Into the Heart of Evil

  Into the

  Heart of Evil

  A novel by Joel D. Babbitt

  Book Two of the Immersive New Trilogy

  Paladin of a Hidden God

  Visceral Combat, Moral Odyssey, Intrigue,

  Coming of Age… and Kobolds.

  THANKS!

  Thanks first of all to my wife and children for sparing me the time over the past twelve years to write this series. Thanks to all the many friends who have shared this journey—reading manuscripts, playing the campaigns, and helping with editing. Most of all, thanks to you, the reader, for a book without readers is like an empty house—all echoing walls and no laughter. Enjoy, and may you find a portion of yourself inside these pages.

  Copyright © 2014 by the author

  ISBN: 978-1-940880-03-7 (ebook)

  ISBN: 978-1-940880-08-2 (paperback)

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.

  Art credits:

  Cover Art by Kip Ayers

  Interior Art by Kip Ayers, Anna Catherine Babbitt,

  Casey Stewart, and Joel Babbitt

  Contact info available at www.authorjoel.com

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  Books by Joel Babbitt

  Paladin of a Hidden God Trilogy:

  The Trials of Caste

  Into the Heart of Evil

  The Game of Fates

  Life Sticks of Razz Serial:

  Clan Lord

  Hunt Master

  More Novels and Stories:

  Trouble on Camallay (coming 2015)

  Ella Sister-Daughter (coming 2015)

  Get a FREE Short Story at AuthorJoel.com:

  http://www.authorjoel.com/free-short-story-.html

  Kobolds of the Kale Gen…

  Lord Karthan, Lord of the Kale Gen. As leader of one of the five original kobold gens, he feels the call of ancient covenants. He is now positioning his gen to reclaim the ancient powers that are their right… if he can hold onto power.

  Khazak Mail Fist, Lord Karthan’s Chamberlain and Honor Guard Warrior Group Leader. He is the strongest kobold in the gen, and arguably the best warrior the gen has ever known. He is loyal to a fault and would do anything for his lord and master.

  Khee-lar Shadow Hand, Kale Gen leader caste. A warrior leader whose desire for power has led him to organize a secret society bent on overthrowing the Kale Gen. As a descendant of a nephew of the last Lord Kale, he claims right of rulership over the gen.

  Kiria, daughter of the Lord of the Gen. Wanting to forge her own destiny in the gen, Lord Karthan’s daughter has studied the deep secrets of the ancient magics. Though she is no warrior, she will walk the dangerous path laid before her.

  Durik, Adventurer Class. Exalted from his humble beginnings to the leader caste, strange visions and the call of destiny follow him as he becomes embroiled in the world of political intrigue. Through it all, he concerns himself mostly with his companions’ welfare.

  Kormach Manebrow, the Kale Gen’s former master trainer. Devoted husband and father, veteran warrior, reluctant adventurer. He doesn’t play much in the world of politics or magic, preferring to focus his efforts on ensuring his warriors are ready for any challenge they must face.

  Gorgon Hammer, elite warrior and hammer wielder. Son of a blacksmith, strongest and most aggressive of the former yearlings.

  Trallik, warrior and scout. Trallik is as determined as he is unscrupulous. Son of a fungus farmer, arguably the bottom of the kobold social structure, he will not stop until he has reached the top. He is ready to take the next step.

  Jerrig, warrior and javelin thrower. Strange, subtle magical powers are manifesting themselves through Jerrig, causing those about him to shun him… all except his cousin Durik, and to some degree the rest of his former yearlings.

  Arbelk, warrior and climber. Oldest son in a large family, Arbelk’s greatest aspiration is to be a bridge master for his warrior group. The antics of heroes have no place in him, but he will rise to the occasion… Fates willing.

  Keryak, warrior and spearman. Durik’s best friend, in part because he’s courting Durik’s younger sister Darya. His loss in the Trials of Caste to Durik, and his friend’s new, exalted status have left him empty and wanting. He hides his feelings behind the humor that is his shield.

  Troka, warrior and two-handed broadswordman. Quiet and introverted, the expectations he had in his own mind were shattered in the Trials of Caste, but he is determined to survive this new life of a warrior and to prove his worth in the quest that is to come.

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  Close-ups of each area provided throughout the book.

  Prologue

  There were two gens in the Southern Valley; the Kale Gen and the Krall Gen. They were two of the original five extended kobold families called gens, descendants of two of the five sons of Kobold, the first sire. Though many new gens had been formed by the diaspora of these five original large families over the ten centuries since Kobold and his first progeny lived, in the histories of these latter gens, spoken around cooking fires, in great councils, and in chambers of learning, was always the name of one of the original five gens; the gen their founder had come from.

  A kobold’s ancient heritage, while it gave a sense of pride and belonging to those of middle age, was of little interest to the young, and was little more than a thing to ponder for the old. But for the few who owned relics from their magical past, bloodline was key. For many of these gifts, it was the one criterion for access. Without the right bloodline, these artifacts that the god-like being called The Sorcerer gifted to their ancestors and passed down through the generations of time were nothing more than well-made and magically-preserved relics.

