Web of Lands 2

by Brent Tyman

  “My daggers will cut them,” Lunara said as she brandished one of her knives in her hand. I smiled at that. I knew they would be fine.

  A few more combined volleys of arrows and acid balls struck the demons before the first ones got through the river to the other side. This prompted the ranged troops to fall back behind the waiting infantry.

  I could hear their guttural cries as they charged on the solid ground to meet my army. My men still shouted out their war cries and rallies, making the air buzz with activity.

  The demons could see the riders at their flanks, but I was unsure if they would do anything to counter them. Most of them spread out to cover more ground against my army that was in formation, but they were still too scattered to stop my riders.

  “Do it Utalis,” I said and the bald man nodded as he blew on a horn of his own. It was a low sound that barely stood out amongst all the noise. But the cavalry commanders had been trained to listen for it for decades.

  I saw one of the rider’s horses rear back and heard a loud distinct bellow before all the riders charged forward as one, from both sides of the demons. It was a proud sight to see as the riders lowered their spears and smashed into the demons flanks.

  I saw the bodies of many enemies fly through the air as the momentum of the horses blasted them back. Their guttural cries sounded more like whimpers as many died from the riders in mere seconds. As soon as most of the riders were engaged in combat, I looked to all those around me.

  “Come, lets do this,” I said as I donned my helmet and pulled out my battleaxe from behind me. The steel glinted in front of my eyes as I raised it high for all to see.

  “Men! Lets send these demons back to the red deep, with their tails between their legs!” I roared out with wild abandon. “For the black God. For our new home.”

  The air electrified itself in my ears as the collective roars of my men, the lizardmen and Zelenia’s children blasted all around me. I growled as I rushed forward, sprinting as fast as my legs would allow.

  I saw Lunara, Zelenia and Dryan in the corner of my eye before I lost them in a sea of black as my men caught up to me. Acid balls rushed along above me as they struck the demons that were crossing the ford as planned. I would rip apart these demons, no matter what.

  I roared as I swept by battleaxe in an arc in front of me. A clang reverberated through the air as a demon deflect my blow with its sword. Its mouth split into a wide grin as it growled at me.

  I pushed some prime into my arms as I pulled back and swung again. This time I wiped the grin off its infernal face as my battleaxe tore through its sword and sliced right into its shoulder. The demon screamed in pain as the axe kept going until I had fully dismembered its left shoulder. Black blood splattered out of its wound as I kicked the demon down with my boot and finished it with a charged stomp on its neck.

  The howls of my men spurred me on as I cut a bloody path to the river. Another demon rushed me with its sword, aimed right at my head. I quickly dodged out of the way and waited until it missed me completely before I smashed my axe into its side. The demon cried out and shuddered as its body dropped down onto the ground.

  A demon crashed into me from my side unexpectedly, and I felt my armor creak as it tried to cut me in half with its sword. I hissed as its weapon bounced off my back, but I knew another strike would cut through. I managed to keep my balance and quickly charged my arm with prime. I swung my arm with enough force that the demon blasted away from me in a splatter of blood and guts, as the strike blew out its chest. I saw steam billow out of the tiny gaps in my gauntlet.

  My reward came a moment later as pain slashed across my arm. I gripped my battleaxe in my right hand only as my left refused to obey me.

  I stepped back and had a look around as I recovered. Unlike with the battle against Zelenia’s children, my men did much better this time around. Whether that was because they were used to fighting against other races instead of creatures, I was unsure. That we had ranged troops for support, while the demons seemed to have all infantry, put us in a good advantage.

  My arm finally responded as another demon shoved aside some of my men, its eyes intent on me. It bellowed out a howl as it stabbed its twisted sword towards me. I deflected the blow with my battleaxe and saw sparks fly as the metals screeched against each other. This demon was fast, as it struck again and again, which left me little time to counter.

  Its mouth parted, and I saw needle-like teeth as it snarled at me with even greater intensity. Just as I was about to charge up more prime to blow it away, the demon's face went slack. A long black spike erupted from one side of its head, connected to a tail on the other.

