Brinks in Time: The Unification

by Tom Rogal

  Thamalos announced, “Good work, everyone! Let us depart before we run into more.”

  He led the group until they reached the top of the hill. There, all of them stopped in shock. At the bottom, hundreds of riders and miscellaneous Sardonians, man and woman, from warrior to cook, roamed the area. No wonder they reacted so quickly to their scout’s call.

  Eraddor said, “Great. We just strayed into their current hunting area.”

  It figured, with their luck the Sardonians would be hunting this far south. Going through them would be impossible with their party’s size. They were going to have to go around them.

  The horn suddenly blew again. All heads turned to face the five above. Levus rode up next to Thamalos and Eraddor.

  He asked, “Now what?”

  “We head west,” Eraddor said.

  “Wait! I thought you said west was bad!” Tasi protested.

  Thamalos turned his horse's head west. “Yes, but north isn’t looking too good either. Come!”

  Eraddor and the others began to move west. Levus was very afraid, though he tried his best to hide it. The chanting of the trailing Sardonians didn’t help. Eraddor led them to rock formations similar to the ones they ran into earlier. He was hoping they could lose them in the maze of stone. It would also force the enemy into tighter quarters. Sardonians were masters when in the open. They had been lucky to escape that first onslaught unscathed.

  They traveled in single, as that was as much room as the path allowed. As they passed a set of formations, two riders came from the right side. This separated Levus, Tasi, and Divi from Eraddor and Thamalos. These guys were true hunters, knowing their surrounding and anticipating what their prey would do. Levus could almost respect them if they weren’t trying to kill them.

  The elf turned around to see what was behind them. One was an archer and the other had a sword. Thamalos grabbed one of his magical arrows and turned to face the archer.

  The archer was trying to aim at the elf prince, but the Midenbeast's up and down arched movements made it difficult to get a clean shot. That was always the problem with riding those creatures. Horses were the most reliable when it came to this sort of work and thankfully, a very rare commodity on Sardonian soil.

  Thamalos fired and the arrow hit the beast just below where the Sardonian was sitting. As it hit, it set off a small explosion that killed the Midenbeast. When it fell, the rider was crushed between the Midenbeast and the stones.

  The other rider was gaining ground. Levus saw this and rode next to Tasi.

  “Tasi! Do you know any earth magic?”

  “Of course I do. What’s your plan?”

  Levus didn’t answer, though. He was already pushing his horse faster to catch up with the remaining rider. The rider didn’t realize Levus was trailing until the boy was right next to him. The Sardonian readied his blade. As Levus pushed forward, the Sardonian took a swipe. Levus moved his horse away fast before returning to engage with the rider. Tasi now knew what the boy wanted. The mage looked at Divi.

  “Wait here!”

  Tasi pushed his horse harder while Levus and the rider exchanged blows, waiting for the opportune time to unleash his spell. Looking forward, though, he spotted a rock formation that had fallen to form a dangerously low bridge, and they were headed straight for it. Levus and his assailant were too involved in the fighting to notice the hazard.

  Tasi screamed, “Levus! Duck!”

  Levus and the rider both looked forward. Their eyes grew wide as they found themselves five feet away from the rocks. Both ducked just in time. Because of the up and down motion of the Midenbeast, the Sardonian’s back nicked the underside of the formation. It had to be painful, but the Sardonian didn’t show any indication of it despite the fresh blood flowing from his wounds. After a few seconds, both men were fighting like before.

  Tasi once again searched for an opening. He would have to be careful what spell he used and where he used it. One misplaced spell would probably kill the Midenbeast rider, but would likely kill Levus as well. Divi would never forgive him for that. In the short time Tasi has known him, he'd noticed his student took a fancy to the boy. He could see it in her eyes, the way she acted. He certainly hoped it was not what he thought it was. It was too dangerous for her.

  He would discuss this with her later. He had to find a way to shake this last rider off them. The solution finally came in the form of another formation of rocks that created a tunnel with two outlets. The one the Sardonian was headed for was darker, making visibility harder. So long as Levus stayed on target with his outlet which was still mostly outside, he would be fine. Tasi waited until they were twenty feet from it.

