by R A Oakes
Zenkak and his wolfhounds were bounding around terrorizing Lord Daegal’s men, and the wolfhounds were having more success attacking the 100 warriors that Crystal had turned back to normal. These men had slammed into Eldwyn’s clear-crystal wall but hadn’t put as much strain on it since they weren’t as heavy as their black crystal counterparts. Being more fragile, however, they’d fared poorly when their human bodies flew over the wall and crashed against the sharp black shards covering the valley floor.
Upon hitting the ground, many of the humans had been cut to pieces. And the smell of so much blood was driving the wolfhounds wild. They sank their teeth into human flesh flailing the bodies back and forth through the air. A few of the beasts were so consumed by the taste of blood that they couldn’t distinguish between those who were alive and those who weren’t. Some of the men being thrashed about were already dead. Normally, Zenkak wouldn’t have allowed such undisciplined behavior, but he felt that his wolfhounds had earned their pleasure.
“Enjoy yourselves!” the leader of the pack shouted. But he, himself, stuck to business. All the humans had been stunned upon slamming into the wall, but many were still alive. However, Zenkak began lessening their numbers. Grabbing one after another by the throat, he snapped their necks with a flick of his own powerful neck.
The leader of the pack was gratified to see that further down the line, Lothar, his second-in-command, was following his example. Zenkak stopped and indulged himself for a moment listening to the sound of men screaming before Lothar bit down hard on their throats and silenced them.
As Chen’s wolfhounds were putting an end to human resistance, Jewel and Flame had been focusing on men made of black crystal. There had been 100 men still in the form of fire-breathing warriors when they crashed into Eldwyn’s invisible wall. By contrast, there were only 30 fighters on Chen’s side, and they were outnumbered three to one. Hoping to even the odds, Flame became inventive.
Flame, mounted on a fiery warhorse, had a duplicate of herself leap up behind her. The duplicate wrapped her arms around the other woman of fire and put her head against the other’s back. This created quite a bonfire, but it did something more. It turned them into a humanoid flamethrower.
Flame reached out and fire shot out of her hand.
Focusing on one black crystal warrior at a time, she waited until the crystal became so super heated that it began melting. As soon as one began disintegrating, she moved on to the next. Sometimes, a black crystal warrior would only melt around the head and shoulders before beginning to cool. This left what appeared to be a row of melted statues standing in a field of broken shards.
Not wanting to be outdone, Jewel rode up to a duplicate of Flame and said, “Jump up and ride with me!”
Flame knew that Jewel was up to something and leapt onto the ruby-red woman’s warhorse, sitting behind her. Since talking to one woman made of hot, burning coals was the same as talking to all of them, everyone got the message at once. Some of the Flames hadn’t taken partners to become fire throwers, and so several paired up with several Jewels. The results were startling!
As each Flame wrapped her arms around the Jewel in front of her and pressed her body up against the ruby-red woman, laser beams shot out of Jewel’s eyes. Each pair of women targeted a different black crystal warrior, and the beams began burning through them. The Jewels aimed for the legs of the black crystal warriors cutting them off at the knees.
However, a number of black crystal warriors had shaken off their surprise at having been thrown over Eldwyn’s wall and began mounting horses that were uninjured. They were ordinary horses not made of black crystal, but the fire-breathing warriors riding them were now mounted once more and dangerous.
Chen and Andrina’s women had done a remarkable job of destroying Lord Daegal’s black crystal warriors who’d survived Eldwyn’s surprise, but at first count, it looked like at least 25 were remounted and ready for battle. Extremely angry over having been duped, the black crystal warriors licked their wounded pride and charged at Flame, Jewel, Corson, Andrina, Gwendylln and Chen.
Chen dug her heels into her black stallion and tried to leap forward to meet the challenge but her horse didn’t move. In a moment, the black leather panther found that she couldn’t move either.
“Crystal what is going on?” Chen shouted.
“Oh, I’m saving you for a little surprise of my own,” the dark sword said laughing, her tone of voice brimming with evil mischief.
