Madness of the Horde King - Zoey Draven Page 0,126
too far away, waiting. The Ghertun knew we had arrived. I had seen a few of their scouts spying on us from the shadows of the mountain, looking up at us on the cliffs.
The mountain sat within a valley. A deep valley that had long been depleted of life. It was barren and empty, as if Kakkari herself had abandoned it.
This was where my female had lived up until recently. Trapped in the darkness. Tied to a poison that kept her leashed and chained.
My hands curled but I was careful not to prick myself with my claws. The undersides of them had been coated in enuwip, courtesy of the Killup.
“What would you do if it was your Morakkari?” I rasped, glancing over at Rath Kitala.
A sharp breath huffed from his nostrils. I’d already known his answer.
“I have to go in alone. This Ghertun king is a coward,” I told him. “He will never meet us away from his mountain. He thinks he has power there. But the Killup have exposed a dangerous weakness and that is what I will exploit. When I return, be ready.”
“And if it does not work?” Rath Kitala rasped. “If you cannot get close to him? What will you do then?”
I thought of the heartstone, tucked into my chests at the horde. Nothing would keep me from it if I failed here. It was the last resort but an option, a dangerous one that required a price. A price I would pay gladly.
“There is no outcome in which she does not live,” I told him. “Be ready.”
Rath Kitala inclined his head, hearing my grim determination. “I do not like this, Drokka. If only we can wait for the others to arrive. We can take the mountain—”
“There is no time,” I growled.
Suddenly, a horn sounded, loud and deep, booming across the Dead Valley. The gate to the mountain, one made of bones and stones, began to rise, revealing a blackened tunnel that resembled a mouth. The entrance.
“I will try to find as many of their slaves as I can,” I said, eyeing the entrance. “But time is already short.”
We only had a fraction of our darukkars gathered. In order to free all the slaves under the Dead Mountain and bring Lozza to his knees, we would need more. Time was not on our side—and I was honest enough with myself to know that I would prioritize Vienne and her family over anyone else. I was a selfish bastard but I wouldn’t rest until they were all free of the Dead Mountain and the vovic in their veins.
Armed Ghertun had begun to filter out from the mountain. A surprising number. There were rumors that Lozza had a great army hidden within, one he planned to overthrow Dothik with.
“We are Vorakkars for a reason,” I murmured. I felt a dark grin slide over my face. “We are all a little mad. Even you, Rath Kitala. We have to be.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
“I know who you are.”
The Ghertun that stepped down from his throne of bones was younger than I had expected. He was tall and broad, his black eyes regarding me carefully, his head cocking to the side, a motion that reminded me of the Killup.
I suppressed the growl rising in my chest.
Blood was dripping from my temple and into my eye, coloring my vision. The guards watching me had enjoyed beating me because they thought I was powerless to stop them when in reality, I was biding my time.
Something frantic was clawing against my chest. Time, I knew. I was running out of it. Already, I’d been within the Dead Mountain—in that dark, festering place—for too long. The Ghertun had kept me chained for hours before they’d brought me into the presence of Lozza, their king. I had left my daggers back at the horde but they had taken my sword, as I’d known they would.
The chains shackling my wrists were easily breakable. The Ghertun didn’t have access to Dakkari steel or the stronger metals that ran deep within our planet. They didn’t have the technology or the means to extract it, that we knew of. They either vastly underestimated the strength of an enraged and determined Dakkari male…or they had simply never had one in their possession before.
Or both.
I gave Lozza a grin, more like a feral baring of my teeth, which made his expression falter for a moment before it smoothed away.
“And who exactly do you think I am?” I murmured quietly, never breaking his stare.