The Emperor's Shadow War (Tales of Alus Book 2)

by Donald Wigboldy

  Anger jumped into the darkling's eyes once more, but Dante was ready for him and turned the darkling away effortlessly. Karnas' anger faded slightly and doubt found itself wedged into the elven warrior's mind. "You speak in riddles, human. My lord spoke of how to slay you and there is no humor there. This battle was assured long before I met you here."

  Dante struck with Dark's Bane powerfully forcing Karnas back another step and then another. "He told you it was assured? I believe that he told you that I could be killed and how to do it. I did not hear that he believed that your victory was assured.

  "In fact," he replied with an intense stare, "I begin to wonder if your lord was telling the truth to you. You say that you are toying with me, but how do you know that I have not in fact played you for the fool. Maybe I just took the measure of your blows until I knew that you were hardly undefeatable."

  "I was my lord's most powerful warrior. He brought me back to this world because of that," the elf snarled and attacked with a quick series of strikes, but Dante stood his ground easily enough to throw the elf back once again.

  As Karnas pulled away from yet another counter, Dante smiled and shook his head, "So you say, but what you fail to see is that your words reflect a past. You say that you were the best, but sadly you failed your master then and I see that you are about to fail him yet again." Dante laughed and thrust at the elf's belly playfully. Karnas knocked the blade aside and swept his blade towards Dante's throat.

  Laughing at each attempt now, the soldier blocked and thrust. Each time as the elf grew more and more frantic, Dante laughed and countered. He began to attack more vigorously with each blow from the elf.

  Karnas began to give ground now with regularity. Nicks and cuts began to appear with increasing frequency as Dante found more holes in the elf's waning defenses as his confidence faltered. Finally, he caught the darkling a particularly vicious blow that slashed a long gash along the elf's right forearm. With a hiss, he leapt back from Dante.

  With a great laugh, the soldier let the darkling gather his breath. Then he said seriously, "My name is Dante Betrice."

  With glowing red eyes of anger, the elf demanded, "Why should I care about your name, human?"

  Chuckling, Dante stalked his adversary. "It is just to be fair. You once told me your name that I could take it with me to my death. Strangely, I don't think that I'll be needing it, but I thought it was time to inform you before you go."

  Beyond words, Karnas attacked furiously, but Dante pulled into the attack low. The surprising counter plunged deep into the elf's abdomen. Karnas stumbled back still holding his sword before him. With a wheezing gasp, the darkling grinningly said, "That will not kill me. I am immortal now. You cannot kill me."

  Dante laughed, but it was a cold, bitter sound in his ears. "Wrong, Karnas. That blow was not your death blow, but you have already told me how to end your miserable existence. You told me yourself that you were as immortal as I. You told me that I could be killed and how to do it."

  Looking down upon the elf, he saw new fear in his eyes. Karnas tried to inch back, but the loss of blood had weakened the elf too much. The darkling could hardly stand and his fear further weakened the creature of dark. Karnas whimpered as Dark's Bane flared up suddenly in expectance of the life about to be sacrificed unto it.

  Dante strode towards the elf menacingly and struck the defending blade from the numb hand contemptuously. Through gritted teeth, he asked, "Which way do you want to die, Karnas? You know the ways. Which will you decide?"

  Falling to his knees, Karnas bowed his head exposing a pale neck to Dante. Thus answered, the soldier raised his blade overhead and struck down forcefully. A great flash of light brightened the depths and Karnas' head bounced off the floor even as his body followed.

  Dante picked up his torch where it lay on one of the last stairs and Dark's Bane dimmed. In the smoky light of the newly relit torch, he looked down on the body of the dark elf and sighed.

  Admittedly the man had not lied when he had spoken to Karnas. The soldier had laughed and in that slip he had found the strengths and weaknesses in both of them. The Grimnal knew the truth of battle. Knowing doubt, would lead to death as it had for Karnas.

  Dante cleaned the blood from his sword and picked up the spear before loping towards the tunnel that the elf had been guarding. Armed with what he had learned, Dante went without fear into the darkness.

