The dark elves had found them!
The wyverns shrieked, swerving away from the blinding flash. One, the closest, spun wildly, plummeting, its wings wrapped around it. Just before it slammed into the ground, its rider leaped away and curled into a ball and rolled. The wyvern struck with a bone-shattering crash, throwing up a cloud of dirt and crushing a tree. The rider rolled to a stop, rising to stand on shaky legs. It was a dark elf woman but one that was completely bald. Kargin roared in rage and charged her. She stumbled back, drawing a flashing scimitar with one hand while pointing her palm at Kargin with the other. Flames jutted from her palm, like a flamethrower, but before they could touch Kargin, a glowing red translucent disk appeared before the dwarf, covering him from head to foot. The flames washed against the disk and dissipated. Elizabeth felt Tlathia cast another spell, and a second translucent disk appeared before her, protecting her.
They can shield themselves, although it's different from Leela's invisible domes.
The bald dark elf came at Kargin with her saber, but he easily hammered her blade out of the way with one ax before splitting her head like a pumpkin with the other. Her corpse fell, her split skull smoking.
Lightning flared down at them, but the bolts hammered into the invisible dome Leela had just placed above them, dissipating into sparks. Way to go, Leela! Elizabeth thought as she scanned the sky with her carbine, looking for a target.
Rifle fire erupted around her as the soldiers, far less discriminating than Elizabeth, opened fire. One of the wyverns shrieked in pain or rage, then all three of the remaining beasts plummeted toward the ground, swerving up at the last moment to land. The closest soldier, Aaron Walker, stumbled back, firing his carbine in bursts. A huge wyvern, much larger than the others, snapped out at him and caught his arm in its jaws, ripping it free with one bite. Aaron screamed and fell, blood spurting from the wound. The wyvern tensed to pounce and finish Aaron off, but Elizabeth channeled, levitating the injured soldier back through the air to her. She dropped down beside him and tried to stem the spurting blood with her fingers. Aaron screamed, thrashing wildly with his good arm and knocking her down.
As she scrambled back to her feet, the others opened up with long bursts of automatic fire. Four dark elves—three women, one wearing a winged helmet, and the spear-bearing warrior who had kidnapped Cassie—advanced on the soldiers, each protected by the same translucent red disk that Tlathia had cast before herself and Kargin. When the bullets struck the shields, they simply vanished—another difference from the ricocheting shields that Leela created.
We can't shoot them, Elizabeth realized with horror.
A fireball flashed toward her, and sudden fear paralyzed her, but the fireball smashed against Leela's shield, washing over her, the flames and heat deflected away.
Now, two of the dark-elf mages cast lightning bolt after lightning bolt at Tlathia, who stood alone before them, protected by her own glowing disc. The lightning bolts crackled in fury against her shield, each one dissipating against it but leaving behind a glowing score mark where it had struck. Tlathia cast her own lightning bolts in response, but the enemies' disks shielded them as well. The air stank of ozone, and the mana at use was breathtaking and terrifying at the same time.
We're like children compared to them.
Ulfir raised his left hand and pointed it at Tlathia and sent a brilliant bolt of white-blue lightning at her, turning night into day. Tlathia's shield nearly shattered under the assault, and she staggered back, her face registering shock.
A chill swept through Elizabeth when she realized Ulfir wore Cassie's Brace.
Now, Tlathia poured all her magic into re-forming and holding her shield, no longer even trying to fight back. "Flee! All of you!" Her face was a mask of determination, her teeth gritted tightly.
Kargin remained behind Tlathia and her shield.
"Everyone get to the bus!" Paco yelled over the gunfire.
The others bolted away, two of the men carrying Aaron. One of the dark elves, a tiny woman wearing a red-and-gold hooded cloak, stepped forward, her shield moving before her. In her hand, she carried a knife-tipped whip, which she unfurled as she advanced, cracking it in the air, her face equal parts lust and hatred.
Elizabeth channeled, letting go with her most powerful lightning bolt. But even her best was a poor imitation of the forces the dark elves used. The bolt struck the small woman's shield and dissipated without effect. The dark elf's white teeth flashed in a very unfriendly smile as her whip snapped out at Elizabeth's face. Elizabeth flinched, but the tip of the whip rebounded from Leela's invisible shield.
