by Dante King
“Bet you didn’t expect fire Augmenters, you bastards!” Veltai roared behind us.
We charged into the gap and went to work with our weapons. Kegohr’s mace bowled guards over and crushed their bones. Vesma danced in and out among them and found stabbing gaps in their defenses with her spear. I slashed with the Sundered Heart Sword and carved off limbs as readily as chunks of enemy shields.
More of Beqai’s forces streamed in behind us as we pushed through the first wave of defending guild soldiers. Every door in the courtyard flung open, and a mass of initiates, disciples, and guards alike appeared.
The masses collided in the courtyard with an explosion of steel sparks, ice, and fire. There was no time or space to form neat ranks. The fight was a maelstrom of crashing weapons, flashing magic, and colliding bodies.
I led my band in a push across the yard. I broiled two guards with an Acidic Cloud and heard Nydarth hum in pleasure as I took their heads from their shoulders. We needed to break through their ranks, but for every guild member I cut down, there was always another to take his place.
It seemed that King Beqai’s plan had totally gone to shit, and every member of the guild was under Horix’s sway. I didn’t want to totally annihilate a guild, but it seemed there would be no choice now that every member had chosen to stand with their Guildmaster.
A soldier charged at me and held his trident low to run me through. Before he could complete the attack, I shot thorns straight into his face, blinded him, and hit him with a backfist as he charged past. The guard collapsed to the stones of the courtyard, and I dispatched him with a rapid stab through the gut.
A group of Augmenters, distinguished as disciples by the blue trim on their robes, advanced and raised their hands to summon Ice Spears. I countered with an enormous Ash Cloud and rushed forward to take advantage of their blindness.
The first disciple flung an Ice Spear at me. It hit my chest in a bolt of sheer luck and glanced off my armor. The other disciples weren’t so quick. I cut down the first offender with a blurring cut to his throat. Another staggered out of the cloud with a dagger in his hand, his flesh blistered and oozing from my acid. The Sundered Heart flared in an arc to take his hand. The disciple screamed as I pierced his throat and kicked him from the blade of my sword.
“Oh, yes, sweet man,” Nydarth said inside my head. “Keep the magic flowing. Keep the power flowing. Keep the blood flowing. I know you can win this.”
Yo Hin took flight as he used his extraordinary fire power to launch himself into the air. He hovered over his opponents as he tossed fireballs down at them. Some managed to hurl Ice Spears back at him, but the projectiles melted before they could touch him.
I slashed down and burned through a disciple’s Frozen Armor as Veltai threw herself into a pack of initiates. Flames flared from her nunchucks as she knocked out one man with her weapon, shoulder barged another to the ground, and then stomped on his throat. She finished the last of the knot with a burst of Untamed Torch. The man screamed as his flesh melted away under the intense heat of Veltai’s attack.
An initiate on a nearby balcony hurled an Ice Spear at Yo Hin. The weedy Radiant Dragon disciple bobbed and weaved through the air as the spear flew past an inch from his face. Yo Hin and Veltai fired at once, and their Untamed Torches hit the sniper in a blast of flames. The initiate howled as he toppled from the balcony in a mass of scorched flesh and blazing clothes.
I kicked back a guard as he tried to ram his spear into Vesma’s unarmored back. A root burst from the pavestones from beneath his feet and caught him around the leg as Faryn appeared off to my left. She curled her fingers as she channeled her Strangling Roots technique. I slashed the throat of the immobilized guard in front of me and watched as a chunk of guards fought off panic and backed away from Faryn.
More roots knocked cobblestones aside and grasped at the legs of the fleeing guards. The twists of greenery worked their way up their legs before they climbed up the torsos of the increasingly panicked soldiers. I decapitated one to my right and ripped open another’s throat with a spray of Stinging Palm thorns. The guards turned from their fight with us to attack the forces of nature that threatened to slow them in their escape. One of them cut himself as he sliced hastily at the roots. Three other guards howled curses as roots toppled them over and wrapped around their throats.
