by Alexia Purdy
Adjusting the strap on his helmet, Hank once again felt the satisfying intensity of the armor’s magic. Dulci had grinned at his discovery of the armor’s power. He’d worked all week with it…wearing it…getting to know it…letting its magic mingle with his own…forging the magics together to work in pure harmony.
Turning his head to the left, Hank glanced at Dulci, resplendent in her own, glowing armor.
A polished silver helmet was fitted on her head, her golden hair flowing out from underneath it. A very fitted breastplate covered the front of her, strapped on with leather straps over her shoulders. In her right hand she held a short yet graceful looking silver sword, in the left a polished shield with some sort of talisman engraved on it. She handled both with the comfort of someone long accustomed to the accessories. She was beauty defined in metal and leather.
Feeling his face flush, Hank moved his eyes forward again before Dulci could notice his ogling of her. He was thankful to have her beside him at this moment in time, even though she didn’t have the power to take a life.
Wondering about that fact when he noticed her prepping for battle, Hank had asked her why she was joining them. According to her, even though she could not take a life, it was well within her power to wound any of the enemy soldiers she could reach, taking them out of play during the battle. There were a myriad of ways around any magical impairment…one just had to get creative when it came right down to it.
Feeling something brush his leg, he grinned down at Luci, now fitted out in a gleaming set of armor of her own. When Hank had arrived at Dulci’s cottage a week ago, he’d found the oracle fitting Luci with a heavy piece of leather covered with lightweight metal plates. Luci stood by passively as Dulci worked with the brown leather, seemingly enjoying the attention. As he studied the armor closer, he noticed it was covered by ancient symbols and lettering that looked like hieroglyphics or runes.
Magic charms and ancient runes of protection Dulci had explained, to keep Luci safe.
Luci was now looking up at him, excitement showing on her face for the coming battle. This is gonna be fun! She exclaimed wordlessly.
Hank shivered at Luci’s words, worried at the red dog’s over-exuberance for the coming battle. Although he also felt the excitement of finally being able to test his magical powers, he was sometimes overwhelmed by the thought of going up against Pironin himself. He was a powerful wizard, with unimaginable skills garnered from centuries of practice.
Benton, standing on the other side of Luci covered in his own elaborate armor, looked down at the animal with an excited grin. “Wait until those Kolograt assholes get a load of our talking dog!”
The four of them broke out in unabashed laughter…a welcomed release of the tension that had been building up all morning.
Hank looked ahead to Queen Shade as she and her Teleen faery husband, Dylan, led the column behind a row of her personal body guards…including Soap and Nautilus.
Hank had met the queen briefly on the previous day when Benton had introduced them. He then revealed that Hank was the one who had come up with the new process of moving the Unseelie back across the barrier.
Shade had shaken Hank’s hand, a beautiful smile on her lips that radiated warmth as her dark-brown eyes met his. He’d been immediately smitten with the young queen; impressed both by her strength of commitment to Faerie as well as her beauty…which was unparalleled in Faerie…except for Dulci of course.
Her husband Dylan stood beside her and had taken a dimmer view of the young wizard, usually threatening any who dared step too close to her with his deep, steel-colored eyes while drilling in his claim to the young and beautiful queen. His power pushed against Hank’s, a dominating power that showed all that he was king.
Hank had taken his hand in turn, sending a calming spell of acceptance into the staunch Teleen warrior as he did so. The exchange of power brought a smile which spread across Dylan’s face as he welcomed Hank to Faerie, thanking him for coming to their aid.
The king was a force to be reckoned with, but he didn’t blame him for being so protective of Shade. The young woman had more than one admirer waiting to take the king’s place in a millisecond. It had to be a rough life.
Hank was amazed at the potent effects of his own magic, having conjured the calming spell without thinking…or even knowing he had the ability to cast spells in such a way.
It was exhilarating!
The four of them now following directly behind the queen had been chosen to lead the assault on Pironin himself as the rest of the army concentrated on his clan of followers.
While still unsure of himself, Dulci seemed to have an unbounded faith in Hank’s abilities as a wizard. She was the one who devised the plan of attack on the powerful wizard, and the one that had sold the idea to Shade.
As the army crested the rise of a hill, Shade held up her hand to halt their advance. A formidable wind suddenly pressed towards them…and with it a haunting wail of deathly magic that brushed against his exposed skin and sent a horror of shivers down his spine. He’d never felt evil quite like this before and he mustered every brave cell in his body to still his wired heart in the wake of the first true fear he’d felt in a long time.
Before them was a large valley full of scraggly trees and thorn bushes. Hank’s eyes were immediately drawn to the ridge on the other side of the gorge, his heart moving to his throat at the sight. An old man wearing a brown robe stood on a large rock, holding his staff to the heavens as his long white hair swirled around his face. As Hank watched, a bolt of lighting suddenly shot out of the man’s staff and moved rapidly toward the sky.
When the lightning reached the first cloud, it shattered into a thousand bolts of energy, streaking across the sky overhead and quickly turning the beautiful day into an edgy-looking dusk.
