The Crowned (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga, Book 6)
Read The Crowned (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga, Book 6) Online
Authors: Jeremy Laszlo
Book six of The Blood and Brotherhood Saga
By Jeremy Laszlo
Edited, Produced, and Published by Writer’s Edge
Publishing 2013
All rights reserved.
© 2013 by Jeremy Laszlo.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
All characters in this book are fictitious, and any
resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Clad in Shadow
(Poetry for a Burdened Soul)
The Choosing
(Book One of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Chosen
(Book Two of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Changing
(Book Three of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
Crimson (Book 3.5
of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Contention
(Book Four of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Champions (Book
Five of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
The Crowned (Book Six of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
Beyond The Mask
(The Beyond Book One)
Beyond The Flesh
(The Beyond Book Two)
Beyond The Soul (The Beyond Book Three)
Prologue
Within the span of a few months the entire future of the
world had been rewritten. Out of obscurity two new champions blessed by the
gods had arisen upon the face of Thurr. Believed twins, these champions had
special abilities that made each of them an asset in battle. Heeding the call
of their kingdom, Seth and Garret had marched to war against the black horde, a
formidable army comprised of orcs, trolls and goblins.
*****
Using his unparalleled magical abilities, Seth created a new
race of men to serve the kingdom of Valdadore, melding wolves with men to form
werewolves. At their head, Seth appointed Borrik, a once-human priest to the
goddess Ishanya, who now served loyally as the alpha werewolf, a vicious
predator designed for killing. Garret, trained by the mighty Knights of
Valdadore, became a warrior unlike any other, impenetrable to physical harm by
any weapon. Together with their allies, the brothers faced the previously
undefeated black horde. Though the battle had eventually been won so, too, had
much been lost.
Taking an arrow to the neck, Sara, Seth’s young wife, had
fallen in the battle. Losing control of his powers in his anguish and rage,
Seth unleashed his magic with devastating effect to both friend and foe. In
that final blast, the battle was won as thousands of enemy troops were
obliterated. However, the King of Valdadore and several of his blessed warriors
were also destroyed by it. Seth and Sara were nowhere to be found. Most assumed
them dead, as no trace remained of the young couple.
*****
His brother, king, and mentor Lord Sirus all slain, Garret
had no choice but to ignore the emotions threatening to overwhelm him as his
new duties begin to stack up in service to the kingdom. Witnessing the suicide
of Sirus’s wife Sasha, he was charged with looking after their beautiful
daughter, Linaya. Each overcome with their own sorrows, Garret and Linaya
sought solace from one another and became closer by the day as a deep-seated
love began to grow between them.
*****
Seth and Sara found themselves transported to a foreign land
following the magical blast that had ended the battle with the black horde.
Though Sara had been mortally wounded, Seth managed to save the woman he loved
by using his powers to combine her life force with that of a species of bat
with amazing healing abilities. However, he soon began to realize that his
magic came with untold and sometimes devastating consequences. As Sara was
restored, it quickly became apparent that their lives together would change
immensely. Sara had become an agile, powerful, bloodthirsty predator who could
no longer tolerate the sun. Together the pair set out to find their way back
home, but were captured and delayed by a tribe of miniature warriors. Hearing
these people’s sad tale of persecution by the mysterious Zoomba, Seth and Sara
allied themselves with the small race in hopes of defeating another immense
enemy. Little did they know that the enemies were cat-sized insects that
numbered in the millions.
*****
Borrik, the alpha werewolf, sent his hybrid troops in all
directions to seek out Seth following the battle with the black horde,
confidently believing his master still alive. Leading a small contingent of
wolf troops himself, he was approached by more of Seth’s creations in the
night. A pair of feline girls Seth had shaped prior to the battle swore that
they knew the location of their creator. Changing course, Borrik followed the
trail laid before him by the sisters, racing east towards the mountainous
border of Valdadore. As he and his men raced day in and out to reach their
master, the lunar cycle progressed. Under the influence of the twin full moons
in the sky, the contingent of hybrid wolfmen were filled by lust-induced rage,
and brutally raped the inhabitants of a small community before fleeing the
scene to again seek out their master.
