The Sovereign Chronicles novel Chapter 15

Crimson-Eye Venomspitters? The Mercenaries froze, their minds blanking for a crucial second. Then reality snapped back. Cursing violently, they frantically scrambled for their weapons.

Kaelen breached the valley first. He sprinted past the Mercenaries, grabbed Corin by the scruff of his neck, and dragged him toward the deepest, narrowest recess of the valley. Turning back, he flashed the Mercenaries a feral grin. "Enjoy the Venomspitter banquet, boys."

"I'll skin you alive!" The Reaver Captain roared, hefting his Warblade and charging Kaelen.

"Captain, forget the kid! Break formation! We have to punch through!" The other Mercenaries screamed in panic. The swarm of Venomspitters had already breached the perimeter.

"You're a dead man, kid. I will remember your face!" The Reaver Captain shot Kaelen a look of pure murder before pivoting, raising his blade to meet the arachnid tide. He barked at his men, "Grab the bitch and push through!"

One of the Mercenaries hauled Moria over his shoulder and fell in with the retreating formation.

"Kaelen! Help me! Get me out of here! If I die, I'll haunt you to the end of your days!" Moria thrashed and shrieked.

"Shut up!" The Mercenary slammed the pommel of his dagger against her temple, knocking her out cold.

"Push!" The eight Mercenaries roared in unison, crashing headlong into the tide of Venomspitters.

"Kaelen, you..." Corin stammered, utterly bewildered that Kaelen had actually orchestrated a rescue.

The sheer volume of Venomspitters was catastrophic. Given their massive bulk and terrifying, ten-foot-long barbed legs, the swarm instantly choked the valley, devouring half the available space. Spotting the cluster of fresh 'meat', their predatory instincts overrode everything else. Spewing caustic venom and thrashing their bladed limbs, they crashed over the Mercenaries.

The Reaver Captain took the vanguard. His heavy Warblade cleaved the air in a devastating arc. *Squelch!* The blade sheared cleanly through the carapace of the leading Venomspitter. The remaining seven fell into a flawless spearhead formation behind him, battering their way into the swarm. Having survived countless bloodbaths together, their unit cohesion was unbreakable.

"Stay alive for a minute." Kaelen dropped Corin and bolted straight toward the meat grinder. Before the Venomspitters could fully envelop the Mercenaries' rear guard, Kaelen struck.

Swish, swish, swish.

He threw three Throwing Daggers in rapid succession, targeting the three Mercenaries anchoring the back of the wedge.

"You suicidal little rat!" The Mercenaries roared in fury, immediately shifting to dodge the frontal assault. But the daggers had been thrown with a vicious curve. They bypassed the frontal guard entirely and struck from the flanks. *Thwack, thwack, thwack.* Blood sprayed as the steel punched straight through their leather armor and sank deep into their flesh. The sheer kinetic impact of the daggers staggered all three men, forcing cries of pain from their lips.

Kaelen hit their lines like a battering ram. The Daevan Blade erupted in a flurry of lethal slashes, physically forcing the three wounded men to fall back. These Mercenaries were seasoned killers, fighting with cornered desperation. Kaelen had no intention of engaging in a drawn-out duel; he simply shattered their rear guard and pushed deep into the center of the formation.

The Mercenary hauling Moria was positioned safely in the middle. Hearing the screaming behind him, he snapped his head around, only to see Kaelen barreling straight toward him.

Kaelen didn't swing his sword. He dropped his shoulder and launched forward like a fired cannonball. *Titan's Vigor: Mountain-Quake.* The kinetic delivery was north of two thousand pounds of explosive force.

CRACK!

The Mercenary's entire right side practically caved in. He was launched off his feet, his body acting as a kinetic projectile that slammed violently into the man in front of him. Moria was thrown from his shoulder, but Kaelen snatched her out of the air before she hit the dirt.

The man in front of the human projectile happened to be The Reaver Captain. Fully committed to a forward cleave, the Captain was blindsided by the impact of his own squadmate. He stumbled forward, his guard breaking completely. A Venomspitter seized the opening, lunging forward and sinking its mandibles deep into his shoulder. The adjacent spiders instantly swarmed him, a flurry of barbed legs and toxic fangs tearing into his flesh.

"Captain!" The Mercenary formation instantly shattered. Without their vanguard, the tide of Crimson-Eye Venomspitters crashed over them, drowning the squad in a sea of chittering armor and blades.

