The Way of Ancient Power

by Ben Wolf

  An arrow plunged into the base of the Saurian’s neck, and he twitched. He roared and ripped the arrow out of his neck, then he hissed up at Lilly, who stuck him with another one, this time in his throat just under his chin.

  The Saurian dropped his sword and clutched his throat with wide reptilian eyes.

  Calum pushed himself up and swung his sword at the Saurian, but he blocked the blow with his armored forearm. The Saurian spun around and battered Calum to the ground with his tail.

  The impact might’ve snapped Calum in half were he still as scrawny as he’d been back at the quarry. Even so, he wondered if he’d ever be able to walk or even stand again. His lower half ached, and he cursed himself for his weakness again.

  He’d grown enough to handle human bandits and pirates and soldiers, but trying to fight Saurians made him feel just as frail as the day he’d fled his life as a slave. He had to get stronger, fight better, or he wouldn’t survive long enough to reach the Arcanum to free Lumen.

  Despite the arrow in his throat, the Saurian just wouldn’t go down. Worse yet, the other nine Saurians had closed in and started toward Calum.

  Another arrow plunged into the Saurian, this time in the back of his neck. He roared again and reared back, alternating between groping at his throat and the nape of his neck with his free hand.

  The next thing Calum knew, two sets of arms scooped him into the air and carried him away from the Saurians. Kanton and Falcroné.

  “Thanks, guys,” he said.

  “Their skin is thick, and with all that armor on, it’s hard to deliver a killing blow unless it’s to their necks,” Falcroné said. “If you don’t kill them quickly, they heal.”

  Calum nodded. Just like Magnus healed from the arrow he took back on the rooftops in Kanarah City.

  His feet touched down in the gorge about a hundred feet ahead of the nearest Saurian, and he met up with the rest of the group. Magnus had been right—the Saurians would be forced into a bottleneck here. That gave the six of them more of a level field.

  The Sobek bellowed a command to halt that stopped the Saurians before they could enter the gorge. He tapped four of them on their shoulders and motioned toward the walls that formed the gorge. The Saurians nodded, split into two groups of two, and walked along the tops of the walls. Then he and the rest of the Saurians advanced into the gorge.

  They were still trying to surround them.

  “Deeper. We must venture deeper into the gorge,” Magnus said. “We cannot let those four Saurians cut us off, or we will not make it.”

  “I can slow them down.” Lilly nocked another arrow. “Kanton and I will take one side, and Falcroné can take the other side.”

  “Do it,” Calum said.

  Falcroné nodded, then he took to the sky toward one pair of Saurians, and Lilly and Kanton launched toward the other pair.

  “Attack!” The Sobek yelled, and the Saurians lumbered forward, two at a time.

  “Axel, Calum,” Magnus said. “Retreat. I can handle two at a time.”

  Calum glanced at Axel, then looked at Magnus again, whose gaze remained fixed on the approaching Saurians. “Are you sure?”

  Magnus shot him a glare. “Go.”

  Calum didn’t hesitate. He and Axel ran deeper into the gorge. Above them, Lilly fired arrows at the two Saurians on her side of the gorge while Kanton executed quick diving attacks on them with his spear.

  Across the gorge, the opposite wall became more of a steep hill. Falcroné zipped back and forth between the Saurians who ran across the top. Every time he passed them, a new spurt of dark blood flung down into the gorge.

  The Saurians jerked with each of Falcroné’s slices and tried to swing back at him, but he moved far too fast for them. Still, they kept moving forward, until Falcroné’s next blow knocked one of them down into the gorge.

  The Saurian smacked against a half-dozen boulders on his way down and rolled to a stop in front of Calum and Axel, who skidded to a halt. Behind the Saurian, his sword clanged down the wall’s slope, accompanied by a miniature rockslide.

  Before Calum and Axel could get around him, the Saurian pushed himself up to his feet and snatched up his sword. He snarled and stalked toward them, hunched over. Dark gray armor covered his chest and back, his arms, and his legs, but he’d lost his helmet on the way down into the gorge. Lacerations lined his face and neck.