Chen looked over at her uncle who’d been immobilized by Crystal earlier. Lord Daegal looked at his niece and the force of the hate pouring out of him shocked her. They had never gotten along, but this whole battle in Crystal Valley was his fault not hers. He came to her. She hadn’t gone to him. But that’s the way it had always been. This battle was just one more assault the warlord was making upon her. And the others in her bedchamber had been equally abusive, if not more so.
The black leather panther remembered back to when her father, Ritalso, had first turned up missing. Chen didn’t know Lord Daegal had imprisoned him. As a young girl, Chen had felt frightened and alone, and thought he’d abandoned her.
Back then, Andrina hadn’t as yet suggested to Lord Daegal that he form a cadre of 100 young women Chen’s own age to serve as a personal guard for her. Thus the young girl had no one to whom she could turn, except for her loving uncle who sought to comfort her.
Lord Daegal had lied convincingly about his brother. He cast Ritalso’s motives in as dark a light as possible. Chen had been both stunned and confused.
Many a night she’d fallen to sleep only after Lord Daegal sat on the edge of her bed providing almost constant reassurance that he would not abandon her as well. He had been gentle with her lightly stroking her hair until she fell asleep.
The gentleness ended when Crystal, in a particularly evil mood, suggested that he take his reassurance a step further. At the dark sword’s insistence, and wanting to turn Chen into the type of scarred, shattered, angry young woman that Crystal would find appealing, Lord Daegal began visiting Chen’s bedchamber with more than kindness in mind. He proceeded to terrify the teenage girl. This went on night after night for what seemed like an eternity. At first, fear had shocked her into passivity. But eventually fear turned to hatred. Then she rebelled.
In secret, Chen had enlisted the aid of her uncle’s warriors to teach her to fight. One night she’d raked a knife across her uncle’s ribs as a warning. He returned with less frequency after that, but when he got drunk nothing short of killing Lord Daegal would have stopped him. She wasn’t willing to murder him, though she’d done it many times in her imagination. If he were dead, she’d be totally alone. At least this way, she was the niece of the ruler of the castle. If she killed him, she’d be defenseless. So on some nights, when nothing would dissuade him, not even a few wicked thrusts with a knife, she would give in to his needs.
With a great effort, Chen pulled herself back to the present. As the black leather panther continued watching her uncle, the hate filling his eyes was not unexpected, but the depth and intensity of it was shocking.
“I want Crystal Castle, and I want the dark sword.
They’re mine! Not yours, mine!” Lord Daegal shouted, his rage exploding.
Having a more immediate concern, Chen forced herself to tear her eyes away from Lord Daegal. Her warrior women and 25 of her uncle’s fire-breathing, black crystal warriors were closing in on each other, the men being mounted on horses that Crystal had turned back to normal.
Many warhorses had suffered serious injuries when crashing into Eldwyn’s invisible wall, but these animals had fared better than the others having no broken bones. These warhorses were shaken up and badly bruised but could still be ridden.
Being held firmly in the grip of Crystal’s force field, Chen could do little more but watch as the two opposing sides sped towards each other. When the combatants were thirty yards apart, the Flames who’d doubled up began unleashing hell on the approaching black cr
ystal warriors shooting streams of fire with incredible intensity. Also, pairs of Jewels and Flames began shooting laser beams at the enemy with feminine ferocity. That the men even thought they had a chance against an equal number of angry women showed how naïve they were.
The female flamethrowers were leaving behind a mangled collection of black crystal statues as partially melted warriors fell from their horses. The women who hadn’t doubled up were swinging their maces with a vengeance. Body parts of shattered, black crystal warriors were flying everywhere. Broken limbs and chunks of crystal were falling to the ground piling on top of shards already covering the valley floor. Whether the black crystal warriors were melted or shattered, dead was dead.
To avoid being burned to a cinder, Andrina, Gwendylln and Corson had been riding behind the Jewels and Flames. A few black crystal warriors had broken through the maelstrom of fire, laser beams and maces only to find three female humans eager for battle. Even without special powers, these women were dangerous, and they made quick work of the fire-breathing warriors. The women snuffed them out.
