*****
Though he realized the situation was dire indeed, and Borrik was in great need of help, Seth could not help himself but to laugh openly when given the message of his second-in-command’s plight. Only Borrik would seek out a clan of giants and attempt to single-handedly lure them to the city of Valdadore. Knowing time was of the essence, Seth gave orders for the streets to be cleared. Changing his course, he intercepted a member of the army of one rank or another, and commandeered the soldier’s mount. With his men racing ahead to clear the streets, Seth made it to the gates of the city in no time, and exploded from the outer wall, his mount propelling them forward at an astonishing speed. Fortunately for Seth the army was now gathered at the western gate of the city, and Borrik came from the east, making it an open path ahead to the giants that he could already see growing on the horizon.
Just a few minutes later Seth picked out Borrik’s fleeing form, and counted seven giants on his tail. To either side of him his hybrid troops lunged parallel to his course, all of them racing upon all four limbs, their clawed fingers and toes digging into the soil with each bound. Each of his troops was already amazing, yet he planned to make a few of them even more so. Racing ahead, nearing his second-in-command with each moment, Seth noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see another familiar sight.
More than a mile away from Borrik, though running parallel to him, was a pair of slender bodies bounding through the fields towards Seth, covering great expanses of ground with each leap. The pair of exotic feline girls had been missing for weeks, though Seth was not concerned. It was their words that had reassured him that when needed, they would be present. A kitty always knows where its master is. It seemed all of his creations would be in attendance for the upcoming battle with King Sigrant.
As Borrik and the feline sisters converged on their master, the girls altered course to avoid the pack of werewolves, but Borrik appeared as if he was going to run straight into Seth. Fearing this might actually be the case, Seth pulled on his reins hard, his mount plunging its hooves into the soft soil beneath it and literally sliding to a halt as the great charcoal-colored werewolf screeched to a stop as well, and bowed low to greet his master.
“My sacrifice to your cause, my prince,” Borrik panted, his arm sweeping through the air, gesturing at the huge beasts that pursued him.
As if to prove the werewolf’s point, the ground began to shake and heave as the massive giants grew nearer. Seth simply smiled at Borrik, shaking his head in disbelief.
”They are a great prize indeed, Borrik, and I assure you, you will be rewarded,” Seth stated, already locking on to his first target.
With a thought, the nearest giant crumpled to a pile of ash the size of a small house. Seth reveled in the pleasure that coursed through his veins as the life of the giant flowed into him. A giant it seemed required an immense amount of power to sustain its life, and these seven alone would equate to hundreds of human lives. Locking the power away, Seth chose another target and then another. Within naught but a few moments, the giants were no more, leaving nothing but discarded belongings and ash behind to bear witness to the fact they had ever existed at all. His task completed, Seth turned his horse and raced back towards the city without a word. To either side a small contingent of his werewolf troops raced on all fours, as if their living god might need their protection.
Halfway across the expanse between where he had felled the giants and the city gate he had exited, Sara and Jonas joined him. Seth was caught quite off guard as he raced towards Sara, when she leapt into the air. Grabbing his shoulder as she fell from the sky, she twisted her body around to sit behind him upon the saddle, wrapping her arms around him tightly. It seemed to Seth that at present there was little Sara could not manage when it came to physical abilities. She was becoming more and more comfortable with her new body.
Before reaching the city gates Seth turned his mount to race around the city walls, assuming it would be faster to circumvent the city than ride through its crowded streets. With the army preparing to march, Seth still had much he wanted to accomplish before that time came. Thanks to his most faithful servant, it would now be easier than he had previously thought to carry out the things he had planned.
Now it was time for a few more volunteers.
Chapter 13
Found Entries and Lost Armies
For more than a week Linaya, led by Zorbin Ironfist, had traversed hidden passes within the Rancor Mountains known to none but the dwarves. They had climbed steep cliffs and braved dark gorges, but still had not found that which they were seeking. Each day they had hopes of gaining entry to the subterranean kingdom of the dwarves, yet thus far the destination still remained an unachievable end to their journey.
