Preserving the Ingenairii

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “I didn’t notice, but I wasn’t looking,” Givens said.

  “Send one man back now to let the sergeant know we’ve got sorcerers up here,” Alec suggested. “Let’s go take a look to see what’s happening.”

  Givens sent a soldier back to their main force, then led Alec and two others out of the ditch and towards the enemy lines. Several hundred yards later they came to a tree line along an uncultivated field, and slunk along it to a point Givens picked. “There they are,” he gestured at the two dozen men and women standing in the middle of a muddy field.

  On the ground Alec saw three people trussed and tied in a way that left no doubt they were going to be sacrifices for a demonic ritual. “We’ve got to kill those three before they call the demon,” Alec whispered.

  “That’ll be suicide. There are only four of us and twenty of them,” another soldier whispered.

  “Not necessarily,” Alec hissed. “Listen to me,” he urged as he laid out a hasty plan.

  “Look Gordon, you’re a kid, not a soldier,” Givens responded. “All you’ll do is get yourself killed instantly and us killed later. We’re going back now.”

  Alec pulled out a knife. “Give me your bow,” he told one of the soldiers. “I’m going to do this. You can stay or go as you wish.” The man hesitated, and Alec engaged his warrior powers to strike a shallow stab in the soldier’s arm faster than the others could follow, then grabbed the bow and quiver of arrows and began scurrying down the tree line further north. When he was sufficiently clear of his companions he stopped and looked back, unable to see them through the brush. He hoped they had stayed in place.

  Taking the bow, he laid out the arrows on the ground beside him, took aim at a sorcerer, then let fly, shooting off a half dozen arrows within seconds. He watched the three sorcerers tumble to the ground dead, along with an officer and two soldiers. All the remaining Canare heads snapped up and began swiveling, and Alec began shooting more arrows at a slower rate, letting the Canare forces identify the direction he threatened from. More soldiers died as they began to spread out and approach him.

  Alec began to retreat. His goal was to draw the Michian soldiers from the sacrificial hostages, and hope that Givens had stayed nearby to rescue the three trussed people, giving them a new lease on life. Alec came to the end of the tree line, and realized he had only three arrows left for the ten people chasing him. Arrows were notched and flying towards him. A distant movement revealed that Givens and his companions were approaching the sacrifices, but the distraction cost Alec as he failed to dodge an arrow that pierced his upper right arm.

  With the injury he could no longer use his bow to kill the rapidly approaching Michian squad. He threw several of his knives left-handed, then pulled his sword and held it in his left-hand as the last members of the Canare squad cautiously surrounded him.

  “Go back,” Alec told them. “I will do you no more harm if you leave me alone.” He swung his sword effectively, keeping them at bay. “I know the Canare clan is honorable. Don’t try to fight like this. Take your energy back and serve the emperor by battling Scarle or Indige.”

  “What do you know about honor? Shooting a bow and running? Is that honor?” a leading swordsman sneered as he stabbed at Alec’s right side.

  “It has more honor that hiding behind a demon, doesn’t it?” Alec said angrily as he swung a wide scything motion to protect himself. His body was losing energy as the blood ran from his wound and the pain dulled his abilities. Focusing closely, he managed to stab one man in the leg and rolled to a new position, and as he did so, only two Michian soldiers followed him. With odds that he felt he could handle, Alec went on the offensive, striking down one man, then realizing that Givens had joined the battle, and the battle was over.

  Alec slumped to the ground and dropped his sword.

  “Good Lord! Who are you?” Givens said, kneeling down beside him. “You fought better with an arrow in your arm than anyone else would have fought without.

  “Are you going to be okay? What can I do to help?” he asked.

  “Are the sacrifices okay?” Alec asked. “Good,” he said when Givens nodded affirmatively. “Break the arrow in my arm, and pull the pieces out,” he directed.

  “Are you sure?” Givens asked. “This will probably hurt,” he warned as he cracked the arrow shaft, jarring Alec’s arm painfully. “I warned you,” Givens said defensively as Alec drew a sharp breath.

