Legend Warrior

by Liara Woo

  Then energy so fierce and powerful that it burned was thrust into his body, making his skin glow brighter than the sun. His chest burned with pain—more accurately, a spot directly over his heart burned, and he shouted in agony. But as soon as the energy found its place, the pain was replaced by immediate relief and strength.

  The darkness faded, replaced by whiteness and cold. Halthren was lying face down in the snow, the sharp ice particles stinging his warm face, arms, and feet. And yet the iciness wasn't quite as harsh as he remembered it being. Blinking snowflakes from his eyelashes, he sat up, surprised to find that he was half-buried underneath the snow. His hands were chained in front of him. Please, Kylaras. One more favor. Please help me free my hands, he thought, looking up at the sky.

  The clouds parted for an instant, revealing a single cluster of bright stars. The iron chains suddenly began to burn fiercely, as if they were being heated over a blacksmith's forge. Halthren gasped in shock and pain, and the shackles suddenly disappeared. Thank you, he thought, shoving his burned wrists into the snow for a moment.

  Shuddering from the cold, he brushed the flakes from his shoulders and got to his feet. He drew his sword, which had magically returned to him, looking around at the vast white expanse before him. There was nothing but snow in all directions, as far as he could see.

  Then he looked down at himself. His skin…it was glowing faintly, just as much as it had been before he'd been tortured. Halthren's eyes widened. I have my Light back. He almost shouted in joy. He'd completely forgotten that if he saved Joran, his Light would be returned to him. And if I have my Light back…that means I succeeded! Joran is safe! I have to find him!

  The Sword of the Great Elves

  The Sword of the Great Elves

  The last thing Katie wanted was to see her friends die. Worse than that was being forced to watch them die. And the most awful fact of all was that it was her fault. She'd failed them; she was supposed to have negotiated peace between the elves and the unicorns, but instead… she'd fallen under their spells, and now Joran, Relenthus, and Joran were about to die. And… Halthren was already dead because of her actions. A wave of guilt and regret washed over her soul, pushing her into despair and misery the same way the waves in the Ocean of Storms had pushed her farther and farther underwater.

  She gazed upwards at the beautiful, spiraling frosty designs decorating the crystalline roof. Beyond them were the stars, the spirits of elves that had died. Halthren… I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Please help me know how to save the others. Please! I'm sorry!

  Silent tears streamed down her face as Rune guided her through the crowds of unicorns gathered in the huge stadium that could have been lovely under different circumstances. Banners with the image of a white unicorn standing on its hind legs against a blue background hung on the sides of the amphitheater, and the white, gray, and blue hues in the walls glittered and reflected the bright sunny yellows and furious oranges of the unicorns' torches.

  Most of the unicorn troops in the arena took the forms of tall white horses with expressions of pure wisdom on their long white faces. But their cold, black eyes were dark and empty—except for those of one. He, like the others, had an iron chain around his neck, but unlike the others, it bore marks of being bitten, hammered, and pounded. The unicorn himself had fear and sadness reflected in his dark eyes, and his snowy white head hung low. Katie looked at him dolefully as she passed by him. Something happened to him. Maybe he's a victim of Rune's tyranny, just like we are.

  Rune had bound her wrists; now he tied her hands to a throne next to his own on a raised platform close to the farthest wall of the stadium. Her mind was still strangely blank because of the unicorn king's enchantment. She struggled against the spell to think of one of her gifts that could save her friends.

  Two of the unicorn soldiers brought Joran to the center of the stadium; he was bound tightly despite the fact that he was unconscious. Another unicorn brought Loriina, ashen-faced and wide-eyed. She looked absolutely terrified.

  Relenthus was struggling bravely against the five unicorns forcing him to join the others. His teeth were clenched, and sweat glistened on his forehead as he resisted even with his hands bound behind his back. "Stop…fighting," Gorion grunted, trying to pull the elf onward.

  "Do you expect me to lie down and let you kill me?" Relenthus yelled. "I will never cease to resist! Always I will fight on, to the bitter end if need be, because I believe in a world of Goodness! What do you believe in?"

  "Shut up," Gorion growled, delivering a swift punch to the elf's face. Relenthus stumbled, but almost instantly he regained his footing and continued straining against the men pulling him to the center of the arena.

  "Subdue him!" Rune ordered. Two of the soldiers raised long white whips with hooked edges and began thrashing Relenthus without mercy.

  Katie felt terrible, watching him stare defiantly at the unicorns around him even as they ripped the skin and cloth from his back. She, too, had struggled, until Rune had threatened to kill her companions in the most painful way possible if she didn't come quietly. Now her heart ached with sadness at the sight of Relenthus refusing to give up. He fought the unicorns with the same ferocity he wielded when he fought demons.

  And what are unicorns, if not demons in disguise? They may not be as cruel or ugly, but they definitely aren't good, like the elves, Katie realized. All of her life, she'd been under the impression that unicorns were wonderful and benevolent. Now she saw the truth: they were selfish, prideful, and mean.

