by Brad Clark
Silently, for several minutes, they watched the activity in the clearing. The men who were working in the clearing were different than the dark man. They were smaller and were dressed warmly in layers of clothes. They worked efficiently without speaking, and it did not take long for Hargon to realize what they were doing. He wanted to believe that what he was seeing was a dream, but it was happening right in front of him. With each passing moment, any hope that was left in him slowly disappeared.
More movement caught his eye, and he saw more of the dark men in the forest. They were clearly guarding the workers, as they formed a perimeter around the clearing. Marila gave him a light tug with her hand and pulled him away. As quietly as they could, they moved away from the clearing and back toward the edge of the forest.
When they were far enough away that she was sure no one could hear them talk, Marila asked, “What were those things they were building?”
“Siege towers. Battering rams. Catapults. Machines to tear down the walls.”
“Why? The Stone Ogres are doing that. Why do they need those machines?”
Through the trees, they could see the castle and the goblin horde as it attacked the walls. Elves darted across the top of the wall, sending arrow after arrow into the horde, but doing little damage. The Dragon swooped down and spread its Dragon Fire onto a broad swath of goblins, instantly killing dozens. Eventually, the goblins would all be defeated. It might take days or even weeks, but the walls were still strong enough to withstand a full assault.
Hargon put a hand to his mouth and rubbed his chin. It had been days since he had taken a razor to his face, and the stubble was starting to itch. He knew why the siege engines were being built. It was because the Deceiver knew that the goblins were but a simple diversion. They were a precursor to the real army, who would use those siege engines to lay waste to the walls and kill everyone inside.
“The goblins do not use the machines,” Hargon said, his eyes transfixed on the battle that was happening a mile away. The Karmon, Elves, Dwarves, and now the Hurai were fighting desperately to win the battle, and eventually, they would. Just in time to lose the war.
Marila looked up at him, a questioning look on her face.
Hargon looked into her eyes for several moments. She was showing him the illusion of her Human form, but he knew that her eyes could not hide her thoughts. As the moment passed, her eyes went wide as the realization hit.
He confirmed her thoughts by saying, “The Deceiver knew we would be able to defeat the goblins and the Stone Ogres. He will need those machines to bring down the walls so that his real army can breach the walls and kill us all.”
Her palm became sweaty as fear took hold of her heart. “Real army? There is another army?”
Although he knew that she had once been one of the Deceiver’s minions, and maybe even was a spy, he knew that she did not know about the Deceiver’s actual plan. It did not surprise him, for if he had been in the Deceiver’s place, he would have kept his plans hidden as long as possible.
“The Deceiver knows about me. Knows how powerful I am. He knows that I can wipe those goblins off the face of the earth as easily as I can stomp on an army of ants. The Stone Ogres and those flying creatures are also a part of the diversion. They are easy to kill, but they are also a big distraction.”
He released his grip on her hand, and she let it drop to her side.
He continued, “He is smart. Very smart. Just like I am. But, there are only so many military tactics that can actually work, and I know them all. Remember, I was emperor of the greatest nation on the earth! I know all of this, and it is what I would do. He would not commit all his forces to a battle unless he had more forces waiting to join in. That is why all the goblins are attacking. There is another army out there, ready to attack once we think that we have won.”
“Those men. Are they a part of their army?”
Hargon did not expect that question from Marila. He figured she knew who they were, as she seemed to know many things about the Deceiver and his army.
“You do not recognize them?” Hargon asked.
“They look Human, just like your people. They are not from here?”
“I have seen men like the dark ones before. There are lands far to the west where all the people have skin like that, but there is something a bit off about those men. They were not wearing anything other than pants. It is cold, and a night this cold would kill a man that wasn’t wearing any clothes. It does not matter if they are from this world or from the Adversary’s realm. If there is an army of them, they will be formidable. More formidable than the goblins that are attacking.”