  “Thank you,” Alec said. He applied enough of his healing power to repair the muscles, then stopped in order to preserve his ingenaire strength. Standing up, he walked over to a Michian corpse and tore off a piece of cloth to use as a bandage, then walked among the bodies, gathering up his knifes and collecting arrows. At length he and the silent Givens met up with the other Dominion soldiers and the hostages.

  “We should get back to the officers and let them know this threat is over,” Givens suggested, looking at Alec for confirmation. Alec nodded agreement.

  “The hostages are local folks,” one soldier said, gesturing towards them three who were huddled together. “They say there were others who went with other black-robed sorcerers to another location.”

  “That means there’s going to still be a demon among us soon,” Alec said with anguish. “Let’s get going to warn the rest.”

  Hurriedly they began moving back to the ditch and towards the Dominion forces they had left behind. Running hurriedly, they kept low and eventually arrived back at the point they had started from; there was no one there. “Where have they gone?” Alec asked Givens.

  Givens looked at Alec, then looked around. “We sent a messenger back telling them a demon was going to come from this end. They probably began to evacuate to avoid the slaughter,” he said.

  “Only now it turns out there’s another demon out there somewhere,” Alec said wearily. “Do you know where the others were being taken?” he asked the hostages. “They took my sister,” a boy answered as tears started to flow.

  Alec blanched as he realized the implication of his question. “We’ll see if we can save her,” he said lamely. “Givens, take these people to a safe place behind the lines. “I’ll go see if we can save the army from running into that demon.”

  “Ask for Captain Lewis,” Givens told Alec.

  “Lewis? Captain Lewis from Goldenfields?” Alec asked with an irrational spark of hope.

  “Yes. She’s a good officer. Tell her I sent you and tell her what’s happening,” Givens said. “And Gordon,” he added as Alec looked back at him. “You were tremendous this afternoon; I’ll vouch for a commendation for you when this is settled.”

  They split apart as Alec began running south, looking at companies and battalions as he passed them, hoping to find a Goldenfields uniform or standard. There was no sign of a demon running amok among the Dominion forces yet, although the sounds of conflict were evident in several areas Alec passed. “Do you know where Captain Lewis is?” Alec asked the first Goldenfields unit he found after nearly a half hour of searching.

  “She’s at the south end of the line. It’s not far,” a lieutenant answered. “What message do you have for her?”

  “We saw sorcerers at the north end of the line, but killed them before they could call forth a demon,” Alec answered, catching his breath.

  “Good work!” the lieutenant said. “I never want to see one of those things.”

  “But the captives we rescued suggest there may be more sorcerers somewhere else, so there may still be a demon yet to enter the battlefield,” Alec finished.

  “You continue on, and find the captain. I’ll send another runner to the Stronghold and Dominion forces to warn them,” the lieutenant replied.

  Alec set off again heading towards the southern end of the line, having covered miles already in the afternoon, and his legs were growing weary, even as he came in sight of a Goldenfields flag flying over a large force. “Can you direct me to Captain Lewis?” he asked a corporal in the middle of the temporary supply depot. />
  “She’s up at the front, with the Guard unit,” the man replied, and Alec promptly moved on, heading towards the very front until he spotted a cluster of officers observing the valley in front of them.

  “Captain! Captain Lewis,” Alec called out. Several heads turned, and he stepped forward. “Givens from the north end of the line sent me to warn you,” he said as he joined the group, then faltered. The woman he was looking at had to be Lewis, he knew from her face. She was a virtual older twin to the woman who must have been her mother, Inga, Alec’s friend from the past. He stared at her intently, trying to measure the features of her face, the distance between her wide set eyes, the hairline with the widows peak, and the sharp chin.

  “Well, what is it? Why did Givens send you? Was it just to sneak a peek at a pretty officer?” another officer present asked with a snarl.

  “It may be too late,” Alec said after a moment’s further hesitation. His eyes had shifted from Lewis’s eyes to a sight over her shoulder, where he saw distant black figures in front of the Michian forces.

