by James Wolf
Taem fought on with fury, and was aware of his friends fighting to either side. Taem felt the air tinge with magic, as Hirandar drove more raw power onto the Narg horde. Forgrun bellowed as his axe chopped down one of the berserker Narg-Kul, and Logan’s blade tore through Narg flesh. Logan’s sword slashed left and right in combination, removing a Narg-Kul’s arm below the shoulder then severing right through a Narg-Vak torso. Bringing his sword down by his side, the Master sprung backwards to elude an attacking goat-headed Narg. He brought his sword up high, knocking aside the beast’s weapon. The Sodan Master cut through its chin and jaw. Logan’s sword dropped back down, a meteor falling from the sky, smashing through its twisted horned skull.
Estellarum was a blue blur in Taem’s hands. The sword’s celestial sheen traced a path through the Narg enemy. Taem dealt them all killing blows, but more Nargs threatened to overwhelm him. An overhead downward swing tore through matted brown fur, flesh and bone. Taem threw out an upward slash, followed by a parry of a strong club blow, and a downward diagonal strike through a rusty breastplate. Two more Nargs fell.
Logan had killed many of the Dark creatures but still more came, with scores more clambering behind the next wave. Logan knew the prospects were bleak. The Hand of Fire would soon be submerged. The Sodan Master saw Ragad fight like a titan, matching the Nargs in strength, but the Croma had been bitten on the shoulder and it was restricting the use of his left arm. Jvarna was fierce as her spear kept the beastmen back, even though one of her sides was gashed crimson. Drual had dropped his crossbow and fought with his broadsword. The rogue reached inside his trench-coat and retrieved a throwing knife with a flourish that embedded the flying blade in a Narg. Time and again Drual produced another glinting dagger from nowhere, and launched it into a rampaging beastman. Forgrun was dauntless as his axe smashed through Nargs. Logan saw Baek fighting alongside the Rhungar, his sword darting as the Aborle evaded the ponderous Nargs, as a willow sways in the breeze.
Logan’s blade tore through two Nargs with one strike. His sword was a powerful enchanted blade, but was eclipsed by Taem’s Sodan blade, fighting somewhere to his right. The Master could sense the magic of Estellarum being unleashed against the enemies of the Light once more. Logan cut up through a Narg-Kul’s chest, and stepped off and clove down through the horned head of a Narg-Vak, before he glanced at Taem. The Master was sworn to protect his apprentice, and he made sure to stay close. Even Logan was startled to see, Estellarum was alive with blue light in Taem’s hands.
Masses of Nargs were gathering to assault the tor.
‘Hirandar, do something!’ Logan cried as his sword point split through a Narg heart, the blade sinking up to the hilt.
The tor was deluged with Nargs. The company fought for their lives. Taem knew they would soon be swamped. Taem’s sword clashed with the cutlass of a Narg-Baal – unlike the giant Narg-Kul and Narg-Vak, the snarling weasel-Narg was similar to a Man in size. Again, the swords crashed together. And again, as the combatants fought. The Narg could not hold out long, before Estellarum removed its weasel head from its shoulders.
Hirandar’s magic had been quiet for a while, but Taem soon saw why. A roaring firewall spurted from the earth at the base of the tor, separating the Nargs already on the slope from the ones off it. Taem cleaved through another Narg, before he glimpsed how the Nargs reared back in fear from the firewall – an impenetrable barrier of leaping flame, a hundred foot long, that reached up ten foot high.
‘Hurry!’ Hirandar cried. ‘I can’t hold it for long,’ the Wizard strained as she fought with all her might to maintain the magic firewall.
There were twenty Nargs trapped on the slope between the firewall and the warriors. The moronic beasts were bewildered by it. Their vacant stares transfixed by the magic blaze. They still had stupid looks on their savage faces as Baek started shooting them down with arrows. Enraged by their fellow Nargs dying, the beastmen charged up towards the warriors, whilst the fire held back the rest of their brethren.
Waiting for the Nargs to come, the warriors closed around Hirandar, shielding the Wizard as she stood deep in a vulnerable trance, her concentration devoted to the firewall.
