Strength

by Angela B. Macala-Guajardo

  Aerigo landed on the street, putting himself back in the line of sight of the first two Elves. He crossed his forearms over his chest, erecting a magical barrier all around him. The three Elves spent every last bolt they had, turning the barrier into a shimmering blue pincushion. Dozens of bolts clattered to ground after Aerigo released the spell, and then the first two Elves charged in, all four scimitars drawn.

  Aerigo barely kept up with their flurry of attacks with his dagger in one hand and using his other forearm as a shield. He gave up ground and took many small cuts to his forearm, yet every time he blocked or parried, he put a burst of his immense strength behind it, throwing off the Elves’ rhythm, and giving himself just enough time to react to the next attack. They could match his speed, but not his strength.

  A second pair of Elves jumped into the fray from behind with their scimitars leading.

  Aerigo put out a burst of speed, putting one Elf between him and the ones who’d been right behind him. He grabbed the Elf’s wrist and guided a thrust at the leaping Elf, who couldn’t react fast enough. Both Elves ran each other through. The Elves’ bodies shook with spasms then fell lifeless among the rubble.

  The two remaining Elves hesitated. Four on one, and their numbers had been cut in half in seconds.

  Aerigo weighed the idea of whether or not he should kill these Elves. He hesitated only because they did. He dropped into a fighting stance and let his foes show him whether he should give them his mercy or not.

  The Elves glared at him, but stayed at bay.

  “You owe us your life, Aigis,” one of the Elves said in a heavy accent. “We haven’t forgotten or forgiven.”

  “Why right now?”

  The Elves only smiled, then dropped into fighting stances as well.

  Aerigo let out a resigned sigh, then chucked his dagger at the Elf on the left, who effortlessly parried the attack.

  “Fool,” the other Elf said, sneering.

  Aerigo waited for his opponents to make the first move, but they just stood there. Just waited. For what? Their breed of Elf was quick to go on the offensive, unless...

  Where were the other remaining two?

  Aerigo scanned the nearest few blocks and came across only a scant few humans.

  They’re stalling! The Aigis launched at both Elves, who dodged in opposite directions. Aerigo squared off with the one to his left. The Elf attacked in rapid succession in a dual wielding dance. Aerigo was forced to block with both forearms, and took dozens of nicks up and down his arms and torso as the blades came from the left, the right, the left, overhead, below, behind. The second Elf stabbed at the small of his back. Twisting to one side, Aerigo deflected the front Elf’s jab and grabbed the wrist of the other and crushed the joint with one squeeze. The Elf let out a howl of pain and brought his other scimitar around. At the same time, the first Elf came at him with a horizontal slice. Aerigo forced the second Elf’s weapon up in front of his glowing eyes, and metal rang in the air. He heaved their weapons away, knocking both Elves off balance and twisting them around. Still holding onto its wrist, Aerigo yanked the Elf toward him and bashed the back of its skull onto his kneecap, then let its lifeless body fall to the ground.

  The surviving Elf let out a cry of dismay. “You...! Evil!” He scanned the debris, then sized up his quarry. “The tales of your power are true. Now I truly understand why my kin never bothered to seek revenge.” He gazed at the darkening sky. “Nexus be damned! He can fight his own battle with you himself!” The Elf sheathed his weapons and knelt beside his dead comrade.

  “Why did Nexus have you lure me into this trap?” Aerigo said. “Answer me, or I kill you, too.”

  The Elf paused, scowling, then went back to collecting the fallen scimitars. “What do you think, Aigis? The god is obsessed with your powers. You’re his biggest threat.”

  “He knows I’m trying to stop his war.” It was more an observation than a question.

  “Something like that, but I don’t care anymore. Nexus can do whatever he wants; I’ll have no more part of it.” He returned the weapons to their sheaths and held out an arm, fingers spread. “Farewell, Aigis.” The Elves world-hopped off Phaedra.

