As they charged toward us, Byron’s troops hit them with light, but now, it did nothing. As Nicolo had said, all of these appeared to be more flesh-like. Flashlights weren’t going to win us a quick victory this time. We had seconds to mount a defense or they’d wash over us like a tidal wave.
“Axel!” I yelled. “Light show! Now!”
“Hell yeah!” he replied. “But this time watch the whole thing! Last time you missed the best part!”
“Axel! Now!”
Blinding light shot up all around our feet while Axel performed his Macarena dance. If I had felt like I was in the middle of a fireworks stand going up last time, this time, I felt like I was on an acid trip inside an atomic bomb. Bright light exploded in every direction. A rainbow of mortar fire shot over our heads and out into the approaching horde, only to break apart and spray more light all around them. It was a pyrotechnician’s wet dream. A dazzling array of colors spewed forth in every direction.
The approaching horde halted, tripping over one another as they tried to reel back from the intense light.
And then, it happened. I’d been sure he’d made it up the first go-around, but there it was, just the same.
A hot pink phallus-shaped rocket fired over our heads. I suppose someone could have mistaken it for any ole rocket, but to ensure this was not the case, Axel had included a pair of swirling blue balls that hung off the back, sort of dangling as the willy soared. And of course, white flashes shot from the tip of the rocket.
To further my amazement, the penis rocket actually slammed into Shadow Bird mid-flight. The creature screeched and plummeted downward, crashing into the stone floor just in front of us.
I glanced at Byron, and he yelled, “Attack!”
We both charged forward, hacking and slashing at the Shadow Bird. It tried to rise, but stumbled, unbalanced. One wing was all but destroyed from the penis rocket’s impact. I charged the good wing and Byron charged at its head.
As we closed in, Byron raised his shotgun and fired both barrels into the beast’s face, then swung his scimitar for its neck.
I brought Drynwyn down in a chopping motion, nearly splitting its wing in half with a single swipe. The creature tried to back away, but tripped over its own feet instead. On the ground, we made short work of it.
All around us our allies had followed Byron’s battle cry. Momentarily weakened by Axel’s light show, the nearest shadow creatures were shredded with magic, bullets, and blades.
The next biggest threat on the battle field was Lizard Kitty, but it was further down the line. For a moment, I thought it would hammer right through the defenders on that end, but then Nicolo broke from the line and met it head on.
Only, by the time he and the Lizard Kitty collided, he was no longer a man. Instead, he looked an awful lot like the black, razorback-wolf creature I’d seen in my mirror just before I was run off the road.
Lizard Kitty was big, but Nicolo was even bigger. He wasn’t just some run of the mill were-creature, either. Truth be told, I didn’t know what the hell he was. He had the length and litheness of a wolf, but the powerful frame of a javelina. That is, if wild hogs grew to the size of a bus. Long white hair hung down from his head in something like a bad mullet.
He hit the shadow beast and sent it rolling end over end, knocking aside other shadow creatures like bowling pens. Before Lizard Kitty had a chance to get back up, Nicolo bounded on top of him, clawing and raking at the creature.
I turned my attention back to what was in front of me, which just so happened to be a giant shadow rhinoceros barreling toward me. I’d heard somewhere that rhinos were considered to be the most dangerous animals to humans, but then, most humans didn’t know about the types of creatures I’ve seen. Case in point…shadow rhinos.
I dodged to the side as it closed in, all while swinging my sword at its giant kneecaps. Drynwyn burned right through both, causing the shadow beast to topple to the side and right on top of me. I swung the sword in an upward ark, right through the creature’s ribs. Had it been a real rhino, it still would’ve crushed me, but its flesh began disintegrating to ash immediately.
Paeter galloped past me then and slammed his spear into the head of a four-armed gorilla creature that was trying to flank me.
I didn’t have a chance to offer my thanks as he was immediately engaged with a creature that had the body of a horse but the head of a shark. Horse Shark slammed into Paeter, staggering him. It moved in to take a bite, but I slammed Drynwyn through its neck, separating the fish and horse parts.
