The Last Pantheon: of hammers and storms

by Jason Jones

  The deer kept running, fast as he could, and then he saw Kendari chopping at the demons’ wing. They fell, spiraling down from half a mile ahead and one hundred feet up. Still sprinting, he heard the crash, the roar of the demon, and saw the black flames ahead. Faster he went, all four hooves racing, hoping he would get there in time, hoping Kendari was not already dead.

  Exodus IV:X

  Temple Way Circle

  Mooncrest

  “This was all we found, Sir Orlimane. This, and pieces of a dwarf that was torn apart and very dead.” The soldier handed the shield with the twin axes and moons on it to his noble superior.

  Shinayne, James, and Saberrak all went still. They saw the horns rising in the flames in front of the elf, and saw the soldier holding Zen’s shield after returning from the mines. They knew it was the end. The eyes rose fast from the horned head, and the soldiers stepped back quick. Then, they disappeared just as fast, back down.

  “You saw that eh, elf?” Sir Yaelsh whispered into Shinayne’s ear. She had screamed, and he had punched her in the jaw to shut her up. Same he had done with her annoying singing.

  “That is the demon that will be drinking your blood, after we cut your head off. Kashtamias, son of Shukuru, and he is most eager to taste elf.”

  “Let me free and we will see how eager you---“

  Smack!

  His backhand silenced her for the tenth time this last hour. Every time Yaelsh hit her, the minotaur got very angry. The chains rattled, it tried to roar through the gag, and then Cetreus and his men would beat the beast. The knight had been more silent, yet he had received quite a beating after reaching his blue glowing hand out to the elf and minotaur.

  “You should feel lucky, elf. Were it I that had you prisoner, you would have two less ears. Then, as you were bleeding, my soldiers would be taking turns on you from behind.” Yaelsh dragged his finger across his face, across the scar that went from his mouth to his ear.

  “See this? Elf woman did that years ago. I raped her sisters after I killed her father and mother and brothers. Near New Aloeste it was, so I learned not to do it from the front in case she had a hidden---”

  “Quiet, Yaelsh, something is wrong, look.” Harron stood by the circle, trying to peer through the flames that had risen and then fell very fast. He knew to cut and sacrifice when Kashtamias was through, or at his command, which had not happened. But twice now, his horns had started to rise from the other side, and then fell back through.

  “What is that?”

  Yaelsh leaned over, as did Cetreus and Harron, then many personal guards and noble servants gazed into the flaming circle. An elf, with a glowing blade, was on the back of the demon, swords stuck through it, and then they covered their faces and dove back.

  Cawhoom, whoosh!

  The portal flashed with white light, flames roared into the air, and all went still. There was no view, just sandstone and a circle of blood and fire. No one spoke, no one moved, and the chanting dark prayers even fell quiet. The portal slowly dulling, getting harder to see through, then it was gone. The flames on the triangle symbol died off, leaving but a black piece of metal.

  “This cannot be happening.” Harron stepped forward, looked to the nobles gathered, and they looked to him.

  “What now, Lord Amirak?” Thohne stood next to his brother as Orlimane tossed the dwarven shield to the ground.

  “Do we wait, or move ahead with the offering?”

  “Scouts, anything to report?” Harron looked to fat Orlimane.

  “Dwarf is dead, in pieces they say. Other scouts have not returned, my lord.” Orlimane nodded to his soldier, the one with the blade above the elf’s neck.

  “I say, kill them now, with two servants, make it five as we are here.”

  “Agreed, my lord. Perhaps the blood should be now.” Lord Cetreus commented.

  Bishop Thohne and Yaelsh nodded in agreement. Harron thought of Andora, back in Armondeen, knowing she was in trouble. There was nothing he could do from here, he surmised. He looked to the minotaur with the glowing flames of blue in his eyes. The lord of Armondeen stared at the shield of the dwarf, and shook his head. Then to the knight of Chazzrynn who was still and quiet, and lastly to the unmoving corpse of the robed woman.

  “I need two servants, line them up. Kill the elf first.”

  Harron pointed and went into a kneeling position. He started to pray once more to the eleven, as did his brother and old Lord Cetreus. Five sacrificial blades were readied, scimitars blessed by infernal prayer, and they all looked to Shinayne as she screamed and struggled to get free from the one ready above her head.