I hit a disciple with a head kick as Faryn changed her stance and Smothering Leaves rushed the enemy. A whirlwind of foliage swirled around the trapped soldiers, and Augmenters rushed in to protect them by raising shields of ice and using their Ice Spears to cut through the roots. It was a good effort, but the elf was already a step ahead of them.
Faryn twisted her hands, and the leaves aged. Fresh greenery faded to the withered brown shapes of dried autumn leaves. Vesma stepped forward and launched a burst of fire from her Flame Shield. I cast a wide stream of Untamed Torch, and our techniques ignited the leaves and the roots. A tornado of dried Smothering Roots became a wildfire and billowed around the guards and the Augmenters. The heat of the flames melted Frozen Armor and Ice Spears. Embers seared flesh and ripped howls of pain from strong men.
Boosted by a flow of magical water from Kumi, I fought back the initiates and disciples with a boost of water from Kumi. A fresh wave advanced from the guest quarters. I summoned Plank Pillars to hold back their advance and set the wooden shafts alight to break their formation. Blasts of fire made them duck for cover and kept them scattered.
Kegohr shattered one of the fresh guards’ skulls as he pushed out from the center of the courtyard. Spirit of the Wildfire blazed within him so fiercely that the magic glowed through his gray skin. It created a fiery aura from the tips of his pointy ears to the ends of his clawed toes. He swung his two-handed mace in huge, destructive arcs that scythed through the enemy and further broke their formation.
I blocked a spear thrust from another reinforcement, sliced the offending weapon in half, and crushed the guard’s throat with an ice-covered fist.
Kegohr roared so loud that it shook the shutters of the windows. “Come on, then!” he bellowed. “Where’s your superiority now, you bastards!?”
A group of trident-wielding guards advanced on Kegohr from one side and drew his attention. I ducked under a sword and shoved away an initiate as I sprinted to help my friend. Keghor slapped tridents aside as he pushed back his new trio of attackers. But his attention was split, and he couldn’t see a new pair of guards charge him from behind.
Veltai was there before they could strike. She delivered a flying kick to the head that sent a guard sprawling in a spray of blood and teeth. Her nunchucks whirled around and smacked the next one before she caught a spear in the weapon’s chains and snapped its shaft in two.
Kegohr twisted around with wild fury in his eyes and lifted his mace high above his head, For a moment, I thought that he was going to crush Veltai along with the guards. But then, recognition dawned, and he smiled at her. Kegohr backhanded a half-stunned guard to his left with his mace and met her eye.
“Love your work, big guy!” I shouted out to him as I skewered a soldier.
Kegohr ignored me as he and Veltai stood across from each other with battle-lust grins. Sweat glistened on their skin as they covered each other’s backs to face a new pack of water Augmenters. A guard attacked me from the left with a vicious two-handed strike. I parried his blow with the Sundered Heart and rammed him with my armored shoulder. The guard sprawled toward Veltai and Kegohr as the pair moved in unison. They fought off Ice Spears and frozen whips, defended each other as attacks came from the sides, and created a single force of destruction from two bodies in harmony.
Vesma appeared at my side with a Flame Shield on her arm. She flicked blood from the head of her spear and thrust it behind me to claim another life.
“They’re keeping us boxed in too well” she panted.
An Ice Spear slammed into my shoulder, forced to me to steady my feet, and left a deep crack in my armor.
“Wish
they’d taken the option to surrender,” I said. “We could’ve kicked back with a beer in the palace.”
“You’re not fooling anyone,” Vesma shot back. “You love a fight as much as I do.”
Another Ice Spear hissed down from the ramparts, and I shoved her clear of its path. “Yeah, I do.”
“So, what’s your plan?”
“Burst open Horix’s door and kick his teeth in. We need to push further into the building.” I pointed at the double doors leading to the guest quarters. “That’s a good place to start.”
A pack of heavily armored guards fought off Qihin soldiers and painted the pavestones with their blood as I kicked a screaming initiate out of my way toward the guest quarters. These new guards had silver streaks on their helmets and wielded ice-encrusted longswords and shields.
