The knights didn’t slow as they made it past the outliers and reached the solid ranks of changelings. They mowed through the crowd, sending bodies flying and trampling them into the dirt. Cole could not avoid the fallen changelings carpeting the ground. He focused on keeping his speed up as bodies groaned beneath his paws.
The Rogue Knight kept swinging Verity vigorously, and figments continued to evaporate. After some time, the figments seemed to realize they had no chance against a sword that could erase seemings, and they held back.
But the changelings kept coming.
Cole felt bad for the people underfoot. They didn’t mean to attack. They had lost control of themselves. But Cole also knew that given a chance, the changelings would tear him apart. No matter how many fell, the rest pressed toward them, undaunted. Wild eyes rolled back, and saliva drooled from twisted lips. At least they didn’t seem to feel any pain.
Cole raged onward, reminding himself that if he and the others failed to stop Morgassa, the changelings would be stuck as her servants forever, and the rest of Elloweer would soon join them. If some changelings got hurt along the way, that was part of the price.
After passing the little village, the Rogue Knight galloped up the shoulder of the hill. The horde had mostly gone around the hill rather than over it, so Cole suddenly was running over a grassy slope instead of injured bodies.
“Morgassa senses us,” Callista called. “She’s coming our way.”
Avoiding the summit of the hill, the Rogue Knight led them up and over the side of it. As they came around to the far side, Morgassa glided into view.
She wore conservative clothes that Cole recognized from his world—a white blouse, a long gray skirt, dark stockings, and flat black shoes. Her hair was up in a messy bun. She looked like a schoolteacher on a parent conference day. He’d had teachers who dressed like her. Except that Morgassa was at least eight feet tall. And she hovered a few inches above the ground.
As they ran down the far slope of the hill toward Morgassa, she drifted in their direction. Raising a hand, she called out to them. Eerily, all the changelings and figments in all directions cried the same words in unison.
“Strangers!” Morgassa and her horde called, countless voices shouting as one. “Halt and explain why you destroy my children!”
“These are not your children,” the Rogue Knight accused, hastening his charge. “You have hijacked innocents.”
“Stop and speak or face my full wrath!” Morgassa and her horde demanded.
“Honor?” the Rogue Knight asked, still galloping.
“What is there to say?” Honor asked from the back of her horse.
“You are misbehaving!” Morgassa shrieked, the horde screaming her words. “Explain yourselves or perish!”
“It might benefit us to better understand her,” Callista suggested.
The Rogue Knight raised an arm and slowed to a canter, then a trot, then a walk. He came to a stop twenty yards up the slope from Morgassa. Cole didn’t like slowing down. He could sense her foul power and wanted to hit her at full speed. Coming to a standstill made him antsy. He shifted, so he could see her between two of the horsemen. Despite her impressive height, she appeared relatively defenseless. Her face was stern and still. Cole could easily picture her in a classroom back home.
“What have you to say?” Honor called.
“Does the master make explanations to the servant?” Morgassa and her horde chanted. “We are the agents of order. Why must you bring chaos among us?”
“You are taking control of people,” Honor called. “Free them!”
“The mother and her children are one!” Morgassa and her horde shrieked. “Why must you defy us? Surrender to the peace of my will.”
“Her puppets move to surround us,” the Rogue Knight warned.
“If you want to talk, stop moving your minions,” Honor called. “Free them or face the consequences.”
Fingers hooking like talons, Morgassa grimaced. Then she and her horde shouted, “You do not give ultimatums to me!”
“Enough!” Honor shouted back, her voice small compared to the fanatical choir. “Prepare to defend yourself.”
“I like you,” the Rogue Knight muttered over his shoulder to Honor as he spurred his horse forward. His knights followed his lead, and Cole charged behind them, flanked by the other animals.
“Unacceptable!” Morgassa and her minions shrieked. Extending both hands, Morgassa sent at least a hundred newly formed blank figments flowing their way.
The Rogue Knight swung Verity and erased them. Morgassa made more, and he unmade them again.
