Rise of the Champion (The Sword of Kirakath Omnibus #1) (25 page)

“That young man is dead because of you,” the elderly man said quietly. There was no judgment in his voice, however. “I hope you understand exactly what that means. His death came because of you, even if his blood is not on your hands. Remember that every action has consequences.”

“I will,” Caleb said quietly.
I'm a coward. If I had hunted the assassins down instead of running away, he'd still be alive. I was a fool to think that no one else would be harmed by my decision to run away from them.

Closing his eyes, Caleb asked, “Did he have a family?”

“He had a wife and a baby girl,” the man answered sadly. “They will be devastated.”

Caleb frowned at that news. He understood loss better than anyone. “Please give my condolences to his family,” he said as he removed his coin purse and held it out. “I don't have much, but I want you to give all of my money to his wife. It'll keep them fed for a little while at the very least.”

“I will,” the man promised as he took the coin purse. “I take it you're leaving now?”

“The sooner I leave, the sooner I can kill the ones who caused that man to die,” Caleb said quietly. “I cannot allow anyone else to suffer for my mistakes.”

“You're too young to be a killer. Revenge is not the way,” the elderly man pleaded. “You can leave this all behind you.”

Caleb chuckled at that, though there was not a hint of humor in it. “I've taken thirty-six lives since Kirakath was massacred, and I have taken revenge on the ones who took my life from me. It left a hollow feeling inside of me, so I know better than to live for revenge.” He shook his head as he walked towards the door. “No, I have a different goal in mind right now. I'm not seeking revenge. I'm going to atone for my mistakes.”

With that, Caleb of Kirakath made his way to his horse and road away from the village of Greenville with his destination clear in his mind.

It was time to pay Nicolas Edge a visit.

Chapter 4

It took seven days, but he finally reached it. The Black Raven Inn stood before him.

What should have been a three day ride had dragged on to seven in order to ensure that anyone that tried to track him from Greenville lost him. His training as a hunter’s apprentice had come in handy, it seemed.

A smile made its way as he looked at the inn before him. Outside of the intricate vine engravings on the outside of the building and the beautifully painted picture of a black raven on its sign, it was a fairly simple place. However, its purpose was not quite so simple. Despite being an inn, it was not a place for wayward travelers to spend the night. In all actuality, it was the home and business place of Nicolas Edge, a fence that worked for the Thieves' Guild of Caldreth.

His smile grew as he remembered his first visit to the inn. He had been reluctant to meet with a criminal at the time, but his companion had convinced him to do so regardless. Everything had been so new to him at the time, and Katie had been his guide in such things.

Sliding down from his saddle, he began to walk towards the inn's door. He led his mare by the reins towards the door, but he stopped about halfway there.

The door of the inn opened, and Nicolas Edge stepped outside of it. As usual, he was clad in fine black clothing and had his long raven hair in a pony tail.

“Do my eyes deceive me, or is that Caleb of Kirakath?” The joking tone that Nicolas used forced Caleb to smile.

“Aye, it is me,” Caleb replied with a grin. “Don't tell me the liquor has blinded you.”

Nicolas laughed in response. “I've actually cut back on the liquor, thank you very much.”

“Did you run out?” Caleb snorted. By the man's own words the last time that they met, Nicolas liked to drink. After seeing him in his inn, Caleb had to admit that Nicolas was wrong. He did not like to drink; he loved to drink.

Nicolas did not look amused by that question, and he actually grew serious. “My business has dried up a bit, so sacrifices had to be made. We can talk inside.”

Though curious, Caleb merely nodded and followed him into the inn. It was built similarly to the Blue Sparrow Inn with the tavern to his left and the stables at the back of the building.

In a hurried effort, Caleb put his mare in one of the empty stables and headed to the tavern.

Upon arriving, he saw that Nicolas was sitting on one of the tables.

“So what's going on?” Caleb asked.

“Did you know that Katie brought in about seventy-five percent of my revenue? She's a damned good thief, and she always stole from the richest of the rich. I can't tell you how many times she brought me jewelry and other goods that belonged to my father. It always made me laugh. She knew that I would recognize it, but she stole it anyways.”

Caleb shook his head, amused by the story. It sounded like Katie. She was a unique person, to say the least.

“Katie stopped by here six months ago. She wouldn't tell me what happened, but she said that you two had different paths to walk. Her path involved her leaving Caldreth. She was headed to Telmir last I heard, but I don't have any contacts that far out,” Nicolas said quietly. “I don't know where she is now. I know that she's not on this side of the Skyfell River, but she could be anywhere else by now.”

That news made him frown. While he had primarily come to Nicolas for information, he had hoped to find out where Katie was too. The thought of having her at his side again made him feel warm and safe.

“That's unfortunate,” Caleb said, shaking his head. “I'll have to manage then.”

Nicolas looked at him strangely at that. “What brings you to my neck of the woods, Caleb?”

“I've gotten myself in trouble again,” Caleb said, chuckling nervously. “I guess you could say I have a knack for it.”

“Will your life be in any more of a danger in an hour than it is right now?” Nicolas asked with a raised eyebrow. He did not seem surprised at all by the possibility that Caleb was in danger.

“As long as I hold the Sword of Kirakath, I'm not in danger,” Caleb said with a wry smile as he stroked the pommel of his sword.

“In that case, you owe me a story,” Nicolas said with an excited smile. “I never heard what happened since we last met up. Katie told me what happened between our first meeting and our second, but I get the feeling that what has happened since then has been even more amazing.”

Caleb sighed as he sat down on the table in front of Nicolas. “I don't know if it'll be as exciting as you believe, but I'll tell you the story.”

Nicolas looked interested at that moment.

