Adrenaline pumped into my veins as my new mace hit the first necromancer. The weapon felt a bit different than what I was used to. Still, it wasn’t exactly difficult to hurt someone with it, especially if they didn’t have their weapons drawn. I stepped in and swung at the next guy. He leaned back and moved his arm in an attempt to block my blow. I heard him scream as the mace impacted his arm. I pulled the mace back, ready for my second swing. A thin cloud started to form just beneath the ceiling in the middle of the building. Bolam shouted, “Move away!”
I turned and ran away as fast as I could. Jerak ran alongside me, but I wasn’t sure where Teltar was. A rumbling sound filled the air. It came from the middle of the chamber. I turned my head and soon saw several small bolts of lightning shooting out from the center of the small cloud. Each bolt instantly arched toward anyone standing. The series of lightning bolts shot out rapidly, zapping almost everyone in the chamber several times over. One more rumble echoed from the cloud before it vanished from the ceiling. Only one of the cultists was still standing. He had kept to the other side of the chamber out of range of that spell. A fireball shot across the room and nailed him dead on.
“Oh, man!” Jerak exclaimed in amazement.
Teltar casually walked toward us with blood still dripping from his sword, “You could have told us your battle strategy.”
Falstrid rubbed his eyebrow, “I had it under control.”
Teltar shrugged, “Oh, alright.” Teltar turns toward the altar, “I don’t see the armor.”
Jerak took a few steps in, “Yeah, nothing interesting here.”
Falstrid sighed, “Well, I guess it would be too easy otherwise…” He placed his hand on Bolam’s shoulder, “Good job with the fireball.”
Bolam beamed, “Not a problem, sir.”
Falstrid scanned the room, “I guess we will have to keep looking.”
The battle had attracted the attention of a few more bad guys. There were only four of them running towards us as we ventured out a little further. The four necromancers compared (themselves to us)[their numbers to ours] and quickly turned and ran. We decided to chase them since they might end up getting more people after us. Jerak, Teltar and I charged the necromancers. Jerak and I had the disadvantage of the chain mail and Teltar’s stubby legs were not meant for a quick chase. The necromancers ran along an old stone wall and made a quick turn around a fallen structure. We made it around the turn and discovered that they had found an ally. A large bone construct.
The creature towered over us. Getting a closer look, we could see that it had an extra set of smaller arms that were placed below its larger arms. The larger arms held a huge maul which could flatten us with ease. The four necromancers moved behind the bone construct and pointed toward us. It was enough of a gesture to get the creature’s attention. The cow skull appeared tiny compared to the rest of its body and its eye sockets were filled with a glowing light.
For a massive thing made of bones, it sure moved fast! The three of us scattered as the heavy maul pounded into the floor. Bits of stone exploded from the floor as I dove away to keep from being crushed. The bone construct lifted the maul up over its head. A ball of fire and a ball of frost struck it at once. It didn’t even appear to be fazed by the impact. I ducked between the legs of the creature before it dropped the maul where I had been standing. Jerak and Teltar were taking care of the four necromancers while I was somehow assigned to fight the scary thing. Teltar jammed his sword through one of the cultists and shouted, “Look out!”
The smaller arms grabbed my shoulders. I made a wild swing with my mace but only hit one of the legs which barely cracked one of the many bones that wrapped around it. I struggled and managed to break free from one of the hands. The larger arms were too bulky to reach me but the smaller ones were doing a fine job. The one arm that still had its grip was pulling my left side toward its front so the hefty larger arms can do their damage. I swung my mace again at the right leg which did more damage on the layer of bones but nothing on the single massive piece of leg bone that supported the body. The second arm grabbed the collar of my chain mail and began to pull me into the range of the larger arms.
I swung once more, this time in a position to hit one of the smaller arms. My mace cracked the bone and broke its grip on my left side. The grip on the opening in my chain mail remained firm. I leaned forward and did all I could to break free but my attempts were futile as one of the larger arms took hold of me. I could hear the loud thud of the maul falling to the ground as the bone construct easily picked me up with the two large arms. The creature began to hug me tightly.
