Free Fate of an Empire (Talurian Empire Trilogy Book 1) by Jonathan Pasquariello Page A

him.
    “Commander,
did you not hear me?” The smiling young man asked. His eyes gaining intensity
as his grin grew. “Ceth? The fires have been lit, and the men have set up the
tents. This cover of smoke and clouds was a great idea!”
    Ceth slowly
raised his eyes to the lanky soldier standing before him, flattening his
mustache with two fingers. “You've done well, Dageros. I’m grateful your father
sent you along.” He dropped his gaze back to the charts, still searching for his
next revelation. “How are you feeling?” He casually tossed out the question.
    “Well, I
should be able to keep this going till my brother is done.” Dageros started
pacing back and forth. “It’s strange really. I haven’t felt this way before.
Well, yes, it is certainly the largest amount of copies I’ve held at once, but
I underestimated the alien feelings I am experiencing.”
    “Mmhmm…”
    “And! Not to
mention…” Dageros squinted his eyes, peering out through the doorway into the
lifeless streets of Hillsford proper. “They are a tad creepy, only responding
to the most basic of orders—unable to do anything that would require the
slightest amount of physical or mental competency. Nevertheless, I feel like I
should be watching out for a treacherous one among the bunch.”
    “Interesting…”
Ceth took to his feet.  His armor clinking against itself. He grabbed a nearby
pencil and proceeded to draw a triangle north of Hillsford, followed by three
smaller ones, off to the east. 
    Ceth
straightened, looked his markings over, and nodded to himself. “Well, Dag, they
are products of your own self…”
    Dageros
laughed. “That is what scares me!”
    Ceth grunted.
“Hopefully, we won’t need anything more complex from them. Our group of forty
looks like an army of thousands! Let’s pray to that god of yours, Dar’jaal,
that the Talurians don’t realize everything is just a clever trick. I can’t
lose the rest of my Kitamite brethren!”
    The Kitamite
leader motioned for Dageros to follow him outside.
    The young man
clasped Ceth’s shoulder. “Thanks for half-listening.”
    Ceth winked
back. “You’re half-welcome.”
    The two moved
out of the building. Ceth grabbed his helmet by the door.
    “Go double
check that no one has seen Kaillum’s signal.” The Kitamite leader lowered his
faceplate. “That brother of yours tends to wait until the last minute!”
    “Right.” Dag
nodded and took off at a run through the campsite while Ceth continued on
toward the frontline.
    “Sir!”
    Ceth turned
the opposite direction to find a soldier running toward him.
    The soldier
slid to a halt, holding up his finger. “Sorry sir,” He doubled over in front of
Commander, trying to catch his breath.
    “Take your
time, boy.”
    He shook his
head. “I apologize, Sir, but there is no time. A scout from the northern
Talurian campsite just rode into the city.” He stopped again, wiping his brow
with the back of his hand. “Something is terribly wrong. He was practically in
shock, talking like a lunatic, saying a man made of shadows, with eyes of
blood, fell from the sky upon the Talurians. He barely got out ahead of the
retreating army.”
    The soldier
made another pause. “Sir, the Talurians are running back to Hillsford, and
they’ll be here by morning.”

Chapter 14: The
Haunting
     
    Thandril flew
over the valley that separated the campsite of the north from Hillsford. The
land obstacle made the relatively short distance into an all day, roundabout journey
for someone on foot.
    He slowed,
circling in the air, halting his travels in surprise.
    The Talurian
army marched in his direction, torchlight showing the long caravan along the
road, making toward Hillsford. He dove to the ground, changing his form as he
landed. Dirt and gravel whirled around him.
    “What is going
on?” He lurched forward, questioning the first soldier he saw.
    The man
dropped to the ground in fear, “Please, spare me!”
    Thandril
pulled him to