by Tiger Hebert
Vacinne's blade was already swinging. The light of the runeblade flashed through the air as she silenced the demon's warcry. Thick black ichor sprayed as the bull's head flew from its body. The headless corpse crashed back down to the ground. The other demons responded to the bloodshed the only way demons know how, to cry for more. The crawler snaked toward her with frightening speed. It whipped its bladed tail at her. Vacinne narrowly managed to draw her shield up in time. The bladed tail hit the shield at an odd angle and deflected away harmlessly.
Vacinne counter-attacked, but the demon recoiled too quickly. Her blade bit air. The crawler lunged forward and slashed with the bladed pincers around its mouth. Vacinne slammed her shield into the demon's mouth. A high pitch wail sounded the demon's fury. It retaliated with a series of rapid strikes. The attack sent Vacinne stumbling. She staggered to catch her footing, but the uneven terrain got the better of her. She slipped and fell backward. The crawler lunged. Vacinne's heart leapt in her chest.
A golden sphere of light ensnared the airborne demon, stopping it in midair. The demon began to float up high into the sky as if it was completely weightless.
Draece, she realized.
As she climbed back to her feet, she shot a glance at him. "Thanks!"
Draece nodded, but never took his concentration away from the imprisoned crawler that was now suspended nearly a hundred feet above the battle in a magical sphere. He was amazing, but this was not the time to watch. Vacinne turned back toward the battle.
Renlar was on her right clashing with a black-skinned demon had a vaguely human physique with horns, wings, and flaming red eyes.
Thrazen was on her left putting down some jecarils. Their tough hides were no match for a pissed off dwarf and his axes.
She was thankful to be surrounded by such talented fighters, but she had no time to marvel.
A pack of three goblars charged her. She'd only ever seen the goblinesque demons in text books, but she recognized them right away. The green-skinned demons were armed with crude jagged blades. They charged her.
Vacinne parried the first attacker, swiping his blade away to the right. Before the second goblars could attack, she blinked behind the pack. Her phasing strike landed true. She drove her blade deep into the back of the rear-most demon. It howled in agony as she ripped the blade free. The demon clutched at the fatal wound, crashing to the ground. Black ichor was spewing from the writhing monster.
Confusion swept over the remaining goblars. They weren't simple mindless demons like some, but they weren't exactly known for being bright either. As they spun back on her, she launched another phasing strike. This time it was a full-frontal assault. She slammed her empowered shield into the face of the first demon. A loud crunch sounded as its head snapped back violently. The demon's face was crushed. The thick black blood oozed from its nose and mouth.
It stumbled back into the other demon. The two creatures roared in anger and charged her. Vacinne waited as they charged.
She held her shield high and drew her arm back and was preparing to strike when a massive paw slammed into her sword arm. The sideswiping attack of the myzthalak sent Vacinne flying. She landed hard on her shield arm several feet away from the place she stood. Dull pain shot through her arm and shoulder. The six-legged bear rose up on its hind legs and bellowed, announcing its fury and rage with a reverberating roar. The demon-bear dropped down onto all sixes and charged.
Vacinne rolled out of the bear’s charge. As she came back to her feet she threw her shield up in the nick of time. One of the bear’s paws, which was easily twice the size of her head, slammed into her kite shield. The blow hit with tremendous force. It pinned her to the ground and knocked the wind from her.
She fought desperately to catch her breath for what felt like an eternity, before she was able to try to fight back. She swung her sword at the beast, but was in no real position to defend herself. The swing sailed harmlessly through the air.
Vacinne fought to break free, but the bear’s strength was overwhelming. A series of blows descended upon her. The first two left the demon’s unnatural claws scoring her empowered shield. The bear reared back as it prepared another blow.
She wasted no time. Vacinne phased out from under the demon. As she caught her footing behind the bear, she leveled her blade at the beast’s back. With a thrusting strike, she buried the glowing sword deep into the bear’s furry hide. The demon roared in defiance, but the Ashthorill blade would not be denied. Brilliant golden lightning arced outward through the demon’s body.
