Defiler

by Isaac Hooke

  He also lent some of that stamina to Wendolin so she could continue using branches to snatch up their pursuers, and to dismiss any wooden limbs that came at them in return, launched by mages among the riders. He tried to stay as far away from the trees as he could, but that wasn’t really possible, given the profusion of tree-towers out there. Meanwhile Abigail unleashed fireballs at the trailing griffins, causing them to scatter. Sylfi and Brita continued firing arrows, usually missing—it was difficult to aim in the dim light, even with their night vision, considering that both they and their targets were moving.

  His shoulders were starting to grow stiff under the pressure of the griffin that held him, but he did his best to ignore the feeling.

  Will they make the trees come alive here? Malem asked Wendolin. Or create one of those magic stalks we encountered before?

  I don’t think so, she replied. Not in the heart of the city. Not with so many civilian lives at stake.

  In only a few moments, the party passed underneath the boughs where Malem’s other companions hid.

  Let’s go! he sent.

  The griffins harboring his remaining companions leaped forth from the upper branch.

  Wendolin, which way to the exit? he asked.

  Keep going this way, she replied. I’ll let you know when to bank.

  You’re not going to take off our collars? Solan said.

  Malem glanced at Wendolin, who fled nearby. Do you still have the key?

  It’s in my pocket, yes, she told him.

  If you tossed it to someone, would he or she be able to use it? he asked.

  No, Wendolin said. Well, they might get lucky, I suppose. But they have a greater chance of tightening the collar and choking themselves than opening it. Assuming they can find the right spot to insert the key in the first place. There isn’t a visible keyhole on the collar surface, you know. Not that they can see at the backs of their heads anyway.

  They can, if I allow them to view the world through my eyes, he said. But it sounds like that won’t matter. You’re the only one among us who can open the collars…

  Essentially, she replied.

  There’s your answer, Solan, Malem said. You’ll get that collar off as soon as we can take a respite. Or get out of here. Whichever comes first.

  I don’t suppose we can have our weapons back in the meantime? Ziatrice said.

  I’ll fly each of you close to me in turn, and I’ll do my best to give them to you, he said.

  He directed Ziatrice toward him. He was still hanging onto Balethorn in one hand, so he sheathed the sword, and then reached up to grab the haft of the halberd that protruded from his backpack. The tip rubbed against the griffin above him, so the monster would no doubt be happy to see it gone.

  He yanked downward, pulling the halberd away from the griffin, and partially bending his backpack. Then he slid the weapon out, and glanced at Ziatrice, who had taken up a position directly underneath him.

  Don’t you dare miss, she said.

  Then don’t drop it, he told her. He let the weapon fall. She snatched it easily out of the sky with one hand, and proceeded forward.

  All right, no more weapon transfers, Malem decided. Too much work.

  A barrage of arrows came at the party as they passed a particularly large tree. Apparently archers had garrisoned there.

  He had the griffins engage in random, zig-zagging motions, and hoped that none of the arrows would find their marks.

  Gah! Mauritania sent as pain spiked from her energy bundle.

  So much for no arrows finding their marks.

  Are you all right? Malem asked her.

  Just a small blow to my bicep, she replied. Nothing I can’t handle.

  Sylfi and Brita returned fire, as did Abigail with her fireballs. The half dragon was growing weak, so he drained stamina from Weyanna and gave it to Abigail.

  When they passed the next tree, Sylfi’s griffin was passing the closest so that when a bunch of branches erupted from its boughs, she and her mount were caught up.

  Ahead, Wendolin was busy launching similar branches against another wave of incoming riders, so Malem decided to deal with Sylfi.

  He instructed his griffin to turn back, and then he had it release him so that he could drop down upon her.

  He drew Balethorn before he landed.

  “Hey,” Malem said.

  “Hey,” Sylfi replied from where she was bound up.

  “I got you.” Malem began to chop. At least those sleep spores hadn’t formed in the vines that held her. He supposed it required a certain level of mage to create them.

