by Ben Alderson
She called out profanity just as I flexed my wings, sending her stumbling to the ground. She scratched blindly at the earth, sending sharp spears of rock out of the ground and towards me. Her moves were clumsy, as she couldn’t use her vision to direct her power. I was able to dodge her attempts and finally get close enough to her.
I jumped into the sky, wings pumping. Hands raised, I conjured my winds to batter down from above her.
Her body folded in on itself, collapsing to the ground. The air danced with silver tones as the Heart Magick intensified and pushed down on top of her. It kept her in place, long enough for me to talk.
“Where is he?” I asked, licking a dribble of blood from my lip. My nose was blocked with the congealed gore, which made my tone sound muffled and my head throb.
Marthil laughed, gritty sand stuck in her teeth. “You shall see him when he needs you most.”
“Cut the mystery and tell me, or I will kill you.”
“Will you? You’ve had so many chances, each one you passed on.” Marthil laughed, teeth covered in sand and her own black blood. “Even if you tried, Gordex would never let you kill me, as he will not let me kill you.”
Turning darkness was close to taking over as she looked deep into my eyes. Could she sense it? She seemed pleased about something.
“You don’t know what I am capable of, Marthil.” I focused more pressure into the wind that kept her down. The sand around her pinned frame flew in all directions as she began to sink into its hold.
“Nor do I care to know. I only need one thing from you, Zacriah, and you are close to giving it to me. You are easy to read; it is your downfall.”
“Bitch.” I tilted my head and squinted at her.
Marthil paused before replying. She laughed, rolling her earth-toned eyes at me. The ground seemed to rubble, mimicking her growing giggle as she peered up at me. What was so funny? I had her trapped. I could pull the very breath from her lungs, snap her bones with my unrelenting force. Yet she laughed in my face as if I was no threat.
Then she spoke. “Are you angry yet?”
“Wha—”
The ground trembled again, this time enough for me to notice it for what it was. The sand around Marthil vibrated and in the blink of an eye she was gone. Absorbed into the earth, only the outline of her frame left beneath me. I relaxed my power, turning in all directions, expecting her to come back up at any moment. But she didn’t. All she had left me with was her final words.
Are you angry yet? It’s what she wanted. She wanted me to lose control, to give myself to Gordex and become his puppet. It would’ve worked if Nyah was not helping me. Her own task was to keep my anger at bay. It was necessary for our own plan to work. I placed my hand on my heart and reached out.
Did you get hurt?
Not as bad as you. Will you be able to carry on?
Keep me calm and I will be fine.
I closed off our connection and threw myself into the air. Wings flapped behind me, and I flew straight into the heart of the battle.
Up ahead was a clearing within the fight. I aimed for it, landing I brought the force of wind down with me, reaching for the shadowbeings and sending them in all directions. Being up close, I recognized the damp, water stained uniforms from Eldnol. Alorian soldiers who no longer belonged on the right side of the battle.
I spun my wings around, catching dead flesh beneath my claws and ripping. Heads tumbled free, rolling across the ground.
Up ahead I saw Emaline. She was standing ankle deep in the ocean. Water ravaged around her, reaching for the many shadowbeings that still climbed out of the water. Before they could pass she sent hungry waves reaching for them and pulled them back with great control. She held silvered swords with white handles in both hands, spinning them around with detailed control. No blood touched the swords. Only wisps of black smoke from the severed shadowbeings that floated in the water around her.
Not a single shadowbeing tried to attack Emaline. They tried to get past her for the soldiers, never once sparing her more than a glance.
Illera was close by, pouncing from one shadowbeing to the next. She didn’t have the same blessing as Emaline. Multiple shadowbeings tried to attack her.
Her white fur was stained with red and black blood from those who fought beside her. Claws flashed as she swiped at one shadowbeing who was seconds from piercing a Morthi warrior through the gut. The warrior’s helmet had been knocked off, showing the pure fear in her eyes. But Illera soon rid the warrior of her issue.
