The Vordalyn 2

by Michael T Payne

  “Look! Up there!” Someone called out directing everyone’s attention to the sky. Something was falling back to the earth, there was a visible shimmer of a dome over the city that encompassed the palace and the city. The creature that fell had one wing and resembled a bird that was shot with an arrow, falling from the sky. It was Talila, half transformed and falling back to earth in a dizzying spiral.

  “They are trying to flee!” Tamina yelled, goading the soldiers to a roar, each rhythmically banged shield against sword, in celebration of the Vordalyn’s apparent demise.

  “You are trapped, Dracon!” Queen Menina yelled, “Surrender! Don’t make us kill you!” The hoofbeats of Satana’s horse approaching from behind Queen Menina were inaudible over the roars of the soldiers, who were renewed in their resolution to kill Dracon. She meant to cut Queen Menina’s head from her body. Prince Renic barely acted in time, shoving Queen Menina clear of the blow that would have taken her head. He caught most of it on his own arm instead. Dracon did not turn around and was unable to look away from the falling Talila, praying she would come to her senses and teleport, or fly, or anything other than hit the ground among his countrymen. They would no doubt tear her to pieces.

  “You’re all trapped! You cannot escape!” Prince Charnio yelled.

  “So are you.” Dracon muttered to himself, then looked at Prince Charnio, “So are you!” He growled, lifting his sword. Prince Charnio could only imagine the anger in his brother’s eyes, hidden behind the demonic face of his horrific helmet. Men rushed in as the fighting began anew. Dracon no longer parried blows, letting the soldiers hit him harmlessly. His blows were cleaving men in half, two at a time, with a sickening, acidic hiss. It lay men to ground, gurgling, as the acid ate them from the wound, out. Dracon gave in to the power of the sword and agreed to let it feed, and it did, in the most gruesome of ways. Limbs fell and turned black, after being hacked off by Dracon, he kicked and fought, driving his way toward where Talila may have landed, hoping to save her if she survived the fall.

  Tamina watched Talila fall and made her way there easily, teleporting through the soldiers. Talila had fallen well behind their ranks and was surrounded by a group of dwarves, halflings, and gnomes. A wood nymph suddenly flew over to her and the good creatures that surrounded the body of Talila all bowed to her. She flew close to Talila examining her as her body, half transformed, continued to change slowly. She waved the creatures away and they respectfully obeyed her.

  “Kill her.” Tamina growled arriving suddenly on the scene, “Kill her now!” Glyna looked up at Tamina then floated higher over Talila, staring at Tamina.

  “You wish your only way to ascension dead?” Glyna asked in a very high-pitched voice that disgusted Tamina. The question shocked Tamina, but it informed her of who it was that told Queen Menina of the ascension.

  “Ayana confided much in you.” Tamina started, “I take it the council rejects my request?” Glyna’s wings fluttered quickly like a hummingbird, then stopped, dropping her to the ground.

  “To kill your niece? I’m afraid so. I have been tasked by Ayana, to watch over her, and Ganlin.” She said, her voice irritated Tamina, it made her want to spit. The information of her sister’s request that the nymph, watch over Menina and Ganlin did not endear her to Tamina either. Glyna watched Tamina cautiously and Tamina recognized her caution, it made her smile, she was afraid of her.

  “You never had any intention of making me queen!” Tamina growled.

  “No, I’m afraid not.” Glyna answered. Tamina shook her head, “We wanted to test your nature, Tamina, it seems you haven’t changed.” Tamina’s face twisted, finding out she was being toyed with by the council.

  “She must die, if we are to be victorious here today.” Tamina said.

  “Not so.” Glyna knelt by Talila’s head. Her horns and wings had fully formed. She was still unconscious, hardly breathing. “She can be used to stop Dracon from attacking, your Vordalyn cousin may bargain for her? You might finally have what you obsessed over, your entire life?”

  “Venalina only knows force, and this man, her champion, only recognizes brutality, he must be broken! That happens when we rip her to pieces and throw her at his feet!” Tamina snarled as she spoke. She looked around to see soldiers were nearby watching Talila, wondering which of the two women would give them the go ahead to kill her. They were fearful of Talila and the longer she lay there, the more scared they became. Fearful she would awaken and set them all ablaze. The battle waged on and the sounds of fighting came closer and closer. It made Tamina look over her shoulder, just as men who were backing up from the fight, rushed into her. She had to teleport to avoid being trampled by the retreating soldiers. Glyna grabbed Talila by her shoulders, several pixies flew over and assisted her, lifting Talila up and away from the battle.

