“Get out of here, Fritz!” Luke shouts, turning away from where he thinks the Hellfire Elf is.
“No way, boy. Your eyes are nothing more than black pools. Let us do the fighting,” Fritz argues, pulling out his dagger and dropping the illusion of Kellia. He moves to get in between Luke and the Hellfire Elf, but is suddenly shoved back by a gentle, sweeping kick from the forest tracker.
“I can handle it,” Luke declares with a cocky grin. “You can stay in the area if you want, but take a few steps back. I need room for this trick.”
Fritz looks confused as he takes a few steps back. He can see Aedyn fire a light beam that the Hellfire Elf leaps over and the stones from Nimby’s sling are bouncing harmlessly off the demon’s platemail. The Hellfire Elf breaks into an all out charge at Luke with the Chaoswind in position for a head severing slash. A victorious sneer is plastered across the demon’s face as it closes in on the blinded warrior.
“Not this time,” Luke whispers, hearing the demon’s sword swing through the air. He suddenly ducks under the attack and rolls behind the demon. Luke waits for the assassin to turn around before he thrusts both of his sabers deep into the gut of the Hellfire Elf. Almost at the same time, another light beam hits the demon in the back, pushing it further down Luke’s sabers. Luke quickly kicks the Hellfire Elf off his blades.
“Just because I can’t see you, doesn’t mean I can’t hear you,” Luke growls as he leaps at the confused demon. He deflects the Chaoswind and slices the demon up the shoulder, sending a shoulder spike spinning toward the trees. He fluidly leans backwards as the Chaoswind is swung over him. Not missing the opening, Luke springs his body forward and plunges his sabers back into the bleeding gut wounds.
“Your aim is perfect. You can still see,” the demon snarls as steaming blood trickles from its mouth.
Luke roars at the top of his lungs as he suddenly spreads his arms wide. The motion rips the swords out the sides of the Hellfire Elf. Blood and ichor fly everywhere as the Hellfire Elf stumbles back. It reaches down with a quivering hand to feel inside the massive wounds and stares at its blood-covered hand. Luke shakes some of the gore off his sabers while the demon sheathes the Chaoswind.
“Stop him!” Aedyn yells as the Hellfire Elf begins to laugh. Luke already knows that he doesn’t have time to stop the assassin from escaping. The demon is already turning into a worm, disappearing into the soil by the time Luke takes a single step. With a gentle sigh, Luke stoops down to clean his swords and feels all of the nerves in his body go numb.
“He won’t be back. Not for a long time anyway,” Luke declares, his eyes returning to their natural green. “It will take a few months for him to heal all of that. At least I hope it will. Either way I’ll be ready for him.”
Aedyn nods and turns toward the bubbling blood that has pooled in front of Luke. He begins a purification spell as the others let the tension of the last few days drift away. Nimby watches Aedyn work his magic before turning to grin at Luke. Fizzle lands on Fritz’s head as the gnome lets his exhaustion take over, falling onto his back and watching the clouds. Luke starts to aimlessly wander the clearing when he comes across the Hellfire Elf’s severed shoulder spike. He looks around before scooping up the warm metal shard and slipping it into an empty pocket.
“I have to ask. How were you able to see?” Nimby asks when Luke wanders back to the group.
“Part of my training was blind-fighting. I listened to the sound of his sword and footsteps. It was all skill and talent,” Luke proudly responds.
Fritz lets out a chuckle and sits up to look at Luke. “There’s also the Callindor bloodline. All scholars know that special powers are found within their family lineage. There is documentation of one Callindor who could withstand intense heat and another who could speak with animals. All the powers are rather minor, but they are considered to be the blessing of Uli. I believe Luke has one of these powers like many of his ancestors. In fact, I have a theory that all members of the Callindor family have a power, but some are never put in a position to discover their powers. After all, minor gifts tend to be rather specific in usage.”
“Thanks, Fritz,” Luke mutters, a childish pout on his face. “For once can I get the chance to say I have great skills instead of it always coming down to my heritage?”
