by Brad Clark
“I will make him bleed like a man!”
“You already saw what he did. He will not let you get close enough.”
“Your Elven friend is right,” the Deceiver said.
“He is toying with you, and you are letting him!”
Marik kept his sword up, but only to leave it in a defensive position. He knew that Kaelak was right, even if it left him frustrated. They had the perfect opportunity to end this war, but he did not have the ability. If only Hargon were here to fight the Deceiver, they might have a chance. The power that Hargon could wield was far greater than he had seen out of Kaelak and it might just be enough to kill the Deceiver. The problem was Hargon was several hard days ride away.
“You said you were going to fight like one of us!” Marik said.
The Deceiver laughed. “Well, I lied.”
The feeling of defeat started to permeate into Marik’s thoughts. He was facing a foe that had much greater power than he did, and he had no way to defend himself against it.
“You are brave and courageous,” the Deceiver said. “It is a trait that is actually admirable of your kind. The soldiers who fight for me are not always so brave as they tend to collapse when confronted with a superior force. But you, Sir Marik, you do not shirk away from me. You attack me. And that is something that I like. You have honor and are trustworthy. I can see all that in you, and I do admire that in you. Those are also traits that are missing from my soldiers and even from my generals!”
The Deceiver took a few steps forward, and the volume of his voice lowered. “It is not my intent to clean this realm of all its native peoples. Much of your kind must go, as there are simply too many of you. But there is going to be the need to have leadership roles throughout my new realm. I will need governors and generals to not only lead armies but also to govern and rule over the slaves who will be doing my bidding. I have a great need for your kind, as Humans are smart and hard workers. They will need to trust their leaders, so I must have trustworthy leaders to rule over them. That is where you come in.”
“Do not listen to his wicked words!” Kaelak shouted.
The Deceiver’s eyes narrowed and blazed with sudden and fierce anger. “The Elves, however, have no place in my realm. It is not surprising that Humans and Elves have been fighting, as the Elvenkind has always been jealous of Humans.”
Kaelak let out a burst of laughter. “Jealous? What are you talking about?”
“You have the power of magic, sure enough. With it, you can do so many miraculous things. Just like I can.” The Deceiver held out his palm, and a small ball of blue light appeared in it. He pulled his hand away, and the ball of blue light slowly descended to the ground. As soon as it touched the hard-packed dirt, the ball of light flashed a bright white and in its place was a small plant with fat leaves and the growing bud of a purple flower. “See, I can make something out of nothing. Even with my limited power, I can create life. Just imagine what I’ll be able to do with the Ark of Life!”
Marik flinched at the words and glanced down at the ground. He had not intended to, but it was a natural reaction.
“Yes,” the Deceiver said, his lips still stretched into a smile. He took several more steps until he was just two paces away from Marik. “I can feel its power. As I come close to you, I can sense that it has touched you. Permeated your skin. You have touched the Ark of Life. You know the power and the good that it can do. It healed you from certain death, did it not? The Ark of Life is not a weapon, but a treasure.”
Kaelak launched himself at the Deceiver, his daggers aiming for the Deceiver’s heart. It caught Marik off guard, so he could only watch as the fight ended quickly. Kaelak was caught in mid-strike, his body frozen, face twisted into rage. Suddenly a scream came out of him as the daggers melted in his hands. Freed from being frozen, Kaelak dropped to the ground, holding his scalded hands close to his body.
With little emotion on his face, the Deceiver put his hand out towards Kaelak and squeezed his fingers into a fast. With desperation, Kaelak started clawing at his neck as he could no longer breathe. There was nothing he could do. It was only the force of magic that was suffocating him, and even if he knew a counter-spell, he would not have been able to defend himself. He dropped to his knees, knowing that the end was just around the corner.
“Enough!” Marik shouted out. “Stop this!”
The Deceiver just laughed.
