Lathaar stood beside him, his Elholads glowing as fierce and bright as they had at the start of their fight. The remaining hundreds of Velixar’s forces jostled and approached, but for the moment they did not attack. Harruq collapsed against the wall and glanced back to the refugees. He saw no sign of Tarlak and Aurelia. The wolf-men were gone. The last remnants of Veldaren’s people fled east. It would not be long before they were out of sight.
“They’ll have a chance now,” Harruq said, letting his gaze linger longer than he should. The undead were moaning and chanting, but holding still. They were a fraction of their former number, but still dangerous, still fearsome. Haern crouched, using every second to catch his breath.
“Why command them to wait?” Jerico asked.
“I think I know,” Lathaar said, but he had no time to explain.
Rise!
The command rolled through the homes and echoed against the walls. Hundreds of dead men, women, and orcs rose, a single chant on their lips.
For Qurrah! For Qurrah!
At their sound Harruq closed his eyes and lowered his head.
“Look what your actions have done,” Haern said. The bodies of young and old, men and women, stretched far as they could see. The number was far beyond their abilities, already stretched to their limit. They would all die, and as they were torn limb to limb, their murderers would shout and worship the name of Harruq’s brother.
“Not my actions,” Harruq said, opening his eyes and facing the horde. He stood before Jerico and held his twin blades before his face, letting their red glow seep into him. “Not my murders. Not my guilt. I will not be damned for him.”
The undead lumbered forward, driven on by a single command: kill. The others readied their weapons and their hearts. They would all fight, and they would all die. But Harruq was not convinced. Gold shimmered in his eyes as he glared at beings robbed of their peace in death.
“A thousand beaten,” he said through grit teeth. “Time for a thousand more.”
The wolf-men split into two groups as they neared the fleeing people of Veldaren. Tarlak swore as they went to either side of the people, trying to surround and trap them.
“Don’t worry about those who make it past,” Tarlak said. “Kill those near us, and we’ll draw enough to give them a chance.”
“Of course,” Aurelia said. She turned and kissed him on his cheek. “Thank you.”
“That better not have been a goodbye kiss,” the wizard said, winking.
“Keep your end up and I’ll keep mine.”
Tarlak pointed his wand at the river of black and gray fur. “Time to punish some very bad dogs.”
A ball of fire leapt from the wand, shrieking through the air with smoke trailing after. It slammed into the center of their numbers and detonated. Waves of flame rolled out in all directions, burning dozens of wolf-men to death instantly. Many more collapsed to the ground from the force of the explosion.
“That was pretty,” Aurelia said, lightning sparking off her fingertips.
“Five more charges,” Tarlak said. “Got to make them count.”
Aurelia launched a giant strike of lightning into the right wave. It bounced from one wolf-man to another, knocking at least thirty to the ground, smoke rising from their fur. She turned to the other side, the lightning replaced with frost. From her hands a blanket of ice stretched out for hundreds of yards. As the wolf-men ran across they slipped and slid, forming a barrier against those behind them. Over fifty tumbled or smacked into their own members until those behind started leaping over the ice or running atop the few, crushed dead.
Tarlak, sensing opportunity, sent another explosive ball of fire at the pileup atop the ice. Wolf-men howled as their fur burned and their eyes bulged in the heat. Unable to ignore the casters, twenty broke for them, the rest continuing straight for the unarmed people. Aurelia killed the first ten with bolts of lightning. Tarlak finished the rest with a ball of fire.
“Three charges left,” Tarlak said as they spun about. The wolf-men were raking their claws along the sides of the columns of men and women. Children of all ages were the first to die, having fallen behind without someone to carry them. Tarlak felt the wand shake in his hand as he saw wolf-men stop to fight over the first scraps. He spent his third charge obliterating five wolf-men that had gathered around a single woman holding two crying babes.
“Come on,” Aurelia said, taking Tarlak’s hand and pulling him along as they ran. She cast weak bolts of lightning, striking dead one or two wolf-men as they neared. The wolf-men cut and bit through the slower stragglers, quickly approaching the larger sections of people. A whirl of her hands and fire sprang from the ground, burning hot and high as it separated the wolf-men from the refugees. Hundreds closed their eyes and leapt through, enduring the pain and burns to reach the helpless. Many others turned and howled at the two spellcasters.
