Kar didn’t give him a chance to recover his footing. Twirling his staff through the air over his head he brought a column of water up from the river and drove it hard into his possessed brother. The demon was undeterred, digging his feet into the ground as he took the full force of the attack. When Kar finally let it up Bralon was thoroughly soaked but still standing.
—A little water?—he mocked. –Are you serious?—
Elenia answered by throwing her spear at him. Bralon drew his dark sword and swung at the projectile in one motion. The wooden shaft was shattered instantly, splinters raining down around him. He held the sword up in front of him. Elenia could see the dull silver blade was serrated on both edges up until the very tip. From the corner of her eye she saw Kar step back, his knuckles white as he gripped his staff tighter. She held her shield directly in front of her as Bralon lunged at her, thrusting the sword towards her shoulder. Her shield had been made of a metal alloy fused with magic in the molten heart of her mountain and yet it still shattered on impact; the very end of the demon’s sword pierced through the armor on her left shoulder and sank into the flesh beneath, scraping against bone as it went. She bit back a cry of pain as she fell back to the ground.
Seeing his sister hurt Kar sprang towards them, bringing his staff down on Bralon’s head. The blow had no effect, but the magic Kar had bound about the shaped coral had to have been incredibly strong to keep it from breaking. Infuriated Bralon swung his sword at the old man who bent back far enough that he only received a minor scratch above his left eye. Bralon came back around and plunged the blade deep into his right thigh before he could get back up, the jagged edges sawing through the skin and muscle. Kar dropped down onto one knee as blood started pouring from the wound.
Bralon laughed at them. –Pathetic rulers of the cosmos.— He pointed his blade at them. –No wonder it was so easy to take this one. Is this the best you can manage against us?—
Elenia supported herself on her right arm. “Ronan, listen to me!” she pleaded.
—He cannot hear you. Your beloved fool is busy having fun killing you all.—
“You are the fool!” Kar leaned all his weight onto his staff as he stood up; the right side of his blue robes were stained with blood. “The brother we knew and loved had his quarrels with us, it is true, but he would never wish to take any life for his own amusement.”
—And you care so much that you would never try to hurt him. — Bralon swung at Kar who managed to avoid it at the last second. –Even I know the only way you can have him back. But you adhere so well to your little rules you would not even try.—
“GIVE HIM BACK!” Elenia drew her own sword and swung it at him. Metal clanged against metal as he blocked with his own blade, but her weapon stayed intact. As they fought she knew in her mind that he was right and was rubbing the fact in her face. But damn it that was still her brother’s body. And she was the guardian of Life—she could alter the physical state of another living thing that belonged on this plane, but she couldn’t take its life force away. She had to uphold the natural order that existed here.
And altering her brother’s form could kill him in his weakened state.
Bralon landed another hit on her arm and swung at Kar’s head while she was still reeling. They had to do something. They were running out of options.
With a shout of triumph Bralon stood over her holding his sword high in the air. As he glared at her he was about to bring it down when he stopped, staring suddenly at his feet. With a loud howl of surprise and fury he dropped the sword and started tugging at his legs. Elenia looked and scrambled away from him when she saw why.
Thick vines and stone were coiling up Bralon’s legs, anchoring him to the spot. He struck at them with his fists but to no avail. If he knocked away one vine several more sprang up in its place, and the more he struggled against them the tighter they held him as they continued to climb higher.
“Elenia?” Kar called from where he had landed partway across the meadow.
“This is not my doing!” she shouted back.
Bralon stared wildly around for the cause and his eyes came to rest on something off to the side. With a snarl he pushed towards it, ignoring the vines and rocks that continued to pull against his legs. Elenia turned her head in the direction he was going and felt her jaw drop.
The fight between Calla and the other mortal had ended. Bralon’s champion lay on the ground pinned beneath Calla’s two stone cats. One of them had its jaws around the back of the young man’s neck while the other had latched onto one of his legs. The hollows of their eyes were empty and Elenia could sense no life energy coming from them; Calla had turned them back into basic stone but kept the material in those shapes to hold her opponent down. Blood ran down from where the stone cut into his flesh. The girl now knelt with one knee on the ground, one arm held in front of her with the palm opened towards them and her other hand pressed firmly against the ground. Elenia could sense the girl’s active energy—and realized what was happening.
“What are you doing?!” she shrieked.
Calla didn’t answer, her full focus on trying to hold Bralon in place. Her efforts were getting her nowhere—her strength was already waning. Elenia saw Bralon’s wicked sneer as he staggered closer to her. With every step he took Calla’s concentration intensified, a deep scowl forming on her face; her body was starting to shake with the effort. The dark energy emanating from Bralon’s soul made it worse, eating away at her slowly. Her skin was only a few shades away from white. If he got close enough he would kill her by draining her of every last thread of soul energy.
The thought of the girl dying was too much—Elenia couldn’t let that happen.
