She lumbered toward me and lowered her left foreleg so I could scramble onto her back. Then she leapt into the air and flapped her wings furiously to gain altitude. Within seconds, we were hurtling back across the empty, dark expanse of Ironfast.
“Hurry!” I said through clenched teeth. I could feel the taint of the magic even through the cloth of my cloak wrapping the stone. It was reaching for my flesh as if seeking a new host, so I held it out at arm’s length to keep it away from Irenya and me. Somehow, I knew that touching it would just make it easier for the stone’s power to take control of me. I could feel its eagerness to bond with me, and the foul taint made me want to puke.
Relief surged within me as I heard the rushing of water from far below. Irenya summoned a pillar of fire, and the glow of the burning flames revealed the long, straight, fast-flowing Iron River surging through the gulf that cut across Ironfast. Irenya swooped low enough that we were five yards above the river’s surface, close enough that I could feel the gentle breeze kicked up by the surging river.
But something within me seemed incapable of releasing my hold on the cloak containing the power-filled gemstone.
With horror, I realized the tainted magic had sunk claws into my mind and even now fought to stop me breaking free of its control. My entire body froze, unable to move, unable to so much as twitch my finger muscles. I was paralyzed, but then my mind suddenly wanted to pull the gemstone closer to my chest so that I could feel the thing against my skin.
“Do it!” Nyvea screamed.
Her voice snapped the magic’s control, and I willed my fingers to unclench. There was a sickening pop in my mind as the connection to the tainted power in the gemstone was severed. The cloth-wrapped bundle plunged into the river with a loud splash and disappeared from sight in an instant.
My stomach heaved, and it took all my willpower to keep down the meager breakfast I’d eaten. I’d never felt anything so revolting in my life. That filth of the tainted magic within Vozaath made me want to take a bath just so I could scrub every inch of my body to feel clean, and I shuddered at how close I had just come to being taken over by the power.
“Let’s get back to the others,” I told Irenya after I let out a long breath.
“You got it,” she rumbled and banked around to fly toward where Arieste and Captain Daxos waited. As we flew, I scanned the streets with the Circlet of Darksight for any sign of Lieutenant Trosken and Sergeant Dai. I had no idea where Arieste had left them, but Lieutenant Trosken would be in need of medical attention. That wound he’d taken looked serious, so I needed to—
All thoughts of Lieutenant Trosken disappeared from my mind as I caught sight of the figures glowing in the darkness below.
There were hundreds of Emroth’s ghoulins flooding into Ironfast, and they all were headed straight toward my companions.
Chapter Sixteen
The ghoulins were emerging from a passage in the southeastern section of the cavern around Ironfast, and with every heartbeat, I could see more and more glowing figures. Dozens became scores, then hundreds as more of the disgusting monsters flooded the city.
“Irenya!” I shouted. “Get me down there.”
With a growl, the red dragon dove toward the front ranks of ghoulins. The gemstone in her chest flared to life with a crimson glow, and a moment later a broad pillar of fire raked across the monsters. Their gurgling cries turned to shrieks of pain as the red-hot flames consumed them, and the front thirty or so were burned to ash in seconds.
But still more were coming. More than a hundred of the creatures had exited the passage and were even now flooding into Ironfast. They were walking down a broad avenue, but they would reach the first intersection in seconds. If we didn’t stop them, they would spread out through the ancient city and would be nearly impossible to deal with.
Irenya seemed to understand this, for she banked quickly, darted between the tall stone buildings, and swooped low along the street toward the ghoulins. Their black eyes reflected the red light of her shining gemstone, and their mouths opened in a wail the instant before her flames turned dozens of them to charred flesh and blackened bones. I could feel her straining at the effort of keeping the fire going, pushing herself harder in her effort to kill as many of the creatures as possible.
“You’ve got this!” I shouted. I had given her all but a trickle of the fire magic so I could do little else to help her. She had to destroy the ghoulins all on her own.
Irenya’s pillar of fire died, but she didn’t slow. Instead, she extended her razor claws and bowled through the ranks of ghoulins like a freight train. Her bulk crushed dozens, and her wicked talons and teeth tore through dozens more. When she pulled up to circle around for another pass, I could see the ranks of ghoulins reduced to a fraction of their number.
