by Jon F. Merz
“Neviah has told me it’s too dangerous to use magic if I am untrained.”
“But you did it in the tunnel. Remember?”
“That was only to light the area.”
The first of Malkyr’s reinforcements came around the corner at the top of the game trail. They engaged Kancho and Neviah immediately. And these men looked more like hardened veterans. Ran could already see that Kancho was moving more carefully than he had been before. Neviah was also taking her time instead of rushing. Ran resisted the urge to rush to their side and join the fray. Too many men were coming up the hillside for their blades to defeat.
“If you don’t help us, we are all dead.”
Jysal closed her eyes. “I’m afraid, Ran.”
“You should be. If they manage to subdue us, we’re all dead . . . worse than dead.”
Jysal opened her eyes. “What would you have me do?”
“Whatever you can. I don’t know any magic. So I trust you to do what’s best. But if you can defeat these men, then I suggest you do so immediately. We need Kancho and Neviah for when the Chekhal arrive. And that will be soon.”
Jysal took a deep breath and then exhaled. “Very well. I will try.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“Stand back.”
Jysal said the words almost as if she were whispering, but Ran heard them loud and clear. He waved Kancho and Neviah back. Neviah wore an expression of alarm on her face, but Ran simply shook his head and she stayed quiet.
Jysal’s entire body seemed to pulse for a moment. Then as Ran watched, a yellow aura broke out around her, sizzling and crackling in the air. He blinked and nearly missed the orb that shot from her outstretched hands directly at the men rushing onto the top of the cliff. It struck them and exploded, sending them all flying back down the trail, their bodies scattered like so many grains of sand.
None of them moved again.
Kancho glanced back at Jysal. “Impressive, young one.”
Neviah sheathed her blades and rushed to Jysal’s side even as Jysal started to slump. “I told you not to try it.”
“I had to. You and Kancho would have been overwhelmed by the reinforcements. I couldn’t let that happen. Not after all you’ve done for me.”
Neviah cradled Jysal’s head and looked at Ran. “You did this. You pressured her to use magic when she shouldn’t have. If she dies, I will kill you.”
Ran held up his hand. “You’re not being rational, Neviah. There were too many of them. Jysal made the decision to try to help you—to help all of us. She knew we could never handle the enemy without her. And when Kan-Gul arrives with his Chekhal, you can bet it’s going to get a lot worse around here. We’d be dead within seconds.”
“If that’s what is supposed to happen, then so be it.”
“You’re very cavalier when you say that,” said Ran. “How would you reconcile that sentiment with the fact that Jysal would be forced into a life of pain and suffering? If you’re dead, you certainly can’t protect her.”
Neviah frowned. “She still shouldn’t have done anything.”
Kancho walked to where the dead bodies of Malkyr’s men lay. While Kan-Gul’s magic storm had subsided, a persistent drizzle continued to soak the ground. Kancho glanced around the corner and then came rushing back. “You two are going to have to put this aside. Kan-Gul and his Chekhal are heading this way. Malkyr is with him as well.”
Jysal stirred and looked up at Neviah. Her voice was a faint whisper. “I did what I wanted to do. Don’t be mad at Ran. Without him, we wouldn’t have made it this far. I just need some time to rest. That’s all.” Her head slumped against Neviah’s chest and was still.
Tears streamed down Neviah’s face as she laid Jysal down on the grass. Turning, she eyed Ran. “We’re not done yet.”
Was Jysal dead? Ran swallowed and hoped that she wasn’t. There wasn’t time to mourn her passing now. Not with so many enemies still to deal with. Ran nodded. “Fine.”
Neviah drew her weapons. “It’s time to finish this.”
The lead Chekhal came around the corner of the trail and charged onto the cliff wielding a barbed spear. It wore leather armor studded with steel bolts, and its opaque eyes swept around surveying the scene. Neviah walked forward to meet it.
Brandishing two short swords, Neviah looked every bit as intimidating as the Chekhal she faced. The undead warrior spun the spear and thrust it three times before Ran even registered the first attack. These Chekhal were much faster and more adept with their weapons than the ones they’d dealt with back at the castle.