Bless you, Leela.
The dark elf woman's eyes narrowed in surprise, and Elizabeth channeled air, sending the weaves around the glowing red disk that shielded the dark elf. The mage staggered back, blinded by the sudden storm of dirt, grass, and leaves that buffeted her.
Tlathia, still holding back the combined attacks of the other dark elves, looked over her shoulder, her eyes filled with strain. "Hurry, Lizbeth-Chambers! Run!"
Again, Ulfir attacked with the Brace, this time shattering Tlathia's shield.
"Leela!" Elizabeth yelled, seeing the young woman standing near the back of the bus. "Shield her."
Leela didn't answer, but the next lightning attack against Tlathia rebounded into the trees, setting a trunk on fire. Moments later, Tlathia had re-formed her disk.
Elizabeth ran to the bus, joining Leela, Paco, and the furiously barking Clyde, leaving only Tlathia and Kargin between them and the enemy.
The spells directed at Tlathia now struck against Leela's shield, rebounding away. The dark elves paused, as if confused, then redoubled their efforts.
Rey Lewis stepped in front of Elizabeth, holding one of the recovered C6 machine guns with a belt of 7.62mm ammunition dangling from it. With his stance wide and the weapon held tight against his hip, he opened fire with a continuous burst of automatic fire at the wyverns behind the shielded dark elves. The gunfire, so close to Elizabeth, was deafening. Every fifth round in the belt was a tracer, built with a small pyrotechnic charge in its base so that it burned a bright red, like an angry firefly. Rey directed the glowing red arcs above the shielded mages and onto the largest wyvern, walking his fire up the beast's neck like a fire hose. The monster screamed in agony as the bullets ripped through its scaly hide, and it danced back, trying to leap into the air, but Rey focused his fire on its head, bursting it apart in a shower of blood and bone. He ceased fire, his barrel glowing red as the remaining wyverns took to the air, fleeing.
Someone cheered.
Rey turned to run, but the small dark elf woman sent her whip cracking out in the night. The blade struck Rey in the back of the neck, nearly severing his head and splashing Elizabeth's face with his hot blood. Rey's body took two more steps, then he fell against Elizabeth, knocking her down.
The woman grinned, drawing her whip back to finish Elizabeth. Clyde leaped over her in a flash of fur and fang, burying his teeth in her groin. She screamed and fell with Clyde's head still between her legs. Elizabeth scrambled back on her hands as Paco ran past to drop down on the wounded dark-elf mage and stab her repeatedly in the face and chest with a knife. Someone dragged Elizabeth to her feet.
Cassie!
Cassie shoved Elizabeth before her. "On the bus."
As she ran, Kargin darted out from behind Tlathia, moving to engage Ulfir. The two fought hand to hand, their weapons flashing with the glow of the nearby fires as they clashed. The dwarf's axes trailed fire through the air, but each time they met the dark metal of Ulfir's spearhead, the ax-heads rebounded.
They're both using magic weapons, Elizabeth realized.
"That son-of-a-bitch elf has my Brace!" Cassie yelled, hauling Elizabeth along.
"Nothing we can do," Elizabeth answered.
The glove was far too large on Ulfir, just as it was whenever Elizabeth had borrowed it. As he fought, it slipped down, bunching around his fist. The only person the Brace had ever f
it perfectly was Cassie, even though the Sasquatch that had worn it before her was three times her size.
Tlathia, clearly struggling now, began to slip back, her shield flickering around the edges. Even with Leela helping her, she was losing ground to the other mages.
"We have to help her," Elizabeth said.
"With what?" Cassie asked. "Even you can't fight those bitches."
Elizabeth tried anyhow, pulling away from Cassie and channeling a bolt of lightning at the dark elf with the winged helmet. The bolt dissipated against her shield-spell in a shower of sparks. Noticing her now, the dark elf sent a jet of fire roaring across the ground at Elizabeth. Elizabeth screamed, dropping down and curling up into a ball as Cassie channeled, trying to push the flames away with air. Tlathia saved them, sending her own glowing shield flying across the ground to intercept the flames. But she had left herself vulnerable, and the other dark-elf mage struck her with a lightning bolt, a small tendril of which somehow punched through Leela's dome to strike Tlathia. The dark-elf mage-master staggered back, shaking her head. Then she brought her shield flying back to cover her. Now, though, she swayed in place. "Hurry. Run," she said weakly.
