{"id":161,"date":"2012-08-10T07:57:23","date_gmt":"2012-08-10T11:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/?p=161"},"modified":"2012-08-10T07:57:23","modified_gmt":"2012-08-10T11:57:23","slug":"zervakan-free-fantasy-novel-chapter-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/?p=161","title":{"rendered":"ZERVAKAN – Free Fantasy Novel – Chapter 34"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\"\"<\/a>
Cover by TJ Lomas.<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\nI’m posting a chapter from my latest fantasy novel for free every Monday and Friday (click Zervakan<\/a> above for a synopsis and to start from the beginning). It’s in a “pre-published state,” meaning you might find the occasional spelling\/grammar mistake. If you do, please leave a comment below or email me at robsteiner01 [at] gmail [dot] com.<\/p>\n

If you’re uncomfortable getting something for nothing, you can hit the PayPal Donate<\/a> button in the Tip Jar section to the right. If you donate more than $3, I’ll send you a non-DRM ebook once the book is published (summer 2012). If you donate more than $20, I’ll send you a printed copy.<\/p>\n

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!<\/em>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ZERVAKAN<\/h1>\n

by Rob Steiner<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chapter 34<\/h2>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What if I told you that I knew who your father was?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Savix asked Karak as they strolled around the balcony that encircled the top of the palace tower.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I would believe you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Karak said, though he could not see how Savix would know a man that not even Karak knew anything about.\u00c2\u00a0 But Karak decided that it would be unwise to doubt Savix’s knowledge.\u00c2\u00a0 A part of him wondered if that was his fear of the necklace talking, or if he had truly come to believe that.\u00c2\u00a0 He decided that it did not matter.\u00c2\u00a0 Not anymore.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Karak, my friend,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Savix said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you are the product of generations of selective breeding, as was your mother and your father, and their parents, and their parents, and so on, for almost a thousand years.\u00c2\u00a0 All of it just to create…you.\u00c2\u00a0 Now it was my intention to have you come quite a bit sooner\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmaybe a hundred years after I started\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut you cannot imagine how difficult it is to get two Mundanes to breed when they do not want to.\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps I was a bit naive.\u00c2\u00a0 We had to resort to rape most of the time, women and men.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Karak clenched his teeth and stamped down the hatred that threatened to rise in him.\u00c2\u00a0 The necklace gave him enough pain to make him stumble, but not enough to knock him down.\u00c2\u00a0 Avoid the pain.\u00c2\u00a0 Do anything you have to, but avoid…that…pain.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your father was one of my disciples,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Savix said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153albeit one who was not of pure Fomorian blood.\u00c2\u00a0 He was part of a Jaden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122yar invasion of Hlaan lands, and your mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s village was the first one in their way.\u00c2\u00a0 Your father, however, knew exactly who your mother was, though she did not know him.\u00c2\u00a0 He found her, raped her, and then ran off to join the other pillagers in their revelry.\u00c2\u00a0 And later that night, while in a drunken stupor celebrating the completion of his one purpose in life, your mother gutted him with a dagger while he lay passed out next to one of his other conquests.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Karak had always suspected he was conceived that way, for his mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes had always darkened whenever he asked her about his father.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your father was supposed to have taken your mother as his wife, not as a spoil of war.\u00c2\u00a0 Your mother, however, was of pure Fomorian blood and was meant to raise you with Fomorian values.\u00c2\u00a0 Your father was supposed to have assisted her in this.\u00c2\u00a0 He accomplished his life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purpose by impregnating your mother, but he failed miserably at what I thought would be self-evident\u00e2\u20ac\u201draising you to serve me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Savix chuckled.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now you see why it took me a thousand years of breeding to create you.\u00c2\u00a0 My disciples tend to be a bit…enthusiastic.\u00c2\u00a0 I suppose it’s simply the nature of the god we all serve.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

They had made one complete circle around the balcony and now overlooked the city and the bay again.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And you know the rest of the story,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Savix said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your mother died in another raid when you were eight\u00e2\u20ac\u201dafter she was tortured and raped before your young eyes\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand after years of living off what you could scavenge, you were taken in by Silek.\u00c2\u00a0 Who knows, if your father had done his duties, your mother and siblings might still be alive to help you in the battles to come.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why are you telling me this?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Karak asked.<\/p>\n

Savix arched an eyebrow at him.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do you not want to know where you come from?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know where I come from, and I know my father was scum.\u00c2\u00a0 What does it have to do with my \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcdestiny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Savix smiled.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everything.\u00c2\u00a0 Crane?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

There was shuffling in front of them as Crane came around the bend in the balcony from a door on the other side.\u00c2\u00a0 He kept his head down, his gaze on the stone at his feet.\u00c2\u00a0 When he was a couple of paces from Savix, he knelt on one knee and said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, my lord.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Show Mr. Frost your scar.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Without hesitating, Crane stood and unbuttoned his white coat, then slipped it off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor.\u00c2\u00a0 He unbuttoned his white shirt, all the while staring at Karak with an appraising expression, studying him as Karak would have studied one of his new whores.\u00c2\u00a0 When Crane removed his shirt, Karak saw a man with an emaciated chest, as if Crane had been starving to death for months.\u00c2\u00a0 The flesh was grayish white, with thin blue veins running all across its surface.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak could swear he saw Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s organs undulating beneath that translucent skin.\u00c2\u00a0 A bronze necklace hugged his neck, similar to Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n

