Gwion and Vif both nodded and then the Dragon indicated for him to lead on. Bray knew that there would be at least two of the King’s sentries guarding the corridor below, so he drew his sword, before charging down the stairs, taking them two at a time.
He raced down the steps until he came to the corridor he was after. Just as he had expected two burly guards were standing at the bottom of the stairs.
Quick as a flash, Bray punched one of the black uniformed men in the face and kicked the other in the chest. The first soldier stumbled back under the force of the blow, allowing Bray to grab his collar and smash him into the wall.
The power, with which Bray hammered the man into a gold framed picture, immediately sent him reeling into unconsciousness. Bray then spun to finish off the second guard, but Gwion had grabbed him and knocked him out by smashing the hilt of his sword into his temple, before Bray had finished with the other man.
Once they had despatched the enemy guards, the three of them sped down the corridor, until they reached two doors, which were sitting opposite each other. Bray knew that the door on his left, led into the dining room, which they had used on many occasions as a command centre and the other was the back entrance to the throne room.
Peering around, his eyes settled on an air vent low in the wall to the left of the door. He moved across to it and grabbed the bars. Gwion joined him and the two of them heaved on the grate. The heavy, metal bars squealed in protest, but came away from the wall with a high-pitched groan. The two warriors lowered the heavy grill to the floor and then waited until Vif had clambered through the vent. Once she was in, Bray and Gwion wriggled inside; they then reached out and grabbed the grate.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of dozens of marching feet coming towards them, drawn by the noise of the rusty grill. As quickly as they could, Bray and Gwion heaved the grate back into place. The heavy set of bars, settled into place just in time, because just as Bray and Gwion withdrew their hands from the grill, a squad of black uniformed guards ran passed them.
Sighing in relief, Bray smiled at Gwion and then turned to look at their surroundings. Seeing that Vif was already standing up in the large, spacious cavity within the palace walls, he too clambered to his feet.
He then glanced up and saw a smaller tunnel just above them, which led along the back wall of the throne room. Just as Bray grabbed the ledge above him to climb into it, Vif placed a restraining hand on his shoulder and whispered, “I must retake my natural shape, if we are to stand any chance of capturing Merihim alive, so you will have to defend me while I change back.”
With this, Bray nodded and climbed into the other vent. As he swung his legs into it, he saw that it too was tall enough to stand up in. Moving along the tunnel, he glanced back to make sure that the others were behind him. Seeing that they were both close by, he moved across to another grill, which was sitting at head height. Peering through it, he could see that he was looking out over the cloistered area of the throne room.
Bray held his breath in fear, as he watched the monstrous troll-like Demon-King lumber across the room to join a much shorter, yellow-skinned creature, which was standing next to a crystal in the far corner of the room.
The bald, wide-eyed being turned to the Demon-King and in a rasping voice hissed, “We must talk.”
The Demon-King peered down into the red eyes of his companion and then looked up. He glanced around the room and thundered, “We must be alone!”
With this, five black armoured officers moved from previously unseen positions and marched out of the throne room. As soon as the guards were gone, the creature, which had to be Merihim, turned to the Demon-King and growled, “Your plans are not working. Every day I feel Mogya pulling me back to Hackich.” Merihim pointed to the crystal and continued, “You must give me souls to fill my crystal. When you have enough, you must find me the blood of a Royal descendant and sprinkle it over the crystal.”
The creature shuffled closer to the Demon-King and said, “When you have done this, a portal will open, allowing the Demons of Hackich to enter Earit.” Almost whispering it continued, “When this is complete, you and I will become as powerful as The Light himself; we’ll rule for eternity.”
Merihim then pointed to the door and almost roared, “Now you must send your troops out and destroy the Elves, who are with that traitor Lutan.”
The Demon-King nodded once and then rushed towards the huge double doors that led outside. The creature crashed through the doors, slamming them behind it, leaving Merihim on its own staring at the crystal. Bray knew that this would be their only chance to capture the creature, so he leant back and kicked the air vent with all his might. As the heavy metal grill clattered to the floor, Bray charged out. He hit the floor and rolled. As soon as he regained his feet, Gwion and Vif landed. Merihim calmly watched the three warriors roll across the floor and then growled, “Vienta.”