Cresting the mountains the pack of werewolves were accosted
by a giant and took several casualties before finally bringing the immense
beast down. Rejoined by another pack of his troops, Borrik led his men onwards
and soon witnessed Seth’s magical fire in the distance. Leaving his injured men
behind, Borrik and his troops raced with no regard for their own safety to his
side.
*****
Reunited with his troops, Seth formulated a plan to defeat
the insect army. Together with the help of the werewolves and the miniature
warriors, Seth and Sara managed to destroy the queen of the insects. Their
leader lost, the remainder of the Zoomba dispersed as Seth, his wife and his
hybrid soldiers headed back to the capital city of Valdadore. Along the way
they were rejoined by the remainder of Seth’s small personal army of mutated
men before reaching their destination.
*****
Garret sought to help repair the kingdom, and now, as a
member of the royal council in his role as a Knight of Valdadore, he had the
means to do so. He used his meager influence to help vote good people into
positions of worth within the kingdom with the help of allies in the council.
When it came to selecting a new king, however, two unexpected events occurred.
First, Garret made an enemy of the powerful battle mage Vladmere who fled the
city after setting the mages’ tower ablaze once he realized he would not be
elected as king. Second, Garret was tricked into the most powerful position
within the kingdom, and within weeks a crowning ceremony was held in his honor.
If being crowned king of a mighty kingdom was not enough to
make a memorable day for Garret, Linaya had also professed her love for him the
night before. To top that off, little over an hour after being crowned, Garret
was surprised yet again as his brother apparently returned from the dead with
his resurrected lover in tow. But that was still not the end of the most
memorable day of his life. No sooner was the new royal family reunited than a
messenger from the western border of Valdadore arrived to announce that the
kingdom was being invaded by their neighbors led by King Sigrant. Bloodshed, it
seemed, would not remain a thing of their past.
*****
Having learned to enchant inanimate objects, Seth helped to
equip warriors with weapons and armor with magical attributes. Beyond that he
began to create his own champions out of those loyal to his cause, blessing
them with size, strength and more. The kingdom of Valdadore marched out to meet
the approaching foe but was caught off guard by magic unlike anything ever seen
before. The enemy, it seemed, had abilities at their command that could destroy
Valdadore.
*****
With the death of Seth, the waking god, Sara became a
prisoner of war as the invading king, Robert Sigrant, used her in hopes of
utilizing her gift to his own dark ends. With the dark prince defeated, and
his princess captured, Sigrant has Valdadore under his heel as the battle
ensues. Though, he does not know that a Dwarven army a hundred thousand strong
marches to the aid of Valdadore at the behest of Zorbin and Linaya. Though
only one could claim it, all seek a victory that will forever alter the Fate of
Thurr…
The landscape lay wasted, a testament to the butchery of
previous hours. Here lay the disfigured corpses of thousands of soldiers, those
decimated beneath the feet of blessed champions and supply wagon alike. Blood
coated the ground everywhere, though now in the darkness it could not be seen, but
everything was slick with the gore. The cold had blown in wickedly from the
north with the coming of darkness. It threatened a winter storm, turning blood to
ice, and creating a crystallized frost on everything as if to preserve the
macabre scene for an eternity. Though a waterfall plummeted into the ground, to
be lost from sight in the unknown depths of a giant chasm cut into the face of
Thurr, its falling water only created a resonating hum somewhere below as
occasional blasts of steam were exhaled from the giant scar. Naught but the
occasional caw from a scavenger bird, or growl from feasting predator, broke
the eerie silence that had fallen over the battlefield. Even those animals that
dared feed upon the men steered clear of the southern edge of the field, for at
that place a strange charge emanated and electrified the air.
