by J D Dench
But Leif was an Elf possessed. After cutting down Reginald, he turned to Matias and made short work of the man. A counter left, a spin to the right, and he struck out at the wide open back of the man. He melted to the core and was left the same way as Reginald. Leif didn’t even stop for a second to admire his work. He ran right back into the battle and defeated the other Dwarven companions of Olap. He caught Crowley in the back of the neck and quickly deflected a lunge from Switzel, knocking the Dwarf’s sword downward so Leif could cut into Switzel’s heart. Lemeldo turned to face him and had an amazing fight against Leif, but Leif was able to defeat the Dwarf with his speed.
And once they were defeated, Leif charged in to save his comrades. Five Dwarves that had surrounded Olap and Liz were cut down in a heartbeat. Leif vanished and reappeared in front of Hanika, blocking two axes with the Eternal Flame. He felt the flames burning into his skin, as if the dragon had somehow possessed him. With a roar from deep in his lungs, he pushed both axes back and cut down both assailants in a single stroke. Leif alone defeated twenty Dwarves, to say the least.
The only thing he could not do was save Ti’a. He couldn’t keep track of the Elf. She was as fast, if not faster, than he was. She vanished in the heat of battle, and the only way Leif found her was when Hanika cried out. When he appeared, Ti’a was already on the ground with her neck cut open, her eyes looking at Hanika. Hanika stayed there, their hands together. Hanika was crying and refused to leave Ti’a. So Leif battled around her and defended her until he was able to make space for the two of them. When they had space, he shoved Hanika to the ground and stood over her.
The look in her eyes. I know that look. Deep loss. Deep despair. I understand her pain, but she won’t even understand. He glanced over at the corpse of Ti’a and forced the tears from his eyes. Hanika will never understand how close Ti’a and I truly were.
“You have to leave her,” he ordered her with a firm voice. She shook her head. He continued, “She’s gone, Hanika! If you stay, you’ll die too.”
“Let me, then!” Hanika was blinded by tears and stayed where she fell. “You don’t understand!”
Leif crouched down and lowered his voice. “I do,” he said quietly, his entire demeanor suddenly shifting to a more gentle approach. “I do understand, Hanika. I understand you two loved one another, and I understand that she died protecting you. But dying isn’t going to bring her back. Living in her memory is the only way to keep her spirit alive.”
Hanika didn’t say anything. Leif climbed to his feet and cut down two more attackers. “I can’t make you come with me. But I’m leaving, and if you want to live for her then it’s time to go.” He reached out for her hand.
Hanika laid there, looking up at him. She took a deep breath and took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. She drew her weapon and slashed out with renewed energy, screaming as she fought with everything she had. She even took Ti’a’s bandanna and tied it around her forearm. As she fought, she touched her weapon to it from time to time to remind herself who she fought for. “I’ll never forget you,” Hanika whispered sadly. She stabbed her dagger into a Dwarf and spun around to meet the one behind her with the ball of her heel. Releasing her dagger, she scooped up Ti’a’s nun-chucks and gave them a practice swing. She put the weapon around her waist, ripped her dagger back out of the Dwarf, and kicked him into the end of Leif’s sword.
Kayla and Matias could hear the swords going against one another from inside the chamber. They turned in the direction of the battle, Sword and Hammer at the ready. The guards were gone, but there was a door now where the hole had been, and when Matias tried to open it, the door wouldn’t budge.
“It’s no use,” the Demon inside Tony said. Tony climbed to his feet and drew his sword. “The door is held in place by Demonic magic. It’s more powerful than a portal. The only way out is to kill the Demon who forged the door.”
The Demon King drew his own sword and floated beside Tony. Tony’s sword was darker than darkness, and the Demon King’s was the same except tarnished and chipped away, the sword rusted and as old as the cloak he wore.
Kayla turned toward Tony and pushed the Sword’s hilt into her chest. In the flash of a light, she was wearing the armor known as Lillian’s Claws.
