The girl smiled slightly and gave him one in return. “I’ll look for you,” she said. She broke free of his hold and ran off towards the trees; Hiran didn’t take his eyes off her until she had disappeared in their shadow.
He turned back to the battle. “Hold them here!” he hollered.
XXXVIII
Calla
Calla paid little attention to her surroundings as she ran, subconsciously avoiding the obstacles that appeared in her path. The battle waged on behind her; she could still hear it as she went, but with every step the sound grew less and less until the sound had faded out completely. The silence that took its place was broken only by the sound of her labored breathing and her feet as they hit the ground. The muscles in her legs ached from the running, but she forced herself to keep going.
Dranl was hiding around here somewhere; she just had to find him.
Calla felt a tug of guilt in her gut and almost started wishing Hiran had come with her. She gritted her teeth and hissed at herself for the thought; it was better for her that he hadn’t. His abilities with magic were limited, and Dranl would find him an easy target. It was better that Hiran stayed in the battle behind her. But she couldn’t help but fear that he faced a worse fate there than with her. Dranl’s army was composed mostly of his Brilken soldiers, and they weren’t easy to even hit. It had taken Hiran a lot of effort to stop that one, and she hated the thought of him taking on several of them at once. It would undoubtedly be worse for Lina; she may protect him to the best of her abilities, but her teeth and claws wouldn’t be able to penetrate the Brilken’s thick scales.
Maybe Calla should have stayed with them…
“Enough of that, Calla!” she snapped at herself aloud. “You’re only distracting yourself like this when you need to focus. They can take care of themselves. They’ll be fine—you’ll see.” She ran even harder despite her tired legs, focusing her magic on finding the threads of energy in the faint air currents that might lead her to her foe.
A vicious snarl sounded through the woods, echoing off the trees. Calla slid to a halt, dropping one knee into the dirt she kicked up to help slow her momentum. She tilted her head to one side and listened. The sound had turned into loud roaring but she still couldn’t tell how far away it was, nor what exactly it belonged to. It didn’t sound like any woodland predator that might belong here, of that she was sure; it could be one of the Brilken. As quietly as she could she crept across the carpet of fallen leaves and twigs in the direction she thought the sound came from. The trees ahead of her began to thin out until they gave way to a small grassy meadow, broken only by a line of water—the river Khine. Crouching behind the trunk of one large pine tree she scanned the meadow with her eyes.
A sudden movement off to her left caught her attention. She turned to look and her body went rigid immediately.
Standing several yards away from her were three figures. Two of them were Brilken with large metal plates strapped along their arms and across their chests, a crude form of armor. They obscured the third figure from view with their bodies; she had a hunch about who they could be but she wasn’t completely sure. Calla was about to move when one of them stepped off to one side, revealing the third person sitting on the ground. Even from this distance she recognized Dranl, his black hair slicked back along his head and his skin as pale as ever. He wore no armor of any kind but was dressed in long black robes; the cloak hanging from his left shoulder was lined along one edge with what looked like dark hair. She saw the tarnished hilt of a sword at his hip. He looked completely at ease, lounging on a boulder half-buried in the ground.
Calla gulped as she watched them, debating over what to do. It was three against one this time. She knew she couldn’t just sit there and do nothing forever; the longer she sat around like this, the easier she would make it for Dranl—and more importantly Bralon—to obliterate everything. She did have a couple of advantages over them: Dranl had no idea of what she was now capable of, she was better prepared to deal with whatever he might throw at her, and she had the added element of surprise. They had no idea she was there—yet.
Mustering her courage, Calla stood up and stepped out from her hiding place into the clearing.
She was no longer unnoticed; three sets of eyes instantly turned to lock onto her. The very air fell still as they all stared at each other. Calla saw the look of shock on Dranl’s face as he just sat there processing the scene before him. The Brilken stood rigid on either side of him looking at each other before looking to him for further instructions. She had managed to catch them all off-guard. The space between them seemed to grow heavier with the tension.