  Aerigo searched for his dagger and quickly found it lying among rocks a few feet away. He deposited it in its broken sheath, then kneeled with his palms pressed onto the cobblestones. Every nick and cut along his body stung, but the ones he had to get rid of now were those on his hands. The rest could heal later. Aerigo concentrated on the ground in front of him for several seconds, then his hands began to sink into the rock, as if it were no thicker than mud. He sunk to just past his wrists and held them there until the rock touching his hands turned to sand. He brushed off his hands and inspected them for injuries, of which there were none. He had lines of fresh pink skin where the cuts were. He ran on in search of more foes.

  Chapter 26

  Roxie ran with one backpack over each shoulder, hoping she’d get back in time before anything bad happened to Rooke. She wondered if there was a chance Gem was still alive.

  She hung a right down the next street, miles away from the central pillar, then turned left and ran up to the entrance of the store. She bounced on the balls of her feel while she waited impatiently for the lazy doors to slide open, then bolted in. “Rooke! Where are you?”

  “Upstairs! What’re you doing back so early?”

  Roxie ran up the stairs three at a time to find Rooke in the middle of doing dishes.

  “What’s wrong?” He grabbed a towel and dried off his hands.

  “Phailon’s under attack! We’ve gotta get outta here! Is there anywhere safe we can go?”

  “Whoa, wait! Slow down! The city’s being attacked?”

  “There’s a dragon, trolls, and some Elves, and they’re killing everyone!”

  “Mighty Leviathan! Phailon hasn’t been attacked for a thousand years!” Rooke rubbed his balding scalp. “There are a few secret tunnels near the city center. They were built for sieges and—”

  “Good! We’ll move for those.” She grabbed Rooke by the wrist and led him out of the building as fast as he could move. “You don’t have another kulinga, do you?” she asked as they hit the sidewalk.

  “No. Why?”

  Roxie inwardly cringed. “Um.” It sucked being the bearer of such bad news. “A troll smashed your bike.” She looked at the ground.

  Rooke only sighed. “Hey, at least it’s replaceable.”

  Something in Roxie’s peripheral caught her attention. She looked across the street but saw nothing. Roxie searched with her mind and found something non-human hiding behind one of the curved pillars. This creature was much older than her and several hundred years older than Aerigo.

  As if sensing its own discovery, the dark creature stepped out from its hiding place and started walking towards them.

  “Well done,” it said in a harsh voice with an English accent. “You found me before I could kill you.”

  This being was taller than Aerigo. He wore a long black cloak with the hood obscuring his face, black ninja-type clothing, and gothic boots, with long flat skulls tied to his shins. The same clothes as the people by the waterfalls. Elf. Straight black hair flowed from the hood, framing his pale face.

  “That’s close enough!” Roxie said in a shaky voice, putting her fists up and standing in the ready position Aerigo had taught her on the cruise ship. Okay, now where’s his crossbow? Rooke cowered behind her.

  To Roxie’s surprise, the Elf stopped in the middle of the road. “Very brave of you, little girl, but your unsure fists won’t save you. I’m going to take great pleasure in killing you, along with Aerigo.”

  “My name is Rox, and you better remember that!” she snapped. Roxie held her stance, all the defensive moves Aerigo had taught refusing to come to mind.

  The Elf laughed and pulled off his hood, revealing his pointed ears. “Kabiroas.”

  “Rooke, I think you’d better run back inside or something.”

  The stout
man took off toward the city center.

  “I guess you’re first then,” Kabiroas said, drawing a scimitar.

  Oh, shit! The Elf swung his weapon at her face with amazing speed, the blade almost slicing her nose in half as she backed away. He reversed his swing and Roxie backpedaled. He had a sword and she didn’t. Kabiroas pursued her with his scimitar. Roxie could try to get the Elf to chase her around, but then she’d have to find Rooke again, and for all she knew some other monster would kill him while she tried to save her own hide.

  Roxie backed into one of the curved pillars fronting Rooke’s building. The Elf slashed sideways again, cutting through the stone. Roxie ducked and rolled under him, backpacks and all, then stood up to put a little distance between them.

  The Elf turned around and glared at her, and pulled out his second scimitar.

  At the end of the street, another Elf stepped out of hiding as Rooke hooked a left on a connecting street. It pursued Rooke with a scimitar in hand. She gaped in horror, then dodged one slash from Kabiroas. In what felt like slow motion, she watched the second blade’s downward stroke as it bit into her shoulder. The blade sliced in, then deflected off, leaving behind a five-inch-long gash. Roxie clutched at the bleeding.