A large bird-like creature moved in on us next, but dove to the side as an arrow from Mary Beth’s bow hit it in the eye. As soon as the arrow was released, she raised her magic staff and hurled a fireball at the creature, frying it back to shadow.
I gave Paeter a cock-eyed look.
He shrugged. “I might’ve undersold her ability a bit.”
“A little,” I agreed, but couldn’t say I blamed him. It’s best not to advertise your abilities to strangers.
We didn’t have time to discuss it further as more shadow beasts stepped in to take the places of the ones we’d dispatched. All around us was chaos, but so far, we’d managed to hold. As Nicolo had suggested, in physical form, the creatures were much more susceptible to damage.
Our mages, along with Nicolo’s, were wreaking hell on the creatures. Byron’s troopers were hanging in there as well. Bullets didn’t seem to be fatal to the shadow creatures, but they sure as hell tore them up, and Nicolo’s warrior vampires, or whatever the hell they were, had taken to attacking the creatures who’d been shot or damaged with magic. They were inhumanly quick and brutal, finishing off the damaged shadow creatures before they could react.
Something that looked like a giant squirrel leapt toward me and I cut it in half with my sword, then turned to strike out the knees of a tall spindly creature that looked like something from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Stealing a moment to glance around, I watched Byron fire his shotgun into the face of giant preying mantis, right before he hacked its pinchers off with his scimitar. Two shotgun shells floated from his bandolier and inserted themselves in the empty breach while he removed the creature’s head with his sword.
A black tentacle shot out from the horde and grabbed one of our soldiers by the foot. He screamed as it yanked him toward the enemy line. Paeter darted forward and slammed his spear into the tentacle, pinning it in the ground. He wrenched the spear until the tentacle broke in half, then he grabbed the screaming soldier and dragged him back toward the firing line, while Mary Beth covered his retreat with arrows.
Pater dropped the man once he was back across our defensive line. Much to the guy’s credit, he drew his sidearm and continued pumping rounds into the horde.
A giant bat-like creature swooped down and grabbed one of Nicolo’s swordsmen. He hacked at the beast with his sword just the same. I didn't know if it was because of the man's attack or if the creature had planned it all along, but it dropped him just above the shadow horde. I caught one glimpse of his sword swinging before he disappeared in the sea of blackness. Best guess, he was our first fatality.
A few moments later, we lost the first of Byron’s men when a giant snake shot out of seemingly nowhere. The man didn’t even scream until his whole body had been devoured. The snaked turned and slithered back toward the horde, a giant lump in its midsection. I could still hear the man’s screams long after it disappeared back into the darkness.
Further down the line, a black panther pounced on a group of Nicolo’s mages, ripping two of them to pieces before a third managed to hit it with a green acid-looking spell. One of the swordsmen charged in and finished it off.
It occurred to me then that I didn’t know where Axel was. I couldn’t see him anywhere around me, and I could only hope he was all right.
Some of the mages were beginning to slow down their attacks, exhaustion getting the better of them. Several of Byron’s men were shouting about being low on ammo. P
aeter was racing up and down the firing line, darting in to pull out the injured and drag them to relative safety near the back.
The number of injured was growing quickly. Still the horde came on.
I lost track of what manner of beasts I was slaying. They all became a blur as I just kept swinging my sword. Hacking and slicing. Stabbing and swinging. One after another, they kept coming and I kept turning them to ash. All around me, gray pieces of dead shadow monster littered the air like it was snowing from the ground up.
Then a giant toad creature bounded straight over my head. I glanced back in time to see it crush one of Byron’s men and two of Nicolo’s. The line was broken and a giant shadow spider ran through, scurrying back toward Eva. Three giant hounds with little black goblins atop their backs followed.
I ran after them.
