The War of Stardeon (The Bowl of Souls)

by Cooley, Trevor H.

  Lyramoor and Coal’s son Willum jumped down from their horses, running to help. Faldon jumped down too. “Let’s make this quick! There are more coming up behind us and I want to be long gone before they get here.”

  No sooner had he spoken than five more armored orcs ran out of the grass, followed by three huge mountain cats with sword-like quills. Everyone else slid down to join the fight.

  Jhonate jumped down and ran towards Qenzic, who was hard pressed by one of those orcs that carried a longsword. Qenzic was able to get his shield up in time to block each blow, but every strike he got in just bounced off the orc’s armor.

  Sabre Vlad arrived there before her. He was limping, but still spry enough. A savage upward swing of his blade sliced the orc open from hip to shoulder like its armor was nothing. The wound wasn’t fatal yet, but Qenzic saw the opening and thrust his sword through the gap his father’s sword had made and the orc collapsed.

  A sound rang out like a deep bell behind her and Jhonate twirled to see an orc tumble away from Willum, its head rent in two. Stout Harley faced off against one of the cats with blade-like quills, smashing at it with his hammer while quills bounced off his armor like they were nothing.

  Jhonate ran back and forth, looking for her opportunity to strike. Justan was down off the rogue horse’s back with his two runeswords drawn. She stepped towards him but heard a roar to her left. Gwyrtha had faced off against one of the cats and had a face full of quills.

  Justan ran to her aid and Jhonate turned to do the same, but another cat appeared in front of her, growling and bristling.

  She twirled her staff and assessed the beast. It was almost the same height as her and likely three times her size. It would be quick, strong, and it had plenty of ways to attack. It was best fought at range or by someone who was heavily armored which meant it was probably too much for her, but Jhonate didn’t mind a challenge.

  She struck first, using her staff like a spear, its tip narrowed to a fine point. She jumped forward and jabbed several times in quick succession, scoring hits on its nose and forehead, narrowly missing its eye. The cat roared. It spun and sidled towards her, its sword-like quills bristling outwards.

  Jhonate backed out of its range, thrusting in with her staff whenever she had an opening. She struck several times, but couldn’t get in close enough to do real damage. She was starting to consider testing the strength of her ring and chancing a close attack when a dagger spun past her to bury itself in the cat’s side.

  “Need some help, daughter of Xedrion?” Jobar asked, another dagger ready in his hand.

  The cat roared and came at him. Jobar dodged at the last moment, throwing a dagger as he did so. The dagger plunged into its shoulder this time and it roared again. It began edging towards him, quills bristling.

  “What are you going to do now, Jobar?” she asked. “Never throw your weapon away unless you know the attack is going to be fatal!”

  “I have more,” he said with a grin and pulled out two more blades. “Picked them up from the Wobble dwarves.”

  “Just keep its attention. It can only back towards one of us at a time,” she said and edged around towards the cat’s face. Jobar threw another dagger and as it roared, Jhonate darted forward, thrusting her staff down its throat. With a mental command, she caused wicked spikes to sprout from the end of her staff, piercing deep into its flesh.

  The cat responded by leaping towards her. Jhonate backpedaled but it bore her down under its weight. It could have seized her head in its jaws and killed her right there if her staff hadn’t been in its mouth. Still it tried, blood and drool pouring down on her, the staff in the way. Luckily, its underbelly was free of quills.

  To her surprise, Jobar jumped in from the side and wrapped his arms around the cat’s bristling head. He cried out in agony, but ignored the hundreds of quills that pierced his flesh and got a firm hold under its neck. He pulled back and lifted it away from her, the Jharro staff still protruding from its mouth. Jhonate scrambled out from under it as he twisted its head more and more. Finally there was a crack and the beast began to steam.

  Jobar stumbled back, his whole left side covered in quills. Jhonate grabbed her staff, returned it to normal, and pulled it from the melting cat’s mouth. As she looked around, she saw that most of the fighting had shifted further away.

  Jobar fell to the ground, crying out in pain. “Gah! That hurts!”

  “Healer!” Jhonate shouted and knelt next to him. “Jobar you idiot! What were you thinking?”

  “Heard you kissed that Edge guy,” Jobar said with a grin. “Couldn’t let him show me up. Always . . . kind of hoped that would be me.”

  “I know, Jobar,” she said. He was that way with every female. The quills in his skin were loosening and turning rubbery. She pulled one of them out and a gush of blood poured from the wound. This was bad. She shouted again, looking around for help. “Healer! Warrior down!”

  “Hey . . . daughter of Xedrion,” Jobar said. He reached out with the arm not covered in quills and gripped her hand. His teeth were clenched against the pain, but still he asked, “Why not me? Why couldn’t it have been me?”

  “Do not call me that. My name is Jhonate,” she said. “That is what you will call me from now on. Do you understand?”

  He chuckled and winced. “I . . . guess that’ll have to be enough . . . Jhonate. Nice to say it without you hitting me . . .”