Tarlak sent another fireball into their midst, roasting thirty more. Only one fireball remained in his wand. The wolf-men charged, their tongues hanging out the side of their mouths.
“Grab hold of me,” Tarlak said as he clutched his wand with both hands. “Can you protect us against fire?”
“I can try,” she said, “but why do you…”
The wolf-men neared, outnumbering them forty to one. Aurelia wrapped her arms around his waist as she understood.
“Keep your eyes closed,” she told him. The words of magic for the spell were still on her lips as the wolf-men leapt at them, their claws stretched and hungry. Tarlak tipped his wand to the ground and shot the ball of flame at their feet. The shock struck them first, blasting the air out from their lungs. The heat followed, agonizingly painful. Aurelia chanted, even though she made no sound. She felt her spell weakening. Her head was light. Her eyes saw only black. The fire rolled on and on, and she felt the last of her power drain away. The protection spell faded, but it had lasted long enough.
Tarlak opened a single eye and looked about. Aurelia was in his arms, and he was hunched over her as if he had been terrified. Which was true. When he saw only charred remains of the wolf-men, he straightened and reached for his hat. He felt only smooth skin.
“My hat?” he shouted. “My hair!”
He spun around, looking for his yellow hat, and saw hundreds of soldiers marching toward him, Sergan leading the way.
“To the fight!” Sergan shouted. “Pick it up, before the crazy fire-kissing mage blows everyone to pieces!”
They marched on by, a few offering praise but most too somber to bother. The rest of the wolf-men had reached the refugees and were tearing through them in a merciless bloodbath.
“We need to draw them back,” Aurelia said as the soldiers ran on. “But how?”
“The wolf-men aren’t here to just kill,” Tarlak said. “Oh, there it is!”
He found his hat ten feet away, most of its yellow fabric now black. He propped it on his head, mumbling about the stupidity of fire spells. Finished, he gestured to the carnage at hand.
“Look at them,” he said. “We’re too late.”
Most of the wolf-men had stopped their chase, instead content to feed. Huge groups circled around masses of bloody bodies, howling and yipping in glee. Oblivious to the charging soldiers, they gorged themselves. It was only when Sergan’s axe tore through the skull of a full-bellied wolf-man that they roared and charged. Only half bothered to stop their feasting. The other half, still eager for blood, resumed their chase of the fleeing peoples.
“Stay tight,” Sergan shouted, and his sheer will alone kept his men going. Their armor was thick but the claws of the wolf-men were thicker. Giant waves of solid muscle and fur slammed against their ranks, raking, biting and tearing out throats. Over and over the wolf-men howled, knowing fear was their ally. Sergan swore as he saw many of his soldiers shying away from the yellow teeth and the bloodstained claws.
“They’re eating your loved ones!” he shouted, grabbing a man who had turned to flee and spinning him around. “You gonna
let them eat you too?”
Sergan did not wait for a response. Instead he turned around and buried his axe into a charging foe. The wolf-men pulled back and started circling, snarling, their mouths oozing blood and drool. Those that had fled were cut down immediately. Sergan shouted orders, determined to face the new challenge. The soldiers formed a circle of their own, and back to back they raised their weapons and hurled insults. Every now and then a wolf-man would near, clawing at an exposed leg or an unshielded arm. Every time an axe or sword awaited it, severing claws or slicing away tendons in the leg. Those that stumbled due to their wounds were killed before they had a chance to call for help.
“Hold on,” Sergan shouted. “We got them now!”
It appeared they did, and that was why the wolf-men suddenly turned and abandoned the fight. Faster than any of the men could hope to run, they chased after their brethren and the fleeing Veldaren people. Sergan swore and gasped for air as one of his soldiers beside him slapped his back.
“We got them running,” the soldier said. “Let’s finish this.”
“Aye,” Sergan said, hoisting his axe onto his back. “Smart words.”
