“What is it?” General Tolis said, turning his horse to face her.
“The monsters are close,” she told him. “You need to move faster.”
“We’re marching as fast as we can, ma’am,” said one of the other officers.
“Then you’re all going to die,” she said savagely. “This is not a request. Move faster or die. Do you understand?”
The men nodded.
“I can’t promise that wagon will support the weight of your dragon,” Tolis said.
“It will have to do. We can’t fight and carry Tig. The dragon is much wounded. Just keep that wagon moving, and I’ll do the rest when I can.”
“Alright,” Tolis said. “We’ll push our men to their limits.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s the only way.”
Brianna ran and jumped as Selix swooped low again. This time she landed on the dragon’s tail, and the big, golden beast flipped her up and forward. The soldiers watched as she twirled through the air and then dropped lightly onto Selix’s back.
* * *
Zollin and Ferno were at yet another stream, this one barely a trickle, but it was in a deep ditch. He scooped up water with his hands and slurped the cool liquid down between gasps for breath. He had no more strength to fight with. He didn’t know how Ferno was able to keep moving. Then he remembered how he had joined with the dragon’s unique magic in the forests of Baskla after the gargoyle attack. The dragon magic had been a strong, steady anchor to his own reserves. After drinking, he climbed onto Ferno’s back and let his magic mingle with the dragon’s. Ferno rumbled appreciatively, and Zollin felt his inner defenses strengthening. The heat from his own power cooled, and he felt a little better.
Then an idea struck him. He thought it might work to really slow down the lumbering monsters, but he could only do it with Brianna’s help. He and Ferno had fought through the night and most of the morning, and now they rose up to do it again. Their strategy had not changed and although they had slain hundreds of monsters and Leffers, it hadn’t seemed to make a dent in the huge army. Zollin’s only real comfort was that he had managed to slow the massive army, at least a little.
They made pass after pass at the monsters. Each fiery blast that reached the transformed human army caused them to swirl and move in different directions. It was like kicking over an ant hill and watching the tiny ants running around in confusion. Unfortunately, the Leffers were always there to drive them away, so they could only slow the army once for every three or four attack runs they made.
They were in the middle of a hard fight when Ferno sent a mental image of Brianna and Selix flying toward them. This time the image was combined with a sense of relief and excitement. Zollin sent two more blobs of molten magic at the Leffers behind them and then turned to look for Brianna.
“Did you see Tig?” he shouted.
Ferno shook its mighty head, and they dove down to draw more Leffers away from the evil army. This time as they rose up, Selix came charging below them, blowing through the Leffers with a powerful blast of fire.
Ferno and Selix had obviously communicated because Selix then dove down and attacked the monsters. Brianna and Selix made pass after pass while Zollin and Ferno drove off the Leffers who tried to stop them. It was an effective strategy, but Zollin knew that he and Ferno couldn’t keep it up much longer. When they rose back up into the air to regroup, Zollin shouted at Brianna.
“Follow me, I have an idea!”
They flew north, passing the edge of the monster army and continued moving until they could see the King’s Army in the distance. The troops were jogging, and Zollin guessed they must be even more exhausted than he was. Ferno swooped down, and they landed hard. The gracefulness of the dragon had long been replaced by utter fatigue.
Selix and Brianna swooped in beside Zollin.
“They aren’t going to make it,” Brianna said.
“They might, they’re only a few miles from the beach.”
“How long will it take them to load everyone and everything onto the ships?”
“I don’t know, but I think I can buy them some time. What if we were able to make a molten river around the landing site?”
“You mean turn the ground to lava?” Brianna said.
“Yes, almost like a moat around a castle. Could you do that?”
“I could,” Brianna said. “But the size of the army would make it difficult. I wouldn’t be good for much of anything else.”
“I think we have to try it. We won’t be able to hold the monsters back, but if we can give them a barrier they can’t cross, they may even just go around us without attacking.”
“What about the Leffers? They could just fly over the ground.”
