Titans nest, p.3
Titan's Nest, page 3
There were few people from Hunt's Burrow in the same age group as Maximus and I, but everyone wanted to see who would be bit. We found ourselves at the main gate, which had been swung wide open, funneling in all who wanted entry. Soldiers protected in ebony armor and wielding long spears and shields lined the gates on both sides. I laced my fingers around Maximus’s belt and looked down at his heels, careful not to be separated in the commotion.
A shadow of nervousness lingered over me as we entered the ancient city. The sky vanished into the roof of the massive cave that hid the capital and the soft drizzle of rain no longer struck us.
Horses and their riders stormed past us as if we were no more than weeds sprouting be- neath their hooves.
Clerks battled for our attention by shouting so quickly and fiercely they sounded like a murder of crows pestering their prey from every direction.
Priests in plum-colored robes and tall metallic crowns muttered in the Primal Tongue to one another, their faces hidden behind silk veils.
Cloaked figures moved quietly through the crowds, their sticky fingers sliding across money belts and bags.
Beggars pleaded for change at our feet.
Sharp and pointed crystals, from the size of my hand to the size of a dragon’s tooth, grew all over the fortress. The crystals jutted along the streets, across the edges of their complex architecture, and all across the ceiling of the cavern. They each emanated a lovely lilac glow that covered the whole city in a mauve hue.
The buildings were far taller here in Eclipto’s capital compared to Hunt's Burrow. Each structure lurked like a dark stone giant looming over me, watchful eyes locked on my every move from the windows and cracks in their boxy torsos’.
Being constructed within the caverns, the city seemed to roll in waves. Some homes and towers were built high above us on stone shelves while others fell deeper into the dark. I was most surprised to see a grouping of waterfalls against the western wall of the city, sprouting from three large caves in the wall. Natural streams snaked through the grotto and around the structures our ancestors had built.
We were like salmon fighting to reach open waters as the crowd guided us from the outer edge of the burg deeper towards the center. The Obsidian Spire, where the royal family lived and surveyed over the city, grew closer with our every step.
Eventually we broke free of the smaller streets and were funneled into the town square, a massive octagon shaped courtyard. At the heart of the courtyard sparkled the largest grouping of crystals in the city, growing outwards like a blossoming flame of purple and turquoise. At the northern end sat the Obsidian Spire, the main citadel of Eclipto. Directly adjacent sat the Lunar Temple. My neck reared back and I squinted as I tried to see the top of the Spire. The castle seemed to jab into the roof like a shard of black glass. Two smaller towers of different sizes sprouted from either side of the structure, connected by huge iron bridges.
“Now that’s a fortress,” Ryker said in admiration with a long whistle as he scanned the castle. “Not as big as the Summit Citadel in Voltar, but impressive nonetheless.”
“There’s no way there’s a tower that size anywhere else in Dazawrath,” Maximus said defensively, pushing Ryker to the side. My fingers stayed clenched tightly to Maximus’s belt loop from behind.
“How would you know? See many castles from the tavern window?” Ryker laughed with a snark. Maximus threw a quick jab into his shoulder.
A stone path connected the entrance of the Lunar Temple all the way to the stairs of the Obsidian Spire. Maximus had dragged us to the center but his strong chest was met with the pole of a spear. Maximus grunted as he looked up at the soldier who stopped him.
“No further,” The Eclipton guard said with a snarl. Every three paces or so stood a large guard, keeping people clear of the stone pathway that linked the two monuments. Maximus still pushed back against the shaft of the spear trying to get a better look despite the guards warning.
As I examined the crowd, I realized every able body man and woman from every surrounding town had come to the square. I saw hunters and trackers from Hunt's Burrow, farmers from the east, and even stonemasons and miners from the southern mountains.
Five stories up the Obsidian Spire, massive double doors pulled open leading a group of people out onto the main terrace of the building.