  The Elf looked at his bent scimitar, mouth agape. Blood gleamed on the end. Roxie sent the Elf flying with a powerful kick to the stomach. Kabiroas slammed into the pillar he had sliced a moment ago and fell unconscious, his scimitars clanking on the ground next to him.

  Still holding her shoulder, Roxie ran after Rooke. Some protector I’m turning out to be. I almost lost an arm, and I’m about to lose him. She turned left on the street where the two had disappeared. Rooke was two blocks away with an Elf closing in. Ignoring the ache in her shoulder, Roxie ran full-tilt as she slipped a backpack off. She whacked the Elf off his feet with a swing of Aerigo’s backpack as she ran by, grabbed Rooke’s wrist and kept running, but slower. “Which way?” she asked without looking back.

  “Stop!” he begged. “I... gotta catch... my breath.”

  Roxie let go and Rooke bent over, gasping. It would cost them dearly if they were going to stop every few blocks. She got an idea. “I’m gonna carry you.”

  “Carry me?”

  She dropped packs and canteens by Rooke’s bare feet, then jogged into the street. “You’re going to have to point the way for me. Don’t touch me while I do this,” she said, remembering the troll.

  “What’re you doing?”

  Roxie imitated Aerigo’s stance, shut her eyes and concentrated. She felt the sensational ‘whoosh’ of going up in an elevator. Seconds later she opened her eyes to see whether she was tall enough.

  Rooke was only half as tall as her shins, and there wasn’t much room left between her shoulders and the nearest standing buildings. “Okay, that’s good,” she said, kneeling to collect her cargo. Rooke stared, his mouth agape. Roxie saw the Elf that she had belted was on his knees, rubbing his head with one hand and holding a scimitar in the other. He looked in their direction.

  Rooke rounded up the packs and canteens and hopped into her enormous hands. Roxie stood, eyeing the dazed Elf. “Which way?”

  Rooke pointed in the direction they’d been running, and Roxie took off, changing direction from time to time under her friend’s guidance. People fled in all directions from her, the fires, and the collapsed buildings, and Roxie had to be careful not to step on anyone. There were a few close calls, and people stared openmouthed as she passed.

  ***

  Aerigo had little difficulty relocating the dragon. It was huge, noisy, and left a massive smoke trail in its wake. He sprinted along streets littered with rubble and dead bodies. The sight sickened and angered him, but there was nothing he could do fix what had already been done. Clutching his dagger in one hand, he turned onto the street the black dragon was presently harassing.

  The dragon named Brago hovered in the air and spit fire at a building standing before it. Aerigo jumped from one mound of fallen stone to another, getting higher and closer with each bound, then gave one final leap, hurling himself at the dragon’s belly. As soon as he could make out each individual scale he lashed out with his dagger. Brago flapped his great wings, propelling himself backward. Aerigo etched a line in three scales that were each the size of his chest and began to fall. The dragon let out a roar as it retreated.

  Aerigo kept on falling. The dragon swung its tail at him and missed on the upward swing. The Aigis grabbed the tip of its tail with one hand and dug his dagger into scaled flesh. Brago roared again, and whipped his tail backward.

  Everything blurred by Aerigo as he flew downwards, then up. His vision recovered as the tail reached its peak, stopping level to where the dragon’s wings protruded.

  Brago looked between his neck and one wing. He lashed his tail down and forward, and Aerigo lost hold on the upward arc.

  Aerigo flailed his arms as he sailed upside-down high above a street, trying to get his feet back under him. He cleared the roof of the nearest building by a couple of feet, reached the crest of his flight path, then twisted upright as his momentum slowed. He skidded to a halt on top of the building’s far side. The dragon loomed closer and opened its great jaws. A red glow formed in its throat. Aerigo stood and scrambled towards the dragon as it spit a ball of fire right at him.

  The flaming sphere was twice his size. Aerigo switched hands with his dagger and swung out at the last bit of open air between him and the ball as he stopped at the edge. The ball of fire reflected off his magical barrier and rebounded back at the dragon.

