Army of the Dead fl-8

by Richard S. Tuttle

  “I didn’t know that you could do that,” Marak gasped as Lyra walked up alongside him.

  “I didn’t either,” admitted the Star of Sakova. “His shield actually held. There is a lesson to be learned in this.”

  “Be careful where you stand when you choose to oppose the Star of Sakova,” quipped Marak. “This one was disguised as an urn. I was lucky to have seen him transforming. How are we ever going to find all of them?”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t try to,” interjected Rejji.

  “We cannot afford any interruptions when we go up against Vand,” retorted Marak. “Not only are there six more mages to account for, but I saw Motangan soldiers flowing in through the front door down there.”

  “I understand,” nodded the Astor, “but with Lyra’s power, we can isolate this level.”

  “Destroy the two staircases?” questioned the Star of Sakova.

  “Exactly,” nodded Rejji. “We know that Xavo and Lady Mystic are already safely down on the next level. We can destroy the staircases and then systematically search this level to make sure that Vand is alone. Let the others deal with the black-cloaks.”

  “What do you think?” Lyra asked Marak. “It makes sense to me.”

  “I agree,” nodded the Torak. “The fact that Xavo and Lady Mystic hurried downstairs tells me that they saw the black-cloaks descending. There are probably not any more up here, but we will check every room first before entering the throne room.”

  “Not every room,” Lyra shook her head. “We are not to enter Dobuk’s domain.”

  “Why not?” frowned Rejji. “He too must be destroyed.”

  “No,” objected Lyra. “It is not within the power of man to destroy the Great Demon.”

  “Are you sure about this?” questioned the Torak. “Vand is only a puppet of Dobuk. If we leave the demon intact, he will merely replace Vand with another.”

  “That may be,” shrugged Lyra, “but remember the words of Kaltara. Vand is a man and his destruction is within the realm of man, but Dobuk is in the realm of Kaltara.”

  “And beyond our reach,” nodded the Torak. “You are right, Lyra. Let’s destroy the staircases and search the rest of this level. I do not want to give Vand a chance to escape.”

  Lyra nodded and gazed across the atrium at the staircase that Lady Mystic had descended. She clasped her hands together and aimed them at the staircase. The air rippled and distorted as the huge force bolt sped towards the stairs. When it contacted the far staircase, the stairs exploded in a frenzy of flying rock. Chunks of rock shot upward and downward and a cloud of fine dust hung in the air. Slowly the cloud dropped downward revealing a massive gaping hole in the side of the temple. The staircase no longer existed above the level below them.

  “Merciful Kaltara!” exclaimed Rejji. “You blew a hole in the side of the temple.”

  “Perhaps you should conserve your energy on the closer staircase,” frowned Marak. “We don’t want the temple collapsing beneath us.”

  “And let’s move farther away before you cast your spell,” added Rejji. “I don’t want to get hit by flying rocks.”

  Lyra nodded sheepishly, her face turning red in embarrassment as the Three moved away from the remaining staircase.

  “I guess that was a little too much power,” she said softly, “but I never tried to destroy stone stairs before.”

  Marak chuckled under his breath as Lyra’s arms rose once again. Her second force bolt completely obliterated the stone staircase coming up from the next lower level, but it did not punch a hole in the wall of the temple. The Three waited for the cloud of dust to settle to make sure that the top level was isolated before turning to search for black-cloaks.

  * * *

  Three levels below the throne room, Lady Mystic walked openly down the center of the corridor as if she were merely taking a stroll. While she may have appeared merely lost in thought to most observers, she was in fact concentrating on maintaining the most powerful shield she was capable of creating. When the attack came, it was hardly unexpected. One of Pakar’s mages dropped his illusion of a statue and sent a fiery projectile at the Emperor’s daughter. The missile struck Lady Mystic’s shield and disappeared.

  “Clumsy,” scolded Lady Mystic as she turned casually to face her attacker. “You are more skilled than to waste such energy without first testing for the presence of a shield.”

  “It was expedient,” shrugged the black-cloak. “Had I caught you unawares, you would not be talking so calmly now.”