  Tasi chanted, “Heirumon earothna!”

  He aimed the light that formed in his hand toward the earth, causing it to ripple in a straight line past the Midenbeast rider. Inside the outlet, a stone stalagmite jutted from the ground.

  The rider's focus was on defeating Levus than caring about what lay waiting ahead of him. As Levus neared his outlet, he turned his body forward and went through it. The rider looked ahead as well, but rammed into the stalagmite at full speed. As the crack of the impact still echoed, the Midenbeast slumped to the ground, its back clearly broken, blood running from its ears. The way the rider was thrown off, he had to have broken nearly every bone in his body.

  Thamalos and Eraddor, seeing that the threat had been disabled, slowed down to allow the others to catch up with them.

  Thamalos said, “Impressive work back there.”

  Tasi responded, “Old mage proverb: 'look forward'.”

  “Does anyone know where we are? How do we reach this town?” asked Divi.

  Eraddor explained, “Well, on the other end of this mountain range west is the kingdom’s capital, Sardon. We will avoid it at all costs. We’ll just follow these mountains until they end. It will take us closer to Sardon before we head away from it. I wish I knew another route, but this is only one on record. The town there will be more east than north from when we exit the mountains. It should pass their current hunting region.”

  “Very well," Thamalos said. "Let us get moving. If we keep running into trouble, we won’t make it by nightfall.”

  Eraddor led the way as they traveled north up the mountain range.

  It had been a few hours since they started following the range and night had fallen. Horns sounded in the distance, but it didn’t seem to worry Thamalos or Eraddor too much this latest time. Just so long as they weren’t as loud as before.

  Divi had the eeriest feeling since they started traveling along the mountains. She'd felt it in the Dyyros Woods and in the seaside caves, but why here? It had to be the stress the party had been through these past two days. The Midenbeast rider attacks they managed to beat were only the beginning. Up until now, with every horn blow, the group had stopped. With every heavy gust of wind, Thamalos slowed down. A great paranoia spread through the group. If they had more men, it would be different. But with five people . . .

  Another gust of wind blew. Thamalos, like all the other times, slowed down and listened. They had been slowly going uphill. She hoped that Eraddor was as good a guide as he was a fighter. The last thing they needed was to accidentally walk into the capital, especially after how Eraddor described what happened to those poor people who built the city.

  She heard the horn once again. This was closer than some of the recent ones, which worried Divi a little. Had they found them?

  Tasi commented, “Nothing again, Thamalos?”

  The elf prince flashed a dismayed look at Tasi before turning ahead again. As they passed a narrow gap in the rock, normally one that wouldn't garner any attention, Levus for some reason stopped. If it weren’t for Divi noticing, he would have been left behind.

  Divi asked, “Levus? Is everything okay?”

  Thamalos and Eraddor heard her inquiry and led their horses to her. The elf prince first looked at Levus and then in the direction of the boy’s frozen gaze.

  Thi
s made Eraddor curious what he could have missed. “What do you see?”

  Thamalos hoped what he was seeing was nothing more than an illusion. It has to be! As he looked into the gap, the elf’s eyes opened wide. Arionn was right. By every holy entity, why did he have to be right about this?

  All he could say was, “By the gods.”

  Eraddor and the others all went to the gap. What they saw dropped their jaws. On the other side, through the mountain, on the Zontuc plains, a large army stood. There were many Sardonians, but there was another species with them. It was one Thamalos could not believe he was seeing with his own eyes. The Ettui were on the mainland as well . . . and in mass quantities. They even outnumbered the Sardonians. In the background, the remains of the capital of Sardon could be seen. The same city that the settlers tried to build years ago would be unrecognizable. Buildings were completed in a different style with new ones right near them.

  Tasi said, “There are so many of them.”

  Thamalos scanned the Zontuc plains, still speechless. There had to be hundreds . . . no, not hundreds. Thousands!

