Grief washed over Toman; childhood friends were irreplaceable. Lors had been a little bookish and a lot naïve, but he’d had a huge heart and lots of laughter to share. Lors hadn’t deserved to die—such was true of too many of Moloch’s victims. Toman thought of facing Moloch, and his heart hardened. He was afraid, sure, but his resolve eclipsed it. Toman was no longer a prisoner, no longer a victim. This time, Moloch would pay.
The magically-fueled flames reduced Lors’s remains to ash swiftly; a light wind kicked up the ashes and carried them away to the mountains.
Toman watched the ashes scatter long after they were already gone.
“Let’s get out of here,” he finally said. They had done all they could to ensure no more plague beasts came—now all they could do was wait and see where and when Moloch would strike next.
Toman escaped as soon as he was able—he’d been forced to change into clothes that weren’t shredded or contaminated, and he wanted back into his own clothes. Unfortunately, it seemed every military leader and political figure in Sedina that had ignored him before now wanted to debrief him. He settled for a brief meeting with the most important of them to convey what he’d learned. It didn’t take long, really—he’d already told them everything he knew about Moloch, so this was just a small addition. Still, escaping had been tricky, and now he was headed for the Esset house to grab a change of clothes, since Arxus was too far away; he wasn’t impressed with the baggy shirt and canvas pants they’d provided him with after stripping him of his own destroyed clothes.
He didn’t wait until he was home to call, however. He activated the little ear-snake on his way there and waited for a response. And waited. And waited. Toman felt fear coil in his belly as he realized he might not have been the only one under attack. He feared something had happened—why else wouldn’t they answer? He arrived at the Esset house without reaching anyone. Once the door was safely closed behind him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves before beginning to call into the magical device. He didn’t know if it would work or not, but he had to try something.
“You really are persistent, aren’t you?” a drawling voice finally spoke into his ear.
“Erizen!” Toman practically shouted.
“Tch, really, if you’re going to shout, I’m taking this thing back out of my ear,” Erizen said.
“Why didn’t you answer? I haven’t been able to reach anyone!” Toman said.
“We’ve been…busy. Tseka is asleep now,” Erizen said. Toman got the distinct impression that his attention was elsewhere.
“Were you attacked too?” Toman asked.
“Indeed. I’m doing a sweep to double-check now,” Erizen replied.
“If the totem was destroyed, I don’t think they’ll be coming back,” Toman said.
“Totem?” Erizen asked. Toman was surprised.
“I was attacked too, by a horde of plague-beasts. I tracked them back to their source and there was a massive post with three crosses on it. It had bodies draped on it. When I destroyed it, the creatures were unable to return to attack again. They just kept appearing until the totem was broken,” Toman explained.
“Well there’s no totem here. I did a magical sweep of the entire kingdom—and a little beyond—and there’s nothing,” Erizen said. “Unless… Let me check something. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Wait!” Toman shouted, but Erizen was gone. Toman growled at the air and activated the animated snake again. There was no answer once more, so Toman set about retrieving his change of clothes and getting dressed. He had an assortment of spare belts as well, and it felt good to be “armed” again.
“Well, you were right.” Erizen’s voice spoke in his ear again. “It was rather well shielded. I had to look for a spot of total lack of magic to detect it—you’d best pass that tidbit on to any mages you’ve got over there.”
“Did you destroy it?” Toman asked. He was already leaving the house to return to the people he’d tried so eagerly to escape.
“Of course,” Erizen sneered. “Although you should know, Tseka and I managed to deal neatly with our pest problem without destroying the totem. Evidently there is an end to them—at least temporarily—if you kill enough of them. I wouldn’t recommend trying it though. Best just to destroy the totem.”
“Good to know,” Toman replied, knowing it was useless to try to pry real details out of the mage. He’d get the real story from Tseka later.
“I’m worried about Esset. He hasn’t answered,” Toman said.
“Well, he’s on his own,” Erizen said. Toman gritted his teeth against the mage’s callousness. “Unless you want to abandon your post so Moloch can erect a new totem? Besides, he could simply be busy, and even if something is wrong, there’s no way you could get to Baliya in time to do anything.” Unfortunately, Toman knew Erizen was right. He had to trust his brother to come out ahead; that was difficult when he feared for him.
“So have fun agonizing about that. Ta.” Erizen disconnected the spell and Toman was once again left with a one-sided magical communication spell. He kept trying Esset as he headed back to the mage’s tower to alert Sedina’s mages on how to search for further totems.
Jess was shaking Esset back into his body again. That was his last attempt, Esset had promised himself. It was time to evacuate these people, but first he had to drive the skeletal horde back to give himself some breathing room. Once again this evening, Esset chanted a seemingly endless stream of syllables and fire overcame polished black bone.
Except this time, Esset almost misspoke a time or two—his ear was aching, and he kept hearing a faint but persistent sound. He was beginning to wonder if this was some side effect of summoning too much or something when he reached his hand up to his ear and felt the tiny stone snake curled around it. Surprised, he answered.
“Esset here. I’m under attack,” he said. He wasn’t even sure he’d be heard over the roar of fire, but apparently Erizen had designed the spell with other sounds in the background in mind, for Toman seemed to hear him just fine.
