Official Reckoning Read online

  Official Reckoning

  The Elven-Trinity Book 4

  Mark Albany

  Mark Albany

  Copyrighted Material.

  OFFICIAL RECKONING Copyright (c) 2019 by Mark Albany. Book design and layout copyright (c) 2019 by Mark Albany. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are product’s of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission from Mark Albany.

  Contents

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  About the Author

  Foreword

  I hope you enjoy this book. It is strictly for adults, but if you are 18+ and enjoy the read, come join me and two other authors in our Facebook group, HAREM NATION.

  We look forward to discussing our books with you!

  1

  The combat stances I’d learned felt like they came naturally, every step of the way. Even when she wasn’t there, it was like I could hear Aliana shouting for me to correct my posture, to keep my feet balanced so that every step would be carried out without losing my footing. Two hands gripping my sword, always keeping my right hand, the more powerful one, high, and leaving the left loose to either guide the blade around or to come away to cast a spell or two when I needed it. Sure, I could cast with the right, too, but the runes branded onto my left hand made it slightly easier to carry out.

  I took a step back, feeling the incoming attack as I pushed my power into the sword in my hands, focusing on keeping control over the amount that rushed into the runed blade. There was a sense of eagerness about my power regarding the sword, like it flowed more easily when I used the two combined. Braire had told me that I needed to pace myself or I would burn out before the fight was over. As it turned out, her advice applied to more aspects in my life than just fighting.

  I watched the sword glow to a bright white light. It probably wasn’t something I’d use in training, but it was definitely something that needed practice, so I included it whenever I could. I focused on a single object out in front of me and as the power built, then released it and quickly shut it down to save my strength.

  An intense white beam burst from the blade. It arrowed through the crisp late afternoon air, singed anything in its path and left a trail of smoke in its wake. Powerful, devastating, and just enough energy used to make it so without being wasteful.

  I watched it sail through the air, cutting through the jaw of the golem in front of me. The power in its stone and mud skin would absorb most of the blast, but not enough. I smiled as I watched the head come off cleanly and drop to the ground, still smoking and glowing, but quickly cooling.

  I tilted my head as I grinned. Destroying mindless killers that had nobody left to serve wasn’t a laughing matter, of course, but there was something to be said for taking pleasure in the advancement of one’s own skills.

  The fight was far from over. I pulled my blade back and studied the landscape of the field around me. It wasn’t quite as large a field as the one we had previously shared, but that didn’t make it any less deadly. We were by far the outnumbered force here and would be easily defeated if we didn’t fight together.

  My so-called sisters’ chances of survival were far greater than mine. It wasn’t that I didn’t have confidence in my skills, but that I had a lot of confidence in theirs. They’d had literal centuries to hone their magic, their technique, their ability to work as a team. I hadn’t even been in this fight for a full year.

  I gripped the blade in my hand a little tighter and watched the three sisters flow through their combat, defending each other and attacking in near-perfect unison. Braire had control of her beasts, and used them to keep the undead creatures and the golems that they followed preoccupied with their flanks, while she used her knives to keep the monsters away from Aliana, who was going through the very same combat strokes she’d taught me. The djinn, dissimilar from her sisters in so many ways, held the front and used her knives to deadly effect to hold the monsters at bay, pushing them away from Noral.

  The third had fewer physical skills, but more than made up for it in magical abilities. Her hands stretched forward as she drew energy from the air around us and launched strike after strike at the monsters. Cracks of lightning and thunder rumbled through the forest that we’d tracked the monsters to.

  The tales woven for us by the inhabitants of the nearby villages told of attacks of only a dozen or so undead at a time, maybe a couple of golems, but it appeared that these had hidden their numbers. It was almost as though they’d waited for someone like us to come looking for them. Once we had engaged a small party, they had appeared and attacked in greater and greater numbers. What had seemed to be a quick skirmish had turned into an all-out battle in a matter of minutes.

  Sweat dripped from my skin and drenched my shirt. It reminded me that I probably should have brought the armor provided for me. Sure, Aliana’s words implied that one’s fighting abilities should preclude the need for it, but then, she was the one who wore magical clothes that seemed to work as armor, anyway. And she’d had however long it was to practice her fighting skills. I still needed the damn armor.

  I didn’t have it, though, so I would have to make do without. I watched the threesome keep their balance in the battle as they pushed and defended in equal parts, it seemed, while I moved forward to join the beasts in keeping the monsters’ flanks from overwhelming Aliana, Noral, and Braire.

