by James Wisher
He tested the energy gathered in the crystal, almost enough for a final summoning before the battle. What shape should his final ally take? Connor smiled when the obvious answer came.
He concentrated and crystal grew out of the floor, flowing into an armored figure wielding a large sword. Pity it wasn’t black, but the construct was a fair likeness of the late Mikhail Santen. The crystal demon wouldn’t have nearly the power of the true black knight, but maybe its appearance would give Damien a moment’s pause; the two of them had fought often enough after all.
The collected soul force reached sufficient levels and he sent it pouring into the portal over his head. Black lightning struck the crystal Mikhail. The crystal shifted as the demon spirit made itself at home. It didn’t alter the basic shape too much which pleased Connor.
When the corrupt energy had fully integrated with the crystal lattice he ordered it to take up position at the entrance of the cavern. A rather feeble first line of defense, but it was something. Connor flew down to the bottom level, retrieved his urn from a narrow niche he’d carved in the cavern wall, and flew back up to the prisoners’ level. The soft-hearted boy would certainly pause to rescue them. That would be the perfect time for Connor to strike.
He drew dark power from his core and shaped a little trap for Damien. The boy would never see it coming.
Chapter 43
“I think we’re lost.” Damien turned back after reaching the third dead end since leaving the earth force chamber. All the tunnels looked the same and he’d been so out of it when he escaped he’d totally lost track of the way back. Now they were rambling from tunnel to cave to dead end. “It shouldn’t be this hard to find a giant cavern filled with blue crystal.”
I know right where it is. That much corrupt energy is impossible to miss. I just don’t know how to get there.
“Knowing where it is, but not how to get there isn’t very useful.” He retraced his steps back to what he thought was the main passage—at least it was the biggest. Tunnels branched off left and right along its whole length. “How far would you say it is?”
Not more than a quarter mile.
“That’s what I think, but we’ve gone at least half a mile already. I have a new plan.”
I don’t like the sound of that.
He strode down the main passage, slowly gathering and mixing his power with Lizzy’s. The corruption moved closer and closer until he reached yet another dead end. It was right beyond that wall. He knew it.
I’m not sure this is a good idea, Damien.
Damien didn’t know if it was either, but he was so sick of hunting for the path he no longer cared if the whole mountain came crashing down on him as long as he escaped these miserable tunnels. He sent power to his shield just in case and slashed Lizzy at the wall.
A wave of gold and gray flames rushed out and crashed into the stone. The tunnel shook at the impact. A boulder the size of his head bounced off his shield along with many smaller stones. When the dust cleared he caught a glimpse of blue crystal through the jagged hole he’d blasted in the wall. The opening wasn’t huge, but he thought he could wriggle through.
So much for sneaking up on him.
“Funny. Do you think Connor wouldn’t know we were coming?”
I suppose not. It doesn’t matter now anyway.
Damien ducked down, twisted and pulled, smashed a particularly difficult chunk of rock to dust, and finally emerged into the crystal chamber. He craned his head around. Nothing looked familiar.
This isn’t where we left.
He looked down, the lowest level was below them. No wonder he couldn’t find the exit tunnel. They had somehow gone up a level. Below them an armored figure made of blue crystal guarded the tunnel they were supposed to emerge from. It was an uncanny likeness of Mikhail.
“Seems as though you’re not the only one with a sense of humor.” Damien leveled Lizzy and a pulse of combined energy blew the statue to shards. “They’re not so tough when we’re at full strength.”
That one was especially weak. Connor must not be getting enough power from his remaining prisoners.
“Speaking of which, we’d better go free the others.”
Damien focused all his senses, but detected no sign of Connor. The overwhelming power of the crystal overshadowed everything. He hoped that meant Connor couldn’t sense him either, but he feared he wouldn’t be that lucky.
He flew over and landed on the crystal path. Crouching down he eased his way further along, Lizzy leading and charged with soul force. His steps made no noise as he edged closer to where the prisoners hung.
“You needn’t try being sneaky.” Connor’s voice came from a little ways ahead. “I can sense every move you make. Your mortal soul force makes a stark contrast to the background of corruption. It seems my guardian didn’t impress you.”
Damien sighed and stepped away from the wall. There was no sense hiding now. He strode boldly up the ramp and found Connor standing beside Eli, a curved dagger at his friend’s throat.
“I didn’t find the real Mikhail especially impressive, that fake you made was more pathetic yet.”
Connor barked a laugh. “What a blunt young man and durable too. I can hardly believe you’re still moving, much less fully recovered.”
“How about you step away from my friend and I’ll show you just how recovered I am.”
“I don’t think so. Surrender and I’ll spare him.”
Damien frowned.
Lizzy brought him into her psychic world for a moment, enabling them to talk without Connor overhearing. “What do you want to do?”
“Can you use just your power to move him aside? He might not notice if my soul force isn’t mixed in.”
“I can try. I don’t have much strength when I act alone.”
“You don’t need to do much. Just give Eli a little breathing room. The minute you do I’ll blast Connor to smithereens.”
“Okay.”
