“Start throwing the lamp oil!” he cried over the ringing in his ears.
Behind them more explosions sounded as spears and cannons went off. He didn’t think anyone heard him, so he grabbed a bowman and pointed to the oil then made tossing motions. The man nodded and grabbed a bottle of oil with a rag stuffed in the top. Using the lantern that hung out the back window, he lit it and dropped it to mark their track.
Captain Angler staggered to his feet. Tayan shouted he was driving then pointed at the injured driver. The smoke thinned out quickly until only long wisps still came from the right side of the turret. From what he could see, the plating had been ripped open again. By a miracle, he was only a few yards off the hard, flat road. Hauling on the levers, he eased the wagon back on track.
The signalman came up beside him. “My Lord, the column is still behind us. All wagons made it through!” he shouted, stressing each word. “Captain Angler is assessing the damage!”
Tayan nodded. He felt a shaking in the steering and they had lost some plating, but they hadn’t slowed down.
A short time later, Amber appeared out of the interior. She went to the driver and performed her healing. Once she was done, she had him taken below. She talked to Captain Angler then came over and stood beside Tayan.
Her face was covered in sweat, but her forlorn look told him she was also crying. The ringing in his ears had died down, so he didn’t quite shout. “Everyone make it?”
Amber shook her head. Laying a hand on his shoulder, she said in his ear, “The turret was hit, no one in it survived. Tayan, Ellie is dead.”
He gripped the levers harder as his eyes welled with tears. He ran through memories of the odd looks she gave him when she was confused and that snorting donkey-like laugh she had. For all the horrors she had gone through, he had hoped she would live to enjoy a few years of the freedom she deserved.
“At least she died free,” he whispered. He stared straight ahead and concentrated on driving. To his comfort, Amber stayed right beside him.
Chapter 23
Aliana cast her magic over the quivers laid out on the long table. She touched each rawhide sleeve, forcing her magic into the arrows within. Not having her food slave to recharge her energy quickly, she only enchanted twenty. She still had Odif and her daughter to deal with, and that would require a great deal of her strength. To weaken herself before they were in her control was to risk failure, and failure meant being cast back into the abyss to face an angry Lucifer.
Her spells done, she addressed the bowmen who stood on the other side of the table.
“Your arrows will now penetrate the thickest armor. My magic does not include accuracy--you still must hit your targets. Do not waste my magic on long shots. Every one of you will be on the walls or within the city. Stay out of the battle until those machines start passing through the gates,” She waved a hand at them. “You are dismissed.”
The lesser task done, she went directly to her temple, where her best servants waited. Appearing behind her altar in the pentagram-shaped structure, she faced her best two wizards and Lash, who now commanded forty of her strongest hoarcs.
“Where is my darling daughter?”
Lura turned to her with an evil grin. “Loving Master, they have left the lake cavern and are moving into the main tunnel.”
“We are prepared?”
“Yes, my most beautiful Master.”
Aliana looked at every face there. “Remember, you are only to render them unconscious--Lura and I will decide who needs to die. Disobey, and you will suffer the fate I have planned for them.”
Lash and the hoarcs muttered “Yes, Master” nervously.
“Take your places.” Turning her back to the door, she leaned against the altar as Lura and Grief made preparations. All there was for her to do now was wait.
***
They stood pressed against the wall by the entrance to the torch-lit tunnel. Odif, who was in front, slid to the opening and shot a quick peek down the passage. Holding her hands up, she raised all her fingers five times then drew an oval in the air, followed by walking her fingers ten paces. Fifty hoarcs at close range, and they had no solid defense set.
Sam and Thump stayed in place as the others moved closer. Entaurus and Jo-Jo started to cast their spells, leaving the last words and gestures for when they were seen. Checking that everyone was ready, Scorpio drew his sword and nodded.
