The Black Tower

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Derekica Snake

The Black Tower: The Darkness By Derekica Snake

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Can Darkness be used for good? Can Light bear evil? When Darkness and Light collide can there be survivors? Should there be? Gabraith, Dark Lord of the Black Tower was a Master of, almost forgotten, arcane magics. He used the Darkness to increase his lands; enrich his own treasury and cause misery to all. In the end, kingdoms banned together under a single banner and smote him. This Collective of Nations did not last long after the Dark Lord’s defeat. The petty jealousy and pride that had divided the kingdoms previously, tore apart the Collective and soon all thoughts returned to their own survival in the world. The Black Tower was left in ruins for centuries. Forgotten. Then the Darkness chose its next Dark Lord – a former pleasure slave who has known the depth of depravity that freelords can sink to. Can a pale Northern beauty and a battle weary soldier of fortune build a place of freemen who have the courage to run? The borders of the Dominion are salvation for former slaves and death for those who follow attempting to reclaim lost property. Danvos the Dark Lord is using the Darkness to create a kingdom of freedom and safety.

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Because of this, the Illumination Army begins to take up the call to arms against the absence of light. Can the Riders of Light hold back the tide of Darkness when even their own don’t know if their motivation is an act of salvation against an ancient evil or just commerce.

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Chapter One : The Price of Darkness The Dark Lord gazed down into the field beneath the Tower that was now veiled with every scrap of color and richness acquired since the last harvest festival. From the highest windows silver and orange silks fluttered in the faint breeze that swept across the lands that he had reclaimed for the Dominion. Below in the shade of the Tower, men, women and children were decked in the most elaborate costumes they had made during last winter's long months in order to celebrate this year's fall yield the earth had granted them. Music, the first time professionally played, wafted up from the square, amid the shouts and yells of happy children. The Dark Lord smiled as young lovers began to dance to the rhythm - so full of life and feeling it more so because of their emotion. Off in the distance, the road was still filled with outlying farmers, who had left their homes at the beginning of the waning moon to arrive in time, there were even farmers coming in from outside of the Dominion's boundaries. Five years of hard labor in a deserted ruin did make a difference the Tower was growing into a town. The door to the inner chamber opened, "What are you smiling at, My Lord?" The Dark Lord turned around and sat on the sill of the high ebony window. Folding his arms across his chest, he shook his head and fixed his pale northern eyes, “Tal...We're

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alone, and there is no need for titles..." He admonished lightly. Tal shrugged, crossed the room and settled himself beside the younger man, his hand resting on the hilt of the leather wrapped sword at his side. "You know how I am for the chain of command. Once, one man forgets..." "…the kingdom falls. By the gods, Tal,” Danny turned around with a frown marring his face, "this is a time of celebration. Can you drop the Supreme Commander for one night?" "Danny..." Danny grinned, pushed himself off the sill and crossed to the bed with the ease of familiarity and the assurance of a man secure in his power. "Much better. This festival is going to be better than the others that we had. So, what kind of costume did you get the tailors to make?" Tal stared out of the window into the crowds gathering below. Once there was nothing but brambles and thickets of wild berry thorns at the base of this black monolith, now there was going to be a dance and celebrations, "I hear that you sent the tailor's into an uproar searching for the most bizarrely colored cloth." Danny stretched out on his back, twisting and stretching in a lazing luxury that was far from the norm. "You are avoiding the question, Kegsetter." Tal walked to the bed and stared down at his Dark Lord, his pale skinned northern companion. "I will wear the colors of the Supreme Commander." He raised his hand to stop the protested words. "This is a night

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starting the most rowdy time we face the whole year. I will not allow this celebration to become out of hand. There will be no robbing, looting or killing of any kind." "There wasn't any last year." "Last year, the Dominion was less 25 families and there wasn't any tavern. I cannot vouch for a quiet celebration tonight. Last year we only hand one stranger visit us during the Harvest Festival. You need only look out the window at the road..." He stalked toward the window and pointed down at the torchlight flickers still coming into the village, "Something is going to happen tonight." Tal didn't have to explain his feelings of dread. As a seasoned soldier, he had learned to trust the feeling. When Danny and Tal had been hunted across the mountains, it had been that same feeling that had kept them alive. "I wish you held your temperance order." “How was Aiden to live as a free man? All he knows is the brewer's art and he does not believe in selling less than superior quality. There will not be enough ale to go around." "What about next year?" "What about next year? There may be four taverns. They are now freemen. I am not their Overlord master. I will not tell them what to eat drink or wear." The joking tone that had preceded the conversation was now gone. Tal shook his head solemnly, "That was not what I meant. We have laws here that must be followed. Just because tonight is a special event doesn't mean that all the laws are to be forgotten. Men and women have worked hard this year and deserve to celebrate. Some have only just been

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freed and they deserve to celebrate. To dance and laugh without worry, because no man, woman or child will come to harm. I will make sure of it. That is why no one other than the guardians will be allowed weapons inside the village." "Everyone is being searched?" Danny peered out the window, "I did not know you ordered that." "Those we know have been asked to leave their weapons at home. Those we don't are searched. There is a bad feeling in my stomach. Something is going to happen tonight." Danny caught his lover in a strong embrace. The bitter anger that had laced his words was forgotten, “No one has challenged my power for six months. The Free Lords have learned that I will protect those who come to me for sanctuary, with magics and with swords. They have their own concerns to worry about. A night gathering of slaves shouldn't be their priority." "Ex-slaves" Tal corrected. Gently his fingers touched the long golden hair of the young lord. It wasn't so long ago that it had been uneven ragged clumps, on a small bony man-child who cringed when someone turned around too quickly. Danny might not have the delicate 's' brand on his brow any longer, but the lessons of slavery were deeply ingrained in him. Tal turned toward the windows and pointed down onto the flickering lanterns approaching in the distance, "Look at them, Danny. Look what you built. Runaways are flocking to the Dominion. Soon we will have a city growing up around us. We have made a lot of enemies, enemies who cannot be lightly dismissed just because they haven't attacked lately. They are planning something."

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"Not tonight. The Darkness would have warned me if the Free Lords are planning an attack." Danny pulled away to lean against the open windowsill. Tal watched him with an admiring eye. Danny had grown into a beautiful golden man who might have been taller and broader, like the other northern men that had come down from the highlands, had he been fed as a child. He should eat more, Tal thought as the last of the fading light highlighted the sharp plans of high cheekbones. As a slave, Danny' physical beauty had made him an excellent rent boy, but there was still something special about him. He had been late in his adolescence when Tal had first seen him. It wasn't the fact that his skin was pale, his hair golden and his eyes the color of a washed out sky. There was a beaten yet defiant aura that drew Tal to the slave boy’s rescue; but it was the man who took the Darkness he was offered and created something better for those without hope. Because he knew what that felt like - to live in fear. Tal knew he stood on the vortex of the whirlwind and he felt the seductive power the Darkness held. The Darkness offered power but the price was blood, blood and more blood. It called him Galbraith, the name of a loyal warlord from an eternity past - an honored title that held more horror than pride. Lord Galbraith had almost enslaved the whole of the continent before he was brought down with an assassin's dagger. Songs were still sung about the defeat of the Dark Lord of the Black Tower - even though many thought it was the imaginings of a wine soaked minstrel. But it was true, and the Force within the Tower was just as strong as when Galbraith stumbled on it centuries before.

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It would be so compelling to follow the tracks of the Dark Lord Galbraith who had made himself a complete tyrant from the Inner Sea to the Great Sea in the span of a year. It was this man's folly in the end to extend his resources so wide and create so many powerful enemies. The common people and the Lord's armies combined to wipe the Dark Lord, his Dark Legions and his western citadel from the face of the land. The promises the Darkness made to Tal -- the riches and wealth it offered for enlarging the Darkness's physical Domain was nothing compared to the price it would cost to do it. Tal easily resisted the Dark Call, remembering the slaughter of the all his battles as a Hordesman mercenary and the fall of the first Free Lord's keep. He’d seen more than his share of death. Still the temptation the Darkness offered was nothing compared to the will that Danny held to be able to deny the Darkness full power. Danny had known war. He had known the bite of hunger the innocent face when powers fought for control. Dark Tyrant was not his way. Danny was an arctic beauty with a gentle heart and knowledge of fairness, if only because he had been denied it himself. And deep within Tal's bones, he knew that someone, or something was out to harm the Dark Lord -- this was something that he would not allow. Not just as lover and companion, because he was like Galbraith, loyal, steadfast and deadly. Four hundred freemen slept without fear within these borders. The babes they brought into the world would never have to wear the brand of slavery. Danny had made that. Tal curled his hands tight until he felt his nails biting into his

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palms. He would protect that. In atonement for all the lives that he had taken in the name of gold, for the horror and pain that had forged this new Dark Lord, for the courage that it took many of these new freemen to run for the borders of the Dominion. This Dark Lord would stay alive to see the new day's sun. "Danny..." He started; his eyes brimmed with the spark of determination that was so characteristic of his truth. Danny pushed himself away from the window and crossed over to the barrel chested man who could have worn silks and satins but preferred leather armor. Danny reached out a hand and ran his palm across the Commander’s left jaw that held a scar from an alley knife fight long since faded to a thin white line, “Tonight, I want you to enjoy yourself." "Just watching you enjoy yourself is enough." Tal returned truthfully. Danny blinked. There were times when Tal could be a mystery even after all the years that had past between them. "Don't you want to dance? Drink?" "I haven't learned to dance," Tal raised his hand, "and I'm too old to learn now. As for drinking, I prefer to do that in the company of one. You are not going to change my mind on this, so quit trying." "Then I won't dress up either." "Yes, you will. This is the only time of the year that you can walk out there with your subjects as just Danny, not the Dark Lord. This is the only night that you do not have responsibilities. Do you think you could wait another year to do that?"

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Danny crossed back to the window and started down at the night's fires. "No, I will dress up on one condition." "What?" "You be the Master of Festivities tonight." He turned, his pale blue eyes gleaming in the fading light. Tal opened his mouth to reject the position but saw the firmness burning on the pale blue field of Danny's eyes. This was not the cajoling insistence of a companion; it was the command of a Lord to his servant, "All right." Danny laughed kissed Tal lightly on the cheek then turned to the closet he had hung his costume in. "The sun's starting to disappear, you could go out there and start up the celebrations, Master." Tal quickly looked over at Danny but he was engrossed in changing his clothes. Tal bowed, "My Lord”, then walked out of the rich chambers. He descended the stairs, ignoring the foolishness of the Tower's servers and cooks as they shrieked and chased each other around tables and through corridors. No one commented as he crossed to the lower stairwell and descended further down to the bare rock of the base of the Tower. Danny was so determined to have a good time at these celebrations. Tal clenched his jaw together. He deserved it. The Dark Wards placed at the boundaries would alert him long before any attack could reach the heart of the Dominion. But, an old soldier did not rely on magic alone. Tal headed to the guard's quarters. The men inside were a mix of young and old but all had been soldiers at one time and all had been slaves. They knew and respected the chain

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of command but they would willingly give up their lives if it would save the Dark Lord for once more they had a style of life that they wanted to pass onto their children. Their light demeanor changed when Tal told them about his premonition. Everyone knew that he was the Dark Lord's chosen consort, but he was also a soldier who had more to protect than just a piece of land. He would be the last object of opposition between the Lord and his enemies. Unfortunately his premonitions were usually correct as well. The bright robes and masks were left in the guard's quarters as the men dressed in black armor with a simple cloth of silver and orange across their shoulders and chest. Satisfied that Danny would be well protected, Tal made his way to the main platform erected before the Tower. Torches placed around the bright garish chair, made him pause. He was tempted to douse a couple so no one would see him playing the Festivities Master but then he had made a promise. He mounted the stairs then turned and looked down on the gathering people. There were so many familiar faces in the crowd below. Danny had done well in the short time he had ruled. Their first campaign had been against Lord Espys, and his fortress full of stolen and ill gotten slaves. Danny had said his motivation was that Espys had built on the Dominion of the Tower and that was enough justification, but his eyes were hard and he was tense whenever he thought of that hellish place and there was too much joy on his young face when he sent Espys to his death. Danny never spoke of his ordeal but it had done something to him. Something that could not be

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forgiven or forgotten even though the embers of the keep had died out long ago. The crowd began to move forward to gather around the platform. Tal raised his arms high; "This eve is ours for celebration of a good harvest and to many, a marker of a new life. Those who are visiting us, welcome..." Tal gestured toward the sides of the platform, fireworks blasted skyward then exploded in showers of light and silver glitter. The crowd had leapt back wary and afraid until the glittering remains began to sparkle down upon them, "The Dark Lord commands the celebrations to begin." Musicians began to play a lively partner dance as the crowd pulled on their masks and turned to join in the celebrations. Tal smiled down on the crowd then settled back in the ornate chair to watch the merriment. Somewhere Danny was enjoying himself. "Ona." The red haired women turned around quickly, her exposed lower face widened into a broad smile of reckoning, {Dark Lord, it has been a long time.} "Dance with me?" {Gladly.} Ona took his offered arm and swung into the line of dancers before them. Danny smiled as his eyes took in her rich clothing and full body. She looked so much better as a free woman than a slave. The last time they had met, she had held a suckling babe to her breast as the winds of smoke from her husband’s forge stung his eyes to tears. They touched hands and pivoted around each other before breaking

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off to stand side by side again. {How did you get the Commander to stand in your place?} "I gave him a choice: wear a costume and dance or sit as Festivities Master." Ona tossed back her head and Danny heard her laughter ringing in his ears. {You only need command and he would dance for you.} Her mirth trickled through him. "I won't ask him, because I know that he is uncomfortable with it." They touched hands again and stepped side to side with their shoulders brushing each other. Ice blue eyes met warm green as fiery embers threatened to flare up again. The couple behind them bumped into them. "Stay with the dance." The woman laughed as she and her partner darted around them. Ona grabbed Danny hand and pulled him back out of the line. Danny felt her disquiet as they walked to the outer edges of the celebration. "Ona?" She pulled the mask from her face, {Talos has started to ask about you. I don't know what to tell him.} "Edan is his father." Danny returned quietly. Ona swung around to look him in the face, {Talos looks at his father and sees dark hair, skin and eyes. He looks at you and sees his likeness. He hears me, like you. Horses listen to him, like you. Edan is a kind man, but it hurts when he knows that Talos would rather be with you than with him.} "What do you want me to do? Take him from you and raise him?" {No.}

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"I pay a price for being Dark Lord. A price that involves death and blood. Would you have Talos learn that?" Danny reached out and caressed her soft shoulder length hair; "You honored me when you named him after Tal. I was happy for you when you found Edan. Deep in his heart, he loves you both, more than his life." {I know that.} "If you wish, I will deny him. I will not lay any claim to Talos." {No. He is too much like you even though he is so young. Will you be his friend? Not his father, but a friend.} Ona lifted Danny' hand to her lips and brushed them softly across his knuckles. {He does deserve to know you.} "It might be easier to deny him. As Tal pointed out, I have made a lot of enemies. Enemies who would only see a slave boy who could be used against his warlock father." {This is hard for you.} "But I chose it. Sweetness," Danny looked down into Ona's emerald green eyes, "Tell Talos the truth. We were joined as slaves. Edan is his true father. When he is older, if he wants to claim his birthrights, I will not deny him. Until then, I will not interfere in your lives." Ona nodded. Satisfied that her wifely duty was fulfilled. She turned around to look back over the festivities. The broad shouldered warrior sat on the platform clearly not comfortable with his position but determined to stay and perform his obligations. {You know they call him the Lord's Hound.} "Who?"

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{The Commander. Those that call him that do not know him. They are jealous of him. They know that he would kill for you. They don't know that he would die without you.} Danny turned his gaze back to Tal. He willed himself to see him as others did. Tal was a common warrior. He was unremarkable to look at, dull brown hair, sun darkened skin that held the traces of middle-age. The harsh experiences of war were easily read in him but that was just so little of Tal. "Let them be jealous. If it weren't for Tal's expertise, they would still be bowing before Free Lords." Anger tinged his voice. He was getting tired of having to defend his choice of Consort to people. Since his re-birth as the Dark Lord of the Tower, many senses had intensified including his hearing, so when he wished, whispers could be heard as if they were speaking directly to him. The people wondered why the Dark Lord laid with a plain soldier. Why didn't the Dark Lord pick a younger mate? Of all the comely young women and men, why did the Dark Lord pick such an old man? Was the Dark Lord ever going to provide an heir? Ona's voice floated to him gently, {If you were ever to fall out of love with him, it would be kinder to stab him through the heart than leave him. You owe him that much.} She bowed her head then fit the mask back over her face and wove her way into the crowd. Danny fought not to take offence at Ona's parting words. She was the mother of his son. "And who might you be?" A buxom woman with a fox mask stepped up to him and pressed her charms up against him, "Or are you waiting for me here in the shadows?"

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Danny looked at her. Her brown eyes were slightly dulled with mead and ale and her full face was flushed with excitement. She worked her mouth into a pout when the stranger said nothing. "Has the cat got your tongue?" In the daylight, when she was sober she would be horrified that she had touched the Dark Lord, much less offered her body to him like a common whore. But this was the Harvest Festival. In masks, no one knew whom they danced with, laughed with or laid with. Tonight was the only night of the year that the Dark Lord could be just a young handsome man. "Let's dance." Danny caught her arms and pulled her toward the dancing circles. The attack happened so fast. A blinding flash of light tore over the fairgrounds followed by a sweeping blast of wind that sent people rolling across the ground. The fox woman screamed and fell to the ground clutching her eyes. Danny felt the pain of the light as well but he called on the Darkness for assistance. The power filled his groin then moved up into his stomach before beginning to course through his body, setting his flesh tingling. The agony of light faded. Danny looked around at the fallen people. Their cries of suffering hit at him. Wildly he looked at the raised platform. The chair was knocked backwards but Tal wasn't there. The sound of thundering hooves made him break of his search for Tal to the new attackers. He squinted and spied white surcoats with red slashes extending from the shoulders and crossing near the waist galloping their war horses forward into the fry. He didn't recognize the symbols but the Darkness did. Acting almost as a puppet to the power within

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him, he called on more power and drew up a wall of flame that encircled the fairgrounds protecting those blinded by the first attack from the flashing steel of the second wave. "Dar-gin!" A strange name barked from his lips. The air above him cracked as if thunder rolled across the sky and a winged dragon appeared. It's black scales soaked up the firelight. "Stop the Riders of Light." The great beast flapped it's wings, knocking Danny off his feet with the backwash. He landed on the blinded fox woman. Stunned he watched as the dragon flew through the flames unharmed. He could feel the intense heat of the wall from his position. Hands grabbed at his shoulders. "Help me!" Drawing up a trickle of power, he touched the fox woman's head. Wildly, she looked around as her vision was returned. She opened her mouth to scream when she saw the wall of flame around them but Danny took her by the shoulders and shook her hard. He pulled the mask from his face that hid his tell tale hair and eyes. She stared at him frightened. "Help me with the others. I don't know how long the wall will last." He dropped her to touch another person. He walked quickly through the fairgrounds touching men, women and children with a trace of healing Darkness. Soon the sighted were bringing the still wounded to him. Edan carried Ona and Talos up to him. Gently, Danny reached out and touched them both. "Thank you." Edan returned gratefully, hugging his wife and child close to him. "Look for the Commander. I didn't see him. I can't look for him yet." Edan nodded then stepped out of line.

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There was a loud roar that silenced everyone. Danny looked up to see the black dragon break through the firewall. People ran, pulling the blinded after them as the beast flapped its giant wings and settled itself on the ground before Danny. {Dark One, the Riders are no more. Now give me my payment} "What do you want?" {A child...a fat suckling child. They are most tasty.} The great head swung back and forth, as its green eyes raked the crowd. Its fearsome gaze settled on a mother with a newborn cradled close to her. {That one.} It rose to its legs. "No." Danny pointed to the six roasted pigs still on their spits that were to be part of the night's feast. "You're payment is the pigs" {Burnt pigs are tasteless.} "That is your payment." The great head swung back and centered its scrutiny on Danny. The scaly nostrils flared as it tested the air for something. {You have the Darkness around you, gold hair. You know the price of my aid.} "The payment, I am offering you are the pigs. That is far more generous than I need to be." The wings stretched wide suddenly. Eighteen men standing side by side with their arms outstretched would have easily fit less than one wing. Danny gathered more power to him even though the strain of healing so many so quickly was tiring him. {The next payment, the pigs will be alive, gold hair.} "They will be alive." Danny quickly agreed.

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The gathered celebrators watched in horrid fascination as the Dragon gathered its wings back, turned and bit through the pigs, iron spit and all. The lump of the half carcass could be seen trailing down the long neck as it swallowed. The dragon quickly devoured the pigs then turned back to where Danny was still standing. {Dark One.} "Dar-gin." Danny gave a slight bow of equals. The dragon extended its wings and flapped. Dust and debris flew around the small circle. Danny had to cover his face with his hands. The thunderclap that had heralded the dragon's entrance exited the beast as well. Danny looked around the fairgrounds. People were staring at him dazed and shocked at what they had witnessed. Danny felt stunned. He had heard legends of dragons at night around the slave fires but he had never truly believed it. Somehow he had called a dragon into existence and built up a wall of fire for protection. He looked up at the top of the black stone spire and wondered just how powerful the Darkness truly was. Slowly the injured were brought back to him to heal. Edan stepped up to him, his face saddened and hopeless. Danny felt a twisting of fear in his gut. When the dragon had wanted children, he hadn't felt any apprehension in denying it. But Edan's face told him a story he wasn't prepared to hear. "Most the guard is missing. They must be outside of the wall. The few inside are dead. Anyone who had been wearing a weapon is dead. The Commander isn't inside with us." Danny concentrated on lowering the fiery wall. Sweat beaded on his face was the wall dissolved into nothingness. His knees buckled underneath him. If Edan hadn't caught

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him, he would have fallen to the ground. Wearily he motioned to the silent grounds, "Arm the men. Get Ona to take the women and children into the Tower, they'll be safe there. I'll lead them." Edan looked down into a strained and exhausted face, "There are still so many to heal." Danny shook his head, "Tal..." "If the Commander or the other guards are to be found, we will find them. Please my Lord. See to the others." Slowly he set Danny gently to the ground. Danny looked around him. The pretty and joyous colors that had flown so gaily in the setting sun were strewn and trampled into the ground. A ring of burnt grass surrounded the field. Danny brought his eyes to the fallen chair. He had said that something was going to happen. Danny closed his eyes and fought back the tears that were threatening to fall. Why did he always have to be right? "My Lord?" The man's tone was pure concern. "Find him, Edan. Alive or dead. Bring him back to me." Danny turned back to the waiting work at hand. He drew on the Darkness again and reached out to touch a mother and child.

Danny roused himself from an exhausted nap to find himself back on his bed in his private chambers. He winced as his muscles protested his efforts to sit up. He had fallen asleep exhausted outside on the fairgrounds. Someone had carried him up here. Slowly he eased himself out of bed.

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Where the touch of Darkness had run through him during the attack, he ached. Something foreign had invaded his body and used it, but it was under his will again. The Darkness had said that once he accepted the total power, the touch would be like that of a lover, rather than a rapist. He turned to the other side of the bed expecting to see Tal's profile, wanting desperately to climb over to his chosen's arms and be held and comforted. Only Tal knew what it was like. But he wasn't there. A knock sounded at the outer door. "Enter!" A young man, about the same age as the Dark Lord, bowed before entering. "Dark Lord, Edan sent back a runner." "Bring him in." Danny pushed himself out of bed, swaying with the effort but feeling stronger with each passing moment. A boy rushed in, his face grimy with dirt and sweat poured from his scalp, "My Lord." He bowed quickly, "Edan followed a trail back into the east forest. Beyond the ridge, is a large army, dressed in white and red. Some of the guards are there. We didn't see the Commander, but Edan thinks that he might be held in the main tent." The boy stopped and gulped in air. "Thank you for your service. What is your name?" The boy's eyes grew round with surprise. "My name?" He glanced over to the other man. The man nodded that it was all right to give his name. He was so young, but the marks of slavery were on him, "Faris, my Lord."

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"Thank you for your service, Faris. If you wish you can use my baths to clean up and you can go to the kitchen and get something to eat." "My Lord!" The boy nodded quickly then turned to leave. "Faris, I'm your protector here, not your master. If you don't want to do anything I offered, you don't have to. You are a freeman. You make your own choices." Danny forced his tired face into a friendly smile. "A bath would be nice now, Dark Lord." The boy admitted truthfully, wiping some sweat from his face. "Then take it and enjoy it." "Thank you, Dark Lord." Danny watched the boy leave then turned his attention to the young man. "Who are you? Do you know how I got into my chambers?" "I carried you, Dark Lord. I thought that it would safer for you to be inside. My name is Kev." Danny took a good look at the man. He had lighter brown hair than the others, and his face was long and square. Kev took a step closer into the room. His eyes were so light they were tawny...almost golden. "I would like to serve you, if you haven't a servant already." Hope and fear intermixed the man's face as he continued on, "Before I came here, I was a personal house slave. I helped with the master dress; I brought his food and tasted it. I know how to read and write." Danny raised his hand as a sharp pain shot into his brain, "There are no slaves here." Kev advanced, "I want to serve you.'

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"Kev..." "Dark Lord, I have been free for two years within your boundaries. I have tried a lot of different work, but I am not meant to work with my back. I prefer to work as a personal servant. As Lord, your duties are long and tiresome; I can help take some of the load away." "Some duties you cannot ease as they are mine alone." Danny returned quietly, thinking of the black alter below them. The alter that cried out for blood. "But others, I can. Getting clothes for you, washing them, repairing them. I could assist you in the courts." Kev bowed lowly and elegantly then stood up straight, boldly meeting Danny in the eyes, "I am not meant for other work, Dark Lord." There was firm determination in the golden eyes. Danny sighed. "I think Tal called a position like yours a Valet. Talk to the Housekeeper about quarters, clothing and pay." "Thank you, Dark Lord." Danny felt a tightening in his groin as the hand of Darkness called to him, "Kev, will you arrange for corpses of the enemy to be brought to the Alter Room." "Already done, Dark Lord. A sentenced murderer is there as well." Danny looked over at the man astonished and leery as well. Kev continued with an explanation, "The elders told us that that is what you do when you talk to…the Darkness. If this was wrong, I won't do it again." "The sacrifices are my duty alone. I don't wish it on any one else. Still...thank you. The time that would have been

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wasted in getting everything prepared is on our side now. I'll need water and food when I come from the Alter." "I'll get them, Dark Lord." Kev bowed lowly then walked out of the room and closed the doors behind him quietly. Slowly, Danny walked over to the open windows of the chamber. The grounds below were littered with broken booths, fallen banners and burnt grasses. The moonlight glinted brightly off his festival finery. Angrily he stripped himself, feeling the cool kiss of the night air on his bare chest. The fallen guardians had been taken off the field already. The attackers were below in the Alter Room. The blood sacrifice was ready. Up to now, the Darkness had been easy to resist. The power that he took was enough to make the Dominion and keep it. The Darkness wanted to give him more, wanted him to accept the full force of the power freely. But to accept full Darkness was like embracing a new master, a master of blood and death. Opening his eyes he looked down at the broken celebration. There were now eighty-seven families in the Dominion. Four hundred free citizens needed more protection than partial Darkness could give. What was one man's slavery compared to four hundred slaves freedom? Danny raised his hand and touched smooth skin along his brow. He firmed his lips over tightly clenched teeth. Could he kneel unbound and accept the brand again for the sake of those others? Was five years of glorious freedom were enough to last the rest of his life? He stared down at the broken dais and the overturned chair where Tal had sat. It

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had been a struggle to create the Dominion, the wars and battles to carve a place of freedom and it looked like it was going to cost more blood to keep it - but what was one life compared to four hundred? Danny stripped off all his clothes to pull on the soft black leather breeches and simple black tunic. With his body screaming its pain, he struggled into high leather boots then picked up a simple silver circlet. Tal had said that the Darkness would mark them both as it's own that first morning after the re-birth, this circlet wrapped his head while a plain drop of silver, almost shaped like a tear, hung from a chain around Tal's neck. These were brands, just the same as the 's' that was burnt into flesh to mark slaves. Danny couldn't bring himself to wear it. Tal pressed the silver tear inside his clothes, hiding it away. A silver mirror stood against the far wall. Danny stepped to it then set the circlet in place around his head. It glowed white with power. He turned away. The tugging in his groin was warming and becoming soothing. As the power twisted through him, the aches and soreness faded away. He pulled Tal's cloak from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around his shoulders. With the stride of a man determined to make his death a good one, he headed toward the lower levels were the black alter called to him. Six corpses were set around the alter, propped against it with their heads handing at unnatural angles. Danny didn't need to lift their heads to now that the dragon demon he had summoned had slashed their throats. The bloody red tunic fronts told the tale on their own. The murderer Kev had

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spoke of so easily was chained to the top still with the influence of the sleep drug that had been poured into his food and water. Quietly, Danny wondered who had done it. It always pained him to lock the manacles on the limbs of the next to die. The ritual knife lay between the outstretched legs. The contact with it set shivers running through his spine. Carefully, solemnly Danny lifted it and held it close to his breast. "Your Chosen calls you, Darkness." Power ripped through him unfettered. It was unlike any other experience. A gasp ripped through his lips as the power burned and soothed, intensified and abated, caressed and twisted through his entire body. He dropped to his knees as the circlet turned icy and began to glow brighter. {So now you begin to understand, you begin to feel the depth of my potency.} Danny fell on his back, the jet toned knife sat loosely in his hands as the power coursed through him, holding him in thrall in painful pleasure. Suddenly, the sensation stopped. Danny laid flat on the floor unable to move and unwilling to even try. "So now I can truly call you, Chosen." The voice that spoke through the drugged man's mouth held the otherworldly quality that so signified the Darkness. The manacles and chains clattered to the floor. The man sat up under the direction of the Darkness. "Where is Galbraith?" "Taken prisoner by an army that wears these colors." Danny struggled to sit up. The aches were replaced with

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strong vitality. He climbed to his feet. "They attacked and I called up a dragon and a wall of fire for protection." "The first time you accepted my power, all the knowledge you required was placed there. When you need it, it will be there." The Darkness moved his animated body off the table with sure and confident strides. He crouched before one of the corpses and flipped the head back exposing the severed neck and dried blood. “These are Riders of Light, from the Illumination.” "Riders of Light. I have never seen anything like them before." "If power such as yours is not used by one of their kind, they consider it evil. The Illumination has made it their mission to wipe out the magics and old ways." The voice echoed around the room. Madness shone out of the possessed man's eyes as the Darkness turned to face his chosen earthily agent. "They use magics and old teachings to do it. They are an old and ancient enemy, if my Galbraith is with them, he is gone." "No." Danny stood at the head of the alter, his face pained and pale. The man walked over to him and raised a hand to the young Lord's face, "You have learned loyalty well from my Galbraith. He has done his duty well." "How am I to survive without him?" Danny moved his head back from the possessed man’s caress; however, the Darkness was quicker. He caught Danny around the back of the neck and drew him closer until he could whisper into his left ear. "I do not make offers to those

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weak and feeble. Galbraith has served his purpose. There is a new lover in your life if that is what you want. He would be a bed companion but nothing more." Anger shone in Danny's face, his eyes turned to icy fire and he jerked his head away. "Do not mock my pain. My life may belong to you, but Tal has made it worth living. He didn't abandon me when I died. I will not abandon him in his danger." The room darkened for a moment and the host body sagged then it snapped upright. In its palm was the silver tear hanging from a broken necklace. "He has worn it close to his heart. You will feel his heartbeat. When the beating stops he is lost to you forever." Gingerly, Danny accepted Tal's necklace. He closed his right hand tight around it. A gentle thump pressed against his palm and his fingers. He was still alive. "And when the beating stops, you will bring him to me and what will you offer me to give him back to you as he has done for you?" "You own my life. You own my obedience. There is nothing else of value that I can give." Danny blinked. There was a potent pause then the host face smiled, "Your body." A cold hand of ice encircled Danny heart, "What do you mean?" "When a body and spirit is offered to me willingly, I can live within it. Few have the courage to pass over to the Darkness fully. That is the pledge that I will accept no other."

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"Then, it is one I will honor if Tal cannot be saved from the Illumination." The man smiled slowly, eerily. The hair on the back of Danny' neck rose. He crossed the room easily and stroked Danny forehead just below the silver circlet. The man leaned forward and pressed cracked lips on the pale flesh of Danny’s temple, "We shall see, my Chosen, my Dark Lord.' “Place Greater Wards around the Dominion, strengthen them to repel magic users. Gather your allies and your warriors. The Illumination will know that they don't have you and they will come for you again. They will be better prepared. My Tower will not fall to the likes of these." The man turned back to the table, "I hunger." Danny picked up the black dagger with his left hand as the man laid flat. The room swayed as a black mist exited the body. He walked toward the head of the table, pulled the man's head back so the throat was extended and exposed. "Take this blood as a symbol of my fealty to you. Take this flesh as my offering of my body to you. Take this life to fill your hunger." The dagger cut deep into the jugular as Danny pulled across the rest of the way. The murderer gurgled and convulsed on the alter. Warm blood sprayed Danny' face. His stomach clenched tightly with his revulsion. He stepped back, pressed the bloody edge of the knife to his palm and cut deep. His deep red blood welled in his palm. He pressed it against the black stone, mixing his own life with the draining red swelling the gutters. The familiar frightening of sucking ripped through his arm. This time instead of pain, pleasure reveled in him. The rush of power made him giddy.

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He fell backwards as the black alter released him to continue feeding. He knew his palm would be not be scarred as he lay still, relishing the coursing. Around him the room swirled black as the Darkness fed on the offered human flesh. Danny closed his eyes and tightened his grip on the steady thumping in his right hand.

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Chapter Two: Caged Tal lay still on the floor of the cage were they had thrown him. His head pounded from the blow that had knocked him sprawling on his backside. The blindness that had taken him was slowly fading but it was still enough to mask the outside world from him. His ears strained to the sounds of horses and camp movements but there was nothing to tell him who had captured him or if Danny was safe. A small sense of satisfaction sat in his stomach that his inner sense was right about the attack. There had been no warning. He had seen nothing before the blow to the back of his head which meant that someone in the Guard had done the hitting. In his mind's eye he thought of the guards who had stood on duty behind him. Mano was one of the first guards there. He had proven his loyalty time and time again. Zery was a new one. He had been there for less than a moon -- even at that time when the young brown haired man had applied for the guard Tal had had a feeling that something wasn't quite right about him, but Danny had overridden his concerns. Tal tested the bonds on his wrists. They had the bite of metal. "The Commander awakes." A woman's voice spoke from a corner. "Do not struggle. The binders are iron and the cage you are locked in is iron as well." "For the trouble you went through to get me, I didn't expect anything less." “Ah, our informant said that you were of a quick mind."

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"Tell Zery that this is far from over." "Very quick. I'll have to remember that. I am Commander Janelle Riverview of the Southwestern Order of the Illumination. I was quite impressed with the firewall your Dark Lord was able to erect against us. Even more so when he used his witch powers to call up a demon from the hellfire itself to kill my men." There was a controlled anger in her voice. "It is unfortunate that our plans didn't come to the fruition we warranted.” 'Zery had informed us that it would be the Dark Lord himself who would be hosting the ceremonies. We did not expect him to be hiding in the crowd with the rest of the slaves." "They are freemen and women of the Dominion." "While the Dominion lasts." "What does the Illumination have to do with ex-slaves and land wars?" Tal felt at a disadvantage more so because he was lying on his side rather than in binders and a cage. He struggled to sit up and groaned as the pain in his head intensified. "If it were as simple as that Commander Kegsetter, the Illumination would not have become involved. If you're fight for slave's rights had been done with nothing more than swords and men, rather than using a black art..." "You call the blinding of innocent people an acceptable use of witchcraft?" "Commander, you have encountered the Illumination before in your campaigns in the North with the Horde. You know that we believe that it kinder to send the innocent to the

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Gods before they are cast out once again to repeat their sins. The Dark Lord has promised them freedom but at the price of their immortal soul." "If there is a price to pay for their freedom, the only one who pays it is Danny." "Ah, yes. Zery reported that you are the Dark Lord's bedfellow. Another instance of his corruption." "If that is a sin then you should be raiding all the brothels in the land. That is where he learned it - at the hands of freemen and women." "The Illumination will get around to that cleansing in due time, Commander. My concern right now is that the Dark Lord is free. His evil has been cultivated for over five years. If he is anything like Galbraith, he will be difficult to bring down. Now that our tactic of surprise is gone, I fear it will be even more so. For the sake of your immortal soul, Commander Kegsetter, I hope that you will freely provide us with the answers we require." "There is nothing wrong with my soul and by my own reckoning I have committed no sin - except that of laxity. How did you hear of the Dominion? We are barely a town." "The Illumination Records had always believed that the power of the Dark Lord Galbraith was in this area but it was never found. When the rumors came that there was a slave colony being set up, they were easy to dismiss. It wasn't until the Lords of the surrounding area began to ask for assistance against the golden haired devil that we began to look into the matter. When we realized that someone had found Galbraith's tower, we knew we had to take action."

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Tal tried to take another tack, "Galbraith's tower - that is just old songs. Danny is a northerner and everyone knows that they are a magical lot." "So high to the sky that they are touched by the hands of the gods. Do not confuse the issue at hand Commander. The Dark Lord is more than just a golden haired horsespeaker. Maybe once that was all he was, but he has the aura of Darkness around him now." A guard rushed into the tent, his voice agitated, "Commander Riverview, the sentries have spotted runners from the Darkness." "Your troops lack discipline." Tal returned easily. "True." Tal listened as the warrior woman stood and walked away, "Tell the Priest to set up Greater Wards against the Dark Lord. As far as I can tell, when the first attack went through it killed all of their warriors. These runners will be nothing but simple farmers. Take the squads out and run them down." "By the god’s woman, they are nothing but farmers and husbands." "We are fighting to save souls Commander Kegsetter. The body is just a house. Once the soul is set free, it will be to walk the Halls of Light. It is a better place to which they are going. You had best look to your own soul Commander. You have lived too long in the Darkness and I fear that it will be some time before it will be safe to release you from the world." "Don't pretty it up, Riverview - you're going to slaughter the innocent and torture me before killing me."

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"I had hoped that you would understand, Commander. The reports back on you told me that you had lived a widely varied life. People have to be saved from themselves when they don't have the will to follow a true path. I do not have time to discuss semantics with you right now Commander. Do not try and escape - the iron is strong and those warrior who were captured with you are being released from their sins." Tal sat in the darkness straining to hear the outside world. He had no idea how far from the Tower he had been taken and he didn't think the night was gone if the Illuminations soldiers were still agitated from the attack. To have runners spying on the encampment on foot meant that they must be at the most five leagues away. He pulled on the binders uselessly. Until his vision returned from the Illumination's light, he would be a helpless as a babe in this encampment. And it was true the he knew something of the Illuminations tactics. They would think nothing of cutting down a blind man if they were sure that they could save his soul. Tal eased himself into the middle of the cage away from the bars. Listening carefully for other unwary occupants, he stayed still until he was sure that he had been left alone. Riverview had a lot of confidence in the iron bars and chains. The pain in the back of Tal's skull throbbed even more as he lay on his side. For the moment, the iron was enough to keep his locked within. Weariness crept up on him. He had seen so many other soldiers fall into the calm sleep and never wake up again after taking a blow to the head. He shook his head,

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ignoring the numbing pain that shot through his body. He had to stay awake, no matter how much he wanted to sleep. He cast his thoughts back trying to find something that would occupy all his attention. Danny's face swam into his mind's eye. Danny - the beautiful and now the powerful. What must he be doing now? He would be frantic at first but he had been studying the lessons of war for years now and a cool head would prevail. Even though Tal had warned against it, Danny had lead the charge on countless battles when the Dominion was nothing more than a dreamland. How many had been wounded? The blonde haired man would be walking amongst his subjects touching them with the Dark Healing. The Darkness would demand more blood and flesh than normal. He gasped as a warm hand suddenly pressed against his chest, beneath his armor and sweat soaked tunic. It was almost a caress, a familiar touch. Danny had grazed him. It was supposed to be a calming gesture but Tal felt his guts twist tight. He shouldn't have had the power to reach through the Warding the Illumination had set up - unless he embraced the full power of the Black Tower. "Danny..." The fairgrounds must have been in greater ruins than he imagined if Danny had accepted the full offerings of the Darkness. The youth who had suffered so much at the hands of freemen still knew the value of gentleness and family, even though he had been torn from his so early in life. It wasn't hard to see Danny as he had been six years ago. If Tal had met the golden haired boy in a rent house or if his comradein-arms and boyhood friend, Keith Woodcutter, was still alive

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he might not have had the compassion to help. But Keith was rotting in the ground on a cold winter battlefield in the northern highlands and the boy was being raped in the mud of a thief’s camp. Tal closed his eyes and tried to bring up the memory. The scent of decay of last falls leaves mixed with the special aroma of cold spring rain filled his nostrils. His knees were aching. Some bug skittered across the back of his neck, but he fought off the desire to slap it dead. Only a rookie would break the silence and ruin the foray. Tal was an old veteran at waiting, besides, if they caught the bandits tonight, he wouldn't have to waste another night hiding in the bushes and his knees would ache so much. The sharp cry of a loon echoed through the wood. The bandits were returning. Tal pulled a shrub branch out of his line of vision and stared down at the ragged group that rode into the surrounded camp. There were thirteen of them. Their hair and clothes hung scraggly all over them like ill stuffed scarecrows stuck in a long ago abandoned field. A strong enough wind that they needed hadn't blow yet to blast them clean. Tal's scar hatched hand tightened on his grip of his sword hilt. A thin smile cracked his set face; the Highland Horde was going to descend like a whirlwind in their camp site tonight. The great fire pit that had given them away the night before was lit again as they dismounted and began yelling at each other, jesting about how the store guard had screamed and danced as they took the blades to him. A squishing of wet leaves made Tal switch his attention to his flanking guard. The young soldier stared up at him with eyes wide and

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full of excitement and fear. Tal snapped off a be quiet hand signal then turned his attention back to the bandits. Eleven men were passing the wine skins around the inferno. The light of the fire barely reached the missing two. The smaller was tethering the horses and doling out grain along the line when the larger approached. The bigger grabbed him from behind and began stepped close, drawing the smaller against his body. The smaller man tried to pull away. Tal held himself in check, forcing himself to grab violently into the leaf covered ground than to break formation and stop what was going to happen. He wanted to turn away as the bigger man threw the smaller to the ground. The sounds of this rape echoed in the small clearing. The pain filled cry brought laughter from the fire. A screech owl's cry sounded off to Tal's right. The signal. The underbrush erupted into motion and battle cries. Tal pushed himself to his feet and was thundering down into the clearing, his concentration centered on the two men at the horse line. Branches slashed at his eyes as he ran. The excitement of the battle deadened the pain. Veterans Syth and Tanner reached the horse line first and tackled the rapist and his victim. Tal turned his path toward the bigger group at the fire. The Horde was already fully engaged with the ragtag group. The neighs of frightened horses, the screams of dying men and the clash of blade against blade rung in the disquiet night. Tal swung his blade around as he watched Ortho take a cut to the upper arm. He stepped in front as Ortho fell away from the blade that was aimed for a killing blow. Tal grunted

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as he brought his own blade overtop to crash into the bandit's scalp. Hot blood gushed over his face...as least he hoped it was blood. He pivoted on his heel back to the fray to find it well under control. He caught Ortho and dragged him out of the battle field. Ortho's sun darkened back was a grimacing mask as he held onto his wounded arm. "Let me see." Tal dropped his shield and sword to the ground and pried Ortho hand away. Blood ran darkly down his arm. "Wiggle your fingers." Ortho flexed his hand, hissing in pain as the sting grew worse. His words were laced with unspoken agony, "It's not deep..." Tal jerked off his helm, slid the bandanna off he wore to keep sweat from his eyes and used it to tie over the long cut. "Get to the surgeon right away." He rose back to his feet. "Thank the gods it's you, Kegsetter. These kids would have left me here to die." Ortho held onto his wound and staggered back toward the surgeon. Tal silently agreed with his old line mate. The Horde was changing. After the last border war in the wintry north, the Captain had started to recruit new fighters. Most of them, veterans wouldn't have at his back. This last season had been long and a lot of men had retired or left. The Horde had lost a lot of men in the last northern campaign. The place had been an arsenal of death. Keith had died there. His sword had marked his stone kern. Not much of a reward for fifteen years of service. The Horde held too many memories. The battle was done in less than a dozen heartbeats. Seven of the twelve bandits were dead and the rest were now

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safely being chained. These five would be standing on trial at the High Constable's tomorrow. "Sarge, this one's a slave." Tal turned as Hens pulled a naked boy forward. Tal looked at the smallness of the frame, the bruises and the redness marring his body. He was the one who had been raped. The boy's eyes were wide and red rimmed. Hens pulled the boy's head sideways to show the small "s" that was branded just above his left eyebrow. Tal shook his head regretfully. A freeman even if he was a thief would get a quick death, this slave, if he was involved, would have his entrails spilt out on the ground in front of him and he would watch himself die...slowly. Tal stepped closer to the slave. He was gaunt, malnourished and stank of the unwashed. "How old are you, boy?" "I don't know master." His voice cracked with the approaching of change. Tal figured he must be around fourteen, fifteen. Gods he was little more than Keith and I were when we took up with this lot. By the time of my next birthday, I had killed as many men as had lived. "How many winters have you been with this lot?" "One, master. Master Reyns bought me at the market in Harswell." The boy ducked his head low, determined not to look up into a freeman's face. "Have you ever stolen anything?" He dropped his head lower and curled his toes into the damp ground. Tal caught the boy's face and roughly shook his head from side to side. He tightened his grip, painfully, prying the slave's jaw open. "Don't play dumb with me. You

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know how they kill slaves. When these men went raiding, did you steal along with them?" Tal dropped his hand away. There was a sheen of tears in the boy's eyes as he lowered his head. Unexpectedly, the boy fell to his knees and bowed his head to Tal's feet. Carefully, the dirty hands reached out and touched the wet boots. He edged forward, as if he were expecting to be kicked. He pressed his lips to the wet leather. Tal felt himself grow cold with anger and disgust. "No master." The slave's voice was small and subdued. "Are you lying, boy?" "No master. I take care of the horses. I just hold the horses." The slave stiffened as Tal pulled his feet away. Gently, Tal raised the boy's face up, "If you are telling the truth, boy, you'll have nothing to fear tomorrow. Now, go with Hens." Hens reached down and jerked him to his feet. Tal watched quietly as the slave was tied by his neck into the end of coffle where the rest of prisoners were secured. That should have been the end of it - but it was as if the gods had something else in mind. Slaves had always been a part of Tal’s life. Even back in his father's tavern there had been two slaves, a husband and a wife to tend the travelers’ horses and to cook the meals. The small "s" branded onto their faces had been something inconsequential that was until he had come north. The slave brand in the moderate climbs denoted a lesser being. Slaves couldn't enter freemen establishments through the front door. They could be robbed and beaten by any freeman and not get any justice from the

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city patrollers. They were whipped simply on a freeman's whim. Once he had seen an execution because a slave had refused service in a rent house. Their value was less than a unbroken horse. Once back to the base camp, Tal pulled on the reins leading his war mount, Steadfast, toward the contractors generous stables. They were large enough to billet all of the company’s horses as well as give some of the newer recruits a warm and dry place to sleep. As Tal approached the stables, Steadfast balked at heading into the warm well light stable. The wily bastard wanted to stay out in the rain. He tossed his head back and jerked on the reins. “I should let you stay out there, stinky. The only reason why won't is that it'll be me that has to take care of you when you get sick." Steadfast kicked as Tal pulled him inside, and then quickly quieted down when his tack was off his back. He stood quietly as Tal began rubbing him down with a soft rag. He spoke comforting words to his horse carefully preparing him for his stable even though Tal wanted northing more than to crawl into his tent and sleep for the next three days. It is always better to be prepared than to be dead. Finished wiping Steadfast down, Tal tossed a warm blanket across his withers, measured out a serving of oats then leaned against the wall with the fatigue of a man much older. A cry of pain brought him to his feet again. His sword was out and ready as he searched for the sound. A muffled groan filtered from the back of the stable. Carefully he moved toward the noise. Four of the new recruits were standing naked from the waist down watching another of their

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rank groan with completion then collapse on the grimy body below him. "My turn." The spent man rolled off the prone body and reached for his pants. He spied the Sarge standing in the doorway. The naked blade told him that the Sarge wasn't going to join in on the action. Hastily he pulled up his pants, forcing his limp member down inside then stood at attention. A few other men caught the direction his eyes took then copied his actions, pulling up their breeches and falling into attention. Only the man intent on getting his turn failed to stop, “I'm going to do you like a girl." He reached down and pulled the small frame over. It was the slave boy the bandits had abused. In the faint light of the stable, Tal could see the new bruises, and on his face one eye had swollen shut. The boy whimpered and covered his face with his hands, as he was pulled into the new position. Hot anger shot through Tal as he stomped over to the man and brought his pommel down, hard, on the back of his head. The rapist keeled over. Everyone knew he was dead before he even started to slump over. The soft thud of the sword connecting rang out his life. "Quartermaster!" Tal bellowed at the top of his lungs. He gestured at the men, "Over against the wall. NOW!" They shuffled over to the side of the stable wall. The quartermaster had been heading toward the stables and four assistants came in at his call. "Get the Captain, these men are under arrest."