A long, jagged white scar ran from Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s navel up to the center of his sternum.\u00c2\u00a0 Several more scars were spread around his chest, most concentrated around his heart.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do you have any idea how hard it is to heal wounds of this sort?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Savix asked Karak, waving a hand at Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chest.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Even when it is possible, the man is never the same.\u00c2\u00a0 As you can see.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Karak looked from the scars to Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face and suddenly realized why he had thought Crane looked so familiar the first day he saw him\u00e2\u20ac\u201din another lifetime\u00e2\u20ac\u201din his office.<\/p>\n

Crane smiled, the mouth wide and unnatural.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He knows, my lord.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impossible…\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Karak whispered.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Crane would have died thirty-two years ago,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Savix said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153if it had not been for one of my other disciples, who was also part of the Jarden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122yar army.\u00c2\u00a0 He brought Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body to a secret Fomorian priest who had kept one of the harrowing stones from the glory days of Fomorian rule and used it to keep Crane, er, fresh until he could be awakened when Angra returned.\u00c2\u00a0 The priest could have done the awakening himself had it not been for the cursed Barrier blocking Angra.\u00c2\u00a0 Might have saved some of Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good looks.\u00c2\u00a0 But alas.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Karak shook his head.\u00c2\u00a0 His father was dead.\u00c2\u00a0 His mother had told him so.<\/p>\n

Answering his silent doubts, Savix said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your mother thought she killed him.\u00c2\u00a0 And normally, those wounds would have killed any man.\u00c2\u00a0 But she did not count on the fact that Crane was also important to my plans.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Karak stared at Crane, who stared right back at Karak.\u00c2\u00a0 The man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grin was making Karak want to rip the jaw off his head.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And now we come to your destiny,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Savix said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You must kill your father, or he will kill you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Karak asked.\u00c2\u00a0 He continued staring at Crane, whose grin had turned into a determined sneer.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is the only way I will know for sure that you are to be my champion.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, there is one thing you must know before I release Crane on you.\u00c2\u00a0 Only the power of Angra can kill him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What are you talking about?\u00c2\u00a0 How?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Karak already felt himself unconsciously backing away from Crane.\u00c2\u00a0 He knew how fast those hands could move.<\/p>\n

Savix sighed.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And now you know why I was most put out when Crane did not raise you…\u00c2\u00a0 You hold your hand up to the black ring and ask for what you want.\u00c2\u00a0 Like this.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Savix raised his right hand, and Karak saw a forked tendril of black light shoot down from Angra faster than a lightning bolt.\u00c2\u00a0 Savix nodded in Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s direction, and Karak felt a blast of wind pass him and slam into Crane.\u00c2\u00a0 Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s emaciated body flew across the balcony and slid into the stone railing ten paces behind him.\u00c2\u00a0 Crane rolled over and jumped to his feet.\u00c2\u00a0 He walked back to where he stood before, the same determined sneer on his face, but he now breathed hard and favored his right side a bit.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have just given you a head start,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Savix said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now begin.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Both of Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands shot toward Karak, one toward his throat and one at his feet.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak dove beneath the hand going for his throat, but he could not escape the one going for his leg.\u00c2\u00a0 It latched on to his foot and began dragging Karak back toward Crane.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak pulled the knife out of his belt that he had meant to use on Silek, and plunged the blade into Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand.<\/p>\n

Crane howled, and his hand released Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s foot.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak jumped to his feet and ran past a laughing Savix and around the bend in the balcony.\u00c2\u00a0 He tried opening the double glass doors, but they were locked.\u00c2\u00a0 He lowered his shoulder and plunged through the glass into Savix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s study.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak kept running toward the spiral staircase, shaking the glass shards out of his hair and jacket.\u00c2\u00a0 He did not bother to see if Crane was following.<\/p>\n

At the foot of the stairs, the two soldiers who guarded the entrance tried to block Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s path.\u00c2\u00a0 One of the men brought his musket up, but Karak ran into him at full speed, knocking him backward.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak fell on top of the man, but scrambled to his feet before the other one could apprehend him.\u00c2\u00a0 He heard the guard fire.\u00c2\u00a0 The musket ball shattered a lamp less than a pace from Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shoulder.<\/p>\n

He rounded a corner, only to find five more guards running toward him, muskets with bayonets pointed at him.\u00c2\u00a0 They dropped to their knees to fire.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak ducked back into the hall he had just come from an instant before the musket balls tore chunks from the walls.\u00c2\u00a0 He sprinted down the hall, past startled servants, some of whom fell wounded when the guards behind him fired their muskets again.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak ran in a broken pattern to keep the guards from drawing a clear shot at him.\u00c2\u00a0 He charged between servants who came out into the hall to see what the commotion was about, using them as cover.<\/p>\n