"We need to go," insisted Cassie. "We're only in the way."
Shame and acceptance swept through Elizabeth. She's hurt because she protected me. It's my fault. Cassie pulled her to the bus and they joined the others as they boarded it, stumbling past Sharon in the driver's seat. Swamp Thing was at the rear of the bus, kicking the back door open. He held a C-9 Minimi light machine gun, an LMG with a two-hundred-round drum magazine attached to it, that he proceeded to fire in short bursts, the spent casings spiraling about the interior of the bus like glittering gems. Elizabeth fell onto a bench across from the clearly terrified Corinna.
As Kargin and Ulfir fought, the other two dark-elf mages combined their attacks on Tlathia, sending spell after spell crashing against her. Leela fell onto the bench beside Corinna, sweat coating her face. "I can't … can't keep this up," she gasped. "They're … so … strong."
Then, with one hand keeping her magical shield before her, Tlathia turned, holding the Shatkur Orb in her other palm. Elizabeth's mouth turned dry. She jumped from her seat and ran to Swamp Thing, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Stop firing. You're only wasting ammo!" Now, Tlathia looked directly at Elizabeth, and Elizabeth suddenly understood what she planned. "No," she whispered in horror.
A glowing ring of fire appeared before the bus, large enough for the bus to pass through. On the other side, Elizabeth saw a dark highway bordered by trees and a cliff face—the site where Cassie and the others had been captured.
"No!" yelled Elizabeth to Tlathia. "Hurry. There's still time. Leela, shield her."
The other woman didn't answer, and when Elizabeth looked over her shoulder, she saw Leela had passed out.
Kargin and Ulfir continued their battle, each trying to get past the other's magical weapon. Ulfir swung his spear up and down, but Kargin caught it between his crossed ax-heads, locking it in place over his head. Then Ulfir let go of his spear with the hand wearing Cassie's Brace and placed it atop Kargin's chest. A brilliant flash erupted between them. Kargin flew back through the air, as if struck by a battering ram, and landed a dozen paces behind the rear of the bus, unmoving, his chest smoking. One of his axes had smashed through a bus window. The other lay shattered on the ground.
Ulfir advanced on Kargin with his spear.
"No!" screamed Elizabeth, sending a bolt of lightning at Ulfir. But the spell dissipated the moment it came near him.
God, no!
Elizabeth channeled, picking the dwarf up and levitating him into Swamp Thing's arms. A fireball soared over Tlathia to strike the ground near the rear of the bus, bursting in flames. Elizabeth dropped, covering her head with her arms. Intense heat washed over her, bringing back the horror of almost burning to death. When she looked up again, the rear of the bus was burning, the tires on fire, and Swamp Thing was dragging Kargin back. "Go, go, go!" screamed Swamp Thing.
Sharon hit the gas, and the bus lurched forward.
"Tlathia!" screamed Elizabeth, holding her hand out to her through the open rear door of the bus, the flames hot but not yet high enough to burn her.
Ulfir turned away and ran at Tlathia, who stared at Elizabeth, her eyes pleading, the orb held out to her, the message clear.
Her heart breaking, Elizabeth channeled once more, levitating the Shatkur Orb from Tlathia's open palm and sending it flying to her hand. The bus sped through the gateway, its tires suddenly screeching on the asphalt of the highway. Behind them, Elizabeth watched as Ulfir drove his spear through Tlathia's spine with so much force that he lifted her into the air.
The fiery ring vanished behind them.
34
A hundred feet down the highway, Sharon slammed on the brakes, and the bus screeched to a halt, trailing flames and thick, choking smoke. Elizabeth clutched the Shatkur Orb to her chest, still in shock. Tlathia was gone.
"Liz!" yelled Swamp Thing. He shook her shoulder violently, snapping her out of her daze.
She stared at him in confusion. "What?"
"Help me," he said, holding his C-9 in one hand as he dragged the unconscious Kargin forward away from the smoke pouring in through the bus's open rear door.