But Neviah was running on rage and her reflexes were even faster than the Chekhal. She twisted and leapt and dodged each attack, coming down on the balls of her feet before stabbing both blades into the midsection of the Chekhal. It grunted and staggered back, trying to free itself from being impaled. Neviah moved with it, wrenching her blades free before spinning and neatly severing the undead’s head.
Another Chekhal rushed on to the scene. Ran drew his sword but Neviah moved faster, engaging and driving low with a sweeping cut to its unprotected legs. Her blades severed one leg, and the Chekhal toppled over. Neviah stepped behind it and drove the tip of one sword directly into its brain. It convulsed once and then lay still.
“Let’s join the fray,” said Kancho, drawing his sword. He and Ran moved to opposite sides of the cliff as more Chekhal reached the cliff and started fighting with them. In the middle of the cliff, Neviah was a whirlwind of cutting action. She showed no signs of fatigue as she cut down three more Chekhal before Kancho had dispatched his first opponent.
Ran caught sight of Kan-Gul striding up the game trail. Malkyr hustled to follow, but he still walked with a bit of a limp. Ran smiled. It was good to know that his injury would slow him down. That would make him easier to kill.
The number of bodies around Neviah grew with each passing minute. As much as Ran and Kancho cut down more Chekhal, their numbers never seemed to wane. More and more of them were streaming up the game trail. Slowly, all three of them were pushed back, closer toward the edge of the cliff overlooking the tempestuous sea.
Overhead, the clouds still pummeled them with sheets of rain. The ground underfoot grew steadily more muddy and slippery. Ran was forced to widen his base of support and sink lower to avoid falling. Kancho adjusted easily enough, neatly cutting one of the Chekhal in two pieces. The Chekhal continued to move until Kancho cut his head off.
Neviah went airborne again, driving a flying kick into the chest of one Chekhal armed with a curved sword. The impact drove the undead warrior back into three other Chekhal. Neviah landed and ran directly at the four of them, her swords a whirl of mayhem that severed limbs and eventually heads. But as many as she continued to slay, more rushed in to fill the void left by their slain comrades.
Ran was growing tired, and he could see the toll on Kancho as well. Kan-Gul and Malkyr hadn’t come up onto the cliff top yet, apparently preferring to wait until the Chekhal had worn down their opponents. Behind him, Jysal’s body lay still. Ran felt his heart drop. If she was truly dead, then this was not going to end well.
Not one bit.
Kancho was closer to Ran now. “We can’t maintain this pace. There are too many of them.”
Ran cleaved the head of another Chekhal off and watched it fall over the side of the cliff into the sea below. “What do you suggest?”
“We have but two options, really. One: keep fighting until we die. Two: jump over the side of the cliff and take our chances in the sea below.”
Ran smirked. “I like how surrender wasn’t on that list.”
“Surrender would be suicide. We’re dead anyway.” He deflected another attacking Chekhal and cut it down with a low-high cut. He nodded at Neviah. “She’s still going strong.”
Ran shook his head. “It can’t last. She’s fueled by rage right now—or sorrow—at the thought that Jysal has died. Sooner or later, they’ll overwhelm her.”
Kancho smirked. “Yout
h. I miss it. Time was I would have had the energy to do what she’s doing now.”
“Regardless, it can’t last.” Ran dodged another attacking Chekhal and then cut it down with a backslash that severed its spinal cord. “We need to figure out what we’re going to do here.”
A trio of Chekhal rushed Neviah simultaneously. She couldn’t handle them and they fell upon her. Ran rushed in, cutting two of them down while Neviah speared the third through its eye socket. She shoved the dead Chekhal off of her and glared at Ran. “This changes nothing.”
“We’re going to be overwhelmed here in a moment.”
“We fight!” shouted Neviah. “We cannot leave her behind.”
It was fruitless to argue with her. She rushed another pair of Chekhal and cut them down in seconds. But Ran could see she was beginning to tire. Her movements were slowing. It was impossible to tell if she was sweating given how much rain was falling on them, but Ran felt sure she was soaked as much by sweat as by precipitation.
