Soldiers of Legend

by Stephen L. Nowland

  Dozens should have perished in the flames, but for the influence of Nellise, who used her prayers to protect the defenders. A flash of silver darted past them as Spartan leaped from the ruins of the buildings and shot through the sky to tackle Sayana head-on. His claws slashed away at her spectral armour, tearing up her clothes and drawing blood. She responded with a blast of sonic energy that stunned the small dragon for a moment, allowing her to break free of his grasp.

  When he recovered, Spartan dove directly at her once again, a blast of lightning engulfing Sayana right before he impacted, sending them both wheeling through the air. The dragon latched onto her with his jaws and bit down hard, causing her to scream as they plummeted towards the wall, his claws tearing at her as they fell.

  He flared his wings at the last moment and arrested his fall, just before setting down on the broken stone of the wall. Sayana lifted her arms and two massive pieces of rock lifted from the wreckage, slamming into the dragon from both sides. He staggered backwards, a rib gruesomely emerging from his bloodied chest.

  Sayana stood up, her torn clothes revealing the full extent of her injuries. Blood flowed freely from dozens of wounds, and the glow of her tattoos was plainly visible. Incredulously, Aiden could see the flow ebbing, and some of the minor wounds beginning to heal over. She raised her arms and drew in the surrounding light, focusing her power for another massive invocation. The wounded dragon knew what was coming and leaped into the sky.

  The familiar sight of the green energy shot out from her hand once more as light returned to the area, and although Spartan had moved quickly, it wasn’t fast enough to avoid the brunt of the impact. His left wing vanished and he bellowed a mournful howl as he plummeted to the courtyard, leaving a trail of smoke and blood as he crashed to the earth.

  Sayana stood unsteadily, looking down at her fallen enemy briefly before turning back to the fight, only to find Robert Black standing in her way, his weapon drawn and a cold, uncompromising look on his face.

  “A lot of good people have died because of you, and I don’t know if you’re still Sayana or not, but this end—” he began, but was interrupted as she sent a bolt of lightning towards him. Robert had anticipated the attack however, and brought his auldsteel shield up to protect him. The bolt actually deflected off the shield completely, blasting harmlessly into the air. Robert spun around and brought his sword in high, slicing down towards the unsuspecting woman. A shield of force intersected the cut, however, and two lashes of flame sprung to life in her hands, with which she lashed him.

  “Damn it Terinus, where are you?” Aiden muttered as he continued to watch. More than once, Robert smashed Sayana with his shield, stunning her briefly and giving him the opportunity to finish her off with a quick stab to her unprotected body. But each time, Aiden saw that he hesitated, and with a sinking feeling in his chest he knew Robert had indeed fallen for her and simply couldn’t bring himself to deal the killing blow.

  She sent both of her lashes around his right leg and pulled him from his feet. His defence was down and it gave Sayana the chance to summon enough energy to throw him backwards with telekinetic force. Robert smashed into the battlements and fell on his back, his sword falling over the wall as he struggled to breathe.

  He looked up at Sayana with his one good eye as she walked forward to stand before him. Aiden was about to leap forward to his defence, when he saw tears streaking from her eyes. Somewhere deep inside, she was still Sayana — the person and not the weapon — and it occurred to Aiden she had been forced to watch, unable to stop herself as she killed hundreds of people and beat the man she loved half to death.

  “Since when did you learn how to fight like that?” Robert croaked. “I can still see you’re in there, Sy, somewhere. Now would be a good time to tell that iron bastard to get someone else to do his dirty work. For some reason, I can’t bear the thought of the woman I love being the one to kill me.” His words caused more tears to flow from her face, mixing with the dirt and ash from the fires she has started.

  Before she could unleash whatever killing magic she had planned, the points of two daggers emerged from her midriff along with a fountain of blood. Sayana looked down at the mortal wounds with astonishment, and the light went out of her markings as she slumped to the ground.

  Behind her stood Pacian, forgotten in the ferocity of the fighting, holding his bloodied daggers with shaking hands. His expression was one of horror, and he dropped both weapons to the ground as he fell to his knees.

