Realms of Valen - Blasphemous Crusade (War of the Gods Book 2)

  Realms of Valen

  Blasphemous Crusade

  War of the Gods: Volume II

  by Rickk Berry III

  ©2016 by Rickk Berry III

  All Rights Reserved

  Blasphemous Crusade and Realms of Valen logos

  by Rikk Berry

  Edited

  by Lisa Marling, Ph.D.

  Cover background art

  by Samantha Kross

  Thanks to everyone who supported

  the first novel and helped me out

  tremendously with this second novel.

  Here's to many more projects

  in the future.

  Chapter I: Shadows Fall

  Kaidia arched a brow slightly as she watched her new servant girl bustle about the main chamber of her tomb-turned-home. The girl was bright and excitable with a love for learning that Kai found admirable. It was one such brush with hands-on learning that led to the girl having dark blue hair and bright yellow eyes. A spell gone wrong, she had said.

  The girl's name was Vexarilia Ingzonnor. Most people just called her Vex. She was human and had eagerly applied for the position of Kaidia's servant when Sae-Mirra left to move in with Nadia in Vortha. She had said she wanted to learn from Kai and had reasoned that there was no better way than to live with the god. Not to mention that being the personal handmaiden to a god was a pretty big honor. Her cleaning skills left something to be desired, but she tried hard and she was an excellent student when it came to learning what Kai decided to teach her.

  At the moment, Vex was sitting cross-legged on the floor, wearing a pair of nearly knee-high leather boots, loose shorts, and a somewhat loose, long sleeved tunic. Her hands were held aloft above her lap, palms facing one another, a flame flickering between them.

  “If you lose control of that and set something on fire...” Kai trailed off.

  “Yes, yes, Miss, you'll go get the orcish whip from the armory and make me rue the day I was born,” Vex finished the sentence with a smirk. Both women knew Kai wouldn't do that, but it didn't stop the mercenary from threatening. The blue haired girl threw the small flame into the nearby fireplace where it erupted into a roaring fire. There was no wood to burn, but when one was a mage wood wasn't a necessity for fire.

  “Well done,” Kai complimented.

  “Thank you, Miss. I think I shall start breakfast,” Vex replied and walked out of the room.

  Kaidia relaxed into her chair and stared at the book that lay open on her lap. For the past few hours, the god had felt something amiss. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but something was nagging at the back of her mind. Kai shook her head, looked back to the book and tried to concentrate on reading. A few moments later, she simply gave it up and snapped the book shut with a low growl.

  “Something bothering you, Miss?” Vex asked from a couple rooms away.

  “Yes, but it's nothing for you to worry about,” Kaidia replied, her voice raised slightly to be heard in the kitchen. Vex appeared in the doorway.

  “I don't know. When you get testy, I tend to get in trouble,” the blue-haired girl reasoned.

  “You get in trouble because you're a brat,” Kai retorted. Vex simply stuck her tongue out and headed back to the kitchen. Kaidia sat there, her right ankle crossed over her left knee, arms on the armrests of her chair, eyes staring at the floor but not seeing it as she tried to pinpoint just what it was that was nagging at the back of her mind, just out of reach. Something just felt off kilter and it was becoming increasingly frustrating to the mercenary.

  For nearly an hour, Kai tried to put her finger on just what was bothering her. When Vex announced the breakfast was ready, the annoyed god decided to chalk it up as just one of those things, stood up, and headed into the dining room.

  * * *

  Nadia was abruptly jerked from her dreams by a rather alarmed looking Sae-Mirra. Nadia grumbled and rolled over, jerking the blanket over her head. Sae was a cat girl, after all. She looked wild-eyed half of the time she was awake.

  “Wake up, Nadia!” Sae urged, shaking the woman.

  “Nnngh... what? Did you lose your ball of string?” Nadia asked, half asleep and teasing.

  “No! It's under the chair in the living room. That's not the point, get up!” the kyrian shouted with a light swat to the back of the noble's head. That brought Nadia up to a sitting position.

  “Hey! No need for that, kitten,” She grumbled, rubbing the back of her head.