  One of the golems noticed my approach and turned to strike at my head as I smoothly evaded, then ducked and rolled on my shoulder to come up behind it. The blade needed little magic from this close. I felt it heat up as I swung it low, cut the golem’s right leg off and took a step back as I waited for the creature to drop to a reachable spot. It roared at me as I swiftly removed its head.

  My gaze flickered over to the other side of the fight where Braire’s giant snake was wrapped around a group of the undead. It struck at them quickly and precisely, then watched as three of the others charged at it, swords and axes in hand, mouths open as they screamed voicelessly. I raised my left hand. The runes heated up as a pulse of white energy tore from them and left my fingers tingling as the blast knocked one of the creatures from its feet while crushing the skull of the other one.

  I moved quickly, intercepting the last one’s blade on its downward swing and pushing it to the side. I stepped into the deflection, spinning on my back heel as I brought the blade around to deftly behead the third monster, dropping it in an inelegant pile on the ground.

  Braire’s hawk swooped down from the sky and cut smoothly through the tree cover, shrieking as it charged at a group of undead that were following a massive golem as it tried to encircle the three sisters.

  It seemed like the undead followed the golems for lack of anything better to do, since the massive creatures of rock and clay didn’t appear to be commanding them. In fact, if anything, they were
rather annoyed at being followed around by a group of smaller creatures and tried to get away from them at times, which was why we hadn’t been overwhelmed by this point, or forced to retreat to a more defensible position.

  I watched the hawk swoop down, huge claws glistening in the waning sunlight as I caught on to Braire’s intentions. I pushed as much power as I could into the blade then swung it and sent a white slash of power through the air that cut through a younger pine easily before it struck the lead the golem around the center. I turned and dodged an undead creature swinging a club for my skull and smoothly sidestepped its charge as the snake crushed its skull with her jaws. I didn’t have the opportunity to physically see what the hawk did with my help, but Braire’s reaction, shared over our collective bond, let me know that as my slash cut the golem in half the hawk gripped the top half with its talons. It then glided across the forest floor and used the monster’s torso as a club to crush the group of undead before it tore the head clean off and tossed it aside. The hawk shrieked and bounded up from a tree to jump free of the forest once more.

  I held my sword with both hands and watched the creatures still throwing themselves at the almost-unassailable trio fighting together. I stepped in and cut at the monsters in a wide swathe since they seemed to ignore me in favor of the three sisters, who weren’t actually blood-related. They were completely unaware of my attack until it was almost too late. A couple bolts of lightning cut in as a couple of the creatures finally did realize that I was coming at them from the rear. I felt Noral’s intention of keeping me safe as I opened up a path for Braire’s wolf to charge through. It leaped at the one remaining golem and tore its head off with its massive fangs.

  It wasn’t much of a fight after that. All the undead tried to stage a rout after losing their leaders, but without any kind of joining force, they found some trouble and tripped over themselves. Not in a panic, I thought, but in sudden disinterest.

  What few survived only did so because they slipped away under the quickly-disappearing sunlight, leaving the four of us panting for breath as we tried to recover.

  I couldn’t help a small laugh as Braire’s three creatures came over to gently nuzzle at her. The hawk and the wolf quickly disappeared into the night afterward, likely to either hunt down the remaining creatures or maybe find a safe place to spend the night. Either way, before the snake disappeared, it slithered over in my direction for a moment. I still couldn’t help a chill of danger as it did, since I have a bit of an aversion to snakes.

  It seemed to sense my fear, so it kept its interaction to a quick dab of its nose against my thigh before moving away, higher on the hill that we were climbing.

  Braire laughed as she walked over to me. I bent to lean on my knees and catch my breath as the fire that had driven my muscles slowly drained.

  “I think she likes you.” Braire grinned at me as she placed a light hand on my shoulder. “They fought well today. And you did as well.”

  “Isn’t that comforting,” I grumbled good-naturedly, still struggling to stay on my feet. “Being put alongside them. Although I guess it makes sense. The three of you fought like you were all representations of a single entity.”

  “Well, it comes with practice,” Aliana said as she joined the two of us. Noral was busy burning the bodies that remained in our vicinity. “Learning to fight alongside one another makes the shared bond less of a distraction and can be used as a weapon with time. It’s like having actual eyes in the back of your head.”

  “And three pairs of arms, legs, and even horns, in your case.” Braire leaned over to kiss Aliana’s cheek. “And you saw a bit of that. Both in helping my snake break free from the attackers that tried to take advantage of her distraction in holding our flank, and then in helping my hawk get rid of that other group. You’re learning to fight as a team, with us.”

  “With the animals,” I said with a chuckle as I finally found the energy to straighten again.

  “The animals are part of our team as well,” Aliana noted with a shrug.