“We need to get back to the castle and warn everyone.” Hargon shook his head in disbelief. “Maybe that coward Lord Martin was right. Maybe we should have just run away.”
“You should have run away.”
Both Hargon and Marila jumped at the voice. Roddan stepped from behind a large tree, a smile spread across his hairy face. The slits that he had for eyes sparkled as he laughed.
“I thought I killed you, Marila,” Roddan said. In his right hand, he held a rusty sword that was stained with blood. He gave it a glance and tossed it away. “This time, I want to feel your death in my hands. Your illusions will no longer work on me, now that I know your strength. I can see right through whatever illusion that you have, and I can see the ugliness of your natural self. You do not belong here, nor do you belong in your homeworld. You have no home. Therefore, you have no reason to live.”
“She has plenty of reason to live!” Hargon growled, lifting his hands and letting balls of fire swirl around them.
“You have one of them defending you?” Roddan laughed harder. To Hargon, he asked, “Have you seen her true self? Have you seen how ugly she is?”
Hargon tossed a ball of fire at him, but it struck an invisible barrier right in front of him. The flames flashed and then disappeared.
“Surprised for a second time?” Roddan asked. He took a step forward. “No, your magic cannot hurt me. The Adversary saw to that. Try as you might…”
His words were cut off by a flurry of fireballs that struck the barrier. The force of the blows caused Roddan to have to take a step back, but the barrier held. After nearly a full minute of casting fireballs, Hargon lowered his hands.
“See?” Roddan said.
Hargon took a step forward and said, “Well, maybe I’ll just have to use my own hands!”
Marila stepped in front of Hargon and growled, “He is mine.”
“Marila,” Hargon started to say.
Marila quickly cut him off. “You fight with magic, not with your hands. Roddan would rip you apart before you knew what was happening to you. Stand back.”
She dropped her illusion and lowered into a crouch, hands up and ready to attack.
Roddan squatted down and held out his hands, letting five long, razor-sharp talons slide out from the tips of his fingers. He took in a deep breath and let out a great animalistic roar, showing off his two long incisors.
Marila was not afraid. She launched herself forward, her hands outstretched and aimed for Roddan’s throat. With deftness, he stepped aside and struck his sharp talons down her back, sending her tumbling through the muddy grass. Blood flew from open wounds, but she did not care. Ignoring the searing pain, she rolled until she was standing up, and then she charged again. He was much bigger, stronger, and quicker than she was, so he was easily able to dodge aside and strike again at her. This time, he caught her across the shoulder, ripping into her skin. Again, and again, she launched herself at him, trying to get past his talons, but each time, he was too quick and too strong. Each time, she came away more bloodied.
Hargon watched, hopeful at first that Marila would prevail, but it soon became apparent that the hairy beast was no match for her. It would only be a matter of time before Marila would tire out and Roddan’s talons would strike too deep, killing her.
Seeing the pain on her face, and her cries at being cut, he co
uld not stand back any longer. He closed his eyes and muttered the words of a spell that he had recently memorized but had used several times already. He just hoped that Roddan’s anatomy was the same as a Human’s. As the last of the words fell off his lips, he could see Roddan suddenly gasp for breath. He grabbed at his throat, clawing at as if something were constricting it. There was, but it was magic, and there was nothing that Roddan could do about it. Feeling pleased with himself, he relaxed and waited for Roddan to topple over dead.
Instead, Roddan charged him. Roddan was no longer struggling to breathe, as he had realized what was happening. Rather than panic and succumb to fear, the warrior in Roddan charged at what was attacking him.
Hargon, seeing the great beast bear down on him, panicked and lost the spell. Instinctively, he resorted to firing fireballs, which only bounced off the invisible shield that protected Roddan. Roddan lifted his arms to swing at him. Hargon ducked, tucking his head under crossed arms, waiting for the inevitable and wondering how painful it was going to be sliced up.
He felt nothing but heard a thump next to him.