She reached for the earth’s energy deep under the surface of the earth, altering the makeup of the stone as she drew it out. She molded it into a thick layer around Bralon’s legs and the lower part of his torso and locked it into place. Bralon was stopped short, flailing his arms through the air as he struggled to regain his balance, the stone around him cracking. With a gasp Calla dropped to one side, breathing hard. But despite gaining the opportunity to escape Calla didn’t run off. Still pale she stood up to her full height and turned to face Bralon again.
“What are you doing?” Elenia shouted. “Run, girl! Run! This fight is beyond you!”
More vines and brambles shot out of the earth at Calla’s command, wrapping tightly around Bralon’s chest. She was barely able to stand and yet she held on to him with all her power, the thick tendrils squeezing tighter and tighter; his struggles made it worse.
“Calla stop!”
She still didn’t listen. Bralon thrashed around and clawed at the plants holding him. His pale skin started turning blue as she continued to squeeze the life out of him.
—You…cannot…do this! I…am a…god!—
One thorny vine wrapped around Bralon’s neck, cutting deep into the flesh and crushing his windpipe. Elenia kept screaming at the girl, begging for her to stop; Kar was shouting from somewhere behind her. Calla continued to ignore them, her look of concentration growing more intense even as her strength crumbled. Elenia created a fireball in one hand, thinking she would be able to create a barrier of fire with it between them…
Bralon gave one final bloodcurdling screech before he seemed to explode, the shockwave knocking everyone to the ground. Elenia lay flat on her back, winded, trying to comprehend what had just happened. With a loud groan she rolled over on one side and pushed herself up on her arms. Slowly she lifted her head to look around. Her eyes fell on the figure of a man slumped over on the ground. He too sat up and turned to look in her direction.
She stared at him in shock. “Ronan?” she asked softly. “Our Ronan?”
He looked like the man Bralon they had been fighting and at the same time he didn’t. He looked younger, stronger, healthier—very much alive. His golden-brown shoulder-length hair was pulled back from his face and secured behind his neck with a strip of leather. He wore no armor, only
a sleeveless tunic that revealed the large muscles in his arms. His hazel eyes sparked with life as he looked at her.
“Sister, Elenia,” he said in a deep voice.
Overcome with emotion Elenia scrambled to her feet and ran towards him, throwing her arms around his shoulders. He didn’t return the gesture, planting one hand in the middle of her chest and pushing her away from him.
“Now is not the time, sister,” he said. “It is not yet over.”
Elenia was about to ask what he meant when something from off to the left of them gave a deafening, unearthly roar, followed by a girl’s screamed. Elenia’s head shot around and her eyes grew wide at what she saw.
Calla was crawling backwards on all fours. Towering over her was a monster that stood at least ten feet tall. Its head was too large and sat on a long, skinny neck, as though attached there by mistake. Its arms were double the length of its body while its legs were far too short; it balled up its scaly, three-fingered hands to walk on its knuckles. Its skin was shriveled and the most disgusting shade of green Elenia had ever seen over the course of the millennia. Its teeth were yellow, each tooth sticking out at a different angle as thick saliva dripped down its chin. It glared down at the girl with a single large blood-red eye. The stench of decay that came off the creature had grown worse, making Elenia want to vomit.
So this is what the demon Bralon really looks like, she thought.
Ronan rose to his feet beside her, glaring at the demon. “Demon,” he growled, his eyebrows coming down in an angry “v.” “I have a score to settle with you.”
Bralon stopped and swiveled his head around. –You? Challenge me? I think not—thisssss little one isss far more entertaining. — He raised one clawed hand up over Calla’s head.
“Keep your claws away from her.” Ronan balled up his right hand. The air around it began to crackle and ignited in violet flames that grew out in front of him until he held a flaming blue sword of his own energy.
The demon made a high-pitched clicking sound with his tongue. –You fool. Have you sssso ssssoon forgotten? I defeated you once already. Now you are weak. What makessss you think you would not fall again?—
“Because unlike last time he does not stand alone.” Kar hobbled over to stand by Ronan’s right shoulder. “You no longer have him, and now it is you who shall fall.”
—I did not address you, old man. — The demon flexed his fingers. –Return to your watery abyss.—
“You do not command us!” Elenia stood at Ronan’s left. “Neither is this world yours to take while we still defend it.”
—You are a fool woman. You cannot deny me thisssss world for my own.—
“Yes we can,” Ronan said, pointing his fiery sword at him. “We are the Three, the sworn protectors of this world and everything in it. We will give our lives to keep you from taking it, and if we fall others shall rise in our place.”
—Not if they are the firsssssst to fall.—
The demon’s head swiveled back around towards a motionless Calla and without warning swung one massive arm into her, the long claws raking across her chest. Elenia watched in horror as the girl sailed through the air in almost slow-motion for several yards before landing hard on her back; she lay there unmoving.
Screaming with rage Elenia vaulted towards the demon, slicing her sword through the air as she went. Her brothers were shouting at her in warning but she couldn’t hear them. She saw only red, heard only the pounding of her own blood in her ears. Despite her fury Bralon blocked each blow with one arm.
—Yessss, get angry at me, — he taunted. –It will make it that much easssier for me to kill you. — There was a glimmer of glee in his eye.