“Then we’ll make this fast,” Kayla spat. A moment later, Matias was at her side in his stone armor granted by Hamerst, Hamerst’s Strength. “I’m taking down the floating sheet over there. I have a score unsettled.”
The Demon King let out a dusty laugh. “Bring it on, mortal,” he said simply.
He flew at Matias in a rush only a floating being could attempt. The chipped bits of blade made the Demon King’s sword hiss and whistle through the air, but his attacks were predictable and slow. Matias was able to deflect them easily with his armor and cut the sheet apart with his axes.
Kayla didn’t wait for Tony. She went to him in a flash of movement, her finger blades cutting away at his flesh as he swung around to try and counter her. But no matter how much damage she did, he couldn’t die.
How do you kill something that isn’t alive?
Remember what Rezuman said, Lillian reminded Kayla. He puts his soul inside of the bodies.
“Of course!” Kayla said out loud.
He puts his soul inside the bodies he inhabits. That means somewhere on these bodies in that shard of soul. Just like the Demon King’s suits of armor. And if these are the bodies he wanted to kill us with, he would use more of his soul so he could fight us with more of his strength. But where would he put the shard?
Tony’s blade couldn’t keep up with Kayla’s violently fast movements. His blade never met her armor. Rezuman may pride himself on his power, but his power was in numbers. He made a mistake facing Kayla and Matias two against two. Rezuman’s combat was basic at best. He was used to overwhelming his foes with the amount of warriors he had. Instead, he had to try and defeat the strength of Matias and the speed of Kayla alone.
Kayla kept slicing away at Tony. His wounds would have easily been fatal due to the lack of armor Tony wore. Yet Kayla could not find the shard that was hidden in him. She felt her body starting to slow down a bit. She had forgotten how tired and wounded she had been from BlueCrest. And Matias wasn’t much better. He was on the defensive, countering the sword of the Demon King with his armor and lashing with his axes. His attacks weren’t as fatal as Kayla’s, but they were enough to make the Demon King back off slightly.
And then it happened. There was no warning. Matias jumped back as the Demon King swung downward in an arc. As his sword missed, Matias brought both axes together against the sword and felt it crack under the pressure.
Tony and the Demon King backed away, crying in pain. The Demon King had released the sword, leaving it between the axes. There were sounds of pain outside the cavern door, as if dozens upon dozens of Dwarves were crying out at the same time.
Kayla was confused and looked over at Matias. She saw the sword between the axes. Matias was frozen in place.
He would put his shard somewhere we wouldn’t expect. He knew we had defeated these two before. But the swords? Who would suspect a soul inside a weapon?
“Matias, break the sword!” Her voice was desperate. He looked in her direction. “Do it now!”
He didn’t hesitate. He trusted her enough to know better than to question. With a grunt, he forced the axes together harder and harder until the blade between them snapped and shattered. A light of gold and silver intertwined and escaped from the shards of blade. The heavenly beam rose into the air and escaped through the walls of the room they were in, never to be seen again.
The Demon King cried out in pain before instantly falling to the ground. He became a shadow on the ground and melted into the earth. Rezuman cursed as Tony looked where the Demon King had been.
“How much of your power did you put into these two?” Kayla asked with a smile. “Because it’s all wasted.”
Tony turned his attention back to her and cursed loude
r. “I failed Azzaan,” he said simply. “I understand that now. But your friends are dead out there. I’ll make sure of that.”
Kayla shook her head and aimed her claws at him as she prepared to strike. “No. They are more powerful together than we are. They will defeat you just as we did, and you will leave these lands as suddenly as you approached them.”
Chapter Sixteen
Azzaan watched the battle from his throne in Malkina. His shadow was there the whole time, unwilling to assist Rezuman. With a snarl, Azzaan’s fist broke the chess board in front of him. The pieces scattered in every direction, shattered to pieces. All but the King.
“Dammit!” he shouted, his breath heavy. Rezuman had been his best soldier. Azzaan realized now that his army was falling apart one by one. He glimpsed to where Oth’tuun ordinarily sat at the empty chair. His loyal companion was away to check on the remains of their army.
