Soldiers of Ruin

by Stephen L. Nowland

  I smell power, Vindictus purred within their minds. And knowledge — you have found a functioning Lexicon? I demand you give me it as well! Obey me, or I will ensure your friend dies slowly! Aiden looked up at the dragon visible through the gap in astonishment — Vindictus knew what he had, both fearing and desiring the relic. Aiden went back to his study, guessing that it wouldn’t dare risk the destruction of the cube or the key with its fiery breath. Sir William’s hand suddenly appeared upon his, pushing aside the gauntlet.

  “Let it go, Aiden,” he advised quietly.

  “I can do it,” Aiden replied frantically. “It might offer protection, or it could even be—”

  “I will deal with him,” Sir William said. Aiden stopped what he was doing and looked up at the old man in disbelief. His calm, steady demeanour indicated he had not suddenly gone insane, but there was more than that — William looked like he was ready to die.

  “Don’t you even think about going out there,” Aiden warned as the old knight stepped back and readied his shining shield. “You can’t fight it by yourself, that thing is huge.”

  “Then it will be very easy to hit,” Sir William answered evenly. “Besides, I have this on my side,” he added, drawing Solas Aingeal from its sheath and driving the point into the ground. He then knelt before it and began to whisper in prayer. Maggie stared at the praying knight for a long moment, and then stood and walked over to him. She laid a hand on his shoulder, her crystal in her other hand as she too, began to pray.

  “I don’t believe this,” Aiden muttered in exasperation. “You’re going to help him?”

  “I can offer a little protection from fire, which I think might come in handy,” she replied softly, her eyes still closed.

  I don’t know what’s going on in there, but I’m giving you one minute to hand over that which I have demanded, Vindictus warned. Ronan screamed again, sending a chill down Aiden’s spine.

  “Is God going to slay that thing for you?” he asked of Sir William, ignoring the dragon’s continued threats.

  “I must have faith,” the knight replied, looking back at the young man. “I was given this blade because darkness is walking our land once more. Why would the archieros bestow upon me this weapon, if it were not to fight a monster like that?”

  “That weapon was made to fight demons, not a dragon,” Aiden corrected him.

  “I believe they can be one and the same,” Sir William insisted, clearly placing all of his faith in that weapon. “I will attempt to distract it — should I succeed, you must see to Ronan’s health and recover the key.” Maggie, her prayer finished, hugged the old man close from behind, and he laid a hand upon her arms in gratitude for her display of affection. He then stood and raised his sword, but Aiden stepped in his way before he could go.

  “If you go through those doors, you’ll die,” he whispered one last time to change his mind. The old man smiled wanly, and his eyes misted over a little as he looked back at him.

  “That’s all right, Aiden,” he replied, “because until this moment, I have never truly lived.” He clapped down his visor and pushed Aiden aside, stepping through the crack in the door and striding out to face his doom.

  Expecting him to be obliterated the moment he walked outside, Aiden crouched at the doorway and watched intently. Maggie leaned against him, her tiny hand working its way into his and holding tight.

  I have no interest in you, warrior, Vindictus said with disdain. Unless, of course, you are about to hand over the two relics I desire.

  “I will do no such thing,” Sir William replied, his sword held low as he courageously moved to stand before the dragon. “The arch mage of this place sacrificed his life to see you imprisoned, and I will not tarnish his noble deed with betrayal.”

  Vindictus was crouched low, with its tail swaying about nearly fifty feet behind it. Its wings were folded, with one of the claws resting upon Ronan’s prone body.

  Then you will have the pleasure of watching me kill your friend, only to take his place, and we shall start the process over again, Vindictus purred, teasing Ronan’s body with a single, blood-stained claw. Ronan was looking up at the knight, mouthing a distinctive word — “run”.

  “I once read that dragons used to be noble and benevolent creatures,” Sir William said, ignoring the sailor’s silent advice. “It saddens me to think how far you have fallen. I sense nothing from you but a seething anger that will not be placated.”

  Then you know what you face if you continue to defy me! The dragon roared, the sudden volume in Aiden’s head almost splitting his skull. Sir William staggered back a step, but recovered and held his ground.

