At Storm's Edge

by Logan Petty

  "Yer getting a bit rusty, old friend."

  Syd dusted himself off as the giant's head exploded in a brilliant blaze of green fire, "I got the job done, didn't I? What about you?"

  Axel flexed his legs then peered down the wall at the ground thirty feet below, "I think I'll take the stairs. Save a few for me."

  Syd shrugged, "Suit yourself."

  The gates shuddered as the larger creatures in the Grey King's army thrashed against them. The archers along the wall exchanged volleys with the attackers as Axel ran for the stairs, shouting at anyone who would listen.

  "Soldiers with me! This gate's coming open, and when it does, we'll be there to greet anything that comes through!"

  He amassed a squadron of roughly twenty warriors by the time he reached the stairs. He stopped short of them as someone shouted.

  "Look to the east! It's the elves!"

  Axel could barely believe his eyes as he returned to the edge of the wall. He whooped triumphantly as the white banners bearing the image of the Heart of the Forest stretched across the far hills beyond the massive army of the dead. Thousands of elves riding bears and massive wolves crashed against the back ranks of Anvilheim's aggressors.

  "Well now I've seen everything! Whatever convinced them to come out of hiding, I sure am glad to see them today!"

  "Sir, bad news." A halfling dressed in over-sized chainmail saluted Axel as he stumbled up the stairs breathlessly, "Scouts on the southern wall report another army under the crimson banner is closing in on us."

  "Crimson? Wait, Jordborg?" Axel inquired.

  The halfling nodded as he swallowed the lump in his throat. Axel grinned broadly.

  "Send word to the southern wall to rejoice. They are here for once as allies! The current Segrammir is a friend of mine."

  Axel muttered to himself as the halfling saluted and huffed off down the stairs, "By Turin, he did it! Sawain managed to turn our old enemies into friends and now we'll have a fighting chance!"

  He bounded down the stairs, shouting and gathering more defenders, "To me, everyone! Help is on the way, we just need to hold the gate a little longer!"

  A hundred able bodies answered his call as he reached the splintering gate. Members from a dozen different adventuring companies, many larger than Dawnstar, stood shoulder to shoulder, brandishing swords and spears, or chanting under their breaths as sizzling blood pooled in their hands. Axel gripped his own hammer tight as the gates warped and groaned beneath the battering weight of the horde outside.

  "This is it, lads and lasses! We are the last line of defense between freedom and eternal condemnation! Steel your hearts! Jordborg and Alfhaven have heard our cries and are clashing outside our gates with our common enemy now! All we have to do is hold! Hold for your friends, for you are the only ones who can! Hold for your neighbors, who without you will perish! Hold for those who have died defending our land, that their sacrifices will not be in vain! Most of all, hold for hope! HOLD FOR ANVILHEIM!"

  The timbers of the gates buckled at his last words. The dust and debris filled the market square as the first scores of the dead poured into the streets. The defenders answered their challenge with their own resounding battlecry.

  "FOR ANVILHEIM!"

  The armies smashed against one another ferociously as Axel threw himself into the fray. The first troll barreled through the gap, headlong into Axel's trajectory. Decaying teeth showered the ground around him as his hammer flew from his hand and collided with the troll's face. It doubled over in pain as the hammer bounced back to Axel. He wrapped both hands around its grip and swung with all his might at the side of the monster's skull. It collapsed as the dwarf shattered its head and lumbered over its body. The hordes of the dead fell in pairs at his feet as he swung his mighty hammer to and fro, filling the gap with a mound of corpses that grew surprisingly fast.

  "Mages! Light these vermin up! The dead hate fire!"

  Axel rolled down the hill of the dead as a dozen fireballs streaked around him, some hitting the mound, some incinerating the advancing horde. He charged out into the open as he laid eyes on Jaren, not much farther from where he started.

  Blood sprayed around him as he whirled his axes like a conductor in a symphony. The percussion of his blows set a chaotic cadence against the dissonance of the howling mob. Axel waded over to him, crushing one undead attacker after the next.

