“How are the defenses activated?” said Morigna.
“Either the High King, the Keeper of Andomhaim, or the Constable of Tarlion pours the water from the Well into the basin,” said Arandar. “That activates the magical defenses, and they stay up until the High King, the Keeper of Andomhaim, or the Constable of Tarlion lowers them.” He looked at Morigna. “Do you think that Imaria will send someone in here to disable the defenses? Corbanic thought he had dealt with all the hidden Enlightened in the city, but some of them might have survived.”
“Perhaps,” said Morigna, “but her attack will likely fall elsewhere. This is not the heart of the city’s magical defense.”
“The Well, then?” said Arandar.
“The defense draws its power from the Well,” said Morigna, “augmented by the work of past generations of Keepers and Magistri. But what is the vital point of any gate? The keystone, of course.”
The Chamber of the Basin dissolved around them, and the world flowed into the shape of Tarlion’s northern gate. The doors were open, and Arandar found himself standing in the center of the gate, the Forum of the North on his left and the Moradel road on his right. Around him the great stone walls glowed with the light of the magical defense.
“Look,” said Morigna, pointing her staff upward.
Arandar craned his neck. The walls of Tarlion were thick enough that the gate was almost like standing in a tunnel. In the center of the ceiling, at the apex of the tunnel, one of the arch stones glowed like a star.
“That is the keystone,” said Morigna, “and the magical defenses of Tarlion are anchored upon that. If that arch is broken, the magical defenses will collapse, and Imaria will enter the city. Even if the Frostborn were to breach the wall elsewhere, the magical defenses would keep Imaria from passing the walls. She must destroy the gate to enter the city.”
“The northern gate is the most heavily defended point in all of Tarlion,” said Arandar. “I will direct the defense of the city from there.”
“Nevertheless,” said Morigna, “that is what Imaria must accomplish to reach her goal. Do not disregard this warning, High King.”
“No,” said Arandar, chilled. She had warned him about the trap the Frostborn had set for the army at Dun Calpurnia. Arandar had done his utmost to prepare, had tried to forearm the army for every possible contingency…and then the revenants had walked out of the river and assaulted Dun Calpurnia’s western wall.
Was there something he would overlook now?
He turned to ask her more questions, but the dream dissolved into mist and nothingness.
###
Arandar awoke as sunlight leaked through the windows of the High King’s apartment.
He rose, and the first thing he did was to order more guards placed around the Chamber of the Basin.
Chapter 13: Knights of the Void
Calliande stepped through Ridmark’s gate and looked around, reaching for the Sight.
They had arrived at the grasslands of northeastern Khaluusk, south of Nightmane Forest and maybe a day’s ride west of the River Moradel. Likely the Anathgrimm had just passed through here. Calliande herself had traveled through this country several times. She looked around but saw no sign of foes. Sometimes hills rose from the plain, and occasionally small clusters of trees. In ancient times, various orcish tribes had cleared the trees from the land to make farmsteads, but the raids of the Anathgrimm had left this part of Khaluusk desolate and deserted.
Which made it good country for a marching army.
Behind her Third and Caius passed through the gate, weapons in hand. Ridmark lowered Caledhmaer, and the gate snapped winked out of existence.
“It seems there are no foes to greet us,” said Caius.
“No,” said Ridmark. “But there are so many tracks. A lot of people have passed through her recently.”
“The Anathgrimm, perhaps?” said Third. “They may have come this way…”
The Sight came as Calliande called it, and she swept its power across the nearby countryside, seeking for foes and dark magic.
She found both at once, and alarm stabbed through her.
The Frostborn had not set a trap for them this time.
“Beware!” shouted Calliande. “The enemy comes!”
The others reacted at once, Ridmark stepped before her, his burning sword raised, while Third and Caius spread out on his left and right, short swords and dark elven warhammer ready. Calliande had already drawn magic to her, and she slammed the end of her staff to the ground, releasing a variant of the spell she had used to unmask the Frostborn ambush near the Lake of Mourning. White fire rolled across the ground in an expanding ring, passing through her husband and friends without harming them.
