The Wrath

by D Glenn Casey

  Now the red dragons were really outnumbered, but they showed no intention of giving up the fight. Two of the dragons that had come from Wyndweir converged on one of the enemy dragons and proceeded to dismember it in mid-air.

  Before Hilde and Venia could rejoin the fight, they could see that Emmilyn and Sarabel were ganging up on one of the other red dragons, while the last one was being attacked by the third Rosemoor dragon.

  Together the two new riders put six arrows into the head of the red dragon, with Emmilyn firing the one that pierced its eye and drove straight into its brain, killing it instantly. They were able to watch as their very first kill of a dragon fell to the ground and exploded.

  The last red dragon decided it was a hopeless fight and turned tail and flew away from the battlefield. Emmilyn and Sarabel gave chase, along with two of the Rosemoor dragons, but they were outpaced and left behind, as the last dragon of the dark wizard retreated toward the Eastern Desert. It was quite amazing how fast the red dragons could fly when they were fleeing for their lives.

  Hilde flew in low over the battlefield and found Jarell gathered in a small group around Pendivall and it looked like the older wizard had been injured.

  The battle was still raging around them and there was a circle of swordsmen and royal soldiers protecting the two wizards and a healer.

  It didn’t escape Hilde’s notice that it appeared the soldiers of Wyndweir were still fighting among themselves in parts of the battle. This had started before she and the other riders had taken on Kerrick and chased him from the skies over the fields.

  Looking to the east, she saw a dark, hooded figure standing about halfway up the hillside, overlooking the battlefield. At first, she thought she was seeing Kerrick, but she knew that couldn’t be. Kerrick was on his way to the Eastern Desert with two arrows stuck in him. Again.

  But, he was obviously a wizard. He had a staff in his hands and had his hands raised toward the battlefield. It didn’t take long for her to realize he was probably the reason the soldiers were fighting among themselves.

  She turned Venia toward the wizard and flew like an arrow toward him. Pulling an arrow from her quiver, she nocked it and was ready to bring him down, but he saw her coming and cast a ball of fire directly at her. Venia ducked and dived to avoid the fire and when they had recovered, this new wizard was gone from the mountain.

  “Where is he, Venia?”

  “I know not, m’lady. He appears to have vanished into the trees.”

  They flew to the spot where he had stood and started circling around the area.

  “Be careful,” said Hilde. “If he’s right below us, we won’t have much time to avoid another fireball.”

  As if she had been seeing the future, a fireball came flying up from the ground and Venia had to turn abruptly out of the way, almost losing Hilde in the process. Venia decided she had had enough of this new wizard and let fly with a stream of dragonfire that scorched the earth below. She didn’t know if she was even close to flaming him, but with the amount of fire on the ground now, he would have other things to worry about besides trying to kill them.

  Emmilyn and Sarabel returned at that moment and joined their leader in trying to find this new menace, but it appeared he had disappeared for good.

  The three of them turned back to the battle, but they were at a loss as to what to do. They couldn’t just start flaming the troops on the ground because most of them were their own troops.

  From the air they could see the massive devastation across the battlefield. At least fifty, probably more of their swordsmen and bowmaidens lay dead or dying in the blood soaked mud. They could see the healers trying to get to those that were hurt, but the battle made their job even that much harder. Lianna was trying her best to get to some wounded troops, but was being pulled back by other troops, not wanting to let her into the middle of the battle.

  Hilde watched as Jarell helped Pendivall to his feet and she could see the old wizard had been severely injured, but it looked like he was going to live. She decided she needed to be on the ground to talk to her husband.

  “You two stay up here, out of reach of any arrows,” she said to the other two riders.

  They watched as she pointed Venia toward the knot of soldiers surrounding the two wizards and dove as fast as they could. Then, just as she had in the Eastern Desert a few weeks earlier, Venia put on the brakes and came to a stop about ten feet off the ground and Hilde leaped from her back and landed about twenty feet from Jarell.

  She turned and yelled at Venia to get back up in the sky and stay there. Then she turned and ran to Jarell, who was not too pleased with having her there.

  “You were much safer in the sky!” yelled Jarell.

  “Yes, I was. I was also completely useless in the sky because we can’t fire on these troops!”

  She pulled her sword and joined a couple of the swordsmen in driving a group of Kerrick’s troops backward. As the three of them fought their way forward, Jarell came up beside her and started fighting off enemy soldiers, trying to defend his wife.

  “Sweetie, I don’t need your protection,” she said.

  “No, what you need is a good spanking, young lady.”

  She looked at him for a fleeting second and saw a silly grin on his face.

  “Maybe later,” she said with a laugh.

  They continued fighting and found themselves fighting against some of their own troops. The four of them switched from dealing death blows to just injuring them, but they just kept coming.

  “Honey,” she yelled over the sounds of battle, “you need to see if you can break the hold that evil has over the minds of these troops.”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “A nice little wind storm. Something that would make it impossible for these soldiers to continue fighting!”