Baek drew back his bow and killed another Narg, before the company was again beset with fighting the enemy hand-to-hand. This time the company did not fare so well, being already so tired from having killed so many before. Drual was cut deep across the chest by a fierce Narg-Kul, but Ragad – who himself had numerous injuries – killed the Narg before it could finish Drual, smashing his warhammer into the Kul’s skull. Baek was gouged across the leg, but could still just manage to stand. Forgrun had been nicked on one of his shoulders, but was not letting the flesh wound bother him. Nevertheless, Taem saw the blood seeping into the Rhungar’s bright clothes. The wound on Jvarna’s side was opening further, dripping blood to the ground as the brave woman fought on.
Taem attacked with fury. He thrust Estellarum through a Narg windpipe. He ruined another Narg with a colossal downward strike, which split the enemy in half with a flash of blue light. Logan cut open a bestial stomach with a mighty sideways swing. He ducked a Narg axe then pounced forward. Logan’s Sodan blade slashed three times before he landed, and three horned Nargs toppled to the ground. Forgrun chopped down a beastman as it closed on Drual, his axe reaching up to decapitate the Vak’s massive head, and Ragad smashed a giant horned Narg-Vak as it made for Baek. The Croma’s great hammer thumped into the Narg’s chest with such force that the eight-foot tall monster was knocked fully off its feet, rolling backwards down the tor’s slope to stop limp, in a crumpled heap.
All the Nargs on the tor were dead. Their altered corpses littered the ground. Over a hundred waited on the valley floor below, held back by Hirandar’s firewall, giving the company a brief respite.
‘Behind us!’ Baek screamed, swivelling awkwardly because of his injured leg, to bring his bow to bear.
Narg-Yils had reached the top of the tor, having scaled the cliff face. The warriors that could still stand charged across the tor to engage the enemy. Each Narg-Yils was only as tall as Forgrun, and only half the Rhungar’s bulk. Logan chopped through three Yils, each step a different scything strike. Taem cleaved down another. His blade flashed out horizontally, deflecting a different Narg’s attack, then answered with an inward swing. Forgrun dropped two with one enormous swing of his axe, whilst Ragad hefted one of the ratmen up with one hand. The Yils bit and scratched the Croma, trying to elude his wrench-like grip, as Ragad hurled the creature off the edge of the tor. The Yils were all dead as the warriors stumbled back to Hirandar and the others.
‘I can’t hold this firewall much longer,’ Hirandar gasped. Taem saw the immense strain on her brow.
‘Let it go,’ Logan murmured.
Hirandar dropped her outstretched arms, and the firewall sunk away into the charred earth.
‘This is it!’ Logan cried, as the vicious Narg horde tore up the slope.
Hirandar cast a massive fireball into the oncoming Nargs, and Baek loosed his bow again and again with deft speed and precision.
‘Show them our Light-blessed courage!’ Logan shouted as the friends met the Nargs for the last time.
Taem and the still-standing companions fought like the warriors they were. Faced by overwhelming odds, they showed the Nargs the meaning of courage. The earth shook as Hirandar flung the last of her power at the enemy, but it all seemed in vain as Forgrun was speared by a sword thrust and knocked to the ground. Ragad fell, bundled underneath a scrum of Nargs. All was lost. The foul beastmen were surging up the tor in ever-increasing numbers, but Taem and Logan still fought on as Hirandar tore through the air with fire and energy. Taem knew this was the end. He battled on, regardless. Confronted by the inevitability of death – accepting it – Taem became an even more formidable warrior. The Nargs roared on, ever more numerous. Logan and he were surrounded. Taem would kill as many as he could before they overcame him. He would do his Master proud. Taem cut down more Nargs than h
e could remember, determined to prove himself a Sodan worthy of entering Alarsium. He could not match the might of Logan, but his will was strong, dauntless to the last. Estellarum shone with an even brighter blue light, as if the blade itself was driving him on.
Taem and Logan fought back to back. The Nargs all went for them, drawn towards the blue gleam of Estellarum. Both Sodan blades cut through the enemies of the Light. Taem knew he was going to die. Nargs closed in. He would take one more Narg with him. A giant Narg rushed him. Another came from the side, raising its axe. Taem roared in defiance, and rammed his shining blade through the charging Narg. He expected to die in the next instant. But he felt power surge through his body. Light exploded from his Starblade. It was as if a star detonated inside the speared Narg. The Narg was blown to pieces, as blinding light shone out from Estellarum. Taem screamed as the light burnt his eyes, and he clamped them shut. There was an almighty boom, as a shockwave of light burst from the Starblade. The closest Nargs exploded as the lightwave hit them. The force of the explosion smashed Taem to the ground.
