Dear Muse (Those Whom the Gods Wish to Destroy Book 1) by Shawn Mackey Page A

Narg, seized by an unrestrained fury at his target’s escape, ordered every Kel to chase Floon, leaving behind all the loot, including their caravan and the iron ball, which continued to roll down another hillside, leaving a thick red trail.
    Lug rushed to the area to scout the battle. He watched as Narg’s entire clan chased the fleeing Floon, whose mocking laughter echoed over the distant rumbling ball. He slowly approached the aftermath for salvage. Flattened corpses floated in a sea of blood, too fresh to have seeped into the ground. This did not stop Lug from sifting through bits of gore to inspect severed limbs. Many of these seemed peculiarly untouched by the massacre. Upon closer inspection, his observation proved correct. Some bones were left in pristine condition, even if their flesh had been ravaged by the iron. In other cases, not only were the bones intact, but the muscle and sinew and nerves as well
    The collected remains proved to be far sturdier than any material. Lug stole the bones of Karkrak from one of Narg’s caravans and tested their strength against steel armor. He clubbed a breastplate, reducing it to dust with a single blow. The older the Kel, the more durable the body. He searched the caravan for any other remains and ordered a large amount of his and any of Floon’s surviving forces to excavate the ground. With the bones at his disposal, he started to work on a new fortress.
    After a long and fruitless chase, Narg returned to find the battlefield and his caravans in the process of being picked clean. In a blind rage, he attacked the looters, retrieving most of his possessions. The trail of stolen loot led to a dig site. As Narg prepared to slaughter the busy workers, Lug managed to catch Narg’s attention with a sharp whistle, morphing his anger into confusion. The excavators armed themselves in that brief moment, leaving both clans on equal terms. Though Lug knew he held a superior weapon to Narg, the chieftain knew his rival would be better suited as a temporary ally. The massive collection of bones sprawled across the ground piqued Narg’s curiosity, and he started to realize there was some hidden worth to these objects.
    For the first time in Kel history, two chieftains sheathed their weapons to discuss politics. Lug led Narg to the top of a nearby hill so they could view workers. He pointed toward one standing at the rim of the dig site. The worker noticed Lug and Narg staring at him and, frozen in fear, watched as Lug hurled a white spear. The point pierced his chest, passed halfway down the shaft, and stuck firmly into the dirt. The worker, killed the moment of impact, hung limply, skewered on the spear’s shaft. His dead weight did not snap the spear. On the contrary, it slowly sliced up his upper chest, past the shoulders and through the neck, finally parting his skull in two. The weapon had not budged.
    Narg was awed by the display. Lug explained his plan to excavate the elder Kel’s bones to fortify an impenetrable citadel and craft weapons powerful enough for even the weakest wielder to slay the chieftains. The spear was Kelkrak’s spine, carved into a weapon by Lug with the help of other bones as tools. Gar and Ennok were currently battling on the other side of the lake. It was better for them to remain ignorant to this development and even better if their skirmish ended with one dead and the other severely weakened, since their remains would be necessary for building the fortress. In the meantime, they would continue craft weapons and scour the ground for more materials.
    As a token in good faith, Lug gave the bone spear to Narg, who set out to hunt Floon while his clan assisted in digging and building. After a long night of searching, he returned to his caravan, driven by the usual inexplicable desire to sort through his loot. Moments after he set the spear down, Floon slipped out of the shadows and snatched it away.
    Across the lake, the battle between Gar and Ennok waxed and