by Greg Dragon
She sighed and rubbed at the bite that the eel had dealt her. “At least here we all have a common foe. Chaos is unpredictable, and a bit of a jerk, but he hates the V’Kosha just as much as we do.”
“Crush the V’Kosha, and Chaos will fall in line,” Cyrio said. “He built his army of children to fight the V’Kosha, but they won’t be able to stand against us Erts, and he will be forced to make terms.”
“I hope it’s really as simple as you make it out to be,” Amarah said. “Chaos wants power, and he’s worked a long time to get it. When the V’Kosha are gone, he will be dangerous. Mark my words on that one.”
“We ought to get moving before the sun peaks,” Orwan said. “This is the plains of Genoah, so we’re going to be walking for many hours before we can think about making a camp.”
Chapter Two
“You know, for a magical demon world, Yalem has made me work hard to get from one place to another. That’s weird, don’t you think? Shouldn’t we be on magic carpets, teleporting through travel portals, or, I don’t know, something convenient? We’ve been walking all day, my feet are killing me, and if I lose any more weight I might just disappear!”
Amarah studied her closely as they walked. “You won’t disappear. Lose another five pounds and you will be just right.”
Alysia couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. It had become increasingly hard to read Amarah, since the disastrous detour that had forced them to run for their lives from the kreples. Orwan, who she thought would be exchanging looks with her, trying to find a way to get close or test some other show of affection, seemed to have forgotten her completely.
He kept his head down, his hands in his long coat, and marched forward ahead of them in long, measured strides. Jovial Bortex was annoyed with Amarah, and kept pace with Orwan while Cyrio trailed behind everyone, watching the horizon as he always did.
Alysia decided not to respond to Amarah. The sun was out, burning hot, and the only thing she could do was make one foot follow the other as she used her thumb to rotate the dragon ring on her finger. The motion caused a nice bit of pressure to run through her finger, like an invisible entity, squeezing it reassuringly to let her know that it would be okay.
The horizon was a depressing reality. They could make out trees some miles out, but they seemed to elude them, since she had been seeing them since the morning. Her mind drifted to Isobel, her first Yalemite friend. She wondered if the pixie was back with her loved ones, or if she had gone back to work for Chaos.
She would find out, next time she saw the demon lord, and see if it was possible to see her friends.
~ * ~ * ~
At the edge of the Dor Woods lay hundreds of yards of rough grass and weeds that were broken up in several places by strange sculptures whose features had been worn down with age. They looked like misshapen black towers poking out from the blue grass, but Alysia found them to be quite interesting, and she wondered about their past.
“These statues,” she began, as they made camp below one of the leaning behemoths, “were they warriors, kings, gods, or something? I can’t make them out, but I can tell that they were once quite detailed.”
Amarah gave her a rare smile. “These were placed here to honor the Erts that protected the people from the bandits and the V’Kosha. This was once a park with benches, full of laughter and happiness. The statues of our ancestors would tower over families that came here to enjoy the park, but war came, and people were forced to wall themselves off inside their villages.”
“I was wondering why Wildemont had a wall around it even though it was out in the middle of nowhere,” Alysia said, then sighed. “Old Wildemont, my little home away from home. I never thought that I would miss it as much as I do, but I can’t wait to get back there to see Lenorela, the people, and all the awesome artwork they have everywhere.”
“What about the food?” Cyrio asked, and Alysia remembered how much she had loved walking through the market and taking samples from the vendors.
“I miss it all,” she said, and then glanced at Orwan. He was putting the tent together with quick, precise motions, and Alysia could tell that he was using the work as an opportunity to get out of his thoughts.
It was getting dark, so the five travelers scrambled inside of the large tent and chose the corners that each would sleep in for the night. Orwan volunteered the first watch and Alysia fought back the urge to go outside and check on him. She remembered how she felt when her mother had died, and how Tracy had kept her distance, offering help whenever she could.
