They closed the door to his lair and covered it with dirt to camouflage it. Then they set off toward the home where the humans congregated. Megan asked, “How far is it to this city? The days on this world are shorter than the ones where I am from, and I’m trying to grasp a concept of time.”
“Half day,” Riese answered the question with his usual direct and short response. He had moments where he wanted to talk and others where he preferred little to no talking. His expressions were hard to read and his reactions were hard to predict. She could understand why the humans were afraid of him. They feared the unknown and because he was so quick to change moods it made him quite terrifying to the humans. She enjoyed his company and yet longed to be back with her race as well. She tried not to get too attached for she knew they would have to part ways soon. He saved her life and she was eternally grateful.
Riese led the way into a thicket of shrubs, trees, and flowers that Megan had never seen before. The shrubs had shiny blue leaves with dark red stems, the trees grew at awkward angles and had bark the color of ivory, and the flowers came in an assortment of colors and shapes nonexistent on Palatovia. Riese described the plants to her as they walked by and would occasionally stop her to give warning about which ones to avoid. The shrubs with shiny blue leaves would leave large itchy welts if touched directly by bare skin. The ivory-colored trees would shoot out sharp two inch thorns if any of their branches were broken, and the flowers seemed harmless until Megan watched one swallow a frog whole.
As beautiful and fascinating as the hike through the exotic plants was, Megan was glad to see the forest change to things she had grown familiar with while hiding out in the cave. Birds, insects, and rodents were lively in this part of the woods. The sounds of nature were welcoming. They were until a band of humans could be heard trotting through the forest and all sounds of wildlife halted. Megan recognized the sound of metal armor clanking. Her heart began to flutter. Could it be? she thought. Could that be Centurian army armor that I hear? Riese reacted to her as if he could read her thoughts. “They are warriors from a world not our own. They are noisy and disruptive to the peace in these woods while they hunt for fresh meat. It wouldn’t surprise me if they always returned home empty-handed. Those noisy buggers.”
“I think, I think they are from my home city. My father is the general of the Centurian army, and I have heard the sound of their kind of metal armor many, many times. It cannot be mistaken.”
Megan asked the giant if they could go in the direction of the warriors. He agreed to go but smelled something unusual that made him uneasy. He squeezed the hammer and told Megan to wait as they drew nearer. The breeze blew through the forest and he whiffed the air again. It was then that he realized the warriors were not human. They were demons in human armor. The scents of human and demon mixed and he didn’t recognize it at first. He felt he made a terrible mistake and warned Megan. She frowned but had no intention of turning around or fleeing. She gripped her sword tightly but did not unsheathe it.
The demons heard them nearby and made their approach. Riese looked at Megan and asked her, “Do you stay and fight?”
“Yes!”
“Very well then. We fight.” He raised his hammer and waited for the demons to appear from the brush. They had went off the trail to try and ambush the giant and Megan. The first demon warrior that appeared was over six feet tall, wore the armor of a Centurian warrior, and carried a steel pole-arm with a red flag hanging near its tip that distinguished the first warrior of the battle. Pole-arms were effective for strikes much farther out of reach than swords, axes, maces, and hammers. The warrior carrying the pole-arm also represented courage and determination to win a battle. Behind the warrior with the pole-arm were four other demons warriors each carrying unique weapons such as staves, and one carried a sword bent at an awkward angle with teeth embedded in the blade. Another other held a scimitar made out of coral.
The tall demon went after Riese first. The giant clubbed the pole-arm down to the ground and surprised the demon with his strength. The demon let go of the pole-arm and began clawing at him. Skilled in defensive techniques, Riese was quick on his feet, especially for a giant, and parried. He swung the double-headed hammer low at the tall demon and swiped it off its feet. Red eyes glared from within the helm. Riese felt the hatred emanating from the demon through its soulless eyes and felt sorry for the creature, but not enough to spare its life. With a mighty blow, the tall demon was pounded into the ground under the weight of the hammer.
Megan attacked the other demons after the first was flattened. They wrestled and dueled for a while before either made a successful strike. Megan was first to be struck. The demon with the uniquely carved sword was able to cut her thigh. She didn’t feel it until the fight was over. Riese joined in the fight against the remaining demons and crushed them either with his fists or with hammer.
The demons’ bodies twitched after being pummeled. Riese was sure they were dead and decided to leave them as is. Megan didn’t see any reason to argue with the giant. She hated the demons as much as he did. The demons with red eyes were merciless toward humans, gave Riese a run around when he tried to live in peace, and their existence was basically a nuisance to all living things.
After bandaging Megan’s wound, Riese and Megan traveled a little longer before they met a scout from the human city. She was a dark-haired woman of about thirty years of age with form-fitting black clothes. She introduced herself. “I am Jenoria, a scout for those who seek refuge. Our city is mostly those of the human race, but we are open to any we feel can be safe. The quarters are close and we cannot risk dangerous beings occupying are limited space. Riese, I know your story, but what is yours?” She directed the question at Megan.
Megan took the time to tell her how she arrived on this world and left out no detail she found important. Jenoria listened quietly till Megan was done.
