by Troy Osgood
He looked up to see the great bulk of the Alikash above him, leaning over. It wasn’t falling, but not able to regain its balance yet.
It wasn’t going to work.
“Fall,” Hall pleaded, his voice pained. Everything hurt. “Just fall.”
If it didn’t, he was trapped down on the shelf. It would turn and attack his friends and the Rangers. They wouldn’t be able to stop the demon and the others. They’d die.
His Health bar flashed, near empty.
He had failed. The plan, desperate as it had been, had failed.
The Alikash shuddered, letting out a roar. It slid forward, just a foot or two, enough to put it too far over the edge. It fell forward. Hall watched as the demon came closer and closer, the few stars and moon disappearing, blocked by the Alikash. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the heavy thing land on him. There was a crash, the body hitting the side of the hill. A deep thud, shaking the whole hill. Rocks fell, crashing into the trees below. The demon roared and then an explosion of snapping trees, branches breaking. Not just branches, but trees falling. Hall could hear the loud shattering sounds.
The ground shook as the demon hit. Hall had thought the crashing of the Twisted Gale had been loud, but it was nothing compared to the demon.
Trees exploded, more fell, a domino effect of one into another. The forest became alive with the sound of destruction.
Hall couldn’t move, couldn’t bring himself to roll over to look into the forest. He had no doubt the demon was alive. He hoped it was impaled on trees, unable to move. But he couldn’t see. He couldn’t even move.
All he could do was look up at the edge of the hill.
And see the shocked and worried expression of Roxhard staring down at him.
Chapter 42
The Dwarf rushed down the path, crouching down next to Hall. He didn’t look down into the forest either. There was more crashing, more trees being destroyed. The demon was roaring. Hall could hear acid splashing against wood, a sizzling sound joining the rest of the chaos.
Hall could see Roxhard’s face, see how worried the Dwarf was. He was wounded himself, blood leaking from a deep-looking slash above his eye. One arm hung to the side, barely moving, an iron shoulder pauldron dented.
“Hold tight,” Roxhard said, his hands reaching for the potion pouch on Hall’s belt.
Snapping it open, he pulled out a small vial. It was too dark to see the colors, but Hall knew it would be red. A Minor Health Potion. Pulling the cork out with his teeth, the vial getting into his beard, which was covered in blood, Roxhard reached down. He lifted Hall’s head, Hall working to open his mouth, fighting through the pain. Tipping the vial, Roxhard let the thick liquid fall into Hall’s mouth.
Forcing it down, fighting the impulse to choke, Hall felt the warmth flowing through his body, starting at his throat. It spread, moving quickly. Little wounds healed; cracked ribs fused; small cuts stopped bleeding. His Health bar filled, not quite halfway. He was hurting, finding it hard to breathe.
But he could move.
Sitting up, wincing at the pain in his chest, Hall glanced up to the top of the hill. He wanted to look down at the demon, but not yet.
“How?” he started to say, but had to stop to cough. He spit to the side, knowing there was blood with the phlegm.
“Not good,” Roxhard said. “We got the Runespeaker down, but…” He reached a hand down. Hall took it, letting the Dwarf lift him up. “I saw the demon at the edge of the hill and figured out what you were trying. Thought my Battle Rush would help.” He glanced to the side, not looking over. “Guess it did.”
Hall took a step, stumbled, recovered, and kept walking. Roxhard moved behind him.
“You sure you’re up for this?”
“No choice,” Hall muttered.
Slowly, getting some strength back with each step, Hall walked up the trail. He tried to remember what had happened to his spear. Had he dropped it at the top? Had it fallen with the demon so far below? No time to worry now.
As his head crested the top, Hall could see how the battle was going.
The Warscourge and Firemage stood back to back, the pedestal between them. Jackoby fell back, the scourge’s huge axe swinging where the Firbolg had been. Hall saw that Jackoby held his hammer in a two-handed grip, his shield missing. Caryn danced around the Warscourge, darting into the opening left by the axe’s movement. Her swords shot out, trying to score a hit. She barely got out of the way as the axe came back around.