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The quartermaster pulled out his sword and gestured at the new prisoners. "Out....leave your weapons on the floor." The quartermaster watched as Tal jerked a naked man off the dirty slave they had just brought in. He watched as the Sarge knelt beside the crying boy and cradled him against the armored chest. The veterans had noticed the change in the Sarge since Keith died. The jokes and laughter had been buried with his lover. Secretly, he had hoped that Tal would find someone else but ..,a scrawny boy child..and a slave at that. "There's an other one" Quartermaster pointed at the naked body Tal had kicked over to a corner.. "He's dead." Tal pulled a horse blanket off the wall and bundled the shaking frame inside. Carefully he sheathed his sword then picked up the boy as if he weighed nothing. Angry red welts were all over the boy's backside where a riding crop had snapped across his skin. He was already starting to bruise. He whimpered as Tal lifted him. He buried his face into his chest and tried to ball himself up. "They won't hurt you any more. Are you hurt anywhere else? Did they cut you?" The Quartermaster turned away from the soft words. They sounded like lover's concerns. Nothing good would come of this. He shoved the prisoners out of the stables. A slave...who would have thought the Sarge would do something like that. The boy raised his tear streaked face up. The hurt and ache ripped through his body. "They said had to....or they'd tell that I was a bandit... don't want to die." He struggled in

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Tal's arms. Carefully he set the boy back on the ground. The slave sank to his knees, desperate fingers grabbed onto Tal's boots. "Make me your slave, Master, I can make you happy." His battered face turned up, slowly, still aching with the evidence of his previous assault, he reached for Tal's rough hand and began to kiss it. Pressing his cut lips to his skin. Carefully controlled anger ripped through Tal again, "Stop it." He jerked his hand away. The slave cringed and huddled at his feet. "Let's get you cleaned up..." Tal found buckets of water, a bar of soap and rough rags. "Wash." As quick as he could the boy hurried to the buckets. He rubbed the soap at his mouth, his arms and legs and between his legs. He could still feel the pain, the hot burn as the hulk buried himself deep inside. It was just like those other times....at the House, out in the forest. Tal watched as the boy grew frantic trying to wash the scent of his ordeal away. He pulled his cloak off, wrapped it around the thin figure who snapped to rigid attention as soon as he touched him, "I won't let anyone hurt you, again..." The boy crumpled and began crying. Tal picked him up and walked out of the stable. The cold rain had started falling again. Tal carried his load quickly across the compound to the Captain's quarters. Captain Streeves looked up from his parchment maps when Tal carried his bundle into his tent. "I just arrested four men for raping this boy. I killed the fifth." Tal set the boy down on his feet and patted the covered shoulder in reassurance. The slave huddled in the cloak, his eyes cast down to the ground as if unsure what do. Streeves

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got to his feet, walked around the desk then pulled the boy's face up to meet his gaze. "Who is his master?" "One of the bandits we took tonight." "The bandit is a non-citizen now. There is no one to lodge a complaint." Streeves dropped his hand and returned to his desk. "The boy is property. You cannot rape property. You can only damage it." "Complaint!" Tal strode up the plain wooden desk and laid his fists on the top. He was taking great liberties but his anger pushed him on, he had seen too much of this. "Captain, this is a crime. It shouldn't matter if it's a freeman or a slave. What is happening to this company? Has honour been misplaced somewhere?" "Careful, Sergeant." Streeves words rung with authority. Tal snapped his shut and snapped to attention, "You may be retired now, but I will not have anyone challenging my authority." "The Guild accepted my resignation?" "On the condition that you only take your shares for your years of service." "Sargent Woodcutter..." "We are sorrowed at his loss and we know that he left you his shares if he were killed in battle but we cannot pay them." The small boy was forgotten as outrage began to sweep through Tal's aching body, "We have been with his company for fifteen seasons!" Streeves sat down at his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment, "You and Keith Woodcutter, together you

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participated in fifteen campaigns and thirty-seven contacts. You named each other benefactor. If I were to retire you with your entitled shares of 7000 pieces of gold, the Horde would have to be disbanded. Didn't either of you ever spend the money you made?" Tal swallowed as his mouth and throat dried up, "We...we had plans for it when we retired." "I am sorry for Woodcutters death. Even if I were to give you half of what you are entitled to, the Horde would never make it through the winter." Streeves reached into his desk and pulled out a small leather bag. "What were your plans?" "To raise war horses, sir." "More gold. You want to die a king, Kegsetter." Streeves tossed the bag toward Tal. Tal caught it easily, opened it and looked down at the glint of gold. "The best I can do for you is to give you 1500 gold. You can take your pick of three of the best mares we have and..."Streeves looked at the boy, "you can have the slave, if you want him. I was at the prisoner interrogations, he used to be a fancy boy in a rent house in Tracell Bay, but he knows something of horses. Take him. The same thing will happen eventually if you leave him here. He's well trained and we don't need men killing each other for him. Judging from Lord Evan's face when he heard the news, he wouldn't want him anyway." "1500 pieces won't buy enough land." Tal stared at his commander and saw the set line of his jaw. Sometimes on the battlefield, Keith would point out the determination on their Captain's face. He wasn't about to back down or given in to

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defeat. The Captain's set jaw was a sign of impending victory. "That's my offer. You're not a finance clerk, Kegsetter. Our employers have welshed on us more times than not, we've had to get new recruits after the campaign. We have no extra money. If your service record hadn't been as outstanding as it is, I would have you killed to get out of your contract. I have taken this to the Council of Grievances and explained out situation and they agreed with me. There is no reason why this company should fold just because one man wants out. Their solution to the situation was to give me leave to assassinate you. I don't do men who have done me good service like that," Streeves wrote out a note, folded then sealed it with his signet. He extended the paper, "This will give you title to three mares of your choosing. 1500 gold, three mares and this slave." Slowly Tal reached out and took the paper. Keith would have demanded their fare share...but he was dead and the Captain was more than willing to end the contract if he pushed. For a combined thirty years of service, there was little to show for it. "You can reconsider. Maybe in a few seasons, our fortunes could turn around and you could get your full shares." "No...Thank you Captain." Tal snapped off a quick salute then gestured for the boy to follow. "When you're set up as a horse trainer, send us word. We might be willing to buy some off of you." Streeves voice dropped into a quiet tone, "Sergeant Kegsetter, These men

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you arrested will be punished by the company but not for rape but for damaging property of our employer. You have title to the slave boy now and I've told the Quartermaster to pay you to going rate for whores from their accounts. They will be dismissed on conduct unbecoming but that is all. Is that understood?" "Aye, captain." Tal's nails bit into the flesh on his palms as he fought to control his outrage. The Captain had been good to the company, and his was his commanding officer. Streeves had always been straight with him. He could have had him assassinated by the Guild's leave and that would be the end of the debt. Three good war mares would total up to another 1500 gold and the slave boy would add a few more coppers. "Tal, I can hold your prisoners for a day before had to pass sentences on them. If you leave tonight, the rain should mask your trail. It won't be much of a head start but that's better than nothing at all." Streeves stood, returned Tal's salute, "Dismissed." Tal gave his final salute to his commanding officer, grabbed the youth by the arm, then turned and walked out into the rain. The rain hit him full in the face, he stared down at the small bag of gold, and the sealed piece of paper. "Master?" Tal looked down at the blue eyed youth. "Follow me." Tal slammed his helm back on his head and stalked across the muddied yard toward his tent. He ripped the flap back on his tent and pulled the thin youth inside. Tal curst as he struggled to light the oil lamp that hung from the centre post. Finally the lamp burned, casting shadows around

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the small tent. Tal turned back to his new acquisition. The boys pale blonde hair hung in ragged lumps as if someone had tried to shave him bald, the shoulder than hung out of his cape was bony and threatened to poke through the skin. "When was your last meal?" "Last night...I had some bread and bone marrow that they had left out over night." He turned his face down toward the ground. He shivered as the wind began to pick up. Tal dug into a leather bag hanging under the lamp and tossed the boy a ration of dried deer. From the way his pale blue eyes widened it was more food than he had seen in months. "Eat it slow. You throw it up if you go to fast." Tal watched as he tore into the meat as if it were a delicacy. He was so small. Nothing Tal had would fit him, not that he was a huge hulk of a man. The forced marches and battle drills were strenuous enough to keep him from running to fat but he was wider with muscles than this little mousy boy. Tal turned around grabbing items and began to pack them as if he were going on a long march. He turned and spied Keith's locker. Keith had been smaller. He didn't need it now. But Tal was reluctant, this was all that he had of Keith now. The boy choked on the meat, coughing and doubling over. Tal slapped him hard on the back, knocking the meat free. He handed him a water jug. The boy sucked on it as if he hadn't drank for a long time either. The boy needed clothes. The strong smell of cedar slashed at his nose when he popped open the trunk. Everything was just same as when he packed it. Tal's throat tightened and tears burnt at the back of his eyes. There were

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times he could close his eyes and see Keith's laughing face. At night, the dreams were so real he would wake and reach for him. Tal pulled out a woolen tunic, leather breeches and a pair of well worn boots. "Try these on. We might have to use rope to keep your pants on for a while. If the boots don't fit you'll have to go barefoot." He tossed the boy Keith's old oilskin cape and another set of clothes then closed the trunk up. With the court martialed men probably following, excess would have to be left behind. Tal ran his hand along the trunk. Keith had bought it after their first pay, saying that he didn't like his clothes scattered round the tent. "You're a slob, Tal. But that doesn't me I have to be." A sad smile took hold of his face. He sat heavily on the single bunk. The boy struggled into the breeches, they hung around the hips but stayed up. He dropped the blanket and struggled into the tunic...his back was already black and blue. Tal was surprised that he could move. "What's your name?" "Master?" The boy turned and looked at Tal inquisitively before dropping his eyes to the floor. "That's another thing, Call me Sarge. I don't like the name Master." "Yes...mast...Sarge." "Good, now, what's your name?" "What ever you wish." He ducked his head low and pretended to concentrate on pulling on the leather boots. His

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hands caressed the tops as if he had never had the luxury before. Tal's hands tightened with anger again. His voice held the remains of it, "I asked you what is your name?" The boy flinched, "Danny...Sarge, if you don't like it, you can change it." "Why would I change it?" "My last master didn't like it. He said that it sounded too northern. The mistress at the rent house said it was a free man's name." "She named you, what?" Tal's voice was quiet. "I had no name." "Look at me!" Danny turned his face toward Tal but wouldn't meet his eyes. In the dim lamp light, the puckered "s" scar stood out on his face for all the world to see. He was marked a slave for life. "Danny, I will feed you, I will give you clothes to wear. You don't have to worry about me attacking you at night. All I ask of you is to help me with the horses and don't cause any trouble. Can you do that?" "Yes Sarge." "Good...we need to pack quickly. Those men who attacked you in the stables are going to be released in a day. They will come looking for us." Danny's face turned pale, his frightened blue eyes looked up at Tal, "I'll protect you. No one will harm you as long as you're with me. Now, I'm going to pick out three mares and get my horse. Can you have this place packed in these," Tal pointed to four sacks, " by the time I get back?"

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Danvos nodded. "You can leave the trunk here. And the tent. We've spend nights out on the ground. A few more won't hurt us." Tal grabbed the gold purse and the sealed letter and headed for the flap of the tent. "Sarge..." He turned and looked back at the boy, who stood in familiar clothes but fit them so poorly, "Thank you for saving me....I don't think they would have stopped..." Tears welled up in his eyes again. Tal nodded. Davos stood uncertainly in the middle of the tent surrounded by all the things that Tal had collected over the years, looking at him, willing him to say something. "Get to work." "Yes, Sarge." Danny, shoved the rest of the deer in his mouth and chewed as he began folding up clothes and blankets. Tal stepped outside of the tent then stared back at the shadow that moved inside. The boy looked so pathetic and was so ill used he might not make it on this trip. Tal wiped the rain off his face and shook his head from side to side. There was no way that this boy could be set free. The brand on his face marked him a slave for life. Still, who is to say that the boy's life would be worse than it had been. No... Tal gave up toying with the idea. It didn't sit right with him. He couldn't send him back into slavery. He had not travelled so far from his roots that slavery was something that was just there. Too many times, the vanquished had been made into slaves after the contract was over. He couldn't sleep those nights, when their employer set the searing branding iron onto soft flesh. Keith couldn't either. The death of friends. The blood that

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fertilized with ground after a battle was completed was something that he had forced himself to live with but not this, not slavery. Tal hunched the cloak higher on his shoulders and turned away from the backlit shadow on the tent canvas. Danny could be treated like a son or a laborer. Any work that he did, Tal would pay him for it. He could spend it any way he wanted. He would never cause the blue eyes of Danny to look at him with fear and dread. The horde had not changed him that much. A blast of wind carried voices of protest across the camp. The arrested men were vocalizing their innocence on the use of the slave boy. He was a slave wasn't he. He didn't have any rights. They'd pay for his use... Tal hardened his face with determination and went to search out the head wrangler to take his severance pay in well trained brood mares. They would leave before the moon's zenith. Tal returned to find everything, tent, cots, even Keith's truck bundled and tied, ready for loading onto the mares backs. He had opened his mouth for questioning but then snapped it shut. The bandits would have had to move fast to evade their pursuers so the boy would have had to learn to avoid beatings. "I said we could leave the tent." "I'm sorry master." He ducked his head in a low bow, bent over the load and began to untie it. "No." Tal walked up and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy stiffened. His body tensed and he ducked his head low. "It's all right. I just didn't think, you could get everything squirreled away so quickly. And efficiently." Tal

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patted the thin shoulder and offered a friendly smile. The blonde head remained bowed. "Take your pick." "Master?" "I said to call me Sarge. Pick which horse you want to ride. We'll load the other mares up with our supplies." "Ride? Sarge, I can walk beside you." The boy's voice was tinged with excitement but he firmly clamped it down. "We'll have to move fast. Steadfast doesn't like anyone beside him anyway. Hurry up and pick one." Tal watched as the boy raised his head and looked at the three mares Tal held by halter ropes. He approached the mares slowly and quietly as if he expected to walk and find them nothing but a dream. Tal glanced over toward the centre of the camp, a court marital didn't take long, still the captain had given his word that they had until morning. He glanced back over to the boy. All three mares had their heads lowered and butting against him. It had been hard enough to get them over to the camp without one balking or another acting up. Now they stood like common horses around a sugar block. Danny reached out his hands and touched the warm skin of a bay mare with a blaze of white that ran from her ears to her nose. Tal listened has whispered words floated over to him, "You are beautiful, warrioress. You have the heart of a stallion. I am not worthy of you." He moved to a dappled grey. "Your strength is a beckon to others. You know your duties well. It's true, I'm not worthy of you." The grey head butted against him, sending

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him a step back, as if she were debating with him. The small hand reached out and scratched the underside of her jaw. The final mare was a dun and black. Tal had debated over this one. She was not beautiful but she had the stockiness and endurance of the northern horses and she was a trained battle mount. Tal had plans to use her as the pack horse. "Steppedancer." She forced her way in front of the other two mares and stamped the ground as if she were issuing a challenge. She shook her head from side to side and kicked out a rear hoof. "You honor me." Tal felt as if he had just watched a conversation happening between the four of them - slave and horses. "Steppedancer." He rolled the name around his mouth. It even sounded northern. "Wouldn't one of the others do?" "She won't let them." As if to accentuate Danny' words, the dun reared, jerking her lead out of Tal's hand. She neighed a challenge. The other mares just looked over at her but stood contentedly in Tal's grasp. The boy reached up and caught the soft leather halter. "She has chosen." Tal shook his head. "I'll secure the pack. Here," Tal reached into a oilskin packet and thrust another large piece of dried deer at the boy. Danny made to put it away, "No, eat it now." Danovs looked at it then opened his mouth and began to chew. Quickly, Tal settled the packs on the long legged mares. These three had seemed the most spirited of the bunch but here the two better bred mares stood like pack donkeys, content to be weighed down by all his life that was tied in

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small bundles. Steadfast snorted and pawed the ground impatiently as Tal fastened the lead to the rear of the saddle. Danny was still eating when Tal gave him a leg up on the dun mare. "I don't have any tack for you yet. Just hang on the best you can." The skinny hands entangled themselves into the wet mane, "You're too skinny. You tell me any time that you're hungry. You're still young, you might be able to grow yet." Tal could easily read into the guileless bright blue eyes. Maybe this one was a better master than the others, "Yes, Sarge." "Good." Tal swung up onto Steadfast's back and pulled on the lead of Danny's mount. The mare docilely followed, a complete turn about from a few moments before. Tal glanced back at the hunched figure. Maybe northern men did have a special talent with horses. Slowly in procession, a string of horses past through the outer perimeter of the camp. Tal forced himself not to look back at the only other home he had known in his life. Keith was gone. Most of the old guard had left and the remaining were planning to go. Tal's path was what ever he desired. He had gold in his pockets, a string of excellent horses and a slave to tend to them and the night rain to obliterate their trail.

"Wake up" Commander Riverview's voice broke into the reminisce. "I'm not sleeping." Tal returned wearily. His voice was tight and harsh with the need for water.

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"I want to know about the extent of the Dark Lord's power." "Why don't you question Zery?" "There is no need to be petty, Commander. I know that you are his consort and the Commander of the Guard as well as the Lord's Hound - a less than flattering title as you must know. My men were running the Dark Followers to ground when suddenly they turned to mist and faded. This is done within the camp Wardings. Level Four mages could not get through the Illuminations Wardings!" Tal closed his eyes and fought back the despair that filled him. There was no doubt that Danny had taken all the power the Darkness was offering. "What have you done?" His voice was barely a whisper. "Zery assured the Illumination that the Dark Lord was only a partial user. Commander, the more you resist us, the worse the cleansing will be for you." "A colt is beaten with a whip every time a saddle is placed on its back. What will happen when that horse is grown?" "He will be un-ride able. He has been conditioned to pain every time he sees a saddle." "So you beat the horse for refusing to let you ride him." "Not when you know why he is like that." "Danny was made into a slave by raiders. He was taught to serve by freewomen and men. He was taught to take care of his responsibilities with diligence that most freemen don't care to."

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"And his revival of a power that rent the land asunder centuries ago is nothing but a slave's reaction to a freeman's teachings?" The scorn wasn't masked. "If you want to punish someone for reawakening the Darkness, then you have him. I was the first to give the Darkness blood and flesh." "Then why aren't you the Dark Lord?" "It was offered to me, but I gave it to Danny. I am the man who should be answerable to all those accusations of the Free Lords and the Illumination. I was his last Master." Janelle moved away from the cage bars, "You're loyalty is commendable, Commander, maybe you were his master once but the Darkness owns him now." She walked toward the tent exit. "Danny sees the safety of all the ex-slaves as his responsibility. He will do anything he has to to protect them be it with sweat, blood, flesh, sword or sorcery. You have created a greater enemy than you know." "Darkness will not threaten this land again, Commander." Riverview walked through the tent flap and let it drop down behind her. "No, Darkness will own it." Tal spoke to empty space. The throbbing in his head less painful than the agony in his chest were his heart used to be.

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Chapter Three: A Meeting in the Mist Danny awoke prostrate on the Black Alter. The urgent knocking that rousted him from his recovering slumber. The steady thumping of the silver teardrop in his fist brought the night's activities back to his weary mind. "My Lord!" A man's voice called from the corridor. "The Riders are coming back!" Danny pushed himself off the black alter. He awaited the ever-present aches that came with the Dark Summoning but this time his body felt refreshed and vitalized with energy. Quickly tying the broken leather thong together, he slid it over his head and tucked it inside his tunic; the warmth and comfort of it throbbed against his skin. He would have to get a silver chain for it. Danny gestured at the door and it swung inwards as Kev pounded on it again. "My Lord." He gave a slight bow. "The Sentries have reported that a large force of Riders is approaching." "Where are the women and children?" "In the catacombs under the Tower. They have food and water down there for at least a month." "I want all available archers to the Tower. Any man or boy who wants to defend their freedom or the freedom of their families I want assembled in the fairgrounds." "Yes, my Lord." Kev turned and ran back down the corridor.

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Danny paused and closed his eyes searching for another set of eyes to keep watch on the approaching enemy. A raven as black as coal perched on a limb and looked down on the white tabards as they rose past in single file. Danny fell against the wall as vertigo ripped through his mind. There were about 30 Riders. A woman rode at the head of the column, her hair was short and her face was fierce, but it was her eyes that betrayed her - pale brown, almost the color of honey that stared out at the world. Those honey eyes suddenly snapped upwards staring back at him. Danny urged the raven to take flight. He could feel the bird's alarm as it's wings flapped at the air. The air rippled as a crossbow quarrel ripped past an outstretched wing. Danny called up a shield beneath the bird. A longbow's arrow bounced off it as the raven winged to safety. He had placed the bird in jeopardy by using it, but no animal was ever going to come to harm because of him. He pulled his vision back from the bird and slumped against the wall as it swam in and out of focus. The Riders were still half a turn of the hourglass away. The weakness past quickly. He rose to his feet and headed back up the stairs to his chamber. There were trails of tightness on his face with belayed the fact that he was covered with dried blood. Stripping off his sweat stained clothes he stood naked before a porcelain basin Tal had bought off a traveller. It was white with pale blue flowers painted inside. It looked like it should have been a bride's gift on her wedding day. But Tal had seen it and nothing could have been said to sway his yearning. The next morning when Danny washed in it, Tal had stood behind him and said that

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the blue had reminded him of his eyes when they were dark with desire. He touched the tear on his chest. He would have Tal back, dead or alive. A knock came on the outer door, "Enter!" Danny ducked his head into the basin to clean off the dried blood that hung to his hair. "Milord." Kev's voice halted, "...the men are assembling in the fairgrounds." Danny reached for a rag to dry himself only to find it handed to him. "Allow me, Milord." Kev took the towel and began briskly rubbing the water from long strands of golden hair. Danny closed his eyes. The rag began to move down his shoulders. He caught Kev's hands and took the piece of cloth away. Kev's eyes were wide with longing but he quickly turned away to the large cupboard searching for clothing. "Do you have a preference, Milord?" "This cannot happen, Kev." "It is warm today." "I am pledged to another. I will not break it." Kev pulled out a pair of brown leather breeches and a soft wool tunic in a rich blue. He carefully laid them on the bed, "I know, but it I have lived with this longing since the first day I came here. It won't interfere with my duties as your servant, Milord." Danny wrapped the rag around his waist, "That is like saying you want your freedom and only have to cross over a trickle of a stream to get it but you promised that you wouldn't."

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"Don't send me away." Kev held out his palms, "Look at my hands, I don't do manual labour. I made my last Master happy. I can make you happy." "If you were so happy with your master, why are you here with us? If I remember correctly you were found hiding in the wild raspberry thicket in the north end. The whip marks were still fresh across your back." Kev flinched as he had been struck with a physical blow, "The master took a wife and she didn't want to share his...affections. When he left for market, she had me beaten in the main courtyard declaring that any slave who..." Danny offered the word, "Shared." "...shared with the master would suffer the same fate. She sold me to a rent house but I got away before they could cage me. I hid in the forest waiting for the master's return, I thought that he could treat me as he always did but a rider came out to him and told him that I had stolen a gold necklace from the Mistress and when she had me punished for it I ran away. I heard him give the order to kill me if I was to be found." Quietly, Danny returned, "I know how they kill slaves for stealing." "How could someone turn against you when they had known you all your life?" "How can someone hate us to the point of killing innocents? I do not know the minds of citizens but I do know my own. You are beautiful to look at Kev. I can see that you have a calm head on your shoulders. You have a compassion and respect for others - but not for yourself."

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"I was going to be a rent boy." "I was a rent boy." Kev looked back at Danny, the disbelief clear to see in his eyes. "Milord?" "The Mistress sold me in her house nightly. I did not choose that life. So I have nothing to be ashamed of. You never got to the silk walled rooms. You are not a slave any longer. What you have been taught need not be the total of your existence. There are always jobs for those would have special talents. Few of us can read or write. We need teachers so one day our children will have the choice of manual labour or a different kind of work." A knock came on the closed door. Kev paused for a moment staring at Danny then turned away to answer it. Danny sat on the bed and eased himself into the breeches, lacing the front closure tight. Kev returned, "Milord, everyone is assembled and awaiting your orders." "Would you have my mare saddled." "Do you required anymore assistance?" "No....Kev, think about what I have said." "I will, Milord, depending on if we see another day." Kev bowed then left the room. Danny dressed quickly, shrugging into the tunic and pulling the high leather boots up his calves. A tingling in his stomach told him that the Illumination had just past the outermost warding at the boundary of their lands. The Illumination had interfered with the last rise of the Black Tower. It had only been through their counselling that a Coalition had ever been founded to combat Galbraith's forces.

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The Darkness loathed the white and red of the Riders of Light. Tal's cloak lay on the bed. Danny let his hand trail it for a moment debating whether or not to wear it. The daybreak had turned the sky brilliant pinks and touched the clouds with the same brush; slowly, it had faded to the familiar blue as the sun rose higher. The day was warm. He pressed his palm against the lump under his tunic; he had something more personal of Tal's locked to him. The narrow corridors flickered with the light of the torches braced high above, and it was surprisingly quiet. Danny had not noticed the hordes of children playing in the Tower until there was none. To still the voices of children, was something more vile than anything he could think of at the moment. He touched the plain hilt of the dagger at his waist. Tal had insisted that he learn something of weapons, even before he had been reborn as the Dark Lord. He would never be the kind of swordsman Tal was, or even Edan but he would not be helpless. The time had past long ago when relying on someone else's strength and goodwill for protection was an option. These jet blocks of stone and those children's voices were his duty to protect. A flare of darkness rose up into his stomach. Danny hardened his face and began to descend again. His boots echoed in the stillness. The Illumination had no business interfering with the Dominion. Danny walked out into the sunshine, blinking at the brightness of it. It seemed odd to have the sweet rays when there had been so much death only a few hours before. The fairground was filled with people - men, women and children.

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"What is going on here? The women and children are supposed to be safely under the Tower." Edan stepped out of the crowd, his normal smithy apron changed to old warriors leathers, and his blacksmith's hammer hung ready at his side. "They won't go down into the catacombs." A woman with her long hair plaited back into a single braid came up along Edan, in her hands was a small sickle but it glistened in the light from it's new coat of oil and sharpening. "Those bastards killed my husband and my eldest boy last eve. They won't lay peaceful unless they are avenged by our family." The woman's sentiments were echoed throughout the assemblage regardless of sex. Danny shook his head. "Everyone has suffered but we cannot live for vengeance only!" "They took the Commander!" "If there is hatred to be directed at anyone, it should be at me!" Danny pushed his way to the mangled festival platform, "When you came to this land, I promised to protect you. I vowed that none of you who had taken the risk to come to the Dominion would ever have to fear Free Lords or citizens again and I failed you." Voices of protest rose up again. A red haired woman pushed her way forward her green eyes flaring with intensity few had seen in the kindly lass. {You are a man. A man who needs time away from his duties like every other man in this

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fairground. Blaming yourself for this attack is nothing going to help us fight this new enemy.} A small blonde haired boy came to his mother's outstretched hand, {Talos has never worn the slave brand. He has never knelt in front of others with his head bowed. You have given him this but it will take all of us to protect it fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. Freedom is a hard gift to keep. And I would rather have our son die in battle than bow to any man.} Talos stared up at the man he had suspected was his father, but now that his mother had affirmed his suspicious he didn't know what to do. Danny stared at his son for a moment, marvelling that even at such a tender age he was holding his father’s features, then he looked back out over the crowd. "Anyone who can raise a weapon will be needed for this fight. Most of us have not lived so long in the Dominion that we have forgotten what slavery can be. Last night, we had overlooked, all of us, that many still see us as slaves risen above our station. Today, the Riders of Light will be greeted by men and women who will defend their families to keep them free. If children can carry arrows or water, they can stay on the fairground, if not, take them to the catacombs. Edan, get our fighters into an order. If there are any left with wartime experience make them sergeants The grounds broke into confusion. Ona came up on the platform and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, {I am sorry about the Commander.} "He's alive."

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{There is something different about you...you've changed somehow.} "Everyone changed last night. I would ask you to take Talos down to the catacombs but you are right. I don't want to see him...or any one who came here on their knees ever. They won't get past me again." {This was not your fault.} "No, but when those people came to me, I promised to protect them and I meant every word. If the gods are willing, I will see you and Talos again after this battle." {I shall take that as a promise, Dark Lord}. Ona turned and headed out into the fairgrounds with a golden haired mop trailing behind her. Edan had done an excellent job raising the child as his own. There were men who would have treated another man's spawn as something to be ignored or beaten. Sky blue eyes searched the grounds until they rested on the dark hair of the blacksmith. He had once been a free man but on the wrong side of the battlefield. His was the art of iron but he had been with the armies long enough to learn something of the art of war. There had been so many exsoldiers in the ranks that there had been no need to train others to take there place - even Tal had not foreseen the need for civilian participation. That would have to be changed. Danny called on the link that bound his soul and life to the Darkness that dwelled within the Tower and marvelled as the power swelled inside him - a gentle rising wave full of vitality and peace. He had expected the sharp pain that usually accompanied the Calling.

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The words whispered within his blood, {You are mine, soul and body. This power is nothing compared to what you can channel now. You need not sleep nor eat or feel tired for a week, if you so desired. You are more than just flesh, blood and bone - you are immortal.} "I just need enough to keep my people safe." {Take what you need, my Chosen. I have more awaiting your desires when you want it.} The outer Warding signalled an alarm deep within the Tower. The black stones seemed to shift of their own accord before a bell high in the battlements began to ring. Men, women and children turned as one to stare up at the pinnacle. It was a sound that could not be ignored because it was so unearthly - a death knell millennia’s old. Danny shivered as the hair at the back of his neck stood on end. "So it begins." Kev trotted up to the festival stand, the reins for Steppedancer tight in his hand. "Milord." "Pick some of the children who are fast runners, and take them to Edan. You and they will be the messengers." "Milord...I can swing a sword." "Have you ever done so before?" "No..." "Then you would be a hazard to those around you as well as the enemy." Danny turned and looked at the golden eyed youth, "Communications is vital. One section has to know what they other is doing. If the communications break down, the Riders will sweep us off the land and they have been shown to a less than merciful victors. "We'll keep communications flowing, Milord."

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Danny looked out across the fairgrounds. The festival colours were charred and trampled into the ground. Those who had perished had been stored in a side tunnel in the catacombs were it was always cool so burial rights could be preformed after the battle was over and the pyres could be lit. A slight breeze picked up and carried the sweet scent of jasmine to the mangled remains of the platform. There was nothing here but brambles and ruins five years before. Together everyone had worked so hard to make a new life - a better one for their children and themselves. Today, they were willing to defend it. He closed his eyes and cast out for another view of the approaching party. A small groundhog pushed its' way out of his hole and stared at the passing group. They were well armed but not for a full out attack. The woman came here for another purpose. "Ona tell Edan to stand ready. They are close to the river crossing but I don't think they are here for an battle." {I'll tell him.} Steppedancer tossed her head backwards, jerking on the reins, her impatience with her golden haired horsespeaker. "We'll run when the sun sets. Now, I need you to look battle ready." The dun mare stamped her front foreleg hard against the hard ground and snorted her agreement. Danny easily swung up into the low saddle, setting his heels into the stirrups. Steppedancer flicked her long black tail from side to side in a show of readiness. The silver circlet on his brow gave a flash of warmth and a surge of power ripped thorough his body. Steppedancer reared up in alarm as his hands spas med on the

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reins. "Forgive me." He loosened his hold on the leather so there wouldn't be any more pain in her mouth. He urged her forward to the front of the forming lines. "Stay within the burn marks on the grass. If you pass over it, I can't protect you." Edan came forward, Kev standing by his side. "Ona gave me your message. Are you sure they won't attack?" "They sent more than that against us last night. They only have thirty in this group. I think they are coming to talk and to look at our defences. Keep every one inside the burn marks, I can't vouch for anyone's safety if they cross over it." "What are you going to do?" "Make it a little bit harder for them to get to us." Steppedancer galloped forward to the outer edge of the circle. The power came so easily, surging through his body, almost making him feel drunk with mead. The company had past the river so now they were less than half a league away. Mist began to rise from the water's surface in a small circle then it began to expand outwards, trailing across the river, up into the small streams that fed into it filling the sky with whiteness. It swept over the hills and glens filling the air with a fog that was unnatural with it's complete blocking of vision. Within it, a band of thirty quickly were separated into smaller groups of fours and less as the fog swirled between the lines. "Keep together!" The woman's voice was strident and rang throughout the whiteness. Men's answering cries echoed around them as they hunted for their own companions.

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"See..." The words had barely breathed over his lips when the world cleared around Steppedancer. The woman on the white gelding suddenly appeared in their little haven. "What does the Illumination want here?" The Joelle twisted her steed around facing the direction of the voice. Her hand dropped down to the hilt at her side but to her credit she did not pull it. "Who are you?" "The one you seek." "The Dark Lord." Danvos raised his palm and laid it across his chest as if he were warding himself. In truth, he was pressing his lover' s heartbeat into his warm chest trying to draw on the courage that was so part of Tal. "As some call me. What does the Illumination want here?" "There is an abomination growing in this land and we have been chosen to end it." Joelle sat up straight in her saddle as her mount fidgeted as dark magic spun around them. Confidently she matched the blue eyed gaze with her own brown one. "The only abomination is a war that does not care that women and children are part of it's feast. But then to you and the Free Lords, we are nothing but runaway slaves who have taken coin from their treasury and land from their petty holdings." Joelle kicked her horse forward almost coming abreast of Steppedancer and her golden haired rider. "You are younger than I expected - less than twenty-five seasons?" "I know what you are, Rider. I know what you do and I will have you know that I will not let you into my Dominion."

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A hard edge had crept into his voice as he thought of the men who would be laid on the funeral pyres and the wailing of the beloved who remained behind. "The Darkness is just using you. You don't own any land. You don't have any power except what is given through unholy sacrifice to an ancient evil that should have been purged from the land centuries ago." "I know your rhetoric. Tell me what you want." "I am willing to exchange all prisoners if you come with us now." "The last guardsman was killed at sunrise. With the exception of the Commander, there is no one left and I know Tal would never let me give up all we have accomplished just for one man - even if it is himself." Riverview watched as the blue eyes turned a deeper shade of blue as anger settled into the young man. A chill seeped into her armour that seemed to burn her to the core. There was no doubt that this was the Dark Lord. "He will suffer your pain." "He will suffer because your torturers will set on him like rabid dogs. Who are you trying to save here Commander? Everyone in the Dominion comes from different lands. They have different languages, different believes and different religions. You want to force your religion on them and if they won't accept it you will torture, main and kill them. We don't need your kind of saviour. I won't allow you to take the new lives that they have built." "The Darkness will take your life."

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"A Free Lord took my life. The Darkness gave me another one and I will give any slave who has the courage to cross over our boundaries a new opportunity to walk proud and unfettered." Steppedancer stepped sideways as Danvos urged her put some distance between them and the length of the Rider’s sword blade. "Now, fifteen of my people are unaccounted for and they died by your torturer's hands. Fifteen of your men are forfeit." Screams began to rise up from the fog. Joelle jerked back roughly on her horse's mouth making it rear with surprise and pain. Danvos snagged the reins then jerked them from her hands. A palm dagger appeared in his hand and he cut the leather cheek strap. The bridle was jerked over the horse's ears and the bit hit the ground. "Since you have decided to make war on us, so be it but there will be no harm to the animals. The bit is too narrow and rips at Strider's mouth. Haven't you noticed the blood?" "How do you know my horse's name?" Joelle fought the shiver of fear that raced her spine as the pale blue eyes darkened with true anger. "He told me. The one who cares for him gambled away his original bridle and replaced it with this one." He broke his gaze and looked down with gentles ness into the huge eyes of the gelding, "Take her back to the camp. You will have safe passage but run." He patted the pale white gelding on the neck then made a clucking sound in his throat. The gelding turned and broke into a trot then a ground-eating gallop as the screams of the dying rose up around them in the white misty shroud.

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The death knells followed the dark horse and her pale rider back over the burnt grass. Ragged cries rose up from the assembled defenders. Danny stared at them brandishing their captured swords, daggers, kitchen knives, and harvest sickles. Momentarily regrets swept through him. If only his northern village had been so prepared to defend, what might his life be now? Kev ran up, slowing down as he approached Steppedancer. She nickered to him and rubbed her nose into his chest. A man screamed directly behind them startling them. Kev stared past him into the white wall. "What is it?" "It's best you don't know. Tell Edan to stand down, but to keep a watch. This group won't be bothering us today - I don't know about the rest of the night." "What are you going to do, milord?" "I'm tired, Kev and hungry. The Darkness will wake me if I'm needed." Steppedancer plodded forward as she had just run most of the day away. The Dark Lord's shoulders slumped forward as if in defeat. Kev ached to run after him and ease the pain but he kept his ground. The blonde haired man had stated his position and until he made an overture, the love in his heart would have to remain unrequited. "Your reports said nothing about the powers that that boy possesses." Joelle slammed her helm down hard on the table. Zery had changed back into his familiar and beloved white and red. His had his hair shone back into the preferred length of the Riders and the "s" brand that had marked him a slave was gone back into the box from which it came. "When I was there, I never saw him use much magic."

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"Half of my personal guard is gone. The few bodies that were recovered were torn to shreds by some animal or demon. His woods are masked with fog that our own high priest can't banish." Joelle turned on the older man, "And you never said that he was 'reborn'- that he was the child of Darkness." "That was not the talk in the guards quarters." "He told me that himself before he started slaughtering my people, '…a Free Lord took my life, the Darkness gave me another," He is reborn. All the powers the Darkness has to give him, all the knowledge of thousands of years is his to command and you send me in blind." "The only magics I seen him use were the healing darkness and warding barriers. Once a month he went into the heart of the Tower and gave blood sacrifice of a condemned person. That is all the magics he used, Commander." Zery protested. "We have only one high priest with us. With the backing of the Black Tower, that will not be enough. Where is Commander Kegsetter?" "At confessional." "Bring him to me, now." "Desno doesn't like to be interrupted during a session." "Since the intelligence you have given me is faulty, who else knows this blond demon more than his chosen companion. Bring him now...and no more confessionals until we have all the information we need to bring down that Dark Lord and his Black Tower." The man bowed lowly then moved to go and carry out his orders.

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Joelle ran her hands through her short shorn hair and closed her eyes tightly. There was an unbidden spark of admiration in her heart for the blonde demon. The surprise of the attack last eve had shown that he was able to react quickly, and with the power that he had, he should have been able to wipe out the entire force that came down on them instead he cared for the people stricken with the blindness of the Light. Today, he could have taken out the whole company instead of the fifteen. The same number that had been executed before the morning light. The Lords who had come to the Illumination had said that a northern warlock had burnt Lord Espy's border keep to the ground and had stolen slaves for his own. That had been enough information to get the Illumination High Priests in Carmoth to send out investigators from the southwestern legions but as soon as Zery had made contact and started filtering back more horror than she had expected. The Black Tower had been discovered and rebuilt and the Darkness had chosen a new Dark Lord. The Free Lords, as the Dominion slaves call them, had known this. They would have to pay for this...the death fee for each of her company would come out of their pockets. "You said I was the first to give the Darkness blood and flesh." Tal closed his lips tightly and stared down at the ground as he knelt before the dark haired woman. The whiteness of his flesh around his eyes and lips was enough to tell her that the High Priest Denso had been at his duty since she had left. "I want to full story."

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"If you're torturer can't get information from me, why do you think I would talk to you willingly?" Tal's voice was hoarse. His lips dry and his tongue felt swollen from the number of times he had bit it to keep from screaming out while whips danced on his backside. His soles of his feet were on fire where a thin rod beat against his arches. "Because the man you know is changing into something else." "Who's fault is that?" Joelle filled a cup with water and brought it to Tal's lips. He turned his head away, swaying with the effort that it cost him. She laid a strong hand to his shoulder and pressed the cup to his mouth. "It's only water, Commander. I have no need for potions or powders when I have the High Priests with me." Slowly, Tal drained the cup, savouring the warm trail of liquid down his throat. "It is my duty, Commander, as a Rider of Light not to allow dark magic to flourish. And it is my vow to the Illumination that another Galbraith would never rise up and threaten this land again." "Danny has no desire to be a conqueror." "Tell that to Lords Espy’s and Granal, and all their families who lie in the ground." "And how many others, men, women and children have they sent to their graves on a whim?" "That is not my concern." Joelle set the cup back on the peg that it hung from. She sat back on a small stool and regarded Tal with cool eyes. "We did not come down here

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for a full campaign against the Black Tower and the Dark Lord - the Free Lords had only told us of a northerner who had dark magics. We are not supplied for a full campaign but I have already sent back word to Carmoth what we have found. When the rest of the Legions get here, there will be nothing left of the Dominion that you have built. Any traces of darkness will be obliterated from this land - this includes the slaves, livestock and crops. Have the Dark Lord surrender to me before the Legions get here. At least this way, the slaves will have time to run and hide." Tal shook his head, "You don't understand. Those homes that you will burn, those men, women and children have built with their own hands. The livestock they tend are their own property. The crops they eat, they have planted and tended themselves. They own those things. Some have never owned anything in their lives. Some had forgotten what it was like to have something of their own; but they know what it is to have something of value due to the sweat on their brows. Your legions maybe be stronger, better armed but this is their home. They will defend it." "Who's to stop them from coming back once the Darkness is gone and we have left?" "The Free Lords will descend on them like flies on a corpse. They would not pay to fight their own battles so they got you to do it for them. The freemen would have better mercy at your hands than theirs." Tal fixed his blurry vision on Joelle, "The freemen would rather die by the scores in battle protecting the Dark Lord." Joelle's face was unmasked puzzlement, "Why?"

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"When you are given self worth and respect after having it beaten out of you, you will kill to keep it and defend that person that made you realize that you mattered. - that has nothing magical about it." "He called up demons to kill my men." "You killed his children. What kind of father would he be if he didn't defend his family with every means necessary? You have stared this, Commander....remember that when you are burying your dead." "You should worry about your own health, Kegsetter." "I'm already dead, and Danny knows that." Tal eased himself back on his knees, his hands had long since fallen numb. The unseen voices that had spoken beyond the High Priest's tent canvas wall had set his heart more ill at ease than anything the Priest was doing to his body. Danny shouldn't have been able to call up sorceries mist that hung around the forest even when the sun as at its zenith. The calling up of demons to rend men limb from limb was something that he could easily do but he had sworn never to use that talent again once the Dominion borders were secure. The Darkness had called him Galbraith but Danny was an avid student in the arts of war and he learned quickly and well. Maybe too well.

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Chapter Four: A Dark Offer Kev had brought a hearty meal of beef stew and a whole round of wheat bread before the last light had left the sky but the Dark Lord ignored it and stared out of the narrow window at the white blanket that encircled and protected the Tower and it's residents. Below in the fairground, families camped, a multitude of fires that represented a household - a wealth of dreams and new found hope. Fear and pride had mingled together when everyone banded together to take on the Riders. Five years had created a new community - a family who's loyalty spread beyond bloodlines and like it or not, he was their protector and provider. "Tal, what am I going to do next?" his whispered words echoed in the empty room. The bed was turned down for the night, but he had no desire to lie there alone. The scent of him filled his nose, as he gathered Tal's great cloak around him like a blanket then settled himself in a corner chair. The tiredness that had descended on him so quickly was matched with night demons that had been banished for more than five years. The flames and heat of a burning village coupled with the screams of the dying. A small blonde head laid on the snow, tinted crimson from the blood that was ceasing to flow from a face that had been crushed with a raider’s hammer. Mira... She had wanted to go sledding, her voice and sky blue eyes pleading with him, but he had ignored her to go fishing. The corpse's were already beginning to stiffen with the cold of the

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winter. Her ever-present horsehair doll was flung from her outstretched hand. Carefully, he dug into the snow, picking up the wet rag and pressing it into her chest, forcing her stiffening arms across it, hugging it to her death as she had hung onto in her short life. Walking the village, everyone he knew was laying in the red stained snow - Denvos, Menvas, Caros. His father hung from the centre meeting post, pinioned there with spears in his chest and legs. Sightless blue eyes stared up to the sapphire sky as the sun began falling behind the mountains. All the horses were gone. The dogs were killed. Nothing was left. "What have we here?" Standing in the ruins of what had been their house, he stared at the black haired brown skinned man. Black armour and wolf fur hung from his body. "And how did you get overlooked, tender one?" Massive hands caught him as he tried to escape out a window. The edge of the window sill dragged hard against his chest as the raider dragged him back inside. The small filleting knife fell into his hands. Wildly he slashed at the man's hands and face. The backhanded blow caught him full in the head, lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the wall. The raider stared at the blood trailing from his face. Danny had the sound of a rushing river racing through his head and his vision darkened around the edges as blackness began to sweep him up. "Resistance is punished, tender one." A leather strapped cut deep into his wrists, as the raider knelt on his back and tied his hands together. The hot breath on the back of his neck as a knife cut into his leather trousers....then the agony

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as the man forced himself inside....again, and again. "Scream for me, tender one...scream." The man's laughter as he cried echoed within his head. The pain that lingered was a deep as the sorrow in his heart. The edge of the knife blade scraped along his neck. "Do you have the Talent, tender one? Are you a horsespeaker? You got the colouring for it. Yes or no." "...yes..." "You calm the horses...you keep me happy with your body," A rough hand slapped at his buttocks, "Maybe you live longer than her." Pale blonde hair hung in a lank braid. Her features were marred with a sword cut extending up from her neck to her eyes. "Mother!" Danny fought his way out of the cloak, sweat staining his body and his fear rose up from the stench. The reliving had been less and less as time had past because Tal was always nearby to make the pain and horror fade. His warmth dispelled the cold and remembered blood. His breath and warm kisses blocked out the retained recollection of burning human flesh and dried straw. Danny pressed closed fists into his eyes, and rocked back and forth, crying for the family that had died, the humiliation he had endured at the hands of the black haired man and those others who had paid rent for the use of his body. He wanted to reach out and hold onto Tal, to bury his face into the broad chest that never seemed with without strength and cry out his pain, but that man wasn't there and once more he was alone in this life.

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"I want to go to him." Danny held his hand over the silver heartbeat and hung onto its steady throb. {You have the knowledge, Chosen.} Danny closed his eyes and searched for the power within, "I need a guardian for my physical body. Someone who knows the power of the alter and is trustworthy." {He approaches.} A knock sounded on the outer door. Danny brushed away the lingering tears and dropped Tal's cloak back to the floor. "Enter." His voice was still ladden with the tears and pain that hung around him. Kev opened the door and carried in a warm pot of tea. "I asked the the women from the kitchen to make up this tea. I used to make it for my Master when he couldn't sleep. It is just herbs, that you find in the forest but it does help you sleep." "Thank you. Edan told me that you worked well with him today. He was impressed with your clear mind and ability to get the messages across the field." "As you said, Milord, I know nothing of weapons, and I wanted to help." "Communication is an important weapon and defence. It might be one of the most important. I would like it if you would take on the duties of getting a strong communications line together. Aside from the Riders of Light, Tal has told me that armies usually don't like killing children." Kev set the small grey pot down, "Shall I help you prepare for bed, milord?"

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"I'm not ready for sleep just yet, Kev. I need you to help me with something." "Anything milord." "Don't be so eager, Kev. There are things that are far from pleasant that no one should have to do. I want to go spirit walking tonight, and I need someone to keep my body temperature constant. I need someone to guard me. If my body is harmed while I am out of it, I cannot return." "I don't know about weapons...how could I..." "This would be done in the alter room. The Darkness would seal it once we were inside. Will you do this for me Kev." Pale blue eyes stared imploringly at him. "Yes milord." The walk to the black alter was done in silence. Danny gestured to the water bucket set against the far wall, and a bundle of rags that were used to replenish the torches. "Just keep me wet, Kev." "I can do that, milord." Danny laid upon the alter closed his eyes and then the room was filled with one great sigh. The torches flickered for a moment as if a breeze suddenly infiltrated the barred black room. Danny's face began to turn red and sweat began to bead on his body. Kev reached down into the bucket and began to splash cool water on the still form. His arms were beginning to tire and his back ached across the shoulders from having to bend over the prone form. Pausing, he wiped the sponge across his own forehead before dipping it back into the bucket.

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Kev dropped the sponge as Danny's chest suddenly expanded and a sharp breath sucked into the open mouth. A loud moan issued from his mouth as the blonde head began to thrash back and forth on the alter. "Milord..." Kev reached down trying to keep the head still on the black stone so he wouldn't injure himself. A pale hand shot out and caught his wrist. The force from the touch was cold and powerful. Slowly, Danny sat up, still keeping a firm grip on the wrist. "Sweetness." the voice was low and cracked as if it hadn't spoken in years. The chest expanded deeply again. "Milord?" "Ah, yes...the usurper." Kev tensed against the hold as they otherworldly gaze turned toward him. The sky blue eyes that were so gentle were turned to solid black. No whiteness remained in the eye. He jerked on the hand that held him, but it was like stone. The other hand reached up and caught his jaw. The dark eyes surveyed him as if he were back on a slave block. The fingers turned his face back and forth then began to trail down his shoulders toward his waist. "You want this body...I can smell your readiness." "Who are you?" The voice laughed, the tones echoed within the chamber. "I am the master of the one you desire." "You're hurting me." "You're pain doesn't concern me. My Chosen needs you and this body desires yours," The arms tightened and pulled him close. Cold breath caressed his neck, "But he has learned loyalty well. He will not come to you, but this body can be yours for a price."

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"I will not defile Lord Danny body." Kev gritted his teeth as the free hand touched his groin and a chill ripped through his body as cold lips touched his skin. The hand that still captured his wrist forced his arm behind him drawing him closer. The black eyes peered into his soul. "I was thinking of defiling yours, Keveth Ardale, sixth son to Lord Espys. I know you. You saw my golden northerner raze your families holding to the ground, your father and mother were slain by their own slaves, but you care not for that. You saw the golden hair and wanted him. You play a dangerous game, Keveth. There are eyes here that could remember you. Free Lords are not welcome and your fathers quick death would not be yours." "I won't harm him." The pain in his shoulder made his words hiss out of his mouth. "If you had any intention, I would have killed you when you past into the Dominion. But you want a place that is already taken...that my Chosen cannot give. You cannot usurp Galbraith's place." "I've accepted that." Kev fell back as the Darkness released him. His arm was on fire and where the unearthly lips touched his skin tingled as if they were still there. "But that doesn't make it impossible to sate your desire." "I want more than his body." "That is all that is offered." "What is the price?" "You serve him as his eyes. You see through lies and deceit and you can make accurate judgement of men. A traitor will come for him."

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"Then stop him." "I am old earth sorcery. Magics will never touch him, but men...have a will of their own. Galbraith would have stood between him and his attacker, but Galbraith is gone and that leaves only you." "I was trained as a scholar. Edan is a warrior." "Edan has a family. He would fight for my Chosen and he would die if he had to but that is not enough. You love him. You would be his shield." "If I can help him, I will." "That is not enough, Keveth" "I will be his eyes." "Then come here." The Darkness leaned Danny body back on the alter, stretching the muscles languidly, running a hand across the smooth hairless chest. Kev swallowed hard, "No...." "This will be your only chance to act on your lust, Lord Espys." "If I can't have the real Lord Danny, I won't indulge." "So be it." Kev watched as the golden haired man climbed back on the alter. The chest heaved heavily a few more times then relaxed back into the shallow even breathing that marked Danny was still spirit walking. A huge purple bruise and swelling marketed his right wrist where the Darkness had held him. The cool touches on his neck were still there, as if that was another place that he had been marked. He reached down for the fallen sponge to start bathing the still form once more then noticed his reflection in the still basin. The small puckered 's' brand that marked him

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slave was gone. It had hurt so much to have it put there. but Danny had invaded his thoughts constantly that there had been no other way to get close, and now it was gone. He dipped the sponge into the water and carried it back wetting the golden hair until it was a dark brown then letting the sponge drift over the high cheek planes down across the pale lips and strong square chin. Trails of water ran down the pale neck. The ache in his groin was turning into agony, but what he had told the Darkness was true. The golden hair had enticed but now that he began to know the man, the depth of feeling he had for his protectorate, the body would never do. Kev leaned close and pressed his lips to the still form's temple. "The Darkness call me Usurper, and I would take Kegsetter's place if I could, don't mistake that, Milord Danny. If I thought that I had a chance I would take it." He straightened up and began to sponge down the still form with all the control of a healer's apprentice. Tal sat still, his breathing was shallow and controlled. The rib that was out of place ached when he laid down so he sat hunched in the most comfortable position he could find. True to her word, Joelle had make sure that the torturer who called himself Priest, didn't come near him again. The metal shackles were taken off his wrists but his one ankle was locked by a chain to the centre of the metal cage, short enough that he couldn't reach the bars with his outstretched fingers. He was so tired but the pain was too intense to ignore. A dim light began to glow before him. Blinking away his stupor, he watched trapped between horror and elation as

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Danny familiar form partly solidified before him. He could still see the bars on the other side of the cage but everything else was Danny. "Danny!" His voice was a crackling low whisper. "Tal, what have they done to you?" "I must look as good as I feel. Don't worry Danny, I'm still the sinner I always was." "I won't leave you here like this." "There is nothing you can do...at least your shouldn’t be able to do. You took all the power didn't you." Danny knelt before him, stretching out a ghostly hand toward Tal's bruised and unshaven face. A slight chill brushed his cheek, "They came in so fast. Everyone was blind. I couldn't protect everyone will just the little I had. So far, I can control it. Tal, I have to get you out." "It doesn't matter if I escape or not, The Commander, Joelle Riverview has already sent for the Legions of the Illumination and they will come here. You have to prepare. How many warriors are left?" "None. Anyone carrying a weapons was killed in the first attack. Edan is in command for now, until we get you back." "You're going to have to send the women and children away." "I already tried that. They would rather die defending their homes than bow to another master. Tal, I miss you. I can't sleep...the dreams are back." "I can't help you this time, Danny..." His whisper broke off as a sharp pain travelled through his body.

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"What did they do to you?" The pain disappeared as the dark healing swept over him. The ribs that were out of place knitted themselves back into place. The deep bruising faded to healing yellow, the broken bone in his face healed. "Thank you." "I can't do anything about your chains..." "I'm glad there's a limit to what you can do. Don't let the Darkness control you, Danny. You've worked so hard to make the Dominion a place of freedom - you shouldn't have to enslave yourself so everyone else can be free" A loud claxon began to ring throughout the camp. "A warding detected the healing. Tal, I will come back for you." "She's expecting that. Anyone you send will be slaughtered. Let me go, Lord Danny." "Tal..." "There are forty seven families who need your protection. Don't jeopardize them for one old man. There is an army coming...and they won't care who's standing before them, be it man, woman or child. They are coming to raze the people, the Tower and you from the face of the earth. You can't worry about me." "I miss you." "I miss you, Danny, but let me go...there's nothing you can do for me." Voices began shouting just outside of the tent. The blue haze that had made up Danny' image filtered away then the flap of the tent was ripped back by the High Priest, Denso. Joelle stepped in behind him, her sword bared and stained red with the light of the torches. Denso made a

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sign of warding in front of himself then mumbled a few words. White hot agony ripped through Tal as if his skin were burning away from the inside out then it stopped. "It was here." Joelle took the torch from the guard and carried it closer to the cage. She held it high and stared at Tal. "He was here long enough to do a dark healing." She turned back and glared at the red robed priest. "I thought you said the wardings would be enough to give us warning. There is no telling how long the Dark Lord was here before he did the healing." "Are you questioning my integrity Commander?" "I'm questioning your competence, Denso." She handed the torch back to the guard. " I want someone station inside at all times. We're breaking camp,now. I want some distance between us and the Black Tower since we can't depend on the sensitivity of the wardings." Denso glared at Joelle then stalked out of the tent. "I don't suppose that you would care to tell me what you talked about." "No." "I could make you talk." "You could try, Commander." Tal returned matching her glaze evenly. "If your priest torturer couldn't make me sing, how do you think you could?" She turned on her heel and felt. Tal stretched out on the cold floor and closed his eyes letting the elusive sleep take him.

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Danny felt as if a lead weight had been placed on his chest and limbs. It hurt to breathe...the weight was so heavy. It was as if he were trying to fit down into the neck of a bottle. Kev jumped and the hair on the back of his neck rose on end as a keening rose up from the suddenly thrashing figure. The back arched off the alter, almost making a complete bow then it dropped back hard on the flat surface. "Milord Danny?" "...water..." The voice was of a normal timber, except that it was weak...so weak. Kev cupped his hands and brought the cool water to the parched lips. The skin seemed to have sunken into the hallows of his cheeks. Danny was not a man who spare girth and the spirit walking had almost taken more than he could physical give. He drank deeply. "...more..." The blue eyes gleamed with an inner light. Kev brought the bucket to his side. Danny snatched the bruised wrist. "The Darkness...used me..." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I feel like I'm burning up on the inside, were it was. What did it offer you?" The hold on the blue marred flesh lessened. Finger tips trailed upwards until they rested on the spot where the 's' brand had once been, "What did you accept, Kev?" "To be your shield while the Commander is away." "What was offered?" The voice was toneless. "I did not take..." "What was offered!" "Your physical body...Milord, I did not." "Your payment is only due if Tal dies." Danny climbed off the alter weakly, knees almost buckling beneath him. Kev

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forced back the need to go to the man, the sponge in his hand hanging forgotten against his leg. "He is still alive..." There was no answer. For once the alter room seemed devoid of power. Danny turned around and stared at the brown haired man who had tended his physical form. "I know you did not accept the offer, Kev. I would feel it if you did." The other man opened his mouth, but Danny shook his head, "I'm hungry, and tired. I don't think I can make it back to my rooms. Just help me up the stairs." "Milord...I..." "The Darkness can be a powerful force. You could not stop it from taking my body...Just let it be." "Did you see the Commander?" "Tal told me that the Illumination is sending all its force against us." "What should we do?" "Right now, I'm going to eat and sleep. Help me up the stairs, Kev."