  Dracon’s armor was covered in blood, his sword rejoiced in the gorging of flesh it finally feasted upon. Men stabbed Dracon, their swords slashed him, their spears pierced the joints of his armor and through it all, he was unharmed. The elves began to gather and devise a plan to offset his immunity to their steel, but were as of yet unsuccessful. Satana circled outside the group Dracon was cutting down like the grim reaper, doing her own reaping, aided by Grik and his dwarves. The tide had turned in Dracon’s favor again, when the soldiers saw he could take any blow delivered and still keep coming. It broke their will to continue, but being bunched together so closely, those in the back had no idea until Dracon came to cut them in two. Word was spreading, Dracon was in a frenzy to get to Talila’s body. His rage gave the sword power to lay waste to more and more at a time, with every blow. The more Dracon killed, the more powerful the sword became, and the easier it went through man and horse, armored or not. He shoved through to the spot where Talila fell and saw Tamina from behind. With a roar he charged forward making the soldiers in front of him rush backwards to flee. Tamina vanished making Dracon’s roar even louder in his fury. He spotted Glyna flying off with Talila, then turned his sword once again downward and stabbed the ground. The blast was three times in circumference as when he first did it, leaving him alone, standing in a circle of downed men and horses alike. Even Grik and his men fell prey to the blast and were stunned on the ground side by side with the warriors of Ganlin. The soldiers on the outside of the circle’s blast stood in awe, watching Dracon, quieted by the fierce attack. He took off his helmet and placed it on his swords hilt. NO! His sword screamed at him internally, but he ignored it, his will was strong. Dracon looked behind him and spotted his brothers, and Queen Menina. The princes were covered in the blood of their own men, trying to aid the wounded as best they could, only to watch them die from the touch of Dracon’s Unholy Reaver.

  “Here me now!” He said addressing all of those around him, even those who began to stir at his feet with groans. “Gather our brothers, tend to those who can be tended to. I give you this quarter to reconsider what you’ve done here today.” He slowly turned in a circle as he spoke. Grik popped up and shook his head like he had water in his ear, he spotted Satana then helped her out from under her dead horse. The citizens of Ganlin backed away and started retreating to the city.

  “Help your brothers before you leave!” Queen Menina yelled when she saw the men were all too eager to get as far away from Dracon as possible. Dracon turned to face her and the princes, who looked back at him with a mix of fear, hate, and disgust.

  “You brought this to my door.” He said pointing at them, “You turned on me, your brother!” He shouted. “You have one chance to save yourselves from annihilation. Bring her back to me!” Dracon stared at Queen Menina.

  She straightened up, indignant, full of hate, “I will tear her to shreds if you don’t leave our kingdom at once.” Before she could even finish speaking Dracon crossed the distance between them in a blur. He held her by her throat, his Unholy Reaver no longer in the ground, but returned to his hand and was on her shoulder, ready to sever her head.

  “No!” Prince Charnio yell
ed, “Dracon, don’t do it! I beg you, we will find your thing, your woman, just let her live.” Queen Menina tried to teleport to freedom. She could feel the power emanating from the sword, like heat, threatening to burn her. It prevented her from casting any magic. Dracon squeezed her neck and for the first time, Queen Menina felt a real fear that her brother was going to kill her. Her powerful magic was nothing against him.

  “You say I am Terrax’s son, yet you ask me for mercy?” He turned his head to look at Prince Charnio, but it was Prince Renic he spotted first. The sheer horror on his face tempered Dracon’s rage, made him feel guilt. It made him reconsider what he was about to do. “I tell you now, I am no son of his. That you could even say such a thing, disgusts me!” He lightened his hold on Queen Menina’s throat but still maintained an iron grip she could not escape from. She gasped for air when he relaxed his death grip. “Return her to me or I will kill you.” He said looking Queen Menina in her eyes. Her face twisted in a snarl, letting him know her answer before she could say it. Dracon knew he would not kill is sister, it was a line he could not bring himself to cross.

  “Menina!” Prince Renic yelled, pleading with her to relent. Dracon suddenly threw her toward Prince Charnio. She landed in a sliding heap at Prince Charnio’s feet. He knelt quickly to help her up.

  “You will never see her again!” She yelled at Dracon, scrambling on the ground, filthy from blood and dirt, her white dress far from what it once was before the battle began, “I will feed her to dogs!” All the brothers knew their sister well enough to know she was retaliating in anger, having been so thoroughly humiliated in her loss to Dracon. Queen Menina never could handle losing to her brothers at anything.

  “You were right about her.” Dracon said looking at Prince Charnio. “You know what I want. If she is harmed, none of you will leave Dragons Claw, I know you used the stone, my secret weapon to keep enemies trapped in here with me, if she isn’t returned to me by morning, when I’m finished with you, I will lay waste to Ganlin, a kingdom that turns its back on its heroes.” He turned his back on his siblings and began walking up the hill to his palace, wading through the dead. Grik’s dwarves followed him, walking backwards keeping an eye on the soldiers of Ganlin as they gathered their wounded. Satana walked to the siblings.

  “How dare you!” She growled at Queen Menina, her face was a snarl. She looked at each of the princes, “Hang your heads in shame! Cowards! Always hiding behind him, while he fought Terrax!” Prince Charnio stared back at her with a glare, ready to say something but Satana didn’t give him the chance, “You, of all people, calling him the son of Terrax?” Satana spit in his face, then followed after Dracon. Prince Charnio wiped his face, watching her leave. Prince Darrin did hang his head low, he was embarrassed by Satana’s words.

