The Story of Evil: Volume I - Heroes of the Siege Read Online Free Page B

The man’s leg was awkwardly bent. Steve winced, imagining the pain. His foot must have gotten caught in the stirrup when the horse went down. A leg should not bend in that direction , Steve thought. It looked like it had snapped right out of the jouster’s pelvis, almost like his leg was coming directly out from the side of his hip. Steve couldn’t even tell if the leg was attached to the rest of the jouster’s body or not. There was a growing pool of red, soaking into the sand underneath the warrior.
    Steve knelt down next to his dying warrior brother. They may have been jousting opponents, but all warriors were part of a brotherhood. It was a connection that grew even closer in one’s final moments. Steve clasped the shoulder of the injured warrior in a caring embrace. His face was pale and his breathing was too shallow for someone who should be in excruciating pain.
    “What’s your name, friend?” Steve asked as calmly as he could manage.
    “Cyrus. Pleased to meet you, Stephen Brightflame, but this may be the shortest friendship the both of us will ever know.”
    Steve nodded reluctantly. “You know my name?”
    “Of course, it’s all I heard while I was here. This city loves you. You would have won the championship for them. You’re an excellent jouster,” Cyrus said.
    “That’s only if I would have beaten you. We never finished our match.”
    “That’s right, I was just about to make my comeback,” Cyrus said as he laughed sarcastically. The laugh turned into a cough of blood that trickled from his mouth.
    Steve didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t going to lie and tell him he was going to make it out of here alive, because both he and Cyrus knew that wouldn’t be true. The dying warrior turned his head and spit blood into the sand and then wiped his mouth.
    Steve realized that Cyrus looked to be only two to three name days older than him. He’s too young to die. Steve shook his head sideways as he thought that if one of the boulders followed even a slightly different trajectory, it could have been Clyx dead with him trapped and bleeding out underneath his horse. He remained silent as Cyrus used his remaining strength do deliver his final words.
    “You know I was born in this city? I grew up here. Then I met a girl from Casanovia. We moved there after we got married. She’s there now, pregnant with my child. Her name is Emma.”
    “Any other family? Your parents?” Steve asked in a caring voice.
    “No, I…I never knew my parents. Emma and our baby are the only family I have. Please send word of my love to them.”
    “I will do it in person. I promise you.”
    “Thank you. You know I always wanted to die in Celestial. Place of birth, place of death. Makes everything come full circle, doesn’t it?”
    Steve knew it was a rhetorical question, but even if he had answered, Cyrus wouldn’t have heard it. Cyrus succumbed to his injuries and died. Steve reached out his hand and closed the warrior’s open eyelids.
    Steve stored the promise he had just made in the back of his mind before standing up and looking at his horse. “You ready, boy?” Steve took it for a “Yes,” when Clyx snorted. He put his jouster’s helm back on and mounted his horse, sliding into the leather saddle. With reins in one hand and Brightflame in the other, he took a moment to look around.
    There were broken boulders on the arena floor and in the stands. Half of the arena seating was carved out of stone. The other half was made of wooden bleachers. Almost all of the bleachers had burned down. Bodies lay scattered everywhere. Some were missing limbs. People were crawling on the ground in pain, taking in their final breaths or worse, screaming their final screams. Others had been burned and charred black, to a point of unrecognizable gender.
    A screeching phoenix monster above the open aired stadium spiraled out of control. One of its wings was frozen solid in ice. It crashed down into a pile of debris. The screeching