Thunder ripped through the valley as the lightning overhead took on a life of its own, jumping from cloud to cloud and striking the ground around them. Water was then suddenly cascading down on them, forcing all to cover their eyes to even look ahead.
Hank wondered if he could counter the magic and bring back the beautiful day when he felt Dulci’s hand on his shoulder.
“That’s what he wants you to do, Hank,” Dulci yelled through the thunder, seemingly reading his mind. “He would like nothing better than for you to expend some of your magic on the weather overhead.”
Hank nodded before turning back to face the wizard across the valley. Pironin was staring back at him now, the sneer on his face daring Hank to come over and meet him.
A shiver ran down his spine as he stared back, working to keep his nervousness from showing as he moved his lips into a tentative smile of his own.
Hank’s smile had no humor in it however…nor much confidence if truth be known. Not knowing what else to do, it was merely a brave face that he gave the magic being across the way…an attempt to hide his own feeling of inadequacy at the wizard’s power.
He could feel the evil magic emanating from the ancient being across the valley…tendrils of power and evil that probed at Hank’s soul, poking and prodding at him for weaknesses…eating away at his confidence.
Dulci was suddenly in front of him, her back toward Pironin, blocking the probing tentacles of the wizard in moments. Hank shook his head to clear it.
“He had you in a spell,” Dulci spoke quietly to Hank. “You must block his magic, use your mind to shut out his power or he will try to control you.”
“Time to go!” Benton crowed as he joined Dulci in front of him, a determined look on his face. “You ready to take out this wizard waste of space?”
Nodding, Hank turned and followed Dulci back down the hill, his mind still buzzing from Pironin’s attack on his mind. Luci and Benton followed closely behind, as well as two of the queen’s personal guards…Soap and Nautilus.
Detaching themselves from the main force, they would not be a part of the central attack. Their job was simple…to target and eliminate Pironin.
Chapt
er 32
Snaking their way back through the army until they got to the bottom of the next valley, they then turned right and made their way down the stream. The going was rough as the downpour of rain made everything slick.
Traveling about a quarter mile, they then started ascending the hill once again. Reaching the top, they observed the battle forming below.
Hank watched as Pironin stepped down from the rock and joined ten others in a circle.
The Alliance Circle!
Hank could see the magic swirling around them, gaining power before a stream of the red ectoplasm cascaded over the hill, fortifying their own troops with the dark magic.
With the influx of magic, the enemy soldiers grew in fierceness as they rapidly started beating back Shade’s troops. It was like they were on steroids, pumped up and pushing at their enemy’s lines with a slamming force.
“We need to get this over with!” Soap exclaimed, looking back at Dulci, his eyes widened in worry. “They’re devastating our army!”
Dulci nodded worriedly as she turned toward Hank, her eyes conveying so much in the span of a second.
“Kneel before me, Hank.”
He didn’t question the request, dropping immediately before the beautiful oracle.
Placing her right hand on his forehead, she held her left out in a similar fashion…although there was no one there.
Closing her eyes, colorful orbs suddenly swirled around them as he felt part of his power drain away from him. Almost immediately however, another power entered his being, swirling within him and lifting him off of his feet.
The ethereal energy that now coursed through his veins threatened to explode his chest with its enormous power. Electrical energy snapped at his fingertips as his sight was lost to the bright, overpowering light suddenly appearing overhead
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck him in the chest, causing him to yell out in pain. He clamped down on his teeth, barely bearing the pain that threatened to explode his heart.
Breathe…just breathe…
His mind was telling him to breathe, but he couldn’t! The force of the power within him was pressing at everything in his body until he thought he would expire.
Dulci’s magic never wavered, holding him off of the ground until the lightning had expended itself, causing him to then fall into a heap at her feet.
Finally able to catch his breath, he glanced up at Dulci who was smiling at him tenderly.
Suddenly the magic within him surged again, the power seeming to come from his right. Glancing that way, his heart skipped a beat at what his eyes beheld.
Howie!
His brother was there, at least a ghostly image of the man, pulling himself up off of the ground before smiling at Hank.
“Hey, little brother,” Howie smiled as he offered his hand to Hank.
Taking his brother’s hand in his, Hank jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around the apparition. Hugging for a few seconds, no further words crossed between them as they both then picked up their staffs and turned to face the others.
“The transition is complete,” Dulci shouted over the roar of thunder and rain. “Heretofore, the two shall be as one!”
Benton stepped up beside Dulci, staring at the now doubled wizard.
“Cute trick,” he said while rolling his eyes. “Now can we go kick some Kolograt ass?”
***
They headed off down the hill, jumping between trees and scrub so as not to be seen by the enemy. Their initial target was a copse of trees a hundred feet away from the glowing circle at the top of the next hill.
Howie remained beside Hank the whole way, mirroring every step and jog. It helped that Howie was unencumbered with worrying about hiding…or having obstacles in his way for that matter…he simply walked through them. If only Hank had such abilities, it would be a lot of help in these kinds of situations.
The far side of the valley was very steep and now also slick from the downpour, slowing their progress and rapidly using up their energy reserves.
