Emperor

by Isaac Hooke

  He retrieved his backpack from the saddle bags and slid it on.

  “Sit tight,” he told Grendel.

  She moaned something weakly in reply.

  He ordered half of his gargoyles to remain behind to protect Grendel and Hastor, and then made his way down the dragon’s wing to the ground.

  He had his temporary sword in hand. He missed Balethorn, but this blade would do for what he intended.

  The surviving gargoyles came with him. Some had died during the fighting, and he had drained a few of the others to make up for the stamina loss.

  As he cut his way through the mass of oraks and tentacled reptiles that stood between him and the woman—whose back was currently to him—Timlir, Xaxia and Goldenthall suddenly joined him.

  “I told you to protect Hastor and Grendel!” Malem told her.

  “Fuck that!” Xaxia said. “The dragons will protect them.”

  He glanced over his shoulder, and saw that their three Blues were indeed taking good care of Hastor and Grendel.

  He shrugged, and continued forward.

  Goldenthall sent threads of darkness into their foes, and summoned four oraks to fight at his side.

  When one of the mini-Balors intercepted them, Timlir dashed forward and underneath it: his ax Hamstringer lived up to its name. The demon toppled, and Xaxia and Malem finished it. This one was one of the smaller variants, more of a runt, barely taller than a human. Malem doubted the next mini-demon would be so easy.

  He glanced toward Vorgon. So far, the Balor hadn’t spotted him.

  Mauritania, Wendolin and Gwen tried to make more attack runs at the woman, striking from the air. They took hits in turn from that stamina draining sword, and managed to escape before they were downed, like Hastor.

  Stay back! Malem told them. Harass her from afar, if you can.

  Even Nemertes made a run, but was spooked when the stamina drain came, and left to fight easier foes.

  As Malem and those on the ground with him approached the woman, he saw arrows coming in from above. No doubt Gwen was trying to heed his advice regarding striking from a distance.

  However, when the arrows struck the woman, she did not fall. Even when an arrow hit her in the eye. Instead, the sword simply glowed brighter, and mist rose from the ground around her, felling random troops. As they died, the protruding fletchings fell away while her body absorbed the embedded portions, and her wounds healed, including her eye.

  Mauritania’s Green Rot struck her next. But again, the sword glowed, more troops fell, and the green veins in her body vanished.

  The bitch won’t die! Mauritania said. Okay, I’m going on a stamina run. I’ll be back in a bit.

  Mauritania sent her Blue skyward, heading toward the cloud of basilisks and dragons that swirled around the fighting titans.

  The sword, Wendolin said. The sword is the key.

  Malem couldn’t see Wendolin’s Blue, but she must have been nearby, because from the fletchings that had fallen from the woman’s healed wounds, branches began to thrust upward. Those branches wrapped around the crystal sword, but before they could wrench the blade from her grasp, white mist once more flowed from the branches, and they withered as the woman took their stamina. She easily broke away the blackened, shriveled plants.

  So much for that idea, Wendolin commented. She really is unbeatable.

  We’ll find a way, Malem said. The Paragon is counting on us.

  40

  Malem glanced at Corinne, who still battled Denfidal nearby. She seemed to be on the defensive yet again. Malem wasn’t sure how much longer she would remain in this realm.

  Vorgon occasionally took a swipe at Corinne as well now, at least whenever the fight between her and Denfidal carried her near. Otherwise, Vorgon occupied itself with Malem’s ground troops, and the Blue Hornets.

  Malem and the others bashed their way through the oraks and reptiles that blocked their paths. So far, the woman still ignored them; instead, her gaze was intent upon the fight between Denfidal and Corinne. She was ready to provide stamina when needed.

  Before Malem and those with him reached the woman, three more mini-Balors blocked their paths. These ones were more typical of their race, and towered over him and the others, coming in at about twice the size of a human. Their chests could hold three men, and their hammers were thick as an elephant’s thighs.

  Malem sent the gargoyles forward to distract them. Goldenthall deployed his oraks.

