by MJ Schutte
‘Brighton will destroy these evil monsters. He always finds a way,’ Lilian said, trying to sound convincing.
Angelina lay with her head on Al’taish’s bare chest. Although she had never been naked with a man, let alone made love to someone, being in Al’taish’s arms felt like the most natural thing she could imagine.
Suddenly a soft feminine giggle escaped her lips.
‘What’s funny?’ Al’taish said sleepily.
‘We have just given ourselves to each other and I don’t even know your name,’ she laughed.
Al’taish smiled as he said, ‘It is Al’taish.’
Angelina shot upright.
‘Al’taish? Jenneve’s son?’ she gasped.
‘Madam Jenneve?’ Al’taish frowned.
‘Yes. She helped us in Celonis. Do you know her?’ Angelina asked.
‘Only by reputation,’ Al’taish said as he also sat up.
‘Lilian and Goralt found her and she helped us with money and horses so that we can find Brighton. She asked only that we try to find her son, you,’ Angelina smiled.
‘Fath…Zaconis led me to believe my mother was dead! This is incredible! Is she really my mother? Does she want to see me?’ Al’taish stammered.
‘Yes, she does. Lilian explained to me where to find Jenneve in case we got separated. I will take you there,’ Angelina beamed.
‘Do you want to go now?’ Al’taish asked as he rose.
‘No, first I want to…uh…you know, do that again,’ Angelina said shyly.
Al’taish sat back down on the bed and slowly ran his hand up her leg. With a wide grin he said, ‘As you wish, my queen.’
‘How long until Brighton gets here?’ Lilian asked Evangeline.
‘The daraghna covered the distance in less than a day, but on foot it will take a normal human ten days,’ Evangeline answered.
‘Ten days? Will your magic last that long?’ Lilian asked fearfully.
‘No, but I did not say Brighton will take ten days. He should be able to cover the distance in two. Mischief will be here before then,’ Evangeline smiled, trying to reassure Lilian.
‘It’s been almost a full day since that beast brought me here. That means Brighton is a day away and Mischief should be here any moment,’ Lilian said hopefully.
‘Yes, that is correct. The magic we had been given is all but spent. The next time the daraghna test this barrier, it might fail,’ Evangeline answered, deciding not to lie to Lilian.
‘Mischief will be here. He always guards Brighton and me,’ Lilian said, trying to boost her own confidence.
As if on queue, the large daraghna slowly came closer. Carefully he stuck out one of his claws towards Lilian, but yanked it back as soon as he touched the energy barrier. In a fit of anger, he jumped high in the air and slammed down on the barrier with all his might, but still he could not break through. One by one the spirits faded away until it was only Adri, Thomas and Clarissa left.
‘What’s happening?’ Lilian asked.
‘Their magic is spent. The ones you love the most will stay the longest,’ Clarissa explained.
‘How long?’ Lilian whispered.
‘The next time that beast assaults our barrier, it will fail,’ Clarissa said honestly.
It did not take long for the daraghna to try again. Without warning he stormed forward and crashed into the shield. Thomas and Clarissa faded away leaving only Adri standing in front of Lilian.
Before Clarissa’s spirit vanished completely, she said, ‘Tell Pappa I love him.’
‘Leave her alone, beast!’ Adri shouted but the daraghna ignored her and stormed forward again. As he hit the barrier, Adri also vanished.
Lilian dove to her right and narrowly avoided the daraghna’s sharp claws, but the beast moved like lightning, catching her behind the neck and tossing her into the middle of the cave.
Lilian landed hard, but rolled with the fall to avoid breaking any bones. She scampered to her feet, getting a black energy ball ready above her right hand.
Some of the smaller daraghna closed in on her cutting off the big one momentarily.
Lilian threw the black energy ball at one of the smaller beasts. It struck him in the face causing him to tumble backwards into the one behind him.
‘I wantsss,’ the others hissed.
Lilian knew most of her energy was spent. She did not have enough left to throw even a small energy ball or bolt of lightning.
