Leaving Sivadia Read Online Free Page B

any ruler has ever faced, and I
want you both by my side every step of the way.”
    “Yes, Father,” they said simultaneously.
    “Some reports are coming in now, and we’re meeting Oz in
the command center.”
    They followed him off the ship. At the back of the
hangar, they entered a large room with row upon row of monitors lining the
walls. Some of them showed maps or graphs, and some showed different parts of
Sivadia where cameras had been placed.
    “Cieran.” Oz motioned to one of the monitors. “This is
outside of the open markets downtown. We issued an order for the merchants to
close well before the invasion started. Most didn’t listen.”
    Cy cringed as he gazed at the screen. Hundreds of people
lay dead on the streets, their bodies blood-soaked. He looked closer, some had
been decapitated. This was bad, much worse than he’d ever imagined. What kind
of monster could tear someone’s head off? The thought had no more entered his
mind before a huge image appeared on the screen. It opened its long muzzle and
roared, revealing large canine tusks dripping with blood. Cy clenched his fist
to keep anyone from seeing his hands tremble. A man on the ground tried to
crawl away and hide beneath a shrub. The Haagon’s head jerked in his direction.
One long stride later, it lifted the man off the ground, clamped its muzzle
around his neck and pulled. The man’s head fell to the ground and the Haagon
lapped the spurting blood from the stump where it had been. The monster took
another huge bite and chewed the neck down to the shoulders. Bile rose in Cy’s
throat. He looked away and clasped a hand across his mouth.
    “Is he eating him?” Vind asked, his eyes wide with
excitement.
    “That’s what they do,” Oz said. “They are carnivorous
scavengers, who will try to eat everything they kill, even if it’s only a
bite.”
    “Did one Haagon kill all those people?” Cy asked.
    “I’m not sure how many there were, but I have a feeling
we’re going to find out sooner than we want.” His father looked at him and
narrowed his eyes. “Boys, I believe you’ve seen enough for one day. It’s
getting late. You can return to your room.”
    Cy nodded and turned to leave. He must have looked pale.
He sure felt pale. He glanced back and Vind wasn’t following. He seemed to be
getting off on all that gore.
    Cy managed not to throw up until he reached his room.
Afterwards, he brushed his teeth, and then climbed into his bunk and covered
his head. All he wanted was to sleep, and forget this day had ever happened.
    ***
     Cy woke from a fitful sleep, almost as tired as
when he went to bed. He had dreamed all night that the Haagon he’d seen on the
monitor was after him. He would run and trip over dead, decaying bodies until
he found a place to hide, and when the monster came closer, he’d run some more.
    He had to get a grip. A future king who showed weakness
wasn’t a very good prospect for king. For the last four years, Father had spent
time with him, adding courtly duties to his already heavy study load. He had
never once complained though. He wanted to learn everything he could, and one
day become as great a leader as his father.
    Oz had spent the same amount of time with Vind, teaching
him the skills he would need once he becomes general of the army. Vind was much
more suited for that kind of stuff. If he had ever known fear, he hid it well.
    It’s good that I was first born.
    Twins were not unusual among Sivadians. When they were
successors to the throne, it was customary not to tell anyone who was born
first until their tenth birthday. That way they weren’t treated differently by
others during the early formative years. Cy was glad they weren’t told. Vind’s
attitude toward him changed that day. He became bitter, and the older they got,
the worse it became. At seventeen, Vind could start basic training in the army.
Hopefully, it would provide him with an outlet for all that anger.

Chapter 7
     
    Cy turned