  “True,” smiled Lady Mystic as she sent a small fireball towards her adversary and confirmed the existence of his shield. “It is possible that you could have caught me unawares as Pakar caught Xavo, but I am not so foolish as to walk around unprotected. Shall we play?”

  “All I have to do is wait you out,” the mage retorted confidently. “My brothers will be along in a moment, and I won’t have to waste any more power on you.”

  “You seem to have things backward,” laughed Lady Mystic. “Your brothers are all dead. They will never come to your aid again, just as Xavo can no longer come to mine. It is just you and me.”

  The black-cloak frowned with disbelief.

  “Oh,” smiled Lady Mystic. “Did I forget to mention the hundreds of Chula and elven mages who are approaching this temple as we speak?”

  “Their skill can never match ours,” balked the black-cloak, “but you are wise to realize that you need help to defeat me.”

  “Help?” laughed Lady Mystic. “Do not bore me. Your skill is nowhere near mine. Your powers are puny compared to the Emperor’s daughter.”

  “You wish,” the black-cloak replied with confidence. “Only your shields are saving your life right now. And you cannot hold them up forever.”

  “You overrate yourself,” Lady Mystic said smugly. “I could drop my shield entirely and give you the first cast and still defeat you. You are nothing.”

  “Try me,” taunted the black-cloak.

  “Fine,” glared Lady Mystic as she dropped her shield, “but I warn you. You had better kill me with your first cast, or it is you who will die.”

  The black-cloak grinned victoriously as he summoned his power. He sent a tiny projectile out and verified that the Emperor’s daughter had indeed dropped her shield. As Lady Mystic stood unprotected and seemingly uncaring, the black-cloak inhaled deeply as he felt the power build within him. As he extended his arm towards Lady Mystic, the air around him blossomed with light. He turned swiftly towards the light. His mouth opened in surprise as the blades of light sliced through his neck and his body crumbled to the ground.

  “You take too many chances,” Xavo scowled at Lady Mystic. “He could have struck you when he tested for your shields.”

  “I read him correctly,” shrugged Lady Mystic. “He always was a proud, pompous fool. He probably really thought he could beat me in a fair fight.”

  “We will never know,” chuckled Xavo. “Fair fights are not on the agenda today. How did you know that he would drop his shields before he attacked you?”

  “I gave him one free shot at me,” smiled Lady Mystic. “He had to make it his best, and that meant abandoning his shields to harvest their power. Let’s go find another one.”

  “There are not many left,” replied Xavo. “My daughter just sent one tumbling down from the top level.”

  “How did we miss him?” frowned Lady Mystic.

  The sound of an explosion interrupted the conversation before Xavo could answer. He quickly erected a shield around himself and signaled for Lady Mystic to do the same. Together they rushed toward the center of the temple where the atrium rose up through the levels. As they slid to a halt near the atrium, a shower of rock debris drifted downward. Xavo peered through the cloud of particles at the hole in the side of the temple far above him. While he was trying to make sense out of what he was seeing, another explosion rocked the building. Xavo grabbed Lady Mystic and shoved her into the corridor just before more rock debris fell from above.�
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  “What is going on?” questioned the Emperor’s daughter.

  “Lyra just destroyed the stairs to the top level,” answered Xavo.

  “The fool,” protested Lady Mystic. “Doesn’t she know that Vand derives his power from Dobuk? If we are not there to battle the Great Demon, my father will destroy the Three with ease. How are we going to get back up there?”

  “I don’t know,” sighed Xavo, “but we must find a way. We have not come this far to let your father kill my daughter. We must get to Dobuk, and quickly.”

  Chapter 49

  Tea with a God

  The elves and Chula scrambled up the strong vines leading to the second-level balcony. King Avalar stood inside the library and directed everyone to an appropriate part of the temple as they entered. With nearly three thousand warriors and mages inside the temple, the elven king felt sure that they would find all of the hidden Motangans and vanquish them. One of the last to climb the vine was Bakhai, the Astor’s brother.

