LOGINShare
Chapter 14
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56The blast of the horn echoed throughout the camp and horse soldiers came out dressed in their armor, holding shields, foot soldiers carried spears with their shields, archers led by their captain Angus dressed in dark red cloaks held their bows in their hands tested the taut bowstring and adjusted the arrows in their quivers, captains ran through the camp hurrying squires about their duties. The squires carried swords and shields to their master, carrying also the bridle for their horses.
Octavius stood before his armor rack and ran his hand over the same armor his father had used before in many battles, although some additional protection had been added over time, it was beautiful and strong. He began to remove the pieces off the rack and put them on with the help of a squire when he caught sight of an image on the breastplate of the armor. The red tunic of a voluptuous woman was vivid and as she came forward his heart dropped. It was Ashterah.
She sensed his discomfort and smiled reveling in how uneasy he had become. She looked at the squire who had fallen to the ground on his knees with his head bowed, she flicked her hand at him in dismissal and at once he ran out of the tent. She turned her attention to Octavius who went back to putting his armor on while his heart beat a heavy staccato against his ribs.
"Octavius of Camele," she drawled slowly making her way towards him with a sassy sway in her hips. Her tunic moved against her body revealing a slit that exposed her curvy right thigh. She came up behind him and laid her nose upon his naked neck inhaling deeply. Octavius bent his heart and caught sight of her eyes staring into his soul through the armor's reflective metal. While her body was warm and soft against his her eyes were angry, blazing with fury. His heartbeat increased at the sight of her anger.
"Ashterah."
She opened her mouth against the skin of his flesh, dragging her teeth against the flesh. Octavius held himself still as she continued with whatever it was she was doing. He feared he would anger her if he made any move to escape her. When she opened her eyes it was no longer the usual vibrant blue, it was a fiery red that matched her hair, her hair lifted from her shoulders away from her neck.
"I am not helping you because I am happy with you mortal man, you have been disrespectful to me. I help you because when we win this war the people will offer more sacrifices to me." She tilted his head back against her shoulder something made easy because she was as tall as he was, she exposed his neck to her gaze and sank her fangs into the flesh of his neck. Octavius jerked at the pain that ripped through his body at her mercilessness. On the onslaught of pain, he felt her release some powers into his bloodstream, his body turned stronger, his heartbeat slowed to a point where he almost felt lifeless, his canines grew longer and he began to thirst for blood.
Ashterah released him and laughed at the sight of his now red eyes. She knew that at this point he hungered for her blood. It was an old ritual of mating that would have been completed if she let him drink from her but as he turned his head towards her neck she pulled back and kissed his lips, careful to avoid his teeth.
"You don't get to drink from me, mortal man. I will have you and then you will drink from me."
Octavius kissed her lips feverishly and she held on to him tightly kissing him with as much fever until she shuddered with pleasure. She laughed against his lips and set him back, ran her fingers against his handsome face before disappearing.
Octavius swayed on his feet, he felt like he had lost his bearings, he took deep breaths and his eye color became blue again with a tinge of red around his irises an effect of the power Ashterah had temporarily released in him. His head swarm as he realized how he had heatedly kissed Ashterah.
Guilt floored him, rooted him to the spot as he thought about Emilia. His heart ached but he pushed his guilt to a hidden corner of his heart when he heard footsteps approaching his tent.
Angus burst into his tent, his cloak billowing behind him. He dropped his cowl and stood before his brother.
"Your men are waiting."
Octavius nodded and finished putting on the remaining pieces of his armor. He placed his helm over his head, took hold of his sword by the hilt, and slid it into the sheath by his waist. Angus bowed slightly and led the way out of the tent.
The men were gathered in the camp all dressed and ready to do battle. Octavius went to their midst and raised his sword, all the men raised their weapons and yelled a battle cry. From the enemy camp, the enemy was already approaching the Camelorn border so Octavius directed the captains to march their troops to position. Battle absorbers marched in front of the troops holding shields to protect them with, behind them were some foot soldiers with spears ready to attack, centurions fell in behind the foot soldiers with their swords and shields, the horse soldiers were the last in the main formation.
Moving towards the north of the troops were the archers who moved behind boulders and other obstacles previously set up by lower-ranking soldiers where they will shoot burning arrows at them thereby slowing down the enemy army.