  “He killed Captain Velen, and his wife, and children, did he tell you that, Satana?” Queen Menina yelled after her. Satana paused and started to turn slowly, but stopped herself and continued on her way. Queen Menina was so angry, she began to raise her hands to cast a spell and attack them from behind. Prince Charnio grabbed her hands, stopping her.

  “We need to regroup, Menina.” He said, she struggled against him, “It didn’t work before! What makes you think it will now?” He growled in her ear, still holding her hands from behind by the wrists. She relented, reluctantly.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Queen Menina burst through the tavern door into the makeshift command center, her brothers were right behind her. It was early morning, many died in the night from their wounds. “Where is that thing!?!” She asked snarling and looking around the room at the bandaged, beat up men that filled the hall, “Drag it here, now! So that I may rip it’s throat out myself!” She yelled at the group. She spent the night searching the city for where Talila had been taken but could not find her.

  “We don’t have it!” Raggrun exclaimed, coming forward to meet her.

  “Fairies took her away during the night.” Tamina said, standing midway up the stairs to the second floor, so she could see over the crowd at her niece. Everyone turned to look at her.

  “What fairies? Under whose orders?” She asked calming her anger greatly.

  “You know her, your confidante?” Tamina said with a knowing smile. Queen Menina looked down with a furrowed brow, wondering why Glyna would have taken Talila, and to where? It made her reconsider killing Talila until after she spoke with Glyna. Queen Menina wondered if she was acting irrationally, out of anger from her brothers bruising of her ego. Manhandling her, then throwing her to the floor like a discarded cloth. The thought of it began to make her blood boil again. She needed to calm herself before she made another mistake. Dracon was much more than she bargained for. He was aided by a strong magic, she did not expect, not in the nature it presented itself. She thought the magic would have come from the women he surrounded himself with, something she could target and fight. She assumed he would be overwhelmed by the forces of Ganlin and be unable to whether the storm of thousands of men. He was… devastating.

  “We have to find a way to counter that fear magic. Our numbers mean nothing, so long as he has it!” She said after a moment. “Did you know about that sword?” She asked Prince Charnio, “Has he always had it?”

  “No,” He said shaking his head adamantly, “I assure you, it would not have escaped my attention?”

  “That sword is an evil thing! Death magic!” Raggrun exclaimed, “Every man that tasted the slightest nick of that blade has died in the night! Even nonfatal wounds? All perished in the most horrible and painful way. Diseased, infected somehow?”

  “Has anyone here, who has fought by his side, ever see that sword before?” She asked looking around the room.

  “It is a powerful magic.” Elmyra said. Queen Menina looked at her, waiting for her to elaborate. When she did not, and just shook her head no, it irritated Queen Menina.

  “I need answers I don’t already have, Elmyra.” She said disgusted with Elmyra’s answer.

  “We have magically enhanced armor? Why didn’t it protect us, even a little?” Prince Charnio asked aloud, “He cut men in two!”

  “And that blast, it grew stronger, the more the fighting continued, did you notice that?” Prince Renic asked.

  “I did not.” Raggrun said, “I was too busy trying to get back to my feet after feeling it. Damn near knocked the lungs from me chest!” He shook his head, “If only Vartan was here, he would have answers. A way to stop that evil magic.”

  “He is not here. We are alone.” Queen Menina said looking down at the table. “Did anyone notice anything useful? Any weakness we could exploit?”

  “He’s aligned himself with the Derro, deep dwarves. How he met them is a mystery, but they were seasoned and accustomed to the light. Evil bastards!” Raggrun spit.

  “Derro.” Queen Menina considered that.

  “That girl.” Prince Darrin said, “Thing… whatever you want to call it. He stopped fighting because of her. That could be a weakness. He also said we killed his queen. Maybe our specialists were successful in taking more of them out? Maybe that’s why just the one?” Prince Darrin looked around for someone to confirm or dispute his words, “If she is the last, she may hold a special place to him. Maybe he’ll bargain? He demanded her return or else, we have to be able to exploit that?” Queen Menina looked around the room at the weary soldiers who all grunted or nodded their agreement with Prince Darrin.

  “I’ve seen her in action more than once now, and I am reluctant to return her to his side. I feel it would be a grave mistake.” Queen Menina said shaking her head no. “Leave me now, I want to ponder this, and her fate.” The men all moved out. Queen Menina grabbed Raggrun’s arm, “I need to speak to Glyna.” Raggrun nodded.

  “If ya want to see her, she’ll make herself known, if she also wants to see you, that is.” He said then left the tavern with the rest of the men. Tamina stood at her heightened vantage point on the stairs, watching. Queen Menina looked up at her as she walked a
round the table to the side nearest to Tamina.

  “I don’t trust you, Tamina. Or your motives. You have been deceitful, and I embraced you. I was weak and lonely, you preyed upon that. Your niece.” Queen Menina said stopping at the bottom of the stairs. Tamina chuckled.

  “You are truly Ayana’s daughter. Everything is always so sinister with you two.” She said, “You may not approve of my methods, but what I do, I do for the both of us.” Queen Menina looked at Tamina in disgust.