  As the body curled to the ground, my eyes followed the tail until it reached the rump of the exquisite Zelenia. She had a smirk on her face as she twirled a thin sword in her hand effortlessly.

  “These demons are nothing,” Zelenia called out as her tail quickly retreated and pierced another demon next to her. I blinked and shook my head to clear my thoughts. If I let myself get too distracted, I would end up admiring her form too long instead of fighting these demons.

  While I sliced my battleaxe through another demon's skull that happened to be engaged in a fight against one of my men, I spotted some familiar forms amongst the sea of red and black.

  Dryan cut off a demon's head from the neck with a decisive strike with his dual blades. I could hear a small whirl in the air as the head went flying off a few meters away. Lyan was with him as he hacked through a demon, almost cutting it in half with his long sword. The black blood of the demon splattered all over his armor, and I saw Lyan’s face turn into a frown as he spit out the blood that touched his lips.

  Utalis would likely be near the archers, as he loved to use his bow more than anything else. No doubt some arrows that arced over the battlefield were loosed by him personally.

  There were a few fireballs that crashed into the demons on the other side of the river. We had some truth sayers with us, but like it was with the battle against the Vulenchians, most were apprentices. The seniors had spread themselves around Fulgrem and were too engrossed in their research to care about a demon invasion. Sometimes I could partly understand Dryan’s gross dislike for them.

  The best mage we had was Eliandra, and she would likely be coordinating the truth sayers if she was not fighting in the battle directly.

  I could not see Lunara anywhere, but no doubt she had already struck down several demons with her daggers alone. Tessa was absent too, but that was to be expected, given her ability.

  A demon struck me right on my shin as it crouched from a wide swing I aimed for his side. The metal creaked and groaned, but before it could pull back, I charged prime into the other leg and kicked the demon right between the legs. It howled as my boot tore through its flesh as it blasted backward to smash into more of its kin. No doubt it was near death if the blow did not kill it outright.

  As I watched another volley of acid balls streak across the air above me, followed by the giant stones of the trebuchets, a guttural roar resounded across the whole battlefield.

  I looked around for the source of the noise before I saw something that shocked me to the core.

  In the distance was a black shape, far taller than the sea of red that surrounded it. It dashed across the ford in the river with lighting speed, avoiding all the acid balls that splashed around it.

  I blinked and saw the shape rise up into the air and crash hard into the middle of my men that stood in a cluster. The resulting tremor shook the very ground I stood on, and my eyes widened as I watched my men’s bodies scatter all around the impact site.

  What the hell was that? Was it a weapon that the demons possessed?

  The answer came soon after as the shape rose to its full height, almost three times my own height, as it towered over the battlefield.

  It was a demon. And not just any demon, it was a high demon.

  It had giant wings on its back, but that was the only real similarity to the Ly
nic demons. Its horns were shaped like a crown on its head, with green eyes that practically glared at anything it looked at.

  I could tell that it had broad muscles underneath its black armor, which almost covered it from chest to feet. It looked incredibly heavy, yet it had sped across the fray in mere moments. That meant it was a powerful foe.

  This had to be Gertz, there was no question about it.

  As if the destruction he had caused already wasn't enough, Gertz raised up a wicked battleaxe of his own, almost the size of me, and smashed it into my surrounding troops.

  The carnage was devastating as he carved a path through the center of the battlefield, striking down man after man. The screams of my men as they breathed their last made me shiver involuntarily.

  I had to stop him, now.

  The Lynic demons followed their leader as the bodies of my men piled up. If this continued, they would have a straight path to the archers, Ralasks and siege engines.

  I gripped my battleaxe and charged prime into both my legs. The extra power allowed me to sprint across the battlefield, and I readied my axe to slice open Gertz’s head. It was the only part of him not protected by armor.

