Amulet of Souls (The Sentinels of Wizgrad Book 1)

by Hampton, Pegs

  The Golems turned and started to close in. As a result, the Gnomes were forced to leave Plodes body and the cloaked man. He was still restrained but was conscious. The man was aware of the Golems approach and manoeuvred his body to avoid being crushed. The Golems trampled Plode’s body without remorse. Mr Pannett ran to the back of the town as fast as he could manage and stopped at the caved in entrance.

  Gelmink stayed long enough to see the cloaked man pull off the wires around him and give an evil smirk before he disappeared again.

  Gelmink grabbed his wand and fired a spell toward where the man once stood. One of the Golems walked in the way and it missed. He was gone and no doubt would not show his face again.

  “You will pay for what you have done! I’ll be coming for you!” shouted an invisible voice and it disappeared into the distance.

  Mr Pannett attempted to force his way through the caved-in entrance. Using a magical scream he wanted to push the rubble out of the way but there was just far too much of it.

  The Golems had now closed in and there was no room for escape. Gelmink reached inside his jacket and pulled out a bright red pot of liquid.

  Gelmink pulled the cork from the bottle.

  “You can’t! You’ll die!” Ponzepen shouted.

  “I know, but we have no options left,” he replied. Gelmink held it to his lips with hesitation, when someone whipped it from his hand.

  Mr Pannett had swiped it with his tail and caught it in his mouth. He had drunk the liquid before anyone had a chance to dispute.

  “I have longed for the opportunity to see my wife for too many years,” Mr Pannett said. He was about to question what the liquid did when he suddenly knew.

  The bottle contained something that the Gnomes had created hundreds of years ago in the very first technological revolution. It was magic in liquid form, which they used to power their magical contraptions, but highly dangerous.

  Drinking just a drop of liquid was deadly and would kill you in minutes. However, it gave the drinker overwhelming power for the duration.

  It was misused many times when it was first discovered and only a Chieftain or high-ranking person would have access to it.

  Mr Pannett, who was already weak, only had enough for one spell, but he had many opponents. He turned around and faced the Gnomes.

  “Move!” he said with the utmost urgency. The Gnomes moved aside quickly. Mr Pannett burst out a gigantic bark which sent a shockwave in all directions. It even knocked the Golems down on their backs. The noise was so loud that it made everyone’s ears ring and was even heard in Alphaport across the sea. The bark blew a hole, not just through the wall, but the entire mountain now had an enormous rip through the middle.

  The Gnomes stood dazed and confused but made a run for the exit that was now open to them. They had narrowly escaped the clutches of the Crystal Golems.

  “You will be remembered. Be at peace now” Ponzepen whispered tenderly. She stroked the back of Mr Pannett’s body and noticed a smile still on his face.

  “We have to go, now!” Gelmink ushered to Ponzepen. She reluctantly left Mr Pannett and caught up with the Gnomes as they fled to safety.

  The troops in Alphaport had now started to lose their advantage. The Golems had forced them further into the town and into several ambushes and traps.

  Many of the Yin and Greelong focused their efforts on the Dragons. Mersoth and many of the others dodged their attacks, but some of the inexperienced Dragons took hits.

  One Dragon got speared through the wing with a rope attached to it and was pulled down violently to the ground.

  Mersoth wanted to retaliate, but a barrage of spells forced him to fly away. He turned back and spewed fire at them, but they somehow blocked it with their spells.

  Several huge green nets then flashed into the air and wrapped themselves around all the dragons. King Tyrath, Queen Arlia, Mersoth, Mia and the others all had their wings forced shut. They were not prepared for a co-ordinated attack.

  Liamar and Koruko accompanied the King and Queen Kijiar in the Golden armour. They had been given the highest honour any Kijiar could be given other than King and Queen, they had been appointed as their personal bodyguards. The four of them worked seamlessly together against the multiple ambushes and enemies. Their fellow Kijiar did not fare so well and they were losing many allies. They soon became grossly outnumbered.