“Well, I have some good news for you, but it would be better if I showed you instead of telling you. Please, come with me.” Riese looked down at Megan and held his hand up signaling for her to go on. After a quick wave to Riese, Megan followed Jenoria through the trail to a city full of humans, dwarves, and a few races she had did not recognize. Megan’s jaw dropped when she entered the city and started looking around. She recognized many faces from Centuria, especially when she saw Drake and Simon.
* * *
Emalf felt a shift in the atmosphere. Magic was taking place that was altering the environment. He was in the Deadwind Canyons and could feel the shift happening to the south. He made his way to the ruins of Centuria feeling the essence of the artifacts close by. His desire to gain power grew with every passing second. He wore a large, wicked smile across his skull-like face surrounded by flames glowing a bright white and orange with flickers of yellow in between. The intense heat around him made the trees he flew over cringe in pain as they tried to avoid it.
Emalf called upon portals to open in the ruins of Centuria and start bringing demons and flying spiders there. He also sent out a high-pitched war call that only the demons on airships could hear. Pepper was informed of the call by the demons aboard his ship. He ordered the fleet to head for Centuria and prepare for battle. The ships moved in unison turning in military fashion.
Ptolemy, Gathar, Sarella, Risaldora, and Agar stood upon the rubble expecting the demon lord to arrive while the others hid from sight. They knew it would not be an easy fight, but the Council of the Elemental Guardians had entrusted them with the task based on their individual skills. They knew that if anyone could deliver it would be them. Gathar had amassed forces from Salidon, Khalan, and Chugean to be prepared in the ruins for Lord Emalf’s arrival. Warriors, wizards, and warlocks united despite their prejudices and stood side by side on the grounds soon to become a battlefield. They stood in the chasm created from the fall of Centuria and waited quietly, knowing that they had allies in the surrounding lands.
Emalf appeared over the barren trees of the Dark Forest, burned by his
curse and flame. Lightning bolts, magical chains, ice crystals, and many other spells were fired at him from the humans. His magic had grown so powerful that the spells cast at him were useless. News spread through the ranks quickly that the magic proved to be ineffective against his might, and the wizards were afraid of that but had come prepared. Archers and skilled throwers were among the warriors ready to strike with physical attacks that could pass through barriers that protected against other magic.
The human warriors had enchantments cast on their weapons, shields, and around them for protection and to make their tools of wars more efficient. Swords with a yellow aura around them sliced through armor and the thickened skin of the demons. Hammers and maces crushed their enemies with ease. Pole-arms, lances, and arrows met their targets with precision. The humans thought they had the advantage in the battle till Emalf opened another purple portal and brought innumerable reinforcements to the fight. The humans, even with their backup surrounding the area, started to question their ability to fight the powerful demon lord and his army. Some of them fled. Gathar saw them fleeing and commanded the rest to maintain order and stand their ground for all of Palatovia relied on them. The ground began to shake and rumble. Multiple tunnels of dirt pushed up and began streamlining the battlefield. Remembering the day when Centuria was initially attacked, Gathar and many others knew that what lay beneath were giant worms.
Gathar looked toward Risaldora to make sure she saw the incoming threat. She did and was commanding her fellow spellcasters to prepare water spells and be on the lookout for worms erupting from beneath their feet. There was not much water remaining near the surface for much of it was lost when the crystal below Centuria shattered and the city turned into a crater. The wizards, warlocks, and shaman were clever though. They knew about the dangers the worms presented and had a plan in place to stop them.
The casters worked together to shift piles of rubble from fallen buildings in places where worms could easily disrupt the battle between humans and demons. Others cast magic to launch large stones at Lord Emalf and to keep him distracted while Sarella, Ptolemy, Gathar, and Agar prepared for the final blow. The team knew it was not going to be an easy task and made sure everyone else fighting was aware that the task could take some time.
Rigel was beside Ptolemy during most of the battle until a group of remnants jumped down from the airships above and separated them. He fought hard to keep the demons at bay, but their merciless fighting style had worn him out quickly. His legs were wounded with deep scratches from demon claws and his face bled from another strike across his forehead and over one ear. His shield felt lopsided as he became slightly disoriented. He would raise it to guard from an attack but just not quite where it should have been. The demons and flying spiders struck passed his defenses and left multiple wounds across his torso, arms, and back. He began to feel delirious and stumbled. A flying spider flew down behind him, knocked him to the ground and wrapped him in a string of webs that left him completely immobile. He wanted to scream but couldn’t. The webs around him were so tight he could not even take a deep enough breath to whisper. Surrounded by remnants and spiders, he laid there staring out through small openings over his eyes. He saw his bird flying above and hoped she had noticed him. Moments later, the bird squawked loudly and flew away.
Ptolemy felt his rage building when the remnants separated him from Rigel. Rigel was there to protect him while he focused on reading the Book of Stars and casting the spell needed to weaken Lord Emalf. Their plan had started to falter. Ptolemy summoned his orange staff from thin air and began striking the demons and spiders around him while looking for a clear area to reach to perform his magic. His father was near and he did not want to disappoint. Demon bodies of all shapes and sizes flew through the air as Ptolemy pushed the horde to reach clear grounds. He had lost sight of Rigel and wanted to help him, but his task remained the priority.
