The Story of Evil: Volume I - Heroes of the Siege Read Online Free

triangular shield into his enemy’s throat. He didn’t stop until a geyser of red blood sprayed up and hit him in the face. Steve wiped it off with his gauntlet armored forearm and threw away his battered shield. He sat in the sand, next to the dead monster’s body, and took a moment to catch his breath.
    The warrior looked around for the remaining two squires and saw they had moved to both sides of the eastern exit and were waving to people, showing them the way out of the arena. For a moment, he smiled at the sight: two children who stood risking their own safety just in an attempt to bring what little order they could to the chaotic scene. They will make great warriors if they survive the rest of this day , Steve thought being both optimistic and pessimistic.
    He rolled out of the way as a giant electrically charged axe slammed into the sand, right where his head had just been. The final minotaur in black fur was standing above a weaponless Steve. The monster was furiously mad. Steve realized the other black one he had killed with his lance must have been a close relation. He preferred to think they were lovers. Quite possibly it could have been both. Since monsters did not have morals, it did not matter to them if it was family who pleased them in that way. Warriors often made jokes at the expense of monsters. Incest was prevalent in many of the punch lines.
    Steve lay on the ground with no weapon or shield for protection. He looked up at the minotaur, preparing to die as his enemy raised a sparking lightning axe and started to bring it down for the easy kill.

Chapter 3
     
    Steve breathed a sigh of relief as someone impaled the armored monster from behind. The tip of a sword entered through its back and came out of its chest. Steve rolled out of the way as the dead minotaur almost fell down on top of him.
    “And with that I take the lead! Five points to four,” a warrior yelled over the deafening sounds of the battle and roaring flames. He stepped forward and pulled the sword out of the monster. Steve looked up and grabbed the arm of his best friend Tyrus Canard, who pulled him up off the ground.
    “Cutting it close that time, huh?” Steve shouted back as he removed his restrictive jouster’s helm and held it to his side.
    “I wanted you to see how helpless and vulnerable you are when I’m not around to save you,” Ty smiled back.
    “What would I do without you?” Steve said, feeding Ty’s pride.
    “I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to live in a world without me,” Ty said, shrugging his shoulders.
    Steve and Ty were as close as brothers could be without sharing the same bloodline. They were both orphans who had been adopted by the same warrior, Titus Thatcher. Steve had been abandoned by his parents at the age of two and Tyrus’ parents had been murdered when he was only a child. Titus Thatcher had been close friends with Ty’s warrior father, Caesar Canard, and served as godfather to Ty and his older brother Darren.
    Warriors often had godparents set up for their children because they knew they were in the most dangerous profession. They wanted to make sure their children were provided for in case they were killed in action.
    Steve and Ty grew up together and rarely left each other’s company. The two warriors had had many adventures together fighting monsters and always seemed to barely find their way out of hopeless situations.
    Ty joked around a lot on the battlefield, especially during close encounters with death. Steve didn’t mind it because he knew humor was Ty’s way of dealing with the stressors of battle. He had even come to realize that laughing along with Ty (or at Ty) seemed to help ease his mind as well.
    Some warriors used humor in the stressful situations of battle for multiple reasons. One was because in being so close to death, all warriors preferred having the last living memory of a fallen brother to be one in which he was smiling. They also used humor as a way to mask the