The Rogue Knight closed on Morgassa, riding straight at her. He raised Verity and leaned sideways to issue a killing stroke.
In a blink, Morgassa disappeared inside a full suit of white armor, embellished with gold accents on the breastplate, greaves, arm guards, and helm. She held a sword nearly as tall as a man, and a shield the size of a tabletop. Standing on the ground, she now stood taller than the Rogue Knight on his horse.
Verity clanged against the shield, then Morgassa leaned into the charge, shoving the Rogue Knight’s horse over with her shield. The horse flopped and rolled, tearing up huge chunks of earth. The Rogue Knight went flying, landing in an awkward somersault.
Swerving expertly, the other knights converged on Morgassa. She blocked a chain mace with her sword, twisted to avoid a lance, and cleaved a knight from shoulder to hip with a vicious slash that unhorsed him and left him writhing.
Not all the knights had room to bring their horses to bear on her. Some leaped to the ground. Others wheeled around for another pass.
A couple of lengths behind the other knights, Minimus charged right at Morgassa. He sprang from the back of his horse and met her sword with his when she swung. The impact changed his trajectory, and he sailed past her, tumbling down the hillside.
Suddenly, Cole found nothing between himself and Morgassa. He raced toward her, claws tearing at the grassy earth. Morgassa faced him, sword raised, shield ready, towering in her splendid armor. He knew the sword was dangerous. He knew her armor would be difficult to penetrate. But he could also sense her fear.
Because her sword was held high, Cole went at her low, lunging at her legs. His claws raked across the surface of her armor, grinding shallow gouges into the smooth metal. He tried to catch her ankle in his teeth, but she danced away, and the sword swished down, opening a wound along his shoulder and down his side.
Morgassa prepared another blow, but Callista, in the form of an African buffalo, plowed into her, horns lowered. The white knight spun and fell to one knee as the buffalo rumbled by. Then Dalton, in the shape of a bull, smashed into her with his wide horns. Stunned, Morgassa fell to her hands and knees.
Mira, in the form of a ram, rose up high and then bashed Morgassa with a mighty blow from her curled horns. Dropping her sword, the white knight jounced away from the impact. Skye, in the form of a bear, and Jace, in the form of a huge wolf, charged in.
Cole heard tooth and claw grate against steel. Then Morgassa heaved the wolf aside and lunged for her sword. Turning, she lopped off one of the bear’s paws and stabbed her sword at the animal’s chest.
Leaping between bear and knight, Honor knocked the thrust aside and pressed toward Morgassa. As the white knight defended herself from Honor’s attack, the bull approached from behind and lost a horn when Morgassa dodged the charge and chopped downward.
Cole’s shoulder and side were on fire. He could feel a large flap of skin hanging loose. The white knight was facing away from him. Enraged, he ran for Morgassa, even though his injured foreleg had lost some of its strength. He sprang at her while she fought off Honor, but he got smashed out of the air by her shield.
Cole felt dazed after he landed. Did Morgassa have eyes in the back of her helmet? She had defended herself perfectly even though he should
have blindsided her. The bone-jarring blow had worsened his injury. He wanted to find a place to hide away, so he could recover. A shallow cave would serve. Cole wasn’t sure if that desire came from his feline instincts or his real feelings. Was there a difference? He was a mountain lion. The transformation might have come from a mask, but he hadn’t damaged a costume. Those were his nerves on fire. That was his blood spilling to the ground.
From all directions, figments and changelings pressed toward them. Minimus and the other knights turned to ward off the horde. The Rogue Knight frantically swung Verity to disperse the onrushing figments. The battleground where Morgassa fought the animals became an island in an ocean of enemies.
Next to Morgassa, Honor looked almost as small as Minimus. Honor fought with grace and precision, blocking all attacks and keeping Morgassa on defense much of the time.
In the form of an eagle, Twitch swooped down at Morgassa, barely dodging her blade when she whipped it at him. He lost some feathers but appeared to have taken no serious damage.
