CHAPTER FIVE
DROCCO
The Lox descended on Eiros.
Drocco marched in the center, surrounded by his warriors as his nine-thousand-strong army carved their way from Eiros port through a village and a bustling city. They seized everyone in their way, demanding to know the location of King Malloron. They purposely marched for a couple of days, circling Eiros and making their presence known. No one tried to stop them. In fact, anyone who saw them coming fled immediately, and soon their path was mainly deserted. The reaction brought a tinge of humor to Drocco's black mood.
The journey on the fleet of ships across the White Ocean had been absolutely horrendous. Being stuck in an unsteady cage at the mercy of the water, wind, and skill of the ship’s captain was unnatural and unsettling. The small and uncomfortable cabins made it even worse. What kind of man could live on such a contraption? Small men with no desire for sleep, no doubt. Furthermore, the journey was long and unsteady. It wasn't even possible to train properly on the boat. Then, as they reached within viewing distance of Eiros port, the ocean suddenly became unwieldy, throwing the ships about as though they were made from old parchment. They lost one ship, and most of the one thousand warriors it held, and many of the others suffered damage. It was a miracle most of the ships got through it. Many of his warriors suffered nausea, which made them unfit for battle the first few days after arriving.
Torin marched by Drocco’s side, silently taking everything in about the land they were in. Drocco glanced over the bizarre landscape, but chose to not let anything distract him from his thoughts. This strange land did not interest him and he didn’t care to understand it. He had come for his Omega, and he would tear the entire land down until he got her. Then his only priority would be to return to his own Empire. The fact that he had to even be on the same soil as King Malloron propelled a fury through him that threatened to burst out of his skin at any moment. The man would meet an ugly death by the time Drocco left this place, he would make sure of it.
It became clear as they marched, that their minds were being deceived. The road they marched down seemed never ending, various features of it repeating every fifty paces or so. When they turned off onto another road, suddenly it looked the same as the one they just left. However, Drocco had prepared for this. Both he and Torin as well as the Lox generals had all memorized different areas of Eiros, and they managed to navigate through the territory exactly as they intended. The attempted misdirection actually gave them the time they needed to recover from the journey while fooling Malloron that they had no idea where they were going.
As the skies turned to dusk, Torin raised his hand to signal a turn to the right, and the section of warriors that surrounded him and Drocco turned off and headed into a different section of Eiros. They traveled through the merchant sector, only able to see the surroundings that Malloron fabricated until they reached a large traders hall surrounded by Lox warriors.
The troop Torin had sent to Eiros to keep an eye on Malloron, during the time Drocco nested with Cailyn, had been sent specific instructions ahead of the Lox’s arrival. Drocco took a moment to discuss their progress with his general, Izaak, before heading inside, Torin close behind.
Inside the traders hall, the muggy air stank of stale sweat, sour ale, and a sickly coppery odor. Chairs and tables had been scattered around the space, but in the center stood five Lox warriors in a semi-circle surrounding two brown-cloaked women. Nearby, a corpse lay, its head removed from its body.
As Drocco neared, he slowed. Something about the women was odd. It wasn’t the identical nature of their height, golden hair, or features—they were also tall and somewhat wider than most Betas. They stood firm, emanating a hard and serious demeanor, a determined look in their emerald eyes. Drocco stopped before them, their strange and off-putting musky scent reaching his nose. He then realized what they were. Female Alphas.
“These are the ones?” he asked, Izaak.
“Yes,” the warrior responded.
Drocco took another step closer to the identical women, examining them. “I have no love for Talent-crafters,” he said to them finally. “In fact, I would prefer it if the Talent didn’t exist at all. I have no qualms about killing as many of you that I come across. My men were under instructions to secure a specific, rare item. They tell me you are the only ones who are known to create it to the specifications I want. And yet, they claim you have been foolish enough to persist in trying to secure some kind of negotiation with me.” He stepped forward again, a hard scowl on his face. “I make no negotiations.”
“We don’t want to negotiate, your Imperial Majesty,” said the woman on the left. “We want to join the Lox.”
Drocco’s scowl remained hard. “I don't care what you want. If you will not create the item requested, you will die now.”
“Your enemies use the Talent, your Imperial Majesty,” said the woman on the right. “We would be honored to help you to defend your rule.”
“The last Talent-crafters who said they could do that lie in pieces in my Palace.”
“We are not precious about our lives,” the woman on the left said, her voice strong and firm.
“If we fail you, we will end our lives ourselves,” the other added.
“I don’t care,” Drocco bellowed, drawing his sword. “I want my item.”
The woman on the right blinked rapidly while the other’s face slacked.
“One question,” Torin said, before Drocco could lift his sword. “Why do you want to join the Lox?”
Drocco glanced at Torin in annoyance.
“We don’t want our magical skill to be used by anyone in the Western Lands, Commander,” said the woman on the left, a slight tremble in her voice. “Malloron has discovered we exist and we would rather die than be forced to do his bidding if he found us.”