  “You have experienced much pain and loss in your long life, I would say,” he continued under the dragon’s piercing gaze. “In your voice I hear the longing for it all to end, though you may not admit it to yourself. You have become a tiny, angry shriek in a world that has passed you by and doesn’t even remember your name. I would release you from this existence, fallen one. Come to me, and I will take you to the destruction you seek.”

  Sir William raised Solas Aingeal up, ready to fight, and something astonishing happened. A plume of white fire ignited along the length of its blade and past the tip until the sword appeared to have doubled in length. A soft radiance lit the area and the dragon, incensed at the knight’s taunting, recoiled from the pure light of the holy sword before bellowing out a mighty roar, baring its teeth as it forgot all about Ronan and lunged at the old knight.

  Ready for this attack, Sir William held his ground and swung the blazing sword in his hand as the snout of Vindictus dove at him. The fiery edge cut across its maw and sliced straight through, searing its scaly flesh and forcing him to pull back, roaring in pain. With blood dripping from its maw, Vindictus opened wide and inhaled a deep breath before breathing fire upon the knight.

  Sir William dove to one side, aiming for a slab of stone as a torrent of green flame erupted around him. He barely made it, slamming into the ground as his feet were covered in the incredible heat. Aiden recoiled from the blast, even at this distance and worried that the old knight had been cooked alive in his armour.

  Maggie’s prayer had saved him, however, for Sir William managed to drag himself behind the stone, still alive. Vindictus reached forward with one of its massive claws and sought to gouge him out from behind it, but Sir William saw it coming and sliced Solas Aingeal down, severing one of its talons in one clean sweep. Vindictus roared in agony and lurched backward, its maimed claw steaming from the holy flame. This gave the knight the time he needed to get back on his feet and press the attack.

  “Aielund forever!” he cried as he charged in, sweeping his blade back and forth, forcing the dragon on the defensive as it recoiled from the weapon’s terrible sting. Vindictus wasn’t finished yet however, and set its cruel eyes upon his tiny opponent, waiting for the opportunity to strike. After one of the knight’s sweeping attacks, the dragon struck with lightning speed.

  The razor-sharp talons cut through his antiquated armour baring the heraldic symbol of the rose eagle upon it, drawing a stream of blood and sending the old man sprawling to one side. Somehow, he kept his footing and spun around, bringing Solas Aingeal’s deadly blade across in a blistering attack that gashed the dragon’s wing.

  Vindictus recoild from the hit, and flapped both wings to batter the knight, forcing him to raise his shield and try to cover himself. The wings kicked up a storm of dust from the desiccated ground, obscuring the battle.

  “Now’s our chance,” Maggie whispered. “We go and retrieve Ronan, bringing him back here so I can help him, and then you can go and look for the key.” Aiden nodded, and the two of them crept out of the shattered tower and slowly made their way through the choking dust towards the place they had last seen the wounded sailor.

  The sounds of the battle taking place only yards away set Aiden’s nerves on edge, though he resisted the urge to flee, taking one step at a time towards their fallen comrade. Sure enough, Ro
nan was right where they had last seen him.

  “We’ve got you,” Aiden whispered, taking Ronan by the shoulders and attempting to drag him back towards the tower.

  Maggie added her meagre strength to the task, and they were aided further still as the light of Solas Aingeal sliced through the choking dust, striking the side of the dragon and drawing from it another agonised roar. Aiden pushed his back through the broken doors of the tower and fell onto the floor, dragging Ronan the last few feet inside to relative safety.

  “I’ll take it from here, see if you can find the key,” Maggie advised, carefully opening up Ronan’s leathers and witnessing the bloody mess underneath. “In Gaea’s name, how are you still alive?” she breathed.

  “Painfully,” Ronan quipped with a strangled voice.

  “Hang in there, you’re going to make it,” Aiden assured the sailor, managing to keep the fear out of his voice for a moment. Turning to look out over the battlefield, Aiden calmed his nerves and took a few deep breaths, then headed back out.