  Another group of griffins rounded the tree. More branches erupted from the surface, and began to wrap around him. He tried to cut them away, but there were too many.

  Just then, Sylfi decided to transform. Her chromium scales broke through the vines and branches that held her, and nearly crushed Malem in the process. She ripped away from the tree trunk, breathing a terrible stream of fire at the incoming griffins as she did so. Malem tore free along with her, but with nothing to support him, he plunged, arms and legs flailing.

  He frantically reached out to the nearby griffins with his mind, but they were too far away to arrive in time. He was about to try Sylfi next, but then her massive dragon form swooped underneath him, catching him.

  And he hadn’t even had to tell her to do it.

  That was a good sign.

  He clambered across the scales of her back and assumed a position between her two wings, hooking his legs underneath the cross-guards that protruded a thigh-width above where the stalks met her back, securing himself.

  Look at you go, Gwenfrieda sent. Riding Sylfi into battle.

  Jealous some? Weyanna asked.

  Malem instructed the two riderless griffins to follow alongside, just in case she needed to transform back if the incoming branches became too dense. But so far, there weren’t that many more appendages seeking out the bigger target of Sylfi. She did attract more arrows, but they caused only minor damage to her scales, even the magical ones. Still, he could feel the sting of each impact, as transmitted to him through her energy bundle.

  Sylfi pulled ahead of the others, taking the lead. The nearby boughs of an entire tree-tower abruptly swooped down upon her, as if intending to snatch her up.

  She unleashed a steady stream of flames, and swooped downward at the same time, narrowly slipping beyond the grasp of the now burning branches. The other party members dodged underneath as well.

  Ahead, the misty boundaries of Dothloron approached—in the night, it looked like a solid mass of blackness devoured the horizon ahead. The trees, and the towers growing from them, were smaller here. He noticed a significant number of elven soldiers had gathered in front of one particular tree, one that didn’t seem to have a tower connected to it.

  You see where all those troops are lined up at the base of the tree below? Wendolin asked.

  Yes, Malem replied.

  That’s one of the exits to the forest, Wendolin said.

  Is there another? he said.

  There is, she told him. But it will be just as protected.

  Then we fight our way through here, he said. Metals, transform!

  Brita and Abigail switched to their dragon forms, and unleashed waves of flames at the troops below. The boughs of the closest trees erupted with branches that attempted to envelope the three dragons. It seemed the enemy had deployed most of its mages at the exits.

  He spotted what looked like tiny spores upon the branches of those trees.

  Sleep spores! he warned.

  But the branches curved away at the last moment, courtesy of Wendolin. Her stamina levels dropped precipitously.

  He fed her stamina from Solan, Gannet, and Ziatrice as more spore-covered branches came in. The three dragons unleashed their flames at the remaining branches, scorching them and their spores; Abigail also summoned fire elementals amid the enemy forces, and they scattered before them.

  Malem had to feed more s
tamina to Wendolin as she deflected the next round of branches. And then when they had passed the final tree, with nothing in front of them and their target except the hundred or so elven troops, one of those stalk things the party had encountered before erupted from the ground.

  It thrusted skyward in a long, living swirl, and multiple branches erupted from it. Wendolin managed to redirect some of those branches down toward the waiting troops, which snatched them up. The captured elves were drawn to the heart of the stalk.

  The remaining branches came in at Malem’s airborne party, forcing them to dodge.

  Keep going! Malem sent. Fly past! We make a rush for the exit.

  They continued past the stalk, toward the base of the tree ahead. Wendolin cast aside several more branches that shot at them from the stalk, and Malem was forced to drain stamina from other party members to maintain her endurance levels. He was tempted to leech from Vorgon’s sink again, but after his recent scolding, thought better of it. He planned to do so only as a last resort.

  The party swept over the heads of the troops deployed in front of the exit, and arrows shot up in waves. Most of the griffins were shot down, but the three dragons quickly snatched up the monsters and riders in their claws before they could drop, and distributed them amongst themselves.