“Who’s that?” Ryker asked, now also curiously leaning against the snarling soldier. “King Voidrin, of course,” Maximus said proudly. At the head of the group a lean man
marched to the edge of the terrace. His once pitch-black beard was now frosted with silver hair. A black crown of stone with six sharp points and amethyst gems at the base of each decorated his head. Cold eyes and a mysterious scowl pulled across his face. His charcoal-colored armor had no shine except the silver crescent moon upon his breast. A violet cape ran from his shoulders and across the floor behind him.
“Voidrin,” Ryker nodded.
“He’s a First-blood, right?”
“First-what?” Maximus raised a brow.
“Means he’s from an ancient house,” I informed him. “His line has been ruling the north since the fall of the Verdour.”
“Whoever can punch hardest rules the south,” Ryker joked. “We only have the toughest brutes on the throne. It’s the way of the Summit.”
“You folks sound like a smart bunch,” I smirked.
King Voidrin raised a stiff hand, while his other rested patiently on the pommel of his sheathed sword. The crowd fell silent.
“This day is a momentous day. Not just for the kingdom of Eclipto, but for all of Daza- wrath,” the king’s voice echoed against the walls of the cavern. “A dragon has not blessed us with its hatching in more than one hundred years. This dragon’s arrival is surely a sign of both peace and prosperity for our people.” The crowd lifted their voices in a hopeful cheer. I pressed closer into my brother’s back, overwhelmed by the noise. He raised his hand once more, silencing their excitement. He paused and stared out over the crowd. “One young woman, or young man, will be chosen by this dragon. If its fangs meet your flesh, your life will forever be changed. Your story, rewritten.” My hands began to pool with sweat as I thought about the monster grabbing a hold of one of my limbs with its dagger-like teeth. “Whoever you thought you were thus morning will cease to exist... and a Bitten Knight of Dazawrath will take your place. As a king I can admit there is no higher honor than to become one with a dragon. You will fly under no king’s flag... you will serve only Dazawrath. You will be far wealthier than any noble. Far more powerful than any general. Far deadlier than any army.”
It seemed as if every young person squirmed with excitement as they envisioned that life for themselves. Everyone, that is, except Maximus, who stared up at the king with a focused glare.
“Could you imagine?” Ryker whispered to Maximus, his wishful gaze looking up at the glowing gemstones above. “No more hunting for your next meal. No more rules. No more borders.”
“No more tavern,” Maximus growled. I felt my grip around his belt loosen a little.
He really, truly, wants to leave… I thought anxiously. “But imagine waking up and not seeing my darling face every morning, brother.”
“Enlisting is sounding sweeter and sweeter,” Maximus elbowed me playfully.
“Now,” King Voidrin’s voice re-snared our attention, “we will see who will be the next Bitten Knight of Dazawrath!” Maximus straightened. From behind the crowd and at the base of the Obsidian Spire, the thumping of war drums rattled through the city. The beat carried so
intensely my heart became restless and I once again tightened my fingers around the hold in which I trapped Maximus.
“Every boy and girl, between fifteen and eighteen winters, born in the great Kingdom of Eclipto… step forward,” at the king’s command every soldier lowered their defenses, spun their spears in perfect unison, then jammed the butt-ends against the stone beneath us. I felt Maximus drive forward without hesitation; when I slowed his momentum, he slapped my hand away in a fierce slash. I grabbed my wrist and rubbed out the spot where he had struck me. He, and about thirty-five other young men and women appeared from the crowd and stood at the heart of Eclipto.
“Well go on then, that means you too,” Ryker grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out beside Maximus. Ryker and his golden hair fell back into the crowd. The crowd roared and nearly overcame the heavy beating of the drums. I could feel a hot wave roll over my face as I pushed closer next to my brother in hopes of disappearing. He shrugged me off and faced the king high above us.
“Arro Par’vati,” the King announced in the Primal Tongue and gestured behind us.
One of the nobles beside us, probably seventeen years of age, translated to himself, “High Priestess.” We all turned and the doors to the Lunar Temple moaned as they slid apart.