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Chapter 5: Death and Darkness A dark tarp had been dropped over the cage and tied tightly before the Riders even came to move it. The dark healing that swept through him had sent Tal into a deep sleep that didn't allow him to wake up until the metal prison he was locked in was secured to the floor of a wagon. Daylight streamed through the tarp and the warmth of the day was the only indication that he had that it was a new day. The iron cuff locked to his ankle was one that could be easily picked if only he had a small piece of metal. The only problem was now he was dressed in a plain white robe. Even his boots had been taken. Light dimly found it's way through the screened cage but he couldn't see anything. Commander Riverview had taken the task well in hand. There was nothing but the sound of wagons and horses. Any conservation that could be overhead was taken beyond normal earshot...and possibly further still. Tal propped himself against the bars and looked around him. A small clay water pot and a half loaf of bread lay in the corner. Absently he tore off a piece and attuned his body to the swaying rhythms of the wagon, and let his mind wander. At least his head didn’t ache any more. Danny, or the one who visited him last eve, looked well. There was gauntness to the cheeks meaning that he wasn't eating again. When things began to worry him, the first thing he forgot to do was eat. Hopefully someone was badgering

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him to eat something. He would need all the strength that he could use to go against the forces that were rallying. Little did the Free Lords know that this war that they wanted would still cost them dearly. The task of feed such a force would fall on their stores. The replacement horses and foot soldiers would come from the fields and from the citizens who worked the land. The Free Lords were about to find out just what they had brought down on themselves...just as Lord Espys had. It didn't seem that long ago when the dream of being a horse breeder and trainer was something that could be achieved. Tal leaned back against the stall and watched as Steadfast lifted his great hooves up for Danny to clean them. The gelding would kick up a fuss and even try to nip at him when he tried to clean him up, but when Danny did it, it was like another horse was standing there. Danny patted the leg and Steadfast obediently put it down and extended his neck for the currycomb that was coming next. Tal snorted and turned away. He could only watch so much. "I'm going to get us some lunch." Tal pushed himself from the stall and headed toward the inn across the yard. The bright sunlight hit him full force as he stepped out of the shade of the stable. He paused for a moment soaking in the slight warmth. Spring was still too new for the sun to do much more than offer comfort, but the further south they moved the warmer it got. The ache in his knees had faded away with the coldness. His skin had lost it's winter pallor turning the dark stain that was his usually appearance. Even

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the pale skin of the northern boy had turned to a warm shade of honey. Still, passers by stared at the oddity of yellow hair. Tal pushed open the heavily scarred wooden door and was greeted with the subtle smells of roasting chicken. The innkeeper's wife came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on her yellowed apron, "And what do you want, you hulk of a man?" "To be truthful, I'm starving. I've wasted away to practically nothing." Tal slapped at his lean muscled stomach. She pushed her grey hair back from her face and shook at finger at him, "If all of you could waste away like that, I would starve the lot of you. We have bread and cheese or a stew from last eve." Tal lifted his nose and breathed in the aroma, "I smell chicken." "Not until tonight." Tal made a big production of sighing, dropping his shoulders in disappointment, "I guess then I'm have two stew and some bread and cheese." "Let's see the colour of your coin," Tal snapped a gold coin in her direction, "This will get you some mead too. Sit yourself down." "Just hand it to me, I'll take it outside." "Why would you do that?" Tal paused before answering, "My boy isn't welcome inside." Her eyes widened, "Why didn't you say it was for a slave. I've got some parsnips ends for free...."

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"Mistress, I have paid you coin for food." Tal's joking manner was cut short. It still angered him that Danny couldn't walk into a tavern or shop through the front door. The few times that he had made a protest; it almost came to swords. Watching Danny's pale fearful face as the shoving began made the effort worthless. If he died because of his injured sensibilities, then were would Danny be? He would have a master who didn't care for him. So now, were Danny wasn't welcome, Tal took his coin elsewhere. The grey haired woman looked around for her husband then bustled into the kitchen, calling out behind her, "Skinny one, that boy is. Don't you feed him?" "His last master didn't. You should have seen him a few weeks ago." She came back carrying two laden bowls, steaming with the heat of the pot, a half loaf of bread and a earthen jug of mead. The woman glanced over at the old man sitting in the corner. "I still can't have him in the common room, bring him in around back. I'll set it up by in the corner here. Let's see if we can't fatten him up. Don't think he'll ever fill out though." "Thank you." She turned and disappeared back into the kitchen. Tal headed back through the common room to the front door. A whiskery voice tainted with age drifted over to him, "You ain't ever had a slave before, have ya?" Tal stared over at the old man whose face was hidden in the shadows of the corner. "What's it to you?" "You prize your boy too much. He's forgetting his place the brand marks him for. Someone might take exception to

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that. But then...there aren't too many northern boys around here. He's more valuable than your horses and I think you know that. Boys from the northern steppes have a special talent with horses....you've got war horses." A sense of unease gripped Tal's lower intestines. "A northern slave, war horses, yet you dress like you're a simple man. Some people cannot resist a mystery." A hand of fear clenched Tal's intestines. It was the same feeling that he used to get just before the call came down to charge the approaching enemy. "Who are you?" "An old man, a rambling old man. Watch him, guard him. If you don't, you won't have him long. You should leave here as fast as you can, someone else knows his worth." "Who?" "He'll make his presence known." Tal turned and walked out of the tavern. The old man's words were prophetic, yet, deep inside; Tal felt that they were a well-wished warning. Danny was sitting on a straw bale, swinging his legs, like a child half his age. Steadfast had his head sticking out over the stall, almost resting on Danny's shoulder and the shaggy face of Steppedancer framed his other narrow shoulder. "Come on, we can eat in the kitchen." Danny hopped off the bale, stroked Steadfast's nose, kissed Steppedancer lightly, and then hurried over to Tal. "Ever since you took him off daily oats, Steadfast quit farting so much. Steppedancer is coming close to going into heat... There's a stallion outside of the village that she fancies... Sarge?"

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"Have you been talking to other people?" The old man's words were nattering to his ears that he didn't want to utter but they seemed to tumble out of their own accord. "Sarge?" Some of the bright glee dimmed in Danny' blue eyes. The "s" brand stood out like a beacon each time they came into a new village. His blonde hair was growing thick now that he was eating regularly, combined with the watered blue of his eyes and his fair complexion marked him as a Northerner. In the warmer climes were everyone was dark, Danny stood out. Those disgraced Hordesmen who had tracked them for so long were never able to catch up. When they had lost their pursuers in the town called Mero, off in the east, Tal changed their journey toward the south, selling two mares at a loss, just to make sure that they were free of pursuit. The wartrained mares were worth more than a northern slave, but there was that way those blue eyes had of peering into the soul. And maybe Danny knew that. As soon as the thought entered his head, he watched as fear sprang into the youth's eyes. Danny knelt to one knee; sure that he had done something wrong. He was going to be punished...or sold. Danny bowed his head lower, staring hard into the dirt of the yard. "Have you been talking to other people?" "Just people in the stable." "Slaves or citizens?" "Slaves, Master." Tal cringed as Danny dropped back into that accursed title. "Master?" "Go to the kitchen."

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Danny ran to the kitchen almost in a blind panic. Tal swore underneath his breath and followed after him. There had been no cause for Danny to act so frighten of him. It was that old man's talk. Danny had been taking care of the horses excellently. He had done all that they had agreed to. He had to apologize. He walked into the kitchen. Danny crouched along the wall, digging into his stew bowl with his fingers. He averted his eyes when Tal walked up to him. "I'm sorry, there was no need for that. Just don't talk to strangers, citizens or slaves unless I'm with you." "Yes, Master." "Sarge." Tal reached out to pat him reassuringly. Danny brought up his arm and cowered away from him. Hot anger shot through Tal. He grabbed Danny's arm and jerked him to his feet in one motion. The full stew bowl flew out of his hands. "You know me! Why do you do this?" Tal shook Danny roughly. "You want to be afraid of me? I'll give you something to be afraid of!" Tal jerked Danny after him through the kitchen. The innkeeper's wife stared over them but kept silent. The affairs of masters and slaves were none of her concern. "Master!" Danny didn't fight as Tal pulled him through the common room toward his rented room. He had been taught long ago not to fight, not to resist. You were given more pain if you did. Danny tripped on the stairs and landed on the floor, hard. Tal grabbed his arm and pulled him along behind. The door was kicked open and Tal tossed Danny inside.

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Tal let the heat of his anger run its course. He saw the wide fearful eyes as he bent over to haul Danny to his feet. He caught Danny's head between his hands and forced his mouth on his. He ground his lips against Danny's. He forced his tongue against a barrier of teeth. The iron taste of blood registered to his senses. Danny opened his mouth and allowed Tal access. Propelling his tongue into the new vista, the anger turned into a kiss. Gently, the kiss deepened. Tal trailed one hand down Danny's body. The hint of bones could still be felt. He cupped a buttock and rubbed his awaking groin against the warm body. Tal felt his breathing deepen as arousal began... He pulled back as Danny began to nuzzle his neck. "Master..." Tal froze. He pulled back and stared down at Danny. A thin trail of blood from a cut inside the cheek seeped out onto his bruised swollen lips, tinting them red. Danny opened his eyes when Tal stopped moving. "Master?" "What am I doing?" Tal moved his thumb to wipe away the blood from Danny's lips. "I can make you happy." Danny caught the thumb inside his mouth and began to suck on it. He stepped in close and pressed his head against Tal's chest. "No...Stop it." Tal shoved Danny away. Danny landed on the bed. Carefully, he wiped more blood away then began to undress. "Stop it! This is what you have been taught?" Tal turned away from Danny and ran his hands through his hair. It had been so long since he had laid with someone. He felt ancient within his soul but his body had a way of

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reminding him that he was far from being too old to stop reacting. His member pulsed with desire. "Who taught you this?" His voice was low and broken. He had wanted this beautiful youth even when the dung of horses clung to his skin in the stables of the Horde. "Mistress Pic at the House of the Red Latern, in the town of Meadalio." "How long did you stay with Mistress Pic?" "I don't know. I never went outside." "Never?" "I had a room. Most of the time I stayed there and the different masters would come in. I had been trained well Master. The other masters would wait for me to be free. This slave can make you happy." Danny moved off the edge of the bed, dropping down to his knees and lowering his head in a cowed motion. The images of Danny being forced dominated Tal's mind. His value as a bed mate was all that he had been taught. Experienced fingers caught at Tal's sword belt and began to loosen them. Tal caught the hands and pushed them away from him. Gently, he prodded Danny off the floor until he was standing. "I am sorry for dragging you up here. I took out my anger on you..." True confusion was trapped on Danny's face, "That is what slaves are for, Master." "I would free you if I could." Tal reached out hesitantly, as if he were expecting Danny to disappear before his eyes, and traced the puckered skin at the edge of the golden brow. "If I were to lay with you, I would be no better than the

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bandits or the men who went to the rent houses. You have suffered enough, Danny. I won't be the cause of any more." "I'm not appealing to you?" Confusion and pain rang out clearly. Another shaft of desire shot through Tal. "You are." "Then I am doing something wrong? Tell me and I will do it." Danny's hands reached out but stopped just before touching the big dark haired man. This master was unlike anyone he had encountered before. He was huge and had the strength cause a lot of pain, yet he touched and held with gentleness. That night, when the soldiers were laying on him with their mead filled mouths and digging hands, this one had come in and stopped it. He fed him. He made him wear better clothes than he had ever had before. He never asked for anything. He let him care for the horses. Danny had forgotten how much he loved to work with horses, to listen to their important concerns about soft straw and fresh water. The scent of them brought back protected feelings that had been cut away with the swing of a sword so long ago. Tears welled up behind his eyes, "Master, I want to please you. Tell me how." Cautiously, he raised the large hands to his lips. "Tell me how." "Danny, stop." Tal let the soft lips roam over the back of his hand. It had been so long. "I don't want to hurt you..." Taking the initiative, Danny stepped closer, pressing his hip into Tal's reacting member. He spread his hands over the wide chest and breathed in the heady scent of his master. "This slave desires to please..."

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Tal tossed aside his reluctance and crushed Danny to him with impatience. He pulled the youth up to his mouth and relished the kiss they shared. They came together passionately but with a tenderness that one missed and the other had never experienced. The touches were no longer enough... Afterwards, Tal lay in the bed basking in the afterglow of release. He trailed his fingertips up and down the soft skin next to him. "Sarge?" The voice was hesitant and out of breath. Tal closed his eyes and pulled Danny close to him. The feel of another body next to his settled a pain in his chest he had learned to live with. A few more moments then he would have to get up... "I love you." The words were softly spoken, low enough that one could think that it had been a wishful thought. Tal lay silent as Danny edged next to him. Carefully, as if trying not to wake him up, Danny gently lowered his head on the same pillow, then slowly brought Tal's stray arm over and around him, as if he were locked in a tight embrace. Tal stayed still until Danny's breathing evened out in sleep. Thoughts were whirling around his head. Love? What did this boy know about love? He knew the acts of sex, he knew more acts than Tal did, but love? Tal tried to pull his arm back. Danny mumbled a protest and burrowed his backside into his groin. The satiated feeling was replaced with arousal once again. Slowly, Tal pulled away from Danny and sat on the edge of the bed. He cared for the boy, but...he felt pity and responsibility...not love. Love was what he had shared with Keith. It was warm and comfortable.

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Roughly, Tal dressed himself disturbed by his thoughts and body. Danny lay curled on the bed, a small ball of flesh that barely took up one side. Tal carefully spread a woolen blanket over the sleeping form. Crossing the room, he gathered up his sword belt and headed down in the commons. A richly clad popinjay stood in the middle of the room, waving a linen cloth around in the air as if the scent of the roasting chicken was something more foul. His voice was high and grating, "You there, you have a Northerner?" Tal glanced around the room. Aside from the rich man and himself there was no one else there. "He's not for sale." Tal brushed past him toward the single bowl of stew and loaf of bread sitting on the counter. "I'll give you 20 gold for him." Tal ripped the loaf in half and pointedly bit into it to mark the end of the discussion. "That is a fine offer." "I paid 6000 gold for him. When you can come up with that much, talk to me again." "No man pays that much for a slave." "That is my price. If you can't meet it, then you're wasting my time." Tal made the man step back as he turned with the cooling stew slopping out of the bowl onto the floor. The man stared down into the bowl as his complexion paled. He lifted his hand to his mouth and turned away. Tal dismissed him easily as he mounted the stairs. Danny's golden hair was still spread out on the pillow; his face was so smooth. How old was he? Blue eyes opened and a generous smile animated his face. "You're still too

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skinny. Eat." Tal handed him the bowl and half of the bread. "We're leaving tomorrow. Some rich man was asking about you. We've just been heading around without a plan. Since we're in the south, we might as well head toward my parents inn. We will be able to look around for some good horse land without having to spend all our coin." "Shall I clean the tack?" "Later. Eat." Tal set his bread on a chipped wooden table and eased himself slowly on the bed. He kept his brown eyes centred on Danny, searching for any sign of resistance as he reached out and stroked the smooth skin of a upper leg. "Sarge?" "Eat." Danny felt his master's eyes burning into him with desire. The beginning had been frightening but He had changed it into gentleness. He took his time even though his excitement hurt him. Pleasure was the only thing they shared. The stew caught in his throat as a brown flame burnt in His eyes. "I'm done." Danny set the half eaten bowl on the table beside the bed and moved into Tal's arms. "Did I hurt you, Danny?" "No, Sarge." "Tal...my name is Tal." "It's not my place to call you so." Danny shivered as tender lips caressed the nape of his neck. "That is what I want." "Tal...." Danny sighed as he was pressed tightly against the warmth of his master. "I have never been so happy." "I won't hurt you..."

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This union was as exciting and fulfilling as the last. Tal stretched out on his back feeling the exhaustion and strain on muscles. It was a good feeling. Danny edged toward the edge of the bed and started to pull on his clothes. "What are you doing?" Tal voice was warm with contentment. "Night is coming...I'll have to get the horses ready for the night. No...," Danny held up a hand as Tal made an effort to get out of bed. "I enjoy working with the horses. I will be back quickly." Tal glanced out the window surprised to see the sunlight beginning to fade from the bright sky. The time did not seem to pass by so quickly. "I'll have dinner here when you get back." Danny quickly dressed then left the room. Tal lay on his back and stared up at the dark wooden beam ceiling. It looked like his old rooms that he and his brothers used to share when they were younger. So much had changed since then. Tal had always known that he was not cut out for the life of an innkeeper. Being the last son in a family of seven never boded a rich or full life. If he had been inclined he never would have had the dower to marry. He never would have had the coin to strike out on his own and farm or anything else. The only road available to him had been the Horde. Tal closed his eyes and stretched his scarred body the still warm bed. Keith was older and worked the stables for Tal's father but he didn't enjoy it. He wanted out as much as Tal did. Out of that desire to leave, grew friendship and a bond of love. It didn't take much persuading to make Tal

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pack up his meagre belongings and leave on that warm summer night. Keith. The ache in his heart had lessened. The constant pain of his loss didn't sting as much. A mix of guilt and betrayal fought with the satiation of desire. Keith wouldn't have wanted me to join him. He had had a temper that was slow to start but hard to extinguish when it had ignited, but he never held grudges. He would take offence if he felt that either of them were being cheated out of shares or slighted, but it was always with a controlled manner. On cold nights, when the next morning could be the last that they would ever see, Keith would draw him close and whisper that they would not serve another man forever. They would take their shares and strike south, away from the wintry snows and raise horses. The likes of which kings and queens would want in their stables. The dream sounded like hard work, but to spend all that effort on bettering yourself was not so fantastic. A lot of gold would be needed to buy land and stock... Fifteen years of hard service and what did they have to show for it. Keith was rotting in the cold round, in the snows that he hated. They had been cheated of the gold that was there due and Tal was left with a gelding and a mare to start up his dream. Still...Keith would never have given up. Nor would he have wanted Tal to stay locked in the pain and blackness of grief. Tal opened his eyes back to the wooden rafters. I have a proven warhorse, I have a war mare ready for breeding, about 1600 gold pieces and Danny. That is enough. A yawn started, stretching his mouth so wide that his jaw cracked. The light was still lingering in the sky. He

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closed his eyes and settled into a light nap. When Danny came back he would get dressed and treat him to a chicken dinner. The crowing of the cocks broke Tal's sleep. The training of waking wide-awake and alert, snapped him out of his sleep. He grabbed for his sword hilt at the top of the bed and was comforted with its familiar grip. He had slept through the night. Quickly he glanced around the room for Danny but it was empty. He's probably down with the horses. Tal rolled out of bed and stretched his frame, grateful to have spent then night in a firm bed rather than on the cold rough ground. He splashed water on his face; he took the soap and began to work up lather so he could rid himself of the rough stubble on his chin. His straight razor scraped familiar over his face. In the north, he had let his beard grow in as a token protection from the cold winter but it itched and he loathed it. It felt good to get back to the bare skin. Nothing had been packed. Tal frowned as he looked around the room. The half eaten bowl of stew was still on the table and yesterday's washed clothes were still hanging across the room. How quickly he had gotten used to Danny quietly moving around, washing things, packing. For a man who had promised never to treat Danny like a slave, he had taken all this for granted. Tal quickly dressed and began packing all their goods back into the leather saddlebags. Tal hauled the packs down into the common room and dumped them beside a far table. He waved at the innkeeper's wife and headed out to the stables. Steadfast pawed at the front of the stable door, tossing his head about wildly. Tal ran

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up to him. Steadfast dropped down to all fours, but still tossed his head around as if he were disturbed. "Danny?" The grey gelding's eyes were wild. "Danny!" Tal crossed to the far stable. The mare's stall was empty. Her tack was still on the wall. A cold ball of ice gripped Tal's stomach. Maybe he had hurt him. Danny used to be a rent boy. He must have learned to pretend to enjoy another's touch even if he didn't want it. Tal's hands tightened on the top of the stall door. He'd run away. Tal stalked to Steadfast's stall and jerked on the tack that was hanging in front. The familiar chink of gold striking against each other fell to the ground. He froze in his tracks. Slowly he reached down and picked up the bag. Inside were 20 gold pieces. Anger flared hot. That rich man who had offered to buy Danny yesterday had stolen him. Steadfast uncharacteristically stood still as Tal pressed the bridle into his mouth and adjusted the saddle and tightened the girth. Tal looked at the straw on the floor. There had been a struggle. That bastard had stolen him! He led the grey gelding out the stable toward the inn. He dropped the reins and Steadfast stood ground tied as he had been trained. He trembled as if he were about to gallop onto the battlefield. His eyes still held the fury that he had witnessed the night before. Tal came in through the kitchen, as the innkeeper set a tray of wooden mugs on the table. "There was a rich man here yesterday. Dressed in silks and velvet. He had brown hair and brown eyes."

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The robust man looked at Tal questioningly. "Did he wave a handkerchief around?" "Aye." Lord Espys. We are under his laws." "He stole my slave and one of my horses." The innkeeper shook his head regretfully. "Best you forget them. What Espes wants, he gets. Usually he leaves a token payment..." Tal pulled out the coin bag, "Token is right. That mare alone is worth 400 gold pieces." Tal turned and stalked into the common room. He pulled out armour from the pack, strapping it on with the quickness and security of his years of training. The innkeeper followed him in. "Take the coin and go, man. He'll have you spited on a pike if you go after him." The innkeeper cautioned him. "Your lord is a thief." "You're crazy!" "Where can I find him?" Tal tied a black strip of cloth around his head, before picking up his helm. "His keep is filled with loyal men. You'll die." "Where is he?" "Just follow the east road, you'll come to his keep in half a day. Leave it be." Tal jammed the helm firmly onto his head, picked up a crossbow and full quiver, then tossed the smaller pack over his shoulder. "I will leave a full set of tack with you and this extra pack. If I'm not back in two days, do want you want with them."

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Tal strode out of the inn, firmly secured the bags to the saddle then swung up onto Steadfast's back. He touched his sword hilt to make sure that it was secure then kicked Steadfast into motion. The thundering hooves of a primed war horse echoed in the small space as the armoured man urged him down the east road.

The wagon slipped into a deep wagon rut and he smacked the back of his head hard against the metal bars. Janelle's voice sounded just beyond the canvas walls. "Keep up with the lead wagon. The Dark Lord doesn't need the cover of night to work his dark magic. We'll stop at Lord Morriso's holding just before nightfall." Tal sighed and leaned back against the cage once more. Lord Morriso's keep was about a day's ride from the border of the Dominion but that was on a warhorse unencumbered with wagons and footmen. "I've got to go." He called out to the unknown driver. "Defecate on yourself, sinner." The answer came back. Tal snorted crawled over to the furthest corner of the cage that was tilting downwards, supposedly due to the way the cage was loaded into the wagon. A stream wet the side of the tarp then Tal crawled back toward the higher end.

The rage that he had felt as he galloped Steadfast toward the Lord's keep was something that he would never have done when he was a Hordesman. To let emotion overpower

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reasoning was to meet your maker sooner than one intended. He should have remembered that but all that he could see in his mind's eye was the way the light fell on Danny's face as he lay in his arms. It was amazing that Espys’ men didn't put a crossbow quarrel into his chest as he raved outside of the gate. It was hard to turn Steadfast around and ride into the forest, to leave Danny in the hands of that man, but one man against a fortress meant that he had to have a plan. Tal heard the baying of hunting dogs as twilight began to descend. He tossed the gristle of the rabbit he had caught into the fire. The fire hissed gratefully then settled back into an irregular crackle. The keep was too well guarded. The archers here evenly spaced along the wall. Their range would overlap. Even if he were able to take one out, another archer could draw on him. Then...where could he find Danny? The keep was larger than he had expected. The stables and the slave pens were inside the walls, and there had been room to spare still. Tal tossed a bone into the fire. It had been sheer stupidity to ride into the keep and demand Danny. He hadn't been thinking. Now Espys was alerted to him. Danny would be under lock and key for a long time. It might be a moon before Espys lowered his guard again. Steadfast tossed back his head and stamped the ground. Tal had learned along time ago to listen to his steed. He threw handfuls of dirt onto the small fire, dousing it completely, evening out the chance of survival and attack. He drew his dagger and moved toward Steadfast. In a night fight, Tal preferred to have a friend at his back.

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A nicker sounded off to the left, along with the unnaturally loud crashing of a night passage. Steadfast let out a loud whinny. Tal cursed him and stood, sheathing his dagger for his sword. The sound of horse hooves on fallen leaves and twigs came closer and closer. "Who goes there?" Steadfast nodded his head up and down then began nudging Tal toward the unseen horse. The horse walked into the small clearing and halted. "Steppedancer." Tal squinted in the near darkness. Then he spied the slumped form on her back. He sheathed his sword and walked cautiously up to the war horse. The light hanks of hair blending in with Steppedancer's coat made his heart leap in his throat. "Danny?" There was no sound. Tal grabbed hold of a thin arm and pulled him off Steppedancer's back. Danny moaned in pain. Tal bit back a cruse as he saw the arrow still protruding from the thin frame. He carried Danny as if he were a new born babe. Gently he laid the still form on the ground. He turned toward the fire and stirred up the coals. They gleamed red. Quickly, he built the fire back up. His skills as a surgeon were not great but he knew enough to stop blood and to close wounds, but he had to see. "They went through so much trouble to get you, I can't believe they'd try to kill you." Blood had dried in thin trails on the back. Tal picked up a burning stick and turned Danny face toward him. Bright red blood was still trailing out of his mouth... He was coughing up blood. So many times on the battlefield, he had seen his friends coughing up blood, from wounds that looked minimal. So many times he had made their final resting place. Danny was so young.

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Pale blue eyes opened, "Tal?" More blood trailed out. "I'm here, Danny. Lay still, you'll be fine. I'm going to take the arrow out." Tal rolled him onto his stomach. It looked so obscene--that red stained arrow in the bright firelight. Tal dug in his packs and pulled out a field kit. He had bandages and poultices. He grabbed his canteen then pulled out his dagger and set it's edge in the centre of the hot flames. "I'll try not to hurt you too much." Carefully, he looked at how the arrow had entered. If he wanted the head to come out, he would have to make it one clean pull. "Ready?" Danny cried out as the arrow came free. Tal held it up to the firelight, inspecting the head to make sure that it was all in one piece. He didn't want to dig inside. Blood began bubbling out. He poured the water into the wound to clean it out then reached for the sterile blade. "Try not to move." Tal set his knee across Danny back and pressed down with all his weight, pinning him in place. He touched the tip of the blade to the skin and seared it closed. The scent of burnt flesh filled his nose as it stung his eyes. "Danny?" He pressed his fingers to Danny throat. The pulse was still there. He had fainted from the pain. Tal bandaged the poultices in place, and then washed the blood away. He bundled him in his oilskins and held him in his arms. "Thirsty..." Tal pressed the canteen to Danny's lips, more water drained down his chest than he swallowed. His breathing was uneven and laboured. He pressed his head into Tal's chest. "I'm dying."

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"You'll be fine, Danny." Tal stared directly into the fire, not wanting him to see the film of tears in his eyes. First Keith, now this. The hurt in his chest was so intense it felt like he had the arrow embedded there. The sound of baying dogs began to echo through the forest again. Danny brought his hand up and caught Tal by the back of the head. Tal bent over without much urging, pressing his mouth down on Danny's in a kiss. He tasted of blood. "Bury me like a free man." "You don't need to talk like that." Tal's words were unconvincing to both of them. "I don't want to hang in the keep until I...." Danny doubled over and coughed out dark liquid. "rot. Please, Sarge..." "I'll see to it." The dogs sounded closer. "We have to move now." Tal settled the thin form on the ground. He quickly saddled Steadfast, packed all the gear then kicked the fire cold again. "Danny?" Tal lifted him easily onto Steadfast's back. For once, the horse didn't act up. Tal swung up behind Danny then gathered him close. He stared back at the dark mare, "I don't know if you understand me, but lead them away. They're following your scent." Steppedancer reared up on her hind legs and lashed out. She dropped back to her front hooves and snorted. Tal thought she was demanding an oath. He had watched Danny so many times talking to her as if she were an older woman, as if she were his mother. Tal hugged the thin form to his chest then matched his gaze with the mare's, "I'll take care of him for you."

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Steppedancer nickered softly, turned and trotted back toward the sounds of the dogs, taking no care in travelling noiselessly. Tal watched until the darkness shrouded her. "I'll take care of him." Danny shivered, "I'm cold...They made me burn my clothes." "I'll get you new ones." He kicked Steadfast into motion, pressing Danny's slight form hard against him. "I miss the snow...in the winter there would be snow. I remember my brothers and I would take our sleds to a big hill and race down it on our bellies." Danny hacked up more blood, "Have you ever seen snow?" "Yes. Up in the northland, last year." Where Keith died. "It's beautiful. So beautiful. Tal, you make me think of snow." Tal knew when he died. He just went limp. Steadfast stopped in his tracks and lowered his head. "I love you too, Danny." The whispered words mingled with the hunter’s calls. They had found the camp. Tal kicked Steadfast into motion. His face was a mask of determination. I may not be able to hang onto my lovers, but I know how to bury them properly. You'll have the best free man burial I can provide, Danny. "Come on, Steadfast. It's time to go to work." Tal let the grey gelding have his head. The ten years of experience Steadfast had was more than enough for spies and trackers during violent campaigns and it was easy to lose the scent the dogs were following in a shallow stream. Tal held the limp form tightly not wanting to lose his grip if Steadfast stumbled. They travelled in the stream for almost a league

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before Steadfast found a bank that could easily be followed. Slave hunters shouldn't be so persistent, and if they were. A slow smile crossed Tal's face. He would like nothing better than to engage those thieves and murderers. Near dawn, the sky roared and the heavens began a downpour so heavy that if any hunter did follow as far as their exit, it was obliterated. The cold rain soaked through Tal's armour and set the chill in his bones aching. The cloudburst had pressed Danny's hair flat against his head. Suddenly, they came to a ruin. Steadfast halted and shied backwards. Tal squinted and found a small roofed shelter still standing. He dropped to the ground and pulled Danny into his arms. Steadfast pulled away, shaking his head. Thunder boomed again. Steadfast bolted. Tal stared after the disappearing horse then looked down at his bundle. It looked as if he were only sleeping. In the thickening mud, he trudged toward the offered shelter. Water pooled on the black stone floor, but there was a dry waist high bench. Carefully, he set Danny on it, laying him flat on his back. Dried blood still clung to his mouth. Tal slid the wet black bandana from his head and used it to wipe the dried trails away. He gently turned Danny's face sideways. The dim morning light shone on the symbol of slavery. Tal touched the uneven brand, because of this, a gentle youth died. I wish it were me. A wave of blackness descended and cloaked the small shelter. The hair on his arms stood on end as a warm wind wafted around him. He stepped back into the stone bench. A shape, darker than the blackness stood at the head of the

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bench…no alter. Tal blinked as the raven shadow began to form into something more substantial. Tal grabbed at his sword as a presence began seeping through the wet black marble. {Your sword will do you no good here, Kegsetter.} The voice was rich and without gender. Ebony hairs touched the pale yellow hair on the still body, {A northerner, still warm. I prefer to take my own sacrifices.} "What are you?" Tal had his sword ready before him. Every inch of his body was screaming to run, the opening had to be just behind him. He tensed, as if he were considering it then he spied the dim glow on Danny's form. "He's still alive!" He reached his left hand out to grab at Danny's foot. Icy pain shot up into his arm. He snatched his hand back and stared at his fingers. They felt like they had been cut off but they were still there. "What are you?" {I am the Sovereign of this place.} The shape solidified into a dark silhouette of man, without features but emanating power. {If you didn't wish to worship me, why did you lay your sacrifice before me? Bow before your master.} "You are no master of mine. Give Danny back to me." {You laid this body on my alter, it is mine now.} The shape hovered over the green glow, {His talent still lies within. It hasn't departed yet. Kegsetter, you make demands but won't pay for them with loyalty.} "I made a promise to him..."

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{And you are prepared to take on a power as great as I to keep it. It seems you know the value of loyalty; few do in these times. You remind me of Galbraith.} The voice was amused. It's tone changed and it crossed through Danny still form to float at the head of the alter. It's shapeless hands laid on the pale forehead, {So much pain in so young a life, and you would have him brought back?} "That wasn't what I meant." {If I offered his life to you. What would you give me as payment?} "I have nothing of value, except my armour and my horse." {That is not the payment I would accept. For this slave's life, would you serve me, Galbraith?} Galbraith? That sounded so familiar. Tal's eyes widened as the tale of Galbraith the Dark Lord filtered into his mind. Galbraith was a servant of the Black Tower. He was a Master of arcane magics that he used against the lands surrounding his dominion until all of the kingdoms were drawn into a bloody war that went on for generations. Villages were stripped of men who did nothing but die in the battlefields. Towns were burnt to cinders. Castles were ruined and scores upon scores of innocents died in the wake of the Dark Lord. In the end, the kingdoms banned together under a single Warlord to smote the Dark Lord and his armies of night. They hung his head on the staff of the Warlord who paraded it through the countryside. They searched for the Black Tower but could not find it. The Consolidate lasted for a less than a decade before the petty wars began again.

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Tal looked at the pale face and dull yellow hair spread on the black stone alter, "How can you bring him back? He died in my arms. He lost so much blood." The entity dismissed Tal's disbelief, {In a simple mortal, when life has left it is gone. In a magical creature, until their light disappears they have the chance to return. His essence lingers and is still strong. He can be brought back, for an Oath.} "It's an evil you are offering." Tal shook his head. {I am a power. I have been here for as long as the world as been here. Galbraith was not the first to take my power but he chose to make the most of it. I have no care how my gifts are used. My desires are to be blooded and worshiped. Few, worthy enough to stand before me, have come in this time of man. This is an offer that is not to be dismissed lightly.} Tal looked down at the pale form. Danny had been hurt so much. In death, he couldn't be hurt any more but...deep in Tal's chest, it felt like his heart was being squeezed. I love him. I'm not ready to lose him. "Bring Danny back. If he will serve you as your Dark Lord, then I will swear an oath to him. He deserves the power you are offering me." There was a long pause then the figure spoke again, {I need blood.} An ebony knife materialized on the black alter between Danny' legs. Tal slowly reached out and picked it up. It burnt cold in his hand. {Cut your wrist and place your hand on the alter. I will mark you both as mine.} The dark mist dissolved.

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The knife cut deep. Tal felt his blood splash out onto his face. He pressed his hand onto the cold stone and dropped to his knees as the unseen force sucked at his life. The pain shot into his head. He couldn't see. Vainly he tried to pull away, sure now that the dark from was a demon or devil intent on killing him. Suddenly the pain stopped. Tal pulled his hand away grabbing for the cut to stop the flow. There was no cut. There was no scar. Tal pushed himself to his feet. The black cloud that had enveloped them was gone. The rain still fell. Tal forced himself to look at Danovs. The pale chest rose and fell. "Danny?" He grabbed onto the smaller hand just as pale blue eyes opened. Danny turned his head toward Tal, as if he wasn't sure he was actually seeing him. Elation ripped through Tal. He grabbed Danny and crushed him to his chest. He pushed him back out to arms length and stared at him. "You're alive! Danny, you're alive! You're brand is gone!!" Danny looked at Tal with sad and sorrowful eyes, "Tal, what have you done?" Slowly Danny pushed himself off from the black stone. Weakly he staggered out from the enclave staring up at the treetops as the rain turn to a light mist and a dim glow that filtered through the trees. "I was dead, but something called me back. It was like a cold north wind on your bare neck. I didn't want to follow it but it called my name and lead me back here. It called me something else too....Dark Lord." Tal stared out past Danny into the sun as it burnt the mist off the ground, "You were dead because of me. I brought you south and you died. It offered me your life for my oath. I

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didn't want to be your master. I didn't want anyone to be master over you again. As Dark Lord, no one could put you back into slavery. No one could hurt you any more." Danny leaned back against a black wooden railing, as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I was beyond hurt. Why did you bring me back?" Tal walked up to caught him in a tight embrace. The puncture wound that had marred the smooth flesh was gone. He ran his hands down the warm backside. Pressing his nose into the damp hair he inhaled deeply, "I didn't want to reach out for you at night and not find you there. I didn't want to have to separate your clothes from mine. I didn't want to feel so empty inside when I shovelled dirt on your face. I lost Keith. I won't lose you too. I said that I would serve the Darkness if you were brought back, but you had to be the Dark Lord." "Oh, Tal." Danny raised his hands to his temples and closed his eyes, as if in pain. Tal screwed up his courage and crossed over to Danny's side. He reached out his palm and laid it against the smooth warm skin. Danny looked so beautiful in the light. Tal rubbed his calloused thumb across the smooth skin were the puckered slave mark used to be. "I promised to take care of you. I didn't plan when I tried to get you away from Espes. I left you there. You died getting away." "Espes will pay for it." Danny' voice was hard. His face tightened into a mask of anger. "Tal...I didn't even see them. It happened so fast. Steppedancer was going crazy in her stall but she couldn't tell me what was going on, only that those

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that took me wanted her too. I made her come...she was the one who got me free. I don't remember reaching you." "She brought you here then she lead the dogs away." "Where is she? I can't sense her anywhere." "Steppedancer may be too far away. Steadfast bolted. They'll probably come back together." Tal caught him as he swayed and almost collapsed in the mud. Easily he picked the slim youth in his arms and carried him back into the shelter. "Rest, I'll search for them as soon as the rain let's up." Danny held onto him tightly slowly relaxing as sleep drew him down. The first day, they slept within the small ruined alcove that had survived for centuries lost in the forest. When Tal woke in the late afternoon high walls surrounded them. He rose to his feet and climbed down flights of spiralling stairs to get to the ground. Steadfast and Steppedancer were no where to be seen and with the gelding was all the dried meat and other staples. Working wearily with the tip of his dagger, he scoured the forest searching for edible roots and mushrooms. Loading up his cloak he carried it back. Danny sat in a Great Hall, at a table furnished with silver candle holders and piled with fresh fruits, warm breads and the scent of cooked venison. Danny jumped up and hurried toward him. "The Darkness came to me and asked me what I wanted. I said I was hungry and it told me to think of what I wanted and...here it is." Tal looked down at the dirty roots he had dug. Danny turned poured red wine from a deep green glass bottle into a silver goblet then turned and handed it to him. "We won't

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ever be hungry again." He reached up pressed his soft lips to Tal's then turned back and began filling a silver plate with a bit of everything on the grand table. Tal turned and dropped his cloak to the floor, making sure that all the food was still hidden inside. He took a sip of the red wine and almost spit it out. The taste was horrid. A winery's discarded bottling -slave's wine. Never had he seen the golden haired youth tear into the offered foods so hungrily. "Is something wrong?" Tal set the wine on the table and walked toward him, "I have never seen you look more beautiful." "Do you want to..." "Eat...I'm not that hungry." Looking at the mounds of food showed that it was nothing more than slave fare. More vegetables than meat. The venison was stringy and old but that was the life Danny had known -- slave wine, slave meat, slave food. He stared at the newly formed room. The Black Tower, the Darkness and the Dark Lord. What would this old soldier mean to a man as powerful as that? In the morning light, Tal rose from the empty bed and searched for his golden companion. He found him standing on a high rounded roof speared the sky and just below it in the open air was a flat observation deck. Danny stood on it and stared around him at the forested landscape. "This is ours, as far as the eye can see." "The land belongs to someone else." Tal stood in the middle of the observation deck, not willing to walk toward the edge. Heights were something that he was not able to handle well.

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Danny turned around, "Then we will take it back. It belongs to the Tower and the Tower belongs to us.." Tal looked over at the pale thin boy. For the most part he was the same man, that he had grown to know and love but then there was a hardness now, a strength that Tal suspected wasn't Danny' alone. Danny brought his hand to his left brow and felt smooth skin. "I'm alive and a freeman," He walked up to Tal to enclosed him in his arms, "I hope the price we will have to pay is worth it." Tal looked out of the Tower into the bright morning sky. How could a day be so innocent and new when he had pledged to serve a power, older than history, named the Darkness. The disembodied words, My Galbraith, haunted the back of his mind. He was the Darkness' Warlord but his payment was in his arms. "You're alive and a freeman. I will pay any price I have to." "The..." Danny pulled away from Tal's hold, "Darkness said that it wants blood and worship. What is done with the...magic is up to us." "What kind of blood? Man or beast?" "Man's blood every full moon. The other days can be animal." Danny gestured toward the wild forest around them. "This power is mine to do what I want. What I want is to end slavery. There will be no masters or owners in my Dominion. Any man, woman or child, who can make it to our boundaries, is a freeman." Tal's face took on a look of the numbness he was feeling. Danny saw it and reached out, smoothing away the slack lines, "I am not helpless anymore, Tal. That was the main reason why you bargained with the

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Darkness. This place will be a sanctuary for anyone who has the courage to come to us. The first thing we'll have to do is free the slaves kept in Espy's holding." Tal nodded slowly, We'll need men, horses, swords. His keep is like a fortress." Danny shook his head. A slow smile crossed his face, "No. All I need is you, Warlord." Danny never said what happened in the one day that Lord Espy's had him in his keeping but the destruction of that holding was complete and utterly without mercy. Over the years, Tal felt he had pieced it together. Danny had been forced to mate with Ona, the redheaded mute, and one only had to look at Talos to know that he was the Dark Lord's spawn. But that wasn't enough to explain for the total hatred that had captured Danny as he called on the power of the Darkness to rend soldiers limb from limb or to shatter stone walls with just a glance. Edan and Ona couldn't shed any light. All they knew was that the golden haired youth had been locked in the breeding quarters from the moment of his arrival. The one thing that he was sure of was that Danny could be a dangerous enemy to have. The wagon came to a halt and the tarp was ripped backwards. The wagon driver coughed as the strong sent of urine assaulted his nose. Joelle stepped forward, her battle armour dusty from the day's ride. "Welcome to our new quarters, Commander. We will be guests of Lord Morriso's until the other Riders of Light join with us. I've inspected the slave quarters and I have found a cell that would be far better comfort than that iron cage."

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"What do you want from me for this...privilege?" "Your word that you will not make any escape attempts. If I can't get your word, we'll lock you in leg and wrist irons and march you there." Tal glanced out in the fading light. They were inside of the FreeLord's keep. Archers lined the walls and there were more than fifty Rider's milling around the yard. "You have my word that I will not escape on the way to my new cell." "I didn't expect capitulation so quickly, Commander." "I am defenceless Commander," Tal gestured with his free hands, "What can one man do?" The cage was unlocked and the ankle chain was freed from his foot. His muscles protested as he climbed out of the cage and made the drop to the ground. His feet screamed in agony but he gritted his teeth against any sound. A vanguard of six swordsmen lead the way to the slave quarters. Out of the corner of his eyes he spied the dirty ragged men and women bowing low to the ground as they past. Physically he was ill to see it. Call it evil, but what the Dark Lord had carved out of the wilderness was a haven. The cell that he was tossed in was slightly bigger than the cage but it had a wooden sleeping platform and a chamber pot in the corner. Two of the vanguard took up position outside of the solid wooden door. A small barred window ran along the top of the cell for ventilation but there was no way of getting to it aside from breaking up the platform to stand on. He sat down on the platform glad to be out of the rattling cage. The aches in his bones and joints had everything to do with the jarring of the road. Stretching out he let his mind

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drift free of all his anxieties and hidden fears, as he had learned to do back with Keith on one of their early campaigns. Rest was a luxury that was indulged whenever there was a long enough lull in the battle. He closed his eyes and began to drift off. This upcoming battle was going to be one of the most important ones that he had ever fought.

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Chapter 6: Dark Memories The sunlight was warm on Danny back as he worked with the rest of the freemen clearing Jonas's wheat field, the lull of the swing of the scythe had numbed his aches and centred his mind on the waving stocks before them. He glanced over his shoulder at the brown headed man as he hacked artlessly at the path that was before him. Kev had looked appalled when Danny handed him a curved blade of a sickle. He hadn't lied when he said that he had no talent for working with his hands. The scores of women behind him had moved off behind other cutters, quickly picking the stalks and bundling them together and the children came behind gathering them and tossing them on a slow moving wagon. The dawn had broken to find the assembled workers already out in the fields. Danny had told the assemblage of Tal's warning. All their cries had been for preparation and vows of blood. Kev had to use a let loose with a piercing whistle to bring everyone back to order. Danos rose to his feet, "The armies of the Illumination will come for us, but this is our land, our future and they don't know that we will protect it. They are using the Freelords as their bases, but they are draining the stores. We all know that hunger makes a body slow and drains strength. The stores beneath the Tower are almost full, and that will get us through the winter but we will need more. Kallas, you and your family have worked hard on your wheat fields

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and I would rather not have it feeding our enemies. I have little coin to pay for your harvest..." Danny looked out across the sea of faces, the warmth in his heart was mirrored in his eyes for everyone to see. The youth of his years was nothing compared to the power of his words and the expression in his eyes. Whips and beatings had forced subserviance out of the assembled freemen but this young golden haired man had earned their loyality. Kallas, a small sun burnt man stepped forward, "I would rather burn my fields before allowing one of them to eat from it. Whatever my family can clear, we will cart it to the Tower stores." "We'll help..." Voices rose up throughout the crowd offering help. Danovs raised his hands. "We are all family here. When each of you made your journey across the border to became one of us, a brother, a sister, an uncle, a daughter...a son." The small blonde head pushed his way to the front of the crowd. Earnst blue eyes stared up at him. "The armies are coming for me, and the Tower and if I thought that they would leave you in peace, I would give myself to them..." Negatives cries rang out, "but they have proven that even the smallest babe is not safe from their swords, so we must prepare to meet them." "Fields must be cleared and stored. Those who live outside of the Tower's walls will have to move closer. Smithy's will have to make swords and blades and they will need all the metal that we can find. We have to train to learn to fight together. We have one advantage over the

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Illumination, they are individuals trying to work as one. We know how to work as one -- and we will live as freemen, will fight as freemen, and die as freemen. I said that there would be never be slavery within the Dominion and it is a promise that I will keep." The conviction that he felt when he spoke those words to the people still sat in his heart, easing the pain of Tal's loss and giving him a goal. A twinge of pain in his lower back made him halt his sweep. He set the scythe on the ground and massaged the aching area. A redheaded girl came up holding a bucket of water. She smiled shyly as she offered the ladel. Danny let a smile cross his face and took a mouthful of tepid water then dumped the rest of his sweaty brow. "What is your name, little one." "Jezza." "You see that one over there." Danny pointed at Kev's laboured movements. "Go over there and dump the whole bucket on him before he keels over from the heat." "Yes, milord." She gave a small cursty, a wide white smile and headed back to Kev. A few of the women who were following in his wake caught up to Danny. They traded looks between each other as their Dark Lord continued to stare back at the red tinged man. "Milord, if you would give me the scythe, I will continue on." Danny turned about to protest when the pain tingled in his back again. "I guess, I am not used to such labour." He handed the long curved blade to the woman with her hair plaited round her head and secured with a sweat soaked scarlet bandana.

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He used the small rag at his side to wipe some of the excess water from his face. Kev fell over as the water hit him square in the chest. Danny walked up as the girls who had been working gathering behind Kev laughed and tittered. It was a magical thing to hear the voices raised in pleasure only a few days after the raid. Kev lay on his back. His face, arms, chest and back were stained a bright red from the sun. His panting heaved his chest. "There is some sauve in the wagons. You should have put it on before you started working." "I can't keep up." There was such a remorseful tone in his voice. "You tried, Kev...and that is all that matters. Get up and get out of the sun before your mind starts to drift." Slowly Kev pushed himself upright. Danny offered a hand down to him. Kev paused before accepting the help. He grimaced as he was pulled to his feet. Danny turned his hands over and hissed as he saw the broken blisters and blood welled in the palms. "You should have stopped." Kev pulled his hands away closing them into fists even though it was hard to do. "I work as long as you." "Don't be a martyr." Danny grabbed Kev's wrists and called on the Healing Darkness. Kev winced and bit back a gasp but then when he opened his hands again, the blisters had healed but the dried blood and the calloused skin that replaced the wounds were there. The redness of the skin was still there but the pain that accompanied it was gone. Kev stared at the Dark Lord between amazement and fear. "I didn't know you could do that."

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"It is easier than it once was." Danny admitted slowly. He closed his eyes and let the power surge through him, easing the ache in his back. "We are making good time. We should have this field cleared by the night and then we can start on the next." Kev didn't bother to hold back his moan. "I never envied the workers in the field, and I can remember why." "I would have. The rooms I was kept in had no windows. The only place I could see sunlight was in the main hall and the Mistress declared me too popular for that. The only time I could get there was if I refused masters, and then only as punishment, but the punishment was something that was endured, just so I could see and feel the warmth of the sun..." Danny broke off and lifted his face to the light in the sky. "That is why there are such big windows in the Tower." Kev returned slowly flexing his hands and back. "I do not like closed in spaces." Danny returned easily. "Dark Lord." Edan rode up on a dusty brown mule. The heat of the forge was still on his face and his hair was plastered with wetness to his head and neck. "A word with you, if I may." His quick glance over at Kev was telling. The man nodded his hand and turned back to the section of field he had been working on. "Edan..." "All the weapons that we recovered from the guardsmen, are useless. I don't know what the lightening did but when I try to sharpen or recast, the metals...they just won't meld. We

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have only about twenty five swords and kitchen daggers...we need more weapons." "And we know that the Free Lord's wouldn't take our coin." "Espy's keep, we cleared out the main armoury but he used to have reserves hidden through the place. I only just remember a few of the places. By your permission, I would like to take a wagon and a few men to go get them." "The three of us should be able to get the weapons back here." Edan glanced over that the young man swinging the scythe inexpertly. "I don't trust him, Dark Lord." "The Darkness has tested him. I trust him with my life." "I don't trust him with your life." "You sound like Tal." "The Commander was a wise man, I am honoured. If we grab a wagon here, we should be back before sunset." "Would you trade your mount for the wagon seat?" Edan swung down from the mule. Danny smiled and stepped close to the beast. Edan watched still amazed that the ornery beast would listen to the quietly whispered words then rub it's long face against the man's chest. Back in the stables, the little beast that tried to bite him. Danny unbelted the saddle from the mule's back and pulled it off. He lifted the blanket and ran his hands along the back. The mule lowered it's head and flicked it's great ears in contentment. "The saddle is too narrow, it pinches across the whithers." He bent as if to carry it toward the wheat filled wagon, then the brown haired man with the golden eyes

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appeared taking it from his hands. Danny slapped the man lightly on the shoulder and swung up on the back of the mule. Edan approached. "I'll grab the next wagon coming out. If you want, you can ride ahead. I'll bring him with me." "His name is Kev." "I'll bring Kev with me." "He hasn't done anything..." The Dark Lord returned, "and we have come to agreements." "We should not be long in following. I past the wagon when I rode out here." Danny nodded the turned the mule away from the field. Edan watched as the Dark Lord rode off. He changed his gaze to Kev. The man was standing at the side of the wagon staring after the rider with a longing and hunger of a man who has seen bread and water just past the bars of his cell. He turned slowly and cause Edan's suspicious gaze on him. He straightened his back and matched gaze for gaze then turned and headed back toward his designated row. Edan untied his leather apron and left it at the full wagon. "Make sure that Ona gets it." The driver nodded then turned his horses back toward the keep. The next empty wagon hadn't yet appeared on the road so Edan took up the scythe from the young woman who had replaced the Dark Lord and began to cut the grain with smooth easy movements. He paused to sharpen the blade with his ever present whetstone when he saw the second wagon. He finished up the job then handed the scythe back to the girl. Kev was still panting and red from the midday sun but he had made a little further progress.

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"The Dark Lord asked you to come with us." "Where?" "To the ruins, we need more weapons." Edan stopped the wagon and explained what he needed it for. Farl nodded then climbed off the seat. "I'll work this section. Who did you have here? My daughters could cut better than that." Kev turned his face away, wiping the sweat from his brow to hide the grimace. "Come on." Edan swung up onto the wagon then waited for the other man to join him. Slowly they rolled away from the fields. The eastern forest was rising up around them when Edan decided to break the silence. "I know who you are." Kev stiffened slightly but kept his eyes forward. "I have been in the Dominion for almost two years." "I thought you looked familiar but I couldn't place you until I saw you coveting the Dark Lord. You have the look of your father when you that. I know what you are, and if I thought for one moment that you were working for the Free Lords I would cut your throat and leave your body to the crows." "I..." "You're the last of Espy's bastards Keveth...I remember your mother...she was a golden eyed woman and she deserved better than to killed once he had you in his hands." Kev stared over at the raven haired smithy, "I thought my mother.." "She was barren. All your brothers came to the household the same way. Once the slave woman had born a

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son, she was killed. I was glad when the Dark Lord put a sword point in Espy's eye." Kev turned to face the narrow path the wagon was traversing, "I am nothing like him." "We shall see." "I am nothing like Espys." Edan said nothing as he urged the horses into a ground eatting trot, "I will be watching you, and if there is ever a doubt in my mind, I will kill you." "I would never hurt the Dark Lord. You have my word on that." "I know the blood you are from, you word doesn't account for much." Edan snapped the reins over the horses' rear and stepped them into a light gallop. The sooner they were at the keep, the sooner they would part company.

Danovs rode into the cobbled courtyard staring at the decay that had begun to set in. Weeds poked through the stones and the charred remains of the wooden buildings still stood like skeletons. The anger and hatred that welled up in his chest almost took him by surprise. The keep was nothing more than stones and burnt wood but what it represented...the horror the pain, the deaths here just because people were unfortunate enough to have an 's' branded to their face. The mule twitched in concern and Danny forced back the tide of feelings. Gently he patted the sleek neck the dismounted. His boots echoing hallowly in the empty place.

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Unbidden memories swept over him as he stared at the low squat stone frame that stood beside the burnt out shell of the main house. He closed his eyes as another reliving came to him... The kidnapping had happened so quickly. It was hard getting up from Tal's warm embrace. His caresses were nothing like the woodland raiders, or even the masters at the rent house. Once those masters were done, he was shoved off the bed to the floor as was his station or else kicked and wetted with urine by the raiders. But Tal, held him and whispered beautiful words. Steppedancer had been going crazy stamping and lashing out at the three men who had stood at the end of stall, a rope and a black bag hung from there hands. He had approached cautiously but another man stepped behind him and grabbed his arms. He struggled against the man but he tossed him down on the ground. Steppedaner's alarm and concern mingled with Steadfast's anger. Ropes bit into his wrists and ankles. A rag was jammed into his mouth and another tied it in place. Steppedancer reared and lashed out with her front hooves at the gate, the a musty bag was pulled over his head. He was shoved into a wagon. Harsh disembodied voices filtered in through the bag. Disembodied voices rose up around him, "We got him. Get the mare." "You get her, she's going wild in there." "We won't get paid if we don't bring in both of them. Go get her."

