Into the Madness

by Richard H. Stephens

  A tangy taste of salt wafted up the hillside with a scent of sea life—the noise of incessant ocean swells lapped against the rocks, unseen far below.

  She found it hard to believe she had survived the attack of a dragon. A dragon! Who would’ve thought such a creature even existed, let alone this close to Fishmonger Bay. Wait until she told Pollard and Larina. And Olmar! She could just imagine how the giant helmsman’s face would light up.

  The sound of distant voices reached her. She jumped to her feet, her heart hammering in her chest. It took a few moments to determine they came from the direction of the village and not the Summoning Stone. Her heart rate eased but she remained wary. Nocking an arrow, she held it loosely and crouched amongst the thicket at the end of the cabin trail.

  “Och lassie. Don’t ya be frettin’ over poor ol’ Olmar. I may not ‘ave appreciated the ghosties in Pop’s Crypt, but the dark an’ me are close acquaintances.” Olmar’s voice drifted up the trail. “Ain’t to be nothin’ like the night on a stormy sea.”

  Sadyra smiled for the first time in a while at hearing her dear friend’s voice. She lowered her bow, her brooding sadness lifting from her heart.

  “You just be watching you don’t go lollygagging about and end up stepping on me.” Larina’s retort made Sadyra snort.

  She’d barely spit out her laugh when a strong hand pulled her head back against a coarse beard and a dagger came up under her chin. Her arrow dropped to the ground.

  She thought about struggling but whoever had her in their clutches gripped her tight. She wanted to scream out in frustration. She didn’t think she’d been lax in her vigilance. After all, there was a dragon lurking about. She berated herself for allowing herself to be so easily taken.

  A pale orange light materialized from around a bend in the path. In its glow she made out Pollard and Olmar walking ahead of Alhena and Larina.

  She struggled in her captor’s grip, desperately trying to alert them to the danger but the dagger bit into her skin.

  “Ahoy. Look what I’ve got here.” The gruff voice of Karvus sounded in her ear.

  Pollard leaned forward, unsheathing his sword and picking up his pace.

  Olmar rambled up beside Pollard as Alhena increased the light of his staff. “Och, Karvus. You gone an’ captured Sadie!”

  The knife fell away and the iron grip let go.

  Karvus jumped backward to avoid her spinning kick, her foot just missing his pelvis.

  Her frustration at being caught off guard came through in her voice. “You stupid Kraidic imbecile. I might have killed you, sneaking around like that.”

  Karvus afforded her a rare smile. “Aye, if I let you.”

  She wanted to scream she was so furious. She took a couple of calming breaths, her storm-grey eyes boring holes into the brute.

  Pollard put his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off.

  Larina walked past, peering into the darkness beyond. “What are you doing out here? Where’s Melody?”

  Sadyra dropped her murderous glare from the Kraidic emperor. “She’s with Silurian up there.” She indicated with a nod up the side of the mountain; her home hidden from view.

  “He is okay?” Alhena asked, trying to see what she nodded at.

  “Seems to be. Especially considering what we ran into yesterday.”

  Alhena’s stare hardened when she didn’t elaborate.

  “Frustrating, isn’t it?” She winked at the old wizard.

  He frowned.

  “We were attacked by a dragon.”

  Everyone gasped.

  “That’s bad,” Olmar stated the obvious.

  “Our greatest fears are realized.” Alhena leaned on his staff as if it was the only thing keeping him on his feet. “What happened? Is anyone hurt?”

  Sadyra shook her head, the excitement of facing the mythical creature evident in her voice. “No. By rights, we should be dead. You should’ve seen it. It’s huge.”

  Olmar’s face lit up with childhood wonder. “Did it breathe fire on ya?”

  “I’ll say, and then some. Melody and Silurian stood before it and faced it down. It doused them with more flames than I’d ever seen but they combined their magic. Don’t ask me how.”

  The concern on Alhena’s face was plain to see. “And where is it now?”

  Sadyra shrugged. “Beats me. On the Summoning Stone, the last we saw.”