  "Do not fret, Katie," Rune said, sitting on the throne next to her. Katie's fists clenched. Being tied to the chair beside him, as if she approved of her friends' deaths, was the worst thing he could have done to her. Again she tried to think of a power that would be useful. A strong wind wouldn't really help at all. Neither was a storm. Breathing underwater, speaking to animals, and immunity to cold were also impractical. Calling down lightning and kill the unicorns? No, that would be a massacre, and Katie couldn't get the terrified look of the unicorn with a bashed chain out of her head. She had the feeling that he, at least, didn't want to kill the Allagandrians. And besides, if I do that, I'll be no better than them. In fact, I'll be worse.

  What have I become, that I'd even consider such a thing?

  The guards had at last forced Relenthus to the center of the arena. They got him to his knees by hitting the small of his back with a large club, but then they stepped back—a mistake, for the elf positioned himself back-to-back with the dragon so that he could untie her bonds. Instantly the guards approached him again, and Relenthus blurted, "Breathe fire! Ice! Anything; just keep them away!"

  Loriina opened her mouth and exhaled. White clouds of enchanted ice billowed over the guards, freezing them, encasing them in a thin layer of ice. She turned her head and shouted, "Duck!"

  Relenthus lowered his head, and the dragon girl breathed more ice at the unicorns roughly trying to pull him away. Soon they, too, became as still as statues.

  "Alright, now do mine!" Relenthus said frantically. Loriina, her hands now free, turned around and worked at the ropes biting into his wrists, occasionally sending bursts of ice over her shoulder. But too many guards were coming forward, both horses and men.

  Katie closed her eyes, breathing deeply, and focused on the power of her Stone, no longer shoved carelessly into a pocket. It hung on a chain Rune's servants had created, made of tiny silver snowflakes linked together. She pointed her left index finger, shooting a jet of flame at the ropes binding her right wrist. Then she did the same thing to free her left hand. The ropes burned easily and weakened so that she could break through them, and Katie herself hadn't been harmed by the flames because having the Stone granted her some immunity to fire.

  Katie turned to the unicorn king, who had leaped to his feet, shouting orders. Pointing at him, she channeled the power of her Stone through her body and out her fingertip, freezing him in place. Instantly she raised her hands high and froze several others as they
threatened Relenthus and Loriina. Then she jumped to her feet; all of the unicorns were frozen in place.

  Some had been iced up mid-stride, their eyes staring blankly ahead, one or more legs on the ground. A few of the horses had been whinnying, teeth bared, mouths gaping. A few had had no legs on the ground when they'd been frozen, so they had toppled over and were lying on the floor, as motionless as the others. Frost painted intricate fractals on every one of them. The torches had also been frozen, and the flames had gone out. The only light came from the moon outside shining through the crystal ceiling and the two elves standing in the center of the maze of unicorn statues—Katie did a double take. Wait. Joran is standing?

  She wove her way in between the frozen unicorns towards her friends. Sure enough, Joran was no longer asleep; his blue-green eyes were wide with shock as he took in his surroundings. When he saw Katie, he asked in befuddlement, "What did I miss?"

  Katie grinned with relief. She rushed towards him and embraced him so hard that she nearly knocked him over. Joran's eyes widened even more, his cheeks turning pink. How could he have realized that for too long, Katie had assumed him to be on the doors of death? For too long, the elf she'd known the longest had been unconscious, cold, breathing shallowly… "I was so worried," she exclaimed, stepping back and releasing him.

  "What's happened?" Joran asked in surprise. "Where on Allagandria are we? Why is it so cold here? Are those unicorn statues? Why are they posed like this? What is going on? What happened while I was out?!"

  Relenthus laughed grimly. "Well, Aspeniel said that the unicorns had the power to bring you back. We didn't know where to find them, so we set out across the Ocean of Storms and decided to scour the entire continent for them." He proceeded to recount the rest of the journey, but he didn't include the part where Halthren was killed.

  Joran was no fool; he noticed that something wasn't right. "You said that Halthren was with you," he said with a frown. "Where is he? He brought me out of the Dream Kingdom. He saved me. And I haven't really been able to thank him properly yet."

  Katie looked at the floor as the sadness returned to her heart. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. "He…died. Almost four hours ago."

  At first Joran looked mortified, but only for one fleeting instant. He smiled nervously. "Come on, Katie. You don't expect me to believe that, do you? Where is he, really?"

  Katie's heart sank down to her toes. "That is the truth. I saw him die. Rune, the unicorn king, stole the last of his Light. He'd promised that he'd save you in exchange. But he didn't. Instead he decided that he'd rather steal your Light, too."

  Joran's eyes were wide. "N-no. It can't be true. It…it can't. He can't be dead. He…he…"

  Loriina bowed her head. Relenthus lowered his eyes. Joran sank to his knees, holding his head in his hands. Katie couldn't tell whether he was crying or not, but when he stood, he looked miserable and his cheeks were pink. "I can't lead this kingdom without Halthren," he said in a trembling voice. "He's my best friend. He's basically my brother! What am I going to do?"

