(eng) Michael-Scott Earle by The Destroyer 04

Author:The Destroyer 04 [04, The Destroyer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27-Iolarathe

“They’ve crossed the mountain range and descended into Sun Valley.” Her hand touched the armor on my shoulder to get my attention, but I continued to study the corpse of the man at my feet.

“How many did we lose?” I felt tired. Beyond tired. My mind and body were weary with the ache and insanity that came from not sleeping for over three weeks.

“His entire brigade was destroyed.” Nyarathe’s voice was emotionless.

“Fuck. No survivors?”

“A few dozen escaped when the tide turned.”

“Damn it, Bur’tilon.” There was a thick rope of roses tied across the large man’s armored chest. The vines of the decoration were elegantly woven together and the red petals almost matched the hue of the blood caked on his body. I had given him the memento last week when I awarded him command over his battalion.

“How many of these humans did he slay?” I forced the words out of my mouth and tried to bottle up the frustration in my stomach. If Nyarathe’s report was correct, he had managed to pinch Kaiyer’s forces at the top of this peak in an ambush that seemed too brilliant for my old suitor.

“We haven’t finished the exact count yet, but my estimation is around a thousand.” I nodded and the frustration leaked out of me with a deep sigh. I just wanted to sleep. This should have been an easy victory, they outnumbered the humans three to one, and had the advantage of surprise.

“So where did he go wrong?” I stood and glanced at the alien-looking tower around which the battle had occurred. These ancient ruins were uncommon, but not unusual.

“That is where I’ll need your help.” Nyarathe gestured down the slope of the mountainside toward the various bends that edged off the cliff some thousand yards away. “He had them flanked from these sides.” She pointed an armored finger down the lines of the cliff. “The humans took heavy casualties. Follow me.” She walked away from the grayish green tower toward the cliff sides and the rough trail where most of the battle took place. “The tide seemed to turn here.” She pointed to the waist-high pile of Elven bodies. There were no flies or crows feasting on the remains of my kin because of the elevation.

The stench of death, shit, and blood was still present. I turned away from the stench and tried to inhale a breath of clean mountain air but still tasted the battle in my mouth. I found myself looking at the tower again from the bottom of the slope and my brain pieced together the events of the battle.

“Something was in the tower.” I pointed up to where we stood minutes ago. “I want it searched thoroughly.” My sister barked an order to one of her commanders. There were already search parties investigating the structure, but they would need a direct order from her to take the job seriously.

“Look at the trails of the bodies.” I walked back up toward the tower where Bur’tilon fell.

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