by James Wisher
“Surrender and I’ll let you run away.” It sounded like something Connor would say which pleased her.
The beautiful blond warlord spat over the edge of the wall. “March back wherever you came from and we’ll let you live.”
Morana couldn’t help laughing. It was the most ludicrous threat she’d ever heard. “Have it your way. But don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”
She flew back to her soldiers and ordered them to attack. She would overwhelm these fools and complete her mission.
Chapter 27
“They’re coming,” Marie-Bell said.
Jen scrambled up from where she’d been napping on the wall. “Where?”
“They’re not in sight yet, but I can sense a great mass of corruption getting close.”
Jen paced back and forth like a caged animal, eager for the fight to start. There was no reason for her to be eager considering how her last battle with a demon had gone, but she couldn’t help it. Waiting was the worst. Once the fight started she wouldn’t have to think, just react.
“How come you’re just sensing them now? Earlier you could feel them from miles away.”
Marie-Bell rubbed bloodshot eyes. “The punishment chamber suppresses your abilities by channeling all your power into your senses. It’s supposed to expand your awareness or something. Anyway, out here my senses are much more limited.”
Kat and Amanda flew up on the battlement from the fortress where they’d been resting. Amanda carried a satchel bulging with food.
“They’re coming,” Kat said.
Jen nodded toward Marie-Bell. “So she said. How many do you think?”
Kat shook her head. “No idea. I can’t pick out their individual soul forces.”
“Guess we’ll just have to count them when they get here.” Amanda grinned and set the supplies down. “More enemies means more targets. Targets I can blast.”
Kat groaned, but didn’t warn her off this time. Apparently demons were fair game when it came to target practice. Jen was glad to have the sorcerers with her, but she would have given anything to have Damien by her side. Not only because of his tremendous power, but because she’d know he was still alive.
Movement caught her attention. She sent soul force to her eyes then rubbed them. “What are those things?”
“I’ve never seen anything like them.” Marie-Bell was the only one capable of enhancing her sight the way Jen did.
“What do you see?” Kat asked.
“Yeah! I want to see them too.” Amanda leaned out over the wall as though getting a few feet closer would make any difference.
“They look like crystal statues brought to life,” Jen said. “Is that the demon army?”
“Yes.” Marie-Bell shaded her eyes as she stared at the approaching things. “Each one is filled with demonic energy. I didn’t realize a demon spirit could inhabit a stone statue.”
Jen shrugged. “If they can hold together a cloud of smoke why not a statue? Lizzy lives in a sword and she can make it fly. I guess this isn’t so different. I just wonder where they found so much crystal.”
“Perhaps there’s a mine in the haunted lands,” Kat said.
“Wow! Those are some wicked looking things,” Amanda said. The enemy force had moved close enough that the sorcerers could make them out.
Jen had been so distracted by the statues that she hadn’t even noticed the pale-skinned sorcerer flying at their head. She must be the replacement for Mikhail since Damien killed the black knight. She looked vaguely familiar, but Jen certainly wouldn’t have forgotten someone that looked like her.
The army stopped and the sorcerer flew up even with them. “Surrender and I’ll let you run away.”
What a stupid thing to say. Where could they run when she and her master wanted to destroy the kingdom? Jen spat over the wall. “March back wherever you came from and we’ll let you live.”
The sorcerer laughed and said something else but Jen wasn’t listening. She turned to Marie-Bell. “My sword will be useless against those things. Are there any more hammers like yours in the armory?”
“I doubt it. Mauls aren’t very popular, but you might find something blunt.”
“Here they come,” Amanda said.
“I’ll be right back.” Jen leapt off the wall and raced to the nearby armory at warlord speed. The trip took only seconds. She ripped the door off its hinges in her haste and tossed it aside. Inside she found every type of sword you could imagine, crossbows, shields, and a ha! A pair of iron-headed maces. She pulled them down from their place on the wall and rushed back just as fast as she arrived.