  Eraddor asked, “How did so many Ettui get on the mainland, especially without shipbuilding? And to be able to do this in secret?”

  Thamalos reminded him, “The Sardonians are very quick, though they can hold few men. It would take countless visits to Barbata to bring that many here. Yet if General Medkar saw Sardon ships, he would not withhold such information. If any made their way toward Barbata, Medkar would’ve noted it. Despite being headstrong, he is very observant.”

  The general of Fort Za would occasionally send elf messengers to report to Cordca. Thamalos, being curious, had them stop at Lozela first. Nothing had come his way in all these years.

  “Never mind how they got here," Divi said. "What are they planning?”

  Thamalos analyzed, “It has to be an invasion force. I assume to attack the Realms of Man.”

  Levus and Eraddor both looked at him. Although Eraddor didn’t want to believe it, he had a horrifying feeling that Thamalos’ statement was true. As much as he hated to admit it, despite their faults, human beings kept order on the mainland. If Cordca were to fall, it would create a disastrous domino effect. Then, it would be only time before the mages and the elves would fall too. They couldn’t let that happen.

  “We must warn the three kingdoms," he said. "An army this size would annihilate them unprepared.”

  Thamalos added, “Rudann is the closest to Sardon. We’ll tell them when we arrive at the town. We must leave before we are spotted.”

  As Thamalos finished his sentence, several Ettui popped up from the other side of the opening. Everyone jumped back as Levus and Eraddor unsheathed their swords. They didn't retreat far enough. One of the Ettui landed on Divi. She turned her face away from its black teeth and foul breath as she held it back. Thamalos prepared to shoot it with an arrow, but Levus was already taking care of it, stabbing the creature in the side. The weakened Ettui let go as Eraddor threw him on the ground. Fresh blood spewed heavily from the wound. In just a few seconds, the Ettui died. Eraddor disabled the second one just as quickly. A horn from above them suddenly blew. They all looked up to see another Sardon watcher. They were discovered again.

  Levus commented, “That’s our cue to leave.”

  Everyone climbed on their horses and began to bolt down the mountain path.

  ***

  The party raced across the Paranock Fields. Even though they were very tired, they knew they had to get away from the mountains as quickly as possible. They rode through the night and into most of the morning.

  It relieved Divi that they were back in the open because the mountains provided little room to maneuver. Yet it wasn’t helping their situation. Since the horn blew, they heard echoes of a sizable force behind them. Eraddor and Thamalos kept looking back, yet they could see nothing. Their only hope was that they reached Fort Corrka, the border town and military installation of Rudann. There at least they would get support to fight whatever force the Sardonians sent after them.

  The temperature on the plains was much higher than in the windy passageways of the mountain, beneath a cloudless sky and with no trees to provide shade. As Levus and the other didn’t seem to be affected too much by it, she didn’t feel it to be too much of a concern, though she and Tasi were both sweating and tired. If it was, someone would tell her.

  Divi looked back and attempted to feel if their pursuers were close. She sensed nothing as large as an army, though she did feel something coming their way. She wished her feelings were clearer. They tended to be hauntingly accurate, but she didn't understand them or couldn't fully see what they were warning her from. But whatever it was, it was not coming to them on the ground.

  Thamalos slowed down slightly when the chanting of their pursuers became weaker. They rode halfway down a large hill on the Fields before stopping completely. Divi wanted to keep going. She didn’t know what she was feeling, but she didn’t want to find out either.

  Thamalos finally said, “I think they gave up.”

  “I thought elves could see great distances? Can’t you see if they are still there?” asked Tasi.

  Thamalos explained, “Even an elf’s sight is darkened in the lands where darkness prevails. Only the Wood Elves have the Sight to see through the darkest fog and even they are having difficulties lately.”

  “We should go. Something is coming.”

  Divi’s comment surprised everyone. Thamalos tried looking where she was, but he could see nothing. He was doubtful, but her telepathic powers were strong for one who didn’t know magic. Thamalos knew that he relied heavily on his Elf Sight. It tended to see much, but on Barbata and areas of Sardon were known to blind them, both places touched by pure evil.