“Sorry,” Fritz apologizes with a small nod. He clears his throat and goes back into his lecture. “I believe the power Luke used was called sightless sight. A bard I used to know was blind and had that power. She was able to see things even though her eyes had been stolen by a necrocaster. I was told that the power works off sound much like the way a bat sees in the dark. A very useful trick to have, but it can cause permanent damage to the eyes if used too often. I assume that is why Luke waited until now to reveal it.”
Luke rolls his eyes and glances over at Aedyn. The priest is still casting the purification spell as the others stand around him. After several minutes of silence, Luke hears another blast of thunder from the direction of the academy. A feeling of dread comes over him, compelling him to walk away from his friends. He climbs up a tree to take a look at the distant sky and notices that the storm clouds are no longer near the academy. Luke gracefully climbs back to the ground and finally turns to find the others who are nervously staring at him.
“Something isn’t right,” Luke states, anxiously rubbing his palms against his saber pommels. “I hear thunder from the direction of the academy, but the storm clouds aren’t in the same direction as the noise. I can’t climb high enough to get a clear look at the academy. Can you fly above the trees and get a better look at the academy, Fizzle?”
The drite is already high in the air and looking around before Luke finishes the question. “Army! Big one-eyes and stinger men!”
“Nimby will come with me. The rest of you purify this area because we don’t want something demonic growing here,” Luke sternly orders everyone. “I have a feeling that the Lich is going to make the rest of today very tiring for us. Come on, Nimby.” Luke grabs the halfling and hoists him onto his back before sprinting into the forest faster than a startled deer.
“Good luck, boys!” Fritz shouts, lying back down.
*****
While Luke and the others were waiting for the Hellfire Elf to step into their trap, Selenia was busy preparing her students for their first battle. Extra weapons had been made and handed out to those who knew how to use them. Catapults were stationed inside the walls, the siege weapon students waiting patiently by the large constructs. Several piles of boulders sit around the courtyard with the stronger students standing ready for the order to load the catapults. Selenia stands on the roof of the main building with Theresa and Daniel calmly standing behind her.
“The air isn’t right. Something is coming,” Selenia says. She turns on her heel and heads to the edge of the roof.
“Are you worried about Luke and the others?” Daniel asks as he follows her.
“They can handle themselves,” she replies, making her way down a rope ladder. “I’m more worried about what is being sent after Kellia. Call it warrior intuition, but something really bad is heading our way. Have all the special preparations been made, Theresa?”
“I gave orders to several squads to fortify all the side doors. Those who escorted the younger students to your cave have returned and armed themselves. They told me that the snake fiends have been locked up and the main door has been sealed to prevent anyone from setting off the traps,” Theresa reports, her ear tufts twitching nervously. She climbs down the building, carefully jumping from one narrow ledge to another. “The only request you made that I have no confirmation for is the caster. We sent word to her yesterday with no response as of yet. My suggestion is that we don’t depend on this woman to arrive in time to help us.”
“I don’t expect her to arrive in time for the battle,” Selenia admits as she gets to the ground and watches Theresa land in a crouch. “My request was made so that we have someone on the way in case the Lich wins and
this academy has to be wiped off the face of Windemere. If we do survive, I can ask the caster for extra wards and protection spells to be put on the academy. No matter our fate, she will have work to do.”
“We’ll do our best. You ready for this, Ms. Marley?” Daniel asks as he reaches the ground.
“You men always think we’re unprepared,” the calico warrior retorts, adjusting one of her leather armor straps. “At least I have some kind of armor on, pretty boy.”
Daniel is dressed in simple leather pants and a flashy nobleman’s shirt made of white silk. The shirt has a blue vest sewn onto it with embroidery of two crimson dragons that are disguised as vines. He finishes buttoning the silver vest’s buttons and tightens his boots as Theresa calmly twirls her daggers. They share a challenging glare at each other before following Selenia into the bustling mob of students.