  “You weren't getting up,” Sae growled.

  “Yeah yeah, what's the big deal?” Nadia questioned. It was way too early in the morning for her tastes.

  “Get up and look for yourself, woman,” the kyrian gestured to the window. Nadia grumbled, but kicked off the blankets and set her feet on the carpet covered floor. The young noble had just worn a long, sleeveless tunic to bed that left her strong legs bare, and despite Sae's alarmed state the cat girl took a moment to take in the view. Nadia was her mate, after all. The kyrian was already dressed for the day in a tunic and a pair of soft leather shorts. Summers were hot, after all.

  The still somewhat asleep young woman glanced out the window and suddenly felt herself wide awake; any hint of sleepiness had vanished. Outside the window, beyond the walls of the city, tendrils of smoke stretched skyward.

  “Cooking fires... for an army,” Nadia said, mostly to herself. Just then a hard thump against the front door of the home startled both women. They glanced at one another then headed downstairs. Nadia grabbed her short sword along the way. She unsheathed it before opening the door. On the other side was the quite harried looking captain of the city guard, Adrian Xavier. Adrian was perhaps forty years old; his mane of hair had once been a rich brown, but was now more silver than anything else. His beard and mustache had followed suit. But he was still one of the best warriors in Vortha and had even taught the Valengaard sisters a thing or two when they had been growing up. Upon seeing Nadia in only a tunic with her sword at the ready, the man couldn't help but pause and take in the sight. Sae had to snicker to herself.

  “Ah... Lady Nadia, Lady Sae,” the man said, looking between them.

  “What is it, Captain?” Nadia asked, sheathing her sword, and stepping aside, silently inviting the man inside. Adrian stepped in and Nadia closed the door behind him.

  “There is an army at our door, Lady Nadia,” Adrian informed her.

  “Yes, I saw just a moment ago,” Nadia replied.

  “What you can't see from your home is how big it is,” the captain countered.

  “Well then, let me get dressed then you can show me,” the noble replied before heading upstairs. Sae-Mirra smiled to Adrian before following.

  “Perfect time for my parents to be out of the country on a pleasure trip,” Nadia grumbled as she jerked off her tunic and went about getting into some fresh clothing, the eyes of her admiring wife-to-be watching her the whole time.

  “They wouldn't have left the city in your hands if they didn't think you were capable of handling the job, love,” Sae retorted with a smirk.

  “I am quite sure they didn't think about a rogue army attacking the city. Maybe a bunch of bandits at worst. This isn't a normal situation,” Nadia replied, her tone calm. She wasn't letting anxiety get the best of her.

  “You will be fine,” the kyrian said with a reassuring smile while buckling her dagger belt around her waist.

  Nadia only replied with a quick kiss to Sae-Mirra's cheek before she finished dressing, grabbed her leather armor, and slipped it on as she headed downstairs. She fastened her sword belt around her waist and eyed Adr
ian.

  “Show me what we're facing.”

  * * *

  Upon the battlements of the city wall, Adrian, Nadia, and Sae-Mirra stood looking out over the rocky field that had, just over four years ago, been the site of the first battle with Adathir, the now dead God of Eternal Night. Now stood a force that was perhaps five thousand in number, breaking down their camps, putting out their cooking fires, and preparing to attack. They didn't appear worried or even serious at the moment.

  There was no place to hide an army when attacking Vortha. Farms surrounded the city walls but beyond them, rocky plains spread out all around the city. If an army wanted to sneak up on Vortha, they'd have to do it at night, as Adathir's army did… and even they had been spotted. Given the rocky outcroppings in the plains, an army couldn't march at night without torches to light the way and thus, they'd be spotted before they got too close. But the move did give Vortha's defenders less time to ready themselves.

  This army didn't seem to care if they were spotted or how much time they gave the city to prepare. That worried Adrian and Nadia, and anyone else who knew a damn thing about tactics - which happened to be the whole of the city guard.

  “When did they get here?” Nadia demanded of Adrian with a growl.

