Then came Meridia’s voice in my head. It will be all we can do to hold him back.
“What?” I said. “Why? With all of us together?”
He was the Keeper of Mind, said Meridia. And not for the paltry few months that you have been. He had half a millennium to learn the intricacies of his magic. And though his powers were all but shattered when he betrayed the other Realm Keepers, he has nearly regained their full use again. The learning process was not so difficult for him the second time around.
“No one asked for your opinion,” snarled Blade. He glared at the leather pouch on Sarah’s waist.
“What can we do then, my Lady?” said Greystone, staring into the air as though Meridia floated before him.
We must all stay connected to the magic, she said. We must watch for his every move and focus all of our power upon thwarting it. As you have said, Watcher, he will have to reach far to attack us. We will have the advantage of distance. But if we try to strike against him, we will be lost.
My shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I thought it was a good idea.”
I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Sarah. “It was a good idea, Tess,” she said, smiling.
That made me smile, but only for a second.
“They’re coming!” said Greystone.
I turned to see that Terrence’s grey light had disappeared in the mass of blackness in the cleft. Now the blackness was pressing forward, interspersed with the off-white of the humans. Above their heads they carried dozens of ladders, ladders high enough to scale the cliff with ease.
“Archers, loose!” cried Greystone.
During the conversation with Terrence, I’d lowered my bow. I hastily brought it back up and nocked my arrow again to fire. The arrow sailed out, several seconds behind the rest, giving me the perfect opportunity to see it sink into a black form that fell to the ground.
“Fire at will!” cried Greystone. “Abidemi, have your men ready to repel those who try to climb! Realm Keepers, wreak havoc upon those with the ladders!”
“They’re hard to see, Greystone,” said Sarah.
“Let me tend to that,” said Greystone. He waved his hands, and a wide swath of what looked like webbing began to form in the air before him. But the webbing grew out and out and soon blanketed the air above the Shadows, illuminating them for all of us to see.
With their targets in their sights, the others went to work. Fire, earth, water and lightning carved chunks from the approaching ranks. Calvin blasted them with air, but his effectiveness was limited from so far away.
I kept drawing and firing arrow after arrow, but I withheld my magic. I remembered what had happened the last time I’d faced Terrence. I’d reached out with my powers, trying to probe his mind, and he lashed out and nearly killed me. I wasn’t going to be doing that again. Today my magic was for defense only.
The Shadows below were nearing the cliff when I heard screeching above me. The crows had returned. They swooped and dived in on us, their claws tearing at the men all along the plateau’s edge. The barrage of arrows and magic ceased for a moment as we dove for the ground seeking cover. Desperately, I held up a hand and swept a wave of pure force through the air. I heard the cracking of bodies breaking, the death rattle of crows falling to their deaths.
I jumped back to my feet just as I heard a series of thunks along the plateau’s edge. The crows still wheeled above, and I didn’t have time to investigate the strange noises. I put up walls of force and swept invisible barriers through the sky, forcing off as many as I could. Calvin joined in, and together we drove the crows off for a second time.
My attention free, I looked down to see the tops of several ladders poking over the top of the cliff. I shoved one away with Mind, only to have it rebound and land back on the edge.
What?
I risked a quick glance over the edge to see that the ladder was at an angle, not vertical, and that a dozen men on the ground below were holding ropes attached to the top rungs of the ladder. We couldn’t push it back without a ton of effort. And a troop of men were already halfway up.
“Blade!” I said, turning to him in fear. “I can’t knock the ladders down!”
He poked his head over edge to see. Then he swept his hand in a wide arc, and a curtain of flame rained down on the ladder. I heard the screams of the men below him and felt my stomach roil.
But up and down the line, humans and Shadows had reached the top of their ladders. The battle turned from a one-sided barrage of the army below us to hand-to-hand combat in a press around me. Nora and Samuel stood to either side of Blade and I, hacking at any enemy who came too close. Blade had his sword out, but he wasn’t using it—he just kept roasting anyone who got too close. I loosed arrow after arrow whenever I had a clear shot—but I always had an eye on the point of grey light far away, watching for Terrence to unleash his powers so that I could block him.