  Chapter 55

  Dante found the doors to the dark lord's chamber at the end of the tunnel as the others had before him. As the man neared the room, Dark's Bane flared brightly once more as the blade sensed a powerful evil. The passage lit up like a summer's day under the sun and Dante could see ancient stone braces surrounding him as clearly as the wooden doors opened to the Dark Emperor’s throne room.

  Beyond the entryway, he could see the warriors of light and dark struggling in a dance of life and death. The soldier strode forward to meet his allies and join them in the fight, but as he entered, however, Dante noted that the sword's light illumined all the chamber nearest him, while a wall of impenetrable blackness cut off the light from the rest of the chamber.

  The twelve fighters were forced to ignore his arrival as they fought each other with every last piece of concentration and effort. That gave him time to see that the black cloud was not without its small bits of light as well and, more importantly, he could see a person flailing about in its dark embrace. Though he could not see the person's face, Dante knew that it was Darius that writhed within those coils.

  The fiery eyes of the Dark One noticed his approach as the others had not. They blazed down upon this latest disturbance and seemed unimpressed. Its voice rumbled through him, though the warriors seemed to take no notice of this as well, "I see that you defeated, Karnas. Not a small feat for a human, but I would leave while you are still ahead."

  With a laugh, Dante hurled the Spear of Aleile with all his strength at the spot between its two balls of fire. The shaft flew true, but, as it hit the darkness between what he believed were the Emperor's eyes, the spear disappeared without a trace. The Dark One showed no trace that the attack had harmed its form in any way, instead, the darkness laughed and spoke thunderously once again, "I warned you, human. You have no magic of your own and no way to harm me. These others that you ally with have magic, but even they cannot harm me as I am now. Run away quickly and I will let you live to see another day, but stay and you will die along with these others."

  Dante pointed Dark's Bane at the darkness and declared, "I am not afraid to die, but I do not think that you truly believe you are quite so powerful or invincible. Your minion was powerful and sure of himself, but I found that grain of doubt and he failed. I know you are beatable as well, after all, you were destroyed before and so it will happen again."

  The Emperor laughed, but Dante thought that he heard the same strand of doubt in the rumble as he had heard from Karnas. There was no message this time, just laughter.

  Grimly, Dante stepped into the battling fighters. He shouted loudly, "Wait a moment, Dark One, and I will come for you shortly. Your minions need to be taken care of first."

  The dark knight fighting Bagheer had worn the man down and cast him onto his back. Before the killing blow could be delivered, Dante quickly interfered and struck the dark elf’s blade away. "Try fighting me, elf. I think that you will see that I am the one you want."

  The knight looked at him curiously. Taking in the bloody clothes and the cuts and bruises showing through his torn leather armor around the dragon’s chainmail, the elf took a determined stance and attacked. Dante found the unholy knight to be nearly as fast as Karnas.

  Taking blow after blow with a smile on his face, Dante deflected the strikes with glee. A feeling of invincibility had taken over him as the Grimnal had spoken of before. The elf's confidence, on the other hand, was waning as the human took his measure and began to retaliate in ever more vigorous ways.

  When his sword halted the elf’s in a clash of metal, Da
nte quickly struck with a fist breaking the fine line of the knight's nose. Spitting blood, the dark elf tried to keep focus on the swordsman before him, but the sudden blow had unnerved him. A second opening appeared and the soldier shattered the elf's jaw before spinning around with a deciding strike that took the dark knight's head.

  Dante took a moment to point to the dark cloud. "Soon!" he shouted his declaration.

  Electra was faltering as Bagheer found the strength to swing his sword in her defense nearby. Dante rushed into the fray. He had seen Janus finish his opponent and turn to help Gannon where one of the dwarves still stood at his side. Dorvin stood toe to toe neither giving ground nor gaining against his opponent. The others could wait he knew and would probably have been angry if he had interrupted anyway. For Janus and Dorvin, this fight was much more personal.

  The elf fought to end the madness that had taken his former friends and allies, holy knights that had failed in the face of the darkness. Such a show of treason angered him more than any of them.