“We’ll have to fight them,” Zollin said. “But maybe the army could help. They have archers.”
“It’s worth a try,” Brianna said.
They flew back to the army, which was only two miles from the coast. Zollin outlined his plan, while Brianna started carving a huge arc around the beachhead were the army’s ships were gathered. Turning the soil into lava was extremely difficult, so instead she decided to heat the soil until anything crossing it would burst into flames.
Zollin began to levitate the supply wagons onto the beach and then unloaded the contents onto the boats. By the time the army arrived, Brianna had finished half of the arc, and Zollin had eight boats ready to return to the ships and be unloaded. The soldiers went immediately to work. There wasn’t time to take the wagons apart, so they were left behind. The supplies and horses were loaded first, then the troops.
Zollin and Tolis arranged the archers so that they could defend the army as the monsters approached. Selix had flown high in the air, sending mental images to Brianna and Zollin to keep them updated on the approaching horde. The army was halfway through getting all the soldiers ferried out to the ships when the Leffers appeared.
“Archers ready!” Zollin shouted.
He knew his own magic and the fire of the dragons would be more effective, but he was curious to find out how the Leffers would respond to more conventional warfare. The archers drew back their bows and as the Leffers crossed the barrier; they released their first volley. The archers had already been given the opportunity to fire several test shots so that they had a good idea of how to aim to cover the distance from their firing positions to the edge of Brianna’s fiery barrier.
The wagons had also been moved to create a wall of cover for the archers to stand behind. The arrows arced into the sky, tilted then fell like a deadly rain on the exposed Leffers. Arrows that hit the horse portion of the creatures only wounded, but arrows that found the human chest or head were deadly. Arrows bounced harmlessly off of the hardened segments of the scorpion tail, but they tore through the insectile wings and several of the Leffers dropped onto Brianna’s fire line and burst into flames.
“At least we know your boundary works,” Zollin said.
Brianna nodded, but was busy feeding continual heat into the ground. Zollin moved forward to confront the Leffers who had escaped the arrow barrage. He began to blast away with his magic. Blue energy crackled up and down his body, as he sent wave after wave of magical power into the creatures. The dragons joined in, diving and blasting the Leffers with gouts of fire. The soldiers moving onto the ships were exhausted, but seeing the Leffers scared them into an increased pace.
Occasionally, Zollin would glance over his shoulder to see how many more soldiers waited to be rowed out to the ships. It was dishearteningly slow. When the monsters started trying to cross Brianna’s boundary, the scene became a nightmare. The wails of the grotesque creatures, as they burned alive, had been terrifying; as was seeing their bodies falling in the flames.
“It’s working,” Zollin said to Brianna. And he was right for about ten minutes. Unfortunately, the monsters kept coming, despite the obvious danger. Before long, the boundary was covered with bodies, so that the lumbering soldiers could walk across the barrier on the backs of their falle
n comrades without being hurt.
“What now?” Brianna asked, panting.
“We take our positions and stand our ground until the last possible minute,” Zollin shouted.
He and Brianna took up stations on either side of the killing ground that stretched in front of the archers. Selix and Ferno circled overhead. As the monstrous warriors came through the barrier, the archers began to fire careful shots. The hideous fighters never increased their pace and did not react to wounds. Only a shot to the heart or brain stopped the creatures. Zollin, unable to magically alter the poor creatures, was forced to use his magic against them physically. He waited until the brutes were nearly on top of him, and then he lashed out with a magical barrier that crashed into the monsters with supernatural strength. The blast would send the creatures flying back, their bones shattered.
More and more of the soldiers escaped to the ships, but it was a slow process. Brianna and the dragons poured fire onto the creatures, until heaping piles of charred carcasses littered the beachhead. Beyond the area where the soldiers sought to escape to the safety of the sea, the army of evil creatures marched on with single-minded purpose. They were like a swarm of insects that devoured everything in their path but paid no attention to what was happening all around them.