The crystal demons had only covered half the distance between where they’d stopped and the wall. A streak of golden lightning struck a demon in the front row.
“Ha! Take that.” Amanda pumped a fist.
The monster didn’t even break stride, its outer shell remaining undamaged. It seemed basic sorcery wouldn’t be enough to stop them. The first demon reached the wall, dug its talons into the stone, and began to climb. Soon ten then twenty of them were crawling up the wall like spiders. They weren’t fast, but they didn’t stop.
Kat conjured a pry bar of pure soul force and ripped one of them free. It crashed to the floor of the pass, got to its feet, and resumed climbing.
“How do we stop them?” Jen asked as she raised her borrowed maces. The first wave reached the top of the wall before anyone could answer her.
She ran at warlord speed, hammering their talons as they appeared on the lip of the wall. One after another they fell from the wall only to pop back up and start climbing again.
Marie-Bell charged her hammer with holy energy and brought it down on the head of a crystal demon when it appeared above the edge of the wall. A horrible crunch was followed by the statue exploding.
Marie-Bell staggered back. Jen darted in when a demon appeared and tried to take advantage of the opening. Her maces hammered the creature, forcing it back and eventually sending it over the wall. She hadn’t even been able to dent it.
“You okay?” Jen asked.
Marie-Bell nodded. “Destroying them releases the corrupt energy. It’s not pleasant. But I’m fine.”
“Good. You only have to do that a hundred and twelve more times.”
Marie-Bell offered a wan smile. “If I can do it five more times today I’ll be pleased. That took almost all my power.”
The next wave reached the top of the wall ending their conversation and sending Jen racing along, bashing hands and heads, and accomplishing next to nothing. It was tremendously frustrating, but she took some solace in the fact that the sorcerers weren’t having any better luck. The demons shrugged off their blasts as easily as they did Jen’s blows. At this rate it was going to be a long day.
Chapter 28
Morana stared in disbelief as her soldiers came raining back down to earth. The crystal constructs climbed the wall easily enough, just as she’d known they would, but the moment they reached the top that horrid warlord knocked their claws free and sent them sprawling to the ground.
A blinding flash was followed by a burst of corruption. One of her soldiers had been destroyed and judging by the white light that preceded it the paladin had been the one to do it. She clenched her teeth so tight her jaw ached. Morana couldn’t allow these pests to impede Connor’s efforts, for her own sake as much as his.
She summoned a handful of soldiers and conjured a black disk under them. They flew up toward the wall. When they were at their highest point a jolt ran through her and the disk vanished, sending them tumbling like the others.
“Damn it!”
She traced the source of the jolt and found the red-haired sorcerer waving down at her, smirking. Morana snarled and darted into the air. The soldiers didn’t need her constant attention. She could deal with the arrogant little sorcerer and her mentor then turn her full attention to the paladin and warlord.
The female sorcerers met her well away from the wall. They spread out so she c
ould only focus on one at a time. It appeared they weren’t quite as stupid as she hoped.
A golden blast from the young one broke on Morana’s personal shield. If that was the best she could do there was nothing to fear.
Morana countered with a burst of hellfire. The girl dodged and blasted her again with a feeble energy bolt.
She sent burst after burst of hellfire at the speedy sorcerer, but none of them connected. A construct appeared around Morana’s leg and needle-sharp extrusions tried to punch through her shield.
Morana shattered it and sent a burst of hellfire at the older woman who deflected with a golden shield. A blast from the young one, much stronger than the first barrage, sent her tumbling through the sky. Morana righted herself and sent a wave of hellfire in every direction. She’d burn the insects out of the sky.
When the hellfire died out she found her opponents floating in a sphere of their combined soul force and looking none the worse for wear. Morana had used half her power chasing the obnoxious gnats with nothing to show for it. She needed to bring the urn to bear, but she couldn’t use it and fly at the same time.