Not only did the bone construct have a death grip on me, but it also had me as a shield against Falstrid’s and Bolam’s spells. Pain flooded my sides as the boney monster squeezed me. Breathing was nearly impossible now. I stared directly into the lifeless glowing eyes of the creature as I became lightheaded. “Calooby!” a voice shouted. I turned my head and saw Jerak running along the top of the wall toward us.
Jerak took a flying leap toward the bone construct with both arms held tightly to his mace. I could only watch as his mace hit square onto the shoulder of the creature’s left arm. I heard a cracking sound, and the grip of the bone construct had weakened. Soon, I could breathe and felt the weight of my body dangling. Jerak fell to the ground but appeared well enough to tumble away to dodge any counter attack. Teltar made his move, attacking the same leg that I was struggling with. Its body jolted momentarily and my body was soon only help in its grip by my chain mail.
I wiggled around and eventually moved my arms straight up into the air. My eyes went wide as I suddenly slipped out of my chain mail and plopped onto the ground. I didn’t expect it to work so smoothly and felt a surge of pain straight in my tailbone. Before I could cringe, one of the large arms came moving down toward me. I turned myself over and tried to roll away but felt the boney hand on me once more. A large flash of light shot over head. Several flaming stones crashed into the upper body of the bone construct, each violently exploding and causing it to stagger back.
With that distraction, I rolled out of the way and reached for my mace. Jerak grabbed me and pulled me out of harm’s way. Teltar held his sword tightly and swung with all his might once more at the leg. His aim was dead on and hit the exact spot that he had struck before. His large sword acted like an axe and sunk halfway through the large support bone of the creature’s right leg. This time the weight of the monster was enough to finish Teltar’s job. Soon the bone construct toppled over.
The bone construct was on its knees but still moved around. The creature went straight for the nearest targets, Bolam and Falstrid. The massive bone monster crawled toward them. Jerak ran up the back of the thing and stood by the shoulders as if he was trying the ride it. He lifted his mace and heaved it down onto the creature’s skull. The mace cracked the skull. Jerak lifted his mace again and brought it down once more. The second blow shattered the skull. Soon the body stopped moving.
Jerak took a few deep breaths, “Those are not so tough!” He flashed us a satisfied grin as he posed over the defeated bone construct as if he had taken it on himself.
Falstrid sighed, “They are much more hardy than I expected. I sure hope Clagmir and the rest of them are able to fend these off.”
I took a few steps and searched for my chain mail. “Clagmir and those guys are trained to fight the undead right?” I asked as I found the chain mail buried under the massive body of the bone construct.
Falstrid nodded, “Very true. Clagmir is a very capable man. I still pray that luck will be on his side, though.” After several tugs, the sound of people running filled the air.
Bolam looked back at us, “Let’s go!”
Teltar tapped me on the shoulder as he jogged past me, “Leave it, there is no time.”
Not having chain mail helped me keep the lead as we ran, but I felt less secure without it. The five of us ran past the fallen bone construct and along the stone walls. Bolam ran beside Jerak
and me, “Calooby?”
Jerak chuckled, “I don’t know-it just came to me.”
Bolam rolled his eyes, “You are so weird.”
Falstrid interrupted, “Turn left here! There should be another building.” We followed his orders and turned left as soon as we saw the path. The path we ran along was walled off on both sides. I turned to see what was chasing us and saw a couple of normal-sized figures and two larger ones. My motivation to run had just increased.
“Crap! Two of them!” I muttered while trying to get myself to breathe properly.
Jerak turned his head, “Oh, man!” We were getting close to the building. From the look of it, the small structure had fallen over and didn’t even appear to have any use anymore.
Falstrid breathed heavily, “We need to divide their numbers up.”
Bolam breathed heavily as well, “I agree, but how do we do that?”
“Further ahead is a fork in the path,” Falstrid shouted. “We need to distract them!” I turned right on the fork and found only Teltar tagging along with me. It was already too late to turn back because both bone constructs decided to come after us.
