by Tim Paulson
Mia had killed seventeen of the sorcerer's creations, and the Ganex had managed to take down three, though unless Mia came by and finished them... they would eventually repair themselves.
It was bad. The lines were thin. In places light goliaths had joined the fray, having picked up rapiers, spears, whatever they could find, but it wasn't near enough.
They would break soon.
Marian was turning to their right now. A blue axe was waving on the left of center. That was the signal for a breakthrough. It didn't take long to see why as the axe was cut from the arm by a golden sword. As the daylight was fading those swords looked more and more like little bits of the sun itself, come down to purify humankind, by fire.
“No!” Mia yelled and Marian charged ahead, throwing a shoulder into the golden enemy as he pulled a sword from the center of yet another dead Ganex goliath. They'd knocked him down, but there were four others with him. This wasn't a minor breach in the line, it was a full-on hole.
“Cazzo!” Mia said.
Together, she and Marian went to work. They slashed the left leg from the fallen enemy so he couldn't get up, then they ducked a sword as it swung for Marian's head and spun to the right, parrying a second sword before using the momentum of it to stab the second goliath in the head. The flaming blade bounced off, however.
“A fanabla!” Mia yelled as she had Marian spin, avoiding a thrust while hitting the same goliath's head three more times in quick succession. The third did it, bursting through whatever protection they had and cutting a large gash through the head and deep into the torso.
Another sword was already on the way from the left. Only Marian's quick reflexes saved them as she parried the blow and the following blow and the next one from the enemy to their left.
If only she had some support. When there had been more Ganex to help the fact that it took three to five hits to take one of them down hadn't been a problem but now... with three bearing down on her, it was a serious issue.
A parry, another parry, finally a chance to riposte, jabbing the flaming estoc into the enemy's thigh, where it glanced off as if it had hit a perfect set of steel plate.
Another attack at her left shoulder, a parry that was too slow, causing a vicious chunk to be carved from the steel plating on Marian's shoulder. In the Valkyrie those plates were lined with angled hunks of granite but that didn't help here. Nothing did against those golden swords.
Golden... Mia had seen one before. Hadn't she?
Henri.
Where had he gotten that? The man must have known more than he let on. He'd been a professor, worked for Veil. She should have asked him about that. She should have...
Marian was angry with her.
“Sorry!” Mia said.
Another blow from the left but at the same time as a thrust from the right. Marian chose to deflect the thrust and her left arm was severed at the elbow.
Mia grit her teeth, leaning forward to put her head in touch with the stone body of her goliath.
“Marian... we have to run... I can't.. I've been drained too much.”
Marian resisted. They were counted on. This fight mattered.
“I know,” Mia replied as Marian parried another blow from the right and followed up with a second riposte to that golem's leg. Again, their flaming blade bounced away. Earlier in the day... Mia was sure they had done more damage, but now... now her fire was going out. “You'll be destroyed if we stay.”
Marian didn't care.
“I care!” Mia said. “There is a boy who needs me.”
A sudden sense of loss came from Marian, an empty hollow pain.
“Do you mean... Marcus?”
Yes. She did.
And as they stood, frozen on the field, surrounded by a half dozen Ganex, the estoc was cut in half by a golden sword which swung around and plunged through Marian's center.
Dark became light as the yellow light filled the rider's compartment.
Mia opened her eyes.
Somehow, it had missed the core and her. The golden sword had gone through just above. The sharp edge of the blade was mere inches from her right ear.
Then it withdrew and Marian fell to her knees.
Rather than deal the finishing blow, the golden-eyed golem stepped back revealing another one. Only this golem was missing the top half of its head. Instead, there was a throne and a young man in a white robe, reclining as if bored. He put a hand to his face, making the symbols of magic. Mia could see it, but not what he was doing. This must be the sorcerer, made whole again.
“Hello... ikkibu,” Narael said. His voice was now a thousand times louder than any man. It echoed throughout the battlefield causing many combatants to pause and attempt to see.
“I'm glad you came to play again,” he said. To his right, Mia couldn't believe it, but it was Aaron. It had to be. He looked the same as before, a miniature version of the monsters she and the Ganex had been losing to all day. By some miracle, the sorcerer had brought him along.
Behind Aaron was Buckley, seated on his own little bench of sorts, Mia would recognize that goatee and smug expression anywhere. If only she'd killed him before. So much might have been avoided.
Not that it mattered now... She was too tired to defend Marian, or herself.
Any second the sorcerer would use his power and turn Marian's own stone against them both, crushing Mia to a bloody pulp.
She hoped Adem would be well.
“I told you I'd kill you the next time we met and I meant it. I-” he paused... his head jerked to the side as if he'd been bitten. Then Mia saw something extraordinary. Narael stood up, clenched his fists in anger, and made several quick symbols in the air. There was a flash of light and he disappeared, leaving only Aaron and Buckley, standing there, staring at her.