“Why would he want you?” Drocco asked.
“We are his nieces.”
Drocco held his sword still. If they were Malloron’s family, they could potentially be as strong as him in the Talent. “So?”
“He has been waiting for female twins to appear in his family line,” the other woman answered. “He has sent almost all of his female family members into sexual slavery in the hope that one will bear twins. Our mother managed to hide us only because most people are disgusted by our dynamic and no one wanted to help her. She managed to escape her captor and raise us.”
“Why does he want to have twins at his disposal?” Torin asked.
“Individually we are strong crafters in our own right. Together, our shared genes give us the strength to weave stronger spells and manipulate magic in a way that no other crafter can, especially from his line.”
“Prove it,” Drocco demanded.
The women’s hands flew together in a tight clasp, and their heads sharply tilted up in unison. A wild ball of revolving, multicolored magic formed over their heads and in the center, a view of a colorful garden formed.
“This is Malloron’s gardens inside his castle,” said one of the women.
Drocco’s heartbeat increased. He had read at the Keep that Malloron had restricted use of the Talent within Eiros, and yet now he could see into the man’s castle. “Show me my Omega.”
“We can only view the gardens at this time, nowhere else in the castle as yet. Your Omega visits the gardens daily to stroll and sometimes read, but she is not here presently.”
Drocco observed them as the ball shrunk and faded away. “You have seen my Omega?”
“Yes,” said the woman on the right. “She seems to be well, but we cannot hold the view for very long inside the castle grounds to know much more. No other crafter would even be able to draw upon magic within Eiros, let alone achieve a view into the royal sector and into Malloron’s gardens.”
Drocco considered them both. They were indeed powerful, but he was reluctant to be fooled again, especially when his urgency to get to Cailyn was so great. He had no way of knowing if what he had seen was actually the true gardens. “I don’t take in stray Alphas,” Drocco said. “Every Alpha selected for the Lox has shown great skill and purpose. Produce the item I’ve asked for.”
“We have already pledged,” one of the women said, gesturing to the corpse on the floor.
Drocco glanced at the corpse and then at Izaak.
He shrugged. “They did it themselves with us as witnesses.”
Drocco turned back to the women. “Who was that?”
“Our Mother,” they said in unison.
“You pledged without even knowing if I would accept you?”
“Yes.”
They seemed to be comfortable speaking as one, but Drocco found it disturbing. He examined them closer but could not find any differentiating features at all.
“Your names?”
“Kuan,” said the one on the left.
“Rada,” said the one on the right.
At least their names were markedly different.
“I didn’t ask for your pledge,” Drocco said, turning away. “Create what I asked for. That is all I need from you.”
As he exited the hall and returned to the center of the warriors that waited outside, Torin stayed close. “Drocco—”
“I know, Torin,” Drocco said irritably. Torin had been vocal about the necessity to replace the Lox Talent-crafters. He wasn’t wrong to want to protect the Empire in such a way, but at least the Lox Talent-crafters had been Eastern Landers. These twin Alpha women could be complete frauds. “Find out if what they say is true when you collect the item. I want you to collect it. No one else.”
Torin dipped his head in a sharp nod and then signaled to the troop to begin moving.
***
On the third day, they arrived at what was known as the royal sector and finally met some true resistance. The Lox slowed to a stop in front of an enormous field of red flowers, that stretched as far as the eyes could see. Drocco raised his axe and a troop behind him lifted Lox archers on their shoulders. They began to let loose arrows at frightening speeds over the field.
The field shuddered and the image began to distort. Within moments, it had melted away completely to reveal an enormous, wide bronze gate attached to a high wall that extended into the distance in both directions.
Beyond the gate, a deserted city surrounded the base of the raised land that Eiros Castle sat on, but further back, in front of the approach ramp, stood a large mass of hooded men. They looked prettily uniformed, as though they could be an army themselves, but their light armor told Drocco they had never experienced a heavy attack.
Drocco thrust his axe forward and the Lox charged without hesitation. While the front troop attacked the hinges of the gate, the archers continued their onslaught, not once pausing when the image changed, only refocusing to target the men that stood beyond the gate. Malloron’s army had no time to prepare; clearly, they had assumed the Lox would not attack something they could not see. As their men began to fall, Malloron’s army finally stirred. Shuffling back, they pressed their palms forward and curved them upward. A glistening arc of magic materialized over their heads. The Lox arrows bounced off their shield, rendering them ineffective.
Drocco gripped his axe tight, grinding his teeth as he glared at them. Of course they would use the fucking Talent to protect them. They were probably the ones that had been projecting the fake surroundings all along. He had expected it but it was still annoying nonetheless.
"A magical army," Torin murmured. “This will be interesting. The keeper had nothing to say about this?"