“I’ll agree to that,” Tarlak said, also slapping the general on the back.
“Where the abyss did you come from?” Sergan asked, startled. Tarlak pointed back toward the city.
“You ran by us, remember?”
Before they could say anymore, Mira flew past them. Only the sound of rushing wind marked her passing.
“Who the blazes was that?” Sergan asked.
“Give chase and see,” Tarlak said.
“Wait,” Aurelia said. She walked through the tired men, and despite her exhaustion and wounds the regal sight of an ageless elf fighting alongside the mortal men filled them with hope. When she reached their center she closed her eyes and raised her hands.
“I have one last spell,” she said. All around the men felt their skin tingle. As the spell ended, she collapsed into Tarlak’s waiting hands.
“What’d that do?” Sergan asked.
“March and see,” Tarlak told him.
Sergan gave the order, and to his shock his men raced away like horses, their arms and legs pumping faster than he thought possible.
“You going to follow?” Tarlak asked. Sergan glanced back at the mage, who was cradling Aurelia’s head while she lay on the grass, and then the general realized his own troops were leaving him far behind.
“Wait up!” he shouted. He sprinted, his old bones running faster than they ever had in his youth. Tarlak watched him go. They would reach the wolf-men soon, but not before many innocents were slaughtered. Again they would be outnumbered, and he also knew the effects of Aurelia’s spell. Once it ran out, the soldiers would be exhausted. If they did not kill quickly…
“You better enjoy this nap,” Tarlak said. He shifted his hat and scratched the bald spot on his head. “Because I might need you to wake up and save my ass if those wolves come back.”
The man pushed his way through the waves of fleeing people. In the distance, he could see Veldaren, now a smoking shell of its former glory. The sound of screams and crying were all around him, but they rolled in greater strength from the trailing end of the masses where the wolf-men fed. Three others followed this man, all attired in red robes and armor. They followed their leader, trusting him with their lives.
“Kill quickly, before they know any challenge them,” the man said. The closest to him, a red-haired girl who would be beautiful but for the brutal scar that had taken her right eye, drew her daggers and smiled.
“Too fast and we won’t get to have any fun,” the girl said.
“Too slow and one of us won’t ever have fun again,” the leader said. He pulled his hood off his head, revealing long black hair that fell past his shoulders. None could see his face, for he wore a pale cloth pulled tight about his features. Only his eyes peered through two holes, the left a dark hazel, the right, a vivid red. The girl couldn’t see, but she knew he was smiling.
“We’ll do it perfect,” she said. “Hate for us to die just when things were getting interesting.”
The four neared the end of the refugees, with only a panicked few men and women in between them and the hounds that chased. The leader dipped his hand into a bag tied to his waist and pulled out a handful of ash. Tilting his head back he scattered the ash across his covered face. Instead of scattering in the wind the ash hovered about his body, held in place by powerful magic. When he lowered his head a haze surrounded it, obscuring his already hidden features.
“No hesitation, and no mercy,” he said as he prepared his magic. His name was Deathmask, leader of the Ash Guild. With his home destroyed, and all his negotiations, contracts, bribes and wealth of his thief empire ruined, he was eager to show the wolf-men just how he had earned his title.
The last of the refugees fled past, and the four stood ready. Deathmask raised his palms to the sky, chanting dark words. A leading pack of ten saw them gathered in a protective circle around their leader, their daggers drawn and their red cloaks flapping in the wind. The foremost howled, and into the air they leapt, determined to crush the sudden resistance.
“Burn for me,” Deathmask whispered, his spell completed. His fingers clenched into fists and then jerked downward. The grass before him cracked and broke as columns of fire tore into the air. Three wolf-men plunged through, whimpering as the flame ignited their fur and blackened their skin. The three guarding Deathmask launched into action as the remaining wolves descended. The lady with the missing eye jumped and collided in the air with her chosen prey. The wolf-men bit and clawed, but she kicked and spun, avoiding every scratch. Just before they struck ground she buried a dagger into each eye, scoring the first kill of the group.
