In Willum’s mind, he was a solitary figure all in black, holding a sword in his hands. The sword was made of fire and the flames licked up his arms and disappeared into a gaping hole in his chest. On the ground next to him, discarded, was a white sword and robe. Both of them had a shining naming rune embossed in them.
Tolivar, Willum called. Tolivar, please listen.
While he spoke, Bettie picked up the sword and Samson picked up the robe.
Tolivar didn’t respond. His face was fixed in a soundless scream. Willum understood. This wasn’t Tolivar, not really. This was Tamboor. Or . . . No, this was the thing Tamboor had become when his family died.
“Hurry, Willum,” the imp said. “Ho-ho, this power is slippery! It doesn’t belong in here. Do this quick before we lose hold.”
Willum wrapped his hand in the power and grabbed Tamboor’s shoulder.
The power of Edge’s sword didn’t have a color. It was more like an absence of color, and when it touched the flames, the fire in the sword was sucked away. Once that was gone, Tolivar’s face relaxed and the blackness that covered him began to be sucked away as well.
He blinked as the blackness faded. What is this?
It’s me, Willum said. And Bettie and Samson. We’re so sorry about Zambon.
He’s gone! Tolivar’s face twitched and the blackness started to return, but the power continued to suck it away. He sobbed. He was the real reason I stayed alive, you know. Not the revenge. He was the only part of Efflina I had left. Now . . . now the only way to see them again is to die myself.
“I’m losing hold, Willum!” the imp shouted.
Samson placed the robe about Tamboor’s shoulders. Bettie pried the black sword from Tamboor’s hands and replaced it with the white one. A silvery glow flowed from the sword, but it was sucked away by the power as easily as the fire had been.
Then the power left, ripped away from them, and the darkness returned. Tamboor began to sob. Willum wrapped his arms around him and he felt Bettie and Samson join in the embrace.
Tolivar, stay with us. We need you, he said.
If you die, we die, Bettie added. And so does my baby.
Please, Tolivar, said Samson. We can’t replace your family, but we are here.
Tolivar let out a sigh. I . . .
The figure in their arms turned from black to gray. The glow of the sword poured into the hole in Tolivar’s chest.
They embraced for a moment more, sharing in Tolivar’s loss. Then he pushed them away. We have a battle to finish.
The sound of the explosion reached all the way to Ewzad’s ears. He saw the glow of the protective bubble overhead fade.
“What was that?” Ewzad said.
“The crysalisk is ruined,” Mellinda replied, fear in her voice. “Sir Edge destroyed it.”
Ewzad swallowed. How could he have destroyed it? That thing had been so wrapped in protection it could have been thrown off a cliff and survived. “N-no matter. Yes, we must press forward.”
“I suggest we withdraw for now,” Mellinda said and he could sense her trembling. “The loss of the crysalisk is emboldening the wizards. We should return to Sampo.”
“Return? Withdraw?” Ewzad sputtered. “Nonsense! Impossible!” He raised his thumb and brought up the image of the battlefield. Lightning strikes and fireballs were pounding his changed men. Their hulks were losing form and melting right and left and his standard troops were falling back in fear.
“You see?” she said. “Withdraw. Put power in more troops. Attack again while they are mourning their losses. We’ll send in more assassins, weaken their resolve!”
“No. We can’t back down. Not now. The wall is down. Yes! Send everything! Yes-yes, end this now while they are weakened!”
“But Master . . . there is something else you must know,” Mellinda said and Ewzad could tell she was mulling how to say the next part. “Elise has gone into labor. Your babies will be here soon. They will be in Sampo in another day or two.”
“My . . . babies?” Ewzad said, his thoughts numb.
“Yes. So let’s withdraw. Build our strength. We have infinite resources if you allow us the time to build more troops. The school does not. There is no way for help to come for them. They will grow weaker while we-!”
“No!” Ewzad reached through their link and slapped her with all the power he could muster. Scores of moonrats fell over dead. Trolls screeched and ran free. Several commanders felt their connection with their mistress fade as the eyes they held lost their power.
