Wait. What were they doing? Goliath’s jaw dropped in horror as the NoTribe army, which he now saw was led by none other than the white freak Specter, began to attack the Darkcover saloli! So, Mask had failed after all. This could be dangerous. An army as large as his own acting against him could easily spell defeat. He would have to proceed with caution.
A large shadow blocked out the feeble light momentarily from above. At first, Goliath thought that it was merely Phantom, circling like a bird of prey while he looked for his next victim. A powerful tool, that bat was. It would serve him well. Looking up, though, he saw that it was not Phantom flying overhead, but the eagle that Icefire had somehow enlisted. Wait a minute. What was that on its back? A freezing waterfall of fear cascaded down Goliath’s spine, and a prophecy his old prophet, Ratty, had recited to him ran through his mind.
“Beware the saloli who flies on the wings of an eagle.”
<><><><><>
Vengeance dug his claws tightly into Talons’ thick feathers as the eagle flew over the battlefield. Goliath’s tree loomed in the distance, growing nearer with every beat of Talons’ wings.
“Good, Talons, good!” he yelled above the storm, “That tree over there! The one with the big treemouse in it! Take me there!”
“Talons take red treemouse to kill big treemouse!” Talons squawked. Suddenly, Vengeance’s fur began to stand on end.
“Talons, bank right!” he yelled.
The eagle obeyed him, swerving to the right in midair just as a bolt of lightning came out of the clouds, missing them by mere feet. Again, his fur began to bristle, and the eagle banked left, narrowly avoiding being struck. Vengeance waited anxiously for the next bolt, but felt nothing. Instead, Phantom moved to block their path, letting loose his unearthly screech. The bat flew at them full force, and Talons dove beneath him. Vengeance could feel the tips of Phantom’s claws brush the fur on his back, but did no damage. The bat banked right, flew in a circle, and came at them again from behind. Vengeance’s eyes widened in terror. Talons couldn’t see him coming!
A vine shot out of the ground, far below them, and quickly wrapped itself around Phantom’s body. Like a boa constrictor, it began to crush the life out of the bat. Phantom desperately tried to tear the vine away from him, but then thorns, each measuring a foot in length, sprouted from it. Phantom screeched one last time, and then stopped moving.
Good job, Scratch! Vengeance thought.
Talons righted himself, and angled towards Goliath’s tree once more. This time, nothing got in their way. Goliath spotted them coming, but was powerless to stop them. When Talons was only two feet away from the tree, Vengeance bounded forward and leapt off him, tackling Goliath and knocking him off his branch.
The two of them plummeted a few feet, and then struck another branch, rolled off of it, and hit another, bounced off, and then hit the ground. Vengeance leapt to his paws, mildly surprised that he was not injured, and waited for Goliath to do the same. The giant, however, dug his claws into the muddy ground and threw a clawful of mud into his enemy’s eyes!
<><><><><>
Rust watched with amazement as Vengeance knocked Goliath out of his tree. When they landed, he was almost certain they were both dead. Instead, they both got back up, and Goliath blinded Vengeance by throwing mud into his eyes. With his opponent disadvantaged, Goliath rose up to strike him down.
Rust charged at his brother, just in time, and sank his teeth into Goliath’s back leg. The giant roared in pain, and lashed out, swatting Icefire’s chief away. Once again, Rust rolled and leapt back to his paws just in time to leap again to avoid another attack. While Goliath recovered from his wild strike, Rust darted forward and scratched his eyelid, making him scream in fury again. Before he could make distance between them again, Goliath reared onto his hind legs and lashed out, knocking Rust to the ground with a powerful attack that cut his chest open with several deep incisions. Rust ignored the pain and kicked out with his back legs, running the claws down Goliath’s exposed stomach. Goliath dove at his brother, landing on top of him and nearly crushing him under his full weight.