The toad flicked its long tongue at me, but I batted it aside with my sword, instantly disintegrating the squirming black flesh. As I closed in I swung my blade across its massive head, disintegrating that as well.
Paeter cut off the spider, but when he couldn’t get in close he settled for hurling his spear at it like a javelin. The blade slammed all the way through the creature’s body and clanged against the stone floor beneath.
Mary Beth planted an arrow in the back of one of the goblins, causing him to tumble from his ride, but the hound charged forward without him.
Eva screamed as they approached and backed toward the wall.
There was no way I could get to her in time.
Then Axel appeared from behind the table and fired a bright ball of light into the group of hounds, causing them to stagger backwards. It was all I needed to catch up. I hammered Drynwyn through the back of the riderless hound, severing it in half. Then I ducked as a goblin swung at me with a black club. I replied with a quick jab to its ribs, then sliced my sword across the hound’s face. They both disintegrated.
The final hound and goblin resumed their charge and were headed straight for Eva.
“Wyatt!” she screamed as they closed in.
With no other plan of attack, I threw my sword at it. The blade sailed end over end and planted in the backside of the hound, killing and disintegrating it. The goblin flew forward and slid across the cave floor a few feet from Eva.
I sprinted toward it and closed the gap just as it got to its feet. Lowering my shoulder, I hit it with my best impression of an NFL linebacker and slammed it against the cave wall.
Without my sword, I couldn’t instantly disintegrate it, and I didn’t dare risk reaching for my staff, which was secured to my back. I wasn’t sure whether these things felt pain, but if it had been a living creature, it definitely would’ve been out cold. I wasn’t going to give it a chance to counter-strike. In its more solidified state, I was able to get a hold of it. It was only half my height and surprisingly light, so I picked the fucker up off the ground. My original intention was just to slam it against the cave floor, but better yet, there was a nice sharp stalagmite sticking up from the ground a few feet away. I slammed the little bastard on top of it, driving his body down on the sharp edge. It shrieked and glared at me with its white eyes, then disintegrated into ash.
That done, I moved over to check on Eva.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
She nodded but didn’t reply.
I stepped past her and picked up my sword, prepared to head back to the fighting line. However, when I looked up the shadows were receding once more, and headed back to the cave entrance. So instead, I plopped down beside Eva to catch my breath.
Her eyes combed the battlefield. I followed her gaze and noticed what appeared to be skeletons lying near the cave entrance. My guess was that they’d belonged to the men we’d lost. The shadows had picked them clean.
Off to one side, the injured humans were gathered and being tended to by their fellows. I hadn’t counted how many men we’d actually brought in with us, but at least a third were injured. A few were among the skeletons, I supposed. What few remained were probably really low on ammo. When they ran out, there was little they could do to help the fight.
Nicolo’s force had taken losses as well, though the ones who remained seemed uninjured. That was probably good, because I doubted Byron’s folks would be inclined to help them. I sure as hell wasn’t. I mean, we needed their help against the shadow monsters, but if we somehow survived, we were just going to end up fighting them next.
At any rate, our pack of defenders had shrunk, and I had a feeling the Valravn wasn’t done. They’d come again, and this time, they’d hit even harder.
“All of this because of me,” Eva said, not meeting my gaze.
I didn’t know how to reply. She was right, but it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t ask for this. She didn’t make the shadow creatures chase her. I could’ve told her that. I could’ve tried to explain, but I just didn’t have the words. Instead, I just put my hand on her shoulder and leaned my back against the cave wall.
A moment later, I felt a hand grab me, then I was tumbling across the floor. I heard Eva’s scream and wasn’t sure what was happening until I finally came to a stop. Glancing up, I saw that Nicolo now stood between Eva and me.
“She’s not for you, Blade Mage,” Nicolo said, glaring down at me.
“Don’t hurt him,” Eva begged, rising to a standing position. “Please don’t hurt him.”
Nicolo turned slowly toward her. “You care about him, do you?”
Eva didn’t acknowledge him.