Merihim immediately glowed brightly and a solid wall of air shot from it. The invisible wave struck Bray, Gwion and Vif, freezing them in mid leap. As Bray struggled to get free, Merihim strolled nonchalantly across to them, chuckling nastily. It stopped in front of him and then went silent.
Merihim stroked its weak chin thoughtfully, sniggered and then said, “What is it I’m supposed to say now. Oh yes I remember.” The creature paused for an instant and screamed, “Guards!”
Almost as soon as Merihim had shouted, both sets of doors crashed open and a small force of black armoured officers charged into the throne room with a squad of rock-trolls behind them. Seeing them close in on its prisoners, Merihim released its spell, letting the three warriors tumble to the floor. Merihim then chuckled and said, “I have always enjoyed watching a massacre.” With this, it moved across to the throne and sat down.
Bray saw the mass of enemy troops coming towards him and immediately embraced his Mogya. He charged at the closest of the enemy officers with his sword held high. Gwion too allowed his power to flood his body and sprinted to meet the attack of the trolls.
As Bray slashed an enemy soldier across the throat and punched another in the stomach, Vif began to glow. Two of the black armoured officers tried to grab her, but the fire now surrounding her body burnt them so badly that they ran away screaming in agony.
Gwion leapt at the closest of the rock-trolls and kicked it in the face. His Mogya enriched leg hitting the troll with such power that it flipped backwards, bringing down a number of its companions. As they fought, the glow around Vif intensified and began growing, until it almost filled the room. As Bray stabbed another of the enemy in the heart, the light around Vif ceased, revealing her true form.
Merihim’s face twisted in terror when he saw Vif; recognising her immediately. Seeing her, the enemy officers panicked and fled from the room to get reinforcements, leaving Bray free to help Gwion slash through the rock-trolls.
Vif took one purposeful step towards Merihim and growled, “Stay there creature.”
Merihim was still glancing around the room in terror for a way to escape, as Bray finished off the last of the rock-trolls. As soon as the massive beast crumpled to the ground, Gwion spun and with his eyes firmly on Merihim, growled, “Vienta.”
A cold sickly feeling fell over him, as he uttered the words, but just as had happened earlier, a thick wave of air swept from around him and crashed into the throne, freezing Merihim where he was. Bray glanced at his son in awe and asked, “How did you know how to do that?”
Gwion vomited and then as he peered weakly at his father, replied, “I didn’t; I just repeated what Merihim said.”
Vif chuckled, as she heard this and said, “You must be careful young Gwion. The creature that you call Merihim uses Mogya in such an awful way that you may fall ill if you repeat what it says too much.”
As the Dragon chuckled at Gwion, Bray moved towards the struggling Merihim and pushed his thoughts towards it. His Mogya raced from him and swept around the frozen Merihim, lifting the creature from its seat, before moving it across to t
he centre of the velvet-draped room.
As it came to a halt in mid-air, Merihim screamed in fear, “Who are you?”
Vif growled and replied, “Me you know creature; I’m Vif of the Greater Dragons, who has hunted you since you first corrupted your Mogya. The other two you don’t need to know, but trust me, when I tell you, they will destroy you in an instant if you press them.”
At this, Gwion glanced at Bray and rolled his eyes, knowing that Vif was talking for effect, trying to scare Merihim into behaving. The Dragon’s words did succeed, because in its whole life Merihim had never encountered a creature, besides the Dragons, who could challenge it, let alone use its own magic against it.
Bray released Merihim, letting its frozen body crash into the floor and then moved across to it. With their Mogya still raging through their bodies, both Bray and Gwion felt mightier than the huge Dragon, who was now moving to stand next to them, but they knew that they would suffer once they let it go. Therefore, Bray realised he had to get Merihim back to the time in which his friends were waiting for him, as quickly as possible.