  Brago spit another ball of fire and both spheres cancelled each other out with a huge explosion and a flash of light. Sooty flame fell to the street like arms of a squid reaching out. The dragon looked down at Aerigo, who stood ready for the next attack.

  The dragon dived at the building with his jaws open wide. Aerigo slid his dagger into one boot, jumped to the next roof as the previous one crumbled under the drake’s massive jaw. Brago clamped to the building with four deep thuds, its massive wings spread. After a quick search it noticed Aerigo waiting on the next roof. It shrieked, then grabbed a mouthful of broken granite and spat. Aerigo dodged and dived out of the way of the saliva-drenched debris. Aerigo fell backward when five talons, each as big as his leg, hammered on his roof, then started free-falling as the structure broke. He landed on one foreleg just as the other set of claws horizontally swiped at the building. The rest of the top floor was swept to the ground.

  Brago retracted the foreleg Aerigo was running up, sending the Aigis into a backward somersault.

  Everything suddenly went dark, hot and wet for Aerigo. He was lying on the dragon’s slick tongue with his hands braced against its ridge-lined roof of its mouth. The tongue squeezed him against the roof of its mouth and tried pushing him down its throat. Aerigo dug his fingers into flesh, drawing blood, and slid his feet under him as the tongue relaxed. Blood dribbled down his arms. He pushed the drake’s jaws open with his superhuman strength, and Brago forced his jaws to close, but Aerigo was stronger. They reached a stalemate with Aerigo staring down the beast’s throat with his arms and legs stretched like poles, and the dragon unable to crush him. The dragon shook his head like a dog would a toy. Aerigo’s blood-caked fingers held him in place as his boots shifted around. He took a steadying breath when the head stopped, and coughed.

  A molten glow rose closer to his boots, and a strong scent of sulfur filled the air.

  Brago sucked in a deep breath.

  When the dragon finished filling in his lungs, Aerigo grabbed a top-jaw tooth and swung out of the way of the fireball. He straddled Brago’s snout and the fireball sailed like a comet into the darkening sky. The dragon snarled and reached for him with both fore claws. Aerigo pushed into a backward roll, slashing down at a reptilian eye with his dagger. He rolled to his feet, then grabbed one of the dragon’s blade-like horns. He yanked on it as he jumped for the nearest building. He smashed the side of the dragon’s head into the granite an
d let go. Brago let go of the building with his hind legs and dropped to all fours on the street below.

  After shaking its head several times, Brago glared at Aerigo from below with its good eye. It snorted smoke. The dragon hesitated, then turned its massive body and fled into the sky.

  Aerigo pulled his broken sheath out of a pants cargo pocket and sheathed his dagger, then stuffed both items back into the pocket. He put one foot on the edge of the building and looked down. No one populated the streets below; just a few fires and piles of rock. And corpses. Aerigo bent his knees, took a deep breath and concentrated. He focused his gaze on the horizon, then launched himself into the air with arms outstretched.

  As soon as he was clear of the building behind him he began to grow as fast as he could, all the way to his limit. His giant feet hit the cobblestone street close to the building in front of him. He braced his hands in front of his bare chest and fell against the building. The stone groaned under his weight, but didn’t crack. Aerigo found his balance, shrank to normal size, then resumed his chase.

  ***

  Rooke told Roxie to slow down. “Are we there?” she asked, panting. The combination of running and holding her giant form taxed her stamina. After a while, it had felt like she was running around with a body suit full of weights.

  “Close enough,” Rooke said. “You can put me down, now.”

  They weren’t far from the monumental pillar that marked the center of Phailon. They stopped at the edge of a large circle of grass with stone sidewalks lined in and around it. There were no trees, but the open space was welcome after the slightly claustrophobic city streets. Roxie gazed upon the height of the obelisk and could barely make out its tip and the icon floating above it. It was like trying to look at the top of the Empire State building. No direct sunlight touched the obelisk and only few stars could be seen through the thick smoke and blazing fires raging further east, south and north. Even more than before.

  Roxie heard a muffled sob from her hands, and realized that she was still holding Rooke. Roxie placed him on the grass and shrunk to normal size.