“I don’t think I follow your concern, Selenia. We are as prepared as we could be,” Daniel assures the headmistress. He pulls his sword in and out of the sheath a few times to make sure it is loose. “The newer students are safe and Kellia is hidden. All we have to do is hold out against whatever is coming until help arrives. This caster friend of yours will show up in time since we mentioned a Lich and Duke Solomon’s heir are involved. I mean, Magella is older than Duggan and she would not have any trouble with this Lich. She also works to keep the governments of Ralian safe from those who would disturb them. This situation is exactly what she gets herself involved in.”
“The pretty boy has a point. Your paranoia might not be founded, Selenia,” Theresa claims, her tail swishing through the air. “Also, there is a chance that nothing will happen until Luke and his friends return. That gives us a priest, a caster, another warrior, and whatever Nimby is. The drite is another factor we should remember.”
Selenia turns to both of them and lets out a tired sigh. She has deep bags under her eyes, but she still looks ready to fight. The great mercenary takes the time to look around at her academy, quietly watching her students prepare for their first battle. Her eyes stop on a young dwarf who is setting up a catapult. It is obvious that he was crying recently, but he is still going through with his tasks. It slowly dawns on the headmistress how much her students look up to her and that she is once again the leader of a small army.
She brings her attention back to Daniel and Theresa and begins talking in a stern, powerful voice. “We can do this. Like I said, Magella won’t be showing up for a long time. Partially, it is because I am here. She knows my reputation and will feel less inclined to rush to my aid. We also can’t be sure if Luke and his friends will return in time. They could be away for hours or days depending on what happens with the demon. They could even return injured, exhausted, and useless. Understand that everyone in this academy is all we have to work with. Look around and you will see that my students are every bit as courageous as the three of us. While I agree that many of them are probably not ready for this, all of them are determined to follow my orders. I will not be the one to hide them from this or to call for a retreat. We fight to win and not to buy our allies enough time to reach us.”
“I agree with you on that. These kids are making me proud already,” Kevin declares as he approaches. He is decked out in polished chainmail and his shortsword is already in his hand. An arrowhead-shaped shield made of mottled steel and beads of elven glass is loosely strapped to his back. The old warrior walks carefully and grimaces of pain cross his face as he moves without his cane.
“Theresa, I want you to stay with Kellia in case something gets past the magical barriers and into her room. Take a pair of longbows and arrows if you think you two can shoot from a window without being noticed. I want Daniel to lead the forces on the west wall,” Selenia swiftly orders, turning to Kevin. She barely notices that Daniel and Theresa bow their heads before leaving for their positions. “What did your sword show you, old man?”
“I saw an army that will arrive in a few minutes. It’s composed of a cyclops and a horde of spadix. I always hated those scorpion things,” Kevin says, leaning against a pile of boulders. “You think the kids can handle this? The cyclops will be something they can leave for those of us with experience, but the spadix are another story. Even if they can avoid the pincers and weapons, those things are lightning fast with their poison stingers. Maybe we should have everyone evacuated and let the fight be left up to the veterans and advanced students.”
Selenia is quiet as she thinks about what is heading toward her students. She slowly unsheathes her longsword and coldly stares at its flawless shine. Kevin nods without her having to say a word and makes his way to the south wall. Duggan is already yelling orders to the students as Selenia climbs the stairs to the top of the wall.
“About time you showed up, Selenia. It looks like your old friend remembers you fondly,” Duggan mentions, casually pointing his gauntleted hand toward Visindor. “I did the best I could with the weapons. Being rushed doesn’t help a smithy make a stockpile of any kind. Now, we can only pray that the Holy One is smiling on my work because we are going to need it.”
Selenia looks out over the killing field to see a swarm of dark crimson flowing through the forest from the direction of the Caster Swamp. The red figures resemble hairless, muscular humans until one dares to look below their waist. The students shy away from the wall as they see the horrid body of a scorpion with curved barbs along its skin and a seven-foot, stinger-tipped tail curled behind them. Two giant pincers jut out from the monsters’ waists, snapping at anything that comes near. Occasionally, one of the smaller spadix gets too close to one of its bigger brethren and gets viciously snapped in two by a pincer.
