Space Knights: The Arrival by Gregory Samuelson (buy e reader .TXT) 📕

you’ll find the sword in the forest at the foot of the Crown Mountains on Althora. With that you will have your title, Great Griffin General.” He said that title with a deliberate slur and finally his hood slid off his face enough to be revealed. “The key is safely where it belongs, where no one truly knows what it is,” Bazar added.

“Perfect,” said the Griffin. “And nobody will ever suspect that a Griffin has been working for the Sphinx.” At a dragging noise from the forest the two turned to see a massive lion in a cage being hauled toward the galleon by six husky Griffins. The two beings looked at each other one more moment and then went to their respective ships. As the two ships started up their massive engines, a body lay thirty yards away, hidden by the trees. Slowly at first and then very rapidly the ships lit the sky and took off in opposite directions.

The hideously torn body of a being the likes of which had not been seen in this part of the galaxy for centuries laid only yard into the forest away from where the ships had been sitting. The ripped reptilian flesh and fine royal robes of Emperor Sutash, known on his world of SSSummontahss as The Great Serpent.

***

On Althora in a small vault in the vast catacombs of the royal outpost for Boulthora, in a case crusted with ancient dust, sat a large nondescript key so ancient there were no records of its forging or what it locked or unlocked. Over this case stood King Axlor a pulse pumping in his neck.

No one but he knew of this keys existence and what it may possibly be. His head tilted, as he thought no one must ever know of it. Not even Vengethor, especially him. He must never learn of this key.

Axlor swiftly turned and left the vault and shut the door. He then removed the ancient vault’s key and placed it in its hiding place. He swiftly strode to another ancient door and passed through. The guards outside that door stood and saluted the king as he passed without even acknowledging them. They shut and locked the door and once again took up their positions.

Now I have other matters to attend to, thought Axlor. And with powerful strides he made his way back toward the hidden stair to the throne room.