“And so you waited,” Diane said, shaking her head. “Waited until the dark gods had managed to open a tiny hole in the barrier between the Void and the mortal realms and began to send their power leaking into this universe.”
“I did. As I said, you are wise for a human.”
Serris stepped back and sat down on his throne again. He rested his sword across his knees and stared down at the group.
“I waited here in the darkness, a tiny trickle of energy keeping my soul tethered to this rotting husk, until the old gods were able to send me more of their power. They showed me how to reach down into the heart of Trillfarness and manipulate the energies there to enforce their will, which is now also my will.”
“And you disrupted the ability of keepers to open portals around the planet and of the scryers to use the ley lines to discover what you were doing,” Diane stated.
Serris chuckled.
“Of course. Isolate an enemy's forces, leave them leaderless and vulnerable. It is a very basic strategy, but one that works quite well. My people have grown soft since I reigned over them. They were so easily made powerless. I am rather displeased by such weakness, but it made my work much simpler than it might have been, back when elves were fighters instead of farmers and hunters.”
He sneered down at Ethmira and Chase.
“Those two are perfect examples of what my people have become. Look at them! They are not soldiers. They are scouts. Rangers who wander the forests 'caring' for nature. Idiots! Nature once served the elves, not the other way around.”
Serris laughed coldly, a sound filled with contempt.
“And you threaten me with bows? Do not bother. I cannot be harmed by mundane weapons. Even this human mage cannot touch me. I am granting you this audience because it amuses me, not because I fear you.”
“Is that so?” Ethmira growled. “Let's just put that to the test, shall we?”
She pulled her bowstring to her cheek and let an arrow fly in one smooth motion. Before Serris could react, the missile burst through the shield, its point glowing with blue energy, and whistled shrilly as it flew directly at the undead king and pierced his face.
Serris screamed in pain and the hall around them shook with his cry. He lurched to his feet and the group could see the shaft of Ethmira's arrow sticking grotesquely out of his left cheek. It was still flickering with blue flames as the corpse dropped his sword and groped at the missile.
“It seems that you were mistaken, fallen one!” Ethmira shouted defiantly. “You can be harmed by we 'soft elves'. Arrogance was your downfall once. It will be again.”
“I will kill you!” Serris cried as he ripped the arrow from his cheek and tossed it aside. “I will kill you all! You will die in agony begging for mercy.”
Diane raised her staff and looked at the others.
“Get ready,” she said. “If we don't stop him here, Serris will cover the entire planet with his foulness and it will be the end of the elves.”
“That's not going to happen,” Malfiess stated as he glared at the raging figure above them. “Not while we live.”
Chapter 24
“Diane, Chase and I have to reposition ourselves,” Ethmira told the mage. “If we can keep him distracted, you will have a better chance of using your powers more effectively.”
“That means that you'll have to leave the protection of my shield,” Diane warned her.
Serris was still raging insanely on the dais, waving his great sword around and howling in pain.
“I know, but we are grouped too closely here. Don't worry about us. Just take your chance when we give it to you.”
“Understood. Be careful, both of you.”
Ethmira smiled slightly and looked at Chase.
“You go left, I'll go right. Space out your shots. Wait until I fire before you attack. We have to keep his attention on us, not on Diane.”
“Got it,” Chase told her. “Let's go.”
The two rangers leaped away from the others. Chase ran at full speed to the far end of the benches to the left of the dais, while Ethmira did the same in the opposite direction. Both rangers knelt down, using the stone seats as cover and Chase waited for Ethmira to take the first shot.
“What should I do?” Malfiess asked Diane as he raised his staff and stared at the undead king.
“Watch my back,” the mage replied with a smile.
She looked at Callius, who was shivering with fear, and patted his arm reassuringly.
“I won't tell you what to do, my friend,” she said. “Mainly because neither of us knows what the extent of your powers are. But if you choose to attack Serris, don't hold back. Understand? If we fall here, I don't think anything will be able to stop him and his dark masters. In his twisted mind, Serris obviously believes that to regain his kingdom, he must destroy it. He doesn't know that he is doing exactly what the old gods desire.”
“I'll...I'll try to help,” Callius stuttered. “But I don't know if I can.”
Diane smiled at him.
“Just do your best. That is all any of us can do. Now step back, both of you. I need some room.”
Malfiess and Callius moved back until they stood at the very edge of Diane's shield. They watched her raise her staff and point it at the Mad King. The gem on the staff and the jewel on her finger flared together with blue light and a bolt of power the color of sapphires blasted from the staff, shot up to the top of the dais and slammed into Serris.
He screamed again, but then raised his blade and spun it in a circle in front of himself. A putrid green barrier appeared, pulsing like a living thing, and his cries turned to laughter.
“You are not the only one who can command powers, mage!” he shouted. “My masters are with me! And their strength is so far beyond yours that you are no more than an insect to them.”
“Maybe so, Serris,” Diane replied loudly. “But this insect still has a sting!”
