“Jaynea?” Davydd called out to her. “We still need to know how many dragol are on their way.”
“At this very moment, there are about a hundred blenders and one principal on their way here.” This voice did not belong to Jaynea. It was Feona.
“Matilom!” Leo screamed. “A god is here!”
Matilom, eyes widened in fear like he’d never shown before, quickly said some incantations and immediately disappeared from Feona’s and Jaynea’s sight. However, he was still visible to everyone else. He moved away from his location just as Feona dropped down there with thunderous force. Everyone could see the depression it made, but not her.
“Mat...” Davydd was cut off by Sam who had instantly closed the distance between them and put his hand over Davydd’s lips in one move.
“Do not give away his position.” Sam whispered.
“What is going on?” Davydd whispered back.
“Remember when you asked him why he could not use strong magic to retrieve the gauntlet?”
“Yes... he avoided that question.”
“Well there’s your answer.” Sam nodded in the direction of the depression. “He uses most of it, to hide from the goddess of death.”
“No matter.” Feona said as she made herself visible.
“I do not have time for the wizard’s games. I will have his soul soon enough.” She turned to Davydd.
“Well then. What will you do...king?”
Davydd turned around to face the rest of the group.
“Gather arms!!” Davydd yelled.
The command set the group in frenzy as everyone rushed to arm themselves with a weapon. Davydd walked up to Feona.
“What do you know of the blenders?”
“Davydd!” Baximus yelled. “That is lady Feona! The goddess of Angweleth. We do not...”
Baximus fell silent when Feona signaled him to stop. She looked at Davydd with her piercing red eyes and smiled inquisitively.
“Do you not know who I am? And what makes you think I know anything more about the blenders?”
“I know who you are well enough. You are the one responsible for my father’s death. And as for the blenders, you’ve fought them. The marks on your body say as much. The only beings I know capable of drawing the blood of a god are the dragols.”
Sam turned to Max and whispered.
“Do you see any injuries?”
“I do not.” Max responded. “I know not what he’s thinking.”
Feona smiled again.
“You are very brave. I wouldn’t expect any less from the son of Rikard Miljorn. Very well then. The dragol who chase you are called blenders, not just because they can remain unseen by becoming invisible, but because they can become anything and anyone that they touch. They are very smart when using this and unless you have a mortal with the gift of the sight...” her eyes darted to Vannera and then Leo “you won’t be able to tell who is a blender and who isn’t. But there is one thing that a blender does not like.”
“What is it?” Davydd asked.
Feona suddenly rushed towards him and thrust her gauntlet wearing hand at his chest. Davydd quickly unsheathed his sword and blocked the blow. The clang reverberated around the area and then became a high pitched scream. It finally died down and all that was left was the low hum of Davydd’s sword and Feona’s gauntlet vibrating in tandem.
“Sound... That sound.” Feona said. It is your fighting chance.”
“And the principal?”
“Oh... That?” Feona slowly lifted her left hand up and over the blade of Davydd’s sword and let her index finger gently rest on his heart.
“There. That’s your fighting chance.” And with that, both Feona and Jaynea began to fade away from visibility. As Jaynea dissolved away, she looked at Vannera.
“Be strong. Remember, here’s your new life.” She said as she vanished completely.
Davydd turned to Baximus and Matilom.
“What do we have that makes that humming noise?” Matilom turned to one of their horses and searched through a bag attached to its saddle. He came back a few minutes later with his hand holding a bunch of small daggers by the handle.
“These daggers are made of a rare metal that hums in a similar manner when it vibrates.” Matilom smiled mischievously.
“I can cast a spell on them that will make them spin faster and impale any blenders that come near.”
“And remember!” Baximus yelled to the group.
“Some of you have never fought dragol before. As such I tell you honestly that not all of you will survive this. The dragol are weak in the chest and stomach area. If you get a chance, do not waste it. And do not hesitate even if the blender is proven to mask as one of you. It means he’s already dead.”
“There is one problem.” Matilom added.