  “I appreciate that.” I smiled, watching as Noral continued her work, using gentle tugs of power to gather the bodies together, some of which had been dead for so long that they were little more than piles of bones at the end, and using bolts of lightning to set them aflame.

  “So they don’t think about coming back,” Noral said, nodding at me as I approached. “Of course, I haven’t read any kind of actual study on the undead about whether burning their remains prevents their bodies from being used again, and if there was, I wonder why people don’t just burn their dead to begin with. A lack of fear of them being brought back, probably stemming from necromancy not having been used for such a long time.”

  “I think they’ll change their minds about that after what happened in the Imperial City.” I looked around us before starting to help. “The stories have to be spreading, and magi across the Empire have to be reaching for old tomes that tell of what to do in case the dead rise again.”

  Noral smirked at me, sending another bolt of lightning into the pile that I’d started to gather. “I suppose so, although I’m sure that there will be those who consider the stories of what happened last week as fables, or at least greatly exaggerated. And I can’t say I blame them. Those who are there now are having a difficult time trying to adapt to all the changes. Elves coming back, necromancy, golems.”

  “I’m sure that the Emperor’s return from his meditation should change all that,” I replied as I used my blade to spark another flame, one of the last piles that needed it. Noral studied me, like she was checking on my form as well as ensuring that the fire didn’t spread to the surrounding trees. There was more than enough kindling on the ground to make the whole place go up in a moment of inattention.

  I did the same, watching the flames burn down as the bodies turned to little more than ash, giving a clear view of the gorgeous sunset in the west. The sun turned bright red and orange as it dropped between the mountains, a view that was mostly hidden by the trees around us.

  I drew a deep breath as strength started to return to my limbs, bit by bit. “When is the Emperor returning? It’s been a week now, and not a word beyond the first message.”

  Noral looked like the same question had crossed her mind as she looked back to me. “No news thus far. A full week and no word since the original declaration. It should take the Emperor’s convoy longer than a week to get to the Imperial City, but there should be at least some kind of word. Notices from where they’ve stopped to camp. Scouts coming to make sure that the Palace has been prepared for his arrival. Anything. But so far, nothing has arrived. I’m starting to wonder if the initial message of his arrival was true at all.”

  I nodded. She would know better than me, since she’d been tapped into the court. “Have you met him? The Emperor, I mean?”

  “Never in person,” Noral replied with a gentle shake of her head. “No, he’s always ruled from beyond the eyes of his subjects, even the noble class, dictating orders to his Officials who carry out his will without question.”

  “What do you know about him?” I asked, genuinely curious. The fact that I had been raised under the Empire had always left me wondering about who the Emperor was. Who was this man who ruled over so many lives and yet never seemed to be present for any of them?

  “He is a powerful mage, from all descriptions,” Noral said with a small smile as we finished with the bodies and made our way out to where Aliana and Braire had set up a camp. “One of the most powerful human mages of all time, as a matter of fact. He chose to live in isolation decades ago. The reasons are all speculative. The loss of a loved one, guilt, a prophecy that foretold his death or something. I’ve never been able to acquire a decidedly true response. Either way, it doesn’t matter. He hasn’t been seen anywhere but the coastal towns for decades, and then only by those who’ve seen his personal ship from a distance. I couldn’t tell you why. All I really know is that he is descended from a line of powerful magi, survivors from the wa
r with the elves and elected in place by the council to provide the Empire with peace and stability to allow it to rebuild.”

  I nodded. “Knowing little seems to be our largest problem since the battle. Abarat is gone, and no signs of him have been seen since. The Emperor announces his return, and he hasn’t been seen since, either. I don’t suppose you’d think that there’s a connection between the two, would you?”

  Noral shrugged. “I couldn’t say. I would say that if the Emperor is as powerful as claimed, even Abarat would think twice about attacking him while he’s surrounded by his personal guard. Suicide doesn’t seem like Abarat’s style, so if there were a connection…”

  I didn’t like where her thoughts were leading us, and apparently, neither did she. We moved downhill toward a small fire already built.

  I couldn’t help a small smile, and pushed the dark thoughts of what Noral had said out of my mind as we got closer. Aliana didn’t need a fire to keep warm since her skin was warm enough to live beyond the waning fall temperatures. I was sure that Braire would find a way to survive as well, meaning the fire indicated that they wanted us to spend some time together, all together.

  Besides, the thought of hot food on what promised to be a chilly night was something to lift my mortal, human spirits.

  2

  “That’s what you’re making for us?” Braire asked and raised an eyebrow as she looked over at me. “Stew? I was looking forward to something a bit more…well, elegant.”