Free The Champions by Jeremy Laszlo Page A

worked from.
Something was inherently wrong, though she was as yet unsure as to what exactly
that was. Only moments before she had felt it, the same as she had felt it each
time she fed. It was to a much smaller degree, of course, but none the less it
had been there. In the darkness, alone, Sara felt something new grow within
her. With it came a surge of pleasure of the likes she experienced when
feeding. She felt herself grow stronger by a miniscule amount. Over the ensuing
hour it happened well over two hundred more times but it was only now that she
was able to make sense of it. This time Sara began to understand, and for the
first time realized that she had to do what Seth wanted. She needed her change
to be reversed. She needed to become human again – if it was not too late.
    Sara paced as the soldiers she had fed upon changed into
monsters like her, just as the young woman in Traiven, her first victim, had
done. Just as Fera, Jud’s cook in the mages’ tower had done after that. Now,
though, Sara recognized what it was that was happening.
    Somehow she was connected to those she had fed upon. Those
who had survived. Those who had changed. Now they too were feeding, and through
that connection Sara was receiving some of the power they gained. Nearly every
minute that passed came a puny surge of power, sometimes singly, sometimes two
or more together.
    How many men had she bitten? How many would they feed upon?
Would those people also change into what she was? So many questions raced
through her mind and yet she knew not the answers and dared not bother Seth
now. He was not only busy, but struggling with his own mistakes and lack of
understanding of the consequences that came with his power.
    Feeling alone Sara sat upon the ground in the darkness
counting the small surges of power that washed through her every moment that
the night progressed.
    Sara began to weep as morning neared, and a second wave of
power rushed into her, coming faster and faster with each passing moment. Even
those that her victims fed upon had changed and were now feeding her with their
power. Not even the constant influx of pleasure was enough to overcome the
grief Sara felt. Crying softly into the darkness she wondered if Seth too felt
this way when his troops died. If so he was obviously the stronger of the two,
for though she had seen him wince as they fell in battle, never had a tear
escaped him. Then, just like her tears, snow began to fall.
    *****
    Thousand Hole Tommy was really enjoying his new body. In
fact, he felt like a new man. Just hours ago he had been worn and weary from an
existence stretched too thin over the expanse of time. Not now though. Seth had
given him new vigor and strength. Sure he was ugly as all sin, but with the
scars already upon his old body it really wasn’t a change for the worse.
    Using his powerful legs, Tommy leaped fifty yards at a time.
He could see much better in darkness with his new body than he had ever been
able to with his old one. It truly was a miracle.
    Covering huge expanses of earth with each leap, it was only
a quarter of an hour before Tommy reached the edge of Sigrant’s encamped army.
They had a watch set, not that it mattered. One moment Tommy was forty yards
out, completely shrouded by darkness, the next he was inside the camp.
    Stopping momentarily he untied the bundle he had brought
with him and donned the mage robe it contained. It was a blue robe, unlike any
worn in Valdadore, and Tommy assumed it had been scavenged from the battlefield
earlier in the day. It had blood upon it and reeked of sweat and smoke, but other
than that it sufficed in hiding his features from anyone he might run into.
Pulling the cowl low, Tommy began searching the enemy camp for the quarters of
the king himself.
    Hour after slow trudging hour, Tommy roamed the camp looking
and listening for clues as to the enemy king’s whereabouts. On numerous
occasions he heard a loud gasp or a short yell or scream. He