Dranl blinked, and at last understood what he was looking at. “Do not just stand there, you fools!” he screamed at the massive reptiles. “Get her!!” When they still didn’t move he started shouting in words Calla couldn’t understand, but must have been the same order in their language for the monsters immediately charged towards her.
Calla was ready for them. Before either of them could twitch a claw she sent a wall of rock straight into the larger of the two beasts with such force that it was sent soaring through the air and into the river; it disappeared beneath the water with a large splash. The second rushed at her, waving its clawed hands over its head and baring its teeth at her. Calla ran to meet it. As the Brilken brought one arm down towards her she jumped up to plant one foot on its chest then swung her other leg around into its lower jaw as she back flipped away from it again, gathering earth energy around the lower part of her leg. The Brilken staggered back, its mouth hanging open—somehow Calla had managed to break the jawbone. While it was still dazed Calla blasted a large mass of air towards it; the beast sailed headfirst into the trunk of a large willow tree growing on the riverbank behind it, its skull splitting open on impact.
Two down, one to go, she thought as she turned to face Dranl, only to find he wasn’t by the rock anymore.
A breeze started to pick up around her but not at her command. Faint, whispery voices rose up with it, their words clear—the trees were crying out in warning.
Look out from behind!
Calla immediately leaped off to one side, twisting around in midair in time to see Dranl’s fist hit air where her head had been. When her feet touched the ground again she backed up several more paces, thinking that the added distance would give her at least a little time to come up with some kind of plan.
Dranl scowled at her as he straightened back up. “You have gotten faster since we last met,” he said coldly.
Calla stiffened but held her ground. “That isn’t all that’s changed,” she replied, forcing herself to remain calm.
Dranl rushed at her again, balling up his right hand into a fist and raising it up over his head. Calla could sense its trajectory was towards her left shoulder, possibly to try breaking her collar bone. She braced herself, waiting until he was almost right on top of her before spinning around to one side; now positioned behind him she dug one foot into his back, shoving him forward hard. Unable to stop in time Dranl landed on his front and slid several yards along the grass. As he got back on his feet Calla could see the darker stain from the grass on his chest.
He staggered back towards her. “You dare lay hands on me?” he hissed through gritted teeth. “You, who are nothing but a blot so easily wiped from this world?”
“Oh, so sorry dearest,” she said mockingly, feeling bolder. “Let me make it up to you.” She leaped towards him, blending her physical self slightly with the wind to gain a little more momentum until only a foot of space separated them. She rematerialized in full and lashed out at his face with one hand while he continued to stare at some spot behind her, his eyes slightly unfocused until he felt the contact. He recoiled sharply, one hand held to the side of his face. Dancing out of his reach, she saw two long, thin scratches where her fingernails had cut his cheek. The glare he gave her was murderous.
“How dare you!” he hissed. “You are mine!”
“Get over it. I told you once an
d I’ll say it again: you are a fool to assume I would just follow you. You are completely thick in the head.”
Dranl’s eyes blazed with fury at the insult; Calla struck a nerve somewhere. Not taking his eyes off of her, he cast off the outer layer of his robes and reached for the black hilt of the sword at his side. Slowly he drew it from its sheath to reveal an equally black blade. Calla felt a tingle of fear at the sight of the weapon—adorned only with a single blood-red ruby at the end of the hilt—but refused to let herself back away.
Dranl pointed the sword at her. “If you value your life,” he said coldly, “you will submit. Kneel before me. Beg for my forgiveness.”
“Like hell I will.”
“Then if I cannot have you alive, I will have to settle for keeping your corpse.” He threw the sword at her. Calla bent over backwards as it spun through the air towards her but couldn’t dodge it entirely—the very tip of it scratched her right arm. She hissed as blood started oozing from the wound; it wasn’t a deep cut, thankfully, but the pain from it was distracting. She looked up in time to see a fist flying towards her face. Dranl struck her hard under her chin, and before she could blink she had landed next to the dead Brilken by the willow tree.
