by J D Dench
Can she trust me with this? It’s so deadly and yet so dangerous. Do I want to carry this with me for the rest of my days?
A long silence followed. Lillian gave Liz a patient look. She understood the conflicts going through Liz’s mind at a million miles a second. But she would need an answer before Liz could leave this room.
It doesn’t matter what I want. It matters what my Kingdom needs me to do.
“Yes,” Liz finally said. “You can trust me. I will use this weapon to protect my people, save my Kingdom, and defend Kayla while I fight by her side until the day I die.”
“You and her really are related,” Lillian said quietly. Liz raised her eyebrows, and Lillian continued, “You both put the Kingdom before yourselves. You two really are both of my blood, and I am eternally proud to have such strong, capable warriors protecting my Realm.”
Before Liz could say anything, she was back in the real world. Time stood still once more. The difference was that Liz could move. She bent down and picked up her two blades. Then she began walking for what she believed Lillian wanted her to see. Liz had to duck under the sharp fur of the wolves. And it felt like she walked for an eternity before she came near a clearing.
She found what she was looking for. Kayla was on the ground in an incredible body of armor that Liz had no idea Kayla owned. Kayla’s claws from her armor were in the ground as she pushed herself to her feet. To Kayla’s right was Matias inside Hamerst’s Strength. And across from him was a giant Demon that looked like the Devil incarnate.
The Demon was taller than Matias by at least six feet, his horns spiking into the sky. The air seemed to illuminate red around him. His entire body also pulsed a constant red, almost like a heartbeat made of fire. His massive fist was in the air as he looked down upon Matias.
Liz took this moment to climb up a tree as high as she could climb. The tree was dry, and Liz worried several times it would snap under her. But she knew she needed a good vantage point to assess the situation. Plus climbing the tree was the best way to avoid the razor sharp wolves consuming the battlefield.
Once she climbed high enough, she could see the entire scene of battle. Kayla had been fighting off the wolves as Matias fought the big Demon. They were using Kayla’s speed to fight speed, and Matias’ strength to fight strength. Those two are quite the team, aren’t they?
But time didn’t start yet. That meant Liz was missing something. She scanned the trees and found nothing out of the ordinary. She grabbed onto a large branch and turned to see the other side of the battle.
“Olap?”
Liz’s voice was nothing but a whisper in the wind, but it was enough to start time forward again. The Dwarf was fighting back wolves. He had a group with him, all of them fighting their hearts out. They ignored their injuries and fought bravely until their bitter end. As Liz watched, five of them died and were devoured by the shadows of wolves.
But Olap pressed on. He swung his hammer left and right, using wide swings to clear his path as two others protected his flank. The two protecting him were Elves, one a man and the other a woman. Liz couldn’t see who they were, but she remembered the team she had sent Olap with and assumed they must have been Silvia and Leif. Leif always did know how to survive, Liz thought with a small grin. But where are the others?
She turned back to see what happened to Matias. He took a hard hit to the chest. Galruman’s attack was so powerful it lifted Matias, even with his stone armor, and sent him flying through the air into a tree just within Liz’s sight. The tree fell under the impact and collapsed onto a large group of the Demonic minions. Liz’s sharp eyes could see the rock hard armor of Matias’ defense cracking under the incredible impact of the Demon’s blow.
Hamerst is powerful, but even he has a breaking point.
“You should have died in that other world,” Galruman snarled, stomping closer to Matias. Each step seemed to shake the trees and send the ashes spinning to the sky. “Those incompetent gargoyles and the worthless snake couldn’t kill a stupid man. I’ve killed thousands upon millions with my own two hands!”
Matias’ injuries were severe. Liz could see his injuries from the trees. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth. He coughed up blood that trickled down his chin. A large cut decorated his cheek under his eye. The rocks around him wouldn’t last another attack. Matias knew it. Liz knew it. Galruman knew it.
Still, he took a painful and deep breath and responded, “Too bad. I’m. Not human.” Matias’ words came out in broken sentences, his breathing coming out in bursts and followed by coughing fits of blood. “I’m a. Dwarf a. Servant of. Hamerst.”
