by Narro, B. T.
He saw the Krepp’s yellow eyes fill with surprise just before Cleve kicked his sword out of the way and fell on top of him. Cleve quickly finished him by driving his Bastial steel weapon into the Krepp’s chest, then jumped off and turned to face the others.
The disorganized cluster of five was tripping over each other while trying to dodge the Dajriks. Another shadow came over Cleve before the Krepps could reach him. He couldn’t run fast enough, so he dove just as the enemy Dajrik’s foot shook the ground behind him. The Krepps were there before he could get up, already swiping at him. With one hand, he threw dirt. With the other, he fended them off with his sword. He used his feet when he could, but he would be dead as soon as they encircled him, which they were just about to do.
Suddenly, all five screamed and fell. It had to be psyche. Cleve jumped and readied his sword to end them. But then there was an explosion of light, and one of the Dajriks was shrieking. Fragmented pieces of a fireball fell around him; next was the enormous shield, slamming into the dirt a few feet away and causing a cloud of dust to rise.
“Get out of there!” he heard Reela shout. “Toward me, hurry!”
He turned and sprinted. But another shadow came over him, this one so large it had to be more than a foot. He looked over his shoulder to see the enemy Dajrik looming over him, the ally giant about to throw him to the ground.
“Run!” Reela yelled.
Cleve fled as fast as his legs would allow. He could hear the Krepps behind him and knew Reela’s spell had only debilitated them for a blink. He felt claws scratching at his tunic until the crash of the Dajrik’s body launched Cleve like a spring. Feeling his Bastial steel sword twisting awkwardly, he let it go before he hit the ground so it wouldn’t impale him.
He somersaulted and then felt someone’s hands on him, pulling him up. It was Reela, and she let go immediately to push her hand forward at the fallen Dajrik. She ran toward the giant, getting close to give him even worse pain with her psyche. He howled and started to get to his feet as Cleve sprinted there, grabbing his sword along the way.
“I can’t hold him down!” Reela screamed. The Dajrik was already back on his knees, pushing himself up with his forearms.
“Move back!” Cleve yelled. She was too close, and Krepps were everywhere. She started to step away as she kept her palm forward, but the Dajrik managed to swat her like a fly before she could get too far. His one hand was bigger than she was, causing her to tumble violently toward a group of Krepps and warriors fighting.
She rolled into Zoke from behind, and he fell backward on top of her. But Cleve was nearly there by then. He fought away the Krepps rushing toward Zoke and Reela. They spat at Cleve as they defended themselves.
Soon Zoke was fighting beside him and spitting back at their enemies. More Krepps came, but they fell as quickly as they arrived, taken by psyche, sword, or both.
In the brief reprieve that followed, Cleve saw Reela limping.
“I’m fine,” she said before he could ask.
He knew it was a lie, but whatever her injuries, they didn’t seem completely debilitating.
“Where are our archers?” Zoke asked them.
“There, around the Dajriks.” Reela pointed. The enemy Dajrik had gotten back up, his shoulder and neck blackened from the massive fireball that must’ve struck him. With his shield and sword on the ground, he would’ve looked just like the ally Dajrik if not for his wound. They were still wrestling, Krepps still trying to cut the ankles of the ally Dajrik.
All around them were Human archers too busy shooting the constantly charging Krepps to focus on the Dajrik. Zeti was there, easy to find. Zoke rushed over to her.
“Cover me, Reela, just for a moment,” Cleve said.
He took the bow off his back as he watched Reela stop two Krepps from reaching them with psyche. She called for warriors. When Cleve confirmed they were coming to help, he turned and aimed an arrow at the enemy Dajrik. Behind him, he could hear Reela and the two warriors fighting hard. He refrained from turning to help as he watched the Dajrik and waited for his opportunity.
There—the Dajriks had hold of each other’s arms, their weight shifting back and forth.
Cleve’s hands were steady as he drew the string of his longbow. His eyes didn’t see the rest of the battle, only his target—the soft flesh of the giant’s neck. Ready to let the arrow soar, he held his breath. No noise could interrupt his focus. He needed to put everything into this one shot, pulling back as hard as he could manage.