A shadow threw itself at Nora, bowling her over backward even as she brought her sword’s pommel crashing down on its head. The thing screeched in pain and tried to push itself up. Its head whipped up to stare at me, and I saw its hideous teeth bared in a snarl of hatred.
“Sss-humansss,” it hissed. “Die-sss.”
I felt color drain from my face. Nora got her arm free and sank her sword into the Shadow’s face. Another one appeared just behind it, and it brought a sword high to slice her open.
Too late, I grasped for an arrow, but there wasn’t enough time. But before the Shadow could strike, I saw an arrow appear in between its eyes. It stood stock still as I watched its body dissolve away, its empty armor falling to the floor. Nora quickly gained her feet and whirled, looking for another opponent, but there weren’t any. A brief space had been cleared in the desperate battle.
I turned around to find Yinnilith before me, lowering the bow he’d used to kill the Shadow and save Nora’s life. Only a half-dozen arrows left in his quiver. He eyed them, then eyed me. I glanced back to see I was almost out of arrows.
“These will be better in your hands, and I have my swords,” said Yinnilith. He drew the rest of his arrows out and dropped them into my quiver. He gave me a quick smile. “For the second time in weeks we fight beside each other, friend.”
My throat felt constricted, but I managed to choke out, “It spoke to me. I didn’t know they could talk.”
His smile dampened a bit. “It is the way of things when Chaos gathers its strength. Their creatures grow smarter, stronger, more ferocious. It will only get worse. But cheer up. There are many more for us to kill, and many great deeds still to do.”
With that he put a hand on my shoulder to whirl me around, and I saw a new group of Shadows, freshly arrived at the top of their ladders, charging toward us. I screamed and fired an arrow, bringing one of them down. Nora leapt in front of me, but then Yinnilith struck. He leapt clean over both our heads and into the center of the Shadows, and then he began the whirling dance of death I’d first seen in the forest where we met. The Shadows hissed and screamed at him, but they couldn’t touch him.
I glanced out at the ground below again, but still there was nothing. Still Terrence had not put forth his strength.
Another shout behind me drew my attention, and I saw some of the others putting up a strong defense where the ladders were thickest. Miles and Sarah had put up walls of ice and earth, effectively extending the height of the cliff another several feet. The Shadows that managed to make it over were quickly struck down by the Netiri warriors. I saw Abidemi there, hacking away at the head of every Shadow that managed to make the climb. Beside him were Cara and Melaine, shouting in fury with every swipe of their swords.
I turned, looking for the others. Where was Greystone? Where had Blade gone? But they were lost in the mess of fighting around me. I saw vague flashes of fire clear on the other side of the plateau and was happy to know that he was at least still fighting.
I ran to the ice wall to stand beside Sarah. Her eyes were closed in concentra
tion, and she looked like she was pushing at the air, but I couldn’t see anything happening. Then I heard cracks, groans and the screams of men. They were coming from over the edge. She was doing something to the ladders on the ground. After a few tense moments, heads ceased appearing over the edge of the wall, and Sarah’s eyes opened. She blinked a couple of times and looked at me.
“Tess,” she said. “Thank goodness. I didn’t know where you went.”
“Terrence hasn’t attacked yet,” I said. I blushed and said, “I mean, not with Mind. Obviously he’s attacked.”
“What’s he waiting for?” said Sarah, glaring out into the gathering army below us.
“We should be grateful,” said Miles. “It’s making the fight easier, anyway.”
“That is the problem,” said Cara, her face grim. “When the traitor’s actions do not make sense is when we should be the most worried.”
Sarah shook her head as if clearing it, then turned and pointed toward the left edge of the plateau. “We’ve got no one over there,” she said. “Tess, Miles, you go cover it. Help the Netiri fight them off. Maybe we can clear these ladders off and gain ourselves a little bit of a breather, at least until they build new ones.”
