by Heath Pfaff
It was the bottomless roar of a black drake. I was not incredibly familiar with the sound, but it took little imagination to place the sound with the beasts I had seen on multiple occasions. The Hungering were coming, and they unleashed their greatest weapons.
I reached our marching army in the span of a few seconds, letting myself slip into the current of speed as I traversed the woods. I found Tairyk at nearly the same moment that Ethaniel and Malice were approaching him. Tairyk watched us come in, his face having lost much of its humor, and taken on the serious tones of one about to go into battle. He almost seemed a different man entirely.
"Our far-runners, Shao Geok forward scouts, say that there is a sizable force of Hungering units pushing through the forest, and underground, in our direction. They've brought drakes with them, and there is a Blue guiding them, one of their wizards. It seems they are not putting anything to chance. They intend to stop us in our tracks." The Uliona general's eyes had gone cold.
"If I wasn't under orders, I would turn this army around and march it right back the way we'd come as fast as we could.. Night is coming, and the enemy force is far larger, and far more heavily armed then ours." Tairyk paused for a moment, and I noticed for the first time that many men were leaning in close to listen.
"However, I am under orders," A smile crossed his lips, though I noted that this particular smile did not reach his orange eyes. "and I still haven't killed myself enough Hungering. So, what do you all say we pave ourselves a road of blood all the way back to King Lucidil?" He called out the last line of his speech loudly, so that all those around could hear it.
Whatever else the people of Lucidil's army were, they were not cowards. They responded with a hearty cheer at their commander's rousing words. I doubted that many of them were confident about the outcome of the coming battle, but they would all fight to their last.
"Remember folks, this battle is for everything. If we die here, not only do we lose our lives, but our children will perish, and our home will become a wasteland. So when you swing your sword, you swing it hard, and when you're going to fall, you damn well get your ass back on your feet and take a few more down with you, because this is your legacy. Let there not be a man alive who can say we did not carve an impossible history here this day." Tairyk's voice tore through the assembled men, and they erupted into a cacophony of enthusiasm at the end of his words. Men and women clanged sword to shield, and even the Shao Geok howled to the skies, bolstered by the speech.
I felt the exhilaration of the moment as well. Tairyk had roused his men, and there was a palpable excitement in the air. They might be at the verge of a heavily disadvantaged battle, but with his few simple words the orange-eyed Uliona had assured that all of them would fight with valor until their arms would no longer hoist a sword. Tairyk's forces marched forward, and we three Knights of Ethan marched with them.
We stayed together at first, knowing that once the battle started we would have to divide. After a time, Ethaniel left, and it was just Malice and I walking side by side, the army at our back. I felt I needed to say something, but I couldn't find the correct set of words.
"Fight well. We can survive this." I said, and hated the ones I'd chosen even as I spoke them. They felt flat, and didn't convey what I meant to say at all.
"We have to, so we can see Kaylien again." Malice added.
"Malice I. . ." I began, but my words faltered. I couldn't make myself finish what I had begun. That sentence had always been difficult for me, even with my own daughter. Now I feared that saying that phrase would betray the memory of Kay's mother, Kyeia, or that Malice would laugh, or, even more foolishly, that my words might conjure up some kind of curse, and doom the recipient of the sentiment to their death.
". . . I know we can get through this." I said lamely. The ground beneath my feet rumbled with a distant thundering as the sound of a massive force marching touched my ears. It was too late for any other words.
"Of course we can, Lowin. I'll see you when this is all done." She looked at me, her green eyes as brilliant as ever, and she smiled warmly. She adjusted her course and disappeared into the woods to my left, taking a position at the head of the army there. Ethaniel, I knew, was off to my right somewhere. I was left in the center position, the army of Lucidil at my back, and the Hungering forces growing closer by the second.
"I love you." I whispered the words to the empty air where Malice had stood, and cursed myself for my hesitance. What if one of us didn't come back from the fight? What would those three words have really cost me? Words that I had never had the strength to say to my daughter, and now I had failed to say to Malice as well. I uttered a particularly nasty curse. At the edge of my vision, a tree lifted from the ground and hurled through the air. The battle was underway.
Chaos. The world was a terrible, confusing mess of chaos. Death rained down from the sky as a hail of poisoned arrows and debris cast by the giant lumbering drakes that waded through the horde of Hungering soldiers. There were at least ten of the massive black drakes, spewing balls of flaming black ichor that tore giant rifts in the ground wherever they landed, and incinerated anyone standing too close.
Lucidil's army was large, but as I got my first glance at those massive black beasts of war I realized that we were hopelessly underpowered. The enemy monsters killed with every step they took, and belched fire down onto our army with every breath. The balls of flaming black ichor - something I had taken to be cannon balls when I had first encountered one of the creatures at sea years before - were devastatingly accurate. On top of that, the drakes were capable of uprooting entire trees and throwing them into the ranks of our men. It mattered little that our men were more skilled at arms. In the face of such a massive and lethal enemy, we couldn't hope to stand and fight.
