The Darkest Sword by Samantha Kroese (ebook voice reader txt) 📕

That was a waste of life. I could have drunk from them, Sihtaar grumbled.

"Tomorrow we will destroy the rest of the kingdom that attacked. You will drink well. Be silent until then," Ashiyn muttered to the blade low enough that Soryn couldn't hear him. "Errance's kingdom will be next."

Yes. Good. Destroy the king of the humans and they will bow before you as they should, the sword agreed, then fell silent once more.

Ashiyn contemplated how many would be left to rule when the world was finally in order. Ashiyn despised fighting with armies of humans. The idiots should be throwing themselves at the monstrous armies instead of wasting resources battling Ashiyn.

His thoughts were interrupted when they entered the dining room. He and Soryn joined Seraphine at the table. He watched and listened to them as they ate. Only weeks before, Marista had sat in unhappy silence at this table with him. Seraphine seemed much happier to be with here, and Soryn would be forever loyal to him.

When they had finished the meal, Ashiyn cleared his throat to get the conversation to die down. "The neighboring kingdom declared war on us today. Tomorrow they will die."

"I want to go with you," Seraphine said, as she stretched. "I wish to see you in battle, my King."

Ashiyn leaned back in his chair and relished the moment. He glanced to Soryn. "Soryn?" Out of the three of them only Soryn seemed troubled.

"I will stay here, my lord. You will hardly need my talents, and Errance may attack the castle again." Soryn got up to clear the dishes away.

Ashiyn watched him go with a frown, then glanced to Seraphine. “I will join you in my chambers soon. I need to speak with Soryn first.”

Seraphine rose from her chair and bowed to him. “Of course, my King. I will be waiting,” she said, then with a wink she wandered out of the room.

Ashiyn rose to follow Soryn. He leaned against the door frame as he watched his friend put the dishes into a tub full of soapy water. "You seem troubled. Odd for someone so eager to kill earlier."

Soryn frowned as he scrubbed the plates. “I know that kingdom. I have no desire to go back there.”

Ashiyn raised a brow. “How do you know it?”

Soryn shuddered but only shook his head as an answer.

Ashiyn walked over and took the plate Soryn was washing, then placed himself between Soryn and the dish tub. He set the plate down and grabbed Soryn’s chin, forcing Soryn’s gaze up to look at him. “Tell me.”

“That kingdom is full of pixies. I know because they were the ones that Rurik bought me from as a child. They stole me from my parents, then didn’t want me anymore, so they sold me to him,” Soryn whispered. “Please, don’t make me go back there, Ashiyn.”

“No, I won’t,” Ashiyn promised as he pulled Soryn close to him. His eyes narrowed once Soryn couldn’t see them. Pixies? He hated pixies. The only way to truly kill them was to kill them at their seat of power. He would kill every last one of them for the role they had played in Soryn’s pain.

CHAPTER FORTY

Ashiyn grabbed the nearest pixie and violently ripped its gossamer wings from its back. The thing screeched like a banshee and struggled, but he closed his fist around it to crush the life out of it. It exploded in a satisfying splatter of gore. The last time he had visited this kingdom they had worn a magical glamour to look like humans. Before he left that morning, Ashiyn had Soryn cast a spell to break the pixie’s disguises. He stopped and grabbed another one that had latched onto his neck. He ripped it off and the creature chattered and screeched in its native tongue as he shook it. He glared at the rows of razor-sharp teeth normally hidden behind the pixie’s cute appearance. Ashiyn crushed the annoying pest and tossed it aside. That was how they trapped people. They disgusted him. They stole children in the night, and now that he had learned Soryn was one those taken, he had no mercy left for them.

He rolled his shoulders, trying to see where Seraphine had gone in the swarm of angry pixies that surrounded him. It was like stirring a hive of bees. Ashiyn loosed his blade from its straps on his back, then began swinging it around. The blade woke as the blood of pixies covered it.

Why are you wasting time with pixies? The sword asked as Ashiyn took down an entire swarm of them with just one swing of the massive blade.

"It's not a waste of time," Ashiyn said, as he cut his way through to the steps of the castle.

"King Ashiyn! I must insist you stop!" The pixie king flitted out of the castle flanked by guards. Less impressive when they were only about twelve inches tall and covered in glittery pixie dust.

Ashiyn brushed some of that dust off his armor, then made a face. He'd be trying to get that stuff off for weeks now. "First you denied an alliance with me. Then you forbade me to see your daughter. You started this by sending one of your armies to attack my castle. I've had quite enough of you."

"I'm sure it was just a mistake!” The pixie king started to protest but stopped short when he sensed the magic covering Ashiyn. “How dare you come into my kingdom using a spell from a leftbehind to reveal us!”

"Leftbehind! Leftbehind! Curses on the leftbehind!" The pixies swarmed over to dance in a circle around Ashiyn as they chanted angrily.

Ashiyn reached out and grabbed the King, pulling him over to look the tiny pixie in the face. "What is a leftbehind? Talk! Before I make your eyes