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Danny had sent calming thoughts at her. If he had the chance to escape, he would need a horse. Tal would know her tracks. He could follow. The kidnappers lead her out and tied her to the wagon. The ropes were too tight. The bag smelt of fish. Blindly, he was jostled in the bottom of the wagon. They travelled over rough road until the cold of night brought the wagon to a stop. Still bound and hooded, he was carried down in the pit. Someone untied his then shoved him inside The stone floor cut into his feets as he fell then the bag was ripped off his head. "Eyes down.". A door swung back revealing a tall thin man dressed in fine pale yellow linen. Danny pressed his forehead to the coolness of the stones. Another sound came to him, the swishing of cloth on the floor, a woman. "Well, let us see him." The man's voice was thin and reedy. "Sit up." The Bossman barked. Danny raised himself up, sitting up straight on his haunches, his head still bowed and his hands resting on his thighs. The tip of the whip urged him to tilt his head upwards. "Quinten, look at his eyes." The woman was just as finely dressed in green brocade dress. Her dark brown tresses curled down past her shoulders and framed her delicate heart shaped face beautifully. Her eyes were exotic in shape but her mouth was too generous for her face. She leaned forward, deliberately pushing her ample bosom toward Danny. "I have never seen eyes this colour before."

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Lord Espes stepped forward and looked then wrinkled his nose. "Make sure he has a bath before I see him again." "As you wish, Lord Espes." The Bossman bowed. The woman's eyes were glinting with cruelty as she extended a finger and ran it along Danny's jaw line. "I have never seen skin so pale, " Her hand moved up to his hair, "gold hair. May I name him, Quinten?" "He's just a slave, Marissa." "But his colouring. He's just so beautiful." "Go ahead, if it will make you happy." Danny stared straight ahead, looking into the fire as the remains of the leather boots were slowly being devoured. Marissa trailed her hand along his shoulders, across his back. Her eyes darted downward to see if her touches had caused reaction. Her lips formed into a pout. She walked back toward her husband, "I will call him North." Espes nodded, "Geld him. Once he's recovered but him to work." Danny felt all the blood drain out of his head. He pulled his legs together and doubled over, bringing his forehead to rest on the cobbles. A cold icy hand of fear past over him. "Quinten, no." Marissa hurried over to her husband, pouting prettily and fawning like a child, "Look at his colouring. We can breed him. Think of the gold you could make selling the offspring." Espes ignored the act, "Whole slaves can be so much trouble." "Then give him to me, I'll pair him up with some slave women."

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"I bought him to work with the horses." "He can work with the horses all day. He can breed at night." Graciously he replied, "All right. If he causes any trouble, he's cut." Espes knew that his wife would keep harping on the subject all night. Besides, this way she would have her own slave to lay with and would leave him to his pleasures. "North." Marissa danced away from her husband and stopped in front of Danny. Cautiously he raised his head, "Will you cause any trouble?" "No Mistress." Danny averted his eyes back to the burning flames. Everything Tal had given him was gone. A shiver of dread swept through him. "Good. Since it's almost eve, clean him up, chain him and bring him to the women's quarters." "As you wish, Lady Espes. Bow!" Danny pressed his forehead back to the cobbles. The footsteps faded away. Bossman prodded him in the ribs once the outer door was sealed. "Few main house slaves remain whole. When Lady Espes calls for you, you had better not disappoint her. Come with me." Danny kept his eyes away from the walls as they travelled through different rooms. The screams of a new slave under the branding iron made him jump. The Bossman laughed and pushed the pale youth ahead of him. The door opened into a steamy bath house. Several women were washing and they glanced over interestingly. "Out."

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The women quickly climbed out of the warm water, their lightly toned flesh glowed from the heat. Pale white tunics, tied with silken cords were draped around them quickly then they hurried toward the exit. Danny stepped aside as they brushed past but the Bossman stood in the centre, the women had brush against him as they left. His huge hands caught the last woman. He pinned her against the door frame and smiled cruelly as his hands pulled back the tunic to expose her swollen breasts. He cupped then and squeezed hard making her gasp in pain. "How do you like the Master? Let me check." He pushed his fingers between her legs forcing the material deep inside her. He rubbed his hand back and forth, fascinated as her face began to flush with passion and her breathing deepened with the height of her arousal. When the slave began to push against his hand he pulled away. Her eyes opened and stared at him imploringly to complete what he had started. "Maybe now the master won't be disappointed in your performance." He pushed her through the door and shut it after her. His face was a grin. He lifted his fingers to his nose and breathed deeply. "Slave scent." Danny turned away ashamed at having witnessed that woman's torment. "What's the matter, North? Haven't you smelt the heat of a woman?" The Bossman wiped his fingers on Danny's face. Repulsed at the enjoyment the man had in abusing the woman, Danny pushed the hands away. The Bossman shoved him hard on his chest, on the wet tiles, Danny skidded

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backwards and fell into a heated tub. Water forced it's way into his mouth, up his nose as it closed over his head. He broke the surface, gagging. A hand tangled in his hair and shoved him back under. He struggled wildly as his lungs screamed for air. The strong arm pulled him out of the water. "Had enough?" "Master!" Danny' plea was little more than a choked gasp. Bossman shook him back and forth then dropped him back in the tub. Danny grabbed onto the edge and gulped in steamy air. "You forget your place, slave. I see I'm going to have to refresh your memory now and again." The tip of the whip tilted Danny' head upwards, "You'd like that wouldn't you, slave." "Yes, master." Shame and fear settled into Danny chest. "Strip. Pile the clothes here." A pale bar of soap was kicked at him. "Wash. A surgeon will inspect you before you go to the women's quarters. If he sends us back here, it will be the worse for you." Danny ducked his head and began lathering up his body. Deep in his chest he wanted Tal to come in and rescue him. Tal cared. He had to. No one had ever treated so...free. The sound of the whip whistling through the air broke his wishful thinking. The Bossman stood behind him waving the leather bound switch back and forth. The horror of inspection was just as bad as the city markets before the Mistress bought him and installed him in the rent house. The surgeon was a fat man, with yellow

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stained teeth of a smokedrug habit. He reeked of wine and excrement but he had the honour of being a free man. He could present himself however he wished. Danny found himself chained between to pillars, his arms high over his head and his legs were spread wide and pinned to the floor. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine a better place as hands began to poke and prod. He bit his lips as fingers forced their way into his anus, digging and retreating in a way that wasn't an inspection. The Bossman laughed out loud when he realized what the surgeon was doing. "You like him, eh?" "Too bad he has to be cut." The surgeon moved his free hand to the slave's groin. He touched the sleeping member and began to tug on it, roughly. Danny closed his eyes and clenched his teeth together. Fighting only made situations worse. Still...he grunted in pain as more fingers began to invade. "Mistress Marissa got Espes to leave him whole. She wants to breed him." "Interesting colouring." The surgeon stepped back and began to unlace his trousers. Bossman man shook his head, "Not enough time to clean him up again. He's going to the women's quarters tonight. I'll make sure he's available the next time you come calling." Danny watched numb and humiliated as silver passed hands. "Scent him up and I'll take him." The fat man continued with the thrusting fingers then pulled away, slapping at his backside as he turned to pick up a covered jar. A hot spicy aroma drifted out of it. He set it at

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Danny feet then dipped out a handful of the oil, he rubbed his hands together then began rubbing it into Davos's skin. It started out cool on the skin then it began to burn. Danny twitched as the oil was rubbed into every inch of his body. Instinctively, he clenched his rear tight as the travelling hands caressed his flanks. A look past between Bossman and the surgeon, "Do it. It shouldn't affect his performance" The bossman ordered. Danny screamed as an oil smeared finger invaded him. The burning seared into his very soul. Dimly he was aware of the Bossman standing in front of him, holding onto his face, as he whimpered his agony, "Every time you resist, slave, we will repeat this process since you like it so much." Another dose of fire was added to the flames. He screamed again, then hung limp in his chains. Danny closed his eyes and cowered against the stone wall. The pain was like nothing he had ever endured...and the fat man would use it when he came to him...he had known that. His knees gave out and he crouched against the wall. The last time he had come back to this place, was so set it ablaze and liberate the slaves. The anger and hatred was enough to forget the pain but now...it felt like everything was happening again. Gritting his teeth he forced himself to rise to his feet. {This happened five years ago. It is over. They are dead and you are more powerful than any other being.}The voice was low and seductive making the hairs on his body stand on end as power began to rush through his body. "Get out of my head." Danny whispered lowly. {You needed a protector.}

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"You offered something that wasn't yours." {You are my Chosen. The life you live is one that I gave you.} "You could have came to Kev in a different manner. There was no need to take over my body. To offer it's use to him." {I knew that he would refuse the offer.} The power became tinged with pleasure. Danny gritted his teeth and tensed his muscles resisting what the Darkness offered. He breathed deepily concentrating on the hidden knowledge within him. The metal that he wanted began to sing out a resonance to him. The power, the Darkness had filled him with, channeled out searching for the concealed weapons. The resonance was like a physical wave brushing against his skin, turning it a circle he felt the strongest vibration and moved toward it. By the time the horses and wagon pulled into the ruined courtyard, The Darklord had discovered seven hidden weapons caches. Spears, broad swords, short swords, long and short daggers as well as breastplates, greaves, helms and pile of leather armour studded with nailheads. Kev leapt off the wagon before it could be pulled to a stop. He landed flat footed but ignored the pain shooting up his calves. "Milord, the Riders..." "Are on there way to Lord Morriso's." Danovs returned wearily. There were lines of tiredness around his eyes and spider webs clung to his clothing and hair. Tentatively, Kev reached out and brushed some of the glossamar strains from

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the golden hair. His fingers burned with the excitment of touching the man he loved. Edan crouched down and began looking at the raided armoury goods. "I only knew of two extra places, and they only held a few spears and swords. But these are better quality than the one's I knew about." Edan turned and glanced at Kev, "Do you know of any more hidden caches?" "Why would he know? He's never been here." Edan rose to his feet, "Milord..." Kev spoke up quickly, "It was common practice to have a private storage hall just off from the Great Hall." "I have not been to the Great Hall." "I'll go and check." Edan sent a private glance at Kev, "Start loading the wagons, Kev. Milord, you have done more than enough today." "No more than any other person, but I am tired. I think I'll rest." Danny easied himself down on the cobbles. The mule came over to him and nudged it's long face against his back. "Go to the stable, the straw is musty, but it'll be fine to roll in." The mule nodded then walked slowly toward the covered stone building. Kev began to sort out the weapons and bundling them together. Danny watched him silently. He was a handsome man, firmly built and with a smile that shone in his eyes. "Edan doesn't like you." "He has told me that." "It's not like him to make snap judgements about someone."

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"Maybe he has his reasons." Kev returned tightly bundling an armful of blades together, picking them up and dropping them into the back of the wagon. "We will have to work together closely in this upcoming war." "Just because we do not like each other doesn't mean we can't work together." "What is this about?" "Who I was before I became a slave." "You said you were a house slave." "I have never worked a day in the fields until today. I was to be a scholar because I didn't have the talents for anything else. As for who I was...it doesn't matter any more." "Except to Edan." "The Darkness accepted me, you, my Dark Lord, accepted me. Edan will have to tolerate me." "You're brand is gone now. You could leave us and return to the life you once lead." "I don't want to return to the life I had. I want to stay near you and I made a vow to the Darkness that I intend to keep. That person is gone...it doesn't matter what Edan or anyone else thinks." Danny reached out and laid a hand on the sun burnt shoulder. "I have asked around about you. You've been with us for two years and you've declined all the offers made to you - male and female. What or who you were ceased to be when they set that brand to your face. You've been alone too long Kev. You don't have to stand outside..."

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"I don't want to stand outside..." Kev returned in a tortured whisper, "but I can't settle for less." He turned and carried back more weapons. "I can be your friend." "I don't want to be your friend...but that's my problem..." "You pledged to be my shield..." "..that was my decision..." "I don't understand." "I love you." The whisper was so slow and drawn out that it painful to hear. "Even when The Commander was here...I wanted to stand beside you." Edan returned from the Great Hall, "It's been cleared out. Aren't you done yet, boy?" "The blame is mine, I distracted Kev." Danny closed his eyes for a moment, "The way is clear back to the Tower. If you two can handle it, I have other preparations to oversee." The grey mule came out of stable covered with straw but prancing with vitality. "We'll get back in enough time." Danny reached up and patted the muzzle. He swung up onto the back of the tall beast. "See you at the Tower." The mule turned then broke into an easy canter. The golden hair streamed out from underneath the ever present silver circlet. Edan chose his word's with malice, "Leave him be, Keveth, he's got hundreds of people to protect and he doesn't need a nobleman's lovesick bastard mooning after him." "This doesn't concern you." Kev returned quietly. "The Dark Lord holds the fate of my family and a lot of my friends in his hands. Anything that affects the Dark Lord

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affects me. Anything that threatens my family will find a blade in his spine." "I heard your threats the first time, Edan." Kev reached for another pile of weapons. Silently they worked together loading the wagon. Edan watched Ona's graceful movements with the eyes of a man who knew his wife mind as well as her body. She had her head back in silent laughter but Talos roared along with her. When she spied him walking through the market, she let a full smile cross her face as her eyes made promises of another unforgettable night. Talos turned and waved, his pale face flushed with boyhood merriment. There had been a time when he had resented the special way Ona and Talos and the Dark Lord to could speak to each other. He wanted to hear the 'voice of an angel' that sang inside the head, as Talos called it when his mother spoke to him. But that was a born talent, and a man only had to see that the Golden Man who had been her first was dedicated to another. Ona waved Talos toward him, then she turned with the roasted fowl in her hand and headed back toward their small house. "Papa... " Talos skipped up to him, "Momma bought a roasted duck...she said all she has to do is cut up some roots and boil them for supper." "It sounds good." "What you do today?" "Had to get some more swords to sharpen. You want to help me in the forge tonight..."

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"I get to pump?" Edan reached down and tousled the golden mop. "How can I work if you don't?" Talos showed him a toothless grin, another baby tooth had fallen out. He was growing up so quickly, changing every day. "Talos, come on!" A pack of boys pushed there way through the crowded makeshift street, "They're bringing in herds...." "Papa?" Huge blue eyes stared up at him imploringly. "Make sure you're back for supper." Talos disappeared into the midst of the boys. Edan continued on up to the stone house. The forge was built less than a few paces away, and off to the right, and he paused to look inside. Wilns the apprentice was stacking wood beside the hearth. "Get a fire burning..." “You got more weapons?" "The Dark Lord found them at the ruins." "You went to the ruins?" Wilns shuttered. Like all the slaves freed from that place, none wanted to go back. If the Riders had left them a choice, Edan would never have set foot back on the property again. Being a skilled worker was something that allowed him better lodgings, a little bit better food and more lienance than the other slaves but he had been a slave and the bite of the whip was known. "We will be busy we have more than three score swords and just about the same number of daggers. Most of them need oiling and sharpening but there is more than enough to recast. Talos can work the bellows, I would rather have you on the wheel." The youthful face broke out into a wide smile.

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It was the first time that he was going to be working alone, without the expert standing behind him watching every move. It proved that he had learned and was doing well. "I'll check to see if there is enough for all of us to eat. If there is, we might be able to get started before nightfall." Edan continued into the house. Ona had braided her long red hair back into a single braid that hung straight down her back, ending in thin trails near her waist. She bent over to swing a caldron over the hearth. He felt himself begin to stir as the skirts outlined her smooth body. "Have I ever told you I love you, woman?" Ona turned slightly, her green eyes narrowing with disbelieving humour. Edan stopped behind her, let his his thighs brush against her. She glanced toward the door. "Talos is off with his friends." She twisted in his arms and planted a eager kiss to his lips. The stubble on his face was rough and she turned away brushing at it with her palms. She motioned to the ever present shaving basin then began unlacing her tunic. Newly shaved, Edan gathered her in his arms. "God, woman if it wasn't for this war, I would stay here with you forever." She laced her fine fingers through his rough calloused ones and brought it to her stomach. Slowly she began moving it in a circular motion but it wasn't a sexual act. Edan pulled back suddenly and turned her toward him, "Are you?" She smiled and nodded, pressing his hand to her womb then held up two slim fingers. "Two months along.." His

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face broke out into a wide smile then he stiffened with alarm, "What about the attack. Could..." She laid a hand over his mouth then should her head negatively. Her fingers flashed into motion in soldier speech that he had taught her. The Dark Lord had checked her condition. A small spasm of anger filled him but he forced it down, again the golden boy knew something of Ona before he did. He gathered her close, resting his chin on the top of her head. "We've tried so hard, my beauty, and now we got a war on our backstep." He looked out at the black stone rising to the sky. It looked so fragile compared to the way Espy's keep used to look but then the keep was nothing but ruins and the black stone had stood there for centuries. And by the will of the Dark Lord, it would keep standing.

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Chapter 7: A Freelord’s Care White magic...that's what the torturer priest called it as he sealed a wrist cuff to Tal's wrist. The metal cuff would tell any sorcerer of the Illumination where he was and if there was a presence of the Black Arts They would know if the Dark Lord was spirit walking again and they would be prepared. She was confident that her prisoner was secured so Joelle had freed him from the small stone cell during the day. The afternoon sun was well past it's zenith and heading for the distant horizon when the summons came. He was to be cleaned and brought to the Great Hall. Twenty-one sunsets had past since Tal had lain in his own bed. Twenty days of watching the Riders practise their attack formations. Other than the one time under the torturer's touch, they had basically left him alone. Tal smiled inwardly, a tactical error on their part. When he was with the Horde, any captives were questioned repeatedly, day and night without sleep or food until they started to tell what they knew or at least what the captors wanted. The guards walking with Tal said nothing, but the Riders they past had comments and opinions. Slurs on his companionship with the Dark Lord made him clench his fists in barely controlled rage. He had killed men for less when Danny and he were on the road. Lord Morriso's holding was larger than Espys. Slaves scurried everywhere their regular attentions doubled by the

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small army on the doorstep. The fortification walls were doubled with a layer of rubble packed between it. The main gates were of iron bars and further back, thick wooden doors. This is a holding of a long established family. White surcoats and the pale blue of Morriso's personal guard shared the guard duties along the wall tops. Right now, the two were willing to work together, but given enough time the alliance would start to fall apart. What would regular guards want to do with zealots? The water in the baths was heated to the right temperature. The bath slaves had approached to begin undressing him, but looking at them made his bile rise to his throat. They were beaten shells of people. They hurried about without looking up at the freemen around them. A dark skinned girl bowed low then placed clean clothes on a bench against the far wall. "Master, this slave would be honoured to bathe you." "No thank you." Tal returned trying to keep the anger from his voice. She approached, knelt before him and pressed her lips to the leather of his boots. "I was sent for you, Master." She cupped her hand around the heel of the boot and waited for him to pull himself free. The guards standing at the entryway said nothing. Tal reached down, gently urging her to her feet. She rose quickly and pressed her lips to his throat. "No..." With the same patience he had shown another slave, he set her from him. "What is your name?" "I am called Fasha."

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"Fasha, that is a beautiful name, for a beautiful woman. Will you be beaten if I send you away." The chin of her lovely face dropped lower, "Yes, Master." "I do not like the title Master, my name is Tal." She shook her head nervously, "I cannot..." "Then call me Commander." "Yes, Commander." The last person to bathe me was my mother, little Fasha, and to tell you the truth, you are nothing like her. I will not have you suffer because I cannot accept your services." "Commander?" Her voice was genuinely puzzled. "Sit beside the tub and talk to me." Fasha moved gracefully to the deep sunken tub, testing the water with her hand. Tal kicked off his boots and began unlacing his trousers. The stench of him was ever present in his nostrils and he was truly surprised that anyone wanted to near him. He piled his clothes on the tile and lowered himself into the warmth of the water. A small bar of soap and a brush was placed within reaching distance. "Would you like scents, Commander?" Tal almost refused then he tought back to the dark musty cell. It would help to smell something other than dung and urine. "Yes, I would Fasha." She rose to her feet, crossed to a long shelf that ran along one side of the chamber, lithely choosing bottles and jars for his inspection. She came back balancing the tray. Tal let the warmth of the water ease the ache in his knees and hips. One by one she opened the jars and stoppers allowing the scents to

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rise over him, waiting for his approval on a certain aroma. "That one." The scent reminded him of the warm woods, it had an earthy sent to it but it also was a little dark. Fasha poured it into the water then on the soap as well. Turning she carried everything back to the shelves. Tal worked the soap into a lather and began scrubbing himself clean. It felt good. The bruises that were left after Danny had healed him were finally gone. "Commander." Tal turned toward the woman's soft voice. She held a shaving kit, a razor, lathering brush and a small silver mirror. "You will have to shave me, Fasha." When Denso had sealed the cuff to his wrist, he had made a warning about picking up anything with a blade and there was a hint of pleasure in the dark eyes. The torturer priest enjoyed his work immensely and the way it was presented told Tal that it would be wise to listen. "I cannot handle weapons." He raised his wrist from the water to show the plain metal cuff. Quickly she set the tray down, "Would you like a hot towel?" "Are there any ready?" "Yes, Commander. They are always prepared." She rose and heated toward a large porcelain cover. Steam rose up as she used a wooden spoon to pull the towel free. It was a pleasure to feel the heat on his face...to have the brush lather the bread that was going in so quickly. There was a slight hesitation before the blade began to stroke his flesh. A sharp jab on his underside of his jaw and Fasha backed away. Blood welled on his neck.

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Pure fear was in her dark eyes. She set the straight edge razor on the tile and pressed her forehead to the edge of the tub. "You're only half done, Fasha." "This slave is awaiting punishment..." "I've cut myself worse, little girl. Come on, half of my face feels so good." Tall settled himself back against the side of the tub and closed his eyes. Deep in his chest, his stomach muscles clenched as the sharp edge began to shave again. Splashing water on his face, he took the small offered mirror and looked over the job. A small trail of blood was still seeping from the nick in his neck but he was beginning to look like himself again. "Can you cut hair, little one?" "Better than I shave, Commander." She picked small scissors from the tray, "These are not weapons, Commander." "They've got a sharp edge. Go ahead." The heat from the water was so soothing, but the summons was still in the back of his head. Joelle...he caught himself. Riverview was patient but only to a point. This respite could be the start of another round of confessionals. Showing the condemned what the good life could be before behind sent back into hell. Fasha finished her job quickly and was true to her word that she was a better cutter than shaver. Tal roused himself from the tub and grabbed up a towel.. She backed away, keeping to her knees and covertly watched as he wiped himself dry. The new clothes were grey and smelled of packing cedar, but they were clean and fit well.

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When Fasha had tried to polish his boots, he set her aside, enjoying the brushing and polishing. "Commander...I am ordered to you tonight." Fasha cautiously reached down and took Tal's hand in her palms. She pressed her lips to his knuckles. "This slave is honoured to be chosen." "In the cells?" "Oh no, commander. You have a room in the high tower. I am to attend you there." "How old are you, Fasha?" "I am a woman." Her face coloured. "Do you know?" "No Commander. I will serve in the house until I am too old to please the master..." Tal reached out and touched the smooth skin of her face, "You are a beautiful child, and this old man is honoured by your affection." "The prisoner will come with us." The hard voice broke the silent moment. Fasha dropped back to her knees and pressed her forehead toward the tile. She could see his black boots slowly turn and head out of her vision. "Slave, clean up this place." "Yes master." Fasha turned around, gathering up the towels and items she had used on the grey haired man. Unseen, she slipped the scissors into the towels turned and headed out of the bathing chamber. "You should kill him." Lord Morriso spoke again, between slips of red wine. The slave to his left lifted a white square of cloth to wipe the droplets away.

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Joelle reclined on her own chair. Her battle gear had been replaced with a simple white and red robe that swept the floor as she walked. She shook her head as she slipped from her own goblet, "He has details that we will need." "Have your priest talk to him." "The Commander has proven to be a stubborn man." There was a tone of admiration in her voice. Few could withstand Denso's attention - that was the main reason she had requested him as the High Priest for her unit, but Denso's magical skills were found wanting here. "I thought the Illumination would have had this matter cleaned up by now." "We might have, but we received incomplete information - from the Free Lords, as you are called by the Dominion, and by our own spies. The Dark Lord is more powerful than we expected. Having the Commander and only losing twentytwo men was more than we could have hoped for." "That slave lover...When will you be attacking?" "Are you eager for us to be leaving, Lord Morriso?" "It was our understanding that the Illumination carried their own supplies. We...had not planned on feeding an army." Joelle straigthened, "You brought us into your petty war, Morriso. It's gone far beyond runaway and upstart slaves, if we don't stop what's growing out there in the Dominion, feeding an army would be the lest of your problems." 'This is my holding, Commander Riverview and I will not be spoken to..." His voice broke off as a guarded figure

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was brought into the room, "What is that thing doing in here?" "I ordered him here." Joelle turned and rose to her feet. She was almost a full head's length taller than the dark haired Morriso. "Come on Commander Kegsetter. I'm sure that you are hungry." "That depends on what you want from me, Commander." "A little company and pleasant conversation." Joelle motioned to a chair opposite her. "In other circumstances, I would be honoured, but as I have no choice." Tal moved toward the offered seat. Aside from his black boots, everything about him was grey. His hair had taken on a shine of silver, his skin was starting to pale but the deep brown of the eyes held more character there than the battle earned winkles and scars. "You are bleeding Commander." "It's only a shaving nick." "You shouldn't be touching weapons..." "I wasn't." "Fasha." Morriso slammed his goblet to the table spilling the contents. Bile rose in Tal's throat as the young pages leapt into action cleaning up the mess. "I was under the impression that she was given to me." Tal returned evenly, "so I reprimanded her." "I thought that you didn't believe in slavery." Joelle spoke up, her eyes peering across the table right into his soul. "I've owned slaves before, Commander." "I don't think the Dark Lord would appreciate you saying that."

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"I don't think the Dark Lord is giving me a second thought. I taught him better than that." "You play this game well Commander. The Dark Lord came to you..." "And I reminded him that he is responsible for more lives than mine. You won't find him unprepared this time." "What can a slave do against the Illumination?" Morriso snorted, "Look at them." He backhanded the closest boy so hard that he fell backwards on the stone floor, the tray of food scattered on and around him. Joelle watched as Tal tensed and the knuckles of hand hands turned white with strain on the arms of the chair. The boy blinked back tears as he climbed back to his feet, gathering up the broken dishes and scattered food. The red imprint of a hand on his cheek disfigured his face. "You mistake the freedmen of the Dominion for those here." Tal returned lowly. "It takes a special person to make it to the Dominion and those there won't allow anything to happen to them." "Aside from your slave witch, you don't have anything." "Danny didn't bring down Espy's keep...he didn't have to." Tal let his words end there implying that there was a slave revolt. Morriso's face paled slightly and the eyes widened but he quickly covered it. It was the owner's greatest fear. The slave would outnumber the guards at most holdings three to one. Here it would be five to one. "I have found out about you Tal Kegsetter. You joined the Highland Horde when you just fifteen seasons. You made it up to Sargent and you could have gone higher except for

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your lover's temper and constant breaking down. You might have ended up being the second hand man to the Captain , but that would have meant having to give up Woodcutter. Your record tells me more about you than you would probably want me to know." "That tells you what kind of man I was in the Horde." "It tells me your basic character. Faithful to the point of your own destruction. You have tactical skills, battle experience and that you inspired loyality throughout the ranks. You are a natural leader of men. The last entries tell me that you were cheated out of your monies, given three horses and a blonde haired slaveboy taken from raiders. A blue eyed blonde. That was our Dark Lord." "I have nothing to say." "I met your blue eyed blonde slave boy. He is eloquent and refined and constant in his actions. That is your doing Commander. He said that fifteen men were forfeit and he took fifteen men. I won't tell you how they were killed as I don't know. Not much of them was left." "Not much was left to the grieving widows and children of the guards you murdered and fed to the fires." "The point is that he could have taken more...he had the power and the opportunity but he learned his temperance from you. You are the model we need to know...not him. He is nothing but your reflection." Tal said nothing. Danny was more than a reflection but she didn't need to know that. Any underestimating would be for his benefit when the time for battle was near. "As for the blonde slave boy, he's officially the property of Mistress Pic

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of the House of Red Silk. Apparently he was stolen from her rent house almost seven years ago, by a disgruntled patron who wanted this exotic creature for himself. The raiders bought him off the block because of his horsespeaker talent then you got him So that should make him about twenty four years old. A young man for so much power." Mistress Pic said that he learned quickly but was prone to bouts of refusal. His regular renters didn't like it when he was hung in the main room, it made him more popular with others. That was the reason he was stolen, someone got tired of waiting. She is willing to take him back." "I'd kill him myself." "Then you'd be glad to know that heading back to the rent houses is not a possibility. The Darkness has worked through him. He is reborn to Darkness. He cannot be allowed to live and the Black Tower has to be destroyed so one one follows in his footsteps. We cannot have another Galibrath." "In your own records, how long did Galibrath wait before he started his conquests?" "Six months." "Danny has been in the Tower for five years...can't you see that there is a difference "He is using black magics..." "He will never be another Galbriath." Tal returned "We cannot take that chance. How do you know that..." "The Darkness calls me Galbraith. It called me that when it offered me the power of the Black Tower. It calls Danny, Chosen."

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Joelle turned around and stared at Tal. "You?" "When it was offered, Commander I would have taken it and made Galbraith look like a child playing war games. Danny was dead only because if Espys couldn't have him, no one could. Galbraith was a scholar, he knew nothing of war...but they called him Warlord. I don't know what they would have called me, but it wouldn't have been Galbraith." Fasha stood up from the bed when the door was opened and Tal was pushed inside. The click of the lock on the outside echoed in the silence. Guards would have taken up position outside of the door but it was solid with no hidden panels to peer inside, or so it looked. Tal looked up at the high barred windows near the peak of the roof. There would be no way of climbing up to them to see out. A small table with a wash basin and pitcher of water was the only other furnishing except for the wide bed. Fasha bowed low from the waist as Tal approached. The bed looked inviting, after the days and nights in the iron cage then the moldy straw on the floor off the slave cells. Fasha pulled out the scissor and held them like a knife before her. "I won't lay with you." her eyes were wide and frightened but there was a determination in her stance that showed she was willing to use her weapon if it came to it. Tal looked at her then sat down on the down filled mattress. His bones gave a grateful sigh. "Haven't you drawn enough blood from me already, little girl?" 'I won't lay with you." "I'm old enough to be your father, little one, besides, I'm too tired to do anything but sleep." Tal jerked on boot off,

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then the other stretching his toes and arches, "and, you are the wrong kind for me even if I was inclined. No blankets..." Tal pulled himself onto the mattress and stretched his weary body out on it. "You can sleep on the floor if you want, Fasha, but I'm keeping the bed. I'm entitled to a little comfort after all that I've been through." "You don't want me?" Tal rolled over on his side, showing her his broad back. "No...now shut up and go to sleep." Tal forced himself to relax and even out his breathing while waiting for the scissors to come plunging into his back. It took a long while before the padding of slippers approached the bed. "Commander?" Her voice was low. She reached out and touched his shoulder, "Commander?" Tal kept still as she slowly climbed into the bed. The stone of the floor conducted the cold right into the joints from the feet, he didn't think she would be sleeping there. A little snore rose up from the small bundle beside him. Tal rolled over cautiously; the scissors were nowhere to be seen. He stared up at the peak of the roof high above him. Riverview was able to learn far too much too quickly for any comfort. He had hoped to be able to feed her false information, but Morriso was quick to jump in with Free Lord Reports. They had not prepared...he had not prepared. He lay awake far into the night cursing himself for his folly.

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Chapter 8: Companion Kev fought his way out his sleep gasping for air as if he hadn't been able to breathe. There was no reason for it only...the image of Danny's body and that broken voice. The voice of the Darkness. He rolled up onto the edge of the mattress holding his aching head in his hands. It wanted him to go up to the chambers. He stiffened as the door to his chamber swung open to show the empty corridor. "I can't." The candle beside his bed flickered to life, illuminating the small room. Back in the keep, his chambers were three times the size of this and his bed would have filled this chamber, but that was years ago. He had learned to sleep on straw, eat barely cooked food to wear rough hewn clothing and felt the chill of winter - all for a man who was pledged to another. When he finally had the courage, he approached the Tower and the man hoping that being close would be enough...but it was hell. To see the handsome face laughing. To hear that beautiful voice. To watch that pale body and not touch was too much. A torch that had burnt out across his room burst into flame. Slowly he rose to his feet. Loosely tied his trousers and pulled a tunic over his bare skin. A cool breeze caressed him, but the flicker of the candle or the flame of the torch never moved because of it. The Darkness was beckoning. The stone floor was cold to his bare feet as he padded along the

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floor. The rest of the Tower was silent. Guards stationed throughout stared at him but didn't offer challenge. Then...he was outside the Dark Lord's door. The heavy bolt was pulled back from the inside and swung open. The dim light of the moon filled the room with soft shadows, halting bust as the foot of the bed. A figure thrashed around on it as if fighting someone. "Milord!" Kev ran into the room ready to fight the intruder with his bare hands but the only one on the twisted bedding was the golden haired man. He was naked, a bed tunic lay on the floor beside the coverlets. He stared at the sight. Dimly in the back of his mind he could hear the chamber door close and the heavy bar slide back into position. A small ball of luminance began to glow in a glass chimney at a stand beside the bed. The warm light glistened on the sweat soaked skin. Danny moaned and twisted again, his hand reaching out across the bed groping for someone who wasn't there. His head turned against the pillow sending trails of gold across his forehead. Unbidden Kev let his eyes linger on Danny' readiness. He was in need...and in torment because of it. Hesitantly, Kev lowered himself to the mattress. His hand touched the warm skin and he jumped as something like lightening ripped through his body. The sex between his legs began to stir. Still in sleep. the golden man turned toward the new weight in the bed. Groping hands found a trousered leg and he began to still. Kev laid back as Danny moved toward him, gathering him in an embrace, pressing the full length of his body against his side. Slowly, he raised his arm and

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draped it around the narrow backside, holding him tight against him. What ever the Dark Lord's dreams were prior to this, calmed. Kev savoured the felt of the desire he had pent up so long wash over him. He was with the Dark Lord. The light at the bedside table began to fade. Kev had no intention of sleeping as he lay in the darkness grasping the man who had become his existence. It was that time between night and dawn when he stirred from sleep feeling the undeniable pull of a mouth on his organ. Hands trailed up his thighs, pulling the trousers from his hips, brushing at the private hairs and curling around behind him, fingers pressing at his small hidden secret. The sucking was slow and even, long strokes intent on driving to fruition. Then the fingers...pulling and prodding. "Milord..." He reached down to the golden hair. Strong hands pulled at his hips, twisting him over onto his stomach, crushing his pulsing member beneath him, then the heavy weight of a body pressing against his legs, opening him up to receive whatever was offered. He closed his eyes and forced his teeth into the sheets as he felt the heat of entry. The feeling of being split apart ripped through him, of being so full and burning. Slowly the bar of flesh in him began to move. It was without oil and it burned. Weight pressed hard on his thighs and buttocks, driving him down into the mattress. Kev groaned as he climaxed into the sheets but the steady strokes continued, forcing inwards harder and harder, reaching places not explored.

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A blade of white passion cleaved through him, but the stroking never ceased. Again and again until the organ began again to swell inside and his own excitement re-ignited. Teeth bit into the back of his neck and he felt the hot breath on his shoulders, the fingers digging painfully into his hips, jerking him back onto the skewer inside him. The organ swelled inside and erupted as the stroking pace fell apart. The full weight of the body slumped across his back and pressed his hips down onto the bed. There was a burning in his backside as if something was still there but he hadn't found his second release. A low whimper broke through his teeth. A hand reached between his legs and began to tug expertly on his member. The weight never shifted from him so all he could do was lay still and endure until he felt his own climax wet his stomach. Then the weight rolled away. Kev laid still, feeling the aches in his joints and in his roughly opened nether parts but it was what he had wanted...dreamed of...longed for. Slowly he turned his head and looked toward the man who had just shared with him. He sat on the edge of the bed, his head held in his hands and his torso heaving as if he had just run a long race. Then Kev realized that aside from his own words and groans, all this had been done in silence. "Milord?" "Go to sleep." The words were low, almost a whisper. Kev felt as if he had been slapped hard across the face with a flat leather strap. The wetness beneath him was growing cold. He shifted toward the centre of bed, "Milord..."

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"Kev...go to sleep." The words were almost an implore but the silhouetted figure never turned around. Reaching out his hand Kev gently touched the smooth back that tensed suddenly, "I love you." The Dark Lord finally turned around, his face wet from tears. A cool coverlet was pulled over Kev's sweaty form and he tingled as the back of the Dark Lord's hand caressed his face. "Go to sleep." Danny waited until the breathing behind him steadied into a smooth even pattern. Fresh tears were leaking down his face has he rose and walked toward the wide window. Staring down into the dawn's early light, the fairground was filled with makeshift houses of those who looked to him for protection. He bit back a groan. He awoke to find the warmth of a body next to him and he had done what all those masters back in the red silk rooms had done to him. His privates were tender and protesting the misuse but Kev....the pain of that rape would be with him for days. How did he get up here? {You need a companion, my Chosen. You have learned the art of men and have been conditioned to indulge, not abstain.} "You lead him here." {It was a place he wanted to be. Even Galibraith would not have wanted you to suffer so. Your loyalty does honour to his memory but your body burns for any man's touch. You cannot fight, if you cannot rest. He is your companion and he is my Shield for you.}

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The Darkness drifted away from his inner mind. Slowly people were starting to move around. Smoke rose up from the chimney of Edan's forge. Danny whipped the tears from his eyes then felt for the silver tear from the fine chain around his neck. It pulsed heavily in his hand. Tal was still alive, but he was so far away now, that spirit walking couldn't be done safely. Turning away from the new light, he stood at the side of the bed staring at the long hair spread across the pillow. Even after being sated, he could feel himself start to stir. Kev was beautiful, even in sleep. And he would be so sore. He knew what to do to make the pain more bearable. The touch of healing darkness was enough to bring the red flush from the sun down into a warm browning of the skin and settle Kev into a full sleep. Danny returned to the window to stare out across the misty land, the weight of his actions hard in his chest, but his body earned for sleep - to climb in beside that warm body and just rest like it used to three weeks ago. Danny forced himself to dress and headed over to the large desk against the far wall. A simple gesture brought a small ball of illumination to his hand at set the candles to flame when he past it by. A large map lay spread out across the desk's surface, it was complete but Tal had taken enjoyment in adding fantastical creatures - or so Danny had thought at the time - in the river that bounded the north eastern section of the Dominion. Writing was something that had eluded him, even in the red silk rooms when the masters wanted poetry and song. It was just marks on parchment, and

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it still was. Tal had sat hunched over the wide sheet with a goose feather sharpened to a point and a bottle of ink. When he was done the marks were all over. Danny let his fingers linger on the black sphere and the scratches underneath it. Tal had said that it spelt the Black Tower. From the black sphere, Danny could make out the rest of the Dominion - the forests along the north western marshes, the foothills behind the Tower to the high craig of stone that circled across the back. Everything was there on the map. Danny eased himself on the high stool and stared at the marks. The armies of the Riders couldn't attack from behind because of the escarpment. They would have a hard time getting through the marshes, but they could make it. Something would have to done there. The mist in the river was still hanging like a cloud to confuse and then the high banks the horses would have to climb. A knock sounded on the outside of the chamber door. Danny jumped up from the stool, his mind a whirl. So many things to be done and there was no telling how much time they would have and the wizards with the Riders would be able to detect any dark magicks. Trenches to be dug, stakes to be sharpened. The bar fell back and the door swung open, "Milord, I brought..." The woman's voice faded as she spied the tousled hair in the bed. She curstied quickly, "I'm sorry, milord. I only brought enough for one." "I'll take some apple cider."

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"That is not a proper way to break your fast, Dark Lord. I'll leave this tray and bring another." She glanced back over at the bed then hurried out. Danny shook Kev's exposed shoulder. Warm golden eyes looked up at him from their sleep, "Milord." "Danny...we past the Milord stage before daybreak. You can write?" Kev nodded trying to shake the cobwebs from his head. "Tal said that he was from the south, further than here, is the writing the same?" "No...different languages depends on what kingdom." "Can you read this?" Danny hurried back to the table. Kev pulled on his long tunic and padded to the table to stare down at a intricate map, "The Commander drew this? It's...so magnificent. He was illuminating it?" "Illuminating it?" "Drawing, painting, adding gold." "Tal would work on it at nights in the winter months." "He has everyone's holdings marked here." Danny watched as Kev read off the words, nodding in agreement. "I need you to write down instructions on what should be done in each area." The next time the woman came back, Danny and Kev were at the writing desk, the blonde lord pointing to areas and listing off instructions. The long dark hair of his lover hung forward as the goose quill scratched on parchment. "Thank you, Arlissa." Danny smiled at her then turned his attention back to the map and the writer.

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Arlissa bowed with a slight bend of the knee then turned and hurried back down the circular stone stairs. Several women stood in the kitchens, crowded around the door as she made her way inside. "Well who is it?" "That strange one...he just started here a couple of days ago. Ken?" Mati shook her head, "Kev. He's a beaut...got golden eyes." "I thought he would have gone after Ona." Arliss headed back to the grinding wheel to make the flour needed for the noon meal. Mati nodded, "You only have to look at Talos to see who his father is." Lindaa shook her head, "You weren't from Espy's place, were you. They were bred together, just like horses. Besides, she married to that metalworker...Edan." Arliss's eyes got wide, "HE was a breeder?" "Everyone here has been a slave. I thought you knew that." Lindaa stopped, "Everyone except the poor commander. He used to own him, got him out of a rent house, so I heard. But you didn't hear that from me?" Arliss glanced toward the door, "He was a rent slave?" Her voice was low and full of awe. "Freemen used to ..." Lindaa turned toward the younger women, "We have all been forced to do things by freemen, things that make us sick to our stomachs. The Dark Lord was a slave once, and he didn't have any power. But that was then...this is now. Who he beds or doesn't isn't our concern" "Well, who is this Kev?"

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Mati laughed, "From what I hear, he can't swing a sickle, cut trees or build fences." "Well when I was up there he was writing on the commander's desk. I guess that's just another thing he can do." "What's the first?" Mati queried. Arliss bent over and clutched at her buttocks beneath her skirt. Laughter rose up then died suddenly. Kev stood in the doorway, holding the emptied trays in his hands. A flush of red tinted his cheeks. "Lord Danny asked me to bring these down to you and tell you that your cooking is excellent." "Kev...." Lindaa sputtered as Mati and Arliss suddenly found themselves busy in their work. "We didn't mean any disrespect." "But you meant to hurt, and you did." Kev set the trays down the on the table, turned and left. Silence reined for a moment, then Mati's voice broke the air, "I thought he was going to cry." "It's what they were doing." "Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about." Lindaa admonished both of the younger women. "His brand is gone..." "He has healing powers." "Lord Danny can't heal old wounds...he can't remove scars." Lindaa returned lowly. "Then... "Only the Darkness can..." Mati's eyes got wide, "Then that means, the Darkness has chosen Kev for the Dark Lord."

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Arliss paled, "and he just caught us making fun of him. Lindaa, what could he do?" "If he's got the Darkness and the Dark Lord's blessing, Kev can do whatever he wants. We shut up and do our work and stay out of his way." Edan turned from the forge, "What do you want?" "The Dark Lord has instructions on setting up defences." Kev reached into the pouch slung around his shoulder, "we wants to start today when we finish Kallas's field." "We..aside from yesterday, I haven't seen you out there." "I'm not here to fight with you." "You're not here to work..." "I'm not skilled at much." Edan turned and pointed at the bellows, "My boy can work the pump, you surely can. Slow and even, Keveth." "Kev." Edan snorted and turned back to the glowing metal spike. The iron was beginning to resemble a blade of a spear when Wilns came whistling up the path. "I didn't know you wanted to work so early today." "You did a good turn last night, Wilns, you deserved the rest. Faster..." Edan thrust the cooling rob back into the coaling embers. I cast arrow heads last eve, they'll need an edge. I've never produced such shoddy work before, but I don't know when the Riders will be back.. Faster!" Wilns gestured to the figure working the bellows. Edan gestured back with a hand signal for golden eyes. "I'll get to work then.

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The three worked in silence as the sun's heat began to make the forge unbearable. Kev forced back the groans of pain as his shoulders and arms protested the continuous motion. Sweat plastered his tunic and hair to his body. His throat was tight with thirst but neither Edan or the younger man at the grinding wheel paused for a drink. The heat radiating back from the furnace was making him dizzy but he just tightened his grip on the wooden handles. Yes he was a scholar, because he had been too sickly as a youth to do anything else, but that had past. He could do this. His tongue wet his parched lips and he continued to pump. Edan stared down at the beautiful edges of the spear head, checking for any imperfections then he thrust it into the ever present rain barrel. The steam rose up like a dragon's hiss. "Okay, Kev...you can stop." Ona stepped out of the house, her red hair braided back into a single plait, and her forehead was brushed with flour. "What is it my sweet?" Her fingers flew as she told him that the Dark Lord was looking for Kev, "He's here. He's been helping at the forge." Edan pointed toward the back. Kev was on his knees panting heavily. Ona crossed over to him then gasped. "What is it?" Edan hurried to her side. She had Kev's hands in her lap. They were bloody and torn. "You weren't lying when you said you weren't good at anything." Ona glared up at her husband. She rose to her feet and tugged at Kev's hands to follow. Edan sighed heavily, reached down and dragged Kev to unsteady feet by his tunic

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collar. He reached into Kev's leather pouch and pulled out the list of instructions as Ona brought the weary man inside the house to tend his wounds. "Why did you have him working the bellows constantly like that?" "He wants to work. I'll make him work." "He has tried to work out in the fields." Edan frowned at the plans slightly then looked over at his small stockpile, "When you've been a slave, you don't try you do it." "Are you saying that he's not a slave? I've seen his brand." "Nothing...I just don't like him, Wilns. It looks like we are going to be busy for the next few days. We're going to have to pull men from the fields and start our defence. We'll start at the bridge." "We worked so hard to put that bridge up." "And if we don't take it down, the Rider's are going to have a clear run at us. Take a break then we'll have to load up a wagon and get out there." "What about Kev?" "He's a communications runner. He don't need hands to do that." Ona came walking back out of the house, her face pale. Edan waved Wilns away and stepped close to her. "What is it my wife?" Her hands flashed a message then she touched her small delicate 's' on her face then reached up and touched Edan's...he remembered how hard he fought the Eastern

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Banner slavers when the came to press the hot iron to his flesh and because of his fighting, it was skewed and ugly. Then the rest of her message came. "How can it be gone?" "I thought the Dark Lord couldn't heal scars." Ona shook her head...and pointed to the black tower scaling upwards behind them. "The Black Tower healed him?" Ona shrugged and shook her head. The sign for lover burned into Edan's chest. The Dark Lord had taken a new companion...a younger more handsome man... he had taken Espy's slave spawn as his own..

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Chapter 9: Confessional Tal paced the small cell. Below he had heard the claxon's of another armies approach at the midday meal, and he had quietly been forced up into the tower cell to wait. Riverview's guards said nothing as they locked him inside and took up position outside of the door. The windows were too high to see from...all he could do was pace and listen...horses, soldiers and wagons...but wagons filled with what? Deep within his heart he felt that Danny would try to contact him again, and he dreaded it. He had found out that Denso was a competent sorcerer, but his skill was more in the 'confessional' side of things. These new torturer priests would be better at everything...they were with the first company. If Danny came to him again, those priests would be ready and who knew what would happen...but if Danny did try, the effort and danger would have to worth it. The love he held in heart was not enough to have the Dark Lord risk all the Dominion so he wanted information...troop size, riders, weapons.... The door to the cell swung back and the dark haired priest came inside, "I hope you are prepared for your confessional. Brother Polc will not be as lenient as I." "You should compare yourself to a boy that rips the legs from spiders..." "Spiders are not evil creatures...present your hands, lost one...we will try and save your immortal soul from the damnation that you have fallen into."

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The mere thought of enduring another session like the one at the temporary camp sent Tal into motion. Denso's head snapped backwards as the heel of Tal's hand connected with the underside of the chin. He lashed out with his heel and caught the side of the priest's knee, kicking as hard as could. The crack of bones parting echoed in the chamber. The guards were slow to react. Tal rushed the one closest to him, driving his elbow into the man's throat. The eyes bulged as his windpipe collapsed, but his hands grabbed at Tal, pulling him off balance. The second guard cleared the scabbard with his sword as Tal shook the dying man off. Tal reached for the hilt of the fallen man's broadsword and...pain like he had never know ripped through his fingers, setting his nerves on fire, searing his arm. He tried to let go but it was like he was stuck to it. The agony intensified. Screams batted at his ears, making his head ring but it was his own voice. The screams stilled when the guard drove the pommel of the sword down into his head...and blackness took him down into unconsciousness. When Tal awoke, his hand was numb and he tried to move his fingers...he couldn't feel them. A strap held his head firmly to a table, tight bands crossed his chest, waist and legs. The coolness of the wood was a balm to his heated flesh, then he realized that he was tied down, naked. He was back in Confessional. He struggled against the straps but they were firm. He couldn't even twist his head. A white haired man stepped into view, "You are awake much quicker than I expected. You are resilient."

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"Who are you?" "I am called Polc." The older man moved closer, leaning over Tal's face, touching the grey brow with a soft finger, "And I will be your deliverer from evil." "I don't need saving..." "You have been blinded for so long, Sergeant Tal Kegsetter. When you are brought back into the light, you will wonder why you resisted Denso. He will never walk again without a cane, Sergeant. His knee was too shattered to heal." "Serves the bastard right..." Tal snarled back forcing down the fear that knotted in his stomach. He tensed as Polc's palm laid directly over the knot. "I can feel your fear, Sergeant...it gnaws at your stomach like a snake. You resisted Denso but he broke through a little part of you...your true self. I can use that." Even though Tal knew the tightness, the restraints....he fought against them. "Struggle if you have to, Sergeant...it won't do you any good. I had not planned to start with you until tonight, but since the preparations are already made, I believe I can start now. Unlike Brother Denso, I prefer to use more divine enticement, but the use of physical pain is part of that. When you are in the light of the Holy One, you will be grateful for this." Polc's face was a contradiction, a serene calming expression stared down at Tal but the ball of fire dancing on the ends of the Priest's exquisitely formed fingertips. "First, a little pain to test your endurance and when I have gaged

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what it will take to reach your true self, we will start from there." "Butcher!" Tal clenched his teeth tight together as the fire burnt at his flesh...the pain was just as intense as that of touching the blade. It was hard biting the screams back as the flame moved from his chest to his legs, feet and finally groin. Tears blurred the white headed figure into a ghost but one of malicious intent. "Bring the vice." Movement told Tal that this one preferred to work in company . There was an increased pressure on his right wrist and he knew that some sort of device had been attached. Polc moved to his right, extinguishing the brief flame he had called up, picked up an iron mace, holding it up to Tal's face so he could not confuse what was about to happen. "You have ten fingers, Sergeant Kegsetter, or may I call you Tal." Tal spit blood and saliva up at the white haired man's face. More of the spittle handed on his own face rather than on his target but the sentiment was not missed. "Tal, every time that I have to repeat a question, I will crush part of your hand... Starting at the fingernail and working back to the larger knuckle. It would be to your benefit to speak to me now before I have to start this." "Carrion" "So be it, Tal." Then the questions began... "How many families live in the Dominion?" Tal pinched his lips closed.

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"How many fighting men? What kind of weapons do they have? Where are their provisions stored? Don't resist us, lost one, it will only make the pain more intense. Answer our questions." "Go to your maker." The taste of iron, the taste of blood, filled his mouth "How many fighting men?" The vice was tightened on the wrist. Tal clenched his teeth together as feeling rushed back into his hand...it felt like it was burnt and curled into a claw from the searing it had taken when he grabbed the edged weapon but the pain was like nothing that he had experienced before. Cold sweat broke out on his body as the pain intensified. "This is the last time I will ask this question, how many fighting men are there in the Dominion." Polc lifted a heavy metal mace then slammed it down on the smallest digit of Tal's trapped hand. White hot agony ripped up his arm. A scream erupted from his lips. He bucked hard against the restraints until unseen hands forced him flat and still. "What kind of weapons do they have?" The Commander's screams lasted well into the night before silence fell on the holding. Lord Morriso's guards had taken the initial screaming as a regular session that each of them had partaken at one time or another but as the night wore on and the man's agony filled cries continued, fear and disgust sat in their hearts. Eyes would turn up to the lit Tower as they walked their post silently wishing that the shrieking would cease. The slaves huddled in their pens, some openly crying, others crouching against the wall with their hands

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pressed tightly over their ears. The moon had past it's highest point before the wailing ceased...The Bossmen walked the pens listening to the quiet whimpers and weeping but the snap of the whip was silent. Even the muffled sobs was welcomed over the sudden startling silence. "Can it be done?" The High Commander, Xerros, queried reaching for a goblet of red wine. His hawk like features were defined to the point of being bony, but the piercing conviction of his vocation was easy to see in his hazel eyes. Joelle always found herself uneasy around him, because in the flicker on the torchlight those eyes could be brown, green, or grey in a matter of a few heartbeats. His short cropped hair seemed at odds with his nose and bushy brows but there was an air of command and a presence about him that made his physical appearance ominous. In jest and as well of out of respect, Xerros was known as Death's Harbinger. The Polc nodded, "It will take longer, but it can be done. We can turn him." His body newly washed and perfumed so that the scent of his work was away from the dining table. Ravenously the white haired man piled cheeses and smoked meat onto his wooden plate. "I find him to be remarkable. I've never encountered anyone with his fortitude before." "He's strong." Joelle spoke up, her white and red robes replaced with a soft grey robe and green side less surcoat. Polc nodded in agreement, "I've never encountered anyone with the strength of will he has" "He believes in his cause - no matter that it is evil and desolate." Joelle returned sipping at the wine, letting it roll in

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her mouth. The screams of the commander had set her stomach into a tight knot of anger...that in itself was exceptional but even looking at Polc made her want to heave out the small dinner she had had earlier in the evening. "He said nothing in confessional?" Xerros stared at the priest, his eyebrows arched in disbelief. "Nothing...he wouldn't even state his name. I had give him the illusion that I destroyed his whole hand before he past out because of the pain, and he revealed nothing." "He was a mercenary...what company?" "Highland Horde." Joelle handed over the sheets of parchment that held all the records of Sergeant Kegsetters history. "Excellent company. Good reputation. He learned his business well. However, we need those details to plan an attack. Commander Riverview, I'll leave you in charge of a raiding party. Not all of those lost souls have the heart of the black commander, we should get the information we need from them." "Three should be more than sufficient." The high priest added turning away to head back to his work. Joelle nodded, saluted her superior officers then turned on her heel and left the chamber. There as a tightness in her throat and a cool ball of fear in her stomach. They hadn't met the Dark Lord face to face. They hadn't felt his power and they hadn't listened to Tal's conviction of right. They wanted three prisoners. How many Riders under her command would die getting them here.