He just needs time, she thought. We can talk once Lenny is safe, and we’re all rested and healed up inside of the mansion. She could almost feel the warmth of the embers as they pulsed inside the giant hearth of Lenorela’s main room. Yalem’s nights were always cold and terrible, so the thought of the fire made her happy, and she rubbed her upper arms to warm herself.
When Bortex made to light a fire, Amarah touched his hand gently and kissed him on the cheek. This was an odd way for her to tell him not to bother, but it seemed to melt away the animosity that had been going on between them and he sat by his brother, joking and playing around like the Bortex of old.
The next day they made it to the forest that Alysia had come awake in. A chill ran up her spine as they walked, and it wasn’t from the dark trunks and thick canopy that shut out all the light. It was the memory of how she had felt when she first arrived, the confusion that turned into pure horror, and the memory of the numerous horrors that crawled and slid along the floor.
Just for kicks, she held up a hand and probed the atmosphere for the magic. When she found it, she imagined light, and to her surprise her hand began to glow, forming a dense orb of fluorescent light. It hovered out from her palm and settled above her head. She spun to see if Amarah was impressed, but her heart stopped when she saw that they had stumbled into a nest of monsters.
The same freakish form that she had fought was all around her, preventing their escape. Twisted spiders with human-like legs watched them intently with their gaping maws revealing several rows of sharpened teeth. The light seemed to hurt them and they retreated from it back into the trees. Bortex charged one of them, bringing his elbow down with such force that black blood exploded from the monster’s thorax, and it screamed with a sound that was too human.
A brave spider rushed the rest despite the light, and Alysia placed a hand on the ground and threw up her legs. The well-timed kick stopped the monster in his tracks, and she spun and swung her body around and brought all her weight into another kick. Cyrio leapt over her and thrust his epee deep into the spider’s chest as it stumbled away. The rest were coming at them now, trying to use their larger number to press the advantage in this ambush.
Alysia reached for one of her sword handles and pulled out Euphoria with a spin. She whirled one way, cutting into one spider, then jumped and twirled with both hands on the hilt, cutting deep into two others before lifting the blade to guard her body as she backed up into her friends. It was a flurry of blades, magic, and screams, but the spiders were not letting up on their press.
A deep thrust from Orwan rained black blood all over Alysia’s armored back, and she spun to catch him as he stumbled under its weight. “Up you go,” she said as she caught him, and he gave her a smile which took her completely off guard. “Good thing these things don’t have acid for blood,” she joked, but Orwan was gone, swinging his sword at another spider.
By the time they were finished, the sun had come out to fight against the tight canopy of leaves overhead. Long lasers of sunlight poked through, and Alysia’s ball of light dissipated as if it knew that it was no longer needed. Orwan pointed in one direction and began to jog, so the rest followed. They picked up the pace, running briskly through the trees.
Alysia knew she shouldn’t but she glanced behind her. A number of spiders, snakes, and shadows were following their path, but at a pace that suggested they were not trying to catch them. Creepy li
ttle bastards must assume that we’ll stop. That’s when they’ll make their attack, and we’ll be too weak to deal with them, she thought. But she had slept the night before, a true sleep, complete with dreams, so her well-trained legs were up to the task, and they broke past the tree line after several miles.
When they saw the natural rock wall of Wildemont off in the distance, Alysia felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Orwan slowed their run to a walk, and Cyrio held back, watching the trees to make sure they hadn’t been followed. By the time they made it to the old village, the sun was at its brightest. They noticed immediately that the streets were empty, and they were even more surprised when they found the inn door unlocked.
“V’Kosha, remember?” Alysia said to them. “Lenny’s little castle is under siege, and I’m willing to bet that everyone ran up the hill to help her.”
“We’ll go help in a few minutes, CeeCee, but I need to get off my feet,” Amarah said.
“Here!” Bortex shouted to her, and tossed her a large flagon of mead that he had found behind the counter.