“Esset! Thank Hyrishal you’re okay!” Toman said. “Just listen—you have to find a totem. It’s where the creatures are coming from.”
“Totem?” Esset asked.
“Yeah. Mine looked like a big post with a bunch of crosses with bodies hanging from it. If you destroy it, they stop coming,” Toman explained.
“But aren’t they summons?” Esset asked.
“Seems like it, doesn’t it? But it looks like the totem automatically calls them—probably Moloch set them up and set them off simultaneously,” Toman said.
“I hate to think what he’s up to while they’re doing their work,” Esset said.
“Well I think he needs the blood and death magic they bring in, and Tseka, Erizen, and I managed to protect our places. Only a few people died,” Toman said. Esset felt his heart contract in his chest.
“I lost two villages,” Esset said. The rational part of him knew there was probably nothing he could have done to save them; the emotional part didn’t listen. Esset heard Toman curse.
“That’s probably enough for him to move on to the next stage,” Toman added.
“Be ready. I’ll deal with things here,” Esset said. Now that he knew what to look for, it was time to act.
“I will. Good luck,” Toman bade him. Esset took the animation away from his ear and stuffed it in his pocket. It was time to go.
The fiery summons on the battlefield tore away from their opponents to close on Esset’s position, then abruptly turned and forced the enemy back several paces. A group of fiery birds landed in the cleared space.
“Get on!” Esset yelled at the people. “Don’t touch the beaks, just their backs are safe. Come on!” He herded them towards the summons and showed them where to grip to best stay astride. They were hesitant of his creatures at first, but the summoner didn’t waste time with coaxing or explanations; he just bullied them onto the backs of the creatures before mounting up himself
, Jess behind him. Then they were airborne. Esset left the rest of his creatures behind them, fighting for as long as they could, stalling as long as they could, while Esset searched for their source.
As he’d been doing before, Esset began tracing back where the black skeletons seemed to be coming from. He started where he’d been pulled back from the last time and worked from there. The skeletons were still difficult to see, but he was determined to stop them and it was easier when he wasn’t being pulled away from the task constantly.
“There!” Jess yelled and pointed past Esset’s ear. Esset looked further ahead and saw the shadow Jess had spied first—the totem. Esset kept the other birds flying high, as he had since they’d taken off, but his and Jess’s he flew low to get a look at the totem. The moment he saw a black skeleton materialized next to it, he summoned one of his tortoises at the base; in a moment, the totem would be burned to nothing.
Esset didn’t see the skeleton carrying the scythe on the ground below. Nor did he see the skeleton hurl the scythe skywards with frighteningly accurate aim. But he felt it when the scythe hit the bird they rode. Earth and sky lurched, then exploded into chaos as the tortoise below them turned the hillside into a crater.
Esset felt branches whip past him, their normally fragile leaves and twigs lashing out viciously as he passed. Then the earth struck him from below and the impact shocked his mind right out of his body for a moment. He felt nothing, and then he felt everything all at once. He gasped for breath, but the earth had knocked the wind out of him. His mind reeled, unable to grasp all the stimuli at once. He was one large ache, his ears rang with bells inside his head, and he couldn’t seem to get his eyes to focus.
His wits returned first, and with his wits came his will. From there he forced his vertigo away with pure determination. He could hurt later. Right now they were in danger. Esset staggered to his feet—he hadn’t broken anything, at least—and looked skyward, checking on the people above first. The birds still circled, so they were fine. Jess. Esset cast about, but apparently Jess hadn’t fallen close to him. Esset prayed he was okay and tried to guess which way Jess had been blown by his own position relative to the blast site.
The whistling of air was Esset’s only warning. The summoner dropped to the ground on instinct and two sword-blades passed overhead. Chanting as he moved, Esset rolled aside and scrambled to his feet to face the skeleton that had attacked him. It was too close. A fireball born of pure magic and will erupted between them, driving the skeleton back and giving Esset the precious second he needed to finish summoning the panther. The molten creature sprang away from him with a roar. Its jaws closed on the skeleton’s thin bone neck and melted right through it, leaving the biped headless. The skeleton was banished by the extent of the damage and vanished into dust.
Meanwhile, Esset cast about again; the panther’s light had illuminated something off to the side. Esset headed for it, keeping his eyes peeled for more skeletons—he knew there were more. The summoner reached Jess just as he was staggering upright. Esset felt his heart unclench and grabbed Jess’s arm. Esset began summoning them a ride as his panther circled back to them, growling at the darkness.
A fiery horse materialized next to them. Esset could easily have summoned a bird to fly them away, but he wanted to be on the ground. He wanted to attract any of the creatures left here, to get them to come out so he could destroy them. He hoped Jess didn’t mind being part of the bait too. Esset swung up onto the horse’s back, well-practiced in the maneuver. Then he reached a hand down for Jess and helped haul him up in front of him.
“You all right?” Esset finally asked his companion once they were mounted and mobile again.
“Yes,” Jess replied. Esset imagined Jess didn’t feel any better than he did after their overenthusiastic reunion with the earth, but they were engaged in battle—they could worry about non-life-threatening injuries later.