The Demon’s laugh was like a boom. Liz could almost feel the tree she was in collapse from his booming laughter. “You serve Hamerst? Then Hamerst is weaker than the Prophecy gives him credit for.”
The Demon’s enormous fist raised into the air. And it came down as fast as lightning. “And now you die, Dwarf!” he snarled as his fist came down. It was aimed right at the midsection of Matias.
But something stopped it. Something jumped in the path and knocked Matias out of the way. There was an enormous crack, as if the earth itself had split into two pieces. Nobody had seen it.
Nobody but Liz.
“Olap!” she cried out. She didn’t care if the Demon knew where she was anymore. Everything had happened in slow motion to Liz. Olap had taken the hit for Matias. The Dwarf had run full force into Matias, and the Demon’s fist had shattered Olap’s hammer and hit the him hard enough to shatter Matias’ armor. Only Olap wore no armor.
The Demon slowly turned, his eyes scanning for Liz’s voice. He turned away long enough for Matias to gather himself and push his body for a final attack. Matias ran at the giant Demon with his axes and slashed at Galruman’s arm. He turned to face Matias with a scoff.
Before he could strike, Kayla was on him. Her claws dug into Galruman too fast for him to see or dodge. She was far too fast for the Demon lord. Yes! Liz silently cried. Kayla is too quick! She could actually defeat him!
But the Demonic wolves were closing in. Matias couldn’t take them alone, and Liz didn’t think Kayla could take Galruman out in time to stop the wolves. Liz did the math. There was no way the two of them could win alone. Lillian had been right. Taking a deep breath, Liz set her mind to it.
Kayla needs my help. I’m going to use the Bow.
She pushed the dot in the center of the drop, feeling the pressure of the mark seem to shoot into the sky. But the shot was not visible. In Liz’s hand, a golden metal shaft seemed to grow out of thin air to form a bow, stronger than any that could be made of any other material. The string was thick like a rope, yet Liz found she could draw it back with ease. Touching it was incredibly warm, and when she aimed it, the Bow felt like it had an eye of its own. A third eye that Liz aimed with her mind. She pulled the string back all the way, aiming it at the Demon. She didn’t aim for any specific body part. The power of the Bow would kill the Demon if it hit anywhere. Liz decided it was best to aim for the Demon’s center, either his chest or back.
But he needs to sit still!
The Elf remembered when she used to go hunting with her brother. She used to whistle a high pitched whistle to call back her pet wolf, Symba. She also used the same whistle to distract prey while Symba struck. Nobody knew how the wolf understood the two different calls of the whistle, but Liz always knew she could trust the wolf. She used that whistle now. High pitched, it pierced through all sounds of combat anywhere in the forested area. All the wolves stopped fighting and turned her direction. Hanika, Ti’a and Thero looked her way. Leif, Silvia, and the other warriors with them all looked her direction. Even Golvannor looked her direction. Kayla and Matias stopped fighting, almost needing to look in her direction.
“Liz?” Leif said quietly to himself looking up at the Elf Queen. “What is she doing?”
Galruman turned slowly to face her, his eyes instantly meeting her own, a snarl on his ugly face. “Who is this bird that whistles from the
tree tops?”
Liz aimed her shot carefully, knowing if she didn’t it could be the last shot she ever made. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she allowed the last of the air to leave her lungs. Only then is the hand at its most steady.
“I am the slayer of Galruman,” she replied. Her voice was too quiet for the Demon to hear, but she didn’t care. She responded more for herself than anybody else.
And she released.
Azzaan watched the entire battle from the comfort and safety of the Malkinian walls. His shadow was at the battle, hiding among the darkness so it would not be attacked. From the shadow’s eyes, he could see everything that happened. He took a deep sip from his wine.
Azzaan saw the silver strike of the Bow hit Galruman and rip him to shreds. The silver was so bright, it wiped out all traces of the Demon and washed over all of the minions. They all retreated through the Portal, along with Azzaan’s shadow for safekeeping. The Bow’s shot was like a laser.
