Wraith King

by Jack Porter

  I shrugged. “Why? I’m eager to get this over with. Like you said, this could be our chance to take out the Wraith King once and for all.”

  The succubus scoffed, and I remembered what she’d said about how the Wraith King traveled. Had she told Nya? When Nya looked over at her, Ilana said nothing.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” I continued. “I’m likely to shit my pants tomorrow.”

  Nya smiled. “You wouldn’t be the first one to do that in battle. Stick with Ilana and me. We will keep you safe. And don’t forget that whip. If you can make it cast fire again, do so.”

  As yet, I hadn’t been able to make flames appear on the whip. Anyway, what was leather against swords and arrows? Arrows that would pierce through the leather protecting my chest, arms, and legs. I wished I’d been fitted with proper armor, but there hadn’t been time.

  Oh well. If I was going to die, then so be it. As long as I didn’t make a fool of myself and died somewhat honorably. Thinking of myself this way was new for me, and I was surprised at how natural it had already become.

  This place was getting to me. I needed to go home as soon as possible.

  I looked at Ilana, who seemed to know once again what I was thinking. And I remembered my promise to her last night. Staying alive would mean she didn’t have to go back to the Wraith King. And tomorrow, if I died, she could be captured once more.

  And if I went home, what would happen to her then?

  I smiled uneasily and laid down, trying to find the most comfortable bit of rock on which to get some rest. Ilana snuggled next to me, her breath on my face, one set of horns pressed against my forehead, her hands wrapped in mine. Last night had been wonderful, and we’d spent most of it having sex even though we knew today would be long. What we hadn’t known was that the battle would come so quickly. I longed to touch her again but contented myself with running a free hand over her body and resting it on her waist.

  And I considered my motives. If the Wraith King could be killed, perhaps my goal of reaching the portal wouldn’t be so difficult. While his forces were in an uproar, I could figure out a way to get through the portal, right?

  Except I had no idea how the damn thing worked. If he controlled it, would it close when he died?

  That thought nearly made me piss my pants.

  But Nya hadn’t mentioned it, and she seemed to know what she was doing. I found that I trusted her despite not knowing her for very long. And I trusted Ilana, as well. Maybe it was foolish. Maybe my cock was leading me rather than my brain, but I didn’t think so. And in a world where I knew little about the magic and the politics and the culture, my best bet was to make sure these two remained allies.

  Not that I wanted them to be anything else. The breeze blew, wafting Ilana’s sexy scent all over me, and I smiled. For now, I felt like I was on the right course.

  With that settled in my mind, my exhaustion took over, and I slept despite the rocky ground, heat, and other thoughts of death. I woke to cough. Red light barely touched the sky, and the smoke was thicker than ever. The succubus was staring at me, in the same position she had been when I’d fallen asleep.

  “Did you sleep at all?” I asked.

  “I don’t need as much as you,” she whispered.

  Coughing again, I sat up, trying to get a lungful of hot air. When the day grew no brighter, I wondered if this was a much light as we would get. And if it was because the Wraith King was getting closer, or because of some other weird weather in this world.

  Either way, it wouldn’t be good conditions for a battle. At least not for me. I knew that the Dark Elves could see in the darkness, but would the ash hinder them?

  Suddenly, the ground felt too hard to sit on any longer, and I rose, double-checking that my whip, sword, and dagger were in their correct places.

  Silently as the dead, Nya appeared at my side. “Now, we wait.”

  I felt like this was happening too fast, and yet I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting here all day with nothing to do but worry about death. “What else are we likely to face besides wraiths?” I asked.

  Nya scanned the red horizon. “Those will be the bulk of his guard, but I’ve heard he keeps a couple of wyrms with him at all times. And then there are the Hellhounds.”

  “Wyrms and Hellhounds. Are they as bad as they sound?”

