by E J Gilmour
Eben saw the water quickly approaching and the giant waves smashing into the cliff face below. A moment later he crashed into the turbulent sea and gently drifted beneath the waves. All went dark.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Red parried an incoming spear and cut down the muckron who had charged him.
‘Red, we have to get out of here!’ cried Stella. He looked back over his shoulder to where Stella and Meara were battling a group of muckrons about ten feet away. The three of them had been forced back from the slope and pushed toward the shore of the bay. The main army of men was retreating further away from them as they fell back toward the hinterland.
‘We have to help Eben and the others!’ shouted Red, trying to fight his way back toward the headland.
‘Red, we can’t help them. The army is retreating!’ cried Meara as she blasted a group of muckrons with a shockwave of raw blue energy.
‘I’m not leaving without Eben!’ cried Red as he cut down another muckron.
A moment later Stella was by his side; together they fought toward the slope that led up to the headland. They battled their way forward, following the edge of the cliff, with Meara not far behind. A swarm of at least a dozen muckrons charged down the hill toward them.
’Meara!’ cried Stella, knowing they couldn’t fight so many at once.
Meara raised her hands and shot dozens of glowing blue darts at the monsters; the muckrons all fell. Meara’s turquoise blue eyes looked back to the battlefield; she knew if they continued to fight they would be cut off from any possible retreat. The Irvarians and Everdonians were fleeing the battlefield. They had been completely overwhelmed.
‘Look!’ cried Stella, pointing ahead beyond the multitude of muckrons to the top of the headland.
At the height of the cliff, about a hundred yards away, they could see a man clothed in black who was holding Eben’s limp body above his head.
‘No!’ cried Red hysterically. Meara watched in horror as the Astarian cast Eben from the cliff top. The three of them stood and watched as Eben’s body fell into the raging waves below.
‘No!’ screamed Red, dashing toward the edge of the cliff.
Meara rushed to Red’s side and grabbed his arm; thinking if she hadn’t Red would have jumped off the cliff after Eben.
‘Red, it’s too late. He’s gone!’ she shouted.
‘No!’ cried Red, tears streaming down his face.
‘We have to go!’
‘Maybe he’s alive! I have to try to save him!’ cried Red. Meara shook her head, knowing Eben would have surely died from the fall if he already wasn’t dead. Stella stared down at the raging water. Her face was pale from shock.
‘Red, Eben is dead,’ said Meara, the words burning her heart. ‘If we don’t leave now we will die here!’ Red looked across to Stella. Blood was dripping down his wife’s face from a cut across her forehead. ‘Listen to me, Red. We have done all we can. We must go!’ Red nodded sadly.
Meara led the way back down toward the shoreline and cleared a path through all the muckrons that stood in their way. The vast majority of monsters were either chasing the retreating army of men toward the north or guarding the approaches to the headland. This gave the three of them a clear path to escape along the coast. Within minutes they had escaped the battlefield. Meara led them for about ten minutes through the hinterland until they came to a forested area where they could hide and rest.
A dark twilight fell across the land. They sat down in a hidden forest glade and wept for their lost friends.
**
‘The shroud has now been lifted and all our fears have been realised,’ said Baftel.
Baftel had used his powers to lead Cassiel, Arlen, and a group of five stranded Irvarian soldiers away from the battlefield and through the wilderness. They had found a small abandoned farmhouse in the hinterland to the north of Crescent Bay.
‘What about the others, Baftel? Can you see Eben, Stella, and Red? What about Meara and the Fiorians?’ asked Cassiel.
‘I cannot see Eben at all. I know that Red, Stella, and Meara live. They are somewhere in the wilderness to the south of us. As for the Fiorians, Tabarians, and the five other Irilians; I fear they may have been slain in the battle because they have fallen from my vision. King Edric managed to escape with what is left of his army; they are retreating north along the highway. As for King Lenard, he was killed in the battle. The Fire Order was scattered after the battle. More than half of the Fire Order was killed.’
‘How did this happen?’ asked Cassiel, still in shock and aching from the battle.
‘The knights and men simply couldn’t match the wyverns,’ said Baftel. ‘The enemy’s lindworms caused havoc on the battlefield. The muckrons also overwhelmed our attack on the headland because they controlled the higher ground. The plan to attack the headland was foolish. The battle was completely lost when we were flanked by the second muckron army. Many men fell trying to fight their way uphill. Those that fell back were slain by the muckron army behind us.’
‘What now. Is this the end?’ asked Cassiel, wondering if there was any hope left.
‘We must move north quickly; we won’t be safe here for long, yet I fear the north will not be safe either,’ said Baftel. ‘An enormous muckron army has entered Vastoria from the Iron Gate Pass. The muckron horde will soon invade Irvaria.’
Cassiel stared at the table and shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t see a way they could possibly go on.
**
Eben awoke.
TO BE CONTINUED…
VEREDOR CHRONICLES BOOK THREE
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