Marila had jumped on Roddan’s back, grabbed him by the head, and pulled him to the ground. Roddan fought back, but he had left his backside exposed, and Marila quickly took advantage of the opening. He tried to roll over, but Marila had the leverage to keep him on his stomach. She began striking him harder and harder, ripping hair and flesh out, sending it high into the air.
Hargon looked up, seeing Marila on top, but Roddan was struggling to free himself. He was bigger and stronger, and he might soon break free. Darting over to the rusty cast-aside sword, Hargon picked it up and ran back to Roddan. With Marila still beating down on him, Hargon drove the tip of his sword through Roddan’s back, hoping he struck his heart. Roddan reared his head back and let out an ear-splitting roar. Marila was caught off guard by the move, which allowed Roddan to start to stand up. Hargon pulled the sword out and plunged it down again. Roddan dropped to the ground, letting out a gurgling gasp before he fell still.
Hargon lifted the sword again and plunged it down one more time into Roddan’s back. The only sound he heard was the sickening sound of the sword cutting into flesh. He rolled off Roddan, breathing heavily and shaking from the exertion and explosion of adrenalin through his body. He turned to Marila and smiled, but she was glaring back at him.
“What did you do!” she cried out.
“I saved you.”
“That was for me! I was supposed to kill him!”
Marila pushed herself up from the ground. He stood as well, surprised at her reaction. She was clearly going to be killed, and he had saved her life. She should be thanking him, but instead, she was yelling at him. He stood, arms hanging down, dumbfounded. She walked up to him, face full of anger and hands balled into fists. She lifted them and pounded him on the chest.
“Why!” Tears were streaming down her cheeks. “I needed to kill him!”
Instead of dodging her blows or shying away, he stepped into her, bringing her into a hug. She did not resist. Her head fell onto his shoulder, tears staining his cloak.
“In this world, we are never alone. We help each other.”
She let out a sob.
“You’ll never be alone in this world.” He pulled her tighter into him, feeling her warmth.
She wrapped her arms around him, giving another living creature a hug for the first time.
Chapter Nineteen
The Deceiver knew he was making more noise than he should have, but he also knew that the castle defenses would be fully engaged with his goblin army and any noise he made would likely be unheard or ignored. As he tossed the last of the large boulders away from the secret entrance, he did hope that not all the Human defenses were such engaged. His blood boiled with the thought of killing, and he no one in the castle could stand against him. Even if the entire army came at him, he would have an easy time killing them all. But, killing them all was not the point. He didn’t care if any of them lived or died. He only cared that he had the necklace around his neck before the day was done. If that meant they all had to die, he would be happy, but he also didn’t want to kill every living creature on the planet. He needed to keep plenty of them for slaves. His new realm would be built upon their backs.
The avalanche that had blocked the entrance had been a genius idea by whoever thought of it. Although a single entry could be defended by a small force, eventually it would succumb to a determined and persistent attack. By completely blocking the opening, they didn’t have to commit a single defender to the entrance. Everyone could be sent to the walls to defend against the goblins. He was okay with that. The farther he got into the castle without being detected, the easier it would be for him to find the Human mage who held the necklace.
The door that opened to the castle had been damaged by the rocks that had fallen against it. It had once been a solid oak door, but now it was splintered down the middle. He thought for a moment about using his power to rip the door to shreds, but he didn’t want to announce himself quite yet. He reached his hands into the crack and gave a sharp tug. Fortunately, he had chosen a strong Human form to take over, so the door came apart in two pieces after only a few minutes of tugging and yanking.
The outer door opened to a small chamber that at one time housed a small armory. There was another undamaged door that led to the castle, but it was locked. He put his ear to it to see if he could hear if anyone were on the other side. Without any easy way to get through the door, he decided that he would need to use one of his many spells to break the door apart. It would be a similar spell to the one he used to rip apart the rocks that hid the secret entrance, but it would do the same thing. It would rip the wood pieces into splinters.