He let go and started fastening the bow to his back, already knowing it was going to hit. The arrow drove deep into the Dajrik’s neck before Cleve had his Bastial steel sword in his hand again. The giant gasped violently, both massive hands coming to his throat as he stumbled sideways and started to fall.
He slammed against the ground, crushing many of the Krepps nearby that had been slowly cutting away at the ankles of the ally Dajrik. Now without distraction, the Dajrik easily kicked the Krepps away, bent to grab the other Dajrik’s sword, and then slammed it down into the enemy giant’s chest.
“Cleve!” Reela yelled.
“The Dajrik’s dead,” he said as he stepped between Reela and the Krepps, joining the other warriors.
“Which Dajrik?” she asked, now in a panic.
“Their Dajrik,” he said. “One of them, at least.”
Chapter 39:
STEFFEN
Tenred finally had joined the battle. Their mages and archers were casting fireballs and shooting arrows into clusters of Steffen’s allies behind him. It was the only place Krepps hadn’t reached yet, where Kyrro’s mages and archers—including some of their chemists—had gathered.
Off to the north, Steffen had seen one enemy Dajrik being killed. But the other was near him…and so was Doe, who continued to surprise Steffen with massive fireballs. The Krepp leader had been casting from a distance, too far for anyone to reach with their own spells. Even the archers couldn’t hit him.
“Incoming!” someone yelled. Those who had a breath to spare looked up. Steffen saw that Doe’s fireball was going to land behind him like the others. He moved forward and then turned, unable to look away at the mages about to be struck.
Two women with green robes snapped their wands upward. A thick Sartious shell was created, bending around them and reaching all the way to the ground. Some nearby had jumped out of the way, but others didn’t move quickly enough. They would’ve been struck if the shell created by the two mages hadn’t absorbed the fireball. Its red color exploded into the shell, darkening the green energy while prickles of yellow flooded over it. Much of the heat escaped off the edges, and Steffen felt his hair being blown back from the force.
They needed to kill Doe quickly. There was too much to worry about, even without his constant fireballs. But what Steffen saw next made Doe slip out of his mind.
The Dajrik was coming, crushing its own Krepps and Humans to move toward the heart of battle. Steffen watched, horrified, as enemies shouted at each other to clear space for the huge creature. He came quickly, even with his legs moving so slowly. The massive black shield protected him from arrows and fireballs that those behind Steffen were casting.
Everywhere near the giant, battle seemed to halt so that allies and enemies alike could move out of his way. Eventually a path was cleared completely, and the Dajrik was barreling straight toward Steffen.
The archers and mages behind him were shouting at each other to kill the Dajrik. But they couldn’t get past his shield.
Steffen knew Rek and Vithos had to be somewhere nearby. They must’ve seen the Dajrik coming. But where were they?
Yet, Steffen couldn’t take his eyes off the giant, who was ignoring the thousand warriors standing between him and Steffen. And why not ignore them? They had to move as the Dajrik neared them. There was nothing they could do but swipe at his ankles with their swords.
The Dajrik veered his path, kicking a dozen warriors too slow to get out of his way. Then Steffen notice
d the giant's true target—Terren, clad in bright steel, was killing a Krepp for every breath Steffen took.
Terren looked up, then started sprinting toward the Dajrik with his sword ready! What he hoped to accomplish, Steffen had no idea. Though, Steffen was running there himself, still unsure what potion he could use.
An Elf came out of the cluster of Krepps and Humans. He had a scar on his cheek—Rek, now running a few steps behind Terren. He held his palm up, and the Dajrik howled and fell to one knee. Terren already had his sword cocked and struck it deep into the giant’s leg.
But then Rek was swarmed by too many Krepps to count. Steffen ran to him with his sword drawn. He could hear the Dajrik getting up but couldn’t look just yet. There was a Krepp in front of him that had fallen from Rek’s psyche. Steffen cut off his head and then glanced over his shoulder.
Terren was unsuccessfully trying to yank his sword out of the Dajrik’s leg as the giant twisted and bent down, reaching beneath himself in an attempt to grab Terren.
