by C. K. Rieke
“Who the hell is that?” Gar said, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Is that Riverend?”
“Don’t know,” Astor replied, shifting his feet harder into the ground.
The silver knight lifted his head, and looked at the group. The dragon behind him showed its long, gnarled teeth. The knight stood up, and leaned slightly to one side. “So we finally meet,” he said with a low, hallowed tone. The ax’s flame flared up as he said that. Zaan noticed the other dragons around the city had stopped and watched the knight as he stood in the courtyard. This man looks powerful, and seems intent on me.
“Who are you?” Tilda yelled out to the silver knight.
“I? You do not know? I am the messenger. I am your judgment. I am Xelex, servant of Armoz. I’ve been sent to claim what Angela Dragus could not. I’m going to destroy you, and I’m going to enjoy doing it,” he said, and hung his ax down at his side, taking a single step forward.
Zelestiana looked back to the group. “This demon is strong. I can feel it. Be alert, but be cautious.” She looked over at Zaan. “Ready?” He nodded.
Xelex began a slow approach, with sturdy, strong strides. His crooked spine made him stride heavier to one side.
Zelestiana looked at Tilda, “Distract him with some shots of your bow. I will go in while he is defending your parlays. Keep him between us and the dragon.”
“What do I do?” Gar asked.
She looked at him with powerful eyes. “You Gar, will try to flank him from the rear, if you get the opportunity to do so.”
Palanzal’s voice carried down from the high tower, “Why do this demon? To what end do you seek, now emerging from the underworld?”
“Ah, the teacher.” Xelex looked up over his shoulder. “Hiding in your high tower I see. Come to watch your students die?”
“Why have you come, devil in armor?” Palanzal yelled down.
“I have come to claim the lives of the ones who fight for your gods,” Xelex said as he looked back at the group.
“Armoz the Devil King couldn’t come himself? He sent a messenger to do his bidding?” Palanzal yelled with anger and antagonism in his voice.
“Quiet old man!” Xelex snapped. “Do not speak the sacred name of our Lord.” The enormous dragon behind him let out a loud snarl in Palanzal’s direction. “Do you think there is an end to this, other than all of your deaths? There is only one way this is going to end.”
“You think you can beat us that easily?” Astor yelled at the demon, and he took two steps forward. “We are the warriors of Ojiin, the true and only High God.”
Xelex began a low, deep laugh. “You believe your god will save you? He could not even save himself. You are alone in your fight. I will squeeze the last of your living breath from your lungs.” He began to walk forward again.
Palanzal called down from above. “Stop you beast! Halt you devil!”
“I have come to do the will of Armoz. I have come to kill the infidels. I have come to reign down death!” Xelex said as he took his ax up above his head and crashed it down where Astor stood, but he was narrowly able to dodge it. Tilda let her arrows fly, but they ricocheted off harmlessly.
Before he could react, Astor got to his feet just in time to get bashed in the side by the boot of Xelex. He went rolling into a nearby wall. Astor cried out in pain, and grabbed at his side and broken ribs.
The whistling speed of an arrow was heard, and again deflected off Xelex’s armor. “Do you think little wooden arrows will do anything against me?” He laughed slowly again.
“Back up everyone,” Zelestiana said to her friends.
“There you are,” Xelex said as he snapped his neck and cocked his head, he looked straight into Zaan’s eyes. “It’s you. The one who killed one of Armoz’s strongest warriors, Reizenthrōgz. He’ll be avenged when your blood soaks the grounds.”
Gar looked quickly at Zaan. “Zaan, run!”
Zaan stood up straight and tall. “I won’t run from you, demon. You’ll have to kill me first. You come to my home, and threaten me and my friends. I’m sick of you and your kind hunting us. So you’ll have to kill me, because I’m not going to stop until Armoz’s army is all dead.”
Xelex laughed his slow laugh again. “You have courage, Zaan Talabard, although it is fleeting.” Xelex cocked his head to the other side. “What is that? There is something . . .” Xelex sniffed in Zaan’s direction. “There is something different about you . . . Yes, you possess something, don’t you?” Xelex smelled again, and extending his arm, he opened his silver gauntlet towards Zaan. “Yes, you have one, don’t you? You have . . . an Adÿthyst Stone.”