***
“Yes!” Glaerion shouted back at his King, who had looked over at him. “I felt it again, too. Not as much power this time, but enough. Someone nearby is tapping into the Web of Magic.”
“Hargon?” King Illichian asked.
“Who else?” Glaerion pulled his last arrow out of his quiver and sent it through the head of a goblin that was crawling up the wall. They were running out of arrows. He drew his daggers and turned when he heard the pounding of feet coming at him.
Conner, with both swords drawn, came to a sliding stop. The top of the wall was covered in green goblin blood. Many had made it to the top, but none had gotten past the Elves.
“The wall has been breached in two places,” Conner said, out of breath from running up the stairs to the top of the wall. It wasn’t only the run that had caused him to lose his wind. The stress of the battle was wearing on him. His nerves were frayed, and he could hardly think straight.
“We’ve got to plug the holes!” the King cried out. He turned and began shouting to his archers. Those that had no more arrows drew their daggers and swords and ran for the courtyard.
“We’re letting them through,” Conner said.
“What?” Glaerion exclaimed. “There’s too many of them!” He pointed his dagger to the goblins outside the wall.
“No, wait!” The King said, quickly recognizing what Conner meant. “Control their assault. Keep them coming in slow enough so that we can kill them as they come through the wall, but not fast enough that they will overwhelm us.”
“What? How do we do that?”
“If they know they can get in,” the King said. “They will all try and squeeze through the same holes. In their frenzy to get in, they will actually make it harder for them to get through.”
“What of the Stone Ogres?”
“The Dragon has killed six,” Conner said, pointing out towards the battlefield where Immerallis was chasing down another Stone Ogre. “Hemli has taken two down, and the Sak’Hurai has killed one. That leaves three, and I think Immerallis will be taking down another as soon as he can catch it.”
“How are our forces in the courtyard standing up to the goblins?” Glaerion asked.
“We’re killing many more than are killing us,�
�� Conner said. “Even if they outnumber us ten to one, we will still win this battle.”
“Right. As long as anything else doesn’t come. To the courtyard?”
Conner shook his head. “You, me, Marik, and five or six others are going to mount up and head out to find the Deceiver.” He looked at the King, who was gripping the Spear of Salvation tightly. Its tip was covered in goblin blood. “We’ll need the Spear.”
“Without Hargon to protect you?” King Illichian said. “The Deceiver would kill you before you got close enough to see the whites of his eyes.”
“I can protect us,” Glaerion said confidently.
“Hardly,” the King retorted. “You’ll have one big spell, and then you’ll be too weak to fight. He’ll know who and what you are, so you’ll die first. No. Once we find Hargon, then we’ll attack. Until then, we defend this castle.”
“What if we never find him? What if he’s run away? Or worse? Maybe he found Marila, and she killed him?”
“He’s around somewhere,” Conner said.
“You’ve been saying that for hours, and you haven’t found him, yet!” the King said with a raised voice. “You two get back down in the courtyard and help those fighters! Once Hargon shows up, we have to be ready to attack immediately. But, if we’re run over by goblins, it won’t matter if we find him or not!”
“We should have not put all our hopes in one Human,” Glaerion growled. Then he glanced at Conner.
“Don’t look at me,” Conner said. “I agree with you! Did we really have any other choice? Once we get these goblins under control, we’ll go after the Deceiver.”
Shouting from the courtyard caught their attention. The men fighting in the courtyard were no longer pushing forward. They were starting to move back. Many had dropped their weapons and run away. It took only a split second to realize that they needed help. In the midst of the goblins were three Mashers. Their giant bodies rippled with muscles and each held a large spiked club. Their faces showed no emotion. Archers from above fired arrows into them, but the Mashers did not seem to know that they had been struck with a dozen arrows each. They swung their clubs with ease, crushing anyone who got in its way, whether it was Human or goblin. They moved forward, and the Karmon fighters withered and ran.