  “I was with Givens scouting the north end of the line, and we found a group of sorcerers who were prepared to call forth a demon. We killed the sorcerers before they could bring the demon forth, and one of the sacrificial captives we freed led us to think there might be another demon about to be called,” Alec explained in a rush. “And there,” he pointed, and all heads whipped around, “are the sorcerers.” He felt his stomach heave, and once again he turned his head and vomited in fear.

  “That’s just how I feel,” a rich voice said with weary amusement, “if what you say is true.”

  Alec looked up and saw Lewis was watching him as she spoke. “Carson, Delph, Reaso, alert all our troops, and tell them to be ready to disperse, and to fall back two miles if the demon arrives. We know our best hope is to avoid letting it get in among a large concentration of our people, where it can slaughter us with ease.

  “Thank you for the message, son,” Lewis said as she stepped away from Alec and began observing the activity between the two armies.

  Alec saw the Michian forces begin to draw away from the sorcerer, and saw a small cloud forming. “They’ve started the ritual. The first sacrifice has been made.” Alec said, pressing forward to stand beside Lewis. “See how their soldiers are backing away? They know what’s coming.” He knew that he needed to start his battle with the demon now, to keep it bottled up as close to the Michian forces as possible.

  “May I see your blade?” he asked Lewis. He wanted to take two swords with him.

  “No. Why?” she asked, looking at him sharply.

  Alec engaged his warrior powers and moved swiftly to pull it from her scabbard and dart out in front of the battle line. “I’m going to go fight the demon. If we get too close to your lines here, use all the archers you can to shoot for its eyes,” he instructed.

  “You stupid little idiot! Get back here and give me that blade!” Lewis shouted, but Alec turned his back on her, dropped his warrior powers to save them for the pending battle, and ran towards the Michian forces.

  “Kid, get back here!” was the last distinct thing he heard before all the noise behind him blended together in an uneven rumble. At the same time he saw the demon rising from the ground and he knew he was going to have another horrible encounter with hatred and evil. He knew there was one thing he could do that would pay future dividends, and that was to kill this clutch of sorcerers.

  Alec stopped when he was within range of the sorcerers. The demon and the Michian forces were passively watching him approach, waiting to see what the single puny opponent’s intentions could be, as he sprinted across the muddy, wet turf, torn and rutted by the march of armies and refugees crossing and recrossing it.

  Alec unstrapped his bow and pulled out his arrows. He quickly applied healing power to his right arm to repair the damage from the earlier arrow he had received, so that he could shoot accurately, then dropped his healer energies and re-engaged his warrior energies. The demon started to come towards him, and as it separated from the area of the sorcerers, Alec concentrated on lofting high, lazy arrow shots that flew parabolically towards the sorcerers, soaring so high that Alec was able to loft six arrows in the air at once, while the watching army stood in smug belief that he had been frightened into misfiring shots at the demon.

  Alec lowered his bow and aimed his remaining arrows at the demon’s eyes, just as he had told Captain Lewis to try, then dropped the bow and pulled out his sword. The arrows from his first shots began to hit their marks, knocking the sorcerers to the ground. Even the demon was distracted by the shrieks and two of Alec’s arrows penetrated its defenses, striking it in the throat. As the sorcerers screamed, then fell silent, the demon staggered, then seemed to flicker, and then to Alec’s astonishment it visibly shrank. In some fashion, he realized, the death of the sorcerers had reduced the hellish powers the demon brought to the battlefield.

  The monster clawed at its wounds, and Alec accelerated to run around behind it, placing himself among the dead bodies of the sorcerers and their guards. The demon whirled to face him, yanking the arrows loose and throwing them to the ground as it sped towards him.

  It was now less imposing than the previous demons. It no longer towered over him so menacingly, for which he thanked God. Alec confidently flung three knives at the eyes of the demon, timing and directing them to blind the creature in one eye at least. The first knife, aimed at the left eye, was swatted away, but the next two, timed together, confused the demon, and one got through, penetrating just below the eyebrow, where the bony structure caused it to twist as it sunk into the flesh. There was another bellow from the demon in response, as it stopped in its tracks to claw at its damaged eye. Instinctively, Alec charged at the demon, pulling both swords free as he did, then gathered himself and hurdled above it as it braced to receive his attack.