Nicolo’s grin was made for the devil’s face. “Perhaps I’ve gone about this the wrong way. I asked you nicely to take the coin my master provided. In fact, I’ve been a right proper gentleman about it. Maybe I should try this another way.”
I rose to my feet, my sword at the ready.
“Perhaps if I carve a few pieces off your precious Blade Mage, your tune will change, dear Eva. What do you think?” His eyes remained on me, but it was to her he spoke. “I’d like to start with a finger, but we are pressed for time. The shadows will return soon, so, perhaps I’ll start with an arm. Maybe I’ll remove both his legs and his arms then toss his mutilated torso to the shadows when they return. What do you think?”
Eva glanced from him back to me, angry, but unsure how to respond.
“Don’t do it, Eva,” I said, shaking my head. “Whatever they want from you, it’s not worth it. Don’t give in.”
“Oh, be silent, Blade Mage,” Nicolo said. “You don’t even know of what you speak.”
“No, but I do know that I won’t be as easy a target as you seem to think.”
At that he chuckled. “Make a decision, love. Take the harmless little coin, or watch your new friend get chopped into little bitty pieces. The choice is yours.”
Again her gaze moved from me to Nicolo. Back and forth. She was scared and unsure, yet there was a hard line of determination on her face.
“It’s just there on the table,” he said, pointing. “Pick it up and your new friend doesn’t have to die. No one else has to die.”
She didn’t move.
I met her gaze and tried to hold it. “I’m not afraid of him.”
“You will be,” Nicolo assured me.
He started toward me then paused, a scowl on his face.
I hadn’t even heard his approach, but Byron spoke up from right beside me. “Hey, peckerwood, don’t forget you got two Blade Mages to deal with. You might be some kind of badass, but unless you reckon on killing both of us, your plan is shit.”
The uneasy alliance we’d managed against the shadows was falling apart. All around the cavern, the tension spread as our people prepared to battle Nicolo’s people.
“Looks like we have ourselves a good ole fashioned standoff,” Byron said, grinning from ear to ear.
Nicolo looked like he was about to respond, but paused for a moment, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, his smile reappeared. “No, we really don’t. Should’ve played nice, kids. The boss is coming.”
A breez
e picked up in the cavern, swirling the stagnant air around us. The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention while goosebumps crawled across my flesh. An intense wave of magical energy washed over me, pressing in as though to crush me. I felt the pressure at the base of my spine, and my stomach twisted into knots.
I’d been around powerful magic before, but not like this.
Magical energy had a certain invigoration to it. A feeling of life and creation. This was something else. Like a rotten decaying thing. Unnatural and dark. Bile rose in the back of my throat, and my whole body trembled in revulsion.
The Revenant had arrived.
One moment he wasn’t there, and the next he was.
Our final warning was a sound like a sharp gust of wind. Then he appeared before us like an apparition. Clad in a frayed cloak over dark platemail, he stood every bit of seven feet tall. His head was covered in a dark cowl over a black helm. Horns protruded up through the hood, but I couldn’t say whether they were part of his helmet, or part of his head. On his back was the longest and widest sword I’d ever seen. He looked like the final boss from a video game. Like something sketched out of someone’s nightmare.
But it was his eyes that really struck me. Beneath his dark hood, between the small slits in his helm, they burned a fierce red.
He glanced across the cavern as though casually appraising the scene, seeming almost disinterested in all of us. As though we were all beneath him.
Finally, his gaze landed on his subordinate.
“Master,” Nicolo said, dropping to one knee.
When he spoke, it was in the same raspy serpent’s voice as before. “You disappoint me, Nicolo. She hasn’t yet taken my gift.”
“My apologies, my lord,” he replied, groveling.
A few moments ago, Nicolo had postured himself as the ultimate badass. Now he was groveling like a servant. I suppose that should’ve been an indication of just how dangerous this being was, but instead, I couldn’t help but to snicker a little.
Of Song and Shadow Page 14