  But the demons battered the enemies away with their hammers, and in seconds most of them were down or dying. Malem, realizing the wastefulness of this act, recalled the remaining gargoyles and they returned to his side. He drained the stamina from the fallen before they could die, crushing their wills entirely.

  “What do we do?” Xaxia asked.

  In answer, Timlir dashed forward, rushing the lead mini-Balor.

  “Timlir, no!” Malem said.

  But the dwarf performed his signature maneuver, sliding underneath the swing of that hammer, and slicing at the ankle of his foe as he arose.

  But the demon was the quicker and leaped out of the way. It swung its hammer and scored a solid hit on Timlir’s chest piece; the dwarf was sent flying to the side.

  Goldenthall released threads of dark magic, and the black ribbons curled around the three demons. The only effect it had was to make the three demons grin.

  Then one of the demons rushed the companions, raising its hammer as if intending to crush all three with a single blow of its iron head.

  “Scatter!” Malem said.

  He darted to the right, while Goldenthall and Xaxia jumped left.

  The other two demons leaped forward then, the first targeting Malem, the other two his friends.

  Malem dodged the hammer blow, rolling to the side. He clambered to his feet in time to stave off an orak attack. The gargoyles with him rushed to his aid, and helped him defend.

  Hastor! Malem told the dragon urgently. Send one of the Blues to me. Quickly!

  His sword arm growing weary, Malem finished off the orak he faced, and turned in time to see a mini-Balor coming at him again.

  But then the demon tripped. It clambered to one knee, and spun about to swing its hammer at an unseen foe. Timlir appeared, ax streaming fresh demon blood.

  Malem rushed forward, and stabbed the demon in the back, striking through to its heart.

  “How fair is that?” Goldenthall said, coming to his side. “You stab your enemies in the back when they’re not even looking?”

  “All is fair in war,” Malem said, exhausted.

  An orak leaped at him, screaming, and before Malem could engage it, the orak’s head left its body, courtesy of Biter.

  “And in love,” Xaxia said, lowering her magical weapon, which was glowing a bright purple in appreciation of the fresh orak blood.

  She joined Malem, Goldenthall and Timlir, and all four of them faced off against the remaining two mini-Balors. Malem’s gargoyles had picked up pikes from the fallen, and used them to fend off the surrounding oraks.

  The two demons squatted slightly, as if preparing to pounce.

  Malem tensed, wishing he wasn’t so damn exhausted.

  He felt a sudden glow from Mauritania’s energy bundle.

  Just procured some fresh dragon stamina, as requested, Mauritania sent.

  Malem quickly drained the stamina from her, replenishing his energy levels. He fed some to Hastor as well, to help expedite the dragon’s recovery.

  Hey, don’t leave any for me or anything! Mauritania complained.

  I kind of need it right now, he told her.

  So do I! Mauritania sent.

  The two demons leaped—

  But the Blue sent by Hastor finally arrived.

  It landed on one of the mini-Balors, and scooped the other up in its jaws. Biting down hard, it tore the demon in two. The second one it lifted into the air, crushing its body in its talons, and tore off the head. It tossed the body away into the scattering oraks like a
ragdoll.

  “You called, Emperor?” the dragon said.

  “I did,” Malem said.

  “Sorry for the delay,” the Blue continued. “Some mage decided to create a few earth elementals to delay me back there.”

  “No problem,” Malem said. “Now if you can do what you just did to the woman in red, we can finish these Balors and all go home.”

  The dragon grinned maliciously. “My pleasure.”

  But the Blue’s arrival finally got the attention of the woman, because she turned around. Before the dragon could attack, she pointed her crystal blade at it.

  The dragon shriveled, its flesh sinking inward, the muscle underneath becoming emaciated, so that Malem could see the outline of its bones beneath its face and body. It collapsed.

  “Sorry to have failed you, my emperor…” the Blue said before it died.

  Malem was filled with pity for the dragon. He gazed at the woman, who merely smirked. He waited for that crystal blade to drain him next, waited for his body to collapse into a pile of bones and empty flesh, but amazingly, the woman merely turned around, as if he was no threat at all to her.