The shadowbeing toppled to the ground, legless but still withering. The Morthi warrior kicked herself into standing and pulled the same rusted weapon that almost killed her and sliced it clean across the shadowbeings neck.
Everything passed in a blur. I stepped over bodies searching the crowds for Hadrian. I had not seen him since Marthil had attacked.
“Skies!” someone cried beside me, pointing to above to the dark clouds that cut across the sun. I squinted, getting a better look, only to see that it was not cloud that caused it. But flocks of dark creatures, led by one I would recognize anywhere.
Petrer flew through the skies in his raven form, the monstrous dark creatures following shortly behind him. His glossy dark feathers were slick as he shot through the skies and aimed for a place in the distance. A place I could not see through the rabble of fighting. The creatures that followed him where the same as the ones that had attacked Hadrian, Gallion, Nyah and me before we had truly found out the truth about Gordex.
Their screeches filled the skies, some fighting themselves as they clumsily flew for their target. In daylight they looked different to what I had imagined in the dark. A strange mixture of birds, insects but with humanoid figures and claw like hands and feet.
I ran through the fight, pulling my Dragori form back into its hold. My wings receded, the gaps in my armor closing in after them. Over bodies I leapt, Niraen and Morthi alike. I didn’t stop running until I could see what the creatures and Petrer aimed for. In truth, I knew before I laid eyes upon it.
Hadrian was in the middle of a cleared circle of charred bodies. He was forced on his knees, small animalistic creatures holding him arms, legs and waist down. Petrer stood in front of him, his back to me. He too was dressed in black, his dark skin blending seamlessly into Gordex’s chosen uniform.
Like Emaline, none tried to stab Hadrian, instead they held him in place. But I didn’t take the chance that they wouldn’t harm him for whatever reason.
I overstepped a bow on the sand, not wanting to give away my presence.
Petrer was bent at the waist. From where I stood it looked as if he was whispering something into Hadrian’s ear. Hadrian’s face was red. Flames licked up his skin, but the strange creatures were unbothered.
Their skinless arms seemed unaffected by the flames, even their insect-like wings were untouched.
My feet trudged over the sand towards them. Hadrian noticed me first. He lifted his stare from the spot in the sand and looked directly at me. His face was pale, eyes wide. Petrer then turned his head slowly around to look at me.
“Zac, how good it is to see you again. I was just having words here with your Prince. It seems that you missed out some important details during your stay with me. Since you are here, why don’t you finish of the story I was telling him. I got to the part of when I visited you in your room.”
Anger pulsated from Hadrian. Even from my distance I could see him shaking, trying everything in his will to pull free from the creatures that held him down.
“Nothing happened, Hadrian, don’t listen to him.”
“Are you certain nothing happened?” Petrer lied. “The way I remember it must be very different. Don’t be ashamed, Zac, I understand why you didn’t want to tell him. It would’ve made him very angry wouldn’t it.”
He was lying, trying to make Hadrian angry so Gordex could take over.
“Hadrian! He is tempting you. He wants you to be angry. Do not give in to your Heart Magick,” I
screamed, my voice full of tension and anxiety.
Petrer looked away from me and proceeded to lean back into Hadrian’s ear. I wished I could hear what he said, but from Hadrian’s growl, I knew it was not good.
I could sense Nyah trying to calm me, but once Petrer laid his fingers across Hadrian’s jaw and ran the nail the length along it, I thought I was going to explode. Not matter how much I felt Nyah’s empathic presence, it wouldn’t work.
“What a sweet mouth he has,” Petrer said louder than the rest. The creatures holding Hadrian cried out as the flames intensified, turning an azure blue. Heart Magick. It was coming. I had to stop it.
“I’d be lying if I said I have not been craving it ever since.”
Before Petrer had the chance to turn to me I dropped to the ground and swiped the bow and arrow up. Its frame was only slightly charred from Hadrian’s fire. Thankfully the haired string was still intact.
I lodged the arrow in place and held it up to my eye.