She chanted rapidly in a strange tongue and the shield around her and the two elves blazed brightly in the dim light of the hall. Perhaps Diane had sensed an imminent attack and reinforced her protections, because at the same moment Serris raised his blade and the floor of the throne room began to shake and ripple as if struck by an earthquake.
Both Malfiess and Callius staggered and tried to stay on their feet. Diane seemed to be rooted firmly to the ground as she stared up at Serris. Ethmira and Chase remained kneeling where they were, still focused on their target.
The rows of benches rocked and swayed and dozens of them flipped over, smashing loudly on to the floor. Pieces of stone and clouds of dust filled the air, making it difficult to see more than a few yards in any direction.
The shaking increased in violence for a moment and then stopped abruptly. Ethmira and Chase tried to keep their eyes on Serris, but it was difficult to see him with the air thick with dust.
In the sudden silence, Malfiess glared up at Serris, who was looking down at them, a mad amusement in his bright green eyes.
“Now what?” he whispered to Diane.
The mage shook her head as she held up her staff.
“Wait,” she murmured. “He's up to something.”
The floor directly in front of the dais suddenly burst open and a thick tendril covered with razor-sharp thorns shot out of the ground. It was covered with thick slime and it began flailing around, groping blindly as if looking for prey.
All around the throne room dozens of other tendrils smashed through the floor. They rose more than ten feet out of the ground and all of them began writhing and twisting madly.
The vine in front of Diane slammed into her shield and a burst of light and smoke rose from the impact. The tendril reared back, fumes rising from it, and from somewhere deep beneath the ground came a distant high-pitched screech of pain.
Diane stumbled backwards at the impact, but Malfiess managed to catch her before she fell to the ground. The shield flickered and sparked as the mage lost focus and the laughter of Serris filled the air.<
br />
“You are a fool, human,” he mocked loudly. “To think that you could face me with a handful of elves? Not even an army would be able to stand against me. I am the greatest king who has ever lived and my time has come again! Even now, as you waste your lives in this feeble attack, the ley lines that I control carry my influence all across this world. The traitorous elves who abandoned me are paying the price for their betrayal. And once they are all cleansed from Trillfarness, my masters will create a new race of elves. A better race. A race that will acknowledge me as their undisputed ruler.”
Diane smiled wanly at Malfiess as she steadied herself and moved forward again. The councilor glared up at the raving creature on top of the dais and raised a shaking hand to point at him.
“What race?” Malfiess asked loudly over the sounds of the violent writhing of the massive tendrils. “You are being used, Serris! You are doing the work of the dark gods for them! They hate us. All of us. Including you! Once you destroy your own people, you will reign over a barren world. There will be nothing left but death and decay. Do you want to spend eternity sitting on your throne as you are now, ruling over nothing?”
“You lie!” Serris roared. “I was promised a new world. A new kingdom with subjects who will know me as their eternal king.”
“The only subjects you will rule over will be these...things!” Diane told him as she gestured at the flailing tendril. “A world infested with corruption and putrescence. Is that what you want? You will be remembered by no one and nothing, because there will be no elves left when the old gods are finished. You are just a tool, Serris. A tool to be used and discarded by beings who see you as a useful idiot. That will be your legacy. May you be happy in your eternal solitude!”
The Mad King silently stared down at Diane. His glowing eyes dimmed again and he lowered his sword. He looked out over the throne room, watching the dozens of flailing tendrils which continued to grope blindly. Ethmira and Chase were both dodging the vines, changing positions to try to avoid them while keeping an eye on Serris.
“Can it be?” he muttered, his voice echoing hollowly around the chamber. “Have I been deceived? Surely not. I am Lord Serris Amthellan, last ruler of Trillfarness! No one would dare attempt such subterfuge.”
He shook his head and focused on Diane once more.
“It does not matter,” he told her heavily. “Even if you are correct, it is too late to change anything. Every elven settlement is being assaulted at this very moment. I do not have the power to stop it now that it has been set in motion. It is out of my hands.”
“I don't believe you,” Diane said coldly.
She looked at the tendril in front of her shield as it flailed about. It was avoiding contact with her barrier as parts of its surface still burned.
“This corruption was created by you, Serris,” she continued. “You started it and you can stop it. You simply choose not to.”
“I tell you I cannot!” the undead king shouted angrily. “It is not my creation!”
The pulsing green shield that surrounded him flickered and died as if he was losing concentration and, at that moment, Chase looked across the chamber at Ethmira, who nodded.
“Now,” she mouthed silently as she drew back her bowstring.
A second later, Ethmira's arrow struck Serris directly in the forehead. He roared in agony and staggered back as Chase's bolt slammed into the side of his head. Both arrows glowed with blue light and the Mad King fell to his knees and dropped his sword, still bellowing with pain.
“Now Callius!” Diane cried as she raised both of her arms. “If you can do anything, now is the time!”
A bolt of intense azure fire shot from her staff and burst against Serris' armored chest. His screams increased in volume and the entire group was deafened by them. The tendrils twisted and writhed madly in response to his shouts as if they were extensions of the Mad King's own body.