A pyramid shape in a dark marble stone stood before us. The cycle of the moon had been carved from the top of the entrance to the floor. Only the doors were decorated with this elaborate and complex design, the rest of the temple seemed surprisingly ordinary. The full moon etched into the ancient doors split in two, and a woman who appeared to be even older than the doors stepped forward.
A lilac robe with silver stitching covered her hunched over figure. Her eyes were a startling white, void of any pupils or color. A black wooden staff with a crescent moon at its tip sup- ported her weight. Her head remained covered with a beautiful headdress of black crow's feathers, violet beads and braids. Great trenches ran her face like the lines of a wrinkled map.
She held out a wiry hand decorated in shining rings and gestured for us to move towards her. The speed of the drums rose.
The High Priestess guided us into a straight line with her staff and shaking hand. I stepped in line.
I felt the collar of my shirt pulled sharply from behind. “Peasants and mud eaters wait in the back of the line,” a pudgy boy with slicked back hair said as he released my collar. I nearly fell backwards from the sudden yank.
“Oh,” I coughed and pulled down my shirt, “sorry… I didn’t… I didn’t know,” I apologized timidly. He and his friends snickered. “Guess there’s not room for me and your gut in line,” I said quietly to myself. I began to make my way to the rear of the line.
“No, Darren. Get back here.” Maximus said impatiently.
“Ya, get back here so the two of you can walk back together,” the pudgy boy exclaimed as he outstretched a hand towards Maximus. I froze.
“Do you want to be bit by that dragon?” Maximus asked quietly, without fully turning to face the highborn.
“What?” he scoffed and then paused just before he grabbed him in the same spot he had grabbed me. His hand now hovered an inch above the back of Maximus' neck.
“Do you want to be bitten by the dragon?” Maximus asked again.
“Obviously,” the boy said long and harsh, as if he were talking to someone slow in the head.
“Then don’t touch me or my brother again,” Maximus snarled, his voice flared with a deadly edge, “cause I’ve never heard of a dragon biting a corpse…”
The noble and his entourage fell stiff. The chunky boy’s sausage like fingers slowly curled into his palm before dropping his hand down to his side away from Maximus. He cleared his throat nervously and muttered, “uh, whatever, like either of you street vile would ever be bitten.”
Maximus pointed with his brow for me to take my place in line in front of him. I put my head down and stepped back in the line.
The drum beat continued to rise as the first person was being prepped by the old lady to head into the temple. She whispered to the first girl in line only loud enough for them to hear, the young girl, probably my age, nodded stiffly, then proudly raised her chin in the air before step- ping towards the opening.
A glimmer of light ran over my left eye from the crowd similar to when the sun falls over ruffled waters. I followed the flash of light to its source.
Standing at the back of one of the guards, a man’s beady eyes were locked with mine. His red eyes shook with anger and a crust of white spit had formed at the corner of his mouth. Pale skin cinched tightly over his skull, making his jawbones seem to pop from his face.
The gleam of light came from the unsheathed dagger in his hands. A cold, lifeless smile pulled across his cracked lips.
His eyes never lifted from mine as he dragged his blade across the unsuspecting guards throat.
I covered my mouth as a crimson river bubbled up from the wound and trailed down the soldier's black armor. The guard fell to the stone.
I couldn’t move, the war drums still pounding in my chest.
The man slowly drew something from underneath his cloak. A white mask. There were no eye holes. No face holes. Only a red painted ‘X’. He slid his face behind the mask then charged me.
A woman screamed. And then another on the opposite side of the square. The crowd roared in confusion. Soldiers were being overtaken from every edge of the square. The masked man was nearly upon me, his blood-stained hands held out in front of him.
Maximus drove his shoulder into the man’s ribs from his flank, throwing him to the ground.
“We have to run!” Maximus roared over the crowd as people caved in from every direction. I turned around. White masks with a red ‘X’ bobbed in the sea of people surrounding us. Soldier’s dead bodies were being trampled beneath the herd of frantic people.
“Protect the dragon!” I remember King Voidrin’s voice crying out desperately from upon the terrace. The temple doors closed and soldiers began to shield the old woman and the entrance.