Marik lifted his sword to attack the Deceiver, but even before the sword moved a few inches, he thrust a hand out at Marik’s chest. A strong force like he had never felt before struck him square in the chest, knocking all air out of his body. He landed flat on his back, unable to breathe. Struggling to regain his breath, he could only watch as the Deceiver stood over Kaelak, hand out in front of him, squeezed into a fist.
Kaelak fell fully to the ground, kicking and struggling to breathe.
Marik, still stunned by being struck in the chest, forced himself onto his hands and knees and crawled towards his Elven friend. By the time he reached Kaelak, the Elf was lifeless and still. He had seen too many good men die in his lifetime, and even though he knew that there would be many more that would die in this war, it still hurt each time.
“Elves have no use,” the Deceiver said from behind Marik. “They live forever but offer nothing to add to this world. Look at your city! It was an incredible feat of construction. The castle, the walls, all the homes, and buildings. I am impressed by what I saw. Humans have built themselves a grand civilization!”
Eyes still staring at Kaelak, Marik replied with a sharp retort. “And you destroyed it all!”
“Yes, of course, I did. There was so much stone to use that I simply could not let it all go to waste. My tower, of course, is made up of the stone from your castle. My Stone Ogres are moving piles of stone rubble from the walls so that I can make another tower. But, there can be more to this city than my towers. I can build buildings and homes for your people. Once again, this city can be a thriving place to live. It doesn’t have to remain in ruins for much longer.”
Marik said nothing. He squeezed the handle of his sword with all his might. Anger burned inside, but he also knew that he could not stand against the Deceiver. With no defense against the words of a spell, he was simply at his mercy and whim. He expected the next words to come out of the Deceiver’s mouth to be the chanting of a spell that would kill him.
Instead, the Deceiver took a step forward and squatted down next to him. With a compassionate voice, the Deceiver said, “You need only tell me where the other half of the Ark of Life is, and you will survive this war. You will live a comfortable life as the ruler of this city. It will be your city for you to do with as you wish. I will give you command of a legion of Stone Ogres that will construct any buildings you desire. You may house as many of your Human friends as you wish. Your city. Your rule.” This his voice hardened. “The alternative is that you will die a slow and painful death. It is as simple as that. Tell me where the Ark of Life is, and I will let you live. If you don’t, then you will die.”
Marik knew he could not reveal where the necklace was. To do so would not only doom Ilasha, Hargon, and so many others to their deaths, but also the world would be doomed as well. He would die a slow and painful death if had to. It would be an honor to sacrifice his life to save the world. It is what he was born and trained to do.
It was the senses honed from years of that training that caused him to glance up. There was no reason that he should have noticed what was falling from the sky. There had been no shadows or sounds to indicate danger. Unfortunately, when he looked up, the Deceiver looked up as well. There was a popping sound, and then a black mist enshrouded the Deceiver. The moment the Deceiver disappeared, a large rock struck the ground with a thud and a cloud of dust.
At first, Marik thought the rock had crushed the human body of the Deceiver, but the rock wasn’t large enough to hide the whole body. It was large enough to kill someone, but he would have seen the body if it had be
en struck. Looking up, Marik could see the long and lean body of the golden-eyed dragon, Myllia. Her legs were down, and not tucked into her body as they typically were when she was flying. He mumbled a curse to himself. If he had not looked up just at the right time, the rock would have struck the Deceiver and the war might have ended.
Ignoring the dragon for a moment, Marik turned back to Kaelak’s body to be sure that the Elf was truly dead. With a heavy heart, he put a hand on Kaelak’s chest to feel if it were rising and falling. There was no movement. No breath came from his nose or mouth. His eyes were still open, so Marik pushed them closed.
“Marik!”
Marik turned at the sound of his name. Running at a full sprint towards him was Hallendrelle. Behind her were the tall, lumbering bodies of six Stone Ogres. As they neared, he could feel the ground rumble. It took only a moment for her to reach him. When she did, she grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him towards the tower. The sight of two of the smaller Stone Ogres squeezing their way through the tower’s entrance caused her to stop in her tracks.
