“Well, this is exciting,” Travis said, keeping close to Erica.
“We find Grace and Daniel and get them back,” Vivian said. “Then we head for the gate and what lies beyond.”
They charged out into the field. Terrance glanced behind them at the fortress, beyond which he could see giant stone gates, closed and impenetrable-looking. He wasn’t quite sure he wanted to know what lay beyond them.
Their group soon clashed with a dozen cavefish. Terrance mainly stood out of the way, while the others handled them deftly, even Karen easily felling a couple with swings of her axe. But Terrance soon spotted a golden, nearly naked figure standing in a field nearby. “There’s Despina!” he yelled.
They ran toward her. She stood in an open area, alone except for Grace and Daniel, whom she held close. “You’ve made a big mistake, demon,” Curtis growled.
As the group neared, black smoke enveloped them. When it faded away, they were surrounded on all sides by cavefish and Hollow Ones.
Despina laughed. “You people really enjoy charging into traps. I hope we’re filming everything so the world can watch it on the…um…computer stream. You know what I mean, the uh…”
With a guttural scream, Vivian charged Despina, who was forced to dodge away and let go of the children. The surrounding enemy descended on the group, and fighting erupted all around Terrance. Ready to help, he charged the nearest target—a Hollow One—but his enemy strongly parried the blow, sending Terrance off-balance. Just as the Hollow One was about to counter, another blade cut through its armor.
“We need to get them out of here!” Curtis shouted as the Hollow One burnt away. Grace and Daniel huddled against his legs, obviously scared.
Terrance nodded to Curtis, but Curtis immediately had to turn away to handle another attacking enemy. Terrance grabbed Grace by the hand, and she held on to her brother with her other hand, and seeing an opening in the fray, Terrance urged, “Come on,” as gently as he could while still making himself heard over shouts and clashes of metal. He began to lead the children away, but soon a cavefish attacked, so Terrance blocked with the sword in his right hand while still holding on to Grace with his left. He tried to attack back but swung too wide. The cavefish reared back to stab, but an arrow in its forehead jerked its head back. Terrance didn’t have time to spot Erica in order to thank her, and put all his effort into getting the kids out of the melee. Somehow they made it out of the clashing forces without further incident, and he spotted a cave at the edge of the battlefield that could be reached by steps made of rocks.
“We’re almost there,” he reassured the children, frequently glancing back over his shoulder to see if anyone was following them and to make sure Grace still had Daniel. They climbed the rock steps and entered a spacious cave, its interior lit by an eerie yellow glow that Terrance figured was from lava in some unseen precipice. He started to wonder whether going into a cave around here was a smart idea, not knowing what kind of things might be lurking inside.
“Mommy and Daddy are fighting the bad people?” Grace asked.
Terrance nodded. “Yeah…they should be here soon.”
Daniel was nearly in tears. “It’s scary here.”
“Well, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m one of the good guys, and I’m here to protect you.”
“Oh, are you?” someone laughed.
Terrance looked up. It was Lacey in her dark demon armor, standing just inside the cave entrance.
Vicky strode up beside her, smiling wickedly and twirling her sword. “I believe we made some threat about tearing you apart if you broke Shannon’s heart.”
“And she’s quite upset,” Lacey said. “I think she’ll move on, though. You, on the other hand, are not leaving this cave.”
Terrance pushed the children behind him and pointed his sword at Lacey. His heart was racing, but he tried to slow his breathing. “Don’t act like you care for Shannon. I saw how scared you were when you thought we were going to save her. And I assure you, you have good reason to fear me.”
Elissa and Amber entered the cave, brandishing their weapons. Amber smirked. “I know there is a big battle going on outside, but let’s take our time with this.”
Terrance held his sword as steady as he could and managed a smile. “You think you brought enough to take me on?”
“Little dearies,” Lacey said in an overly sweet voice to Grace and Daniel, “you might want to close your eyes. It’s about to get R-rated for gore and violence.”
“Why are you wearing that?” Grace asked.
“I’m a warrior fighting to protect the world from crazy nutjobs,” Lacey explained. “You can be one too when you grow up.”
“You look like a bad person,” Daniel said.