  Axel rapped his knuckles against Calum’s arm and shifted to the right. Calum caught his intention and shifted left. If they could divide the Saurian’s focus, they stood a better chance of bringing him down.

  The Saurian slashed his blade at Calum but he leaped back in time to avoid the swipe. Axel darted forward and hacked at the Saurian’s left arm, but its tail swept Axel’s feet from under him before his blow could connect. He landed face-first in the dirt.

  On his return swing, the Saurian brought his sword down at Axel, who rolled away just in time. Calum saw an opening and lunged, and his sword plunged into the Saurian’s right thigh between two of his armor plates.

  Before Calum could pull his sword back, the Saurian roared and backhanded him in the face. Calum’s vision ceased in a white flash, then it reset to the blurry gray of the gorge around him as he hit the ground. Warmth trickled from his nose down to his lips, and the metallic tang of blood stung his tongue.

  When Calum looked up, the blurred form of the Saurian blotted out the setting sun. He raised his sword.

  A navy-blue mass slammed into the Saurian from the right and knocked him off-balance.

  Axel.

  The Saurian adjusted and swung his sword at Axel instead, but Axel ducked under the blow and sliced his blade straight up at the Saurian’s wrist. The blade severed the Saurian’s right hand from his arm, and it dropped to the ground next to Calum’s shoulder, along with his sword.

  The Saurian roared and clutched his bleeding wrist with his other hand. Calum’s sword remained in the Saurian’s thigh, so he rolled to the side, snatched up the Saurian’s sword, and hacked at its leg. The dull blade lodged about halfway through its knee, and the Saurian crumpled to the ground.

  Axel jammed his sword through its throat so far that it stuck into the ground. The Saurian convulsed once, then it stopped moving. Calum scrambled to his feet and wrested his sword from the Saurian’s leg.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  Axel planted his boot on the Saurian’s snout and jerked his sword free of its throat. “No time to chatter now. We gotta keep running. Magnus was right. We can’t fight all of them like that.”

  Calum nodded and looked up at the three Saurians who still ran across the top of the gorge. Far behind Axel and him, Magnus battled two Saurians at a time in the bottleneck, and another lay at his side, motionless and slicked with red. He’d already killed one of them?

  A hiss sounded to Calum’s left, but not from one of the Saurians. Small rocks and pebbles tumbled down the side of the gorge wall toward them. Far above, a network of gray boulders oozed rocks into the gorge. It looked like it could give way any—

  That’s it. Realization hit Calum harder than the Saurian’s backhand. He knew how they could even the odds.

  Axel’s hand clamped onto Calum’s wrist. “Come on. We gotta keep running.”

  “No, wait!” Calum shook free and pointed to the rocks above. “We can trap them in a rockslide.”

  “What?” Axel glanced at the boulders then back at Calum. “You’re losing your mind. Let’s go.”

  “No. Go help Magnus. He needs you.” Calum motioned toward the sky. “Let them back you up, and Falcroné and I will loose the rocks. When you hear me yelling, run for it. The boulders will do the rest.”

  “But—”

  “Just do it, Axel.” Calum turned and bolted down the gorge. He couldn’t waste time arguing—not if this was going to work. He called for Falcroné as he ran, and Falcroné met him in the gorge.

  “What is it?” Dark blood streaked across Falcroné’s face and charcoal armor, but Calum knew non
e of it was his own.

  “Can you get me up to those boulders?” He nodded toward them.

  Falcroné glanced at them. “Why?”

  “I’m gonna create a rockslide to—”

  “Say no more.” Falcroné held up his hand. “I’m with you. How much do you weigh?”

  “Uhh…”

  “Stay here. I’ll be back with Kanton.” Falcroné burst into the air.

  “Bring Lilly back with you,” Calum shouted. He hoped Falcroné had heard him.

  Behind him, Axel had joined Magnus in the fray. As they backed up, the Saurians approached. Soon they weren’t fighting just two Saurians at once, they had to fight three. They would need help—Lilly and Kanton’s help—if this was going to work.

  Lilly, Kanton, and Falcroné landed next to Calum.