Calla was back on her feet quickly. A new idea formed in her mind, and wanting to test it she reached over and snapped off a short section of the willow branch hanging next to her.
Ouch—hey! its spirit protested rather loudly.
“Sorry,” Calla muttered.
Dranl, his sword back in his hand, took one look at the switch in her hand and burst out laughing. “Do not make me die of laughter! You do not seriously think you can hurt me with that? What are you going to do, scold me like I am a naughty schoolboy?” He kept cackling.
Calla paused to think for a second. “You know, you’re right—it is rather short.” Stretching her arm out to the side she focused on the energy still contained in the switch. She started to stretch it, forcing the branch in her hand to grow until it had become a long willow whip. She flicked it through the air for him to see. “Is that better for you?”
His laughter died abruptly. “Witch!”
Sword held upright in both his hands Dranl charged. Calla flicked the whip towards him, wrapping the end of it around his sword hand before pulling back on it sharply; it slid hard and fast across his skin. In shock he dropped the blade, staring at the trickle of blood going down his wrist. Calla laughed and abruptly stopped herself; she was enjoying this and she shouldn’t have been. She had been playing with him all this time, the exact same thing he had done before to her.
This needs to end, she thought. She dropped the whip and held both hands out to either side of her, summoning the earth to rise. Large pieces of rock started emerging from the ground, clattering together as she started to arrange them into two separate masses. After a few more moments of careful thought two massive stone cats, acting as though of flesh and blood, stood on either side of her. The glowing yellow orbs in the hollows for eyes were fixed on Dranl.
For the first time she thought he actually looked scared.
She was about to set them on him when there was a loud crash of water. All eyes turned towards the river to see the waters churning violently, the spray flying high into the air. A single column rose up and proceeded to move up the riverbank, growing in height and darkening in color as it came closer to them. Calla thought this was some kind of monster from the Dead Lands that no one had told her about, but the look on Dranl’s face suggested this phenomenon to be new and perhaps alarming to him as well.
After coming halfway across the meadow in their direction the column stopped and water fell hard to the ground, leaving a strange man to stand in its place. He was tall and wore dark blue robes that shimmered in the light like fish scales. He appeared to be an old man with his weathered face, his gray beard and hair, and from the way he leaned on the coral staff in his hand. Water continued to drip off of him. His gaze shifted back and forth between them.
“Stand, mortals,” he said sharply. “The rest of us have yet to gather.”
Something about that made Calla nervous. “The rest…”
“We are all gathering, young one.”
Calla whirled around and thought she felt her heart stop. She had been intimidated by Elenia’s appearance when they had first met, but as the Lady stepped out from the trees she seemed almost terrifying. She was clad in armor from head to foot, all of it in red and brown tones with a touch of green and blue. Crimson feathers flowed down from the helm she wore on her head. The image of a phoenix was on her shield. A long sword hung sheathed at her belt, while in her right hand she carried a long spear blazing with fire at the tip. Calla couldn’t help but take a step back at the sight of Her.
The old man bowed to Her, water still dripping from his hair. “Sister, Elenia,” he said.
“Brother, Kar,” she replied.
Thunder and lightning broke through the sky. Dark clouds were building overhead, slowly spiraling down towards them as the wind whipped through the clearing. Calla first thought it was some kind of tornado until the very end of the funnel broke away from the rest of the clouds and drifted slowly to the ground behind Dranl. The stone cats on either side of her shifted about uneasily. The cloud dissipated…
She swore the young man was smiling wickedly at her now.
The demon lord Bralon now stood before them, looking exactly as Calla had seen him in that nightmare from long ago.
—Well, well. — As the chill voice spoke Calla felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and she wanted to run. –So everyone is here.—
Calla looked around at each face in the group. It was her and Dranl, two mortals, and Lady Elenia, Bralon, and an old man she didn’t know, at least two of them major deities of the world. She finally felt she understood the meaning of the prophecy.
It had foretold the war of the Gods—the last battle had come to earth.