  “The Summoning Stone.” Alhena nodded. “Is it close?”

  Sadyra bent down to retrieve her arrow and pointed with it. “Just over there. You’ll be able to see it as soon as dawn breaks.”

  Karvus glanced at the dark mountain rising up beside them. “Daybreak isn’t far off. If it is as you say, we better get off this hill. We’ll be easily spotted.”

  Alhena adjusted his stance, examining the dark countryside. “He knows we are here.”

  Everyone clutched their weapons tighter, following his gaze as a bizarre noise echoed off the mountain heights.

  At first, Sadyra thought it sounded like a pack of wolves on the hunt. The yipping and yammering increased, the voices of many animals—far too many to be a pack of wolves.

  A shiver of recognition shot through her. She’d heard that same whooping when the minion horde had swept across the Dead Plains. Panic threatened to immobilize her—Fishmonger Bay was being overrun.

  Pollard ran several paces down the trail. “We’ve been followed.” He stopped and looked back at the rest of the group. “We have to save the townspeople.”

  Larina and Olmar looked to Alhena for guidance.

  The old wizard shook his head. “I doubt they will waste their time on the villagers. It is us they are after. They will be here soon enough.” He turned to Sadyra. “We must hurry. Take me to Melody and Silurian.”

  Sadyra put her arrow away and started up the faint track toward her home but a grating screech stopped her in her tracks.

  The others heard it as well.

  Out over the steely waves, its majestic form silhouetted in the dim moonlight close to the horizon, the dragon hovered on the wind. It banked and flew toward them, covering the great distance with graceful strokes of its enormous wings.

  “Run!” Alhena shouted behind her.

  Sadyra didn’t need to be told. Her soft suede boots ate up ground quicker than the rest.

  The first light of dawn brightened the mountainside and the hovel materialized out of the darkness ahead. She heard Karvus close behind her, the Kraidic emperor roaring to get Silurian and Melody’s attention.

  The whoosh of leathery wings made everyone stumble as they craned their necks in time to witness the dragon diving at the hut.

  The maniacal laughter of the black-robed man clinging to the dragon’s neck sent shivers down Sadyra’s spine as Helleden Misenthorpe flew the flaming terror through the sky.

  Silurian jerked awake and looked around alarmed, trying to figure out where he was. The broken piece of furniture beneath him shifted and he fell to the floor. In the dim light of several flickering candles the interior of the cabin came into focus. He sighed at his foolishness. He must’ve drifted off.

  A faint orange glow sprang to life close by, Melody’s bloodshot eyes blinking rapidly behind her staff.

  “You too, huh?”

  She nodded through a large yawn. “What time is it?”

  “No idea.”

  “Did Sadyra come back?”

  He looked around and shrugged. “If she did, she’s not here now.”

  “I had a strange dream.”

  He waited for her to elaborate, vaguely thinking that Helleden’s presence felt much weaker but he couldn’t be sure.

  She got up and found a couple of candle stubs. Speaking as she set them up, she lit the wicks with a blink from her magical staff. “You spoke to the dragon. It recognized you.”

  “Recognized me? Can’t recall ever knowing a dragon.”

  “You walked right up to it, patted its nose and kissed it.”

  “Kisse
d a dragon? You sure that wizard’s bread isn’t tainted?”

  “Ha, ha.”

  “And then what happened?”

  “That’s it. I was rudely awoken by someone falling off their crate.” She sat down next to him. “Speaking of dragons. I can’t help wondering why it suddenly flew away last night. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could’ve held out much longer. The amount of energy I was using left me dizzy.”

  “It’s strange you mention your dream. It was while we were fending off the dragon that I sensed those foreign thoughts. It was like someone was speaking inside my head but I couldn’t understand what they were saying.”

  Melody turned to face him straight on, her face full of concern. “You mean like the Soul?”

  “No.” He frowned and looked away. “No, I don’t think so. It wasn’t the Soul, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  “Ya, no kidding.” He thought hard about the voices but couldn’t explain them any better.