Shooting spells off quickly, a wand in left hand, the Norn kept the Rangers pinned down. It looked like only two had any arrows left, the others moving forward with swords in hand. Sharra was behind, firing spells when she could. A white cloud streaked out from her outstretched hands, floating around the Norn. Hall recognized the spell; it would create a sheet of ice under the Norn’s feet. Except it didn’t happen. Light flared around the Norn, some kind of dome, Sharra’s spell failing to connect.
Setting foot onto the top of the hill, Hall felt panic. Where was Leigh?
He saw her moving behind the fighters, closer to Jackoby, her tattoos glowing blue. Hall let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Looking to where he had fallen, Hall saw the Breakridge Ironwood Spear.
Without a word, Roxhard activated his Battle Rush ability, charging across the hill toward the Desmarik Warscourge.
Hall limped the dozen feet to his spear, gasping as pain flared up in his chest when he bent down to pick it up. Using the weapon to hold himself up, he started walking toward the fighting. A glance at his status bars showed the sorry state he was in. Half Health, just over half his Energy, and his Vitality was below half.
But there was still fighting to be done. The Warscourge and Norn had to go down quickly. There was still the demon to deal with. Hall had briefly hoped that killing the Runespeaker would have dismissed the demon. But that hadn’t happened.
Hall was surprised he could hear the thud of the spear’s shaft against the stone as he walked. The sounds of spells and fighting, metal on metal, and grunts of pain were loud, but he focused on that one sound. The clacking of his spear. Glancing down, Hall could see dark marks on the shaft where the Alikash’s acid had struck. A glance at the stats showed a small loss of durability.
Painful step after painful step, Hall closed the distance. Judging it close enough, he adjusted his grip on the staff, setting his legs. This was going to hurt.
He activated Leap.
Arcing through the air, feeling the pressure against his still-cracked ribs, Hall aimed the spear down. Somehow the Desmarik Warscourge heard, or felt, Hall coming, twisting to block the attack from Leaping Stab. The spear was sent flying to the side, Hall adjusting his grip in the air.
Landing, Hall ignored the Warscourge, driving the spear tip toward the Firemage. Light flared up around the weapon as Hall pushed it forward. Bright red, spreading out from the impact.
He knew the Desmarik was behind him, turned toward him, but he counted on his allies. He never heard or saw an attack from the Warscourge, just heard the growl of pain as someone took advantage of the opening left by Hall’s failed attack. He concentrated on pushing the spear ahead, fighting through the resistance.
Sparks erupted from the shield, the glow spreading further, hiding the Firemage behind a wavering barrier. The Norn didn’t turn, concentrating on the greater numbers in front of him. The white robe was decorated in light blue runes along the hem and sleeves, a stripe of runes up the middle of the robe, a hood over the Norn’s head. Pale skin was visible past the sleeves of the robes, holding a wand about a foot and half in length. A rod of solid black, an inch thick, topped with a carved dragon head.
The rod spit out a near continuous stream of flames, the Norn’s other hand launching softball-sized fireballs. More sparks flared off the shield, Caryn’s sword slicing across the length of it, a red band.
Hall pushed, the tip seeming to push the barrier inward. The Norn turned, white hair and bright yellow ey
es visible in the depths of the hood, lips curled in a sneer. He growled a word, flicking his hand at Hall.
The barrier flared, hardening. It flexed, pushing the spear out, knocking Hall off balance. He stumbled, shifting his feet to keep from falling.
No way he was getting through whatever the Norn was hiding behind. He wasn’t even a distraction, allowing the Rangers to move forward. His and Caryn’s attacks wouldn’t be enough to get through the shield. The only way through was to overwhelm it. For that, they needed all the weapons.
He pivoted, lowering the spear.
Hall stepped forward, driving the spear ahead of him. The tip slammed into the thigh of the Warscourge, the Desmarik growling in pain. Hall pulled the spear back, just avoiding the quick slashing swing of the axe intended to cut the spear in half. He felt the air pressure as the giant weapon passed, his face reflected in the metal.
