Karus returned his attention to the warden. She had stopped by Amarra, gazing down. She said something to the wizard, who shook his head slightly. The warden replied before stepping around Amarra toward the staff, which lay discarded a few feet beyond. She remained for a number of heartbeats, staring at it, before her gaze shifted to Karus.
The warden’s eyes flicked toward the sword lying upon the forest floor, half buried by dried and desiccated leaves. A sense of triumph made itself known upon her face. Karus could see it in her eyes, which fairly shone with exultation. A moment later, her gaze tracked back to Karus, and a cruel and heartless smile formed upon her perfect face.
The warden advanced, coming within a couple paces of him. There she stopped. Karus knew they were all in serious trouble.
“You have brought me what I have long desired,” the warden said. “For that, I should thank you. But alas, I will not.”
“It was meant for me,” Karus said, “not you.”
“I know.” The warden clasped her hands before her. “Intentions have nothing to do with anything. I want it, and that is all that matters.”
The warden brought a finger to her lip and moved around Karus in a slow circle, examining him. Karus felt as if he were a slave at the market, being appraised. The warden returned to her original position, facing him, and then clasped her hands together once again.
“Why?” Karus asked. “Why do this?”
The cruel smile grew. “Since you asked … I shall grace you with an answer.” She paused, as if gathering her thoughts. The wizard at her side remained perfectly still. “Karus, you must understand, I have worked toward our meeting under these circumstances for a very long time. It all began with the fortress’s defenses, which at one time were quite formidable. It took centuries of study and work just to understand what the High Master had done. In time, I came to comprehend his work as if it were my own. That allowed me to disarm all of the defenses, but for a handful. Those few vexed me terribly. They prevented me from going up into the fortress myself. They kept me from retrieving and claiming Rarokan as my own.” She paused, sucking in a breath.
“The High Master had seen to that,” the warden continued. “His last webs, which in truth are a masterpiece of magical construction, were what held me at bay.” She paused again, the smile slipping from her face. “The web he wove was so skillful, one cannot but help to admire his work. It was tightly bound to the fortress, feeding greedily upon the latent power of the defunct portal that once resided up there. I ultimately came to the conclusion I could not completely break what he had done.” Her eyes found his again, and Karus read a deep madness within. “So instead, I set about corrupting the fortress’s remaining defenses, altering one ward and web at a time, bending them to my will. The webs were changed and shaped beyond recognition.” The warden paused once again. “Then … there was the Anagradoom. I made it so they could no longer fulfill their purpose, guarding the sword, keeping it safe for the one for whom it was intended. You see, they would never have allowed me to take it. So, I dealt with them also.”
“No!” Si’Cara screamed. “You killed them?”
“Keep quiet, you silly little girl,” the warden snapped, irritation flaring in her tone. “I will deal with you and your husband in a moment.”
“I will never be silenced,” Si’Cara said, “never again. You are no longer fit to be warden of our people. You have betrayed all that we hold dear …” Si’Cara slipped into Elven, loosing a diatribe at the warden as she might arrows.
The guard standing over Karus hissed with displeasure. The rangers behind Si’Cara and Tal’Thor shifted uncomfortably, as if they recognized the truth when they heard it but could not act. They shared a glance but did nothing more. Karus wondered if there was dissention in the ranks of the warden’s followers.
The warden held forth a long-fingered hand toward Si’Cara.
Suddenly Si’Cara’s mouth in mid-speech snapped shut with a clap. Her hands went to her face. She gagged and seemed to be struggling to breathe, as if choking. Tal’Thor looked over at his struggling wife, his alarm plain. He moved with the intention to help her. The ranger behind him forced him back down.
“Stop it,” Tal’Thor shouted.
The warden ignored him.
Tal’Thor yelled something in Elven at the warden.