The airships brought hundreds of demons to the fray and the humans felt a slight bit of fear start to creep into their thoughts. They began to wonder if their forces would be enough to stop the enemy and knew the dragons were powerful beings, but they were unsure how much the leviathans were going to aid them in the battle. When Ptolemy was in the clear, he started casting long range attacks against the airships completely knowing that Pepper and Katimi were aboard one of them. His mouth still hurt from the fall out of the last airship he was aboard and he felt no reason to spare their lives. The dangers the demons presented was too much of a risk. He left it to the gods to decide their fate and continued hurling fireballs, lightning strikes, and ice crystals at the flying ships.
Ben, Ungo, and Buun fought side by side against swarms of demons and flying spiders. Webs caught their weapons, but they cut each other free each time it happened. Ben used his scimitar swiftly against the relentless attacks of the enemy. Ungo carried a war hammer that he purchased in Chugean to enhance his crushing abilities against the red demons with metal skeletons and Buun used a spiked lance he wielded with one hand and a short sword in the other. Outnumbered by many, they tired quickly and fell under the might of the horde, disappearing under the feet of the demons.
Groups of eighty warriors with twenty other skilled fighters called centurias formed as demons ransacked the battlegrounds. The centurias held strong for a long amount of time but were unable to halt the invasion. Lord Emalf had pummeled their ranks and numbers with his magic. Even with the dragons’ help, hope for the human race began to fail.
Chapter Nineteen
The human warriors and spellcasters remaining turned the tide and overcame the demonic horde with sheer strength and desire to persevere. Under Emalf’s spell, few of the demons remained driven by his madness and furthered that madness with their red glowing eyes. Those few demons fought mercilessly and had glowing red eyes. There was no sign of humanity in them. They slashed, gouged, cut, and bit at the humans still putting up a fight. They trampled over lifeless bodies without a second thought. Dried and fresh blood caked their faces, claws, and weapons.
The sheer terror from the sight of them had worn off on the warriors. They had become accustomed to their hellish appearance and learned their fighting strategy, or lack of. Although tired, the hopes of the humans grew as the numbers of demons dwindled.
Agar let out a bellowing battle cry so fierce it made the demons tremble. The ground shook and over the horizon came a great stampede of dwarves fully armored. There were hundreds of them charging the battlegrounds with spears, swords, daggers, hammers, and weapons that only the dwarves knew how to make and wield. They cheered back to Agar as they ran onto the field. Loud grunts and battle cries filled the air just before the mass of weapons collided. A creaking sound of rusty wheels spinning soon followed the dwarves. Several large wooden catapults became visible on the hill. They stopped at the top and started to make another creaking sound as they were loaded and prepared. Within seconds, huge boulders were flying through the air at Emalf and the flying spiders.
Emalf was struck in the gut by one of the flying stones and it made him cringe in pain. His rage grew and he started raining down fireballs upon the catapults. However, the dwarves were prepared for such an attack and had soaked the catapults in water before arriving, carrying full buckets to put out any fires that did catch. Mounds of dirt exploded by the catapults and rained down on the dwarves. They brushed themselves off and continued to load the catapults over and over.
On the ground, Agar’s enthusiasm went sky high as his race joined the fray and pushed the demons back. He knew that this was a take-no-prisoners fight as they chased the demons down that tried to flee and slayed the ones who stayed to fight. Blood splattered everywhere. The remaining betnoirs were fighting back the best they could but were losing numbers very quickly. Then there was another shift in the battle. From behind thick clouds in the north and south, two dozen airships appeared. Cannons fired down. The catapults were taken out first and the dwarves arming them were swept away by the rain of cannonballs. Half the a
irships dropped near the ground and an army of red remnants joined the demons in battle. The remnants had no fear. They moved through the battlefield with one purpose—to kill.
The human warriors and spellcasters knew what it meant to fight the remnants and took on a new approach to their tactics. Groups of fifteen or more gathered together to work as a team and take down the remnants methodically. But it didn’t work. Bodies from both sides piled up. Warriors screamed in agony from the brutal assault. Yet, the remnants made no noise when injured, and they continued to fight despite their wounds. Gathar knew that they had to end this fight soon, or it would be lost. He grabbed the talisman on his chest and began to whisper a chant that Risaldora had taught him. It started to glow faintly. He felt it grow cold in his grip and took it as a good sign. He remembered how the nes kaliba had come to him in the Black Sea for the first time when the talisman was called to them. Horace Galthon, a very powerful wizard exiled for crimes he did not commit, had given him the talisman to aid them in the battle against the demon plague. Gathar wondered how the nes kaliba were going to aid in this battle because they were very far inland away from a body of water. Not long did he wonder though. The wind picked up and huge storm clouds started to move in from the east. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed.
Rise of Centuria: Fall of Centuria Volume 2 Page 19