“Surrender,” Honor urged as she fought. “Stop sending your people against the knights. You’re killing them!”
“Submit,” Morgassa and her horde replied. “You slay your own, for you will soon join us, as all must join us.”
Cole watched as the wolf and the ram attacked Morgassa together from behind. “Watch out,” he called, worried for Jace and Mira.
As he feared, Morgassa whirled right before they arrived. She slashed the wolf across the chest, and it fell with a whine. Deflecting the ram’s horns with her shield, she turned the attack toward Honor and danced away.
Morgassa had a few dents and scratches in her white armor, but as Cole watched, the blemishes disappeared, and the knight grew a little taller. “Join me or perish!” Morgassa and her horde cried, their voices frenzied. “No more warnings!”
The chanting hurt Cole’s ears. After testing his claws against Morgassa’s armor, Cole knew how tough it was. How were they supposed to defeat her if she could repair it at will?
The knights slowly gave ground, collapsing inward. They had all dismounted, and their horses fought at their sides, wildly stamping and kicking. Despite their tireless effort and great skill, the enemy force was too great. Weapons bashing, stabbing, and chopping, the knights fell back, shrinking the clearing and leaving behind drifts of bodies. Dalton charged around the inner edge of the clear area, using his remaining horn to punish the changelings who slipped past the knights.
The knights no longer fought to wound. They were battling for their lives. Cole noticed that the fallen changelings stopped smelling infected. At least death had freed them from Morgassa’s control.
Morgassa closed on Honor, who was now using all her abilities to resist the enormous white knight. The Rogue Knight turned from the attacking horde and raced to Morgassa. Callista and Mira moved to take his place, brutalizing the changelings with horns and hooves.
Cole tried to rise, but pain seared down his leg and across his side, forcing him to fall flat. Not only had his wound torn open wider, but he could feel broken bones grinding inside.
For a moment, the Rogue Knight and Honor attacked Morgassa together. The white knight held off one of them with her shield and the other with her sword. Then she kicked Honor to the ground with one long leg, and turned her full attention to the Rogue Knight. Each swing he deflected looked capable of knocking him off his feet, but it was a sharp blow from her large shield that finally succeeded.
Jace was down. How badly was he hurt? Cole’s heart raced. Okay, the wolf was still breathing. Skye shambled to her feet, hiding her damaged paw, and lumbered toward the white knight, looking more like a cub by comparison. Morgassa struck her down with a fierce slash, then turned to finish Honor.
Cole had to do something! Honor was going to die! His other friends and the knights were distracted by the mass of attacking changelings. Growling softly, Cole wrenched himself to his feet and charged, fireworks of pain exploding in his injured side. He lacked the power to jump, but he went for Morgassa’s legs.
The sword hissed down, biting into his back, then Cole felt her metal boot crush his side. His vision edged in darkness, Cole stared in horror as Morgassa stepped away from him and raised her sword to finish Honor.
“Stop, fiend!” Callista shouted, her voice amplified. The buffalo was gone. The Grand Shaper now stood in her true form, arms raised.
Extending a hand, Morgassa conjured fifty blank figments and sent them to attack Callista. The Grand Shaper waved her arms in reply, and a pair of grim giants appeared, head and shoulders taller than the white knight, each gripping a long iron bar. Charging the figments, the trolls bashed the group into nothing with confident swipes. At first this surprised Cole, because figments were intangible, but then he decided that the giants must be figments as well.
Cole raised his head a little, and a surge of pain and nausea hit him so hard that he nearly blacked out. His insides felt full of broken glass that jabbed and sliced as he breathed. Not only was he out of the fight—he doubted whether he would live much longer. Helpless, hurting, he continued to watch with desperate interest.
Morgassa waved an arm, and two dozen shimmering spears sizzled through the air to impale the giant figments Callista had conjured. An invisible wave of power accompanied the spears. Cole felt it wash over him, never physically touching him, but present nonetheless.