“Those spadix get uglier every time I see them,” Duggan mutters. Selenia forces a smile as she notices larger figures pushing their way to the killing field. Standing over twenty-five feet tall, the ten cyclopes begin their thundering advance. Another cyclops stands in the back and Selenia can see that it is much bigger than the others.
“Damn Kevin and his vision sword. That’s more than one cyclops and the one in the back looks to be almost forty feet tall. I’ve met giants smaller than him. That Lich must have magically altered that bastard,” she angrily says as the monster army swarms into the killing field. “Well, I’m not one to wait for our guests to knock on the door, Duggan. Let’s be the ones to kick off this battle. Everyone prepare for battle! Archers and catapults! Prepare to fire on the northern side! Wait for my signal!”
Selenia raises her longsword above her head and it begins to crackle with magical electricity. Duggan has his crab-shell shield aimed at the monster army and nods to Selenia after a quick prayer. He concentrates on the shield, causing a jet of water to erupt from the front of the magical item. Selenia quickly lowers her sword to release a screeching lightning bolt along the water blast. It strikes one of the cyclopes in the face and the monster collapses in a twitching, burning heap on top of several of the spadix.
The moment the dead cyclops strikes the ground, the archers and catapults begin firing into the oncoming army. At first, the barrage manages to keep the shrieking monsters at bay. Three more cyclopes are killed before many of the spadix begin pulling out longbows and fire barbed arrows over the wall. One of the cyclopes hurls a tree into the academy, crushing two of the catapults along with five students. Selenia looks down at the bodies before stepping onto the edge of the wall and dropping into the killing field. She is a whirlwind of polished steel as soon as she lands in front of the startled spadix horde. Limbs, heads, and stingers fly everywhere as she cuts a path through her swarming enemies.
“Now this is my kind of strategy!” Duggan shouts.
The dwarf leaps from the wall, his armored body landing with a crash on top of a spadix. He can feel the monster’s body crumple and gush underneath his feet. With an echoing roar, Duggan begins knocking monsters away with his warhammer. He barely notices t he squads led by Thomas and Kevin as they come around the corners to intercept the monsters that are within a few feet of t
he wall. The two forces meet with a terrifying clash of battle and screams that are both human and bestial.
The forty-foot cyclops finally gets to the battlefield and charges at Selenia, waving a massive club. She gets her sword up quickly, but she is still knocked over the academy wall by the monster. The half-elven warrior grabs the edge of the wall and does a mid-air flip to land on the walkway. From above the action, she can see her students being skewered by tail stingers or shredded by snapping pincers. Another cyclops is killed by a boulder that gets embedded in its chest and the dying behemoth starts to pitch forward. Selenia watches a group of archers leap out of the way as the body smashes into the wall, creating a gaping hole that becomes the new target of the spadix.
“Everybody fall back into the academy! Use your knowledge of the area to your advantage!” Selenia shouts as she drops from the walkway. She darts past a group of axe fighters and dives into the sea of monsters. They continually try to stab her with their stingers, but they end up hitting each other if they manage to hit anything at all. Selenia gracefully moves among them as she slashes through bodies, enjoying the feel of their crude swords harmlessly bouncing off her body. Every unnatural weapon is deflected by an invisible coating of magic until one of the stinger tails pierces her leg.
“Son of a bitch!” she screams, yanking the stinger out and jamming it into the face of another spadix. She stumbles back and immediately starts to feel faint. It isn’t long before she can feel her blood boiling, but a sudden pain in her side quickly clears the poison’s effects. Kevin and Duggan are immediately flanking her, giving her time to recover. Duggan happily bashes the surrounding spadix into the ground while Kevin stands his ground, swiftly attacking any that come near him. Even with his limited mobility, Kevin is impossible to hit as he expertly blocks and counterattacks the spadix.
“Did one of you do this?” she asks as she blocks a pincer and points at the fresh cut on her side. Both men shake their head and start to move away from her to clear away more of the monsters.
Beginning of a Hero (Legends of Windemere) Page 34