  Melody’s sudden movement snapped him out of his reverie.

  “What is it?”

  She hustled to the doorway and stared into the lifting dark. “I don’t know. Something’s coming.”

  A distant shriek disturbed the stillness of the mountainside.

  “You hear that?” she asked, her staff flaring brighter.

  Joining her at the doorway, he heard the distinct sound. The raucous noise a horde of Helleden’s demons made when they charged—his encounter in the Under Realm still haunted his dreams. He grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. Judging by the rising clamour, many demons were coming for them.

  “Sadyra!” Silurian ran through the doorway and stopped on what remained of a thin porch and stared at the lightening sky. Far over the Niad Ocean, the water unseen through the trees, a shadow filled the eerie glow of the falling moon.

  Melody joined him, her fingers digging into his upper arm. “The dragon!”

  A warning shout echoed off the steep rise behind the hut, too deep to be Sadyra, as the flying beast approached at an incredible rate.

  It took Silurian a moment to realize the implication of Helleden’s foul taint rapidly growing stronger.

  Helleden flew the dragon.

  A bright light shone from the broken doorway. Melody and Silurian burst forth from the hut in time to meet a torrent of sweeping dragon fire as the beast swooped over the hut and lifted into the sky beyond.

  Sadyra sighted it and loosed an arrow, the missile’s flight lost in the early morning darkness. Taking her eyes off the dragon, she was drawn to the roaring flames devouring her childhood home.

  As much as she despised everything that shabby building represented, it felt like a piece of her was dying. She had shared those years with her sisters. She swallowed hard—the flames engulfing her memories.

  Silurian and Melody ran to her side. The Wizard of the North must’ve noticed the tears streaming down her face because she wrapped her in her arms and held her tight.

  Karvus, Pollard and Olmar formed a perimeter around them, their eyes searching the mountain heights.

  Silurian pointed at a spot high up. “There. They must’ve landed.”

  Sadyra stepped free of Melody’s embrace and sniffed, angry at her weakness. “Thank you. I’ll be okay.” She followed Silurian’s finger but couldn’t see anything aside from dark rock faces.

  “Where?” Melody asked.

  “You can’t see him, but I can sense Helleden. They’re up there. Probably waiting until the demons are on us.”

  The whooping beasts came on fast.

  Melody went to Alhena and hugged him briefly. “Phazarus, am I glad you’re here.”

  “Sadyra said you faced the dragon.”

  “Yes, briefly. Enough to get toasted.”

  “How did you deal with it?”

  “Ice wave. I didn’t think fire would help against a dragon.”

  “Ice wave. Hmm?”

  “It barely worked. Without Silurian’s earth blood magic, those flames would’ve eaten through my shield in no time.”

  “And your energy consumption?”

  “Not good. Two blasts from the beast and I was already reeling.”

  “That is what I feared. Perhaps if we combine our spells.”

  “To what end? We can’t hold out forever, nor can we expect the others to take the dragon on.” She turned a troubled face in the direction of Fishmonger Bay. “They’re going to have their hands full as it is.”

  “We are left with little choice.” Alhena stepped away from Melody and raised his voice. “We need you to hold off the demons. Leave the dragon to us.”

  “What about Helleden?” Silurian asked.

  Alhena sighed. “Let us hope he stays on that wretched beast.”

  The screaming demons crashed through the underbrush, not bothering to stick to the path.

  Sadyra followed Larina to the top of a large boulder and laid several arrows beside her. She forced a smile for her closest friend and prepared to meet the ravenous horde.

  Pollard, Olmar and Karvus placed themselves between the boulder and the burning hut, facing the oncoming attackers—their chilling cacophony echoing off the heights.

  “There!” Silurian pointed at a shadow separating itself from the cliffs.

  The dragon burst into view, the morning light glistening off of its sleek, black hide. Lying low over its neck, Helleden hung on tight.

  “Silurian, stand between us,” Alhena said over the rising din.

