sky flashes blindingly. Her skin returns to its undead state, and her eyes turn red. Gildar is shocked. His stomach falls past his feet. Before he has a chance to react she reaches behind him and pulls his long sword out of its sheath. She thrusts it into his chest, into the very heart that is breaking and says mockingly, “I love you too, darling,” as he falls to the ground.
-
Malzahar lowers his shroud to reveal his human face. “You must be the filthy goblin’s that found Dorwin’s Gold, and killed my cousin at the farm in Elnar, and now you shall pay!” He hovers two meters in the air.
“We spent months looking for that treasure, and it is rightfully ours to keep. Your cousin was a lousy thief and deserved to die,” Finneus shrieks. He wasn’t going to let this human get the best of him, not after all that he’s been through. He pulls an arrow out of his quiver, and takes aim.
Zero knows that he is no match for the necromancer, but he also knows that he can re-kill the wife, so that she can no longer cause any more pain to his newfound crew. He lunges at her, past Gildar, whose body lies bleeding on the ground. He tackles her to the ground and strikes her across the neck with Gildar’s sword. Beheaded, she disintegrates, just like the skeletons before.
Finneus releases an arrow. Malzahar disappears just a moment before the enchanted arrow would have made contact. The necromancer appears next to the slender goblin, and blasts him with a stream of magic. The blast sends Finneus into some nearby bushes a few meters away. Malzahar turns to Zero and says, “You were fools to seek out a necromancer, and I shall have your souls.”
Zero see’s Finneus knocking another arrow in the bushes behind Malzahar. He knows that he needs to keep the necromancer distracted so Finneus can take the shot. He stands up to Malzahar, stating firmly, “No sir, you shan’t have mine!” Malzahar laughs, leaning toward the inferior wizard. He inhales, choosing the words he is about to utter, when…
“Or mine,” Finneus screeches from the bush, his bow drawn proudly. Zero zaps the arrow with magic, setting it ablaze as it is released. Malzahar turns toward the archer, just in time for it to sink into his neck. It severs the leather necklace that held his amulet. He doesn’t notice at first. His oversized cloak turns to flames. “Gahhh,” he gargles in pain. He tries to put it out with his magic, but cannot concentrate enough to due to his newly inflicted wound. He writhes around on the ground, next to Gildar’s now-lifeless corpse. He tries again to put out the flames, and realizes his power is depleted. He feels around his neck to find no amulet. He knows what must have happened. Panicked, he calls out with the last bit of breath he can muster, “Danteska!”
Zero picks the amulet up off of the ground. He squeezes it in his hand, and feels a sudden surge of power pulsate through his body. It is a feeling of raw power, more extreme than he could ever have dreamed. He tilts his head back to the sky, and reaches his arms out. He charges up a spell. Colors swirl and spin while he chants his indecipherable language. He rises into the air. Continuing to build his spell, he notices something in the distance. Something seems to be flying at him at incredible speed. He has to make a choice. Shoot whatever is in the distance, or finish off Malzahar.
He decides to shoot his spell at whatever is coming at him in the distance. “Malzahar is basically
dead anyways,” he thinks. Satisfied with the power he has built, he discharges it at the beast. It swoops down, out of the way. The long, scaly, winged beast comes to a halt above its master, Malzahar.
“They’re real,” Finneus can’t help but say, standing in awe.
“They’ve always been real,” replies Zero. He has seen dragons before, and knows what is about to happen. He leaps in between Finneus and his brother and builds up a quick spell and releases it, creating bubble of sorts, to shield himself, Finneus, and Gildar.
The dragon roars, spewing fire at the trio. Zero holds out both of his arms, flowing magic to keep the bubble thick. The dragon distributes another blast of fire to the area, setting fire to the area outside the bubble. It lifts Malzahar up off the ground with its tail and flings it up onto its back, and with one more blast of fire, it soars back into the sky, out into what could be forever.
Zero and Finneus sigh and look at each other. Finneus looks at his brother, covered in blood.
“You have to bring him back, my brother.”
“I can try, but we must exit these god-forsaken woods first. Take my hand.”
Finneus takes Zero’s hand, and with his other, he takes Gildar’s. Zero mumbles a phrase and they are off. They fly high into the sky and above the gargantuan trees. The dragon and necromancer are nowhere in sight. It takes them only minutes to cover the same ground that had taken them weeks to traverse on foot.
-
They arrive in the woods near Torythe, and take shelter in the cavern that Zero had taken shelter in previously, when he was staying when he ran into the brothers the second time they met. Finneus lays Gildar’s body on the ground while Zero prepares himself for a spell that he has never attempted. He is nervous. He had never wanted to use an amulet to increase his power, but now that he has tasted it there was no turning back.
He starts chanting, and an aura forms in his claws. It steadily grows larger, turning into a cloud. He rises above the ground, holding his arms out as they fill with magic. Gildar’s body begins to float. Zero fires all the magic he can possibly gain at his friend. He feels it flowing out of him, into the beat that threatened to kill him twice, the beast that has become his brother.
Gildar’s eyes open as he springs back to life. His wounds close as he descends to the ground.
Finneus’ face turns red with delight.
“Brother, you live,” he states.
“Yes,” Gildar retorts. “What happened? Did we lose her?”
Finneus and Zero hold their heads to the ground, as does Gildar as his memory becomes clearer. He asks questions as to place the events in the proper order, and decides to lie down while he processes the information. He soon wakes up. He stands and proclaims, “I know what we must do, we must use our treasure to create an army, and wage a war against the humans.”
Finneus stands up. “I am with you my brother.”
Zero stands up as well. “As am I, my brothers.”
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Dark Brigade: Dorwin's Gold Page 3