I lanced my way through the line of enemies, killing anything that passed within range of my sword or claw. Even slowed as the world seemed to be, it was difficult to avoid all the arrows and weapons aimed to strike me down. I had only one goal in mind, however. I was advancing on the nearest drake. I didn't know if there was any way for one man to kill one of the great beasts, but I intended to find out. If the drakes could be brought down, our army might stand a chance. Even killing one would improve our odds.
The drake took no notice of me as I approached, being far more intent upon attacking the body of our army which was still far behind me. Its size, I realized as I grew closer, was far greater than it seemed at a distance. The beast stood taller than most buildings and looked as heavily armored as a fortress. Several hundred men could have stood upon the backs of even the smallest of the drakes, and the Hungering were doing exactly that. Hundreds of the red-eyed demons rode atop the black monster. They bore bows, and fired in an upward arc into the sky, aiming at the mass of Lucidil's army, still far away.
I benefited from being closer to the creature than the enemy expected. Those few who noticed my presence I dispatched quickly, my blade cutting them down before they could so much as raise a fist in protest. The Fell Beast inside of me roared triumphantly with every kill, reveling in the gush of blood and the pile of bodies I left in my wake. I pushed it back with every step forward that I took.
One of the black drake's legs came soaring through the sky at me. It was several times thicker than a normal tree in circumference, and heavily covered in coarse scale plating that I took to be merely another part of its flesh. I easily dodged out of range of the falling leg, and used my claws to latch onto it as it sailed back up into the sky. I let the upward momentum throw me skyward, launching into the air along the creature's leg and towards its main body. My haphazard flight nearly took me too far, too fast, and I had to scramble to latch a clawed hand into a crease between the drake's scales.
Even slowed as the world was, it was difficult to navigate the beast's constantly moving body. The scales flexed and moved as its muscles churned beneath them, and when the seams between the scales closed, they did so with the force of two slabs of dense metal bein
g slammed together. Every hand-hold I took had to be timed perfectly. I was making steady progress until the creature reared back to let out another blast of fire. I was at the joint of its neck and shoulder when it reared its head back. I suddenly found the large black spines on the ridge along the back of its head swooping through the air towards me as the beast inhaled deeply.
I reacted on instinct, throwing myself from my place on the neck and latching onto the black spines of the beast's head. The spine I grabbed impacted on the neck where I had previously been holding, not damaging the drake at all but still with enough force that it would have shattered every bone in my body. I soon realized what was happening. The beast's head darted forward and an eruption of searing flame burst from its gaping maw, sailing through the sky over the heads of the Hungering. It wasn't yet within range of Lucidil's army, but it was still venting fire.
Atop the ridge at the back of the drake's head, I found myself suddenly exposed to attack. The Hungering saw me, small though I was in relative size to the beast I rode. Suddenly I had not only the movement of the drake to contend with, but the arrows and bolts of the Hungering army's weapons as well. They turned their fire on me at once, as if they all had seen me at the exact same moment. Arrows coursed through the air around me, bouncing off of the scale of the drake and leaving no damage. I released my grip on the dragon's horn and slid downward, so that the ridge at the back of its head would protect me from any further arrow fire. I noticed that two arrow shafts protruded from my cloak.
I was now eye to eye with the drake. I had landed on the creature's cheek, just in front of one of its eye sockets. The great, dark eye looked at me, black and reflective. It held no emotion, and barely even seemed to notice me, but there was no mistaking that it had. The drake tossed its head, trying to shake me free, and nearly succeeded. I drew my sword and thrust it downward with all the might I could muster. The blade found a gap between the armor of the beast's face and dug into flesh, though there was a good deal of resistance. The drake roared in anger and tossed its head harder, rearing up on its hind legs as it did so. I did not see what this did to the Hungering on its back, but I guessed it probably wasn't pleasant for them.
My sword was all that kept me from flying off the black drake's head. I held the handle as tightly as I could as the creature fought to shake me off. The shakes of its head were so violent that at one point I felt both of my arms dislocate at the elbow and shoulder. They jarred back into place, and my healing powers took over, but I knew that even so I could not last many more shakes like that.
The giant black eye of the drake stared at me, and inspiration struck. I dived at the creature's eye, reaching deep to find more speed. My heart beat faster in my chest, not straining, but giving my system the flow of blood needed to do what I wanted. The drake almost seemed to stop moving as I sped up. I tore my sword free, drawing it up in front of me. I charged the great black orb.
Heavily armored eyelids began to close, but they could not move faster than I. My blade hit the soft lens of the eye, first bending it, and then, sickeningly, bursting it entirely, but I did not slow my forward pace. I was not aiming for merely destroying the creature's eye. I took a deep breath as I broke through the vile ichor of the drake's eyeball and kept my forward momentum. My sword led the way. All around me burst terrible, reeking fluid warmth, and yet still I drove onward until my blade made contact with something firmer. My progress slowed, and then I stopped. Everything around me was complete darkness.
