"Perfect." Drugan waved his hand and uncloaked his spell revealing Veselus with an army behind him. "It wasn't easy, but I gathered a thousand or so elves. Some from Elestus, some from Villamari, and even some Xenduri from various camps. However, I failed to enter the castle and communicate with the other Houses."
"My lord," interrupted a Rigan warrior. "Your scout has returned."
"Thank you,” said Ostasis. “I’ll return shortly with the news."
"Do you think the falcons will be a match for the dragon?" Odder asked Drugan.
"Hard to say, ten against one, but the dragon is formidable. Luckily, we may not have to fight it. We spotted him burrowed into the castle ruins."
"That aligns with what Destin told me," Odder uttered. "He said the Divine Oracle plans on possessing the basalt dragon."
Drugan tapped his lips. "We have missed something. There is a greater evil happening."
"What do you mean?" asked Odder.
Drugan pounded his fist into his palm. "First, we must focus on this battle."
Ostasis returned. "My scout confirmed the goblin army has taken the city, but he couldn’t get a good head count."
"How did they cross the lake," Aimma questioned.
"From the west side, they built two bridges made from trees, boulders, and their dead bodies. Apparently, the more goblins the Skyger warriors killed, the more corpses were thrown into the bridge."
"We should fly in from the east then," Odder said.
"Agreed," Ostasis said. "My warriors will go first."
"We'll need your warriors for hand to hand combat." Drugan summoned a Xenduri warrior. "We should send in the Xenduri to take out the goblin lookouts. They will be harder to detect with their dark blood. Then we'll have archers lineup on the crest on the west side to draw in the goblins so we can enter the ground on the east."
The group agreed and the warriors prepared for battle.
Drugan approached Serra, held out his palm, and pulled a dagger from his belt. He sliced it across his palm and smeared his black blood on his face. "It is our tradition when we go into battle."
Without hesitation, Serra cut her palm and smeared her blood across her forehead and down her cheeks. She then opened her portal bag, pulled out handfuls of stilettos, and attached them to holsters on her thighs.
Finkle practiced swinging his hammer, and Aimma polished her wand.
Drugan cloaked a falcon and an ark loaded with ten Xenduri. "Signal me with fire jays when we are clear," he said to the warriors.
Odder climbed into an ark, his damp hands clasped, waiting for the signal. He glanced at the merging Eye, Kellas, and Ophelia. His angst crawled under his skin. "We are out of time. We have to go now!"
"Be calm and patient lad," whispered Drugan. "Our time will come. Until then you need to show the elves you are the Champion who will lead them to victory. They are here because they believe in you."
Odder pondered Drugan's words. He stepped out the ark and climbed onto the falcon.
"Odder, what are you doing?" asked Finkle.
"My destiny." He stood tall and addressed the elves. "Today, we fight against great odds."
The warriors mumbled among themselves.
"Most of us may not see the next passing of light, but we fight for the lives of all our kind. We were Seven Houses divided, we were elves and Xenduri, noble and servant, but now, we are Elven, and we are united against a great evil. With all that is good within us and the blessing of the Celestines, we will prevail. When the blood flows at your feet, and you see death circling, have faith. When death has a hold of your heart and must make a choice between you or your enemy, look at death in the face and claim victory. There is no other choice. We must fight and have faith."
A sudden flock of fire jays flew into the air from the crest.
"The signal!" Odder lifted his golden arm. "To victory!"
The elves repeated, "To victory," and roared as they took flight.
The falcons swooped in low, soaring on the edge of the volcano, and dropped off the archers on the west side below the crest. Once the archers took their position, they shot into the shallow crater attempting to draw the attention of the goblins.
Meanwhile, the other falcons made trips back and forth to the east side dropping off the warriors where they gathered and hid under the volcano's edge.
"We need a warrior to look over the crest and give us an assessment," Drugan said.
"I can," replied Finkle. He scurried up the hill like a rodent climbing a pile of wheat. A few minutes later he returned. "The good news is there are fewer goblins than I thought. The bad news, I'm guessing, around ten thousand." He wiped his forehead. "No sign of the dragon, but the Queen is standing at the portal with the Prince at her side. Also, eight reapers are kneeling with chains binding them to the portal."