  Gah! Ziatrice said. You’re squeezing us kinda tight!

  I’d rather she squeezed us, than let us fall to our deaths! Mauritania said.

  Malem crushed the dying griffins, taking their stamina—he didn’t get much, since he had already leeched so many of the creatures.

  An animated tree creature arose from the troops ahead, and threw out two limbs that quickly expanded into long, groping vines. Those vines headed toward the dragons, but then abruptly swooped downward and wrapped around other elves, courtesy of Wendolin, who was gripped in Sylfi’s talons. Meanwhile the dragons unleashed hell with their fiery breath, igniting large swaths of tree elves around them.

  Ahead, he saw a large, dark grey arch carved into the base of the target tree. It was about twice as tall as a human, and two times the width of a griffin. Not big enough for a dragon, unfortunately.

  Is that the portal to the forest? he asked.

  It is, Wendolin replied.

  How do we get through it?

  You simply pass through, Wendolin replied. There’s not much more to it.

  I don’t think we’ll be able to fit, Abigail said.

  Transform back, Malem said. Let our forward motion carry us through.

  The dragons swooped down, coming in at an angle as they lined themselves up with the opening. They breathed flames at the troops deployed at the base of the arch, forcing them to scatter.

  A wave of branches erupted from the ever-growing stalk behind them, in a last ditch attempt to stop them, but Wendolin slammed most of those branches into the elves. The remainder that flung toward the dragons wouldn’t reach them in time.

  Moments before impact, the three dragons transformed back into humans.

  Malem was suddenly floating in midair. Below him, the naked bodies of Sylfi, Brita and Abigail were on course to pass through the arch, as were the others they had held in their claws, including the corpses of several griffins. To line them up like that, apparently the dragons had drawn their claws close to their bodies before changing back. Malem, however, was too high, thanks to his former position on Sylfi’s back.

  He was going to smash right into the trunk itself, just above the arch. If he survived the impact, the branches from the stalk would snatch him up a moment later, this after the rest of his party had already passed through and escaped.

  He still had a pair of riderless griffins shadowing the party just above, and he immediately ordered one of them to swoop down. He wasn’t sure the beast would reach him in time, but then the creature snatched him up and dove down, crashing into Wendolin and Sylfi as it carried him through the portal.

  He emerged into the brightly lit forest on the other side. Apparently time traveled at a different rate within Dothloron, because it was already morning in the land outside.

  Still carried forward by their previous motion, Malem and the others crashed through the undergrowth. He took a few good blows, his face and body getting whipped by different branches around him, until finally he came to a halt.

  When he pushed up his upper body, it was to find a pair of surprised tree elves looking down at him. The elves reached for their weapons, but the forest came alive, wrapping them up, along with other elves deployed throughout the trees around them. Arrows launched from other trees, some of them targeting Wendolin. Malem leaped at her, pulling the queen to the ground.

  “Down!” Malem shouted.

  More elves poured into the forest behind him. He couldn’t see the portal that led to Dothloron—the elves simply appeared in the empty space between two trees, and charged forward. No wonder it was essentially impossible to find the entrance to their realm.

  Master, some help, Malem sent.

  It comes, Vorgon intoned.

  Malem dispersed stamina to Wendolin and Abigail, drawing from the others. He reached out, searching for animals to Break, but wasn’t surprised to find only a few birds. Not even enough for a swarming attack. No doubt the elves had been busy keeping the area free of beastly life.

  Abigail unleashed her flames, striking at the emerging elves; she also released sprays toward the overhead branches that gave rise to the arrows.

  Meanwhile, Wendolin continued to attack with the very forest itself.

  “Should we transform?” Brita asked, naked beside him.

  “Do it!” Malem replied.

