a very short time. Even though the Meibon are bigger and stronger, some, if not most of the humans have experience with armed conflict and possess superior weaponry and the humans have the advantage of numbers. Their larger size actually works against them when it comes to volleys of arrows raining down, the only chance for them to emerge victorious is to close the gap between the parties as fast as possible and engage in melee/hand to hand combat. But they aren¡¯t particularly skilled in melee combat either.


    Nombi wanted to turn herself over to the humans to stop the battle, but Koronos told her it won¡¯t matter now, the men want to destroy the Meibon, they do not wish to share this land. He gave her the message her father asked Koronos to relay, she wasn¡¯t sure how to take it and had mixed feelings. He simply told her this, ¡°my father died many years ago, I would cross the sea if I could see him for just one more day.¡±


    Thirty minutes later the Meibon are in the clearing with their hastily and crudely constructed shields. The human company lines up in a badly disciplined formation, this gives Koronos some hope; they are not highly trained and skilled warriors, these men are nothing like the legionnaires of the Octavian armies, but they still have longbows, crossbows and clad in varying ensembles of armor types. With Shelove at his side, across the field Koronos catches something with his trained and experienced eyes: a group of men that are clearly formed up differently than the rest of the motley crew, there is a big man that they seem to be assembled around. This group doesn¡¯t seem nervous and disorderly like the rest, they look like proper killers, and the man they are gathered around is Stromhynd; Koronos has not seen this man before and he doesn¡¯t recognize him from the human settlement.


    Through the Bond, the Kazarian conveys to Soulseeker, alerting him of the new danger, ¡°those men there, be extra wary around them, they are the real threat here.¡±


    In return, the Meibon leader nods in acknowledgment of this admonition.


    Koronos hopes the Lord of the Forest will keep their word as he visually scans the treeline, but then he senses it, circling the clearing at a distance. If it can attack them from the rear, that may very well break the lines and turn the tides of this grim looking battle. Morale of the Meibon is low and the morale is high for the townsmen, Koronos needs to do something. So, he removes the mighty Sword of the First from its scabbard, holds it over his head while channeling his Everliving power into the sword, making it glow brightly, sending out pulses of power waves and yellow electrical arcs, creating a lowly rumbling sound that shakes the ground a little under the feet of everyone in the clearing. Then he billows out a mighty war cry.


    Some of the humans run away, but Stromhynd yells at them and shoots arrows into their back with his bow, ¡°stand fast, cowards! If you run, I will kill you myself! He¡¯s just a man, I¡¯ll make him bleed to prove it!¡± The last part he says while pointing at the Kazarian. He has heard the stories of them, he knows they are usually just slaves for the fighting arenas in Octavia City. Then he draws his mighty composite longbow all the way back and sends an arrow all the way across the field, and the arrow would have landed right in the heart of the Kazarian had he not used his sword to deflect the arrow aside.


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    Koronos grabs a Meibon spear, a spear tipped with a finely crafted obsidian tip, he hefts it clear across the field. A man stands in awe with his mouth open until the spear finds his open mouth, piercing clean through the back of his head, pinning him like an insect being pinned to a display board onto the ground.


    All the Meibon cheer.


    For the first time in a very long time, Stromhynd feels fear and it shows on his face for a brief moment, but then he quickly masks his fear with anger, so as not to appear weak in front of his men. That spear throw was impossible, no one can throw a spear that far. From his peripheral vision, he sees all the men take a few steps back, this angers him, but he steps back as well which only makes him angrier, but with himself.


    His uncle Hidgken is already standing way back with his two personal guards, well behind the line of men. He¡¯s already totally exhausted from the long hike from the bay and after what he just saw, he¡¯s thinking maybe he should have stayed behind on Little Rock Island. He says to his guards, ¡°I didn¡¯t actually believe the Kazarian blue savage¡¯s stories, that he could actually kill the God Emperor, but now, his story might be true¡­ And if it is true, then what chances do we actually have against such a mighty warrior?¡± His men know well enough to not answer because it was a rhetorical question, they simply glance at each other, trying not to be obvious about it. Then he continues, trying to convince himself, ¡°no, no, no, we have the numbers, we will win! Right?¡±


    Stromhynd can hear his uncle and he glances back at him in disgust, but he has more disgust for himself because his uncle is merely vocalizing the thoughts that he is hiding inside of himself. Pure rage and hatred well up inside him and he grabs one of the townsmen by the back of the neck and yells at him, ¡°go forward, start shooting them with arrows, now! All of you, go!¡±


    The man stumbles forward a few paces, pulls back and releases an arrow, the men watch it fly through the air and fall short of the Meibon. The man tries to make himself small and starts to piss himself from fear of what''s in front of him and Stromhynd from behind him.


    ¡°Pathetic!¡± Growls Stromhynd. So, he pulls back an arrow and lets loose, it flies across the field to the chest of a Meibon fumbling with his crudely made shield, killing him dead. He follows up with, ¡°see, they¡¯re just stupid apes, kill them, kill them all!¡±


    The townsmen rally to his battle cry, run up ten paces, pull their bows back and set their crossbows, for those that have them and await his order, his order is quickly given, and they let loose.


    Koronos yells to the Meibon, ¡°raise your shields, now!¡± as about one hundred arrows and crossbow bolts hurl through the air and rain down with wispy piercing sounds collectively making a cacophony of noise like a loud whirring sound until they hit shields, ground and Meibon. Five Meibon fall with arrows sticking out of them and with injuries and/or dying.


    ¡°Charge them, charge them now, we cannot take another hit like that! Go!¡± He charges forward, leading the Meibon across the field with Shelove by his side, while the townsmen quickly try to reload, causing many to fumble, especially when the spinning whirling Sword of the First comes spinning by, chopping up men like a butcher¡¯s meat cleaver. It whirls through the air and returns to the large blue fist of the Kazarian that threw it. Even though he¡¯s never tried to throw his sword so far and wasn¡¯t sure if it could even work, the tactic was effective; the townsmen fail to get off another proper volley before the Meibon reach them, driving obsidian-tipped spears in the flesh of men.