“Well, I’m not. We’re the people keeping this world together and making sure it doesn’t fall into destruction and chaos.”
“Then why do you look so evil?” Grace asked.
Lacey sighed. “You’re a stupid kid, so you’re not going to understand.” She looked at Terrance. “Now, Terrance, prepare to die.”
“Why don’t you two go sit behind that rock over there,” Terrance said, pointing to a large rock behind them. The kids did as he said, and Terrance turned to face his four enemies, pointing his sword tip at Lacey’s eyes. He took a deep breath. “I warn you: I’m very good at this.”
She giggled. “Oh, the big hero. Going to slay all the bad people. It’ll be an epic battle, I’m sure. We’ll probably—”
Terrance charged her, thinking surprise might be his only chance to get even one of them. Lacey took a single step back, and Terrance’s swing hit nothing but air. He swung so hard, though, that the sword flew from his hand and clanged against the cave wall.
Lacey and her friends erupted in laughter. “Oh wow,” Lacey said, walking up and patting the now-unarmed Terrance on the shoulder. “Do you need a mulligan on that swing there, champ? I really don’t get how you deluded fools think—”
Terrance silenced her with a head-butt. He had never head-butted anyone before—not on purpose, anyway—and he instantly regretted it. He doubted that he’d hurt her more than he’d hurt himself as he stumbled back, dazed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Amber charging him. He ducked down, but lost his balance and tumbled into her legs, tripping her. He scrambled on all fours for his sword, grabbing it and swinging it around just in time to block a blow from Elissa.
“Mommy!” Daniel yelled excitedly.
They all turned to see Vivian entering the cave with a glare that could melt steel.
Lacey giggled. “Oh no! The mama bear is angry! She’s gonna give us all a whuppin’.”
“Stay away from my children,” Vivian growled.
“But we’re saving them,” Elissa said. “Saving them from silly people like you who—”
Vivian charged, swinging her sword. Elissa tried to block, but her sword shattered and Vivian sliced right through her. Vicky attacked next, but Vivian parried her blow and cut cleanly through Vicky’s helmet and head. With that, both Elissa and Vicky were gone in a blue fire.
Terrance jumped to his feet, and with Amber’s back to him, he charged for the kill. She spun around, but Terrance continued with his stab, impaling Amber through the torso. Somehow, she still managed to wallop him with her gauntleted left hand, sending Terrance stumbling backward and spitting blood. She struck at Terrance with her sword and he tried dodging away, but the blade cut into his arm, the pain making him yelp and fall back to the ground.
Amber stood over Terrance, his sword embedded just below her ribs. He’d thought there was supposed to be some sort of vulnerable spot on the Hollow Ones near where he’d struck her, but he now realized he probably should have had someone clarify exactly where that spot was. As he crawled on his back away from Amber, he glanced behind her to see Vivian fall as she fought Lacey. Vivian wasn’t going to save him; it was up to him to save her.
Amber reared her weapon back for the killing blow, but he leapt to hi
s feet, grabbing the sword that was still stuck in her torso and yanking it upward. It sliced straight through her chest and she instantly burnt away to nothing. Terrance had no time to savor the victory, as Lacey was pressing an attack on Vivian, so he ran toward Lacey and attempted to strike a blow. She met his blade with hers, knocking him back a little. She looked from Terrance to Vivian, who stood holding one hand over a bloody thigh wound but didn’t look any less determined. “Oh, take the stupid kids,” Lacey sighed. “You’re all going to die here anyway.” She ran out of the cave.
Vivian stumbled past Terrance toward Grace and Daniel, who were still standing by the rock Terrance had sent them to. She hugged them and asked if they were okay.
“Those bad ladies were trying to hurt you and Mr. Terrance,” Daniel cried.
Vivian hugged them tighter. “Yes, but they’re gone now, so you don’t have to worry.”
Terrance looked at the wound on his left arm. It was shallow and bleeding only a little, so he decided to ignore it for now. Of more concern was the scene outside. The cave entrance offered a pretty good vantage point of the battlefield in front of the fortress, the whole scene lit brightly by a full moon. There was fighting everywhere, yet Terrance could mainly see only the forces of the Darkness.
“Thanks for your help,” Vivian said, limping up next to him.
