Five Kingdoms: Book 05 - Fierce Loyalty

by Toby Neighbors

  It bellowed in fury and pain.

  “You left us no choice,” Brianna said. “I’m sorry, but you shall be remembered.”

  Brianna then jumped high into the air, her body arched like a diver, then she dove head first into the lava. Zollin had to hold back a scream of despair, trusting that Brianna knew what she was doing. She had told him of heating the rock in the mountains and swimming in the lava, but seeing her disappear into the molten rock scared him more than the giant.

  The lava began to bubble and Zollin knew that Brianna was heating the bedrock further down beneath the giant. He just hoped that she didn’t get caught under the massive creature as it continued to sink down.

  In a matter of moments the lava was up to the giant’s neck, its arms flailing in an effort to escape the molten rock. The centaur creatures seemed to have stopped coming out of the great crevice, and those that were still in the city were now going around the giant, spreading out to the east and west. Zollin lowered himself to the ground and the dragons came and landed near him. Zollin’s leg was numb and he felt nauseous, but he didn’t want to do anything until he made sure that Brianna was okay.

  It took several minutes before the giant’s head sank beneath the surface of the molten pool. Its arms at last went limp and it ceased struggling. Zollin expected Brianna to appear at any minute, but she didn’t.

  “Can you communicate with her?” Zollin asked Selix.

  The golden dragon looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook its head. Zollin wanted to scream and curse, but he knew it was a waste of energy. He limped as close as he could get to the molten pool. The melting rock gave the area a soft, orange glow, but the darkness around Zollin seemed oppressive. He wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep. He wanted to close his eyes and forget everything, to make the pain of losing Brianna all over again disappear. Then she rose up out of the molten rock like a fiery goddess and Zollin understood why the dwarves called them fire spirits.

  “Are you okay?” Zollin asked when Brianna came close, the worry making his voice hoarse.

  “Yes, I think so,” Brianna managed to say. She had no clothes on, but flames covered her body and her hair was smoking, although not a single strand was singed. Zollin thought she looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

  “What happened?”

  “The giant just sank down. It took a while, but it finally succumbed to the heat.” Brianna closed her eyes. “How long was I gone?”

  “About half an hour,” Zollin said. He could see that she was exhausted. Her body was trembling and her eyes blinked slowly. “It’s okay, you’re safe now,” he said, stepping close to her.

  “No we aren’t, Zollin,” she said. “I saw what the witch is preparing. No one is safe. Maybe not ever again.”

  Chapter 37

  The sky was beginning to clear over the ruins of the Grand City. Stars began to shine through the haze. The moon was just rising and the last of the swarming hordes were flying up out of the great crevice that now split the Five Kingdoms apart. The creatures moved on, destroying everything they touched.

  Zollin mounted Ferno and Brianna mounted Selix. They took to the sky and began fighting the hordes of monsters. Tig was tasked with watching the crevice. Ferno, Selix, and Brianna were busy raining fire down on the mindless drones. Zollin had never felt so incredibly tired in his whole life. He held on to Ferno and let his magic flow into his wounded leg. The hipbone and thick femur were gouged, the tendons were torn, the muscle in his upper thigh was in ribbons. His magic was so hot it hurt him physically to use it, but he had no choice. The wound in his leg had to be dealt with, but the effort to heal himself was difficult to muster. He did as little as possible to heal the wound and then turned his attention back to the centaur-like creatures. They had spread out and were moving in roving bands. They destroyed anything they encountered, from the supplies of the army that had been set up around the Grand City to groves of palm trees. Nothing living was spared.

  The dragons flew in formation, with Ferno diving toward the groups of monsters first, bathing the creatures in fire. Those that survived the initial attack were then hit by Selix and Brianna. The fire melted the creatures’ insect-like wings and burned up their long, flowing hair. Their scorpion tails were rarely affected by the fire, but the human heads were very vulnerable. If the fire enveloped the beasts’ heads, they died instantly. The rest of their bodies were then covered in horrible burns, making them easy prey if the dragons needed to make a second pass at the creatures. Occasionally some flew up in an attempt to ward off the dragons, but they feared fire and were quickly routed.