Behind them, large Stone Ogres were only steps away. In front of them were two Stone Ogres crouched low to the ground and growling at them. As the fight against the Deceiver would have been futile, so would fighting eight Stone Ogres. Pushing aside all thoughts of the multitudes of failures that would come from his death, he knew that he would at least go down with a fight. Whether his sword could cut through their stone-like skin or not, he would at least give the last of himself in a final fight.
A shadow crossed over him, and the sound of rushing wind filled his ears. With a painful jolt, he was grasped with an incredible force and was suddenly flying through the air. Giant fingers grasped him around the chest and for a heartbeat, he thought about fighting back. The fingers that grasped him were not tight and simply held him as he flew through the air. He looked up to see the scaled underbelly of the dragon. Hallendrielle was also firmly grasped by the beast’s other rear claws. She did not have any look of fear or panic. Maybe it was because she was an Elf and would never show such emotion. Maybe it was because she knew what was happening and was unafraid.
“Stop squirming and fighting,” the dragon’s voice said in his head.
Marik took in a deep breath and tried not to fight back, but he was not comfortable flying through the air, even if was firmly grasped. Suddenly his stomach dropped as the dragon darted upwards. He let out a grunt and tried to keep from emptying his stomach.
Myllia flew upwards, circling the tower. She pumped her wings slowly, but with great force. With each flap, they rose with a jerk. Marik tried to hang on and relax, but he was sure that the dragon was only flying them high into the sky to drop them to their deaths.
Suddenly, the dragon’s grasp relaxed, and he slipped through the fingers. He tried to catch them to keep himself from falling. His stomach seemed to rise into his throat as he fell and his mind could only comprehend anger at being sent to his death. Before he could finish the thought, he hit the top of the tower hard. He let out a grunt and rolled onto his side to see the dragon continue to spiral upward into the air. In just two heartbeats, the dragon was high enough in the sky that she could not see the details of her skin and scales.
He pushed himself up and was about to shout out after the dragon when a hand went over his mouth.
“Shush!” Hallendrielle said in a harsh whisper. “The dragon dropped us on top of the tower.”
“Why’d she do that?” He replied sharply, but in a whisper to match hers.
“The Deceiver was distracted and likely did not see that she dropped us up here. We can sneak our way back down through the tower and free the other dragon. Whatever is guarding the tower on the ground will no longer be a threat to us.”
“Kaelak is dead,” Marik said, feeling the need to say the words out loud.
“Yes,” she replied matter-of-factly. “I saw his body. There is a stairwell leading down into the tower. Come inside.”
She took him by the arm and pulled him to the stairwell. He hesitated for a moment as he looked down into the darkness of the tower’s interior.
“The dragon has left us no option other than to make our way down from here. It was either that or be surrounded by those stone beasts that we could not defeat.”
Marik said nothing more and descended the stairs.
Chapter Thirteen
Ilasha brought the long-handled ax down with all the strength that she had left. The thick branch bounced as chunks of wood flew from where the ax blade struck. She left the blade stuck in the wood and took a step back to wipe her forehead. There was a chill in the air, but she had worked hard enough to break into a sweat. The men had brought in a load of wood from the forest, and it needed to be cut into pieces that could fit into the castle’s many fireplaces. The sun was just peaking above the mountains to the east, and soon she would be joined by many helpers. She didn’t mind starting the work alone, though. With short, fitful nights of sleep, getting up early had become a habit. Burning off excess energy and worry helped keep her mind from working too hard.
She hadn’t heard from Marik since he left, but that was to be expected. He was out scouting for signs of the enemy. Her biggest worry was that he would find a horde of goblins and be captured or killed and she would never hear from him again. She let out a grunt, frustrated at the thoughts that kept entering her mind. She knew that she should not let worry control her emotions, which was why she was chopping wood.