They spilled out to span the width of the tunnel. Scorpio, Theo, Hutch and Shilo knelt as behind them Jo-Jo and Entaurus lashed out with white bars of magic. The loose mass of hoarcs just had time to realize they were under attack before they were sliced apart by the bright energy. Hoarc dust hit the floor as all but two died instantly. The four men in front raced to finish the dying creatures off then stood ready as the rest of the group caught up. Odif and Gloredaniel stayed alert, ready to cast their own energy as the group formed up and continued down the widening tunnel. At the end was a finely carved wooden door painted with a magic circle around a pentagram.
“That’s it?” Theo asked quietly.
Scorpio looked back at Sam, who nodded. “That’s it,” he confirmed. “Where are these vlaks that are suppose to be here?”
“Some questions you just don’t ask!” Shilo hissed.
“That was too easy,” Odif whispered.
Mother Frieda stared at the far door. “The demon is in there, and it knows we are here. When we get to the door, Odif and I enter first. Scorpio, Shilo, take our sides. Theo, Hutch, watch out for the others.”
They crept down the hall. At each intersection, they peeked around the corner, checking that the way was clear, then moved on to the next. Just before they got to the last intersection, hoarcs piled into the passage from both sides. The lead hoarc held up a clawed hand.
“Stop, and we take you alive,” it hissed.
Hutch shot his hands up.
“Hold on!” Looking at Theo, he nodded towards the hoarcs with a grin on his face.
“What are you doing?” Scorpio blurted.
“No need to waste magic, trust me.”
He grinned and walked towards the hoarcs. Theo followed him, waving for Scorpio and Shilo to come along.
“You surrender?” the hoarc asked in a menacing tone.
“I got a thing to axe you,” Hutch said brightly.
The hoarcs looked at each other. The leader pointed his sword at Hutch as he approached. “You surrender, and we take you alive, understand?”
Hutch nodded. “But I still got a thing to axe you.”
“What?” hissed the hoarc.
The creature’s blade was inches from Hutch’s chest. He turned as if to say something to Theo then whipped out with his axe, smashing the hoarc’s blade aside. He then stepped in and slashed it deep across its belly. Theo swung his axe, chopping the legs from under the one beside it.
Scorpio and Shilo jumped into the fray on each side. Although outnumbered, they pressed into the mass of hoarcs, who were packed so tightly they couldn’t swing their own weapons. The ring of steel and hoarc screams filled the air. Hoarcs died and crumbled, leaving their comrades fighting room. Odif raced down and joined in, using only her sword and her feet.
In a short time the number of hoarcs had dwindled; the last few fought with their backs to the door. Theo and Hutch attacked low, Shilo and Scorpio attacked high. Soon, nothing but dust and scattered swords remained.
They were breathing heavily, but with the exception of a few deep cuts Odif healed for them everyone was fine. Shilo wiped the sweat from his face and grinned at Hutch.
“So, did you axe him?”
Hutch hefted his battleaxe. “Yup!”
Mother Frieda strode up, her talisman in hand. “All right, everyone get in position!”
Sam looked at the door to her mother’s temple. The realization of what they were about to do hit her full force. They were going in and they were all going to die--if they were lucky. The whole time they had been traveling here, she told her
self the combined powers of Odif, Mother Frieda and the wizards was enough to defeat anyone. The vast stores of power her mother held she had avoided thinking about.
Now, seeing this door reminded her of how mighty her mother really was. Behind that door was all the strength and trickery of the abyss.
“Mother Frieda, a prayer, please?” she pleaded.
Shilo looked back the way they had come and grabbed Scorpio by the arm. “Remember those vlaks you wanted to find?”
Frieda looked past Sam to see the vlaks coming at them. “No time, we go in now!”
Frieda and Odif shoved the door open and piled in. Sam wanted to wait, just for a moment. Thump grabbed her arm and towed her through. She looked back to see Jo-Jo shutting the door. Beyond, she got a glimpse of the vlaks coming down the passageway.
“Welcome,” Aliana said pleasantly.
The walls of the temple angled out sharply to surround an altar. Behind it, the demon stood with her hands on her hips, watching them with a sadistic smile. Sam knew that smile--it meant someone was going to be in agony. She knew as well the shape of the temple, and that this was one arm of five that led to the altar.