“Behind you, Veliana!” Deathmask shouted. The lady did not check to see, instead trusting her commander. She dropped to her knees and curled down her head. A swirling black ball of molten rock flew above her, courtesy of Deathmask. It struck dead an attacking wolf-man, knocking his jaw clean off. Veliana stood and spun, daggers lashing. More had joined the initial ten, furious at being denied easy kills and feasting. Blood splattered across her from cuts across a surprised wolf-man’s lip and nose. A sharp elbow to his gut doubled him over, and then her daggers finished him.
Smoke swirled around Veliana in a large circle as if escaping from some underground fire. Recognizing the spell, the lady faced her attackers and beckoned them to assault. Seven charged, howling for blood. Deathmask activated his spell as the first crossed the ring of smoke. Lava sliced through grass and formed a wall. Thin as a leaf, the melted rock splashed across the wolf-men, melting their eyelids to their eyes and coating their fur. As they crashed to the ground, howling in pain, the lava hardened, locking their bodies in strange, painful contortions.
The lava wall vanished as quickly as it appeared, but by now the wolf-men had no desire to engage. They leapt straight for Deathmask, who laughed behind the gray haze.
“Mier, Nien, care to keep me alive?” he asked. The remaining two of the four clicked their daggers together and stood side by side in front of their leader. Gray bandanas obscured their mouths and chin, but their brown eyes and black hair were mirror images of the other. Twins by birth, they were also twins in combat. Mier dropped to one knee and swept his leg underneath the first attacker. Nien plunged a dagger through heart before the wolf-man hit the ground. While he pulled his dagger free, Nien spun and slashed the tendon above the heel of a second. This time it was Mier who buried his dagger into the heart of the fallen.
Simultaneously they leapt into the air as three swiped their claws and bit at them. As they spun and their cloaks swirled, eight pairs of throwing daggers flew down, piercing arms and legs. Both landed behind Deathmask, who stood with his palms open. Gray darts shot from his fingers, over a hundred in number. Six wolf-men collapsed as the darts pierced their skin before vanishing into smoke. They bled out and died.
“Little help here?” Vel
iana shouted, twisting and parrying the claws of two wolf-men that attacked her in a animal frenzy. Numerous cuts lined their bodies, all superficial. As Deathmask whispered a spell, Veliana at last failed a dodge. Claws ripped through the leather armor and across her chest. Blood poured as she screamed and fell back. Nien and Mier hurled daggers as they chased. The wolf-men tensed and guarded against the painful but shallow stings, buying Veliana time. Deathmask slammed his hands together, anger fueling his magic.
“You cut her,” he whispered. His spell needed no semantic components. Just rage. “You cut her and now you’ll bleed.”
A vortex of gray smoke billowed from his mouth, arching through the air like a snake through water. It struck the two wolf-men, and instead of blowing across them it shredded their flesh as if the smoke were made of steel razors. Veliana sheathed one of her daggers and clutched her wounded chest. Deathmask felt his heart skip. The wound must have been deeper than he thought. Nien and Mier ran on, for they saw what Veliana did not: the remaining fifty wolf-men barreling toward her.
“Get back!” Deathmask shouted. The twins heard and obeyed. Veliana had fled too far out. She would need to save herself. Deathmask hurled several orbs of black fire, killing the nearest, but it was too little, too late.
“We could save her!” Nien shouted to his leader.
“They are not that many!” Mier agreed.
“At my side, she knows that,” Deathmask said, his mismatched eyes flaring with anger. “Do not question me.”
Veliana glanced at the wolf-men, saw their closeness, and then turned to Deathmask. She blew him a kiss, then started running for her life. She was the slower, and she should have been caught, but she was not. Mira arrived. Lightning, fire, and ice exploded through the wolf-men’s ranks in a simultaneous barrage that left them devastated. Only a scattered few escaped, fleeing with all their speed toward the safety of the city. Deathmask sighed and pulled the cloth from his face. The people of Veldaren were safe, at least for now.
The four sheathed their weapons and bowed as Sergan and his men approached. They gasped for air, yet still offered a mild cheer.
The Half-Orcs: Books 1-5 Page 88