    This is when the screaming, yelling and battle cries really begin, however, a group manage to fall back enough to set for a smaller volley. They let loose, Koronos deflects aside anything that comes at him, but some of the Meibon are not nearly as fortunate. Shelove is struck in the leg with an arrow, but she still finds the soft flesh of a man with her teeth, biting deeply into him, tearing through his chainmail armor and tearing his torso clean open, and throws him aside like an unwanted doll as his entrails splatter on his friends. They fire two more arrows into her body, and she drops onto the ground. They draw back again, getting ready to finish her off, but before they can let loose, they are cleaved in two by Koronos with one swing starting at the neck of one, passing through his rib cage, entering under the ribs of the other and ending at his hip opposite, their bodies fly apart in a shower of blood.


    Soulseeker doesn¡¯t have many shadows large enough to shadow walk effectively, but manages some, appearing from shadow to use a large fist to break men, then disappearing back into shadow. Stromhynd sees this happen several times as he kills several Meibon with a sword, he notices that the Meibon is somehow using the shadows. So, when Soulseeker tries to attack him, he whirls about, greeting the Meibon leader with a sword in the belly.


    Shock is on Soulseekers face as he falls to the ground, clutching his wounded area. Through the Bond, he says to the Kazarian, ¡°so fast¡­¡± Koronos sees it and yells, ¡°no!¡±

 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: WHITE-RAVEN

    The Meibon are losing, dying. Townsmen start to back up to get a new position, fire more arrows into the Meibon, killing and wounding more. Then they attempt to back up again, near the edge of the tree line, when from behind them appears the menacing and terrifying Lord of the Forest, he was waiting for them to come to him; he bites down on one of Hidgken¡¯s guards, severing him clean into two pieces with a bone crunching snap, showering the portly merchant in blood and guts. His other guard screams a war-cry as he fires an arrow at it, but it barely penetrates the thick skin of the super predator, as Hidgken slips away into the forest, running faster than one might think such a portly man could.


    Koronos moves deftly through the fray to close the gap between him and his new enemy; Stromhynd. The Kazarian closes the distance just in time, before Stromhynd can bring his sword down on Soulseeker¡¯s neck to deliver a coup de grace. With a Kazarian war cry, the magnificent Sword of the First in his strong, able hands knocks the attack aside before it can fall on its target as yellow lightning arcs from the blade.


    Stromhynd wastes no time, doing his signature knife-in-the-belly trick on the furious Kazarian with his other hand, however, Koronos is a highly trained warrior and sees it coming, but not fast enough, the knife finds his belly, but only a short bit of blade pierces its target, not enough to do any serious damage.


    By now, the Lord of the Forest has completely shattered the line of bowmen, half run for their lives, the other half remain and try to bring the giant down, to little avail; it tears through the men like wheat being sown at harvest. They scream and yell in terror as it systematically shreds them, scattering body parts, blood and guts on the dirty ground.


    One mighty blow after another is wielded between the Kazarian and the brutal human warrior. Stromhynd fights in an unconventional style with a longsword in one hand, and long dagger in the other, and he¡¯s fast; this makes him a dangerous opponent. However, Stromhynd¡¯s fights usually don¡¯t last very long because he kills his opponents quickly. He''s not accustomed to fighting a highly trained opponent, he finds it hard to believe how strong and fast the Kazarian is, and he feels his fear begin to rise again.


    Some nearby Meibon gather on the periphery, watching, captivated and disturbed by the ferocity and skill of the two men engaged in deadly combat; they have never seen anything like it, or even heard of anything like the spectacle before them.


    It doesn¡¯t take long for Koronos to observe his patterns in his offensive and defensive tactics, he finds the hole. With his elbow, he smashes the opponent in the mouth, making him stumble back and dazed for just a tiny moment. It¡¯s the last moment Stromhynd will ever have as Koronos brings his sword in an upward, sideways motion. The blow comes lightning fast, cutting through the studded leather armor and flesh indiscriminately, and splits his opponent from hip to shoulder as blood sprays and gushes from the gaping wound, followed immediately by his internal organs, spilling out onto the cold ground. Stromhynd stands with his arms out holding his weapons, the look of total shock on his face. He looks up at the sky one last time, falls back on the ground, blood gurgles out of his mouth as he tries to speak. In mere moments the spark of life leaves him, and his dead eyes stare blankly into the sky as blood slowly stains the patch of snow beneath his lifeless body. White-ravens make their distinct baritone calls, echoing hauntingly through the vast forest. It¡¯s believed they carry the souls of the fallen in battle to the other side.


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    He died alone in the snow, but he died in battle and his religion believes that if you die in battle, you will feast in the great halls of your ancestors for all eternity; perhaps he shall. From the tree line, a few of his men take one last cowardly look back, before fleeing into the looming trees, trying to make their way to the bay to get to their rowboats; they came to fight Meibon, not a giant forest beast.


    The Meibon then turn to see the mighty and terrifying Lord of the Forest, looking at them from the tree line. Many of their people have been eaten over the years by him or his kind when they went into the lowlands looking for resources. It has arrows stuck in its neck and face, Koronos walks over to it, motions with his hand to lower its enormous head down. With its head lowered to within the reach of Koronos so he can pull the arrows out. No words are exchanged, not even through the Bond. Once all the arrows are pulled free, the Lord of the Forest walks off into the trees without looking back. Gobsmacked, the Meibon look on as if they just witnessed a man interact with a deity. Then they snap out of their awe and begin to tend the wounded Meibon.


    Sensing Shelove through the Bond and that she¡¯s back on her feet, the giant black pantera ambled over to Soulseeker, she has arrows stuck in her still. Koronos runs over to her, where Soulseeker is lying, to his relief the Meibon chief is still breathing because he has great strength and fortitude. The wound would have killed any normal man or Meibon, but he¡¯s Everliving and therefore much harder to kill.


    ¡°He may yet live¡± Koronos says to Shelove as he takes a closer look at the arrows protruding from her furry hide.


    Four of the Meibon carry their wounded chief gently back to the village as Koronos carefully removes the arrows from Shelove, if it hurts, she makes no signs that it does as each one is removed, she doesn¡¯t even tense or wince. She makes no attempt to communicate using the Bond, so he doesn¡¯t press the issue, she¡¯s obviously lost in thought about the fight, and how she nearly died. He gently pets her, nonetheless. He finally says to her, ¡°you should rest and heal, I¡¯ll look for the body of that foolish Hidgken, to see if he¡¯s dead or hurt, preferably the former.¡±


    Communicating with the Bond, she simply says, ¡°yes.¡± Turning from him, she slowly follows the Meibon back to the village with a slight limp in her stride. She needs rest.