The flames splashed into unseen shapes ahead of them, and a chorus of snarls and growls came to Calliande’s ears.
She had heard snarls like that many, many times before.
“Urvaalgs,” said Ridmark.
The air rippled, and a pack of nearly thirty urvaalgs appeared out of nothingness as they abandoned their stealth ability. As ever, the creatures looked like a twisted hybrid of wolf and ape, their gaunt bodies corded with muscle, their fur hanging in greasy black ropes from their limbs, their eyes like coals and their fangs like black daggers.
The pack of urvaalgs charged in a rush and Calliande started another spell.
###
Ridmark pointed Caledhmaer and called on his bond with the sword, and the blade reacted.
It spat a furious cone of flame, and Ridmark swept it across the urvaalgs. The grass crackled and caught fire, and so did five or six urvaalgs. The burning creatures screamed and collapsed to the ground, rolling back and forth in a futile attempt to quench the flames, and the remaining mob of urvaalgs slowed, daunted by the fire. It would not slow them for long, though, and sooner or later the urvaalgs’ bloodlust would override their fear of the fire.
Or, for that matter, whoever was commanding the creatures would order them forward. In the wild urvaalgs tended to hunt in packs of no more than six or seven, for the creatures’ natural bloodlust caused them to turn on each other as readily as they hunted humans. For so many urvaalgs to attack at once meant that someone was controlling them, someone who had lain in wait for them.
Ridmark suspected Imaria Shadowbearer was about to make another appearance. Perhaps she had finally overplayed her hand, and he could kill her before she reached Tarlion with the Frostborn.
But until she showed herself, he would have to keep the urvaalgs from killing them.
Calliande cast another spell, and the ground rippled and heaved, throwing the urvaalgs from their feet. The creatures started to recover, but by then Ridmark, Caius, and Third were among them. Like Excalibur, the sword of the Dragon Knight seemed to have the power to slice through anything without hindrance, and he left bisected urvaalgs in his wake, the black slime that served as their blood leaking into the ground. Third struck with the precision of a surgeon. She had spent more time with urvaalgs than any of them, and she knew just where to attack. Caius was slower, but crushing the heads of the stunned urvaalgs with his hammer proved just as effective.
The urvaalgs regained their feet, and Ridmark spun, leveling his sword. A blast of fire came from the weapon. Four more urvaalgs fell, the flesh burned from their bones, and the remaining urvaalgs closed in a ring around Ridmark.
###
Ridmark fell into a defensive triangle with Caius and Third, and the urvaalgs began to circle around them.
That made the creatures a perfect target for Calliande.
She drew on the fire of the Well, working it into a blazing shaft, and swept her hand before her. The white fire sliced through the battle, ripping across the urvaalgs. Three of them went up in white flames, the magic of the Well annihilating the dark power that animated their flesh. She wounded a dozen more urvaalgs, sending the creatures reeling, and Ridmark, Caius, and Third seized the opening. Ridmark left three dead urvaalgs in his wake, their carcasses s
izzling, and Caius smashed the skull of another even as Calliande looked.
They were winning. Thirty urvaalgs would have been impossible for even a Swordbearer to overcome, but between the sword of the Dragon Knight and the magic of the Keeper, they were winning. Whoever had set this trap for them would need far more than thirty urvaalgs to defeat the Dragon Knight.
Even as the thought crossed her mind, the Sight stirred within Calliande, and she saw more dark power drawing near. She cast a spell, flinging a ring of white fire across the field. The remaining urvaalgs flinched as it passed through them, but the white fire struck something unseen.
The air rippled, and twelve more creatures came into sight.
These creatures were far larger and heavier than the urvaalgs. They were the size of adult grizzly bears but twisted and distorted, their bodies heavy with muscle, their greasy black fur standing in spikes on their glistening gray hides. Their paws were the size of shovel blades, their claws like blades, and their massive jaws looked as if they could take off a man’s head without much effort.