"What about the archers?" asked Serra.
"The plan's working. They have blackened the sky with their arrows and are drawing the goblins west, but we still have thousands of goblins on this side."
"Did you see the Maha'De?" Odder asked. "Was it in his hand?"
"Yes. The Prince held it to his side, but it didn't have the radiance as it did with you."
Odder's eyes gleamed. A seed of hope sprouted from the soil of desolation, and his confidence grew.
"This is good news," said Drugan. "We will surround Odder and advance to the Maha'De like a wedge into a log. Ostasis, lead half your warriors to the east and keep the goblins from returning."
Ostasis approached Odder. "You need a weapon. Here is my personal sword. Like our fire sticks, the elven steel will glow red from the intense heat. To unlock the sword's magic, you must feel the heat of passion within you and utter the words, incendium."
Odder repeated the word, and the sword blazed.
Drugan gave Odder a stern look. "Time to lead your elves."
Odder lifted his golden arm and waved the warriors forward. They stopped just at the edge. He looked over then sat back and turned to Finkle. "You didn't say there were goblins riding trolls."
Finkle winced and shrugged.
Serra peeked over. "Yes. Hard to miss the trolls. Worst of all, they are naturally resistant to magic attacks." She slapped Finkle's back. "We'll just have to use our blades. Come on gnomie. Who wants to live forever anyway." She jumped the edge, slid down the gravel, and launched a barrage of stilettos at the enemy.
"Wait, Serra." Odder reached for her but missed. "Ah! Here we go."
He jumped with Drugan, Finkle, Aimma, and Corbin right behind. The rest of the warriors followed while the falcons took flight carrying the arks with crossbowmen firing into the crowds of goblins and trolls.
"No matter what the cost, protect Odder," shouted Drugan, racing down the hill. "He must be the one to wield the Maha'De and stop the Queen."
The goblins swarmed like a ravenous colony of ants. The larger Guriquars, wielding saw throwers, attacked the falcons while the smaller Skags attacked the elves with swords, clubs, axes, and spears. Only the Dekans mounted the trolls, controlling them from a basket located behind the troll’s head, and using chains attached to rings in the troll’s nostrils to direct them. They swung large clubs with spikes, bashing away both elves and goblins.
Finkle crushed some goblins and launched others into the air using Valsar, his war hammer. Aimma launched fireballs and performed spot healing to the elves close to her. Corbin used his brute strength to pummel the goblins. Serra, Drugan, and the Rigan warriors sliced a path for Odder as they progressed forward toward the portal.
Fire, lighting, explosions, and energy bursts covered the landscape while the pungent odor of burnt flesh, blood, and sulfur flooded the air.
A rampaging troll with a dead Dekan dangling from its basket broke the line and stomped toward Odder. Serra climbed its back and stabbed it repeatedly between the shoulders with no effect. Drugan launched fireballs at its eyes blinding the troll. Corbin intercepted and with his one strong arm, gripped its neck and held him a
way from Odder. Then several Rigan warriors leaped onto the troll and sliced until it fell dead.
"There are dozens of these trolls," Finkle said. "We can’t take them all."
The elves continued to press forward, protecting Odder, but dwindling in numbers. The defensive line to the east broke, and a rush of goblins fast approached.
Odder looked around the carnage. Time seemed to slow down like movements in a dream. He watched Finkle swinging his hammer, knocking away dozens of goblins at a time. Aimma and Drugan launched fireball after fireball, Corbin held a dead skag in his hand and used it as a club, but Serra wasn't fighting. She stood upright with her dagger in her hand.
Odder screamed, "Serra!" She did not respond.
A blurred figure casually moved through the combatants and approached Serra.
"Serra!" He screamed again.
The distortion molded into Destin. Odder gasped. His adrenaline spiked, and he sprinted to Serra.