“Once someone’s inside, they’ll have to pull troops back to stop us running riot through the guild house!” I shouted to Vesma.”Gives everyone else their chance to get in.”
“Right behind you.”
“I’ll come with you,” Kumi said behind us. “I’ll do my best to keep your weariness at bay and heal your wounds. You need to be fresh until you reach Horix.”
We took up a triangular formation. Kumi and Vesma stood behind me while I took point. We advanced purposefully across the courtyard with flames flowing from our blades as we cut through the troops who stood in our path. Kumi channeled her water magic into me and Vesma, keeping our spirits and energy high.
Shields and spears blocked our path as we fought our way to the doors of the hall. Slithers of ice hurtled down at us from the balcony above. One caught Vesma in the shoulder but Kumi immediately healed the wound. I cut down a pair of guards with a ripple of Acidic Cloud and two mighty strikes.
Our comrades came behind us and covered our backs as we advanced. Faryn’s Strangling Roots and Plank Pillars covered one flank while the whirling death machine of Kegohr and Veltai scared back attackers on the other. But still the bulk of the guild forces kept formation in front of us. Their numbers were so much more than I’d expected.
A metal polearm lunged at my head with a tip coated in the frost of ice magic. I turned it aside with my blade and stabbed at my attacker. She brought the poleaxe around quickly to parry, and there was a clang as our blades met. I struck low to draw out her defense, and she flicked her weapon down. I stamped on the poleaxe as it came near the floor, and its head snapped off. I stabbed her in the side as she stared in shock at the broken stump of her weapon.
That bought us another two feet of ground and divided the enemy further.
There was a shout from behind us. I turned my head to see Qihin warriors stream through the gates and over the walls. The guild’s attempt to hold the tide at its outer defenses had finally collapsed and now, our reinforcements poured in with grim determination.
Beqai strode in among his warriors. He had a trident in his hand and moved with incredible speed as he slashed down one of the guild’s elite guards with a single strike. The king used the weapon to direct the flow of battle and emphasize his orders as he ripped through the forces of Horix. The king was a conductor in a symphony of destruction.
“Push the center!” he yelled. “Break down their doors. Find the trident!”
Though the battlements of the outer wall had fallen, Ice Spears and arrows continued to rain down from the windows and balconies.
Beqai raised his trident into the air and sang a slow, rising song. Mist coalesced in a thick layer above our heads. The rain of death faltered as the Augmenters and archers lost sight of their targets. Those who kept shooting hit their own side as often as ours. It was their only advantage in this fight, and they were desperate to keep it.
The mist swirled and eddied. It formed into strange and disconcerting shapes at Beqai’s gestures. Figures appeared and vanished to distract the guild warriors as they struggled to hold their ground.
“Beqai!” a cold voice echoed from above the mist.
There was a flash of fire that burned a hole in the swirling cloud. Guildmaster Horix stood on a balcony above us. Flames flickered from his right hand while ice crackled across his left.
Cadrin hadn’t lied. Horix was an elementalist. But there was no sign of the Depthless Dream. Beqai was right. The Guildmaster hadn’t yet managed to tap into its true power
“Your efforts are infantile, failed king,” Horix called.“Your people will fall, and you alongside them. This vainglorious effort is of no consequence. Discipline will always outstrip your untamed powers.”
He brought his hands together and pressed them forward. A new layer of dark, sickly green fog appeared above the remnants of Beqai’s mist.
“Toxic Blizzard technique!” Beqai yelled. “Take cover!”
Acidic knives of ice hailed down on the Qihin forces streaming through the gate and into the courtyard. They screamed in alarm as the acid burned their skin. A stray shard brushed against my Frozen Armor, melted the ice plates, and blistered the skin beneath. Even Beqai flinched as the growing Toxic Blizzard hit him.
“Move!” I bellowed. “Push inside!”
The guild warriors fell back and tried to reform a defensive line in the doorway before we could get through. But we were strong, determined, and desperate to get out of the guildmaster’s burning rain. The Qihin host charged with a fresh surge of energy.