Though at first Linaya was uncomfortable in the presence of the dwarf, it had become apparent that, unlike most men she had the displeasure to share company with, Zorbin did not lust after her. On realizing this new and alien predicament, Linaya allowed herself to relax. Henceforth each day had been filled with friendly conversation, for which both travelers were thankful. It was during one such conversation, a discussion of childhood dreams and fantasies, that a slight tremble reverberated through the stone beneath their mounts. Pausing a moment to listen, Zorbin’s eyes shot wide open and without a word to Linaya he drove his heels into Zanth’s flanks and the two rocketed off along the narrow mountain pass they were now traveling through.
Caught completely off guard, Linaya followed suit, hoping as her mount exploded forward that they would not careen into a rocky wall of death, or off the edge of some unseen cliff. She could not see the dwarf ahead for all of the twists and turns in the trail, but she could hear Zanth’s armor clattering and as such she shouted ahead.
“What happened?” Linaya yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping the dwarf up ahead would hear her.
“We are near the sixth warren’s gate to Boulder Gate and the rumbling means it is either opening or closing!” Zorbin shouted from somewhere up ahead.
Moments later, Linaya rounded a blind bend in the pass and yanked back hard on the reins. Sliding to a halt, she watched as Zorbin leapt from Zanth’s back and raced up to an ever narrowing void in the stone wall of the pass. Before the dwarf made it halfway to the opening he was blocked by another dwarf wearing metal armor of the likes Linaya had never seen before. Linaya was momentarily distracted by the dwarf’s armor and so was unaware of what was being said, but she could not help her fascination. Every inch of the gray-bearded man was covered in what appeared to be polished scales of gold and silver, with the center of each and every scale containing a brilliant gemstone. The wealth embodied in this singular set of armor could feed a small town for many seasons. Linaya wondered if this man were the king himself, and dismounted her imperial war horse in hopes of gaining her audience with him this very moment.
It was not long before she realized her error, overhearing the elderly dwarf joking about Zorbin’s hideous choice of mate. Though it would have been easy for Linaya to become angry about the jest made at her expense, she knew that it was a mere joke and no harm would come of it. Thus decided, Linaya thought it better to stand back and let Zorbin do the talking. Within moments her decision was rewarded with a gesture from her traveling companion. Together they gathered their mounts and entered the underground realm of the dwarves.
*****
Though Garret had marched off with the army of Valdadore near two hours before, Seth had remained behind with Sara, Borrik, Eve, the small contingent of werewolf troops he had at present, and a handful of human volunteers. Eve was already beginning to test her wings and at present was flapping furiously, regularly adjusting her wing placement, span, and the way she cupped the air beneath them. She had managed a moment earlier to lift herself off the ground, but had been so surprised by the achievement, she had not noted exactly how she had done it and was now trying to recreate the event.
Borrik was presently relaying information back and forth
between his troops and Seth. The werewolves reported the current position of the enemy troops and were subsequently ordered to rush ahead of them to the newly formed lake to be retrieved by Seth the following day. Nobody was quite sure how Seth would manage the feat, but if he said it would be done, then they all trusted it would be so. No more would Sigrant’s supply lines be harried by otherworldly beasts. Battle would now be coming to Valdadore more swiftly than before.
Meticulously Seth altered his chosen human champions, giving them each bits and pieces of the menagerie contained within him, creating of them warriors straight out of a child’s nightmare. One, a man named Corinth, now resembled a stone lizard which was a blessing of three parts. First, his skin was thicker than leather armor, making him naturally less likely to be injured. Second, he could change the color of his flesh to blend in with his surroundings. Third, he had gained the amazing ability of lizards to regenerate, something he noticed soon after being altered. It seemed a childhood injury had claimed one of the man’s toes, but after the alteration he watched as the appendage quickly grew back. If that were not enough, Seth outfitted the man in enchanted armor giving him the ability to size shift as well as burst into flames without being harmed.
