Morod had been listening since they fled the first ambush.

  “You bastard,” growled Kasar, standing up from his bedroll.

  I am sorry about Raffa. Kier seems like a good woman. To have lost someone so dear.

  “Shut your mouth.”

  It’s not open, Grim. Only my mind is. And yours.

  “You did this. People like you. Monsters like you.”

  I know. I understand your pain. I understand everyone’s pain.

  “And you still do it.”

  Of course. Why wouldn’t I?

  Kasar opened his mouth to respond, but faltered. He sighed. “This is going in circles. I’ll say because it’s not right. You’ll say might is right. That you do this because you benefit off of the luxuries.”

  I am not hiding behind ideology, Grim. Might IS right because we all have proven it. Foolish is Silterra for electing their monarch. Foolish is Mahar for forsaking the days of Malion the Conqueror and Damien Warmonger. Foolish are the Karthian monarchs who squabble with the lords and ladies. Fearsome and wise are those who seize their power. And then keep it, knowing that one day they will lose it. Until then, they enjoy it. Life is but a series of tragedies and luxuries. Your choices dictate on which one you will have more of.

  “You’re a monster,” sighed Kasar. “I’m tired of speaking with you.”

  Yet you do. Yet you feel the urge to contest me, to PROVE you’re right. You can’t, you know. Not with words.

  “Only with might,” finished Kasar, pacing around his tent.

  Only ever with might. The only time equality is found and respected. When each man knows the other’s ability to destroy them. Only then is respect earned. Only then is it real. You value humanity when I value nature. You are natural. I am natural. Death is natural.

  “Then why do we feel?” asked Kasar. “Did you not once feel? Or are all of you weak of heart?”

  I once felt for a mother, a father. Three daughters and four sons. A wife as well who died in an Akashtran raid. When she died I learned the real law of the land.

  “And what would your family say now?” asked Kasar.

  Morod scoffed in Kasar’s mind. My daughters would ask for more grapes or wine. Or a new silk dress. My sons would ask when they could lead my armies.

  Kasar pinched the bridge of his nose.

  You see humanity as this monolith of good will and bad. I see it as a species of people who are much like ants. We kill, we protect, we slaughter all in the name of convenience and self preservation.

  “You sound like Galdeen and Akonai.”

  We all benefit from the same covenant. The same natural order. We all know if one strikes all will strike one. So we rule over our misfits. We torture those we can for our own benefit. Akonai loved his gladiator fights. I loved the fires of industry. My slaves built me a platform on which my children smiled. I felt for my children and they felt for me. I felt nothing for the sacrifice I made besides the reality that any one of those slaves would have done the same in my place.

  “Look at my warriors,” said Kasar. “They fought despite the odds. They stood by me despite their hate. They follow me because of the path I showed them.”

  And when you die? What about when you leave? What then?

  “A better person may lead them. A more experienced warrior.”

  Morod chuckled again. This is why Devils are so few. Those that remain rarely follow the tenets. Time is the ultimate teacher of all natural law. One day you will wither and you will ask yourself “why do I suffer for others?”

  “Because it’s right!” roared Kasar. “That’s it. End of story. Nothing more to it.”

  Such a child.

  “You’re weak,” said Kasar, digging deep in his beliefs. He felt the fire ignite in his belly like it did when he was on the verge of something raw inside him. Something so true no passage of time could make it crack. “I will always think men like you are weak.”

  I don’t care, Grim. I will do what I do, and you will do what you do. The sad part is, you think your righteous rage will change anything. I will die having lived a good and bloody life. Even if you’re the victor that writes my end, I will die happy and you will live on to suffer.

  Kasar concentrated on removing the Blue Magic link from his mind. “I’m done with you.”

  I’m not done with you. We will meet again, Kasar, and you may yet win. But how will you erase the joys I’ve experienced? How will you erase my sins? For that matter, how will you end the next man who sins after I am gone, to reap the joys of my dogma.”

  “I will kill them too. And the next one. On and on until they stop.”

  Morod gave a hearty laugh. So might is right.. Now even you agree.

  Kasar clutched his hair and pulled. “GET OUT!” He strained himself into passing out, and when he opened his eyes, the concerned faces of his captains peered down at him.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “It’s my fault,” he said, sitting up. He searched for any remnants hidden away. “I caused those deaths”

  Sipha slapped Kasar across the face.

  He stared at her, stunned.

  “Idiot,” she said. “We chose to fight and die here. Don’t take away our glory by saying it’s all because of you.”.

  Kasar recovered from the sting.. “He was in my head. I was upset. These people… They have no heart.”

  “Why do you think they stole us?” asked Iristed with his arms crossed and a toothy grin across his face. “We have the heart they need.”

  “You started this,” said Kier. “Showed us how to defy. We’ll do it to the end.”

  “Now get over yourself,” said Saalia. “We need a leader.”

  Kasar returned to his feet and held his captains by the shoulders. “Thank you for sticking with me.”

  “Always,” said Sipha.