  “Pacian, I...” Aiden breathed as the full impact of what had just happened hit home.

  “Not again… not again,” Pacian sobbed, and Aiden rushed to his side.

  “You had to do it, Pace,” he whispered to his friend, but he might as well have been talking to a wall. “There wasn’t any other way to stop her.” Pacian continued to mutter to himself quietly, oblivious to Aiden’s presence.

  “He’s the least of our problems,” Robert said from nearby, coughing blood as he spoke. “I need you to signal for a retreat.” Aiden turned to face him, hardly believing what he’d just heard.

  “We can’t give up now, not after so many have sacrificed to get us to this point.”

  “What point is that?” Robert snapped, wincing from the effort. Aiden winced at the sight of him — the mercenary was a mess, covered in blood and burnt flesh after his confrontation with Sayana. “The defence is broken and each moment that passes is paid for with the blood of the men and women down there. Tell them to get out while they can, they’ve done enough. Too many have died already.” His voice broke as he said this, his bloodshot eye drifting over to Sayana’s unmoving body.

  “We need just a little more time for Terinus to get here,” Aiden pleaded. “If he’s fixed the staff, it’ll—”

  “Do what exactly?” Robert coughed. “Hoping the solution is going to appear out of thin air is short-sighted, Aiden. Terinus isn’t coming, mate. Either get everyone out of here, or unleash that secret weapon you’ve been hanging onto all this time and take your shot.”

  Aiden had hoped against hope it wouldn’t come to this, but looking around at his fallen comrades, he couldn’t justify holding back any longer.

  “Are you going to be okay?” Aiden asked as he stood up, the path before him now clear.

  “Probably not,” Robert mumbled. “I’m just going to stay here and keep Sy company for a little while. She’ll get cold up here without me.” Aiden nodded, a tear finding its way down his cheek as he took out his remaining scroll and held it before him.

  He carefully read the obscure language from the parchment, his mind focused purely on the task at hand. As the incantation took hold, the parchment crumbled in his hands and Aiden’s mind was flooded with new information. Tactical knowledge, warfare and fighting techniques filled his memories as centuries of fighting secrets of the long lost acadian battle-masters poured into his mind.

  He noticed Robert was staring up at him, and looking down at his hands, Aiden could see a dozen or more ghostly hands moving along with his. Spirits of the Acadian warriors whose knowledge he was borrowing followed his movements, lending their strength. He drew Salinder in one hand and on an impulse, reached down and picked up Solas Aingeal from the remains of Inquisitor White from nearby.

  A feeling of serenity washed over him, as if he was being held by a loved one and told that everything was going to be okay. The holy blade glowed softly in his hand, its beautifully crafted design a counterpoint to the incredible power of the sword itself. With both of his weapons ready he jumped down to the courtyard, twenty feet below. Aiden landed lightly on his feet with barely a sound in spite of the distance, only a few yards behind the nearest war golem.

  It was being challenged by two Akoran women, wielding massive sledgehammers who kept attacking it from alternate flanks. It was a delaying move at best, and both women showed signs of flagging strength.

  It never saw him coming.

  Aiden activated his gauntlet and strode in, brimming
with power. When he struck the golem’s flank with both swords, he literally sheared off a layer of its armour from the force of his impact. He spun and twisted, using the borrowed knowledge of the acadian elves to bring both of his weapons to bear with maximum effect.

  Each blow slammed into the golem with thundering force. Sparks and chunks of white-hot metal flew around the courtyard as Aiden drove his weapons into the tiny seals on the golem’s joints, prizing apart the structure. Parts scattered to the ground until he was able to finish it off with a double-slice that cut through the remaining part of its torso and sent its twisted upper half falling to earth, leaving its legs standing there like some sort of half-finished statue.

  A scream from nearby caught his attention as the final legionnaire crumbled to the ground amidst the wounded and dying of the battle. Nellise, leading the last detachment of defenders, was backed up against the walls of the keep, a plain sword in her hands as she faced the implacable Ironlord bearing down on her.

