The Commander II

Talon’s [POV]

Even though the clearing was full of soldiers, including Commander Luxe and General Ezra, Calista came close to me and grabbed my hand because it wasn't sheathed in my glove. She blanketed me in affection without touching me, the depth in her eyes bottomless. "I just got you back..."

I cupped her face, and I brushed my thumb over her cheek.

She closed her eyes and relaxed into my touch, her hand tightening on mine.

When I held her like this, I forgot the circumstances of my life, the events that had brought me here because, for a moment, I only knew peace. I searched for it in violence and revenge, but I found it in her.

She opened her eyes and looked at me again.

I didn't promise her I would return because I wouldn't make a promise I couldn't keep. But I wouldn't let my story end here, in a battle that didn't further my interests. It was a stepping-stone to what I needed—and I wouldn't trip going up the steps. "Gather your armor and sword. Be prepared for battle."

"Then you think you'll fail?—"

"The winner of the battle is not necessarily the strongest, but the most prepared." I'd learned that the hard way. I cupped her cheeks and pressed a kiss to her mouth, claiming her as mine in front of everyone who stood there. "I'll come back to you."

I marched beside General Ezra as we left the forest to the west, the army of soldiers marching behind us. Instead of marching in lines and ranks like I'd been taught, they were scattered because of the trees, but still a single entity.

Queen Eldinar stayed behind with her guards and let her husband fight in the name of her crown.

A cowardly move.

We marched in silence. I felt my connection to Calista dwindles the farther apart we became. Commander Luxe was down at the end of the line, leading a different section of the men.

"General Ezra."

He looked at me as he continued to march forward.

"Tell me everything about their kind," I remembered the message that King Constantine had delivered to us. It had arrived too late and didn't give us enough warning to act or flee. It said the dark elves had conquered the minds of the dragons and taken control. Were these the same race as my enemy?

He looked forward again and remained quiet for a while. "A long time ago, they lived among our kind. They were no different from us. But Alaric was hungry for power and tried to take the crown from Queen Eldinar. This was long before my time, and all I have is the tale. It was a coup, but my wife was too smart to fall for the scheme. She banished Alaric from our lands, and his followers went with him."

I listened to the story and waited for more.

"They returned years later and attacked Riviana Star, but this time, they didn't come for Queen Eldinar. It was clear their eyes were set on the Great Tree, the Realm of Caelum. It was then that Queen Eldinar realized Alaric had never wanted the crown—just the gateway. Some of them made it through, and the ones who didn't were cursed by Riviana herself. Their skin was marked with the curse by turning gray, the color of death. Their punishment for trying to steal the afterlife was to be permanently banished from it. As you can imagine, that infuriated Alaric and his followers even more."

"Did the curse affect them in other ways?"

General Ezra glanced at me. "I don't understand your question."

"You said they're made to look like death. But did the curse bestow any other effects or abilities?"

He still seemed confused by the question. "Not that I know of. But it's been a thousand years since we've interacted with Alaric and the dark elves. Perhaps they abandoned their crusade until they learned about the Behemoths on the border and assumed we were compromised."

So, if the dark elves could control minds, General Ezra and Queen Eldinar didn't know about it. I march with General Ezra and the army to defeat the dark elves that compromise their border.

And you tell me this now?

Under no circumstance are you to attempt to help me.

I will do as I please.

If these dark elves are the same as those who took my kingdom, then we can't risk their invasion into your mind.

I defied their attacks, Talon.

But I would rather die than risk it.

Khazmuda was quiet.

It's not worth it.

"I don't like you."

I turned back to the general when I heard what he said.

"I don't like you for my niece...is what I mean."

I marched by his side and continued to hold his gaze.

"I appreciate what you've done for her. I appreciate the way you've protected her. But we both know you're the wrong man for her. She's suffered enough, and I don't want her to suffer anymore."

The flush of anger was enough to make my blood boil underneath the surface. "When you discovered that Scorpion Valley had been conquered and your brother slain, what did you do?"

He held my gaze.

"Answer me."

He looked ahead and remained silent.