“You fool,” she growled. “Do what you wish. I send all your forces forward.”
Ewzad felt her withdraw from their connection with satisfaction. The babies were coming. He had to have this finished before they arrived. If there was any chance that he could keep them both, the fight had to end now. With the Mage School gone and Dremald his, he wouldn’t need the Dark Prophet anymore.
“Arcon!” he shouted, walking to the edge of the giant and looking down.
The mage jerked in his saddle and peered up at Ewzad from below. His face was pale and he was clutching his chest like he was in shock. “Y-yes, my king?”
“Go with them! Go! Kill as many as you can with your magic!” he demanded. Let the mage fight. If Mellinda wanted Arcon to live, she would have to assure Ewzad’s victory.
“Y-yes, my king,” Arcon repeated and started his horse forward at a gallop.
Ewzad sent most of his prized creations surging ahead with the mage and had Hamford follow behind them. He kept only a few beasts around him just in case. By the time he arrived, the battle should be finished. Ewzad pulled the image up again and saw that the destruction of his forces was continuing. Mellinda had been right about one thing. Even with the reinforcements he sent, he could still lose.
Ewzad smiled as a plan formed in his mind. “Kassy! Come here, yes?”
She sauntered over to him. “Yesss, King Ewwie,” she purred.
“Closer,” he said and she slithered up to him, mere inches from his face, her full lips slightly parted. Mellinda was such a good teacher. Too good a teacher. He reached up and touched the eye in the center of her chest. “Do you want this eye gone?”
She swallowed and her eyes widened in fear. “Th-the misstresss is kind, King Ewwie.”
He smiled and plucked the eye out. She winced and the claw on the back of the eye writhed and clutched blindly at the air. Ewzad burst it with an explosion of steam. “You are loyal to me, yes?”
“Yesss, King Ewwie!” She lifted one of his writhing hands and began kissing it in gratitude. Tears came from her eyes. “Thank you, King Ewwie!”
“Good-good,” he said. “Watch over me while my body sleeps, would you, my dear? Don’t let anyone come near me, yes? No one.”
“Yesss, King Ewwie,” she purred, kissing his hand again.
“Good.” He enacted the spell once more and slid free of his body. Ewzad soared over his army and past the wreckage of the crysalisk. He would destroy them. Destroy the defenders of the school one by one if he had to. Pop! Pop! Pop! He would kill them all if he could. And if there were any more like that Sir Edge that he could not destroy, he would leave them to fight his monsters alone.
Chapter Thirty Six
Deathclaw hissed in frustration. They are fighting now!
“I know!” Beth said, running alongside him, a scowl on her face. “I’m pissed too! I was sure my instincts were right about this!”
They had arrived in Sampo hoping to find a way to sabotage Ewzad from behind or perhaps assassinate him, but the wizard hadn’t been there. His army had marched on the Mage School and he’d gone with them. While they’d been arguing about what to do next, Charz told them the attack had begun.
“Alfred says that the battle has turned slightly in their favor,” Charz said. “They destroyed that shield making thingie.”
“Justan destroyed it,” Deathclaw added. He had been pleased to hear it, and yet Justan had seemed so sad when he told him.
�
��Good!” Hilt said in relief.
“But right now,” Charz added. “He’s mostly worried that Vriil might decide to retreat.”
“Why does that worry him?” Beth asked.
“Because Ewzad Vriil can always regroup and make more monsters.” Hilt said. “The Mage School can’t make more wizards. I doubt they can even raise the walls again, at least not any time soon.”
“Then we kill the wizard now,” Deathclaw declared.
“Good idea,” Hilt said, nodding.
“Charz, carry me!” Beth said. “I need to focus on the road ahead.”
The giant picked her up in his arms and kept running while she closed her eyes and sent her senses ahead. Beth ground her teeth in frustration. The instinct to come to Sampo first had felt so right. Her feelings were never wrong. What had happened?
“They’re not far!” she said. The rear of the army was a few hundred feet ahead around a curve in the road. There were several big monsters glowing with spirit magic in the back and then a bit further something else; something enormous, and riding on it . . . “It’s him! It’s Ewzad Vrill and better yet,” Her eyes popped open and a grin spread across her face. “He’s traveled! That idiot has traveled!”