She raised her hand anyway in an attempt to deceive the beasts into thinking she will attack again.
Mischief raced past her, crashing into the beasts. Before they knew what was happening, two of them had lost their heads.
Seeing the big daraghna moving towards him, Lilian shouted, ‘Mischief, come here!’
The panther immediately broke of his attack, raced to Lilian and took up position in front of her. A low, menacing growl came from his throat, blood dripping from his powerful jaws.
‘Killsss the animalsss,’ shrieked the daraghna.
Three smaller daraghna attacked at once, but Mischief moved like lightning. Before any of them could get close to Lilian, all three of them lay dead at the panther’s feet. Slowly the cat retreated back to his mistress.
‘He will kill all of you. It would be best to simply let us go,’ Lilian said.
‘Tiny childrensss weaksss like tiny humansss. Animalsss can not harmsss meeee,’ the beast hissed.
‘Alsssso meeee,’ another enormous daraghna said as it moved from the shadows.
Lilian had assumed that there were only one large beast and a lot of smaller ones, but looking at these two, she realized that they must be the father and mother to the younger ones.
The biggest daraghna, the one who kidnapped her, vaguely resembled a human man while the other, slightly smaller one, looked slightly like a woman.
Slowly the two beasts came forward, shoving and slapping the smaller ones out of their way.
‘Nowsss you willsss become onesss of usss,’ the female hissed.
‘Not if I can help it,’ a familiar voice said from behind.
‘Brighton!’ Lilian exclaimed as she spun around, but immediately realized her mistake.
The female daraghna took the opportunity to attack Lilian’s exposed back, but a thick lightning bolt from Brighton’s hand struck her square in the chest, sending her flying through the air and crashing into the far wall of the cave.
Lilian turned back to face the beasts.
‘I thought it was going to take you another day to get here,’ she said over her shoulder.
‘I ran fast,’ Brighton replied, wondering how she knew he was coming in the first place.
He walked past Lilian, shoving the walking stick into her hand, and took up position in front of her, next to Mischief.
The three watched as the small daraghna retreated in fear, but the female came forward again.
The male sniffed the air for a moment, and then said, ‘Tiny humanssss, I smellsss my own magicsss in you. You mustsss be my familysss.’
‘I am Brighton, son of Zaconis, your grandson,’ Brighton replied.
‘Yesss, I can seessss that nowsss,’ the beast hissed, a wicked smile creeping across his face. He turned to his mate and said, ‘Takessss this offspringsss of our sonsss and becomesss as powerfulsss as meeee.’
The female daraghna took a few tentative steps forward, hissing sounds coming from her. Brighton did not wait for the attack. He lunged forward, sword in his right hand, keeping his left behind his back. With a vicious attack he drove the beast that was once his grandmother back a few steps. She counter attacked. Sword and claws clashed in a shower of sparks as the two traded mighty blows.
Brighton kept pressing his attack, but seeing that he did not gain any advantage this way, decided to back away a little.
The female beast lunged forward, thinking it was the opening she was waiting for.
Brighton deflected her claws with one mighty swing of his sword and then his left hand came forwar
d. Before the daraghna could do anything, he snapped Evangeline’s bracelet around her arm. He did not bother trying to close the little clasp but rather sent a large amount of energy into the silver, fusing it into the daraghna’s scales.
The beast howled in pain and clawed at the bracelet, but to no avail. She spread her large wings and took flight down one of the dark tunnels, bashing her arm against the walls and roof.
A large energy ball from Brighton’s hand followed her down the tunnel for a few paces before exploding, causing the entire tunnel to collapse on her and a few of the smaller daraghna.
Silence fell momentarily as the dust settled.
‘Vilesss, tiny, evilsss humansss!’ the male daraghna hissed as he rushed forward.
Brighton brought the sword up but it was all he could do to keep blocking the daraghna’s attack.
‘Go to the cave entrance!’ he instructed Lilian, but most of the remaining daraghna had circled around them and were blocking her path.