Gah! What was she supposed to do?
Down on the wall her soldiers were falling as fast as they climbed. This was a waste of time. She needed to smash the wall or at least blow a hole in it. Once that was done the sorcerers wouldn’t matter anyway.
She flew back to rejoin her soldiers. The sorcerers seemed content to let her escape. It was clear to Morana that they were just playing for time, all of them. Of course there was only four of them so they didn’t have many other options. Did they have reinforcements already on the way? She had to assume they did. If more sorcerers and warlords showed up her army could be bottled up for weeks. Worse, if she hadn’t claimed the fortress by the time that bug-headed demon arrived she’d have to listen to its mocking laughter.
Morana issued a mental command recalling the constructs. When they were all clear of the wall she drew deep from her core and fired a river of hellfire at it. An instant before her attack would have struck, a white glow appeared. It sucked up her fire and when she finally ran out of soul force there wasn’t so much as a scorch mark on the cursed barrier.
If pure rage could have destroyed the wall it would be so much dust, but her anger was no more effective than hellfire.
Morana pointed at the wall. “Smash a hole in it!”
Her army surged forward. When they reached the wall some pounded with their fists and other clawed with talons as hard as steel. Thin lines and shallow scrapes appeared where they struck. In ten years they might tunnel through it.
Morana stretched. She’d let them work for an hour while her soul force recovered and she tried to think up another tactic. The urn was the key. If she could somehow fly up there and knock out the defenders her problems would be solved.
Chapter 29
After an hour of her soldiers pounding on the accursed wall all Morana had to show for it was a throbbing headache and a restored core. Hopefully the defenders were suffering from the noise as much as she was. Morana touched the crystal ring with her thumb and began to form the order for the soldiers to stop. She changed her mind and dug out the urn. If her crystal demons could keep the defenders distracted it would make the task of flying up onto the wall that much easier.
She wrapped herself in an invisibility shield and tried her best to diffuse her soul force. With three people up there capable of detecting her Morana doubted the precaution would make much difference, but she saw no reason not to try.
Hugging the wall of the pass, she eased her way slowly up to the edge of the wall. She was going to make it. The pests would never know what hit them.
A blast of soul force slammed into her, bouncing her off the wall of the pass. Her invisibility vanished. Morana spun, unharmed but enraged, to find the sorcerers both flying a little ways away. The younger one was smirking like an idiot. Maybe she’d just kill that one and send the other back to Connor alone.
She dodged a blast from the young one and flew toward the wall. If she could just make it up on the battlements. Another blast battered her shoulder, but didn’t make it through her shield.
Ten feet from the wall she ran into an invisible barrier and stopped cold. A line of soul force connected it to the older sorcerer. Curse the woman. She must have known Morana couldn’t use the urn and her powers at the same time.
Morana slapped a third blast aside, channeled power to her shield, and slammed into the barrier. It flexed under Morana’s assault, encouraging her to push even harder.
“Help me!” the older sorcerer shouted.
The barrier’s strength increased when the younger one added her power to it. Morana focused and poured more energy into her effort. She had to get through. It didn’t matter how much strength she had left.
“It’s not going to hold,” the younger one said.
She was right. Morana smashed through the barrier and landed on the battlements.
The younger one rushed down.
“Amanda!”
The instant she landed Morana sent a blast of black lightning from the urn into the girl. She twitched and collapsed.
The older sorcerer circled above her, well out of range. She raised her hands and sent a blast of golden lightning at Morana. The urn absorbed the attack like it was nothing. The sorcerer nodded as though she’d confirmed something.
Morana smiled an evil smile. Her opponent was clever, but would she be ruthless enough to sacrifice the younger sorcerer to save herself? Morana walked toward Amanda, drawing a curved dagger as she went. She would cut the girl’s throat with considerable pleasure.