  Zollin did very little through the night. Nausea twisted his stomach into a writhing, quivering mess. His head pounded, especially when Ferno swooped upward after a steep dive. By morning, it was all Zollin could do to hang onto the green dragon. He was grateful that Ferno had risked life and limb to save him. He was certain he wouldn’t have made it out of the city alive without the green dragon, which seemed to have taken a liking to Zollin.

  They fought until dawn, helping the remnant of soldiers surrounding King Zorlan escape north, but tens of thousands of the centaur-like creatures escaped into the countryside. When dawn came, Zollin and Brianna brought the dragons to the ground not far from the Grand City.

  “What now?” Zollin asked.

  “Rest,” Brianna said. “We need to regroup.”

  Zollin tried to walk to where Brianna was sitting on the ground, her head propped on her hands, but his leg was stiff and weak. He limped forward.

  “You’re hurt?” she asked, seeing him moving awkwardly.

  “It’s nothing, I just need a little rest.”

  “You’re limping,” she insisted. “What happened?”

  Ferno growled low in its throat.

  “You were almost killed,” she said, the green dragon having sent her a mental image of the centaur-like creatures swarming onto Zollin.

  “One of the creatures clawed my leg is all. I healed it, I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine. You’re limping like an old man.”

  “Haven’t you heard? All wizards are old men, with long gray beards and tall, pointy hats,” he joked.

  “I don’t think now is the time for joking,” Brianna said, her face pinched with concern.

  “I think it’s the perfect time. After what we’ve been through, we could use a good laugh. I wish Mansel were here. He always laughed at my jokes.”

  “You realize Mansel is in danger, don’t you?” Brianna said. “There were thousands of those creatures released last night. We killed a lot, but we didn’t even come close to stopping them all. Everyone we know is in danger, and they don’t even know it’s coming.”

  “What did you mean last night?” Zollin asked. “You said none of us are safe. What happened?”

  “When I went underground I came into a huge cavern,” Brianna explained. “The witch is building an army.”

  “Another one?”

  “These beasts we’ve been fighting are just the beginning, Zollin.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “You went down miles from the crevice.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Zollin. Under the ground there are huge caverns.”

  “Like the dwarfish tunnels in the Northern Highlands?”

  “Similar yes, but much larger. And there are creatures roaming through the tunnels and caverns.”

  “So, she’s controlling the monsters below the earth?”

  “Yes, I think she is, but she’s using humans to create her army.”

  “Brianna, you’re not making sense.”

  “Listen to me!” Brianna said, her voice rising in anger. “There’s a whole world below our feet. And the horse creatures with scorpion tales aren’t killing people—they’re capturing them. I saw the witch sitting on a horrible looking throne made out of bones. The humans her creatures captured are being dropped into a pit and she’s using magic of some kind to transform them in huge b
easts!”

  “Like the giant?” Zollin asked, dismay making his voice small.

  “No, they aren’t giants, but they are bigger than people, bigger than Mansel. Their faces are distorted and horrible looking. And they’re vicious killers. Every once in a while she would send one of the humans into their pit without transforming it first. The others ripped them apart.”

  “And you’re convinced she’s building an army?”

  “What else could she be doing?” Brianna asked.

  “I don’t know. None of this makes sense to me. She’s using some sort of dark magic I’ve never encountered before. She sacrificed her sister to complete the spell. Some type of demon rose up out of the abyss and attacked me, but Ferno killed it, I think. Then that giant creature came out of the crevice. I’m not sure what to do now.”

  “Well, we can’t fight thousands of her minions alone,” Brianna said.

  Just as she spoke, a group of the flying centaur beasts flew toward the city, each carrying a captured human.

  “This is like a nightmare,” Zollin said, yawning.

  “She’s unleashing horrible beasts below the earth, Zollin. These creatures are just the beginning. We can’t fight her on our own.”

  “So what do we do?” Zollin asked.