  For Dorvin, the battle stood as a test. He fought to live up to his ancestor's name and to prove himself worthy as his people’s king. The dwarf would fight unto the death and no less to show that he was worthy.

  Dante fought for different goals as the warrior fought to save them all. As his new combatant struggled to pierce his swordsmanship, the soldier realized that perhaps he also fought to prove himself against the most powerful warriors he had ever faced. He was a soldier and a swordsman. Such a battle was glorious to one who strived to be the best.

  The elf backed away before the fierceness of his new attacker, who was somehow more than human. An immortal in his infancy as the holy knight sat in his maturity. Both immortals from different worlds and races, Dante's blood raced with the thrill of the struggle.

  Laughing often, he seemed nearly a madman as the lieutenant traded blow for blow with the dark elf before him. Dark's Bane glowed brighter as if it too thrilled to test its metal against their magic blades and the darkness threatening them all.

  The knight before him saw the look in Dante's eyes as he studied the dark elf’s look as the battle continued. The elf was defeated already. His confidence had faltered and the end was near. Suddenly the elf spoke, "Spare me, sir. Spare my life and I will serve you against the Dark One. I was weak before his power, but I feel the truth of his darkness now and know that I can fight him. Please, I beg of you to let me fight on the side of light once more!"

  Surprised by such a thought, Dante stepped away warily. It wouldn’t be beyond one under the spell of darkness to lie about his intent, but Dante felt that this time the elf spoke truthfully. "Stand with us and I will spare you. Forsake his evil, my friend, and fight with us against his darkness."

  The elf turned to look at the cloud of black still holding Darius in its clutches. Sparks of flame and light shot from the struggling wizard as they looked at their foe.

  As they watched, a rumble of power shook the chamber. The torches in their sconces were snuffed by the energy swirling about the Emperor. His voice spoke once more and the renewed holy knight trembled, but stood fast against his former master, "You cannot turn against me, Roland. I will not allow you to turn traitor against me!"

  Roland declared loudly, though his voice started to crack like a teenage boy’s, "I will not serve you. I should never have allowed you to take me so easily, Kolban. I will fight you whether you wish it or not!"

  Dante moved to stand beside the elf with Dark's Bane held at the ready before him. "You heard him, Dark One. Your minions lay fallen around me and even Roland has turned against you. You face us all and you will not win."

  The fiery eyes seemed to blaze brighter and the Emperor's voice rang out loudly, "You may stand against me, human, but this one will not. For you forget one thing, Roland. You have tasted and drank of my power. That gives me power over you."

  The knight screamed and fell to his knees. Dante could see no trace of attack, but knew that the Dark One could do as he said. "Roland," he spoke to the elf worriedly, "you must try and fight him."

  "I... cannot," the elf replied weakly and looked up to see Dante's face looking down on him in concern. "He is right. My strength is not my own anymore, but do not fear for me. My soul has been freed by your sword's touch. Use it to slay the Dark One that he may never do this to another."

  With a last sigh, Roland toppled onto the ground dead. "I promise you, Roland," Dante answered the dead man quietly. Pointing his sword at the black cloud before him, Dante cried, "You will pay, Kolban."

  The Emperor laughed and suddenly Darius was thrown back from the shadowy mass. "You can have what is left of this one back that I might slay you all together."

  Electra rushed over to the exhausted wizard. Darius opened his eyes, as she cried over him. "Don't cry, Electra," he said softly, "I am not that easy to kill."

  The elf woman hugged him tightly to her breast and cried even more. While the two lovers lay together, Dante moved to Janus' side and asked, "What do we do now?"

  The holy knight's eyes turned on him with fury still in their depths. "We fight him together. If we can weaken him enough, I can try and bind him long enough to defeat him."

  "And how do we fight a cloud of darkness?"

  "You ask too many questions," Dorvin stated gruffly. "We need to fight and he will fall. Come, my allies, the time is now!" With those words, the dwarf leapt to attack the massive cloud before him.