She was about to reach for the ax handle when movement in the nearby village caught her attention. The village had been emptied since the survivors of South Karmon and Tyre had moved behind the walls and into the castle. Many of the buildings had been destroyed in subsequent battles, but some remained standing. A figure appeared from behind one of the buildings carrying a large basket. She couldn’t see who it was as the person wore a bulky cloak with a hood covering face and head. Somehow this person had walked to the village without Ilashas seeing her. Ilasha was sure she had been the first one to leave through the castle’s only gate. The Karmon Knights who stood watch at the outermost gate had made mention of it. They joked with her about leaving the castle so early while everyone was still comfortably asleep. In truth though, the castle was already full of busy workers starting the day. Many, many people needed to be fed, and chores tended to.
Ilasha warily watched the person approach. Unless this person had walked a mile out of his way to get to the village, she should have seen him. Given just about any other circumstance, she might have ignored the person and continued her work. They were in the middle of the mountains where their enemies could be anywhere. A single person should not have set off her danger senses, but this one did.
Putting a foot on the half-chopped branch, Ilasha worked the ax blade free. With casual strength, she hefted it onto her shoulder to be sure that whoever approached knew that she was armed. She gave a sideways glance towards the nearby wall. Two soldiers were walking the top of the wall, bows in hand. They would be of some help if she were attacked. If it came to that, she hoped those soldiers were expert archers.
About twenty paces away, the person came to a stop and pulled off the hood of his cloak. It was a woman who shook her long, brown hair, letting it fall down around her shoulders. The woman gave Ilasha a friendly smile but remained some distance away. She was neither young nor old, just somewhere in between. Her friendly eyes were large and brown, which complimented chubby cheeks that were red from the cold.
“Hello!” The woman said.
Ilasha gripped the ax tighter. She did not recognize the woman, but that really didn’t mean she didn’t belong here. There were so many men and women in the castle that it would be impossible for her to recognize everyone. Ilasha did not reply right away. She looked her over, trying to see if she hid a weapon underneath her cloak.
After what might have been too long, Ilasha gave a slight nod and replied, “Hello.”
The woman set the basket on the ground. Ilas
ha could see it wasn’t empty. It was half-filled with small sticks.
“You gathering wood for a fire?” Ilasha asked.
The woman nodded innocently.
“Your fire won’t last long with such small twigs.”
Timidly, the woman glanced down at her asked. “Well, our fire keeps going out, so I needed to get a pile of small twigs to get it started. Anymore, most of the wood is wet, which is why it’s so hard to get it going.”
Ilasha stepped forward, accepting the answer. Keeping fires going was hard enough. Getting them started once they went out was pretty tough. She had seen furniture sacrificed for the cause of getting fires started. “What’s your name?”
“Marila.”
“You’re out early, Marila,” Ilasha said.
“The fire went out last night, and it was a very cold night. I need to get the fire going to warm us up, and like I said, the only wood we have is wet.”
“You should know better than let your fire die out.”
Marila’s eyes dropped to look at the ground. “Yes, I know. I have already been chastised for it.”
“Then there is no need to lecture you again.” She looked again at the twigs in the basket. “It is good that you found dead twigs on the ground. But you will need more than that if you are to get your fire going. Those twigs will quickly burn out, and if you add freshly cut wet wood, you’ll never have a hot enough fire to get them burning.”
Her lower lip trembled.
“You come from the city?”
Marila nodded her head. “South Karmon. My husband was killed soon after all this started.”
“I am sorry,” Ilasha said, trying not let her own emotions overwhelm her. The thought of this young girl losing her husband made her think about Marik and what it would be like if he never returned. She knew that Marik was the strongest and bravest of the knights and he surely would return soon. Taking in a deep breath, she motioned to some of the long branches around her. “I can help you chop some of the small branches off. The wood is fresh, but it will not take as hot of a fire to burn. It should get you to the fire you need.”