    After a quick look around, Koronos doesn¡¯t find the body of Hidgken amongst the fallen, disappointed, but not surprised, he says to himself, ¡°this isn¡¯t over yet, one more needs to die, and any man that tries to stop me.¡±

 CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: DROP OFF

    After making sure Shelove and Soulseeker are resting, and the wounded are being tended to, Koronos gathers a small amount of provisions for the journey and heads off to the bay, but before he can leave, Nombi insists he lets her bind the dagger wound in his belly. At first, he protests because he knows he heals much faster than normal human or Kazarian men, until she points out the blood that streamed down from the stab wound and onto his breeches, and halfway down his leg.


    While she stitches the wound close, she says, ¡°so many Meibon are hurt and dead, I¡¯ve never experienced such wanton killing and a complete lack of reverence for the life of others, why are men so destructive and hateful?¡±


    Ignoring the pain of being stitched, he replies after a moment, ¡°although I am only a bit older than you and I have only been on this world for a short time, but from what I have seen, I can only say men enjoy hurting each other. There is no higher purpose nor meaning in it. Do not look for answers where there are none to be found, it will only lead to the suffering and torment of your spirit.¡±


    After that, Nombi doesn¡¯t speak again, but has a profound sadness in her eyes and a tear runs down her cheek. Once she stitches the wound with silk thread and binds his wound, Koronos says to her, ¡°thank you, once again.¡± However, it is she that gives him a careful hug. This is surprising to him, and he asks, ¡°what is that for?¡±


    ¡°For being here, for helping the Meibon, for standing up for what¡¯s right,¡± she says while looking up at him, making solid eye contact, with the wisdom and confidence of someone older than her age.


    His face is like carved wood, and he responds, ¡°don¡¯t¡­ for I¡¯m no hero, you don¡¯t know the things I¡¯ve done in war. I¡¯ve slayed more men than I can account for. Some were probably bad men, but I doubt they all were. And the killing for this fight isn¡¯t over yet. In the end, the Goddess of Death comes for us all, someday she will come calling for me; I only ask that it will be with honor when that day arrives.¡±


    She solemnly watches him as he walks away.


    Ignoring the minor pain of his wound, he travels on through the middle of the day and into the night, reaching the bay well past midnight, travel was a little slower without Shelove¡¯s night vision and trying not to rip out stitches. He hears something behind him, he uses his abilities to reach out with his mind to see if it is an animal, it¡¯s Shelove. She followed him and caught up with him because she can see better in the darkness. She approaches.


    ¡°You should be resting, but I am pleased to see you,¡± he says to her, and he rubs her head with his hand.


    Using the Bond, she conveys, ¡°the wounds are not as bad as they appear, I can travel.¡±


    After searching for a bit, they find where they left the boat, he drags it into the water of the bay, and they cross the bay to Little Rock Island under the pale light from Sleeping Dragon far overhead in the night sky as nocturnal avian predators call out.


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    Once they are to the island, he goes along the dock, the normal barking dog doesn¡¯t bark as usual, it sees him but runs and hides. Being kicked into the sea by Stromhynd has tempered its enthusiasm to bark at people on the docks, possibly the presence of Shelove doesn¡¯t help with the animal¡¯s trauma either.


    Inside the village proper, it¡¯s eerily quiet and no one on the pathways or in the village square but he can occasionally hear a weeping woman or child when passing dwellings, likely lamenting that their father is dead, lying in a field near the Meibon village. Ultimately, he reaches his destination; Hidgken¡¯s manor.


    There is a closed and locked iron gate in the front, Koronos kicks it with all his force, breaking hinges off, the gate falls on the stones with a loud crash. Naturally, the main entrance is closed, it¡¯s a heavy wooden door with patterns carved into the surface. That door is also kicked down by the Kazarian, causing another loud crash. Women scream inside the building, likely Hidgken¡¯s wives and or servants.


    A large black dog barks and growls at Koronos, but he reaches out with the Bond, tells it not to interfere, it stops barking and slowly backs away. Although he has the power to command most animals, he doesn¡¯t like doing this, but he is tired, annoyed and doesn¡¯t have the patience at the moment to befriend the animal. Shelove makes no effort to even acknowledge the dog, seeing it as beneath her, she could easily kill the largest of dogs with a single lightning quick swipe of her huge paw.


    There is a little pavilion in the back of the manor that is partially outdoors that overlooks the bay, perched on the cliff, this is where Hidgken is cowering. As soon as Koronos walks through the threshold, an arrow flies at his chest, courtesy of the last bodyguard, however, the Kazarian catches the arrow. The point makes a cut on his chest as his lightning-fast reflexes snatch it from the air.


    The loyal guard draws his sword, does a war-cry and charges Koronos, he swings the sword for his neck. In an instant, the Kazarian side steps the attack and grabs the guard¡¯s wrist and punches the man in the belly, knocking his wind out of his lungs, he drops the sword, falls to the ground clutching his abdomen and gasping for air as he vomits. Koronos delivers a powerful right cross to the man¡¯s jaw, breaking it and knocking him unconscious.


    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, don¡¯t kill me, please, please, please,¡± whimpers Hidgken, pleading as he cowers behind his lounging chair.


    Even though he doesn¡¯t feel much like talking, Koronos answers him nonetheless, ¡°I warned you, I told you, I said leave the Meibon be, but you couldn¡¯t let it go.¡± As he speaks, he grabs the portly merchant, dragging him to the edge of the pavilion, a sheer cliff drops off at the edge.


    ¡°Please, please, I learned my lesson, I won¡¯t bother them anymore, I promise!¡± Hidgken¡¯s voice is now a full octave higher.


    Koronos looks at him as he grabs his throat, ¡°I wish I could believe you, but you are without honor, killing you is beneath my contempt; however, I¡¯ll make an exception for you.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no! Please gods, save me!¡± cries the merchant, choking a little from the large blue hand on his neck.


    Koronos looks around to see if any gods appear to intercede, but only the wind blows, and the waves crash on the rocks far below. He generously waits a few moments, satisfied that no gods are going to come, nods his head a little bit, then he throws the merchant over the low wall. Hidgken falls fifty paces, screaming all the way down until the sudden stop as his body breaks on the rocks at the breakwater at the base of the cliff.


    With Shelove next to him, the Kazarian sits on Hidgken¡¯s lounging chair looking out at the sea until dawn comes, while thinking about what to do next. No one comes to bother him, the guard eventually gains consciousness and leaves, clutching his broken jaw. Koronos slowly pets Shelove.