“Rek!” Steffen yelled. “We need to help him.”
Terren was rolling around the Dajrik’s leg, barely dodging a hand and then a stomping foot, his sword still stuck in the beast’s leg. Krepps were trying to find a way to him without being crushed.
“Someone get these Krepps!” Rek had ten of them writhing on the ground as he slowly backed away.
“Fuel them, chemist!” a mage yelled. “I’ll burn them.”
Steffen grabbed a potion from his belt and threw it hard toward the Krepps. The glass broke against one Krepp’s back. All of them were screaming something. Steffen was sure he heard the word “Elf.”
The King’s red-robed mage yelled, “Move, Rek!”
Rek let down his hand and ran away from the Krepps. They all jumped to their feet, but the fireball already had been cast. The explosion was immense, the fire so powerful it flung the Krepps’ bodies in every direction.
“Incoming!”
Everyone stopped—everyone who could—to look up. This fireball was nowhere near Steffen. He let it out of his mind. He could hear it striking somewhere behind him as he ran with Rek at the Dajrik. Unfortunately, many screams followed the sound of the fireball striking.
“The Slugari is coming closer!” Steffen heard someone else shout. He didn’t focus on it, too worried as he watched Terren chase after his sword, inches the only thing keeping him alive as he maneuvered around the Dajrik’s feet.
Two Krepps rushed at Terren, but they were kicked away by the Dajrik accidentally as the giant turned. Rek lifted his palm and the Dajrik fell, again to one knee. The Elf didn’t appear to have enough power to take him off his feet completely.
The Krepps around the Dajrik started shouting something about an Elf. They ignored Terren and sprinted toward Rek. When Steffen saw some of them pull bows from their backs and draw arrows, his heart slammed inside his chest.
The partially fallen Dajrik was between them. Rek was grunting as he kept his hands pointed forward. If he could just bring the giant down, they could kill him easily and his body would be in the way of any arrows. Yet Rek couldn’t seem to do it. The Dajrik was regaining his strength, starting to stand again. Through his legs, Steffen saw enemy archers pulling back their strings. Terren was directly between them, frozen as he stared at the archers.
Rek hadn’t moved either. He still had his hand out, too focused on bringing down the Dajrik to even notice the arrows aimed at him.
Steffen tackled the Elf as the arrows came. He felt a sting to his leg, but it wasn’t painful. Perhaps he’d fallen on a rock, or an arrow had grazed him.
“What are you doing!” Rek yelled at him.
“Saving you from archers. We need to move!” Steffen was sure another flurry of arrows was coming. He pulled Rek up and they started to run…only Steffen’s leg didn’t hold him. He stumbled and fell, hearing more arrows pass overhead.
Looking up, he saw Rek hadn’t been hit. Their own archers and mages had begun firing at the Krepps and the Dajrik. But what about Terren? Steffen looked over to find Vithos had come. He was paining the archer Krepps while screaming at Terren, “Leave sword, stupid!”
Terren did, sprinting toward Vithos so that he was no longer beneath the Dajrik. The giant was too busy trying to pick up his shield and block the barrage of arrows and fireballs to care about Terren anymore, let alone the sword in his leg.
Steffen and Rek made their way toward Terren and Vithos. But they had a sea of Krepps and Tenred enemies to navigate through.
All around him, Steffen could hear fireballs striking victims, the glass of potions being broken, and swords—so many swords clashing. Rek used psyche on all of the Krepps they passed, pointing his palm at each enemy individually long enough for the warriors engaged with them to run a sword through their flesh.
Many Krepps rushed at Rek the moment they saw him. Steffen killed them with his sword when Rek pained them.
One Krepp was coming too fast behind Rek for Steffen to call out. The creature was leaping, ignoring Steffen completely. So Steffen swung his sword overhead, striking the Krepp down with a hard blow to his side. Steffen finished him by cutting open his head before he could get up. Rek didn’t even turn. There were two Krepps in front of him, and he was driving his dagger into one chest at a time.