  Almost immediately, the air was lit by another blast of dragonfire. Fortunately, it wasn’t aimed in Aiden’s direction. He scrambled behind a stone slab that jutted out of the ground and began searching around for signs of the small stone. He groaned inwardly, realising that he was looking for a needle in a haystack that was covered in a cloud of dust, and also there was a dragon trying to kill them. No pressure.

  Nevertheless, he tried to picture where he had been when Vindictus revealed himself, and began crawling around, sifting through the dirt with his gloved hands looking for a slightly different rock than all the other little rocks. He hadn’t been too far from the tower’s doors at the time, and he focused his search in that general area.

  A huge chunk of rock suddenly flew past him, gouging the ground as it rolled unevenly to a stop a few yards away. Aiden whirled around and saw through the slowly clearing dust cloud that Vindictus was keeping his distance from the knight’s deadly weapon, and had begun throwing pieces of masonry at him.

  Throwing caution to the wind, Vindictus charged across the field, leaping over the obstructions upon the ground and shoving Sir William aside as he was caught off-guard by the sudden movement.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Aiden spotted the small, enchanted stone, partially obscured upon the ground by dirt and as he lunged for it, a massive claw slammed down inches from his extended arm.

  Aiden recoiled, pulling back behind the slab of stone as the dragon’s gaping maw snapped where he had been a moment before. Sheltering behind a nearby rock, Aiden cursed as he saw the fight edge closer, making his job that much more difficult. Then Aiden remembered he had other options available.

  Extending his palm, he pictured the magical ring on his finger once more and spoke the word of command. He struggled to concentrate through the noise of the fight, but succeeded and with a gesture, pulled the stone towards him. It tumbled across the ground at first, but then flew through the air and landed in his open palm.

  Without hesitation Aiden whirled around, intending to rush straight back into the tower but found the dragon standing in front of the door, his hungry, bloodshot eyes staring directly at the enchanted key in his hand. Aiden stared back, knowing it was the only thing preventing the dragon from burning him to death.

  Sir William suddenly emerged at the dragon’s side, Solas Aingeal slicing a vicious scar along its flank. Bellowing with rage, Vindictus slammed its wing down on the old knight, who raised his gleaming shield to protect himself. Although heavily buffeted, Sir William continued to slash at the side of the dragon, his blade striking true each time.

  His attacks were pushing Vindictus away from the door, so Aiden crouched and waited for a few moments, then rushed past and dove through the doorway.

  Now Aiden just had to figure out how to pull Sir William out of the fight without getting them all killed. He placed the key and the amethyst on the ground next to the raelani druid, and then drew his rather plain sword, pausing for a moment to catch his breath.

  “This is a really bad idea,” he muttered to himself as he peered out through the doorway, gripping the hilt of his blade tightly. Vindictus was fully preoccupied trying to keep Solas Aingeal away from his wounded hide, but Sir William was visibly tiring now, with each swing a little slower than the last.

  The old knight threw all of his remaining strength into a final lunge, the blazing tip of his sword pointed straight at the heart of the dragon. It pierced its hide, a mortal blow if ever Aiden had seen one.

  The dragon’s roar shook the foundations of the tower, and in response it snapped up Sir William’s armoured body in its jaws. The sound of the foot-long fangs crushing the knight was terrible, and Solas Aingeal fell from his grasp as he was picked up and thrashed about, like a dog tearing into a piece of meat.

  Aiden heard himself cry out in dismay at the sight as the dragon threw Sir William against the side of the tower, nearly twenty feet up. The broken, armoured form of the valiant knight tumbled down the side and crashed to the ground. Vindictus leaned heavily to one side, his flanks rising and falling in ragged gasps, but he was still very alive.

  That cursed blade… he muttered within Aiden’s mind, the words sounding as weak as he looked. Now, I believe you have something of mine, Aiden. He was prepared to charge it and strike it down, even at the cost of his own life, when a light touch on his right arm prompted him to look down.

  “Stand aside, Aiden,” Maggie instructed, her voice tight and her gaze locked upon the dragon. He moved to one side, affording the tiny woman a direct view of their enemy as she raised one hand, generating a cascade of water up in front of her.