Kaelen hauled Moria over his shoulder and bolted for the exit. The three wounded rear-guard Mercenaries, blinded by rage, charged him. "Where do you think you're going?!"

Kaelen didn't flinch. Moving with terrifying fluidity, he vaulted, ducked, and weaved, slipping through their clumsy, rage-fueled net by the narrowest of margins.

"I'll gut you like a pig!" The three men screamed, but they couldn't pursue. They were instantly forced to turn their blades on the encroaching Venomspitters.

With Moria secured over his left shoulder, Kaelen's right hand became a blur of steel. The Daevan Blade sheared off arachnid limbs and deflected venom as he carved a path toward the valley entrance. Just as he broke the tree line, a Venomspitter dropped from the canopy. Its spear-like leg whipped down, tearing a vicious gash across Kaelen's back. Blood sprayed as the barb nearly punctured a lung. Kaelen grunted in agony, the impact nearly forcing him to drop Moria. Before he could recover, five more Venomspitters closed the net around him.

Behind him, the valley was a slaughterhouse. The Reaver Captain and his men were completely submerged under the swarm. Yet, they were apex survivors. Relying on raw, barbaric Aether, they weathered the initial onslaught, formed a tight circle back-to-back, and began hacking their way out, completely drenched in blood and gore.

After a grueling, chaotic sprint of parrying and dodging, Kaelen violently smashed through the encirclement. He glanced back toward the far end of the valley to locate Corin, only to find the alcove empty.

"Ran off to save his own skin?" Kaelen scoffed coldly. Adjusting his grip on Moria, he sprinted into the dense woods.

Aside from three relentless Venomspitters that broke from the main hive to chase Kaelen, the rest of the swarm remained in the valley, fully committed to slaughtering the Mercenaries.

Shortly after plunging into the timber, Kaelen spotted Corin fleeing through the underbrush, his Gilded Bronze Sword gripped tightly in his hand.

Corin gasped for air, his face pale. "You survived! Praise the gods. I was just... I was on my way to secure reinforcements."

"Is that so?" Kaelen let out a hollow laugh. He didn't slow down, blowing past Corin without a second glance. The three Venomspitters were still hot on his heels.

Both of them were bleeding heavily; slowing down to fight the beasts was suicide.

They sprinted across two entire mountain ridges before finally losing the pursuing Venomspitters in a dense thicket. Completely drained of Aether and stamina, they collapsed against the trunks of several massive oaks, chests heaving.

They had cheated death. Their muscles screamed in protest.

It took several minutes for their breathing to approach anything resembling normal.

Shhh-slik!

The Daevan Blade sheared effortlessly through Moria's throat. A perfect arc of crimson sprayed through the air.

Moria clutched her ruined neck, her eyes wide, staring at Kaelen in absolute, uncomprehending shock.

"At least you die with some dignity intact." Kaelen didn't even watch her fall. He turned his dead eyes toward Corin.

Corin stared at Moria's collapsing form, a wave of absolute, freezing terror crashing over him. He scrambled backward, his legs giving out. "What... what are you doing..."

"Finishing what I started." Kaelen advanced slowly.

Moria slumped heavily against the roots of the oak. The light rapidly faded from her eyes. Her lips parted in a silent gasp, but no sound escaped. A woman of breathtaking beauty, left to rot in the nameless mud of the Veilwood.

"Whatever you want, I can get it for you! I swear, I can give you anything!"

"Kaelen, be reasonable! You have no feud with me! It was Moria! She was the one plotting to murder you!"

"She deserved to die! The venomous bitch forced my hand! I was just following orders!"

"Stay back! Do not take another step! I am a Veridian Acolyte! You cannot touch me!"

Corin completely broke down. He clung to the tree bark, dragging himself backward, his Gilded Bronze Sword trembling violently in his grip as he pointed it at Kaelen. He couldn't process it. Kaelen had marched into hell to save them, only to execute Moria without a second's hesitation.

"Heh. If this is what passes for a Veridian Acolyte, the Sanctum is already dead." Kaelen raised the broadsword.

"I have Greater Aether-flora! I can buy my life!"

Kaelen's expression didn't change. The blade fell.

Corin shrieked, "You can't do this! You can't—"

*Squelch!*

Blood painted the ancient oak. The screaming stopped.