The White Towers by Andy Remic Read Free Book Online Page B

Nobody knew she had the key. Nobody. And if they did? She glanced around at her companions; at her Iron Wolves. Would they still be standing, talking?
    First came Narnok, the huge axeman: bitter, twisted, hating humanity because of what his wife, Katuna, had done to him – over, ultimately, money. He also hated Dek, for Dek had been drawn into the spider’s web of seduction and deceit, and had betrayed one of his most trusted friends by taking Katuna to bed; Katuna, with her long dark curls, flashing eyes, and perfect olive skin. The fact she had then employed Xander the torturer to cut up Narnok’s face and put-out one of his eyes with acid had done nothing to temper the huge axeman’s view of the world and the insects that scurried about on its surface. Damaged wasn’t the half of it; but then, deep inside, weren’t they all?
    Dek. Handsome Dek! A tall, athletic pit-fighter, with a broken nose and a hatred of his brother after what went on with their dying mum. But now Ragorek was dead, and Dek seemed to have mellowed, remembering a time long ago when he and Kiki had been young recruits, and more: lovers. But when Dek slept with Katuna, betraying Narnok, he had also betrayed Kiki. She still remembered the pain in his eyes when she’d screamed at him, screamed that she’d slit his throat, cut off his balls, eat out his heart. She hadn’t meant it, but it had had to be said. And now, years on, decades on, after so much sleep and wine and the addictive curse of the honey-leaf… well. That world seemed another lifetime, filled with different people, different lovers; lovers who’d helped dilute the pain.
    The next Iron Wolf was Zastarte: handsome, dashing, stunning , with his slim rapier and witty banter, his expertise at giving women pleasure and his love of burning people alive. Amoral, twisted, decadent, he had changed since the old battles with mud-orcs and the sorcerer Morkagoth; or had he? Kiki remembered Zastarte from the Before Times – he’d always had a merciless streak. Had always been… mean? Ruled by money, sex, and later fame after the Iron Wolves became heroes; his merciless, amoral streak had grown dominant, yes; but, more importantly, it had always been there: more powerful than the curse that ran through all their blood, all their flesh. You could trust Zastarte, as long as there was good solid gold at the end of the mission. And maybe a few buxom wenches to lighten the darkness in his soul.
    Trista was the very essence of beauty and the beast, yet another twisted individual. A great swordswoman, her husband had betrayed her and she’d spent many an evening hunting down newlyweds and murdering them in their conjugal bed – so, as it appeared in her twisted reality, they could be together… forever. No betrayal for those visited by Trista. No cheating lies and backstabbing treachery. She also had an unusual, predatory streak; Narnok had once compared her to the female spider that mated, then ate its mate. He said she was a predatory cannibal; and to sleep with her, was to die. Although Trista had been offended at the time, Narnok had been pretty astute with his observations.
    And finally. Finally? Kiki turned her critical eye on herself. Kiki, Captain of the Iron Wolves, a dazzlingly accomplished warrior. But after the fame of turning back the mud-orcs at the Pass of Splintered Bones, of heading out into No Man’s Land and confronting Morkagoth the Sorcerer, and beating him using the curse of the Iron Wolves… Kiki had discovered she had a tumour close to her heart. The King, Yoon’s father, had showered them with money, jewels, lands, and Kiki had used a small fortune seeking the best medical advice in Vagandrak and beyond. When one brave surgeon finally cut her open, he had immediately sewn her back up again. To operate, he advised her, to remove the tumour would be to kill her stone dead. And so Kiki had fallen into bad ways, losing herself in the world of the honey-leaf, self-pity, drugs