  ****

  Sipha and Kasar walked beside each other as they marched away from the army. They maintained a steady pace in case they decided to strike back. Their destination now was Akonai city once again. They’d done all they could and they needed to help in preparing for the incoming siege. Their chances of survival had doubled and Kasar felt a weight lift off his shoulders. One of many.

  “Grim,” said Sipha.

  Kasar turned to her. “Yes?” he asked.

  “What are we?” she asked.

  Kasar frowned. “What do you mean?”

  A look of frustration passed her face. “We are close, no?”

  “Of course,” said Kasar, probing around to see if anyone heard them. He didn’t like discussing their intimacy with anyone else.

  “So are we… are you… Are we going to marry?”

  Kasar stopped in his tracks and he immediately tried to relate this to a previous experience. The only marriage he knew of was his parents. He stammered for a response, confused, nervous, and scared.

  “I see,” said Sipha, shoulders dropping. “I thought you loved me.”

  “I do! I love all of you…” he winced. Somehow that sounded worse. “I don’t know Sipha.”

  “You’re horrible at this,” said Sipha. “It’s okay, Grim… I understand. I’m not as capable. I’m not as intelligent. I’m not as-”

  “Shut up,” Kasar said. “You’re the most lethal warrior in my army. You’re terrifying. You’re a storm, Sipha. You’re a force I can’t understand.”

  Her cheeks turned red and she turned away from him. “I am just a warrior. Others have dreams and hopes and desires. I just have this vengeance against Morod and the God-kings.”

  “I don’t have anything either,” said Kasar. “All my life has been running and fighting. Now I feel the need to look for the next fight if there isn’t one. In this case, the next fight was right here in the desert.”

  “And after?” asked Sipha.

  “The road….” said Kasar without thinking.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I’ve never been in one place this long. Now that I’m free, once I see this fight through, I want to see the rest of the world.”

  Sipha looked taken aback. “Oh, I see…”

  “What happened?” asked Kasar.

  “I figured we’d rule Akonai together. Make a haven for people like us. Build a life here.”

  Kasar shook his head. “I can’t. I don’t want to. There’s a world out there and even in the years with my family I’ve barely scratched the surface.”

  “So you’ll leave us?” asked Sipha.

  “In good hands. The best hands.We have great leaders here, Sipha. They will help build Akonai and free the desert one God-king at a time. I’m no warlord. I’m no leader.”

  Sipha didn’t respond for a while as they marched. Kasar figured she understood and was just tired from the ceaseless travel.

  ****

  Kasar, Kier, and Saalia scaled the dune which gave them a view of the expanse leading to Akonai.

  “Fates…” muttered Saalia.

  “Oh no,” said Kier.

  They watched a city under siege. A larger army than the last and flying the flags of a different city state of Amaei.

  “Grim,” said Saalia. “We can’t lift that. Especially with Morod not far behind.”

  “What do we do?” asked Kier.

  Panic gripped Kasar, but he knew he needed to stay calm for them. He suppressed a shudder and the desire to scream. He started to pace, thinking. After a moment he turned to the women. “We need more information. A scouting team to scan the siege and one sent behind us to keep an eye on Morod.”

  Kier and Saalia nodded.

  “How do we get close to the city?” asked Saalia.

  “A tunnel system underneath,” said Kier. “After we were free we found it. An escape route used by some of the nobles we didn’t catch during the revolt.”

  Kasar had heard about it. “They’d know about it,” said Kasar. “Since some nobles got away. They could be using it for the siege. Vorza may also have barred it off.”

  “Damn,” spat Kier. “We just don’t have the numbers, Grim.”

  “But we have the element of surprise,” he said. “We don’t need to kill them. We need to slow them.”

  “Grim,” said Saalia, voice softer. “It’s suicide. This is twice as big as Morod’s army.”

  Kasar agreed and hated that all of their efforts had gone to waste. “We can’t abandon the city.”

  “Who gives a damn about the city, Grim,” said Kier. “We’re a people now. We don’t need brick and stone. We need each other.” She turned to the besieged city. “The question is, how do we get our people out of that pit of death.”

  “A distraction…” Kasar muttered. Another plan sprouted in Kasar’s mind. He knelt and placed a hand on the ground, feeling the vibrations around him. It felt subtle with the sand distracting his touch-sense, but eventually he detected enough rigidity to paint a picture in his head. A smile crept on his face.

  “What?” asked Saalia. “We don’t have enough riders to harry them, Grim.”

  “But Morod does,” said Kasar.

  “Why would he…” Kier started, but faltered. “They Amaei and Morod would want the city.”

  “We slowed Morod,” said Saalia. “When he gets here, he could just turn around.”

  “But Amaei will need to reposition in case he doesn’t. In that window where she has to now guard both the siege front in case of a sally out, and Morod’s front in case of an attack. She HAS to. It’s the only way Morod turns around. That window is our target.”

  “We only have one shot at this,” said Saalia. “What’s the plan?”

  “The tunnels. We need more information on it. They haven’t breached it past the walls, otherwise they’d have them now.”

  They returned to their warriors and started to draft a plan. They sent Saalia out again to check in on Morod’s army to find how long they had.