As they caught sight of Terren and Vithos again, Rek’s heavy breathing was making Steffen nervous. The Elf sounded exhausted. He needed some reprieve. Krepps were everywhere.
Steffen’s heart stopped when he saw Brady. The bastard had his arm cocked with a potion in hand. He was coming for Rek and Vithos, others from Tenred trudging forward with him.
When Steffen noticed that the potion in Brady’s hand was red, he assumed it to be a blinker potion. He cursed aloud. He should’ve made Rek and Vithos drink some of his own blinker potion like he’d done when battle was announced. Then again, Rek had been in Kyrro City. At least Vithos, then.
It was the one thing that easily could lead to their deaths. Once they no longer were able to detect movement, any enemy easily could slay them. Steffen already had the blinker potion in his blood. His mind had gotten used to its effects.
Steffen pointed Brady and the others out to Rek. “Don’t let that potion touch your skin.”
Rek stopped a heavy breath to spew out a quick question. “What is it?”
“A blinker potion, do you know it?”
“Yes.” He pulled his hood up.
There was only so much of the substance, and it was to be used on their enemies, not themselves. Of course, Steffen had ignored that order—his fear of Brady sneaking up behind and dousing him was too strong in his thoughts.
He drank the fire potion he pulled from his belt and waited for the effects to build. Nearby, he saw Vithos and Terren battling the Krepps and their Dajrik, though he couldn’t keep his eyes on them through the chaos.
Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry. Then he felt it, the itch to use the newfound energy. He pushed out his palm and let the fireball fly. It exploded among the cluster of Brady and others fighting their way through to Rek. To Steffen’s dismay, the blast knocked a few of his allies off their feet as well as his enemies. It had hit one warrior from Tenred dead on, but even he was getting up quickly like the others.
Steffen went farther in front of Rek, hoping Brady might use the potion on him instead. Then, in an instant, all of them were gone behind a wall of Krepps and allies pushed between Brady and Steffen.
“Leave them,” Rek said. He pulled down his hood and ran toward the Dajrik.
“They’re targeting you specifically,” Steffen argued.
“Then you’ll watch my back.” Rek’s eyes went wide as they fell to Steffen’s thigh. “Your leg.” He pointed.
Shocked, Steffen saw an arrow sticking out of him where he’d felt the sting earlier.
“It doesn’t hurt,” he said, too worried about the Dajrik to care in that moment. The giant was swiping his sword downward, stomping, and then swiping more. Somewhere behin
d the Krepps blocking Steffen’s view, he knew Terren, Vithos, and others were fighting for their lives.
“The Slugari leader is right there!” someone yelled. “Kill him!”
“Too many Krepps guard him! Need range to kill,” another answered.
Steffen heard—he was sure Rek did as well—but neither said anything or even turned. They continued to kill the Krepps in front of them as they closed the distance between themselves and the Dajrik.
Steffen saw Terren had a different sword now, he and Vithos fighting together, keeping away from the Dajrik as they killed any Krepps that came close. But the Dajrik wouldn’t stop going after them, trampling Krepps in his haste.
“Vithos!” Rek yelled to him.
“Brother, need help pain Dajrik.”
“Steffen, have anything on that belt that’ll give me and Vithos time to focus?”
There was only one left, another fire-fueling potion. He thought quickly how he could use it. But what could he do to distract hundreds of Krepps long enough for the Elves to take down the Dajrik? Then another idea came.
“I can’t distract the Krepps, but I can take down the Dajrik if you and Vithos keep him and the Krepps distracted for me.”
“Let’s do it.”
They were close enough to the giant for Steffen to feel the shaking ground from his movements. Rek ran ahead, joining Terren and Vithos in the chaos. Steffen looked for a mage, any mage from Kyrro.
He was surprised to see Effie not ten steps away. She and her Slugari were backing away from two drooling Krepps. She aimed her wand and cast a fireball big enough to strike both advancing enemies. They didn’t get up.
Effie’s gown was ripped along her stomach, and blood had stained a circle around the rip. Ash clung to her face. Her hair was snarled, with globs of wet dirt stuck to it.