“What do you mean, he’s traveled?” Hilt asked.
“He’s not in his body.” Charz said. The giant laughed. “Idiot left himself wide open.”
“There’s some monsters ahead, between us and him,” she said. “Also, he’s riding some sort of huge thing, but if we can take it down . . .”
“That?” Deathclaw asked, pointing. They could see it moving just above the top of the treeline now.
“That big set of arse cheeks is his ride?” Charz said in awe. Indeed that’s what they could see. The rear end of a beast so big it towered above the trees, even while crawling.
“I thought the behemoth was big,” Hilt said, wide-eyed. “That’ll be hard to kill.”
“Then I’ll . . . scale it,” Deathclaw said, refusing to be intimidated by the sheer size of the monster. “I’ll scale it and then I’ll kill the wizard.”
“Scale?” Charz said.
“He means climb,” Beth said. “Not like scaling a fish.”
“I knew what he meant,” Charz snapped.
“We’ll have to get past them first,” Hilt said, grabbing the hilts of his swords.
In the road ahead, their backs turned to them, were four giants, each one of them around twelve feet tall and wearing heavy plate armor. They were carrying large weapons. One of them carried a sword and the other three had spiked clubs.
“Uh, you’ll have to get down for this one, Beth.” Charz set her down and pulled the trident from the harness on his back. He smiled. “This’ll be fun.”
Beth pulled Viper off her back and drew an arrow. “I can get two of them before they see us.”
“Then shoot,” Deathclaw said. Justan was in a pitched battle. The calm of the man’s sword didn’t mask his exertion. Deathclaw darted down the road towards the giants and sent to Beth, You fight them. I’ll kill the wizard.
“What’s he doing?” Hilt asked her.
“He has to do this. Blast it, I can feel it.” Beth fired. The arrow zipped ahead with a hiss. The giants were well covered by their armor, but Viper sank its fangs in the exposed neck of one giant. It stumbled, swearing as it reached back at its neck. Beth pulled back another arrow. “We should get to killing these giants so he can do what he has to do.”
Deathclaw ran up behind the giants and as they were turning around in alarm, Beth’s second arrow struck, slipping through the eye hole of one giant’s helmet. It reached towards its face in shock and Deathclaw dove between its legs. He rolled to his feet and kept running, not looking back. There were a few other beasts nearby, but he ignored them and kept going. The enormous crawling giant ahead of him was his only target.
As he got closer, Deathclaw saw that its thick hide was covered in protruding spikes. It was obvious that the beast wasn’t made to move this way. The crawling was hurting it. Its hands and knees were torn and it left bloody prints behind it as it moved. The stench of the wizard’s power was strong. Deathclaw switched to mage sight and saw that its body was pulsing with energy. It was barely being held together and it was taking a massive amount of magic to do so.
Some of the monsters around him saw his approach, but none of them did anything. They watched as if his arrival was nothing new to them. Perhaps they had seen the other raptoids before or perhaps they smelled some trace of the wizard’s stink on him. It didn’t matter. They were letting him pass and when the wizard died, so would they.
Deathclaw caught up to the giant’s huge foot and jumped on. Its skin was thick and tough and it didn’t seem to notice as he ran across its calves. He jumped and latched onto its thigh, digging in with his claws to help him climb. He scaled the leg quickly, using the spikes that jutted periodically from its skin to help him climb. He reached the top and found himself staring into two red slitted eyes.
“Hello, brother,” the black-skinned raptoid said and slashed out in an uppercut, her claws catching him under the chin and knocking him back.
Deathclaw fell backward, but dug in with his rear claws. He dangled upside down, hanging by his feet, and Star slid from its sheath. The sword bounced off a spike and struck the giant’s calf, point down, sinking in nearly to the hilt. The giant roared in pain. It was a pitiful sound.