  Alec was untouched as he flew over the evil creation, and he sliced both swords downward. He felt the jolt as they struck the flesh of the demon, then he pulled them free again and carried them with him as he landed and rolled back in the direction of the Michian soldiers.

  In seconds, the demon twisted around, and came towards him. Large dark gashes were sliced across each shoulder, and Alec could see that the arms hung loosely, a result of the damage his blades had inflicted. Alec retreated backwards towards the Michian line, drifting to his left, so that the demon approached and disrupted the discipline of a new portion of the invaders’ army.

  As the demon drew closer to Alec it paused to give another shudder, and Alec took advantage of the disruption to dart to his right, then forward into the blind spot of the demon. He circled further right as the demon began to spin around to find him, then he dove at it, spread his arms wide, then brought the swords together in a scissors motion that met on the demon’s neck. The swords sliced towards each other until they reached the spinal column of the demon, then wedged into either side of the bony structure. In fury and desperation the demon weakly raised its arms and sliced its claws across Alec’s front, ripping deep, vicious gashes through his clothes and flesh, and flinging him aside.

  Alec hit the ground hard, and lay stunned in devastating pain. He wasn’t able to move to save himself. In fear he lifted his head, but instead of seeing the demon charging towards him to administer the coup de grace, he saw the demon, its head lopping sickeningly to one side, shudder again. It began to crumble, small chunks of its flesh falling away, turning into bats as they sloughed off. The creatures awkwardly flew in a cloud above the demon as more and more of it disintegrated. As the greater part of the demon’s flesh was converted to the bats, the remainder of the evil creature burst into intense flame, and the cloud of bats flew away, moving among the members of the Michian army, where they bit victims, gorged on blood, then flew upward into the sky and produced a crimson display of explosions.

  Alec’s head fell back to the ground in shock at the awful scene, and he felt the pain and the injuries from his battle over
whelm him. He writhed and flipped over on his back, and with his last shred of consciousness, he thought he heard screams and shouts and thunder as he placed his hands on his stomach to release a fading trickle of healing power upon his own dreadful injuries. With that last effort, he shut his eyes and passed out.

  Chapter 23 – The Demonslayer Reborn

  Alec sensed there were people nearby. He was in a place with echoes, where the air was cool and moist. Voices spoke softly, and they spoke over and over again. “The queen,” he heard once, and references to healers. He felt cool water washed across him, and covers placed over him.

  “Gordon, do you hear me?” A voice came through distinctly, and Alec wondered who was talking, as well as wondered who they were talking to. “He doesn’t respond,” the voice said.

  “You keep him alive and heal him. That’s an order,” another voice answered. Periods of dark and gray passed, and Alec felt his body being touched, as his spirit wandered into the ingenairii realm, looking for comfort and peace.

  He felt the use of healing energy on his body at some point. “Alec, are you there?” a voice asked.

  “Leah, is it you?” he murmured.

  “It’s me Alec. Relax and let your body heal,” he heard the comforting reply.

  As one dark evening passed after another, Alec felt himself fully awaken at last. The painkiller he had received continually had worn off, he could tell as he flexed his healer energies and examined his body. There was pain throughout his midsection, and across his thighs, particularly the left one. The pain was intense, both physically and spiritually; that was the result of a battle with a demon he suspected. The harm was so great that he couldn’t concentrate on reaching his powers. His eyes looked upward, then around, and he saw dim light reflected off the angles in the ceiling above him. Carefully, he raised himself on one elbow to look around, but the pain in his abdomen intensified, and he lowered himself with a gasp. Instead he turned his head, where he saw the silhouette of a girl, who he thought was Stracha, dozing in a chair nearby. She seemed to sense his scrutiny, and raised her head.