“To spell these daggers, I’ll need a dead blender.”
There was a murmur among the agitated group members. It seemed almost impossible. They had to kill an invisible enemy in order to gain the only advantage they had.
“They come! They come!” Vannera said in barely a whisper as the sounds and growls of the creatures filled the forest around them. Tears fell down her eyes as she began to relive the moments that led to Jaynea’s death. The sounds were nostalgic... as was what she could see. They were still at some distance but closing in fast. It was almost as though they could see through her soul.
“Matilom! Get your spell ready.” Davydd said as he picked up his bow and arrows. He walked over to Vannera and kissed her on the cheek, while gently but firmly pulling her up to her feet.
“Everything will be fine. I need your help. Point me to the one out in front. There is always a fastest one in a herd. Trust me.”
Vannera was breathing heavily but she closed her eyes and calmed herself. When she opened them, they scanned the forest area in front and her right arm slowly lifted up and pointed to an area high on the right. Davydd nodded and concealing his movements from the area the dragol were approaching from, placed the arrow on the bow’s string. He pulled the arrow back until the rope was taut and waited. It wasn’t long before he heard the distinct growl of a dragol coming from the direction Vannera had pointed in. The execution was instant. Davydd whirled around, his balance sure and his aim steady. His right hand was pulled back as far as it could go and his fingers uncoiled like a spring. The arrow flew with ferocious velocity, and whistled through the air. It stopped on an invisible target with a thump. What followed was a series of loud guttural noises with the arrow appearing to be yanked about. The blender slowly became visible as it fell lifelessly from a high tree branch to the forest ground below.
“Max!” Davydd yelled.
Max nodded and a portal opened up around the blender. Max grabbed the blender and opened up a portal in front of Matilom, dumping the body there on the ground.
“Whatever you need to do, do it now.” Davydd said to Matilom.
Matilom nodded and chanting out some incantations. He had laid the daggers in a row on the ground. As he lifted his hands the daggers were raised up from the ground by some unseen force. They all impaled the body of the dead blender and slowly began to glow with a bluish aura.
“That’s one unfortunate blender.” Max said to Sam who managed to smile at the joke. The growls had gotten closer and the group got even more agitated. However, Matilom’s spell concluded with the daggers pulling back out of the blender’s body and floating to each member of the group. They spun slowly at the back of their necks.
“Do not be afraid.” Matilom said.
“They will not cut you. However, if they spin faster and make a humming sound, there is a blender nearby. I hope the gods give you sight to see it before it sees you.”
“Angwelethean warriors!” Davydd called. “I am not asking you to lay down your life and fight for me. You are here because you believe in our land, our right to live and our freedom.”
The group responded with a chorused ruahhh.
“I believe i
n those very same things. It’s why I’m here. It’s why we are all here!”
Ruahhh!
“This will be the first of many battles and challenges we will face, the first of many we will overcome!!”
Ruaaahhh!
“Whatever happens here today, you are all warriors of Angweleth. Warriors of Terrianus. Never forget that!!”
Ruaaaaahhh!!!
“So I implore you, to help me. Help me and by the name of Feona, FIGHT!”
RUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Davydd walked over to Vannera and motioned for Max to come to him.
“Vannera. I need you to be our eyes. Matilom’s spell is reassuring, but I need you to watch over us.” Vannera nodded and turned to Max.
“You heard my king. Can you be in many a place at once?”
Max smiled at the question.
“My princess I am always everywhere.”
“Sam! You are in charge of seeing as many blenders on the ground to their deaths. You are the fastest.”
“It would be my pleasure.” Sam nodded.
“Leo. I leave you to your element.”
“Your highness.”
“We head towards the shores!” Ergol yelled. The growls were upon them. “Move!!!”