The two golden-eyed golems near Marian looked at each other and shrugged, before turning back to Marian, weapons raised. Yet a length rope appeared, wrapping itself around the right wrist of the golem nearest to her. As it yanked the sword away, four Ganex goliaths ran in from the rear of the line, tackling the golden-eyed enemies, smashing them together as hard as they could.
Then the rest of the enemy began to retreat. Even in the face of an incredible victory... with their leader gone, the golden-eyed golems had lost the stomach for further combat.
Mia couldn't believe it... somehow they'd been saved.
Chapter 26
"Why does Veil have us sailing out here anyhow? It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!"
-Ari Kapanen, Cook of the PRS Witte Lam, 1598
Celia stood astride her mount, a twenty-foot tall colossus formed of layers of interlaced human bones. She didn't know how exactly it was possible for the grotesque monstrosity and its many brethren to her left and right, to walk upon the surface of the water of Valendam harbor, but she didn't care. It was a wondrous thing and she loved every second of it.
Now that the last rays of the sun had faded, the night had finally begun in earnest. As the snow fell upon her shoulders she stuck out her tongue, catching a single white flake and letting it melt there as the gulls hovered above.
For once in her life, she felt like someone important, someone powerful.
The queen of bones.
Ahead of her was the tower. Invisible to normal human men and women, Celia saw it quite clearly. It rose from the small island ahead like an alabaster spear, radiating a power Celia could feel in her skin. The closer they became, the more it tingled up and down her body. It felt as though the inks were vibrating from it.
“When will the sorcerer know we're coming?” she asked.
I'm sure he already does.
It was like he was right with her speaking into her ear, into her mind. Celia nodded solemnly.
She was ready for this. Given up by her indigent parents, treated like a mongrel in the orphanage, left for dead more than once by groups of thieves, Celia was used to being a tool that others discarded. Vex had not done that, however. He'd tak
en her loyalty and rewarded her for it, he'd built her into something powerful and resilient, more than anyone she'd ever known. Even Mia would bow before her now.
If there was one thing she would not do it was fail. Not this time. Not Vex.
No matter what happened.
“So you can't hear what I'm thinking?”
No. That would be invasive.
A pity. She'd been imagining a very enjoyable celebration they could have later. If he was capable that was... Was a ghoul human enough to... maybe not. Perhaps she shouldn't get her hopes up. The man seemed incapable of taking a hint.
Oh well, if she didn't survive, the point was moot anyway. Best to focus on the task at hand.
There was a splash as the creature below her exited the waves and stepped out of the surf at the base of the jagged rocks that ringed the island. The tower loomed over them, pulsing with energy and color. How was it possible no one could see it? The whole idea was baffling. It was huge!
Her steed, though it was really more human-shaped than horse-shaped, began clambering up the rocks.
Can you see him?
Celia scanned around above. It was dark, with a light snow falling that reflected some of the illumination of the tower. Yet there was no one there... until there was.
It was a young man with long blond locks and bright glowing yellow eyes. He did not stand like a human being though, he hung in the air, his white robe and cape fluttering in the wind.
“I see him,” she said. “He's young.”
He is not. He's three thousand years old at least. Be wary.
“Why have you come here with such a pathetic army?” the man asked.
He will not know about your inks. Don't show him until you have to.
“I remember,” she whispered.
The sorcerer's head looked to the left and right, taking in the thirteen golems of bone who climbed toward his tower. Celia had been surprised by the vast piles of bones the ghouls had brought, almost as much as the time it had taken to form them into what they were now.
“Salmu wizardry I see but I sense no such power from you. Who are you?” the young man asked her. With his smooth features and obvious confidence he might be attractive were he not so haughty. He reminded her of so many self-important nobles who'd visited Aeyrdfeld asking the Haletts to court Giselle, every one of them a royal prick.
Celia remained silent, watching him. Every moment he did nothing Vex's creations got closer to their target.
“I ask once more. Why have you come? This tower is mine. I have raised it to restore the glory of what came before. Begone with your bone warriors. They are nothing to me.”
They'd closed to within a hundred feet of the tower now. The sorcerer was floating only twenty feet away. Should she attack him or wait?
She'd spent enough time standing around already.
“So be it salave. Die,” he said, raising his right hand with two fingers lazily extended as if he planned to dismiss a servant.
The gesture, along with the smug look on his face, made Celia's blood boil and she leaped from the back of her bone steed, aiming directly for the sorcerer's chest.
His eyes widened at the speed of her attack. That was satisfying, as was when she suddenly summoned both blades into her hands and struck at him, one, two, three, four times. The blades bit into the glass-like protective barrier he held around his body. Vex had explained this was a basic defensive mechanism that all sorcerers of a certain power could use without even thinking. He also said it could be breached, that it just took time.
Celia hated waiting.
That was why she grabbed his robe with her right hand, using her weight to pull him toward the earth while her left hand stabbed him three more times. It was the third that finally broke through. She felt the black serrated blade bury itself deep in the sorcerer's chest and relished ripping it out.