Taem gasped in pain. He opened his eyes but could see only stars. He stumbled to get up on his feet, as his vision returned. All the Nargs on the tor were dead. But many more Nargs were fleeing the valley. Taem heard Logan moan, and he rushed to help his Master laying prone on the ground.
‘Can you see?’ Taem helped Logan to stand up.
‘My sight returns,’ Logan gasped in amazement, as he saw all the dead Nargs.
‘What was that,’ Logan looked at Taem’s blade in awe. The glow had left the Starblade. It was just blue metal once more.
‘I know not,’ Taem murmured, as he gazed down at the gleaming Starmetal, and the slight curve of the blade.
There was movement in a pile of Nargs, and both Sodan rushed over. They pulled Ragad out from underneath the dead Nargs. The Northman was dazed and incoherent but, incredibly, had no serious injury, although he had a dozen flesh wounds over his body. They supported the great Croma, and pulled a stunned Hirandar to her feet. They all limped over to where Baek lay with the gash on his leg. Drual struggled, his breathing shallow, as he sat with the Aborle. But Taem rushed to Forgrun. The Rhungar was close to death, with a Narg sword embedded in his chest.
Jvarna held the dying Rhungar with his head in her lap, her own arm cut down to the bone, and blood from her side was turning her trousers red. Taem knelt down beside his friend, and grasped Forgrun’s wrist in a Rhungari handshake. The company gathered round as Logan pulled the sword from Forgrun’s body. It barely registered a response from the dying Rhungar. Hirandar put a hand over the gaping wound in Forgrun’s chest, bathing it in a golden glow.
‘Don’t leave us, friend,’ Taem murmured. ‘You must fight!’
The glow of healing shone forth from the Wizard’s hands, as she placed one on the wound and the other on the Rhungar’s brow. Hirandar closed her eyes to concentrate, whilst the Rhungar’s eyes shot wide open as a warmth filled his body, pushing back the chill of death’s cold touch. For a full minute Hirandar battled to save the Rhungar’s life, the Wizard mumbling under her breath. The others watched and waited in silent hope. Taem willed for the Light to help his friend. The Rhungar bolted upright and gulped in a lungful of air. As if he had been dunked in icy water, and jumped back out from the shock of it. Hirandar lost consciousness, and fell back to be caught by Ragad.
Forgrun glanced around at his smiling companions with surprise, feeling his exposed chest through blood-stained and torn clothes. Where he expected to touch a wound, Forgrun felt – to his utter amazement – nothing but smooth skin over healed chest muscle. Gawping down, the Rhungar could not believe what he was seeing. Even the cut on his brow, that had dripped blood into his eyes as he fought, was gone as if it had never been.
‘Thank the Light for that!’ Logan clasped a hand on Forgrun’s massive shoulder.
‘I thought we had lost you, my friend!’ Taem laughed, and embraced the Rhungar.
‘Be a little scratch like that?’ Forgrun boomed. ‘Nay likely! I be Forgrun Krojan! O’ ye mighty Narg-slaying Hand o’ Fire!’
Everyone laughed at Forgrun’s brashness. The Rhungar howled a victory cry, and everyone else roared along with him, raising their weapons to the sky.
‘Odrin himself must have been watching over you!’ Baek cried over from where he lay, unable to move because of his lame leg.
‘Logan,’ Ragad supported the unconscious Wizard in his huge arms, ‘is Hirandar alright?’
‘She’ll be fine,’ Logan went over to Ragad. With one hand, Logan gently held up Hirandar’s head, whilst his other hand shook the Wizard by the shoulder.
Jvarna winced, as Taem pressed some cloth to the wound in her side.
‘Sorry,’ Taem murmured, ‘but we have to stop this bleeding.’
‘It’s okay,’ Jvarna grimaced, as she put her hand over Taem’s to hold the cloth.
‘Drual’s dying!’ Baek pointed at the ashen faced rogue.
Logan ran over and peeled back Drual’s blood-soaked shirt, to reveal a terrible wound. Baek crawled over and propped the rogue’s head up.
‘Go to the Wizard’s pack and find a vial of green liquid,’ Logan said to Taem, as he went over to Ragad and Hirandar. ‘Hurry!’