Knowing this, he focused his mind on Primero’s familiar presence; he knew that his other friends were with him, but the huge Dragon would be easier for him to find. As his mind wandered through the grey abyss of Mogya, he felt a familiar tug.
Concentrating on this trail, he began forming a gate. The light in the room dimmed briefly and then seemed to rush towards the wall under the air vent. As it pooled it began creating a rectangular shape. Once a thick door of light had formed, it began to flicker. Gwion peered at it and smiled when he spotted the muscular Manil standing with his war hammer held against his chest.
Gwion moved across to Merihim and lifted its frail body into his arms. Rushing through, he called to Vif, “Bring my father through with you.”
Vif nodded once and then lumbered towards the gateway. She lowered her head and grabbed the collar of Bray’s black travelling coat in her mouth. She then leapt through the gateway, forcing it to stretch around her huge girth, dragging Bray behind her. As she appeared on the other side of the gateway, it started to shrink. Vif managed to drag Bray through, just before it vanished, but as she did, she glimpsed the Demon-King rush into the throne room, screaming in anguish at Merihim’s disappearance.
Glimmer of Hope
Gwion smiled at Manil and then rushed across to Sam, with Merihim’s mortal form still held in his arms. He dropped the evil creature at the Sentinel’s feet and said, “Believe it or not this fragile creature is the cause of all our problems.”
Sam snorted in disgust and then, as Gwion moved across to a large fire, next to which a stack of blankets were lying on a table. He grabbed one and then moved a short distance away. He then took off his pack and laid his sleeping mat on the floor. Once he was ready, he lay down and released his grip on his Mogya. Immediately his body grew weak and he fell into an exhausted slumber.
Vif watched Sam order a large Sentinel to take Merihim’s physical body to a cage, similar to the one that Ciqala was being kept in and then carried Bray across to where his son was sleeping. Laying him down, she left him to recover. She then moved across to Sam, who was staring at her in awe and said, “My name is Vif.”
Sam recovered his composure in time to reply, “Pleased to meet you, I’m Sam, the Sentinel commander.”
Just at that moment, Primero appeared, streaking through the air like a bolt of lightning. He plummeted to the floor, halting himself just before hitting the ground and landed nimbly a few yards from Sam. Striding across confidently, the ground trembling as he did, he came to a halt next to the Sentinel commander. He then said, “I have passed the message to the spirit of Merihim that we’ll swap his mortal body for the Ancient ones and Ciqala.” He then grinned and added, “Not too many of them had to die.” Seeing Vif, he suddenly went quiet and stared at her in wonder.
Vif did not notice; she glanced at Sam and said, “You were a bit premature in sending your message were you not. You didn’t even know if Bray and Gwion had succeeded.”
Sam shrugged and replied, “We were hedging our bets.”
Vif was about to answer, but she caught the hungry look in Primero’s eye and said coyly, “Hello there.” She then asked, “Do you fancy leaving these war mongers, so we can get properly acquainted?”
A little taken aback by Vif’s confidence and not having ever mixed with any other Dragon besides his parents, Primero stammered back, “O…of course.”
Vif did not give Primero the chance to get over his embarrassment. She leapt into the air, as Primero glanced at Sam awkwardly, and called down, “Come on then young one. It is many years since I last saw another Dragon and I have much to catch up with.”
Primero raised one scaly eyebrow as if to say, “Help,” and then shot into the sky to join Vif, with Sam chuckling below him. Primero heard him, shot a withering look at his friend and then sped after Vif, who was already heading towards the distant mountain, where Antia had once stood. Soon they were streaking over the horizon and out of sight.
Sam shook his head, as he watched the Dragons disappear, chuckling softly to himself. Once they were gone, he made his way across to the medical tent, into which a number of medics were carrying Bray and Gwion.
It took an hour for the fervent Sentinel healers to finish buzzing around the two warriors. When they had finally given them both enough potions to help them heal quickly, Sam ushered them out of the tent and sat in a chair next to Bray’s bed. He only had to wait a few moments, before the huge, dark-haired warrior opened his eyes.