“Ursaars!” shouted Calliande.
The twelve ursaars loosed a thunderous bellow and charged. Eight of them headed towards Ridmark. Four of them lumbered towards Calliande, and she struck, throwing all her power into a spell. Elemental fire, the magic of the Well, and the power of the Keeper’s mantle fused together into a single shaft of brilliant flame, and the blast hit the nearest ursaar, scouring the flesh from its bones and leaving a charred skeleton to tumble to the ground.
But the remaining three creatures surged towards her, and Calliande started another spell.
###
As the ursaars charged towards him, Ridmark saw the closing jaws of the trap.
Even with Caledhmaer, there was no way he could kill all twelve ursaars before the beasts killed him or Calliande. The only way forward was to use the sword’s power to stop time and attack.
Except once he did, it would take Caledhmaer a few moments to rebuild its strength to stop time again. Whoever had arranged this ambush had to know that. The ursaars would force Ridmark to stop time, and once he had dealt with them, the real attack would come.
But as the ursaars closed, Ridmark saw that he had no other choice. Calliande blasted down one of the four ursaars lumbering towards her, and she could likely kill another before they reached her, but when the remaining two bear-like creatures attacked…
No. He would not let that happen.
Ridmark would have to be quick.
He called to Caledhmaer, and the world froze around him. The world went blurry and unfocused, his wife and friends and the ursaars and urvaalgs all frozen in place. Ridmark sprinted forward, slashing Caledhmaer through the necks of the ursaars and the urvaalgs as he passed. He did not bother with elegance or finesse, simply chopping the sword of the Dragon Knight down like a meat cleaver. His old teachers at Castra Arban would have been appalled, but it was the quickest way to deal with the threat.
He ripped the sword through the neck of the final ursaar, and then released the sword’s power to stop time.
The world shuddered back into motion.
###
Calliande started another spell, and then fire exploded across the battlefield.
It happened so fast she could not follow the motion, and the power of the Dragon Knight’s sword rippled before the Sight. Fire slashed through the necks of both the urvaalgs and the ursaars, and the creatures collapsed to the ground, their heads rolling away from the charred stumps of their necks.
Ridmark stood next to her, the sword blazing in his fists, his breath coming hard and fast.
“Good timing,” said Calliande heard herself say. She knew what had just happened, but it still shocked her.
Nearly a dozen ursaars dead in the blink of an eye. It was shocking. One ursaar could wipe out a company of men-at-arms if they didn’t have any Swordbearers or Magistri with them. Twelve of the creatures could have carved a path of blood and death across a hundred miles, and it would have taken a team of Swordbearers and Magistri to defeat them.
The Dragon Knight had dealt with them in a heartbeat.
“No, it wasn’t,” said Ridmark, looking around. “That was just a ruse. The real blow is coming…”
Darkness surged before her Sight, and Calliande turned her head just as Imaria Licinius Shadowbearer appeared thirty yards away, still wrapped in black urkrazdor armor, wings of shadow trailing behind her like a ragged banner.
“Behold the power of the Dragon Knight,” said Imaria in her eerie double voice as Third and Caius moved to join Ridmark again. “Little wonder the dark elves never overcame the high elves…”
Calliande leveled her staff and hurled her power at Imaria, unleashing a shaft of blazing white fire. The fire lanced across the smoking field, but Imaria disappeared in a swirl of darkness. The shaft struck the ground and dug a smoking furrow into the earth.
“Look at how strong you have become, Dragon Knight!”
Imaria had reappeared to the north.
“Imaria Licinius was the larval form,” said Imaria. “Imaria Shadowbearer was what I was always meant to become. Perhaps Ridmark Arban was never more than the forerunner of the Dragon Knight, his herald and…”
Ridmark pointed the sword. A cone of fire exploded from its end and rolled across the field towards Imaria, but she vanished once more. Calliande turned as darkness swirled to the west, Imaria reappearing out of the shadow.