 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: A WELCOMED SIGHT

    Once the morning is well under way and he grows hungry and weary of sitting, Koronos and Shelove walk down to the tavern, he still has some coin that Nombi gave him from many days ago. The pathways are quiet with a morning mist still clinging to the icy chill of the morning air from the fast-approaching winter. The only sounds are the seagulls and his footsteps on the cold wet stones under foot. Despite her large size, Shelove barely makes any sound at all as she strides along.


    Upon reaching the stone-built tavern, there are the same men in front as usual, but one is missing, the men back away, in fear and terror, one has a bandage on his arm, the other has a bandage on his head. These men were likely at the Meibon village battle; they were the ones that ran away and survived. Koronos pays them no mind and enters the structure, his eyes quickly adjust to the low light as the heads of the patrons within turn to gaze at the big blue-skinned Kazarian and his huge pantera companion.


    ¡°Lord Koronos!¡± Is shouted by Captain Korvax in his rugged commanding voice as he stands in respect for his liege. He is at a table with two of Koronos¡¯s bodyguards; Corvannafax, the half-blooded Kazarian shieldmaiden from the northern Hellfire Mountains with her golden hair and reddish skin, and across from her is sitting the huge and powerful Skullcrusher, all of them looking worse for wear and haggard. His bodyguards stand out of respect as well, then kneel as Skullcrusher says a silent prayer thanking the gods.


    Koronos greets them all with a smile, and joins them at the table, ¡°how do you all come to be here, is there more?¡±


    They proceed to tell him of their harrowing survival story of being lost at sea in the great storm, but they found a large enough piece of debris from the wreckage of the ship. Visibility was so low they couldn¡¯t see any other survivors and feared Koronos was lost to the sea. They washed up on an island near here. From there, they built a large raft to island hop and found this place, and it took many days. They go on to explain that they don¡¯t know if there are any other survivors or where they might be.


    After listening to everything they have to say, he says to them, ¡°there is a ship here, the owner is dead and more than half of his men as well, if the remaining men haven¡¯t set sail with it yet, they soon will, let us go down to the docks and take what now belongs to me. I slayed the owner in battle, his property is now mine if I so choose, as is the way of my people. We will take it, find men to crew it, and search the islands for any other survivors, I will not abandon them.¡±


    Koronos and his group walk to the docks and easily find the Aggressor at its moorings, considering there are only two sailing ships at the docks. There is one drunken guard on deck, stumbling about and is greeted with Corvannafax¡¯s dagger thrown into his chest before he can even call out, he flops over the railing. They quickly cross the gangplank and board the ship. She pulls her dagger from the dead man¡¯s chest and pushes him over into the water below, and the group continues on while Sheloves curls up on the deck and takes a nap.


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    Inside the captain''s quarters is where the rest of the men are found, strewn about in a drunken stupor with a couple of the island¡¯s local harlots, the room smells of piss, sex, and the sour stench of cheap wine. Koronos steps back from the threshold and yells to the men inside, ¡°get up, off my ship, I claim it as my right of combat,leave and live as cowards or fight and die as men!¡±


    After a moment there is noise and or man getting up and getting their fighting gear on, talking quietly amongst themselves. Then they step out of the threshold and fan out, there are eight men with swords drawn. The biggest man in the group pushes one of the other men in front of him, commanding him to attack; the subordinate reluctantly does as he is commanded but is grabbed by Skullcrusher and has his head slammed onto the deck hard enough to break his neck and burst his skull cavity, killing him instantly. This vulgar display of violence makes the remaining seven men step back, but Corvannafax doesn¡¯t wait, she kills two more men in the blink of an eye with a lightning-fast swipe of her short sword by nearly cutting their head¡¯s clean off, causing blood to spill on the deck along with their bodies. The other five crewmen meet an end nearly as quickly as unforgiving steel blades greet flesh and bone.


    As blood begins to pool on the deck from the recently dispatched men, Koronos steps over one and enters the captain''s quarters, ¡°Leave,¡± is all Koronos says to the two harlots that are still within. The frightened women quickly grab their clothing and the coin that they earned the previous night and scamper out of the quarters and onto the pier and up into the village proper.


    Captain Korvax is a big old burly and surly soldier, he asks, ¡°what shall we do with the dead men, bury them, or?¡±


    Koronos walks over to the open cabin window and leans on the frame, takes a big swig of the cheap wine from the bottle and stares out to the sea, then after a few moments he finally answers, ¡°we don¡¯t have time for digging graves, throw the bodies overboard, sharks deserve to eat as much as whatever writhing and wriggling critters burl beneath the cold hard ground.¡±


    Into the drink the dead men are tossed, without ceremony, reverence nor a second thought while Koronos continues sipping the cheap wine and staring out to the sea through the cabin¡¯s open windows.


    ¡°Now, we need a few sailors to help man this ship, and we set sail immediately, before the bay freezes over,¡± Koronos says to the group while still looking out at the sea, then he turns, and he saunters back into town to the tavern where the two harlots are already spreading news of what just occurred on the ship.

 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: SAMIRA AND THE PURIFIERS

    Far across the world in the vast, sweltering, humid jungles of Samira, where there was once a vast and powerful empire that existed thousands of years ago in the age before the Fall. Since that lost age of heroes, the denizens have forgotten their ancient past and have become a scattered tribal people, and their collective history has been lost to myth and the unrelenting procession of time.


    Within this forgotten and forsaken place, one hundred years ago a fanatical death-cult arose from the pale-skinned tribal peoples that reside there; they call themselves the ¡®Purifiers¡¯ and they are led by a charismatic fanatical leader, self-proclaimed as ¡®The First Reborn, Lord of the World.¡¯ The First Reborn longs for the Sword of the First, he feels it rightfully belongs to him, and the news of its discovery has finally reached these distant lands. This cult started out with humble beginnings as a simple tribal folk religion, but was usurped by extremist fanatics, they twisted it into what it is now.


    The First Reborn is a man that appears to be in his early thirties, he stands in front of a burning village in a haughty, arrogant stance, he is pleased by the death-cries of men and lamenting sobs and screaming cries of women and children that fills the air. This village had a name but the First Reborn never bothered to learn it; it¡¯s a typical Samira village with round huts built into the giant trees of the jungle realm.