After ten minutes of brutal climbing, they finally crested the hill. They were all out of breath, even Benton, who would never admit that a hurdle was too much to handle. He too had to drop to one knee as he worked to get enough air in his lungs. The air was thin, used up in the expenditure of power. It was like the alliance circle was sucking up the oxygen just to feed their intent. This would have to end quickly or the air would turn into a vacuum in no time.
“Come on bro, we’re up,” Howie grinned as he held out his hand toward Hank once again. Shaking his head, Hank grabbed Howie’s hand and pulled himself up. Howie may have been an apparition, but he felt real to Hank.
“This is going to be a pain in the ass if you never get tired,” Hank grinned.
Howie shrugged, “What can I say, it ain’t easy being cheesy.”
In spite of the looming danger, Hank had to giggle a little. His brother didn’t lack a sense of humor. At least they weren’t too different in that way.
Turning around, he saw that the others had now caught their breath and were starting to stand, readying themselves for battle.
Dulci approached Hank determinedly. “Are you ready?”
He nodded…the seriousness of the situation returning. Dulci suddenly leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, causing a completely different kind of spell to course through his veins.
“Good luck,” Dulci whispered before stepping back and drawing her sword.
“Spread out,” she ordered, watching as the men moved to various trees along the edge of the copse. Finding a tree for herself, she then turned toward Hank and nodded, gripping her short sword and looking gorgeous at the same time.
“You ready?” Hank mumbled to Howie as they both took up the exact stance.
“Been ready for decades,” Howie mumbled back, “Let’s do this!”
Their plan was simple…although more than difficult to execute.
The others would concentrate on breaking the Alliance Circle, while Hank and Howie concentrated on taking down Pironin.
Hank hoped it was easier than it sounded.
Without warning, Hank and Howie both leaped into the air, spinning around completely before landing on one knee. Simultaneously they brought the staffs gripped in their right hands down hard in front of them, the rounded end striking the ground with a grand, sonic BOOM!
A twenty-foot wide sheet of ice made its way quickly across the ground, crackling toward the circle and pushing angrily towards the enemy. The gathered beings were concentrating on their magic, thinking themselves safe from attack and didn’t hear the approaching freeze. They were distracted and oblivious.
It would be their dismal downfall.
The ice quickly enveloped the circle, freezing everyone solid where they stood.
“Attack!” Benton screamed as the small force made its way at a run toward the frozen figures.
Hank knew that the ice would not hold the magical beings for long, but he hoped it would long enough for at least some of them to be destroyed immediately. Benton reached the circle first, slicing through an ugly elf with his flaming sword. Soap and Nautilus weren’t far behind as they too took out their initial targets, a witch each.
The moment the warriors touched the frozen statue-like beings, their bodies shattered into thousands of icy shards, exploding into the air. Even so, the ice beneath them was breaking up and would soon lose its deathly grip on the circle members.
Dulci approached the back of another elf just as he freed himself from the ice. Turning on her quickly, he was reaching to draw his sword when Dulci sliced through his arm, disabling him as he let out a roar of anger and pain. Dark red blood spewed from his stump, his scream deafening. Luci took the opportunity to jump at the elf’s face, knocking him to the ground and silencing his wails.
Nautilus, who was the closest to Dulci then turned his sword on the disabled elf…running him through in one swift movement. The elf stilled as the last breath hissed out of his
mouth, his body no longer stirring with life.
Dulci thanked Nautilus with a curt nod before her eyes widened in horror.
Noticing movement behind Nautilus, Dulci’s heart stopped when she saw a wizard behind him raise his arm, a ball of nasty-looking energy in his hand.
Disappearing with a flash, Dulci rematerialized in front of the wizard as a blinding ball of light, the explosive force simultaneously emanating out of the ball blowing all of them off their feet and onto the ground with the violent blast.
A dull ringing deafness filled the battlefield as every warrior struggled back to their feet, their ears dulled to the sound around them.
“Dulci!” Hank yelled out, having seen the oracle disappear in the flash. He’d also been blown off of his feet while running toward Pironin with all that he had. He’d also seen the powerful wizard untangle himself from the restraint of ice moments before in a flash of lightning.
Pushing himself off of the ground, Hank saw that Pironin was already on his feet and glaring at Hank and Howie. If the dual wizards before him surprised Pironin in any way he didn’t show it as he brought his staff up and pointed it at the twins menacingly.
A cool, maddening laugh emanating from his lips as he drew on the swirling energy overhead, sucking even more life-giving air from their surroundings.
Hank had only enough time to activate his aura shield before a pulse of red fire erupted out of the end of Pironin’s staff. Deflecting the pulse in the nick of time, Hank and Howie then spun in the air and brought the end of their staff back down hard on the earth with another explosion rippling through the ground and knocking down the combatants again.
All…except Pironin! He’d ridden through the wave much as Hank had without missing a beat.
The darkness of the magic hovering around them was slowly stealing all of the Seelie’s life forces, siphoning energy like a hungry black hole. Pironin knew this and his crazed laughter roared alongside the swirling howl of wind.
