The spear clanked off the dragon’s scaled skin with a metallic sound that sounded more like it had struck steel rather than flesh.
Spero turned its attention from Connor to the men surrounding them, shouting a roar of anger. Yellow eyes glaring, the dragon raised its neck high. From his spot next to the dragon’s side, Connor began to feel warm.
Heat was emitting from the dragon in with blazing intensity. Christof and his followers stood wide-eyed as the dragon lowered his head and opened its huge jaws. Fire spouted forth like water from a broken fire hydrant. Flames burst through teeth and tongue as the dragon drenched its enemies in flames hotter than Connor could fathom.
Twisted steel armor and skeletons with burnt flesh dropped to the ground where Christof and his men had been just seconds before.
Now the dragon knew why he had been summoned. Wings beating into the air even as ages of primal instinct took over, the dragon’s large dark green mass rose from the ground and Connor knew the tides of war had changed.
Those with any sense ran from the beast. The enemies that chose to stand and fight were torn apart with jaws and claws the size of their own bodies. Heat permeated the air as the dragon made short work of its attackers.
The day was almost won but Connor knew there was still one man capable of turning the nearly accomplished victory into defeat.
Connor’s black robe flew around him as he ran from the battleground in the courtyard to the wall. Pockets of resistance were still scattered around the courtyard but the defenders were pushing back. In some cases, even taking prisoners. With the arrival of the dragon, most of the inmates of Karnag fled or surrendered.
Connor ran up the stone steps to the left of the wall, where he found Lu drenched in blood. Connor ran to his side with a look that said what a hundred words couldn’t. Lu grinned at him.
“Don’t worry, it’s not my blood—well, most of it isn’t, anyway. Are you okay?”
Connor let out a sigh of relief as fatigue settled into his muscles and bones. He was beyond exhausted but he knew that this was not the time for rest. He needed to find Vercin and end the battle for good.
“Have you seen Vercin?”
Lu jerked his chin toward the courtyard. “I saw him fighting in the courtyard when the dragon arrived. He was making his way to the palace gates but Randolph and a group of monks stopped him, I think.”
Connor turned his eyes on the scene below. It wasn’t easy to make out individual people even with his Elite eyesight. He squinted as he tried to make out his nemesis’ form through all of the swirling and turning figures below.
He grunted in frustration as once again he failed to make out the tyrant king. What did catch his eyes however, was the crackling magic exchange that was still taking place between the three sorceresses.
Warriors on both sides, even the dragon, had given the women a wide berth in the palace courtyard. The battle of magic was taking place to the left of the palace doors. Smoke rose as the combatants sent sizzling energy and lightning bolts at one another. Every time two magical forces of power collided, a loud snapping noise would explode.
Connor could see Morrigan bending under the amount of pressure Julie was putting her under. Katie ran to stand between the women but she was no match for her mother, who sent her reeling backward to Morrigan’s side.
Katie was swatted out of the way quickly as Julie focused on her real enemy. Even though she was thrown, Katie refused to give in and ran again at her mother. Over and over Julie pushed her away and over and over Katie tried to get between her and the dangerous magical strikes directed at Morrigan.
Morrigan and Julie both floated inches from the ground. Sweat poured off Morrigan’s brow as she clenched her jaw, countering any strikes of magic sent against her, and at the same time pushing the fight with attacks of her own.
As Connor moved to help Morrigan and Katie in whatever way he could, the fight came to an unexpected end.
Katie pushed forward once again but this time instead of trying to be a human barrier between the two women, she shot off a bolt of sizzling electric magic at a section of the wall above her mother’s head.
Stones fell and mortar plummeted to the floor below. Julie raised a hand and shielded herself with a wall of energy from the falling debris. This was the opportunity Morrigan needed.