    A village elder covered in tribal tattoos and markings, kneels before the Purifiers leader, forced there by two large men. ¡°Millennia ago, your ancestors were responsible for destroying my people, you and your people may have forgotten but the Purifiers have not. I am here to rectify this injustice; consider yourself purified,¡± the First Reborn says emphatically, then he uses his Everliving powers on the man, it¡¯s pyrokinesis, the power to burn things with his mind; he reaches out his hand to focus and channel his powers as green flame begins to swirl around his hand and forearm; the green fire launches outward to the tribal elder engulfing the man in fire, the village elder screams in pain as the flames become the color of fire that we are all familiar with, then he dies within moments. The Purifiers that were looming over the man step aside to clear the heat of the flames and watch with glee in their eyes and wicked grins on their faces as the man burns.


    This leader of the Purifiers cult is an imposing and handsome man, but with callous cruelty in his eyes; he speaks to the man next to him, the man¡¯s name is Vorshan and he is a tall and lean man that moves with the grace of a dancer, and he has nothing but contempt and hatred on his face for all things that are not Purifiers related. He is the right-hand man of the First Reborn. While observing the carnage before him and without looking at Vorshan, he says, ¡°go forth, retrieve that which is rightfully mine, we cannot allow it in the hands of a heretical savage from the mountain realms, do not fail me, Vorshan, bring me the Sword of the First.¡±


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    With a bow in acknowledgment of his leader¡¯s command, Vorshan makes ready for the quest to retrieve the Sword of the First. Even though dusk is upon them, he gathers nine men and one woman with him. The woman, Zeyzey was chosen because not only is she a true believer in the cause, but because females are often overlooked and can get into social circles and situations that men cannot; men are easily manipulated by a beautiful woman. All of the best Purifiers¡¯ spies are women, for the past 100 years they have infiltrated nations and powerful organizations all over the known world; some even whisper into the ears of kings.


    Their destination is the newly founded Realm of Koronos and the ancient Fortress of the First. It¡¯s a stealth mission and they are all specifically chosen because they have the traits of assassins and spies. They plan to enter as refugees to obfuscate their true intentions. Traveling until the path is too dark to see, only then do they make camp for the night, and then they break camp at first light; this will be the routine for many weeks, all the while discussing tactics, plans and contingencies.


    As they travel through the days and weeks across the continent of Titans, all along the way they murder farmers, kill the farm animals for meat, and take what they want; always picking easy targets outside of villages and towns. Burning the cottages and barns to hide their crimes and leaving none alive to tell the tale; be it man, woman or child. They usually don¡¯t take the women for pleasure, because if she isn¡¯t a Purifier, she is considered unclean and considered more like a dog than a human.


    Vorshan is very pleased with the murder and carnage they inflict upon the unsuspecting victims; he finds the most pleasure in personally killing the women himself as blood sacrifices to the ancient gods of his ancestors, thus believing it will grant him the favor of the gods, this is the Purifiers way. Zeyzey breaks his fantasies of grandeur as he stands over his recent victim when she says to him, ¡°this Koronos, he may be formidable, especially if the Sword is anything close to the legends, we cannot confront him, it must be done with trickery and subterfuge.¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is my concern as well. I have been thinking about it for days, but I have been formulating a plan; whether to use you, or poison, or both, or perhaps something entirely different.¡± After a few moments Vorshan continues, ¡°I¡¯ll know when we arrive there and I can assess the situation better, we will observe this heretic before I decide.¡±


    Zeyzey follows up with, ¡°I do like the sound of poison, but if he''s anything like our great leader, it may not have the desired effect.¡±

 CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: BACK HOME, SAFE AND SOUND?

    It¡¯s been ten weeks since Koronos left White Bay Island and sailed to find survivors, he managed to find his other two bodyguards and Abyss, his powerful black warhorse on one of the islands in the archipelago island chain but no other survivors from the downed ship. They have their own harrowing tale of survival, but that is a story for another time. After searching the other islands nearby and finding nothing, he returned home. Upon returning home and much to his surprise, the elected mayor has been administering state affairs efficiently in his absence, and there¡¯s even coin in the state coffers. He¡¯s greeted with fanfare and there is a celebration in honor of the triumphant return of their beloved leader.


    The celebrations are managed by Calvion, he managed to survive the sea voyage because he wasn''t on the ship that Koronos was on when the rogue wave sunk his ship. He does much verbal groveling, hoping that his liege never learns of his past betrayal.


    While the celebrations ensue, Shelove goes into the mountains on a hunt for fresh meat. Koronos gets intoxicated on wine, but little does he know that there is a little something extra in the wine, placed there by Zeyzey; she managed to get a position as a servant in the fortress. She catches his eye with her beauty and exotic looks of the pale-skinned jungle people of Samira; she flirts and smiles at him while pouring the wine, touching and caressing his muscular arm. Infiltrated Purifiers watch and look at each other across the dining hall; the plan is working. Once he becomes adequately intoxicated, he tosses her over his shoulder and stumbles to his bed chambers while captain Korvax cheers him on


    The only one in the hall that isn¡¯t grinning and that doesn¡¯t approve is Corvannafax, she doesn¡¯t know this woman-servant, never seen her before and she certainly doesn¡¯t trust the people of Samira because her people have had encounters with some in the past, she¡¯s heard the tales. The red-skinned, golden-haired shield maiden watches from her celebratory drink with a suspicion and contempt, perhaps some jealousy as well.


    Skullcrusher notices and puts his hand on her shoulder and says while laughing, ¡°let him enjoy himself, he¡¯s earned it, and have a little more drink yourself, he¡¯s safe here in his lands and in his home.¡±


    Unconvinced, she plays along and takes a sip of the wine while she looks around the hall with her golden-colored eyes, noting the other Samirians present at the celebration, none of them seem to be joining in the revelry, something doesn¡¯t feel right and she doesn¡¯t like it, not one bit.


    Koronos uses his foot to lightly kick the door shut behind him as he enters his bed chambers with his scantily clad prize for the evening¡¯s conquest, with a goofy intoxicated grin, he tosses her on to his bed and says with a slur, ¡°that wine ish strongk, I can ushually drink mush more and shtill have some wits about me.¡±


    Without any further romantic notions, Zeyzey grabs him and pulls him toward her and greets his mouth with hers, then he passes out. In the chambers it¡¯s dark and the only light is coming in the windows from the full ¡®moon¡¯ light of Sleeping Dragon shining in. She goes to the windows and leans out to find the Purifiers waiting for her to signal them. Stealthy assassins enter the chamber, one spots the Sword of the First in its scabbard and he grabs it. The other men bind the Kazarian¡¯s hands behind his back, they carry him to the window and tie a rope around him and lower him down to the ground below. Any guards here have already been killed, so there is no one to sound any alarm.