  “Sometime in the night. Apparently without torches or the aid of some magic to hide themselves. They just appeared,” the man replied.

  “What does the city guard number?” the noblewoman asked.

  “Just over nine hundred,” Adrian answered.

  “Not to cast doubt upon your men and women, Captain, but they wouldn't win against an army that size, even if they were wild, untrained barbarians. And by the looks of how orderly they are in tearing down their camp, they're far from untrained. Their armor and weapons are of high quality. I can see that from here,” Nadia expounded, her eyes trained on the army beyond the wall.

  “So what do you suggest we do, Lady Nadia?” Adrian inquired, seeing no options himself.

  “Keep the guard within the walls of the city. Defend it to the last if I can't stop them,” Nadia stated, her tone firm.

  “What?!” Sae exclaimed.

  “You alone?” Adrian asked.

  “Yes, me alone,” Nadia replied.

  “Absolutely not! I forbid it! There's no damned way under the gods I'm letting you go out there alone, Nadia Valengaard!” Sae-Mirra growled, her feline ears laid back against her hair, her tail lashing back and forth angrily, golden eyes wild.

  “My sister is a god. I get special privileges,” Nadia said with a smirk, undaunted by her lover's furious outrage.

  “The hell you do, Nadia! You're powerful, but that's a whole-gods-be-damned army!” Sae shouted, pointing to the army over the wall. Nadia stood calmly, weathering the storm of anger.

  “I have an idea,” Nadia responded, her tone reassuring. Before Sae could mount another argument, she found fingers scratching behind both of her ears and all she could do was purr and give her future wife a dirty look. Nadia chuckled and then pulled the kyrian into a heartfelt, loving kiss that lasted several long moments and made Adrian genuinely smile. The love between the two was obvious even if it had blossomed quickly.

  “You be careful,” Sae growled.

  “I will be. Oh, and if something should happen and I am unable to attend to my duties as a noble, you are in charge of the city until my parents return,” Nadia informed the cat girl with a wink.

  “I am?! Oh... shit,” Sae muttered.

  Adrian chuckled at that, and then looked to Nadia.

  “I trust you like I trust your sister. Do what you have to do,” he stated, giving the noblewoman a curt nod, which Nadia returned.

  “I will,” she replied before she simply turned and leapt over the battlements and made the rather long plunge to the ground, landing as if she were light as a feather before she took off at a run between the farmsteads.

  It was midsummer and already hot, even this early in the morning as Nadia ran past the houses and out into the open fields beyond. She slowed to a stop not long after passing the last of the farms and caught her breath. Upon seeing her approach, a single figure broke away from the organizing army and started toward her.

  The man that walked up to her, stopping a respectful distance away, was an elf. Long dark hair flowed down his armored back, pulled into a ponytail, pointed ears and fine facial features giving away his heritage. Something was off about him, though. Nadia could sense it, see it in his eyes. Something about him was... twisted.

  “The Honorable and Mighty Lady Nadia Valengaard of Vortha. An absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Pirathias Orveth, Commander of the Second Brigade of Khamora's Army,” the elf informed Nadia with a gentlemanly bow.

  “I can't claim the same pleasure in meeting you, Commander,” Nadia replied curtly.

  “I did not expect for you to share in my enthusiasm, Lady Valengaard,” Pirathias stated.

  “What is this?” Nadia questioned, gesturing to the army behind the elf.

  “An army, poised to take Vortha. I assumed you were here to offer your surrender,” the commander answered, a pleasant smile on his lips, his tone conversational, as if they were discussing the weather and nothing more.

  “No such luck, Commander Orveth,” the noblewoman responded coldly.

  “A shame, you would have been a powerful asset. But I respect your decision. It is an honorable one, if foolhardy. A good day to you, Lady Valengaard,” Pirathias said with a slight nod of his head before turning and walking back to his brigade.

  * * *

  Up on the battlements, Sae-Mirra and Adrian witnessed the brief meeting between Nadia and the elf commander.

  “I wonder what that was about,” Sae pondered aloud.

  “He was likely asking Nadia if she was there to offer Vortha's surrender,” Adrian answered speculatively.