  Master Coal rode up and slid off of Samson to kneel beside her. The wizard placed his hands on the man and after a brief moment, shook his head. “I’ll try, but it’s not likely I can save him. Those are a lot of wounds.”

  “Please try.” Jhonate stood while the wizard worked and turned away, wondering why she had tears streaming down her face. For Jobar? That didn’t seem right. But then again, he was a comrade and even though he had never let go of his foolish infatuation with her, she had grown used to him. If he survived, she would have to . . .

  Jhonate saw the quick gleam of scales in the grass ahead. A pair of cat-like eyes watched her. She twirled her staff and pointed at it. “You. Come, face me!”

  “More coming!” Came a shout to her right.

  She risked a glance to see what was coming and the thing in the grass came at her, all scales and teeth and claws.

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Justan worked within the bond, pushing the last limp quill out of Gwyrtha’s face. He healed the wound. The cat thing hadn’t died easily, but the blast from his right sword had cleared a space of quills large enough for his left sword to stab through.

  “More coming!”

  Justan opened his eyes and saw a large lumbering giant come over a hill towards them along with several hairy looking men that ran on all fours. He readied his swords.

  Justan, she’s here! Gwyrtha warned.

  He turned just in time to see Talon streaking out of the grass towards Jhonate. He opened his mouth to yell, but no sound came out. Talon leapt, claws extended. Jhonate set her staff in front of her, forming the tip to a sharp point.

  Time slowed for Justan and he watched as the tip of her staff punctured Talon’s abdomen and continued on through to protrude out her back. But it didn’t stop the raptoid. She struck Jhonate full on, her claws tearing through the graduate’s hardened leather breastplate like it was paper. Talon’s weight drove Jhonate backwards and she fell, the raptoid landing on top of her.

  Justan ran to her, fearing the bite to the throat that would likely come next. But Talon didn’t stay. She leapt off of Jhonate, her momentum pulling the staff out of her body and Justan realized that the raptoid had another target in mind.

  Talon darted for Master Coal. The wizard was kneeling over the prone form of Jobar da Org and didn’t see her coming.

  Samson did, however. The centaur thrust forward with both spears. Talon jumped and spun in mid air, narrowly avoiding the attack and jabbed out with her tail.

  The wizard looked up and raised his arms defensively. Justan saw the beginnings of a s
hield spell coming up, but Talon’s attack went right through. Her tail barb thrust deep into his forearm.

  Coal fell back, completely vulnerable, but she didn’t continue the attack. The raptoid leapt back to avoid another spear thrust from Samson, then turned and ran right at Justan.

  Justan narrowed his focus even further, letting his sword suck away his emotions as the world slowed to a crawl. Talon ran towards him, a wide grin of triumph on her face. Why was she so happy? Her first attack had taken Jhonate down, but surely hadn’t been enough to do lasting damage and her attack against Coal had resulted in a single wound any of their mages could fix easily.

  Was it just a distraction to get to him? She was a few feet closer now and Justan readied the defensive move he had been working on ever since their last fight. He was ready. And this time he would blast the head from her shoulders.

  But something still nagged at him. Why hadn’t she simply come for him right away. He had his eyes closed at the time. There was no need for a distraction. There was something else.

  She was closer now but a large shape was looming in on her right. She jumped for him as expected and her tail was raised in striking position. The barb was red with Coal’s blood. The shape on her right moved forward and something descended towards her. She turned her head slightly, her eyes looking at the incoming shape and Justan suddenly understood.

  At the tip of the barb on her tail was a tiny hole. A single drop of clear fluid dripped from the end. Poison! Ewzad Vriil had given her poison.

  Talon contorted in mid air but the shape descended too fast. It was dark and round with large spikes jutting from one side. It connected with the side of Talon’s face, shattering teeth to splinters with such force that it spun her whole body in mid air. One spike tore her jaw free on one side as the mace head continued its downward path.

  Justan’s world rushed back to normal speed.

  Fist’s strike threw her body to the ground with bone crushing force. Talon bounced and rolled a few times, then contorted and convulsed, clutching at her face and screeching, her tail thrashing about.

  Fist started towards Talon again and others rushed in to help.

  “Stop!” Justan said aloud and through the bond. “No one come any closer! Her tail is full of poison.”

  How did you get here anyway? He had been so focused, he hadn’t sensed the ogre coming.

  I came with the captain. I rode on Albert. He is tired, but I touched him with my mace so he could move faster.

  “Jhonate, get my mother. Tell her to come help Master Coal right away. Talon got him.”

  While he spoke, a throwing knife darted in, plunging into Talon’s side. Flame shot from the wound. The pain seemed to jolt her to her senses, because she stopped thrashing and rolled to her feet. Talon gurgled at them from her ruined face and ran into the grass. Lyramoor started after her.

  “You won’t catch her.” Justan stabbed his swords into the ground and took Ma’am off his back. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and pulled back. The explosive arrowhead glowed a bright blue. This time he would not let her survive.

