A Sword Of Wrath, Book I by K. E. MacLeod (best way to read ebooks TXT) 📕

Timonus wasn't sure what to say next, so offered, "My men tell me of the street children. They say they give them food whenever they can."

She smiled broadly, "That's true. The soldiers of the city were always good to us."

"So how - when did you get off of the streets?"

Moriana's face fell a bit, "Not for a long, long time."

"How did you survive?"

She looked over at him, "There aren't a lot of options for adolescents on the street, male or female. I did what I had to; I'm a survivor."

Timonus felt uncomfortable at her revelation.

Moriana laughed as she sensed his discomfort, "Too bad I wasn't lucky enough to work in one of the Empire's brothels but, then again, if I had, maybe Mother Marcella would've never found me."

"Mother Marcella?"

"She was the high-priestess of the veneficas back then. She found me one night, wandering the streets." Moriana became lost in the memory, her eyebrows knitting together, "I was maybe around fourteen years, or maybe a full decade and a half, I can't remember but I was half-starved... half-naked... covered in flea bites..."

Timonus cleared his throat, "That's-"

"And one night, there she was; the most beautiful figure I had ever seen," her face relaxed into a bright smile. "She stood at the end of the alleyway and offered me her hand. It was... clean... and she smelled like-like... something sweet,something amazing! She told me she could save me if I'd only pledge my life to Vypera and the Wayward Daughters, the veneficas. I took her up on her offer right then and there."

He nodded, "So, you have been a venefica since that night?"

"Yes. I trained everyday, building up my resistance to the most deadly of poisons. There were several missteps along the way, though."

Timonus looked at her, curious, "Missteps?"

"Yes," she laughed. "I did not develop a resistance to a particular poison in the way that my sisters had and nearly lost my life to it after being gravely ill for two weeks. I was sure I was going to die, as were my sisters. They'd actually already begun my final rites and the preparation for my funeral."

"What poison was it?"

"It is called Realger and is found in the red rocks beneath the ground. I'm afraid I'm still very much susceptible to it even now." She looked at him, "Venom, though, that's something else entirely. I have conquered all of the venoms of the known world."

He looked at her cautiously, "I've been told that the venefica sleep with snakes."

She laughed loudly, her black-stained mouth opened wide, "No, not at all! I mean, we do have a domus serpens where we keep several snakes and I cannot deny that we respect Aspis, for she is our patron goddess and Vypera's handmaiden, but it's because of that respect that I would never have one in my bed!"

Timonus smiled, then confessed, "I'm sorry that I seem so skeptical. I would have you know that I worship the Great Mother Wolf and, on that path, there is very little room for her Wayward Daughter."

Moriana nodded, "It's true. The Mother Wolf did cast the Two Brother's Sister, Vypera, aside upon discovering her darker side but...," she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"Yes?" Timonus urged her.

She laughed, somewhat self-consciously as she continued, "Well, I would say that darkness doesn't necessarily mean malevolence."

"How so?" he looked upon her doubtingly.

"Well, take the night goddess for instance: is she evil just because she appears when the sun god is gone?"

"I... suppose not."

"Darkness is simply the opposite of light, not its enemy."

A new silence fell between them as they rode further down the path. Timonus looked towards the sky and gave up any hope of the gray skies clearing as a cold mist began to pelt his face. He stared ahead at their path as he asked, "Does it bother you that I follow the Great Mother?"

"No," Moriana shook her head, "the Mother Wolf's Daughter will always love and respect her. She is the Mother of All Things."

Satisfied with her answer, Timonus began to feel a bit less suspicious of the strange young woman. He still didn't completely trust her, nor her supposed magic, but at least he could look upon her as a human with rational thought and not a brainwashed child of the occult.

They rode another few meters before the path began to ascend upwards in a slight slope, the shore falling away further and further below them. As they crested the top of the small hill, Timonus noticed that the venefica's dress was becoming sodden by the mist the longer they rode. In a moment of compassion, he spoke, "We may need to make camp sooner rather than later if this weather keeps up."

"But, it would be best if we rode straight through-"

"You may be full of darkness but even you cannot overcome the wet and cold."

She frowned, "I will be fine-"

"You're shivering."

Moriana paused a moment, then spoke slowly, "...and you're very observant."

"I'm afraid it comes with my position."

She looked at him, her black hair beginning to stick to her forehead, "Then, why aren't you fighting with the rest of the forces in the Bestial lands?"

Timonus face instantly hardened, "Because the Emperor needs me at home."

Thunder roared overhead, closer than it was before, and Moriana blanched at its loudness.

He was beginning to feel a bit nervous himself, "I-I think we may need to make camp-"

"No, we can't! We've only ridden for a few hours, it seems such a-"

Lightening flashed over the sea.

He looked pointedly at her, "Does that convince you?"