Whatever he had said got the warden’s attention. She glanced over at him, before her gaze tracked to the rangers standing over Tal’Thor and Si’Cara. Both looked seriously concerned, grave even. The warden then let her hand drop, and with it, whatever power she had exerted over Si’Cara was withdrawn. Si’Cara fell forward to the leaf and moss-covered ground, gasping for breath. Tal’Thor moved, and this time the ranger did nothing to restrain him. He took Si’Cara into his arms and held her close to him, cradling her like one would a baby. He began whispering into her ear.
“So,” the warden said, turning back to him, “where was I? Oh, yes … the Anagradoom. They shall not be troubling us.” The warden made a show of glancing around. “Had I failed, I think they would be here … now.”
“You’re mad,” Karus said.
“Maybe.” The warden laughed at him. “Maybe not. Karus … I had to wait, to bide my time. You see, ultimately, I learned I had to wait for you. For only you and your High Priestess”—she said the last with a tinge of derision and glanced over at Amarra, who lay still and unmoving—“with the High Father’s touch and spark could breach the final defenses and bring me what I have long craved, Rarokan.”
“You are responsible for the skeletal warriors then?” Karus asked, figuring only one as evil as the warden was would design such a terrible death. “The trap that freezes?”
“Not quite,” the warden said. “That web’s original intent was far different. I altered it to my will, to fit my own purposes. With the defenses weakened, another might have managed to sneak in, someone I had not anticipated or desired. I used that web to make certain such a breach did not happen. It was creative, really. Only those of true faith could overcome and continue on.”
The warden fell silent, as if she wanted him to digest what she’d said.
“You’ve still not told me why,” Karus said. “Why do this? We need the sword, and badly.”
“You need it?” the warden hissed. “Your petty need is nothing compared to mine. You have no idea what Rarokan is capable of doing, the power it contains, the latent ability and the will residing within. Fool of a human. You would use it as a simple weapon. I shall utilize it for so much more. With it, I will challenge the gods themselves. I shall become a god. I will end this destructive war and save my people.” Her gaze swept the elves around her. “As was written, my people shall worship at my altar. All shall bow before my greatness.”
Karus looked from the warden to the wizard, who was standing quietly next to her.
“She’s mad,” Karus said to En’Sis’Lith in Latin, knowing the wizard would understand. “You have to know this, and yet you willingly serve her?”
“Once the warden becomes a goddess,” the wizard said in Common. There was a tinge of madness in the wizard’s eyes also, “I shall be first among her disciples, first amongst all others. She shall end this eternal war the gods started. Mad? Oh, I think not. No.” His gaze slid over to the warden, and Karus thought he saw what looked like adoration or love shine forth. “She is very sane.” The wizard’s gaze shifted back to Karus. “It is the gods who have gone mad. Long ago they lost the right to claim our devotion. They deserve what is coming.”
Karus could not believe what he was hearing. The warden wanted to become a god. He did not even know if it was possible, but the warden sure believed. She already commanded a strange and mystical power Karus knew he could never hope to comprehend. He was certain there was absolutely no way that, if the warden fulfilled her ambition and became a god, she would be a compassionate one. Her nature was cruel. She was a heartless creature who knew not of love and compassion. She pursued power at the expens
e of others. The claim she would stop the war of the gods was absurd. He was certain she was not doing this for a benevolent reason or for some high-minded purpose. Karus understood the warden would be an evil deity, one to be feared and dreaded. Darkness would fall in her shadow. She had to be stopped … but how?
The smile upon the warden’s face grew wider, almost as if she could read Karus’s thoughts. Very slowly, very deliberately, with her eyes upon him, she bent down toward Rarokan. Karus made a lunge for the sword, but was restrained by the guard behind him, who grabbed him roughly by the armor harness and dragged him backward. The warden laughed.
“Now,” she said, “I shall take what should always have been mine. I will make the gods pay for what they have done. This is but the first step.”