Damien was back in his body. Less than a heartbeat had passed. “I’m not going to surrender. The second you put so much as a mark on my friend I’m going to blow you to pieces. Eli would understand that sacrifices are sometimes necessary for the greater good.”
Connor laughed again. “Generous of you to volunteer him.”
A hand of gray flame struck Connor’s arm and pushed the knife blade clear of Eli. Damien lashed out with a massive blast. He struck Connor full in the chest. The warlock dissipated into a cloud of black mist.
Son of a bitch, a construct!
A breath of air brushed Damien’s cheek. He dropped flat just as a burst of black lightning shot over his head. Damien rolled off the walkway and flew around the bend. Connor stood holding one of the urns a little further up the path. That had to be the real one. A construct wouldn’t have enough soul force to control the urn’s power.
Connor shifted his aim, forcing Damien to fly away or get blasted. He landed on a higher level where an outcropping protected him from Connor’s lightning.
Now that he had a moment to breathe Damien wasn’t certain what to do. Connor would blast him the moment he tried to move and he couldn’t escape without exposing himself to the urn. Damien grinned when the solution came to him.
Chapter 44
Morana ducked down amidst her army and cradled her damaged hand. She hated that paladin. When they finally won Morana would take great pleasure in cutting her heart out. Healing soul force eased her pain and repaired her mangled fingers. Demonic soul force was so much more useful than her old power. Much as she hated the woman it was impossible to deny her power. She made a worthy adversary. Maybe too worthy. Another jolt ran up her arm when a construct exploded.
Damn it!
First things first. She needed to take direct control of her soldiers and prevent them from walking into the warlords’ trap. The constructs were far stupider than she’d first hoped. Their power compensated for a lot of weaknesses, but right now their lack of intelligence was what was getting them smashed.
She ordered four demons to form a screen around her, conjured an invisible viewing orb, and sent it up to have a look. As she watched the warlords made a gap, just like earlier, and one of the moron constructs walked right through it where the warlord and now paladin as well waited. Well, we’ll see about that.
Morana concentrated on her connection with the demon and ordered it to turn and slaughter the warlords on the line. The crystal soldier obediently turned, rammed razor sharp claws into the back of the nearest warlord, and ripped his spine out.
The paladin rushed in and blasted the demon to shards while the line shifted to close the gap. One for one and Morana doubted the paladin could do that very many times. She just hoped the warlords were dumb enough to try the same trick again.
A minute passed and the line held, unmoving. It seems they didn’t plan to make the same mistake twice. Pity, but that was what happened when you fought smart opponents. Morana would have to seize the initiative. She ordered her remaining eighty constructs to form a wedge and smash through the enemy lines.
Mindlessly the demons formed up behind Big Eye who had somehow made it through the battle so far. Big Eye hit a warlord and trampled him under foot. More of the enemy fighters stacked up two and three deep to try and stop the charging mass of demons.
Big Eye bogged down for a second, but the press of demons behind it soon forced the warlords back. Strong as they were, the warlords weren’t enough to stop the concentrated mass of her soldiers. Three warlords went down and were promptly torn to pieces.
Morana smiled. She was winning. The blond warlord shouted something and her enemies all seemed to vanish. The field was hers for now. At her command the constructs halted and formed a defensive circle. She made her way to the center of the formation and took up position. It was clear now that she needed to be ready to adjust to the enemy’s tactics directly. It wouldn’t surprise her if those sneaky warlords circled back and counterattacked immediately. Well, let them. Her forces were ready to spill some more blood.
Chapter 45
“Gap!” Jen shouted. She was running on the last drops of her soul force, but she’d managed to destroy over twenty of the crystal demons while keeping the losses in the front line to a minimum. It was a relief to have Marie-Bell back beside her. She’d caught an occasional glimpse of the paladin and warlock battling through the skies.
The warlords shifted, opening their line to allow a demon through. It hadn’t taken more than a single step before it twisted and ripped a warlord nearly in half.
That was new. They had always come straight for Jen before this. Marie-Bell rushed over and smashed the demon to pieces with a single blow. The demons were moving as well. Instead of a long narrow line they fell back then in behind a single construct in a narrow wedge.
Jen didn’t even have to give an order for the warlords to change their formation to meet it. They stacked up, eight across and fifteen deep. At a moment like this Jen wished more warlords used shields. If any of them lived through this she’d have to make a suggestion to the masters at The Citadel to include more defensive training.
The opposing forces came together with a thunderous crash. For a moment the warlords held then the demons pushed them back. First one then a handful of warlords fell under the demons’ claws. She shook her head. They couldn’t fight head to head like this. The enemy was too strong.
“Fall back! Regroup behind the keep,” she said.
The warlords accelerated, there one second and gone the next. When the last one disappeared she and Marie-Bell joined them. They all paused behind the keep, some gasping for breath, others clenching wounds they didn’t have enough soul force to heal.
They were proud warriors one and all, but the majority had reached their limit. If they’d had a day to rest Jen wouldn’t have hesitated to take them back into battle. As it was, going back after the constructs was suicide.