  Smack!

  “Enjoy the afterlife, elf.” Yaelsh hit her across the face, once more, and then he backed up.

  Saberrak roared, the chains whipped hard, and even James was fighting his bonds to get free. Thunder echoed in the sky to the east, a faint rumble, yet it was shaking the ground.

  Boom….bur…stomp…stomp….boom…bur…

  “James, take care of Saberrak for me.”

  Shinayne looked up to James, teary eyed, and then to her horned gladiator and scouting partner. She saw the blade raise, heard her friends struggling, and she closed her aquamarine eyes.

  Thewmmm, thewmmm

  Clank, thud

  Shinayne looked up as the sword hit the stone, assuming she was dead and had not felt anything. She saw the sword fall, then the body of the soldier with it, and there were two arrows. One through his arm, the other through the heart, perfectly. One flight had green striped hawk feathers, and she knew of only one elf that used them to balance his arrows.

  “Lavress?”

  She whispered, not sure if she was dead and dreaming, or if this was truly happening. She heard and felt more thunder, yet the gray sky was not moving at all, just the ground.

  Boom….bur…stomp…stomp….boom…bur…

  “Kill her now!” Harron stood and yelled as he looked to the south where the arrows had originated.

  Another guard stood over her, and raised his scimitar, the one meant for James Andellis.

  Thewmm, thewmmm

  Two arrows, one through the hand and he dropped the blade. The other flight went through the heart, perfectly again, and the soldier dropped. Men scattered into action, hundreds of soldiers took up shields and weapons.

  “Ambush my lord! Get to cover!” Sir Orlimane stomped over toward Shinayne, his men now guarding the nobility.

  The companions turned, seeing a wood elf on a dead run across the spanse of open sandstone toward the soldiers, curved blade and dagger in his hands. Birds followed in the air, wolf men ran with him, a horned white horse galloped hard, and even two golden skinned minotaurs charged as many more deadly arrows flew over their heads with expert precision. The elven hunter dodged past Armondi soldiers, left, then right, too fast for them to catch. He ran right into the middle, toward the circle, and leapt. Shinayne yelled out loud, knowing exactly who it was.

  “Lavress!”

  voom….bur…stomp…stomp….voom…bur…

  Lord Cetreus grabbed the blade from the soldier next to the minotaur, stepped two steps in the circle, and raised it high over Shinayne’s head.

  Thewmm, thewmm, thewmm

  The arrows of Liogan and Ihros went past, on each side of Lavress in his midair leap, both puncturing the biceps of Lord Cetreus. The hunter of the Hedim Anah struck twice in the air, right as the arrows hit. His dagger sliced the neck, right below the gray beard, and his falcata took the head clean off through the initial cut. He rolled over and over, and landed in between twenty soldiers as his friends of the Whitemoon closed in on the Armondi forces.

  Vuumber….vuumber….stomp…stomp…

  Harron crouched under the arrow fire, backed up with his brother Thohne, guards raising shields as the flights began picking off soldiers anywhere near the circle with pinpoint accuracy. He looked east, the thunder was not thunder, it was an army marching through the streets of the ruins, right for them. Somethin
g glowed and hummed, a flashing white light hovering in front of them. Harron looked to his now less than one hundred here, and the legion or more approaching, and backed up more.

  “Brother, get the army, now!” Harron shoved Thohne, yet was pulled the same time.

  “No, we both go, they will target you, Lord Amirak!” The false bishop pulled his brother as guards fell in to protect with shields. Two fell, as the archers did indeed fire upon the men in flight. They kept their heads low, racing through the north of the ruins.

  “We cannot face that many, not yet!”

  “Orlimane, kill them all!” Harron yelled, seeing Sir Yaelsh beside him taking cover from arrow fire as well. With ten men falling one by one, the three nobles fled north, to their five legions and Prince Rohne.

  Sir Orlimane the Shade heard his orders, he saw that his men did as well. They formed up around the circle, ready for the few strange creatures that were about to impact on a wall of halberds, and tried to ignore the approaching stomp of an army nearing the center of the city. He readied his blade over the head of the chained minotaur.

