King of Ends

  KING OF ENDS

  Book Two of the Endworld Saga

  Sam Ryder

  Copyright 2019 David Estes

  Kindle Edition, License Notes

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Good times

  I always hated it when my day didn’t go as planned.

  But as I hung upside-down from the talons of the massive Yippin, my ears stinging from the sharp screech echoing from its formidable beak, the blood rushing to my head reminded me I had much bigger problems on my hands.

  Our foursome—me, Gehn, Hannah, and our newest member, Belenie—were traversing the empty wasteland desert on our way to Paris, the Ender capital in the Ends. Two Enders, Gehn and Belenie, once humans who had suffered mutations on account of the radiation from the nuclear Blast that had destroyed most of the United States. And two humans, Hannah—Gehn’s sister—and I.

  Less than two minutes ago we’d heard a screech in the distance. For some reason, none of us thought there were any Yippins in this area.

  We were dead wrong.

  The radiation from the Blast hadn’t mutated only humans, but also other animals. Who knew which creature these Yippins originated from, but they certainly didn’t resemble their original form any more. The massive, hulking beast had a wingspan the length of a dining room table. Its feathers were the length of my arm. Perhaps they originated from eagles? Who knew? Who cared? Not me, that was for damn sure—the thing was contemplating eating me for dinner.

  Its head was lizard-like, scaly and narrow. The tongue of a snake flicked in and out as it licked its chops over its potential meal—me.

  While we’d hiked along, discussing Gehn’s strange visions of blood-drenched doom, the sound of powerful flapping wings had hit our ears just a moment too late. The bastard dove from the cloud cover with reckless abandon, plowing into me like a linebacker laser-focused on an unprotected quarterback.

  Of course, I wasn’t a quarterback, though I’d played through high school and college—tight end. Which meant I could take a big fucking hit and dole out a few of my own too. This Yippin was another story. I’d take a hit from an NFL linebacker over this motherfucker any day. The impact knocked my two best friends, my six-shooters, Alpha and Beta, from their holsters and punched the air from my lungs. Before I could lunge to retrieve them, the beast swooped back toward me, wrapping its knife-like talons around my ankles, and yanking me skyward.

  I should’ve been thinking purely about survival, but instead my first thought was for the three women I traveled with. “Run!” I shouted to them, even as the Yippin soared higher and higher, hauling me with it. Hanging upside-down, I saw them sprinting for cover, casting headlong looks up and back at me, helpless to save me.

  Nope. If I was going to get out of this little predicament, I’d have to handle it myself.

  Easier said than done.

  Before I knew it, I was hundreds of feet in the air, the pressure building in my ears. The view of the Ends might’ve been stunning—hell, I could even make out Paris in the distance—if not for the fact that I was dangling upside down from my ankles and about to be devoured by a creature thrice as big as me.

  The Yippin’s claws dug into my ankles, drawing blood that ran up my leg—or should I say down? Directions meant little at the moment.

  Where the hell is he taking me? I wondered. Then I had a thought: what if the “he” was really a “she”? She could be a mother with a brood of little bloodthirsty Yippins in nest somewhere. Perhaps I wasn’t just her meal but the entire family’s meal.

  I have to admit: that scared the living shit out of me. It also got my brain and adrenaline working again. I needed to act quickly if I was going to get out of this thing and give Gehn’s visions the chance to come to fruition.

  I glanced up at the beast, who didn’t seem to have a care in the world. I was no throat. Yeah, I’d been underestimated before. I clenched my ab muscles, lifting myself up toward the beast and simultaneously snatching my only remaining weapon—my dagger—which was strapped to my thigh. Clutching the weapon, I slashed at one of the creature’s talons while grabbing its leg with my opposite hand. With an angry squawk of protest, the Yippin snapped forward and down, landing a glancing blow with its beak that opened up a long gash in my forehead, the blood dripping from my eyelashes.

  My vision blurred for a second, but I blinked back the clarity, still gripping its ankle. Then I slashed again. This time the blade sunk deeper and I felt the creature’s grip slacken. I used that against it, prying myself from its grip while continuing to hack away. All of a sudden, gravity returned and became my worst enemy, threatening to drag my hundreds of feet to certain death as I would be crushed against the unforgiving ground below. My opposite arm, however—the one gripping the Yippin’s leg—refused to relinquish its grip. I resheathed my knife and used my other arm to assist the first, hauling myself up like I was climbing a rope at basic training.

  The Yippin swooped hard left, scrabbling with its talons to regain its grip on me. I took a couple of nasty slashes, but nothing that would kill me, and climbed higher, away from immediate danger.

  I was just beneath the bird’s undercarriage now, and managed to grab a fistful of feathers.

  Slowly but surely, I dragged myself up on top of the beast like a cowboy riding a royally pissed off bull at the rodeo.

  Oh boy, it did not like that.

  Nope, not at all.