  Tasi asked, “What do you see?”

  Divi explained, her feeling becoming clearer. “It’s big, about forty feet. It comes from the air.”

  Suddenly, a loud roar carried across the plains. Eraddor and Thamalos knew exactly what was coming their way. They were afraid the Sardonians would do this if they got too far ahead of their ground forces. A tactical error on their part to do so, but now that they had, they were going to have to deal with the consequence, one far more dangerous than Midenbeasts.

  Eraddor screamed, “Come on!”

  As Thamalos and Eraddor began to push their horses forward, a large creature flew over the hill. Tasi, Divi, and Levus watched in horror as the beast soared high in the sky before diving toward them. It was about fifty feet long and had three sets of wings, with the foremost set of wings being small, while the hindmost were larger than Levus' house back on Dyyros, accompanied by claws as tall as the chimney. At its blood-chilling scream, they didn't think twice about following Thamalos and Eraddor. The dragon beat its wings quickly to pursue them.

  Divi asked, “What is that?”

  Eraddor yelled, “No time for talking! Just ready your weapons!”

  He looked back, acknowledging this was the worst thing they could’ve run into. They were known around the human kingdoms as Snake Dragons, but more commonly called Lamiadons, as they technically weren't dragons. There were many differences, one major one being that dragons could speak.

  Lamiadons had the ability to carry riders, but rarely did. They had a very long mouth with sharp teeth in the front. Most of the hunters were the females, who were most dangerous because their teeth and claws contained deadly venom for which no cure had been discovered yet. This was mainly because no one had killed one of these beasts outside of the Tournament, and even then only males were captured for the tourney battles. They were very quick and had many ways of attacking their enemies. Not least, the tail on the females was so sharp that it could cut through any known metal or armor.

  He watched the Lamiadon swoop down.

  Eraddor yelled, “Split up! Levus! Stay in back, but watch for its tail! It’s female!”

  The group followed his orders. Thamalos and Eraddor stayed on the right while Divi and Tasi m
oved to the left. The monster swooped down until it was fifteen feet from the ground. It hovered there until it spotted Eraddor. Both he and Thamalos fired arrows at it, but seemed to have very little effect. The creature plunged toward Eraddor, who moved out more to the right. The Lamiadon’s mouth connected with the earth and began to sweep it, gaping open. Seeing it failed to get him, it flew higher to compose itself.

  Divi couldn’t believe her eyes. It was like the creature was trying to take out the horses, knowing those were what gave them the ability to keep up with her.

  Tasi, who was in front of her, readied a fireball in his free hand.

  “Frianta Durontu!”

  In mid-flight, the fireball broke into three. Two of them hit the Lamiadon and she cried in pain, though not for long. She turned to face Tasi, plunging its head toward him and attempting to take a bite. The mage moved to his right, which put him directly underneath the hovering creature. As he did the, the Lamiadon tried to snatch him with one of its claws. Tasi had to duck, but managed to escape unscathed. He moved back to his left as soon as its claw was past him.

  Levus watched from behind the others with horror. He had never seen something this large. In bedtime stories, dragons were supposed to be the largest creature ever on Gyyerlith. He couldn't imagine how big true dragons must be, as this creature was huge enough. He was more concerned about Divi, even with her telekinetic powers. In a fight of this magnitude, those powers were rendered useless.

  Tasi enchanted another fireball that missed. He was having a very difficult time trying to hit the Lamiadon because it had stopped paying attention to Eraddor or Thamalos anymore, despite them hitting it constantly with arrows. It found the source of the fireballs, which hurt it more than any arrow or sword ever could, and intended to take out this threat first. It was severely difficult to aim his fireballs when he had six claws coming down from as many directions. The beast flew ahead so that its last set of claws, nearest to the tail, were in line with Divi. Tasi, riding in front of Divi on the left, became frightened when he what it was doing. The Lamiadon slammed her tail to the ground, sweeping it toward them.