They had ruled the Realm. The Dwarven Kingdom had been theirs, but Rezuman would fail. BlueCrest had been theirs, but many had failed him there. He had hoped Rezuman could at least do something to weaken the holders of the incredibly powered weapons. But he understood now. He stared at the pieces of the chess board, now scattered all over the ground. The picture was clear to him.
Oth’tuun entered the room. “M’lord, she is awake. Our forces are thinning, and our support from the Demon Lands is weakening. Many Demons are retreating and calling our cause a failed attempt already. Our time is running out.”
“Thank you,” Azzaan said quietly. His face was dark. Grim. Only once had he seen the situation seem so grim. When his army had been locked away. Now, they were being killed. There would be no third chance, Azzaan knew. This was his final opportunity.
“Oth’tuun, do you support the cause? Do you support me?” The Demon nodded his head instantly. “Of course, m’lord. I would serve you until my death, and even after.”
“Good.”
Azzaan closed his eyes and watched as the sword Tony wielded shattered, killing over half of the Demon Rezuman’s power in an instant. Your mind games failed, Rezuman. You hoped bringing back all these loved ones would leave the warriors frozen in fear or compassion. But they are strong. Smart. They were too much. I’m sorry, my friend.
“I want you to send out the distraction,” he said simply. “Send it to the Dwarven Kingdom. Then, prepare the troops. Everything we have. Including her.” Azzaan stood as his shadow returned in the blink of an eye.
“M’lord, what are we going to do?”
“We march for the Palace. We take it. We lure the Sword and Hammer.” Azzaan walked to the door that led to the hallway. “And then, we kill them ourselves. No more mistakes.”
Oth’tuun stared after Azzaan had left the room, his shadow lingering behind for a moment before going with him. “Fighting them?” Oth’tuun repeated. “Has Azzaan lost it?”
In the other room, Azzaan spoke to his shadow as they walked down the hall. “Do you understand?”
The shadow shook its head. Azzaan sighed deeply as they entered his personal chambers, where he grabbed his weapons and threw on his cloak. “We take the Palace. The Sword looks to us. We meet the Sword on its way to us. Defeat it. And when we win, we already have two lands taken.” Azzaan threw the cloak over his shoulders. “Then we retake the already destroyed BlueCrest and Dwarven Kingdom, and the Realm and weapons are all ours.”
Unless we lose, the shadow told him. Unless we die.
“We can’t die. Not with you. You’re immortal.” Azzaan put his weapons on and left the room, leaving the shadow looking after him.
I’m not as immortal as you believe I am.
When Kayla snapped Tony’s sword between her claws, he looked directly into her eyes. She returned his gaze and, for an instant, a split second, Kayla swore she saw a shred of the real Tony in there. The same Tony that sat under their tree with her, talking without words for hours on end as the wind blew between them and yet brought them together.
That felt so long ago.
And the void between them had grown so much. Kayla saw that look and was reminded of being a little girl. It shocked her to remember that it had only been a year since she had been that little girl.
With Tony and the Demon King dead, Rezuman’s power was too little. Kayla and Matias left the room and found the battle scene outside, where Leif was dominating the opposition. Bodies began falling without being touched, Rezuman desperate to grasp any inch of power he could so he could retreat. But it was no use. He tried to forge a portal, but it was too weak. The Hammer leached away the power until it was absolutely nothing. Just as suddenly as he appeared in the Dwarven King, he left even more suddenly. The last of the bodies fell, revealing the vast numbers of Dwarves killed at the hands of the body possessor.
Leif was recognized as a hero by Liz, Olap, Silvia, and Hanika. The only one lost was Ti’a. The loss impacted Hanika more than the rest, and everybody had an idea as to why. But nobody said anything. Some wounds cannot be healed with words.
Liz was the only one to pull Hanika aside and hug her, offering her a personal apology to what had happened. “It’s a tremendous loss, even for people like me. Ti’a was one of my favorite warriors, and even though she never spoke out loud, her actions spoke more than any other Elf I have met. She will truly be missed, and I will make sure a proper funeral is arranged once we reach the Palace.”