  The Golems had started to come from all directions around them and many of the Kijiar attempted to escape the town to regroup on open ground.

  The enemy herded everyone that was left into an old chapel. The two massive doors had been removed to leave the inside exposed. The Golems did not try to smash the building but instead just stood guard outside.

  The Golems left an opening near the doors for the Ogre, Yin, Greelong, Dark Elves and Evil Men to attack, but they would not make it inside the chapel alive.

  Koruko, Liamar, Dakho, Efrundle, Mireylon, Astrid, Astrid’s undead corpses and the King and Queen Kijiar were stood outside and defended those inside with all their might.

  “Hey mummy, I can smell the air,” said one of the younger Great Wolves, who was stood beside a statue. It was the same Wolf that could smell Dakho from a huge distance.

  Loona walked up to the large statue of a gentle looking human lady that held a squirrel in her hand. The squirrel looked down to a crack in the floor where Loona had placed her nose.

  “Dakho!” Loona yelled at the top of her lungs. Dakho was outside in the battle. He turned and expected to see the enemy inside.

  “I’m a little busy to be looking at a statue” Dakho said. He swung his axe at the leg of an Ogre and Koruko blocked the Ogres attack with his shield.

  “No, we need you now!” she ordered. Dakho slipped out of the battle and ran into the chapel to stand next to the statue with Loona.

  “There’s something under there, a tunnel perhaps,” Loona said to Dakho urgently. Dakho cast a spell that shifted the statue out of the way. It landed on its side and broke in half. Underneath it was nothing but dry, solid mud.

  Dakho did not respond, but there was an obvious look of disappointment on his face. He ran back outside to help with the battle outside. Loona started to dig into the dry mud and after a few moments, several of the other great wolves also joined in.

  Outside they had begun to get overwhelmed. They had been in combat for many hours and their bodies ached. A giant hammer from an Ogre crushed one of Astrid’s undead men. The Kijiar King, who was stood next to the undead man, thrust his sword into the Ogre and looked down at the shield.

  The shield had taken such an enormous hit and it did not show a single scratch, unlike his own reinforced shield, which was dented and broken. He dropped his own shield and picked up the magical shield. He felt the power from him drain, but he knew the consequences.

  One of the Crystal Golems intervened. It raised its arms ready to attack the King. Koruko and Liamar wanted to help, but other Crystal Golems shoved them aside.

  The King let out an enormous roar like a lion, he tensed up all his muscles and yelled out loud once more.

  “What’s he doing?” asked one of the Great Wolves who was inside the chapel.

  “I’ve always wanted to see this, The Kings Bolster” Koruko said. He watched the King’s muscles pump beyond normal size.

  The Golem smashed down with both hands at the King. The King raised the shield and prepared for impact. The Crystal Golem hit the indestructible shield with immense strength. The clang from the impact resonated through the city and echoed inside the chapel.

  The King stood his ground, the weighty arms of the Golem still pushed down on his shield. With a third roar, he pushed the arms off him and thrust the shield into the joint of the Golem’s leg. The Shield forced its way through the small gap at the base of the Golem’s leg and removed it entirely. The King smashed the shield into the Golem’s head and the Golem fell to the floor, unable to keep balance with just one leg.

  Loona and the other Great
Wolves had finally delved down enough to reveal a huge tunnel underneath.

  “Everyone get in now!” Loona yelled. Everyone inside scurried into the underground passageway. Everyone was now in the tunnel apart from those fighting outside.

  “I will hold them as long as I can!” yelled the King. He was on equal ground with the Crystal Golems and had the advantage of being agile. He forced his shield through another Golem’s leg, dodged an attack from another who hit the first Golem instead.

  The others did not argue, but Liamar, Koruko and the Queen did not move. They all let out a roar similar to the King. They had all bolstered and that sent a shudder of fear into the enemy. The four of them defended and attacked with precision and strength and held the line even against the Golems.