  A group of oraks and reptiles lay between her and the dead dragon, so it wasn’t like he could simply rush her and take her head. Though he certainly felt like doing so.

  “Why didn’t she attack?” Xaxia asked.

  “She’s saving me for Vorgon,” Malem muttered.

  His anger overcame him in that moment, and he was about to make his final, headstrong rush, not caring if death should take him, when a shadow blocked the sky.

  Glancing up, Malem saw a huge fiery ax coming down on him.

  He leaped out of the way. The ground shook beside him, and when the ax rose, it left a huge runnel carved into the ground.

  Vorgon had come, as if summoned when Malem spoke its name.

  Streams of Darkness erupted from the Balor’s chest, and curled down toward Malem, the object of its hatred.

  Malem tried to Break that Darkness, as he had Broken Banvil’s, but he could not—he wasn’t linked to Vorgon.

  So instead he ran, leading the Darkness toward the woman with the crystal sword, intending to use it against her.

  But he got caught up by the oraks and reptiles, which blocked his path, and was forced to fight. As he engaged them, the Darkness came for him, and he fled once more.

  But it was too late.

  The Darkness wrapped around his body, and— no, wait. It wasn’t wrapping around his body… it was being drawn into the amulet at his neck. The magical object was eating it all.

  An orak attacked from the right, and Malem leaped forward, around the Darkness, so that some of it curled past him and struck the orak. The creature screamed as black veins crawled up its body.

  Vorgon’s huge ax, covered in blue flames, came hurtling down at him once again.

  Malem narrowly dodged to one side and the ground rumbled beside him.

  Darkness continued to flow into the amulet as Malem ran, but then, just like that, the amulet shattered—it could absorb no more. Malem was thrown backward by the shockwave it unleashed, and felt a throbbing beneath his dragonscale armor—if he wasn’t wearing that armor, he probably would have been dead.

  The dark strands continued weaving toward Malem, now that he no longer had protection.

  But then Goldenthall stepped into the path of that Darkness, and began to absorb it.

  “Run!” the man said. He glanced over his shoulder at Malem. His eyes were pitch black, and dark mist flowed from them.

  “Banvil!” Vorgon said in delight. “We meet again, my old enemy. For the last time.”

  Vorgon directed its fiery ax toward Goldenthall.

  But then Nemertes slammed into the haft of that ax, ruining the Balor’s aim, so that the blade hewed the ground just to the side of Goldenthall.

  “Little dragon!” Vorgon said. “You will pay for that.”

  The Balor ceased sending out the Darkness, withdrew its blade, and turned toward the ancient Blue.

  But Nemertes was already climbing, putting as much distance as she could between herself and the Balor.

  Vorgon turned toward Malem again.

  “I can sense you, now that you’ve lost your pathetic amulet,” Vorgon thundered. “There is no hiding from me now. No escape for you, Slave. Denfidal will slay your Paragon, and I will destroy you. And then, when your army lies defeated before me, I shall Break your Black Swords, your precious women, and use them to rule this world.”

  Vorgon raised that fiery blue ax to strike again, but then paused. The Balor’s gaze was drawn to something behind Malem. Something above him.

  An iridescent form burst past overhead. Another. A third. A Bronze, a Gold, and a Platinum.

  More Metal dragons, of all colors and sizes, tore past, heading toward Vorgon.

  Metal dragons! Gwen sent.

  They pummeled the Balor, breathing flame, and creating fire elementals, but Vorgon bashed them aside. Some flew past, heading toward Denfidal, but as they crossed the boundaries of that invisible anti-transform zone, the debuff caused the dragons to revert to human form. They crashed, tumbling to the ground, usually amid the dark host of the two Balors. While it was good they weren’t flying too far above the ground, landing without weapons amid the enemy wasn’t so great.

  Nemertes, spread the word, Malem sent. Protect the newly landed Metals! And send the ground troops forward! Drive a wedge to them!