I crashed into the enemy as they struggled to hold their line with Vesma and Kumi at my back. I cut one guard’s leg out from under him and blasted another with Untamed Torch to create a gap in their defenses. I sent a Burning Wheel into the enemies blocking the doorway, and it took all of a few seconds for the burning soldiers to scream and break rank. My companions rushed in after me and widened the gap I’d created.
We were inside the guild house now. Horix didn’t have the Depthless Dream. But it was here somewhere. I just had to find it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Weapons clashed, and warriors cried out in anger and pain. The din filled the cavernous chamber of the guild house. The cacophony reverberated off walls of marble and high ceilings of magically preserved ice. Every sound we made echoed around us and reflected back from high, embossed ceilings and murals that depicted the glory of Horix’s “pure” guild members triumphing over monsters and outsiders.
Qihin and Resplendent Tears warriors fought each other in a confused melee. I used my Augmentation in small bursts, both to conserve my Vigor and to avoid collateral damage to my allies.
There were no battle lines, no formations, and no orderly squads or officers to take control. The fight was just a tangled mess of bodies and blades.
Guild troops streamed in from corridors and staircases while the Qihin poured in through the great doors from the courtyard. The forces crashed into each other like storm waves against a cliff and carried with it all the same noise and destructive power.
A towering guild soldier slammed into Vesma and knocked her away from my side. I caught him with a spray of thorns across his face, then knocked him down with a kick to the belly. By then, Vesma was out of sight in the mass of battling warriors.
A whirlwind of leaves battered a guild warrior to my left and knocked her about until she fell on the floor to retch with dizziness. Faryn stepped over her to join me and Kumi.
“We need to get to Horix,” I said. “Cut the head off the snake and finish this.”
“And I presume you would be the person to do that?” Faryn asked.
“I’ve got a pretty good track record with snakes,” I said as I kicked out an initiate’s feet from under him and spilled his guts on the marble floor.
“The back of the hall,” Kumi said. “I think those stairs to our right will take us to the upper levels.”
“Wouldn’t the trident be in Horix’s office underground?” Faryn asked.
“I doubt he’d keep it far from his person, even if he can’t use it,” I said. “We’ll head to the balcony he was standing on. Come; let’s push on.”
Faryn summ
oned another swirling whirlwind of Smothering Leaves, then launched toward the stairs through the ranks of guild members. I tossed a fireball into the mass of greenery and set it alight. Soldiers were thrown aside and left us with a clear route.
Faryn led the way through the gap and cut down a guardsman as Kumi and I followed. A Resplendent Tears initiate staggered into our way five feet from the staircase with a face scratched and bloody from Faryn’s attack. He swung an Ice Spear at her, but she ducked out of the way as I hit the spear with the Sundered Heart and melted straight through the ice. The initiate backed out of the way as his eyes filled with alarm.
We headed up the staircase, taking the steps two at a time.
“The fighting will be rough here, Faryn,” I said. “You sure you don’t want to pull back and help the others?”
“It’s not peaceful there either,” she said. “I’ll take a hallway of insane students over chaos any day. And I don’t want you to face Horix alone.”
“Glad to see you’re onboard,” I said with a fierce grin.
The staircase curved to the right and carried us up into a wide corridor. Overlooking the stairs stood an ice sculpture of Horix, his hand held out to offer a gift to his followers. Tapestries filled with illustrations of the guild’s achievements blurred past us as we ran.
We rounded a corner and found a group of guild disciples with full sets of detailed Frozen Armor. They hid their faces behind fully enclosed helmets as they advanced with metal shields covered in frost and a variety of swords and spears. Acid Vigor hissed to my fingertips as I prepared to rip straight through them. The leader held up his hand, and the warriors behind him halted. Faryn caught my arm as I raised it to cast an Acidic Cloud. The leader pulled away the ice that formed the front of his helmet to reveal the face beneath.
“Labu,” Kumi whispered.
“Kumi.” He stared at her. “Why are you here?”
“I’ve come to bring you home.” The princess slid her knives into the sheaths on her back and walked toward her brother with arms held wide. “Please, Labu; it’s not too late. You can still fight for your people instead of against them.”