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    Vorshan has his men put Koronos into a cart and then cover him with a cloth, they take him out through the gate and the guards pay no mind to them because they are more concerned about what goes in than what goes out.


    Inside the dining hall about twenty minutes later, Corvannafax looks around the space for the Samirans but notices they have gone, she knows something isn¡¯t right, she gathers the other bodyguards, they beat on the lord¡¯s chamber door, but to no avail, so after a few moments they enter, only to find it empty. They begin searching the fortress and call out the other guards to search. After searching for a while and finding nothing, she asks the guards at the main gate, ¡°did you see any of those pale-skinned devils leave?¡±


    The guards look confused for a moment, then realize what she¡¯s talking about, ¡°y-yes, the Samirian refugees left with their cart almost an hour past.¡±


    Shelove enters the gate just then, back from a successful hunt in the mountains and she¡¯s well fed, but she senses something is wrong and she can¡¯t sense Koronos through the Bond.


    Corvannafax says to Shelove, ¡°they¡¯ve taken Koronos, we need your help to track him down.¡±


    Shelove has learned a lot of their words and understands. They travel fast and light, taking only what they can grab within a few moments, and as soon as the horses are made ready by the stable hands. The great black pantera leads the bodyguard group out of the gate and into the night in pursuit.


    On their way out, captain Korvax shows himself, ready to accompany them, ¡°you¡¯re not leaving without me.¡±


    Skullcrusher says to him, ¡°honorable captain Korvax, I ask that you stay behind and help the mayor protect the realm, because we don¡¯t know how long we may be gone, the realm needs a military leader here, we can¡¯t leave the realm undefended, especially now, with enemies within and without.


    Reluctantly, the captain agrees, ¡°aye, I will stay, but bring Lord Koronos back. Here, take his horse, for when you find him¡­¡± He almost said ¡®if he¡¯s alive¡¯ but decided to not voice such notions, in the hope to stay off such a possibility.


    It¡¯s Corvannafax that answers, she has become the de facto leader of the bodyguards, ¡°this I promise you, and we will punish the ones responsible for this treachery, good captain. Just don¡¯t let the realm fall, help the mayor as much as you can; hopefully we won¡¯t be gone for very long.¡±


    They track Koronos¡¯ scent and find the cart, but no one is around. Shelove finds the trail again, it leads into the mountains, it seems they must have put him over a horse.  They track him into the mountains, on through the night until the break of dawn; that¡¯s when they see him, crucified on a tree with his head hanging low. He¡¯s been beaten and brutalized, kicked and punched by the Purifiers.


    Skullcrusher if the only one to speak, the only words he utters is, ¡°no.¡±


    Shelove runs up to him and licks his leg, making him slightly move and mutter a weak incoherent word. Any normal man would be terminal at this point, but his Everliving nature is still clinging him to life. Everliving are hard to kill.


    ¡°He¡¯s alive! Get him down,¡± says Corvannafax as she dismounts her horse.


    They pull the stakes out of his hands, but they have to lower him to the ground because he cannot stand on his own. Then they try to make him comfortable and wrap his hands in a clean cloth, and give him some wine to drink, but he can barely drink it. It¡¯s clear that he¡¯s not fit for travel, so they make their camp near there, close to a mountain stream for fresh water.

 CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: TAKING IT PERSONALLY

    It¡¯s hard to not take it personally, Koronos thinks to himself after being crucified and all, and he feels compelled to seek revenge and to reobtain the Sword of the First, just as soon as he regains his strength and health. The Purifiers could have killed him outright, but their leader specifically commanded them to crucify him; and they do enjoy good old-fashioned crucifixions and sacrifices.


    According to their demented beliefs, doing sacrifices brings them the favor of their deity, that deity is The First, however, she only recently ascended to deity status, or something akin to it. It¡¯s something that cannot be explained to mortals because there is no frame of reference within the context of our meager, limited, finite and linear temporal existence, but they don¡¯t know this, nor do they know that she doesn¡¯t favor sacrifices except self-sacrifice. Fanatics will be fanatics, and there is simply no reasoning with them, they only understand one thing; violence, and Koronos thinks to himself that he will be more than happy to oblige.


    Koronos heals quickly, within a few days he is fit to travel once more because of his fast-healing abilities that come with being an Everliving, and he wastes no time in pursuit of the Purifiers. At first, the group is unsure if they can track them after so many days have passed while Koronos was healing, but soon they come across a small village, or at least what is left of it.


    Bodies of the Purifiers¡¯ victims hang rotting in the trees, farm animals slaughtered, the cottages burned down. Because of the smoke from the smoldering fires, it¡¯s kept the buzzards mostly away, so the bodies are mostly whole still, aside from the wounds and injuries inflicted from essentially being tortured to death.


    Through the Bond, Shelove asks Koronos, ¡°what is all of this for, what is wrong with humans? I understand killing for food, but they leave the bodies to rot.¡±


    ¡°Do not try to make sense of things that make no sense, these are fanatics that believe in nonsense, this nonsensical belief gives them justification for murder, nothing more. If it wasn¡¯t for their belief, they would likely be hired mercenaries, murdering for pay because it¡¯s plain to see they enjoy killing,¡± says Koronos casually in response.


    Skullcrusher interjects with his deep but strangely smooth voice, he¡¯s actually a good singer on the rare occasion that he sings, ¡°it¡¯s certainly some kind of madness. These Purifiers are dangerous and need to be stopped, I want to kill them all.¡±


    Koronos doesn¡¯t respond but merely nods in agreement, then continues on the path by nudging his horse forward.


    After this, it becomes clear that their trail will be easy enough to follow through the winding mountain passes and pathways and across valleys because the Purifiers gleefully leave death and destruction in their wake; they slaughter the innocent, murdering men, women and children, burn cottages and small villages to the ground. For this is the Purifiers¡¯ way of doing things, however, they are completely unaware that Koronos is slowly gaining on them as they murder their way back to the sweltering humid jungles of Samira.


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    Within a week Koronos and his group are only a mere day behind their quarry, and they have crossed over the Helfire Mountain range and are at the Isthmus of Samira, it¡¯s the only narrow strip of land that connects Samira to Titans. Unfortunately, it¡¯s also a vast, nearly impenetrable swamp with gigantic swamp trees that defy comprehension. This vast dark swamp sees little light because of the thick canopy overhead. They reach a small village where they could normally find a guide to take them through the swamp, but the Purifiers already killed everyone there, forcing them to search for several days to find another small village.