“The ursaars and the urvaalgs were strong,” said Imaria. “The Dragon Knight is stronger. But you are a fool to trust to strength. For Incariel shall free us from all strength, from time and matter and causality, and…”
Again, Calliande attacked, trying to hit Imaria before she vanished. This time the white fire almost reached her, but Imaria vanished, the fire splashing against the ground.
“Get ready,” said Ridmark in a low voice, his eyes moving back and forth as he scanned their surroundings. “It’s going to come now, whatever she’s doing.”
Calliande nodded, gripping her staff and holding as much magic as she could gather. Imaria had set a trap for them, and she had no doubt that she would bring something deadlier than the ursaars and the urvaalgs.
Shadows swirled to the east, and Calliande whirled, working a spell. She expected to see Imaria’s usual pillar of shadow.
She did not expect to see six pillars of shadow.
Imaria reappeared, and with her appeared five armored figures clad in black steel plate, spikes jutting from the armor. Shadows bled from the narrow slits of their helms and leaked into the air, and more shadows writhed around the joints in their armor. They were like the transformed Enlightened that Imaria had created at Castra Marcaine, but these creatures looked stronger. Each armored warrior carried a greatsword, and the creatures lifted their blades in unison.
“For the strength of the mortal world, even the strongest,” said Imaria, “will be undone by the weakness of Incariel. Take them!”
She vanished, but the armored creatures did not, and they hurtled forward, moving with terrific speed despite their bulk.
Calliande struck at once, hurling a blast of the Well’s fire at the nearest of the armored warriors. The white fire struck the creature in the cuirass, and it staggered several steps, molten chips ripping from the black armor. Yet the creature kept coming, and the armor started to repair itself, flowing back together to close the gashes.
As it did, she saw the concentrated dark power surging through the creatures, darkness as strong and potent as that within Imaria. She had thought the dark warriors were more transformed Enlightened like those Imaria had thrown against them at Castra Marcaine. Instead, they were something more powerful…shards of the shadow of Incariel itself, somehow given physical form to attack.
“I don’t know how to fight these things, Ridmark,” said Calliande.
He nodded, raising the sword of the Dragon Knight. “I think I do.”
###
Caledhmaer’s power to stop
time was still rebuilding, but the sword had many other powers, and Ridmark called upon those.
He scraped the sword in a line before his boots, drawing a burning furrow in the dirt, and sent the power out. A curtain of flame a dozen feet high and thirty wide erupted from the ground and rushed forward, and it washed over the armored creatures before they could dodge. The creatures staggered back, arms and greatswords raised to stave off Caledhamer’s howling flames.
Calliande saw his tactic and copied it, and a wall of white fire rolled out from her and struck the warriors. The dark-armored forms staggered, arms raised to ward off the fire of the Well, and for a moment the shadows dripping from their joints and swords slowed.
In that moment, Ridmark struck.
He ran forward, chopping Caledhmaer, and the sword of the Dragon Knight tore through a black greatsword, shattering it to shards that melted away. Ridmark stabbed Caledhmaer, and the sword drilled through the creature’s cuirass and sank into whatever dark power served as its body. The fire of the Well would have unraveled the creature of darkness.
Caledhmaer’s fury simply blasted it to ashes.
The creature fell in black fragments before Ridmark’s feet, the fragments themselves crumbling into smoke, and he whirled to face the remaining four.
It barely saved his life.
The four warriors rushed at him, greatswords rising and falling like the hammers of a blacksmith, and Ridmark barely threw himself out of the way in time. He hit the ground and rolled, a greatsword ripping through the turf a few inches from his face, and heard Calliande shout his name. Ridmark sprang back to his feet, Caledhmaer raised in guard, and the creatures flowed after him with the speed of a flood. Only by whipping Caledhmaer before him in wide arcs did he keep them at bay.
Frostborn: The Shadow Prison (Frostborn #15) Page 18