My heart sank a moment later as more ghoulins ran from the tunnel.
“They just keep coming!” I shouted.
“Leave them to me,” rumbled Irenya.
She circled a stone building and dove toward the thirty or forty ghoulins still standing, and a big rig truck sized pillar of fire burst from her mouth. The stink of charred meat filled the cavern around me as the blistering heat of the flames washed over the ghoulins. Their screams of pain cut off in seconds beneath the roaring blaze, and I could actually feel my skin start to sweat from the heat.
Instead of circling for another pass, Irenya descended to land on the stony ground before the passage into the cavern wall. The ground shook beneath the impact of her hurried landing, then again as she stomped toward the passage. The crimson glow filled the cavern around her as she reached for the fire magic and sent a huge gout of flame right into the tunnel. Crackling flames disappeared into the passage through the stone, and I could hear the cries of the ghoulins within.
I jumped down from Irenya’s back, unslung my axe, and strode toward the mouth of the tunnel. The stone walls and ceiling still glowed faintly from the heat of her flames, and the light revealed hundreds of blackened ghoulin corpses strewn across the ground. The Circlet of Darksight filled my vision with the shimmering heat rising from the still-burning monsters, but I could see no standing ghoulins for the fifty or so feet down the tunnel.
“Go!” I said as I turned to Irenya. “Tell Arieste what’s happening, then get back here with Captain Daxos and the others as quickly as you can.”
“What about you?” she asked.
“I’m staying here,” I said as I planted my feet firmly. “If there are more of those fuckers coming, I’m going to stop them right here and now. Not a single one is getting into Ironfast.”
“But your magic--” Irenya began.
“I don’t need magic to kill the bastards,” I retorted as I hefted my axe and ice shield. “I’ve got steel and muscle to do the job.”
It was strange to see concern flash in the dragon’s golden eyes, and I could read hesitation in her giant body.
“I’ll hold them off until you get the others here,” I insisted. “What’s the worst that could happen in the few minutes it takes?”
She let out a low, rumbling growl, but her dragon head dipped in acknowledgement.
“Be safe, Ethan,” she said, and her long dragon tongue licked my face like a Golden Retriever. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
“I’m counting on it,” I told her with a grin. “I don’t want to have all the fun of killing these fuckers to myself.”
The red dragon let out a booming laugh, and the ground shook beneath her as she stomped a few feet away, then took to the air with a single mighty bound. I watched her go for a long moment and tried to ignore the anxiety roiling through my gut. I was going to face an innumerable horde of ghoulins alone, with no magic to protect me. It was the only way to stop the ghoulins from getting into Ironfast and ultimately into Windwall, so here I would stand until help came.
I drew out the pauldron from my pack and pressed the golden gemstone set into its straps. Light flared along the metallic edges of the armor, and t
he soft radiance pushed back my worries. I wouldn’t need to rely on the infrared-style imaging of the Circlet of Darksight anymore with the glowing armor to light my way. Although, it would make it easy for the ghoulins to see me, I’d be able to see the monsters clearly as well.
My gut tightened as the first of the ghoulins appeared around the bend in the tunnel in front of me. The monster limped slowly toward me, and its black eyes glittered as it spotted me. Two more appeared behind it, then three, then five more. Before the first ghoulin had crossed half the fifty feet to the mouth of the tunnel, more than twenty of the fuckers had joined it. I gritted my teeth, triggered the ice magic in my shield, and prepared to attack.
I cut the first ghoulin down with a powerful one-handed chop the moment it emerged from the tunnel. When the next one moved toward me, I lashed out with a horizontal blow that removed its head from its shoulders. I drove my steel-toed boots into the exposed, emaciated ribs of the third creature, and I heard bone snap beneath the impact. The monster fell back, and its gurgling cries cut off into a wheezing choke. Another kick to the side of its head snapped its neck, and it lay still.