My heart beat pounded heavy and fast in my chest, enough to distract myself from my shot. But no matter what, I didn’t lose my focus on Petrer. It was not the first time my arrow had found a mark on Petrer’s body. But this time, it would be the last.
I took a breath and released it. The arrow sliced through the air, iron tip spinning.
There was no hesitation this time. Not a wasted moment. Even if Petrer had tried to move, it would have been too late. The arrow skimmed through the air, reaching its target. It buried deep, even the wood of the shaft disappearing into the flesh of Petrer’s neck.
It lodged deep, from the back and out through the front.
Petrer faltered where he stood, reaching for Hadrian to still his fall. Then all at once he dropped to the sand.
“The first arrow should have killed you,” I shouted, spit shooting out from my mouth. I couldn’t tell if Petrer knew what I said. Or what it meant. But as he toppled to the ground I remembered when I first had shot him with my arrow back in Olderim. That one should have killed him, it would have solved so many problems, stopped so many deaths.
Red blossomed beneath Petrer’s body, seeping from the fresh wound that I had gifted him. His eyes stayed open and unblinking at the skies above.
Then, as I reached out with my air, I felt his final breath. It escaped into the waiting embrace of the winds. I dropped the arrowless bow back to the ground and swayed on my feet. Hadrian tried again to pull free from the creatures to reach me but failed.
Dead. Petrer was dead.
THE SMALL BEASTS holding Hadrian down cried out as an overwhelming fire engulfed them all. Even Hadrian disappeared within the bright, sun-like flames. No longer were they blue, not entirely. Not as Hadrian tried to fight the anger.
I rushed forward for him but was halted by the intense heat, causing me to recoil. Burned, twisted corpses of the creatures littered the ground around Hadrian as the fire dwindled. Then he rushed forward, stepping over Petrer without a glance and took my hands.
I felt Nyah work her magick. It flowed through me, making my head light and airy. Hadrian’s forehead calmed, lines ironing back out back until his skin was unmarked by wrinkles and marks. His pupils dilated and no longer looked as if his eyes were overwhelmed with black holes.
“He wants us to lose control,” I panted, feeling Nyah lax on her power. “If we do, he will become unstoppable.”
“Then we must stay close, have Nyah help us when she can.”
The tickling of small legs on my chest told me that Nyah agreed.
We both looked upon the fight. As far as we could see soldiers and warriors alike fell beneath the weight of war. Shadowbeings kept coming from the sea, all in different stages of death. It was hard to see Marthil, but Emaline’s beastly outline was hard to miss as the unnatural waves behind her shot forward, dragging hordes of shadowbeings back into her watery grip.
Still none tried to hurt her.
“We will not win this fight. Already we have lost so many,” I said, my hope dwindling like Hadrian’s flame.
Hadrian took my hand. “Then let us help.”
We both shot into the air, flying for the middle of the fight. Landing beside each other, we played our cards. Hadrian pulled the broad sword from his waist in both hands and flashed it around at the shadowbeings. Flames sprouted from the swords handle and laced the entire body of the blade.
As he brought it down upon his enemies, they too exploded in flame.
I moved my own magick, slicing daggers of wind towards bodies until they were sent cascading through the air and out of view.
Something hard pulled at my wings. I spun, to see two shadowbeings taking another swing at me. They were both weaponless. Their dead hands reached for my leathery limbs once more to try and pull them down.
I pulled my shift in and returned to my elven form, my head rushing with the sudden shift.
The hand of the dead girl passed through the space where my wing had only just been. She lost her balance, enough for her face to connect hard with the ground. Before the next could act I pulled the short dagger at my hip and flashed it towards the seconds neck. It sliced straight through, her skin rotten like old fruit. The Druid’s dark smoke seeped out of the wound, acting to try and stitch the skin together, but it was too late. It soon disappeared into the atmosphere, off to find its next body. It was then when I noticed the Niraen and Morthi soldiers reanimated in death. With each solider we lost, Gordex gained another.
The shadowbeing beneath my foot tried to push up. With as much might as I could muster, I threw the dagger down upon it. It blurred down towards it, soon disappearing to the hilt in the back of the shadowbeing’s head.