Another two champions of Seth’s choosing had been melded with goats with long curling horns. To this Seth added very small portions of an aura from a giant causing them each to grow to nearly twelve feet tall. With human heads adorned by the battering-ram horns, and human-like torsos with four arms each, a man named Blithe and a woman named Varina stood upon hoofed, hair-covered legs, both of them able to jump incredibly high, wield four weapons at a time and bash anything with their heads without receiving injury. To these Seth added several more grotesque creatures designed purely for appearance in hopes of scaring the enemy. All of his champions he dressed in blessed armor or armed them with weapons of assorted makes carrying various enchantments to help them upon the field of battle.
One after another, for nearly five hours, Seth falsely blessed a dozen human champions. In case they should survive the approaching battle, he poured several lifespans of power into their bodies as a reward for their service; each of his champions would live centuries. Finished with his human volunteers, Seth took a moment to observe Eve as she gently lifted off the ground and hovered several feet in the air, her wings flapping in a steady rhythm before settling once more to the ground.
*****
Sara watched as Seth performed transformation after transformation, turning ordinary people into demons of another world. Oddly each of them was thankful for the change, though Sara scarcely understood why. Borrik’s alteration had led him and some of his men to violently rape several women. Sara’s changing had turned her into a bloodthirsty monster who fed upon others of her own kind. She could not even imagine what might be the negative side effects of some of these more peculiar transformations. And apparently Seth had saved the best for last.
Sara continued to watch as Seth, calling Borrik to his side, strode away from the rest of those who remained behind with him. Master and servant seated themselves in the grass, and it appeared to Sara that Seth placed unseen items upon Borrik, or perhaps drew upon the werewolf with his fingertips in an odd manner. Nearly an hour later, Seth gave Borrik a finely crafted bracer which the alpha werewolf quickly slid onto his left wrist.
What happened next surprised not only Borrik, but everyone who was observing. As Borrik donned the gifted piece of armor, Seth reached out and touched it. As if it had come alive, spikes surrounding each end of the item twisted over upon themselves and bent back towards the beast-man’s flesh. Then, in the same motion, each one elongated and plunged beneath Borrik’s skin, twisting and weaving with flesh, muscle and bone. The only way to remove the bracer now was to remove Borrik’s arm. Though it had obviously hurt him, Borrik made not a sound. Experimentally Borrik tested the motion of his wrist and arm with the metal lancing in and out of his flesh like so many metal worms feeding upon the living parts of his body. Seemingly satisfied, Borrik and Seth spoke anew as Seth handed his second-in-command a pair of blades similar to the claw-like weapons he had made for all of the troops. Sara understood the need for more champions. She also understood the reason why Seth made them appear hideous, evil and menacing, but she was sure she would never understand the reason for the next thing she witnessed.
As she stood to stretch her muscles, Seth left Borrik and walked more than thirty feet away from his most loyal servant. Turning back, Sara saw Seth nod once to the alpha werewolf who, without hesitation, spoke some unknown command nearly silently before several unnatural things happened simultaneously. First, there was a huge concussive boom as Borrik exploded in size, becoming easily thirty feet tall. As he shimmered and grew, another arm sprouted from each of his sides as new joints and muscles crawled and took shape beneath his skin If that were not enough, great leathery wings ripped out from his back to either side, and began to flap lazily just as soon as they were fully formed. In Borrik’s two upper arms he held the wicked weapons his master had created; in his lower hands fireballs erupted to life within each upturned palm. Upon the beast’s armor lightning danced menacingly from one metal surface to the next. Seth had created his masterpiece, and all in attendance stood either horrified or in wonder at the massive creation before them. Then, as if nothing had transpired at all, Borrik shimmered again with a pop and the wings and extra arms alike vanished back into his body once more.
A moment later Seth and Borrik exchanged words before Seth strode to Sara’s side once again.
“Now we can go to join the rest of the army,” Seth stated, sounding beyond exhausted.