“After you gave us the information, Katie and I left for the Black Crows' base. We arrived there with no difficulty, and there were roughly twenty-five bandits present. That's not including Cain Fell, their leader. Anyways, they had a bandit stationed at each corner of their camp in sentry towers. I took them out with the bow you gave me, and then I walked into their camp.”

“You walked into a camp with twenty-two armed opponents waiting for you?” Nicolas asked. “That's insane. They outnumbered you by twenty.”

“Twenty-one,” Caleb corrected. “I told Katie to stay back while I dealt with them.” He almost grinned at the shocked expression that Nicolas was sporting at that. “She started doing her knife throwing eventually, so she clearly helped. By the end of it, she killed quite a few, and I killed even more.”

“How many men had you killed?” Nicolas suddenly asked.

“Cain Fell was the twenty-sixth man I killed,” Caleb said with a frown. He had since killed ten more men. Though killing came easy to him, dealing with it afterwards was not as easy. His dreams were often filled with the faces of the men he had killed. “After all of his subordinates were dead, I went to fight him alone. Thanks to the Sword of Kirakath, I killed him.”

“You're not a very good storyteller,” Nicolas remarked.

“I'd rather forget my quest for revenge than tell stories of it as though it was a grand adventure,” Caleb said flatly. “Anyways, I met up with Katie afterwards, and we parted ways.”

“That was seven months ago,” Nicolas stated. “What has happened since then?”

“Well, I didn't do much the first six months. I tried to adjust to a small village and live a normal life, but I just couldn't do it. I ended up giving up on it after a month. Until a month ago, I was just traveling and honing my skills as a hunter,” Caleb explained.

“What happened a month ago?” Nicolas asked curiously.

“Three assassins came after me,” Caleb answered quietly. “I killed them, despite the fact that I didn't have my sword or my bow with me.”

It was clear that Nicolas was surprised to hear that assassins were after his friend, but he appeared to be more puzzled by something else. “How did you kill them?”

“I tapped into the sword's magic,” Caleb said with a frown as he drew his sword and held it horizontally in his lap. “I don't understand it, but the Sword of Kirakath is not a normal sword. It is a powerful sword of magic, and I can tap into its magic even when I'm not touching it. It feels like my blood is set on fire, but the pain is small compared to what it gives me. My strength, my speed, and my fighting skills are all boosted to levels that leave me feeling invincible. Only a master swordsman would be able to best me when I'm under its influence.”

“It sounds fearsome,” Nicolas said in awe.

“It is, and I hate it,” Caleb admitted. “It doesn't just leave me with pain now. It feels me with bloodlust. I'm barely able to control myself when I use it. It only goes away when the sword's magic leaves me, and that only happens after all of my enemies are dead.”

“I don't know much about magic, but I do know that a sword like that can't be a good thing,” Nicolas said.

“Once this situation is cleared up, I plan on speaking with an acquaintance of mine. He knows about objects of magic, and this sword is right up his alley,” Caleb said, shaking his head. “But the most important thing right now is the assassins that are after me. Three came the first time and seven came the second time. I killed them all, but they killed a villager before I could do anything.”

Nicolas nodded his head grimly. It was clear that he understood how big of a deal it was to Caleb. “Anyone who can spare ten assassins on you has a lot of resources. Do you have any idea why they are after you?”

“No, I don't,” Caleb said.

“Well then-” Nicolas began before coming to a sudden stop. “Shit! Someone's coming.”

Caleb barely had time to jump off his table when the door flew open and several cloaked figures began to enter through the door.

Within moments, ten cloaked figures were standing in the room in front of the door. They all wielded one-handed swords.

Caleb raised an eyebrow as he paid close attention to their weapons. They were all the same type of short sword with a square pommel and a circular hand guard. The most peculiar thing about their swords was that their blades had a single edge, and the blade angled back at the last third of it.

“That’s a sica,” Nicolas muttered. “It’s specially designed to get around shields, and I’m told it hurts even more to be run though with one of those than a normal sword.”

Caleb decided to take Nicolas at his word for that.

“Caleb of Kirakath, if you remove your belt and give yourself up, your friend will not be harmed and your death will be made as painless as possible,” one of the assassins said as he stepped forward.

“Friends don’t let other friends die,” Nicolas said under his breath. “Unfortunately, I’m not armed right now.”

“I understand,” Caleb said loudly. It was clear that the first assassin thought that Caleb was talking to him. His left hand slid down to his belt, but it moved to the handle of the knife at his right hip. Before any of the assassins even realized what he had done, he tossed the knife out to his left side.

Moving with lightning fast reflexes, Nicolas caught the knife by its handle and threw it while Caleb drew his sword.

The leader of the assassins fell to a thump as the knife was buried to its handle between his eyes.

“Nine to go,” Nicolas said as he tensed.

If he threw the knife, then there must be another weapon in the room he can use. He wouldn’t disarm himself without good reason.

“Go and get it,” Caleb said as he steadied his hands. “I’ll hold them off.”

“On it,” Nicolas said as he dashed towards the bar and leaped over it.

With his task in mind, Caleb focused intently on his sword.
Give me your power!

He felt the Sword of Kirakath’s power flow through him, seemingly setting his blood on fire as it always did.

Everyone’s eyes turned to him at that, Nicolas quickly becoming forgotten by the assassins.

The first assassin that came at him had picked up their leader’s sica, and he brought down both swords in a swift downward strike.

With ease, Caleb blocked the swords, his bloodthirsty eyes unnerving the assassin.

The assassin did not have long to be unnerved though. His eyes soon became glazed over as a knife slammed into the right side of his head.

Caleb glanced at the bar momentarily. He immediately saw that Nicolas was standing behind it with ten knives sticking into the top of the bar’s surface. An eleventh knife was in his right hand.