The massive beast shuddered as the heavenly blade’s power surged through it. The demon howled in pain, but its cries were quickly extinguished as the sword’s power took the demon’s life. Vacinne ripped the blade from the beasts blackened, and charred hide. The thick black ichor slipped off her blade like it was slicked with oil, and the golden runes glowed with new intensity.
“Light be praised,” she shouted.
With newfound courage, she sought out the next foe. To her right, Renlar still battled the strange, faceless, black demon. She watched as Renlar parried and dodged, but the demon’s attacks came hard and fast with each swing. Renlar was losing ground. She charged.
Her shield first phasing strike caught the demon off-guard. She slammed into its shoulder. The demon was staggered, but used its wings to help steady itself. The black-one turned its strange faceless gaze upon her. Two large red eyes glared at her on an otherwise blank face. The thing had no nose or mouth or other distinguishing facial features, yet she could clearly see the hatred in the demon’s smoldering eyes.
It nodded its horned head. Somehow, without a mouth, the demon hissed at her, then it lunged. The black-one flew through the air toward her, its deadly black claws bared. Renlar slashed at the airborne demon, but missed. Vacinne swung her sword in a wide sweeping arc. The demon slashed at her, parrying her attack. The demon landed, and was on her in an instant. The collision sent Vacinne stumbling backward. The demon bowled her over. She landed on her back, with the demon upon her, feverishly clawing away. Vacinne managed to kick the demon off her. The nasty creature spread its wings and twisted in the air as it flew. The agile demon landed on its feet.
Vacinne hurried to her feet. The black-one was already charging. Renlar’s blades whipped through the air past her. The daggers hit, but did not slow the charging demon. Vacinne took a false step to her right, then she spun back to her left. Her sword swung in a deadly arc. The blade cut clean through the back of the demon’s neck. Black blood sprayed the ground as the demon’s horned head was freed from its body. The black head bounced and rolled down the hill away from them.
She didn’t even have time to exult in her triumph. Renlar sprinted at her, and shoved her aside. His swords dug deep into the chest of a lunging black-one. The demon hissed and clawed at him even as the blades burrowed deep into its core. Black claws slashed through the leathers upon Renlar’s left arm, rending flesh. Renlar placed his booted foot upon the demon’s stomach and he kicked it off his blades.
Vacinne turned toward Renlar.
“I’m fine,” he said as he sought out his next foe.
She turned away and scanned the battlefield. Draece and Thrazen were holding their own, but dozens of demons were pressing in upon the four of them. She couldn’t see what was going on inside the walls of the temple grounds, but she could hear the howls of demons and the cries of men. The Wardens were fighting back, but she feared the worst.
Lightning raced through the strangely lit sky and crashed somewhere in the distance. The thunder snapped and cracked, and it could be felt by all. Vacinne’s eyes shifted again from Renlar to Draece and Thrazen. The dwarf fought with fury, but he was losing ground to a pack of goblars. She ran to his aid.
Two goblars tackled him and tried to bring him to the ground. Thrazen kicked and cursed. A third then fourth goblar joined the fray. In seconds the dwarf was ripped to the ground. Vacinne’s legs couldn’t move fast enough. Two demons held him down. Another
grasped a fist full of his hair and ripped his head to the side. The final demon opened its mouth, baring massive fangs.
“No!” she screamed as she drew on her power to phase forward.
Thrazen jerked his head away from one of his captors, ripping his own hair out. The move pulled the goblar off-balance. The demon fell on top of him, its neck stretched out before him. Thrazen opened his mouth and descended upon the demon’s neck. His jaw clenched down. His teeth ripped through the demon’s green flesh. The goblar wailed, but Thrazen didn’t let go. Black ichor oozed into his mouth.
Vacinne’s flew through the air, knocking the top goblar from the pile. The demon roared as it rolled across the hard ground. It scrambled to its feet only to find her blade descending on it. The downward attack left no room for a counter. The glowing blade sliced through skull and brain. The goblar was destroyed.