“Really, Bortex, we’re stealing now?” Alysia scolded the giant Ert.
“No, not stealing. I’m playing bartender. See? I’m paying,” he said, and he motioned to a pile of coins that he had placed on top of a large barrel.
“Going upstairs to wash off this spider blood,” Cyrio said to no one in particular.
“I’m next,” Orwan said quickly.
Alysia spoke up. “Me after him.”
“Fine,” said Amarah, “I’ll just sit here in my stink. We don’t mind, do we, Bortex?” She winked at the big man.
“Speak for yourself, you dirty girl,” he replied.
~ * ~ * ~
When they came upon the mansion, it took a lot of effort to get through the crowd gathered near the front gates. Every villager seemed to be there, screaming at the top of their lungs and demanding of the V’Kosha to set Lenorela free.
Orwan and company went from nudging to pushing as they moved people out of their way to gain the main gate. Bortex was up front, lifting the smaller people up, moving them to the side, and elbowing the bigger ones and then daring them to make something of it. A few of the villagers recognized Alysia, and began to applaud when they saw her. Eventually a path cleared and they were allowed through to enter the yard of Lenorela’s home.
As soon as Bortex reached the large, double gates Alysia heard a loud, ear-shattering scream. Lenorela’s body dangled from a window of the library tower, and the only thing preventing her from falling was a rope that had been tied around her left ankle. The dress she wore hung over her head, leaving her naked body exposed. Lacerations, deep and wet, were crisscrossed all over her body, and the way she swayed made Alysia think that she was either unconscious or dead.
The armor wrapped itself around Alysia’s body, covering her mouth in a mask of sorts. She pulled her two blades and threw down her pack, the thick curls of her hair now tickling her face as the winds traveled past the trees to bring in the stench of the surrounding villagers.
Several V’Kosha stormed out of the mansion, their charred, red bodies glistening like wet magma beneath the brilliant moon. Bortex caught one with the edge of his long sword and swung it through, cleaving an arm and then a leg. Orwan slipped past Alysia, burying his blade into the stomach of the next, but Alysia stomped and dashed headlong into the crowd of demons that poured through the open doorway of Lenorela’s mansion.
The once manicured lawn and gardens began to look like ambrosia salad with the fallen bodies of the demons that rushed at the party of five. The V’Kosha were relentless but they were unskilled. The Erts shredded them up as they moved towards the door, but they were barely slowing them down.
Alysia took off the head of a V’Kosha who had been so far gone that she had no facial features. When Euphoria removed the life from this creature, her body felt energized and tingled all over, but when Bliss followed up to finish the job, the creature exploded into ashes. The blade glowed with hunger and began to vibrate as its master broke through to enter the house.
A large, horned creature with a cruel war axe jumped from one end of the room to land in front of her. She slid to the side and performed an aerial, then landed and spun, bringing the swords up in front of her face.
The eyes of the demon were dancing with fire and despite his size he moved like a dancer, skipping gracefully from one leg to the next. On his third skip he brought the axe around, slamming it into the ground where Alysia once stood. She was in the air again after using the wall to vault towards the beast. She brought the blades down, but he bounced back, looked her over and wagged a finger.
The laughter that came afterwards sent currents down her spine, and before she could react, he had recovered the axe and was pressing the attack. Alysia dared not risk deflecting his axe with her own blades. He was much stronger than she was, and his weapon was heavy. Though Bliss and Euphoria were magical blades, a part of her knew that they would still break.
The axe found a bench, which exploded into splinters that became like shrapnel to her bare legs. Sharp fragments wedged beneath her flesh, bringing out blood, and the shockwave knocked her against the wall with force. Bortex got inside and raised his long sword, so the demon turned to face him, as if to see if he was worthy.
Bortex saw the axe swing up and shifted his weight to tilt away, leaving his sword to catch the axe-head. When the swing had gone wild, he spun a back fist into the jaw of the horned demon. This staggered the big creature, but he did not fall. The demon brought the axe back, swinging it down, and Bortex had to retreat or risk being cut in half.