  “Go, go!” shouted Koruko at Dakho and the others. They did not listen. They turned around and joined the fray once more. They would not retreat while their friends battled. Astrid released the spell on his undead and instead revived two of the massive Ogres and a Greelong. The Ogres picked up two of the magical shields and blocked attacks from the Golems to defend the others. The Greelong would flank any who tried to escape.

  Aymon had defended the barrage from the Yin by himself the entire time. He deflected the spells back at them with an icy barrier. Mireylon used his extraordinary speed to catch and deflect arrows and spears. He also helped defend attacks and trip up the enemy where he could.

  Efrundle and Dakho were the only two to leave. There was little either of them could do to help in the battle. Efrundle lit the way with his fire magic inside the pitch black tunnel and Dakho could use his earth magic to move aside larger rocks that blocked the way.

  They slowly descended down through the underground passageway. They all came to a halt when Dakho came to a dead end. The end of the tunnel was sloped upwards and it had taken them far from the town. Dakho put his hands on the blocked exit and got a feel for the object that blocked the way.

  “This may take a while,” Dakho said. He was tired and his power had almost run out.

  Dakho heard a scream come from the back of the tunnel. Someone had barged through the people tunnel to reach Dakho.

  “You better be quick, they forced us down here,” Liamar said. She started to heave the massive stone above them so they could get through, but it would not budge, there was no way that they could move it.

  The floor started to shudder and shake as the Crystal Golems entered the passageway. The dirt above them crumbled and filled the tunnel with dust.

  “Oh no…” Dakho said in horror. The enemy had directed them into that tunnel for a reason. They planned to collapse it on top of everyone inside and bury them alive. Dakho forced his magic to push the massive statue, just enough for everyone to squeeze through one by one.

  “Quickly!” Dakho shouted. Sweat started to pour from his head as he kept the tunnel from collapsing. The Great Wolves, although large, managed to squeeze through the gap rather quickly who were then followed by everyone except Dakho.

  The Crystal Golems had rushed towards Dakho. He pulled out his sword and the ceiling now rumbled violently.

  “Get out of there!” The Kijiar King yelled.

  “I will hold them for as long as I can,” Dakho said. He felt there was almost thirty Crystal Golems in the passageway with him. Before anyone could say anything, he let the ceiling collapse behind him. He jabbed the sword into the tiny gap of the Golem’s leg that was now stood right next to him. Dakho’s skin thickened and turned to crystal.

  He released the spell that held up the ceiling above and with a huge crumple the tunnel caved in, Dakho had been buried alive with the Crystal Golems.

  “Dakho No!” Liamar screamed. She slammed her fist on the tunnel where Dakho now lay under mounds of thick rubble and dirt. Dakho used the very last of his magic to slow down the enemy and trap the Golems. On his last breath, he condensed the tunnel so they would never escape. This unfortunately also meant himself.

  Dakho’s sacrifice was not in vein. Everyone had got to a safe distance, but their small victory was short lived. They had been flanked by a large group of Dark Elves who all conjured some bizarre shield around the entire army. They created an enormous circle around them but did not attack.

  “Why are they not attacking?” Mireylon said to himself. They had been trapped and kept in so they could not escape to help Iris.

  “We must escape, now!” Aymon shouted. “Iris is the only one who is able to destroy the Amulet and I am the only one that can show her the spell to do it”.

  “Why the hell did you not say this before?” Efrundle shouted.

  Astrid tried to cast spells and summon the bones of the dead, but he was unable to cast any spell. All other forms of magic did not seem to work either. The Kijiar King and the others tried to use brute force but it was no good, they even attempted to dig down underneath the barrier, but that also did not work.

  The enemy had amassed on the other side of the town and now headed towards Iris and a heavily injured Zelkith. Zelkith was barely alive, the fast Golem seemed impossible to hurt. Iris was cut and bruised, Dartis toyed with her. He knew she had almost no battle experience and she threw herself at him countless times with no real strategy.

  Dartis walked over to Iris. She was on the floor winded from the last attack that failed. Dartis picked Iris up by the neck with one arm and lifted her high above the ground.