  Jarell nodded and sheathed his sword and held his staff up in front of him. The Staff of Wind came to life, its blue crystal pulsating in its crown. It started just as a small tornado centered around Jarell and the other three. Hilde reached out and seized the two swordsmen and hauled them to their knees and they brought their shields up and over their heads. The three of them huddled under the shields, hoping to avoid the worst of what was to come.

  The storm began to pick up speed and began to spread out from the small mound Jarell was standing on. His golden, blonde hair whipped in the wind and he held the staff above his head. Hilde and her two companions were close enough to the center of the storm they weren’t feeling much of its strength, but they knew they had to stay down.

  Within a few seconds the wind storm covered the entire battlefield with blowing sand and dust. It was knocking down all that tried to stand and most of the troops were rolling around covering their eyes, trying to keep the dirt out of them.

  The storm had the desired effect. It brought the fighting to a stop. All of the troops were too busy fighting the effects of the wind to be worried about fighting each other.

  As he began bringing the top of the wind storm down, he could see over it and to the east he saw something that made his heart leap. Standing with a small group of royal soldiers and a larger group of swordsmen and bowmaidens, was Captain Jong. They had answered the call and come over the mountain pass to provide aid to this small army from Wyndweir.

  They were standing at the mouth of the canyon, just watching the proceedings, waiting for the right time to enter the fields.

  Jarell saw Jong lift his sword and point to a place behind him and he turned to look. Standing near the western edge of the fields was Captain Belgard and his men. It didn’t escape Jarell’s notice that Belgard’s men were carrying litters with the bodies of some of their comrades.

  Before he decided that the storm had gone on long enough, he looked to where Pendivall had been standing and he saw the old wizard standing calmly inside a shield, along with a couple dozen bowmaidens and healers and one frightened apprentice.

  He began winding the storm down and then with a whimpe
r, it faded completely out of existence. He looked around the battlefield and saw not one soldier was standing. They had all been knocked to the ground. That was completely fine with him because as long as they were on the ground, they weren’t trying to kill each other.

  Hilde jumped to her feet and yelled, “Every one of you drop your weapons or I will have the dragons come down here and crisp every last one of you!”

  “Better do it!” yelled Jarell. “I’ve seen her when she gets mad.”

  They could hear swords and bows hitting the ground all over the battlefield. Troops were struggling to their feet all around them and Captain Jong and his troops began moving through the battlefield, collecting swords and bows and arrows. They had all the troops from each army move away from each other and gather in two different places in the fields.

  Jarell called Symon and Cragg over and told them to take charge over moving the two armies apart and keeping them separated. As they moved away to take care of their tasks, Captain Jong came walking up to Jarell and Hilde.

  “It appears that we weren’t needed nearly as much as Miss Emmilyn led us to believe,” he said with a raised eyebrow.

  Jarell looked at him and laughed.

  “Needed or not, we are thrilled to have you.”

  Jong looked around and saw all the dead troops lying about. There were healers starting to move through the battlefield, trying to help those that could still be saved.

  “Looks like you had a pretty rough time of it.”

  Jarell nodded as he looked around, too.

  “We got caught with our pants down, Jong. Kerrick proved not to be as dead as we had hoped. He is back, he is more ruthless and it appears he has command of a large number of red dragons.”

  Captain Jong looked up just as Belgard and his men came marching to the center of the battlefield. The men set the litters down on the ground and stood back.

  Belgard looked at Jarell and said, “We were lured away on a fool’s errand and we lost four of our brothers!”

  The anger in Belgard’s voice was unmistakable. When Belgard cast his glance toward Hilde, Jong stepped forward, placing himself squarely in front of the taller captain. Belgard looked down at him, wondering who this new royal was, never having met him.

  “You will watch your tone, captain,” said Jong.

  “I will watch my tone?”

  Belgard turned and swept his hand over the four dead royals on the litters.

  “These four brothers demand I raise my voice!”

  “Really? These four of our brethren? How about the dozens that lie dead on this battlefield? Do they not also demand a voice?”

  Belgard backed a step away from Jong and looked around the battlefield. He looked like he had been kicked in the gut by an ornery mule.

  “How many did we lose?”

  “Not counting the royals that fought under the dark wizard’s banner, I counted at least fifty-three. There could be more.”

  Belgard whirled back around and looked at Jarell.

  “They had royals fighting for Kerrick?”

  “It would appear so. At least a dozen,” said Jarell.

  Belgard’s shoulders sank as he took in the news. Never in the entire history of Wyndweir had a royal soldier ever fought on the side of evil.

  Jarell continued, “The dark wizard also seems to have been able to control the thoughts and minds of some of our soldiers. He put such terrifying pictures in their minds that they were fighting against each other.”

  “I think it had something to do with that other wizard,” said Hilde.

  They all turned and looked at her.

  “We chased Kerrick far away from the battlefield and he has fled back to the Eastern Desert. His influence should have left with him. I think the second wizard had something to do with the mind control.”

  “What second wizard?” asked Jong.

  Jarell said, “There appears to have been a second wizard overseeing the battlefield. He was standing on that rock over there.”

  As the two captains looked at the boulder, Hilde said, “I chased him from the rock, but he disappeared into the trees and escaped.”

  “Oh,” said Jong, “that’s who that is.”

