AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“His wrath was terrible to behold. He bellowed and cursed then held the stone above his head. Drew on its power. The earth let out a horrible groan and began to shudder and sway beneath our feet. And the mountain…”
I stopped, sickened.
“Go on,” Drayke said softly.
My head filled with images too horrible to imagine. I forced myself to finish reading the document, though I couldn’t bear to translate his exact words.
“The scribe explains the soldier is dying from the injuries he suffered, barely able to speak by the end,” I said. “But he managed to recount what happened next before he passed. He says the magic stone the Lord of Darkness held was infused with one of the five elemental powers. The power of earth. Tons and tons of it, able to bear down and compress a simple chunk of carbon until it turned into a magnificent diamond. The Dark Lord used its power to make the whole mountain crumble to the ground, save for the peak on which he stood. The army was engulfed, their legs and arms pinned under huge boulders that crashed down. But that’s not what killed them. They were buried alive. Screaming all the while. The Dark Lord laughed as dirt and stones poured over them, the weight crushing their bones. Suffocating them. Slowly. The survivor was the last one to enter the pass. His lower body was mangled in the avalanche of rocks but he managed to pull free and drag himself back down the mountain. Shepherds found him three days later, half mad from the pain, and brought him to the palace.”
I looked up from the scroll. “He said the Lord of Darkness let him live so he could carry a message back to the people of our kingdom.
“Give up your allegiance to the king and bow down to me. I crushed the king’s army–and I will crush all who dare to defy me.”
Chapter Nine
Magnus
For the next three days, Drayke and I combed through the scrolls with Meli for hours every morning, setting aside the ones that dealt with the Lord of Darkness. We read bizarre ancient myths and legends telling of his powers, eyewitness accounts of evil deeds that made my skin crawl. Afternoons I reserved for training my queen in the ways of a warrior.
She dazzled me with feats that could only be described as magical – moving stones with the power of her will, erecting an invisible wall around her that she challenged my sword to penetrate. But her mastery of those abilities was sporadic.
“You can’t tell your attacker, ‘The queen orders you to stop where you are while the Seven Stars align.’”
“No need to be snarky,” she muttered, her eyes nearly crossing as she stared down at my blade. The tip was poised against the delicate skin of her neck.
I paused to consider my next works before speaking. Tact had never been my strong suit, but I did have some experience with the opposite sex. If she got into a snit because I offended her, we’d waste valuable time arguing instead of training.
“I know you have special abilities, my lady,” I said, sheathing my sword. “But until you can control your magic all the time, I can’t rely on it to have my back in battle. If you’re proficient with a blade, you can wield it skillfully at a moment’s notice if you’re called on to save my life.”
I doubted she’d ever be in that position. Though I think I hid my opinion from her successfully, I found it secretly amusing to give credence to her image of herself as a warrior.
She nodded gravely. “Of course. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Although I did learn a great deal about sparring from Pieter. He’s the master of my royal guard,” she added.
I made a point of rubbing the scab where she’d nicked my thigh with her own dagger the morning we met. “Yes, you’ve mentioned that before. I remember finding out how much you learned from him,” I said, grinning at her.
To her credit, she’d handled herself well in that skirmish. Far better than I expected. That’s why I pushed her hard in training. Because she looked like a delicate maiden, she’d take any battle-hardened warrior by surprise with her tactics, as she had with me at our first meeting. And those few moments would be enough to give her an edge. All I had to do was teach her to take full advantage of it.
“Again,” I said, drawing my sword. “And this time, forget putting up an invisible shield. Don’t wait to defend yourself. Use your blade. Your opponent won’t expect you to mount a full-blown attack.”
Before the last words left my mouth, she let out a scream and charged at me, sword flashing in the sun.
“Yes,” I shouted, whirling to the side. Momentum carried her to the ground, where she collapsed, kicking up a cloud of dirt. “That’s good! Excellent follow-through.”
Meli picked herself up, dusted off her backside, and shot me a dark look.
“Let’s take a break and do some mental training,” I suggested before she could open her mouth to mutter a colorful curse. I’d been on the receiving end of them all afternoon.
“Mental training?”
“I told you the oracle trained me,” I said. “But she didn’t teach me how to fight like a warrior. I had lessons with a swordsman for that from the time I was a lad. Knowing how to wield a blade or a crossbow better than any other isn’t the key. She taught me how tobea warrior.”
We’d left the fortress to work in the wide clearing in front of the temple, where we had room to move. Meli sat down on one of the stone steps, closed her eyes, and turned her face to the sun.
“It’s so good to be outdoors again,” she said with a sigh.
She took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and focused her attention on me, making me feel as though at that moment I was the most important person in the kingdom. For the first time, I saw the full force of the charismatic power she exuded. No wonder the people loved her.
“Tell me the secret, Magnus. Teachmehow to be a warrior.”