  With a quiet, spoken word, a great wind rose across the isolated landscape, whipping up a dust storm that buffeted the dragon before she spoke again, and the water in front of her turned to ice and shattered, raining hundreds of foot-long spikes upon Vindictus. He howled in fury as he was pummelled by the storm of ice that shattered upon his wounded hide.

  Maggie then raised her hands and a bolt of lightning shot down, striking the dragon on the head and scorching him. She called down another bolt and this time, the mortally wounded beast fell to the ground, shaking the tower from his sheer bulk and coming to rest not far from where Sir William had fallen.

  The wind died down and the storm evaporated as Maggie released her crystal and leaned heavily against Aiden, both of them breathing heavily from the adrenaline that still pumped through their veins.

  Silence descended upon the field once more, interrupted only by the distant hum of the barrier around them. Aiden held Maggie close as the two slowly walked out to where Sir William’s body laid upon the ground. Behind them, the shuffling sound of Ronan getting back on his feet could be heard, as the wounded sailor hobbled out to join them by their fallen comrade’s side.

  His sacrifice had bought them the time they had needed to rescue Ronan and retrieve the key, yet the price seemed too high. In the end, the world-weary knight had given his all to help his friends in a display of courage, skill and faith that Aiden would never forget. He felt a tear cascade down his cheek as he looked down upon the crumpled and bloodied form of their companion, too overwhelmed to say anything.

  Suddenly, the body of the knight twitched, and an arm rose up to lift the visor. Aiden gasped, unsure what was happening as Sir William took off his helmet and sat upright, much to the astonishment of the others. He looked around, puzzled for a moment, but despite the battered appearance of his armour he seemed to be very much alive.

  “I… what happened?” he asked, just as bewildered as they were.

  “You were killed… or not, I guess?” Ronan mumbled uncertainly.

  “There’s no way you could have survived,” Aiden exclaimed, staring up at the tower as he recalled just how far he had fallen. “Vindictus chewed you up and spat you out, even before you fell.”

  “Wait, that dragon isn’t about to get up again is it?” Ronan asked, staggering backwards in alarm. Maggie released Ai
den from her grip and stepped over to the knight’s side. He thought she was going to check him for wounds, but instead, she reached around his neck and pulled out a small silver necklace, at the end of which was a lump of charcoal set into a sliver of jade.

  “Well how about that, it worked,” Maggie remarked casually, holding it up for the others to see. Aiden stared at it, unsure why it looked familiar.

  “That’s the amulet Alain gave you,” he blurted in sudden recognition. Maggie nodded and smiled slightly.

  “It used to be a diamond. I guess it turns to coal when it’s used,” she shrugged. “Alain said it was supposed to stave off death, but I wasn’t quite sure it would actually work. Fortunately for you, it did.”

  “But I wasn’t wearing it — you were,” Sir William exclaimed, but Aiden had the answer.

  “You slipped it around his neck when you hugged him, didn’t you?” he said with a sudden realization. “Mags, you are a clever, devious little woman.” He couldn’t help but laugh with relief as he offered a hand to Sir William and helped him to his feet. The others joined in, the joyful sound mixed with the feeling of triumph snatched quite literally from the jaws of death.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The return journey to Fairloch was quick and comfortable, thanks to the carriage that had been provided to Pacian and the ladies. After four days of rest at the dwarven city, King Sulinus had presented each of them with a reward for their bravery. Pacian would have been far more satisfied had he produced the damned sceptre they had come for in the first place.

  He couldn’t really complain however, for Nellise had extracted an oath of service from the dwarven king, promising to come to Aielund’s defence when the time was right. More importantly however, he also provided each of them with the finest equipment they could offer.

  Pacian fidgeted in his seat, as the vythiric chain shirt he wore under his warm winter clothing pinched him every now and then. Next to him sat Sayana, the red-headed young woman looking decidedly different with her shorter hair. She had received armour plates that could be strapped to her arms and legs, as well as a light breastplate, all made of vythir.