  Nemertes barked out orders among the closest Blue Hornets, which swooped low, breathing acid and ice at the oraks near the crashed Metals. As the dragons moved past them, over Malem’s army, the Blue Hornets shouted more commands, and guided the dwarves, night elves, and Eldritch forward. Men and oraks joined them momentarily, fighting through the ranks, driving the requested wedge into the enemy, so that the Metals could retreat back beyond the debuff zone.

  Speaking of that zone, it seemed smaller than before. Denfidal must have been weakening.

  He glanced at Corinne, and was almost surprised to still see her there, fighting. She wasn’t glowing as brightly, Malem noticed. And she was becoming translucent. Her time here was very short. Even her blade had become a grayish white, as it too, lost its glow.

  Vorgon was backing away from the attacking Metals, toward Denfidal, obviously intending to draw the dragons into the debuff zone.

  Malem sprinted toward the red-clad woman, and began fighting his way through the remaining oraks and reptiles that stood between him and his foe. Xaxia and Timlir joined him.

  As he fought, more dark blurs passed overhead. These were much smaller than the dragons, and they came in far greater numbers.

  Griffins.

  Tree elves rode on their backs.

  About half diverted to attack Vorgon, while the other half continued toward Denfidal and Corinne. There were still many of Denfidal’s gargoyles aloft, and some attempted to intercept the griffins, only to be overpowered by the larger creatures.

  Vorgon swatted the griffins that came upon him, and sloughed them off its flesh with one hand. Oftentimes the griffins would remain clinging to the demon’s hand with their beaks, which only seemed to further infuriate the Balor—it would slam its fist repeatedly upon the ground in order to get rid of them. Meanwhile, more griffins would be latching on to other parts of its body with their beaks.

  Vorgon launched streams of Darkness at the griffins and their riders, causing several of them to release the demon, but more kept coming; the Balor was too weak to continue dispatching the Dark.

  Soon Denfidal was similarly accosted, and the distraction allowed Corinne to push the offensive. Denfidal retreated, swatting at the griffins, toward Vorgon; the anti-transform zone moved with the main Balor, because as Denfidal closed, the Metals that were assaulting Vorgon began to transform back into humans, dropping to the ground.

  The Paragon seemed more translucent than ever, but even so she managed to score a good hit against Denfidal, cutting a slice from its belly to its thig
h. The demon roared in pain, and swung its halberd in a countering blow, one that nicked Corinne in the chin. She stepped back, raising her sword in preparation to defend against the next blow, which never came. Denfidal was still retreating, struggling to swat away the griffins that were now concentrating on his fresh wound, festering it.

  Corinne pressed the offensive, and Denfidal waved that giant halberd in a wide arc again, forcing her back. The demon used the momentary lapse in her attack to rush behind Vorgon, who was similarly struggling with the griffins.

  Mist erupted from the ground around Malem, and monsters began to fall. He realized the woman was using the crystal sword again.

  41

  Malem felt helpless as the woman began to take stamina from the monsters around him.

  But just then, two bright, iridescent objects tumbled down from the griffins that were assaulting Vorgon and Denfidal. The objects were about the size of iguanid eggs, and they landed next to each Balor. They sunk into the ground upon impact, and moments later thick beanstalks rushed from the earth. As they grew, branches expanded outward from their tips, and these entwined around both Balors, trapping them in place before they could cut through with their weapons. In moments, the pair were completely encased, their arms bound to their sides, helpless as the griffins continued to assail their exposed flesh. The fires that surrounded each Balor had grown dim, and barely seared the surrounding plants.

  These were the much-vaunted Seed Stalks that Wendolin had used to trap his dragons, once.

  Corinne dashed directly for Vorgon, her gray sword leading the way.

  “Denfidal!” Vorgon screamed. “Help me!”

  It was too late.

  The sword plunged into Vorgon’s chest, penetrating to the hilt, so that the Paragon was face to face with the Balor. Then she stepped back, withdrawing the blade, and brought it around again to sever the demon’s head.

  It landed bouncing on the ground below, crushing the uraks that did not flee in time, before coming to a rest.

  The head and body began to disintegrate on the breeze. Its great ax remained solid, however, lying completely black beside the body.