“It’s good to see you, brother!” Goliath taunted him, “How is Icefire doing? How is Ginger?” Rust tried to squirm out from underneath his brother, but found himself hopelessly pinned. “Oh, that’s right! She’s dead, isn’t she?” the giant went on, “Killed by a human, isn’t that right?” He reared his head back and laughed, “You really believed that, didn’t you? Idiot! I thought you would have figured it out! I killed Ginger! I trapped her on the higher branches of a tree, and pushed her off!” He raised his right paw, and pressed down on Rust’s throat, preventing him from breathing. “Don’t worry, though. You’ll see her soon enough!”
Rust’s eyes went wild with uncontrolled rage. Fueled by anger and adrenaline, he began to push up on Goliath’s body. Nothing happened. Goliath was just too heavy.
“Say hello to Valde Abbas for me, brother!”
“No.” Rust gasped, “Tell him... yourself!”
With that last word, he thrust his legs upwards one last time, and Goliath flew off of him, over Rust’s head, and landed on the muddy ground with a thud! Rust leapt to his paws, gasping for breath, and ran at his brother. It was time to end this.
For the first time that he could ever remember, Rust saw Goliath look at him in fear. He didn’t wait for Icefire’s chief to reach him. He scrambled to his paws, turned tail, and ran. Despite his fury, Rust let him go. He stood there, watching the coward disappear into the forest until the rain blocked him from view.
Behind him, every saloli on the battlefield had stopped fighting, and now stared at him in awe. Rust had been right, without their leader, Darkcover no longer knew what to do. They were leaderless and outnumbered. Rust felt his breathing begin to calm down, and, for the first time in months, he finally felt at peace.
<><><><><>
Mordred watched, unseen, as Goliath retreated into the forest. The coward. Still, he had played his part perfectly thus far. He had driven the entire forest to war, and it never once occurred to him that he was being used. He had even bought the lie about Mordred being blind when, in truth, he was anything but. Not the way Goliath thought he was. Then again, Faith had believed him as well. Anyway, now the giant had one more part to play, and then Mordred’s true plans could commence. The sorcerer smiled grimly. It was time for him to disappear.
Chapter Thirty One
“Get some rest, Icefire!” Rust called from the Speaking Stone, down to his ecstatic tribe. “You’ve earned it.”
After the battle had ended, Rust had addressed the entire tribe of Darkcover. He had told them that he was willing to forgive them of their crimes if they would go back to their original tribes and never again cross their borders. Realizing their defeat, the broken tribe of Darkcover had scattered, each saloli trying to get back to their old territory as quickly as possible. NoTribe had left to return to their temporary camp outside the tribe boundaries. Out of gratitude, Rust had offered to accept the entire tribe of outsiders into Icefire, but Specter had declined.
To Vengeance, the albino said, “I don’t know what it was that you did to Mask. I can’t explain it, but I’m not willing to admit that it was your god. Not yet, anyway. Still, I have to admit that it may have nudged me in that direction.”
Vengeance nodded to NoTribe’s chief, “If you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me.”
Now Icefire was back in their camp, and the celebrating had lasted for hours. It was still going strong now, in fact. Icefire could hardly believe that, against all odds, they had triumphed over the wicked tribe. They had brought peace to the forest once more. Yes, it had required several sacrifices, but in the end they would have had it no other way. The sun had long since set now, and the saloli decided that they had better take their chief’s advice. They all headed back to their trees, feeling as if their lives would begin anew the next morning.
Vengeance had not left Mercy’s side since the moment
he had found her after the battle. True to his word, they had both immediately begun to make plans to form a family. There was nothing, Vengeance concluded, that would make him happier. Lying down next to his loving and beautiful mate, he was soon sound asleep.
<><><><><>
Something felt wrong. It was too hot. Vengeance squirmed uncomfortably in his sleep, but the feeling did not go away. Drowsily, he opened his eyes, and gasped!
Icefire’s camp was on fire!