“I am open to suggestions,” I muttered to Teltar. He was too focused on running to reply. There was another turn in the path which we immediately followed. The bone constructs kept a steady pace behind us. The veins in the sides of my neck were pulsating from all the running and hard breathing but I was not inclined to stop yet. There was a patch of broken wall that Teltar pointed out. The two of us quickly turned and crossed through it. It might help us further the distance of the bone constructs but we ran into another group of foes.
Teltar and I had no choice but to run through the middle to a small group of necromancers. They appeared confused but I think they quickly figured out the situation as the two bone constructs were still after us. “Well, that was bad,” I said. Teltar didn’t seem to disagree with me. Now we had a couple of necromancers chasing us as well as the two bone constructs. Teltar and I saw a wall that had only partially fallen over. Without saying anything, we both ran and hopped over the lowered wall in hopes that it would at least slow down the bone constructs. How silly of us-those things were tall enough to just walk over it.
We ran toward another small structure. This one appeared mostly intact and displayed some lights. Teltar pointed at a fallen structure that only had a few pillars standing but behind those, some higher walls stood tall. I glanced behind me and, for some reason, there were even more people chasing us. I closed my eyes and felt almost as frustrated as I was scared. A necromancer was in view as we passed the pillars and made our way around the wall. Teltar simply clocked him in the face with his fist as we ran past him. At least it was one less guy on our butts.
The other side of the wall extended back into the forest. I glanced around and saw the group of necromancers stopping. Even the bone constructs stood there. Teltar and I turned our heads and saw several men in black cloaks blocking our path. For a moment, I thought they were allies but then saw two dead elves lying on the ground with arrows sticking out of their chests.
Winded, Teltar and I stopped running. I leaned over and breathed heavily. I felt like I was going to spit out a lung. “My, my, my! What an interesting turn of events!” a voice spoke to us from among the cloaked figures. I turned my head and saw the two bone constructs and a few necromancers casually walking toward us to close us in.
Teltar took several deep breaths, “This doesn’t look good.” I could hear my pulse pounding heavy in my ears and could only nod at his words. One of the cloaked figures walked close. He pulled away his hood and laughed at us. It was Deshra!
“This is just too perfect!” he said cheerfully. The other figures standing by him were also dark elves and stood there with their bows armed but not aimed at us. Teltar muttered to himself, but I couldn’t figure what he said. Deshra took several steps and gave us a sinister grin, “I was a bit surprised at all your deeds, Blake. Not only did you escaped from prison, you also caused quite a mess at my fort.” He looked beyond me and tilted his head. The two bone constructs walked up right behind us. Deshra smiled, “Xum’gol will be most pleased when I bring you to him.”
I stared at him, “You and Xum’gol are…”
Deshra chuckled loudly as he interrupted me. He shook his head and still smiled, “Oh, I am sure the army that was sent down here will be troublesome and my ambush plans ruined, but no matter… It matters little to me which side wins this battle.” Teltar reached for his sword but was instantly smacked hard by the hand of one of the bone constructs. His body flew to the right and hit hard on the patch of dirt. Deshra glanced over, “Pity that the plan to get those dwarves to fight the elves was ruined as well…” Deshra sig hed, “If Xum’gol wins, he will run loose and wreak havoc upon all those who oppose him.”
I turned to see that Teltar was on the ground coughing. Deshra glanced at him again, “Now if, by chance, Xum’gol is defeated, all I have to do is lay low for a little while. I can just claim there was a conspiracy against me and reveal to the fools in Vunash that this so-called Blake was plotting to take over this realm with his Dragon Armor, but I manage to stop him.”
I frowned, “You won’t fool anyone.”
Deshra laughed, “Oh, it will be easy to take care of any of your remaining friends and convince the elves and the humans that I saved them.” I gritted my teeth. I just wanted to break every bone in his body. Deshra saw the expression on my face and smiled. He looked behind me and gave a quick nod. Just then I felt something like a car hitting me.