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The only maps that were available were the ones kept in the local registry in Morriso's holding. Aside from being the largest holding of the Freelord, it was the most centrally placed and the most logical to be the focal point for the alliance. Espy's holdings were small surrounded by a high escarpment and a wide deep river. Fertile flatlands were to the west but they were also surrounded and protected by the river. As for the rest of the place, it was marked as forest and uninhabitable. None of the other holdings were properly mapped either...From her own memory, she know that the main concentration of the village was to the southeast corner. The problem was to get into the heart and back out again.

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Chapter 10: Little Sister Danny could hear the whispers and the gestures as he stepped out into the narrow banquet hall before everyone fell silent. All the details to the preparations were being carried out, and he had ridden Steppedancer out to the view the work and everyone there had fallen silent as well. Betrayer rang in his heart. He closed his fist around the small silver tear, steady it thumped on his flesh. Then Kev's lean form appeared from the kitchens holding a plain copper pitcher. Danny felt himself stirring. Watching the young man just walking made his body harden with desire. [Yes, you want him.] the Darkness's voice was low and seductive as is filtered through his head, [He would not protest you're taking him right here...]. "You are offering something that you don't have." Kev turned toward the entry way and even from the space that separated them, Danny could see the fire erupt in the golden eyes... [He is yours, body and soul...command him as you desire, as he desires. He has longed for your command for five years...] "Everyone out." Danny motioned for Kev to stay right where he was, the blue-eyed stare pinning him to the floor. The feeling was a kin to hunting prey as Danny stalked up to the younger man. Kev physically trembled as Danny stopped just inches from him. "Did I hurt you this morning?"

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low. "I attacked you like a rabid dog...you should have fought." "I wanted you...do you want me to fight?" "No..." Danny let his palm touch the warm skin of the jaw, "I don't want rape...not even in play. This day has been hard for you hasn't it..." "The Commander endured." "But you are not as strong as the Commander." Kev's face flushed red, but he couldn't pull his eyes away..."every little word is like a cut with a knife...you're bleeding inside, Kev. If you want to be my companion, you'll have to harden yourself." Danny caught the bandaged hands..."This cannot happen again. The only one you have to prove yourself to is me and I need you to read and write." Kev shivered as the Dark Healing mended his hands once more. "I cannot be with you every moment of the day..." "I want to help." "We have enough strong hands working in the fields without adding yours. Sit and eat." Danny gestured to the place set at the far end of the table. It was presumptuous of the staff to think Kev was more than just a night warmer still..."Bring your plate here." He pulled out the wooden hair on his right. Kev looked stunned for a moment...it was the Commander's place. Danny read the indecision in Kev's honeyed eyes "It is the place of my companion...it is yours."

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The meal was eaten in silence...but it was a comforting one. There were sidelong looks, no half seen gestures no broken conversations. Danny watched as Kev dug into the small chicken chewing the tender flesh, and then licking the grease from his fingers. Desire shafted through him. The Darkness was right. He had been conditioned to indulge...not abstain and the peace he had felt in his limbs today was because of this man. But he was too thin...he needed to eat more. A wry laugh broke out of his throat. How many times had Tal hold him the same thing? "You're nothing but skin and bones, Danny, here, this will put some meat on you." the humour filled voice filled his head. "I shouldn't be here." Kev's voice was low but the intensity burning in the golden eyes begged for an answer. "Tal would approve of you..." "That is not what I meant." "I still love the Commander, Kev. He will always be in my heart. He gave me so much and it would be an insult to forget him, but you are here now...and you are beautiful, intense and stubborn." Danny tapped the back of Kev's hands as a reminder of the healing they had just undergone. Kev's flesh burned where the Dark Lord's hand had touched him. There was a dark smoldering in the blue of his lover's eyes. The pang of hunger fell away to be replaced with a different kind of hunger. One that he thought would never be sated. "I love you." Danny smiled back, "I know that, Kev. Eat, the night is long and you will need your strength for tomorrow. I need

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you to write a letter asking the Highland Horde for their assistance." "Mercenaries.." Kev thought back of the time when he was at the academy in Karlashka, a city of merchants and learning. The main holding of the Mercenary Guild was there and the streets were always filled with dangerous looking men. Men who killed for gold. "We need fighters...we need weapons...we need experience. If Tal were here, we might be able to make a stand against the Illumination because he has fought battles like that. I've listened and watched but I am not a fighter." Danny drank deeply from his silver goblet. The wine was bitter, but the bite was something he expected - slave wine. Tal had a ship of 'good' wine brought in but it was cloying and sweet. The night of the Horde's raid on the bandits was quick and impressive and it was an image that was burnt into his mind. Kev's voice broke into his thoughts, "Would mercenaries fight for slaves?" "We are not slaves, Kev." "Others don't see that." There was bitterness in his tone. "Others don't matter...we are free. I want you to write what I tell you and in the morning, I want you to take Steadfast and ride out to the Horde." Danny saw the color pass from Kev's face, "Don't worry, I'll talk to the stubborn cuss before you ride him...he is a loyal animal." "You're sending me away." "No. Your brand is gone, you can travel outside of these borders without fear of ending up on the block as a runaway."

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Danny rose and beckoned Kev toward the curtained window. The sun was fading from the sky turning the sky crimson and orange. "Aside from you and I, there is no one else who could freely travel, and you know that I cannot leave here...I promised them freedom and I will give it to them...if I can't, I will have to kill them all, down to the smallest suckling babe...No one will bow before another in broken spirit again. I need your help Kev to keep my promise and vow, because I can not do it alone." The pain in the Dark Lord's voice was easy to distinguish as well as the determination. If the Illumination could not be stopped, he would take all the Dominion with him into death. "I will do whatever you ask, Milord." "Call me, Danvos..." Kev hesitantly reached out and caressed the stubbled skin along the golden man's jaw line. "I would die for you." "You just might have to do that, Kev. We all might." The blue eyes turned from the village scene below capturing Kev with it's sorrowful gaze, "Tonight is ours...I am not so uncaring as this morning...and I would like to show you that." Using the edge of his fingers, he lifted Kev's face up slightly, leaning forward to brush at the parted lips. "Tomorrow, you will ride out of the Dominion but that is hours away. Share my bed with me, Kev." Danvos stepped backwards extending a hand out to the younger man, "Let me show you what I can do for you." Kev sat on the coverlet of the bed, frozen at the exotic man before him. Gold paint was applied expertly on the lids of the azure eyes and then the rims of the eyes were outlined

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with black, pointing backwards. The same gold glittered along the high cheeks and lips, nipples and thighs. A thin, almost transparent, cloth hugged the man's form, framing the hidden manhood and hinting at the design and size of it. "Danovs..." Tentatively Kev reached out and touched the warm skin. A sharp stab of wanting ripped through his groin. "Command me to your pleasure." "...I can’t..." Danvos' hair was pulled back into an oil-slicked knot secured with a small piece of golden leather. "When you are outside of these borders, any hesitancy with slaves will see you up on the block yourself by slavers hands. I do not want to see that done to you again, Kev. You will need practice. I am your slave, command me to your pleasure." "...don't do this..." Kev's voice was tortured. Danvos lowered himself to his knees, lowered his head to the booted feet then crawled forward to press his lips against the leather. "I am honored that you chose me, Master." He snaked his hands up the calves to the tensed thighs and the tightened the cloth across the groin. Before his fingers could start at the lacings, Kev forced him away. “I’ve been told my mouth is talented.” "I can't do this." He hung his head in his hands, "not like this." Danvos rose to his feet the azure eyes were now hardened into icy chips, "This is part of who I am...I was a rent boy and I was good at it..." His' voice dropped to a whisper, "and there are times when I miss it." Kev's tear streaked face raised up.

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Danvos crossed to the large corner mirror, staring at the golden reflection, "I knew what was expected. I was fed, clothed, bathed by the Mistress. I slept on silk pillows. I wore scents designed only for me. My only concern was to give the Master what he desired. One thing at a time. Serve the Master, then the day was mine until the next one came and the next one." "The Commander never saw this." Kev climbed off the bed to stand behind Danny, the warm palms resting on the gold dusted shoulders. "You need this...you only have the Harvest Festival to be free and it's not enough." Danvos met the golden gaze in the mirror, "I love the Commander but Tal just did not want to understand this part of me. I did this once for him...he left me and didn’t come back for two days. I never offered it again." "You've given up so much for the Dominion and no one realizes how much...not even the Commander." Gold and Blue gazes clashed in the reflection, "I like your hair free. Take off the binding. I didn’t give you permission to stand in my presence." Kev's voice was low and growled in Danvos ear. A shiver past through the golden body as Kev pressed himself tightly to his backside. Danvos pulled the leather binding from his hair and gracefully lowered himself to his knees. Kev's hands spread it out, laying it on the shoulders. The sheen of tears was visible on the skin but there was a iron gaze captured the blue eyed in the mirror. "In the morning I ride away on a mission of great importance, but tonight you are mine. You're only worry is to please me."

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Yes, Master." Kev bent over and held Danvos chin with one hand. He raised it up and brushed the other along the rent boy’s jaw line. "Your Mistress has been too lenient with you. Make sure that I don't regret my choice, my northern beauty." "Yes Master." Danvos turned kissing Kev’s palm gently before lowering himself to his Master’s boots.

Kev lay awake in the dim light of the moon, the golden man laid pressed tight to his side. His own flesh glistened with the gold paint. His fingers stroked the silky hair. It had been sweet and savoury. He had thought having the Dark Lord in him last eve was enough, but having this golden body was something that couldn't be sated. The way he had cried out at the peak was forever burnt into his memory. {You have done well, he rests} Kev stiffened as the voice of darkness filled his mind, {You haven't forgotten your heritage as well as you thought.} "Leave us alone." The laughter that rumbled through his mind made his hair on his neck stand on end. {And you fall back into that role easily, Lord Espys} "What do you want." {I hunger.} "Shouldn't you tell this to Danny" {My Chosen will have other concerns to occupy his time. You are his Shield, my secondary feeding is now your duty. I

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will accept the blood of a newborn calf...fill a bucket and bring it to the alter.} Kev shuttered. {You have not killed before Shield, but you will soon be doing enough of it that it will no longer bother you. Blood my alter before the moon reaches it's zenith. I will attend you there.} Danny slumbered on when Kev eased himself from the bed. The night's air was cool and crisp to the lungs. The calf's struggles as Kev forced a blade across the throat made him ill. The filling of the bucket, the hot spray on his face and hands made his stomach lose the meal he had eaten. His muscles ached with the heaving, but he carried the hot bucket of blood up into the tower. He tried not to think of how the blood was drying tight on his skin. A black dagger appeared on the centre of the alter. The chains that held murderers were lying on the black floor a reminder of the Illumination's attack. {Take the dagger.} The hilt was cool to the touch. {Pour the blood on the alter} The deep red liquid was sucked into the stone. Kev fully expected to get drenched with the spill and had tightened his lips to keep from retching in the heart of the Tower. {Add your offering. Cut your wrist and set it on the alter} Kev bit back a scream of pain as the blood was wrenched from his wrist, his knees dropped out from under him and he listed sideways, but the powerful sucking at his opened vein made him hang there suspended by that one wrist. His body

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shuttered as power ripped through him. His sleeping organ stirred to life and spewed its seed as the feeding continued. Then it ceased. Kev hit the black stone floor hard, his head slamming into the corner of the alter. The power drained away leaving behind a new sensation...something in him had been reborn. His body aching, he cradled his wrist to his body as he forced himself to sit up. Blackness swirled around the enclosed room then morphed into a man's form of solid black. {There is something rich about the blood of a nobelman. My Chosen's offering is pure, but yours is sweet.} Kev shivered as the solid hand lifted his chin. {I have a gift for you, Shield} The black alter groaned as the Darkness pushed it backwards, revealing a hidden cache beneath it. The torchlight did little to illuminate what was inside. The iron chest rose up from the cache and settled beside Kev's still shuddering body then the alter moved back in place. The lock on the front was closed with rust but the Darkness past a hand over it and it fell to the floor in pieces. Inside was armour, so black that it absorbed all the light that hit it - chain mail, greaves, bracers, helm, circular shield and the hilt of a sword trapped in black leather scabbard. "The Illumination will be able to track me." {All you see is a metalworker's art except for this} The Darkness picked up the sword. {This is as old as I. She serves her masters well but her demands are as great as my own. Galbraith learned that lesson too late. When she

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advises, you heed her. When she hungers, you feed her. When she sleeps, guard her.} The sound of the metal clearing the scabbard was liken to thunder, Kev could feel it deep in his chest. The sword's feminine voice sang piercingly in his head. His hands lifted to cover his ears uselessly. The rage that ripped through him was nothing like he had ever felt before but it wasn't his. Denias - that was her name. She was in a fury because she had been trapped beneath the alter for centuries, and then her hunger hit him. {No, my little sister. He is your new servant...give him time to recover from my feeding and he will see to yours.} "Why are you giving me her?” {Kegsetter is a soldier, a tactical thinker. My Chosen is a Protector and Healer. You are a trained scholar but that is not your true calling - you are the Warrior, you are the healer's shield and arm.} "I know nothing about fighting..." {Denias will guide and serve you as long as you care and feed her. Give her the flesh of the calf, the blood she needs will drawn from that. Guard him well, little sister.} The naked blade was laid into Kev's hands; the heat of the hilt was like that of a person. The sword's hunger was so strong; Kev reeled from it. The Darkness sank back into the alter leaving the black room nothing but that...a room. The ache in his wrist made me look down fully expecting to see the wide jagged gash there, but there was nothing - not even a faint white line of a healed scar. He picked up the scabbard and tried to set the point to

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the slit but the sword, Denias fought his arm. The hunger beat at him again. He felt like a weak child as he carried the naked blade through the silent Tower. When he returned to the bedchamber, the light of the moon had waned to a mere sliver. His hair hung in wet locks from the standing wash he took in the stable. There was little left of the calf...a bloodless hide and yellow bones when Denias was finished easing her centuries old hunger. The blade of the sword gleamed silver bright when the sensation of the peace settled over Kev. This time there was no protest when he brought the point to the scabbard. It slid in easily. The glitter still hung on the bed sheets, sparkling in the faint light. Kev laid the plain black leather scabbard at the foot of the bed. He had left this bed little more than three hours but he felt as if he had lived a lifetime. When the sun came up in the sky, he would dress in the armor the Darkness had given him and ride away from the one place he felt as if he could truly belong. He eased himself into the bed, sliding over to the warmth of the body still there. His stomach was tight with sickness at having to kill a defenseless animal, gathering it's life in a bucket and feeding an ancient power with it then a peace swept through him, un-knotting his stomach, comforting his thoughts with a feminine touch. "Denias." The whisper filled the chamber then he fell asleep.

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Chapter 11: The Hordes Response Karlashka. The city of mercantile, mercenaries and houses of wealth and poverty. The sights and sounds washed over Kev evoking memories and assaulting his ears after growing used to the silence of the Tower and the low murmur the of small village in it's shadow. Steadfast pranced sideways, shying from the scurrying passers by. Kev didn't need Danny's horsespeak to know that this grey warhorse forgotten how cramped it could be as well. Innocents brushing against him with their hands filled with packages and intent on their business. The grey ears flicked back and forth, the years of war training battling with the years of quiet and lazing in the sun ripened pastures. "You know the way better that I, Steadfast. Take me to the Guild's quarters." The reins jerked in his hands then the great beast started forward, using it's wide chest to push it's way through the crowds. The stench of human waste, rotting garbage and death hung in the air, fighting with the sweet smells of vendors pies and spicy incense. The black armour weighed heavily on his shoulders and chest. Denias hummed contentedly in the scabbard strapped across his back. Since he last feeding she had fallen silent, her hum in his mind a balm against the crowd noise. Unbidden memories washed his mind as he spied a tavern sign - the weather beaten and paint faded Man on a Donkey - the place were he had frequented with the other noblemen’s sons. The mead would be warm, the beer would

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be warm but the food was excellent for a tavern and the serving slaves.... He snapped his remembrances shut. That man had died long ago. The heat of the spring sun was making the padding beneath the armour almost unbearable. Again came the warning not to take it off. Steadfast stiffened as a boy darted out and ran under his lower belly. The dark haired child turned back and made an obscene gesture when Kev shouted after him. Hot white anger ripped through his head, flaring into tight knots of pain at his temples. Denias' leather wrapped hilt was in his hand before Kev fought of the urging. The urchin had seen the anger and the hint of the blade. He turned and vanished into the crowd. "You will have more flesh and blood than you will know what to do with soon enough." It was an effort to take his hand away from the hilt. "Get us to the Guild Steadfast." The streets narrowed down as the horse and rider moved further away from the main thoroughfare. Steadfast clomped steadily forward, pausing at small intersections to get his bearings then leading forward again. "Keveth? It is you!" The shout came from a high window. Kev looked up into a smiling bearded face. Quinlan?" "Come on up here. Janus is here too!" Denias motioned caution then continued on with her calm hum. There was a tether ring set into the cut stone of the merchants house. Steadfast snorted and stomped disapproval at being left out in the open. The soldier and the horsespeaker would never had done this.

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"What the heck are you doing in armour?" Janus asked before Quinlan's elbow caught him hard in the chest. "What? Oh." "We heard what happened to your father's holding." "What did you hear?" Janus and Quinlan exchanged glances then Quinlan started, "That a band of mercenaries came in and killed everyone, your family and the slaves for some nobelman." Kev shook his head slowly. How the Free Lords were determined not to let the slave rebellion get out. "What are you doing now, Kev?" "I work for a Lord." "But the armour?" "I have discovered I have another talent besides scholarly pursuits. Enough, what is happening with you two. It's been five years since I last saw you, what have you been doing..." Quinlan pulled a chain from under his silken over tunic and showed a miniature painting there. "This is my wife and my daughter." "You married Janus?" "I still have the need to spread my presence amongst the populous." He laughed as he locked up the huge leather bound book he was writing in. "I see no signs of wedded bliss on you, Keveth. You should come to the Raver's Mug with me tonight." "I have made commitments that I can't break." Janus shook his head, "She would never know." "I would." An uneasy silence fell on the trio. Janus cleared his throat,

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"It was good to see you again, Keveth. If you are going to be in town for a while, we should get together and share a couple of mugs. If you will excuse me, I have a bevy of beauties awaiting me at the Raver." Janus made a quick wave and walked away. "You are welcome to come to my house and have dinner with my family. It will not be a fine affair but the meal will be filling." Kev looked at Quinlan and knew that he was sincere with his offer. Denias had looked into his soul and sent back the mirror image. He was sincere and concerned but uneasy and frightened as well. It was the fear that bit at Kev(s insides. Quinlan and he used to be the keeper of each other’s confidences. Denias flared to life in a shot of hot jealousy. Kev staggered under the weight of her emotion. Quinlan reached out a hand to steady him then pulled back as if he were burnt. Now the fear was a strong scent that filled Kev(s nostrils. (Thank you for the offer Quinlan, but I must refuse.( (What has happened to you?( (Too many things, my old friend, and it would be to you and your family’s safety not to associate with me.( (Keveth...( (no. My names is Kev and I am not the boy you once knew." Quinlan reached up for the reins and then leap back as equine teeth snapped at his sleeve. "Keveth, you didn't have to leave...you had friends here."

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"I was without coin and had enemies who I once thought of as family. If I couldn't turn to my blood, I didn't have anyone." 'How did you get to wear that?" Quinlan pointed at the scabbard and Denias' leather wrapped hilt. "I have a new blood family, now. And this is the role that has been chosen for me. I am not the person you knew, Quinlan. If anyone ever asks, you had best deny ever knowing me." Steadfast continued forward and Kev sat on his broad back rigid and fighting the urge to turn around. That life was gone now. This new one, he would grow into. He had sworn a blood oath to his beloved and the Darkness and unlike his kin - his ties would never be broken - not even in death

The council of the Mercenary Gild sat at a low scarred and rough-hewn table. The circle of men and women sat with an ease and confidence that belayed that they were self-made. There were outward signs of wealth that would dazzle an applicant’s eye, unless they knew the price of amour and weapons. The door slipped open for a moment and an older man limped inside and took his place against the wall listening in silence to the tableaux before him. Kev stood still, the weight of the black armour heavy upon his shoulders and the ache of the long ride had settled into his spine but he stood strong. Denias whispering in his mind that weakness would get him killed here in the den of the dogs of war.

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"And you have brought the petition with you." The words were a command, not a statement nor a question. Those who came to the Guild had best know what they were up against. "I have" Kev reached slowly into the courier pouch at his hip and pulled out the oil skin wrapped scroll. A man with a jagged half healed scar running from his nose to his cheek took it from him and handed it to the large grey haired man who sat in the centre and spoke as the head. "As for the fee..." the jagged scar started. "There will be no discussion of gold until an agreement has been made." Kev returned evenly. 'You are insulting the Council boy." Jagged scar snarled. "I will not discuss money in open council." "Who the hell are you? You're a snivelling little fancy boy playing at soldier. I could slit your throat from ear to ear as you stand here..." Denias' wrath ripped through him. His hand was on the hilt of her blade before the grey haired man's voice broke through the tension. "This posturing doesn't impress the Council." "While we stand here, women and children are being trampled under the hooves of war horses. Read the offer, and give it to Captain Streeves." 'You bandy names about easily boy. You know him?" "Not I, but my Lord is familiar with him." "And the name of your Lord." "It is in the offer. You need only read it." "Where will you be, when the council makes it decision."

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"The Red Cockerel Inn." "We will reach you there." Kev nodded, turned on his heel and walked out of the room. The guards still stood at the open door but this time they gave no sign of acknowledgement as he walked out into the warm night. Denias hummed contentedly in her scabbard. Steadfast stomped his front foreleg as Kev gathered up the reins. The scarred and nicked ears flicked back and forth in anticipation of a warm stable and plentiful oats. Kev sighed and let the weight of the black armour sink his shoulders down. Sleep would be good now.

"And who the hell is this boy who has the balls of iron?" A black haired woman demanded rising from here chair. "He is the envoy of the Dark Lord of the Dominion." "Dark Lord...Dominion - those are child's stories." "Then why is the Illumination marching through Karlashka. The First Brigade has passed through here less than a fortnight ago heading southward - the same place this Dominion is. Have you ever known the Illumination to march without motivation? "Why does he want the Highland Horde? It's just the vanguard left - the veterans. He should have come after the Red Ravers if he plans on taking on the Illumination." Relis read over the parchment again. It was tradition that the offer be written, but few could read in these times. Of the eleven Captains here, there were only three who could read well enough, and the boy's refusal to state the offer aloud, told

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him that he knew something of the Council...or his Dark Lord knew something of it." "The Dominion. There have rumours for years that there was a place like that." "A land where there is no slavery. If there was such a place, it must have taken the name of the legend to keep the owners away." "Fairy stories. My mother used to terrorize us with that when we wouldn't sleep at night. The Dark Lord and his redeyed demons would come and get us. Child's stories" Relis shook his head, "You haven't been to the journal rooms in the catacombs, Katus. You haven't read the Captians’ reports from that time. The Dark Lord and the Darkness where real. He rose up like a hungry wolf and devoured most of the land and men under his crimson banner. Sorcery and soldiers were his weapons. He would wage battles from sunrise to well past sunset using men, beast and demons. Blood Hill has it's name because of the rivers of red that ran from the battlefield down, staining the earth red.' 'Kings, nobles, princes and common men lay strewn like the debris after a whirlwind. In one journal, the captain writes that the Dark Lord came forward and laid his hand to a small pool of blood, the ground shuddered as the blood of the dead began streaming, to form a river that the demons feasted on for days.' 'A land with a legendary name, a Dark Lord and the Illumination. It bodes evil for us, either way." Relis set the scroll back on the table.

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"The Illuminations is a zealous army. Any one who challenges them and looses is dead. There will be no hope for a ransom or for slavery." "Then we turn it down." Relis shook his head, "The offer is not made to the Council. It is made to the Highland Horde. We can do nothing but pass it onto Streeves." "And if he accepts it?" "Then the unsteady truce we have had with the Illumination will be at an end, then my fellows, we will all be working for many a long year." Edmot limped out of the chamber and headed down the long narrow hall toward the assigned quarters of the Horde. He rapped his scarred knuckles on the door and waited for the Captains command. "Sir, there is a boy here with Kegsetter's warhorse." "Kegsetter?" Streeves looked up from the journal he was writing in, the black of the ink staining his fingers and palm. "What is this boy doing here?" "He wants to hire the Horde, sir. He's got custom armour." "Describe him to me." "Brown hair, yellow eyes, dark skin. Only about" the solider raised his hand to his shoulder, "this high." "That's not the Sergeant’s slave. What is this boy doing with Kegsetter's horse? I want to know is if Kegsetter is still alive. Bring the boy to me." "Sir, he only made his request to the Guild today. The ordinances says...."

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"Don't quote the ordinance to me. Do you have the official request?" "No sir, I was standing there when I overheard him talking to the Council. He wants to hire the Horde to fight the Illumination in the kingdom called the Dominion." "The Illumination. What would they we doing attacking a kingdom within these lands, and why didn't we hear of it? Usually they have their white robes on every street corner proclaiming their victory even before they had fought the battle." "Should I make an official request sir?" "We can't officially act on anything before we are notified by the Guild. Have someone watch him. I want to know what he does, where he goes, who he fucks if that is his inclination and I want to know how come he has Kegsetters horse." "It is possible that the Sarge is dead, sir." "That maybe the explanation, but Steadfast is a one rider horse. I can't see that hellhorse letting anyone else ride him. Tail him...I want to know everything he does before we get official notification. As soon as we do, I want him brought here." "Understood, sir.

Below, through the stained wooden floor, Kev could hear the sound of muted laughter and music. a woman's voice rose high as she let loose a scream of joyous ecstasy. He sat hunched over on the narrow cot. The thin tunic plastered to

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his torso from the effort it took to wear that heavy black armour. Denias rested across his thighs, her weight relaxing and her essence sending calming waves through him. Kev blinked and looked up to the burning candle. He had gold in his pocket. There was food, song and women below for the taking. There was a time, not so long ago that the small delicate brand on the temple wouldn't have bothered him. It meant that that body was schooled in desire and pleasure. A gold coin would have been worth the night of endeavour. His blood began to stir as the vision of gold played in his mind's eye. The touch of the smooth skin, the way the chest shuddered when fingers trailed over golden nipples. Denias flared with impatience. "You've known, The Dark Lord is first." Kev whispered down to the silver blade. "I don't want any other." Denias' flare died down. "Tomorrow, we would hear something about the offer. Regardless of the decision, we will ride out before sunset. I don't like the city any more." Denias protested against the scabbard so Kev laid her at his side as he stretched his frame on the narrow cot. The noise below stayed at a constant level but it turned to a drone that eased the weariness and carried him off to slumber. Danvos eased himself down, pressing the glided form up against his chest and thigh. The heat shot through his body. "Let me please you, my beautiful master." A hot tongue trailed around the smooth skin of his lips, seeking entry to this mouth. Kev could feel his member standing, rubbing against the warmth, basking it the heat.

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"yes..." A strong sucking at his groin made his breath catch in his throat as the sensations produced by that talented mouth grew in intensity. Moans issued from his throat as his essence was drained away. A woman's face hovered above his mouth - her long hanks of hair hung down around her face, trailing on his chest. Blood tinted her lips. The moonlight broke into the narrow window. Blood dripped from her hair. "Serve me well, my Champion, and I will make sure that you want for nothing." Kev pushed at the woman. His hands past through the air. Red stained teeth widened into a smile. The hard silver plates of her blood soaked armour gleamed dully as she rose to her full height. The scent of death was still in his nose, on his skin. "Why?" "You are my Champion. If you are hungry, I will fill you. If you are restless I was ease you. When you are in battle, I will kill for you. When you are in pain, I will ease it. We are one now Champion." Red stained skin reached down and touched the blade, "When the full moon is upon us - I hunger." Kev watched was Denias misted into a shadow that sucked itself back into the lifeless metal. "I have not eaten my fill in centuries, Champion. Feed me the flesh of man." Kev turned and heaved the remains of his dinner onto the floor of the room. There was a stickiness drying between his legs. Denias gleamed dully in the faint light. Kev pressed the

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point to the scabbard and breathed in relief as she slid in without protest. The weariness of release weighed him down. He laid Denias on the narrow cot and rose, cleaning himself in the icy water of the chipped washbasin. The din below carried on without lessening. In the cracked mirror, two images filled the glass. A pale face with a narrow broken down cot in the back and the other a ghostly visage with the black armour laying on the floor as a corpse waiting for the decay to overcome it and fill the room with its rotting stench. "Let me walk were need must go." Kev turned and climbed wearily back onto the bed. His right hand closing around the smooth hilt as night descended.

Something woke him. Denias barely moved from her sheath before the hilt of a sword was pressed against his neck. "Keep still boy." A spark lit the small stub of a candle. Three armed soldiers stood in the brief light of his room. "You sent an offer to the Highland Horde. The Captain would like to see you." "A messenger would have been enough." "We are the messengers, boy. Get dressed." The sword point moved away from his neck. Kev resisted the urge to check his neck for blood. Denias hummed lowly in his mind. as he pulled on his breeches and shrugged back into his wet tunic. It clung to his skin with a clamminess that made his skin goose bump. The greaves were strapped to his shins. The bulky chain mail sat heavily on his shoulders. The rest

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was easily strapped and tied into place. The leader reached for the black scabbard then halted his fingers a mere few moments from the leather. "Tie it to the scabbard, boy. You'll not be permitted weapons in the presence of the Captain." A black bag was produced. "I’m not wearing it." Anger flared in Kev's eyes. The leader's sword came back up to his chest. "No one sees where the Captains quarters are. You'll do this willingly or we'll tie you up and bag you're head." "What about my horse?" "Our orders were to get you." Kev settled Denias between his shoulders then took the black bag from the leader's hands. "Take me to Streeves." He pulled the bag over his head and let them pull him along "You have received my offer." Kev stood silently still between the armed men. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the strong candlelight in the small office. The messengers who had brought him here, kept their hands on his arms, but none made the attempt to take Denias away from him. Attempting to jerk his arms free would be a useless gesture and would make his position seem weaker that it should be. Inwardly a hard ball of ice sat uncomfortably in his stomach. Captain Streeves sat behind his large wooden desk; the scroll laid face up on it. "The Guild has past on your request. What made you think that the Horde would be willing to involve itself in a religious war with the Illumination?" "The gold that we offered should be enough."

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"This is more than just riding in and capturing raiders. They have magics and torturers." "You won't have to worry about magic." Streeves stood up, "Wait outside." The soldiers saluted then turned and closed the heavy wooden door behind them, "I want to know where you got that horse, boy. I know the man who raised him, trained him. Where is he?" "The Illumination has him." "That doesn't explain why you are riding that ugly sonof-a-bitch. Where is Kegsetter's horsespeaker?" "You know of the Dark Lord." Denias was screaming for blood at the injustice her champion had been subjected to. Kev rubbed at the back of his neck, where her silence cry was settling. "Your Lord, is he a golden haired northerner with a slave brand burnt into his brow?" "He wears no marks of a slave." "Answer my question boy! Is he a golden haired northerner?" "Yes." Streeves eased himself down on the edge of the table, "Then all those rumours about a Slave Lord were true and that there is a land where there is no slavery." "The Commander and the Dark Lord built the Dominion as a haven to those who have the courage and good fortune to make it to our borders." "I have heard of magics...and with the Illumination marching into the south - it must be true." "The Dark Lord will defeat those..."

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"Hush boy." Streeves snapped. "What has Kegsetter got himself into now?" “The attack that stole the Commander was unprovoked. The Illumination came down on the harvest festival with no regard for woman or child. Any who still wore the brand of forced labour was cut down beneath their hooves. Those who were taken with the Commander were killed before sunrise. The goal was to get to the Dark Lord, but the Commander had stepped in the way." "That sounds like Kegsetter. What do you want us to do about it, boy?" "Lord Danvos has sent me to you with this letter." Kev reached for the small pouch nestled tight against his skin under his leather breastplate. He blinked as a flash of silver stopped near his eyes. His vision travelled from the knife tip, to the crosspiece, to the hand and up into the pale grey eyes of the warrior. "If anything other than a letter clears that leather, boy, I'll slit your throat from ear to ear." Denias raged hard. Kev felt her shiver in her scabbard, sharp vibrations ripped down his spine. Slowly, keeping his eyes locked onto those chips of grey stone, he pulled the oilskin wrapped letter from his breast. "What is your name boy?" "Kev." "Where's your brand?" "What makes you think that I ever wore one?' "There's a core of hatred in you boy, that no one but a slave could have. On your brow a small delicate brand if you were a rent boy. A thicker brand if you were a household

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worker. On your shoulder if you were a skilled craftsman. On your lower back...a common labourer. Until you tell me, there will be no negotiation with any of the Guild." Streeves watched carefully as the boy coloured red, the tide rising from the neck up into the face...until those eyes where hard flecks of gold. The amour was well made, but didn't fit him right, so it wasn't made for him. The sword hilt was wrapped with black leather, but its’ resonance was death and presence. He had encountered two such swords before, but none so strong that it could raise his hackles while it was still sheathed. The hate and the sword made a lethal combination. Skill wouldn't even need to be a factor. He could be a berserker and still kill two score men in the span of a battle. "Where was your brand?" "On my brow." "Thick or thin, boy." "Thick." "And who was your master?" "I served no one as slave." "You serve someone now...what is it's name?" "I don't know what you mean?" "You come to me and expect my men to die for you. I don't send my men into battles to be fodder. Before any ink is set to paper, we will know each other very well. Now sit and let me read."

Captain Streeves

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By all rights, I should be your enemy. You called me property and offered nothing to ease the pain of my rape. You cheated a good man out of his entitlement and threatened his life if he dared to demand all that was owed him and his deceased companion. But you gave three mares, of excellent stock as recompense and you held back men who would have loved to kill the Commander and send me back into slavery again. Yet, this does not redeem you in my eyes. I am a power now, a power that has frightened enough that they have sent one of the mightiest armies in this land against me. This was expected. What was not expected was way that the Illumination fights their wars. I have seen children and women trampled under the hooves of warhorses. I have heard the screams of the innocent in pain and suffering. I have watched them take my heart away. I have retaliated in fury with the magic I have learned when I saw the blood of my children stain the grass of our homes. I cannot say that the screams of the Illumination(s dying affected me much. I have always known that it was blood for blood. All the teachings of war and rule have come from the Commander and in turn from you where he learned them. The battle schemes are yours. The defences are yours. Tal has taught me

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well, but I have to admit that I am not as well a tactician as the Commander. My people need your sword. I need your men. I am not a soldier but I cannot watch our children, Tal's and mine, die because they did nothing more than throw off their bondage. Tal was loyal to you in all you asked. He buried his lover in the coldness of the north. He took his pittance of entitlement and rode out in the rain at your order. His loyalty deserves repayment in kind. Save all that he was built. Save his dreams, even if we cannot save his life. My children are prepared to fight for their freedom. I am prepared to fight for their dreams with all the knowledge and art that I have but that is not enough to stand against the Illumination. We need your wisdom and your swords. If gold is what you want, I will see you get it. But know that Tal's forfeited entitlement will be paid, even if I have to bury it beside him in the blood soaked ground.

Danvos Dark Lord of the Dominion

Streeves set the letter aside and stared at the young man before him. This boy was not a warrior. Just my looking into

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his eyes, a veteran could tell that he had not looked into the eyes of the dying. Yet, there was something unsettling about him. "We have much to discuss before any decisions are made, Envoy." "Time is not something I have a lot of, Captain. Say, yes or no. Either way I am riding out in the morning." "No one campaigns in the winter season." "The Illumination has attacked twice, maybe more since I've been gone." Streeves watched the boy carefully, "What is he to you? This Dark Lord of the Dominion." "He is my life." "Your lover." "Yes." "From this letter, Kegsetter plays an important part in his life. " "The Commander is the Dark Lord's chosen. I am his companion. I know my place in the world, Captain and it is by the side of my liege." "The Horde is in early wintering. Our last campaign finished off 2/3rd of our force. Those who have made it back are lucky not to have been captured and sold as slaves. If we had the men and the resources - it would take weeks to prepare to mount out for a winter battle. I have to decline your offer." Kev hardened his face to hide the disappointment. Streeves folded up the letter and handed it back. “Lord Danvos had it written for you, Captain. Keep it as a memory

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of the man you have commanded in times of war and who you abandoned - twice." Streeves leapt to his feet. "Listen here boy...you know nothing of the art of war. The Illumination has been passing through Karlashka for months now heading south. They have more forces on their way from across the Kelborn Sea. Any attempt to help you would lead to slaughter." Kev turned back from the door, "I told Lord Danvos that no one would help us. To the world outside of the boundaries, we are nothing more than runaway slaves. The Free Lords would like nothing more than to see us all hanging from the trees. The next time you see a captured runaway slave, Captain - think of the 400 people you let swing in the breeze." Kev jerked the door open and strode down the hall. Denias rumbling in the back of his head to use her to blood his first kill. Kev shook his head fighting off her urging until the night air hit him full in the face. The stench of the city was still high even in the coolness of the evening. Once he had considered it the perfume of society - now his bile was rising in his throat. He had done what Danvos commanded. There was no reason for him to stay another night in this place. By morning - the rotting decay of the city would be far behind him.

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Chapter 12: A Dark Day Ona laughed silently along with the other women as they paused to fill up their baskets with the last of the berries from the wild vines. It would be too long a winter before they would have access to such sweetness again. If the war with the Illumination lasted longer than the winter, it would be a even longer time before fresh food was theirs to cook. Mariless came up beside her, and Talos flopped at her feet breathing heavily from running with the other boys. Ona reached down and tousled his hair. Talos smiled back and flinched a handful of berries. {Not too many....others would like to taste some too} "Okay, mom." "So what do you think of our Lord's new bedfellow, Ona?" Talos cocked an eyebrow at his mother then looked at Mariless, "I don't think I should be saying things like that." "Oh....like that is it?" Mariless gave a sideline look. {He's handsome...much better to look at than the Commander.} "Mom...I'm not saying that." Tal whined. Ona smiled and shooed him away. It was hard to communicate with others some days, but she knew that she was relying on Tal too much to speak for her. Ona moved her hands slowly for the women to read. Mariless nodded her head slowly, "Aye, he has a nice smile, but personality wise?

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An grey haired woman shook her head as she popped a few berries into her mouth. "These young ones, that's all they think of is a pretty face. The commander wasn't much to look at, agreed, but his heart was pure and his loyality was there for everyone to see. This new one, I don't know much about him...I don't quite trust him." Ona looked over at Talos and smiled as he crawled on the ground, following a leaping criket toward the thickets. His hands cupped trying to catch the little insect. He was growing so fast. He would be needed new trousers before this first winter snow. The fog shifted and the thunder of hooves could be felt rattling through the ground. Ona pivoted on her heel pulling at the other women in her mind her silent voice was screaming for Talos to run. The women's puzzled faces stared at her as she knocked the baskets of berries flying. Couldn't they feel the thunder. "Momma!" {Run get to the black stone! NOW!} The vibrations of the horses was almost sending Ona off her feet. She glanced back to see a sea of white tunic with that damned red marks slashing from shoulder to shoulder. The others had now heard what she had felt. All around her voices raised to the sky but it was in vain. {DANVOS!} The cry was wrenched from her as hot pain shot up her back and the ground rushed up to meet her face. She landed hard, the brambles ripping up her face as the mounted rider continued on, flecks of red dripping from the gleaming sword. "MOMMA!"

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{Stay at the stones!} Her hands clawed at the dirt...her legs refused to obey her commands. The boundary of the Dominion was just a few steps away but it seemed reachable. Inch by inch she dragged herself forward, the pain throbbing with hot intensity then it slowly began to fade away. The ground was still rumbling beneath her body. {Hide!} She felt the iron taste of blood well in her mouth. Her arms shook with strain as she pulled again. It was so far away.... A picture came to her mind as she paused for a shallow breath. Talos had found a bramble patch and now was tucked away inside it's protection, the wide stalks hiding his lean form. A tangle of short black curls crashed to the ground beside her face...sightless brown eyes stared back at her. Mariless. The horses charge halted. Ona buried her hands into another stretch of dirt and hauled herself forward. The world was rushing around her...sight was getting dimmer. She gritted her teeth and tried to focus on the black boundary ward pulling and pulling but not getting any closer. It stung to turn backwards, and she saw Mariless's legs draped over her hips and back. {Danvos...care for him...he is so much like you.} Muddy boots stopped at her head. The pain shot up her spine as a hand jerked her head upward. Joelle twisted her steed around on the blood stained ground. "Our mission was to get captives, Koen. Not kill everyone. We've only got two - how's that one." "Sword through the back." "Release her to the hall of Judgment, Koen."

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Ona stared up at the black haired giant. "Confess your sins, woman, and you will be freed." Ona spit blood at her attacker sending more down her chin than at the boot. "May the great power find mercy in his heart for you, black follower." Ona gritted her teeth as he man dropped her head back to the earth. {Don't move.} She could felt Talos' fear and anguish. {Don't let them find you.} Koen raised his bloodied great sword and drove it straight down through the dying woman's back, pinning her to the grass if she was little more than parchment. "MOMMY!" Joelle whirled her horse around a the child's cry. Shock ripped through her as she saw the golden hair and the pale sky eyes of the young boy as he stood beside the black barrier. Koen turned and saw the child. "Demon spawn." "Koen, no!" Joelle kicked her horse into motion, "AWAY!" The twenty odd riders returned to their horses, two women bundled in sacks were tossed across the whithers and then the thunder of the hooves rumbled the ground. The burly guard ran to the barrier, his bloody hand reaching for the blonde child. One step into the boundary and lightening shot from the black ward. The horse reared as the charge broke the air, setting Joelle's hair on end. She fought the bit, trying to get her mount under control. Koen was flat on the ground, his body nothing more than a blackened twisted hull. The blonde haired child stood their staring at the thing that was once a man. Then there was nothing but the

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laboured breathing of her mount - an unearthly stillness. The horse backed up trembling. "This wasn't supposed to be this way, child." Joelle shouted at the boy then the earth began rumbling beneath her horses' feet. The horse bolted in fear, verging from the black ward stone, along the path of the other riders. Behind her the path began to buckle and earth flew skyward as something began ripping through the soil. The bodies of the dead women spun away from the mound. "Go. Go!" The horse was running in blind panic. Joelle crouched low over the saddle sheilding her face from the branches and the whipping vines as she clung to the back. The only sound was her horse's hooves and her own laboured breathing. The Dark Lord shouldn't have the power to reach this far... The Priests were sure that the black warding stones was the just a preset magic and well away from the Lord's obvious reach. The ground was catching up...what ever demon the Dark Lord has sent against them was fast. Joelle jeked hard on the rein trying to turn her horse back to the clearer trail. He fought but then the bit caught and he sloped off back toward the narrow path. Then the mound disappeared. It stopped as if suddenly there was no more strength to carry it forward. The horse fought being halted but finally he dug his haunches in and slid to a stop. The only sound was the labored breathing. Joelle could smell the horses' fear. She could taste her own. Never in all her years as a Rider for the Illumination had she seen such power - such quickness. That child - there was nothing said that the Dark Lord had a child.

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The ground exploded up from underneath them. She screamed as a jaw closed around her thighs. The horse screamed as it's underbelly was ripped wide. The sword hilt slammed into the demon's maw shattering the long dagger like tooth that was embedded in her right leg. She swung back in desperation cutting into the demon's armored lip. It opened it mouth in pain and she lurched off her dying horse, rolling away. She slammed into the base of a tree and tried to get to her feet. Blood was streaming down both legs but her right was almost useless. The demon's head was oblong pointed somewhat like an arrow and it was set on a worm like body. There were no eyes as far as she could see. The horse gave one weak scream then disappeared into the hole the earthmover made. Then the mound formed and began moving off after the rest of the raiding party. Her hands were shaking as she ripped her white tunic, making bandages for her wounds. Off in the distance there were the screams of men and horses. The demon had caught up to them. The bleeding was now under control but she had to move. What if that thing hunted by vibration. Strider's head was the only thing sticking up out of the hole that creature left. Panic gripped her soul then she fought it down. That demon might hunt by vibration but if she didn't move those freemen would find her for sure. A broken branch lay a few paces off. The wood was dry and brittle but it was better than nothing at all. Hot burning agony ripped through her with each step. It was easy to find the place where the demon had chased down the rest of the Riders. Horses lay broken against

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tree. Men's limbs lay rended and seeping their life into the dirt. Again, the priests had underestimated the blonde haired Dark Lord. Again, more of her company laid on the ground with nothing left to bury but pieces. The Dark Lord was merciful to his charges and deadly to his enemies. For the second time, doubt entered into her heart. Those she had hunted down before were creatures of vile disposition that even the lower subjects were glad to be ride of them - but here...the only ones despising the Dark Lord were the Illumination and the Free Lords. The stumbling through the dark woods was a feverish memory. The creatures of the night were silenced by her passing. The wounds were agony, which only told her that she was alive. Trees grabbed at her surcoat. The lone cry of a wolf echoed through the woods. I'm not dying out here...I'm not going to die out here..." The chant was a litany in her brain, forcing one foot, the makeshift crutch and dragging her injured leg forward. "HALT" "Commander...commander.." The night engulfed her as the shadow coalesced into the shape of a sentry. "Hold still, there's a tooth embedded there." Joelle bit back a scream as Polc dug his fingers into the bloody messy that was her upper thigh. He lifted it up toward the light, a gleaming red stained fang shimmered in the witchlight of the lantern. "A worm you say. I have never encountered anything like that before."

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"Denso didn't detect anything." Joelle gritted her teeth together and gripped the sides of the mattress tightly as Polc tossed the fang into a clay pot. "Although I shouldn't speak ill of my brethren, Denso couldn't conjure himself a light." Joelle screamed as Polc's fingers began knitting split muscles back together with the white healing magic of the Illumination. Hands held her down as he continued with his work. The approaching onslaught of unconsciousness swept at her, but the hard core of her, that which was the Illumination, kept it at bay. Sweat of her healing, mingled with the dried blood of her pain and the hands that held her pinned to the mattress dug into her flesh, keeping her anchored to her body. "Another one of stout heart...at least we have one as strong as the Dark Commander" "I need her now, Polc." The High Commander pressed in close. "I need a full report." Joelle struggled to sit up, but the hands still keep her pinned, "You can stay flat on your back, Commander." Polc returned soothingly, pressing a wet cool cloth to her heated flesh. "We came upon a group of twenty women and children outside the boundaries. The 3rd company moved before the order was given and slaughtered most of the prisoners. There was only two left and I sent them back. There was a red haired woman there, Koen released her and then there was a golden haired child at the boundaries." Joelle could see the consider on the the Commanders face. "The Dark Lords?'

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"He had his colouring." "Then..." "Koen ran to get the boy and stepped past the warding. Then that worm thing came after us. Commander, how many made it back? Commander." "Just you, Captain. We recovered one of the prisoners but she took her own life before we had a chance to question her. It seems that we keep underestimating the Dark Lord." "The succession has been secured. It will make it even more difficult to bring him down." "But not impossible, eh, old friend." "Not with the right planning, Commander." "Now, I'm going to put you into a healing sleep, Captain Riverview. There doesn't seem to be any toxic poisons from that bite so your healing shouldn't be hampered. You young ones recover so quickly. It's us old warriors who will have to suffer and take longer convalescence. You should be up and around in a fortnight." "A fortnight!" "You are impatient, woman. The Light has spared your life because your work is far from over. Now, drink this. It will help you sleep and get your body to work on healing that wound." Polc pressed the herb brew to her lips and poured it steadily into her mouth.

The group fell back as the Dark Lord walked toward the bodies...dark bloody tresses all spread in a row. The weeping

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and wailing was forced back into their throats as the families looked up at the pure agony on the young man's face. "What were they doing outside of the boundaries?" The words were barely above a whisper but the tone was a command. "Gathering the last of the berries, My Lord." The Dark Lord stopped at the darkened hair of the mother of his child. "I didn't even know they had done this until that Rider broke the warding....Gather our sisters, my brothers. We will take them home." The Dark Lord bent and gathered the broken woman in his arms, holding her like a favorite object shattered behind repair. The crowd moved and gently gathered their sisters, daughter and wives from the cold ground. Edan rode up into the center. His face a mask of anguish as he saw the familiar red hair trailing limply to the ground. "Oh...gods no." Edan slid from his mount and halting walked toward Danvos. His rough hewn figures reached out to touch the cold cheek with a reverence held for expensive silk. "You can bring her back" His voice was little more than a whisper. "There is no trace left of her...no trace in any of them." "You have the power!" Anguish found it's voice. "Ona is gone." 'The babe..." The Dark Lord pressed the cooling body into Edan's massive arms. "There is no lingering life in any of them." "How....Ona knew better...Ona... where is Talos?" The Dark Lord turned around, "Talos is here?"

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'He went with her today." Offers were made to begin a search. "NO!" No one goes past the wardings!" The Dark Lord turned around slowly in a circle calling on the natural power he had always known ...searching for the spark of... there. "Talos!" "Mommy?" "It's Danvos...come here. Your father is worried." "Are the white coats gone?' "Yes...come out now. We are going back to the Tower." A patch of earth moved and a dusty blonde head peered out from underneath the coverage. "Daddy." He bolted from his hiding place and streaked toward his father. "They will pay for this." Edan whispered lowly. Edan pressed the small face close to his thigh, stroking the blonde hair with his free hand. "They already have..." "Are you sure..." "I killed them all." "Did they suffer?" "They knew death was tracking them. Take everyone back to the Tower...we will hold last rites there." Slowly the crowd began to move...Edan cradled his wife close to his chest with one massive hand and kept Talos close to his side. Grief was etched into the faces of everyone there. Tears welled in the Dark Lord's eyes as he stared down into the blood stained earth. "Milord...what did they ever do to deserve this?." The Dark Lord stepped forward toward the black warding stone and laid his hands up it. The sky was still a brilliant

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blue, cloudless and clear but the sound of thunder ripped through the air. Edan stared as blood began to seep from the Dark Lord's palms from their placement on the rock -- then the earth began to rumble. Talos began crying and pressed his face tighter into Edan's leg. Earth began to move...shifting beneath his feet - pushing upward. A black rock broke the surface of the blood stained killing ground. Rising up in a jagged wall, melding with the warding stone....stretching out into the forest to the next warding...stretching back towards the river. Fear struck deep into Edan's heart but he was rooted to the spot. A dark energy enveloped the blonde haired man. He slumped to his knees but his palms remained pressed to the warding stone, blood streaking the dark rock in rivulets of precious life. Then the rumbling ceased. The sound of complete unnatural silence filled the air. Edan stared around himself. A wall of black rock, uneven and sharp extended out from the warding. A wall the height of two men, the thickness varied with the natural stone, but it seemed as if none were less than an double arm span. The Dark Lord moaned as he pulled his hands away and turned to rest his back on the dark stone. Blue eyes met brown and the sorrow they wore was a matching mask. “The Commander had wanted me to build walls, seasons ago. I said that it would hamper those who came to us for sanctuary. I should have listened to him, Edan. Ona, the rest of the women and children would still be alive if there had been walls."

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There was nothing to say. Edan turned and carried his broken treasure back toward the house they had built and shared dreams in.

The ache deep in Danvos heart was to the point of ripping him apart. His throat was tight with grief and his eyes clouded with emotion but there was no sign of tears as the sweet gentle Song of Mourning rose up from the mouths of his citizens. In the middle of the green grass circle a pyre had been built, long enough to hold all the bodies of the slain. In the middle, hair of the color of the setting sun spread out on the log bed, she now laid on. As was their custom, the families had taken the bodies back to their houses to prepare them for their final journey -cleansed them of their spilt blood, washed their hair, dressed them in their most prized clothes and then gave their private religious practices. When they had been little more than possessions to the FreeLords, when a body fell, it was left there to rot for the day. Once the day’s work was done, the body was loaded into a cart and dumped onto the garbage heap to fester and decay. Days would pass with the families having to march past their departed as the maggots and flies attacked it. But here...in the Dominion - the departed would be given to the fires for purification. A man's low voice joined with the families singing, ringing out beneath their melodious tones. Danvos watched Edan carry a small cradle forward and place it atop the pyre at Ona's leather slippered feet.