Octavius looked up and with the powers given to him by Ashterah he saw the war goddess rise above the entire army, her golden quiver slung over her shoulder to her back filled with golden arrows, her golden bow was set firmly in her hands. Beside her was her half-brother Nukis god of destruction ready with his thunderbolts, a power given to him by his father Robos; Horoda, goddess, and ruler of powers under the earth with her golem army set to rain heavy blows on the enemy. Horoda whirled, her bluish hair floated in the air around her, she tinged an ethereal blue as she rose dirt off the earth, molding them into huge golem only he could see. The golems whose eyes were the same blue hers waited for her command. Horoda and Nukis looked to Ashterah who snapped her fingers giving the signal for the battle to start.
She whispered into Octavius's ears "I will deal with the gods of Amire, lead your army into battle and win"
Octavius nodded and looked towards the enemy who was quickly approaching, he looked towards the squire carrying the battle horn and nodded.
The horn went off loud and long and the Camelorn troop advanced.
Related chapters
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 15
The battle raged on and on for months, new soldiers joined the army as more men dropped dead, and with every passing Camelornian victory Octavius hungered for more. It was a feeling he could not explain, he wanted to shed more blood, wanted to see more of the enemy bleed to death. He sliced through the belly of a heavily armored Amires soldier with his sword, he reveled at the sight of him bleeding to death. He used his shield to push another soldier off his horse and watched as he dropped to the floor, the soldier's helmet came off revealing a heavily bleeding head. Octavius watched the blood drip and licked at his lips. Something was wrong with him and he couldn't put a finger on it, all he knew was he was suddenly a battle machine tearing through the enemy army, killing and hungering for more death. Garius, Angus, Festus, and the rest of the captains fought just as hard behind him. With unrelenting strength they fought as hard as the Amires, dealing a heavy blow to their
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 16
More days passed, more months, and then a year before the Amires surrendered to the Camelornians and then a half year later the Camelornian army packed up, counted their dead and buried them, put their loots together, and broke camp. Weary but victorious the men marched all the way home. Octavius, now twenty, sported a shadow of a beard, his once young, teenage, inexperienced body was a form of hard muscles, and his skin was darkened by the hot desert heat. Angus, now 17 was taller, he grew his hair so long it was past his shoulders and he held it back with a twine, his shoulders were broader, and though he still had his laughing, twinkling eyes his face no longer held youthful innocence. As the men approached the kingdom Garius moved his horse to walk beside his crown prince. He studied him with both worry and pride. Octavius had performed his duties beyond his expectation, had been in battles, and seen young princes fall behind their soldiers for fear for their liv
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 17
The feasts for the return of the soldiers continued for days and even on to the wedding feasts of Octavius and his bride. Noblemen and women of Intavia came to honor the princess as she was joined to her hero. Octavius in his newly decorated robe stood waiting at the temple, the men; priests, nobles, and royalties, waited for Emilia and the women were to accompany her. All the people of the kingdom were gathered, singing and dancing, eating and drinking. It was an opportunity for the beggars to fill their bellies with the finest food and an avenue for thieves to satisfy their hands. Precious pieces of jewelry disappeared from noble hands into the pockets of thieves. The women who had been preparing Emilia emerged and began a long procession to the steps of the temple. Ilena walked beside her princess with smiles on her face. Emilia had a wreath of white flowers resting on her head and her long blonde hair was blew gently in the light wind. At the sight of the beautif
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 18
14 years later… "Call my son, I want to speak with him," the king said in a low croaky tone. "Which of them, my king?" the priest asked as he bowed low. "Octavius." The priest bowed and left King Philip's presence. He stepped into the passage where Octavius stood with his wife Emilia by this side, beside them was Angus in his red cloak, the official archery uniform, the king's court stood with them at the passage with heads bowed down. At the sight of the priest, Octavius gently uncurled Emilia's fingers from around his arm and approached the old man. "How is he?" he asked the priest in a low voice. "He wants to see you, my prince," the priest responded. At the look of hesitation on Octavius' face he added "It's alright, my lord, the king is not contagious." Octavius nodded and let the priest lead him to the room. The room was darkened, the heavy curtains were drawn close, the atmosphere in the room was heavy also very heavy as
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 19
He hurried into his chambers, walked briskly to his trunk by the window, and threw the lid open forcefully. He rummaged through it and pulled out the old black cloak he was looking for, he dusted it and laid it on the bed before taking off his robe and putting it on. Suddenly a knock came at the door and before he could respond a maid walked in with her head bowed slightly. She approached him cautiously. "What do you want?" Octavius demanded. "My lord, the queen has sent me to keep you company and to see to it that I provide you with anything you may need" "I don't need your company. Go" "She is worried you might put yourself in danger." "Go!" The maid raised her head and with a raise of her brows and a coy smile moved closer undeterred by the murderous look Octavius had on his face. Angus and some other lecherous guards were the cause of this sort of boldness from the palace maids. They always did things like this when they th
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 20
Ashterah dropped him back in his chambers at least this time she dropped him carefully on his feet, a pleasant change from the way she had dropped him the first time she had taken him to her temple on Mount Kpamos. He went quickly to the washroom to look for the dead body and found it empty save from the towels he had used to cover it and even they no longer had blood on them, in place of the blood was Ashterah’s emblem. He sighed and hung the towels back and couldn’t help but wonder again what he did to warrant the unwanted attraction of an obsessed goddess. There were sudden voices in the hall and he quickly closed the washroom door, entered the main chamber, and donned his purple robe over his cloak just as soon as a quiet knock sounded on the door.
