Kingdom of Gods: The War-Torn Kingdom, #4

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Chapter One

Keo of the Sword flew across the countryside of East Lamaira, narrowly avoiding a burst of flame from a cannon below. He rolled in midair before righting and looking down at the ground, his enhanced vision allowing him to see what was on the ground below. He saw a dozen Divinian soldiers in blue armor standing on top of a guard tower, already hastily reloading the cannon with some kind of ammunition he could not identify, but which he figured would be very painful if it hit him.

Ordinarily, Keo would have attacked right back, seeing as he had simply been flying peacefully before the sudden attack from the soldiers. He had been flying across the countryside of East Lamaira, having left the Upper Mountains about a few days ago, heading for the capital of East Lamaira, a city called Deusopolis. Having finished his training with the Dracones, Keo had intended to head to that city to reunite with his friends, who had gone ahead of him to inform the country's leaders of Keo's arrival, and meet the country's leaders so he could tell them about the return of the demons.

As a result, Keo had tried to take the most direct route possible to Deusopolis, which was why he had intentionally chosen to fly through sparsely populated countryside and wilderness. He had seen very few or no people at all since leaving the Upper Mountains a few days ago, which had been lonely at times; but unlike most people, he could tolerate loneliness fairly well.

That was why Keo was surprised to come upon this guard tower seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He hadn't even noticed it until he heard the explosion of the cannon and saw the strange greenish fire flying toward him, which he narrowly avoided at the last second. He looked over his shoulder to see the green fire fly high into the sky for a moment before exploding, raining down tiny emerald flames onto the ground below, though Keo had flown away from the green fire and so managed to avoid the flames that fell to the ground.

Looking back at the guard tower, Keo noticed that the soldiers were pointing and shouting at him, but he was too high up in the sky to hear what they were saying. He wasn't surprised at their shock, though, because very few people had seen his humanoid dragon form, which was an anomaly even among the Dracones that he had been training with for the past month. It was a big reason why he had chosen to fly through the unpopulated parts of the country, because he had not wanted to scare anyone or run into people who might try to attack him and delay his journey south.

Looks like that plan didn't work out quite the way I wanted it, Keo thought.

But Keo didn't see any need to engage with the soldiers. He turned his gaze south, fully intending to fly well out of the range of the soldiers' cannon, but before he could resume, he heard the loud screech of some kind of giant bird above him and looked up just in time to see massive claws falling toward him.

The claws slammed into Keo's back with surprising force, sending him plummeting to the ground below. But Keo had practiced these sorts of scenarios with his grandmother, the Queen of the Dracones, and so righted himself and flew back into the air before he crashed into the ground, although he had to avoid another blast of green fire from the soldiers in the guard tower that almost grazed his scales.

Shaking his head, Keo looked around at the sky and spotted his enemy: A huge eagle, with red and brown feathers, flying high in the sky above him. The eagle looked almost as large as an adolescent male dragon, perhaps larger, and was circling above overhead. He had never seen such a large eagle before and hadn't even known that such a creature even existed.

The eagle suddenly swooped down toward him at astonishing speeds. Keo rolled out of the way at the last second, but as he did so, he noticed a human riding on the eagle's back, a human carrying some kind of thick club. The human swung the club at him as the eagle passed, striking Keo in the chest and sending him stumbling through the sky before he regained his balance and flew away.

Keo looked down, watching as the eagle turned out of its dive and flew back into the sky. This time, he saw the eagle's human rider, a woman with long red hair and a blue helmet on her head. She looked like one of the soldiers below, but with far less armor, perhaps because it would have weighed down her flying mount.

Flying soldiers? Keo thought, keeping a careful eye on his opponent as it flew away from the ground. Never heard of that before.

The eagle turned around and shot toward him again. This time, Keo was ready. He flew toward the eagle, getting his claws ready for the attack. His enhanced vision helped him catch a brief look of surprise on the face of the eagle's rider, but then it was replaced by a smirk, like she thought she was going to finish this fight quickly.

At the very last second, however, Keo banked up, allowing the eagle and its rider to safely pass underneath him. But at the same time, he grabbed the rider's shoulders with his claws and yanked her off the bird, ripping her out of the seat and belt that kept her attached to the bird's back.

The rider, however, did not let out a shout of surprise when Keo grabbed her, although the eagle screeched in surprise. Instead, she immediately smacked him in the face with her club with more force than he expected, causing him to let go of her. The rider fell to the earth fast, but before Keo could recover and save her, her mount flew underneath her and caught her before she hit the ground. Then it flew up and away from Keo out of the reach of his claws.

Rubbing his face as he flew up, Keo thought, Damn, she doesn't miss a beat, before he heard another explosion below and looked down in time to see yet another burst of green fire flying toward him.

This time, however, Keo had noticed it too late. The green fire struck him dead-on and sent him spiraling down to the ground below. Keo tried to recover, but the green fire had paralyzed his limbs, although he managed to regain control of his wings just in time to guide the descent toward a pile of brush not far from the guard tower.

Despite that, when Keo crashed into the ground, he was knocked out instantly.