Taem rummaged through Hirandar’s backpack, found the potion, and gave it to Logan, who fed some to the exhausted Wizard. Hirandar regained her senses, snatched the bottle from Logan and downed the remainder of its green contents. With renewed strength Hirandar jumped to her feet, grabbed another green potion from the backpack and downed that too, before rushing over to Drual. Taem watched in amazement as Hirandar glowed with magical power, and she used healing magic on Drual, then Jvarna’s arm and side, Baek’s leg, and finally Ragad’s cuts. By which time, the Wizard was so weary she could not speak. She slumped to the floor and closed her eyes. When Taem thought of how much power the Wizard had summoned this day, he held nothing but awe for the old woman, as he wrapped a Rhungari blanket around her.
‘Are you alright?’ Taem murmured to the old woman. He knew drawing so much magic onto herself was dangerous, and healing was the most intricate aspect of magic.
‘There’s bite in this old wolf yet,’ Hirandar smiled, but kept her eyes closed. ‘Holding onto the raging magic of healing – whilst releasing from it the tiniest weaves of magic – is no mere sorcerer’s trick. It’s as if I’m walking a tightrope over a ravine, juggling cloth balls and wearing a blindfold.’ Hirandar murmured. ‘One wrong move can kill either of us.’
‘You are a Great One,’ Taem tucked the blanket close around the old woman.
‘What happened?’ Baek murmured. ‘We were surrounded and finished. The Nargs were on us, ready to slaughter us – and then there was the most blinding light?’
Taem stayed silent. He did not know what to say, as he was not sure himself.
‘It was so bright,’ Jvarna murmured, and glanced at Taem, ‘that it burned my eyes. When I could open them again, all the Nargs were dead or fleeing…’
Ragad stared at Taem, but said nothing.
‘I just heard an almighty boom,’ Drual whispered, ‘and was knocked from my feet. Then the blinding light came. When I reopened my eyes all the Nargs were gone!’
‘By Odrin!’ Forgrun gasped. ‘I do miss this? Was it ye Wizard casting ye mightiest o’ spells?’
‘Must have been,’ Logan murmured, as he shot a glance at Taem.
‘Well thank the Light for our great Wizard,’ Drual said happily. ‘She saved all our lives!’
‘If that was the Wizard’s spell,’ Jvarna frowned, ‘it was like nothing we have yet seen. And she has already shown us the greatest magic… but this was on another level.’
‘You… didn’t think… I had it in me?’ Hirandar struggled to find the strength to speak. Climbing to her feet drained what little energy she had left. She still had enough wit to shoot Taem a cautionary glance though – a sharp look that told him to be quiet.
‘No, Great One,�
�� Jvarna said affectionately, as she helped the old woman to stand. ‘Just not sure if my eyes deceived me,’ Jvarna glanced at Taem.
‘We are not out of danger yet,’ Logan looked across the valley. ‘Many Nargs escaped. We need rest,’ Logan looked at the weary companions, ‘but we will find none here.’
‘I’ll not make it far, old friend,’ Hirandar murmured, as she leant on Jvarna.
‘I know, my friend,’ Logan touched the Wizard’s shoulder. ‘What you did today was extraordinary, even for you. But we need to move. The Nargs will be back.’
‘Agreed,’ Hirandar sighed.
So with leaden legs, the companions hefted their packs onto exhausted shoulders and followed Logan off the tor, careful to step around the twisted bodies of dead beastmen. No one wanted to salvage anything off those warped corpses. The sun was low in the western sky as Logan took the company eastward, across the valley that had once been beautiful, before today’s bloodshed and death. Taem saw how the crows were already feeding on the Narg corpses – they were not particular about what their next meal was.
Most of the company were too tired to speak as they trudged on, the combined efforts of a fierce battle won, against all odds, and the exhaustion of having the body healed by magic. Hirandar stumbled – she had more reason to be tired than any of them – and Ragad picked the Wizard up, and carried her in his great arms.
Forgrun staggered on in a daze, as did Drual. They were so weak from healing that they could not carry their own packs, and seemed that they might fall asleep as they walked. Baek and Jvarna also shuffled along, shattered, and Taem was feeling the weight of carrying both Forgrun’s pack and his own bearing down on him.
By full darkness the company had rejoined the eastern trail, and Logan motioned for them to set up camp. Everyone else was too tired to move, so Taem went for firewood with Ragad, whilst Logan searched the warriors’ packs for provisions. The Sodan Master made sure the others all ate something before letting them fall asleep.