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Talos' small face stared out from his father's side, his face awash with tears and sorrow. Edan turned and picked up the torch. One by one, he carried it to the families of the departed, pausing long enough before each to let them hold it. Their essence of permission would mingle with the other families and give the departed a clean heart to begin their journey. Those left behind would grieve, but their light would be remembered. Edan walked toward Danvos. "We ask you light it, milord Danvos." The power flowed easily now. There was a brief tingle as the power surged through his body. He touched the head of the torch and willed a small flame to life. The oil soaked cloth wrapped around it, caught and flared bright, blinding Danvos for a moment. "We ask that you light the pyre, Dark Lord." "This is usually the family’s duty." Danvos returned lowly. "We are your family, Dark Lord. We are your subjects and your children. You have given us the blood vengeance that was required to cleanse our sisters souls. Now, we ask that you give them the flame to send them on their journey." Danvos looked past the flame at the assembly. They were watching with expectation. Edan thrust the torch upward turning the handle towards him. The light of the torch, illuminated his reddened eyes, blotched skin and tear streaks. "Sing for them, Edan."

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Danvos closed his hands around the base of the wooden torch. Nothing had ever felt so heavy. The voices rose up again. Piercing the night with pure notes. The pyre had been soaked with precious oil to catch easily. The heat from the first flame was enough to start driving the people back. Danvos kept a firm grip on the torch as he walked down the long pyre, pausing at each sleeping form to light the wood beneath their heads. The fire was spreading quickly, but the Dark Lord made himself withstand the searing heat to finish lighting the last spot. The smoke was black, billowing skyward. He tossed the touch into the blaze and retreated backwards the heat seared his face. The crackling of the wood as the fire devoured it. That scent of burning flesh. Danvos stared at the sight forcing himself not to blink even as the smoke stung his eyes. Women and children. They had slaughtered defenseless women and children. Even the Freelords had never attempted that. What kind of people did that? How was he going to stop them? Edan's voice rose high over the flames...sending those departed toward a freedom they had only tasted in life. Kev...hurry back because this is going to get bloodier.

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Chapter 13: A Conversation in Hay Tal's dreams were feverish and wild. There was something stolen...something precious. And he wandered the woods searching for it. The baying of hunting dogs rose like an eerie cry as twilight began to descend. He tossed the gristle of the rabbit he had caught into the fire. The fire hissed gratefully then settled back into an irregular crackle. The keep was too well guarded. The archers here evenly spaced along the wall. Their range would overlap. Even if he were able to take one out, another archer could draw on him. Then the other questions was where could he find Danny? The keep was larger than he had expected. The stables and the slave pens were inside the walls, and there had been room to spare still. Tal tossed a bone into the fire. It had been sheer stupidity to ride into the keep and demand Danny. He hadn't been thinking. Now Espes was alerted to him. Danny would be under lock and key for a long time. It might be a moon before Espes lowered his guard again. Steadfast tossed back his head and stamped the ground. Tal had learned along time ago to listen to his steed. He threw handfuls of dirt onto the small fire, dousing it completely, evening out the chance of survival and attack. He drew his dagger and moved toward Steadfast. In a night fight, Tal preferred to have a friend at his back.

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A nicer sounded off to the left, along with the unnaturally loud crashing of a night passage. Steadfast let out a loud whinny. Tal cursed him and stood, sheathing his dagger for his sword. The sound of horse hooves on fallen leaves and twigs came closer and closer. "Who goes there?" Steadfast nodded his head up and down then began nudging Tal toward the unseen horse. The horse walked into the small clearing and halted. "Steppedancer." Tal squinted in the near darkness. Then he spied the slumped form on her back. He sheathed his sword and walked cautiously up to the warhorse. The light hanks of hair blending in with Steppedancer’s coat made his heart leap in his throat. There was no sound. Tal grabbed hold of a thin arm and pulled him off Steppe dancer’s back. The boy moaned in pain. Tal bit back a cruse as he saw the arrow still protruding from the thin frame. Gently he laid the still form on the ground. He turned toward the fire and stirred up the coals till they gleamed red. Quickly, he built the fire back up. His skills as a surgeon were not great but he knew enough to stop blood and to close wounds, but he had to see. "They went through so much trouble to get you, I can't believe they'd try to kill you." Blood had dried in thin trails on the back. Tal picked up a burning stick and turned the boy's face toward him. Bright red blood was still trailing out of his mouth... He was coughing up blood. So many times on the battlefield, he had seen his friends coughing up blood, from wounds that looked minimal. So many times he had made their final resting place. He felt his heart lurch with fear.

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Tal jerked awake. A boy with hair of gold...that image was so clear. His hand groped on his chest for his silver tear. Fingers only encountered healers’ linen. Tal sat up slowly, every muscle and joint in his body was in agony as if he had been stretched out past his limits, then allowed to snap back together. Now he only echoed the pain. Polc came into the room carrying a tray of freshly made gruel - the steam rising up from the wooden bowl. "So how are you feeling soldier?" "I ache everywhere." "I'll give you some healers’ hot oil. Keep using that and it will help. Now...what do you remember of your capture in the Dominion? Take your time, you've been under that warlock's spell for quite some time, so things may not be totally clear to you yet." "Where am I?" "The Holding of Lord Morriso. Here try and eat." "What happened? Where is my horse? I don't remember much." "It will return with time. If you worry about the memories that you have lost, it will take longer to return. You have to let yourself heal. As for your horse, we found you afoot." "Danny...where's..." Tal watched the white haired man sit heavily on the bed, "The slave you called Danny is dead." Tal reached up for the silver necklace that had been so long around his throat, for the comforting weight of the pendant. Nothing. "His body has

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been possessed by a demon called the Darkness. Does this sound familiar to you?" "Danny...I remember him...so limp in my arms." "Rest now, Sergeant. You have survived an ordeal what would have killed or crippled most men." Polc turned and headed back toward the chamber door, "Sleep, you need to regain your strength." "Danny…" Tal turned his face toward the wall and closed his eyes against the pain that ripped through his chest. Polc paused at the doorway. His eyes dissecting the Commander's evident despair. He had lasted far longer than any other prisoner but Polc wasn't convinced that he had reached the soul of the man known as the Lord's Hound. The test would come soon enough. He closed the door and bolted it behind him. The two silent guards snapped to attention as he passed down the narrow stairway. His mind thought back to the gestured the Commander had made. He had worn a talisman. If someone had it, it would assist in the Commander's rescue. Riverview would know of it. Polc continued down toward the great hall, his mind full of thoughts and plans that would now have to implement to keep the Commander off guard. "Well, Priest." Polc looked up into the face of the High Commander. The ruddiness of his cheeks foretold the High Commander's taste in wine had started early. "Almost there High Commander. You have to be delicate with this. You cannot alter the soul too quickly or he will resist. That witch boy has a strong hold on him. He believes he's got to protect him - but he is almost there."

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"I have hundreds of soldiers in mobilization and I have no information, aside from the ramblings of that woman and the sudden appearance of a black stone wall around the border of the accursed land, I am blind!" "Riverview is a decorated follower, High Commander. You do her wrong to dismiss her words so lightly...aside, she is the only one of the riders who has seen the Dark Lord and lived." "And I would like the explanation for that happenstance." "You are not suggesting that..." "I've buried the remains of better Riders in the earth, Priest. Riverview is a competent Rider, and a clear thinker in battle - which is why she got her rank, but...this is not right. She was spared and I would like to know why. And I want to know why every scrap of information that we get about this Dark Lord is incomplete. We have no competent intelligence at all." "What about the Lords?" "They consider their trouble nothing more than a slaves rebellion, but we know better." The High Commander rose to his feet and strode to the narrow window, staring down in the cluttered compound. "Each setting sun sets my ire, Priest. There is an evil such as I have never known before, and we sit here and do nothing about it, as it grows and devours my men." "Sir, you have seen what misinformation has done. Forty-three men lay in graves and some of those Riders are only bits of flesh and bone."

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The High Commander rose to his feet and began to pace with the ferocity of a caged wolf. "What kind of power has that evil offered that witch boy? How much more can he call upon to keep his devil spawn behind those black stonewalls? We need information, Priest." "I am working with the Sergeant..." "I need it now. Kill him if you have to getting that information, he would have to be sent to the Halls of Judgement either way, but I weary of sitting in this little Lord's castle, when I can smell my enemy across the forest." `"As you wish, High Commander." Polc bowed his head and turned on his heel. The High Commander knew about battle plans and strategy but in the art of information gathering he was as blind as a newborn. Information would come pouring out the Sergeant in a wide river if given the right motivation and if given the right motivation, he could be a more effective weapon than a catapult. Across the courtyard, the makeshift infirmary was still filled with only one healing patient. The healing potion still kept her locked under its spell as bones and flesh continued to knit back into form. While the Commanders body lay under the white tent, the spirit relished its freedom. Janelle laid on the top of a haystack the strong scent of it filling her nose and the warmth of the sun lovingly caressed her face and neck. Soon enough, she would have to slide off and start her evening chores but for now, this was her special spot.

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"It's comforting to have a refuge to come to, isn't it Commander." Janelle jerked up and twisted. The blonde haired man sat by her side. Reflexively she reached for her sword but her hand only encountered the drying hay. "How did you get here? How did you get past the warding and the spirit watchers." "I'm not spirit walking, Commander. I have tasted your blood I know where you are at any given moment. It is simple magic that brings me to your dream. Even your priests know of it. They feel a presence but they think it is one of their own kind at work." "What do you want?' "How is Tal?" "I'll not be talking to the evil incarnate." Janelle made a move to rise but the blond man made a simple gesture and she fell back against the hay once more. "Evil is the way your Illumination works. Our wives, mothers and sisters were slaughtered beneath the hooves of your warhorses. You didn't see the faces of the little ones as their kin was sent to the flame." "That was not our intention." "That was not YOUR intention. Those who committed crimes against my children have been punished. Why do you ride with the Illumination when you don't hold their beliefs as close to your heart as you once did?" Danvos gestured to the landscape around him, this is nothing like the dreams of the other Riders I have watched. There is fire and a light so bright it blinds. The screams of the dying are like songs to them...to you it is the same horror as it is to me. You are still

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more the girl here in the hay than you are the fire and light rider." "You know nothing of me...what I have done or become." Danvos stared out at the fields of plenty, "You are a grower, a nurturer - not a reaper. This will be the only time that I will come to you, Commander. I give you this chance to get out of the death and destruction that will result from the Illumination and Dominion war. It will be on a scale that no one can remember but it will take generations to forget." "And what are you to supposed to be - when you have taken the Darkness to your heart and soul?" "I never had the chance to find out, Commander. I am what I need to be - the Dark Lord. I have created a place of hope for the hopeless -- a haven for those who would be strung like a buck for draining. And now I must be a warrior to protect all those who came to me." "And if you were free of Lords and Darkness, where would you want to be?" "In Tal's arms, on the horse farm that he still dreams of owning," Janelle turned away from the deep sincerity on his face. "You are not what I expected." "I am just a man, Commander. I am made of flesh and blood. When my time comes to leave this land, I will die just like anyone else. Illumination has wounded me deeply when they took my Chosen. I cannot even reach him, you're magickers have him so guarded." "No lasting harm has been done to him, as far as I know."

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"Thank you, Commander." Danvos rose to his feet and stared around him, "You have come from a beautiful place. I hope one day, you return to it." Janelle turned her face back toward the small thatched roof house, by the small winding stream, for so long it had seemed a prison of unending chores. Memories began crowding her mind. The simple joy of feeding orphaned calves. The feel of the warm spring sun through a newly embroidered dress that was made in front of the winter hearth. Of being able to hide underneath tall sheltering trees in a cold autumn rain instead of sitting astride a warhorse, with wet leather and metal weighing heavily on weary shoulders. "I..." She glanced around her but, she was alone. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her shins and rested her chin on her kneecaps. Peace had settled around her. It had come so infrequently in the past years that any time it came, she was loath to disturb it in any way.

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A Lord Returns

Night had fallen heavily on the trail back to the Dominion. The scant meal of cheese and bread had sent Kev wishing he had stopped back at the small tavern a few leagues back. The armour was starting to become a familiar weight on his shoulders, but the warmth of the night made him want to stop and shed it. Steadfast stood absolutely alert, the snorting and pawing of the ground then stopped suddenly and now the notched ears were flicking back and forth. Denias snapped to life. Kev grabbed at the comforting hilt and slowly drew her. The forest erupted into life. Slavers crashed out of the underbrush now that their surprise attack had fallen. Steadfast lashed out with iron-clad hooves. A ragged form screamed as flesh was cut and stomped. Denias was humming. It had been so long. Kev felt a rage like none he had ever known well up inside him...filling him. A man's face flashed into his narrowed sight for a moment then hot liquid painted his arm and face. A battle cry broke from his throat as he spun on his left heel, bringing Denias in a wide arc. Another face fell from view. Flashing silver met a blade as black as night - a sharp pain shot up his wrist as Denias was forced down. Kev punched at the man's face and kicked out, catching the attacker just behind the knee. Denias drove into the throat. Hot blood sprayed up coating his face. Another series of battle cries rose up. As quickly as the slavers attacked - the remainder fled back to the woods. Kev

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twisted and brought the blooded sword up to the mounted rider behind him. Streeves stared down at the carnage. "Hold! In pairs, follow them. Engage only if you have to." Kev stood quivering with the black rage. Streeves stared at the bodies lying around the small campfire. The young man's face was streaked with blood and the golden eyes were dark with the wildness of that black sword. "It's over." Steadfast reared up and lashed out with front hooves, the fetlocks were stained red with the blood of his foe. It had been years since the sounds of war had been his companion. Although he was loyal to the soldier and the horsespeaker, this was what he had been bred and trained for. His voice thundered over the clearing. Kev blinked as if the horse snapped him from the killing rage. Five men laid broken. Streeves could see the sickness rising up. He watched as the man staggered among the dead until he paused at a crimson tunic. The sword point of the black blade buried itself in the corpse. Streeves fought for control of his war seasoned mount as the body began to thrash on the ground as if it were a butterfly stuck on a pin. The scent of death was in the air, but it was mixed with the stench of dark power. "It gets easier, boy." "I don't want it easier." Kev gasped out. "I want to feel like this every time I have to kill." Kev wretched into the red stained ground as Denias relished her meal. Streeves shook his head and turned back to the returning men. "Report."

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"Five dead - two escaped, Tranelis and Decas are tracking them." "I thought you said that you couldn't help us?" Kev wiped at his mouth. "Kegsetter may have retired from our rolls but not our hearts, Kev. What is left of the Horde is here. Nine fully equipped veterans of too many campaigns. Hanso, Ilam, Brack, Kelsoz, Otis and Meyt." Kev looked at the veterans. All were older than he expected, but with eyes that had seen too much suffering and agony. "This is Kev, envoy from the Dark Lord of the Dominion." A dark skinned man with greying curly hair spat at the ground, "He's just a boy." "Not much older than you, when you came into the Horde's ranks, Meyt, and as you can see he can handle a sword. You know the drill...strip them and take anything that is valuable." "Weapons...take all their weapons. We need all we can get." "Do it. Unless Tranelis and Decas get those two, we'll be making a ride straight through the night. Slavers never travel out of touch of each other.. I haven't worn the brand before and I don't intend to start now...and I know you don't want to either, Envoy." "My name is Kev." "Then Kev it is...You heard him, weapons too. Look sharp, we might be getting unexpected visitors." The small camp was easily extinguished. The dim light of the moon shone down on the fragile husks that were left on

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the dark stained ground. Streeves urged his steed closer, "Don't look back on a battlefield boy...don't ever look back."

Edan stared at the empty chair across from him. It seemed like only yesterday Ona had placed his palm over her small taut stomach and smiled that special happy smile. His eyes burned suddenly and his throat tightened, threatening to choke him with emotion. “Papa?” Edan rubbed at his eyes. Talos had always been a little small, but now he looked gaunt. Heaven knew what he had seen. Oh, gods, did he see her killed? “What is it, boy?” “I”m hungry.” Talos came out of the hallway and walked up to his father. He raised his arms and crawled onto Edan”s lap. “I miss mommy.” “I do to. We just have to take it one day at a time. You want a piece of bread and cheese?” The small blonde head nodded. Little fingers reached up and wiped away the tracks of the tears that had fallen unbidden. “You cry too.” “Yeah, sometimes, things hurt so much you have to cry. It doesn’t make you less of a man.” “Do you think Danny cries?” Edan turned around and looked back at the small blonde version of the Dark Lord. “Danny?” “Mommy called him that sometimes -- The Dark Lord. He”s so sad. He doesn’t have anyone up in the Tower.” “He calls to you?”

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“No, I can just feel it sometimes.” Talos pressed a hand to his chest, “Right here. It hurts. Sometimes so much it’s hard to breathe.” Edan sliced a sliver of cheese and broke a hard loaf open. “That’s called heartache. And yes, Danny has had a lot of heartache. Everyone has had a lot of heartache lately. Is this enough?” Talos took the bread and hugged the nearest leg. “Can I go to Edly’s? He’s got kittens.” Edan tousled his son”s head and nodded. The little boy tore off down the narrow path toward another thatched household. “Wil, I need to go to the Tower. Can you start the forge? We’ll still be needing weapons. I’ll be back soon.” “Aye.” “State your business.” “Hos, I need to see the Lord.” “He’s eating right now.” “I can wait...” “You can go up, you have clear passage. I’m sorry about Ona, Edan.” Edan nodded abruptly then started up the curving passage. The large wooden door to the dining hall hung open. Food was set on the table, but the chair was empty. “Milord?” Movement caught Edan’s eye from the side. Danny stood staring sightlessly out an opened window. “Milord?” “It doesn’t seem right to have just a clear day today. Not a cloud in the sky.”

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“Milord...” “Don’t tiptoe around me Edan. Everyone has been doing that and it seems to make things worse.” “You’ve not eaten?” “No...I’m not hungry.” Danny turned around and took in Edan’s uneasy stance. “Ona and I had a talk before.... on Harvest Festival. I make no claims on Talos. You are his father.” “I never thought....” “Don’t...don’t.. We were bred like champion steeds. They liked our colouring...” Danny ran a hand through his hair. “I was glad that she had found someone like you. To love her in the way she should have been from the very start.” “She never spoke of that time.” “It was best she didn’t.” “What happened between you?” “No...You don’t want to hear this.” “Talos is not a child easily put off. Even now, he feels your pull.” Blue eyes looked up at Edan, startled and wary at the same time. “What?” “He feels your heartache.” Danny sat down at the table, his head resting wearily in his hands. “I’m so tired Edan. I didn’t even know I was sending anything out. The horses must be going through hell too. I’m sorry.” “He is asking questions that I have no answer to. What shall I tell him?”

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“Espys stole me from Tal at a tavern. He wanted a horsespeaker. His wife wanted me for ...other things.” Edan’s face grew dark. “I was in the stables when you were brought in.” Danny stared into the candle flickering on the table. Those memories that he had locked away came rushing back as if it where only a moment ago. His face darkened, “The Lord and Lady came in, said that I was going to working with the horses in the day and on my back at night. The Bossman took a hatred to me right away. He and the doctor...played...with me until it was time to perform that night. We were of lesser value than animals. If Talos never understands that lesson, then all of this” Danny gestured around him, “All this effort and blood was worth it.” “Do you want to see him?” “Do you think it’s wise?” “The Illumination saw him. They know you have a son. They know you have an heir.” “All of this because of a Freelord’s envy...Tal had a blonde horsespeaker. I’ll talk to him Edan. You don’t have to worry, he is just like me when I was in the north. He’s just a horsespeaker. The Darkness has no claim on him.” “I never assumed...” “Then just take my word, I’m the only one...no, Kev and I are the only one’s serving the Darkness and it a service that was offered prior to accepting it. Talos is just a special boy.” “That he is My Lord.” Edan bowed slightly then turned and left the chamber.

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Danny headed back up to the sleeping chamber. The sorrow and heaviness in his mind was growing heavier and heavier. Danny looked at the bed and then turned back to the window. It just didn’t feel right sleeping there, alone. His sky blue eyes closed for just a moment and everything swept over him as if it were just yesterday. {Be still...you're safe...} Words of softly spoken comfort filtered into Danny's consciousness. "Tal?" His voice cracked with dryness. A wooden bowl of water was pressed to his lips. It trickled down his throat with a cool forgiveness. "Tal?" Danny opened his eyes hoping to see the familiar dark brown eyes with deep creased folds from too many days in the harsh sun. Instead, wide pale green eyes stared down with a mixture of fear and concern. Her young face was framed by brownish red hair. Her simple beauty was scarred by the small 's' burnt into her brow. She lifted the water bowl to his lips again. {You're safe now...don't be afraid.} Danny stared up at the girl, "I can hear you...like the horses." {You can?} She lifted a hand to his brow, feather like touches brushed his skin and hair. {I am glad that they didn't cut your hair.} Danny moved to sit up and gasped at the lingering pain. The girl caught his back and propped him up with her own meagre weight. Danny pulled away at the contact of flesh against flesh as far as the chains on his wrists would allow. Instinctively she held a hand across her young breasts and at her naked apex. A look of determination crossed her face and

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she opened her legs wide and settled the palm of her hands on the nape of her neck exposing herself to his gaze in the traditional offering of a rent slave. "No...don't do that." Danny turned his face away. He knew the feel of that humiliation. He wished it on no one. {You don't like me?} "I am not your master." {The master and mistress are watching. We will both be punished if we...} Embarrassment and fear flooded into Danny. Muscles tightened in his stomach with reaction. The horses he had heard in his head, never had their emotions reached into his body. He twisted around, ignoring the aches in his body and grabbed her by her narrow shoulders. "I feel you! How can I feel you?" She ducked her head and tried to cover her head with her arms. Her mouth opened in guttural cries poured from her mouth. The fear and terror formed itself into a ball underneath his chest, making it hard to breathe. "I'm sorry..." Carefully, he drew the quaking form to his chest and held her gently.... "Come on now, sweetness...I won't hurt you. Calm...calm..." The fright transformed into the calm he thought at her. It was just like the horses. He looked down on the top of her head. In the bright torchlight, her hair was almost red. "I didn't mean to scare you, sweetness. I am," the word stuck in this throat, "North." {I have no name} She wiped the tears from her face, {You can call me Sweetness}

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"You can't speak." She shook her head. A loud thump sounded from one of the walls. She turned her bright green eyes toward him. {The master is getting angry.} She caught his hand and rose to her feet. {Lay with me} Her thought was confidence but the emotions flowing through Danny she was frightened of the unknown. "Never?" {I belong to the Mistress. She liked my colouring. You will be the first.} She laid back on the narrow straw filled pallet. Danny sat at the edge and stared down at her as his anger and shame mixed with her fear and....desire. "I don't know what to do." His confession was a whisper. {I won't resist you.} Her eyes opened and she stared up at him. "I've never laid with a woman before." {Never?} "With masters..." {If the Master is displeased Bossman will hurt us both. He likes hurting slaves} She reached out her hand. Cautiously, Danny reached out for it and allowed her to tug him to her side. {Do what you like to do with the Masters.} He settled his length beside her then reached out to touch her smooth flesh. Tremors raced through her. Slowly he leaned over to press his lips to hers. At first she was unresponsively then began moving her lips against his. He speared his hands in her hair and kissed her eye lids and nose before returning to her mouth. Her hands lifted and trailed through his hair. He pulled back as she kissed his lids and nose. Each caress, kiss,

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sigh was copied and intensified. Danny reeled from the duplicated emotions rushing through him. When he thrust into her the sharp pain felt like it cut him in half. Her legs closed around his waist and locked at the ankles. She reached up with tender hands and drew him to her breasts. “I”m sorry...” {I feel...move in me now...}When the pain faded, he began moving within her, slowly, savouring the emotions wringing from her and the sensations that were rocking his body. The climax was powerful he collapsed on her. He could feel her burning, her unsatiated desire. {Touch me....there, rub...} He reached between them and rubbed at her apex. Feral green eyes gleamed as his touch brought her closer and closer to her own climax. Her pleasure ripped through him. He shuddered and groaned with her guttural cry. "I hurt you..." {Not for long...North...I never thought...} The door to the room opened and a matron and the Bossman entered. "Get him off her." Danny pulled himself free and moved backwards before the Bossman came close. He stared down appalled at the blood on himself and on the pallet. The matron grabbed the girl's arm and jerked her up. Blood trailed down her legs. The Bossman laughed at the evidence of lost virginity. Danny made a step towards her, "Sweetness!" The punch came so fast, Danny reeled backwards. The Bossman grabbed him from behind, holding his head and neck at a painful angle.

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{North, don't fight him. He'll hurt you!} The girl looked back before she was pulled out of view. "I didn't think that lesson in the baths was enough." Bossman wrestled Danny down to the pallet. A huge hand rubbed his face back and forth on the bloody mattress. "You should be made into an example." "I agree, Bossman." The high cultured voice came from the doorway. Bossman shifted position until his knee was pinning Danny down by the neck. "My lord." "Ten strokes with the short whip you use on the women. My wife would be distressed if we were to draw blood on this one. When you”re done with him, lock him in the dark box until the morning." Lord Espes turned to leave. He paused in his tracks, "Use the post and chains when he has to be bred again, and have the surgeon make some of that slave potion. Since he doesn't know what to do, he can just lay there and be ridden." "As you command, my lord." The sound of silken robes trailing on the floor faded away. Bossman leaned over and slapped Danny' exposed face, "There won't be a bruise to show Lady Espes but you will know your punishment." A leather thong was wrapped brutally around Danny' wrists, numbing the fingers but not cutting the flesh. The Bossman rolled off his neck, then jammed fingers into blonde hair and jerked Danny off the pallet in one motion, "Come along North. The whip is waiting for you." “I was chained to the bed since I didn’t know what to do with a woman. We bred under the watchful eye of the Lord

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then Ona was dragged off to the woman’s quarters and I was given back to the Bossman for his special entertainment until morning.” Danny shuddered then knocked a bowl of fruit to the floor. “We were both raped that night, but it didn’t matter. We were worth less than this silver bowl.” Edan stared at the younger man. “I....” “It wasn’t something to enjoy, Edan. It wasn’t something to be remembered with fondness. The only thing good that came out of that...coupling was Talos. Ona chose you Edan. She looked into your heart and saw all that love that she needed. Not all Northerner’s are talented horsespeakers. There is a chance that Talos has his mother’s gift. Maybe all he gets from me is his colouring.” Danny closed his mouth as his voice broke. Tears welled in his eyes. That’s all I’m doing lately is crying. He rubbed at his face. “Milord...are you all right?” “No, Edan...I don’t think I am. I’m just a shadow of what I should be. I made promises and I’m finding it so difficult to keep them.” “Where’s Keveth?” “He’s out on a mission. That’s the second time you’re called him that “ Keveth. Don’t mind me right now Edan. I’m just so tired.” Danny let out a wry smile as his stomach growled so loud it echoed in the bed chamber, “and hungry. I’ll walk you back down to the dinning hall.” {Here is your bedwarmer for the night} Danny shivered as the Darkness whispered in his head. A guard, tall and lean came into the hall. He bowed quickly, “Milord, the last of the harvest has been placed into

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storage. The western bridge has been dismantled and the work crew will be moving northward in the morning toward the marshland.” “Thank you for that report.” The guard bowed again but made no effort to leave. {Use his willing body to ease your pain.} “Enough!” Edan jerked around. “Milord?” “Not you Edan. I will work harder and try to keep everything from Talos. I’ll see you in the morning at the marshland.” “How does the Dark Lord seem to you?” Mati wiped her hands on the plain apron tied to her waist. Edan had paused on the stairs and a flour covered hand had urged him into the Tower kitchens. Edan stared back up the winding staircase. “Fragile...where is Kev?” “He left here about ten days ago. After all that mooning around, I wouldn’t have thought that he would have left him after he got what he wanted.” “I don’t think Kev left for good, Lord Danny said he was on a mission. I’m worried about him. He looks so tired. I’ve never seen him...broken.” “He carries a heavy burden for us and he’s so young. I think we forget that.” The door to the dining hall closed and bolted itself shut from the inside. “Who was that?” “Milos. His eldest sister was killed at the berry patch. Maybe they can ease each other’s pain for a while.”

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Edan shook his head, “I never would have thought that he would forsake Tal, but to take Kev then another.” “Mind your tongue. I’m sorry for your loss of wife, Edan. Maybe that is why you don’t see the toll it’s taking on our young man. He has lost his Consort. He doesn’t have his Companion. He has lost so many of his charges to those cowardly whitecoats, but I think it hurts worse that he has lost his daughters...and his favourite daughter “ your wife. I’ve never seen him cry. I’ve never seen him wail like the rest of us. That can’t be good.” “I just feel....so lost right now.” Mati reached up and touched Edan’s harrowed face, “At least you have your son. I have my daughters...and tonight, Lord Danny will have Milos to forget sorrow for just a little while.” “Sleep well, Mati.” Edan touched her shoulder then turned back down the stairs toward home. Shame and more than a little horror mixed with the heaviness of his heart. Danny had been her first. Danny had planted the seed within her womb and given her a son. A son that she gave to him to raise, to cherish and love. The pure revulsion on Danny’s face was more than proof that they couldn’t have stopped the breeding. Horrible things happened that night that Talos was conceived. Maybe it was for the best that Ona never spoke of it. It would never be spoken of again. Edan marched back down toward the brightly glowing forge. There was work to be done.

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I don’t want this...no. Danny gasped as Milos pressed him face down on against the table. The hard thrusting was driving through his body...no... {Savour it, my Chosen...} no... Milos covered his back, pressing a sweaty forehead to the back of his neck. Hot breath seared his ear all the while continuing to pump deep inside. no... {You have learned the art of men...savour it. Let this man ease your heart. Your body craves it. Indulge in what is offered.} “No....stop..” “Milord?” The man stilled his body. It was as the Darkness claimed. Every fibre in his body ached for completion. {He hurts as deeply as you.} “Milord?” “It hurts...” Danny’s voice was barely a whisper. Milos began to disentangle himself. Danny tightened his hold on the shaft. “Not you...” His left hand grabbed at his chest, feeling the silver tear press hard into his flesh. The warmth of the heartbeat pulsing on his sternum. “...in here. It hurts so much in here,” “Yes...it does, Milord. Do you want me to go?” “...no.” Milos jerked hard, forcing himself deeper. Danny gasped as tears began to leak from his eyes. “Don’t stop...” {Cry while you can, Chosen. War is at hand.}

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Steadfast pawed the grass uneasily. Kev stared up at the black rock towering above them. What had happened to make this? His heart tightened and it's rhythm sounded like thunder in his ears. "I take it, this is new." "The road is guarded...you don't know any other way in?" Streeves looked over at the silent youth. "Kev?" {My Lord!} The scream was silent but heartrending. The small spark of jealously over the way Ona and Tal could speak so easily to the Golden hair but he squashed it down quickly. A woman and a child - he was jealous of a woman and a boy. He kicked his heels into Steadfast's side turning so he hand brushed against the wall. It was warm and welcoming...{Dark Lord, let me in.} A low rumbling echoed through the forest. Steadfast backed from the wall as it began to ripple - as waves in a pond. "Black Magic" A voice whispered from behind him. The rock seemed to thin...to draw back creating a hole large enough for a man's hand....growing to fit an arm... a torso. The wall opened wide. Steadfast surged forward, the rock scraping against Kev's knees. Streeves had to dismount and lead his mount through as did the rest of the Horde.

Danny woke in his own bed chamber. His body ached all over but the heaviness that was pressing down so hard was gone. He glanced over to his side but there was so sign of another occupant. Milos had understood and silently allowed

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him his grief. Together they had worked on healing each other, even if it was just to make it more manageable. “How do you know what I need?” {You are my Chosen.} Danny waited for more, but nothing else was forthcoming. {Your shield will be at the western wall before the midday sun.} Danny strode out from the thin line of protectors, his face serious and eyes narrowed as he took in the defenders they had been counting on. Nine... His eyes turned to the open eager face, the warm eyes the welcoming smile that slowly slipped from Kev's countenance. Kev dismounted and walked toward him, dropping to one knee. "My Lord." "Kev...this is it?" "When I left Karlashka, I didn't have anyone. My Lord, the black wall..." Danny reached out a hand and pulled Kev to his feet and into a tight embrace, "There was another attack - women and children were killed, including Ona." "Talos?" "He saw it but he seems to be coping well." Kev stiffened as Denias purred under Danny's tight stroking touch, "Greetings to you, sister. Thank you for returning our Shield safely to us." Danny pulled back and walked toward the mounted men. Streeves bowed his head in respect, "Dark Lord - what is left of the Highland Horde is at your service."

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"Your times seem to have been equally as hard as ours. Your horses will be taken to the stables and we will find quarters for your men. I would have your presence in the Great Hall for dinner, Captain Streeves." "I would be honoured." Danny suddenly stiffened. Kev had Denias in his hand as the Darkness welled up in him. The air crackled around them. Danny stared at the man hanging back at the edge of the Horde. "My Lord?" Edan twisted and followed the wideeyed gaze to the dark skinned man on a deep brown charger. "Get away Edan." "My Lord! They are here to help." "Not him." "Dark Lord - What is the meaning of this? I thought you wanted the Horde's help." Streeves demanded "I don't want any help from the man who killed my village and sold me into slavery." "My Lord, surely you are mistaken." "His face is burned into my mind. I know this man. Stand aside Edan." "Your laws forbid this." Edan returned "He killed my mother!" Danny stepped sideways as a shot of black lightening crashed through the air at the steed's feet carrying the hated man. The horse reared high in the air, sending its rider crashing hard to the ground. Kev held Denias high in the air as he grasped Danny around the shoulders - pulling him back against him. "The laws you laid down demand that he be held for trial. You have enforced this law over and over again with your

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people...You cannot disregard it." He tightened his hold as Danny fought to struggle. "The Dominion Law is what sets us apart from the Free Lords. I know your heart is ripping apart with anger but you DO NOT have the same privilege as any other former slave. YOU are the Dark Lord. YOU are our salvation. Don't destroy what you and Tal have worked to build and protect." Danny tensed once more then the Darkness began to drain away, "Edan arrest that man." Captain Streeves stepped up, "You sent a message to us, begging for our help and this is how you greet us? By attacking and arresting my men. This is an outrage." Danny stared over the compound at the man slowly righting himself. His pale eyes looked through Streeves and then he turned on his heel and walked back to the tall tower swathed in blackness. "Don't walk away from me..." Streeves made a move to follow then pulled up short as the demon sword swung into his path. The hair of the back of his neck stood on end as the sword emanated it's killing desire to him. It was hungry. The pale yellow eyes never flinched from the battlehardened stare. "There are few laws here, Captain. The first one being anyone who comes to our Lands is free. The second is that no one will be allowed to remove a freeman whether it be former owners, hunters or slavers. The Third is that if ever a freeman encounters their enslaver that person will be tired before their peers. Everyone is given a trial if they are accused of the Third law." "And if they are found guilty?"

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"Death - as slow and agonizing as the suffering the freeman had endured." "…years of torture?" Edan stepped up, "We have never had to use the Third Law before no slaver dares enter the Dominion. Come with me. I will show you the stables for the horses, and places where your men can sleep." “I can’t allow this...Fallon is a member of the Highland Horde. I won’t allow this boy...” Edan turned to meet Streeves, steely gaze striking sparks with steely gaze, “Don’t underestimate him. He is the Dark Lord here, and he is the keeper of our Laws. We are his freemen...and we will do anything to protect ourselves and our Lord. Right now, you have one to stand under the sentence of Death...” “Are you threatening us?” “I am stating the rules of engagement. Danny is the Dark Lord here. His will is Law. As long as you abide by that Law, you will have nothing to fear.” Edan gestured for some of the younger boys to lead the soldiers to the stables. “Welcome to the Dominion, Mercenaries. Welcome to our fate.” Kev stood just inside the bedchamber as the golden haired man stood staring out the high narrow window looking out across the land - but not seeing anything. "My Lord?" The words went without recognition. He cleared his voice "My Lord...something is troubling you."

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Again his words were met with silence. "Tell me what is wrong." “I don't owe you any explanations." The words were like razors cutting into the fragile heart and letting the wounds bleed inside. "I am more than a common rentboy or I thought I was to you." "You are...my anger and sorrow right now is mine to deal with." "Anything that affects you, affects me." Kev loosened the scabbard and laid Denias gently at the foot of the great bed. He crossed over and stood behind Danny, leaning close pressing his nostrils up against the golden hair that smelt of spring hay. "I remember him, Kev. The image caught in my mind is clear and perfect. He came like a black angel of death and raised my village....he forced me in my own house..." Kev stepped closer and drew Danny' warmth back against him. His arms cradling around him. "I just remembered something - my mother used to play the flute...I can hear snatches of a melody...mixed with the sounds of the brook, the singing of birds...then those sweet notes floating over the snows...I'd forgotten her." "My Lord...Danny..." "My father would stop his forge and listen when my mother would play...he used to call her songbird....but I can't remember what her face looked like when she was alive. All I see is her slit throat and empty sockets." A body wrenching shudder ripped through Danny. He turned in his lover's arms and stared into the concerned face. "Why? In all my years,

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I've never asked that. Why? Why was I the only left alive? Why didn't he kill me right there and leave me to rot with the rest of my family?" "I can't answer you." "He can...and he will tell me before he dies." Danny broke away. "I thought I had hated before...but my anger at Espys is nothing compared to what I am feeling now. This man will pay for his crimes." "When will the trial..." "There will be no trial." "My Lord!" "I know him. I know what I have suffered because of him!" "You cannot do this." Kev returned. The air began to crackle with the gathering power of Darkness. Kev took a few paces backwards. Denias screamed inside his head...her own power was gathering for release. She would protect her new provider...even against the Darkness itself. Kev clenched his fists and turned back to the window, as quickly as the Darkness was called it was drained away. "I am sorry Kev." Danny slumped back on the bed. "I am not good company now." "My Lord....Danny...I love you. My love isn't only for your kindness and beauty...it is everything about you. I would rather stay with you now but if you really wish me gone, I will leave." "Stay. I cannot sleep when I'm alone and I'm so tired, Kev. I'm so tired."

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Kev stripped his armour and clothing from his body. He had hoped to get into a warm bath before coming to Danny but he had never seen him so -- defeated before. Danny turned to him, gathering him close as to rest his head on the chest. Ear placed over the steady thump of a beating heart. Kev stroked the golden hair gently. This is not how he had anticipated ending the evening. Edan watched as the soldiers settled into an uneasy silence. The horses were stabled and feed. The older daughters were bringing in the fare for them to eat - but the merriment that should have been between these two factions was absent. He took a deep breath - catching the familiar and long forgotten scent of fear riding the air. The girls set the food and escaped into the night. Guards had been posted inside the room - but Edan knew that the Horde were mercenaries. Only few in number - but what a deadly force they could be - especially to half-trained men and boys. "Edan...you have the look of a former soldier about you." The voice belonged to a leather hard-faced man with a scar crossing from his mouth down across his neck. It was guttural but steady even after a number of tankards that had been drained. "I fought for my Lord when I was called upon. Unfortunately, we were not enough to win the battle." Captain Streeves leaned forward, his eyes were clear of the mead and beer that the Horde had consumed. "How did this come to be? We, the Horde, were in the east, we rescued him from raiders. He was nothing more than a horsespeaker and rentboy then. How...did all this happen?"

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Edan eyed the grey haired captain. There was a healthy amount of concern in his eyes, but no fear. "I honestly don't know how the Dark Lord came into being. There are stories and speculation but for myself - he came into view when he cut the chains that anchored me to an anvil in the master's forge. He was the Dark Lord then and has always been." "And Kegsetter?" "He was a soldier." "Was...you have no hope of his return." "No one returns from the Illumination. The Commander was a steadying influence on the Dark Lord. I don't know if Keveth will have the same affect." "So you fear him." "As much as you would fear your own father...and that is what he has become to many of us. Salvation from a life of slavery. Defender of our freedom. Protector of our sleep. Your companion will die tomorrow. No one in this village will allow him to live." "Including you?" "When I was a slave, the master that owned me was cruel and unforgiving. The day, the Dark Lord set me free - I saw Espy's hanging from his own window, his entrails spilling to the ground below - dogs were fighting for the sloppy mess. And to this day - I have never had a more joyous moment. If the Dark Lord would feel even a bit of that joy I felt - I would give him that satisfaction." "Fallon has been with the Horde for 3 campaigns. He joined when we needed to fill our ranks. He has proven to be

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a good soldier. He is a part of the Highland Horde and I cannot allow him to be tried unjustly." Edan passed by the table then paused by the door. "We know what's it's like to be without justice. That man will be given a fair hearing...and then he will be executed." Danny rose from Kev's embrace when the moon was easing it's path from the sky. In dim time between morn and night, he dressed with the care of a warrior going into battle. The black leather breeches were laced tight, as were the high boots. A tunic of silk the angry orange of a dying sun filtered over his head and then he picked the gleaming silver circlet from the bedside table. It pulsed with warmth as it greeted him. No one was stirring as he made his way down the spiralling staircase of the Tower. The pulsing of his blood was strong and loud in his ears. His heart has dark with purpose. He walked with the intention of killing a man. Espys had died squealing like a animal - but that didn't touch his soul. Those he had sent into the Dark Embrace were convicted men who had fallen away from the laws of men. Their last cries did nothing to his soul either. But this time the hot white anger that had kept him from sleep wasn't warming. A ball of ice sat uncomfortably in his stomach. His heartbeat sounded like a claxon in his ears. The accused stood chained to the wall, his arms spread far apart and his feet planted firmly on the floor, lashed there to metal rings hammered into the living stone. Torch light had flickered in the outer chamber but Danny needed nothing to see the fear and resignation on the man's face. He knew

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that his death was looking at him in the face. He just stood there tethered looking back into the cool blue eyes. "Streeves pleads for your case...” "Captain Streeves is a good leader - it is his duty." "It would do little good." Silence met these words, "You are going to die tomorrow." "I've figured that out when you blasted me off my horse." "High on a mountain in the North, there was a horse village. On a sunny summer day, slavers came down and cut everyone to shreds...killing babies, children, men and women. Not even dogs were left alive - but only one child." "You want to know why." "I deserve to know." The dark eyes turned away and stared across the cell. "We weren't slavers - or at least I wasn't. I was a horse raider." "Horse raiders....you killed everyone!" "It wasn't supposed to happen this way. All the men were supposed to be out the village at the dam but everything went wrong. I didn't know that gold had been given to finish the entire village. I don't take to killing well - I was drunk when you returned and I took you because I could. When I sobered, I knew I couldn't leave you there. I couldn't kill you either - to kill in the heat of battle is one thing - to do it in cold blood is something I couldn't do. If the others knew, they would have slit your throat without so much as an thought." "So you sold me into slavery. You sold me to a slaver who took me to a rent house. Did you get much for me?"

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"Twenty gold." "You were short changed. I made thirty gold a night there in that red silk covered room." "But you were alive...Nothing in the valley was left alive when they rode out. I wasn't with them." "Give me a reason not to kill you right now." "I deserve killing—if not for you or your village, then for the other things I've done. If you think about it enough, everyone deserves to die. I stained my soul long before I came to you, northerner. I devoured it when I sold you into slavery. I have no family to claim even though the Captain is claiming me as part of the Horde. No one will care if you hang my bones from your black tower. Maybe it would have been kinder to kill you back in the snows...but then this Dominion wouldn't exist--these people would still be toiling under a slaver's whip and the old Sergeant would be raising his horses." Power rushed up through Danny, the skin on his bones, tingled with the force building within him. The dark man stared at him with a horrid fascination sketched on his features. The silver circlet burned with heat and gleamed, filling the darkened room with sorceries light... "I regret ever riding into your valley, northerner." The words were whispered as he closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. The power was full, seductive and inviting. The sheer energy of it made the small hairs on Danny' arms stand on end. A sound of a wounded and drying animal filled the chamber, as the power was unleashed. White streaks of

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lightening shot around the chamber, dancing on the dark stones. Danny collapsed on his knees as the power discharged. An unseen hand squeezed hard at his chest tightening until it was almost impossible to breathe until a sob ripped out of his throat. Tears fell freely as a child's -- the sorrow of a long lost child facing an unknown and frightening future. Tears that couldn’t have fallen the night before streamed down his hotly flushed face. He cried for the child, he wailed for the youth who endured so much and sobbed for man who had seen so much loss. Tears fell until no more tears would. Weakness clung to his limbs as he tottered back to his feet. A hot shot of pain blazed across the front of his skull where the circlet had burned hotly. He slipped it from his head and held it loosely in his fingers. "The safest place for you is here. Edan would love to kill you with his bare hands. The man you were is no more. The man I hate is gone. We are going up against a army. We'll need every man who can swing a sword." "My sword will be in your service." "Your life might yet be forfeit. The Illumination won't care if you are hired swords. You will be counted among the enemy." "So be it.” Dim light was approaching as Danny slipped out of the chamber. The weight of the circlet felt more than should have been. He paused for a moment waiting for the mocking tempting voice to speak to him but it stood in silence. "Milord?"

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Danny watched as the golden eyed man rose from the step of the spiral case, concern etched deeply on his face. The golden gaze slid past him to the black barred door. "He's alive, Kev." Danny stepped closer, cupping his hand under the other's chin, "I didn't greet you properly when you returned." The kiss was hard and deep...the Dark Lord demanding submission from his minion. Kev moaned as he felt Danny” excitement pressing hard against his groin. “Danny.” Kev speared his hands into the golden hair... “My beautiful..." Danny caught his hands and pulled them away with his whole body he forced Kev back down on the stairs. Their breathing turned deep and harsh. Kev groaned has he took his Lord's weight on his stirring member but he laid still as the heat of a forceful tongue buried itself in his mouth. Dancing along his teeth, seducing with quick stabbing motions. Danny pulled back. Kev stared up at the exotic man whose eyes had turned a deep ocean blue. "Do you want this body?" "You, only you. I love you. I have always loved you." Kev blinked up into the eyes then forced his mouth into work. The words were mere breath on air, but he had coaxed his heart into the message. "Let me love you..." The Tower began to shudder with the otherworldly clang of the Wards sounding. Danny pushed Kev away fighting for some control that he needed. Kev”s eyes were glazed with desire and his blinked as Danny started up the stairs, two at a time. The Darkness filled his head...the sheer power blanketing the exhaustion and weariness with exhilaration. His breathing was even as he came to the top of the Tower.

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Casting his mind wide he found a wiling host in a scarlet cardinal. The bird”s heart beat in his own chest as their wings flapped harder and reached for the thermal off to the right. The wind rose them high....higher. The jagged black rock wall suddenly loomed before them and the cardinal winged it”s way to the top. Claws gripped around a small outcrop and Danny peered down with the eyes of the bird. A woman with hair so pale it was gold hugged a babe tight to her chest as she staggered through the underbrush and came face to face with the wall. Another child, maybe only 10 seasons old staggered up behind her followed by a heavyset woman with hair turning to the grey of age. The howls of the tracking hounds spun them around to stare back in desperate horror. “My Lord, what is it?” Kev’s voice sounded loud in his ear but he kept his bird host eyes trained on the group below. The crashing of a large body brought the child scurrying behind the pale woman. Another woman bounded out of the brush, the “s” brand stood black and red on her temple. “Runaways...” The words sounded slurred and distant and took more effort than Danny expected to say them. “It could be a trap.” The branded woman reached down and caressed the child’s face, brushing away tears with her thumb. The baying of the hounds started up again as they once more found the scent. She grabbed the child up on her hip and pointed a new path along the wall to take. They began running. Danny fell to his knees as his mind returned to his body. Kev caught him under the shoulders before he landed in a

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heap on the black stone floor. Too much had happened for the fragile form to take. “They’re along the western wall. Two women and two children. Hunting dogs are after them... I didn’t see the slavers.” “Cowards...They won’t cross over.” “Get some people over to the western wall, near the marsh. There’s a dead tree there. That’s where I’m going to let them in.” “Danny...” “The dogs will tear them to shreds. They don’t have much strength or time left.” Danny pushed the Kev’s hand free then caught it up again. “I’ll follow after I locate those slavers. Hurry Kev...they have travelled so far.” “Immediately.” Warm lips pressed against his fingers. Kev savoured the gentle touch briefly, turned and ran back down the circular case, taking two steps at a time. The men from the village were out milling around in the courtyard when Kev bolted from the Tower. “We have runners at the west wall. I need volunteers to ride with me. The Dark Lord is going to open the wall.” Phena had stopped crying long ago. Airena cupped her child’s head to her breasts, gulping down air and trying not to fear the worst. Mira rushed past staring up at the towering black wall before them. “This shouldn’t be here. No one said that there was a wall around it.” Airena jumped as the baying of the dogs started up again. Her legs were burning from the running, from the slashing of the wild thorns. The pain in her side was just getting worse. “Mira...”

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“We have to keep moving. There will have to be a gateway along here. It’s not far now.” Mira turned her eyes toward the grey haired woman, Skyanna. Her face was so red. She hurried back to her side, “I’ll help you.” Skyanna shook her head, “I should never have come with you. I’m too old and too slow.” “We’re here....” Mira glared up at the wall, “Well almost here.” The sound of the hounds was getting closer. “Leave me.” “No!” “I”m slowing you down. The dogs will be busy with me...you should be able to...” “We are not leaving you to the dogs.” Mira grabbed at the older woman”s arm and pulled her forward. “We just have to make it to the next gateway.” Airena screamed. Mira jerked her knife out and pivoted toward the younger woman. A man stood at a roughly hewn opening in the wall. Mira ran forward brandishing the knife with skill of one who knew how to use it. She flicked her wrist and the metal danced in the air. Behind her the old women and the two girls cowered, one grubby little hand tight on each side of the elders skirt. Kallas made a placating gesture toward the women, and was rewarded with the slash of a knife at his hand. “Take it easy girl. There”s nothing to fear here. No Lord would be foolish enough to cross over here.”

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Edan rode up on the lathered stocky gelding. "Guard the wall. Well woman, are you coming inside or are you going to take the chances with the hounds." The baying rose up as if on command. "Mira!" The older woman's voice was wavered with strain. It was plain to see that she could go no further. Mira ushered the woman through, pushing them back against the wall shielding her small and weak charges with her knife and her body. The solidness of the rock against their back suddenly began swirling, like writer's ink being mixed in a pool of water....turning the once wide opening into a narrow passage...into a slit...a crack then nothing but rough black rock stretching skyward. "Devil's work." The older woman grabbed at the children and hauled them away from the wall. Kev rode up into the small crowd of men. Denias hummed gently on his un-armoured back. The excitement of being in Danny's arms hadn't drifted away completely and riding didn't help. Denias feminine laughter filled his head. "Welcome to the Dominion." Edan leaned forward over the saddle horn. "As Kallas said, no FreeLord would dare enter here." “Liar..you got Lord Espys right behind you!” The crowd of men turned as one and stared at the Dark lord's new companion. "Accusations are met with harsh penalties, woman. Even if you are new here." Kallas hissed. Edan met Kev's eyes. "Why do you call this one, a FreeLord?"

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Mira stared at the ashen face with utter hatred gleaming in her eyes, “I was forced into a rent house in Karlashka. I remember all their faces.... This one used to come frequently.” “You must be mistaken woman.” Edan hissed leaning over his saddle. “His hair is longer and he”s thinner but if you want proof, he has a brown mark on his leg below his manhood." Mira jumped forward and slashed at Kev”s leg. Steadfast shifted sideways and lashed out with a back hoof. The woman barely missed being kicked. Denias” laughter changed to a battle cry, ringing in Kev”s head. His hand groped for the familiar feel of her hilt when hands pulled at his legs, knocking him off his horse. Denias screamed with rage. Hands plummeted.. A foot crashed into his side, sending ripples of agony through his body. Steadfast was pulled clear by the reins even though he fought against it. "Traitor!" "Get him.." "He's with the Illumination." "Enough! I said enough" Huge tree trunk legs stood over him. "We are not a lawless people. We know what it feels like to suffer at the hands of others. Lord Danny has asked that we all work on making this land better than the one we left." Spittle plopped to the ground at Kev's hand. Edan leaned over..."Can you get up boy?"

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Kev staggered to his feet. His entire left side felt on fire and it hurt to breathe. Ribs were either broken or badly bruised. "Give me the sword." Denias was misting a killing rage--how dare these people touch her chosen. Edan grabbed his shoulder and dragged him close. "You could probably all kill us if you let that sword out, Kev. But then you'd lose Danny for sure." In a louder voice, "Give me your sword." Kev slipped the scabbard off...the hum of the entity was seductive. But to never touch the love of his life again was something that couldn’t be denied. The group scowled and spat as Edan gestured for him to ride. Kev looked back at the woman with the “s” half hidden in her hair. Mira? The name meant nothing. The face...it meant nothing. Lord Espys was a lifetime ago. Danny knew something was wrong. Edan approached leading the small crowd that was growing larger as they rode through town. Kev hung back...and Edan was holding Denias! He could hear the angry murmurs from the tower. What was going on? He snatched up his cloak and started down the stairs. The courtyard was filled by the time he stepped out into the suns morning rays. “What”s going on here?” “Deceiver!” A stone few from the crowd striking Kev on the shoulder. “Liar.” “What is going on here!” The Dark Lord”s voice rose over the crowd silencing everyone. Edan slipped off his horse, “My Lord, the women were at the wall just were you said they could be.”