Her hand closed upon the sword’s hilt. There was a brilliant flash and a snapping sound. The warden cried out, both in pain and shock, jumping backward. She wrung her hand, staring incredulously at the sword lying half-concealed by leaves. After a moment, she turned her gaze back upon him, fury plain. It almost made him want to smile.
“You have bonded with the sword,” the warden hissed at him. “That should not have been possible. I made sure there was nothing up on that hill, no life, no insect, no animal … no soul to take other than those that went with you. And they all came down with you. How? How did you manage this? I must know.”
Karus did not know what she was talking about or how to answer her question. The warden seemed to think he was intentionally withholding an answer. Unbridled fury clouded her youthful and attractive face, making it seem ugly.
“Release him,” the warden snapped to the guard. Suddenly, Karus was free but still on his knees. She stepped nearer. “Answer me or I shall make you suffer. I want to know how you managed to bond with the sword.”
“Rarokan is mine,” Karus said, “as it was always meant to be. You cannot have it.”
Rage mottled her face. The warden let out a hissing breath. She calmed herself after a moment. The look of fury passed.
“Yes, the sword belongs to you,” the warden said in a quiet tone, “but once I kill you, the sword will be freed to bond with another. I will ultimately take it. But first, I think I shall make you suffer for your insolence.” The warden glanced over at Amarra’s body. “Tell me what I wish to know or you shall see your beloved High Priestess die this day, slowly.”
Despite their predicament, Karus felt joy at hearing Amarra still lived.
“Then,” the warden continued, “I shall take your life. I will send you both on to the High Father. You can tell him that, for his many sins, I am coming for him. The question for you, Karus … will it be slow? Will you both suffer? Or shall it be quick and painless?” The warden paused as if to let it sink in. “Decide now, before I change my mind and give you no choice in your manner of death.”
“You evil bitch,” Karus growled and made to stand. He was forced back down by the guard.
“That is a matter of perspective.” The warden took a step back and turned to the wizard. “Kill her for me”—she paused, and the heartless smile returned—“slowly. I want to see her suffer. Then bring me that staff.”
The wizard gave a nod and was about to move off toward Amarra when there was a deep thwacking sound. An arrow, as if by magic, had sprouted from the center of the wizard’s chest. The wizard rocked unsteadily upon his feet and gazed down at the arrow, dumbfounded at first and then in growing shock as blood began to leak from the wound, staining his robe dark. The warden seemed just as startled, for she took a hasty step backward and glanced around. The wizard opened his mouth to say something. Blood came fountaining out instead. He began to choke on it, a horrible sound.
There was a crack from directly behind Karus. The guard toppled over, knocking Karus to the ground and falling atop him. The wizard collapsed to his knees. He held out an imploring hand toward the warden, who was looking off behind Karus. She spared no attention to her servant. The wizard fell over onto his side and expired. His sightless eyes stared at Karus.
Shouts of alarm and cries of rage sounded all around. Karus pushed the body off him. The elf did not weigh as much as he had expected. He noticed a black-fletched arrow had pierced the armor. It snapped off as the body rolled over.
The warden, still looking past Karus, shouted something he could not understand and held the back of her arm up before her chest, almost as if she were gripping a shield. A green sphere shimmered into existence around her. An arrow cracked into the sphere and shattered into pieces.
Karus dove to his right for the sword. His hand closed over the grip. He felt the tingle once again, but it was more. Karus was energized, feeling as if he had gotten a full night’s sleep. He rolled up into a crouch, facing the warden. She was ignoring him, shouting orders to her elves. An arrow whizzed past Karus’s head, bare inches away, and impacted the sphere. He ducked, wondering if they were shooting at him or the warden, or perhaps both.
He glanced around and was astonished to see elves fighting elves. Si’Cara and Tal’Thor were free, up, and struggling for their lives against the warden’s guards. Si’Cara had retrieved one of her daggers and was trading strokes against a guard who held a sword. Tal’Thor was locked in a death grip, wrestling around on the ground with another guard.