A tremendous force was suddenly pushing against me and I felt myself being propelled backwards through black fluid around me. It happened so fast I barely had time to register what was occurring, but suddenly I found myself sailing through the air. My sword, covered in foul black liquid, slipped from my slick right hand and sailed away. I twisted my body about, trying to get my bearings, but I was still traveling upwards. When I finally turned my body through the air enough to see what was below me, I saw that the drake had tossed back its head, and that a gout of black blood and gray matter was pouring from its eye socket. It was slowly crumpling to the ground.
The monster threw its massive head back, and that paired with the blast of blood and brain matter exploding from the force of my impact threw me far into the air. Below me I could not make out the individual creatures any longer. In the slowness of my sped up state, I had a terrible amount of time to question whether or not I would be killed by such a fall. The ground was a long way below, and I would be falling from a height far greater than merely jumping from a castle parapet.
The battle below began to rush towards me, coming surprisingly fast, even slowed down. There was little I could do to stop the rush. I put my legs out before me and cast my arms back and wide, hoping my cloak might catch enough air to slow me down. It took me only a single breath to realize it wasn't going to help enough to ease the fast approaching impact. Below me, as the people became clear again, I realize that I would be falling directly into the center of the fighting. I needed to push myself to be faster.
My heart pounded, the world slowed. Faster. My heart pounded, the world slowed, the ground crept toward me. Below me, Shao Geok and Hungering fought in heated battle, other warriors all around. I would land in a relatively clear area, but there would be some surprised people when I hit. The earth inched closer. I prepared my body for what it needed to do.
My feet hit first, I let them collapse, which they did with little aid, though I forced my knees to bend the proper way, instead of backward, which they nearly did with the force of my impact. The blow soaked through my knees, and I felt the bones of my shins, knees, and thighs splinter as I hit, but I forced my muscles to work around the broken bones, throwing my body forward in a roll onto my shoulder. The world spun around me as I used my shoulder and shattered legs to soak as much of the momentum as I could. My shoulder and arm broke and twisted madly behind me on the first roll. By the time I came to a stop, I had more broken bones than I could count and had left a fair amount of skin on the ground in my path.
I looked up in time to see the drake I had skewered finish its shuddering collapse to the ground. The world had resumed its normal pace around me. In my damaged state, my body did not have enough energy to both heal my wounds and keep me moving quickly. Red glowing eyes swept toward me. My left arm was still working, and I willed my claws sharp. I would not die without a fight.
Bone and sinew stretched, bent and snapped as it restructured inside my traumatized limbs. The red eyes drew ever closer. I was struck with the certainty that I would not live much longer. It would take at least a few hours, maybe longer, for my body to repair the extensive trauma that it had just suffered. Unfortunately, I had less than a few seconds. The first Hungering drew near.
I lashed out with my left arm, feebly pushing myself towards the fallen behemoth on my still-healing legs. Pain lanced through my body, starting low, and spreading upwards through the very core of my being like a terrible fire. I lashed out at one of the approaching Hungering, and my attack struck flesh. The creature spun away, a large piece missing from its midsection. It slumped to the ground, but kept crawling towards me, its teeth gnashing, trying to get a grip on my flesh. Three more of the red-eyed beasts came on behind it, more prepared than the first, but still beyond my range.
I struck out again, hitting the crawling creature in the head, killing it with a powerful blow that once more sent a terrible shock wave through my ravaged body. The other three descended upon me, obviously uninterested in their fallen companion. I prepared myself to attack again, trying to decide which of the three threats was worse, but knowing they would all attack at the same moment. My time was up.
A blur of motion streaked through my field of vision, and one by one the Hungering menace before me fell apart, split by a fine-bladed sword. The blur solidified, and Ethaniel seemed to materialize before me. His sword was drawn, and his wings spread to cover him. He looked more impressive than I had ever seen him before. This effect, I realized, might have b
een aided by the way he towered over me while I crawled upon the ground, or by how steadfast he stood, while I groveled with my broken limbs. He bent down and picked me up, surprisingly gentle for a warrior who had just obliterated three opponents in a matter of seconds.
We lit into the air, his mighty wings stroking down and pulling us from the writhing bodies on the battlefield. The world blurred around me, everything moving too quickly for my eyes to latch on to any details. Objects warped into streaks of movement, and though my natural reaction was to speed up, to slow my perception of the world around me, my body was using all of its energy to heal. I could do nothing but close my eyes and hope my stomach did not attempt to forgo its contents.
When next Ethaniel stopped, I found myself in a medical pavilion, surrounded by other wounded men. Many, I could tell, were simply biding their time until death took them away from the world forever. The horned Knight, my savior, crouched and laid me down on a bedroll on the ground far away from the others. There was honest concern in his black eyes. I pointedly ignored the void gray eyes, not wanting to see what terrible emotion they might be conveying.
Ethaniel stood up. "This man has killed a black drake, by himself. He is to be given as much time to rest as possible."