  Lavress looked to Shinayne as ten soldiers circled him, then five more ran into the circle to kill the three in chains. A lewirja leapt from the temples, smashing into a soldier that was about to kill Shinayne, then he turned and jumped on another that stood over James. Arrows flew, the minotaurs charged in with the hiroon and the unicorn, but Lavress knew it would not be enough.

  Crash! Ca-crack!

  Dust flew everywhere, the ashes of the circle erupted into a billow of black and yellow, something had come up through the circle, or impacted it from the sky. Men fell to their knees, soldiers flew from the force of whatever had happened, and no one could see more than a few feet in front of them. The dust blew across to the east, revealing a figure in the circle. Then, a smaller figure, crawled out from behind her robes.

  Angeline stepped forward, Charity in one hand, her other pointed toward the men around the circle as a humming song vibrated the air. Birds, hundreds of sparrows and owls, flew in diving flashes from the sky into the faces of the Armondi guards. Swarms of small avians, animals, and fey guardians plagued the Armondi soldiers. The dust limited their sight, and the arrows were taking their numbers. All yelled in disarray.

  “Tubrey, set them free. Go.”

  She whispered as she stepped forward in a rush of wind on the fat man with the curved blade over the head of the minotaur. She parried his downward chop, struck Charity across his chest, and kicked him in the gut.

  As he fell backwards, a falcata and a kukri ended Orlimane’s life as they plunged into his heart and lungs. Lavress glanced to Angeline, who glanced back, neither knowing the other, but realizing they fought for the same thing at this moment.

  Greataxes were tossed to a gray minotaur by Dalliunn as Tubrey opened the manacles and freed Saberrak Agrannar. He roared into action and vengeance, killing guards to his left and right with brutal chops. Blood sprayed into the air, and the men screamed to retreat as Sir Orlimane fell to the ground.

  “Vuumber! Vumber! Vuumber!”

  The allied army was now charging in, rounding the corners of the temple district. Crossbow fire unleashed into the Armondi men from dwarven archers and elven marksmen alike.

  James lifted up, grabbing his sword from Dalliunn Cloudwatcher, then his shield from the ground, and raced to the body of Gwenneth in the midst of chaos. He began pulling bolts from her back as fast as he could, took her staff, and held her tight. The staff throbbed with pulsing green energy, yet he only focused on her and his glowing hand. He tried, he prayed, light pouring from his fingertips to her body.

  “Retreat, retreat!”

  The Armondi men, perhaps twenty left alive, ran as fast as they could north now that the archers from the army were within range. The minotaur was loose, the creatures of the Whitemoon drove them off, and the woman that had fallen from the sky, cut them down like the wind.

  “You had better run!”

  Shinayne yelled, as Tubrey unlocked her chains and the lewirja handed her Carice. She took Elicras from where it had been tossed, sheathed her blades, and she turned to Lavress Tilaniun.

  “You, you are late.”

  She stated as she walked toward him, and he walked to her. Both their eyes full of tears. She looked to his amber eyes, and touched his face.

  “I told you to wait for me, Shinayne.” Lavress touched her cheek, stared into her aquamarine eyes, and smiled.

  “And I told you I was coming with.” She smiled back. “I almost caught you.”

  “I was with you, no matter how far away, or close, you may have been, all this time.”

  “I know.”

  Shinayne grabbed him by the blonde braids, wrapped her arms tight, and kissed her beloved passionately, as an elven noblewoman had rights to. Lavress returned the kiss, just as fierce, forgetting everything else around them. Though they did not speak, as their lips would not allow words, they both knew now and again how strong their love truly was. It was a feeling, between elves, that no one would understand, no one but them.

  The moment came and went fast, broken by the sobs of James Andellis, the roar of Saberrak Agrannar the Gray, and the cheers of an army that filled the entire temple district with nearly fifteen hundred. Shinayne turned and saw Cristoff Bradswellen, the dwarves of Marlennak, Codaius and Jardayne of Evermont, and Kaya T’Vellon.

  Saberrak walked next to Shinayne, put his hand on her shoulder, and nodded. “It seems we have a following. This must be Lavress.” Saberrak huffed as he nodded to the wood elf. Lavress bowed to the tattooed minotaur, and looked to the army before them.