Chapter Two

When Keo awoke again, he found himself sitting in a dark, dry stone room. He blinked rapidly, unable to remember exactly how he got here or what had happened. His head hurt, as did the rest of his body, but a quick check of his body revealed that he had not suffered any serious injuries from the crash. He had a lot of scraps and bumps and bruises, but nothing life-threatening or particularly serious.

By the Good King's name, what happened? Keo thought. He recalled a fight in the sky and a crash, but his memory felt like it had been taken and stirred into one indistinguishable mess. He supposed that it had been because of the impact and his memory would probably sort itself out soon enough, but that didn't make him feel any better about it.

Looking around, Keo realized that he was sitting on the floor of a tiny jail cell. And tiny was the operative word: With his legs stretched out to their full length, his feet were up against the bars of the cell and there was very little room for him to stretch his wings to their full length. The ceiling above him wasn't very high, either making him feel claustrophobic.

Shaking his head, Keo looked down at his wrists and ankles and saw heavy, thick shackles around them. They were both connected to the shackle fitted around his neck like a dog's collar, although Keo figured that it would be very easy for him to snap them, seeing as his physical strength was tripled in his dragon form.

But that still didn't answer where Keo was. He peered out through the bars of his cell, but did not see anyone on the other side. In fact, there was no light in his cell or beyond it at all, but that wasn't a problem because his dragon form had better night vision than his human form.

Then Keo suddenly remembered who he had been fighting. They had been soldiers of the Divinian army; at least, he assumed they were, because they had worn armor like soldiers and had certainly behaved like them. In particular, he had clashed with a flying soldier who rode an eagle-like mount, which still amazed him, because he had never heard of anything quite like that before.

They must have captured me after they knocked me out of the sky, Keo thought. Surprised they didn't just kill me outright. Maybe they're planning to slowly torture me to death.

At that moment, Keo heard a door open somewhere down the hall outside his cell, followed by a couple sets of footsteps walking down that same hall. One of the footsteps was heavy, while the other was light, but they both walked with the kind of disciplined unity one would expect from soldiers. Not sure who was coming, Keo tried to sit up and look a little less pathetic than he currently did, although that was hard to do because of the cramped space of his cell.

A small light preceded the arrival of the two soldiers, and in a minute, they were standing in front of his cell. This allowed Keo to get a good look at both of them.

One of the soldiers was a big, burly man. He had a short beard and wore some kind of necklace around his neck, but it was hard to tell what was attached to it because it had been tucked into the shirt underneath his breastplate. He looked like he could smash rocks with his bare fists, particularly with his blue armor, which looked almost as thick as Dracone scales.

The other was a woman. Unlike her male counterpart, she was rather small, probably weighing no more than 100 pounds, if that. Yet she had an incredibly serious, no-nonsense attitude on her face, especially with the thick club by her side. She seemed even stricter than the man she stood beside, even with her long red hair. Keo had a feeling that she was the kind of woman who would not take kindly to any sort of disrespect from soldiers under her command or from foreigners like himself.

Looks like the beast is awake, said the man. His voice was deep and rumbling, like an earthquake. He carried a lamp in his left hand, which was the source of the light that Keo had noticed before. I thought it might have died, but I see that Dracones are just as strong as the legends say.

Perhaps the gods spared its miserable life, said the woman. Her tone lacked any sort of humor at all, although there was a hint of cruel amusement at Keo's predicament. It certainly is an ugly creature, which I know the gods love, if only because they tend to provide the kind of amusement that beautiful creatures usually cannot.

It's a weird-looking Dracone, though, said the man. Looks almost human. Even had a sword.

Keo glanced down at his waist and saw that Gildshine was gone, which he hadn't even noticed until the man mentioned that. He looked back up at the man and the woman again, glaring at them.

Oh, it looks angry, said the woman mockingly. She smiled. Angry that we took away its favorite toy, I bet.

It's not a toy, said Keo. It's a weapon, and it was given to me by my mentor.

The man and the woman stepped back in surprise. The man even almost dropped the lamp, but he caught it before it could hit the floor, and then stood back up again. But neither the man nor the woman came any closer to Keo, as if they were afraid that he might somehow jump out of his cell and kill them both.

It can talk? said the woman, putting her hands over her mouth. She no longer looked quite as amused as she had a moment ago. I thought Dracones were just dumb beasts.

Perhaps it isn't a Dracone at all, said the man, stroking his chin and eying Keo like he was a rabid beast that might attack them at any moment. Perhaps it's a mimic, copying our language in order to trick us into thinking it's smart.

I'm not a mimic, said Keo. "Neither am I a Dracone. Well ... not entirely Dracone, at least."

What does that mean? said the man. Are you saying you are half-Dracone? If so, what is your other half?

The woman shook her head. Stop asking him stupid questions, Commander. This creature is obviously lying. It is attempting to deceive us into letting it go.

I'm not deceiving anyone, said Keo. Look, I'm half-Dracone, half-human. I can prove it. Watch.