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“Where are they?” The crowd parted and four figures limped forward. The older woman looked as if she was about to faint on her feet. “Welcome to the Dominion...” “Deceiver!” A cry started up at the back of the crowd. “What is...” “Once, in the west, I was known as Lord Espys.” Danny jerked his eyes sharply to Kev”s face. “This woman remembered me and denounced me.” “Slaver!” “Freelord!” “Where is our hospitality? We have four new sisters and we haven”t even offered them a drink of water. Come to our kitchens and get something to eat. We have women here that have healing arts, unless you are seriously wounded.” “No, Dark Lord. We are tired and hungry though. We”ve travelled for days.” “Those who can spare rooms for our new sisters, please come with me to the kitchen. Edan, Kev wait in my chamber.” “Slaver!” “As I have been reminded, we have laws here. Go home and prepare for the upcoming day. The Illumination is still our main concern and we still need to prepare for their attack.” Danny lead the small group into the dying warmth of the kitchen. He tossed logs on the embers then bellowed them to life... “My Lord, please...” A young woman took the bellows

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from his hand, “We”ll gladly take of the wee ones here. I won”t take long to hustle up some warm food for them.” “My thanks... Sit and eat. You”ve come along way to freedom. Ladies, may I leave you in care of our new sisters. I wish you a peaceful night.”“ The blonde hair man looked over them for a moment then turned on his heel and stared up the wide spiral staircase. Mira stood uneasily in the kitchen but the banked fire of hatred was deep in her eyes. She stood in front of the little tired band of women and children ready to defend them. The look she sent at him was less then gratitude. “I thought there weren’t any Masters here.” Kitchen ladies looked up from their work, “There are none here. We are all free men and women here. We own what we work with, we harvest what we plant.” “You harbour Freelords.” Arlissa set bowls of soup out on the scarred kitchen table, “That has yet to be discovered.” “You calling me a liar?” “I don”t know you well enough to call you a liar. The Dark Lord will look into the matter.” “Dark Lord, he”s your master then.” "Once I was Keveth, Lord to the Holding of Espys, but now I am Kev, Shield to the Dark Lord." The golden hair continued to stare out the tower window. "You told me, what I was before didn't matter." "You have lied to me from the very beginning." "Danny...."

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"You have no right to call me that. Only Tal calls me that." "I love you." "Do you? Or do you just want the yellow haired northerner writhing on your manhood?" Danny slowly turned away from the window. Gone was the bright eyed lover, who had wantonly offered so much pleasure on the stairs a short horse ride ago, in his stead was the Dark Lord who stood between this people and the Illumination. "I can see from your eyes that it was so. You saw me and you wanted me and you took whatever means necessary to get me. The brand on your temple...you arranged to have it placed there. You lied about being sold to a rent house." "No...I did have an arrangement to get the brand but then they took me and sold me to a rent house...when they were haggling over the price I stole a horse and got away." "Edan knew...that's why he didn't like you. Don't touch me." "The Darkness has looked into my heart. I have no intention to harm you. It chose me to be your protector." "The Darkness is just as demanding as any other master I was forced to serve. Its desires don't match my own. The Darkness has already convinced another to fill your role as my bedmate tonight. It knows my appetites too well. I don't serve the Master well unless I have been well and truly sated. You know that I have been well trained in the art of men. "Milord....Danny...I do love you. I only want to make you happy..."

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"With lies and falsehoods from the first time you opened your mouth? Answer me truly, Lord Espys, if you know how to speak the truth that is, if Tal had not been removed from my side, would you have killed him just to take his place? "Milord.." Cold blue eyes froze the words in Edan's mouth. "I am unhappy with you too Edan. I gave you something more fragile than my life to guard. I gave you my trust. How can I hold you in my heart now that I know you have kept something as devastating as this to yourself? I know Ona didn't know anything about our young Lord here, because she held him in a warm spot in her heart." "No." Edan and Danny turned back to the Kev, "No, I wouldn't have tried to get between you and Tal. He made you happy. He made you laugh. I only wanted to do that too." Danny turned, the silver circlet on his head blazed with white light as he stared at the amber eyed man who been nothing more than a fabrication. Denias lay on the alter...her outrage was screaming loud in Kev's head, but he just rooted himself to the floor. If the Dark Lord wanted to strike at him, with power or with a slap of the hand, he would endure. The circlet dimmed as the gathered power drained away. Danny stepped close and caught Kev by the chin, lifting his face up to meet his gaze he leaned in close and whispered, " The Illumination stole my heart...but you, you killed my soul. Get out of my Tower."

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Sins of the

Staring out into the rising light of day the figure stood like a statue -- unmoving, unfeeling and so cold inside-wrapped in a cloak twice as large as his shoulder width. The full darkness of night had still shrouded the Tower when he felt Kev leave. Mist rose from the ground like fingers reaching upward trying to grasp at the lighting sky, as if to drag back the blanket of night. Danny shivered. Edan had looked like someone had struck him a mortal blow. Danny sighed. He would have to make amends with Edan in the morning but right now. "Tal...I'm confused and I hurt so much...it's ripping me up inside. Winter is coming and it's going to be hard, even without the Illumination massing with the Free Lords. I wish you were here to help me." {You have refused my gift to you.}Danny stiffed as the Darkness spoke, that bodiless voice ringing inside his head. "You knew what he was." {That he was the spawn of a slave girl and Espes--such as is Talos. The spawn of a slave girl and a Lord.} "What does Talos have to doing with any of this? You knew..." Danny's anger fled his voice, "You know why I hated Espes." {He mated you with his hunting dogs.} Danny hugged himself tighter. “...yes..."

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{And you killed him -- unleashing the power I gave you to kill Espys, the Bossman and every dog on the estate. Those that used you...those that raped you...those that killed you have gone into a darker embrace than mine.} Danny felt the hair on the back of his neck behind to stand at the Darkness began to forge into a solid black figure behind him. {The Illumination sees the power I had given you and fears it. It will strike at anything you have touched because it fears you have contaminated it with Darkness. And now that they know you have a son, they will do everything they can because they fear that he will follow your path...} "Talos is just a boy...he has nothing to do with this." {Keveth is just a boy and yet he has been judged on the crimes of the father.} White hot rage well upside his chest the power coursing through his veins blasted out of his finger tips with a blinking flash of darkness. Laughter filled the chamber as the blast absorbed into the figure. {You cannot use my own power against me, my Chosen.} Danny dropped to his knees his hands grasping at his forehead as a wave of Dark power swept over him. Calmness settled around him and the pain that was so tight in his chest moments before loosened and fell away. {I have looked into "Your Shield” and have found him worthy of you. He has lived the life of a freelord in the towns where he was schooled. He had the brand of a rent slave placed on his temple because he saw you and couldn't get you out of his soul. He would be content to stand by your side but he

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prefers to sleep in your bed. He has killed in your name and he will die for you when the time deems it so. Keventh, last lord to the holdings of Espys is my gift to you.} “I can’t look at him.” {He has already killed for you. He will die for you.} “I don’t want him dying for me. I don’t want anymore dying for me.” {Your children have lived in fear. They would rather die on their feet wailing your name than under a taskmaster’s whip. Do not make them cower in their homes. Take the fight to the Illumination.} “Our numbers aren’t that large.” {You have others to command besides men. The tunneler hungers still. Dar-gon is a minor demon but you saw his effectiveness. Think of grandeur scales, my Chosen. Think of all those who have fallen before the Riders of Light in all the years before. Women and children who had nothing to do with magicks, except that they lived on land that was owned by a Lord that the Illumination deemed...evil. The death that your daughters had at the hands of the Riders was kind, compared to what happened to others. End the Illumination here.} “This is your war.” {Now it is yours} Danny hand opened on his chest then tightened into a fist around the silver teardrop. The steady thumping in his palm calmed himself even more. “I need Rider blood.” {Your Shield will get it.}

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“No. I have someone else in mind.” Danny climbed to his feet, turned and stared into the Darkness. “I am the Dark Lord and I will protect my children. Rider blood will be soak the ground soon enough.” He lowered his head in a respectful bow. The Darkness turned transparent then separated into nothingness. The steady silver heart beat pulsing in his palm brought a comfort that was simple and a determination that was strong. Danny shrugged off the heavy cloak and conjured up a ball of light. It floated above his palm, shining into the deep shadows of the corridors of the Tower. The voices of the servants were muted as they moved objects down into the catacombs. They drifted off into silence as the golden haired youth past. Their faces held the looks of sorrow and sadness and something akin to pity. Danny blinked away the sting at his eyes. They felt concern for their Lord, when they should have been worried about the horrors the next day would bring. He continued on alone, moving down into the Tower toward the cells of the condemned. The heavy metal door swung back at a quick gesture of his hand. Since the ruins of the festival, all these magicks came so easily--almost uncalled for. A simple thought or desire and something happened. Tal would not approve. The prisoner therein woke from his dreamless sleep at the heavy clang. Danny stood at the door, allowing the dark man to see him. The man’s eyes widened at the spectral ball of incandescence dancing on the Northerner’s fingertips. Truth was driven home, this young man was a sorcerer...a seer...a magician of the dark arts. The legendary Dark Lord. A touch

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of apprehension clouded his dark eyes. Danny gestured at the cuffs locked tight around the man’s wrists. The sound of the mechanism flicking open sounded like a thunder roll in the small dark chamber. Fallon rubbed at his bloodied wrists and flexed his fingers. “My children have had other concerns to worry about today. But they’ll remember you in the morning. They’ll kill you if you are found here.” “I’m not denying that I don’t deserve it” “I need a Rider of Light prisoner -- alive. I will ride with you to the wall and let you leave.” Fallon paused looking into the cold face...such an emotionless face on such a young man. So much power there in the eyes. One didn’t need to see the dull gleam of the silver circlet on his brow to know one stood before a type of greatness that was few and far between in the world. “How much alive?” “Barely, if need be. I need the heart still pumping blood.” The dark skinned man nodded. “It makes it difficult. But it can be done.” “Don’t stray from my side until we get to the wall. You seen how well my children love me.” Danny pivoted back to the door, “Don’t bring me any women. What must be done....shouldn’t be done to women or children.” “You are taking a chance that I will return, Dark Lord.” Danny reached out wiping at the small trickle of blood drying at the corner of the Fallon’s mouth. He lifted his

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finger and licked the fluid from it. “I have tasted your life. I can find you. If you don’t return in three days, I will come for you and the Death that takes you will not be as easy as those of my home village.” “You have had my life in your hands since I crossed into your lands. I knew that when you saw me. There is no need for these threats. My guilt has caused me enough pain.” They rode in silence to the wall. The night air only broken with the sound of the horses hooves on the hard packed road that all the Dominion had toiled over. The air was crisp and each breath was searing to the lungs. Winter was not long away. Fallon’s horse shied and stamped it’s feet nervously as the black massive wall creaked and separated in front of them. “How will I be able to get back inside?” “I have eyes everywhere. Three days.” “Three days, Dark Lord.” Fallon kicked his beast into motion and they jumped through the opening out into the Freelord’s land. A simple gesture and the fissure groaned to a close. Danny searched for the vision of a owl and found it. The bird swiveled its head and watched as the man and horse thundered past on the road leading to the Illuminations encampment. (Thank you for your vision, brother owl.) Danny blinked as his eyes returned to his own lesser night vision. Steppedancer snorted her disapproval at being out on such a cool night. She wasn’t as young as she used to be. The heat of battle warmed her joints, but this...standing still was not to be tolerated.

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(Take us home then, my lady.) Steppedancer nodded her head then turned back toward the distant tower.

Edan sat at the large polished wooden table. Kev sat hunched forward on a small stool in front of the hearth staring into the flames. Ona had such plans to have the table ringed with tiny faces as the years went by. And those years had past so quickly but the only tiny face had been Talos. He glanced over into the darkened room where his son slept. Edan glanced at the untouched bread and cheese sitting in front of the haggard man, "You should get some sleep." "I hurt him....I never meant to hurt him. Something changed in his eyes -- they looked so...cold." Edan grabbed up a tankard of ale and set it on the table, “It was bound to come out sooner or later. Your father owned many slaves. Most of them were like me -- captured soldiers. They went home -- the few that stayed have families and were mostly out in the fields. All he needed was one to identify you.” “I killed something in him.” “You can’t take all the blame, Kev. And he is stronger than that. Ona always said that he was the strongest person she ever knew.” “You don’t understand....I...I love him.” “I’m not blind.” Edan sat down across from the bowed head and poured himself a cup. The only sound in the wooden room was a crackling of the fading fire and the splash

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of spirit. “You love him - now. But that isn’t why you came to the Dominion…” Eyes the colour of cold tea looked up, brighter in the dim light because of unspent tears. Edan continued, “I was the ferrier...I saw everyone who came and left. Why did you come here, Keveth, Lord Espyes?” “I came to kill the slave that murdered my father.” Kev rose wiping his eyes clear of sorrow. “What he said wasn’t that far from the truth. When I saw the yellow haired northerner, I knew he would be my life. I won’t deny that I wanted him in my bed but...as you said I am my father’s son. I got what I wanted. Maybe now, I’m getting what I deserve.” Kev rose to his feet. The black armour that he wore creaked softly. “Where are you going?” “Home.” Edan knew it wasn’t the dark stone giant guarding their sleep. “What if he needs you?” “I don’t think he will. I’ve known the Dark Lord to be a man of his word. That is all part of his charm. He stands by what he says.” “Kev...he will need you again.” “As a fighter...not as a lover or friend. When I’m needed Denias will tell me.” Kev pulled the cloak tight around his shoulders. “If the Darkness decrees it...it will be sometime in the future.” “Danny is not someone you want as an enemy.”

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“That’s the problem, Edan. He doesn’t want me at all.” Edan watched as the darkness of night swallowed the man in black whole.

Danny stood a top the tower. Below the black spike the village lights burned almost with the force of diligence. Lights in the windows should have all gone dark now. He didn’t need the power of darkness to listen to the quiet desperation. Those fortunate enough to have all their family around them were well aware of how fortunate they were. Casting his vision wide, there was no sign of movement from the Rider encampment. A quick shift in focus saw Fallon riding toward the Freelord’s keeping. “My Lord...” Danny stared down at the familiar little house. The forge had long since died down to burning embers. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I would speak with you...” Danny smiled. Even in supplication, Edan’s voice held nothing of servitude. How did he last so long as a slave on Espy’s land? A spell of flight came quickly to Danny lips. Wind gently ruffed his hair, like a mother’s caress then he stepped off the black stone of the Tower. His stomach clenched in sudden fear as his body began to fall...so slowly. He spread his arms and angled his waist and the fall turned into the soar of an eagle. Laughter broke the clouds. “...Dark Lord....” Danny’s brief enjoyment faded. He angled back toward the small house and lowered himself gently to the ground. He

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turned and gazed back up at the height of the Tower. All this knowledge that the Darkness offered...it was no wonder the Illumination was so determined to end them. A man could make himself...a Galbraith if he so desired. He knocked at the rough-hewn door. Edan opened the door then knelt at the threshold. “I should have told you, Dark Lord.” “Get up. You should have. What else have you withheld from me?” “What do you think?” “Nothing else -- I can see it in your eyes. Can I come in?” Edan stepped back from the door. “My Lord....Kev..” “Not yet...” Danny walked to the hearth. The coals were glowing brightly and the heat was soothing. Danny’s hand touched the stone hearth. Everything was so warm, but he felt so cold. “He’s gone to the ruins.” “That was his choice.” “You left him no choice when you told him to get out.” “What was the choice left me between you two?” “You know how fragile trust is. An egg shell marked with hairline cracks isn’t that strong. I watched him. I made sure that he wasn’t going to harm you.” “That wasn’t your job.” “He never meant any harm. He made you smile...for a little while. You are too young to have known such tragedy.” “I’m tired, Edan” “Speak to him...”

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“I can see into your heart. You’re grieving for Ona. You’re worried for Talos and yet your biggest concern is for me.” “You gave me a wife, a son and sweet blessed freedom. What is a smile worth?” “Honesty and trust.” “Would you have listened if he came up to you dressed as Lord Espys’ son? What would you have done if I came to you when I figured out who Kev was? Keveth isn’t Espys. I don’t like to think that you would hold the sins of the father to the son.” “You’re the second one to tell me that tonight.” “Maybe My Lord, you should listen to one of us.” “I’m not that tired Edan. I met the man who killed my world and I let him go. I let another into my heart and he turns out to be the enemy. I am a whore, Edan, but not that much of one. I can’t lay with him knowing that everything I know about him is a lie.” “He loves you.” “It’s not enough.” “It should be...some of us don’t even get that.” “I want more...why can’t I be entitled to more? Tal came to me and took me in out of pity. I seduced him into wanting me, loving me. I made him love me. Maybe it was gratitude on my part...maybe....it was because Tal showed me the first bit of kindness that I could remember, that made me love him, but he is still in my heart Edan. Tal never lied to me. I honestly don’t think it would even occur to him to lie to anyone.”

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“The Commander was always an honest man. My Lord, the woman made accusations in public against Kev. It will be all over the town by morning if it hasn’t made the rounds tonight.” Danny rubbed a finger over the concealed hidden teardrop, “I know...” “My Lord...” “There are laws, Edan, as you so reminded me tonight. If the woman makes a formal charge, you’ll have to go and get Kev from the ruins to stand trial.” “Yes my Lord.” Danny turned to leave, “You can tell me that it’s none of my business, but I would like to know something. Do you love him?” “I don’t know. I only know that it feels like the hole in my chest were my heart used to be is ripped wider than it was when Tal was lost. I don’t know what that means, only that I don’t wish this pain on anyone. Good night Edan.” Edan bowed, “My Lord.” The door closed slowly behind the figure as he stepped out into the darkness. “Papa?” “What are you doing up?” “Are you mad at Father?” “No....just a little disappointed.” “Where’s Kev? Mother liked him.” “I like him too. Talos, but right now everyone is mad at him.” “He did something wrong?” “Well he lied and I helped him.” “Is Lord Danny is mad at you?”

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“He was...now he’s just sad. Come here.” Edan held out his arms and let Talos climb up into them and sit on his lap. “This is grown up matters. It doesn’t concern you. If Lord Danny gets mad at me, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you.” “Danny’s crying inside.” Edan looked down at the pale haired child, “You can feel that from him?” “He’s hurting right here, again.” Talos held a small hand over his heart. “He misses the Commander, Momma, and Kev and you too. He doesn’t like the night because he feels everything.” “I don’t think it’s right to listen so closely. Some people wouldn’t like it.” Edan kissed the top of Talos head, “Can you make his sadness go away?” “No, but I can sing him to sleep with one of Mama’s songs.” A shaft of pain laced Edan’s chest, to be envious of a child because he could hear the sweet voice of a mute. “You think he can hear it all the way up in the Tower?” Talos nodded his head, “Sing it then.” “It’s more of a hum, but Mama would send me to sleep with it.” Danny jerked as the low hum filled his ears. A gentle innocent melody beckoning him to the embrace of the mistress of sleep. Talos... He gestured with his fingers only. A veil of silver smoke rose and shimmered into a curtain. Brightening to reveal an image--the tears streaming down Edan(s face as he rocked the small blonde headed boy. Danny banished the curtain. Gathering up the heavy cloak, he crawled back into bed and drew it tight around him. His left

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hand clasped the silver heartbeat. The lullaby washed over him. In his mind(s eye he could hear Ona’s sweet voice joining with Talos...then nothing but dreamless sleep. A knock rang through the house. Talos jumped off Edan’s lap and ran to the door. Kallas stepped in, “Sorry it’s so late, but could two of the women stay here tonight. Everyone else is doubled up with the outlying farmers and their families.” Edan nodded. Mira and the little girl walked into the room, the girl clinging to her mother’s skirt tightly. “Greetings. Have you eaten?” “We ate at the hall with the soldiers.” Edan nodded, “My name is Edan and this is my son, Talos.” “Mira and this is Brenna.” “If you will given me a few minutes, I will clear some of my things so you can sleep.” “We don’t want to be any trouble. We can sleep on the floor in front of the fire.” “You are free now and you are a part of our Family. I’ve spend many a night on the floor. My old bones won’t mind another night.” Mira watched the large Ferrier with eyes that spoke too much. The bed had been freshly made that morn. The lingering scent that was the crimson haired woman was too much to bear. Edan grabbed up a cloak and a small pillow, “People forget that it wasn’t as easy to get used to freedom. You

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don’t need to worry about me coming to your door, but here’s a chair to block it if that was what you need to feel safe.” “You have shown more kindness than we have ever known.” “It’s my honor to have you spend the first night of freedom beneath my roof.” “I didn’t think we would make it this far...everything was so...we got lost and wandered in circles...” Mira broke down crying...the stress and agony of running for days on end with little sleep and no food overwhelming. Little Brenna just stared up from the ragged skirts with eyes too old for such a young face. “You’re here now. You’re safe now. Sleep. In the morning, there’s a chest at the foot of the bed that you can get a clean dress out of. I’ll get some of Talos’ smaller clothes for your daughter to wear.” “Thank you...Edan.” Mira wiped at the the tears on her face then ushered the frail little girl into the bed room. Edan listened as a chair was jammed under the door handle. Anger swelled in his heart. The treatment of women as slaves was worse than any beating he had at the anvil. Not even to sleep in ease was unthinkable. “Papa, you can sleep in my bed.” “I’m too big for your bed. I’ll be okay by the fire. Now you get to bed. You’ll have to get up early with me in the morning and make breakfast for our guests.” Edan barred the front door then glanced at the narrow window to the dark silhouetted spire.

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“Father is sleeping.” Talos brushed at his over tired eyes and yawned widely. “The same thing you should be doing. Off with you now.” Edan spread out the blanket and laid on the hard floor. It was nothing new and it was welcomed. The marriage bed just wasn’t a comforting when only one was left in it.

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Chapter 16: Danvos the Dark Lord The Children were at the outer door before the cock began to crow the dawn into being. Danvos lay on his back trying not to listen to the angry voices. He had only taken a few hours of precious sleep. “Where is he?” “Who?” “The deceiver.” “Kev has been banished from the Tower. He freely admitted his past.” Dark murmurs started up. “The prisoner has escaped from the alter room!” “Keep back.” “The Dark Lord has to know about this.” “The Dark Lord knows....” Danny blinked the rest of the sleep away. What was that? Murmurs and agreement then silence filled the outer hall. Danny padded quickly to the chamber door and pushed it open. Milos turned and bowed. “My apologies if you were disturbed, Milord.” “What was that all about?” “Word has gotten out about the woman”s accusation against Kev. Also, the women went to give the mercenary food found him missing from the chamber. I told the people here that you knew already to keep them from starting a

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vigilante group. If I was out of hand Milord, I beg your forgiveness.” The soldier lowered himself to his knee but looked up with the eyes of a man who had unfulfilled wants. Danny felt his body stir to life rebelling against the weariness in his mind--demanding physical satisfaction because that was all there was right now... “Milord?” Danny stepped back into the chamber holding the door open for the young soldier, “Tell me what you want, Milos...” The guard rose to his feet, catching the blonde man around the back of the head and dragging a deep kiss from sleepy lips. Danny felt his body catch fire. “Milord?” Questioning eyes asking for permission. “Yes....” It was hard and fast and not without a little pain. Almost like before, Danny was beginning to wonder if Milos knew anything other than quick release. He groaned and rolled over, burrowing his face into the coverlet. The guard sat the edge of the bed breathing hard with the glitter of unspent tears in his eyes. “Is it true? Is it true about Kev?” “Yes...” “I should have recognized him. I served Espys...” “Has the woman made a formal complaint to the Captain of the Guard?” “No, Milord. Just the statement when she came through the gate.” Danny winced as he stood. Pain meant that you were alive. Milos hitched his breeches back up, “Let her sleep until she wakes up. They have made a very long tiring journey.”

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Milos bowed deeply, glanced up with grateful eyes then turned out of the bedchamber. Danny rose naked from the bed, crossed to the basin and splashed cold water on his face wincing at the sudden awakening of his nerves. The tower rumbled with the murmuring voices. Then another discrete knock sounded at the chamber door. "Enter". Danny grabbed for the fallen cloak. A young woman carried add tray laden with breakfast room. Her eyes averted as she set the tray on the bed. “I thank you for your efforts. I would like to see the woman who made accusations. Do you know where she is bedded?” The young woman bowed her head, "Her name is Mira. She has been sent to Edan's House. I shall send one of the guards to bring her here." Danny picked up the hot mug of cider and cradled it between his numb palms. "Bring her to the main Hall after Edan has given her breakfast." “Yes Milord.” {You are at best when your body is at ease.} “What's going to happen when you run out of willing bodies?” {Who says it has to be male. There are females lined up to warm you bed.} Danny took a sip then bent to wash his golden hair in the cold water. {You insist on doing things the hard way, Chosen. Desire it to warm.} Danny shivered as the cold water streamed down his back. He reached out and touched the water in the basin, eyes

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widening as it warmed so quickly. Danny washed quickly then stood before his wardrobe. Everything was so bright. He ended up picking out a scarlet tunic and returning to the leather breeches from the night before. The Great Hall was filled when he descended. A wry smile crept across his face, well what had he expected? A Freelord had come to the Dominion. A slaver had come as well. And what was worse was that the Dark Lord was tricked into bedding him. Poor innocent little Lord Danny only thinking with his cock. Those sky blue eyes turned to chips of ice and he marched to the front of the hall. Someone had placed the harvest festival chair there so it dominated almost like a throne. "Court is in session!" People jumped at his loud voice. They scurried off to the side clearing the main hall Danvos looked down at the assembly. "There are two issues here today. One, an accusation against a slaver. The other, an accusation against a former Freelord. As I am involved with both, I cannot sit in judgment. I would ask Edan to take the chair." Danvos bit back a grin as the giant bear of a man blanched. "Surely there is someone else." "Since the Illumination attack, most of my trusted advisors have fallen. Just because you swing a hammer, doesn't mean you don't know right from wrong. Does any one here, object to Edan?" Danvos gestured to the chair. "Take your place High Justice."

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Streeves and the rest of the remaining Highland Horde pushed their way into the Hall. "I must protest this proceeding..." "Don't make them to me, Commander, He is law here today." Edan's voice rang clear in the hall. "There are Three Laws here that are absolute. First Law is that anyone who makes it to our lands is free. Second Law is that no slaver will be allowed to remove a freeman from our land. Third and final law is that if the freeman encounters their enslaver that person will be tried by the peers...then executed if they are found guilty." "Where is Fallon?" Edan looked around at the guard. "The guards entered the chamber today. He is gone." "Send out search...." Danvos walked forward and gracefully knelt before Edan and the throne. "No search is necessary. I let him go." "What? After you attack him and blast him off his horse. You let him go? You killed him." Streeves was visibility shaking with anger. "Fallon, what ever he may have done prior to his joining was a member of the Highland Horde and as a member his protection falls under my jurisdiction." Danvos signed and stood, he turned and faced the grey haired commander. The years had not been kind to him. The years of campaigns scared his body but they haunted the eyes and stained the man's soul. Danvos dropped to his knees and huddled forward, hands trembling toward the man's boots. The sounds of angry murmurs filled Streeves head from the crowd around him, "These men you arrested will be punished

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by the company but not for rape, but your damaging property of our employer. You have title to the slaveboy now, and I've told the Quartermaster to pay you the going rate for a whore from their accounts..." Danvos rose to his feet in one graceful motion, "My rate was 10 gold....each.. I seriously doubt that Tal got 50 pieces of gold for my...usage." Danvos rested his cheek against Street breathing in his spicy scent, "I am a trained whore, I am quick to learn and I don't have to be told twice. You threw Tal and me out into the rain then let the rabid dogs run us to ground. I know how well you treat your men." Danvos pressed a kiss to the man's throat then laughed as he staggered backwards from Streeve's shove. Milos' sword was at the Highland Horde commander's neck. The remaining seven hordesmen had their hand on their sword hilts. Danvos reached out and gently pressed Milos' sword away. He caught the young man's chin then gestured with his eyes to get back to his post. "I went into the cell last night with the full intension of killing Fallon. We talked and came to an agreement of service." "What sort of service?" "The kind he is good at." "You're speaking in circles." "I sent Fallon to bring me a Rider of Light. I opened the border last night and let him through. The task is difficult. Fallon may not return, but that was our agreement." "You had no right. Fallon was mine...."

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"Fallon was mine longer than yours. If he does return, our debt is cancelled." Edan ran a hand down his face. Why was he even sitting there in the chair when everything was already decided? "I withdraw my complaint on the Third Law." Danvos didn't look away from Streeves. Edan leaned forward in the chair, "Commander Streeves, the complaint has been withdrawn, do you have any protests?" "None of any merit." Then this court dismisses the charges of Third Law." "NO!" The sandy brown headed woman forced her way into the clear space. "That is Lord Espys. I know him from Karlashka" "Order! There will be order in this hall or I will have everyone cleared!" Edan had found a spear and hammered it onto the stone floor. "Now, Mira, aside from the Commander and men of the Highland Horde, everyone here is a former slave. Yes I recognized Kev as a Lord but he came to us a branded slave. He has lived here in our walls for two years as a freeman." "No...I saw him last night...I didn't see a brand" Edan fell silent. Danvos sighed, what did he expect, his Children to fight his battles? At least Edan had tried. "Do you want vengeance?" Mira's tirade fell silent. "Yes..." "Commander," Danvos pulled out Streeves hunting dagger, a long wicked blade honed down in the centre from

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years of sharpening. He turned it so the handle was facing Her. "Then I submit to your vengeance." "You're the Master of this place." "No...I serve the Master, and Kev serves me." Danvos lowered himself to his knees and pressed his knuckles to the floor. "I am ready for punishment." Mira screamed and the knife dropped to the wooden floor, inches from Danvos fingers. Her legs dropped out from under her and she sat heavily on the floor inches from the pale blue eyes and the golden hair. The tears she was crying now had nothing to do with the rage of being thwarted - they were the tears of devastation, of horror and shame. By the Gods, he knew those well. "This is not your burden to carry. You did nothing to warrant this guilt." Danvos opened his arms and for a moment, she wavered then fell into them. "Cry to heal...then cry to forget and when you're ready, cry for what comes next." "What comes next?" "Forgiveness...it is harder to forgive yourself than your enemy." "How do you know these things." "Couldn't you tell? I'm a rent boy...well I'm not a boy any more but I entertained the masters for my living. Even though Streeves was appalled, if I wanted to approach him correctly, I could have him." "But.....they said you were the Dark Lord." "I am." "But...."

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"I've never denied it but I was good as a rent slave. That's probably why I ended up here. But I am also the Dark Lord and I serve the Darkness. Kev...may have started out life in the Towns as a Freelord, but he was branded when he came here, and I've branded him again as mine. It's a burden that weighs heavily on him...and right now, I've made it heavier because I sent him away." "But he.....I know he did." "I will stand in for your vengeance." "But...." "He is part of my heart. I can't let you harm him. But if you really need to...I will stand in for him." "But you've done nothing..." "I've done so many things I should have been punished for. You can take the knife and take my blood, but that is the end of it. If I hear murmurings of third law from you against Kev, you will know my anger." Mira picked up the knife and before anyone could do anything, she slashed at the Dark Lord's face. His forearm came up and caught the blow - slicing from the palm of his hand to the elbow. Danvos hissed and fell back on his heels. He didn't think she would have done it, nor so quickly. She jumped forward and caught his cheek, cutting from the corner of his eye down to his jaw. Hot blood streamed from his wounds. "NO!" Danvos waved off Milos. He stood behind the woman with his sword exposed, tip against the back of her neck ready to thrust down into the floor. A soldier's death.

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"Let him." Mira dropped the knife and buried her face in her hands. "Let him, please." Danvos reached out and caught her chin with his good hand. "Is this what you truly want? After running all the way here, what about the little ones that came with you?" "They're not mine. They're free. I'm...let me die please." "There are others here who can help you." Mira's brown eyes opened wide and stared Danvos in the eye, soul to soul. "I don't want to bear this burden any more...please, if you want to help me...kill me." {Give her to me.} "What will you do with her?" {I can feel her agony from here. Do not be merciless with your children. This one has run her race. Release her from her pain. Send her body to her family on a pyre.} "Your wish is my command." Danvos reached out with his bloodied palm and pressed it against Mira's forehead. He called up the Darkness and shuddered as he felt all that the woman just turn into a wisp of vapour. The body spasmed once then slumped forward into his arms. Her forehead was marked with blood. He cradled her face into his shoulder, the pale brown hair now mixing with the blood still seeping from his cut cheek. Unbidden the Darkness ripped through him, knitting together the cut skin, slowing the bleeding and then ceasing it all together. {That was delicious.} Danny screamed.

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Edan jumped to his feet. That wasn't a sound that was good coming from anyone...much less the Dark Lord. "Clear the hall!" Edan pulled the dead woman from Danny's arms. "Milord...you only granted her wish." "...no..." "Milord....Danny.." "..no, no, no..." Danny....she wanted to die." "No...it's Tal." Danny held the small silver tear against his chest, "He's gone. They killed him." Edan looked up as Milos came back from shutting the Great Hall's doors. "Get some bandages and water, we'll bind his wounds." Danny sat almost in a trance, his bloodied hand wrapped tightly around the symbol that was Tal's heartbeat. Edan knelt before the Dark Lord "Let me see," He gently opened the younger man's hand to access how deep the knife cut was. He frowned as he wiped the blood away exposing unblemished skin. He wiped the face, it too was healed. Darkness. "They killed him. I'm too late." "Milord...." "I...I need to be alone." "The woman?" "The Darkness was right, she had served her purpose. She brought those children to the Dominion and she deserved her reward. We'll burn her tonight. Edan....I just need some time alone." Danny climbed to his feet. He took the offered

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damp cloth and whipped at his face. "The Darkness didn't even allow her to leave a scar." Milos looked after the Dark Lord concerned but also with...longing. Edan sighed. Was there anyone not in...what, love? Lust? With the Dark Lord. "Court Adjourned."

Captain Streeves stood beside The Dark Lord. He had been silent as he watched the proceedings of the funeral pyre. A grey hair woman approached holding an unlit torch. "I thank you Lord Danny for your mercy. I knew Mira was in pain, but I didn't know how deeply it had cut. I apologize for her attack." "There was no lasting harm." Danny gestured to face. "My master prefers to leave his own scars." "So I have heard. Would you send your new daughter home?" Danny gestured to the torch. The woman flinched as it burst into flame. "What is your name?" "Skyanna. The little ones are Phena and Airena." "You have nothing to fear here in the Dominion. You don't need to fear me. I usually don't kill my children, no matter how much they plead for it." Skyanna stared up at the man and saw the pure sorrow in his eyes, "You said forgiveness is hard. Please forgive us for making your burden heavier." "No, I ask your forgiveness for taking Mira from you."

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"There is nothing to forgive. You granted her greatest wish." Skyanna bowed then turned with funeral torch high in the air. "Sing your sister home!" Streeves glanced over at Lord Danvos. Voices rose up from the gathering then Skyanna thrust the torch into the pyre. "You and Kegsetter have created something I never thought I would live to see." Streeves watches more touched than he thought we would be. With everything he had seen in all the campaigns, a slave colony was something new. "But there...."Streeves paused." "Just say it." "There are two of you in there. Kegsetter's horsespeaker and this Dark Lord." "I didn't think it was so obvious." Danvos returned, his eyes still forward on the flame. "I knew the horsespeaker. He was too broken to have built this. You killed that woman in the Hall." "I applaud you, I don't think anyone else is even aware of me. Danny is a healer. He would have tried to help her; he would have even tried to take her pain. Some pain cannot be healed and some pain can only be endured for so long. I killed her, because that is what she wanted. Her soul begged for release." "I have been a slave far longer than I have been free. Maybe as time passes my hatred and anger for slavers will decrease - but I don't think so. But I am not without conscious and I am not without regrets. You don't understand what it means to bow before another. Sheep dung is more valuable

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than a slave. But to break a man's spirit - that is a black evil that the Illumination should be standing against." Danvos stood blinking as the smoke from the single funeral pyre blew back into his face. Mira had survived the silk room....well not really, it had taken her in the end. Danny knew the silk rooms took a high price and many could not pay it. If Danvos hadn't come...He wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. If Danvos hadn't come, he never would have survived. He walked down the stairs his eyes gleaming brightly in the dim torchlight. "Slavery has been accepted for centuries." Streeves shook his head. This boy...man was nothing like the poor broken thing that was dragged into his tent by Kegsetter so many years ago. He had been so ill used he was surprised that the boy didn't expire on the spot. "It still doesn't make it good. Come with me" Danvos lead Streeves back into the Tower. "I originally wanted the Highland horde to run a rescue mission to the Freelords, but that is no longer necessary." "Kegsetter..." "I had a magical tie with him. It would only stop when Tal died. I lost him today." "The Hall." "Yes, Danny made quite the scene." "That is un-nerving that you can refer to yourself as another." "I am aware of him, as he is of me, but he refuses to acknowledge it. As I said before, no one else has mentioned the difference between us. If Fallon is successful, I'll bring the

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war to the Illumination. I'll need the Horde to protect my children." "We're down to eight." "That's eight more than we had before you got here. If we survive, you and your men will be welcomed to stay. Only if you remember, that everyone here is free." "Except you." "Except me and Kev." "And your threat." "Make no doubt, I will have Tal's and Woodcutter's shares." "What good is gold to a dead man?" "It will give me comfort that he was treated fairly. And if I can't have it in gold, I'll take it in blood." Danvos turned and snapped his fingers. All the torches in the corridor flared to life in one sharp blaze of light. "Make no mistake thinking who you are dealing with-I am the Dark Lord. Hmm, Fallon's back. Quicker than I expected.. Take three men on the main road to the east. I'll open the border once Fallon is close enough. I need the Rider alive." "What you said in court. What agreement did you strike?" "Fallon murdered my people. He has just delivered what I need to save my Children. We are even. I suggest you leave now. He will be at the border within a turn."

Zery struggled between the two men holding him. The pristine white robe was muddied and grey from his forced

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overland trek. “Killing me won”t matter. My soul has been purged. I will enter the light and be...” Edan struck Zery hard across the face. “You took the Commander!” “He has been sent to hell, demon lover.” Edan brought his knee up hard into Zery”s groin. “You lie beside him soon enough.” The rider vomited all over himself from the agony. “Enough, I need him alive.” Danvos stood just outside the door of the Tower. “Where”s Fallon?” “He was mortally wounded by the Riders. He barely made it back inside the wall before he died.” “Devil! Slave...” Danvos gestured and the fowl language dried up in his throat. He grasped at his neck but nothing came out. “My Tal is dead and I”ve heard enough of your hate and rhetoric and I don”t think that anyone else needs to hear it.” “Milord, he may have information...” “I don't need his words. I need his blood. He knows nothing that we don”t already know. Please, take him to the altar” Danvos grabbed at Zery”s ear as they dragged him past. “You know what else they call the Darkness? Souleater. Your death will be a release you will beg for, Rider. And if I chose to grant it to you, your precious light will be forever banished. Your soul, your flesh, your blood and your life belongs to the Dominion. You will be the downfall of the Illumination.” Danvos released Zery and stepped aside to allow them to drag the wild eyed man into the dark bowels of the Tower. “It”s time to bring the Hunt to the Illumination.”

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Edan stared over at the Dark Lord, “My lord, we only have 8 mercenaries.” “Wishing didn't free us, Edan. Building this black wall won”t keep them out...only slow them down. How many more wives and children do we want to set to torch? Once was enough. All or nothing, Edan. The time for peace is past. We were blessed to have it as long as we did.” “About Kev .....” “There is nothing to say about it, Edan. What has been said has been said. What could be mended as been set. We now need to set our eyes on what we want our future to be.” “Let Illumination blood run.” “What I am about to do will bring the Illumination down on us much sooner. Those who want to leave know now that your last chance past when the black wall rose. You are now with us until the end....be it freedom or death!” Danvos turned to Edan, “Get everyone into the Tower. It is wiser to err on the side of caution.” “What are you going to do, Milord?” “I am going to send all the minions of Darkness down on their camp.” “The payment....” “Illumination blood. Take Talos to the cellars, he”s too sensitive “ this isn”t something he should have to bear witness to.” “As you command.” “Edan....tell me this is the right thing to do.” The words were quiet and filled with the uncertainty that should never be in a face so young.

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“There is no other option milord. The Commander would have approved “ so would Kev. We didn’t start this war but we will end it.” “Let the battle begin.”

Tal’s dreams were of a golden youth who spoke loving words to horses and worked magic on an old man’s soul “ lifting the heaviness there since Woodcutter’s death. The loud clarion of the Priest’s horn ripped away his slumber. “Attack....we’re under attack” Tal climbed out of bed and grabbed at his armor. He struggled into it and stared out the window of the castle. Fires were breaking out all over the encampment. The cries of men’s final screams followed by a keening mortal men had forgotten. The hair on the back of his neck rose sending a chill down his spine. Unnatural forces were there. Fire blasted out the sky like the bolt of lightening but then the sender flapped it’s jet wings and snapped up a fleeing rider. There was a stench filling the camp. An unholy air. Horses screamed as the earth beneath their hooves tore open revealing the white gapping maws of those traveler worms. He jerked his boots on, grappled with his scabbard and ran out into the Great Hall. Priests stood linked arm and arm...a dim glow surrounded them as they chanted some mystical nonsense. Arrows shot into the blackness of night followed by immortal and mortal screams.

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Tal stood framed in the Great Hall as he stared out at the horror cutting a swath through the encampment. Demon dogs with eyes of burning yellow coal tore an archer’s forearm from his body. The man screamed in agony then was cut silent as another cur tore out his throat. Wind so powerful slammed down on Tal he dropped to his knees. The talon of the dragon raked up his back on his armor before cutting across his shoulder. Tal threw himself forward and the claw closed on empty air. It was almost poetic to watch that black demon whirl in a tight circle to make another pass. His hand was useless. The sword hung from his grasp like in a child’s hand. Vainly with the sound of his heart pumping in his ears he grabbed at it with his left. The sweet sound of a crossbow releasing it’s shot rang out above him. The dragon’s wing collapsed and the great beast hit the ground hard sliding forward to rattle the stone of the Great Hall. Joelle reached down and grabbed at Tal’s good arm. “Back into the Hall.” Tal scrambled back. His arm was in agony. Fire hotter than any mortal could make burned in his shoulder. “HEALER!” Joelle threw the spent crossbow away and knelt holding her cloak against the blood oozing from the gash. “What were to you thinking, old man?” “Get away from me, woman.” “Healer!” “It’s poison. We have to clean that wound now before it spreads.” Joelle stumble limped to a burning torch. Yanking it from it’s bracket, she staggered over to the empty dinner

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table, goblets were overturned....nothing. Wait! A slave cowered under the table clutching a vase of spirits. The young girl hung onto it as if her life depended on it. Joelle kicked her away and hurried back to the grey haired man. His color had turned ashen. “Kegsetter....damn it.” She grunted in her own pain as she knelt beside him. A small dagger hacked the leather straps. Joelle dragged the crimson stained armor away. The cut was deep but clean “ the sides were like it had been cut with a finely honed sword. “Kegsetter....” Tal screamed as more fire was poured into his shoulder. He knocked the angel from him and grabbed at the dagger laying beside him. Hands held him down as Priest Polc came into view. “Joelle was right. We can’t lose you now, Tal.” Bright light shot down from the Priest's fingers and the pain stopped, the fighting stopped....everything stopped.

“A thousand men slaughtered. Four thousand wounded. Three quarters of our cavalry is gone. Priest!! The wardings. Why didn”t they work? Why are half my Riders gone? Speak to me now Priest!!” “This Dark Lord isn’t like Galbraith. Galbraith send his demons everywhere. The further from the Tower the weaker he was. I fear that the only reason Galbraith was defeated was because he was months away from the Black Tower. This slave, lives in the Tower. His domain is the span of two-three days riding. He has been hoarding his power and now....he is so strong.”

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“Tell me how to defeat this evil, Priest.” The Priest looked down at the map, “I don”t think the Illumination can. Not the army, not the Priesthood.” “Nonsense, he is a slave. “A thousand riders lay in pieces. Our horses are dismembered. The fields that haven”t been harvested yet have been laid to waste “ this is the work of the Dark Lord of the Dominion. We are too late to stop him...” The general sat down slowly. “One slave took out my army.” “One man may bring him down. One man who is held in dear confidence.” “Kegsetter...” “He could get close enough to send a dagger through the Dark Lord”s black heart.” “He is easier to make suggestions to now. His injury will make it plausible that he made an escape.” “General..he”s too weak to make it there on his own.” “Send Riverview...for some reason the Dark Lord has taken an interest in her. This will be a test of her loyalty.” “It means certain death for her.” “Then that would mean that she is loyal to the Illumination. All the scrolls would praise her as the Dark Lord”s assassin.”

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Chapter 17: A Lover’s Return The war was here. The wall was not breeched but the indiscernible mutterings that had battered at his mind were turning into waves of hate and fear. Danny sighed heavily. It shouldn’t have come to this. They had only taken the lands that the Freelords hadn’t wanted. This lands and waters had been abandoned and left for the wild to reclaim. No one had even had second thoughts about this territory until he had claimed it. {And reclaim it I have...I can feel their fearful hearts. The terror that you have unleashed has given them pause...} “And how many of my children will die because of this...” {War claims many.} “I’ve lost enough. The love that my children hold for me is changing into fear.” Danny sent out his thoughts and found the solitary longing deep to the east of the Tower. It was a soul scarring sorrow and longing mixed with a touch of detest. “Come home.” Those brooding thoughts changed with a start—hope and fear. “Even in him.” {My sister takes care of him. You have no need to fear Lord Keventh Espys. No Father is loved all the time by his children. They rant and rail against what is good and just for them. Only after they have been given time to grow do they understand and appreciate what has been done in their name.” “Lord Danny! Great news! Come to the Great Hall!”

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Danny stared back across the distance looking deep into the night. He thought he saw a glimmer of something then it was gone again. The hall was packed. Danny frowned as he had to push way his way into the hall. Suddenly the people seem to notice him and the way parted clear. The familiar salt and pepper hair had turned paler in the short month and a half that he had been missing. This stance was hunched as well. “Tal?” The head turned like an old man….a man older than Tal’s eyes anyways. “TAL!” Danny didn’t care if everyone saw him jump like a little boy with his first fish. Danny caught Tal and held onto him as hard has he dared. There was something off. The embrace was warm and inviting but there was a tenderness that was lacking. Danny reached up and touched Tal’s face. He tried not to flinch but it was there…no everyone saw it but Danny felt it like a shock right to the soul. Tal’s face was lined with pain but the eyes were so cold. “What is wrong?” “I’m just tired….they wouldn’t let me sleep…and…” “How did you get here? Why didn’t I feel you?” “That woman Rider…Riverview she got me out of there…I don’t member how I got here.” “shhhhh. You’re home now. You can rest.” “There’s no time…” “Rest…” “Danny…” “You’re injured and exhausted. I’ll watch over you tonight.” The pathway cleared back up the stairway. Everyone

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in the hall beamed with gratitude that the Dark Lord’s commander had returned. Danny bit his lips and tried to stifle his groans as his hands worked his body into relief. Tal watched horribly fascinated as the man let his head drop back, leaving a long pale column of throat exposed to hair the colour of dried winter wheat. The man’s whole body pulsated with sex. Tal cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” The man’s hands stilled but they didn’t leave their objectives. “What are you doing” “I can’t sleep. You’re tired. I wouldn’t dare ask…” “Can’t you just sleep for the night?” A flash of white teeth smiled back at him, “You knew what I was back then. I’ve just. I’m glad your back. When your talisman died…I thought you were dead and I gave up hope.” “Show me. No don’t touch me, just show me what you are doing. When you’re done, come lay with me.” Danny turned on his performance. Tal had never asked for a show before. Their sex had been simple and straightforward…but it was never ever boring. Danny let his blond hair fall forward over his face, let’s the ends of it train his chest and shoulders. His legs opened wider exposing his full heat. The cries he had been forcing back were allowed to rise steadily as his hand stroked his hot bar of flesh. “Tal, help me.” “No…finish it.”

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Danny cried out as he found his climax. Maybe it was because it was for Tal, or that he had abstained for a few nights…Danny found himself flat on his back barely able to move. The warmth of his offering already cooling on his flesh. Groaning, Danny sat up and began cleaning up the mess me had made. He was aware that Tal’s eyes were on his as he headed for the basin with those silly blue flowers that matched his eyes and washed up. He slipped on a pale linen tunic then black breeches – the autumn winds were cooler now. “This has to end. So many changes -- too many are dying on either side.” He picked up a comb and began to brush out his long tresses. “Yes, one way or another this has to end.” Danny turned as the rustle of cloth stepped in closer. Those brilliant blue eyes opened wide as the sword blade pierced deep into his right shoulder, driving through until it buried itself into the stone wall behind him. Then the agony hit, searing pain and the heat of spilt blood. “My Danny is in there Demon…somewhere and I want him back.” Tal stepped forward and reached behind him, pulling out the black dagger the Illumination had given him. “Demon, you look so much like him….” “Tal…what are you doing?” Danny grabbed for the sword hilt handing from his shoulder. It was beyond his reach…the blade dripped crimson. “Sarge…” A calloused hand grabbed his throat and knocked his skull back against the wall. “You look like him…” Tal stepped closer and breathed in his scent from the long blonde

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locks, “You smell like him…you cried out like him when he…..” The black dagger flashed up and rested tip up against the soft underside of his jaw. “Demon, I cast thee out…give him back to me.” “Tal….” “I cast you out….” “Stop this…” “In the name of the Illumination, I command thee, be gone.” Danny let go the sword blade and raised his left hand up to the scarred but familiar face. His blood left a trail along the roughened skin, “What did they do to you?” Tal knocked his hand away and pushed down on the sword hilt. Danny cried out and grabbed at his shoulder. “I cast you out….” Tears ran freely down the commander’s face. “I cast thee out. Demon, get back to the pit of darkness. Let the light of the Illumination cleanse this evil. Give him back to the light were he belongs.” “I’m Danny” “Liar…be gone…” “I’m Danny…” “See this dagger. It is an old and ancient thing…forged back in the days when the original Galbraith walked this earth. This killed the dark demon then….and I will use it on you. In this form, you feel pain…I will make it so you can’t stay within him. Once you leave him…I will kill you. If you don’t…I WILL free his body from your possession.”

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Tal wrenched the sword back from the wall. Danny fell to his knees, the blood flowing freely from the gash, staining the pale linen shirt a dark rich crimson. Danny watched as the blade dripped steadily inches from his face. Life, blood. The silver tear drop swung forward free from his shirt. He held it in his palm….it was cold. So cold. “I felt the heartbeat die…I thought you were dead…then you came back to me. But it’s not you….” “In the name of the Illumination, I cast thee out.” Banging started on the outside of the door. “Milord Danny! Open the door..” “Your pet comes running. Danny would never have turned from me.” Tal kicked out, the toe of boot slamming hard into the open wound knocking him backwards. Danny hit the stone wall hard, pain radiating through every inch of him. The darkness was there…a small ball in the pit of his stomach. All he had to do was ask it. “I cast thee out!” “Milord!!” A body slammed up against the wooden door. Another set of voices rang out in the corridor. “They will not help you, Demon. It is too late for interference.” Danny flinched as Tal dropped the long bloody sword and knelt before him. The black dagger rested against his throat while Tal’s hand crushed his jaw, pushing his face toward the wall. “Give him back to me. I know he’s still there.” Tal leaned forward pressing his knee into the bloody wound. “I can give you more pain than you can stand, Demon. Leave him.” Tal touched the silver necklace, “Is this part of your hold on him?” The short sting of the chain breaking was worse

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than the sword’s offense. The small flash of silver flying through the air was accompanied by Tal’s stout frame slamming across the room. The black dagger flew from his fingers, lodging under the space between the chamber door and the floor. Their eyes met across the room, azure chips colored with dark soul rending pain, and honey brown wide with disbelief. “Don’t make me hurt you…” “Danny would never hurt me….” “Danny would never hurt Tal….but you’re not Tal.” “..and you’re not Danny.” Danvos called on the darkness, knitting the wound closed, sealing the seeping blood back into severed veins, binding muscle and bone. The silver circlet on his brow pulsed with warmth and glowed with an inner light. He touched his neck and found a thin trail of blood there were the black dagger had rested. The bleeding was healed but the weakness was lingering. “Is this the best that the Illumination can do? Attack women and children out on harvest. Kill those who come to the Dominion in search of a better life all because they have had the misfortune to feel the branding iron. Attack me with the image of one I would not fear or suspect. If this is the best that they can do, why does everyone fear them?” “I’ll kill you.” Tal rolled onto his side, feeling every inch his age and agony from the darkness’ touch. “You already did, don’t you remember?” Danvos leaned heavily back against the wall, one leg up, his previously injured shoulder resting on his knee. “You should have done

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what Streeves told you. You should have sold me back into a Silk House. I knew my place there. I was Danny. My only concern would have been the Master that came through the door. You lead me to Espys, you laid me on the black alter, you gave me to the Darkness…and now you leave me and call me Demon.” The door rattled again. “They will kill you, Rider.” “I don’t fear death. I will go to the Light, even if I didn’t meet my objective.” “I know the Illumination didn’t send you here to free a slave. Even if you did, they wouldn’t let you keep me. I’ve been tainted.” “I would send you to the light…” “…and join me there.” “Not you Demon, Danny.” “And that is what they promised you? A black dagger, death.” “Redemption” “…and a rent boy.” Tal rolled to his feet. His chest heaving as if he had just fought a major campaign. “Danny was my heart! I’ve been cold without him and if there was a chance that he could be brought back…” “Danny died a long time ago.” “Then his body can join him…” The wooden door crashed in. Kev staggered in with Denasis drawn and hungry. The black dagger skated across the floor as another soldier skirted into the room. Tal scooped it from the stone and rushed where Danny still sat against the

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wall. The tip of the dagger scraped the wall were his head had been then Tal dropped to his knees, his mouth opened wide in a silent scream. Denasis protruded from his ribs. What was worse was the woman covered in black armor, her long tangled tresses dripping with blood. She stood before him, in front of the Dark Lord as a shield, staring with eyes black and deep as a cauldron. “So much trouble from such a little thing. You have wounded my Brother’s chosen. You have sent my champion back into the shadows. He serves best standing in the Dark Lord’s light. All because of this….” Her bloodied had reached out and ripped a bright web from his eyes, “Illumination trickery.” Tal stiffened as if a scab had been ripped off a sensitive place. Blood welled up in his throat and he spewed it forth as he fell over onto the floor. The harvest. The priests and their torture…it was all there. The dagger lay mere inches from his hand. What have I done? “You will die. Even my Brother cannot prevent this…you have fallen to my kiss…and I will take my vengeance.” Tal jerked as Kev tried to pull Denais free. “No.” Kev wrapped two hands around the hilt and tried again. It was like the blade was embedded in solid stone. He pressed his boot to Tal’s hip and strained with all his might to get Denais free. Danny lay on the stone, his hands holding him up, his eyes locked on the horror of the bloodied blade. “My champion will take his place at the Dark Lord’s side when you are dead.” More blood issued from Tal’s mouth, Danny watched riveted

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to the gruesome sight, unable to look away as he heard nothing but a death rattle from the mouth of the man who had once been his Master, his lover, his friend. “Not like this….not like…” A cold began to edge out from the blade. Denais fed slowly. “They are coming…riders are…tell him” “The Illumination…is nothing to concern me. My Champion will…” “The Dark Lord will turn him away for killing me.” Denais looked back and squatted gracefully between the two. “This is where he gets his resolution. You have had an excellent pupil. But he is master here now. So be it. You don’t have much time, I have hungered for centuries and even as we speak, my appetite rises.” A blooded hand traced the pale skin, catching a golden strand, “pretty…” Danny jerked as a hand touched his eyes. The woman kneeling there was horrid. Her face was elongated as if she had not eaten in months, her cheeks hard razor like dents that framed sunken, black eyes. Her mouth was cracked and stained black with old blood. Her armor was the sister to Kev’s. “Lady Darkness.” “You do not have to offer flattery, I have confidence in my Brother’s choice. He”, she gestured with her head, “would speak with you before I finish feeding.” Danny looked past her, “I’m sorry for failing you, Danny.” “Tal!” “I fought them…I tried so hard, but they….I…”

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Danny tried to rise but found Denais’ hand pressing him down, “I am hungry…do not touch him, I might eat you,” “Eat…what are you doing….” “Essence…such a strong and aged vintage. It should be savoured but…I hunger. Hurry.” Kev staggered backwards as if pushed by an unseen force. Denais turned her dark gaze back down to Tal. “You haven’t much time.” “Riders are coming today. The dagger is poisoned…it will drain your strength as the day goes on. They will come at dusk…they have weapons…” “How many?” “All of them….one last strike. Danny…thank him…I am myself again. I never would have hurt you.” Danny grabbed at the woman’s bloodied hand on his chest, but it was like trying to lift a timber, “Stop it! I order you to stop feeding.” “You are my Brother’s favorite, I do not take orders from you. He has betrayed the Dominion. He has attacked the Dark Lord. His life is forfeit.” Tal slowly shook his head and lowered his eyes unable to meet the hopeful, sorrowful gaze. “They…broke something inside me, Danny. I can’t find all of the pieces. Even now, I feel the priests seeking me. You have to let me go.” “I need you.” “…thank him….” Tal grabbed Denais hand, grimacing in pain as more of his life force drew away, “Protect the Dark Lord.”