  “We have to find help,” Brianna said, tears streaking down her dirty face. “We have to gather armies to fight her monsters.”

  Zollin wanted to argue. He wanted it all to be over, once and for all, but he knew it wasn’t. He was surrounded by the bodies of the centaur-like creatures. Flies buzzed around their scorched carcasses and carrion birds circled in the sky above.

  “At least the sun is shining,” Zollin said. “That’s a change. I didn’t think last night would ever end.”

  But he could still see smoke rising from the crevice. He could see the walls of the Grand City, tumbled down in most places. The tower of the Torr was gone. The Torr was finished. Zollin had seen Offendorl being given to Gwendolyn, who no longer seemed to be human. He felt guilty that he hadn’t been able to stop the cataclysmic events, but they had managed to stay alive through the night and they had managed to kill hundreds of the swarming monsters. It may have been a small victory, but he was happy to take it just the same.

  Zollin was just about to suggest they find something to eat and get some rest when another of the flying creatures crossed the plain with a human hooked by its scorpion-like tail.

  “We have to get some rest,” he said. “I’m so hungry I feel sick.”

  “And we have to warn everyone we can,” Brianna insisted. “We have to be ready when the witch is, or the Five Kingdoms will fall.”

  “Okay, so let’s start with King Zorlan. We kept his troops alive through the night. Surely they’ll help.”

  Brianna nodded and they flew north again. They could see bands of the roving monsters, but the centaur-like creatures became sluggish in the daylight. Some even landed and slept.”

  “It’s good to know they get tired too,” Zollin shouted.

  Brianna just nodded, her face pinched with concern. Zollin worried about her. He knew something had happened when she dove into the molten rock to defeat the giant, but he had no idea what it was. They found King Zorlan’s camp near a spring surrounded by tall palm trees. The dragons landed nearby and almost immediately lay down, sleeping while they had a chance. Zollin wasn’t surprised that they were tired. Flying through the night was one thing, but carrying someone on their backs and breathing fire for hours on end must have been exhausting.

  Zollin and Brianna moved to the grove of trees. There were soldiers on watch, but most were already asleep. A tough looking man with a gruff voice met them at the tree line.

  “We appreciate your help through the night, but I can’t let you come any closer,” the man said.

  “But we need to speak to King Zorlan,” Brianna tried to explain.

  “He’s resting just now. Perhaps in a few hours.”

  “Well, we could use some supplies,” Zollin said. “Food, water, whatever you can spare.”

  “We can’t spare anything. We’re on emergency rations as it is.”

  “Are you hoarding the water too?” Zollin said angrily. “In case you didn’t notice we were kind of busy all night fighting too.”

  “I’m sorry,” the man said, although his eyes were hard, suggesting he wasn’t sorry at all. “You’ll have to find your own supplies.”

  Zollin threw his hands up. He was so tired the gesture made him pant. Brianna was more civil.

  “Can we leave a message for King Zorlan?” she asked.

  “I don’t see why not,” the man said, still watching Zollin and resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

  “Listen to me,” Brianna snapped.

  The soldier was surprised by her sudden burst of anger. “We aren’t the enemy,” she hissed. “Now listen well to this message and deliver it to your king as soon as he wakes. Are you listening?”

  The man nodded.

  “Good,” Brianna said. “Tell him there are more creatures coming. Tell him we are going north, to warn Yelsia and Baskla. We have to make a stand. We’ll meet him at the Walheta Mountains if he’s willing to fight with us. Tell him to bring whatever soldiers he can muster to the mountains. Tell him to get his people moving north. Can you do that?”

  “You’re going north,” the man repeated. “We need to gather our forces and move north as well. You’ll be making a stand at the Walheta.”

  “That’s right. And tell him there are more creatures coming. Worse than the monsters we fought last night.”

  “I’ll tell him.”

  Brianna and Zollin walked away. Zollin was angry and tired, but the way Brianna spoke wasn’t lost on him. She was making plans, strategic plans. He’d never known her to take charge in such a precise way, and while she was a fierce as Mansel in battle, he was surprised to hear her making battle plans.