Zaan gripped the little red stone in his pocket. An Adÿthyst Stone? How does he know? Whatever happens, I can’t let him have it. I have to act quickly.
“I am going to take your life, and pry the stone from your stiff, dead fingers,” Xelex said as he stepped closer to Zaan. Zelestiana ran at him, and with the flash of her sword, she slashed violently at him. Frantically trying to find a weakness in the Crooked Knight, she grunted and attacked like an animal.
The demon’s eyes went alight with flame, and the fires of his ax roared wild and bright flames shot out at her, pushing her back.
Tilda released arrow after arrow at him, all of them falling harmlessly to the ground or being incinerated by the fire. Xelex proceeded towards Zaan, and Gar jumped in between them, his sword ready to slice at the demon.
Zaan put a hand on Gar’s shoulder, and gently pushed him to the side. “Halanah,” he chanted, and blue fires danced around his hands. Zaan, with all his strength, took a deep breath and with his muscles straining, brought down a sharp, brittle piece of wall onto Xelex’s back. While the Crooked Knight stood unfazed, he gave a smile that showed his pleasure.
Another jutting section of wall crashed onto the Crooked Knight, and Zaan could feel the sweat pouring down his arms. He threw another wall at him, but Xelex only continued laughing.
“Is that all you have? Time to die, Crusader!” Zaan watched helplessly as Xelex rushed at him with an unnatural speed, as he stabbed his ax of flame into Zaan’s shoulder. He’d never felt a pain as grueling as that, and fell to the ground, yelling in agony.
Just then, as Xelex began to lift his ax to cut into Zaan for the finishing blow. A shadow darkened the helmet of Xelex and the large body of a man barreled on top of him, knocking Xelex to the side, but not completely over.
Zaan saw the pale skin and widow’s peak of his friend, as he landed with him scimitar drawn, and he stood between Zaan and Xelex. He held his long, sharp scimitar in both hands, and swayed it from side to side.
“Gogenanth.” Zaan struggled to say between his cries of pain, clutching his shoulder.
“I have lost too many friends to your god. It is time he feels my pain,” Gogenanth said sternly. “Hold on Zaan, we’ll get you out of here.”
This pain is so overwhelming, this may be the end. Please Ojiin, protect me. Then he felt the hands of another wrap around him, and they started pulling him back, they were Tilda’s.
“Ah, the man from the Arr,” Xelex said as he cracked his neck into its crooked alignment. Gogenanth lunged forward and swung his scimitar at Xelex, who caught it firmly with his ax. The two swung back and forth at each other, every time their weapons collided the ground beneath shook. With a great, deafening roar, the dragon behind them began creeping towards them. The dragon began to run, but then a man with the shoulders of an ox thrust his sword into the rough scales of its side.
“Wollen!” Gar yelled out in excitement. Following Wollen were Ezmerelda and Yule, who went at the dragon with their weapons drawn. The dragon shot its head around, biting at them. It batted it’s great, decaying wings, and whipped its long, strong tail around wildly.
Zelestiana joined the fight with Gogenanth. Ripples coursed through the air as their swords clashed with the ax of flame of Xelex. Zaan tried to watch as he was being pulled back from the battle. He’d
been fighting against unconsciousness from the pain in his shoulder.
Gogenanth looked back at Tilda, as beads of sweat poured down his forehead. “Get him out of here. There’s no time, dammit. Get Zaan out of here!” She put her head down in sadness, not wanting to leave her friends to fight without her. Gogenanth and Zelestiana continued fighting Xelex, as even Zelestiana’s strength was beginning to fade.
I’ve got to do something. I can’t leave them with nothing. This pain is only physical, focus your mind. Concentrate. Zaan’s eyes glowed blue as Tilda dragged him back. A large section of black rock wall began to hurdle at Xelex, who with a motion of his hand, knocked away the black rock over the edge of the cliff of the fortress. Zaan launched another large rock at him, and while fighting off Gogenanth and Zelestiana, Xelex easily managed to wave the massive rocks away again.