Caryn darted in, both swords crossing in an X pattern, slashing across the side and back of the Warscourge. Growling in pain, the large Desmarik whirled the axe around. Metal clanged against metal, Caryn barely blocking with the swords, the sheer force knocking her back. Jackoby and Roxhard stepped in, both swinging. Somehow the Warscourge blocked both hammer and axe.
But was left open for Hall.
The spear drove into his thigh again, Hall quickly activating Double Thrust, scoring a solid hit and a glancing blow as the Warscourge twisted away. Pike swooped in, blue-white lightning slamming into the Warscourge’s shoulder, bolts of energy swirling around the spiky pauldrons, sparks bouncing from metal to metal.
Roxhard scored a hit, his axe sparking across the pitted metal armor. He ducked under the counterattack, leaving an opening for Jackoby’s hammer to slam into the Warscourge’s back. The Desmarik buckled forward, one hand off the handle of his axe.
Caryn’s sword sliced in, cutting across the Warscourge’s hand, drawing a deep gash, blood dripping down. Hall stabbed up with his spear, catching the Desmarik under the shoulder armor. The warrior was lifted up, body extending, Jackoby’s hammer slamming into his chest.
Hall heard cracking, not sure if it was the strange metal armor or the Warscourge’s ribs.
He lowered the spear, driving the point into the back of the Desmarik’s knee. It bit in deep, Hall twisting to tear ligaments and muscle. The Warscourge fell, landing on the hurt knee. He roared, gripping the axe with both hands.
“Back,” Hall shouted.
They all fell back, falling to the ground, rolling to the side.
The Warscourge stood up, leg wavering but supporting him. The axe started spinning, whirling in a circle, height varying. Head, neck, chest, leg, back up to head. A cyclone of spinning sharp-edged metal.
It stopped as suddenly as it had started.
The axe-head fell, hitting the ground, the Desmarik staring straight ahead, wild eyed. He wavered, his leg giving out, slumping to the ground, the axe dropping. It struck stone, the metal clanging. The Warscourge looked up at Jackoby, hate in his eyes. He growled, speaking words slowly and painfully in his language. Hall couldn’t understand him and didn’t care. He stepped forward, the tip of the spear erupting out of the Warscourge’s throat.
Bracing a boot against the Desmarik’s back, Hall pushed the warrior to the ground, pulling the spear out. He turned to face the Norn, the shield around the Firemage completely visible. Already Caryn and Roxhard were raining blows, Sharra sending spells against it. No more arrows, the Rangers were rushing forward with swords drawn. Pike flew down from above, sending bolts of lightning against the shield.
Hall turned away, listening to a strange sound coming from behind. Stone breaking, cracking, pieces falling far to the ground below. The roar echoed through the forest. The Alikash was climbing up the hill.
He faced the Norn, seeing Jackoby’s hammer slamming against the shield. Veins of red spread from the impact, the whole thing shaking. No longer able to attack, the Norn held his hand up, trying to brace the shield. It was only a matter of time before it dropped. But would that be before the Alikash made it to the top?
The spear slammed forward. Hall adjusted his grip, shifting his feet to put more force behind it. He could feel the burn scars along the wood from the acid. Rough spots in the normally smooth ironwood.
The shield pushed inward, bright red cracks spreading out, joining the ones formed by the others’ attacks. They were close together, hitting constantly, sending cracks of light throughout the barrier. Inside, the Norn crouched low, body shaking with the blows.
A great roar caused them all to pause, everyone looking toward the edge of the hill.
Snapping heads on the ends of tentacles were visible, rising over the edge. A great clawed hand reached out, digging into the stone, the long snout and horns followed by the wide head. Somehow a creature that shouldn’t have been able to climb had done so, and quickly, hauling its bulk onto the top of Warfang Hill.
Feet slammed down, shaking the hill, sending small cracks spider-webbing from the impact.
Hall cursed.
“Jackoby, Sharra,” he yelled, using the spear to point at the Alikash. “Leigh, keep him up.”
He didn’t look at her, focusing his attention on breaking the Norn’s shield. She had been doing a great job as the only healer in the chaotic fight. It would hurt to have her so far away, but keeping Jackoby alive so he could occupy the Alikash was more important. The bigger danger.
