by K. M. Bonde
The party puts their gear down and starts cleaning the place so they can rest. Eadric even lights a fire to warm them up. Elora didn’t notice Felan come inside with them, so she goes back out to the courtyard. Felan has snuggled himself down in a good spot among the hay bales, and he looks really comfortable. She smiles at him, then goes back inside.
“Let’s go upstairs,” Elora says, grabbing Ryan’s hand and leading him toward the staircase. They walk up the stairs and find another room with a few old beds that look like they could fall apart at any time. There are more windows here, but one is directly overlooking the bridge. There is a ladder in a corner going even further up in the tower.
“No way, I’m not going up there tonight,” Ryan says. “I’m exhausted.”
“You probably need to rest, it hasn’t been long since Kvenalon healed you,” Elora says. “I’ll come back down soon.”
Elora grabs the ladder and looks over her shoulder. She can see that Arddun has made her way up and is trying one of the beds. Drake is also upstairs and smiles at her as he approaches. He jumps to the ladder and climbs up. Elora quickly follows him up. It takes them to a small room close to the top of the tower with some old weapons and junk. There is another ladder here, leading up to a hatch door. Elora glances at Drake before he takes off toward the ladder.
He really wants to beat me up there, she thinks as she climbs up after him. The hatch door swings open easily for being so old and rusty. Drake and Elora now stands on the roof, and it has an amazing view.
“Are you ready?” Drake asks her.
“I hope so,” she whispers.
***
Ryan lays on one of the beds, wincing as it creaks under his weight. “How does it work, the whole magic wielding thing? Do you just call for a fireball or…?”
Arddun laughs and shakes her head. “It’s like symbiosis.” She motions around the room. “All around us is magic, and it’s all connected to the Stream. It binds everything together. Without it, the world would not exist. Every living being is connected to it. Some can use that magic and wield it, like me. And some cannot use it at all, like you. The difference is that the magic acts through someone that uses magic, and it acts for someone that does not use magic.”
Ryan stares at Arddun. “What about Elora?”
Arddun sighs. “Elora is special,” she starts.
“I know,” Ryan says and smiles.
Arddun shakes her head. “Elora is not like other magic wielders. She possesses a great power inside of her, a connection to the Stream and all the magic around us that surpasses anyone else. Imagine a small child who lifts a small wooden toy and plays with it and imagine a very large man who lifts a huge axe and splits a tree with it. Elora is that child now, and she could hurl a large icicle toward an enemy and freeze him solid. What can she do when she is like the man with the axe? I don't know. She might not have a limit... it scares me a little, and that is why I train so much with her. She needs to know how to control her powers and to differentiate between good and evil.”
Ryan looks at his hands and then his sword next to him. “I see,” he says quietly to Arddun. “And do you think she can?”
“Yes,” Arddun murmurs. “Yes, I do.”
***
Elora gazes upon the lands from what feels like the top of the world. She sees lights in the distance, probably from the Bor’lansh. The mountain behind them still stands taller than them.
It will be a long journey up that mountain, she thinks to herself. She cannot see much of the path where they came as it’s too dark. She can picture the lake in the distance even though she cannot see it. She can see more lights moving fast, toward them! She pulls Drake's arm and points.
Drake looks toward the light. “It seems the Dark Army is moving day and night. That’s how they got here so quickly.”
“How long will it be before they’re here?”
Drake thinks about it and shakes his head a little. “Probably a little after dawn. The good thing is that they probably didn’t have time to mess with the city and left it alone.”
Elora nods. Which means Mom and Dad will be safe. She squares her shoulders and goes back to the hatch, climbing down the first ladder.
As they climb down and Elora yells to everyone, “Let's meet downstairs!”
When she finally gets to the bottom floor, Elora finds Kvenalon making potions near the fire. He seems content as he fills the bottles with different colors.