  A rumble of laughter met him as a chilling gust knocked the dwarf back. "The descendant of Alig, I presume. I see that you are much more a fool than he. How could such a stupid dwarf descend from that warrior?"

  The last dwarf fighter helped his lord to his feet. Dorvin appeared none the worse for the tumble aside from a blow to his pride. The king shrugged his helper from him. "I am the descendant of Alig and I will find the way to stop you, creature."

  "Ah, I see the resemblance now," the Emperor laughed. "Your ancestor said the same to me in my last life."

  "And he won out in the end!'

  "Not without the help of Janus and his knights, but look what stands with you now. The holy knight is alone and weakened, standing with human soldiers and you. Look at me, Norn, I am more powerful now and it took the combined might of a dozen wizards and six holy knights to weaken me enough for Alig to deliver the final blow. I killed all but Janus and Camare and, of course, Alig. You are pathetically outmatched."

  A great ball of flame blasted over their heads striking the darkness. The Emperor seemed to feel the power of that blow as Darius' voice carried to them all. "You waited too long to finish them, Kolban. I am rested and ready to show you that you can be defeated."

  Dante and the others glanced back to see the wizard with his staff planted into the ground before him. Power crackled about the wizard's form like lightning as he raised his hand with blue fire dancing along his fingers. "Now, my friends, attack that we might end this evil now!"

  Dorvin leapt forward with his last soldier at his side. Janus planted his sword and cast a powerful ball of lightning into the darkness. Darius and Gannon cast their magics as well. Knowing his duty, Dante leapt forward with Dark's Bane to test its name.

  The Emperor roared with anger. Dark tendrils struck at them all. Dorvin and his man were toppled by a blast of sickening green flame. Dorvin rose slowly from that attack, but his paladin lay unmoving where he had fallen.

  Dante was attacked by the dark forces as well, but each time he simply caught the tendrils with the sword to tear through them with the blazing light. Each time the Emperor’s bolts of fire struck at him they burst with the stench of brimstone but without harming the man holding the shining blade. Undaunted, Dante slowly closed the distance between himself and the Dark One's form.

  Dorvin recovered and renewed his attack with his shield raised and sword ready. The Emperor found the two warriors and struck them harder as they closed, but they would not give up. As they neared their goal, the combined might of Darius, Janus and Gannon
wielding the holy scepter continued to hammer at the darkness before them. Lightning crackled and beat on the cloud of blackness, while fireballs and powerful winds strove to cut away the shroud of Kolban.

  Dante finally found himself before the dark mass of the Emperor and, knowing no better, he thrust his sword into the blackness. Dark's Bane flashed brilliantly and pieces of the cloud fell into tatters like paper ashes. The fragments hit the floor of the chamber and crumbled into nothingness.

  "MacNorn, MacNorn!" Dorvin shouted from nearby as he hacked and hewed at the darkness.

  Dante slashed again with the sword and more of the cloud flaked away. Stroke after stroke he tore at the Emperor’s shroud. Black tendrils tore at his flesh and fire singed hair and skin both causing pain unlike anything he had ever known. The man could hardly see after being struck by a burst of fire from the Dark One which struck him in the face. Were he a normal man, Dante knew that he would be dead and believed that only the sword's power somehow protected him enough to survive to continue the fight.

  "My name is Dante Betrice!" he suddenly shouted at the darkness. "I tell you this that you might know the name of the one who will kill you."

  Dorvin picked up on the cry and shouted, "I am Dorvin MacNorn of Alig the Norn! Prepare to die, dark thing!"

  Darius drew his greatest fireball yet. He could see that the cloud of darkness was faltering and shrinking greatly now. "I am Wizard Darius Eremia, Dark One!" he shouted as he cast the flames into the cloud's mass. Steam arose from the flames and he could hear the screams of the Emperor. They were cries of frustration and rage, but also of fear. He knew that they could win this battle. Bagheer had led Electra from the chamber at the battle's start since they could only be hurt in such a battle of magic and those remaining seemed nearly invulnerable to the Emperor's powers.