  Aiden took one last look around for Terinus in the vain hope he would arrive with good news, but there was no sign of him. With a grim smile, Aiden threw caution to the wind. He might be about to give his life away, but it would be a hell of a show. Gripping both of his auldsteel weapons tightly, he gritted his teeth and spoke the words that would bring the fight to an end, one way or another.

  “Salinder, now!”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Nellise and the dozen or so remaining Akoran women literally had their backs to the wall. They were wounded, but showed no fear as the Ironlord moved closer.

  “Thine brothers and sisters fought with passion and fervour,” it said in Olde Aielish, its voice deep and metallic. “I will make thy deaths swift and merciful.”

  The titanic sword was raised above its head, and Nellise slashed at the Ironlord with her sword in a gesture of defiance. It had no real effect, and she closed her eyes, her expression serene as the end loomed before her.

  Aiden had waited for a sign from Salinder that the dragon spirit had heard his signal, and been disappointed. But at that moment, an ominous, throaty growl came from the elven soulsword and the Ironlord froze in place. It then slowly turned its head to stare at Aiden with blazing amber eyes.

  Did you think I would be vanquished so easily? Salinder’s voice snarled at his old foe. The Ironlord turned away from its prey and began moving towards Aiden, circling around to take stock of this new threat. The sword hummed in Aiden’s hand, the blade etched in brilliant white light.

  “Thine continued survival is of no moment, cursed wyrm,” the Ironlord said, speaking more to the sword than to Aiden. “When I have reclaimed what is rightfully mine, thy winged brethren will be purged from existence. To you, puppet of dragons, I say step aside — I would have words with thy false king.”

  “If you wanted to talk, you should have done that before slaughtering thousands of people,” Aiden spat. He leaped forward and brought both of his powerful blades to bear on the ancient construct, but both were blocked by the massive, light-edged sword. Sparks of electricity flew from the weapons when they connected, and the Ironlord swung the massive blade back at Aiden with surprising speed and power.

  Aiden flipped into the air, soaring over the top of the arcing blade and landing lightly on his feet, before driving both of his swords into the construct’s exposed side. Just as the points connected with the armoured flank, one of the monster’s fists came swinging around, slamming him heavily on one side and throwing him to the ground.

  Aiden only had a moment to orient himself when he caught a glimpse of its massive sword arcing high through the air, and he managed to twist his body out of the way just in time. He arched his back and flipped himself back onto his feet, then rushed past his opponent’s thick metal legs, using its body to provide himself with a moment of cover.

  The legionnaires had been slow and clumsy in spite of their power, but the Ironlord was proving to be nothing like its lesser cousins. It was agile, fast, and possessed an intelligence the others lacked. With blazing speed, Aiden pivoted and struck with each of his swords, slicing the armoured fiend again and again before he had to withdraw to avoid its blade.

  A quick glance told him his assault had little effect upon its metal skin, aside from some minor scoring. The light around the edge of the soulsword wavered for a brief instant, before returning to full strength. Salinder was struggling to generate the power needed to pierce its armour, leaving Aiden to make up the difference.

  A brief glimpse of light from the corner of his eye indicated Nellise was channelling divine power, and a feeling of growing confidence infused his being. Emboldened by the support, he charged in once more and spun around, holding his blades wide to repeatedly strike at his towering metal foe.

  The clash of their weapons was furious as Aiden stepped up the speed and ferocity of the fight. The techniques and skills he had been infused with came to him easily now, and he whirled and cut at the Ironlord with precision and power he’d never felt before.

  Aiden suspected the Ironlord’s alien intellect was struggling to deal with his speed and agility, until it suddenly went on the offensive. During the opening of the fight, it had clearly been testing him, looking for weaknesses and planning a strategy. It began stepping in with each swing of its blade, shoving Aiden backwards again and again as it gained the upper hand.