Bray rubbed his bleary eyes and sat up slowly. He peered around the tent and as he noticed Sam sitting patiently, said, “Have you made the necessary arrangements for our guest.”
Sam chuckled quietly, and as Gwion woke from his Mogya weakened sleep, replied, “Yes we have. Merihim has agreed to give us the Ancient ones and Ciqala in an exchange for its mortal body.”
Gwion threw his covers off, kicked his legs over the edge of his bed and asked, “So we have everything we need now.”
Hearing this, Sam’s face grew serious and he said, “We’ve captured the Commander of the silver-armoured warriors.”
Bray’s ear suddenly pricked up as he heard this and he asked, “Where is he?”
Sam shook his head slowly and replied, “You’ll never guess, who he is.” Bray cocked his head curiously, his interest more than evident, as Sam continued, “I’ll have to show you. You will really not believe me if I tell you.”
Hearing this, Bray threw off his covers and stood up carefully. He glanced across to see if Gwion was getting up and then said, “Well let’s go and see him then.”
With this, Sam stood up and joined Bray as he moved out of the tent. The two Commanders glanced around the camp, getting a better view of it as dawn’s early light threw its first fingers across the devastated land. They could see that the well-organised Sentinel and Elven troops were already rising. Sam moved across to the larger tent on the other side of the clearing, with Bray and Gwion close behind. Stopping as he reached the tall canvas shelter, he opened the doors, spilling light from inside as he did so.
Moving inside, Sam watched with more than a little satisfaction, as the look in his prisoner’s eyes turned from arrogant indifference to outright fear, when he saw Bray stride into the tent.
Bray halted in disbelief, as he realised who the prisoner was. Bray moved across to the bound Elf and pulled his gag from his mouth. With barely concealed anger in his voice, he leant forward, so that his nose was on a level with Erion’s and growled, “You traitorous son of a bitch, I’ll make you suffer more than anything that the Sentinels could do to you.” With this, he pulled the gag back up and strode out of the tent.
Gwion glanced at his father; anger was etched in his taught jaw, mirroring the fierce look on his father’s face. Following Bray outside, he caught up with him and asked, “What are you going to do to him?”
Bray, shrugged and replied, “I’m not sure yet.�
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Moving away from the tent, Bray led Gwion to the large central cooking fire, over which Sam’s small force of chefs were barbequing breakfast; with Sam following behind them. As he approached the pots on a short wooden table next to the fire, Bray took a plate of charred meat from the closest of the cooks and began devouring it as fast as his starving body would let him.
As he finished his food, he gave the tin plate back to one of the chefs and turned to Sam, who was busy chewing a large mouthful of meat. He was about to speak, but went quiet when he saw the huge shapes of the Dragons winging their way towards the camp.
Bray waited as the two massive beasts drew closer and then, as they hurtled towards the ground, said to Gwion, “Go and form our troops into a column. Today we ride into our most important battle yet.”
Gwion nodded and with the looming shape of Sam next to him, strode across to where he knew Donny and Tom had set up their beds. Bray watched them go and then, as they joined Tom, turned back to the two Dragons, who were now landing nimbly - a few yard away from him. Primero hit the ground first and with his tail snaking behind him, rushed towards Bray. The Dragon halted, as he drew close enough to Bray to say, “We’ve just flown over a large body of enemy troops. Merihim’s spirit is reneging on its deal. It’s massing its troops for an attack.”
As he finished, Vif joined him and added, “We must meet them half way.” She then glanced at Primero slyly and continued, “The spirit won’t be expecting two Dragons. We’ll hide upon the Mountain, which Primero tells me was once a human city. This is where you must meet Merihim’s attack; from there we can surprise them.”
Bray stroked his chin thoughtfully, considering Vif’s plan, but just as he was about to reply, Gwion re-joined him and said, “If we get to the mountain in time, Galivan can take the Elves onto its slopes so that he can hit the enemy from the flank.”
Seeing the sense in Gwion’s plan, Bray nodded and glanced up at the two Dragons, who were waiting for a response. His face grew serious as he said, “Let’s get ready then.”
Destruction of a God Page 17