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 21
The alarm sounded throughout the castle early the next morning and the rushing sound of feet echoed down the hall. Emilia stirred softly beside Octavius. She had slipped into his room during the night after he stormed off the dining room. She had quietly entered the room, slipped off her tunic, and slid under the covers with him with hopes of comforting however way she could but Octavius couldn’t even bring himself to touch her especially not with the hands he had used to cradle Ashterah’s neck as he drank from her. Of course the conniving bitch had enjoyed it and had seized the opportunity to explore his body until she decided he had had enough. Even when Emilia had wrapped her arms around him and his body responded he held himself still.
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 22
Emilia woke up to find Octavius’s bed empty. Like she had been doing in the past few days she snuck into his room to lay beside him. He wasn’t the same as he used to be and she couldn’t put a finger on when exactly he had changed but she knew the death of his father coupled with Festus’s accusation had hit him hard and in her bid to comfort him she always snuck into his room late at night to lay with him. Sometimes he would be awake but pretend not to be while other times he would be fast asleep but before long he would wake up like he was troubled and at times like this he would either stand by the window to look out or take a walk and she never knew where he went only that when he came back his feet would be cold so her guess was he took walks outside. As she touched the bed around her to confirm that he was indeed no
Latest chapter
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Author's note
I have now come to the end of book one of my Cursed by the gods series. It has been a long journey I'm not gonna lie. I lost commitment along the way of writing this book, lost inspiration, even changed the plan I initially had for it. I am really glad that I got to finish it and if you stayed till the end I just want to say thank you for even choosing this book in the first place. I will start with the second book as soon as possible and do my best to make that one better. I hope I have been able to tell you a good story dear readers and once again I thank you for reading Cursed by the gods. Thank you.
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 123
Octavius stepped back at the sight of the change that came over the brother whom he thought he knew. "What do you mean Angus? Don't do anything stupid I beg you by the gods." Angus laughed as he reached into his robe. "I am not doing anything stupid. This is something that should have been done a long time ago. I am doing the gods a favor. I am doing Camelorn a favor by saving then from the one person who has caused many troubles on them." Octavius kept his eyes locked on Angus' and as soon as his hand came out from behind his robe he knew there was no use fighting. Angus thought of everything. In his hand was a dagger with a golden liquid covering it. It was the Mekai. The one liquid that was known to kill gods and make them wandering souls. "You really want to do this?" Angus approached him. From the corner of his eyes tears fell from Octavius eyes. He knew this was the end, knew this was all his life was coming to and in that last mom
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 122
Cleopoda ran hastily down the hall, her legs barely touched the ground as she ran. She feared that one of the people in the library knew she had been there and may come for her. Tears threatened to blind her as she went. Who would believe that Uncle Angus took so many years to plan his own brother's downfall? The same Uncle Angus who loved her when no one else did, the same one who brother food to her when she was younger, the same one who risked war with an enemy nation to see that she was brought back home. How can the man in the library be the same Uncle Angus? Some part of her was glad that Father would be stripped of his power as King of Camelorn, the other part of her heart broke for him. He loved his brother very much yet that brother planned for years on how best to take his kingdom away from him. She felt sad for him but her anger at his treatment of her over these years threatened to overcome her pity for him. Uncle Angus even knew of Amelia's infidel
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 121
Cleopoda ran down the length of the hall looking for Angus. It was amazing what one declaration from the mouth of a prince could do. Since Uncle Angus made that declaration of her royalty in the morning the servants had treated her with a little more dignity even though they were still wary of her.She wasn't used to having any servant look at her with anything besides disdain, as though she was a common thing stuck to the bottom of their sandals, and curiosity. Now some even bowed slightly. Even Demeris seemed to acknowledge her presence when she stopped in the kitchen for some food for Ajun.As she walked the length of the hall ignoring the soldiers who stood guard she looked from side to side hoping to catch a glimpse of her beloved uncle. She was just about to give up searching for him when she heard his voice coming from the library. She stopped in her tracks listened to be sure it was indeed Uncle Angus. Sure enough, it was he.The door of the
