The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

belly, shredding chainmail almost as easilyas leather. Pain shot through him as the spikes tore into hisstomach. It had to happen sooner orlater, said the voice in the back of hismind, but the rest of him ignored it.

Roaring in pain and defiance, DorianThornbear put one boot on the monster’s chest and pushed itdownward while his powerful shoulders tensed. The beast screamed asthe knight ripped the two arms from their sockets. The other twostruck him again, knocking him sideways, but he was up again andtearing at the creature before it could recover. Dorian knew he hadto finish it before his own strength failed him.

Forgetting his sword, he wrestled withthe thing, pulling its two remaining arms loose before starting onthe legs. Like a mad child he tore it apart, one limb at a time,until all that remained was a twitching torso. Unable to do much toit with his hands alone, he took a moment to retrieve his swordfrom the arm it was still lodged in. Using it, he cut each arm andleg into at least three pieces and then he proceeded to hack thetorso itself into two parts, although it took some time. Thecreature’s body was so tough that cutting it apart was as difficultas cutting a normal tree trunk into two parts—using a normalsword.

When he finished hesurveyed the courtyard, leaning on his sword casually, as though itwere a cane. It was largely empty, and those soldiers who didremain were scattered along the walls, watching him silently. Mostof those held crossbows, cocked and pointed in his direction. Hischainmail didn’t have a hope in hell of stopping one of thosequarrels. He wondered at the fact of his continuedbreathing. I should be dead bynow.

“What are you waiting for!?” he roaredat the onlookers. “How many of you bastards do I have to killbefore you put me out of my misery!?”

None of them answered, though one mandropped his crossbow and retreated into a wall tower.

“Answer me!!”

Several more men droppedtheir weapons, an action that Dorian couldn’t comprehend. Lookingdownward he examined his chest and belly, afraid to see what sortof wounds he had already sustained. Myguts are probably hanging out for—what the hell?!He stared at his belly in amazement.

The chain and leather hadbeen ripped apart, but his exposed stomach was intact, aside fromsome odd looking scratches in the grey skin. He slapped his bellywith one hand, finding it hard and dry. The sensation was ratherlike banging two rocks together. As he looked down he saw a numberof crossbow bolts littering the ground around him. Some were stuckin the soft earth, but others were broken, as if they had strucksomething hard. Something like me,he thought. I’ve startedturning, just like Mort warned. I’m more stone than mannow.

“Shit.”

Unable to think of anything better todo, Dorian walked across the empty yard until he found the metalcap that he had lost when the monster first charged into him.Dusting it off, he replaced it on his head. Dignity restored, hestared at the gatehouse and yelled, “If you aren’t going to killme, then open the damn gate! Unless you want tosurrender?”

He began walking toward the gatehouse.Both portcullises and the gate were open long before he reachedit.

Chapter 25

Albamarl looked different than Iexpected. Smoke rose from a variety of locations, and it was farmore substantial than the usual smoke that would have been seenrising from chimneys and cook-fires. This was the sort of smokeyou’d expect from burning buildings. The city appeared to be in themidst of a war.

Where do you want me toland? questioned Gareth.

A dozen locations flashed through mymind, but the most important stood head and shoulders above those.“The Illeniel house, I need to retrieve Lyralliantha.” I hadintended to say, ‘check on my family’, but the geas compelling mewas still in effect. My personal reasons aside, I simply couldn’tdo anything else—not without a logical reason.

Moira spoke then,none of this makes sense. There was no sign of awar before we left.

I had no answer for that, although Ihad my suspicions. A familiar form was waiting for us as we landedin the street, and it was someone whom I hoped would have moreinformation for us.

“You said you would meet me the nextday, but it has been almost five,” complained Karenth as heapproached us.

“Did you have somethingbetter to do?” I quipped. When he opened his mouth to reply I cuthim off, “Don’t answer that. I’d rather hear about what’s beenhappening in our absence.”

“Duke Tremont has made a bid for thecrown. What you see around you is the fruit born of a civil war,”answered Karenth.

The magic compelling mewas impatient, I could feel it tugging me toward Lyra’s restingplace. I have to find out what forces maybe arrayed against me first, I reasonedinternally, and I felt the compulsion ease. “Give me the details,but make it brief and succinct. I don’t have time towaste.”

“His poisoner managed to render boththe royal guard and Hightower’s men helpless. He slew both the Kingand Queen two days ago, but failed to eliminate their daughter.Your friend, Thornbear, helped her escape, and she rallied what wasleft of the city’s defenders to her cause. The fighting has beenbloody and vicious. Tremont has a lot of mercenaries within thecity, and he is supported by a substantial number of churchtroops,” explained the diminished god.

“Where did he find that manysell-swords?” I wondered aloud. My emotions were at a dangerouslylow point at that time for it had been several days since I hadlast fed on a human. The casual mention of the death of my aunt anduncle registered within me as a dull ache but nothingmore.

“Many of them are Shaddoth Krys, theservants and lackeys of Mal’goroth,” Karenth informed me. “I amunclear whether Tremont is aware of this, or if he cares one way orthe other.”

I gave his words some thought beforeasking my next question, “Where is my family now?”

“Inside the building before you. TheQueen is with them,” he replied.

“The Queen?”

Karenth smiled slyly, “The people havetaken to calling Ariadne the ‘Iron Queen’.”

That surprised me. My memories ofAriadne were of a sweet girl with a gentle disposition. While shehad grown into an intelligent