  “How is the war outside going?” asked the elven king.

  “It goes well,” answered Bakhai. “The remaining hellsouls are being crushed between the Khadorans and the Fakarans not far to the west. It should be over in a few hours. The area around the temple is now solidly in our hands.”

  “And soon the inside of the temple will be as well,” nodded King Avalar.

  “Unless Vand has more surprises in store for us,” agreed Bakhai. “The skeletons continue to try to get out of the tyrik-web pens that they are trapped in. It will be dangerous when we finally turn our attention to them.”

  “Is there a danger of them escaping?” the elven king asked with concern.

  “Not in the immediate future,” Bakhai shook his head. “They are trying to climb over the bones of their comrades without coming into contact with the web, but I think it is impossible for them to get free. I have ordered our few remaining tyriks to keep watch on them. They will spin higher webs if it looks like the skeletons might escape.”

  “Then what is your concern?” asked King Avalar.

  “Sooner or later we must destroy the creatures,” explained the Qubari shaman. “It is not likely that such creatures can be starved to death, so that means that our warriors will have to enter the pens to separate their heads from their bodies. I would not volunteer to be one of those chosen warriors.”

  “I understand,” the elven king nodded thoughtfully. “We will discuss how to accomplish that task after the hellsouls are defeated. Our main concern now is making sure the temple is safe. We have three thousand elves and Chula searching every section of the building.”

  Several levels above the library, Princess Alastasia led a group of elves in search of Motangan hellsouls. As her small group emerged from a corridor she saw a black-cloak moving stealthily in her direction. The Motangan mage recognized the danger of the chance encounter and turned to flee, but two other black-cloaks suddenly appeared and blocked his path of retreat.

  “You are all that is left, Pakar,” scowled Lady Mystic. “Drop your shield, and you will enjoy a swift death; resist and you will be crushed brutally.”

  While Lady Mystic threatened Pakar, Xavo’s eyes locked onto Princess Alastasia’s face. He quickly pulled back his hood to show his face, even though he realized that she might not recognize him.

  “MistyTrail,” Xavo shouted, “You know me as Malafar. Stand clear while we deal with Vand’s head mage.”

  Princess Alastasia smiled and nodded. “We met in Vandamar,” replied the elven princess. “We will stay and watch this duel of magicians.”

  Pakar was confused about the relationship between the elf and Xavo, but he harbored no puzzlement regarding his course of action. He had to destroy Lady Mystic and Xavo and flee the temple. Both arms rose instantly, one pointing at Lady Mystic and the other at Xavo. Flames flew from his fingertips, but both of the other mages were shielded, and all the flames did was to illuminate the outline of those shields. Pakar sneered at the Emperor’s daughter, knowing that her energy was almost spent. He could see in the outline of her shield that her power was running out.

  “You have taken on too much, too quickly,” he snarled at Lady Mystic. “You shall be the first to fall to my powers.”

  Without letting Xavo move outside his field of vision, Pakar concentrated on the Emperor’s daughter. His spells flew from his fingertips in an almost steady stream designed to destroy her shield and strike her down. Lady Mystic did not retaliate as she urged all of her power into strengthening her shields. She knew that Pakar was the strongest mage on the Island of Darkness besides Vand himself, and she was not about to leave herself defenseless.

  Xavo stood next to Lady Mystic, seemingly doing nothing to interfere, but a strong cold wind began to whip around the atrium behind Pakar. Princess Alastasia felt the chill immediately as her body shivered involuntarily. At first she wondered where the chill breeze had come from, but then she remembered the stories told in Star City. She remembered how Master Malafar had overcome the Katana’s strong shields. He had used lightning to outline the shields and make them visible. He had then used sound to shrink the shields and cold wind to cause the shields to turn brittle. The princess stared past Pakar and made eye contact with Lyra’s father.

  “Let me help,” the princess mouthed silently when Xavo finally acknowledged her with his eyes.

  Xavo merely smiled with an almost imperceptible nod of his head. Princess Alastasia knew that Xavo was building his ice storm to attack Pakar’s shields, so she had to do something to make them visible and constrict them. She smiled broadly as she took a seed from her pouch and unobtrusively tossed it near Pakar’s feet.