  “You worm, you should never have come here,” Dartis said arrogantly. Iris responded in kind and spat in his face. She dug her nails in as deep as she could and blood started to flow from his arms, but he barely flinched.

  Iris used the best opportunity she had while she was close to him. Near out of breath she used a hidden blade in her boots and plunged it into his knee. He let go of Iris and grabbed his knee. In that instant, Iris grasped the Amulet from around his neck and yanked it off with all her might.

  The chain snapped the Amulet now in her hand. She paused in shock, but stumbled away and started to run. Dartis did not get up, but the fast Golem rampaged towards Iris at full speed. Zelkith attempted to get up and chase the Golem, but his legs were broken and he could not move at all.

  The Golem leapt in the air and Iris ducked out of the way. The Golem stopped and swung its massive arm towards her. She raised her hands to block the attack and it hit her with full force. She felt a sharp pain, as well as several broken bones. She looked at her injured hand and saw the Amulet had a large crack on its surface.

  Iris agonisingly pulled the Amulet from her broken hand and contemplated whether to put it on or not. She remembered Astrid's story of the Amulets evil and hesitated. The Crystal Golem now ran at her once more. Iris stumbled to get up and the Golem hit her stomach and she fell to the floor winded. She dropped the Amulet. She heard Dartis scream in pain as he limped towards her. The wound on his knee had not healed.

  Iris got up but leant on her broken hand and fell down onto her elbow and chest. She landed on something hard underneath, which was strange for a grassy field.

  Iris went dizzy and her eyes blurred. Dartis got close and the Golem waited for an order.

  Iris felt around her and grasped the Amulet firmly in her unbroken hand. Iris waited until Dartis was almost stood over her and then she kicked his good knee with enough force to break it.

  Dartis screamed in pain and fell to the floor. Iris tried to crawl away, but Dartis had latched on to her legs.

  Iris took hold of a piece of broken rock in her broken hand from whatever it was her head was leant on and swung it at Dartis’s hands. She heard a crunch and a scream of pain. Iris screamed herself as she also hit her own leg.

  “Destroy her!” Dartis shouted in anger.

  The Golem clenched its massive fist and lunged straight at her face. She moved her head aside and put her hand in the way. The Golem hit her already broken hand without any resistance. She yelped in pain at her utterly crushed hand.

  Amongst the blood and broken bone, the Amulet had been smashed and
grey smoke started to seep from the pulverised rock.

  In an ear-splitting, wailing like sound, something erupted from the broken Amulet and it sent a shockwave so vast it spanned across the city.

  Iris could see the souls of a dozen men and animals float into the sky. One of the souls was a Dark Elf with a snake next to him. It was Iris’s father, Biren.

  Biren’s ghost grinned from ear to ear. “I knew you could do it, my precious little girl,” he said. “I’m sorry your mother and I could never be there with you, I know it must have been hard, I hope you will forgive us. I give you only one more task, to find the others like you, and help them” Biren said.

  The snake slithered across the floor and glided into Zelkith’s open mouth. Biren held out his arms to embrace Iris in a cuddle and went straight inside her.

  Iris felt a surge of power go through her. “Is this what real magic feels like?” Iris thought to herself. She had never used magic before.

  She somehow knew what it was. She had her mother's healing magic. Iris’s mother was a well-known Cleric able to heal even those close to death.

  The Golem had been shattered by the shockwave along with all the others. Dartis had used a magical shield to protect himself. The evil troops were still alive, they had surrounded her in a circle and were ready to kill Iris at a moment’s notice.

  “You witch! Do you realise what you have done!” Dartis yelled in pure fury. He conjured a huge black ball of energy and fired it at Iris.

  “Die!” he yelled.

  Iris felt her body move with incredible speed, but it was not her that moved. She felt a warm embrace on her back and arms, she glanced up to see that it was Mireylon who held her.

  Mireylon had sped towards Iris the moment the Dark Elves barrier had broken and arrived just in time.

  Something huge crashed onto the ground and the crystal tipped tail of King Tyrath whipped through the circle of the enemy like a knife through butter.