  Abigail, Sylfi and Brita returned to their dragon states, and raged through the forest around them. They bashed into the trees and uprooted them. They unleashed flames into the boughs. Meanwhile, Wendolin continued to snatch up those elves that continued to rush through the portal in pursuit. Soon there was a good group of them entwined in the branches she had unleashed. Malem continually fed the four of them stamina, draining the others to dangerously low levels. They were all lying down, exhausted, around him.

  By then, the dragons had formed a clearing of downed and uprooted trees around them. Sylfi abruptly turned toward the entrance and torched the elves caught at the opening.

  Sadness emanated from Wendolin’s energy bundle when that happened, and for a moment he worried she would strike out and fight against his hold. But she merely stopped fighting entirely. She no longer created branches, no longer offered any aid to the combatants. She just lay there, like those others he had drained.

  Plowing through the pile of bodies and branches at the entrance, tree elves continued to emerge from the portal. Sylfi was happy to greet them with her flames.

  Arrows continued to come from the trees that surrounded the burning clearing, and Abigail and Brita concentrated their fire upon the boughs, trying to burn out the elves that launched them. Branches erupted from the surrounding trees, including some of those that had been knocked down—mages must have come through the portal. Malem and the others had been lucky to avoid those attacks thus far—they’d probably eliminated some mages stationed here the moment they’d arrived.

  But then the loud horn of an orak war party echoed across the battlefield. It was answered by another horn to the north. In moments, the black creatures poured from the surrounding forest, hacking through the undergrowth with swords and pikes. Some of them threw their pikes up toward the branches, and skewered elves fell from the trees.

  Eldritch came next—Malem knew they were there only because of the invisible blades that suddenly laid into the tree elves emerging from the portal. Blood splattered their hidden forms, partially outlining their vaguely humanoid bodies, and hoofed feet.

  The night elves arrived, and their arrows bit into the boughs surrounding the clearing, causing more tree elves to fall from the upper branches.

  “Abigail, Brita, Sylfi,” Malem said. “Scoop us up! Take us out of here!”

  The three drago
ns quickly gathered up the party members in their large talons, and took flight. A last hail of arrows from the tree elves came at them, but the dragons shielded the group with their claws, and continued past the trees.

  The attack abated.

  Malem had done it. He’d gone into the heart of the tree elf den, ripped the queen from her throne, and survived.

  He couldn’t help but shed tears of joy.

  I did it.

  Ahead, beyond the eaves of the forest, he could see the black host of Vorgon’s army strewn upon the plains. And then it dawned on him exactly what he had done, and for whom he had done it for. The joy flowing from him rapidly waned, and his heart blackened.

  The dragons flew toward that host.

  Home sweet home.

  27

  Malem was squeezed against Wendolin and Gwenfrieda in Sylfi’s claws. He hadn’t noticed before, since his mind was so caught up in the battle, but he could feel Wendolin’s hot breath against his cheek, and the press of her bosom against his chest.

  He wished he didn’t have to give her up.

  But she was Vorgon’s.

  Sylfi, Brita and Abigail deposited Malem and the others upon the outskirts of the black tents where Vorgon’s host had made camp outside the Dothweald forest, and then the dragons landed beside them.

  “Open up everyone else’s collars,” he ordered Wendolin. “You still have the key, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” she replied. She reached into her pocket, and frowned. “I thought…” She tried another pocket, and another.

  Malem felt a spike of anger. His hand instinctively dropped to the hilt of his sword.

  “There,” Wendolin said, producing the icepick-like object. “Told you I had it.”

  Malem released his grip on the hilt, and nodded curtly. He watched as she moved from person to person, and opened up their collars. As the men and women were freed in turn, they gave the collars to Abigail’s big silver dragon to crush.

  Malem reached out, and broke a bunch of weak-minded oraks that camped nearby. He crushed their minds, killing them, and used the stamina to partially replenish what he had lost in the Breaking. He funneled the remainder to the other members of his crew, who appeared exhausted, thanks to his previous draining. He gave most of the extra stamina to Weyanna.