  “I imagine they are worse. The wyrms can fly and breathe fire and are bigger than any other monsters of Hell. The Hellhounds, though, are more vicious than the worst wolves. They will tear an elf or man to pieces as he screams.” Nya turned toward me, and she looked radiant as ever, as if she had not just spent the night on this side of the rock but in a soft feather bed. “I have a favor to ask of you, Jon.”

  “Yes?” I frowned, not liking her tone.

  “My guard will remain with me, but should we fail today, and if I am not killed in battle, make sure the wraiths don’t take me again.”

  “You mean you want me to kill you.”

  She smiled grimly. “I told you that here in Hell we celebrate Death Days. I am not afraid of dying. In some ways, I’ve been prepared for it since I was born.”

  I took a deep breath. “Chances are I will die long before you do.” I tried to smile, to bring some humor to the somber conversation. “I’m not this chosen one you hope for, remember? I’m just Jon from New Jersey.”

  Nya gripped my arm. “But if you are alive, and we have lost, I want you to kill me. It would be better than becoming the Wraith King’s slave.”

  Swallowing, I nodded my assent.

  “Swear it,” she insisted.

  “I swear it.”

  29

  Fuck. I had now sworn promises to the succubus and the elf. Oaths I didn’t know if I could keep. But somehow these females made me say and do things I hadn’t contemplated before.

  To be fair, I’d never been in life or death situations before. Not until that night on the bridge.

  One thing was certain, neither the elf nor the succubus wanted to be slaves to the Wraith King. I could understand that. No one should have to be a slave.

  But to prefer death? As we waited and the clouds of ash grew more ominous, I wondered which one I would prefer if given a choice.

  I didn’t have long to ponder anything, for Nya received a signal sooner than she had anticipated. No horns blew, but soon everyone down the line of elven archers knew that the Wraith King and his horde approached.

  I felt a bit sick, but put my hands on my weapons and steeled myself against the tide of fear that was threatening to overtake me.

  We hid as best we could, and the elves seemed to melt into the rock. When I looked up and down the line, I could barely spot them among the loose stones.

  “It’s like the elves are chameleons,” I whispered to Nya, who was laying on the ground beside me.

  “What are chameleons?” she asked.

  “Lizards that can change colors to match their surroundings.”

  “You think the elves look like lizards?”

  Ilana snorted. She was lying on my other side.

  “What?” I asked her. “It was an analogy.”

  “You are strange, human,” Nya said.

  Ilana nodded in agreement.

  “What did I say?” I asked.

  “We kill and eat lizards in Hell,” the succubus explained. “It wasn’t a very nice thing to say.”

  “My apologies.” I laughed quietly and focused on the enemy who had just appeared at the far end of the narrow valley. Squinting through the smoke, I saw that they were as black as the rocks of the Black Mountains. And there were many of them. The sight sent a chill down my spine, but I gripped my sword tighter and continued watching, waiting for Nya to give the attack signal.

  A flock of crows flew ahead of the army, their whirling and cawing unnerving. “What are they doing?” I asked.

  “Those are the Wraith King’s scouts,” Nya replied. “And they like to pick the bones of the bodies after the battle.”

  Beside
me, Ilana shuddered.

  The flock grew closer. “Won’t the enemy see us?” I asked.

  “Eventually, yes. But I am counting on our magic working for a bit longer to hide us. When we move, though, the spell will be broken. Our only chance is to take out as many wraiths as we can before they scurry up the mountains after us.”

  Now, I shuddered, too. “Then let’s take all those sons of bitches out,” I said. “So we don’t have to worry.”

  Nya smiled. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

  The enemy was entering the valley in two columns. I craned my neck to see if there were any wyrms with them. So far, all I had spotted were wraiths. The crows grew closer to our hiding spot, circling below us and then flying up overhead. I kept as still as possible.

  The Wraith King rode in the middle of the host. He wasn’t hard to spot riding atop a monstrous hound, which from this distance looked completely black with patches of fur missing. The animal’s teeth stayed bared, and I imagined I could hear its snarls even from far away.

  “A Hellhound,” Ilana said, her eyes wide.