Soon, the fighting was over, and the black crystal warriors were destroyed. Vanquished. Slaughtered. Undone. Beaten by a small group of proud, determined women.
All that was left of Lord Daegal’s attacking forces were a few humans that Zenkak’s wolfhounds had not, as of yet, finished off. As the ranks of human warriors had diminished, Zenkak’s wolfhounds became increasingly playful. They were now chasing the few warriors who were left, knocking them down, pawing at them playfully and in general terrifying the men to death.
Looking back towards Jewel, Flame and the others, Zenkak noticed that Chen wasn’t moving. Everyone else around her was, but not his master. The hairs went up on the back of his neck, and he raced to her aid.
Andrina, the first to notice Zenkak, said, “Chen, your lead wolfhound is heading this way, and he looks pretty upset.”
“I’d be surprised if he wasn’t,” Chen said watching the shaggy beast charging towards her. “Crystal, if you hurt him, you and I are going to have a problem.”
“Me, injure a faithful animal like Zenkak? How could you even think I’d do something that despicable?” Crystal said laughing.
“I’m serious.”
“Okay, fine, have it your way. Sometimes, you’re no fun at all.”
“You’re sick.”
“No kidding? Wait till you see what I’ve dreamed up for you. Maybe you ought to think of yourself more and your faithful pet a little less.”
When Zenkak reached Chen, he sprang up and bounced off the force field surrounding his master. Charging at it again, Crystal allowed the wolfhound to penetrate the invisible shield, and then the dark sword held him in place with it. Now Lord Daegal, Chen and Zenkak were all imprisoned and immobile.
“Flame, please remove the Crystal Medallion from Lord Daegal’s neck,” the dark sword said.
As one of the Flames dismounted, Crystal freed the warlord’s head, neck and upper chest from the force field, though Lord Daegal’s arms were still pinned to his sides. He was so furious that the 15-foot tall, black crystal warlord’s face became red hot, and he spit smoke and fire with an alarming show of temper.
Flame had never known a man before who could do that, and it sort of turned her on. Walking over to Lord Daegal, she put her own pyrotechnic hand behind his head, placing her flame-engulfed lips in front of the warlord’s mouth and opened hers to receive the pleasure of his heat.
At first, Flame was mostly yellow and orange, but the fire shooting out of Lord Daegal’s mouth was red hot! As their lips touched, the warlord’s burning intensity poured into her face and neck turning them a mixture of red, yellow and orange, but predominantly red! Gradually the red flames made their way down her back.
“If you stay a fire-breathing, black crystal hunk, we are definitely going to have to get better acquainted,” Flame said when she pulled away.
Smiling, she looked over to Jewel and said, “Why am I always drawn to men who aren’t good for me?”
“Have you ever met a man who was any good?” Jewel laughed.
“Not really,” Flame lamented.
“Well, there is Pensgraft,” Jewel said thoughtfully. “He’s strong, handsome, caring, bold, sensitive, philosophical and intelligent.”
“He’s too smart to get involved with girls like us,” Flame pointed out.
“There’s one woman who might be able to entice him. I’ve noticed him glancing more than once at a certain dangerous woman clad totally in skintight black leather,” Jewel said.
All the Jewels and Flames nodded in agreement.
Gwendylln and Corson stayed out of it. The black leather panther didn’t like it when anyone teased her. Andrina, for her part, nodded approvingly and kept this bit of information for future reference. Always the strategist, she wasn’t beyond playing matchmaker.
Chen just remained silent, but she brooded over the invasion of her privacy.
“Hello?” Crystal said. “Does anyone want to stick to the business at hand?”
“One last thing. How old do you figure Pensgraft is?” Flame asked.
“Well, I heard Pensgraft say he was 18 when his daughter was born. That could put him in his mid 30s, and Chen’s in her early 20s,” Jewel said.
“Hmm, sounds like a fit to me,” Flame said teasing the black leather panther a little, but being more serious than not.