She inspects the rest of her friends gathered in front of her, meeting each one of their gazes. “The beasts are on the move,” she says. “We saw it from the roof. Would it be possible to keep the gates locked and make a run for the village in the mountain?”
Eadric shakes his head and sighs. “The undefended the gate will be down in no time, and the beasts would catch us on the road up the mountain where we cannot defend ourselves as easily. It’s far better to stay here and make a stand and hope that Elof brings his clan’s warriors to help.”
“They’ll be here at dawn,” Drake says quietly.
“I’ll take the first watch,” Eadric offers. “And then we can take turns. We need to rest.”
“Before we go to sleep, let’s do what we can to prepare,” Arddun suggests. “It might buy us a little more time in the morning. Arddun and Elora walk outside and put up wards around the tower and walls. Arddun even lays some traps on the bridge all the way to the gate. The gate itself she electrifies with a powerful lightning ward. Whoever touches it will get a nasty shock.
Elora conjures a thin layer of ice on the bridge. She smiles. Unless the beasts have skates, they’ll fall right off.
Kvenalon comes outside and hands a bottle to Elora. “This will give you a few extra seconds you need in a tight situation. Use it wisely.”
“Thank you, Kvenalon,” she says, putting the little bottle in her pocket.
Elora sees Arddun walking back inside, and as Elora goes to follow, Kvenalon speaks to her. “I think that that you made the right choice to stay. It shows not only your strength but also your commitment to the party and the quest at hand.”
Elora lifts her shoulders a little and nods. “Thank you,” she says quietly, as though she feels proud and satisfied. To have someone tell her that her decisions are correct makes everything so much more bearable. Maybe I can pull this off and be who they want me to be, she thinks, walking into the tower a little taller than she walked out.
Once they get inside, they close the door, and Kvenalon continues with his potions while Elora finds her way to the beds. She lays down and closes her eyes. The dreams are not far away now, and hopefully they’ll be nice dreams this time. But how can they dream when they know what’s waiting in the morning?
Chapter 34: The Dawn
The dawn has come, the first straggling parts of the sun making their way over the horizon. But Elora is already up on her feet; she had a hard time sleeping. Elora yawns and climbs the ladder. Drake is already up too, guarding at the top as he had the last watch.
Drake looks at her as she climbs through the hatch. “Good morning! I hope you slept well, today will be interesting and possibly our last day.”
Elora rolls her eyes, too tired to smile at the joke. “Charming as always, just what I need to hear after waking up.”
Drake hands her a spyglass. “I found this late yesterday under some rubble in the corner, I’ve been able to keep a close eye on the Dark Forces. I believe they will be here in a few hours. Please, look, there.” He points toward the city and River Rivona.
Elora takes the spyglass and looks. She can see the army moving forward quickly over the plains. She can also see the horrifying monster called Azurghoul in the middle of the army. It looks like he is shouting commands to the others. She gives the spyglass back to Drake and climbs down again.
She meets the rest of the party and they make room for her in their loose circle.
“Unless Elof pulls through, there isn’t much hope to defend the tower,” Eadric says blunt
ly. “We can probably last an hour or so as long as the wards stay in place. If the Dark Army has any magic user in their ranks, though, it will be over faster. They’ll remove the wards first and then, well, that’s game over.”
Elora sighs and shakes her head. “No,” she says with as much force and authority as she can muster. “No. We must look at this positively and to do our best. I believe that Elof will make it. I will use all my abilities to defend us. I know I’m not that skilled yet, but I do have raw power.”
Eadric opens his mouth to speak again, but Elora continues. “We did not come this far to just sit down and give up! We will fight until the very end. I don't believe my destiny as your queen shall end in this tower. One day, I’m supposed to stand before Grimdar and defeat him, right? The legend speaks of this, and I have come to believe that we can do this together. We have done so much already.” She takes a short breath and continues. “I need you to fortify the tower and yourselves as best you can. Bring the spears up on the walls, ready to be thrown.”