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“I know of the sacrifice you made to my Brother. For that, as long as my Champion breathes, I will defend Lord Danvos.” Tal face grimaced once more, then it was as if his spirit faded to nothingness. “The priests of light know that their weapon is compromised.” The blood drenched woman closed her eyes, “They do not know that he is vanquished. They will not wait for nightfall. Serve my Brother well, and my champion and I will do the same.” Danny rocked back hard as the vision that had been cast him back into his world. Tal lay on the stone floor that they had once shared as a bedroom. There should have been blood. Kev bent over and picked up a chain off the floor. “Milord…” There should be blood. “Lord Danny…” She took that too. “Danny…” Danny pushed himself off the floor. There was a slight ache were the blade had pierced through. Blood coated the wall where he had been stuck like a moth on a pin. It took two tries to get Denais from Tal’s body, more from the heft of the blade rather than otherworldly resistance. It took three steps to get to Kev. He pressed the hilt into the other man’s chest. “Thank you… you saved my life.” “Milord…the Commander…” “That wasn’t Tal. The Commander would never have harmed me. This was a Rider trick.” Kev held out the silver

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tear drop. Danny looked down at it and his eyes hardened. “I don’t need that any more. Get everyone in the courtyard. The Riders are coming and everyone needs to leave.” The other guards who had crowded into room turned and started back down the stairs. “You two, take this down to the alter room.” Kev still held the bare blade in his hand. The silver tear drop dangled, swinging in the pale light of morning. Flash…flash…flash. Danny turned and looked out of the window, was it only dawn. “Milord…?” “Get your gear and get back to the Tower, I will need you at my side before noon. The Illumination is coming.” “…and you need all the swords you can get.” “No…just hers.” Kev paused as Danny left the chamber following the soldiers and the body down into the alter room. He turned and looked back at the spot where the Commander had fallen. There had been a second when the air had shimmered. Denais had let him see her. {You are once again his Shield…prepare yourself for battle} “That was the Commander….I felt his heart stop.” His fist closed painfully around the warm orb. Denais was silent. “What have we done?” {Set loose the Dark Hound of Destruction. Prepare yourself. He will need you.}

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End Game

The people gathered in the courtyard murmuring, muttering whispering about the commotion of the early morn. All the voices stopped at once when Kev, Espy’s bastard walked out of the Tower. Edan held Talos tightly to him. Kev was pale, almost white and shaken. Something had happened. A sorrel gelding was brought forward and held by one of the guard as Kev slipped on. For a moment, Edan caught his eyes…something horribly wrong…then Kev whirled the horse and kicked it into motion back to the east. “Talos…can you?” “He’s sad….just as sad when mama left us. Shall I sing to him?” More guards came out of the tower in full battle gear. This was not well. “Papa?” “No, Talos, don’t sing for him today. I think he needs to be sad. Don’t talk to him in your way today. I don’t think he would like that.” “But, I don’t want him to be lonely…” The guard stepped back and the Dark Lord walked out into the brightening light of day. Blood caked his chest, ran down his arm staining the pale linen almost a dark purple. An angry red welt stood out like a scar on his pale skin across his throat. The assembly gasped in surprise then the voices rose in anger. Eyes turned after Kev but Edan knew….”By the gods…”

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Lord Danny raised his arms and the voices trailed off. “Some of you saw the Commander ride in to the Dominion last night.” Voices rose up again…in excited whispers. Everyone knew that the Dark Lord wasn’t himself since the harvest attack. “It was a trick. He was an Illumination assassin.” The silence was deafening. “Without Kev’s protection, I would not be here now. The Commander, “the Lord’s Hound” was lost to us in the first attack. This assassin is a sign of the Freelord’s and the Illumination’s desperation. They are coming today.’ The crowd roared in anger. Edan could feel the waves of it rising.. “It is not safe. I want all of you to leave the Dominion.” Danny raised his hands again, “You are not running from the Illumination and their Riders of Light. You’ll be running from me. Our boundaries are set. Anything within those walls without the mark of the Darkness will die today.” Even the guard jerked in wariness, “Take only what you can carry. They already know their assassin failed. They are on their way. For you own sakes, leave now and don’t stop.” Edan looked around and handed Talos to Mira. Danny had already turned and was making his way back into the Tower. “Milord!” “Take Talos with you. Keep him safe. I’ll try to keep this from him…but just get him away.” “You can’t stand against the Riders alone.” “I won’t be alone. Kev….”

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“Just the two of you? This is madness.” “I owe you and Talos apologies. If I had done my duty when Tal first disappeared, Ona and the others would still be alive.” “You couldn’t have known.” “The Darkness knew what the Illumination was capable of. I ignored it out of fear and desperation…and look where our Dominion is now.” “What are you going to do?” Edan involuntarily took a step backwards as he met the Dark Lord’s glaze, “I’m going to end it.” Deep in the bowels of the Tower the soldiers deposited the body of the Commander on the alter. None of them were able to look at the sad face of their Dark Lord as he came in and stared down at the corpse. “Everyone leaves. Nothing stays behind. I’ll tell the animals to go.” “Milord…..” “I’ll see you tomorrow Milos…” “How will we know…” “The horses will know…get everyone out now. The Illumination is on the move.” The soldier bowed and then took one last look at the fair haired man before bolting upwards toward the beginning light of day. “You remember the offer that was made so long ago?” The return of your commander for your willing body. Yes Is that why you have laid my Galbraith here?

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Your sister has eaten his soul. There is no coming back from that. No there is not “I ask that you take this body as your vessel All that was the Commander is gone. This husk is nothing to me. Live within it while it lasts.” “And what would you have me do with it?” “Give it back to the Illumination. They were so willing to give it to me . It is only good manners that we return the same.” Danny flinched as the corpse thrashed then a ragged breath rose from the punctured lung. The darkness sat up jerkily, blinking through those familiar eyes then laughter rang out. “He was right pass the power to you.” Danny held the black dagger that had ran lightly across his throat. The poisoned edge there was easily counteracted. But the line on his throat was still angry and welted. What had the Priests been thinking? Again they had underestimated him. They were thinking they were going up against a slave with a little bit of dark art. Power rose up around the chamber, just at the mere thought of it. Dark Tal slid off the alter….jerky motions as the essence began to feel out the new boundaries. Danny knelt and raised the dagger up to his eternal Master the dark metal pulsating on his palms.. “You have forged a light eater—a baby sister to Denasis.” Dark Tal took the dagger and admired the craft running along it’s blade. “So dark and beautiful. Who would you like her blooded in?” “The High commander, Xerros and brother Polc.”

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“As you command Dark Lord. And do you have a name for the little one?” “Ona” “A fitting tribute. She died for your line. It is only fitting that you give her the means to avenge you too.” Danny noticed that the hole in Tal’s chest was still there…still dry. “You will need blood in that wound to get close enough to the commander. You need to look alive somewhat.” “I will take a Rider before I get to camp,.” Danny stilled as a cooling hand touched his face, “So beautiful.” “Enough.” “This body has your scent in it’s nose. Even in death it stirs to greet you.” “This serves nothing.” “This body would serve yours.” “You are not Tal.” “You are responding.” “I am a trained whore. It doesn’t take much, but you are not Tal.” Danny groaned as the darkness bound unseen arms around him. “You can take what you want, I can’t stop you but know this, after sunset, I won’t touch your magicks again.” “This is the last thought of the Commander before my sister devoured his soul. He wanted to take you and remember the times of the road. Straw in your hair as you as those pale sky eyes watched him bury himself in you…again and again. “Stop it…”

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“The commander was a favourite. I would do this for him in honour of his service to me.” “Get off.” “This needs to be done while the corpse is still fresh.” Danny refused to call on the physical strength to knock the animated body away. What go would it do to use dark power against the ultimate dark power. “Do this, when this is done today…” “A part of the Commander’s essence is still inside you. He gave that to you long ago. Reach for it. Go to him now. The Dark Lord needs to be here. What must be done, must be done today. Danny cannot be here.” Danny stopped struggling, those last words where in Tal’s voice. He tensed his body hard in the darkness’ grip, turning his head back. Those were not Tal’s golden eyes. They were black, no iris, just deep unfathomable black. There was nothing of Tal there, Nothing. “You already own my life. What else can you want.” “Submission.” “You already have that.” “In all things.” Danny bit back a muffled cry as the Dark Tal began it’s own assault. “No…” “Take what is left of Danny into your self. Built a wall there for him. Don’t let him out again…He will not survive the coming battle. Let the Commander’s student run free.” Danny fought…but it was useless. Tal’s physical strength was more than a match for him. He never had anything to fear

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from Tal before. Nothing in their experience together really had this ripping, tearing agony. “Noo..” Suddenly Danny found himself surrounded by darkness….and sweet silence. He knew that rape was still happening but here everything was peaceful. “Oh my gods Danny, you’re so beautiful.” Danny twisted around and had to shield his eyes from the burning light that surrounded the approaching form. He could feel the red blood coursing behind his lids as the light grew brighter and brighter. He let out a cry and collapsed to the unseen ground. Too bright! Stop..hurting… Tal reached out and one familiar finger caught the underside of his chin and lifted his head. “Hey there little one? Are you all right?” “You’re dead,” “Thank you for that.” “She killed you.” ‘She stopped me. I would have cut your throat Danny. They broke me and when they rebuilt what was left, I just wanted to die and I couldn’t do that.” “I don’t understand….” “The little bit of me that was left is now part of the Darkness. I will always be with you in spirit…” “Your body is raping me now.” Tal’s visage darkened and he looked back across the darkness. “That is not me.” “I know….I…Tal I’m going to have to kill them.” “Not you.” “Of course….

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“Not you….him. The one that leveled Espy’s to the ground. The one that killed everything living thing in that hold that didn’t have a slave’s brand on their body. That One will kill everyone.” “I did that….” “I met him Danny. I stood beside him as he killed everything and he did it without a blink of remorse. You are Danny, beautiful and innocent. You’ve endured so much that he had to come and save you -- that stronger one—Danvos. He’ll protect you and your children from the Illumination. When it is done, you can come back and heal, and rebuild – that is your strength.” Familiar loving arms enfolded Danny and even though he knew that it wasn’t possible he leaned in and took a deep breath hoping to catch that special scent that was all the Commanders’. “Stay here with me for a while. Stay with me in the little light that we have until the storm has past.” “I can still feel the Darkness.” “He is making Danvos stronger. Not that I approve, but I tried to kill you. You can go back if you want but I am begging you, stay with me for a while. The weight will tear your soul to pieces and you are not meant for that. Sand you can trust me when I say that, killing stains your soul and it never comes clean. You are a healer Danny. Danvos is the magicker. You will be sorely needed when this is over.” “What they did to you….was it so horrible?” “I wanted to die.” “I’m sorry….”

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“Nothing you could have done, little one. Nothing you should have done. Choices were made and we cannot unmake them. We just need to make new choices.” “I have missed you.” “I’ll always be with you.” Talos held to the boy that was and kissed the golden brow that was weighted so heavily with so much concern. “I’ll never leave your side again.” The final essence of life faded from Tal Kegsetter’s body as the Darkness groaned to completion. Before the animated body was able to regain it’s footing….it had been so long…and now it was too overwhelming in sensations, Danvos pushed back off the alter, whirled on one heel, catching Dark Tal’s neck with his elbow, pinning him to the black stone then pure agony shot through him as the black dagger that Tal had come to assassinate with was slammed hard through his shoulder, embedding itself into the alter. “This will NEVER happen again…to me or to him. Are we clear on this?” “Lord Danvos, welcome…” Dark Tal greeted through clenched teeth as the intense pleasure he had been revealing in was just as quickly dashed with this pain. “Master.” Danvos pulled up his trousers and knelt gracefully before the physical manifestation of the Darkness. “They are coming.” Dark Tal groaned and picked himself off of the alter. He touched the point of the dagger sticking out of chest. “You’re strong.” “Danny keeps himself fit. He just doesn’t need to show it.”

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“You know Danny.” “I was born in the snows of the north before his mother’s dead eyes. I am the reason he survived the rent houses. He is the velvet. I am the steel and now I will be devastation. There is something I must do.” Danvos’ rose to his feet and left the alter room. Dark Tal blinked once then laughter followed the Dark Lord up through the now empty corridors. This day promised to be bloody. Steadfast danced agitated in his stall. All the others had been released. The Horsespeaker had told everyone to run free and to not stop until the black rock was cleared. Everyone one, but him. Even Steppedancer, refused to go at first, but finally after a few private words with the golden hair man, she started out, glancing back at the great old warhorse once then disappearing with the rest. “Greetings old friend.” Steadfast turned in his stall. The horsespeaker’s words were calm but….it wasn’t the horsespeaker. He rose up on his hind legs and lashed out with his hooves. The blonde man lifted his hands, “Easy Steadfast….I know I’m not what you expected…but I need to ask…we need to ask you for a sacrifice.” Kev knew that something was wrong when he came back to the Tower. Everyone was gone. There wasn’t a dog, cat…or even birds in the sky. The sorrel gelding pranced sideways, shaking his head in misgivings. Danvos turned from the dais and looked down at him. “Take off his gear then, stand with me”

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Kev dropped the saddle and slipped the bridle over the flicking ears. Danvos looked down at the sorrel, “Run like the wind, my boy. There isn’t much time.” The eyes of the horse rolled up and widened as it snorted in fear. Kev stared at it. It has been a docile gentle creature and he had felt uneasy pressing him into such a hard journey. “Go!” The horse bolted galloping for all its life back along the western path toward the river. “Milord?” “Where is everyone?” “I only need you with me.” “The whole of the Illumination is coming…what about the…” Kev’s voice trailed off as the Dark Lord reached out and touched his face. The pale blue eyes that were always filled with so much emotion were chips of ice. A calm fury burnt around the whole of his being. “Milord?” “So beautiful.” Danovs leaned in and forced a kiss, hard and bruising. Kev felt blood on his tongue, “My sister needs to join with you. Take off your mail.” “My sister? What is going on? Where is everyone?” “The Illumination is just outside of our borders. I’ll going to open a breach when their priests attack and lure them in. I’ve sent Tal after them.” “Tal…but he.. I killed him.” “He is the Darkness in human form.” “Danny….” “Danny has stepped back, he cannot help us. I need you now…my sister needs you. Resisting will be quite painful.” A

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golden brow rose, “But then that I an area that you and I have yet to explore…when this is done…” Kev tensed as the blonde man stepped behind him, his one hand still holding onto his jaw, the other wrapping his chest pulling him tight against the narrow chest. “What are you doing?” Kev felt that familiar cold feeling as the bloody woman swirled into being before him. The bloody tress swayed in the breeze. “Are you prepared, Shield?” “What are you doing….” “My sister needs to be WITH you. Her skill in battle will guide your hand. She will protect us as we do what we must.” Kev stared up at the face, the eyes seems to blank for a moment, “The last of my children have passed the barrier.” Kev felt a slight tremor through the ground as the black wall was eased back into place. High above, a kneening bell sounded sending the hair on the back of Kev’s neck standing on end. “The Priests have breached the southern wall.” “What do you want me to do, milord?” “You made a promise to him once….do you recall the words?” “I would die for you.” Denais held up a bloody knife and plunged into Kev’s stomach. Danvos’ held into the dark haired youth with a strength that was not his own. Hot spikes of agony ripped through his guts as she forced the blade up until it hit the bone of his sternum. Denais gave a uneasy smile as she dropped the knife and reached her hand into his warm, bloody wound….she turned into a mist and flowed into him. Kev felt

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himself spasm as something foreign invaded…something so cold, it froze everything inside were it touched. A kiss on the temple brought him back to his senses. He dropped his hand to his stomach but there was no wound…no scarring, just perfect pale flesh. Danvos released him and he dropped to his knees. “Milord…” “My Sister will care for you. She will guide your hand in battle, she will heal wounds, she will be your strength when you falter. She is the bringer of death and despair.” “Who are you?” Kev stared up at the blonde haired man. “You’re not our Dark Lord.” Those ice chip eyes glanced down once then returned to the distance horizon. “I am Danvos, the Dark Lord. You fell in love with Danny, the northern rent slave with the soul of a healer. I am the destroyer. I killed your father. I killed your so-called mother. I killed your brothers as they ran in terror from the fire. I ripped down your father’s holding, brick by brick and I laughed and reveled in the torment I caused because they trespassed against me…and now mine.” “Danvos?” “Never think that Danny would have chosen you as a companion. He had the commander. They…suited each other.” Danovs reached down and caught Kev by the chin, pulling him to his unsteady feet. Those pale chips never wavered as the handsome face stared at the darker man, “You on the other hand are my choice. There is a hatred in your core that will never burn out. I could warm myself in your body for years. The things I could teach you…but first, I will

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do what must be done. And you little sister will help me. Get dressed. They are coming.” Danvos ripped a kiss from his bloodied lips and Kev felt something cold twist inside his core where Denais had disappeared. He held a hand to his stomach sure that it was still raw and bleeding. Danvos licked blood from the corner of his mouth then dropped his hand from his chin. Where the Dark Lord had touched him, burned with the icy touch of…death. Danovs raised his head and looked to the south. “It’s harvest time.” Kev flinched as the whole of the Dark Lord’s eyes turned coal. Danvos was able to see the glittering signs natural magics running through the land. Lay lines. He laughed as he spied an intersection, right at the spot where they had built the harvest festival dais. It would end where it began. Danvos leaped gracefully off the Tower steps and strode to the power line. Yes, he could feel it easily now. He turned and glanced back at Kev. What a glorious sight. Kev stood easily in the black armour the Darkness had provided but now where was a burning blue aurora that shimmered between flames and the bloody tresses of Lady Darkness. “Eat your fill little sister.” “That is my intention, little brother…” “What are we waiting for?” Kev called out. “First blood”

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Chapter 19:

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Cleansing Fire

“Archers!” “Wait…wait...it’s Kegsetter!” “What is he doing out here, I thought you said that your had broken him completely.” “He’s been injured. He’s supposed to find me if something goes wrong.” “Days we’ve wasted on your would be assassin….shoot him.” “No, commander, I need to get information.” “Wasted days……get your puppet. We continue on. I’ll not waste any more time on this folly. These slaves will be put to death before nightfall.” Janelle sat with a sick feeling deep in her stomach. Before coming here, everything was so clear. The Illumination was doing good in the world, combating the evils that destroyed the common people. She coughed up dust as another group of rider galloped forward to the front. The Dark Lord…..until they had come here he had done nothing but free people from slavery…and Tal. Turning a companion against him. That was unconsciousable. The horse danced sideways. He didn’t have the same training nor quality. The horse bolted towards the woods. Janelle sawed on it’s mouth trying to get it under control then just as suddenly, the horse stopped.

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The Dark Lord was standing in the woods just before her. It wasn’t a misty image…nor a shadow, it was the blonde man in the flesh. He reached out and stroked the horse’s nose, looking at the sorely pinched mouth. “I am sorry for this….let me.” Janelle felt a shiver run through the gelding’s frame and the torn mouth was suddenly healed. “Captain Riverview. Why aren’t you back on the farm?’ “You shouldn’t be here.” Janelle whispered. “Tal spoke highly of you after died so I will do this one thing in his honour. If you cross the boundary of my lands today, you will die,” “I am a sworn Rider of Light.” “Then you will die today. Reconsider.” “I cannot.” “Then dismount. Your horse shouldn’t have to die for your foolishness.” “You shouldn’t be able to do any of this.” “You brought this war to my doorstep. You shouldn’t be surprised by anything that happens now. I will try to make your death quick, but I cannot promise it will be painless.” The Dark Lord gave a courteous bow then vanished. The bay reared and bolted. Janelle wasn’t prepared and landed hard against a tree, opening up the old wound. Polc died with the black dagger sticking out of his throat. His eyes were wide with shock. The little magics that he did have control of, flittered away like moths in the night. Dark Tal laughed as the Riders realized their weapon had turned against them. Swords, spears, daggers knives did nothing to stop the Darkness from whirling through the throng piling

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bodies behind him as he went. Blood was for the taking. Killing his own offerings was a joyous memory made real. Rider blood splashed his face and a battle cry that had never been heard in centuries sent shivers through every living thing. Horses bolted terror..then the sky turned. Edan turned and watched s the midday sun turned black. The whole of the sky took on a grey cast and a rumbling shook the ground beneath their feet. Clouds misted in a circle, swirling above the Tower ramparts like the beginning of a desperate terrible storm. “By the gods….go, everyone go!” Edan grabbed Talos and ran as fast as he could from the borders of the black wall. The intensity of the power coursing through Danvos was a blinding sexual pain….it was nothing unfamiliar. It was as if all those years servicing the masters in the rent houses had been nothing but training leading up to this moment. The ability to endure. The control of rage and pain. The undying hatred. The earthly elements bent to his will as if he only to think it. The horses were the first to die. Their hooves shattered as if made of glass. White riders flew off in every direction. When the beasts hit the ground, their noble hearts imploded in a quick passing. Almost painless. That was the end of the Dark Lord’s mercy. Kev felt strange…there was a core of terror inside him but it was tempered with anticipation and…bloodlust. This nostrils could pick up the scent of spilt human blood in the wind. He could practically taste it on his tongue.

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Lightening struck the siege machines that had fallen still when the beasts of burden were felled. But it unlike any lightning Commander Xerros had ever seen. It came horizontally from that damned Black Tower. His ankle throbbed from being thrown when his horse died. All these years of service to ferret out true evil and now they were about to taken to judgement by a northern slave. “Commander Xerros, I bear greetings from the Dark Lord.” He turned and looked at the Illumination’s instrument of destruction. He had watched a few of Polc’s sessions but this was not the man they had saved. The hair was still grey but that was about all the really distinguished the Lord’s Hound. Blood caked his hands and face, but it was obvious that it wasn’t his. Slashes had torn open his flesh like a butcher’s art, exposing muscle, sinew and even bone. “Demon spawn.” “Lord Danvos was so impressed with your gifts, he asked that I return it to you. Both of them.” Xerros blanched as the demon pulled out the black dagger from his boot. The priests had worked for weeks on binding spells, working the Light magicks to finish off this upstart slave. “My Galbraith has returned home and will be held in a place of high honour.” “My Galbraith….what are you? Xerros slashed in fury at the demon before him and the sword shuttered in his hands as the blade slit the entrails open. “You can’t kill me. This body is already dead.” Dark Tal stepped forward, stepping in his own fulids. Xerros slashed again. Dark Tal rose his arm and caught the blade on the forearm moving in close to drive Ona deep into the

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Illumination commander’s eye. The Rider spazmed, grabbed onto Dark Tal’s forearm then died as his essence was devoured. Dark Tal’s face cracked into a indulgent smile. Oh yes, she was a hungry one. A spear slammed hard into his frame then embedded down into ground. The Darkness frowned…this body was finished. He gathered the dagger to his chest, “Go to your sister.” The blade dissolved from his hand as a sword took the head from it’s neck. The Darkness laughed and flowed back into the bloodied earth. The hail of arrows slowed to his line of sight. He felt as if he could simply reach out and pluck on from the air. Denais’ blade flashed up and knocked them from the sky. Kev danced whirling the dark blade around him knocking away anything that came at his Dark Lord. There was so much energy inside.him. One stray arrow from the hail slipped past his guard but it was so simple to reach out and snag it. Deep in his mind, he knew that he should not have been able to do it….but SHE was with him, guiding his hand, focusing his vision. A black object flew at him and instinctively he raised his hand and caught the black dagger. A vision formed in his mind of a tall thin adolescent girl…wrapped in a black funeral shroud but drenched in blood….the rich blood of vengeance. “It is done, elder sister.” A crossbow quarrel caught Kev between the neck and the collarbone. He cried out and staggered back. Ona flew from his hand catching the Rider in the mouth as he fought to reload, embedding herself out the back of his skull.

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Danvos kept a watchful eye on his Shield as the battle continued. Denais flowed around him like a ribbon. The black sword danced as sinuous snake, knocking aside spears, arrows and anything else that those fewer Riders where able to bring to bear. He was skilled…then he dropped like a stone. Hot dark blood spurted from his neck. Denais reached down and forced out the quarrel but the blood pooled through her hands. “Little brother!” Danvos lifted his hands wide. “Enough.” The power gathering inside his body, burning and chilling it at the same time until it felt like it was a dark sun. His eyes were pitch black as he stared out at the remaining army. His body shuddered with concentration. A scream ripped from his soul rose from his mouth as he sent all the fury he harboured at the riders. A wall of flame blasted outwards from the black spire. High enough to be seen above the black border stones, building like a wave on the ocean, turning in on itself as it wiped the land clean. The houses the freemen had toiled to build caught fire and burnt like dried kindling. Screams of the dying Riders were seared in their throats. Trees ahead of the blast toppled over then caught flame. Bereft of power, Danvos dropped to his knees. He was so weak. Kev. Denais dragged the limp man to his side. He reached out and pressed his hands over top of hers. Nothing…there was no answering call. Kev’s amber eyes stared up at him, his mouth gasping as life drained away. “No…” Danny! He needs you now…

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The golden hair youth fell over, blinking in horror at the blood all over his hands and arms. “My champion needs you.” Danny blinked at the woman. She had changed…her form was younger, fuller – a hard beauty but still coated in blood and reeking of death. “Now…” Danny reached out for the darkness but there was little to be found….traces. They had used all the stored magics now Kev was going to bleed to death. Wait….there was something. Danny urged it closer it was light…healing light. He pulled to himself and screamed as it burnt. He almost lost hold of it but forced his mind to work past the pain. Denais screamed as the light entered Kev’s wound….sealing it, mending it. She fought her way out of his form, retreating back to the black sword. Danny whose body was now shuddering in agony until he past his endurance and fainted, prostrate over the fallen man. Everywhere Kev touched him burnt like a hot ice. Danny scrambled back off the fallen champion. The ragged deady wound was closed but there was a brightness about him. He could only stare as he watched it course through his lover’s body. “I’ve lost him. What did you do?” Denais’s voice screeched inside Danny’s head. Danny glanced down at his hands…they were red raw and blistered as if he had set them into a fire. “He’s alive.” A low roar sounded in his ears and he finally looked up to see the destruction. Burnt out buildings and broken houses. The fields had had been so richen laden with the freemen’s work were charred and smoldering. All the years of hard work and sweat and sacrifice were gone. “What have I done?”

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“Get up…get to the Tower, get to the alter room.” Danny tunred his eyes toward the distant horizon were Denais was staring. Red flames were growing larger and brighter. The fire storm that Danvos had sent after the Illumination had hit the outer boundaries and was sweeping destruction back across it’s path. Danny called on the Darkness but there was no answer. He staggered to his feet and reached down for Kev’s arm. He dropped it scalding on his flesh were he had touched bare skin. Kev’s eyes had rolled back into his head and his laid still, pulsing with light. Danny reached down grabbed onto the black armour and started dragging his dead weight toward the Tower. “Leave him. He is of no use to you now.” A blast of hot air hit Danny full in the face as he continued dragging Kev to the Tower. The storm was too fast. They weren’t going to make it. Danny stripped on his tunic, wrpped it tightly around Kev’s hand and arms then grabbed him under the shoulders and yanked him backwards with all the strength he could muster. The dirt changed to stone as the air warmed even more. Danny bit back a cry as he stumbled on the stairs losing his grip. He grabbed Kev once more and dragged him into the slightly cooler dark “Kev…” There was no answer. “MASTER!” Danny’s voice rang in the empty spire. There was no answer from the Darkness either. The heat from the approaching fire began to sear his lungs, each breath grew harder and harder to take. Danny

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knelt beside Kev and gathered him close, his hands bringing the head hard to his chest. There was no time. Danny pitched himself forward down the stairs, hanging on to Kev trying to protect his unconscious body as much as he could from injury. Danny felt a stone stair slam into his cheek and fracture it. His back twisted hard and scraped itself raw on the rough stone. Around and down they tumbled until Danny finally hit the smooth almost glass like surface of the floor outside of the alter room. Kev ‘s still form spun away from his grip but gasped and groaned to life. Danny moved to sit up and bit off a cry of agony. He had broken ribs on his left side. “Kev….Kev!” The man stirred back to life. “KEV!” He bolted up shaking his head and grabbing at his neck. “Danvos?” “Get into the alter room…now….no time.” Kev climbed to his feet, swaying unsteadily, his hand reached out to pull the Dark Lord to his feet. “Don’t touch me!” Kev ignored Danny’s directive and grasped his shoulder. Both men screamed as their touch burned. The smell of scorched flesh filled the small passage. Kev staggered backwards clenching his burning fist. Danny grabbed at his shoulder, a perfect brand mark of Kev’s hand was etched in his flesh. “Don’t touch.. skin.” A blast of hot hit enveloped them for a moment then just as quickly it seemed to be sucked out of corridor. Kev grabbed Danny’s ankle and dragged him into the alter room slamming the door and bolting it The heavy

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door blasted open knocking kev flying across the room, slamming hard into the wall smooth walls. Danny spun on the floor catching a corner of the alter and screaming as more ribs fractured until he landed at Kev’s knee. Blindly Kev threw up his hands against the fire and …they were surrounded by a bright orb. Anger orange flames danced over the surface, circling around searching for an opening then…everything turned black. Kev’s hands shook from the effort of holding them up and finally they dropped to his side….the light fading back into his skin. The Darkness formed it’s familiar black shape, “You dare bring a Light Elemental into MY sanctum!” A force dragged Danny from Kev’s tight grip, tossing him back against the fall wall. The sickening thud of head meeting stone rang throughout the small room. Danny writhed in pain as the Darkness dragged him higher up the wall. He could feel an unseen hand gripping at his chest, prodding his injuries. Blood welled out of his mouth and drained down his throat and bare chest. “STOP IT! You’re killing him!” “Silence!” Kev instinctively dodged and the stone masonry were he had had been crumbled from a forceful punch. “Explain, my Chosen.” “He was dying…I couldn’t find any trace of you….light came instead.” The darkness dropped Danny to the floor. The pain was too much and he vomited up the blood that was pooling in his stomach. The blood seeped into the floor…”You channeled

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an elemental…it’s foul taste is in your blood.. Where is my sister?” “She returned to the sword.” “Where is your daughter?” “In a rider’s skull out there….Milord…is it over?” “The Illumination army is no more. There are a few Riders who did not cross with the main campaign but no one would darn challenge you now. I have upheld my end of the bargain….you did not.” Danny began coughing up more blood and his breathing grew haggard. Kev could see his lover’s skin start to turn pale…a faint hint of blue on the blood stained lips. “Heal him!” The darkness turned and Kev found himself flying through the blasted doorway of the alter His raised his arms as the black stone came at his face and everything shuddered as he blasted through it like a hurled boulder from a catapult. He landed hard out on the chard grass, rolling to a stop, the sky just kept spinning. He staggered to his feet, fell and had to work at getting up again. He took three steps before the familiar blue specter rose before him. The bloodied tresses twisted around her head like snakes. The small black blade in her palm twitched back and forth between them. He could smell the evil intent of the blade. His throat wanted to start narrowing down. “You were my champion. Now you are nothing.” “Danny…” “The Dark Lord will be attended to, Luminous. You’re presence is not required here.” Denais spat black blood at his feet. “You were to be his Shield, his protector.”

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“I am” “You branded him with a touch. You will not enter again Luminous.” Kev glared at the bloody woman then gasped as he felt his skin start to tingle…white blue flames danced along his arms and hands. Denais hissed and raised Ona higher. Kev was started and the white aura faded. “Luminous” Never had Kev heard so much hatred in one word. “You are dying little Danny. I have done all that you have asked of me and you bring a whitelight into my house, you taint your blood offering with it’s essence and then you tell me that it is my doing. When Galbraith failed me, he didn’t do anything other than think of himself as a God. I give you life and you defy me. I give you a sanctuary for your children and you poison my house. I offer back your lover, you refuse my gift. I gift you a new lover and you change him into a weapon.” “Then just let me die…everyone is safe.” “Are they? You banished everyone outside of the border. The are back in FreeLord territory. They will be seen as nothing more than runaway slaves – slaves to be made an example of.” “What do you want?” “Submission. Obedience, chances to enjoy the carnal pleasures of this world. I’d almost forgotten the rapture of my blooding my own sacrifice.” “You want my body?”

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“No…just to use it at my digression. And one more thing…Danvos will remain as the Dark Lord – I like his…style.” “You will keep them safe? Even from him?” “My resolve is not in question here. Agree or not. Life is leaving you.” “Hurry up, I can’t breathe.” Danvos grimaced and tried to sit up. “Well? Ice blue eyes were riddled with pain but the Dark Lord stared up at the Darkness with no fear. “You going to fuck me again against my will?” “If the opportunity arises. It was rather pleasurable.” “Remember, I’ll stick knife in your eye if…the opportunity arises.” “I would have you say it.” “I offer you my full submission, Master, on all things.” Danvos gritted his teeth as the Darkness rose up around him. It was like stepping to the murky lake in the summer, but it was biting cold. At first he tried to keep from groaning but he had done so much damage internally. He grabbed at his broken side and vomited up more blood, again and again. It was hard to breathe…and the vomiting made his ribs stab hard inside him. A scream finally rose from his bruised lips as the bones began to pull back into their original configuration and mended. The Darkness watched his Chosen writhing in agony as the dark healing flowed through him. It was an exercise in discipline. The Darkness slowed the flow to inflict as much

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suffering as possible. It wasn’t done with malice. The Darkness simply had to know what endurance the new Dark Lord had. Impressive. Danvos lay on the cold stone tiles, flittering in and out of awareness but he had not fainted. The Darkness looked down at him assessing the remaining damage that the Dark Art could not fully erase. At least the skin was smooth, the burn mark on his shoulder from the elemental now looked like a tattoo. But, no one marked his Chosen. “Come here.” Danvos rolled over and unsteadily climbed to feet. There was an overall weakness gripping him but the searing agony in his chest was gone. “Kneel” Danvos gasped at the darkness enveloped his shoulder, “I mark you as my Chosen. I mark you as Danvos, the Dark Lord of the Dominion. Danvos hissed as his left shoulder, chest, back, upper arm, forearm and hand began to burn. He just gritted his teeth as tears leaked out of his eyes. Then the burning trailed up his neck and the whole left side of his face felt scorched. The Darkness stepped back and Danvos lurched forward. The back of his hand was tattooed with gold….the swirls traveled up his arm, to his should across the left side of his chest. He touched his neck and face with his right hand….it felt cooler than the other side. “You always performed better in gold.” Danvos stilled. He had reverted back to rent slave the night Kev had first left to find help. Painted in gold and ready to receive any thing the master of the night was willing to give him.

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“You watched.” The Darkness said nothing. “The elemental cannot stay here. I am giving him leniency because of the service that Kev has done for the Dominon. You have one chance to drive him away. If you fail, I will bring all my power down on it.” “As you command, Master.” Dark laughter rang in his head. Danvos reached out and just barely touched the darkness he had so desperately searched for…a lifetime ago now. He pulled it to him and gasped as he felt it fill out the patterns, storing there for the time it would be needed. He pulled enough to make himself strong again to walk on his own. There were slight aches from the dark healing but there the hand print had been, it burned cold. The darkness swirled around it, but couldn’t force it out of the way. Danovs let a small smile cross his lips, Kev had wanted Danny, and now with his light mark – he had claimed him forever.

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Chapter 20: A New Lord Kev paced uneasily and stared into the dark hole at the spire’s base. He had heard Danny’s screams but Denais kept herself between him and the Tower. Kev started as he saw Danny step through the jagged opening. His face lit up for a moment before he saw the stance., the ice chip eyes and…by the gods, golden tattoos. Danvos gestured behind him and the broken pieces of the Tower began to reform and slide back into place until nothing was amiss. “Danovs…” “Luminous…”Danvos watched those golden eyes fade. Good. He gestured and Denais rose from the ground where she had lain at the foot of the dais and nestled gently in his hand. He could feel her dark presence come closer, almost pressing up against his back. His gestured with his left hand and the little black dagger raced toward. Kev threw up a blocking shield instinctively as Ona bounced off and landed in the dirt at Danvos feet. The young adolescent still dressed in a bloody funeral shroud sat at Danvos feet staring coldly at the white light. “Well I think it’s safe to say that you won’t be fucking me anytime in the future. Your technique was a little unskilled but you made up for it enthusiasm and stamina but as for pain…” Danvos twitched his burning shoulder, “You are a master of that. I don’t think this will go away.” “Danvos…I…” “Shut up. Take off that armour, it’s mine.”

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“I was willing to be yours…” “But not now.” Danvos watched schooling his features as Kev stripped off the black armour that had lain so long under the alter. His body had changed during the mast few months to that of a warrior. Lean flanks, muscular – so much more than the bookworm who couldn’t use a sickle to clear a field. Danvos didn’t even have to shift his sight to see the patterns of white light running through his blood. “You cannot stay…you know that.” “I’ve done nothing wrong.” “The fault is mine, but you must pay the price.” “Draw it out. You put there, pull it out.” “It’s bound to your essence.” Kev watched as Danvos eyes turned midnight and the ground beneath their feet rumbled. “My children will be returning. You shouldn’t be here when they come back. You know how much they love me….well they loved Danny, we’ll see how they they’ll react to me.” “Milord…” “You need to leave now. Or the Darkness will destroy you.” “I love you…” “This is the Dominion. It is built with Dark Magic. You are a Light Elemental.” Danvos dropped the sword to his side and stepped closer. A shield crackled into life mere inches from each other. “This cannot be.” “Milord.” “You have hurt me more than anyone I have ever known. You’ve killed my Tal. You’ve deceived your way into my

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bed.” Danvos raised his hand and tapped the white shield. He hissed as his fingers numbed from shock. “Now, you’ve made it so I am in bondage again but these chains are nicer than any I’ve been forced to wear. I only have to give the Darkness blind obedience in all things. Any time he wants this body, he’ll take it and there is nothing I can do about it.” “Danny.” “Danny is gone. He left with Tal, he didn’t even say goodbye. After all these years, he abandoned me.” Kev took a step forward, Denais leapt up between them. “I’ve had enough of your icy kisses. Start walking. When the horses come back, I’ll have supplies loaded and send them to you. You can’t ever come back here Lord Espys. I will kill you.” Kev looked at Danvos as if he had been stabbed in the gut.. “Can’t I do anything for you?” “When you get back to the towns, find me a rent slave. Send him to me. As you can see, I don’t do so well with freemen, at least as slaves, we would understand each other.” “I never intended any of this to happen.” “I know…go.” Kev lowered himself to his knee and bowed gracefully. “If you ever need me for anything…just send word, Dark Lord.” You should have killed him. He has seen too much. “Your brother said I could send him away. That should be good enough for you. Do you need blood or are you sated?”

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“I am content.” “What about you little daughter? Are you well.” “I am full” “I’m tired” “Killing does that.” “I’ll remember that little sister.” Danvos gathered the fallen armour, aware that it was still warm from the bearer’s body. The burden of the two enchanted ladies of death and the armour grew heavier and heavier as he climbed to his chambers. Gently he laid Ona on the desk, Denais was set above the mantle and the armour….he just let drop in the middle of the floor. Danvos moved to the window but caught sight of himself in a wall mirror. He just stared at the unfamiliar beast looking back at him. The kindness that was Danny was gone. There was nothing soft or yielding in his expression and his face…tribal swirls covered the left side of his face, traveling down his neck, across his shoulder and down his arm. Beautiful, golden. Danvos reached up and loosened his hair tie, a curtain of blonde hair fell forward somewhat hiding the tattoo. You always performed better in gold. Tears seeped out his eyes He wiped at them angrily. Crossing to the window he set his gaze on the distant figure walking toward the southern border. This time when the tears came he gave into them. Crying out for what was, what could have been and now what never could be. “What is this?” “Aren’t slaves entitled to cry after they’ve been branded?” “I caused little pain with my marking.”

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“I’m just a little weak right now Master. Give me time to let it pass and I’ll be the Dark Lord that you want.” “You hide my mark.” “I know it’s there. You know it’s there. I would prefer my children not to know of our…arrangement. You will have my obedience.” “You need relief.” “Stay out of my bed, Master.” “Milos will come to you.” Danvos let a wry smile pass his lips. “You are kind Master.” “Rest…reconstruction will start tomorrow.” “As you command, Master.” Danvos sat at the window staring out, but seeing nothing. The absolute horror of how little remained of the village was growing beneath him as more and more people came back. There was a flash of golden hair against the arm of the blacksmith. At least his son was safe. A knock sounded on the chamber door. “Milord, you summoned me?” No I did not. Danvos gestured to the door bolt and it opened for the handsome young guard. There was fear in the man’s face. As well there should be. When they had left at the midday sun, they had homes. Now, they had smoldering rubble. Danovs turned and looked back out of the window. “Milord?” “I need you to gather up two months supplies for one person’s journey to the towns. I’ll have two horses ready for you when your packs are prepared. One will be a daughter

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from my horse Steppdancer – don’t make her the pack horse. I’d never hear the end of it.” “Is that all Milord?” “What did the Darkness tell you, Milos?” “That you needed me.” “Those where the exact words?” “uh, Milord…” “Don’t you mean to say, Milos you should get up in the tower and give the Dark Lord a good fucking because he’s melancholy. Or how about, he’s wailing like a woman in his bedchamber, why don’t you trot up there and service the whore. That’ll usually shut him up.” “He said that you were tired and need some comfort.” “Just do as I asked, Milos. I am not fit company right now.” “Milord.” Fuck. Cruelty and you wield it so well. “Can’t you give me a moment’s peace? You’ve just eaten 4000 Riders, shouldn’t you be tired or something.” “You are bordering on insolence..” “Master. “I will indulge you. You have proven yourself worthy today. Pick your bedmate or not. I will just have you know that if your lack of…fulfillment effects your duties to me, I will provide you with one and there will be no refusals.” “Understood, Master.” “Get dressed, you will need to speak to your children.”

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Danvos rose and cross over the closet. Tal had called him a clotheshorse. Why you would put clothes on horses he didn’t know? But when all you had were rags and you didn’t enough own those…this was a luxury. So bright and colourful. He didn’t feel bright and colourful he felt dark. Ahha. A black long sleeved tunic with a high collar. That should hide the tattoo on his neck. His hands were still red and raw. The blistering had gone down and the pain was barely there. He found a pair of black leather gloves. Danovs stood before the mirror and dressed with the precision of a general. The late autumn wind blew through the opened window and he shivered. There had to be a cloak…Tal great coat lay on the bed. No. He wouldn’t be wearing that again - especially after downstairs in the alter room. “Chosen…I bring you a gift.” Danvos stiffened involuntarily at the soft voice at the back of his neck. The small hairs there rose on end. Cool winter air breathed on his neck. A leather cloak lined with black wolf pelt hovered behind him. “Does it talk and do I have to blood it?” “It’s just a cloak. Not everything I offer you has a double edge.” That would be a first…Master.” “Beautiful.” “What are you doing?” “Let me summon Milos…” “No, you told me to speak to my children. Give me leave to do that before I have to offer up other services.”

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“You are angry.” “My understanding of digressions is different than yours, Master. Thank you for your gift.” Danvos signed as he left the young guardsman’s presence climbing the stairs to his chamber again. “Persistent little bugger.” “You underestimate your charms, beautiful.” “And you can stop that right now. It’s Danvos or Dark Lord or even slave if you must.” “You are still my Chosen.” “Milord!” Danvos picked up the cape, letting his fingers crush the soft pelt before swinging it into place. “What are you going to do now? He is waiting.” Danvos walked to the opened window and stepped out into the night.. The Darkness laughed as Danvos slowly floated from the top of the black spire. The villagers suddenly looked up and saw their familiar Lord fall from the sky. Some screamed, some shouted taken back but one little golden hair boy ran forward. Danvos grinned and caught Talos as soon as his feet touched the dais. “Can I do that?” “No, well I hope you can’t.” “I looks like fun” “Somethings cost too much to pay for. I don’t want you to have to pay the same price I did.” “What’s wrong with your face.” Danvos pulled his head back from prying little hands. He set the little feet on the ground , “Go back to your father.”

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Danvos straightened and looked out at the people assembled before him. There was fear, tiredness and a whole lot of anger. “As you can see, when I told you to run this morning…I wasn’t kidding. Tal Kegsetter died last night. I know I said he was an illumination assassin, and he was. They took the love that he and I shared and twisted it until they had his soul. Tal came for Danny…and last night, he took him with him when he left this world.” Edan stepped forward, “Who are you then, if our Lord Danny is gone?” “I did this.” Danvos gestured to the burnt grounds. “I killed the Illumination. I killed every living thing within our borders and I did it within a few heartbeats. Danny was a gentle soul with a gift of healing. I am Danvos and what is left -- anger, hatred and determination.” “Lord Danvos…where is Kev?” Danvos bowed his head, his blonde curtain of hair feel forward, “I killed him.” He held up his gloved hands, “These might have once been Danny’s hands, but the skill as healer is gone with him. I tried to heal Kev and turned him into something…unspeakable. “Tonight, find shelter in the Tower. Tomorrow we will start to rebuild this town. No one will stand against us Freemen after today.” Danvos knelt to speak to the blacksmith, ”Edan, I will leave you to organize. I’m suddenly exhausted.” Edan reached out and brushed back the blonde hair to see the hint of gold that would flash in the mid afternoon light.

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“Lord Danvos…” “My marks of punishment and enslavement. Don’t leave Talos with me. The Darkness can take over my form when it wishes….and apparently it will be doing it soon because here comes Milos again.” “Milord…they need to know of your sacrifice.” Danvos pulled his hair back down, “This is the Dominion. This is a land of freedom for any and all who dare to make the run to our borders. There is no slavery here.” “Save yours.” “Which I’ll deny for the sake of my children.” “How far does…that…go?” “To my soul” Danvos stood and turned back to the guardsman, “Everything is ready?” “As you requested, Milord.” Danovs smiled as at least the horsespeak talent was something that they had shared rather than being Danny’s alone. Raindancer pawed the ground angry and tossed her head as Danvos whispered into her ear. She didn’t want to go but finally she gave the blonde man a head butt to the chest and started off after the wayward elemental. The laden packhorse just snorted once and followed along afterward. “Milord, I don’t understand.” “You don’t have to. Milos. It’s a debt that I need to repay.” Danvos turned on his heel and looked up at the guardsman, “Now, what are your intentions?” “Milord?”

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“The Darkness has sent you to me three times today. I’m not as diplomatic as Danny, are you just looking for a fuck or something else?” “Uuuh.” “You can’t be Tal. You can’t be Kev.” The soldier ducked his head slightly, “I’m Milos. I can’t be anything else.” Danvos stared at the man and let a wry smile cock one of side of his mouth. “That is about the only thing you could have said that wouldn’t have pissed me off. You want to be my companion? Or just a bedmate.” “I will take what ever you care to offer for as long as you want me.” “Don’t sell yourself short. Go upstairs, get undressed. You’re spending the night. If you’re with me, you’re with me. No more hard fucks over the breakfast table and leaving without saying a word. That’s a little too much like the rent house.” Milo’s mouth fell open in dismay, “I..milord I never meant...” “Now you know, don’t do it again.” Danvos caught the back of his head and pulled him down for a kiss. Kev relished roughness. Tal kissed with a tenderness that could steal your heart. Milos needed help. “Go.” {Your children are safe Dark Lord.} “What is your will, Master?” {I am content. When you are done training the pup, you’ll be content too.} “By your leave, Master.”

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{When the elemental gets to the border, I will let him go. You need not concern yourself with him any longer. The Dominion is secured.} Danvos turned and headed back into the tower that was once again a beehive of activity. Calls came up. Hands were raised in welcome. “I’ll have a light supper brought up for two later, Milord” A woman’s voice called out to him in warmth and carrying. Danvos paused on the steps a little taken back. “My thanks.” He had expected resistance…maybe right out anger but not acceptance. Danny was the once who got acceptance…who got the tenderness. Danvos got what was left over. Maybe this was a left over but he was going to take it and run with it. Danvos took the stairs two steps at a time. The Darkness swirled around his alter….the scent of blood was heady…outweighing the white elementals presence. The Illumination had killed his Galbriath before but this time….there was no one left in the world to stop them when the Dominion begins to push past its current border. No one. No thing could stand in the way of his Dark Lord. Laughter boomed in the alter room.

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Chapter 21: Epilogue A light was growing brighter and brighter in the forest. Janelle blinked and squinted around herself, ignoring the weakness and pain that hung to her whole head. The Light was almost upon her when it stopped. She had lain there all day waiting for some of the Riders to return but there was nothing. There was a crunching as whomever or whatever was making their way toward her. She pulled her dagger and hid it in the sleeve of her tunic. “He said that you would be here.” The light was so bright that she had to shield her eyes with one hand. “Apologies, I have no control over this yet….let me try something…” The light dimmed but didn’t do out completely. The youth seem to glow from within. “You’re the usurper.” “Well that’s less than less flattering. It hurt so much because it’s true, But that was then…do you need help?” “I’ll wait for the Priests.” “You’ll be waiting along time for them. We killed them. We killed them all. Everyone who crossed the border is dead.” “We…” Kev raised his palm as Janelle stabbed at him. The blade went right through his hand and then he jerked back pulling it free from her attack. “Damn it.” “Demon spawns…”

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“Shut up! Own.” Janelle watched stunned as Kev pulled the blade free. There was no blood inside the wound dripped…light “Enough with the stabbing to today,” “What are you?” “I have no idea. I can tell you want I’m not. – I’m not the usurper. I’m not even welcome in my home anymore.” There was a bright flash of light and the wound in Kev’s palm suddenly cleared out. “Well look at that.” “You’re a Light elemental.” Kev frowned down at her. “If I try and help you up, are you going to stab something else of mine that I might find vital?” “My leg is broken…I’ve been seeping for hours through my bandages. I don’t think that I’m going anywhere.” “You still never answered my question? You going to stab me if I try and help you?” “No more stabbings” “I’m new to this so….if it doesn’t work doesn’t hold it against me.” Kev knelt and laid his hands on Riverview’s leg. He could feel the waves of agony emanating from her injuries. Danny had never really explained how he done dark healing, he just said that we called and it came. Help me…if you can. Kev felt his hands begin to shake and he felt his face flush as if he had a fever and then his body began to glow….brighter and brighter. Kev blinked. He was flat on his back in the dark woods. Riverdancer snorted nearby letting her riding know that she was annoyed for the stoppage. What a minute. Dark. Kev raised his hands; the damn blue white glow was gone! Janelle

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stepped into his line of sight. “Do you even know what you are doing?” “Does it look like it?” “No.” “Then don’t be asking me stupid questions. Help me up. We’ll have to get away from the border. I think I only got until sunrise to get away from here.” Kev sneezed and that damned bluish white glow returned. “And I can’t even hide; I’m like a lightening bug.” Kev swung back up on Riverdancer then offered a hand to Janelle. “Well are you coming?” “I am a Rider of Light. I cannot ride with the right hand of Darkness. “Well the right hand of darkness took an arrow in the throat and now I’m Light. Stay or not, I’m burning night. I’ve got to go.” Janelle mounted up behind him. “What is your name?” In which lifetime? Lord Keveth, Espys bastard son? Kev, Dark Shield, Champion and betrayer? “Luminous, you can call me Lu for short.”