  It pretty much went nuts, flapping its wings furiously and trying to twist its head around to snap at me. Oh shit, I thought as the head rotated a full one hundred and eighty degrees. Its beak lanced at me, snapping, but I managed to duck and all it got was a mouthful of its own feathers. Ha, eat that. The Yippin brought its head back around, changing tact. It cut hard left, then right, trying to dislodge me, but I clutched its feathers with all I had, hoping they wouldn’t break off under the strain. At the same time, I inched my way forward, trying to get closer to its long neck so I could prevent it from getting at me again.

  The bird went into a barrel roll, the world rotating like I was on a rollercoaster performing a gravity-defying loop-de-loop. When the animal righted itself once more, I made my move, once more gripping it with one hand while drawing my knife. Given our height, I had to be cautious. I couldn’t kill it
too quickly or I’d sign my own death warrant. I needed to be smart.

  I drove my knife, point first, into its throat.

  It was a killing stroke, but I was sure to hold the dagger in place tightly, thus preventing the blood from pouring out. Still, a fair bit gushed from the edges of the blade, soaking my hand and the surrounding feathers.

  The beast lost its shit at that point. It started bucking in midair like it really was a bull, snapping back at me, just missing, its eyes filled with red rage. A gush of its breath washed over me—stale and rotting and nearly making me gag.

  It was starting to descend now, from the pain perhaps, or simply because it thought if it dropped me off on solid ground I might leave it alone. Not sure. In any case, I was ready to take things to the next level.

  So I pulled the dagger out, a geyser of blood erupting from the mortal wound and hitting me full in the face. Yum. Luckily my mouth was closed though I still tasted copper on my lips. Its descent grew more erratic as I slammed my dagger into its body once more, twisting this time for maximum pain. It began to spiral out of control like a disabled helicopter.

  Brace for impact, Cutter. This won’t be pretty.

  Leaving the dagger embedded in its throat, I gripped the back of the massive bird with both hands as well as my knees, riding the animal to the ground.

  The ground arrived faster than expected, and I only hoped that this stupid beast would act as a high-impact airbag to absorb the blow, or we’d both be dead.

  It did, but even still the impact nearly knocked me out. I let go of his throat just as we hit the ground. The Yippin’s body drove deep into the soil, and I bounced off its back and flew forward recklessly. There were downed trees and branches in front of me—soft grass was a rarity out here in the wastelands. I aimed for a patch that still had some leaves, though they were brittle and brown. I hit them hard, the branches scraping at my face as I tried to protect my skull with my arms.

  I missed the tree trunk by less than an inch, though I felt it rush past, slamming into my leg which made an unnatural cracking sound. I landed on my arm and rolled hard to try to absorb the impact. Even still, it was like a Tyson knockout punch back when he was the heavyweight champ. I came to rest clear of the foliage I’d gone straight through, leaving broken branches and a cluster of leaves behind me.

  I stared up at the blue sky for a few moments, catching my breath and taking an internal inventory of how I felt. I figured the impact probably broke something, my leg probably, maybe also cracking a rib or two. But other than that, I felt, well, okay, which was more than the Yippin could say. Not being dead was awesome considering the precarious position I’d been in just a minute earlier.

  Hopefully Belenie has enough in her to mend some bones, I thought. If we hadn’t met the Ender healer, I don’t know how many days or weeks I might be laid up waiting for my body to recover.

  Right on cue, the women appeared, running toward me full tilt, concern on their faces.

  “Who’s hungry?” I asked, managing a weak grin.

  They all exhaled in relief.

  “We thought you were dead,” Hannah said. “You should be dead, Cutter.”

  I pulled myself into a seated position, grunting in pain. As expected, at least one rib felt broken, and I had trouble catching my breath.

  “Nah, it’ll take more than a Yippin to finish me off. I’m the chosen one from Gehn’s dreams, remember?” It was meant to be a joke, but Gehn’s eyes widened. “Kidding,” I said. “I got lucky. I think that fucker was planning to feed me to her younglings. Sorry, kids, you’ll just have to go hungry tonight.”

  Hannah shook her head. “You’re impossible sometimes.”

  “Hey, Belenie,” I said. “Any chance you’re up for some bone mending? My ribs are hurting something fierce, and my leg felt like it was smashed against a tree trunk...oh wait, it was.”

  She half-smiled at me. “Always,” she said. “Let’s fix you up. Lay down.”

  She didn’t have to tell me twice. I dropped back to a flat position on the ground. Pain shot up my side from my ribs, but I could breathe a little more freely lying down. Belenie dropped to her knees, lifting my shirt gently. She placed her hands directly on my skin and closed her eyes. Whereas Gehn had a knack for sensing danger, Belenie could sense injuries, even if unseen by the naked eye. Her hands were warm and felt good on my body.