  "Lord Jaren! This way! Alfhaven and Jordborg have arrived to the east and south! If we can hold the gate, we'll be saved!"

  Jaren glared at Axel with his good eye as he heaved for air. He never stopped his whirling display as he retorted.

  "You really expect me to wait inside while the elves and pirates fight my battle for me?"

  Axel grinned. That was the Jaren of old, the one he looked up to. Not the grouchy, indecisive politician he had been forced to play in recent months. The dwarf's heart sang the old battle hymn as he fought his way to his friend's side. Live or die, he would follow the path of Jaren Turinthrek, for that road always lead to glory.

  Chapter Twenty Six:

  Syd grinned from his perch atop the northern wall of the city as he watched the frontlines of the Alfhaven army plow through the enemy from behind. Victory appeared close at hand, but he knew that even the combined might of three living armies could not stop one that replenished its ranks with its fallen opponents. That tower hidden in the valley to the north would only refuel the Grey King's war machine until nothing remained of his enemies. Sydarion knew he had to tear it down, yet he could not do it alone. Despite his considerable skill, he was one against thousands. It was a fair fight, but one that leaned in the opponent's favor.

  The clopping of hooves on stone announced Binze and Terina's arrival. Syd spun around and smiled at his friends.

  "Come to join the fun?"

  A linen bandage wrapped around Terina's lower torso. The crimson stains stood in stark contrast to her black coat. She tapped her magical scepter against the wall.

  "I'm ready, what is our target?"

  Sydarion tilted his head sympathetically, "Lady Terrina, you're in no condition to go back out there. We nearly lost you on our last job."

  "But you didn't," she snorted irritably. "Besides, I can't let you and my brother go alone. You need me and you know it."

  "Might as well cut your losses, Syd. When Terrina makes up her mind, there's no changing it," Binze huffed as he checked the blade of his axe, the deadly blade that once belonged to his father.

  Syd stared at them a moment, calculating their odds of survival. He could not be satisfied with the numbers, yet he knew that they would not listen to reason when everyone else was out there giving their all to save Anvilheim.

  "Alright, alright. You win. Our target is a conversion temple I found hidden in the valley just beyond that grove."

  He pointed the tip of his bow at a hill of red clay that held a scattered collection of thin pines to its tough soil. The enemy crowded the knoll thicker here than anywhere else.

  "If we can take it down, the priests will lose control and not be able to revive their fallen. Simple, right?"

  Binze peered over the wall at the mile stretch of land to the hill in question and the horde of slavering monsters that only desired to rip him apart. He swallowed the rising lump in his throat.

  "Yeah, no problem. So when do we start?"

  Syd pulled an arrow from his quiver, "Now, if you're ready. We need to move fast and fight smart. I only have thirty shots left before I'm stuck with melee."

  Binze exchanged nods with Terina and clenched his jaw before nodding to Syd. The elf grinned. Centaur were always so straightforward in their communication. Maybe that was the reason he got along with them so well. He knocked his bow and pulled the string back. He pointed it at the ground below.

  "Alright, on three, everyone jump. Don't look at me like that, it'll be fine. One... Two... THREE!"

  Binze and Terina charged the wall and bounded majestically over the edge. Syd followed close behind. On t
heir way down, Terina unleashed a deadly ray of light from her scepter that seared a line of destruction through the enemy forces. Syd released his magically charged arrow half way through the descent. It erupted into a devastating whirlwind on impact that threw enemies in every direction, clearing a safe landing place for the trio. The updraft also caught them, slowing their fall drastically, which allowed them to land safely as the wind cleared.

  The path Terina cut through the horde quickly closed as the wall of corpses with swords and axes closed in on them. She unleashed another torrent of light that reopened the path. Syd prepared another arrow as Binze swung Hamreta, the Grief Eater, like a reaper cutting wheat. The dead crumbled beneath his attack, armor, blades and all.