“Do you think they will serve the intended purpose?” Sara asked, nodding her head towards the various new champions.
“I think they look fearsome enough. I only hope they fight as ferociously as they look.”
“If we survive this battle, where will your champions go? They are too far beyond humanity to live any semblance of a normal life here in Valdadore,” Sara pointed out.
“I am afraid I don’t have the luxury of figuring that out yet, my love. First we must survive, and then we can worry ourselves with finding a safe home for those I have altered. I know it sounds callous, but if we do not survive, then what purpose does any further planning serve?”
“Perhaps you are right, Seth, but if we do survive, what purpose will your champions serve after the battle?” Sara asked again.
“I do not know. Perhaps they can act as the realm’s protectors just as the Knights of Valdadore do. All will be known in time,” Seth replied. “For now let them serve the purpose they have been created for, then, perhaps like the rest of us, they will find their own role in life.”
Sara simply nodded in response, thinking it was perhaps not the best way to do things. But without sharing the burden of responsibility Seth had upon his shoulders, who was she to say if his methods were right or wrong. In any case, Sara found herself plenty of time to ponder the ‘what ifs’ over the eighteen hour march to the newly formed lake west of Valdadore.
*****
Upon arriving at the manmade lake, some of Seth’s champions blessed with the ability to size shift, and King Garret himself waded the two miles across the lake from one shore to the other. Once there they dragged large, crude rafts into the water that Seth’s stranded soldiers had made, and towed them back across the lake burdened with the hundreds of werewolf troops. From that time it would be three days before the enemy was finally sighted upon the opposite shore. Three days Seth spent among his own troops doling out the same enchantment over and over again. Though most expected the first of Sigrant’s troops to begin to circumvent the lake in one direction or the other, instead they waited upon the opposite shore for several days as more and more arrivals found themselves trapped by the new lake.
While Garret still hoped the enemy soldiers would simply turn around, they continued to gather, and within nine days the entire army stood poised straight across the lake f
rom the defending Valdadorians. In those nine days both Eve and Borrik had learned to fly. In those nine days Seth had enchanted nearly half a dozen of Valdadore’s common but distinguished troops with the ability to size shift, at least temporarily. Within those nine days a plan was created, and the stage was set for the best defense Valdadore could muster, no matter which direction the enemy chose to go around the lake. In those nine days, not a single member of the Valdadorian army could have even imagined what was to be had on the tenth day. Like the Death Mage within their own ranks and the cursed creations that bowed to him as their master, something new and foreign to Valdadore had arisen in the kingdom governed by King Sigrant. Something Valdadore had no way of being prepared for.
*****
On the morning of the tenth day, Seth, hearing a commotion growing in the camp surrounding his tent, stepped outside with Sara to see what was amiss. Though looking around revealed no answers, Borrik rushed up to the young couple to relay to his master why the camp was in such uproar. The morning looked much like any other fall morning, except that a thick fog had descended upon the lake, obscuring the enemy in entirety. What was more peculiar was, having found their vision obscured, both Borrik and Eve had taken flight over the lake but discovered that no enemy remained upon the opposite bank. Nor had Sigrant turned his army back the way they had come. Just as the blanket of fog had seemingly magically appeared, so too had the enemy magically disappeared. Seth mulled over the report a moment, but something about it sat sour in his mouth. An army simply did not vanish.
Wanting a look for themselves, Seth and Sara strode through camp with Borrik and Jonas on their heels. Clearing the tents at the water’s edge, they were astonished to find not a blanket of fog, but a wall of it nearly two stories high. So thick was the eerie mist that sight beyond a few feet was completely obscured. More odd however was the fog’s complete lack of movement. It did not stir upon the morning breeze, and when a limb was passed through the fog, it sliced through effortlessly but caused no disturbance. Seth learned quickly that only one man had ventured in, and only for a dozen yards or so before becoming lost in an attempt to turn back. He had emerged hundreds of yards up the bank, and none had heard him yell for directions back to the camp.
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