Hunted: The Odyssey of Nath Dragon - Book 4 (The Lost Dragon Chronicles 1) by Craig Halloran

Author:Craig Halloran [Halloran, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Two-Ten Book Press, Inc.
Published: 2018-05-31T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 40

Nath’s stare hung on the finely crafted blade. A chill went up his arm and down to his heart. His jaw hung. He swallowed. His eyes drifted to the mangled ogre that lay helpless in the snow. The brute had no redemptive quality in him. He was an evil, cruel, merciless flesh eater. Monfur gave Nath a burning stare. He saw Nath as an enemy. If he could strike, he would.

Still, Nath said, “I can’t do this.”

“This monster would not hesitate to crush our skulls if we were in his situation. He would do it with pleasure and laugh all the day long,” Darkken said with a disappointed tone. “Nath, you cannot show mercy. Let your enemies live and they will come back to bite you. They must be put in the grave. You need to do this.”

“I understand your point, but I can’t. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Did it feel right when you killed those elves in the keep?”

“That was different.” Nath thought of the ogre, Torno, that he battled in the quarry back in Slaver Town. Torno was a dumb brute, but he was kept under tight control with a collar. He just shook his head.

“He’s going to starve to death eventually. Wouldn’t that be a worse fate? This act is a show of mercy.” Darkken turned away and faced the keep. “And the ogre is as worthless as sandstone.”

Monfur stirred in the snow, making an angry garble. His eyes shot a knowing glare at Darkken. Nath got the feeling that if Monfur could tear the man’s head from his shoulders, he would. It was as if they knew each other.

Darkken spun on his heel back toward them. He took the dagger from Nath. “I’ll handle this. Look away if you can’t stomach the sight of me showing mercy to evil.”

Nath didn’t look away. He watched Darkken bury the dagger to the hilt in the ogre’s chest. Monfur died without a gasp. His hot glare remained frozen on Darkken.

Darkken cleaned the blade in the snow and tucked it back in his sheath. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I don’t suppose. It was quick.”

“Nath, you can kill with mercy in situations like that, and now you’ve seen how it can be done. I should have instructed you better, but we did lose a lot of men to the ogre. He didn’t deserve the quick death I gave him. I hope you learn to understand that.”

There’s a lot I wish I understood better. Something just isn’t right.

***

For the next couple of days, Nath kept to himself. He spent a lot of time in the solitude of his room, staring out the portal window. Stonewater Keep could be a lonely place, even with a hive of activity in some places. The Brothers of the Wind spent time training and preparing. They brought in wood from chopped-down trees. There was a tunnel in the backside of the keep, in the subfloor levels, that lead to mines of coal that kept the keep fires burning.

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