XXXIX
Elenia
Elenia’s hand tightened around the shaft of her spear. The air grew heavy as the five of them stared at each other in silence. She kept her eyes on her brother’s face. He was so pale now, and he looked unnaturally thin—how much damage had the demon done to Ronan that she couldn’t see? He was almost unrecognizable. She cast a sidelong glance at Kar, her older brother; the latter didn’t return the look, just kept his fierce gaze on the demon-possessed Ronan’s ghostly white face. The grass around Bralon’s feet was withered and black. She wrinkled her nose at the stink of decay coming off him.
The demon Bralon tilted his head slowly to one side as he stared at her. –Hello, sister mine.—he said, projecting his words with his mind rather than actually saying them.
She swallowed and felt a single tear sliding down her face. “Brother…Ronan.”
—That fool is dead.—the demon hissed. Elenia flinched at the words.
Bralon turned his attention to Kar. –And what of you…Kar? On whose side have you decided to be on?—
“Be assured that it is not yours, demon.” Kar brought his coral staff up so he held it in both hands and took one bold step forward. “You stole our brother; we intend to take him back, one way or another.”
—We shall see.—
Bralon’s gaze shifted again to focus on something behind Elenia. Elenia felt a knot forming in her gut—Calla was still standing back there. She turned to look at the girl. She was buckling under the strength of Bralon’s shadow, standing rooted to the spot: she was wide-eyed with fear, had gone at least three shades paler and looked like she might faint; threads of her energy were flowing away from her as Bralon attempted to drain her with his demon power. Rage swelled up inside Elenia’s chest and she leaped between them, blocking the child completely from Bralon’s view. Calla gasped for air as soon as Elenia stood in front of her. Her stone cats growled and scraped their feet through the dirt. Elenia could hear the hammering of the girl’s heart; Bralon had tried using fear to stop its beating.
E
lenia planted her feet firmly apart. “You can try your tricks on us, demon,” she snapped., “but not on the children we protect.”
—You are no fun.— Bralon pulled back his black hood to reveal short, dark hair that looked gray, as though filled with dust. –I like playing with mortals. They can be so entertaining sometimes.—
“Of course you do,” Kar said bitterly. “You delight in manipulating mortals into killing each other, demon. It is in your nature. You feed on death and bloodshed. You would turn this whole world to ash just to sate your foul appetite.”
—Bold words for an old man. — Bralon sneered. –Since when did you care for the lives of mortals, old fool? You never paid them any heed before unless they strayed into your domain. Go back to your little sandy hut at the bottom of the sea and stay there—you might last longer.—
Elenia pointed the flaming tip of her spear at him. “How dare you.”
—And you, dear sister. You sit in your mountain of molten earth and watch the events of the world unfold around you. And when something happens that displeases you what do you do? You leave your high throne to create and then abandon a Halfling child among the mortals below, until such time as you want something done without having to get your hands dirty. Then you reclaim them only to send them to die.—
Elenia had to fight to keep herself from losing control. Keeping secrets from her brothers was impossible—they could always sense the things she did. Ronan was still alive in there; he had to be if the demon was hinting at her greatest secret, the one she refused to share with anyone. “Enough!” she shouted. She couldn’t have him continue. She couldn’t let the girl find out—not like this.
—Oh do deny it if you want, but it is the truth. It is all you have done these past few thousand years. Why shouldn’t the little one behind you know of it? After all, you are—
“I said enough!” Elenia vaulted towards him, brandishing the spear over her head and sending sparks flying everywhere. She heard Kar cry out but couldn’t hear what he said. She let the fiery energy from her soul ignite so she was completely wreathed in flames. She acted out of rage, abandoning all attempts to control it. She brought the spear down towards Bralon’s chest; he simply caught it in one hand, ignoring the flames that licked at his skin. He held out the forefinger of his other hand and attempted to touch the skin over her heart but she brought her shield up hard into it. He hissed in pain as he was pushed back.
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