I looked at the mass of fighting men. It was on the other side of the plateau from where I’d seen the flashes of Blade’s fire. I looked at Sarah doubtfully, but she’d already turned away. She’d given the order, so that meant we were supposed to follow. I gave one last glance to the other side and saw another flare of orange light. He was still there, and he was okay. I steeled myself and headed for our station, Nora shadowing my footsteps.
We were halfway there when I heard Sarah shout behind us. I looked to see her running for us at full speed, with Cara keeping pace beside her. Sarah was screaming, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. I took a careful step forward, Nora on one side of me and Miles and Melaine to the other.
“What?” I called out.
“Get down!” cried Sarah. She skidded to a stop right beside me and looked up, holding her hands as if to ward off a blow. I flinched on instinct before I looked up to see a massive boulder heading right for us. I barely had time to think, Catapult? before Sarah’s arms swept down to knock it out of the sky, and I tried to duck, but I didn’t have enough time to —
FAITH AND DESTINY
CALVIN
AN EXPLOSION WENT OFF LIKE a mortar round, whipping my head around to see. But even as I turned, I heard a hiss in the air, and then an armored form crashed into me and knocked me to the ground.
“Lay still, Lord Calvin!” cried Darren, lying on top of me.
“Ow,” I muttered. His armor hurt. I heard something ricocheting off the metal before the air grew still again.
His helmeted head looked around for a moment before he let me stand up. Far away, near the other side of the plateau, I saw Sarah stooped over a crumpled form on the ground, screaming. Around her, others slowly got to their feet. I saw Cara first, then spotted Miles, Melaine, Nora…
Nora. But no Tess. I looked at the body on the ground again.
“No, no no no,” I whispered.
This was wrong. This was all wrong. We weren’t supposed to be here, dying surrounded. We were supposed to be fighting Terrence back in Morrowdust, with the dragons fighting beside us.
I ran to Tess as fast as I could. Sarah was kneeling with her now, Nora on the other side. I couldn’t see her breathing.
“Oh God, please don’t let her be dead,” said Sarah, almost as if to herself. “Please, please don’t let her be dead.”
“Lady Sarah!” said Cara. She pointed up in the sky. Sarah’s head snapped up, and mine followed a second later. Two massive boulders were flying through the sky toward us.
Sarah gave a frustrated scream of rage and leapt to her feet, holding her arms up into the air. The boulders shuddered in midair, then diverted. They sped off left and right, slamming into the ground out of sight behind the lip of the plateau. I heard great shuddering BOOMS from the ground below, and the screams of men.
“No more, you monster!” Sarah screamed.
I looked down at Tess’ still form. “He got her?” I didn’t mean to speak quietly, but my voice barely came out as a squeak.
Sarah turned to me, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. “One of the boulders,” she mumbled. “I stopped it, but it exploded on impact. One of the shards got her.”
“No,” I whispered. “It can’t be.”
“Guys, listen,” said Miles, his voice heavy. “I’m sorry to be the guy who’s gotta say it, but we need to focus on—”
“No, it can’t be,” I insisted. “None of this. The prophecy. This isn’t any part of it.”
“One of us was going to die,” said Sarah. “I just didn’t want it to be her.”
I gave a frustrated cry and dropped to the ground at Tess’ head. Blood smeared the right side of her face as I leaned my ear down right next to her nose, but I couldn’t hear or feel anything. I put three fingers against her throat. There. A heartbeat. It was weak, but it was there.
“She’s not dead, guys!” I shouted. “I told you!”
Sarah dropped down and checked it. Her face melted with relief. “Oh, thank God,” she said.
“The prophecy said we’re going to win,” I said through gritted teeth. “So let’s get out there and kick these guys’ butts!”
Miles arched an eyebrow. “Okay, Captain Pep Talk.”
But now that she knew she hadn’t gotten one of us killed—at least not yet—Sarah was all business again. She jumped to her feet and pointed at Nora. “Nora, you get Tess off to safety. Take her to the back of the plateau, against that cliff face over there.”