“What now?” Marie-Bell asked.
“We need a new position. Somewhere they can’t come at us from every direction.”
“Why not just flee and take up the fight another day?”
“If we lose the pass every nasty thing in the haunted lands will come pouring through. Packs of ghouls, zombies, minor demons, you name it. Things that wouldn’t cause you or I a moment’s grief, but could slaughter an entire village of regular citizens.” The other warlords had gathered around to listen. “We have to hold them here. Everyone’s counting on us. If we can last until the sorcerers finish with the flying demons they’ll make short work of these things. Many lives are depending on us. Will we let them down?”
“NO!” everyone shouted in unison.
“Damn right we won’t. Everyone up on the wall. I’ll take ten volunteers to hold the gate.”
Every hand went up forcing her to choose who she wanted. Jen couldn’t have been more proud. She took Marie-Bell and nine more around their age. Men and women she thought most unlikely to have families.
Crystal constructs poured around either side of the keep. This was it. They’d make the monsters pay for every inch.
Chapter 46
Lidia flew behind a demon that resembled a melted candle with eight flailing tentacles and a single central eye and blasted it before it could reel in a captured sorcerer. The bound woman flew away and Lidia got clear before a bout of hellfire blazed through the space she just vacated. The wound on the demon’s back healed in a second before it flew off to find new prey.
She was down five more sorcerers, three injured, one totally drained of soul force, and one dead. The enemy hadn’t lost an individual since Lidia killed the bug-headed leader. It wasn’t looking good and she couldn’t think of anything to do about it. Her first thought was to simply fly away and collect reinforcements, but that would take a day at least, and by the time they returned the eastern army would be nothing but corpses. The demons that crossed over from the haunted lands had proved to be far stronger than she’d ever imagined. Even the weakest one was easily a match for any four of her sorcerers.
“Archmage.” Zahara paused beside her. Blood dripped from a shallow wound on the outside of her left thigh. “It’s not looking good.”
Lidia sealed Zahara’s wound with a little burst of soul force. It wasn’t proper healing, but at least the bleeding had stopped.
“No, it isn’t. I’m open to suggestions.”
Zahara stared at her. That had obviously not been what she expected to hear. At this point Lidia would have listened to a good idea from one of the demons; unfortunately none of the remaining creatures appeared interested in conversation.
“What about the fortress? Can we fall back there and make a stand?” Zahara asked.
“That’s not a terrible idea. Watch my back while I check on the warlords.”
Lidia spun toward the pass and conjured a viewing construct. The moment it appeared she winced. The warlords had been pushed back to the western wall and were barely holding against the crystal creatures. There was no safe harbor to be found there.
A scream rang out as a young woman was blackened by hellfire. There was no safe harbor here either. Maybe if they pooled their resources with the surviving warlords, destroy as many demons as they could before they were all killed.
Her face twisted in a bitter grimace. That wasn’t the most optimistic line of thought. Her eyes widened. Maybe there was another way.
“Zahara, contact everyone and have them join up with the warlords on the wall. Have all but five put up a defensive barrier overhead. Have the others wipe out the crystal monsters as fast as they can. You lead the attackers.”
Zahara sent a blade of soul force scything into the ribs of a twisted goblin demon. “What are you going to do?”
“Keep an eye out for surprises. Go!”
Zahara set about conjuring small message orbs. Lidia watched for demons, but most of them seemed to have realized her and Zahara were the strongest and they kept their distance. That was both a blessing and a curse. It gave her a moment to rep
lenish her soul force, but it subjected her weaker subordinates to more attackers.
The orbs went out to their intended recipients and in twos and threes everyone started flying backwards toward the western wall. They all gathered together and pooled their power to conjure a dense shield. Hellfire splashed off it and several of the madder demons bounced clear when they charged bodily into it.
Below them warlords fought a desperate battle to prevent the crystal demons from either climbing up the wall or charging up one of the two staircases to reach the battlements. Lidia frowned. They were too spread out. She blasted the northern staircase, sending a handful of demons crashing to the ground. There, that would slow them a bit on that side.
Should she blast the southern staircase as well? No, maybe the enemy commander would funnel the bulk of her forces that way, making them easier targets. That was probably wishful thinking, but they could use a bit of good luck, heaven knew they’d had enough bad.
Lidia and Zahara landed on the battlements. When the others reached the wall the shield shifted, forming a bubble that wrapped around the top of the wall to protect the warlords and surviving sorcerers from airborne attacks. So far so good. Up above the demons blasted away at the shield, but without concentrating their hellfire in a single spot it would take them a long time to burn through. Thank heaven for the demons’ inability to work together. That weakness might just save all their lives.
Explosions sounded down on the ground as Zahara and her team turned their attacks on the crystal demons. Most of the energy blasts were turned aside by the demons’ crystal skin. While the rain of destruction continued Lidia scanned the area for Jennifer. She hadn’t seen Damien’s sister since they landed. Hopefully nothing had happened to the young woman. With Damien gone and Fredric dead she felt oddly protective of his sister.