The work of holding the monsters back became harder and harder, until at last the archers were forced to retreat back to the waterline. Zollin and Brianna were picked up by the dragons. Everyone was exhausted, but they continued to fight. The piles of dead monsters made crossing the battle field difficult for them, but they climbed over their fallen companions, and went around the heaped up bodies. The dragons made pass after pass, spewing flame onto the mindless warriors. A few made it out to the waterline, and the soldiers were forced to fight them in close combat.
The monsters were enormously strong, hacking with their heavy swords. Shields were of little value, since the heavy blows of the creatures’ swords shattered most shields. Nor was a sword able to parry the heavy weapons of the hideous warriors. But spears were especially effective, since they could stab at the creatures from a distance and the warriors seemed not to care if they lived or died. They offered no defense of their own, nor did they seem to learn from the mistakes of their companions. Their strategy didn’t change. They came straight forward, killing anything within reach until they were killed themselves.
Finally, a last group of boats picked up nearly all the remaining warriors. Selix was carrying Tig again, taking the poor dragon out to one of the ships while Zollin levitated the remaining soldiers out to their ships. The monstrous army kept moving forward, no longer concerned with the Yelsia forces that had successfully evaded them. Ferno and Selix circled over the ships. The dragons were too big to land on the vessels and had no love of the water. Zollin and Brianna jumped from the dragons and landed on the massive flagship that had carried King Felix and his officers. General Tolis had taken charge and was doing a good job of organizing things. The ships’ crews were already unfurling the sails and getting the armada moving north.
They placed King Felix’s body on one of the smallest jolly boats. The King looked small in death, his skin waxy and his eyes dull. The crew on the big ship stood at attention, although most of the men were so tired they could hardly stand up.
“He was a noble ruler,” General Tolis said. “His reign was not without hardship and his death was tragic, but he left an example of steadfast loyalty and determination that we can all admire and do our best to emulate. May the Gods carry him swiftly to the rest of kings.”
The men cheered, and the boat was released. At a signal from Brianna, Selix spiraled down and incinerated the small boat. It floated for a time, the flames leaping high into the air, before it sank beneath the waves. Then Tolis met with Zollin and Brianna.
“What now?” he asked them.
“We have to prepare for the battle in the north,” Zollin said. “You must do your best to make it there with all speed.”
“We will,” he said. “The captain assures me we can outrun the devils.”
“Good,” Zollin said. He pulled the King’s crown out of his pack. “I picked this up on the battlefield,” he said to Brianna. “You should take it to Prince Willam. It’s his now.”
“You should do it,” she said, having trouble meeting his eye.
Part of Brianna wanted to celebrate. King Felix was dead and surely her parents were safe now, but she couldn’t be certain of that. She didn’t know what to say to Zollin, she was so tired and scared.
“No, you are his betrothed,” Zollin said, trying not to sound bitter. “Besides, I’m not going north with you.”
“What?” Brianna said in shock.
“You must,” General Tolis said. “We cannot hold back this tide of evil creatures without you.”
“You can, if you plan things well. The dwarves will be there. Prince Willam is a fine strategist, and Commander Hausey will be a great help. You will have Brianna and the dragons. That is more than you need. Ferno and I must go south to confront the witch.”
“Not alone,” Brianna said. “I’ll go with you.”
“No,” Zollin said, his voice sounding angry. “You made your choice in Orrock, so now you must honor it.”
“But Zollin, you don’t understand,” she tried to explain, tears springing up in her eyes.
“I understand the only thing that is important right now,” he said. “And that is that I must stop Gwendolyn.”
“But not alone,” Brianna was saying. “I can’t lose you.”
“You’ll never lose me,” he assured her. “You must do what you can do. My fate lies south of here. No matter what happens, you know my feelings for you.”
“You will be sorely missed,” General Tolis said, holding out his hand.
Zollin shook it. “You have acquitted yourself well, General. Get these troops to the mountains, and you will be a hero.”
“I don’t care about any of that. Maybe I did once,” he admitted, “but not anymore. I’ve seen too much. I only want to survive and to see my men survive.”