Morrigan took a huge breath, allowing a ball of red and brown energy to grow between her hands. As she did so, she seemed to grow in size. Connor was yards from the women now. He witnessed first hand as the sky darkened and Morrigan Hayes grew like a shadow on a long wall. Releasing her breath, Morrigan shrank back to size. The ball of energy launched from her hands broke through Julie’s shield and caught the sorceress square in the chest.
Connor witnessed Katie scream and run to her mother’s still form. Smoke rose from her black robes like an extinguished fire. Morrigan fell to her knees, exhausted.
Connor ran to comfort Katie, unsure if her mother had been killed or simply put out of the fight. That’s when he heard someone screaming his name. It was Laren.
Connor wished at that moment that he could be two, three people at the same time. He wanted to comfort Katie, help Morrigan to her feet, and run to Laren but he was only one man. Without another second of hesitation, he took off at a sprint towards the screams.
“Connor! Connor!”
He reached Laren even as her screams stopped. She was kneeling beside a broken and bloodied Randolph. She gently cradled his head in her lap. The doors to the palace had been broken inward and hung off the entrance at awkward angles.
Connor skidded to a stop beside Laren and Randolph. He looked at Laren with a worried expression.
Laren wasn’t a crier. Even now as she held Randolph she didn’t cry but her green eyes were swimming in tears. Tears she refused to shed.
“Con—Connor…” Randolph took a painful breath.
Connor looked down on his friend reaching for his hand. Randolph’s eyes were beginning to lose their brightness. A thin line of blood fell from the corner of his mouth. His chest was all but caved in.
“I’m here. I’m here, Randolph.”
“Connor—Vercin, he’s made it—he’s made it inside. I tried to stop him.”
“Shhh… it’s okay.”
“I’m—I’m sorry for—”
Connor could feel water form in his own eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I couldn’t have asked for a better man—a better friend to stand by my side today.”
Randolph smiled weakly as he struggled to breathe. “Stop him, Connor. Stop him for both of our families.”
Connor wished he had more to say. He wished he could come up with some words that would give more comfort to Randolph in his darkest hour. Instead of words, only rage made itself available.
Anger boiled to the surface. Connor gave Randolph’s hand one final squeeze and stood.
“Stay with him?” Connor asked Laren.
She nodded, still refusing to cry.
Connor left the woman he loved and the friend he was sure to lose that day behind. He entered the palace though the broken doors.
Chapter 37
The inside of the palace opened into a large hall. Bodies of the men stationed to protect the palace should anyone make it inside were strewn like pieces of art along the floor. Dozens of warrior monks lay still. Orange robes once clean and bright were crimson with blood.
Connor ran faster. Ahead he could hear men talking. In the large banquet hall, Connor skidded to a stop. Vercin stood in the middle of the room, a sword dripping with gore in his right hand. Caderyn and Zheng stood blocking his path.
“Oh this is perfect,” Vercin said as he grinned at Connor. “Three birds with one stone.”
Connor looked past Vercin at his father and the King of The Island. His father still wore no shirt with his ribs and torso heavily wrapped. Two knives glinted from his hands.
Zheng stood next to him, a long spear held in his left hand. His orange robes looked like the
robes of the men Connor had passed in the hall, bloodied and red.
Both men looked at Vercin with determination in their eyes. Connor focused back on Vercin, who was talking like he had been invited over for lunch instead of mounting an attack on the palace.
“I’m not sure what you three hope to accomplish here, certainly not victory. Caderyn, you can barely stand. Zheng, not on your best day could you hope to defeat a Judge, and Connor…” Vercin turned and smiled. “You are still learning to control the power that sets us Judges apart from the rest of the Elites. You have no hope.”
“Men like us will always have hope against people like you,” Caderyn said.
“Oh, here we go, the courageous words, the misplaced bravery. You can say whatever you want but the fact that you believe and support a race of superior beings who only come out to help others every few decades says it all. At least I am making the moves to bring constant order to the human race. I don’t appear when I deem fit, give them hope, and the fade back into the shadows of obscurity.”
“By ‘order’ you mean rule,” Zheng said in his quiet way.