Morana only managed a handful of steps before the unconscious woman began to move. She couldn’t have recovered already. Then Morana noticed the threads of soul force the older sorcerer was using to drag Amanda to a safe distance. Morana brushed them away with the urn’s power and continued to advance.
“If you want to save her you’ll have to come down here,” Morana taunted the annoying sorcerer as she moved closer to the helpless Amanda.
Morana stopped, one foot on either side of the unconscious girl. The older sorcerer made no move to descend. Perhaps she’d underestimated the woman’s will to survive. She crouched down and a blast of holy energy hammered her back and sent her skidding across the battlements.
Morana scrambled to her feet. The paladin stood over Amanda, her hammer glowing. Why hadn’t the urn absorbed her attack? She looked down at the urn feeling like her best friend had just betrayed her.
Morana’s lips twisted into an ugly snarl. She pointed the urn at the paladin and sent black lightning screaming towards her. The glowing hammer went up and the lightning struck a white shield and vanished.
“No!” Morana sent more lightning streaming into the paladin’s shield to no effect.
“My power negates yours,” the paladin said, her calm tone enraging Morana further.
Bitch! Nothing could stand against her urn. Its power was absolute.
The woman strode through a storm of lightning toward a terrified Morana. No, no, no! Her trump card was useless against the holy knight. The paladin was only a few steps away when Morana ended the lightning and used the fraction of her power remaining to fly straight up and back toward her soldiers, dodging a pair of weak blasts from the older sorcerer. As she went she willed the crystal demons to attack.
She may have lost the battle, but she’d still managed to eliminate one of the defenders. Only three remained now. It was only a matter of time before she wore them down.
Chapter 30
Lidia flew on her eagle construct above The Tower along with thirty other sorcerers gathered from all over the kingdom. Pulling one here and one there had taken longer than she would have preferred, but she didn’t want to strip any of the provinces of all their sorcerers, so it was necessary. With Thomas’s help she’d selected the strongest sorcerers in the kingdom, not the strongest, he was still missing, but the strongest available. Most of the
m were skilled fighters with many years’ experience. Men and women Lidia was confident going into battle with. In addition to great fighters she’d grabbed John Kord as well. He was the most gifted healer she’d ever seen and before this was over his talents would be needed.
They knew nothing beyond the fact that she needed them. She’d been vague in her orders just in case a scroll was intercepted by an enemy agent. She’d chosen to hold the gathering at The Tower instead of the capital for the same reason. Lidia was fairly certain they’d cleaned out all the spies back home, but she wasn’t inclined to risk it, especially for something this important.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for responding so quickly. We’ll be heading east to reinforce the army. The paladins guarding the pass are all dead and the fortress is now held by four very brave people.”
A murmur ran through the assembled sorcerers. Lidia had known the loss of the paladins would shake them. That’s why she selected her most experienced people for this mission. If they let fear dominate their reactions the mission was doomed before it began.
“We’re going to relieve them and make damn sure nothing from the haunted lands enters the kingdom. We’ve always depended on the paladins to keep us safe, but now it’s time to step up and protect ourselves. Let’s go!”
Nods of grim determination followed her speech. Just as she’d hoped. These were the right people for the job. They flew east at a comfortable pace. Lidia could have easily doubled her speed, but she didn’t want to arrive with her forces worn out.
She didn’t set a course directly for the pass. Lidia wanted to meet up with Zahara and the eastern army so they could approach together. It took most of the day to cross the kingdom, but finally, just before sunset, they spotted the army camp.
Tents and cook fires spread over a camp a quarter of a mile in diameter. The army was only five miles from the fortress. The eastern army numbered twelve thousand, but most of those were normal men and women, skilled fighters, but no match for demons. This battle would come down to the sorcerers and warlords which made up a small subset of the army. A very small subset. Zahara commanded twenty sorcerers and there were two hundred warlords assigned to the force. Nowhere near as many as Lidia would have preferred, but she’d make do. It wasn’t like there was any other choice.