  The King looked like an enormous man, but he wore a crown of fire on his head that didn’t seem to burn him or his black cloak. His face was hidden by a hood, and his hands were covered by black gauntlets.

  His guard was made up of wraiths, Hellhounds, and more sorcerers dressed in red. The wraiths and Hellhounds walked, but the sorcerers rode horses that looked as if they were nothing but black skeletons with flesh hanging off them.

  “No wyrms,” I said with relief.

  “Not a good sign,” Nya said. “My original report said he had them. And he’s never been known to travel without their protection.”

  She held up her fist. Along the line, I saw her captains repeat the gesture. Her other hand gripped the bow, her fingers moving deftly into place. “Remember your oath to me, Jon,” she said.

  Then she dropped her fist. So did the other captains, and a volley of deadly arrows loosed toward the host below. They found their marks, and the slew of wraiths fell on the road. From the middle of the line, the Wraith King let out a roar that sent rocks tumbling down toward the road below. And then the remainder of the wraiths began scrambling up the mountain toward the elves.

  30

  At Nya’s command, the elves released volley after volley upon their enemies. Nya herself continued firing until she had run out of arrows. Wraith after wraith fell under the onslaught, but more continued coming. With the Wraith King’s fury behind them, the creatures did not falter but climbed over their fallen comrades to reach the elves. As more and more elves ran out of arrows, they drew their swords or readied spears.

  A group of wraiths headed for us, and since we were no longer hidden by the elves’ magic, they had no trouble spotting us among the rocks. I stood with my sword in my hand, but Nya shook her head. “Your whip!”

  Inwardly, I shook my head, not knowing what she expected me to do. I couldn’t make it burst into flames again.

  The wraiths drew closer and closer until they no longer looked like a black carpet running up the side of the mountain, but like individual creatures. I sheathed my sword and unwound my whip. The succubus rose in the air with a dagger in each hand, her eyes glowing red. She was terrifying, actually.

  The wraiths reached us like a black wave, and still, some fell to the final arrows.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  I moved away from Nya and pulled back my whip. A wraith charged straight for me, lifting a long curving sword. I cracked the whip and missed. The wraith’s first swing nearly took my head off, but I managed to duck, feeling the air slice over my hair.

  Unsheathing my dagger with my left hand, I jabbed upward into the wraith’s chest as it raised its sword for another blow. The creature staggered back, and I yanked out the dagger to drive it into the wraith’s neck.

  There was no time for anything else because more wraiths ran for me. Shoving the gurgling wraith away from me with my boot, I cracked the whip again, and this time it sliced across an enemy’s face, splitting it open. The whip was working, but there were too many, and there was no way I would take them out with only a whip. And there was definitely no fire.

  Wishing I knew how to make it flame, I hit two more wraiths before being forced to draw my sword. The enemy was surging forward, and the whip would be no use in such close quarters. I swung clumsily at the nearest creatures, who charged for Nya. They seemed more attracted to her, and I didn’t blame them.

  She was a powerful force on the mountain, slaying her enemies as if they were nothing but weeds to be cut down. Her blond braids whipped around her face as she whirled and slashed, and her armor was coated in black blood. But even she could be overwhelmed, and I ran to aid her, attacking her enemies from behind, thrusting my sword into where I supposed their spines were, or swinging at their necks.

  It was a shock the first time I decapitated one, but I didn’t have time to congratulate myself before two more took its place and turned their attention on me.

  I charged them. The first wraith parried my blow while the second wraith attacked. I felt hot pain go across my side as he barely missed a killing blow. My advantage was that I was bigger than these creatures, and seemed to outweigh them considerably. I pushed the first wraith away and met the second blow for blow.

  And then Ilana was there beside me, looking scary and terrible, and also incredibly beautiful, as she evaded her enemies’ blows and sank her daggers into their necks or eyes or wherever else they would land.

  I killed my wraith, caught Ilana’s eye, and we nodded at each other before standing back to back for the fight.