It had begun. Some of the men mounted their horses and began racing through the forest as branches fell around them. The fire had caught up to them and it engulfed the trees around them, including the roots and smaller plants closer to the forest bed. As they ran, they could hear the occasional whirring of the daggers followed by the cries of one of their own, being mauled by the savage blenders. Despite their fears, they turned to fight the unseen blenders, and the bloody clashes resulted in the occasional victory for one of Ergol’s men. Davydd ran after Sam, trying to follow the trail he left. His dagger whirled faster and hummed.
“Davydd! Behind you!” Vannera yelled.
Davydd unsheathed his sword and rolled to his left, dodging the slam of a blender’s arm and claws, aimed to rip him to shreds on the first blow. The whirling dagger was taking its effect, and the blender staggered and howled loudly, while it covered its ears with its arms. The dagger projected forward and pierced the blender in the abdomen. It wailed in pain and tried to rip the dagger from its belly, but Matilom had spelled them so that they could not be removed, once they had impaled their victims. Davydd seized the opportunity to plunge his sword deep into the chest of the blender. The dying creature wailed loudly and extended its claws in a last ditch effort to slay Davydd. However, its hand never made it that far. An unseen weapon opened up a deep wound on the blender’s arm, which quickly dug through the entire arm until it had been cut off from the elbow joint.
“Thank you Leo.” Davydd said as he sprinted away.
Baximus blocked four blows by four different blenders in quick succession. The blows forced him this way and that, and he struggled to stay on his feet. This wasn’t just an attack. This was meant to be extermination. There were still so many of them and all the while, he could see the figure of the great principal flying overhead. The spinning dagger behind him whirled loudly again. He arched backward as a huge scaly arm shot forward where his upper torso had been. No sooner than he’d finished dodging that blow, did he have to twist his body back up to avoid another one. He grabbed the first blender’s arm which was recoiling, to help pull him upwards and regain his balance. Baximus let go as that blender attempted a swipe at him. He bent low to avoid the blow, which caught the other blender behind him. The distraction gave him an opening and he pivoted on his left leg, slashing with his sword clockwise. All four blenders received deep gashes to their mid-sections and after a series of deep guttural sounds, they slowly dropped to the ground, with their insides spilling out. Baximus was already away from them, running towards the shores.
In another part of the forest, Matilom rode his horse as quickly as he could. He could not use any magic, as all of his concentration was invested in the enchanted daggers, and also rendering himself beyond Feona’s senses. As such, Matilom focused on moving through the forest as quickly as possible. He was the only one without a spinning dagger, for as much as it’s loud whirling noise upset the blender’s enough to make them lose their camouflage, it did not stop them from attacking and thus ripping their victim to shreds. All around him, he could hear the sounds of the battle ensuing. He could tell which side had earned a kill. It was always the blenders who let him know. There was a loud and powerful roar when a blender killed a human, while a shriek and cry of pain was heard when a blender had met its end. The deaths of the young men tore at Matilom’s conscience. He battled between throwing caution to the wind by helping them now, and believing in them and thus saving himself for the long haul when he would perhaps be more useful. He knew that if he even so much as revealed himself, Feona would claim his soul.
“Coward!” He cursed at himself under his breath. His breathing was heavy and labored now, and as the horse galloped on, he lurched over and wrapped his arms around himself. He didn’t even notice that he had let go of his staff which fell on a tree root and made a noisy thud as it did. Matilom soon followed. The horse neighed loudly and galloped away through the forest. Matilom got to his feet and held his breath as the blenders closed in on his location. He could barely make out two of them. Their figures just barely distorted the things around them as they moved. He could hear them and feel their stares on him and yet he did not move or make a sound. There was a loud growl and then the figures prepared to attack. Matilom took a deep breath and lifted up his palms. If he was going to die, he’d rather it be by Feona than these monsters. He dispelled the magic that hid him from Feona’s view, as fire began to form and encircle his hands very quickly. The fire did not touch or burn him, even though his hands shone bright red and the heat radiating from the flames was almost unbearable for the blenders. They started to pull back. Matilom let out a loud yell and released the flames. They rushed forward from his arms and engulfed the blenders, including their surroundings. The monsters let out loud screams of pain, running around helplessly as the flames burned through their scales and devoured them alive. Matilom took deep breaths of relief and bent down to pick up his staff. When he straightened back up, Feona was standing in front of him. In that moment, terror seized Matilom. He looked directly at the goddess of death. Fear would not let him break his gaze, though he tried his best to hide the dread that had engulfed him.
