Villains Read Online Free Page A

yellow in the wake of the star cloud. He tried to skip the rock through the crashing waves but it plummeted to the bottom. That’s what he felt like on the inside: deflated, defeated even though he hadn’t faced them yet. He gazed outwards, finding the line of the horizon and his breath caught in his throat. At the far recesses of his vision, a large wave roiled across the ocean. The sky turned a deep dark gray, the star cloud dissipating as the wave gained ground. Tor watched, his heart thumping wildly. He scrambled up the path and skirted around the shrubs lining the bonfire.
    “They’re coming!” he shouted. Skeld, the tallest, adorned in a long embroidered animal skin called the people, keeping them calm and focused. Tor nodded his appreciation. Skeld was like the others, elongated ears, prickly white skin and piercing hazel eyes. He had no hair on his smooth head, and his nose was one of the biggest Tor had seen. Skeld was lean, nothing but a pot belly setting him apart from the others. They scattered to their homes, lighting sage, thinking it would protect them against these foes. Tor took towards his home with Desaunius. All he had to do was enter the tent and she was in front of their altar, hands clasped to her chest, head bowed.
    “They’re here, I can feel them,” she said without looking up.
    “Let me handle this.” Tor grabbed his walking stick and left the tent.
    It wasn’t long before their forms approached from the beach, the same waves that rolled across the ocean creating storms around their ankles. There were only three of them, and Tor let out a sigh of relief. It could have been all eleven, this was only a test. He recognized each of them as they approached. The one on the far left was Cassareece, a woman with long white blond hair and a navy blue gown falling to her feet. Beside her was Joviasson, a kraken shaped beast in bipedal form. Tentacles hung from his chin, his mouth a round void of tiny sharp teeth. His eyes were slits, using clairvoyance to walk. He wore a tailored black jacket that fit his form as thought it was made for him, it opened up at the waist and created a cap around the lower half of his body. Tor glanced briefly at the breeches and shin high bronze boots adorning his disfigured feet. He peddled across the path at the same gait as the others, staff in hand, his limp not hindering him at all.
    Beside him was the one Tor was the most worried about. Darkesh wasn’t like the others. He was on two feet, but they were demonic, black scales, long black talons. He had a slim waist, but thick thighs. His chest was monstrous, along with his shoulders, and his clawed hands. Back home they called him a draconian, a humanoid version of a dragon. His head was a smaller version of a dragon’s skull, complete with horns. He had a tail, spikes at the edges kept marking the ground as if warning those who came after him. They stopped at the foot of the walkway and stared Tor down, their lightning eyes crackling as each second ticked by.
    Cassareece folded her arms across her chest. “You know why we came.” Her voice was syrupy sweet, but it made Tor sick to his stomach.
    “I refuse.”
    Jovaisson laughed, a gurgling sound erupting from his throat. “You cannot deny what you are forever.”
    “I refuse,” Tor said, narrowing his eyes. He knew perfectly well what they wanted him to do, but he wouldn’t.
    “Think of the glory—with you we will be unstoppable. Not even the dust will dictate what we do,” Darkesh said, his vocals emitting a series of clicks that despite their incoherency, Tor understood.
    Tor’s eyes blazed. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
    Cassareece laughed and it was a terrible sound. “You cannot be serious. You would give up the Great Hall for this?”
    “I’m not giving up anything I didn’t own in the first place.”
    “Ahh, you are being so difficult, Toraque. Will you not use your head to see what will happen if you do not comply?” Joviasson