Two more ghoulins came at me in a pair, and I had to dart backward to avoid their swiping claws. I whirled my axe around my head once and brought it crashing into the chest of the first. The force of the blow hurled the ghoulin backward, and it slammed into the monster behind it. The two fell in a heap of tangled limbs at my feet, and I tore the head off another one with a swing of my axe.
Before I could finish off the first group of ghoulins, more were piling toward me. I raised my shield to ward off a slash at my head, jumped back to dodge a lunging attack, and finished off two ghoulins with a devastating one-handed sweep of my axe. Their black blood pooled into a puddle as I hacked them down, and their bodies littered the floor at my feet. Yet the fuckers kept coming, like an endless horde of zombies coming to invade the quiet darkness of Ironfast.
A burning ache spread down my arms as I fought on against the never-ending stream of ghoulins at the mouth of the tunnel, but I knew that despite the pain I had to hold my ground.
The narrow passage forced them to come at me in twos or threes, but they kept pressing forward as if pain or fear never entered their minds. Their strength matched mine, and though they were slower, there were so many more of them than me. If I didn’t instantly kill a ghoulin, it would continue to claw at my legs and feet from the ground. I had to make sure every blow delivered instant death.
That proved easier said than done when facing an endless horde. The teardrop-shaped shield gave me protection, but I could feel the magic failing under the repeated blows of the ghoulin claws. There were just too many. For every one I killed or dismembered, there were hundreds more to take its place.
A powerful blow on my shield sent me stumbling backward, and four ghoulins pushed free of the confines of the tunnel and surged toward me. Before the monsters could take two steps, a bright red glow filled the tunnel behind me and I felt the rush of fire magic. I threw myself backward just as a wave of blistering heat washed over the ghoulins, and a pillar of fire blasted through the tunnel. The gurgling cries of the monsters in the passage fell silent as the reek of burned rotten meat filled the air.
“I’d offer a hand, but it looks like you’ve got things under control,” a familiar voice said. Captain Daxos dropped from Irenya’s back, and flames sprouted to life along the length of his magical sword as he strode toward me. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll be happy to fight by your side.”
“Glad to have you,” I said with a grin. Relief coursed through me as I saw the red dragon and the Blackguard captain. Long, deep gouge marks savaged Irenya’s flank, and blood trickled from a wound on the side of Captain Daxos’ face. Though both looked a little worse for the wear, I could see the grim determination in their eyes as they took their place in front of the passageway. They knew what would happen if the ghoulins got into Ironfast and the passages leading up to Windwall.
“Ethan!” Arieste rumbled above and behind me, and I whirled in time to see the white dragon descending.
“It’s Lieutenant Trosken,” she said with worry in her eyes. “He needs your healing skills.”
I shot a questioning glance at Irenya and Captain Daxos.
“Go,” Irenya growled. “We’ve got this.”
“Thanks,” I said as I turned and raced toward Arieste.
Sergeant Dai cradled Lieutenant Trosken’s body in his arms, and the sergeant’s usually stoic expression was grim. One look at Trosken told me all my EMT skills wouldn’t be able to help him now. Vozaath’s claws had ripped through his mail, padding, skin, and muscle, and though the Sergeant held the lieutenant’s cloak pressed against the injury, it was doing little to slow the bleeding. Pain pinched Lieutenant Trosken’s narrow face, and his skin was pale. I pressed my finger to his neck and found his pulse faint.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I met Sergeant Dai’s dark eyes and shook my head. “The wound is too bad.”
I was surprised to find tears rimming the Sergeant’s dark eyes. With his usual eloquent grunt, he lifted Lieutenant Trosken in his massive arms and carried the tall man, armor and all, from Arieste’s back to lower him gently to the ground.
“C…Captain!” Trosken called out in a weak voice. His words cut off in a cough that shook his body and brought a fresh stream of blood from his wound.
“Captain!” I shouted in a voice Daxos could hear. “The lieutenant has something to say to you.”
Captain Daxos hesitated a moment, but at Irenya’s nod, he came racing toward us and knelt beside the tall form of his lieutenant.
“I’m here, Trosken,” he said as he took the man’s blood-stained hand in his. “I’m here.”