  “He doesn't know Nadia too well, does he?” Sae asked with a chuckle.

  “Hard to say. Asking for surrender from a vastly outnumbered force is standard protocol. It's one of the unwritten rules of engagement,” the captain replied.

  “Oh. I did not know,” the kyrian responded.

  “You never served in your military?” Adrian asked.

  “I did. But it's not a military like your own. We're tribes. We band together to fight a common enemy. Sometimes we fight among ourselves. It is kill or be killed. No mercy. Respect is given to the dead afterward. You're either a soldier or a general. Those are the only ranks,” Sae answered.

  “Strange,” was all the captain could muster as a reply.

  “Yes. That's what I thought of your human and elven armies when I first ventured out of the south with Kaidia,” the cat girl said with a smirk.

  Adrian was about to respond when he saw the army outside the wall starting forward, toward Nadia, who was standing alone. She stood proudly, showing no fear.

  “It's starting.”

  * * *

  The brigade started out at a march, a thunderous cacophony of footsteps, boots tramping over the dirt. They held pace and formation until they got about halfway to Nadia. At some signal, both unseen and unheard by Nadia, the marching troops broke into a run, coming at the lone defender of Vortha like a tidal wave made up of dark armor, swords, shields, axes, and spears.

  Nadia didn't flinch, simply stood her ground, watching and waiting. As the horde of charging soldiers drew near, Nadia threw her hands out to each side of herself. Ice exploded out of the ground on all sides of her, engulfing her, spreading in a massive wall stretching far on either side of her. Spikes of ice shot forward, almost as if alive, impaling scores of soldiers at a time. Ice spread forward, covering the field, seemingly hunting down the troops that were abruptly in full retreat. Many tripped and fell in the rocky field, only to be nailed to the ground by icy spikes. Others managed to stay on their feet long enough to be run through by blades of ice that lifted them off of their feet and into the air, freezing them in their death throes. The ice moving along the g
round sounded soft, almost delicate. When it reared up to take another life, there was a hiss of the frozen blades slicing the air and then the sound of metal rending and soldiers screaming as the ice cut through metal, flesh, and bone. It was so cold that it burned to the touch.

  Pirathias Orveth watched in shock and sheer horror as his brigade was not only turned back but utterly slaughtered within moments, right in front of his eyes. His legs wouldn't move. He could neither move to help his soldiers, nor run to save his own life. Not even when he noticed the tendrils of ice snaking along the ground toward him. He was in awe of Nadia's power. He didn't even blink until several shafts of ice shot upward from the ground, impaling his torso, running him through and lifting him skyward. As he died, Pirathias took in the battlefield from his new vantage point, several feet in the air. All he could see was a wall of crystalline ice glimmering in the summer sun and nearly five thousand dead soldiers, all victim of one woman who had just proven to any doubters that she was fit to rule over the city of Vortha.

  “Well done... Lady Nadia...” Pirathias managed to choke out, blood flecking his lips and freezing there as the cold and injury took him to his final sleep.

  * * *

  On the battlements, Adrian and Sae-Mirra cheered along with the rest of the city guard at the victory over what had seemed, just minutes before, an unbeatable force. Soldiers of the guard clasped hands, shook one another in joy, and grinned like idiots. Some simply stared in amazement at the icy monument to magical power that Nadia had built in only a scant few moments. Normally, it would have taken several mages, armed with staves to cast such a spell.

  “We owe the lives in this city to those sisters twice now. Once to each of them,” Adrian muttered to himself with a smile.

  After a couple of minutes of cheering, Sae looked around eyes watching for her beloved Nadia, now the savior of Vortha, to coming running back to the city. But nothing moved in the frozen horror of the battlefield.

  Growing concerned, the kyrian put her hands on the stone of the wall and leaned over it slightly, sharp eyes peering around the farms. Seeing nothing there, Sae shifted her gaze to the icy monument to death and power that Nadia had created. Her eyes finally spied what they sought and the howling scream that echoed over the city moments later, silenced every jubilant voice.