Callius hesitated for a moment and then closed his eyes. He made a gesture with his right hand and then closed his fist.
The ground beneath the dais began to shake and heave and Serris struggled to regain his feet as he ripped the arrows from his face. His armor was smoking and blackened from Diane's attack, but he still seemed relatively unhurt.
“You will pay for this affront!” he bellowed. “Attacking a king is punishable by death!”
“He is completely mad now,” Malfiess warned Diane.
“He always was,” she replied absently as she watched Callius.
The young scryer's hand was shaking as if he was meeting resistance.
“There is so little pure ley energy left,” he whispered. “So much corruption. So much evil.”
With a loud groan, he finally managed to raise his clenched fist to shoulder level just as Serris stood up again.
“Now..” the Mad King began to say.
And at that moment a beam of sapphire light, blindingly bright, burst from beneath the dais and engulfed him.
Serris rose from the ground, twisting and convulsing like one of his own tendrils. He dropped his sword and screeched wildly as his armor began to bubble and flow like molten silver. He had a final moment to glare down at the mortals who had dared to attack him and then, like a scrap of paper caught in a bonfire, his body flared and dissolved into cinders.
All of the tendrils around the throne room collapsed immediately. They began to putrefy and rot, noxious fumes rising from their remains.
The beam of light faded and was gone and Callius opened his eyes wearily.
“It is done,” he told Diane breathlessly. “But we are too late, Lady. I sensed it when I reached for the ley. Serris and his 'masters' have infected the ley lines somehow. Like a disease, it has spread all over Trillfarness. There is very little pure energy left for us to work with.”
Diane nodded and released her shield as Ethmira and Chase ran back to join the group. Malfiess wrinkled his nose at the stench of decay filling the air.
“Thus ends the rule of Lord Serris Amthellan,” he said with a shake of his head. “Last king of Trillfarness. What do we do now?” he asked Diane.
“If Serris spoke the truth, and Callius appears to confirm that he did, your people are under assault right now,” she told Malfiess, Ethmira and Chase. “And there is no way for us to stop it. The ley energies that Callius and I tap into are almost all corrupted now. Even if I was powerful enough to save an entire world, and I am not, we wouldn't have enough energy to draw upon to do it.”
“So what do we do?” Ethmira asked her desperately. “Diane, my people are dying! We can't just abandon them!”
Diane smiled reassuringly at her and the others noticed dark circles under her eyes for the first time.
“We won't,” she assured the ranger.
“Are you all right?” Malfiess asked with concern. “You look drained.”
“I'll be fine,” she replied. “We can all rest later. For now, we will have to return to my home and search for survivors from there. I can draw on sources of ley energy in the Void that are not available here on Trillfarness. I may not be able to stop the destruction of your world, but we must try to save as many of your people as we can.”
“I can help,” Callius spoke up.
He blushed as Chase smiled in approval.
“I can still control the ley,” he added. “Well, as much as there is left here, anyway. I can open a portal to get people out of harm's way if we need to do that.”
“You can create portals now?” Malfiess asked, startled. “Since when? I thought that only keepers could do that?”
“You'd be surprised at what our young friend can do,” Diane told him. “Now, everyone gather around me. We have work to do.”
Back in the main hall of Diane's home, everyone gathered around the table where the map that Ethmira and Chase had been working on was spread out. Callius took a few minutes to make a pot of tea and then he served the group.
“Thank you,” Diane told him with a smile. “It's just what I needed.�
�
“You are welcome, Lady,” the young elf replied.
He sipped the hot liquid and stared at the large map for a moment before he shook his head and sighed.
“How will we be able to save our people?” he asked the mage. “We do not even know where the attacks are taking place, or how many elves have already fallen.”
“There have never been many of us,” Ethmira remarked as she scanned the map. “Living in harmony with nature meant keeping our numbers down to acceptable levels. But in recent centuries we have declined much more than we should have. Most elven couples only had one child and many had none at all. Humans may have numbered in the billions before your world fell to the dragons, Diane, but our population has been shrinking steadily. I doubt that there are more than ten thousand of us left on the entire planet.”
Diane nodded as she contemplated the map.
“I knew that the elven population was small, but I hadn't realized that their numbers were that low. We have to determine where most of your people are gathered now and try to get them to safety. Serris is dead, but what he set in motion cannot be undone.”
She looked soberly at Malfiess and the rangers.
'I don't know of any easy way to say this, so I'll just tell you straight out. I think that Trillfarness is doomed,” she said evenly. “Your people do not use magic and cannot fight back against this evil. And Callius may be the only one who can touch the ley and bend it to his will. Now that energy is corrupted. I am afraid that the old gods have won.”
“Don't say that!” Malfiess exclaimed angrily. “Trillfarness is our home and our world. It has shaped and molded us for ages uncounted. To give it up without a fight...”
“But how can we fight something like this, Malfiess?” Ethmira asked him. “Give me an enemy that I can attack with a weapon and I will stand against it until I fall. But Diane is right. Against this infestation I can do nothing, and neither can any of our people.”
The Fall of the Elves Page 31