Olap stood outside the Hole and blew into the Horn of Summoning. This was the only way they agreed to tell the survivors that the Hole was all clear. Soon, Dwarves were crawling through the holes in the walls into the chamber. They were wary with weapons in hands, but when they saw the numbers of the dead and heard the story from Olap, they knew what had happened was true. That they were truly saved.
The number of Dwarves remaining was minimal. If we had only been here sooner, both Matias and Olap were thinking. But there was no point reflecting upon what could have been. What would be would be.
Kayla and Matias were given Olap’s home to stay in while they recovered. They decided two days would be a good time to wait. Going to face Azzaan at less than one hundred percent was basically a suicide run. Liz was going to stay with Hanika in what had been Reginald’s home, and Olap was going to speak with the Dwarves and try to plan for what was to come.
“Should I ask for their help against Azzaan?” he asked Kayla. “They played a crucial role against Tony, after all.”
But Kayla shook her head. “No, this isn’t a war like last time. This is a personal grudge. He wants the Sword and Hammer. Tony wanted power, but Azzaan has already had that power. What he wants is the tools that will stop him. The less people we involve, the better it will be for everybody else.”
Olap understood and explained to those he deemed his leaders for the Dwarves. They were split into ten groups and given ten leaders so messages could be spread easier than Olap telling every individual person. Slowly but surely, a chain of command was established.
The first night they stayed in the Dwarven Kingdom, Kayla slept like a rock. The only thing that woke her was Matias when he told her she had almost slept away a full day and needed to eat. Reluctantly, she climbed out of bed and ate. Even more reluctantly, she trained with Matias to keep her limbs loose and mind focused. The Sword never left her side, and the Hammer was always hanging by his.
The second night was the rough night for Kayla. Her dreams were toxic. She was standing in the gate to the Palace. The city was in destruction with those Demonic wolves running through the streets. Screams filled the nighttime air. Flames rose left and right. And the dead littered the streets.
Kayla had to step around the bodies across the zig-zag bridge to the gates, which were bashed open and destroyed. The door to the Palace was made of the unbreakable wood, Blacklester. The doors were on the ground now, still connected to the metal of the Palace that was simply ripped away. Turning to the gardens, they were burned to ash.
Kayla dared to look into the room where the Portal had been. Only
the Portal was no longer there. It was gone. She ran for the Palace, crying out for Liz or Matias or Lotesta or Olap or Hanika. Anybody who could help her.
And inside was the worst of it all. The art on the walls was torn to shreds. The doors were all broken in. All of the rooms were in ruin. Kayla poked her head into the room for her and Matias and saw it was just as destroyed as the others. She opened the bookcase and saw Ryo hiding in there with a few other Elves, all with weapons drawn in front of the Portal.
Why is the Portal here now? Kayla closed the bookcase and turned back into the hallway. She went into Liz’s room and found Lotesta there. The guards were sitting at their stations with their throats slit, and Lotesta was hanging from the ceiling by a rope. A tight noose decorated her neck like a necklace.
Kayla heard the final breath leave Lotesta’s lungs. This can’t be real, Kayla screamed.
The woman from the bathroom was there. Her gaze kept Kayla in place. Her black dress clung to her perfect curves, her face as flawless as even that of Lillian. She walked toward Kayla, each step of her heels making a loud click against the floor. And she came up to Kayla, stopping only an inch away.
Her hand brushed against Kayla’s cheek, her nail scratching along her chin and drawing just a drop of blood. She licked the blood, and Kayla thought this dream seemed all too real. Incredibly too real.
“It’s real,” she whispered in Kayla’s ear, licking along her earlobe. She pulled away and looked deep into Kayla’s eyes. “You think this is a dream? It’s real, lovely. And you took my husband. So I’m going to take yours.” She leaned in closer and closer, her lips only a centimeter away from Kayla’s. She could feel the woman’s breath.
“And when I take your husband, you’ll be my new bride. And we can run the lands together with Azzaan.” She leaned in to kiss Kayla.