  Syd fired another shot through the gap Terina made. A fiery explosion opened a wide clearing not far away. The three warriors charged forward, cutting down any foe that tried to halt them. They managed to make it to the next clearing before the dead could close it. A ring of fire caused the vulnerable creatures to hesitate long enough. Syd directed each blast from Terina's scepter and repeated his tactic time after time, as they worked their way to the place the locals called Bloodknoll Grove.

  Binze's breathing grew more ragged as they progressed. Sweat dripped from his brow as he cleaved through wave after wave of the dead. Syd glanced at him as he fired another magical arrow.

  "Fight it, Binze! Don't listen to the axe!"

  "I'm... FINE!" the centaur roared as he ravaged an undead troll that tried to run him through with a spear the size of a small tree. Arms and legs fell to the ground as Binze made short, terrifying work of it.

  It took nearly an hour of continuous fighting, but the trio stuck to their winning pattern and managed to break through the enemy ranks as Syd fired his final bolt, clearing the top of the hill.

  "That's it, friends, I'm out. It's all sword and dagger from here."

  Terina bashed the skull of a skeleton that rushed her alone, "Just get me to the temple. Brenaljos will raze it in holy light."

  Syd shrugged as he drew his blades, "Or we could just point Binze in its direction. He seems fairly content with letting that unholy axe of his gorge itself."

  Terina glanced at her raving mad brother as he cleaved the skull of another troll. She held a deep breath for a second before letting it out. "Let's just get this over with quickly. I tire of this war."

  "That makes two of us," Sydarion muttered as he dove into the fray, cutting tendons and lobbing off heads. The dead moved so slowly compared to the living. He marveled at how such a clumsy force had dealt so much destruction upon the world. He figured the answer laid in numbers, as it usually did. He and his centaur compatriots hacked their way to the far side of the hill. There, in the small valley below, rose the gruesome temple they sought. It stood beside the tiny lake that once harbored a fishing village in the days before this war devoured everything but the main Hold. This particular valley nestled up against the Cobalt Mountains, making it particularly easy to defend, but hard to recapture once taken.

  "Alright, All we have to do is tear that thing to the ground, and maybe kill the house priest while we're at it. Terina, can you--"

  A hatchet buried itself in the trunk of the tree inches from Syd's head. He ducked in time to avoid the second one that would have hit its mark. He had been so focused on the temple, he did not notice the platoon of centaur that stood between him and the valley. At the front of their line, a huge old stallion, eyes marked by undeath, drew another hatchet from the belt that hung around his waist. Sydarion recognized him too late as Binze set eyes on him. His roar caused his attackers to stagger.

  "GOTHUR!"

  Terina shook her head slowly, "No... I killed you on holy ground... You cannot be here!"

  The walking corpse of her father smirked, "And yet... Here I am. To think I would be given a second chance to punish my naughty children. Praise the Grey King!"

  "Enough of your blasphemies!" Terina shouted as she pointed her scepter at him. Binze stepped between them, his arms outward and his muscles bulging.

  "No! You got to kill him last time! It's my turn!"

  "This isn't a game, Binze!" Syd shouted as he drove his blades into the chest of an unlucky zombie.

  "I'm not playing," he growled as he brought his axe to battle position.

  Gothur chuckled, "Oh how wonderful. You brought back my axe! Lay it at my hooves, boy, and I will grant you swift entrance into the Grey Kingdom."

  "I think I'd rather feed it your soul, that you may never terrorize Hammerhold again!"

  Gothur sighed as he readied another hatchet, "Quaint. You really think killing me will end the Harthaz curse? It whispers to you even now, does it not? No, likely at this point it screams in your mind. I've seen that look in your eyes before, only reflected from my own as I stared into the pools of blood my enemies left behind as I gave the axe everything it asked from me."

  "Shut up!" Binze shouted as he crashed toward Gothur.

  The two centaur struck one another mightily as Sydarion and Terina dealt with Gothur's entourage. Blades whirred through the air as the valley defenders pelted the elf mercilessly. His lithe dance of death avoided the hatchets as he swiftly climbed onto the nearest centaur and cut its throat.