More Chekhal strode into the fray. Neviah backed up, doing her best to ward them off, but there were more right behind them. Kan-Gul must have held some back and now threw everything at the trio on top of the cliff. Ran still hadn’t glimpsed the evil sorcerer, but he felt his presence close by.
He glanced back, aware that he was being pushed perilously close to the edge of the cliff. He ducked under another attack and cut the Chekhal down. Then he moved ahead, trying to carve out an area where he could fight without fear of going over the side. Two more Chekhal came at him, and Ran struggled to maintain his breathing. Without it, fatigue would claim him more quickly. He ducked and dodged and sidestepped and then killed them both. His lungs heaved. The ground sucked at his feet. The corpses were piling up and starting to limit their mobility.
Kancho stepped over the corpse of one Chekhal and nearly tripped on another one. He frowned and cut down another attacker. “It’s getting too crowded up here.”
At that moment, the Chekhal stopped charging forward.
Neviah, Kancho, and Ran all paused, looking around for a new foe to dispatch. The Chekhal atop the cliff shrank back toward the game trail and then stood there. From behind them, Ran saw movement. The Chekhal parted and allowed Kan-Gul to pass through.
The evil sorcerer wore a big smile as he surveyed the scene. The smile faded when he saw Jysal’s limp body on the ground.
“Is she dead?”
The look on Neviah’s face could have made steel melt, Ran decided. But it had little effect on Kan-Gul. “She used magic before her body was properly prepared for it. It killed her.”
“Where are my men?” asked Malkyr as he came onto the cliff.
Neviah nodded at Jysal. “They were her first and only victims.”
“She used magic to kill them?” asked Kan-Gul. “Such a waste. But so much power. I can feel its residue even now.” He glanced at Malkyr. “I told you not to rush too many men up here. If you’d followed my commands, we could have captured them and managed to keep the girl alive. Instead, this is a slaughterhouse. Worse, the girl is dead. Her magic is gone.”
“We had to attack,” said Malkyr. “After what they did to my men, to my ship.”
“I don’t care about your men,” said Kan-Gul. “I only cared about the girl. That’s what you were paid for. You were supposed to bring her to me.”
“I did bring her to you, nearly at the cost of my leg, I might remind you.”
Kan-Gul frowned. “Pity the shark didn’t finish the job.” He looked at Neviah. “You do realize this man betrayed you, don’t you?”
Neviah nodded. “I do.”
“Then perhaps you should kill him.” Kan-Gul nodded, and the Chekhal behind Malkyr shoved him out away from their protection. Another Chekhal tossed a sword at Malkyr’s feet.
Malkyr looked back at Kan-Gul. “We had a deal!”
“Exactly,” said Kan-Gul. “We had a deal. You mucked things up by letting your ego make decisions for you. You’ve cost me the most precious thing I ever wanted. That girl’s power would have made me the most powerful sorcerer in the land. Because of that, you will now face the wrath of her protector.”
Malkyr snatched the sword up and wheeled to face Neviah.
Neviah took a breath and flexed her arms. She resheathed one of her swords and eyed Malkyr. “You’re not worth two.”
Malkyr screamed as he rushed in at her. The downward cut was off-balance and clumsy but still had a significant amount of force behind it. If he’d managed to connect, it certainly would have cut Neviah down.
Neviah sidestepped and smacked Malkyr on the back of the head with the flat of her blade. The solid clunk knocked Malkyr off his feet. He went sprawling and nearly impaled himself on his own sword as he did so. He slowly got to his feet and shook off some of the mud.
“Make this damned rain stop!”
Kan-Gul seemed ready to bark an order at Malkyr, then looked at Ran and his companions and shrugged. “I suppose I could grant you one final favor.” He snapped his fingers, and the rain simply stopped. No lingering drops or drizzle.
Ran sighed. He was certain Kan-Gul had meant to intimidate them with his show of power, but Ran didn’t care. The absence of pouring rain was a welcome change.
Malkyr circled Neviah, trying to gain an advantage. He attacked again, this time attempting to cut her in half at the waist. Neviah backed up and let his momentum carry him past her. This time she used the tip of the sword to cut him under his rib cage as he went by. Ran heard the cut and saw Malkyr wince as the razor edge drew blood for the first time.