  “Lilly, go shoot the Saurians who are fighting Axel and Magnus. Kanton and Falcroné—”

  “We’ve got you, Calum.” Kanton hooked his arm under Calum’s, and Falcroné did the same. As Lilly sped toward Magnus and Axel, Calum ascended toward the boulders.

  Magnus parried two blows from two of the Saurians then slammed his sword down on one of them who’d left himself exposed. The hack cut through the Saurian’s armor and severed his left arm at the shoulder. He roared. Magnus’s follow-up lateral lopped off the Saurian’s head, silencing him.

  Two down. Four to go, including the Sobek.

  As they backed deeper into the gorge, it widened, and the Saurians spread out. No way he and Axel could contend with four of them alone. Had they been humans, or even Windgales, Magnus could have taken them on his own, but not Saurians. They were too hard to kill.

  The Sobek launched forward and battered Magnus’s sword with his battle-ax. Magnus threw three quick counterattacks then absorbed another thunderous blow from the Sobek that vibrated through his arms.

  The Sobek showed him an insidious grin, and his golden eyes flickered with malice.

  Magnus readied another counterattack, but one of the Saurians whipped his blade at Magnus, so he had to parry instead.

  Next to him, Axel dodged a blow from the second Saurian and blocked another from the third that almost knocked him off his feet in the process.

  For being only a human, Axel was handling himself admirably against these Saurians, at least up until that moment. The second Saurian would’ve finished Axel off right then and there had it not been for the arrow that hit him in his neck. The Saurian recoiled a step, and Axel recovered his footing.

  Lilly swooped into view behind them and shot two more arrows in succession, one that plunged into the shoulder of one of the Saurians, and another that skidded off the Sobek’s head. The Sobek just shook his head and sneered at Magnus. He knew, as Magnus did, that arrows wouldn’t do much beyond annoying and distracting these Saurians.

  The Sobek started toward Magnus again, his battle-axe ready.

  Whatever Calum had planned, he’d better do it quickly.

  Kanton and Falcroné set Calum down near the top of the boulders.

  “Kanton, go help the others in the gorge. When I yell to move, get outta the way.”

  He nodded then zipped away.

  “Falcroné, I need you to hover on the other side of the rocks and tell me when they’re gonna give out. And tell me when the Saurians are in place, too. Crystal?”

  “Clear.” Falcroné took his position and waited.

  From Calum’s vantage point, it seemed as if one of the boulders at the top could trigger the whole slide. He placed his foot on it and pushed, but it didn’t budge.

  It shouldn’t have surprised him—the boulder looked about the size of a small cow and had to weigh over a thousand pounds. He stomped on the boulder again, but still no movement.

  “Where are we at, Falcroné?”

  “You’ve got about thirty seconds.”

  That was it? No time. He needed to loose these boulders now. He planted his right foot on the boulder and stepped onto it with his left. From so high up he could see into the gorge, and Falcroné had been right: Magnus, Axel, Lilly, and now Kanton were almost even with the stack of boulders.

  Calum jumped, and landed hard on the boulder. It was a small jump, more of a test than anything. The boulder still didn’t budge. Calum jumped again, this time higher, and he landed harder too. Still nothing.

  He cursed. What if this didn’t work? Had he just doomed his friends?

  He jumped and stomped on the boulder a half dozen more times, but to no avail. Magnus and the others were even with the boulders now. If he didn’t loose them soon, he’d miss his chance.

  Why couldn’t he just be stronger?

  “Do you see any sign of them moving?” Calum called to Falcroné.

  “No.”

  Calum grunted and jumped again. Come on.

  The Saurians overlapped with the boulders’ assumed trajectory.

  “Come on.” Calum jumped again and stomped, then jump-stomped once more.

  On the third jump-stomp, the boulder budged.

  The next thing he knew, Calum was tumbling down into the gorge, surrounded by boulders the size of livestock.

  He’d become part of the rockslide.

  Chapter Thirty

  A hand clamped onto Calum’s wrist, and the rockslide dropped out from under him. Falcroné pulled him up and glided with him across the gorge down toward Magnus, Axel, Lilly, and Kanton.