Esset’s panther suddenly lunged towards the trees. The summoner didn’t even bother trying to see what it was after—interference would only make it less effective. Instead he summoned another one, knowing that while the first was engaged, they were vulnerable. This panther lunged towards the trees too.
His summons—especially the panthers—had the advantage against the skeletons when they weren’t outnumbered. The two skeletons were destroyed in short order, and Esset nudged his horse ahead through the trees at a fast walk. He intended to travel this way back to the original battlefield to catch the rest of the creatures headed that way. The birds carrying the villagers and soldiers continued to track them from above.
For a time, two panthers was enough to mop up the skeletons that came at them one, two, or three at a time. Then, right around the time when Esset started recognizing the landscape nearing where their larger struggle had taken place, they came upon the bulk of the remaining army; every one of Esset’s summons from before had been defeated. The army turned on them like one creature.
The skeletons had learned—two threw their weapons at Esset and Jess. The fiery horse they rode reared and took the blades in their stead. Esset slid off the back of the horse, and when all four molten hooves burned the ground again, he sent the creature back the way they’d come with Jess still on its back. Esset heard Jess shout something, but it was a distant, inconsequential thing.
Yellow-orange light wrapped around him, but no words or incantations slipped into the summoner’s mind or off his lips. An incredible heat began to build, so hot that even those circling high above could feel a strange wind being born of it. They could feel the air warm even as high as they were, even despite the heat already emanating from their mounts. Another skeleton cast its weapon at Esset, but it melted, then evaporated before reaching him; it was hottest closest to the summoner.
Esset could hardly think through the inferno in his mind. All he knew was that he could almost reach something. There was something just beyond his grasp, something more powerful than he’d ever touched before—something powerful enough to destroy these creatures before him. His mind reached for it, but it kept slipping away, like a will o’ wisp, so close, glowing, but dancing and fading away before it could be touched. All the same, he could feel the heat he was creating; he could feel it, but he was untouched by it.
The skeletons had moved towards him with deadly purpose, and they still moved, but not as quickly. To Esset seemed like they were fighting against something unseen; in truth, a wind was pushing against them. The incredible heat battled with the cool night air and the two pushed and shoved each other like two giant toddlers, ineffective against each other but creating a great mess of anything caught in the crossfire. Thanks to Esset’s magic, the skeletons were in the crossfire. The wind grew more and more fierce, strong enough to make the skeletons flail like ragdolls but insufficient to carry them off their feet. Then, suddenly, the wind subsided as the heat won out.
A hissing, buzzing sound permeated the air as the skeletons began to move towards Esset once more. They were single-minded, with no thought to their own survival; they simply wanted to destroy him. The hissing built as the air around Esset warped with heat waves. His nimbus of firelight still hadn’t left him, and his eyes, as before, bore infernos within them. The summon he sought still evaded him, but the heat was deadly too.
That was when the first skeleton exploded. The crack was clearly audible, like a tree boiling from within until it could contain the pressure no more. There was a pause, and then a second torched as well. The second pause was shorter before the next one, then shorter yet, until it seemed as if the army were candling—a wave passed through the mass, and every single summon exploded first into shards, then into ash. Soon nothing was left but the summoner himself, the man afire on the hill. For several long moments after the last skeleton was banished, he burned bright against the darkness, a barely-visible silhouette within the flames.
Esset barely knew the enemy had been defeated. He could see little through the red haze, and hear even less. He still sought the power
that was just beyond his grasp. Then, within his mind, he felt a presence; externally, his nimbus and the heat flickered. Esset staggered slightly, and the power gathered tightly around him flickered again. Then it vanished altogether, like a candle being snuffed. Esset stared at the scorched, empty area before him—there was nothing left but barren earth. No friends, no foes, no living or moving thing at all but a wind that swirled the ashes left behind.
All at once, Esset began to shiver. Cold washed over him, then heat, then cold again. This time the cold stayed. Slowly, Esset became aware of his summons again—miraculously, the birds still flew high overhead with their precious burdens, and the fire horse was a ways away but it still carried Jess. With a thought, Esset called them all to him; he’d won the battle, but the war wasn’t over. He still had work to do.
“Animator Toman! Animator Toman!”
Toman heard the messenger coming long before he saw him. He’d been given temporary quarters in the mages’ tower, and he’d been trying to catch an hour of sleep or so—he hadn’t slept much since the battle with the plague beasts.
“What is it?” Toman asked, opening the door before the messenger actually reached it.
“Three totems.” The two words were all the messenger was able to gasp out, but they were enough. Toman knew the messenger wouldn’t have much more anyways—the details would be in the map room. Glad he’d lain down fully clothed, he went right past the messenger and down the hall, leaving the poor man gasping for breath, trying to catch up.
As it turned out, there wasn’t much more to tell—the mages, in constantly scouring the kingdom for signs of more totems, had found three blank spots bunched together. They couldn’t see anything else, but that was enough. Toman found a quiet place and immediately called the others.
“Esset here,” the summoner responded almost immediately.
Fire Within: Book Two of Fire and Stone (Stories of Fire and Stone 2) Page 34