  The onslaught of wraiths was thinning, however, and I took a moment to breathe. Nya cut down the last two foes attacking her and waded through bodies to get to us. The air grew thicker, and my heavy breathing only caused me to cough more frequently. If the ash didn’t clear soon, I would be useless.

  “You’re injured,” the succubus said, looking at the blood on my side.

  I looked down to where the wraith had slashed me. It looked ugly but mostly superficial. It still burned like hell, but I could move around okay. “I’ll be all right,” I said. Ilana’s concern was touching, though, and I took a moment to look into her red eyes. Then, I scanned her body for injury, but she seemed fine. “You?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I am uninjured.”

  “Stay vigilant,” Nya said sharply.

  Syn joined us then, breathing heavily. Blood streamed down her left arm, but she otherwise seemed able to continue fighting.

  I scanned the hazy air, looking for more wraiths, but we seemed to have routed most of them. All along the mountain, elves were either dead or fighting the remains of the first attack.

  For it was the first attack. I could barely make out the Wraith King still guarded by his sorcerers. We were no closer to reaching him than we had been at the beginning of the battle. But something was missing.

  “Where are the Hellhounds?” I asked.

  “Look!” Ilana said, pointing to our right. The Hellhounds were attacking now, running around the remaining wraiths to go for the elves. The hounds were enormous, and as they jumped on one elf, its head was taller than hers. She went down under the creature’s claws and teeth. I shuddered, watching to make sure one of those things didn’t creep up on us.

  But we soon had something bigger to worry about.

  The wyrms had appeared at last. And one of them was slithering its way right for us.

  I gulped and looked up at it, at the black armored scales glistening on its body. At the bat-like, leathery wings expanding and blocking out the light above us. And most terribly, at the rows of teeth exposed in its vicious head. It opened its jaws and roared, but instead of sounding like a lion or like I would have imagined a dinosaur sounded, the wyrm’s battle cry was more like a shriek of terror.

  Or maybe that was me.

  I held up my sword, certain we were going to die. The giant monster reared back, coiling
up off the ground and taking a great puff of air.

  “Watch out for the wyrmfire!” Nya yelled.

  We dove out of the way as a great blast of fire and heat rolled over where we had been standing. My clothing grew hot, and I thought I would melt inside my leather. Then the wyrmfire disappeared, and the monster lunged for us with its jaws. They snapped over the air, but it barely missed as we all dove around it. Nya rushed the wyrm as it came within reach, driving her sword toward the beast’s eye. The wyrm pivoted, and Nya missed, her blade glancing off its protective scales.

  Syn’s blow missed as well, and when the creature jerked, she flew backward, toppling head over heels down the rocky slope.

  The wyrm reared up again, ready for another blast. And then I saw something beneath it. Something on the ground, flaming as if it were a small serpent.

  My whip. The wyrmfire had set it alight once more.

  31

  I lunged for it, my fingers closing over the handle as I felt hands on me.

  Ilana had grabbed me to pull me out of the flames’ path once again, and this time, she flew us farther away. I felt my feet lift off the ground momentarily before being set back down.

  Nya and Syn were nowhere to be found, but I didn’t see any charred bodies once the flames disappeared, only glowing-hot rock.

  “I have an idea,” I shouted over the sounds of the wyrm’s shrieks. I looked at Ilana. “Can you fly me up there?”

  “Are you insane?” she asked.

  “Probably!” I held the flaming whip up. The leather had not burned, which told me that whatever magic it was imbued with, it could even stand up to wyrmfire.

  The succubus seemed to understand, and she moved behind me, grabbing me around the waist and lifting me as if I were nothing but a child. Once more, I had the unsettling feeling of being lifted off the ground, and then we were soaring up even higher.

  Every beat of Ilana’s wings brought us up and down in the air, and hoping I didn’t accidentally hit her with the whip, I cracked it low. It still fell short of the wyrm, though, and only sought to bring its attention to us.