This had to end. The longer the fight went on the more died, only adding to Gordex’s numbers.
Gordex wanted for us to watch our ranks thin, to prove that he would even use our own against us. But what were the limits to his power? How could he control so many? I wondered as I ran through the fight if that is why he is staying away. Was he most vulnerable when exuding so much power? If there was even a chance that he was weak we had to take it. We had to end him.
Hadrian unleashed waves of flame. Emaline conjured an inferno of ocean which spun in small vortexes around her. Everyone was being pushed to their limits. I should have unleashed my own magick, but I needed to find Kell. I needed her help.
I picked up a rusted axe as I ran, sweeping it from the place beside a decapitated body.
The deeper I got into the heart of the battle, the more I saw the damage. Niraen soldiers battled their dead companions. Morthi warriors sliced at their own as well. The shadowbeings were scattered across the floor, their jobs complete.
Emaline and the outlines were working their hardest at keeping more shadowbeings from joining, but it didn’t matter. Not when Gordex had us fighting ourselves.
My muscles ached as I swung the unbalanced axe at those who stood in my way. I had to block out who it was that my weapon reached. The rusted metal passed through purples and silvers, and my guilt grew.
They are dead, I told myself over and over. Like Petrer, Gallion, Jasrov, Browlin and many more. They are dead.
I recognized the crest of nightly hair up ahead.
Kell was covered in blood, her cheeks flushed red and armor ripped in places. She swung twin blades at those who got close enough to feel her wrath. Her short frame helped as she dodged the many attempts at her life. She slipped in and out like water through sand, air through forests, missing each one and stabbing her own blades which never seemed to miss. She was surrounded by Morthi warriors, each moving with equal grace.
“Kell.” I passed through the circle of her guards, pushing my back to hers. “I need your help.”
“Talk and fight,” she said, dodging an attack and bringing her own blade up through the head of a dead Morthi warrior bursting with black smoke. “The bastard has turned my own people against us. The BASTARD,” she shouted, bringing both blades, overlapping them and slicing them like shears at the
neck of shadowbeing. It tumbled, headless, to the ground.
“We will not win. Our numbers are getting smaller, and his numbers are getting bigger. We have to stop this.”
“Tell me something”—metal screeched as it sliced across my armor—“I don’t know! If you have a suggestion, I’d love to—aargh—hear it.”
One of the living Morthi warriors that protected her flashed his mirror covered hand towards us. Light exploded from his skin, intensified by the mirrors into a concentrated beam. It shot forward, catching a shadowbeing in the middle of his forehead and burning a hole straight through.
I’d not noticed the shadowbeing, severed from his waist down, pulling itself through the sand and reaching up at me until the Morthi unleashed his magick. I tried to thank him, but he turned, spinning his unique magick at those who tried to break into our circle.
“I need to find Gordex alone. If there is a chance he is weaker whilst controlling so many, I need to take it. It might be our only time to strike.”
“No,” Kell snarled, blade thrusting into the chest of an attacker. “No. If you leave, he has you. Hadrian will follow and Emaline will be forced to go as well. Do not even think about it.”
“Kell…”
“No. If you give up, hand yourself over, this will all be for nothing. All these lives lost for nothing.”
“I’m not handing myself over, I am taking a risk and ending Gordex before he can use any more of us.”
“Act with haste, Zacriah, and expect an unpredicted ending. I will not stand back and allow you do to this.” Kell’s face was red, her upper lip glistening with sweat.
Frustration at Kell’s dismissal bubbled deep within me but soon was swept away by Nyah. She was working her magick again, trying to keep me from losing control.
Something blocked out the sun. It caused both Kell and me to look up. A serpent danced, body erected into the sky, as it snapped its needle-filled jaws out at those who attacked it. Its pointed nose was covered in gore, even scales were missing across his majestic body.
“MOVE!” Kell screamed, colliding with me. I landed awkwardly across mutilated limbs of the dead. Kell fell heavily on top of me.