He leapt to his paws, and shouted an alarm as loudly as he could. Many saloli were already awake, and running back and forth, knowing not what to do in this situation. Many of them had never seen a fire before, besides the miraculous ones Faith would conjure during funerals. A wild, blazing, uncontrollable inferno like this terrified them.
Vengeance knelt down and nudged Mercy awake. “Run!” he shouted, get out of the tree!”
He allowed her to go first, and then followed. The heat was becoming unbearable. They had to get out of the camp, or they would all die! Luckily, Rust had the same idea.
“Get out of the camp!” he yelled, “Get to the stream! The stream! Go!”
Then something leapt out of the flames behind him, and knocked him to the ground. Vengeance’s eyes widened in horror. It was Goliath! Rust struggled with the giant for a few moments, but then Goliath took his brother’s neck in his jaws, and jerked his head to the side. Even from so far away, Vengeance could hear the snap as Rust’s neck was broken. Goliath released his grip, and Icefire’s chief fell to the ground, lifeless.
“No!” Vengeance screamed in anguish and fury. Without thinking, he charged at Goliath. The giant saw him coming, and turned tail once again, running straight through a wall of fire to escape, but Vengeance wasn’t going to allow him to get away this time. He dove through the flames after Goliath, pursuing him with nothing less than death in mind for when he caught him. Though he didn’t turn around, he could tell that most, if not all, of Icefire was directly behind him.
In the distance, Vengeance could see smoke rising from other parts of the forest. So, Goliath had lit all the camps on fire. Good, that meant all the tribes would be after him now, and they could all watch as Vengeance tore his head off. Sure enough, once Goliath led them over the Icefire/Cyclone border, Cyclone caught sight of him and joined in the chase as well. Goliath then cut through Groundsky territory, and then Darkcover’s, enticing both tribes to give chase. It dimly occurred to Vengeance that it almost seemed as if Goliath wanted them to chase him. But why would he want that?
Goliath led all four tribes all the way through Darkcover’s territory, and out through the southern border. Vengeance now had no idea where they were going, and he doubted any other saloli did either. Except Goliath. He obviously knew where he was going. Suddenly, Goliath put on an extra burst of speed, and Vengeance lost sight of him and had to trail him by scent. He crested the top of a hill, and froze in horror. Before him, about a hundred feet away, stood the ugliest tree he had ever seen. It stood far taller than any other tree in the forest. Its bark was a blackish-gray color, and the trunk seemed to have been twisted around multiple times. The top of the tree did not taper out into branches, instead opening up like a well. There was only one thing this could possibly be. Goliath had led them to the Dragon Tree.
“Did you think it was over?” Goliath screamed in manic glee from the top of the tree, “It’s not even close to being over! It won’t be over until I’ve won! Forget the forest, I will rule the entire world! The full Black Legion is at my disposal, and I will use it! You will all die tonight! None of you will live to see my new empire!” With a laugh that sounded positively demonic, Goliath turned to stare into the dark abyss. He extended his paws, and nicked one of the pads with his claws. A single drop of blood fell down into pit.
At first nothing happened. Then a low rumbling gently shook the ground below them, gradually becoming more violent until it was almost impossible to stand up. A great green glow came from the tree, and a cacophony of unearthly screams, screeches, and roars drifted out. Then, like a volcano spurting lava, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of creatures erupted out of the tree. Their bodies glowed a sickly green color, and their eyes burned red like fire. They rose into the air, and then spiraled downwards until the air was teeming with them, their glow lighting the forest up like it was daytime. And still more of them continued to pour out of the tree. Vengeance felt his knees go weak.
The Black Legion had finally returned.
Fear not, for I am with you.
Vengeance heard these words in his head, and his fear immediately vanished. These monsters may be powerful, but they were no match for Valde Abbas. He could wipe them all out with a single thought. And he would, too. He would do it tonight, through Vengeance.