Ahead, Mother Frieda held out her talisman as she beseeched Leighna to rid them of evil. White power covered them and extended to within a few feet of the altar. Odif concentrated beside her, and green power flooded out to cover Aliana. Swords and axes were out, and the wizards were ready to cast. Aliana offered no resistance; she merely watched them with an amused smile.
A feeling nagged at Sam that this wasn’t right. She knew the altar was in the center of the room, but she didn’t remember it faced one of the arms. It faced the base, and was part of the stone floor. Behind the altar, the top arm ran straight away from them.
“The walls are fake!” she cried.
In the next few moments chaos erupted. As Sam shouted her warning, the walls faded to show a mass of hoarcs. Lura and Grief stepped out from behind the walls that made the side arms, speaking their magic. Gloredaniel, who happened to be looking that way, saw Grief and quickly cast her own spell. Lura’s hit Entaurus, and his head split open with a bang, showering the others with his living brains. Gloredaniel got her spell off faster than Grief, who erupted in a ball of fire before he could scream the last word.
Jo-Jo saw the wall to his right open and hastily shot a lightning bolt into the hoarcs, dropping most of them into dust. On the left, Theo and Scorpio slashed into the mass that appeared to their side. On the right, the remaining hoarcs and a man in black armor charged.
The hoarcs directly in front of Theo and Scorpio fought them with wooden clubs. The ones behind pitched rocks at the others. Hutch and Shilo, who had turned to the right to face the threat there, got pummeled with stone from behind. Thump did the only thing he could--he put himself between Sam and the rocks, staggering into her as they hit.
Scorpio and Theo hacked furiously, downing hoarcs as fast as they could. Odif tried to focus on stopping Lura and the demon from casting magic. A rock cracked against the back of her head. It didn’t stun her but did delay her enough to let Lura disappear then appear again beside Frieda. Grabbing the Mother’s robes, the evil elf woman sent electricity coursing through her body.
As Frieda spasmed and opened her mouth in a silent scream, Jo-Jo was hit with a rock, ruining the spell he was casting to destroy Lura. Gloredaniel threw up a shield to protect her from the rain of rock and concentrated on extending it over the group. On the right, two hoarcs grabbed a stunned Hutch by his arms and rammed him into the wall until he went limp. Shilo maintained his defense and killed the hoarc in front of him then lunged over to help Hutch. On the left, Scorpio and Theo kept up the slaughter, slowly driving the hoarcs back.
When Frieda fell to the floor unconscious, Aliana was free to use her power. She threw Jo-Jo into Shilo then sent a blast of mind energy into Gloredaniel that made the elf grip her head and scream as she collapsed.
Thump pushed Sam towards Lura in an attempt to get through the chaos. Heart in her throat, Sam did the only thing she had the wits to--she grabbed Lura and pushed her to the side, right in front of Odif. The druid punched her hard with an uppercut. Lura, who had been prepared to shock Odif next, was lifted off her feet and hit the floor limp.
Gloredaniel died, releasing the magic she had cast in the caverns where the spears were made. In the pitched battle, no one noticed the surroundings begin to tremble. Falling stone from the ceiling added to the rain of rock from the hoarcs.
Hoarcs from the right clubbed Shilo and Jo-Jo senseless as the last one got to Thump and started beating him. On the left, hoarcs mobbed Theo, pressing him down with their weight. Scorpio stumbled back, escaping being pinned and pounded, only to be slammed from the side as Aliana lashed out and sent Odif flying back into him. He regained his feet to take a chunk of ceiling on the side of his head then a hoarc club in his groin. His last swing chopped deep into a hoarc neck, but the one beside it came down square on his head. He collapsed.
Aliana noticed the earthquake and diverted her power to hold her temple together as the rock shook and heaved. She reformed it as the shaking subsided then concentrated once again on her victims.
Sam stood stock-still. Terror consumed her as Aliana’s gaze bored straight into her. She felt her mother’s will take over her body. The resistance she put up was crushed as completely as any hope of survival. Beside her, Thump was twitching under scattered chunks of ceiling that had come down on him. Odif was frantically fighting hoarcs with lightning-fast kicks and flashing steel. Everyone else was on the floor, out cold or dead.