  So it was that, through his mixed bloodline, Mynar the Sorcerer, a kobold touched by the magic of this world called Dharma Kor, was able to turn the ancient heritage stone of the Krall Gen to his purposes. To any who did not have what it took to use the device, it appeared as nothing but a smooth rock. But to Mynar, who was of the right bloodline and touched by magic itself, it was a source of great information, and therefore of great power.

  Mynar had used his magical abilities to gain the loyalty of many of his fellow kobolds. He seemed to others to intuitively know what their greatest desires were, and so had caught several in his subtle snares. By promising them their deepest desires, he had gotten many of them to do his dirty work. As his ability to subvert the system and to corrupt his fellow kobolds increased, more information began to flow in, and more of the kobolds in his employ began to look for ways to further his cause.

  One of his most indebted kobolds was Morigar, the youngest son of Lord Krall from the easternmost gen in the valley. Mynar had done many favors for the young princeling, ensuring that the betrothed of a certain female he had feelings for never came back from a hunt, and ensuring that the same female disappeared later when she threatened to tell all whose baby she carried.

  Lord Krall would not have dealt kindly with his son for such indiscretions. Of course, it had also served Mynar’s purposes. After all, it certainly wouldn’t be beneficial to Mynar’s long-term plans to have another potential Lord Krall heir,
albeit illegitimate, in the way.

  But Lord Krall’s youngest son had many more uses than just information. In fact, his true usefulness had become apparent when Mynar had hinted that he might be willing to put Morigar on his father’s throne if Morigar would do whatever he asked. Morigar had instantly said yes, with no thought to what he would be asked to do.

  Of course, Mynar had lied. He had no intention of putting the fool on Lord Krall’s throne. No, that prize he wanted for himself. But through his puppet Morigar he had acquired the Krall Stone, an artifact that had significantly enhanced his powers.

  As he had used the stone, mixed with some of his sorcerous powers, he had been able to discover many important things. Though it seemed as if the Krall Stone withheld some greater powers from him, there were many lesser powers and much awareness that it could not withhold.

  One thing it had not withheld well was its own yearning. It was through following the patterns of longing that emanated from the Krall Stone that Mynar had discovered that there were four other stones just like it. After much struggle with the stone, it had inadvertently revealed to him the link between the four other stones and the four other original kobold gens, all named for one of the other sons of Father Kobold; the Kobold Gen, the Kale Gen, the Krech Gen, and the Kormir Gen. Though Mynar did not understand it, the Krall Stone seemed to yearn to be in their presence. As such, Mynar had been able to follow the desires of the Krall Stone as it stretched its consciousness over the distance to touch the consciousness of the closest of those stones: the Kale Stone.

  Mynar had searched long and hard for lore relating both to the Krall Stone as well as to this other stone, the Kale Stone, thinking that perhaps he could use it as a tool to turn the Kale Gen to his purposes. Finally, in the library of Lady Karaba, the lifemate of Lord Krall, Mynar had found a prophecy written on a scroll she had brought with her from the Kale Gen upon her joining to Lord Krall.

  The prophecy was from an infant kobold who was called Two-Toes and held the title of Oracle of the Kobold Gen, the same gen that many of Mynar’s ancestors had come from and that carried the name of their race. With intense interest, Mynar had read what surely was his destiny.

  Hear now the utterances of the babe called Two-Toes, when his mouth was opened by the power of the Creator while still an infant in his mother’s arms:

  ‘To the Kobold Race was given five stones of power,

  One for the Kobold Gen, descendants of Kobold, the First Son of Kobold our First Sire, and blessed to gather the stones;

  One for the Kale Gen, descendants of Kale, the Second Son, and blessed to host the First Son;

  One for the Krall Gen, descendants of Krall, the Third Son, and blessed to harbor the First Son in his quest to power;

  One for the Krech Gen, descendants of Krech, the Fourth Son, and blessed to stand with the First Son when that which was divided is united once again.

  One for the Kormir Gen, descendants of Kormir, the Fifth Son, and blessed to come to the First Son in his hour of need;

  Hear now the sure word of prophecy: I shall not taste of death until the stones shall call to the rightful heirs of these great gens and they be gathered to Palacid to claim their inheritance. Let those who read understand, for one shall arise who is a stranger among the southern gens, and power shall be given him to gather the stones and to bring their heirs to his purposes, first by greed, then by loyalty.’

  Excitement greater than any he had ever felt led Mynar to draw the only logical conclusion he could—because of his northern gen heritage, yet being half Krall, he was the ‘stranger among the southern gens’ the prophecy mentioned. Indeed, the fact that he had already ‘gathered’ the Krall Stone of Power only served to further prove what he already knew.

  The last sentence of the prophecy brought Mynar the greatest of glee.