  “You want to tell me what has happened to you?” he asked when they neared the dragons.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just mean, something is different about you. I can’t say exactly what it is, but…” Zollin searched for the right way to express his thoughts. “You seem confident, more decisive somehow.”

  “I don’t think now is the time to be indecisive,” Brianna said.

  “How do you know that there are going to be more creatures coming up out of the crevice?”

  “I just do.”

  “You said you know what she has planned,” Zollin said. “How is that possible?”

  “I don’t know, Zollin,” Brianna said, tears streaking down her face. “I don’t know how you work magic or how I make dragons, but it’s real, isn’t it? You’re a wizard. I’m dragon-kind. I don’t know what has happened to our world, but I do know that Gwendolyn isn’t defeated. And I’ve seen the creatures of the Darkened Realm.”

  “What are you talking about?” Zollin asked.

  “When I dove down into the ground, I just kept pushing and pushing. I melted everything around me, but I really didn’t go that far before the caverns below us opened up. It was sort of like a dream. You know when you have a nightmare and you can see things, but everything is dark and elusive? That’s what it was like, only there are real monsters in the Darkened Realm. The demon you fought, the giant I fought—they were just the beginning. I could see other demons in the Darkened Realm. It was rotting and grotesque. They do nothing but fight and maim each other, but they can’t die. And Gwendolyn was there. I don’t know how I knew it was her, but it had to be. She was surrounded by horrific creatures, Zollin, and she didn’t look pleased.”

  Zollin was dumbfounded. He had seen Gwendolyn drive the knife into her sister’s heart and couldn’t imagine how incredibly cruel someone would have to be to sacrifice her own sibling just to get more power.

  “Well,” Zollin said, his throat so dry he had trouble getting the words out. “I guess now isn’t the best time to pick a fight with King Zorlan’s t
hugs. We better get moving if we’re going to warn people.”

  “One of us should go north and warn King Felix. The other should warn the towns in Ortis and then muster the troops in Baskla,” Brianna explained.

  “I’ll go to Baskla,” Zollin said. “King Felix isn’t too fond of me at the moment, but Prince Wilam should listen to you. I’m going into the mountains too, we’ll need more help than just an army.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think we need the magical people of the Five Kingdoms to pitch in and help us.”

  “The Dwarves?”

  “Yes, the dwarves, the dragons, the mountain giants, the forest trolls. The magical people are drawn to me for a reason—maybe this it.”

  “So it’s good-bye,” she said sadly, “again.”

  “Not forever,” Zollin said, taking Brianna in his arms. “I love you, Brianna. Maybe there will never come a day when the Five Kingdoms know peace and we can settle into the life we’ve always dreamed of, but I won’t stop fighting for that dream. And I’ll never stop loving you, no matter what.”

  She smiled and rested her head against his shoulder, but their tender moment was short lived, as Tig came swooping down. The landing was sloppy, its big blue talons sliding into the soft turf and kicking up a cloud of dust.

  Brianna’s body tensed and then the other two dragons roared.

  “What is it?” Zollin asked.

  “The war,” Brianna said, her voice tight with fear and tension. “It’s starting.”

  Epilogue

  When Offendorl came back to his senses, he was in the deepest depths of the Darkened Realm. All he knew was pain. Curved spikes protruded from his wrists, igniting a fire of pain that spread up both arms and made his shoulders spasm into thick, painful knots. The spikes were attached to thick chains that kept the ancient wizard’s arms spread wide, with his feet barely touching the stone floor.

  Thick mucus ran from the wounds that the two scorpion-tailed creatures had inflicted on Offendorl. The fluid was a mixture of blood, venom, and puss that smelled so foul it made the ancient wizard’s stomach convulse. Sweat poured from his body, both from the unending pain and the intense heat of the dark cavern. Offendorl saw hideous creatures skittering over the stone walls and floor, but it was too dark to recognize what they were. Still, the wizard knew they weren’t normal creatures. They were a twisted, evil version of animals from the realms of men.