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 120
Octavius raised his hands to silence the people who only yelled more, pumping their fists in the air as they shouted. Octavius looked helplessly at the angry faces as they demanded that he open the gates so they can destroy the temple or do something about their predicament. They spoke simultaneously and loudly that he could not hear a single word.Taking a deep breath he raised his voice high above the din. "People of Camelorn what is it you want?"The replied all at once. Octavius' ears hurt at their shouts. He took another breath and shouted louder."I can not hear what you all are saying and as such can not respond to your complaints. If you may please chose someone to speak for everyone."It was an impossible task. They were an angry mob and everyone wanted to represent the crowd. After much time had been wasted with much pushing and fighting the people finally chose a certain merchant who held a little girl in his arms. He held her
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 119
Even before the day started Octavius already knew it would be a day he would dread. It started with Asterah visiting him, draining even ounce of his strength before the day even began. How the goddess could never be satisfied with sex he would never know. He was glad that he was able to please her this time. But as soon as she left him and he heard the knock on the door he knew his bad day was about to get worse.It was Angus who knocked. He wore a light tunic and over it was his royal robe of dark blue with the coat of arms of Camelorn sewn below its shoulder."Brother," Octavius greeted, doing his best to sound formal and regal. "You look well."Angus entered the room."You look terrible," he chuckled. Octavius laughed too but in his heart, he knew that he was indeed a miserable man. He picked himself from his bed and drew his robe around his shoulders with a show of confidence."Any news from Amire?" He asked Angus."Much news. They w
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 118
Cleopoda looked at a sleeping Ajun at the foot of her bed. The palace was quiet at this time of the morning, it was just before dawn but she was already awake. In fact, she couldn't sleep throughout the night because her mind was troubled. Since her return to the palace a week ago there had been changes. The servants were still the same as ever, eyeing her curiously and wondering why she should be allowed to live in the palace but there was a bit of respect for her too because Uncle Angus had commanded that she should be treated like royalty. She still had to cover her head and eyes when moving about the palace, especially when she had to go to the kitchen or the washrooms to hide the allure that drew people to her. But these things weren't troubling her, what was the fact that she had seen someone who didn't belong in the palace creeping around. Her surprise at seeing him there had held her rooted to the ground especially when she had seen from whose room he was coming from.
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 117
Days after they left the Summer Palace to Camelorn the tension was still high in the atmosphere. The talk and fear of war increased drastically and words of it were whispered from soldier to soldier and servant to servant. Cleopoda remained in her room because Angus told her to. She knew he feared that if she ever ran into her father, Octavius in the halls he would send her back to the temple or someplace where he may never find her again. Father never visited her and neither did his new wife, Amelia and it hurt her but by now she was used to his lack of concern for her. She wanted nothing more than to see Mama Remin and Strukus, maybe even pay a visit to Zenas at the temple if he was still there but she was to remain within the walls of the room Angus had the servants prepare for her. She shared her room with Ajun who did nothing more than to eat and sleep and read the books Angus sent to her through the servants, they were folklore with sketched pictures. The boy barely had storie
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 116
"What have you done Angus! I sent you to Amire to congratulate our new comrade and you went to stare up trouble! The king of Amire has sent messengers promising war." He turned hateful eyes to her and glared at her with so much venom that made her want to sink to the ground and die. "And what is this cursed child doing here in my palace?!" Shocked Angus moved to shield Cleopoda from his brother's hateful glare. He had not expected Octavius to be here. He had planned to hide out here and plan the next way to let his brother know he brought back his daughter. "What are you doing here, Octavius? I thought you were at the palace in Camelorn" "Angus answer my question, I did not come here to trade petty words with you. What is this cursed child doing here?" There was no way he could distract his brother decided to be blunt. "Your child!" "Not my child! I did not birth evil. How dare you bring her here? Do you not know she possesses ev