She reached for Destin as if in a daze. Her eyes darkened, and her markings twisted on her skin. Destin embraced her and turned her back toward Odder. The stitched mouth on Destin's morbid mask bowed up. Until now, the facade looked lifeless and inanimate.
The mask provoked and taunted Odder as he struggled to Serra's location. Two goblin's jumped in front of him. "I don't have time for you." Odder struck one with his sword and incinerated the other with magic fire.
Destin lifted a dagger behind her, the same dagger Serra lost to the shadow reaper.
What can I do? If I shoot a fireball, it will harm Serra too. He threw his sword and guided it with his thoughts. The sword whistled past elves and goblins, but then a troll intercepted the blade with its body.
Destin raised his dagger. Odder cringed, anticipating its quick plunge into Serra's back, but instead, the dagger fell from Destin's hand, and he collapsed.
Odder jumped up and ran to her. She stood over Destin's motionless body. Her dagger fixed into his chest. He grabbed her arm. "Serra?"
She took a deep breath. "I was powerless against it. The smell intoxicating, the evil alluring. The darkness consumed every part of me. I believed in its promises. I surrendered, and for a moment I left, but something brought me back. I can't describe it, a feeling, a warmth. Then strength came to me. I lifted my dagger and pierced his heart."
The others soon arrived.
"Serra, are you injured?" asked Finkle.
Aimma examined her. "She'll be alright. Just in shock."
Drugan placed his hands on her forehead and chanted a spell. As he pulled his hands away, a screeching black mist followed. He threw it into the air where it disappeared.
Serra snapped her head back and came to her senses. She looked down at Destin's body and retrieved her two daggers. Holding them up like lost pets, she said, "Welcome home."
The hordes of goblins from the east arrived and surrounded the remaining couple hundred elves and forced them into a circular defensive formation. The Maha'De gleamed in Destin's belt. Odder seized it and held it above his head. The sword flashed and caught everyone's attention.
"Odder, look above," said Drugan.
A sudden silent eruption of red, purple, and blue lightning surrounded the union of Kellas, Ophelia, and the Eye of Adeit. A beam of energy discharged to Arcaina, removing the color from the skies, and causing everything to gray. The portal blazed and the solid stone center shattered like glass then imploded, making a thunderous sound. The battle froze as everyone stood in wonderment.
The portal sucked in several objects and two nearby goblins which incinerated into dust.
The reapers dug their feet into the ground and pulled at their chains resisting the portals pull.
The goblin army parted, leaving an opening to the Queen. She stood halfway between Odder and the portal.
The Queen, in her half scorpion body, held a spear in one hand and motioned with her other. "Come to me Odder and fulfill your destiny."
Odder commanded the others to stay. "This is my fight. Focus on the goblins and trolls, and leave her to me."
His friends nodded.
"Have faith, good friend," Finkle said. "You are the Champion wielding the greatest sword in history."
Odder took a long breath, turned, and walked toward Queen Sorren. He stopped several yards from her. "Here I am." He held up the Maha'De. "I will take vengeance for the many deaths including Prince Destin's."
The Queen laughed. "Destin was a fool. Look at your arm. He thought by simply cutting it off would be enough to open the portal to the demon realm. Your demon blood is not just in your arm. It's in every part of you."
She pulled his severed arm from a satchel around her waist and threw it into the portal. It fell in like a rock thrown into a pond. "However naive Destin's motives, his plan did get you here. Now fulfill your destiny and enter the portal."
"You're insane." Odder raised the Maha'De. "I will kill you." He charged, jumped in the air with both hands on his sword, and swung at the Queen's head.
She blocked the attack with her spear knocking Odder to the ground.
He scrambled back and climbed to his feet. The Maha'De should have sliced right through her weapon.
"Look around Skyger. Do you see any high wizards? I killed them all. There is no one left to bless your sword. It's useless."
"No!" Odder charged again, this time summoning an onslaught of lightning bolts.
She blocked the attack with a magic shield.
Odder stabbed the sword into her chest. Only its tip pierced. She swung her spear and knocked him to the ground. Her wound healed.
