Knight Quest (The Champion Chronicles Book 5)
Page 43
Fear nearly incapacitated her, and if it had, she would have died right then and there. Quickly, she cast an illusion of herself.
Roddan hesitated as a young woman with long blonde hair suddenly appeared where the hairless pink form of Marila had once knelt.
“Your illusions cannot protect you from my blade. With your death here in this realm, your soul will be banished from the Deceiver’s realm for eternity. Good riddance, I say.”
She gave one last look at the Deceiver as he walked away. Without looking back, he walked behind rocks that stuck out from the mountainside. The flash of steel caught her eye as it came towards her neck.
***
“Do we attack now?” Roddan asked. His thick, hairy body had kept him warm on their long trek across the cold and snowy terrain. Although the weather was getting warmer, it was still colder than he liked. He couldn’t wait for the heat of death to take over the world.
The Deceiver had his thick wool cloak pulled tightly about his body, trying to keep the cold wind from biting his skin. He could not wait until he had the necklace piece of the Ark of Life in hand, so he didn’t have to deal with cold temperatures or any other inconvenience of being stuck in the body of a Human. Being held captive by his body was not something a god should have to contend with. At least he didn’t have to travel on horseback like Roddan did, or run through the snows like the Mashers. The power provided by the black gem hanging from his neck provided him the ability to move about with just the incantation of a spell. It took a lot of his energy, but it was worth it.
They looked south, away from the mountains and towards a spot on the rolling foothills. At the very limit of their vision, the dragon that called herself Myllia was meeting with the small group of men that had made their way across the northern prairies. Roddan and the Mashers had followed that group from the time they were spotted. Initially, Roddan had wanted to rip them to shreds and feed off their carcasses, but then he noticed the strange makeup of the party. He had broken away from following them to meet the Deceiver high up in the mountains to pass along the important information.
After watching the dragon sail down and land, the Deceiver turned and snapped at his general. “Do we yet have the necklace? We only attack and reveal ourselves when we have the full power of the Ark of Life. If Marila had done her job, we would have that in our hands right now, and we would smite each and every soul down there, including the dragon!”
Roddan glanced back at the hulking Mashers with their large muscles and long fangs. They were standing in a clump, silently waiting for their next command.
“There are only about a hundred of them,” Roddan said. “They are no match for the Mashers. Send them down there, and they will kill each of them. Including that dragon. There will be no trace of them.”
The Deceiver turned and glared at Roddan. He was in no mood for another general who would disappoint him. “If they do not return to their castle, they will be missed, and their army will be alerted and prepared. We need to take them by surprise. If they are prepared, they may just take the necklace and run with it, hiding it once more. We must surround them and put a noose around their necks so that they cannot run anymore. That necklace will be around my neck inside of three days. Once this group moves on, move the army over the mountains and attack right away.”
“Their castle is formidable,” Roddan said. “With a Human mage, a dragon, and Elves to defend their walls, a fight will not be easy.”
The Deceiver growled. “Of course! That is why we must attack quickly and with surprise! We will overwhelm them before they have a chance to put up a defense.” He paused to look at Roddan closely. “Or are you not the military general I thought you were?”
Roddan realized that his slip of words could be used against him. He could not say anything or give the impression that the forces they were going to face would offer any sort of contest. With a confident tone, he declared, “I have already destroyed the largest of the Human’s armies. This small army will be no match to ours.”
***
Marila saw her own head several feet away sitting in a pool of blood. The illusion was so real that she shivered at seeing herself. She had made sure the eyes had remained open, and now they were staring right back at her. For a long time, she laid still, letting snow fall on her. She needed to stay here to ensure that she cast the illusion of snow falling upon her severed head. If the Deceiver came back to inspect Roddan’s work, she didn’t want him to see through the illusion. It was possible he would anyway, but it was all a part of the gamble.
The type of illusion that was used to trick Roddan into thinking he had sliced her head off was dangerous and difficult. It required full concentration, and she needed to time the illusion just perfectly, else he would see right through it. Although she knew that he could sense who she was, she also was convinced that his eyes would deceive him. It was a gamble that paid off. Instead of slicing through her neck, his long, curved sword sliced just above her head, where he thought her neck was.
In the silence of the mountains, their words drifted to her. They would attack soon, killing everyone in the castle. The necklace would be paired with the black gem, and the Ark of Life would be at its full power. The Deceiver would gain control of this realm, turning into a realm of death.
She cried. For the first time in her life, she cried. She didn’t know why at first, but the tears came. Her mind focused on the face of Ilasha, the first person who had ever befriended her. Even though she knew that Ilasha had really befriended an illusion, it still felt real. The thought of Ilasha and her friends being slaughtered was what caused her to cry, and it also made her mad. Never had she ever felt this way towards anyone or anything for that matter. Coupled with the way that the Deceiver had so quickly dismissed her, confusion, frustration, and anger filled her very soul. Being in the realm of Humans had opened her eyes, and it frightened her. Maybe, just maybe, this realm was worth saving.
With no one nearby, she decided to do something that she never would have dreamed of doing. Breaking the illusion, she jumped up from the flat rock and started running down the mountainside. Keeping to eastern slopes that put the mountains between herself and the Deceiver and his army, she raced eastward back towards Neffenmark Castle and the Humans.
About the Author
Brad Clark grew up in the modestly sized city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, but now resides in a small town in the southwest corner of Michigan. He works as a software engineer at a local family-owned software company.
Reading and writing have always been his passion, but the stories that were jotted down into piles of notebooks never made it beyond a chapter or two. Somewhere between coaching youth sports and all of life's great adventures, a full-length novel happened to get written. After much nagging from his wife and kids, he broke down and published his first novel as an e-book. With a renewed passion for writing, he dove into the fantasy genre to start the epic fantasy series The Champion Chronicles.
As much as he has a passion for reading and writing, Brad is also an avid road bicyclist and runner. Springtime is running season as he prepares for an annual half-marathon. Summer, though, is his favorite time where he can spend hours riding his bike on quiet back country roads.
With five kids, two still at home, writing is a way to escape from the busyness of life. His stories come from his love of the genre and from his heart. Whether the stories work for the rest of the world is not why he writes, he writes because he simply wants to put his dreams on paper. He never wants his writing to be work, he only desires it to be a fun hobby and hopes that others can share in his stories.
Brad can be followed on Twitter @booksbybrad or found on the web at www.booksbybradclark.com.
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