  As I flew through the air and was just about to crash into him, Gertz’s fist smashed into my chest and I howled as the air rushed out of my lungs in an instant. The pain coursed through my whole body as my back struck the ground hard moments later.

  The blow dazed me as my vision blurred with many shapes. I slid my helmet off my head as fast as I could, then coughed out blood to the ground beneath me.

  Gertz’s had literally just swatted me away like a fly. Gods, how powerful was he?

  I spat out more blood as my senses returned. That's when large footsteps resounded in my ears.

  “Ah here we are,” a deep voice said. “The Frostburnian king I have heard about. I expected you to be taller.”

  I looked up to see Gertz as he peered down at me with his massive height advantage.

  The fact that he knew I was from Frostburn alarmed me, as well as my status as a king. How could he know these things?

  “Come, get up. I wish to see you bleed more,” Gertz urged as he kicked me in the side. A boot with the strength of a high demon was more than enough power to tear right through my armor. I yelled out as more pain mingled in my body.

  “Fucking demon,” I said as I rolled away and charged prime along my whole body. This allowed me to pick myself up and face my foe.

  Gertz’s head tilted as he examined me, his red demonic face twisted in what I suspected was glee.

  “I’ve killed many kings in my time, but there’s something about you,” Gertz said as he raised a hand to scratch his neck. “Ah yes! The one with the renegade God inside him. I will enjoy crushing both you and it from this world.”

  I had no time to think about his words as he raised his twisted sword to strike me down. I had dropped my battleaxe when I fell earlier, so I had nothing to defend his blow against.

  Charging my body with more prime, I rolled out of his first strike and grabbed a sword from a nearby corpse. It was from one of my fallen men and I gritted my teeth as I raised it high to deflect his neck blow.

  I could feel my arm almost snap off me as Gertz struck my sword with such force that the blade shattered in half. I looked my useless weapon dumbly for a moment before dodging back from another of his blows.

  This would not work, I needed all the strength I could muster.

  Gertz’s seemed more amused than anything else. I could tell he was swinging his sword around half heartedly and was almost playing with me. This showed me exactly the lengths I needed to go to kill this demon fuck.

  I released unmitigated, raw prime to channel all across my body, leaving not a simple limb untouched. Power coursed me and I roared out a guttural sound as I rushed Gertz with incredible speed. I saw his eyes widen for a moment and his sword swung in my direction.

  It was far too slow and before he was even halfway through his swing, my fist connected with his left shoulder, which blasted his arm clean off. I barely stopped myself from crashing into him as his body went flying towards his fellow demons.

  I could not spare a second to even look at the state of Gertz as the use of my power demanded pain.

  And pain I got. I hissed as I got to my knees and cradled my right arm. The top of my gauntlet was crushed and flattened while I had ruined the rest of it. The metal had taken on so much punishment that I doubted it would protect me from a dagger, let alone Gertz’s sword.

  I looked up and saw that ever since Gertz’s had talked to me, the rest of his fellow kin left us alone. They had pointedly avoided both me and their leader by creating a ring around us that was empty, save for the bodies of my men and a few demons.

  Gertz himself had crushed many of his kin when I blasted him off with my blow. Through the pain that lanced through me, I saw that he was still alive, and slowly got up. My eyes widened as he looked at his missing arm as if it was a mere annoyance more than anything else.

  “Haha, I have not had to do this for a while,” Gertz said as he turned his head to grin at me. I was about to ask what he meant by that when my mouth gaped open at what I saw next.

  The bleeding wound where his arm used to be suddenly morphed. It was like the black blood that poured out of it had somehow gained sentience as it rebuilt his arm in mere moments. I watched with both fascination and terror as Gertz tested out his new arm by making a few fists.

  “Now, where were we?” Gertz asked as he stepped towards me, with no visible sign of my attack any longer.

  I stood back up on my feet shakily as I contemplated my next move. This reminded me when I had my fight with Andra. Back then, I was faced with a foe that seemed impossible to defeat, but here I was. I would not bow down to fear, I would fight until I crushed Gertz’s head between my fingers.

