Birth of a Mortal God by Armand Viljoen Read Free Book Online

inside. “You have all fought bravely. Know that none shall feast on your flesh. You will all be given a warrior’s funeral.”
    The man seemed relieved and closed his eyes as Asteroth brought down his axe.
    Elizabeth watched as the red creature returned and said a prayer to Xenusê, begging the Matron of Mercy and Life to keep her safe.
    “You will come with me to my village. Cause any of my tribe harm, and I swear to you now, I’ll have you begging me to let you enter Henensu’s hall.”
    She nodded, and he picked her up like a girl would her doll.
    “What are you called?”
    “I am Elizabeth vi Descrinal, third daughter of Duke Jonathan vi Descrinal.”
    “Duke? This is an important title?”
    “Yes, it means I’m of noble birth.”
    She was surprised to find he understood the concept of nobility as he replied, “Why weren’t you on horseback then?”
    “My father sought favour with the Mages’ Guild, so he pledged me to them. Those who are initiated into the Mages’ Guild are stripped of all previous rank and standing, including privileged transportation.”
    The creature seemed disgusted by what he heard. “Do humans commonly treat their children as a commodity?”
    Fear kept any remarks of superiority well in check as she said, “That’s putting it a bit crudely, but I suppose we do.”
    “Children are a precious gift from the gods. Not some piece of property you barter and trade! Is there no limit to the depths your kind will sink to?”
    Her face flushed. “It is a matter of cultural differences. I’m sure the beastmen have customs we’d consider . . . strange.”
    “Oh, I am sure there is a lot you humans dislike about us.”
    She stared at the creature’s face. “Are you really Asteroth, Leader of the Living?”
    “It is just Asteroth. You humans love your titles so much that you even gave one to a figure in a prophecy. It must really hurt your pride that Vendrious didn’t think your kind worthy of raising his son. Now keep quite and hold on,” he said before they exploded into the air.
    G’nar watched his brother lightly touched down on the ground. “This should to be interesting.”
    Asteroth set the terrified woman down and walked over to his brother. “Ah, brother, I see the village is almost entirely disassembled. You seem to thrive in my absence.”
    “Don’t ah, brother me. What is that?” he asked, pointing to the golden-haired woman.
    “That’s a human female, G’nar.”
    “I can see that. Why the shuk is she here?”
    “She is a healer, our—”
    “You brought a human Art user here?! To our women and children!” he hissed.
    “Calm down, brother. She is harmless. I would not have brought her if I thought she could pose any threat.”
    Elizabeth tried to get Asteroth’s attention as beastmen slowly began to surround her, but he was completely focused on his conversation with an unusual-looking beastman. She recalled having once read what now seemed to be a very accurate book about their kind.
    In it, the author elaborately described their features. How smooth their olive skin was and the seemingly endless variations of khaki stripes that adorned them. He went on to reveal that, contrary to popular believe, there was indeed a difference in appearance between the male and female.
    The males were muscular, possessed large prominent noses, and, of course, had the two notorious tusk-like teeth protruding from their bottom jaws, which ranged commonly between one to three inches long. Where as the females were less muscular, feminine even, with smaller noses than their counterparts, and possessed no tusks. The book had fallen into obscurity because it had been ruthlessly criticised as the author had no physical evidence to substantiate his outlandish claims.
    Elizabeth wished she could trade places with one of those critics; then they’d have their proof. But what burned like fire in her mind was a simple annotation she had read at the bottom of one of the book’s