Read Online Clash of Heroes: Nath Dragon meets The Darkslayer by Craig Halloran - Free Book Online
Authors: Craig Halloran
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trembling with anger. “They sought your kind. And it was your kind that instigated this.”
“Listen to me!”
Nath froze.
“I tell you this: we strike when it suits us. It’s part of our survival. Take them down before they take us down. We had the numbers. Underlings do as underlings do.”
Nath pulled at his collar. The more he tugged, the more it tightened. Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t like this.”
“Then end this!” Oran urged.
“How?”
“Hunt down and kill the Darkslayer. He is the one behind it all. He leads the hunt. Inspires these men. Kill him.”
An image formed in Nath’s mind. Powerful and sharp, a huge man in a dark helmet with burning eyes slaughtered defenseless underlings like sheep. A mighty axe smote them like the strike of lightning. His throat tightened. Jaws clenched. The monster of a man needed to be stopped.
“You want peace? Then find this savage and tear him to pieces,” Oran suggested. “That’s an order.”
Nath’s blood stirred. His mind darkened. Oran was right. He just needed to find this slayer and kill him.
“I sense your anger, Nath,” Oran said. “You can use that to avenge your allies. Defeat this enemy, and all of underling kind will revere you. We’ll make every effort to find your own kindred and protect them as well. You must trust me. You must obey me. Do that, and everything will resolve.”
Nath rubbed his temples. “I have no guide. I don’t even know where to start.”
“Go to the nearest city. Be discreet. Blend in. A keen ear will always discover something, and it wouldn’t hurt for you to learn more about the ways of this world. In the meantime, I’ll send help from my Badoon. Just let me know where you are when you get there.”
Nath grabbed his sword and ventured through the woods with a stony expression on his handsome face. “I will.”
***
Oran slung his headband across the room. It bounced off a big glass jar with a man's head in it and clattered on the hard cave floor. Fingers contorted over his head, he screamed.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
An entire underling Badoon was dead, and no doubt Lords Catten and Verbard wouldn’t be happy about that. Someone would have to pay for it. The only bright side was that Nath lived. It seemed the man had a fiery disposition that tore through the humans like a whirlwind. Still, controlling the man was not easy.
Oran needed to poison the well even further.
Hands behind his back, he paced around his experiment table. In a flash of anger, he wiped the jars, vials, and candlesticks off. “I hate this!”
For decades, Oran had been outcast from the Underland. He had been found guilty of meddling and conspiracy with the other races. His experiments were considered detrimental, and now his life was spent in solitude, doing devious deeds with little underling support. But he knew what he was doing. He was subverting the ways of the world above. Learning. Probing. Exposing weakness. One day he would further the underling cause, he was certain of it, but now he had to play lackey to the likes of hallowed Verbard and Catten. He had to do their dirty work for them. Get his nails dirty where they wouldn’t.
He grabbed a bottle of underling port from his wine shelf and sank into his sofa. Staring at the face of a dwarf’s head pickled in a thick jar on the table, he drank. He thought. He planned. He fussed. He drank.
If this fails, I’m dog meat.
CHAPTER 16
Like the underlings, Nath skulked through the jungles, avoiding the winding paths. Hours into the trek, he hunkered down and waited. A deer with black horns and a black tail pounded right past his location, and two more, smaller ones, followed.
Alert, Nath coiled up behind a fallen rotting tree and bent his ear. Someone came up the path. The lively sounds of the woodland dulled but did not fully descend. Shifting in his position, he found an opening through the vines and branches that gave him a better look at the
“Listen to me!”
Nath froze.
“I tell you this: we strike when it suits us. It’s part of our survival. Take them down before they take us down. We had the numbers. Underlings do as underlings do.”
Nath pulled at his collar. The more he tugged, the more it tightened. Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t like this.”
“Then end this!” Oran urged.
“How?”
“Hunt down and kill the Darkslayer. He is the one behind it all. He leads the hunt. Inspires these men. Kill him.”
An image formed in Nath’s mind. Powerful and sharp, a huge man in a dark helmet with burning eyes slaughtered defenseless underlings like sheep. A mighty axe smote them like the strike of lightning. His throat tightened. Jaws clenched. The monster of a man needed to be stopped.
“You want peace? Then find this savage and tear him to pieces,” Oran suggested. “That’s an order.”
Nath’s blood stirred. His mind darkened. Oran was right. He just needed to find this slayer and kill him.
“I sense your anger, Nath,” Oran said. “You can use that to avenge your allies. Defeat this enemy, and all of underling kind will revere you. We’ll make every effort to find your own kindred and protect them as well. You must trust me. You must obey me. Do that, and everything will resolve.”
Nath rubbed his temples. “I have no guide. I don’t even know where to start.”
“Go to the nearest city. Be discreet. Blend in. A keen ear will always discover something, and it wouldn’t hurt for you to learn more about the ways of this world. In the meantime, I’ll send help from my Badoon. Just let me know where you are when you get there.”
Nath grabbed his sword and ventured through the woods with a stony expression on his handsome face. “I will.”
***
Oran slung his headband across the room. It bounced off a big glass jar with a man's head in it and clattered on the hard cave floor. Fingers contorted over his head, he screamed.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
An entire underling Badoon was dead, and no doubt Lords Catten and Verbard wouldn’t be happy about that. Someone would have to pay for it. The only bright side was that Nath lived. It seemed the man had a fiery disposition that tore through the humans like a whirlwind. Still, controlling the man was not easy.
Oran needed to poison the well even further.
Hands behind his back, he paced around his experiment table. In a flash of anger, he wiped the jars, vials, and candlesticks off. “I hate this!”
For decades, Oran had been outcast from the Underland. He had been found guilty of meddling and conspiracy with the other races. His experiments were considered detrimental, and now his life was spent in solitude, doing devious deeds with little underling support. But he knew what he was doing. He was subverting the ways of the world above. Learning. Probing. Exposing weakness. One day he would further the underling cause, he was certain of it, but now he had to play lackey to the likes of hallowed Verbard and Catten. He had to do their dirty work for them. Get his nails dirty where they wouldn’t.
He grabbed a bottle of underling port from his wine shelf and sank into his sofa. Staring at the face of a dwarf’s head pickled in a thick jar on the table, he drank. He thought. He planned. He fussed. He drank.
If this fails, I’m dog meat.
CHAPTER 16
Like the underlings, Nath skulked through the jungles, avoiding the winding paths. Hours into the trek, he hunkered down and waited. A deer with black horns and a black tail pounded right past his location, and two more, smaller ones, followed.
Alert, Nath coiled up behind a fallen rotting tree and bent his ear. Someone came up the path. The lively sounds of the woodland dulled but did not fully descend. Shifting in his position, he found an opening through the vines and branches that gave him a better look at the
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