  The elven princess concentrated on the seed and shut everything else out of her mind. Instantly the seed sprouted to life, and a tiny vine began to grow. Alastasia directed the growth of the vine, causing it to encircle Pakar’s shield at the floor level, its tiny web-like stems spreading out like a slowly shattering pane of glass. She concentrated hard to restrict the vine to the shield around the lower half of Pakar’s body. She did not want the mage to be aware of what was happening.

  As Xavo’s ice storm grew in intensity just beyond the railing, Princess Alastasia directed the growth of the vine up the back of Pakar’s shield. The black-cloak’s face distorted in rage as he continued to blast away at Lady Mystic’s shield. Alastasia glanced over at Vand’s daughter and saw her shield glowing with energy. Tiny lightning flashes crackled across the surface of the otherwise invisible shield, and the elven princess knew that there was not much time left. She made deliberate eye contact with Xavo, and he nodded noticeably with a sense of urgency.

  Princess Alastasia returned her full attention to the rapidly growing vine and suddenly the vine spread all over Pakar’s shield. The black-cloak’s spell casting immediately halted as he sensed the danger inherent in the plant growth covering his shield. As he turned to look at the elven princess, Xavo directed his wintry gale across the railing and onto Pakar’s shield. The shield immediately turned a frosty white, becoming opaque. Princess Alastasia ordered the vines to constrict, and they exerted tremendous pressure as the stems intertwined and tightened rapidly.

  Lady Mystic immediately dropped her shield and brought her coupled hands out in front of her. A surge of power shot from her fists and smashed into the frosty, vine-covered shield of Pakar. The shield shattered like a wine goblet hitting a stone floor. Xavo was ready with a force bolt of his own as the shield shattered. He directed the energy at the now unprotected black-cloak, and Pakar’s body flew backward through the railing, with a large hole in what used to be the man’s chest. Pakar’s body dropped silently down to the ground level of the atrium.

  “That was close,” Lady Mystic sighed with relief. “Too close.”

  “He was a powerful mage,” nodded Xavo, “and the last of Vand’s mages.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Princess Alastasia.

  “I am sure,” nodded Xavo.

  “Well,” smil
ed Princess Alastasia as she signaled for her group to continue hunting for Motangans, “then you two can rest while we clean up the hellsouls.”

  “Wait,” Xavo said softly as his hand reached out and stopped the elven princess from following her group. “We need your help.”

  “You need healing?” Alastasia asked with concern.

  “Not healing,” Xavo shook his head. “Lyra destroyed the staircases to the uppermost level. We need your help in getting up there. Can you create one of those vines that will be strong enough for us to climb?”

  “Easily,” nodded the elven princess, “but I do not understand. I thought the Three had to meet Vand alone. I fear what may happen if you two try to interfere.”

  “We do not plan to interfere with the Three,” promised Lyra’s father. “We have other business on the top level.”

  “It will have to wait,” Alastasia shook her head. “If it was alright for others to interfere in the final battle, every one of us would be rushing to get up there, but Marak warned us against that. Vand can use the presence of others to diminish the skills of the Three. I cannot help you.”

  “Tell her the truth,” scowled Lady Mystic. “Time is slipping away from us.”

  Princess Alastasia frowned at Lady Mystic’s outburst and stared into Xavo’s eyes. She waited for Lyra’s father to explain.

  “Alright,” sighed Xavo. “We do not plan to interfere with the battle directly, but we can help the Three win another way.”

  “How?” Princess Alastasia asked skeptically.

  “Vand derives his power from Dobuk,” explained Xavo. “If Lady Mystic and I can attack Dobuk while Lyra and Marak are fighting Vand, we can lessen the power available to Vand. It just might make the difference between failure and success.”

  “No one can fight Dobuk,” Princess Alastasia shook her head. “It is certain death even to try.”

  “We are aware of that,” Lady Mystic interjected, “but even the Great Demon must expend power to vanquish us.”