  He blocked the sword with crossed blades, then dashed backward as its fist came directly at him from the side, missing him by inches. Aiden was almost backed up against the wall of a building, but the furious assault of the ancient war machine was unrelenting, and he needed every bit of his borrowed skills to keep its savage weapon at bay.

  Sensing he was cornered, Aiden ducked underneath a wild swing, only to be on the receiving end of the Ironlord’s boot. He crashed through the wooden walls of the charred building and rolled to a stop, his head spinning from the impact. He felt that one of the warrior spirits mirroring his movements had vanished, taking the brunt of the blow with it.

  The Ironlord’s massive sword sundered the walls, bringing him back to reality in an instant. It was a lateral stroke, which would only have been a problem if Aiden had been standing at the time, but the meaning of this attack became obvious when the supports holding the ceiling up were sundered. Aiden scrambled backwards as wood and other heavy building materials came crashing down on him in a cloud of dirt and splinters.

  He’d managed to avoid most of the debris, but gained a few bruises in the process. Realising the bad position he was in, Aiden burst out of the carnage and leaped over the shattered frame of the building, rolling in mid-air and landing lightly on his feet. The Ironlord crashed straight through the rubble and found itself on the receiving end of a flurry of sword strokes.

  Aiden snarled as he delivered each stroke with immense force, and actually forced the Ironlord to stagger backward from the onslaught, raising one arm to protect its increasingly scarred torso.

  It finally put an end to his cascading strikes when it caught Solas Aingeal in one armoured fist and tried to pull it from Aiden’s grasp. He held fast and found himself hurled through the air, stopping only when he struck the stone wall of the keep, yards away.

  Still held by his metal foe, Aiden brought Salinder down in a cutting strike, hoping to sever its arm but found the massive sword of his foe blocking his way. They held together for a long moment, the whine of protest from Aiden’s gauntlet indicating the immense forces at work in their struggle.

  He finally faltered, unable to maintain his grip on the holy blade as the immense power of the Ironlord’s grip actually cracked the ancient auldsteel sword down the middle. It flashed with light one last time as the sword was tossed away.

  With one hand free, Aiden pushed himself away and spun around, just in time to see the Ironlord raise its empty hand, palm first, and send a brilliant lance of light straight at him. Aiden felt Salinder take control of his arm for a moment, putting the soulsword into the path of the beam. The sword
emitted a high-pitched squeal as the deadly ray was deflected up into the sky, shaking Aiden to the very core of his being.

  The light around his sword went out completely for a long moment, and Aiden thought that might be it for his dragon ally, but it came back on again, dimmer than before.

  “Thank you, old friend,” Aiden murmured as he refocused upon his enemy, all too aware that next time that yellow beam came for him, there would be no protection. Trying a different approach, he noted some rubble from a ruined catapult nearby and charged directly at it. He ran up its length, sprang into the air and with both hands on Salinder’s hilt, and dove at the Ironlord from above.

  His sword sliced straight through the armoured shoulder and came out the other side, almost severing the arm used to shoot its deadly weapon. Aiden landed like a cat and continued the assault, wailing away with his sword in a style not seen in the world for centuries, keeping his slower adversary off balance with masterful strokes. Sparks began to spout from the great gouge he’d made in the Ironlord’s arm, and with grim detachment he suspected it would soon be fully repaired.

  Aiden felt a twinge of pain from his right hand, noting that the gauntlet was spewing increasingly thick smoke as it continued to heat up. Gritting his teeth, he continued the assault, scoring hit after hit as Salinder sliced into the chest and legs of his foe.

  A brilliant beam of light suddenly engulfed Aiden, and he felt as if he was on fire. He screamed as the heat and light seared him, and when it finally ceased, he collapsed onto the ground, struggling for breath and wondering how he had survived it.

  His answer came a moment later when he realized the knowledge and experience of the acadian elves was gone — the warrior spirits had protected him from the blast, sacrificing their existence to protect him. Aiden staggered to his feet and after deactivating his gauntlet, cast his eyes around, frantically searching for the immense bulk of his enemy.