Pulling the spear back, Hall activated Double Thrust. Two hits against the magical barrier. He thought it looked more solid on the second impact, the cracks having some substance.
“Dain, the demon.”
Hall glanced past the Norn, seeing the elder Ranger issuing commands. Ganner and Avril ran toward the demon, leaving just two of the Rangers to join Hall, Caryn and Roxhard in trying to destroy the Norn’s shield.
It was tough. Whatever the Norn had cast, or whatever object he had used, was impressive. It had to be an artifact, Hall thought, slamming the spear against the barrier in multiple spots. He’d never heard of a spell this strong.
He heard Pike’s screech as the dragonhawk dove out of the night, launching a bolt of lightning at the demon. It roared, Pike letting out a pained screech. Through the bond, Hall knew one of the tentacles’ heads had caught Pike. Just a glancing blow, but painful, pulling out some feathers. Pike drifted out over the forest, losing altitude until he managed to compensate, spiraling back up to the hill.
The Norn was on his knees, wand on the ground, reaching up his other hand, trying to keep the shield active. The barrier just would not fall.
But did it have to?
It was taking all the Norn’s concentration and strength to keep the barrier up. If they could keep the pressure on, the Firemage was essentially trapped. Hall had questions he needed answered by a member of the Cerulean Regency.
Melee wasn’t the best idea against something as strong as the Alikash. Caryn was deadly, but not against that thing. She had to get too close, where the tentacles and sheer bulk could get her. Not even a Duelist would be fast enough to evade that thing for long.
It had to be taken from a distance, if possible.
The Rangers were out of arrows. Hall knew he’d made a mistake having some of them attack the Desmarik and Norn. They should have all concentrated their fire on the demon. There was nothing they could do about it now but just adapt and keep burning it down.
While trying not to die.
Maybe Caryn would be effective against it.
“Dain,” Hall yelled, trying to get the lead Ranger’s attention, “call them back.”
The older man swung his sword down, slicing the blade down the front of the Norn’s barrier, a bright red line following the blade. Part of the barrier was no longer translucent, looking solid, thin cracks through it. He looked up at Hall, confused. Hall pointed at the two Rangers, who stood back from the Alikash, batting at heads that snapped at them.
“They need to attack here,” Hall yelled.
It took Dain a
bit to understand, but he did, or he was just following Hall’s orders. He whistled, the shrill sound cutting over the sounds of battle. Ganner’s and Avril’s heads turned. They listened to the whistle, running back toward the Norn.
One of the heads reached out, grabbing at Ganner. It caught his green cloak, teeth gripping hard. Ganner was yanked off his feet, falling hard to the ground. Avril turned, reaching for Ganner, but stopped, looking up in horror as the demon’s mouth opened wide.
Her arm stretched out, grabbing Ganner’s, pulling as hard as she could.
Hall saw yellow within the demon’s mouth, knowing what was coming. Dain did too. They both watched, unable to do anything, as the Alikash released its attack.
Acid shot out, splashing over Ganner.
His screams rang out, louder than anything else. Smoke rose from the body. The screams dying, replaced by a new one.
Avril.
Holding Ganner’s arm from the elbow up. Small wisps of smoke rose from her arm, drops of acid leaving scars. She didn’t notice or care, just stared at the remains of the Ranger.
Chapter 43
“Avril,” Dain called out, trying to get her out of her shock.
She didn’t move. Didn’t see the head reaching for her.
Dozens of splinters slammed into the tentacle, many missing. None did any real damage, just stopped the thing from attacking Avril. The sound of the many little impacts snapped her from the trance. She dropped Ganner’s arm, roaring in rage.
Holding her sword in two hands, she swung. The blade struck the side of the tentacle, cutting through the hard scales, slicing deep. Roaring in pain, the Alikash pulled the tentacle back, turning its great head as Sharra sent flames at its eyes.
“Avril,” Dain yelled again.
The Ranger turned, face full of rage. She walked toward him, stopped, and turned back to the demon. Took a step back. Hall watched her struggle between following orders and revenge.