She thrust the orb into a cargo pocket on her combat pants then picked up Kargin's legs to help Swamp Thing, who was holding Kargin under his armpits, carry him. Unbelievably heavy, the dwarf—unconscious or dead, she couldn't tell—held something tight against his still-smoldering chest with both hands. He still wore his backpack, which likely contributed to his considerable weight. They rushed him off the bus, following the others as they disembarked and moved away. Outside, she saw the flames were spreading, and drops of gasoline or oil sizzled and flared as they dripped onto the highway beneath the bus.
"Get away from it!" Paco yelled. "It might go up."
Someone—Tops, she thought—took Kargin's legs from her and helped Swamp Thing carry the dwarf away from the burning bus to the side of the highway. As they ran, they must have jostled the dwarf because his hand fell away from his chest and he dropped the object he had been clutching. Elizabeth stared at it in confusion, trying to understand what she was looking at, but her mind still reeled with the death of Tlathia and the implications of her loss. She felt detached, in shock perhaps. Then Cassie's face was in front of hers. The other woman gripped Elizabeth's shoulders and shook her. "Elizabeth, run! The bus might explode."
"I … Tlathia's dead."
Cassie shoved her forward after the others. "You're going to die as well if you don't move your ass."
Elizabeth had only taken a few steps when she suddenly understood what Kargin had dropped. She spun about, running back.
"Liz, no!" screamed Cassie in panic.
The heat from the fire was like a wall, the air so thick with smoke she couldn't see or breathe. Holding her breath, Elizabeth dropped down on her hands and knees and began to feel about for the object. Her fear welled, growing with the flames, but then her fingertips brushed fabric, and she felt the familiar rush of magical energy. She snatched the object to her chest, unexpected joy surging through her—it was Cassie's Brace. Kargin must have pulled it from Ulfir when they fought.
Cassie, having come back for her, grabbed Elizabeth's shoulders and dragged her to her feet, pulling her along with her back toward the others huddled on the side of the highway. The flames from the bus grew, lighting up the night like a bonfire, casting moving shadows. Bent over and coughing, Elizabeth clutched at Cassie. "Here," she finally managed, thrusting the Brace into Cassie's hands.
Cassie gasped. "How—"
"Thank… Kargin—if he's alive."
"He's alive," said Swamp Thing. "But he's badly hurt. His chain mail has been melted over his chest, where I think he took a lightning bolt." Swamp Thing looked at Cassie. "Starlight, can you—"
"On it," she said, pulling the Brace up her arm. As always, it fit perfectly.
She knelt over Kargin, and a moment later, Elizabeth felt her channeling.
"This man's going to need help, as well," Helena said, holding the unconscious Aaron Walker's head in her lap. Someone had tied a tourniquet around the severed stump of his arm, but Aaron was out cold, his face grey. "He's lost a lot of blood."
Cassie, her eyes closed, nodded. "In a minute."
Corinna approached Elizabeth, holding Kargin's ax against her chest. "I took this off the bus. It almost hit me. Is it important?"
Elizabeth knelt and trailed her fingers over the cold ax-head. Surprisingly, she felt no mana coming from it. Perhaps it wasn't magical after all. But if so, how did it burn so hot? Intricate runes, etched in what looked like silver, covered the strange metal of the ax-head. "Keep it with his backpack," Elizabeth said. "It's important to Kargin."
"I have his bag," said Helena.
The bus exploded with a violent boom, sending Elizabeth and the others sprawling. Elizabeth covered her head with her arms as pieces of burning metal rained down around them, most falling short. The fire now completely consumed the bus, with flames reaching up into the sky twenty feet. She stared at the flames, her heart pounding.
"Elizabeth," Leela said, touching her arm. "Are you—"
"Huh?" She shook her head. "Fine. I'm fine. How are you?"
"I passed out. Came to when Paco was carrying me off the bus. Guess I used too much magic, but I'm alive."
"Everyone else, stay put," said Paco, moving away with Robbie Masters, Clyde trotting along beside the men. "We're going to take a quick boo down the highway."
They disappeared into the darkness.
Cassie sat there, staring at the terrain in the light of the burning bus. It was the same place Cassie and the others had ambushed the boggarts, which meant they weren't that far from the river and the bridge, maybe five kilometers away. But now the dark-elf mages and Ulfir were on this side of the river. Rey had killed one of their mounts and chased away the others, but did that mean they couldn't come after them?
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