  A brilliant beam erupted from Terina as two centaur burst into flames. Despite her best efforts, her shot at the temple remained blocked as each time she fired, her attack consumed a wall of rotting flesh instead of the distant stone and mortar she desperately desired to hit.

  Binze swung at Gothur like a crazed maniac. His father, despite the decay of undeath, managed to dodge each wild blow. He retaliated with his own precision strikes that rent Binze's armor with each strike.

  "You fight like an angry child, flailing about in reckless abandon! I thought I taught you better than this! You shame me and your entire clan with this foolish display!"

  "What do you know about shame? You coward!"

  Binze rushed Gothur again, chopping at his head. The elder raised his hatchets and caught the deadly strike. He grunted as he pushed back the mighty axe. The next series of strikes against Binze shattered the remains of his armor and bit into his flesh. Undeterred by the pain, he thrashed onward, never able to land a blow on his father. Terina aimed her scepter at the two combatants, her arm shaking.

  Sydarion shouted as he noticed her, "No! You'll kill them both!"

  In his moment of distraction, one of the defenders managed to slip behind Sydarion and club him in the back. He collapsed beneath the pain, but managed to keep his senses about him enough to roll out of the way of the hooves that tried to crush his skull. Another swat from the club-wielding centaur sent him sprawling as his body crashed into a tree. Terina screamed in rage as she blasted the assailant. She rushed to the elf's aid as he sat winded against the trunk with which he collided.

  "You alright?"

  "Been better," he groaned as this images in his vision spun out of focus.

  Binze roared in anguish as Gothur toyed with him, dodging his increasingly erratic attacks and delivering surgical strikes to his flanks and less vital areas. Terina stamped her feet wildly as a horde of the dead closed in around her and Sydarion.

  "What are we going to do now, strategist?"

  Syd rubbed his temples as he struggled to his feet, " I don't know. Can you get a clear shot at the temple?"

  "No," she said as she fired off another blast, "There's too many of them! I can't get through!"

  Syd yelled in surprise as a hatchet buried itself in his shoulder. He slumped against the tree and gripped it as he tried to pull it out of the bone. Terina slammed her scepter into the ground and formed a bubble around herself and Syd. The force its creation generated knocked many enemies airborne. For a brief moment, she could glimpse the valley below and the temple that remained so frustratingly out of reach. She also noticed something floating above it.

  It was tiny from this distance, but it looked like one of the gods of old. Wings of purest lightning spread
out from his back, and a massive blade of electricity extended from his hand. Black storm clouds billowed in the sky above him, spreading outward quickly. A flash of light blinded Terina as a huge bolt of lightning enveloped the temple. She saw the explosion long before she heard it. A shockwave of utter destruction rippled outward from the temple, shattering it and turning everything it touched to ash. As the wave rushed up the hill, a deafening boom accompanied it.

  Gothur halted in his assault as the wind rushed over him. He gasped as Harmreta finally found its mark. Binze brought it down hard on his chest, sinking the curved blade deep into his father's corpse. Gothur opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came out before Binze tore the axe free and swung again, severing Gothur's head from his body. It crumbled to ash as it hit the ground, followed by the rest of the old Harthaz patriarch.

  Binze felt the axe sigh with satisfaction as he stood victorious and bleeding profusely. Terina hurried to his side, touching one of his wounds tenderly.

  "That hurts, you know."

  She smiled, "Good, at least you can still feel something. So was it worth it? Your revenge, I mean?"

  He looked down at the blood-soaked axe in his hand as his muscles grew weary and cold, "I don't know, but Harmreta sure enjoyed it."

  The three survivors covered their faces as brilliant light and the crackling of thunder announced the stranger's arrival. Sydarion squinted through the pain to look upon him as he felt his wound stitch itself together.

  "Have the gods returned to Hammerhold at last?"

  An old familiar voice laughed from the shining being, "Well, not exactly, but maybe a hero will suffice."

  Sydarion's eyes widened as he stood up straight, "Little Brother?"