“Maximus!” I screamed as I was knocked away from him just as he reached out for me. A knee struck my thigh, an elbow clipped my jaw, a hand tore my tunic. My body flung too the
ground. Boots and heels pinched and stomped over my body as people rushed from the square. I tasted blood and dirt behind my teeth as a boot kicked me in the lips.
Three people were knocked to the ground as Maximus drove himself toward me like a bull. He pulled me from the dirt. “Whatever happens stay with me--”
Before he could finish an arm slung around his neck. A white mask appeared behind him and it began dragging him viciously away from me. I screamed and rushed forward; two more masked people helped restrain him. Maximus thrashed like an animal trapped in a snare, biting and tearing at whatever he could.
Something looped under my arm, then a sharp pain shot into my ribs as someone swept me from the ground. A burly arm had wrapped around my torso and now carried me away. The masked man that carried me squeezed so tightly I fought to get air to my lungs and Maximus and his attackers were lost amongst the chaos.
Ash poured over us as we passed homes and shops that had been set ablaze. People wept over the corpses that filled the streets. Horses without riders ran people down in their path. Soldiers bellowed orders and children screamed in terror.
I punched and kicked at the brute that carried me but he seemed oblivious to my blows. I struggled to stay conscious as he squeezed tighter around my ribs. All I could hear now was his animal-like breathing through his mask.
I batted my eyelids, trying to fight off the darkness that began creeping in from the edges of my mind. I opened my eyes and the city faded into a black gate. I opened them again, a black gate turned into trees and the roof of the cave had been replaced with a gray sky.
We’re outside the city, I thought helplessly. I pried my gaze open again. There were more masked people, sprinting through the woods, each carrying a squirming child or young adult in their arms. I saw Maximus.
“Max--” I tried to scream but struggled to draw the breath. Three masked men still fought him, now dragging him by his legs through the mud. His eyebrow had been split open and blood ran from his lips, but he still fought like a rabid dog.
My teeth rattled together with each stride as I flew further and further away from my brother. Some of the teenagers being carried around me were unconscious and looked like they had been bludgeoned over the head. Branches and leaves slapped over my face, scratching at my exposed skin.
Where are they taking us? I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. CRACK!
I was thrown into the brush. I laid on my back and gasped for air in the dirt. Suddenly my vision cleared and wind rushed back into my lungs. I sat up.
Ryker stood over the man who had been carrying me, a thick, broken branch in his hands.
My kidnapper moaned and began to rise. Ryker raised the tree limb high above his head, then brought it down with gruesome force. I heard the back of the man’s skull cave in as Ryker struck him two more times.
Panting for air he said, “Let’s get Maximus,” as he hurried over to where I sat. He held out his hand to me and pulled me from the dirt, but my eyes were locked on the dead man that lay at my feet. “Let’s go!” Ryker howled as he dragged me away.
We ran as fast as we could, my head pounded and my lungs were once again begging for rest as we flew through the woods. I could hear Maximus groaning in resistance as we reached the cliffs that overhung Lake Marrow. I froze once we broke the tree line, unsure of what to do.
Two men had each one of Maximus’ legs, the third wrestled with his torso. Maximus had been caked in mud and grime. His hair was drenched in sweat and blood and I hardly recognized the beast he had become.
Ryker barreled into the two men holding Maximus’ feet and all three of them fell to the ground. I still stood frozen, unable to move forward.
Maximus, now free, fought his way on top of the last man and began bashing his mask in with his bare-fists. Each thump made me cringe as Maximus slowly broke the man’s mask and bloodied his own knuckles.
Ryker fell tangled in with the other two kidnappers dangerously close to the cliff's edge. Loose rocks and dirt slid down the edge as they pushed closer to the drop. Ryker kicked one man off him and engaged the next in a fearsome grappling match. The man he kicked picked up a large jagged rock from the dirt. He loomed over Ryker with the boulder as the young hunter drove his elbow into the throat of the other kidnapper. The rock came down with a grisly SNAP as it landed on Ryker’s leg. I looked away.