  Calum noticed right away that although Falcroné still couldn’t fully fly with Calum’s weight added on, they didn’t drop nearly as fast as he had when Lilly had glided with him back over the lake water. Falcroné was definitely stronger.

  As they coasted toward a landing about thirty feet behind the rest of their group, Calum yelled, “Run!”

  When Magnus heard Calum’s voice, he parried a blow from the Sobek then drove his shoulder into the Sobek’s chest. With the Sobek off-balance, Magnus turned back and charged away. As he ran, Magnus bent down and hooked Axel around his waist, hefted him over his shoulder, and carried him away from the incoming rocks.

  Twenty long strides later, he watched as dozens of huge boulders tumbled into the gorge and smashed into the Saurians. At first, Magnus thought he’d pushed the Sobek back too far, but a boulder three or four times his size smacked into his chest, and he disappeared under the pile of rubble that consumed the other three Saurians.

  “Hey!” Axel whacked Magnus’s back. “Put me down, already.”

  Magnus obliged him, and Lilly and Kanton landed next to them. Together they watched as the final boulder settled on top of the pile. “I must admit, that worked a lot better than I expected it would.”

  “Yeah. No kidding,” Axel said.

  “Over here!” Calum called from behind them.

  Magnus whirled around and saw the three remaining Saurians approaching Calum and Falcroné. He ran toward them along with Axel, and Lilly and Kanton zoomed overhead.

  The six of them lined up together and faced the three Saurians, who stepped back. Several arrows protruded from the hides of two of the Saurians, and dark cuts streaked the other’s face.

  “Go now,” Magnus hissed. “Or we will kill you, too.”

  The Saurians glanced at each other for a moment then refocused on Magnus.

  “That way.” Magnus pointed toward the pile of rubble. “And do not stop until you reach Trader’s Pass. I do not want to so much as see you again.”

  The Saurians hissed at him through their noses but nodded. They passed by the group and kept going until they disappeared from the gorge entirely.

  Magnus motioned to the others with his sword, and the rest of the group sheathed their weapons. He walked over to the pile with his sword still in hand and studied it until a faint hiss reached his ears.

  He bent down and moved a couple of smaller rocks out of the way. There, pinned beneath a gigantic boulder, lay the Sobek, covered in gray dust.

  He coughed and then hissed at Magnus.

  “Next time Vandorian wants to capture me, he had
better do it himself.”

  The Sobek chuckled, and dark blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. “Vandorian ain’t sent us.”

  Magnus squinted at him and crouched down. He held his sword out for the Sobek to see. “Tell me who did, and I will accelerate your passing.”

  “’Oo else?” The Sobek coughed, and more blood oozed from his mouth. “There’s only one slave lord in Western Kanarah. It’s ’im ’oo sent us.”

  Magnus scowled at him. “Oren?”

  The Sobek smiled. “Oren. My master. He’ll bind you in chains an’ send you to the Blood Chasm f’this.”

  “And why should he care about a mound of refuse like you?”

  “My name’s Troden. He’s my brother. He’ll make you suffa’ centuries of agony for my death.” The Sobek bared his reddened teeth.

  Magnus raised his sword, tip down. “I will share your final remarks with him when next I see him.”

  Wide-eyed, Troden slung a string of curses, and Magnus drove the point of his sword through his head and into the gravel below. He retracted his sword, cleaned off its blade, and sheathed it as he stepped down off the mound of rubble toward the rest of the group.

  “What did he say?” Calum asked.

  “He was Oren’s brother.”

  Axel shrugged. “So?”

  Calum nudged him. “The Sobek in the brown from the Sky Fortress. Remember?”

  Axel shrugged again. “So?”

  “He is unlikely to forgive the death of his brother, even if his brother instigated the fight.” Magnus exhaled a long hiss through his nose. “Plus, he heads of all of West Kanarah’s slave trade.”

  Lilly’s eyes widened. What was Magnus talking about? “What do you mean he’s the head of West Kanarah’s slave trade? Outside of the prisoners banished to the Blood Chasm, West Kanarah doesn’t have any slave trade. It’s the humans who deal in slaves.”