Torment and Terror Read Online Free

armament on—but this was different. Slom and Zurth were skilled men with fine steel and armor. It would take only seconds to turn Venir into a bloody pincushion.
    Am I actually going to witness Venir’s final stand? At least he will not have fallen to the underlings.
    “Venir, please,” Kam pleaded. Her voice became a choking sob. “Back off. For me. For Erin.”
    “There’s no way around this,” Scorch said in a matter-of-fact manner. “It’s fight or die, either way. But if he survives, I’ll let you all live. I’ll even take away the needles from Melegal and his little friend, Jasper.”
    “And what do we get once we cut him down?” Sloth asked.
    “You’ll have those fine weapons and armor, my gratitude, and,” Scorch said, leering at Kam and Joline, “those women of course. Methinks they’re already looking lonely.”
    Eyes filled with lust, Slom and Zurth nodded. The pair began to ready themselves. They cut and jabbed. Executed the moves of skilled swordsmen. Both had shown Melegal on more than one occasion that they were formidable.
    And there Venir stood, towering and fierce, long knife in hand, looking entirely outmatched.
    Melegal’s throat tightened.
    I can already feel the noose around my neck.
    “Just to be clear, Scorch,” Venir said with a darkening scowl. “If they both die, I win.”
    “Precisely.”
    Venir nodded. “A moment then.” He made his way over to Kam, Erin, and Joline. Taking a moment, he held his baby girl in his arms. He kissed her, handed her back to Kam, and kissed her as well.
    Melegal could barely hear his own thoughts through all the sobbing. His own spiked eyes teared up a little as Venir walked by and then set his feet, knife ready.
    With a nod, Venir said, “Fight or die. So be it.”

 
     
    CHAPTER 5
     
     
    Staring into a mirror, Master Sidebor clutched the gaping hole where his right eyeball had been.
    At least it’s healing well. Ugly, but healing.
    Confined to a guest room inside his son Master Sinway’s castle, he resumed his pacing around the small bed. Sinway had been gone for days, and things inside the castle had been nothing short of quiet. Sitting down, Sidebor took a nibble of food from a plate on the nightstand.
    “So exquisite,” he said, chomping down on the diced-up fruit. “My, won’t this sustain me for days.” He chuckled.
    For centuries he’d been trapped inside his own gemstone eyes, longing for vengeance. For some strange reason the thirst for vengeance had been supplanted by a thirst for freedom. As ancient as he was, he was even more patient now. He could afford to not take risks. To let his son, Sinway, take them all.
    “But I must admit, I’m fond of my child. His lust for power has even surpassed mine.” He scratched his chest with his sharp fingernails. “Yet I itch. I hunger.” With a thought, his fingernails became flames. Furnaces for mitts.
    “I really do need to destroy something.”
    He blew his hands out and sighed. “How many months or years will it take before my child turns me loose?” This thought had raced through his mind a hundred times. “What would I do?” He came to the same conclusion. “I wouldn’t let me out either.”
    He closed his eyes and visualized all that had happened since he’d been back. The intercession with Scorch had been most delightful. He’d learned so much about a power that was vastly greater than anything he’d ever known. It was the power to create worlds. Entire races of people. And it was there. There for the taking. Sidebor’s hands clutched in and out. “So close. So close. So close.”
    He squeezed his good eye shut and continued to concentrate. He tuned in with the world. Its flowing power. Bish was alive. It was sucking up all of the power that was buried deep in its belly. Sidebor needed to tap into that power. Suck up every bit he could and wait until the time was right to strike. Little by little, hour by hour, he grew stronger and became more familiar with