Aliana moved from behind her altar, paying no mind to Odif’s desperate fight. She sauntered over to Sam and gently caressed her face.
“Ahh, my darling child. Did you have fun with your friends?” She made Sam’s head nod then grinned. “I am so glad. Now, it is time for you to do what I brought you here for.” She started to move away then stopped. “I have a nice room awaiting your special friend,” she cooed, indicating Odif. “While you will be sacrificed, she will live a long time in agony for trying to take you away from me.”
Sam was turned so she could see what was happening. The black knight advanced on Odif, swinging his morning star. Odif killed the hoarc she was facing and turned in time to duck. She rolled closer and kicked upward, catching him in the groin hard enough to take him off his feet. He fell, curled up in pain as she jumped up over him to slash the hoarc behind him.
“Enough of this!” Aliana roared, and spread her arms wide.
Nine hoarcs had survived. They backed off; a pair helped Lash to his feet and led him stumbling to one side. Alone, Odif glared back at Aliana. Her breaths made her whole torso expand and contract. Holding Scorpio’s sword in one hand and Shilo’s in the other, she growled, “I’m not beaten yet!”
Her hard gaze burned with hatred as their eyes locked.
Aliana laughed. “Oh, yes, you are.” She used her power to slam Odif back against the door. The druid bounced off and dropped one sword. Aliana tried again, and this time Odif resisted. Stiffening, she called up all her energy to block Aliana’s will. Slowly, she staggered forward.
The druid’s will was strong. Aliana had to use all her power to stop the advance and hold the woman in place.
“Beat her!” she snapped.
Hoarcs rushed to obey their Master, and Odif had to shift some of her attention to them. When she did, Aliana didn’t try to throw her. She instead slowed her down. Despite her best efforts, Odif couldn’t move fast enough to avoid the blows. Clubs slammed into her stomach, back, legs and arms. Her sword was knocked from her hand, and she fell to her knees as blows slammed her from behind.
Aliana waited until they had beaten her to the ground then yelled, “Stop!”
Sam wanted to beg, she wanted to cry, she wished with all her heart that Odif would just die right now. With her mother in control of her body, all she could do was watch.
Aliana stopped by Odif’s head. Quivering, bruised and b
loodied, the druid bitch now looked pleasant to her eyes.
“See? You are beaten,” she gloated.
Odif slipped her hand under her. Instantly, Aliana knew what she was going for. She grabbed Odif with her will just in time. Odif sprang up, but couldn’t move forward to use the dagger she’d made.
“Hold her!”
Hoarcs swarmed around Odif, holding her immobile. Both her eyes were puffing shut, blood leaked from her nose and the corners of her mouth. She was covered with large, ugly bruises. Her will, though, was still intact; and Aliana knew better than to get closer. What a pity it was she didn‘t have such a determined servant in her own ranks.
“What will it take to break you?” she wondered aloud. “Perhaps we’ll start with your arms.”
Clubs once wielded by now-dead hoarcs littered the floor. Aliana extended her hand and levitated a club into it. Her will helped the hoarcs twist Odif’s right arm out, elbow up. She raised the bludgeon and brought it down with all her might, adding mind power to the impact. The crack of breaking bone and the sight of the bitch’s arm bending the wrong way was almost as pleasing as her scream.
“Now, the other one,” she said sweetly.
Odif started crying when her other arm was shattered.
“Now we are getting somewhere.” Aliana grinned. “Lay her flat.”
The hoarcs complied, shoving Odif down and pinning her to the floor. Aliana smashed her wrists. The hand that held the dagger she slammed down on until the dagger was in pieces and every bone was broken. She then moved around to break both ankles. Odif was starting to convulse and vomited a mix of blood and bile. Aliana sensed she couldn’t take much more without magical help, so she ordered her rolled over on her back and her legs spread. She forced Odif to watch as she stood holding her club aloft.
“This is for stealing my daughter!” She slammed it on Odif’s groin hard, breaking her pelvic bone. Odif half sat up, pealing out a scream; then her eyes fluttered and she fell limp.
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