Remembering what Queen Sayot had taught him, Keo focused on returning to his human form. It had originally been a difficult skill for him to master, because changing one's shape required an intense focus and training and wasn't very intuitive without lots and lots of practice.

Thankfully, Keo had gotten lots and lots of practice over the last month, so he could now transform at will. He felt his wings retreating into his back, his body shrinking, his arms and legs becoming smaller, and his tail retreating into his behind. His face became flat and in seconds he was back to his normal human form, wearing his usual rough leather jacket and traveling pants and boots.

The man and the woman on the other side of the bars stared at Keo in sheer shock. He had forgotten that most people outside of the Upper Mountains were not used to seeing this kind of transformation. He had felt much the same way they did when he first tried transforming, but he had lived and trained among the Dracones for so long—to whom the entire transformation process was considered as normal as putting on a shirt—that they never even mentioned it. Keo wondered if he had made a mistake.

By the gods, said the woman, her mouth hanging open. What kind of trickery is this?

It's not trickery, Keo said. It's a natural ability that I have because I am half-Dracone. All Dracones have it. Didn't you know that?

The legends say that Dracones can take on the forms of humans to infiltrate human communities and kidnap our children to eat, said the man, who sounded just as shocked as the woman. But I never really believed them until just now.

Kidnap your children? said Keo, raising an eyebrow. The Dracones aren't a morally pure people, but they don't sneak into human communities and kidnap children. I should know. I lived among them for the past month.

So you are one of them? said the man. A scout sent ahead of their invading army? Is that it?

What? No, said Keo, shaking his head. He scowled. Who the heck are you people anyway? And why did you attack me?

We are members of the Trinity Army, said the man. He gestured at the symbol on his shoulder plate, which depicted a sword, a spear, and an ax crossed. We serve the Chosen Three, the rulers of this land. I am Commander Allark, head of this little outpost.

And I am Airknight Karos, said the woman, gesturing at herself.

Airknight? said Keo. What's that?

A description of my position in the Trinity Army, of course, said Karos. As an Airknight, it is my duty to protect the skies of our country from our enemies. I fought you in the air a few hours ago, if you don't remember.

I've never heard of an Airknight before, said Keo. Well, my name is Keo of the Sword and I am from South Lamaira, although I spent the last month in the Upper Mountains training with the Dracones there.

South Lamaira? said Allark. He leaned forward, anger on his face. Then you are a spy of the heretical Magicians, is that it? Sent, perhaps, to forge an alliance with the Dracones to crush us between them and your people?

Actually, I'm not too popular back where I come from, said Keo, shaking his head. At least among the Magical Council. So if you would stop accusing me of being a spy, I'd be happy to tell you who I am and why I'm really here.

Nonsense, said Allark, shaking his head. You were spotted flying alone through a largely unpopulated portion of the country. That is the behavior of spies. I don't know if you are a spy of the Magicians or Dracones or someone else, but it doesn't matter, because in the end, you will suffer the same fate that all spies do: Execution.

Execution? Keo repeated in horror. Hold on, now. You don't even know anything about me. I was only flying through the wilderness because I wanted to get to Deusopolis as fast as possible.

In order to spy on our government, Allark said. He wagged a finger at Keo. You cannot fool me with your Draconic lies, you spy.

I'm not a spy, said Keo. I was heading to the capital because I was going to meet up with some of my friends, who went ahead of me and had agreed to meet me there in a month.

So you were heading to a meeting of spies, then, said Allark in disgust. How awful. Don't you agree, Karos?

Agreed, Commander, said Karos, nodding. I, for one, can not tolerate even the mere existence of spies, or traitors, for that matter. They offend the gods with their double-minded nature. I'd like to kill him myself.

Karos suddenly pulled out a long, jagged knife from her belt, prompting Keo to say hastily, Hey, wait. Let's not get hasty now. You aren't seriously going to kill me in cold blood right here, right now, are you?

We've never hesitated to kill anyone who we believed to be a threat to our country before, said Allark, who hardly seemed fazed by Karos's knife, as if she normally threatened to gut captured prisoners every day. Why should that change with you?

Because I'm not an ordinary person, said Keo. He put his shackled hands on his chest. "I'm the shelmai, the long-lost son of King Riuno, and the next King of Lamaira. I'm the one who is going to reunite the Kingdom back to its original glory."

Keo had thought for sure that sharing this information would make the two soldiers realize their mistake and release him. After all, legends of the shelmai had spread all throughout Lamaira ever since his father's death. Thousands of people in all three of the major factions eagerly looked forward to the day that the new King of Lamaira would arise and restore the Kingdom to its original glory.

That was why Keo was shocked when Karos hurled her knife at him through the bars of the cell. He ducked at the last second, causing the knife to collide with the wall and fall to the floor with a clatter, though Keo didn't sit up again in case Karos was going to throw another knife.

"The shelmai? said Karos. She sounded like she was barely containing her rage. That makes you the grandson of that awful, wicked King Murza and his equally awful son. She looked at Allark. Commander, we must put him to death right away. If he is telling the truth, then we must not allow the grandson of the gods' worst enemy to live."

Allark, however, shook his head. "While