Deathclaw hunched over, grasping its skin to pull himself up, but the black-skinned raptoid dove off the giant and wrapped her arms around him, digging in with her claws. The impact tore Deathclaw free and they tumbled off the giant together, striking the back of the giant’s leg and rolling to the ground.
Deathclaw kicked out with his claws and tore free of her, then rolled to his feet. His throat was bleeding and torn and his chin had been cut down to the bone. His back was covered in deep gashes from her claws and the wounds stung, but no major vessel had been struck. She hadn’t altered his ability to fight. He focused in, slowing time around him.
The other raptoid was a bit more damaged. She had landed on one of the giant’s spikes as they fell and the force of the collision had torn the spike free, leaving it inside of her. He could see the pointed tip of it protruding from her stomach. There was also a strange circular wound in the center of her chest, but it wasn’t bleeding. He was pretty sure he hadn’t caused that. She ignored the wounds and stood in attack posture, claws extended.
Deathclaw cocked his head at her and chirped questioningly. She reminded him of Talon. Ewzad had given her much the same shape except for the ridges on her arms and her spiked tail.
“We do not use the old sspeech, brother,” she hissed, crouching and circling him slowly. “We are better now, yess?”
Deathclaw matched her posture and movement so that they were circling each other. “Where is Talon?”
“Talon?” she gurgled a laugh and her eyes narrowed. “Talon iss dead.”
Deathclaw hissed. Was this true? “How did she die?”
“I killed her! Yess, I tore her throatss and ate her heartss.” Drool poured down her chin as she spoke. She licked her lips with a black tongue. “It wass a mercy.”
“Was it?” he asked. Could this thing have done what he and Justan couldn’t?
“The Misstresss had taken her ssoul. King Ewwie wanted her killed,” it said.
Deathclaw didn’t know whether to believe her or not. He wasn’t even sure that tearing Talon’s heart out would kill her. The raptoid moved as though to attack and he adjusted his stance, but she seemed to think better of it and continued to circle. He hadn’t expected this. If she had killed Talon, he was grateful, but was she loyal to the wizard? He didn’t have time to figure it out. Ewzad Vrill was helpless at the top of the giant!
“What is your . . .” He wanted to say ‘name’. Instead, he chirped a command, telling the strange raptoid to identify herself.
She understood, though her face twitched. “The old ways are old, brother
,” she chided. “I am Kasssy. You are Deathclaw.” She hissed. “King Ewwie sspoke of you.”
“I will kill the wizard now, Kassy,” he said, then added. “We can kill the wizard together. Then you can join us.” He chirped the sound offering for her to join the pack. If she accepted and helped him kill Ewzad there was a chance she could be saved.
“No.” Her face twisted in derision. “Come to King Ewwie. He will lovess you. He will changess you. He will makess you better.”
“No,” Deathclaw growled and ran for the giant. He had wasted enough time with her already. He would kill the wizard first and then see if she could be saved.
Kassy was faster than he was. Even with the spike in her body slowing her down, she caught up with him. He glanced back and saw her at the last moment. She leapt at him and he turned to meet her, claw-to-claw.
Justan stood amongst the shattered pieces of the crysalisk and watched Willum approach, still in awe of how much destructive power Tolivar’s rage had unleashed. Willum handed Peace back to him. The moment Justan touched it, his sadness over Zambon’s death was sucked away and he let out a slow breath. Somehow he resented the sword at that moment. It didn’t seem fair that he could escape his grief so easily.
“Thank you for lending me your power, Sir Edge,” Willum said.
“I am glad you were able to reach him,” he replied.
“It still hurts, but he’s regained his mind,” Willum said. His face was drawn and sad. “It’s, uh, going to be difficult for awhile.”
“Tell him that his pain is what destroyed the crysalisk. Maybe that will help somewhat,” Justan suggested.
Before Willum could answer, a roar came from up the road towards Sampo. The enemy had regrouped. Hundreds of reinforcements were pounding towards them, misshapen monsters and men.
“We should fight,” Jhonate said, her staff at the ready. “We can delay them reaching the school.”
The Bowl of Souls: Book 05 - Mother of the Moonrat Page 43