“One and the same, Zheng. There is nothing you can do to stop it. I couldn’t even stop it. Like I told Connor, as we speak the best and brightest of Karnag are climbing their way up the political and corporate ladders of the world.”
“We will stop you,” Connor said.
Vercin rolled his different colored eyes. “Yes, yes, I’m sure you think you will. So there is nothing I can do or say to change your mind?”
“Nothing,” Connor said.
Vercin shrugged and the long cloak he wore fell from his shoulders. “Remember as you lay dying next to your father and Zheng that this was your choice.”
Four pairs of eyes changed colors as kings and Judges clashed.
Connor knew that this was the moment that would define history. This was the time to hold nothing back and move forward. His heartbeat quickened as his eyes changed red. He gripped his axe in his right hand and knife in his left like they were the very things keeping him grounded to his humanity.
As the rage washed over him he forced himself to think of those who needed him to succeed. He thought of his friends, his family, but most of all he thought of Laren.
He could see her in his mind, hear her voice laughing for him. He imagined her rolling her eyes at his jokes and giving him that smile that told him he could be the man he was meant to be.
Connor was ready.
Vercin stood with his knees bent and both hands on the long sword that was held above his head. The thin iron crown he wore matched his stance, strong and rigid.
Caderyn moved first. Even with his wounds the warrior in him pushed ahead. Zheng was right by his side with his own spear raised high overhead.
War cries burst from both men’s chests and Connor felt a roar of his own break from his lips as he moved forward.
All three men collided with Vercin at the some moment.
Connor had never witnessed someone so fast. It wasn’t only Vercin’s speed that made him nearly invulnerable to strikes, it was the skill set he now possessed after centuries of war.
Blades flew through the air in all directions at the once Judge now turned tyrant. Vercin moved to avoid a blow faster than they could aim their blows. Those strikes that he couldn’t avoid he deftly parried to the side.
Within a few seconds Connor knew why Vercin was feared the way he was. The Elite was a god when it came to war. Connor struck out with his axe in a wide arc that aimed for Vercin’s back. As if he had eyes in the back of his head Vercin lunged forward, avoiding his blow and at the same time connecting with a wicked slice across Zheng’s chest.
Zheng staggered backward even as Caderyn lunged forward. Vercin blocked both of Caderyn’s daggers with his sword. Connor saw his opening and rushed forward.
With his free hand, Vercin struck Caderyn across the jaw with an audible crack. Caderyn flew across the room and slammed into the far wall.
Connor was close enough to strike. He feinted with his axe again but as Vercin blocked the blow with his sword, Connor plunged his knife forward. Vercin caught Connor’s wrist in his free hand. The knife hovered inches from Vercin’s stomach.
“You could have been a great general in the world that is coming,” Vercin said through clenched fangs.
Connor grunted as he pushed forward with both arms. “I prefer to be a great Judge in the world we have now.”
Vercin glared at him through his red and black eyes. Axe held in check by Vercin’s sword, Connor leaned his strength into pushing forward with his left hand. The knife inched closer.
Both men struggled to gain the upper hand. Locked in a struggle Connor knew he couldn’t win, his eyes caught motion. Both Zheng and Caderyn were struggling to their feet.
Connor knew he had to buy them time. Feet fighting for traction on the smooth wood of the palace floor, Connor braced himself and pushed forward.
Vercin countered by bringing more pressure down on his sword and shortening the space between Connor’s head and the axe he held under the sword’s pressure.
Chess, this is a chess match. You have to anticipate his moves. Think ahead.
Connor allowed Vercin to push the sword trapped by his axe closer and closer to his own head. The knife in his other hand was slowly being twisted away from Vercin. Connor’s wrist was being forced to move in an angle that nature had not intended.
Pain shot through his wrist and up his arm as tendons and muscles were strained. The sword was coming down on his head like the sun destined to set.