“Oth’tuun,” Azzaan said quietly, “your wolves failed me.” His bodyguard, Oth’tuun, sat in darkness behind Azzaan. “I apologize master. It was my own failure, I assure you. Your shadow enchantments were too much for my wolves to handle.”
Azzaan cut him off with a wave of his hand. “It’s no matter, my dear companion. I have learned much. The Sword and Hammer and back, and they are much stronger than before. And it seems there is a third weapon this time.”
“A third weapon, m’lord?” Azzaan held out his glass, and his shadow quickly ran to his side to fill it. “Yes, it appeared to be a bow of some sort. It’s quite powerful, but I wonder how it works. No matter. Do not feel bad Oth’tuun. The minions were not the only failures. Galruman failed me, and now he has been punished.”
“Don’t forget about the gargoyles and Igrath,” Oth’tuun added. “These ‘Chosen Ones’ seem much stronger than anything we have faced before.”
“Perhaps.” Azzaan let a small laugh escape his lungs, followed by a sigh. “Send a message to Rezuman. Tell him to expect company shortly. They will be no match for him.”
Oth’tuun nodded and vanished into the darkness. Azzaan was left alone with his shadow, who sat beside him. The two were always two. Never once had the human and shadow been a single body. Personally, Azzaan liked it more this way. More efficient.
“My lovely shadow, what do you suppose that weapon was?” The shadow couldn’t speak, of course, but it did think its own thoughts. And its thoughts went directly into Azzaan’s head.
“You think it’s Arrieta's Bow?” The man’s eyebrows drifted up and a wicked grin spread from cheek to cheek. “Splendid. We can take the Sword, Hammer and Bow to conquer the world. It’s only a matter of time now.”
A few moments passed as the shadow silently responded to him. “Why do I not attack now, you ask Jam’aal? Because this is a game of strategy. It is all about patience. You see, right now we have analyzed the enemy’s board and learned what they are capable of. We know their pieces. They do not know ours. Now, we send them to some powerful pieces to take out some of the smaller pieces.
“And then, the only pieces remaining have to face the God piece.”
Chapter Thirteen
The arrow struck Galruman where the flame burnt hottest in his chest. With a cry that filled the night, the Devil Demon was torn to shreds and vanished into the light of Liz’s soul. Once he was defeated, the light continued to shine. It was bright like a star as the light flowed over the ranks upon ranks of shadow wolves, like a roaring astronomical tidal wave made of starlight. The shadows were ripped from the flesh of the minions, forcing the now-regular wolves to retreat without their Demonic power. There was a single howl that gave the signal before all wolves retreated to the portal at the BlueCrest gate.
Once the forest was clear, the silver light flew back at Liz and struck her in the chest. When the shot had been released, Liz felt a deep chill buried within her bones and mind. When the arrow returned, though, she felt even warmer than before. It was as if her soul had absorbed the warmth of Galruman’s life source and, warmed by it, granted her even more life than she had before.
“What was that?” Kayla asked Liz as she climbed down from the tree.
Liz looked Kayla up and down, idolizing her armor. “A bow. And what is that?”
Kayla grinned and did a quick spin for Liz. “It’s the armor Lillian gave me. ‘Lillian’s Claws’. But what kind of bow does something like that?”
“Lillian gave it to me,” Liz explained. She told Kayla about her vision, and Kayla listened intently. After she had finished, Kayla told her about her encounter with Lillian.
“That’s incredible!” Liz exclaimed.
Kayla smiled and reached toward the center of her chest, removing the large shard that planted itself over her heart. The rest of the shards fell away and clung to the shard, leaving Kayla grasping the Sword. “I guess you’re my guardian now, huh?”
Liz gave her a wink. “Something like that.”
Matias walked up to them, his hand massaging his head. He held the Hammer in his hand, but the stone for the head was still cracked and would take time to repair itself. “Olap will live,” he reported to them. “He took a hard hit, but his hammer saved his life. He has a couple broken ribs, but Leif and I fixed him up and found some herbs that should help with the pain. He won’t be perfect, but n a few hours he should be much better.”