“Two decades and three years you have eluded me wizard.”
“O... Oh my. It’s been that long already? I really thought it was shorter than that.”
“Don’t worry wizard. It won’t be longer than this.” Feona reached back with her gauntlet and thrust it forward towards Matilom’s chest. Matilom held his breath and braced for the worst, but Feona’s hand never reached his chest. A portal opened up in front of Matilom and he was immediately dragged in. Feona slowly pulled her hand back and sighed heavily. Jaynea appeared behind her at that moment.
“He has evaded me once again. That mortal... Max, had to master one of the most useful powers of mine didn’t he?”
“You... could always take it away.” Jaynea said shrugging.
Feona looked at her.
“You know I can’t do that... without consequences.”
They both observed Segmiatus dive under a thick tree root that had risen above soil level to evade a blender’s blow. The blender took a step forward but one of Matilom’s spelled daggers whirled loudly and impaled the blender in the foot. The blender stumbled and fell beside Segmiatus on its back, exposing its belly. Segmiatus quickly got up to his feet and stabbed repeatedly, until the blender was dead. He heaved and panted, trying to regain his breath.
“Oh my Feona.” He exclaimed under his breath as he darted off again.
Feona sighed again.
“And I absolutely hate it when he says that.”
Jaynea could barely suppress a smile.
The portal opened up and Max pulled out a weakened Matilom.
“Thanks to you I live to take another breath.” Matilom said in gratitude.
He caught Vannera staring at him curiously, out of the corner of his eye. “Is something the matter other than my close encounter with death?”
“Well... there’s... this black aura around you... and it’s pulsating outwards. It is barely there and then it’s really there but it’s...”
Matilom took another deep breath and slowly began to sit up.
“...it’s fading away. What is it?” Vannera asked.
“I didn’t think you’d be able to see life energies this quickly. The stress of this battle must have forced a monumental improvement to your sight.”
“So I see your life energy?”
“Yes, and because you see it as a black pulsating light, it means I was close to death.”
“I... see... Well... it’s a blue-white now.”
“All mortals have a blue-white aura as the color of their life force, except for the dragol, who have a violet or purple aura. Blue and white are the colors of Lynda, the goddess of life.”
Vannera looked all around her, at the trees, their branches and leaves. She looked at the birds and all the other animals living on the upper canopy of the forest and those living on the forest bed. Vannera then turned her gaze to Max. All of them including Max had the same blue-white aura around them. However, the auras seemed to have different characters. Some were steady, while others seemed to move and shape shift the way tongues of fire do as they burn through an object, others still pulsated at different rates.
“This... is... incredible.” Vannera said as she was awestruck. She turned to Matilom.
“Do god...”
“We have to move, my child.” Matilom said interrupting her.
“Max can you transport both of us and still cover the area.”
Max nodded and three portals instantly opened up, enveloping the three of them before closing up.
Davydd pressed his back to a tree trunk and slid out of Balek’s line of sight. He waited till he could no longer hear the flapping wings of the principal and bolted off again. At this point, he was certain that the principal was looking for him. He wondered if he was the main reason for this attack and for all the lives that had been lost. Davydd felt sick to his stomach, for he knew answer to those questions. One of Ergol’s men ran past him, but Davydd caught hold of the man’s left shoulder, pulling him back towards him. The man whirled around screaming, as he thrust his sword at Davydd. Davydd parried the attack and grabbed the man by the neck. He pulled him around and slammed his back into a tree trunk, fiercely but surprisingly quietly. His vice like grip had cut off the man’s air and silenced the scream. When the man had calmed down, Davydd slowly released his grip.
Metal and Magic: A Fantasy Journey Page 73