At the end of the hall was an arched doorway with the doors swung open.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak charged through the doors and onto a crushed stone path that curved into a garden filled with willow trees, their branches hanging all the way to the ground.<\/p>\n

Once he rounded the bend in the path, Karak dove into the willow-covered bushes to his right.\u00c2\u00a0 He forced himself to calm his breathing as the guards sprinted past his position.<\/p>\n

He listened a few moments.\u00c2\u00a0 The guards\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 shouted to each other as they searched the garden.\u00c2\u00a0 He backed out of the bushes, away from the stone path.\u00c2\u00a0 He made his way deeper into the forest of willow trees, running as stealthily as he could.<\/p>\n

Karak was wondering why his necklace had not stopped him fleeing from Savix, when he emerged from the willow trees at the edge of a cliff that dropped hundreds of feet to the crashing waves below.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak skidded to a stop just before the drop-off, and even made himself fall backwards to keep from tumbling off the edge.\u00c2\u00a0 He scrambled to his feet and turned around.<\/p>\n

He stopped when he saw Crane part the willow branches.\u00c2\u00a0 Crane was still shirtless, and the sun made his thin muscles and sharp bones more pronounced beneath his translucent skin.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hello, son<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t call me that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Karak said.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is who you are.\u00c2\u00a0 You are my greatest achievement, my life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purpose.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Crane smiled that unnatural smile.<\/p>\n

The rage that had been building in Karak, that rage that he had wanted to unleash on Savix for orchestrating his whole sorry life, exploded from Karak.\u00c2\u00a0 He leapt for Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s throat with a raw scream, but Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left hand shot out and took hold of Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s throat.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak felt Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grip tighten, and he was suddenly unable to take in any air, or even exhale.\u00c2\u00a0 He felt his tongue lolling on the side of his mouth and his eyes growing wide.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now I will kill you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Crane said, studying Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153For it seems that you are unworthy to serve our master.\u00c2\u00a0 You are weak.\u00c2\u00a0 Just like your mother, just like your bastard brothers.\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps I will rape you before you die, just to give you a taste of what I did to them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Karak did not remember consciously raising his right hand, but when he realized he had done so, he called on Angra to strike down Crane with as much power as it could.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak felt a rushing torrent of rage and hatred flow through him, enough to make his body feel like it would explode if he did not release it.\u00c2\u00a0 He looked into Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak saw them widen when Crane recognized what was about to happen.\u00c2\u00a0 Fear dominated them, but also…pride.<\/p>\n

Crane’s body bulged, heaved, and then exploded into a spray of red, gray, and black.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak flew backward and landed on his back, the little air left in his lungs bursting from his throat.\u00c2\u00a0 His ears ringing, Karak took in several deep, rasping breaths, staring up at the rings in the blue sky.\u00c2\u00a0 When he had his breathing under control, he sat up slowly and looked at where Crane had been standing.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a small blackened crater, its perimeter littered with broken dirt, charred chunks of flesh, and bits of burning white cloth.<\/p>\n

Karak looked up to see Savix emerge from the willow trees, a wide smile on his face and his hands clapping.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well done, my boy, well done.\u00c2\u00a0 I knew the only way you would call on Angra was to destroy the cause of so much pain in your life.\u00c2\u00a0 Now you will have the power and prestige that was once your father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Karak stared at the bits of flesh that were left of his father.\u00c2\u00a0 The man had been every bit the demon out of Hlaan mythology.\u00c2\u00a0 A rapist, a murderer, a monster of the highest order.<\/p>\n

And Karak was now on the same path.\u00c2\u00a0 He had used the same power that Crane had drawn on to kill Primus and his Swornmen, the closest thing to brothers Karak had ever known.\u00c2\u00a0 The same power Crane had used to turn Silek against Karak, the man Karak considered to be his true father.\u00c2\u00a0 Now Karak was enslaved by the same man, or demon, who had twisted Crane.\u00c2\u00a0 Enslaved with the same necklace.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak suffered a blast of pain for his impertinence, so he quickly abandoned those thoughts of Savix.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You will serve me well,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Savix said, walking toward Karak.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I will give you the power and riches that you have always wanted, but never dreamed possible.\u00c2\u00a0 You are my champion.\u00c2\u00a0 My<\/em> Zervakan.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Karak would not become another Crane, and he decided what to do just as he began moving toward the cliff.\u00c2\u00a0 He heard Savix cry out, and then he felt a pain that made the pain he had suffered in Savix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s study feel like a breeze on his neck.\u00c2\u00a0 But Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s momentum had carried him too far for him to stop, and he plunged off the lip of the cliff and into empty space.\u00c2\u00a0 He did not realize any of this, for the pain that scorched him had already driven him insane.<\/p>\n

But the moment he hit the rocks below, he knew peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cover by TJ Lomas. I’m posting a chapter from my latest fantasy novel for free every Monday and Friday (click Zervakan above for a synopsis and to start from the beginning). It’s in a “pre-published state,” meaning you might find the occasional spelling\/grammar mistake. If you do, please leave a comment below or email me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,28,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-stuff","category-novels","category-zervakan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}