War God for Hire- Gladiator David Burke (bookreader TXT) 📖

of white-hot flame blasted from her as her nova attack. It turned the sand of the arena floor into glass for thirty feet around the shrieking Aekor. The great eye, still pierced by Kyle’s soul bound weapon, boiled in the creature’s body. Then silence settled in and she spiraled down on the thermals with her wings extended.

When she landed on the ground, she formed a spear of flame and walked to the creature. She poked it with the fiery tip of her weapon, and it didn’t move at all. Upon closer investigation, she saw that it was nothing but a hollow shell now, its innards having been entirely consumed. A smile crossed her lips as she had avenged her master.

Hilde then turned to go to Kyle, but found Marie already kneeling next to him. Her flames flared brightly again as she saw the woman stroke her master’s face. It wasn’t that she was jealous as a mortal woman. She would delight to have her master bring any number of powerful women to his bed. It could only make him stronger. The one thing that Krig had never understood about battle was the idea of having true allies, not just minions. In her mind, it was a shortcoming of all the gods.

“Take your hands off of him, traitor.” Hilde commanded.

Marie looked up at her with confusion on her face. “Qua’ardet Flammaurorae?” Her voice conveyed her uncertainty.

“Yes, I see that you remember me, even if you didn’t remember your Master,” the celestial said.

The blonde warrior looked down at Kyle then back at Hilde. “It is him, isn’t it?”

“Of course, no other could possess that aura. Look into him deeply, and you will see it.”

“But I thought he had died,” Marie said, practically wailing as she spoke.

“And how long did you wait until you became a whore for Begaer? Was it a week, a month, an entire year?” Hilde asked.

“You don’t understand. You don’t know what it was like,” Marie protested.

“No, I don’t care. I must leave, but he is starting to wake. If you betray him, I will end you. There will be nowhere on Verden or the planes that you can hide from me. So, tread carefully,” Hilde said, imperiously.

She felt the link breaking down. Whatever amount of raw essence Kyle had used to summon her was expended and she would have to return to the mantle. She knelt beside him and ran her hand across his face. It was so different to be able to touch him. She still remembered his touch from inside the mantle, but it was not the same as physical contact.

For just a moment, she ignored the rest of the world, all the things that he, no they, had to accomplish. She focused instead on his breathing. His chest was rising evenly. The small wounds he had were healing up nicely. She could hear the sound of his heart beating. His heart. Oh, how she wanted to believe that he could be what he kept promising her he would be.

Almost a century of lusting after Krig without ever getting so much as the time of day from him had her on edge. She wasn’t the only one. The weapon maidens had taken actual marriage vows and considered themselves to be married to Krig. Their vows had included chastity and each of them had sworn to win his heart and be the first women in his life.

None had succeeded, and Hilde hadn’t been any luckier than they.

Then along came Kyle.

He had the same commanding presence, the same innate power to his aura. It was the sort of thing that a woman could lean into. She knew her own worth, and that meant that she needed a man who was worthy of her.

Kyle was a greater threat to her than Krig ever had been. If she had ever been able to seduce Krig, it might have led to some no strings attached fun. But with Kyle, he promised an emotional commitment too. Hilde believed his good intentions, but she doubted that he understood what it would mean once he began to integrate with his mantle more.

A god was simply above other beings. Sadly, that included even celestials. With Krig, she might have been content to have some fun, but with Kyle she risked falling in love. He was strong, but sweet and so willing to promise her things that she didn’t believe he would keep once he began to grow.

She shook her head. She needed to stay strong. Enjoy this connection while it lasted, but not lose her heart to him. Better if he spread his interest between a number of women, because she wasn’t sure if she would be able to keep guarding her heart if he kept offering her a real connection. Then she looked up at Marie and thought that maybe there were some women who weren’t safe for him, especially while he still had the emotions of a mortal.

As she started to fade, she snapped one more thing at Marie, “Don’t try to use your whore wiles on him.”

After Hilde was gone, Marie shook her head. Whore wiles? If this were Krig, that would be the last thing that would work.

Then he opened his eyes and she stared into those deep pools of blue that had prompted her to make her vow more than a hundred years ago.

Chapter 29 - Clean Up

When Kyle woke up, he had already been taken down below and was on the floor of the infirmary. As he sat up, no one even noticed. There were simply too many injured, and Selma and the rest of the flesh mages and their assistants were too busy.

He couldn’t help but be pleased to see Soren struggling on one of the tables. Two of his guards were next to him and he was barking at a junior flesh mage who was trying to close up a shallow cut he had taken to his prodigious belly. Kyle imagined that back home it