    Corvannafax does the translating, her people have had limited interactions with the people on the edge of the swamp from doing trade. Communication is difficult and slow, but they do manage to hire some guides. The swamp people are of the same ethnicity as the other people of Samira; pale skinned tribal people with dark shades of hair, often worn in mini braids and adorned with exotic bright colored bird feathers. Samiran people have a bad reputation as being murderous thieves and liars, but these are outdated stereotypes from hundreds of years ago, they are mostly honest, hard-working people these days.


    So at first light of the day after spending the night in the village, they head out, guided through the winding treacherous pathways of the swamplands. It¡¯s midday when they see it, or more accurately hear it, the loud crack of the wings of the legendary Thunderbird of Samira, through an opening in the canopy Koronos sees her, a great eagle with a wingspan of the six men lying head-to-toe. He is covered in magnificent iridescent and bright red, yellow and black feathers. Koronos attempts to make contact, and he reaches out through the Bond and raises his hand to focus, and like a thunder crack in his mind he makes contact.


    ¡°I am Koronos, what are you called?¡± Koronos queries the great aerial predator.


    Taking his time, the great bird eventually responds, ¡°I am Sky King, this is my domain, and I have ruled these skies for one hundred turns of the seasons,or more, I lost count. Although you are a curious little creature, you are still my food if I catch you, so stay hidden in the canopy, little man-thing, I will say no more,¡± and then he abruptly closes off the Bond.


    Shelove is just a bit too big to be prey, even for a bird of such a great size, so she is mostly unconcerned and merely glances at the sky for a moment to reassure herself that she is safe from the aerial hunter. If she was just slightly smaller, she might very well be on the menu.


    The rest of the group of bodyguards, save for Pericles the sword master that remains stoic, simply stare in awe, their jaws dropped open; they have never believed that such creatures existed in the world, and stories of such things were just that; stories. But the Samiran guides drop prostrate and begin to say prayers, it¡¯s a deity to them. There was a time, thousands of years ago when it was believed that the Samiran Thunderbirds were extinct, back when this region was a vast wicked empire, but since the empire fell and the people became a scattered, tribalistic peoples once more, thus the legendary creatures of Samira have returned.

 CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: THE LAST HUG

    Another day of traveling, after sleeping in hammocks the night before, because nobody ever sleeps on the damp ground; unless they want to be carpeted in thousands of crawling, biting insects. Some larger than your hand. Worse yet, there is a huge species of ground spider that hunts at night, it has been rumored to reach the size of a large dog, the locals call it ¡®the dog spider¡¯ because of the size reference. Its bite isn¡¯t terribly venomous, but that is hardly relevant with a spider of such a large size. Either way, it¡¯s essential that a campfire is always burning at night, this keeps most of the large and dangerous critters at bay.


    And we haven¡¯t even begun to talk about the serpents that dwell in the stifling swamp; some are venomous, some are constrictors, some are small, some are large, and one particular species is so large that the guides go to great lengths to avoid its known territories. In the local language it¡¯s called something difficult to pronounce, but it means ¡®the last hug.¡¯


    They take good care of their horses, but the horses hate this place, they conveyed as much to Koronos through the Bond. Shifts are taken each night where someone stays up for several hours to keep watch and make sure the horses are okay, and to kill anything too big that wanders too close to camp, each of them takes a shift. Koronos takes a shift each night as well, even though his bodyguards try to discourage this because they feel that such a task is too far beneath him, with being the head-of-state and all.


    Because of intense rains, the normal path is flooded, so the guides take the group on a more dangerous alternative path that brings them precariously close to the territories of the great serpents, the place where it is known that the Last Hug resides and hunts.


    Eventually, they reach a place that is essentially a long narrow pathway crowded with gigantic swamp trees with deep, dark black water on each side; it seems to continue for hundreds of paces or more, but the distance is too hard to judge from all the vines, trees and foliage. The horses do not like this place, they become very nervous, too nervous to safely ride, so the group all dismount and slowly walk them in; the horses reluctantly capitulate.


    As they progress, things immediately start to make splashing sounds as the critters dive and duck under the water, most likely frogs, turtles, possibly some smaller serpents. Corvannafax sees something big slide under the water at the edge of her peripheral, creating a wake that is far too big to be a mere frog or turtle, however, it is gone before she can ascertain what it was, and it disappears into the inky black water. Distant unknown birds and primate tree dwellers call out in the distance, as well as the cacophony of frogs and the multitudes of unknown insects. Eyes of the rest of the group dart about, looking for danger, but it¡¯s the guides that are the most nervous because they know what resides here.


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    Progress is slow and noisy; they often have to hack away foliage and vines so the horses can get through. ¡°Perhaps it was a mistake to bring the horses this far into this place,¡± Says Koronos, it was more of a statement than a question.


    Strangely enough, even though steel is well known throughout the world, the guides use bronze blades for hacking through foliage. It makes sense when one accounts for the intense humidity and constant wet environment, steel doesn¡¯t last very long here; it turns to dust in a few years.


    From the shadows it strikes, grabbing a pack horse by the neck in its huge jaws, it is a massive serpent, nearly seven men laid head to toe in length and as tall man¡¯s stride in width, weighing no less than 180 stone. In the carnage that ensues, the horse whinnies, the other horses break away and run. The only horse that doesn¡¯t break and run is Abyss, he¡¯s a highly trained jet-black warhorse of an unusually large size.


    In nearly the blink of an eye, Pericles hacks and slashes the great serpent, and two arrows drill it in the side of the head of the beast from Hybornyesis, followed immediately by Skullcrusher¡¯s battle axe. Corvannafax jumps on top of the serpent and drives her sword into the neck just behind the skull, but she is quickly thrown off and she goes into a roll to mitigate the impact of hitting the ground.


    With a mighty blow of its tail, it plows into the group, Shelove and Koronos are lightning fast and dodge the hit, but the guides and the bodyguard all go flying into the inky black water, except for Corvannafax even though the tail hits her, she jumps off of it, doing a backflip off of it and lands on her feet, because she was essentially ready for the strike. Koronos rolls underneath the beast, with an incredible spear thrust with enough power and force to pierce the skull and into the brain of the beast, killing it.