  They had no words, seeing so many they had met, here for them, and with an army. Then, they saw a dwarf in golden armor walk forward. Shinayne shook her head, Saberrak dropped his axes and took a knee, and even James looked up as he held Gwenneth.

  “Zen? Is that you? But you were killed, you…the shield…they brought your…and said…how did you escape her?” Shinayne walked forward, touched his face, it was him.

  Azenairk looked up to her with a smile, then embraced her in dwarven fashion. He whispered into her ear and tried not to tear up.

  “We… won… elf.”

  Zen felt Saberrak’s strong hand tremble and touch his chest to see if he was real.

  “You killed her, Arabashiel, with Mudren Sheldathain? With the dust, but why can’t you speak? What is…oh no.”

  She looked at his neck, scarred, torn, ripped and healed. But Zens throat was maimed indeed. Zen nodded, and walked to Gwenneth, tears in his eyes. He knelt with James, in prayer, and silence.

  Suddenly there were elves, Loestal river elves of northern Agara. A sword, glowing white and curved as it hummed in the air, floating over them. The elves all knelt, before Lavress Tilaniun.

  “My king, take Loestiri, the blade of the dancing monarch, blade of the last king of Tintasarn. It calls for you, after two thousand years of our protection, Siril has called it to choose a ruler to wield it and sit on the elven throne once more. We are at your service, your highness. Lead us to victory, and a new age.” Arylius and his priests remained still, waiting for a miracle that was their life purpose.

  Lavress looked around, then up to the blade swirling over him, and reached to grab the hilt.

  “I wouldn’t do that if was---“ Tannek was not in time.

  Whoom, whoom, whoom!

  Three times it throbbed and flashed, and Lavress withdrew his hand is it shot sparks of jolting force, knocking his fingers numb. He looked to the elves, just as confused as they were.

  “I do not…I do not underst---“ Arylius gasped.

  Tannek Anduvann smiled wide. “Lady Shinayne, take that blade for us, will ye’.”

  Shinayne reached up, golden light showered in small sparkles all around her, and she gripped the hilt. It was perfect, heavier than Carice, but it seemed to float in her hand when she thought of the weight. She drew Carice, with her left hand, then switched them, finding the balan
ce with two longblades. The humming song was undeniable, the blade wanted her to hold it. She turned to the silent army, and saw hundreds of elves kneeling before her, tears in their eyes.

  “Hail, Queen Shinayne of Tintasarn, beloved wielder of Loestiri!” Arylius Diravas bowed, as did his cousin Aariss, and the sword hummed in approval.

  “Elves, ha! I done told ye’, I did. The blade wanted a woman, whole time, I knew it.” Tannek laughed and received a few smirks and nods from the elven priests.

  “Well I did, ye’ heard me.”

  Just as Shinayne sought many a word and question, the battle horns sounded from the north, and the marching of five Armondi legions rumbled as thunder. Everyone looked, as the forces of Armondeen passed the outpost in formation and continued toward the city. They had halberdiers, infantry, even armored cavalry. They saw very few archers though, but many flags and banners with the talons clutching a sceptre and a lance.

  Cristoff looked north, one bridge over the massive ditch. He looked east, one bridge there as well. He looked west, the same, he knew they would have three places to defend and that was if the infantry did not try to reach them by going through the trench that surrounded the ruins. He counted quick, at best they had less than two legions, against five. There was no greeting, no salute, as Lord Amirak Harron, Prince Rohne, Bishop Thohne, and Sir Yaelsh drew and pointed their blades toward the inferior mumbers in the ruins. The legions of Armondeen stomped and roared a battle cry, intent on revenge.

  “Rah, rah, hoona rah!” The dust shook on the ground as they marched toward Mooncrest.

  Angeline pulled James to his feet, and Tubrey stepped in over Gwenneth. James struggled, then felt peace come over him from her touch. She looked to him, but did not speak.

  I am Angeline of Charity, of the Knights Soujan. Tubrey and I will take care of Gwenneth. You need to fight now, Sir James Andellis. They need you.

  “I love her, I have nothing left to fight for, I…love…”

  I know you do, I can feel it. She feels the same for you, I am certain. Let us try something, Tubrey and I. You have to stand with your friends, that is what she would want you to do, is it not?