Elenia blocked his other arm with the flat of her blade and reached one hand skywards, calling the winds down to her; a cyclone formed overhead and a column of wind stretched down towards her. Before she could release it at the monster Ronan had jumped on his back, locking one muscular arm around his throat and plunging his energy sword into his back between the shoulders. Howling the demon tried to throw him off, twisting his entire body around with the effort. Kar came up from the side and tossed several throwing stars made of shell at him; their sharpened points sank deep into the putrid flesh. Ronan leaped down from his back and rolled away along the ground as the demon reached one hand up over its head to grab him.
Bralon hissed, spit flying through the air. –This is impossible! — he screeched. –I am a son of Chaos itself, loyal to the Darkness! You cannot defeat me!—
“Even Chaos himself must fall someday.” Ronan replied coldly. “Spend eternity in the Void where you belong.”
He held out one arm with his hand stretched out towards the demon. His own energy started to build, gathering until it surrounded his fingers in a glowing violet sphere. Elenia knew what he was doing and so did Kar: he was using his own energy to open a portal to banish the demon to the Void; it would open completely and Bralon sent through only with the combined powers of the Three. Elenia and Kar called their own energy, Kar’s a bright sea-green and Elenia’s fire-red.
Bralon roared. –You cannot stop me! I will finish you all!—
“Not in this millennium, you will not,” said Kar grimly.
Will a silent nod to each other the Three opened the portal, their energies shooting straight into the demon’s torso. He gave one final defiant roar before he vanished in a flash of color. A small cloud of dust settled over the ground where he had been.
It was over.
Ronan tilted his head to one side as if to listen, ignoring the breeze that played with his hair. “The demon’s followers are fleeing,” he said. “His reptilian soldiers have fallen to madness—they now turn on each other. His human commanders are surrendering as well…”
Elenia wasn’t listening; her eyes had fallen on Calla’s body across the field. She let her physical form dissipate into the air and reappear next to where the girl lay. She knelt down and grabbed the girl by the shoulders, pulling her into her lap. Her heart hammered with despair when the girl made no response. The damage she had sustained was severe: the demon had cut three long, deep lines diagonally across her torso with its claws and there was blood everywhere. Her face had turned an ashy gray, and Elenia could sense no sign of life in her.
Ronan appeared across from her, Kar at his side. Elenia looked at them with gold-colored tears sliding down her face. “Help her!” she pleaded fiercely.
Ronan’s face was serious. “Her soul is letting go,” he said.
“Please, I beg of you! She is all I have!”
“Elenia,” said Kar gently, “her wounds are too great and she has lost too much blood. If we made any attempt to save her we could—”
“Peace, Kar,” said Ronan sternly, giving his brother a sharp look. He looked at Elenia.
“Please?” she whispered.
Ronan smiled grimly and nodded. “I will do what I can,” he said aloud.
He projected one thought directly into her mind so only she could hear. –I owe my life to you, sister—and I am also in your child’s debt.—
XL
Lina
Lina lay curled up on the floor by the window, the sunshine coming into the room bright and warm. She dozed as a gentle breeze stirred her fur, ignoring the bird chatter and distant shouts of people rising from the city below. She let her breath out in a big huff and twisted her neck slowly as she moved her head away from the ray of sunlight that fell on her. Her muscles were still sore even after being home for several weeks, especially around her left shoulder. She groaned and shifted her weight to her front left leg.
Only when she continued rolling onto her side did she remember that she didn’t have said leg anymore.
Lina let out a low growl. Stupid Brilken, she said to herself, standing up on her remaining three feet and pacing around the room; she had to twist her body slightly to bring her remaining front leg under her for stability. She had tried to sink her teeth into the neck of one of those overgrown lizards in
an attempt to take its throat out but missed, her canines sinking into the side of its head instead. It was able to close its jaws around the limb and tear it clean off, swallowing it whole as she had rolled along the ground away from it. As much as she couldn’t stand the pain after losing it, she really didn’t want the beast to give it back.
She twisted her head around to stare at the line of stitches along her shoulder. Amazingly she hadn’t died, but then again some of the enchantments and adaptations that made her species unique had prevented her from bleeding to death—a compound in her blood reacted with the air and caused a kind of instant healing, causing the torn edges of the veins and skin to draw together as much as possible and so reduce the blood flow. When the battle was over the Nymphs stitched the flesh the rest of the way closed without needing to use any of their own spells. The scar she would be left with would be well hidden when her fur grew back. They said she was lucky to lose only a limb instead of her life.
Lina disagreed with that—Calla was the lucky one, not her.
She stopped at the side of the bed and reared up on her back legs, gently putting her front foot on the mattress as she stared down at the unconscious girl. Calla had been a mess when she was brought back, covered in blood with her chest torn open. Elenia and her Nymphs, along with the freed Ronan, spent days trying to put her back together; the girl’s heart had stopped at least three times during their efforts. Somehow Elenia was able to fuse the broken bones and knit the deeper muscles back together enough that they could just sew the rest of the wounds closed. The rest of the healing was now up to Calla.
The Last Druid Page 24