  They all looked at him and he turned and called back toward the trees at the mouth of the draw. Within seconds, two more royals came into view, dragging between them, a hooded figure. The wizard continued to struggle, trying to break away from them, but he had no chance. As they got closer, it became apparent the wizard’s arms were bound tightly behind him and one of the royals bore the wizard’s staff in his hands.

  Jarell looked at the soldier carrying the staff and said, “Isn’t that staff trying to resist you?”

  “No, sire. Not even so much as a tingle.”

  The soldier held the staff out to Jarell and he took it, half expecting to feel a bolt of lightning or something as the staff defended itself. But, that defense never came.

  Jarell looked the staff up and down and then looked at the wizard, who’s hood still covered his head. Then, gripping the staff with both hands, he brought it down sharply across a knee and it snapped like a dry twig. The wizard was visibly shaken by that.

  “This isn’t really a wizard’s staff, at least not one made in Guilden,” said Jarell. “It’s nothing more than a walking stick.”

  He held up the head of the staff and looked at the crystal and then touched it with one fingertip. The crystal snapped at him and Jarell almost lost his grip on the broken staff.

  “A walking stick with a genuine wizard’s crystal in it.”

  Then he looked at the wizard who was still being held firmly by the two royals.

  “Alright, time to find out who we’re dealing with here.”

  He reached out to take hold of his hood and the wizard jerked away. Being unmasked was not something the wizard wanted to happen. The two royals gripped him even tighter and Jarell stepped in closer. Hilde unsheathed her sword and put the tip against the wizard’s chest. She was fearful of what the wizard might do when he was unmasked and she was prepared to end him if he attempted anything.

  Jarell reached up and grabbed a handful of hood and jerked it back off the wizard’s head. When he came face-to-face with the wizard, he and Hilde both jumped back. They could not believe their eyes. Hilde felt the breath leave her chest.

  Jong looked at them and said, “I take it you recognize this man.”

  Belgard stepped in, taking a look, but this wizard’s face was unknown to him.

  “Captain Jong,” said Jarell, “this is the man directly responsible for you becoming a captain of the swordsmen.”

  Jong looked even closer at the unmasked wizard and felt a rage begin to climb in his chest. Belgard looked at his fellow captain and could see that Jong was within seconds of executing this man with his bare hands.

  Instantly, Jong had his sword in his hand and brought it up to drive it right through the man’s chest, but Belgard pulled his own sword and blocked him. As Jong tried to recenter himself and get another chance at killing this man, Jarell reached out and snatched him by the back of his tunic and pulled him away.

  “Put your sword away and take a walk, captain!” ordered Jarell.

  “That son of a pig does not deserve to draw even one more breath!”

  “No, he doesn’t. But at the moment, we need him alive!”

  Then, looking back at the wizard, he said, “But, his time for usefulness is likely to be extremely short. At that time, you will have your vengeance if you so desire.”

  Jong took a couple more ragged breaths and then sheathed his sword and stalked away.

  “I take it this man and Jong have met,” said Belgard.

  “Not face-to-face, until today. But this man killed a very good friend of Jong’s. A very good friend to all of us. He sliced Hector’s throat like he was a pig being slaughtered for a feast.”

  Jarell stepped up in front of the man and examined his very dark, brown eyes.

  “Your usefulne
ss to us is likely to be very short, Kolgan.”

  He motioned for the two royals to take him away and as they did, there was a screech high up in the air and everyone turned to see a great, white dragon come flying out of the draw.

  Pendivall stepped up next to Jarell and they watched as the dragon approached.

  “Oh, so now Morgath decides to take part in the battle.”

  “Oh shoot,” said Hilde. “I forgot.”

  The two wizards looked at her with questioning looks.

  “You forgot? What?”

  Hilde merely smiled at them and pointed back at the dragon, who was close enough now to see the rider on his back. Or, the two riders on his back.

  “Is that ...” stuttered Brinn.

  “Yes, Brinn, it is,” said Hilde with a beaming smile.

  Morgath landed not too far from them and the two riders jumped down and walked toward the small group.

  “Why, Miss Gwen,” said Pendivall. “Seems as if today is a day for rising from the dead.”

  Chapter 18 ~ Losing One So Vulnerable

  It was quite late in the evening before the healers had made their way through most of the wounded. The two wizards helped with the more grievous injuries, putting the men and women back together.

  Brinn followed along, as Pendivall performed his magic. He watched carefully and with considerable interest.

  Healing was one of the powers a wizard needed to comprehend early and learn it well. Many lives would depend on a wizard’s skill to heal, not the least of which would be their own.

  One of the hardest things for Brinn to overcome was his emotions when working on someone that was injured. Pendivall started him with just placing his hands on the head of an injured soldier and soothing them while the old wizard worked.

  Everything was going fine until they came to a young bowmaiden who had been stabbed through the chest by a royal’s blade. A Wyndwerian royal was kneeling over her crying and begging her forgiveness.

  What caused Brinn the most heartache was this bowmaiden was really young. Not in actual years. She was just over one hundred years old. But, compared to a typical human, she was no more than a teenager.