With a yell of pain, Connor made a decision, a decision to sacrifice himself. Caderyn and Zheng were on their feet and coming forward. Vercin’s eyes were glowing hate as he twisted Connor’s wrist to its breaking point. Vercin heard the racing footsteps behind him as Connor’s wrist snapped. Everything else happened at once.
Chapter 38
Blinding pain coursed through Connor’s left wrist and arm as he fell backwards under Vercin’s sword. As he toppled back, he dropped his own axe and grabbed onto the hilt of the very sword that had threatened his life a moment before.
With Vercin’s weapon trapped and Connor pulling him down on top of him, Vercin had one of two options as Zheng and Caderyn charged him with their own steel drawn. He could release the sword and meet this new attack weaponless, or he could allow himself to be pulled to the ground and wrestle his weapon free from Connor.
Vercin released his sword and for the first time ever Connor saw something besides pride and anger in his eyes. Through the pain, Connor saw fear on Vercin’s face.
Zheng swung low with his spear, forcing Vercin to jump over his blade as Caderyn came high with both knives. Vercin was off balance from the jump but despite this managed to dodge one of the knives in Caderyn’s hand; the other stuck hilt deep in his right shoulder.
A scream of rage that did not befit Vercin’s political personality rushed out between fanged teeth. Landing hard, Vercin wasted no time in extracting his revenge. He caught Caderyn’s arm that held the second knife as it arched down on him with one hand and sent a strike to his chest that rocketed him off his feet through the air into a large table that sat in the hall.
Zheng struck forward with his spear again. This time Vercin sidestepped the weapon, meeting Zheng’s chest with a kick that made a crunching noise as he too was sent flying through the air and crashing into the far wall. The impact of the strike brought down bricks and wood from the palace structure on Zheng’s limp form.
Connor watched this happen in a matter of seconds. In the time it had taken him to get to his feet with Vercin’s sword in his right hand it was already done.
Connor and Vercin met again. His left hand limp and held close to his chest, Connor brandished the sword in his right. Eyes locked on his opponent, Connor welcomed the Elite strength that coursed through his body. As both men prepared to charge, a voice shattered the intense silence.
“Randolph is going to make it, and t
hat’s more than I can say for you.”
Vercin and Connor looked toward the entrance of the hall. Laren walked toward both of them, her head held high. Eyes yellow with rage, a shield in her left hand, sword in her right.
Vercin opened his mouth and snarled, “The first and only time I was defeated it took a coven of sorceresses and an army. I don’t think—”
“Enough talking. Just die already!”
Laren ran forward and crashed into Vercin, shield first. Like an angel of death, she pressed the fight. Connor joined her, still in shock at her boldness and at the same time admiration and respect growing in his chest for the woman he loved.
Vercin grabbed Laren’s shield in both hands and tore it off her arm, sending her flying though the air over his head.
Connor brought Vercin’s own sword down with his one good arm. Vercin caught the hilt and tore it from his hands. Both men stood weaponless. Rage building inside, Connor called on his Elite strength to see him to the end of the fight. Moving as fast as he could, he hammered away at Vercin’s face with his one good fist.
Vercin and Connor exchanged a series of brutal punches that would have ended the life of anyone else, Elite or human. But for every punch Connor landed, Vercin was landing two.
Like two titans in a heavyweight slugging match, fists collided with faces.
Blood spurted from Connor’s mouth and cuts were opened on his forehead and cheek.
Vercin pushed the fight forward despite his nose spraying blood. Between the searing pain in his left wrist and the brutal beating his face was taking, Connor began to move backwards.
Blow after blow landed on his temple and jaw in an attempt to bring him down to his knees. But Connor knew if he fell, even stumbled to a knee, that would be the end of him. Staggering backwards, Connor felt the wall behind him.
Vercin took this opportunity to land multiple strikes to Connor’s chest and body. Just as the edges of Connor’s vision began to dim, Vercin stopped striking and now placed both his hands around Connor’s throat.
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