  I threw any semblance of limits away as I charged up again. As Gertz sauntered towards me, it gave me more time to charge up even further than before.

  “Die already,” I roared as I rushed him and smashed my left fist into his chest. My blow made him bleed, but he was less fazed overall. I did not penetrate much of his skin like before, only his armor.

  Gertz’s laughed as he smashed his own fist onto my shoulder and I hissed as I fell to my knees once more. I saw in the corner of my eye that his blow left a deep imprint into my armor and it creaked as he raised the fist up to slam me in the head no doubt.

  I still had power coursing through me and I reverted it all into my right fist as I struck his knee. I could feel the demons bones crack on my knuckles as Gertz’s was once again blown back.

  Gertz’s sailed through the air and landed on his stomach, but he was nowhere near injured as I wanted. He pulled himself back up and waited patiently with a grin as his leg knitted itself back together.

  Was this the result of his mage powers? Instead of using powerful attack spells, he focused his prime on healing himself? If this was the case, it made sense why he had used no magic against me.

  The pain was unbearable now, almost as if it had permanently become part of my existence. The main problem was that it made thinking about my next steps all the more harder. I had to think of a better way to face this threat.

  That's when it came to me, Zelenia. Her own strength was considerable, but if she commanded all the Ralasks to drop acid balls on Gertz, I doubted he could heal that much damage.

  The problem was that Zelenia was no doubt either amidst her own battle or too far away to help. I doubted even roaring out her name would get her to hear me amongst all the fighting.

  The bond! Reska had mentioned I had a prime bond with Zelenia, so maybe I could call her through that.

  I focused all my attention to my prime and tried to pick out any link to Zelenia. I typically never looked at my prime this way, as there was no real benefit since I could release it into my body. Studying how prime worked was more something that the truth sayers practiced.

  All I could
see was a raging inferno that was my prime, ceaseless and endless. There was no order to it at all, and trying to find anything in it was a waste of time.

  It was only when I glanced at the wider picture did I see it, a small string of prime, which touched the inferno ever so slightly. I focused all of my being to activate that string and saw it vibrate in my mind.

  I had no real idea if that worked at all, and now I had no more time to dwell on that. Gertz’s walked towards me slowly and I knew that he would tire of playing games with me soon and finish me for good.

  A melody lightly caressed my ears, and my thoughts drifted to the sword on my belt. The black sword that I had used in my fight against Andra. I had not even thought about it once for many days, and now it seemed I was forced to use it again. Perhaps I should have used it earlier when I lost my battleaxe, but I knew in my heart that I hated this weapon. I loathed what it represented and somewhere down the line; I vowed I would only use it in times of great need. I supposed now was that time.

  I griped the hilt of the sword and the melody blasted along my ear canals and felt like it was emanating from my temples. I let out a short hiss as I pulled the sword from its scabbard, and the black blade seemed to absorb all the surrounding light.

  Gertz’s paused at this new development as his eyes ran over my sword. He tilted his head in thought as if unsure what to make of it.

  Before he could open his mouth to make a snide comment, I charged prime into my arm and threw the sword right at his chest. The blade sliced through the air and tore into his flesh. My arm shuddered from the pain, but I grinned as the blade had hit its mark.

  The demon howled for a moment and quickly gripped the hilt of the sword that protruded from his chest. My grin quickly evaporated as Gertz easily pulled the sword free from him.

  “The ceaseless strain of mortals as they try everything to stop the inevitable, it's so amusing,” Gertz said as he held the sword in his hand. He ran his eyes the black blade and smirked.

  “This weapon, so unique, so powerful,” Gertz’s said before he grabbed a hold of the blade with his hand and struck it over his knee. I blinked as I expected the blade to snap before my eyes. But to my surprise, Gertz howled as it sunk into his flesh instead, and he quickly dropped it to the ground. The sword clattered in front of him and I saw the demon shiver as he ran a hand over the wound the sword created.