Elora looks at the sword next to her bed. Maybe, if we really need it…
“Don’t be tempted, Elora,” Arddun says gently but sternly. “You cannot control the power, and it will be bad for everyone. Keep the sword safe and if all else fails, you have to throw it down into Death Pass so no one can find it again.”
Elora sighs, then straps the sword in place against her back. “Ok. But we will not fail Arddun. We will succeed.”
Suddenly, they hear squeaking and wing flapping outside the tower. They run to the windows and see flashes of dark creatures flying around. Elora grabs her staff and the rest pick up their weapons.
Drake comes gliding down the ladder and landing in front of them. “We have problem, harpies!”
Harpies? Elora cannot believe what she hears. She’s read about them in fantasy books, and but she never thought they were real. Then again, with an army of foul beasts on the way, everything seems to be living in these lands.
Drake grabs his bow and arrows. “I shut and locked the hatch, but we need to take care of the harpies before the army gets here or we’ll have to fight on two fronts.” He goes to a window and starts shooting at the harpies.
Eadric yells to Ryan, “Pick up your sword, we’ll go outside and take care of the ones in the courtyard.” Arddun and Elora go with them.
Outside is gloomy, still early and much colder this close to the mountains. The harpies are circling the tower and diving down to attack the party. They don't seem to be afraid at all. Some of them succumb to the various wards put up last night. Some are fried by the electrically-charged gates and fall down, dead. Others bounces of the wards and hit the walls, sliding to their deaths below. But the ones making it through must be fought.
Eadric and Ryan swing their swords at the harpies—Eadric more successfully—and Arddun shoots fireballs at the crazed birds. Elora is once again touching the sword she is carrying on her back; it's calling to her, wanting to be used in battle. Her urge subsides as Arddun calls to her.
“These creatures are really birds even though they look like women. They have a body resembling a woman, with breasts and all, but the legs and wings are of a bird. They have a face of a beautiful woman and try to trick you if you are not careful. They’re not as sneaky as sirens, but they’re lethal if they get close. Please stay focused.”
The harpies try to claw Eadric and Ryan but are fought off with a couple of nice swings. Eadric kills two of the pesky birds with his sword when they get close, and Arddun burns another two to death.
Soon, Drake comes out, jumping into the air shooting his arrows at the birds. He shoots two arrows at once, killing another two. One harpy has made its way toward Elora, and she puts up a frosty welcome in the form of an ice shield. The harpy hits the shield and falls to the ground, but she gets up, albeit a little chilled, and continues jumping against Elora. Elora does not have time to raise another shield but is surprised when a dagger passes her head with only inches striking the harpy in its head. When Drake pulls the dagger out, it makes a disgusting sucking sound. He wipes off the blood and puts it back in the sheath. Elora nods to him, and with a couple of more kills, the rest of the harpies fly away and leaves the party alone.
Drake looks up in the sky. “That’s the last of them. We should be fine now. I'll run back up the tower again to check on the main threat.”
Elora points to the wall above the entrance. “Eadric, Arddun, please get up there and defend the entrance.”
Elora grabs Ryan's arm. “No matter what happens, I want you to know I did not want this to happen to you. This wasn’t part of the plan. Please, stay safe and don't take any risks.”
Ryan pulls her close and kisses her. “I know, I chose to come with you, remember? There’s nothing left for me in the other world, and here, we have each other. If this is it, at least we’re together.”
Ryan hugs Elora tight, and they hold each other for a few long moments before Ryan goes up on the wall to join Arddun and Eadric. He grabs a spear and looks out over the wall to where the bridge begins. Elora observes his face as he stands on the wall; he looks sad and conflicted. She sighs.
Drake urgently calls for Elora from the tower, and she looks up. Her adrenaline kicks in, and she rushes up to the roof. Are they here? Is it really the Dark Army?