"No." Drocco didn't offer any further information. Although the head keeper had clerks inside the royal sector and the castle, there had been no information in the Records Keep about Talent-crafters being trained as warriors, or even being used as a defensive or combative resource. However, it took time for news to travel. It could be that Malloron had only just started training them. Malloron had shown great interest in building an army of his own after all, and using the Talent was his main advantage.
Regardless, it didn’t take long to get through the gate. The troop that had arrived at Eiros months earlier had already scouted the royal sector and had determined that the gate could be loosened by digging into the ground next to either side of it and dismantling it by cracking the wall. They had already done some of the preparation work for this while the main bulk of the Lox traveled across the White Ocean. Within the hour, the gate creaked and crashed to the ground.
The Lox charged into the sector and the fighting began. Torin barked orders to secure the entire sector and Lox warriors streamed along the city, cutting down anyone foolish enough to be in their way as they went. Drocco led the exchange of blade and blow as the two armies clashed. The clang of metal against metal resounded around him; the taste of the dry earth in his throat; the tang of fresh blood in his nose—all harmonizing to bring him into a state of focused vigor.
He had cut down a few of Malloron's warriors before he became aware of a strange pressure in the air. It weighed down on him, straining his body and mind. It took a while for him to realize it, but as soon as he did, he guessed it was yet another use of the Talent. Malloron must be intending to weaken him and his warriors, but Drocco had faith the Lox could withstand it.
The battle went on and it became clear that King Malloron's army was definitely smaller, however their use of the Talent successfully misdirected and confused Lox warriors. It was a deceitful way to fight, but the Lox would beat them through sheer force of power alone. The Lox pressed in from all sides and the defending army pulled back, losing ground as they tightened closer toward the castle. The pressure of the Talent increased but the Lox charged forward.
After only three days of continuous battle, Malloron's army had been pushed back to the castle wall. In the history of the Lox battles, the longest they had fought without a night’s break was three weeks, so Drocco wasn't worried about his warriors’ stamina, but with the increasing pressure weighing down on them, he couldn't guarantee that they would be able to remain as effective as they normally were. He had witnessed them moving slower and executing their blows more carelessly. He had to admit that the Talent was taking its toll.
At midday on the fourth day, a horn sounded above their heads from the castle in the known pattern to cease battle for negotiation. Drocco raised his axe and Lox warriors pulled back. He had trained his warriors never to follow signals for surrender or battle, only to follow his instruction; he had to be the one to make that judgment.
As his warriors drew back from their opponents, breathing heavily, shining with sweat and blood, Malloron's army parted. King Malloron strode to the front of his warriors, facing Drocco. He indicated that he wanted to talk and that both of their warriors should move away for them to speak privately. Drocco simply glared at him.
"If you’re not going to negotiate with him," Torin murmured under his breath, after they had been standing there for a few minutes, "kill him now and be done with it. But just be aware he could have some kind of repercussion involving your Omega."
At that Drocco took a step forward and Malloron matched him. As they walked toward each other, their armies retreated further back.
"I'm glad to see you’re open to negotiation," Malloron said.
A pulse in Drocco’s arm urged him to kill the fucker, but he tightened his hand around the handle of his axe instead. "Give me my Omega."
"I will give her to you," Malloron said. "But I'm making progress in finding out where the other Omegas are. You will have her back as soon as—"
"Give me my Omega," Drocco said, pronouncing each word clearly in case the man misheard him.
Malloron's expression hardened, and he narrowed his eyes. "I know you think that you're beating me in this battle, but this is just the beginning. Your army will tire, especially with what I can do with the Talent. Don't be unreasonable. Let me have more time with her so that we can all benefit from—"
"I will say this one more time," Drocco said, a raw harshness clawing at him as he snarled. "Give me my Omega."
Malloron pressed his lips together for a long moment before answering. "I cannot give her to you right now," he responded. "If you would be willing to give me time—"
Drocco began to step back to his warriors, his eyes boring into Malloron's face as he did so. Negotiation etiquette stipulated that he could not kill him while they were in negotiations, but as soon as he was in line with his warriors he would be throwing his axe into the man's fucking head.
Malloron's face contorted in anger. Forced to step back to his own army by Drocco's movement, he kept his eyes firmly on Drocco, watching his every move as he stepped back to his warriors. They watched each other, Drocco's hand firm around his axe while Malloron's fingers twitched in anticipation.
As soon as Drocco arrived at the front line of his warriors, his arm shot up with his axe and he hurled it as hard as he could at Malloron's face. Malloron darted backward, lifting his hands and flicking them in some kind of pattern that caused the warriors beside him to lurch in front of him, protecting him from the axe spinning at him. The axe hacked into the head of one of Malloron's warriors and by the time the man fell, Malloron was nowhere to be seen.
"You coward!" Drocco roared. "I will kill you, Malloron! You will not survive this."
The Lox roared with him and charged forward, engaging Malloron’s army again for another bitter encounter.