"Nothing—that's what you did. There wasn't enough love or loyalty to your brother to get you to leave this forest and search for the only family you had left. An orphaned little girl was forced to survive on her own—and you couldn't get off your ass."

His eyes remained locked ahead.

"I didn't kill her father. He handed her over to his commander and offed himself. A fucking coward."

General Ezra stopped.

And instantly, so did the entire army.

He looked at me, the rage in his eyes.

"Her father abandoned her. You abandoned her. But I never have. When an army marched upon your forest with her inside it, I flew across the land to raise my sword in her defense. She told me she never wanted to see me again, but I still came. You may not like me, General Ezra. But every man in her life has failed her—except for me."

General Ezra raised his hand when we approached a large clearing.

The entire army stopped.

We didn't march with heavy footfalls like most men. The elves were quiet, slithering through the grass and around the roots of trees like snakes. It was dark, and I spotted the torches in the distance on the way here.

Now, I saw them up close, a line of torches across the wide gap between the trees. It wasn't large enough for a battle to take place, but it was a clear divide between the two borders. The trees were different here, shorter in height with less vegetation.

We stood there for minutes. The soldiers waited for orders.

I waited to spot the enemy, refusing to engage in battle without understanding their numbers or formation.

General Ezra continued to stare ahead.

Then someone appeared through the trees, starting as a shadow before the light of the torches struck his face. The only evidence that he was an elf was his pointed ears, but the rest of him looked human. He was thick and muscular, much bigger than any of the elves who stood behind me. He was dressed in black armor that blended in with the darkness around him. He had long black hair that was combed from his face—and a long scar down the center of his eye.

He stopped at the line of torches and looked straight at us like he could see in the dark.

General Ezra took a step forward.

My hand went to his shoulder, and I steadied him. "Allow me."

He threw my hand down. "I'm the general of Riviana Star, and you follow my orders."

I lowered my voice. "I remember your wife asking me to handle this—not you."

He said nothing, but his eyes did all the talking.

I walked forward and broke the line of trees.

The dark elf immediately shifted his gaze to me when I emerged, and that arrogant smile slowly faded as I drew near. The disgusting glee left his face, and he turned serious once he realized he faced more than the elves.

I stood several feet away, my face visible in the torchlight.

He stared at me with wide eyes, his skin the color of stone in the mountains, his eyes dark and lifeless. But he was tall and burly, a creature that existed off meat instead of seeds and berries like his relations. "You're cursed." His voice was deeper than I expected, like the hum from deep in a mountain. "Cursed just like us."

"Yes."

He glanced at the army behind me before he looked at me once again. Then he changed his tongue, speaking in the language of death. "Scion him ahieu schiem buros." The Death King has conquered Riviana Star.

I spoke back in the same language. Yurot ahugn viuah Riviana Star. Buffios niuiss vitti zurois cuaoloum.I have not conquered Riviana Star. I'm an ally of the forest.

"Impossible. Queen Eldinar would never accept aid from a necromancer."

"She fears you—so she must."

A smile moved across his face. Not a normal smile like a child could wear, but a demented one, a mad one. "As she should."

"What do you want in the Realm of Caelum, Alaric?"

His eyes bore into mine as if he was hypnotized by my stare. "To be the God of Caelum. To make Riviana serve me on her knees. To banish Queen Eldinar and every elf who has ever supported her to an eternity in the underworld. That is what I wish, Death King."

"That's quite ambitious."

He smiled again. "Not as ambitious as you."

"And how do you intend to subjugate a god?"

He stared at me with that same smile. "Riviana may be invulnerable among us, but in Caelum, she is touchable. She is vulnerable. I will chain her wrists and her ankles. I will fuck the pussy of a god and take her crown."

I didn't fear this creature. Not his size or his ambition. But his words were vile...and made me sick. I remembered my wife's tears when she told me what happened to her. And I would never forgive myself for what happened to Calista because I felt responsible for her tragedy.

His fingers moved to his temple. "When she cursed us, she bestowed upon us a gift, a gift to attack with the mind." He tapped twice before he lowered his hand. His smile was wider than ever. "She may be physically superior, but her mind will break under my hold."