Chapter 35: The Massacre
Drake hands Elora the spyglass, and she points toward the road they traveled yesterday. The Dark Army is moving forward, now closing in on the tower. While the morning sun makes the area seem less gloomy than the night before, Grimdar’s beasts and monsters make the morning anything but serene.
“And look over here,” Drake says, guiding the spyglass closer to the tower’s road. There are still civilians out, and they’re heading straight for Grimdar’s army.
Elora puts the spyglass down. “We have to warn them! They’re walking right into the beasts!”
She tries to run toward the hatch, but Drake pulls her back by her arm. When she meets his eyes, she sees the sadness in them. “There’s nothing we can do, Elora. It’s too late for them.”
Elora sobs. “No!” she shouts. “There has to be something we can do!” But she can hear the beasts below and how they growl louder and louder. Elora hunkers down behind the wall next to Drake and closes her eyes. How could I have failed them all?
Drake brings the spyglass to his eye. “It’s a massacre,” he says quietly. “Those vile beasts didn’t leave anyone alive.”
Elora’s sadness morphs into rage, and she balls her fists. “They will pay for this! Those people were innocent!”
As her anger grows, the tower begins to shake. Soon, Arddun comes through the hatch. She glares at Drake.
“What did you do?” she snaps at the thief.
“I didn’t do anything,” says Drake. “I just showed her what’s happening out there.”
Arddun leans down next to Elora and puts a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. “Breathe, Elora. You need to focus on what’s coming.”
Elora lets out a heavy sigh, then nods. She stands back up and takes in another shaky breath. “Drake, go down and prepare for battle.”
As Drake climbs down the hatch, Arddun and Elora look out over the bridge. The first monsters are coming toward them. They’re horrible creatures with fangs and claws, some mix of a werewolf and monster from a nightmare.
Goblins follow the wolf beasts, running toward the tower like madmen, axes gripped in their hands. Why are there always goblins? Elora thinks, remembering the multitude of movies and books she has watched and read. It’s always goblins as cannon fodder, stupid little goblins, pesky and not that strong at all. Following the goblins are more nightmarish creatures, dark and terrifying.
When the wolf beasts reach the bridge, Elora and Arddun begin casting spells at them, a combination of ice and fireballs. Some hit, some miss, and many of the beasts make it out on the bridge, running toward the gate. Elora looks down and sees Eadric and Ryan getting ready with th
e spears, and Drake is already out with his bow. Felan is next to the gate, probably waiting to bite anything that comes through. She can’t find Kvenalon anywhere.
From beyond the bridge, a flurry of arrows flies straight toward the courtyard, but luckily, the wards blocks the attack. The vile beasts make it through, rushing for the gate. The icy surprise Elora left for them makes them slide off the bridge and fall down into the pass below toward certain death. They scream as the slide off, and the ones that make it past the ice bounce into the gate and receive a gift in the form of Eadric’s spear. Drake shoots arrows toward the monsters as they make their way to the gate.
“We need to go down and help,” says Arddun. “We can only do so much from up here.”
“Right,” says Elora, her face fierce. I will destroy this army so no more innocents die, she thinks as she and Arddun climb down the ladders and head toward the courtyard.
The monsters have made it past the wards and are biting and scratching the gate. Some are even trying to jump the gate, but it’s too high for them to clear.
Ryan points toward the bridge. “Look!”
The Azurghoul has made it to the bridge. He cackles and points toward the gate. “Forward!” he shouts. “Destroy the gate and kill them all!”
The army of axe-wielding goblins crosses the bridge, leaving no space for any other creatures. The party takes down as many as they can, but they can’t keep up with the sheer number of enemies heading toward them. Soon, the first goblins make it to the gate and begin attacking it.
“Puny humans, you think hiding behind a gate will stop me and my army from crushing you?” the Azurghoul shouts, sending a chill down Elora’s spine. “It is only a matter of time before my friends have made it through and slaughtered all of you except one. The girl... she is mine to kill! I have a special blade for her.”