Skye tore off her mask. No longer a bear, she stood, apparently uninjured. Though as a bear she had lost a paw, she now had both hands and both feet. Skye held out her hands toward Morgassa.
A wooden crate appeared around the white knight’s helmet, resting on her armored shoulders. Morgassa tried to grab it with her free hand, but her metal glove passed right through it. Skye had blindfolded her with an illusion!
The Rogue Knight charged in. His sword clanged against the side of Morgassa’s waist, making her stumble and leaving a dent. His return stroke smote the side of her knee, and Morgassa went down.
Cole sensed a surge of power from Morgassa as blank figments appeared all around her. Two of them ripped the illusionary crate from her helmet. The Rogue Knight dispelled the figments with Verity while the white knight rolled nimbly to her feet.
Another wave of power proceeded from Morgassa, and a crowd of figments materialized near Skye. One of them lunged into her, merging with her even as the Rogue Knight swung Verity to erase the others.
Her expression feral, Skye hunched and scowled, then dashed toward Callista. The Grand Shaper had created two new giant figments to protect her, but Skye ran through them as if they were made of smoke. Mira came to the rescue, shoving Skye to the ground with her curled horns, then sitting on her to pin her down. Though Skye thrashed and growled, she couldn’t squirm out from beneath the large ram.
Back on her feet, Honor joined the Rogue Knight in another attack against Morgassa. As the white knight fought them off, Cole could feel power radiating from her as the gashes in her armor smoothed away. She inched a bit taller, and the blade of her sword extended an extra foot.
Morgassa landed a kick that sent the Rogue Knight soaring. He bounced and rolled down the slope, toward the edge of the clearing where his knights labored to hold back the changelings. Spurred on by his proximity, a few changelings lunged through to attack him.
Once again, Honor was entirely on the defensive. After a particularly harsh series of blows, Morgassa struck with her shield. Honor hacked at the bulky metal rectangle, and her blade shattered. Morgassa followed up with her sword. The powerful swipe sent Honor to the ground with a ragged tear across her breastplate.
Cole sensed shaping energy gathering off to one side. Turning his head slightly, he saw Callista transform into a huge knight in a full suit of black armor, armed with sword and shield. She grew to almost Morgassa’s size and then charged.
Cole yearned to help. His instincts told him this was the end.
The clearing continued to shrink as the knights and their mounts grudgingly retreated. Another knight was down, as were a few of the horses. Armor battered and scarred, the Rogue Knight was tangled up helping the knights hold the horde at bay, aided by the animals who could still function. Mira continued to pin down Skye. Honor remained on the ground.
The Rogue Knight and Honor were outmatched against Morgassa. If the white knight defeated Callista, they were going to lose. Cole tried to rise, and pain howled through him, crippling the attempt. Dizziness and darkness almost overtook him.
As Cole held still, his vision cleared, and he beheld the white knight and the black knight locked in combat. Sparks flew as blades chopped against shields and armor. They lunged and shoved and kicked, armor scraping and clanging.
Callista slashed Morgassa’s sword from her grasp, then followed up with an overhand swipe. Morgassa caught the blade in her gauntleted hand, then jerked it from Callista’s grasp, reversed it, and stabbed it through Callista’s armor and into her belly.
For a moment, they stood together. Morgassa’s hand squeezed Callista’s shoulder, fingers denting the armor.
Then Callista stumbled back and dropped to her knees an instant before a blow from Morgassa’s shield leveled her. Her own sword protruding from her breastplate, Callista lay on her side and did not stir.
Morgassa retrieved her sword and strode toward Honor, who staggered back to her feet, sidestepping unsteadily. With another burst of power, the dents and scrapes Morgassa had received from Callista disappeared.
In that moment, Cole realized he had been sensing their power. He had felt it surging as they gathered and used it. His awareness had felt so natural that he hadn’t considered how new the perception was.
Turning his attention to himself, Cole sensed the power radiating through him from his face. All he sensed was the mask. His own power remained invisible.