He recovered his longsword and they began to fight, giving Alysia time to get up and clear her head. She was about to flank him when she felt a presence. She glanced behind her to witness Chaos slip through a door in the back of the room. Everything within her wanted to go after him, to see what it was that he was up to. What she did instead was to cut the demon in his triceps, forcing him to switch the axe over to his off-hand.
How is Chaos here? she thought as she chanced a glance back to where he had been. Lenorela had used spells to ward him off, so how was it that he was here? Bortex screamed in agony and Alysia saw that the demon had hooked the axe behind the big man’s legs. She got out of her thoughts to rush to her friend’s aid, but Cyrio had come in and was onto the beast before she had a chance to approach.
The demon lost the axe under Bortex’s weight, and was using his steel wristbands to deflect the thin sword that the smaller brother used.
“This one is a high commander,” Cyrio shouted to Alysia. “He’s here to delay us from something. These creatures are held in high esteem. He shouldn’t be out here on a simple seek-and-destroy mission.”
The demon threw a punch that dropped Cyrio immediately. He staggered back as if his legs moved of their own volition, then crumbled to the floor, causing Alysia to gasp. It made no sense how fast this V’Kosha moved, and though she felt as if she could beat him, she found that she couldn’t help but respect his prowess. A feeling of deja vu washed over her until she realized that he reminded her of the archon back in the town of Lorus.
The demon jumped over Bortex with his blade up high and began to descend on Alysia. At the last possible second, she broke her trance but it was too late to do anything but cover her face. This she did out of instinct and incredible fear, but the bone-breaking weight of the demon’s body did not come down on her. What she felt instead was a bulk of muscle, which collided into her armored body and sent her sprawling to the floor.
Orwan covered her and got to his feet, holding his damaged sword out in front of him. Near the door, Amarah stood, her hands in a similar position to what Lenorela had taught Alysia. The demon stayed suspended in the air, held by the magic that Amarah used. The life seemed to be draining from her as she held him, and Orwan kept beckoning for her to let him go.
When the demon girl finally released the
V’Kosha, he reclaimed his axe and hurled it into Orwan’s chest. Time seemed to stop for Alysia Knight as she saw him fall lifeless to the ground. She exchanged glances with Amarah, who looked too weak to react, standing at the entrance amidst a long line of dead V’Kosha and ashes. The carnage trickled through to the circular anteroom they were in, bordered by broken furniture and chipped up stone.
Alysia felt as if her knees wanted to give out and tears fell from her eyes in rivulets. She was on to the demon with reckless abandon, swinging the swords like she had always done, but this time with a fury fueled by deep pain.
The speedy behemoth met each sword blow with a swipe of his axe. He parried her attacks, knocking them away to try and keep her off balance. He then gambled on a swing when he thought that she had stumbled, but Alysia had feigned weakness to gain an advantage. Bortex had not moved since the axe cut his leg, and she noticed that he was on the floor with a large pool of blood growing from the area where he sat.
The demon’s swing should have cut Alysia in half, but she threw her feet so far apart that she could have touched the floor with her crotch. She split to avoid his axe and then came up on his vulnerable side. It was a quick movement that came from many hours of practice with her father. She threw her body around 180 degrees into a butterfly kick, forcing the demon to lean away, but when she landed, she spun and leaned with Bliss extended, piercing the flesh beneath his neck.
The demon hopped away, throwing his left hand up to cover the wound that was now gushing out the lifeblood from his throat. She jumped and spun acrobatically, landing on one foot, with both blades running him through simultaneously. The power of the twin swords shot him across the room, where he hit the far wall with a sound like wet meat. Bliss was alive, vibrating with Alysia’s magic, and the big demon slid to the floor before exploding into a mountain of black ashes. Alysia’s blades sparked as if the demon had given them electricity, but she sheathed them quickly and ran over to Orwan.