“F-Forgive me…Captain,” the lieutenant gasped out.
“There is nothing to forgive, lieutenant,” Captain Daxos said. “You fought as well as you lived, an honorable--”
“No!” There was surprising strength in the lieutenant’s voice, and a mixture of anger and shame burned in his eyes. “You do not understand.”
“Then tell me, Trosken,” Captain Daxos said and gripped the man’s hand tighter. “Help me understand.”
“Military…Councilor…Warrald,” the lieutenant managed to get out around a wet, ragged cough.
“What of him?” Captain Daxos asked.
“Sent me…to kill….”
“Kill the demon, yes,” Captain Daxos said with a vigorous nod. “And you did that. Vozaath lies dead, his taint cleansed from Ironfast.”
“Not…demon...dead,” Trosken gasped, and he raised one bloody finger to point at me. “Kill…Sir Ethan.”
Ice surged through my veins at the revelation. Military Councilor Warrald had instructed the lieutenant to kill me?
“Why?” Captain Daxos asked, and his brow furrowed in confusion. “Why would Warrald want Ethan dead?”
“Windwall…for…Windwall,” the lieutenant said in a voice almost too faint to hear. He gave a little cough, which brought fresh blood to his lips. His eyes went to the captain and he shook his head weakly. “I…couldn’t…do it. Couldn’t…kill…the Dragonrider. Windwall…must stand. He is…our hope.”
Now the lieutenant’s gaze flashed toward me, and there was a burning intensity in his eyes.
“Save…Windwall…Dragonrider. Then save…the world.”
A weak cough shook the lieutenant’s body, and pain flashed across his face. He turned back to Captain Daxos and a smile wreathed his face.
“An…honor…Captain.”
“The honor was mine, Trosken,” Captain Daxos said. Tears flowed down his cheeks, and he clung to the dying man’s hand with a white-knuckled grip. “The honor was mine.”
The smile never left the lieutenant’s lips as he let out his final, ragged breath and lay still.
“The Goddesses smile on you, my friend,” Sergeant Dai rumbled as he bowed his head.
Captain Daxos bowed his head as well, and for several long mome
nts he remained unmoving over the corpse of his lieutenant. The silence stretched on for nearly a full minute, broken only by the sound of Irenya roasting the ghoulins still climbing up the tunnel toward us. I gave the man time to grieve, but all the while my mind was racing.
Military Councilor Warrald had sent the lieutenant to kill me, no doubt to take the Circlet of Darksight. “Windwall for Windwall,” the dying man had said.
I’d seen the look of hatred in Warrald’s eyes when People’s Councilor Danikel agreed to send aid to Whitespire. If he had his way, not a single Blackguard would ever set foot outside of Windwall. It was as if he couldn’t imagine anyone capable of defeating Emroth. With the Circlet of Darksight, he could finally find the black dragon and kill it. He could be the one to put an end to the battle he’d spent his entire life fighting.
But it couldn’t just be about the end of the war against Emroth. The Military Councilor was the sort of man who enjoyed his position of power, and the fact that he kept Windwall’s defenses strong was the primary reason he held so much sway in the city. But the day Windwall stopped relying on their military for survival was the day his power would begin to wane. His position on the Council of Four would become precarious when the Blackguard was no longer necessary.
I had seen the envy in his eyes when he looked at People’s Councilor Danikel. The older man spoke for the people of Windwall, so he would no doubt hold the loyalty of the citizens. That loyalty could sway the balance of power in the city in favor of the People’s Councilor. The only way to prevent that was to ensure that he, Warrald, was the one to rid Windwall of the threat which had plagued it for centuries.
Anger surged hot within me at the thought. I had been wary of the three Blackguards since the beginning, but I wanted to believe that we were all working toward the same goal. The discovery I had dreaded made me doubt the two surviving soldiers.
“Did you know?” I growled as I shifted my grip on my axe.
“What?” Captain Daxos asked.
“Did you know Warrald sent him to kill me?” My voice was low, but had a hard edge to it. “Are the two of you planning to betray me as well?”
Dragon Slayer 2_A Pulp Fantasy Harem Adventure Page 22