“Is that all you have?” Xelex said to Zaan, “You’ll have to do better than that.”
With two strong swipes of his ax, he knocked back Gogenanth and Zelestiana. Xelex strode towards Zaan, his long cape flowing behind him, and his ax of flame firmly at his side. Gogenanth breathed heavily, and Zelestiana looked over at Tilda, “Go! Run!”
“Come on Zaan, you’ve got to get to your feet,” Tilda yelled.
“No, we can’t go,” Zaan said. “We need to help them.”
“You’re hurt, Zaan. You’re as white as a ghost, and the light of your eyes are fading. He’ll kill you. Don’t worry about them right now, they’ll be leaving right after us.”
“I can fight still,” he fought to say, and then screamed in pain from his throbbing shoulder. It felt as if it had hot steel piercing straight into it.
“Get up!” Tilda yelled at him, and lifted him to his feet.
She managed to get him walking with her, and they staggered off clumsily to one of the hidden doors that led into the darker parts under the city. Zaan was falling into a dark place as they unlatched a trigger that opened the small door before them, and he looked back at his friends.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and Tilda pulled him down into the dark. I’ve failed you all. Please live that I may see you again. Then all went dark as Zaan fell into a dark, deep place full of pain and sorrow.
***
The massive, decaying dragon hissed and snapped its jaws behind Xelex. It was still fighting off the attacks of Wollen, along with Ezmerelda and Yule.
Gogenanth caught up with Xelex, and fought with all his might as swords flashed, flames rose and spattered fire along the black stones. “We need to do something. The demon isn’t slowing,” he said to Zelestiana.
The dragons that loomed around them began to creep in slowly. He looked over at Astor, who sat up against the wall, holding his side. There was blood on his hands. “You get him out of here, and get Gar to safety. I’ll hold him off.”
“No. I won’t leave you,” Zelestiana said.
He slashed again at Xelex, whose eyes grew in red flames. “The city is lost. Either we all die today, or you save them.” He looked into Zelestiana’s solemn eyes.
“Goodbye, my friend,” she said as she turned her back and grabbed Gar by the wrist, pulling him towards Astor. “Get him up, we are leaving.”
“But, what about . . .?” Gar began to ask.
“We are leaving. Gogenanth will take care of himself,” she said as Gar lifted Astor up, and he groaned in pain as they did so.
As they left through another stairway to the side, Gar turned his head and watched as Gogenanth used every bit of his strength as he fought the demon knight. He watched as Wollen and two courageous soldiers fought the huge dragon. They turned the corner, Zelestiana touched an unassuming, small brick on the wall and a hidden entrance opened up, allowing them into the area below the stone floors of Barrier Cliff.
Zelestiana helped Astor and Gar into the opening and she looked back at her friend, and as she shut the hidden door behind her she whispered, “Goodbye, and good luck, Gogenanth.”
***
“I grow tired of this worthless game,” Xelex grumbled, and knocked Gogenanth easily back with a slash of his ax, as the flames grew. “You think your friends can hide from me?” His eyes were engulfed in rage and red flame. “I am going to find Zaan, take the Adÿthyst Stone, and rip him apart slowly while you watch.”
Gogenanth growled, “You beast. You don’t stand a chance against Zaan. He is better than you in every way.” He slowly tried to back away from Xelex.
Xelex strode firmly, following Gogenanth. “That is where you are wrong, man of the Arr. Zaan Talabard cannot hide from me forever, and he won’t survive from the sickness I’ve given him,” he said with a menacing smile. His wrinkled and weathered mouth showed complete joy in their dismay. He showed his reddened teeth, clinched, and grinding.
Wollen continued to labor, fighting the dragon in the background. His breathes grew heavy. Yule stood back and watched as more dragons began to creep towards them. “Ezmerelda, look,” he pointed behind them.
“That’s too many, we don’t stand a chance,” she said with fear in her eyes. “Wollen, we need to flee! The city is overrun.”
“You go, I’ll hold this beast off,” he said as he stepped back away from the dragon, who followed him. “Go.”