He smiled. “Just doing what I can.”
“That’s all any of us can do.”
Terrance continued to peer out at the battlefield but was able to spot only a few people from his side. Fireballs flew through the air, and everywhere were screams and the clash of steel. “It doesn’t look good out there.”
Vivian nodded grimly. “It never does.”
Terrance knew Shannon was out there, too. That made him apprehensive, when it seemed he should have been scared enough simply by the threat of death.
“It’s scary here,” Daniel cried, hugging Vivian’s unwounded leg.
“Why are there all these bad people trying to hurt everyone?” Grace asked softly.
Vivian knelt down to address her children. “People can be silly sometimes, and they can forget what’s right and what’s wrong, but don’t you worry about that. Instead, look at all the good people who have come to stop them. No matter how scary things get, there will always be good people who will help. So you don’t have to worry or be afraid, because you’re never alone. There will always be good to fight the bad, and the good ones will never give up. Okay?”
The kids nodded, and she hugged them again. “Where’s Daddy?” Grace asked.
“He’s out there fighting the bad people,” Vivian explained. “We’ll see him soon.”
Daniel suddenly gasped, staring out at the field. Terrance followed his gaze to see the battlefield darken further. Blocking the sky was the dark, gigantic form of Malcus. He roared, a terrible scream that made Terrance want to hide and cower, but instead he was frozen in place by fear. Dark flames shot from Malcus’s mouth, burning a section of the battlefield until nothing—until no one—was left there.
Terrance turned to Vivian, who could no longer hide her fear about her husband’s being out there, exposed. He glanced down at Grace, but she didn’t look worried. Instead, she looked up at him expectantly. “Are you going to go fight the dragon?”
Terrance turned back to Malcus and found that he couldn’t take his eyes off the terrifying creature as his whole being filled with dread. It took him a moment to realize that someone had spoken to him. “Excuse me?”
“You’re one of the good guys,” Grace said. “So aren’t you going to go slay that dragon?”
Daniel’s eyes were fixed on him, too, the small child’s fear fading. Terrance turned his gaze back to the creature that was so fearsome, he barely had the bravery to look directly at it, then back at the two children looking to him with so much hope. Terrance took a deep breath and said the only thing that made any sense: “Of course.”
Chapter 41
Fear is your direction.
“Are you sure about this?” Vivian asked incredulously.
Terrance was not sure. In fact, he was absolutely terrified. He was so scared of Malcus that he wasn’t sure he could gain enough control of his legs to move in the creature’s direction, let alone slay him. And yet, he knew what he had to do. “If we’re going to get to that gate, someone needs to bring down that dragon.”
Vivian watched as Malcus hovered over the far end of the battlefield, near the fortress. “Do you have any idea how you’ll do it?”
“Not yet,” Terrance admitted. “But I once fixed a piece of code written in Fortran…and I didn’t even know Fortran. It was scary and intimidating, but sometimes you just have to jump in there and figure things out.” Putting it in coding terms made it seem slightly less daunting to Terrance, though intellectually he knew it was not an applicable analogy.
“Just…be careful,” Vivian said, not hiding her worry at all anymore.
Terrance nodded, and through a great force of will, commanded his legs to carry him through the cave exit.
“Bye, Mr. Terrance!” Grace called to him as he left. “Good luck.”
Terrance took one glance back at the children and gave them his best imitation of a confident smile, then set his eyes back on the doom ahead of him.
He ran as quickly as it seemed safe to do while holding a drawn sword (he assumed the scissors rule applied), trying to stay away from the battles raging around him. He tried to look for anyone he knew, and for a moment he thought he saw Talia’s white cloak, but he saw mostly people he was unfamiliar with, men and women in normal everyday clothes, wielding swords and other weapons against demons and dark soldiers. He saw a number of those people fall to the enemy as he ran past, and he wondered about Karen out there in the midst of such carnage, having joined the fight only earlier that day. Of course, she seemed to take to the fighting much better than Terrance ever did.