“I will guard her with my life,” said Nora, stooping to scoop Tess up into her arms.
“Miles, let’s see what we can do to help out on the right. Calvin, you go help on the left,” said Sarah, pointing to where the battle was raging between the Netiri and the men climbing their ladders. The Elves had joined in with sword and knife on that side, but still they were having trouble pushing the ladders back.
I gulped, looking at the thick press of bodies hacking away at each other. “Okay,” I said.
“Come, my Lord,” said Darren, his eyes barely visible through the visor of his helmet. “Do not fear. I shall watch out for you.”
He booked it right for the fighting, and I had no choice but to follow. I skidded to a stop right behind a press of Elves. I saw the one Elf who seemed to be their leader—the one called Yinnilith—through the fight. He was moving faster than I could believe, his blades everywhere as they formed a wall of whirling, steely death around him.
And suddenly I realized that he was laughing. With every swing, strike and parry, he laughed with the sheer overwhelming joy of the fight. And I, too, was smiling before I knew it.
“My Lord?” said Darren, giving me a look. “Perhaps your magic…?”
“Oh, right!” I said, startled.
The gap between the Netiri soldiers and their enemies was almost non-existent—but not quite. I felt for it, closing my eyes to better feel the flow of air between them. Then I solidified that air, forming it into an impenetrable wall. Immediately I felt the ringing shocks in my arms as warriors pounded on the wall with their weapons, including the Netiri who were just as clueless about what was happening as the Shadows. But before the pain of it could overwhelm me, I simply took the invisible wall and…
Pushed.
With horrible, screeching wails, dozens of Shadows were pitched over the edge of the plateau to spin away to their deaths on the ground below, or impaled on the spears of their fellows. For a moment the Netiri simply stood there, dumbstruck, looking around as if wondering where their enemies had gone. But Yinnilith turned on the spot and caught my eye through the crowd. He was smiling.
“Don’t just stand there, dudes!” I shouted. “Get those ladders off the cliff!”
The Netiri leapt, startled into action, and ran forward to hack at the la
dders with axes and their huge, curved swords. They pushed and heaved, slicing away the ropes that were secured to the ladders’ tops, and with the creak of wood, they pushed them away.
Yinnilith was still grinning at me. “That was well done, little Realm Keeper!” he called out. “Though you robbed me of a fight—a debt I shall hold you accountable for.”
Darren snorted behind his helmet. Then, when he didn’t hear me answer, he looked over at me.
It’s possible I may have had a slight fanboy grin plastered across my face. I mean, come on. The guy was an Elf, and like the coolest Elf I’d ever heard of at that.
Thoom. Thoom. Thoom. Thoom. THOOM. THOOM. THOOM. THOOM.
A steady, rhythmic, shuddering crash snapped me out of my daze. It was coming from the ground below the plateau, and it was getting louder. Something about it tugged at some strings of memory in the back of my mind, and with those tugs came a hovering sense of fear. Where did I know them from?
With the left flank under control for the moment, I ran to the edge of the plateau. Greystone’s light was gone, but the moon was high in the sky now, glinting off the facets of thousands of spears and helmets below us. I scanned the enemy ranks, looking for the thing that was making the noise. It sounded like some massive engine, or maybe—
Footsteps, I realized. It’s footsteps.
Through the ranks of Shadows below, a massive creature made its way forward, heedless as it crushed its little brethren beneath it. At least twenty feet tall as it walked on all fours, much taller when it reared up. Hands like razor-sharp claws and fangs that sat in a lizard’s mouth. And burning eyes that illuminated the space around it as it pressed forward.
A hellion of Chaos.
I heard footsteps and looked back to see Yinnilith approaching from one side, Miles and Melaine from the other. Darren stepped back, so Miles could stand beside me.
“Oh man,” Miles groaned. “Why’d he have to bring one of those?”
“Hey, at least it’s just one, right?” I said, my voice squeaking slightly. “I mean, come on. How many of these did we kill at the battle of Morrowdust.
Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2) Page 71