Mischief was off in a flash, ripping into the beasts with his mighty claws and fangs. Some of them managed to land a few blows to the panther’s sides, but he did not stop. In moments, all the beasts that blocked their path lay dead. Mischief came limping back to Lilian, his black fur coated with his own blood as well as that of the beasts.
‘Get to the entrance!’ Brighton repeated. He had to draw on every bit of experience and talent he had simply to stay alive.
Lilian hurriedly moved towards the entrance of the cave where she could see the forest below. Brighton threw fireballs, energy balls and lighting bolts at the large daraghna, but it all bounced off him without doing any harm.
He could not feel any source of energy around him, except Lilian and Mischief. He knew that both had perilously little energy left in their bodies, so he dared not steal any from them.
Sweat poured down Brighton’s forehead, running into his eyes. He was tiring rapidly.
Brighton called something to Lilian, but a high pitched shriek from the daraghna drowned out his voice.
Brighton’s movements got slower, his feet dragging on the cave floor. The daraghna noticed and pressed his attack, driving Brighton backwards until he almost had his back against the wall. The daraghna launched himself into the air, arms spread wide, hoping to end the fight, but Brighton dove under him, rolled away and scrambled to his feet again.
‘Tiny humansss tiredsss. Can notsss fight muchsss longersss,’ the beast said as he turned around to face Brighton.
Brighton lifted the sword once more, an idea forming in his head.
He focused on getting an energy link established to Lilian, but the daraghna attacked again. Brighton had to drop the link and defend with everything he had.
Steel and claws clashed over and over as the daraghna attacked relentlessly. Brighton looked for an opening like Peter had taught him all those years ago, but there was none. The daraghna’s movements were simply too fast, his strikes too powerful for Brighton to do anything but defend.
Brighton knew he was in trouble and had to do something fast. He snapped an energy link to Lilian and quickly shared his thoughts with her, but it cost him dearly. The daraghna’s open claw connected heavily with Brighton’s right side, ripping into his flesh and breaking four of his ribs. Brighton saw the second blow aimed for the same spot and brought his arm down in defense. The sword went flying as the daraghna’s claw tore into Brighton’s arm.
Brighton staggered back holding his right arm. Blood poured from the deep cuts, his arm hanging limp and useless.
‘Nowsss tiny humansss diessssssss,’ the daraghna hissed with delight.
‘Let my wife go and I will submit to you willingly,’ Brighton replied.
‘Tiny humansss can notsss fight with onesss armsss. Tiny humansss wife willsss watch him diesss, justsss before shesss also diessssss,’ the daraghna hissed back as he spread his arms and wings.
Chapter 25
‘Now Lilian!’
A thick, black lightning bolt raced from Lilian’s right hand and hit the daraghna square in the chest. With her left hand she reached towards the forest below, drawing large amounts of energy from it. She maintained the black lightning against the daraghna’s chest, putting everything she had into it, driving him backwards. Far below in the forest, plants, grass and even large trees wilted and died in an instant, their energy stolen forever.
Brighton dove for his sword, ignoring the pain in his side. He grabbed the weapon with both hands, glad that the beast believed his arm was really useless and that the fight was over.
Lilian kept pushing the big beast back with her black lightning until its back slammed against the far wall of the cave.
As soon as she saw Brighton moving forward for the killing blow, she stopped her assault on the beast and established an energy link to her husband.
Brighton drew energy from Lilian, who acted as a link between him and the forest. He channeled almost all the energy into the sword, making it white hot. The tip of the sword slid into the daraghna’s chest, burning through the thick scales. Brighton drove the blade through the daraghna’s body and into the wall beyond. With one last burst of energy, he fused sword, beast and rock together, trapping the daraghna against the cave wall forever.
The daraghna hissed and shrieked, trying to grab Brighton, but the man had already moved out of its reach.
‘Daraghnassss can notsss diessss!’ the beast shrieked.
Brighton sank to his knees, trying to catch his breath.