  The first two demons broke into the open and were felled by arrows to the chest. A fireball ripped through the next red beast, igniting the dry pine tree beside it. Two more arrows released and two more demons crashed to the ground, only to be trampled by those charging up from behind.

  Olmar’s mighty warhammer broke the arm of a beast that held out a shield to protect it. The demon staggered under the blow and stabbed at him with its barbed trident. Olmar followed the momentum of his hammer, stepping around the jab. His battering ram fist smote the back of the creature’s neck, driving it to the ground as his warhammer slid back into both hands and came down hard, crunching its spine.

  Pollard sidestepped Olmar’s victim to intercept two more coming in to fill the gap, his sword taking the top half of the first beast’s head and following through into the shoulder of the second.

  Karvus roared, his colossal battle-axe a whirling dervish of death.

  Melody and Alhena fired multiple rounds into the trees beyond the line of fighting, disrupting the advancing line of Helleden’s minion army.

  Silurian felt useless, unable to contribute to their defense but Alhena had forbidden him from leaving their side. They depended on his earth blood magic to augment their defense until they could figure out a way to defeat the dragon.

  He kept his eyes on the flying menace. Helleden appeared content to let the ground assault play out, unleashing his own barrage from the shoulders of the dragon—red arcs of energy churned up the ground around Alhena’s group.

  “Aim for Helleden!” Silurian shouted as the dragon swooped in closer.

  Melody discharged two quick blasts of ice. The first one missed entirely but the second hit the dragon’s back where its wing extended from its shoulder.

  The dragon shrieked and Helleden shouted something unintelligible as they wheeled over the burning hut.

  With the dragon winging away, Alhena and Melody returned their attention to the battlefield.

  Silurian kept his eyes on the dragon’s flight, hoping to see the sorcerer tumble from his perch, but Helleden wrapped his arms around the thin collar encircling the dragon’s neck and hung on.

  Silurian reeled. Something gripped him. He felt like he’d been hit by a stray fireball. He searched the area around them, expecting to see a ranged unit zeroing in on their position but all he saw was the mayhem around the giants.

  Where was Karvus?

  He located the emperor flailing his axe like a madm
an at the base of the boulder, keeping the flanking demons from overrunning Sadyra and Larina’s position. One, two, three demons came at him, and three demons dropped to the ground dead or seriously maimed. Karvus had no time to consider the injured as others came screaming for him.

  A demon missing the bottom half of its arm rose from the ground and went to bury a spiked club into the back of Karvus’ head but jerked sideways with a throwing knife in its ear. Larina regripped her bow and concentrated on the next threat.

  There was no explanation for the mental pain Silurian experienced. Searching the battlefield, he felt outrage at his violation…but the emotion wasn’t his own.

  He shook his head. If he hadn’t experienced a similar sensation in the Under Realm, he would have thought he was going crazy. Someone had entered his mind, leaving random thoughts and emotions, jumbled and confused. As if whoever did it had no idea what they were about.

  Surely it wasn’t one of his companions. Nor did it make sense that the intruder was among the demon army unless one of Helleden’s wraiths lurked about. None of the enemy combatants appeared to be paying him any attention, they were engrossed with taking on the two giants and the others.

  He peered into the sparse woods and back at the cabin. Nothing.

  Helleden’s taint drifted away, borne on the wings of the dragon. He was certain it wasn’t Helleden. He’d felt the man’s intrusion in the Serpent’s Nest. The magic he gleaned from the earth blood had put a stop to the sorcerer’s intrusion as soon as he had pulled the sword clear of the ancient source of magic.

  The intruding thoughts became weaker and then were gone.

  Olmar’s roar diverted his attention. The giant had lost his warhammer but anyone watching the bloody battlefield would never know he was unarmed. Within each hand he grasped the wriggling forms of two considerable demons. They swiped their weapons at him but even as their sword and axe bit into Olmar’s leather, the giant smashed their faces together with a resounding crack and threw their limp bodies aside, ready for the next creature brave enough to confront him.