  I shall have power to bring the heir of the last Lord Kale and the lords of all the other kobold gens to my purposes. He saw no other way of interpreting that prophecy. He was sure his destiny was to gather the stones of power and, through their desire for the power the stones gave them, to bring the rulers of the five great gens to his purposes, and thereby to re-forge a greater kobold nation out of the five gens… with him as its supreme ruler!

  Since he had first discovered the prophecy of Two-Toes, it had given him an almost impenetrable sense of his own importance in the greater scheme of the universe as a whole, an importance that had been only momentarily shaken by his setback at the end of the Trials of Caste, and a surety that was only somewhat challenged by the fact that he now stood in chains with his fellow conspirators in the dungeons of the Kale Gen.

  He would escape, of that he was certain, and he would then make amends with the kobold he had propped up as the rightful heir of the last Lord Kale; Khee-lar Shadow Hand, for launching the insurrection without his blessing, of that he was… almost as certain.

  Would Khee-lar accept his silver-tongued apologies? Mynar was confident that he would. After all, he knew that the key to Khee-lar’s acceptance among many of the rulers of the Kale Gen was the Kale Stone, for without it his right to rule would always be challenged. And only Mynar knew where the Kale Stone was to be found.

  As time passed, Khee-lar would fulfill Mynar’s purposes. After Mynar consolidated power back in the Krall Gen, his loyalists would bring the Kale Stone back from the place it had lain for this past century or so. Then, once Khee-lar received the stone, he would be able to claim the right to rule the Kale Gen, and the coup would ensue in earnest. And then Khee-lar Shadow Hand would be caught willingly in Mynar’s trap.

  Of this Mynar was sure, he would dominate Khee-lar Shadow Hand with his sorcerous powers, magnified through the stones of power, and Khee-lar would learn to serve him as a puppet ruler of a dominated gen… a gen that had much to give to the kobold who could control it...

  And Mynar knew, with an infernal certainty that burned within him like a dark fire, that the Fates had selected him to be that very kobold.

  Section I – Forming the Company

  Chapter 1 – Celebrations and Traditions

  Kobolds are a naturally hopeful, some would even say a wisely optimistic, race. Perhaps it is simply because their race is so young and not weighed down with the history of so many eons. But then again, perhaps it is the strength of mind their first ancestors received from the hands of The Sorcerer almost a thousand years prior trickling down through the generations to the present. Whatever it was, it could be argued that there was no greater manifestation of that hope than the preparations and celebrations that followed the event called the Trials of Caste.

  For weeks, the warriors of the Kale Gen had been working on making weapons, training packdogs, and gathering supplies, all in their spare time and with the volunteered wealth of the entire gen, as a means of giving back some of what they had received from those who had come before them. These would be the gifts they bestowed on the seven young male kobolds who had recently competed in the Trials of Caste to attain warrior status.

  These seven had been called yearlings, for during this, their fifteenth year of life, they had passed through a year of the most difficult training the gen’s leaders could provide; a year of weapons training, climbing, patrolling, tactics, and learning to endure the rigors of a warrior’s life. All of this had been under the tutelage of the gen’s master trainer; a kobold called Manebrow—so named for his distinctive bristling black unibrow—whose standards were unwavering.

  Finally, this day also being the Day of Beginnings, the females of the gen came together to prepare what was ostensibly the biggest feast of the year, and from their homes came the scents of every dish known to this gen. All throughout the massive natural cave complex that housed the Kale Gen, the servant caste of each warrior group cleared their vast common chambers of all commerce and crafts and set out long tables, benches, chairs, and kegs full of sweet bark cider to prepare the celebration for those who had grown up among their warrior group. This year was particularly sp
ecial, for the two dozen or so who came of age this day were children of hope, conceived during a time of drought and famine, when the fate of the gen was uncertain.

  As was the case with all the warrior groups, a celebration was being readied by the Trade Warrior Group in their great common chamber, the same chamber that was used so often to see a caravan off, or to welcome one back from a trade mission with the other gens in the area. The large dogs the caravan masters kept had been brushed, exercised, fed, and put into their kennels. Now, the caravan staging area served as their feast hall to celebrate the achievements of one of the seven former yearlings; Jerrig, who was now a warrior in the gen, as well as the coming of age of a male who had failed the training and would now be servant caste, and three females, two of which were already promised and would soon be joined to lifemates in the days ahead. Soon, new houses would be established in the common chambers of this warrior group, and before long these young kobolds, so full of energy, would take their places as mothers and fathers in the gen.

  Such was the circle of life here in the Kale Gen. And so it was in all the various warrior groups. Life, joy, and prosperity had been theirs for as long as most could remember, interspersed with trials and tragedy that served to strengthen the fabric of the gen and purify it of its more dross elements.

  Lord Karthan walked quickly down the passage toward the great common chamber and the feast being prepared by his Honor Guard Warrior Group for their children and the children of the leader caste who had come of age, one of them being his own daughter Kiria. He did not want to be late for the biggest day of his daughter’s life to this point.