A rush of fear moved up my spine. We were thousands of leagues across the sea from my homeland, but some of these dark elves must have left the forest and moved elsewhere throughout the last thousand years. It was too much of a coincidence. "Why haven't you used this ability against Queen Eldinar?"

"Because it doesn't work on mortals."

That meant it would work on me. Or Khazmuda.

A hint of a smile was still on his lips. "What did Queen Eldinar offer you in return for your service? There is no other reason the Death King would choose an ally that's beneath him."

I was certain that General Ezra and the others could hear us speak, but they didn't understand the content since the language was unknown to them. Very few knew it because it had to be bestowed upon you as a gift or a curse. "My kingdom across the sea was taken from me. My family was executed. I need to find the remaining free dragons to fight alongside me as I take my revenge. Queen Eldinar knows their location and will share it with me in exchange for your defeat."

His smile was back. "And you believe her?"

"She made the vow in the presence of her people. If she doesn't fulfill it, she'll be a liar."

"Being a liar is one of her better traits."

I didn't care for her either, but I wouldn't insult her in the presence of her enemies.

"She's not the only one who knows the location of the dragons."

I'd marched through the forest to fight with my sword and my speed, not with my mind. Now, I was locked in a dangerous chess game where every single move counted. "If that's true, why haven't you gone to them?"

"To do what?" he said. "If the dragons burn down the forest, they burn the gateway to the Realm of Caelum. The forest is too dense for their kind to fight alongside us, so they're worthless in this regard."

"How do you know where they are?"

"Because I was there when we freed the dragons from the humans and granted them asylum. I was one of the Guardians of Thalian until my service was completed, and I was allowed to return to Riviana Star. There is no other safe place for the dragons, so I know they haven't changed the location."

It might be foolish to believe him, but I did.

"Join us. Raise your army of the dead. Help me take the Realm of Caelum, and I'll give you what you seek."

Uncle Barron wouldn't have succeeded in his plan without the aid of the dark elves. If Riviana had never cursed them, this gift of mental subjugation never would have been bestowed and none of this would have happened at all. I wasn't sure who deserved the blame—Alaric or Riviana.

In either case, I was the one who'd paid the price.

He pressed me when he grew anxious. "What say you, Death King?"

"I can't betray my alliance. I'm a man of my word and have to preserve my integrity."

He blinked several times as he stared, trying to hide his disappointment. "I understand. Then excuse yourself from the battle, and I'll still give you what you seek."

They didn't seem to fear the elves. Only me.

"Don't trust her, Death King. She may shake your hand in public, but she'll stab you in the back when no one is looking. The safety of those dragons is her responsibility, so there's no scenario in which she trusts it to an enemy of Riviana."

"I'm not an enemy to Riviana."

"You're sired by Bahamut, God of the Underworld. You're forever under his command, so yes, you're an enemy to Riviana." Alaric continued to stare at me. "I will give you their location this very moment if you agree to stand aside. That is a small sacrifice to have what you want above all else. I offer my hand, and it would be unwise to push it away."

I continued to stare, my heart racing with my predicament. Those dragons were all I needed and I could continue my war, but what price was I willing to pay for them?

Alaric's stare was locked on my face, his eyes shifting back and forth as he waited for my answer with palpable desperation.

At that moment, General Ezra joined us. "I grow tired of these secrets." His hard gaze pierced the side of my face. "What says he?"

Alaric acted as if he weren't there.

I said nothing.

"Speak," General Ezra commanded.

Alaric smirked.

"You've been at war with Queen Eldinar for a millennium," I said, still speaking to Alaric. "If you go to war with Riviana Star, those of you who perish will never reach the afterlife. The battle is not worth the risk to your vulnerable mortality. The Realm of Calm is heavily guarded, and you have no chance of breaking through that defense. I give you one week to vacate this forest and reside at least a hundred leagues elsewhere. It's time to move on, Alaric."

"Perhaps you're right." Alaric continued to wear his disturbing smile. He gave a slight bow before he turned away and walked back into the trees from which he came. "Thank you for your mercy, Death King."