A few feet away, Dennig was on top of the elf who had hit him. The dwarf was pounding his fist into the elf’s face again and again and again. Karus could hear the sickening crunch of bone with each and every punch.
Another arrow zipped by, snapping Karus’s head up. Elves wearing black leather armor had entered the clearing. Several were locked in combat with the warden’s guards and rangers. Others had bows and were raining death into the clearing.
Karus saw a guard drop as he was hit with two arrows almost simultaneously. One of the warden’s rangers dropped dead a few feet away, an arrow having gone straight through the side of his head. Karus could not understand who these newcomers clad in black were, but he did recognize that they were killing the warden’s people, which made them potential friends. At least, he hoped they might be. He had learned elves were a complicated race.
He thought of Amarra, and his head whipped around, looking for her. Just then, someone knocked him to the ground from behind. Karus felt the other’s weight pressing upon his back and legs. Before he could fight free, there was a flash of green light, then a sickening sizzling above him. It was as if all of his hair stood on end. The person on his back fell over next to him. He saw that it was one of the elves clad in black. Eyes open, he was dead as a doornail. Karus looked up and saw the warden, five feet away, face contorted with fury and hate. Her hand had been outstretched toward Karus. He realized that she had just tried to kill him. The black-clad elf had saved his life.
Karus stood and faced the warden. She was still encased in a sphere of green light. He found her eyes terrible to behold as she gazed upon him. Karus sensed his imminent death. Behind her, more of the guards were emerging from the trees and joining the fight. They badly outnumbered the warriors in black.
She raised her hand toward Karus’s heart, and he saw a light begin to glow at the tips of her fingers.
Use me as a shield. Hold me forth.
Karus held Rarokan up before him, and as he did, a green flash of light arced out, shooting toward him. The green light was attracted to the sword, for it impacted directly upon the blade. The force of it was tremendous. Karus braced his feet. He felt himself being shoved backward by the power of the assault. The blade crackled and hissed as it took the brunt of the attack.
The hilt grew warm in his hands, then began to burn white hot. Karus cried out in agony. It seemed to not only sear his skin but tear at his soul. He attempted to release the blade but found that his hand was stuck to the grip. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. The warden stood there, her eyes narrowed as she gazed upon him and the sword. The green sphere that had enclosed her was gone.
Her ward is down. Quickly, before she can resto
re it. Kill her, take her soul, feed me.
Karus did not need any more encouragement. He felt rage burn within his breast. He had had enough. He wanted blood. It was time to end this madness. He advanced on the warden, with murder in his heart.
Before he could take more than two steps, one of the warden’s guards charged him and attacked. Karus turned to receive the attack. Their two swords clanged on the air. The elven guard struck at him again, with lightning quickness. Karus rapidly found himself on the defensive, warding off blow after blow that came in rapid succession. Sweat beaded his brow as he was forced backward to keep from being skewered. The elf was skilled and well-trained, a near-master with his blade. It was all Karus could do just to keep the guard’s blade out of reach.
There was an explosion of flame to his right, followed by a scream of animal-like rage. Karus almost grinned, for he knew who had finally arrived. The elf attacking him hesitated, gaze traveling upward. Karus took advantage of the distraction. He lunged forward, aiming for his opponent’s neck. The elf saw the strike coming at the last moment and dodged away, but not fast enough. Karus’s blade nicked his throat. The elf collapsed like a puppet, as if the strings of life had suddenly been severed. It was like the skeletons in the fortress. Karus felt the blade in his hand grow warm again.
He did not have time to think on this further, for a second guard approached, closing in with deadly intent. There was caution in the other’s eyes, which flicked briefly to the body of the guard lying at Karus’s feet. The elf’s expression hardened. Sword held ready, he coolly assessed Karus. There was another explosion of fire, this one uncomfortably close by. A wave of heat rolled over the two of them, nearly enough to singe. This was followed by a second scream of rage from a dragon. Like the first, the elf’s eyes traveled upward toward the canopy.
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