‘I can notsss diessss. Daraghna willsss free himselfsss and huntssss tiny humansss down!’ the beast hissed, clawing at the sword that held him prisoner against the cave wall.
‘No, you won’t. I am going to collapse these caves burying you under the mountain forever. All living things need energy to survive. Eventually, when your energy is spent and there is nowhere to get more, you will die,’ Brighton replied.
‘Daraghna childrensss will killsss wizardsss!’ the beast screeched.
‘If there are any left in these caves, they will be buried along with you. Should some escape, I will send Mischief after them. They will be destroyed,’ Brighton replied.
The daraghna hissed insults and threats at Brighton, Lilian and Mischief, but Brighton no longer wanted to speak to the beast. He simply turned around and walked to the cave entrance.
Without looking back once, Brighton took Lilian’s hand, put his other hand on Mischief’s head and they walked out of the cave together.
Carefully they made their way down the steep hill until they were standing between the dead trees below.
‘You certainly took a lot of energy from the forest,’ Brighton commented dryly.
‘That’s what you told me to do when you shared your thoughts with me,’ Lilian replied.
‘I know, but I did not realize you could handle that much energy. There is not a single living thing for at least a day’s walk around us,’ Brighton smiled at her.
He let his sense go wider, connecting to the forest beyond the dead belt Lilian had created.
Drawing more energy from the forest, he sent a large energy ball into the cave. As it reached the middle of the cave, it exploded causing the entire cave and all the tunnels to collapse in a thunderous dust cloud.
‘Even if the beast survived that, he will never get out of there,’ Brighton said as he turned away from the mountain.
Lilian’s arms snaked around Brighton’s waist. She put her head against his chest and said, ‘I am so glad this is finally over. For a while I did not think we would survive.’
Brighton put his muscular arms around his wife and hugged her fiercely. He dropped one arm and scratched Mischief behind the ears, making the cat purr with delight.
‘Brighton, Lilian,’ a voice reached their ears.
The two people separated in an instant, both bringing their hands up, ready to defend themselves if need be. Mischief went into a crouch, ready to attack anything that came out of the dead forest.
Slowly, two fo
rms took shape in front of them.
‘Evangeline! I did not think I would see you so soon again,’ Lilian exclaimed.
‘So soon?’ Brighton frowned.
‘I’ll tell to you later,’ Lilian smiled as her hand slipped into his.
‘This is Dina. She had the ability to see future events,’ Evangeline introduced them.
‘Have you still not had another vision?’ Brighton frowned.
‘I can feel deep inside me that the gift is gone,’ Dina confirmed.
‘How can your gift just be gone?’ Brighton frowned.
‘It was never mine to start with. The Master lent it to me for a while to help the humans. Now he has taken it away again,’ Dina smiled.
‘That’s not good! Who will help us now?’ Brighton asked.
‘You’re wrong. This is a very good thing. If the Master took this gift from me, it means the humans do not need anymore help from the spirits. Both worlds are safe now,’ Dina replied.
‘I understand,’ Brighton said as he nodded slowly.
‘Not entirely. I was the original Zaconis, Guardian of magic, but without my gift I can no longer fulfill this role. Magic is in this world forever and it needs someone to guard over it. That someone is you, Brighton. You have been the guardian of the elf forest for over two hundred years. You know what is required to be the guardian of magic in this world,’ Dina replied.
‘Lilian and I have been the guardians of the elf forest, not I alone,’ Brighton corrected.
‘True. All the more reason why you should be the guardian of all magic with Lilian by your side,’ Dina answered.
Brighton considered it for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
‘I am not the guardian,’ he said.
‘Brighton, the world needs you,’ Dina pleaded.
Brighton dropped his hand, resting it on Mischief’s head, Dina and Evangeline’s eyes following the movement.
‘Being the guardian of magic is not a job that can be passed from person to person. It is a calling, a destiny. Mischief has always been the true guardian of magic,’ Brighton smiled.
‘An animal can never be the guardian! How are you going to explain to him what to do?’ Dina gasped.