“Nobody be afraid!” Vengeance called out, “Remember, we have Valde Abbas on our side!” Even though the Legion was too far away to hear him, every one of them flinched visibly when he spoke the Creator’s name.
Goliath stood at the edge of the tree once again, looking down at them, “Do you see it?” he yelled at them, “Do you see my new army? I don’t need Darkcover! I have the Black Legion, and they will do so much more for me than Darkcover ever could! Remember what you see now, because you’ll never see anything again!” He cast his gaze at the Black Legion, and screamed, “Attack!”
“Wait!” Vengeance interrupted. Goliath held his paw out for the Legion to remain where they were.
“What is it, Sword?” He demanded, “Are you going to beg for your life? Save your breath! You’re going to need it!”
“Are you a coward, Goliath?” Vengeance demanded. This stopped the giant in his tracks. “Are you such a coward that you will destroy every one of us without even bloodying your claws? You’re brave enough when you have an entire army to back you up, but you’re nothing on your own!” Goliath’s eyes were wide with unimaginable fury now at being called a coward in the moment of his greatest triumph. “Come down here and fight me yourself, Goliath! Show us that you truly deserve the title of king!”
Without a word, Goliath leapt down from the tree, plummeted all two hundred feet, and landed neatly on his paws. Obviously, something had changed in him when he had summoned the Legion. Vengeance came forward as well. There was no fear in his heart. Only determination to do what he needed to do.
Goliath and Vengeance stood facing each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Goliath, Commander of the Black Legion, and Vengeance, the Sword. On one side, an army of saloli stood. On the other, a legion of demons.
Goliath roared his battle cry, and charged at Vengeance! Vengeance reacted quickly, and dodged to the right, lashing out and cutting Goliath on the shoulder. The giant whipped around and hit Vengeance with all his strength, sending the Sword flying over twenty feet before skidding to a stop on the rocky ground. Yes, something had definitely changed in him. Vengeance, disoriented by the blow, struggled to get back on his paws, but Goliath was already there, and struck him over the head, driving Vengeance’s chin into the ground, and then struck his side, sending him rolling another twenty feet away.
“You have the audacity to call me nothing?” Goliath screamed, “Look at you! You can’t even touch me! Now who’s nothing?” Vengeance tried to get back up, but Goliath cut a deep gash into his side with his claws and then swatted him back towards the Dragon Tree. “I will destroy you, and then I will destroy every saloli in this forest! And why stop there? I’ll destroy every saloli on earth, and I’ll be the only one left! Seems fitting, doesn’t it?” He sliced another wound into Vengeance’s back, and then hit him so hard that he flew backwards, straight into the Dragon Tree, and he felt something break within his body. He fell to the ground, unable to move. Goliath stood over him in triumph, his manic grin lighting his eyes up with green fire.
“I’m going to kill you,” he said. “But first I’m going to let you watch the Black Legion tear everyone you know and care about to pieces!” Turning, he walked back
towards where all the other saloli stood, horrified that the legendary Sword had been defeated so easily.
No. Not now. I can’t fail now. I’ve come so far! Valde Abbas, please help me!
Immediately, Vengeance felt the power surge through his body once again. Whatever had been broken in his body mended itself, and white light began to shine forth from his fur. He stood up.
“Goliath!” he called out.
The giant turned just in time to see the shaft of light coming towards him. It struck him square in the chest, and he, too, began to glow. The giant let out an agonized scream, and then exploded in a burst of blinding light. Without thinking, Vengeance then turned around, and directed the light towards the Black Legion. The beam didn’t even have to touch them. They dissolved into nothing at the mere sight of it. The beam died, but the glow continued to come from Vengeance’s fur.
“I am the Vengeance of Valde Abbas!” He shouted to the heavens, “I am his holy wrath! I am the bane of evil! I am the Sword, and all who work against the Creator will fear me!”
Legends of the Saloli: Vengeance and Mercy Page 16