  "You can always…join him." A cold, mirthless laugh rang through the stadium. The four of them spun around to see a dark figure entering the cavern. His hair, eyes, and clothing were black, but his skull-like face was whiter than the snow.

  "Nashgor," Joran greeted, his voice full of terror.

  "In a manner of speaking, I suppose I am Nashgor. I can see that no introduction will be necessary," the man said, a smile of pure evil on his pasty face. "You know some of who I am. And I know who you are—the dragon who's offered her assistance to the elves. The heir to the elven kingdom. The greatest of all of the elven spies. And…"

  He turned his empty gaze on Katie, who felt suddenly petrified by terror. Her jaw went slack and a cold deeper than she'd ever known crawled up from the ground and encased her within it. "And the human prophesied to save Kylaras. All of you in one place—all of you trapped. Isn't this fortuitous?"

  "There are four of us and only one of you," Katie said with as much power as she could muster—but she couldn't help thinking that Nashgor must be terribly powerful to take on four at once with such confidence.

  "Four of you," he snickered. "Four of you! That's right, I forgot I'm outnumbered. Well, that is a problem easily solved." He raised his hands before him like a stereotypical zombie and pointed at Relenthus and Joran. Before they had a chance to react, Darkness passed over them, forcing them to their knees with cries of pain. Uttering moans of agony, they grabbed at their chests as if they wanted to tear out their own hearts.

  Katie's eyes widened in horror as she tried to move forward, to go to her friends' aid, but her feet were glued in place by some sort of Dark spell. Nashgor shaped what appeared to be a black snowball out of the air and tossed it over to the elves. When it reached them it exploded into millions of glittering black particles that fell onto the shoulders of the elves. Joran moaned and slumped over, unconscious, and Relenthus frantically tried to brush the dust off. But as his skin came into contact with the black minerals, he yelled in distress and collapsed.

  "Dear me; you must have miscounted," Nashgor sneered. "I only see two of you."

  "And I am a dragon!" Loriina roared, changing into her true form with relish and lunging at Nashgor, who rolled under her and got to his feet, standing tall and raising his head. What's he doing? Katie wondered. Again she struggled to move, but her feet were still stuck. She opened her mouth to call down lightning, but her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. Nashgor, you coward!

  Snarling, Loriina lunged again, but Nashgor began to change. He grew a pair of huge black wings and a long, whip-like tail. His neck stretched until it was the same length as the tail, and his face extended and became reptilian. Two humanlike ears overextended to become smaller versions of the wings, and small black scales covered them. His arms and legs grew larger and more muscular, also covered by black scales. Jagged black horns sprouted from his spine, and huge black claws sprouted from his toes. Bared teeth lengthened and became sharper. The black eyes turned yellow, and smoke spiraled from his now abnormally large nostrils.

  Nashgor had transformed into a huge black dragon three times larger than Loriina.

  I have to do something, Katie thought desperately. Loriina lunged at Nashgor, her jaws snapping wildly. Nashgor flung her off of him and tossed her into the wall, but instantly she was on her feet and charging again, fire shooting from her mouth and gleaming in her emerald eyes.

  "Celed Vorello!" Katie shouted, relieved that her tongue had become unglued as she pointed at Nashgor. Lightning struck his left wing, and he howled in agony, stumbling. With a shriek of unbridled rage, Loriina flew towards him and landed on his back, trying to bite his throat. But Nashgor twisted away and threw her off so forcefully that when her head slapped against the crystal wall she fell unconscious to the ground.

  I'm the only one left, Katie realized with a jolt of fear. Nashgor advanced, teeth bared, his yellow eyes narrowed. "Celed Vorello!" she yelled again, striking the terrible dragon's chest. He was forced backwards several steps by the lightning, but he continued, undeterred.

  Channeling the power of her Stone through her hand, Katie shot fire out of her fingertips, but it merely sizzled and fizzed on the beast's thick scales. "Celed Vorello!" she shouted again, striking his back with an electric bolt. With a growl he stumbled again, but he kept walking, hardly disturbed by her attacks. He transformed back into a man, cackling evilly. He approached her, and looking into his soulless eyes she was immobilized by terrible fear.

  "You cannot kill me," he hissed. "No one can. If you return to Kylaras you will find most of the forests and villages burned to the ground. The rivers and lakes are polluted by dead fish and smoke. A few cities remain that still fight, but the elves surely will fall. Soon all will be dead or imprisoned, with the survivors to be tortured for my pleasure." He laughed again, but the laugh stopped abruptly, replaced by an expression of panic. Katie's heart raced. What's going on?!


  Nashgor's eyes widened in shock, and suddenly he crumbled into a pile of black ash. A white sword was all that remained, right where the Dark King's chest had been moments before, and it was held in the shaking hands of an elf dressed in the tattered remnants of a gray and green tunic covered in snow and ice.

  Katie stared at him, unable to believe her eyes. He looked at her, his penetrating silver-blue eyes wide with fear and pain. "Halthren?!" she gasped.

  The elf nodded but didn't say anything. He dropped his sword and crumpled to his knees, his head in his hands. He was shuddering.