“Aaahh!” the sorcerer screamed, falling to the ground in a heap, with Celia mostly underneath him. His body felt so light. He wasn't just thin, he was physically weak as well, a soft little nothing.
“That was easy,” she said, standing up.
What was easy? Celia, tell me what's happening.
She looked up. The bone golems had reached the base of the tower now and were getting ready to climb.
Blood had sprayed from him, staining the white cloak in a bright crimson pattern. Yet in only seconds it began to fade, and he sat up.
His head turned to regard her, golden eyes brimming with rage.
Celia glared at him, pointing to the ground. “Stay down. Or I'll rip up that weak little thing you call a body.”
Wait... Celia. What does he look like?
She turned a half step away.
“What do you mean? You want me to describe him to you?”
Yes. Immediately.
The form on the ground chuckled.
“He's wearing a white robe...”
Not what he's wearing, what he looks like. Quickly!
The sorcerer had begun to stand now, brushing the dirt from his robe.
“Hey! I said stay down!” she said.
Celia!
“Fine! He's a pathetically thin young man with blond hair and yellow eyes.”
Oh no... Celia get out of there!
“What? I've already beaten him! What do you mean?”
The sorcerer stood, staring at her. “So the salmu terrorist has his dirty little fingers in your mind has he? How like them... using some innocent girl to forward their schemes.”
Get out Celia! That's Narael. He's one of the most powerful sorcerers to ever live. He'll kill you just to make a point. He's a monster. Run! Now!
“I am a lot of things,” Celia said. “Innocent isn't one of them.”
She touched both symbols on her arms and vanished into the mist of shadow.
Just as she'd hoped, the falling snow had frozen around her, hanging in the air like tiny diamonds. Above the great masses of bones in the shape of men had stopped in their ascent, their hands made of human bones gripping the sides of the great white tower. Even the sorcerer had ceased motion, in the middle of a gesture toward her.
Not wanting to waste her power she ran behind him, summoning both knives. They would be plunged downward, aiming for his lungs and heart... if he had one. As she raised them up, forming her hands in a reverse grip, the blades came, appearing in her hands, ready to drink the blood of their enemy. Vex would appreciate this.
Yet as she came close, suddenly the world sped up again. There was a violent flash of light and everything changed. No longer was she behind him, ready to stab with both knives. Now he was facing her, with his hand wrapped around her throat, lifting her up, choking her.
“True power is not physical girl,” Narael said, squeezing her neck. “It comes not from the muscled body of the imbecile, but from the mind. That is why... no matter how much power the salmu pumps into your detestable salave body... you will never be worthy.”
Celia, what's happening? Did you run? Are you safe?
“Tell me, girl... where is your master?”
Celia grit her teeth, grasping at the hand holding her. The flesh was so soft, yet his fingers would not be removed. She couldn't budge them even the slightest amount no matter how hard she pulled. The knives wouldn't summon either. He had complete control over her. Just the thought made her so incredibly angry.
With a flick of the wrist, he threw her against the base of the tower. She felt the bones in her spine snap as she hit. Then her body slid to the ground. Above, the skeleton creatures were still moving up. Almost a third of the way now.
Just keep him busy Celia, she thought, keep him talking.
“You really are disgusting. Did you know that?” she said, feeling the bones snap back into place in her back as the inks healed her.
Celia! What are you doing? Don't talk to him. Run!
Narael's golden eyes flared angrily. “Be silent!”
“I can't imagine a woman ever wanting you,” she said.
“You're pitiful. Like the little boy who thinks he's better because he can do figures while the others play with sticks.”
You're antagonizing him. Why are you doing that? Stop!
“You understand nothing!” Narael snapped. “This is not the body I was born with... it is what I chose. It is a statement on how I view power. Your pitiful mind is too small to comprehend.” He stepped forward, lifting up to float just above the ground as he continued to move closer. “I am losing patience. Tell me where the salmu wizard is hiding. Or I'll flay your skin an inch at time.”
“A little weakling like you... you wouldn't have the stomach for it,” Celia said. “You'd probably call for your mother to pat your head and soothe your tears.”
Narael was sputtering with rage now. His arms flashed out, the fingers gripping at her.
Celia heard a snap as both of her arms broke at the same time. The pain was horrific. Yet she had to keep on...
“Please kill me... So I don't have to look at your pitiful face... any more...” she said.
Narael's teeth bared as he twisted his hands again and both of her legs snapped like twigs.
Celia?! Are you alright?
Celia couldn't help it... she screamed and as she did her eyes went up.
They'd made it. They were at the top of the tower now. Any second it would happen.
Narael too looked up... and laughed.
Her heart sank.
“You think those bone creations are any danger to my tower?” He pointed upward, drawing small golden symbols in the air. “Behold.”
There was a bright pulse that came from the tower, a sort of white haze. It made all the snow scatter in a perfect globe around the tower's spire. Then the conglomerations of bone so painstakingly cobbled together and melded with Vex's magic over hours and hours simply fell apart.
Bones rained from the sky all around her as the sorcerer laughed.