He dodged past a few more battles, then saw a lanky demon ahead. It was at least eight feet tall, its limbs thin and spindly, with giant claws on each hand. A man lay dead at its feet, and it locked its red eyes on Terrance as it began to charge toward him, baring its maw of sharp teeth. “Oh, crap!” Terrance exclaimed as he swung his sword wildly to try to keep the thing back. The creature let out a terrible shriek, and a sword point suddenly appeared, sticking through its abdomen. The sword point was then withdrawn, and the thing turned to confront Curtis, who quickly stabbed it again. The demon collapsed to the ground.
“My kids?” Curtis asked.
Terrance kept a lookout on all sides, feeling exposed on the battlefield. “They’re with Vivian—they’re fine. She’s lying low with them in a cave. How’s the fight going?”
“We’re barely holding our own; we won’t last out here forever. We need to keep pressing toward the gate.” Curtis pointed in that direction, but now the view of the gate was blocked by the giant Malcus, who stood guarding it. He sat on the ground, his massive wings folded around him, and he was almost like another fortress guarding the gate—not as large as the first but much more intimidating. “Apparently, we’ll need to get through that thing somehow.”
“Well…uh…that’s what I was going to do. I was going to…slay that dragon.”
Curtis looked more than a little unsure. “How do you plan on doing that?”
“Probably something involving this sword here.” He pointed to the sword he had borrowed from Talia.
“It seems a bit suicidal to take that thing on without a plan.”
“Yes, it does seem suicidal.” Terrance stared at Malcus and was once again filled with overwhelming terror. “But it’s what I’m doing. Someone needs to take it down, and I don’t think we have time to write up a formal strategy.”
Terrance noticed some movement further down the mountain. It was like a dark wave, but it was slowly moving uphill. He squinted, and could soon make out some detail in the moonlight: it was an army of soldiers—thousands and thousands of them. Terrance’s heart
sank. “They aren’t coming to help us, are they?”
Curtis looked worried but still managed a slight smile. “There goes retreating as an option. We have to get to the gate, and soon.” He looked back at Malcus. “If you say you think you can take the dragon down, then do it now. I never like to say something is impossible, but I don’t think we’ll last long once the Darkness’s reinforcements get here.”
Terrance looked at the army headed their way and then at the giant dragon, and wasn’t sure which he feared more. No, he was pretty sure it was the giant, demonic, fire-breathing dragon. “Can you help me with this?”
Curtis continued staring at Malcus. “I can’t even bring myself to get near that thing. Perhaps this is your fight, Terrance, if you honestly believe you can do something about that beast.” Curtis turned to survey the battle around him. “We’re already outnumbered here and we’ll need to hold until Malcus is defeated. I’ll handle that fight, and you do what you need to.”
Terrance took one last uneasy look at the wave of soldiers steadily climbing up the mountainside, then turned his gaze to Malcus and the gate. “What lies beyond the gate?”
“Something that they very much want to guard,” Curtis said, then ran from Terrance to clash with some cavefish charging toward them.
Terrance couldn’t shake the feeling that this whole battle was doomed from the start, and that he had picked the most doomed part of it. He knew that it was the fear talking, though, and he commanded his legs to keep taking him toward Malcus, who got larger and larger as Terrance approached. As he ran, he could see more of the Infinite falling to the enemy on the battlefield. They had claimed to be beings of limitless power, but they looked weak and vulnerable compared to the armored enemy, and they were soon to be hopelessly outnumbered by the army heading up the mountain. And Terrance certainly did not feel powerful himself. But as he looked at Malcus in terror, there was also boiling inside him the notion that this thing must be destroyed.
The area around Malcus was clear, as it seemed that everyone, the Infinite and enemy alike, preferred to keep their distance from the terrible creature. As Terrance approached, he couldn’t help but feel like a mouse holding a pin, trying to slay an elephant. Malcus observed the battle in front of him with its eight eyes, and Terrance realized that the dragon didn’t even see him—he was too small to be of any notice. He crept closer until he was underneath Malcus’s raised head, leaving him at little risk of being spotted. The part of Malcus nearest Terrance was its right front leg, which was covered in scales that looked like jagged chunks of obsidian, and the nails on the claw were each almost as big as Terrance. He looked up, and the rest of the body seemed to be covered in the same scales, with no soft spot to be found.
Sidequest: In Realms Ungoogled Page 32