A large circle of ash rested at the southern edge of the
field, a blight that even now showed signs of unholy sacrifice. At the
perimeter, piles of carcasses still smoldered, flames peeking out into the
night occasionally to paint the scene in hues of red and orange. Even now,
hours after the combatants had moved on, the ash lay undisturbed. It had become
a shrine, or perhaps a solitary display of respect to the man who had fallen
there. None upon the field had thought he could be killed, the walking god
known as Seth, the dark prince of Valdadore. And those who believed were as of
yet correct.
His eyes flashing open, Seth gulped air, pain flooding
through his body with each gasp. He tried to move, to relieve the pain, but his
body refused to cooperate. Looking this way and that, his eyes darted in his
skull, seeking aid that did not exist. He was alone. Paralyzed.
Pins and needles exploded in his chest moments later and
proceeded to torture him further by slowly spreading to his smallest of
extremities. He spasmed several times as life rejoined his corpse, and as
feeling began to return he again tried to move with moderate success. Everything
was stiff. Everything hurt. His own blood was frozen to his body, matting down
his hair as well as coating his armor, though as his temperature rose to mimic
his former life, the armor warmed and the blood began to drip once again. In
his breastplate a great hole remained, its jagged edges folded inward to cut
into his flesh with every movement. He could have fixed it with a thought, but
preferred the reminder. Feeling anything, even pain, was welcome. After all, he
had secured what none other on Thurr could claim. Seth had died. He had left
the realm of mortal beings, and been given the chance to return to fix that
which he had broken, and keep the oaths he had sworn. This time there would be
no mistakes.
Assured that the pain intended to linger within him for some
time, Seth rolled to his side and pushed himself into a seated position with a
groan. He felt as the last bits of his internal injuries stitched themselves
back together, repairing the damage done by the massive ballista bolt that had
impaled him hours before.
Around him was a wasteland of death. He alone realized the tragedy
of it all, but he alone could not end the cycle. Grimacing he tried to rise,
sucking in breath between his teeth in response to the pain. It was no longer
the pain of injuries nor mortal flesh, but an unusual pain that encompassed his
entire being, soul and all. Slowly he rose to his feet and peeled the blood-soaked
and frozen cowl from his head, tearing out hair as he did. With every move his
damaged breastplate dug once more into his chest, only to heal nearly
instantly. Seth had become like Sara. He had been to a small degree before, but
now he too was a creature of the night. He could feel the thirst, and
recognized it for what it was. But with his immense power he did not feel the
desire to satiate it.
Having returned from the realm of the dead, he had no
measure for how much time had passed. He could have been gone mere hours or
days. He couldn’t be sure. Seth knew this much though, the battle here was over.
Stretching first physically, and then mentally, he assured himself that all was
intact. Drawing his power into himself he turned toward Valdadore, and
unleashed it in an invisible torrent of tendrils in all directions. Mere
seconds passed as he reached beyond reason to locate those he could recognize. Garret,
Borrik, and Jonas all lived, as did seven of his other werewolf troops. They
had been decimated in his absence. Seth’s shoulders slumped for a moment, but
was interrupted in his mourning as he located the camp of Sigrant’s army.
Realization dawned upon him instantly of the danger
Valdadore faced. Without him the city and the kingdom would fall in minutes if
a battle ensued. Gathering his thoughts and emotions, Seth began to stride
towards the city when he found her. He froze in his tracks, his connection to
her tenuous at best. Sara moved away from the city. Away from him. She was so
far away, Seth could hardly feel her at all. He tried to see with his power the
details of her surroundings but was unable. The only reason he could even
locate her at this distance was the sheer volume of power she herself
contained. He wanted to go to her. No. He
needed
to go to her. Ishanya
had told him that Sara had been captured and was destined to be tortured, but
there was nothing he could do. The bargain he had struck with the goddess
prevented him from taking action. All he could do was return to Valdadore and
see the war through. Then he would be free to rescue his wife. He had failed
her once already, and she had been captured due to his failure. He would not
fail her again.