She turned back to find one goblar clutching at the fatal wound on its neck and two others being cut down by the berzerking dwarf. She’d heard the stories before, but she’d never seen anything like it, not even in the tunnels below Drenamere. The now red-faced dwarf, with a bloody scalp where a fistful of hair had been torn out, lashed out at his enemies with axes and curses. Black demon’s blood mingled with his own and dripped from his mouth.
Thrazen, mad with bloodlust, charged the demon ranks. She knew that all thoughts and concerns for his own safety were gone the moment the rage took him. Her fear for him grew as he raced to meet more of the charging horde.
Vacinne prayed, “By the Light!”
A pillar of golden light shot down from the heavens, and enraptured the rampaging dwarf.
Thrazen was an angry current of bloodshed, sweeping through the battlefield. His axes sung a song fit for the Halls of his Ancestors. Goblars and Black-ones were no match for his fury. One by one they fell to his rageborn strikes. The golden glow around him was a shroud of protection. Demon blades and claws alike were turned away by the holy umbra, and the demons’ death toll rose.
Vacinne knew the shield wouldn’t last forever, but he would be good for the moment. She turned her focus toward the others. Draece was showing off his flashy skills with the blade. He handled the dadao, a blade many could consider oversized and oddly curved, with ease and elegance. The blade did not strike or thrust, rather it danced in rhythmic flowing parabolas. She was relieved to see that he had such skill with the blade, because she knew that as deadly as his magic is, the use of it drained him very quickly.
Renlar was never too far from his old friend though. He stood there with a bold and defiant confidence, as he sent wave after wave of daggers through the demonic host. The blades either hit with the splintering force of the kinetic enchantment or they lashed out with the arcing fury of lightning. Few demons even drew close enough to taste Renlar’s swords. The demons that stood between them and the temple gate were nearly defeated.
Vacinne watched Thrazen bring one of his axes through the side of a myzthalak’s leg. Black ichor sprayed as the minotaur crashed to the ground. Thrazen’s hungry axes feasted upon the giant red demon until its cries were silenced.
Draece lopped the head off a goblar, and then cast a sphere of magic around a charging avwrest. The massive demon lumbered slowly toward them. Draece completed his spell. The magical sphere activated, and the two-ton avwrest was thrown across the battlefield as if he weighed nothing at all, smashing any demons that happened to be in its path. The giant demon was slammed into the walls that surrounded the temple grounds. The magical sphere faded.
The avwrest staggered away a few steps, then fell back against the wall. It used the massive axe in its grip to help gain its balance. The angry demon roared.
“Not today, demon,” rasped Renlar as his hands shot forward.
Black daggers illuminated with a green glow shot forward. Their faint glow trailed the blades as they flew over a battlefield that was littered with the corpses of demons. The avwrest snorted and stomped its foot, as it prepared to charge.
The first dagger hit with earth shattering force. Its kinetic energy was released upon impact. The dagger ripped through the demon’s left shoulder and sent it back a step. The second and third daggers slammed into its chest. As the blades bit deep, the avwrest was sent reeling back against the stone wall. The demon tried to fight forward as the fifth dagger tore through its skull. The avwrest’s howls were no more.
We are winning, she thought.
Haunting laughter filled her mind, Oh you ignorant child.
Vacinne and the three others exchanged glances. They’d all heard Jherenon’s voice. The sound of battle only grew worse in the distance. They raced over the battlefield with speed, leaving the bloodied and sometimes smoldering remains of the demons behind them as they raced toward the temple grounds.
Vacinne then realized: the battle had only just begun.
17
Darker Still
The chaos of battle filled the temple grounds. Vacinne took inventory of everything around them. They were not alone, but they were not winning. Wardens fought for their lives in every direction—in the courtyards, upon the battlements, and at the portals. And they were dying.
On the distant end of the battlefield she saw something that gave her hope. The War Masters had joined the battle. Taegun was still injured, but his nullification field coupled with Karus and Nar spelled trouble for nearby demons. Karus had apparently managed to retrieve his blade, and he put it to good use. Goblars and jecarils alike fell before them.