Liz let out her breath slowly, suddenly feeling much calmer. “Thank you, Matias,” she said quietly. “I can’t tell you how worried I was when I saw him take the hit. But if he hadn’t, you wouldn’t be here.”
Matias didn’t look up at her. “I know,” he said grimly. “I thought my armor was invincible. But you’re right. I felt the stone crumbling around me, and the only reason I can stand right now is because of those herbs.”
“We’re all alive because of you, Liz,” Kayla added. “Without you…”
“...you would have defeated him,” Liz told Kayla. “But the wolves would have killed you and Matias.”
“Speaking of Leif,” Kayla turned to Matias, “who is he? And Silvia? I know you said Olap went to BlueCrest, but I didn’t realize he came with other people.”
“He had a small group with him,” Liz informed her. “Silvia is an Elf that needs experience, so she wanted to go with. Jonn is, or I should say was, a drunk that I forced to go with or he would be removed from the military services. Two Dwarves went with him, Ulp and Gremlin, and then there’s Leif.”
“Ulp and Gremlin?” Matias’ voice was sad and low. “They were the ones Olap talked about. He’s extremely upset about their deaths.”
Kayla heard something in Liz’s voice when she talked about Leif. “Who is Leif, Liz?”
The Elf smiled a little and stepped away, her composure uncomfortable. “Leif is my brother.” She looked up at Kayla’s stunned face and winked at her. “You think I was the only one that was outcast in the Kingdom? Think again. I was an assassin because I needed to train better and be the best warrior the Elves had to offer. Leif felt the same way, only when he came back he didn’t care about people. He moved away and lived by himself, only returning to the Palace to train with Olap. He was extremely excited to learn a new style of combat.”
Silvia had been standing nearby and heard everything. She walked past the trees now and joined the trio in the clearing. “So, are you two close?”
Liz spun and faced Silvia. “No,” she said slowly, choosing her words carefully. She didn’t trust Silvia as much as she wanted to. “When he came back, we weren’t all that close.”
Silvia nodded and didn’t say anything. Matias was the one to speak. “So what’s our next move? We saved one Kingdom. But there is still lots of work to be done.”
“Matias is right,” Kayla added. “We’re hurt and tired, but there is no time to rest. If we stop now, Azzaan will send something here as strong as Galruman. And who knows how many Demons that strong we can take before we break?”
“I sugges
t we talk to Golvannor.” Liz turned toward the direction she remembered Thero was in. “He’s still our captive after all. He’ll talk, or Thero will make him talk.”
“Who is Golvannor?”
Nobody had filled Silvia in on anything because she wasn’t meant to know about the Portal, and it was hard to explain what happened without talking about the Portal.
“There was a Demon attack. We took this one prisoner,” Kayla explained simply. She nodded her head toward Liz. “Lead the way, ‘Your Highness’.”
Liz audibly gagged at the name. Kayla laughed, and Matias chuckled a little behind her. They approached the clearing where Thero was guarding the Demon skeleton still. Hanika and Ti’a were sitting a little away from him. The two Elves were moving their hands in patterns, clearly communicating in some way that Ti’a could understand.
It’s good to see Ti’a making a real friend, Liz thought to herself. For too many years she’s served me alone because nobody could understand what she had to say.
Olap and Leif were away from Thero, the Dwarf on his back with his eyes closed. Leif held a damp towel to the man’s forehead. When Liz and the other arrived, he looked up at them quickly before turning his attention back to the Dwarf.
“He doesn’t seem all that happy to see you,” Kayla said quietly to Liz.
Liz shook her head, her hair flowing around her. “He never respected me when I took the Palace, but I didn’t have a choice.” She looked his direction. “Somebody had to lead the Elves.”
Ti’a and Hanika had scratches, but there were no serious injuries. Thero had a large gash down his arm, starting at his wrist and reaching his elbow. Blood dripped from the wound, but Thero paid it no mind. When he saw Liz, he stood with his weapon drawn and walked over to her.
“I’m glad to see you’re all safe,” he said. His voice was as serious as ever, so Kayla had no real way of knowing how glad he actually was. “Can I kill this thing yet?”