  “I sense two broken ribs,” she said. Damn, I’m good, I thought. “And it looks like you have some open wounds on your ankles, though I don’t need my sixth sense to tell you that.”

  “Those would be from the claws,” I replied.

  She nodded. “The less said about your left leg, the better,” she commented. “It’s in terrible shape, a compound fracture.”

  “Too much for you to fix?” I asked, just a little concerned.

  “I’m not sure. It may take a few rounds with breaks in between. Plus putting it back together won’t feel very comfortable, either,” Belenie said.

  “Do what you gotta do,” I told her. “I can take it.” Pain was something I’d learned to cope with long ago. It was a matter of mind over matter, finding a way to distract yourself.

  Belenie nodded and closed her eyes tighter in concentration. She started with my rib cage, and I felt more warmth begin to flow from her fingertips even as the twin horns protruding from her dark hair began to glow bright red.

  Being healed by Belenie was the weirdest sensation. I felt the bones in my chest shift and scrape together. It hurt like hell but resolved to stay still. I didn’t want to accidentally throw off the healing process.

  Within a few seconds, the pain diminished and my ribs felt whole again. Belenie pushed gently on them to make sure, and I managed a deep, satisfying breath. “Thanks,” I grunted, still feeling a ton of pain in my shattered leg.

  “You’re welcome,” she said, though I could see the strain on her face from the effort required to repair me.

  “We can take a break,” I said.

  “Yeah,” Hannah agreed. “I can wrap his leg up so the injury won’t get any worse. Rest, Belenie, you can finish the rest later.”

  “No,” she said. “I need to at least get things started on the leg.” She slid her hands down my torso and hips to my legs. It would’ve been a titillating motion if not for the pain I was in. She fixed the surface wounds on my legs without much difficulty, then Gehn used some of our water supply to wet a cloth and clean away the blood.

  Belenie was breathing heavily now, looking slightly ill. “Can you do anything about my head?” I asked.

  She bit her lip and nodded. Gehn had moved up to my face and was dabbing away the blood, turning the cloth crimson. She cringed when she saw the extent of the damage to my forehead. “I can see bone,” she announced.

  “TMI,” I said.

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “A kiss would help though.” I was pushing my luck, but then again I was the one who’d been treated like a ragdoll by a giant bird that would’ve given a pterodactyl a run for its money back in the prehistoric age.

  She managed a grin and moistened her lips before bringing them closer to mine, pressing them against me softly, sensually. I made the pain lessen, which was exactly what I needed. Her tongue slipped into my mouth and I tasted it with my own. “Mmm,” she purred, tasting the Yippin’s blood on my lips. Seeming to realize what she’d just done, she jerked back sharply. “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

  “Hey,” I said comfortingly. “It’s fine. It doesn’t bother me. You are good. You are kind. So what if the taste of blood is good to you?”

  She didn’t look convinced, so I added, “The kiss helped me more than you know.”

  That seemed to cheer her up a little, though I could still tell she was embarrassed.

  “You ready?” Belenie asked.

  “Please.”

  “In a few seconds your forehead will be as good as knew.”

  “Wait,” I said. “Any chance you can
leave a scar?”

  She frowned, her head cocking to the side. “Why?”

  “A reminder,” I said. “Scars are reminders of what we’ve gone through, of all the things we’ve survived.”

  “Plus they’re sexy as hell,” Hannah added, smirking.

  “That, too,” I said, feeling slightly excited but her opinion.

  “Sure,” Belenie said. “I can do that. Let me concentrate.”

  We all went silent as she placed her warm hands on my head, her horns doing that glowing thing again. It didn’t hurt much, but I felt a tightening of my skin. A moment later, she said, “Done.”

  I reached up and touched my skin, which felt smooth again. “The scar?”

  “Wicked sexy,” Hannah confirmed.

  I laughed. “Care to act on that opinion?” I said, winking.

  “You have a broken leg, Cutter.”

  “The most important part isn’t broken,” I said.

  She shook her head, but I could tell she was turned on too. Adrenaline and fear could do that in the aftermath. Plus, apparently she thought my new Yippin scar was sexy. “I don’t want to hurt you. We can have plenty of fun once Belenie puts your leg back together.”

  “Deal,” I said.

  Finally, the Ender healer placed her hands on my left leg. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Bones began to shift again. I growled from the pain, and Gehn mercifully shoved a stick into my mouth to bite down on. Belenie wasn’t lying—it hurt like a bitch.

  I saw the second before she lost what strength she had left but couldn’t do anything about it. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted, landing hard on my injured leg. The pain was immense, but I was worried more about her.

  “She’ll be fine,” Hannah said, guiding Belenie’s head onto some pine nettles.

  “Don’t worry about her,” Gehn added. “You need to rest.”

  She was right, and I enjoyed the relief of being cradled in her soft lap, the cloth of her dress cozy against my cheek. “Shh,” she said, running her long fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes and drifted away.

  ~~~