Vacinne’s eyes scanned the rest of the battlefield. With no clear battlefront, there were pockets of resistance in every direction. Some fared better than others. Even still, Wardens lay strewn about. The blackened blood of demons covered some, but the bright red blood of mortal men and women covered many more. Some clutched at wounds, while others grasped at their own entrails.
Vacinne watched in horror as demons cut down her fellow Wardens. On the battlements above, she watched a crawler drive a bladed appendage through the back of a female Warden. The demon’s blade tore through the other side, spilling blood and bile as the woman cried out in shock. The crawler demon flung her from its appendage. The dying Warden fell from the battlements to the courtyard below, where she landed awkwardly. Her neck snapped upon impact. Her suffering had ended.
Vacinne couldn’t take her eyes off the young brunette, whose lifeless corpse stared back at her blankly. It was Myshal. The girl had tormented Vacinne from the start of her time at the Temple. Vacinne just had an encounter with her last night. Now she stared at the dead girl, and her heart filled with sorrow.
Vacinne pulled her eyes away from the haunting gaze of the dead. Death was all around them. Demons of all different kinds spilled forth from not one, but three fiery red rifts in the middle of the courtyard.
She repeated that in her mind, three rifts!
Jherenon hadn’t opened just one, but three. Panic struck, and fear trampled her. Then her eyes set on Jherenon. He hovered ten feet in the air, easily above the trio of hell rifts. His wicked voice rose over the noise of battle.
“I told you this end was inevitable. The power of the Nine cannot be resisted, it cannot be withstood.”
Vacinne was too bound by fear to respond, but she heard a voice fire back.
“The Nine will always be resisted, and always withstood.”
She turned. It was Renlar’s voice. In her crippling haze of confusion and despair, she watched Renlar attack.
Six black daggers bathed in snaking tendrils of lightning, shot forward. The blades raced over the courtyard. Pale blue light flashed in the courtyard as lightning arced between the different blades. Jherenon thrust out his left arm toward a bear-demon, then he jerked his arm toward himself. The unsuspecting bear was ripped from its feet and thrown through the air. The maneuver was impossibly fast. The bear-demon was pulled in front of Jherenon as a living shield. The daggers slammed into its thick hide. The full fury of the lightning enhanced daggers was released into the beast. The demon
was electrified over and over again until the enchants were exhausted. The blackened, smoking demon collapsed to the ground in a convulsing heap. It twitched a few last times before its massive body stilled.
Jherenon uttered foul words and lowered the regal staff in his left hand toward Renlar. Ball after ball of flame leapt from the staff. Renlar was not prepared for the counterattack. Vacinne snapped from her daze.
She called down the golden shroud of protection over her and her companions. The warlock’s angry flames slammed violently into the sphere. The spells thundered against the protective barrier. A huge wall of flames towered before them, just beyond the safe confines of the magical ward, completely cutting off their view of Jherenon.
As more fireballs rained down upon them, Renlar said, “We can’t stay grouped up, lest he catch us all with one shot. I’ll create a diversion, then we should spread out.”
Draece said, “No let me handle this, I’ve got something he won’t like.”
He didn’t wait for agreement. Draece was already channeling his magic. The already glowing sphere that surrounded them changed. Golden runes now floated across the surface of the sphere.
“What are you doing?” demanded Vacinne.
“Reversing the kinetic energy around the shield,” said Draece with a grunt as he completed the spell. “Scatter on the white flash!”
“I don’t under—”
Vacinne’s words were cut short as another barrage of fireballs hit the barrier. This time the magical shell flashed white upon each impact. The fireballs were reflected, and slung back at Jherenon.
“Go!” shouted Draece.
The confusion left others hesitating for a second, then they scrambled. Thrazen shot off to the left with Draece off to the far right. Vacinne and Renlar stayed at the center, but spread out as they made their way around the wall of flame just in time to see Jherenon fleeing the returned balls of flame. Draece’s quick thinking bought them the time they desperately needed.