Ezmerelda grabbed Yule by the hand, and they headed back to the wall from which they came. Gogenanth watched as they ran over to the wall, grabbed the rope at the other side, and began to climb down. He smiled and tried to get up from the ground but was knocked back down by Xelex’s boot. He pressed it onto Gogenanth’s chest with great strength. He watched as Wollen struggled to fight the dragon on his own; it was a massive dragon which fought him wildly and viciously.
“Do you see? Your home is mine. Your friends will burn in my flames. Everything you loved I will take from you. This is how your story ends.”
The white dragon roared and hit Wollen with its long tail against a wall, and he yelled in pain. Dragons began to creep next to him from all directions. Their jaws snapped and they hissed loudly.
Xelex began his slow laugh again, low and horrible, as if the walls of Gogenanth’s world had come crumbling down, and there was nothing he could do.
“Go ahead, do it. Give me a soldier’s death.”
Bright flames burned as Xelex lifted his ax up over his head, and laughed his evil, wicked laugh. “You’ve lost, and this fortress is mine!”
PART IV
A Refugee's
Bitter Exile
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
IN the dark, the thick, stagnant air felt ancient, as if it hadn’t seen light or life in ages. They strode through the dark tunnels beneath Barrier Cliff. Breathing it in, the air was damp and heavy, and the stone crumbled at their feet as they ran in the dark. Tilda’s face faded into view, dimly lit by the light of a warm, blue-burning torch. He laid his hand on the stair below him, feeling the cold wet stone, and the cobwebs that littered the underparts of the city.
“Why did we leave them?” Zaan said angrily, still partly in a daze. “We need to go back.” Tilda grabbed him and began walking him down, urging him to keep moving down the winding, dark stairway. “We have to go back,” he said, but she continued pressing him downwards.
The blue light of her torch reflected of the wet, dark stone walls as they walked. He yelled out in pain, but she dragged him on.
She turned to face him in the darkness. Her eyes produced a faint blue haze in the blackness. “Zaan, I understand you want to help them, but we have to leave. We need to escape from the city. We cannot stay here. It isn’t safe.” But I’ve let them down. My shoulder feels like it’s going to explode, but those are my friends alone with that devil.
“They might need our help,” he managed to say through his stabbing pain, and he wiped the pouring sweat from his brow.
“They’re on their own. You had nothing left to give,” she said.
I knew she was right, but it didn’t help to hear it.
“G
ogenanth told us to leave. There was nothing more we could have done. We would have died against that demon. Now come, we have to go, now.”
Zaan, full of rage and pain, did his best to let logic prevail. He knew there was little, if anything, he could have done against the demon with the ax of flame or the dozens of undead dragons that swarmed around them. He simply took one more step down the staircase, and his decision was made.
For another half an hour they roamed around in the darkness. Zaan followed the sounds of Tilda’s footsteps, as she listened for the sounds of his. His body was soaked from dripping water, and he was littered with cobwebs. Eventually, they reached an area so low in the castle, Zaan picked up the scent of salt water. “Are we close to the Rion?”
“Yes, we will wait until the cover of dark, then we will get you out of here.” She stood with her back to the stone wall at the bottom of the long, circular staircase they had ran down. She gently pushed at the corner of the room, and warm, dry air whooshed in, reflecting light off the dagger in her hand. “Get some rest, you can give into it now.”
Zaan almost instantly gave into his delirium, and the pain faded as he drifted off into darkness.
***
He opened his eyes to the sound of her voice. He felt as if he’d been asleep for ten minutes. The pain surged back to him, and he winced and moaned. He looked down to see her opening his shirt and revealing his shoulder. His skin had turned black, and a yellow liquid oozed from the center of it.
“We need to get you to someone who can heal you,” she said. She untied the blue band of cloth from around her head and wrapped his shoulder in it.
He yelled out from the pain, “Be careful.”
She stood and peered her head out the door carefully, analyzing the surrounding area. Then, she crept her head back in, and closed the door again securely.
“Well?” he asked, again in the darkness.
“It is nearly twilight, and the dragons scout overhead.”
“What do we do?” he asked. “How are we supposed to flee with the dragons looking for us from on high?”