I landed in the dirt near Teltar. The wind was knocked out of me and I could only cough out some blood. Deshra walked over chuckling casually. I rolled over toward him and coughed a little more. Teltar pressed the palm of his hands on the ground and pushed himself up a little but saw several arrows pointing at him. Deshra’s minions stood a few yards behind him as he looked down at me. “Now… tell me, how does it feel to have struggled so hard just to fail now?” Deshra said in a mocking tone. I spat at him but from my position I only got as high as his torso. He frowned and kicked me right in the face.
I yelled out and turned my head in reaction. Deshra then kicked me in the ribs which caused me to wince. I coughed up a little more blood when he went for a second kick to the ribs. He gave one more swift kick before stamping his boot right on my face. “Xum’gol would prefer to have you alive, but I am sure he won’t mind if I break your bones a bit.” Deshra pressed down on my face and I could only just move my arms in to push his leg away. He moved his leg away and stomped on my stomach. I leaned up and again coughed out blood and who knows what else. Deshra spit on me, “I think I am going to enjoy this more than I should… hey, who are you?!”
Two loud sets of footsteps came from the forest. They made a loud clanking sound as they slowly came near us. “What? Who are you?! And why are you here?” Deshra called out. He took a few steps back and appeared annoyed. The two heavy figures each took one more loud step only several feet from me. I was much too beaten to even turn my head. I could hear someone jumping down and felt the air move as they hit the ground near me.
A female voice spoke, “What are dark elves doing here?”
Deshra staggered back and sounded surprised, “Ah… Talestria! W…w… what are you doing here?!”
I tried to say something but could still only cough. She took a step and came into view. She wore a dark purple dress with a very fine metal chain mesh lining. She pulled away her hood and stared at Deshra, “I came this way to look for someone named Deshra Thornweave!”
Deshra gasped a little but cleared his throat, “I am he. How may I assist you?” He didn’t know… oh, man!
Talestria glared at him, “You!” She pointed at him, “You are the one who took my Blakey Poo!” Deshra’s eyes grew as wide as I had ever seen anyone’s eyes get. He stared down at me, and his jaw dropped. Talestria looked down at me and back at him, then did a double take, “Blake?”
She gasped at my
blood-covered face. She knelt down and put her hands by me. I felt so happy to see her but could only lift my hand to her face. Tears ran down her face-she was overjoyed to see me alive. Talestria bit her lower lip and stood back up. The expression on her face was enough to send a chill down my spine.
Deshra stepped behind his dark elf minions, “Get her!” I heard the twang of bow strings and feared the worst. Talestria held her palm toward the attackers and the arrows just bounced off the air in front of her.
Deshra cowered behind one of the bone constructs, “Stop her!” His minions kept firing arrows at her but only hit the transparent wall in front of her.
Talestria took several deep breaths and almost appeared incoherent with rage, “You… DARE! To hurt my… love?! I…. I….” She lifted her arms high in the air and electricity flowed over the palms of her hands. Soon I saw something that looked like a watery blue flame. She moved her hands closer together and the two masses merged into one purple-colored orb. The orb pulsated violently as it grew larger and larger. The ground around us was shaking and I could almost see bits of the earth itself moving up toward the mass. Talestria shouted, “I…. am… going to…. DESTROY YOU!” She screamed furiously as the orb quickly grew to well over six feet wide. She took a deep breath and stared down at the frightened Deshra with an expression of rage in its purest form and hurled the frightening orb at him.
The vivid orb hit him and all the minions in the area in a violent, colorful blast. Everything went pure white for a moment, and the force was enough to roll me back quite a distance. The sound was like an explosion in a wind tunnel. After the violence, I could still hear ringing in my ears and see spots. I struggled but pushed my body up a little. I coughed out some dirt and blood and felt as worn as I had ever been. Talestria ran over and quickly wrapped her arms around me. She beganto sob. I lifted one arm around her and couldn’t help but shed a few tears myself.
Dragon Hero Page 33