Chen held her peace but controlling her temper took an effort. Had she not been bound by a force field, her hand would definitely have been on the hilt of her sword as a warning for everyone to back off. Chen was well aware that Flame and Jewel were taking advantage of her being immobile in order to bring up the subject.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if Chen hadn’t been thinking the same thing. Pensgraft was the only man who ever made her feel safe and wanted. It was frightening for Chen to find herself wanting someone. Gwendylln and Corson she was used to having as friends but allowing herself to be open even to Pensgraft was unnerving. It made her feel vulnerable. It gave her a panic attack just thinking about it.
Andrina watched the emotions moving across Chen’s face and came to a conclusion. “That young woman’s in love!” The matchmaker decided she would begin laying the groundwork for her “daughter” to conquer Pensgraft.
“People! People! Your attention please!” Crystal said loudly. “Before we go any further, Flame do you think you could get around to doing what I sent you over there for?”
“More kissing?” Flame teased knowing full well what Crystal wanted.
“No, the Crystal Medallion!”
“Oh, excuse me,” Flame smiled as she slipped the thin chain with the circular medallion over Lord Daegal’s head.
Flame held up the prize, not quite knowing what she held in her hand. No one really knew, except for Crystal, who now released Chen from the force field. Crystal was hanging from a belt around the black leather panther’s waist and had been inside the force field with her. But Chen was free once more as Flame brought over the Crystal Medallion.
“Chen, this is my gift to you,” Crystal said.
“I’ve always admired the medallion’s beauty,” Chen admitted. “But I never thought I’d be the one wearing it.”
“Well, it’s yours now.”
Having no way of knowing what was coming next, Chen slightly bent her neck forward, and Flame slid the chain over her head. The medallion was made of black crystal and had a band of white gold encircling it.
“Yes!” Crystal almost screamed as the dark sword, Chen and the Crystal Medallion were finally together.
Crystal had yearned for this day since the black leather panther was barely in her teens. The dark sword had seen the outrageous displays of violent temper that leapt from Chen with almost no provocation. And after knowing her just a few days, Crystal had fallen in love, a warped, twisted love.
The dark sword had encouraged Glenitant and, through her, Lord Daegal to intercede in Chen’s upbringing. But Cr
ystal was careful to keep hidden in her heart the depth of her love for the young girl. Had Glenitant known that Crystal was plotting to overthrow her, the old crone would have killed Chen.
But now Crystal had what she wanted, and unbeknownst to Chen, the dark sword had just taken her prisoner. Or so Crystal thought.
“Everyone stand back. I’m releasing Lord Daegal,” Crystal said, and the warlord immediately felt the force field letting go of him. Lord Daegal was so angry that he drew his sword as fire, smoke and ash spewed out of every pore of his body.
“You used me!” the warlord shouted at the dark sword. “You were after the Crystal Medallion all along!”
“Really, you figured that out for yourself, did you? Anyway, why should you have the medallion and not Chen? She’s the rightful heir.”
“If she’s dead, there will be no heir!” Lord Daegal bellowed.
“Okay, if you can kill her, you can have both me and the medallion.”
When Chen heard that, it sounded all too familiar. “Didn’t you pull the same thing with Aunt Glenitant? You made me fight her to get you.”
“Yes, and now, I’m letting you fight to keep me. Plus, this gives you a chance to get back at Lord Daegal for kidnapping your father and for the way he comforted you over your loss. When he came to your bedchamber, Lord Daegal went too far, too often, don’t you think?”
Chen looked at her uncle and hate welled up inside her.
“Do you expect Chen to fight this black crystal, fire-breathing monster all by herself and with just a mace?” Andrina asked the dark sword.
“No, I’ll level the playing field,” Crystal said excitement filling her voice.
A “dark light” began radiating from Crystal. Suddenly it seemed as if a shroud was being pulled over all of them. Stars disappeared from the sky, and the light from the 14 Flames began to dim. Chen could sense the presence of something, or someone, invading the area around her. Within the nighttime darkness, there now seemed to be a deeper darkness illuminating pathways within everyone’s consciousness creating an increased awareness of harsh thoughts and feelings. Negative possibilities and consequences seemed so much more real and inevitable, almost like the existence of a diabolical evil was a certainty.