He wheeled fast and tried to cut back at her, but Neviah had already moved away. Malkyr’s attack sailed through the air harmlessly. He doubled back and came at her with an overhead diagonal attack. Neviah leaned away and kicked Malkyr in the crotch.
Kan-Gul chuckled. “This is almost entertaining enough to make me forget about the loss of the girl.”
Malkyr sucked wind on the grass as he tried to get his legs back under him.
Neviah spat at him. “You’re pathetic.”
Malkyr eyed her with hatred smeared across his face. “I will kill you, bitch.”
Neviah backed up and used her free hand to wave him on. “Come on then and do your worst.”
Ran watched as she backed closer toward where Kan-Gul stood. The sorcerer’s face showed a mixture of glee and amusement. Ran frowned. If there was only a chance of killing him.
And then Neviah did the unthinkable. As she backed toward Kan-Gul, she abruptly changed direction and swung her sword horizontally right at Kan-Gul’s neck. Ran’s heart leapt into his throat.
Yes!
But it was as though Neviah’s sword hit a solid wall right in front of Kan-Gul. The force of the impact knocked her back, stumbling.
Kan-Gul held up one finger and tutted. “Now, now, that wasn’t very nice . . . ”
Ran started to shout for Neviah to be careful, but then Malkyr was already rushing in from behind. Even as Neviah started to register the threat and turn to face him, Malkyr’s blade plunged into her back, between her shoulder blades.
As Ran watched, horrified, the tip of Malkyr’s sword erupted from Neviah’s chest, spraying the ground with blood.
Neviah sank to the ground, her eyes already rolling white.
Silence descended over the cliff.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Malkyr yanked his blade from Neviah’s corpse and let the blood drip off the end of it while he stared down at her. “Worthless bitch. I told you I would strike you down.”
Ran felt his face go hot. His pulse pounded in his ears, drummed in his neck. He took several breaths, but it did no good. He gripped his sword tighter. Next to him, he felt the energy coming from Kancho as well.
Kan-Gul didn’t move; the smile on his face stayed plastered where it was, and he started nodding. “Well, that was mildly entertaining.”
Malkyr eyed Kan-Gul. “I should kill you for betraying me.”
Kan-Gul chuckled.
“As if you could. You exist at my whim, Malkyr. And unfortunately for you, I am about at the end of my tolerance for you and your stupid decisions.”
“Then you won’t mind if I kill him.”
Kan-Gul turned to face Ran. “As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t.”
Ran nodded and stepped out to meet Malkyr. “Don’t waste your breath talking. I don’t intend this to take long.”
Malkyr smirked. “You are as arrogant as you are young.” He looked back at Neviah. “She thought she was good, too. So much for that.”
“She was good,” said Ran. “And she had more courage than you’ll ever know in this life. You just took advantage of a moment to strike her down from behind like the coward you are. She would have easily defeated you otherwise.”
“So what?” Malkyr shrugged. “In combat, everyone takes advantage of an opportunity. You’re a dead fool if you don’t.”
“I guess you’ll find out soon enough.”
“Find out what?”
Ran stepped forward and raise his sword. “What it’s like to be dead.”
Malkyr attacked, cutting down with a savage blow meant to cleave Ran down the center of his body. As he stepped through, Ran sidestepped and cut at his hands. Malkyr dodged and cut back from the side, forcing Ran to parry the blade with his own. He twisted his blade and put pressure on Malkyr to hang on or risk losing his sword. Malkyr, to his credit, held on and then turned the blade, trying to cut at Ran’s hands. Ran pulled his sword back, disengaging, and then flipped it over, cutting at Malkyr’s head.
Malkyr backed up just enough to avoid most of Ran’s cut, but Ran succeeded in scoring a line across his brow that produced an immediate flow of blood into Malkyr’s eyes. Malkyr backed away and wiped his forehead.
“Cuts to the head bleed an awful lot,” said Ran as he circled again.
Malkyr spat some of the blood out of his mouth. “You’ll never win. Even if you kill me. Kan-Gul will have his Chekhal strike you down within moments.”