Moriana's pale face seemed even paler as she nodded vigorously, "Yes. There are some caves up ahead if we can ride for at least another hour."

"I suppose we've no other real choice. I hadn't really prepared for thunderstorms."

She stopped her horse for a moment and looked out over the sea again, "It is the Mother's Daughter. She is unhappy."

Timonus stared into the distance alongside her, "Or the Mother Herself is. Now, what direction are the caves in?"

"Just up the path and then...," a strange look crossed her face.

He looked at her, "What?"

"Hold on. Something's not right."

"What do you mean?"

"That sound? Do you hear it?" They stared at each other as the sound of the distant rolling thunder grew louder.

Timonus eyes widened slightly, "That's not thunder... those are horse's hooves! But there are no patrols out here-"

She kicked at her horse and pulled it towards the rocks on the left, "Follow me, Legate! We need to get out of here! Now!"

"Why? What is it?"

"The Gigantes."

"Giants? But they don't come this far north!"

"They do now. We've seen them near the caves but we've no time for discussion. You'll have to trust me. Come on, Legate, if you want to live!"

He followed her into the rocky outcropping that lined their path along the left side. The horses hesitated at having to be forced again over the rough terrain but eventually did as they were led.

"Get down, now!" she shouted at him as she flung herself from her horse into the rocks.

Timonus attempted to do the same but only managed a clumsy facsimile as he stumbled from his horse to the ground, eventually crawling beside her to hide behind a large nearby boulder.

"The horses!" he whispered to her in alarm.

"They will have to find their own way. If we are seen by the Gigantes, it will mean instant death."

"I have lost men to them before. The stories I have hear-"

"Shh, Legate! They're coming closer!"

Moriana hesitantly peered around the edge of the big stone and saw a group of nearly a hundred men and horses come to a stop on the path before them. The men, or arguably beasts, that sat atop the horses appeared slightly larger than an average man of Lycania - but it was their oversized armor and headdresses, which made them appear larger that had given them their legendary moniker. The horses that they rode upon were also large, clad in similarly imposing armor from the top of their equine heads to the bottom of their hooves, where hair flowed on their legs in the same way as it did from their mane and tails; taking a quick peek himself, Timonus had never before seen horses that looked as they did.

In the middle of the Gigantes horde was a wooden cart being pulled by one of the enormous horses. Atop the cart was a cage where half-naked male and female Bestials wept and clung to each other in fear. One of the horde's riders hit the cage with a blunt side of his weapon, which caused the people inside to scream and scramble to the opposite end where another rider on the other side hit at them as well, growling and bearing his rotted teeth as he did.

One of the Gigantes, the largest of them all, grunted and waved an arm to silence the others. On the very top of the Giant's head sat a ram's skull, while beneath the macabre headdress his face was painted black with the ram's rotten blood and on his shoulders he wore pauldrons made of sharpened bone spikes. His mid-section appeared to be protected by a collection of mismatched metal armor pieces, probably retrieved from his previous victims; the rest of his body was as large as the oxen that were used to plow the fields of Lycania. He slid from his horse and the Legate was surprised that the ground itself did not shake when he landed. Timonus believed him to be the leader of the group from how the others reacted to him.

The Gigantes lifted his pig-like nose in the air and sniffed. Suddenly a yellow-toothed smile crossed his blackened face and he barked out orders to the others in a kind of gruff, monosyllabic language that neither Timonus nor Moriana recognized. The rest of the Gigantes, all in variations of the same type of spiked bone armor and animal skulls, slid from their horses as well and began to scour the surrounding area.

Moriana turned her back to the stone and pulled her knees in tight. Timonus followed her movements and whispered a quick mental prayer to the Mother Wolf. He was frightened but didn't want to show the venefica his fear lest he put her into a further panic. The Gigantes leader barked more orders, his voice getting louder in their ears as he grew closer. Timonus breath came quicker even as he tried to mask it.

Suddenly a shadow fell over the two cowering behind the stone. Timonus chanced a glimpse upward and saw the back of the Gigantes leader standing just a hair's breadth away from them, the ram horns on either side of his head spiraling up towards the heavens. One sound, one move and they would be found out.

Timonus' mind raced with memories of stories that his men had often brought back from their patrols, telling rumors of the Gigantes' mythical feasts, which were said to be made up of a variety of human dishes. No one knew for sure if the Gigantes themselves were human or not because, as far as he was concerned, no one in the known world had ever survived an encounter with a Giant. Timonus swallowed deeply, regretting his actions immediately for he was afraid their pursuers could hear even the slightest sound.

The leader standing over them snorted like a wild beast, as if he could smell their very bones. Timonus saw him begin to turn and the Legate squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for what would happen next. He took a deep breath but, as he did, one of the Gigantes called out to its leader from across the way. The monstrosity overhead answered in his gruff feral-sounding voice and walked away