"You're mislead," said Queen Sorren. "Do you think you're on the right side? The demons will bring order. You’ve witnessed the greed of your rulers. You've seen how the Seven Houses use silq to control this world. They don't care about you or the elves. To them, the only thing that matters is the silq. The silq gives them life."
"Serra, I need help." Odder mind whispered. "The Maha'De is no good without being blessed."
Odder remembered Salvat's words about the demon blood. He stood holding his palm out. "You need me alive, or the demon blood won't be of any use." He peered back and saw the others fighting their way to him. "What's in it for me?"
"Once you walk through the portal, you will become a god with unlimited power in the demon world."
I have to stall, Odder thought. "Yes, yes. All my life I have wanted to wield magic, and now I can become a god."
The Queen smiled. "Yes, enter the portal."
Odder walked past her keeping his distance. He neared the reapers.
"Odder." Serra pointed. "The reapers, they are holding the portal open."
He sprinted behind one, plunged his sword into its back, then kicked it to the ground. The portal sucked the reaper in and turned it into dust. Odder ran toward another reaper.
The Queen cried out. "Stop, or I will send the healer into the portal and kill the Xenduri."
The Queen enclosed Aimma with a magic net, pushing her toward the portal while firing a continuous magic blast of energy at Serra.
Serra countered with her magic, but with no avail. Her power faded. "I can't hold back her attack for much longer," she said, her words yearning for help.
Odder stopped, frozen with indecision.
Finkle and Drugan stood back to back as trolls closed in on them. Goblins entrapped Corbin to the ground, attempting to dismantle him with their swords and spears.
"You can't save them all," said the Queen, "but if you make the ultimate sacrifice, then I promise to spare their lives."
Odder's stomach churned, and his breathing constricted. A severe pain pierced his heart. He grabbed his chest. The poison, it finally reached my heart. He tightened his grip on the Maha'De and closed his eyes. "Celestines, if you are truly there, please help me."
He remained silent, listening, but no answers came to him.
"Your sacrifice," the Queen repeated.
The Queen's energy blast inched closer to Serra. Her defenses weaken
ed, and her arms trembled. A violent red glow discharged from Serra's eyes and mouth as she screamed.
'Your sacrifice' resonated in his thoughts. His mind cleared. That's the answer. His body relaxed. I do have a choice. Odder drove his sword into the volcanic ground and stumbled toward the Queen's energy blast.
"Serra," Odder mind whispered. "I know what I have to do. I can't explain it. It's just a feeling."
He stopped just before the beam, holding his chest. He glanced at Aimma and Serra. Serra shook her head and mouthed, no.
"You can try countering my attack," said Queen Sorren, "but you will sacrifice the healer."
"That’s not my plan at all, but I will stop you." With those words, Odder fell into the queen’s energy blast.
Odder's body shook as the magic overpowered him, stifling his instinct to cry out as his lifeforce dimmed. The Queen and Serra stopped their attack, and Odder's smoking body collapsed to the ground.
"No!" the Queen screamed, releasing Aimma.
The goblins stopped their attack and Serra, Aimma, Drugan, and Finkle ran to Odder's limp body.
Odder found himself looking down at Aimma as she conjured spells.
"Heal him," Finkle said, hitting his hammer into the ground.
"I'm trying," Aimma said. "Nothing's working."
"There must be something you can do?" Serra questioned.
Odder’s friends huddled around his body with panic in their eyes. They're trying to bring me back. My plan worked. Their movements slowed until they came to an eventual halt – frozen in time. He looked around the battlefield. The goblins, trolls, and Queen also stood motionless like statues.
"Odder," a transcendent voice called.
He looked around unable to pinpoint the source until the portal caught his eye. Vivid colors flared out like tentacles of light.
"Here," the voice said.
Odder moved in front of the portal. A ten-foot-tall, creature with three faces and six wings, appeared on the other side. Its translucent skin flashed a rainbow of bright colors like exploding stars. Surrounding him in the portal were swirls of golden light.
"Are you a demon?" asked Odder.
"I am Grigori, a Celestine assigned to watch over you."
Odder- The Blood Curse Page 31
