The Destroyer Book 3 Read Free

they need to hear. When the girl came in here, I believe she was intent on warming your bed." Entas gave his dry chuckle.
    "Humm, I didn't get that from her."
    "No of course not. You are blissfully ignorant to the ways of women."
    "Thanks. I think."
    "But you are savvy in the ways of leading men and women. Shlara is now intent on proving you wrong and making you appreciate her. She is en route to our gray-haired friend so that he can change her immediately. She'll probably train twenty hours a day until she earns your respect." Entas finished the last bite off his plate, set it on the ground, and then leaned back down on my bed. He was so short that his legs didn't even touch my back when he stretched out.
    "That is ridiculous. She won't survive the change. She is too weak from starvation." I frowned.
    "Ahh my friend. Never underestimate the willpower of a woman who wants something. Malek will try to convince her of your logic, but she'll get her way." I nodded and hoped it wasn't true. Maybe I had been too hard on Shlara, but I didn't have a place in the army for someone who would not follow my instructions. I hoped she wouldn't take the risk.
    "Was there anything about her conversation that interested you?" Entas said after a few moments of relaxed silence between us. I searched my memory of the conversation and wondered if this was one of the old man's fancy riddles.
    "Not that I can recall."
    "Really? Nothing?" I looked at him and our eyes met. He squinted at me in concentration. I wasn't passing this logic test.
    "Help me out here. What did I miss?" I finally shrugged my shoulders and gave up on the riddle.
    Entas glanced up at the ceiling of the tent again and I could tell he was debating giving me the answer.
    "She mentioned the 'Dead Gods' of the Elvens. Does that interest you at all?" His eyes stared deep into mine and I realized this was the most direct conversation we had experienced in the past year or so. My mentor had let me run the army for the last five summers and only cared to see me if I had a problem. When I did come to him, he normally asked me a series of bizarre questions that gave me the answer I was looking for only after I meditated on them for a few hours.
    "No.”
    "Why doesn't it interest you?" The monkey man sat up in his bed and leaned toward me. His voice was just a whisper.
    "I don't really give a shit about their religious beliefs. They didn't let us have any, so why should I care about theirs? The knowledge won't help me kill them easier, will it?"
    "Oh, no of course not. Do not worry Kaiyer. This isn't a test. I just wanted to see if you wondered about the topic. You normally seek out knowledge about everything . . ." his voice trailed off and he raised an eyebrow to look at me.
    "Not this time, Entas. I have to plan our next assault."
    "Ahh yes." He bobbed his head like an old monkey. "I'll leave you to it then."
    The old man scooted around me on the cot, got to his feet, and then snagged his walking stick with a smooth flip.
    "Ahh wait," he said before he strolled out of the tent. He cupped his right ear dramatically and I heard a distant scream. It was one of complete and total agony and seemed to grow so loud that it became hard to tell if the voice that made it was a mile away or a hundred yards. Then, the woman's screech cut off suddenly. She had either died or passed out from the pain. It was a scream I had once made many years ago.
    "One of these days, you need to teach me how to know everything that is going on in the camp."
    "I don't know everything that goes on in the camp, Kaiyer. I just know the important things. That's what you need to learn." The monkey man smiled at me with his characteristic chuckle and then he walked out of the tent.
    I took the last few bites of my eggs and then gathered up the plates. It was a short walk to the dining tent, and from there it was an even shorter walk to see if Shlara had survived.
     



Chapter 2-Kaiyer
     
    Half a dozen crows rested on