  Time slowed again and he tracked her movement through the tall grass. The power hummed in his ear. It would be a tricky shot. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  A cavalryman charged through his field of vision and in that brief moment he lost sight of her. No. Not again. Not after this! He scanned the grasses for the slightest sign of movement.

  A large giant over twelve feet tall rumbled past, chasing the men on horseback, disrupting his sight again. Justan snarled and fired, the arrow hitting the giant in the neck. The force of the strike knocked it stumbling off balance. Its neck swelled and burst in a flood of water and the giant fell, its head rolling into the grass beyond.

  Justan slung his bow over his shoulder, grabbed his swords and sheathed them as he ran to Coal’s side. To his relief, Darlan was already there and Jhonate was on her feet standing beside them.

  “Jhonate are you okay?” he asked.

  “Jobar is dead,” she said, looking down at the graduate, her eyes pained and red. “Your master was trying to help him but that creature hit him first and I did not stop it.”

  “What about you? Are you okay?” Justan asked, taking her face in his. “Are you wounded?”

  “There is just one small puncture,” she said, poking her finger through a hole in her breastplate. “But it is small. The ring absorbed the rest.”

  “But you’re feeling okay? No dizziness or anything?” She shook her head and he embraced her in relief. “I’m sorry about Jobar. Really I am. But don’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have been prepared for her.” He slammed his fist into his leg. “Blast it, I should have prepared you for her!”

  Justan knelt at his mother’s side. Coal’s face was pale and he was sweating profusely. He was bleeding from both nostrils and a small bead of blood had formed at the corner of one eye.

  “He needs more than me,” Darlan said. “I’m more of a battle healer and it isn’t even my specialty. This is poison . . .”

  “You can do it, Darlan,” said Willum, who knelt across from her. “The i-. The axe says that it’s a tough one, but I know you can do it.”

  “Oh Willum, I’m sorry but whatever this poison is, it’s resisting all my attempts to root it out. I have him stabilized but barely,” she said, her face pained.

  “We are only a mile from the portal,” Justan said. “We need to get him there. Willum, is Bettie there? Can you tell her to get the best healers she can ready?”

  “Coal can hear you,” said Willum. “He’s just not responding because he’s trying to move as little as possible. He says . . . No, Father! No . . . He says it won’t matter. He can’t do anything about it, but he used his mage sight to look inside his own body . . . he knows it’s too late.”

  Darlan’s eyes widened and she focused in, her energies moving more intricately. “Wait-wait. Blast it, that poison’s persistent!”

  Tears ran from Willum’s face. “He has things to say. Sir Edge, he says that when he’s . . . gone, we are all going to collapse, all of his bonded and you need to get us to . . . Master Latva. Coal says take us to Master Latva. Do it fast. There’s not much time, but he’ll know what to do. The bond has to be passed on . . . no, father. No. I don’t want someone . . .”

  “No, Coal,” said Samson.

  Willum shuddered, his eyes clenched closed, nodding as he heard his father’s request. Finally he opened his eyes and looked at Justan pleadingly. “P-please . . .”

  Coal let out one last breath and was still. Willum fell forward across him and Samson started to fall, but Fist was there, straining as he helped ease the rogue horse to the ground.

  Justan sat there stunned, staring at his master’s body in disbelief. His mother wrapped her arms around him. Jhonate squeezed his hand.

  “Too many deaths,” Fist said. “Too many.”

  “We need to . . .” Justan’s mind went blank. “We need to . . .”

  Run! said Deathclaw. We are waiting for you but you need to run. The wizards say the portal has only so much energy left.

  “Run.” Justan stood and looked back towards the academy. There was a steady stream of creatures still coming. “We need to take Coal and his bonded to the cave and we need to do it quick. The mother of the moonrats knows we’re here and knows we’re vulnerable and she will keep throwing these monsters at us until we’re all dead.”

  “How do we take him?” asked a tall man with an enormous bow slung over his shoulder. He gestured at Samson.

  Justan scratched his head, unsure what to do. Samson was heavy normally, but now he was huge. If he wasn’t so big, Gwyrtha could do it.

  I will take him, said Gwyrtha. Make me big big big.

  Maybe if he undid all the armor changes and used up most of her energy it could work . . . Justan shook his head. “It’s ridiculous. He’s just shaped wrong for that.”

  Make me wide.

  Justan shook his head in exas
peration.

  “We pull him,” said Fist.

  “On what?” Darlan asked.

  “On that,” Fist pointed to the corpse of the dead giant.

  “It’s not quite big enough,” said Jhonate. “His legs will hang off the end.”

  “We’ll heal him afterwards if he gets bumped up too much,” Fist said. “Coal made him tough.”

  Justan hesitated, the ridiculousness of the situation making it a difficult decision to make. Finally he shrugged. “Okay.”

  It took ten men and Fist with Gwyrtha’s help to load Samson on top of the giant’s body. Justan increased Gwyrtha’s size, then wrapped ropes around her chest and shoulders and tied them to the giant’s feet. The large student named Swen took Willum on his horse and Justan laid Master Coal’s body across Gwyrtha’s neck much in the way Beth had been.