“Good,” Zollin said. “I wish you all luck.”
“Zollin,” Brianna said, putting her hand on his arm.
“I must go,” he said stiffly. “I will miss you.”
“Don’t go,” she whispered, but he was already levitating himself up into the air.
Selix dove down after Ferno and Brianna jumped high, landing on the golden dragon’s back. They flew after Ferno, south down the beach. The horde stretched on as far as Zollin could see, but he assured the exhausted dragon that they could rest soon.
“I won’t leave you,” Brianna shouted at Zollin.
“You must,” he said. “Take the crown and return to Willam.”
“I don’t love him, I love you.”
Zollin wanted to believe her, but he didn’t. How could she reject the Crown Prince for him? She deserved the very best in life, and Willam could give it to her. He was headed for a fate he could only guess at, and he was almost certain he would not return. It made him sad, but if he could ensure the safety of others it would be worth it. And, if he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure he could watch Brianna be happy with someone else.
He kept his head down, trying hard to think, which was becoming difficult because he was so tired. There was a wide strip of sandy beach several dozen yards from the coast. It was a sandbar, little more than a temporary strip of sand that rose out of the water, but secure enough to let them shelter for the night. The dragons circled down. The sand was soft and warm. The two beasts nestled together and fell asleep almost instantly. Zollin walked to the water’s edge, staring across the calm waters to the shore. The monstrous army had thinned but was still moving north in the darkness. Zollin guessed that Gwendolyn would keep sending the people she transformed north until she ran out of people to bewitch.
He sat down on the sand and hugged his knees. Brianna put her hand on his back. They were tired, filthy, and exhausted. They
stayed that way for a long time, neither speaking. Finally, Brianna broke the silence.
“I wavered,” she said softly. “Willam was so sweet and part of me liked the attention. I spent more time with him than I should have, even after I knew his intentions. I had to make sure of what I wanted.”
“And you wanted him,” Zollin said, his voice shaking just a little. “I don’t blame you.”
“No, Zollin. I chose you, but then King Felix threatened my family. He said if I told you or anyone else he would kill my parents and my sisters. He threatened to withhold the army if I didn’t agree to marry Willam. I didn’t know what to do. I wracked my brain trying to find a solution, but the only thing I could do was go along with things. But now King Felix is dead, and I don’t have to marry Willam.”
“Yes you do,” Zollin said, trying not to sound coldhearted. “You gave your promise.”
“I gave you my promise first. He had no right to ask me to break it.”
“A promise to me is just words. A promise to a king...” he let the thought trail off. “Willam is a good man; he would not punish you for rejecting him, but you would have no place in Yelsia if you did. Neither would your family. The truth is that if we are somehow successful in this fight, there’s no guarantee that we’ll get the other kingdoms back. If Yelsia is all there is, you can’t break your promise. Besides, we both know the chances of me coming back are almost nonexistent. I release you from your promise, Brianna.”
“I don’t want to be released,” she said sadly.
“Willam needs you. Yelsia needs you. You’ll be a great queen. The Five Kingdoms need you and your dragons, but not me. Perhaps I am the last wizard left in the world. Maybe that is the way it was meant to be. I don’t know. But if I am to die fighting Gwendolyn, I will rest in death easier knowing that you are safe and that you are loved.”
“No Zollin, I won’t let you go alone.”
“Okay,” he said. “Okay. Let’s rest then we’ll decide.”
Then he did something he had promised Brianna he would never do to her. He used his magic to make her drowsy. It wasn’t difficult, as she was exhausted. He carried her in his arms, trying to memorize exactly how she felt. Her skin was so soft, and she was light, almost like a child. She smelled of smoke, but underneath that was a sweetness he burned into his memory. Then he laid her beside Selix. The massive golden tail came around instinctively, cradling her against the softer scales along the huge dragon’s stomach.
Five Kingdoms: Book 06 - Evil Tide Page 33