    Once they get out the black water and with mouths wide open in awe, the guides just stand and stare at what they just witnessed, with one holding their cracked ribs and the other has a broken arm. They have heard of legendary hunters killing the Last Hug serpents, but have never seen it occur, however, the damage is already done, the pack horse is dead, the bite from the serpent was strong enough to break its neck.


    After an hour of tending their injuries and wounds, and retrieving the horses, they make haste to get out of the area. The guide with the broken arm heads back to the village because he can no longer continue, Skullcrusher puts a field splint on the guide¡¯s arm to stabilize it before he leaves for the village. So now they are down to one guide that has cracked ribs and only one pack horse to carry their camping gear and meager provisions.


    ¡°Are you well enough to continue?¡± Koronos asks the guide, Corvannafax translates.


    The guide nods in assurance that he is well enough.

 CHAPTER THIRTY: WITCH BLOOD OF THE TOUCHED

    After six grueling days of travel on soggy, muddy ground, Koronos and his group finally clear the miserable, sweltering swamp without any further serious event of note, aside from the Dog Spider that Corvannafax killed while she was on night watch; it tried to wander into the camp. She doesn¡¯t like killing critters that she doesn¡¯t eat, so she tried to chase it off, but about an hour later, it wandered too close to camp again, so she cut it in half with her sword. She was so silent that the group never knew what had occurred; except for Koronos, he looked up from his hammock when the sword blade hacked through the exoskeleton of the critter, he took a quick survey of the severed spider body twitching on the ground, then went back to sleep unconcerned.


    Before their guide heads back home, he is provided with their last remaining pack horse for services rendered, as was the deal they made at the beginning. Without a pack horse to carry the supplies, they have to divide up the gear and provisions amongst themselves to evenly share the load, however, there¡¯s still too much to carry, so they give the remainder to the guide, asking that he share it with the injured guide, the one that had to turn back early.


    It takes two more days to find a burned-out village and the associated murdered bodies of its denizens, thus indicating they have found the trail of the zealots once again. As the sun begins to set and twilight encroaches, Pericles speaks, it should be noted that he rarely speaks, however, he speaks now, in his peculiar western foothills accent as he surveys all the carnage and the senseless murders committed, ¡°I¡¯ve had about enough of these foul fanatics, Purifiers, pfft¡­ The only ones that need ¡®purified¡¯ are them, all of them forsaken bastards.¡±


    Koronos simply nods in agreement to this sentiment, with Shelove at his side, he then compels his horse forward to find a suitable spot to camp before the evening advances into total darkness; one-by-one, the others solemnly fall-in behind him while his sharp eyes constantly scan the ground, looking for any signs that his quarry may have deviated from their trajectory and direction of travel.


    In the darkness of the early night, while exotic jungle creatures make haunting calls that echo through the vast, dark forest, not much more than a day ahead of the Kazarian¡¯s party, the Purifier zealots are eating some type of greasy, chewy, stringy meat while huddling around campfires. It¡¯s a type of large jungle rodent that is best prepared by boiling it for a few hours before cooking it over a flame, this is to make it more tender and edible, however, they have no large boiling pots, so they skipped the first part and went straight to cooking it on the open flames. They were fortunate enough to kill several and this worked out nicely because the group is too big for everyone to huddle around a single campfire, and besides, a fire so big would require too much wood and draw far too much attention, so they are split up into three groups, all close to one another in a small clearing near the trunk of an insanely gigantic tree.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Although witches have been gone for thousands of years from these lands, their ancient blood still flows in the veins of some. Sometimes this blood is potent enough to offer a glimpse or hint of a power from a bygone age. Zeyzey has this ancient blood, it gives her an intuition that can sometimes transcend the world of the seen and heard, and it¡¯s the direct result of this fickle ability that has enabled her to gain such a high standing in the Purifiers¡¯ ranks. She¡¯s had a growing feeling for many days that something isn¡¯t right, a feeling of impending disaster, and it¡¯s behind them somewhere; so now she speaks of it as she stares unblinking into the enthralling, dancing flames of the campfire, ¡°Vorshan, someone or something is following us, I can¡¯t be certain, but you know I¡¯m usually right about such things, I have waited until now to speak of it because I wanted to sort out and separate my feelings of anxiety and fear with that of the¡­ Touched abilities.¡±


    Up until that moment, Vorshan was also staring into the fire, but now his eyes snap up to meet hers and he slowly wipes the grease from the meat he was eating from his lips. She waits a few moments for Vorshan to reply, but he says nothing, he only looks at her with a stone-like, unmoving face; well, at least it looks that way to most people, but Zeyzey has known him for a long time and knows his tells, none of the others can see it, but she can see his masked concern.


    Moments pass in tense silence because all the men have stopped talking and are now looking at her, Vorshan still doesn¡¯t reply, so she continues, ¡°Whatever it is, it¡¯s dangerous. If you find it acceptable, come first light, I¡¯ll take a few men and double back to scout.¡±


    ¡°No, I shall do it, we are splitting up at dawn. Take three men and the sword, push hard, day and night and only rest when the horses need to, get the weapon to TFR, stop at nothing. No more Purifying villages: they are insignificant worms.¡± says Vorshan in a calm but stern voice, a voice with absolute conviction and belief in his cause. Sometimes they use ¡®TFR¡¯ for conversational shorthand for The First Reborn, and this was one such incident. Although he presumes that Koronos died from the crucifixion, the Kazarian¡¯s cohorts, however, are known to be skilled warriors and very dangerous, they will no doubt be seeking to avenge their liege, so therefore, he can ill afford to take any chances.


    Zeyzey has no problem with this order because she thought they were wasting too much time from Purifying these peasants that are beneath contempt anyway, it was only slowing them down on their primary mission. Therefore, she simply says, ¡°Understood, I will not fail.¡±


    Most of the group of zealots get very little sleep from anxiety over the unknown; are the Kazarian¡¯s cohorts as fearsome as their reputation? How many men are in the avenging war party? Are they all going to die tomorrow? Many questions run through their minds with no answers.


    Come early morning, as the grey dawn pushes away the black ink of night, Vorshan hands Zeyzey the Sword of the First as she sits mounted atop her horse, the only words spoken are when she says to him, ¡°kill them all¡­ if there be killing to be done,¡± as she slings the ancient weapon over her back. He says nothing. Once again, his stone-like face reveals nothing, except to her, she sees it, heavily masked fear. She decides it would be best to say nothing more, and then she rides off with the three men in tow, doing as she was ordered.