The Book of Korum

  *

  Off in the back of his mind, Hal dimly heard the sound of people talking. Right up at the forefront of his mind, he was aware of precious little else beyond the pain he was feeling in his head and on his chest. He could feel the blood trickling down his face from the wide cut high on his forehead from where he'd scraped it against the stone floor. His chest was on fire from the explosive exertion and from a similar scraping sensation. As Hal slowly pushed himself up from the floor he moaned at the pain. Shifting onto his side, there was no doubt in Hal's mind that the grinding sensation in his chest came from several broken ribs.

  Faintly he became aware that there was some sort of Battle going on. Hal forced himself up to a sitting position. All that he could see was red and cloudy. Hal clumsily wiped his sore hand across his face, trying to clear away the blood in his eyes. After blinking several times, Hal recognized Ambori and Skarlett amidst a group of men. He saw Ambori throw something at... someone Hal couldn't see and then get a very regretful expression on his face.

  Softly, Hal began to curse his own stupidity. He had been ashamed at not being able to do something as mundane as open a door that he'd let the weeks of frustration at his own inadequacies during the trip boil over. Now this had become another one of his inadequacies for the whole group to see.

  Just another of the dozen things I've done wrong on this trip.

  Feeling suddenly very warm, Hal blinked and saw Tasha rolling away from the tower as a billowing pillar of fire chased after her, licking at her heels before it dissipated. Enraged once again, Hal surprised himself by managing to rise to his feet. He was then astonished when he actually managed to stagger several steps towards Tasha while drawing his axe at the same time.

  Anger is greater than pain. Duty is greater than my body.

  Tasha looked up and saw Hal lumbering towards her. She winced at his injuries. I guess I look even worse than normal.

  Then Tasha screamed pointing at something behind him.

  Hal didn't hesitate.

  Putting all of his remaining strength in one swipe of his axe, Hal pivoted both feet and whipped his axe behind him. He was rewarded with the feel of the half-moon blade solidly crunching into his adversary.

  Feeling safe, Hal tried to pull his axe away from the corpse. It didn't come free. Wiping his free hand across his eyes again, he cleared away the blood and got a better look.

  His axe blade was buried to the haft in the stone waist of what appeared to be a giant statue of a man with a lion's head. At first, this didn't alarm Hal too greatly. Then he saw the lion's head peer down at him, it's eyes glowing a bright blue and it's teeth bared in a snarl.

  Alarmed, Hal tried to jerk his axe free when one of the statue's stone hands clamped around the big man's throat and hoisted him up into the air. Hal frantically gripped at the stone forearm with his comparatively puny hands. His legs kicked weakly at the creature, his toes just barely brushing against the statue's chest.

  Within moments, Hal was gasping for breath, begging for it. As the lights began to go out, the memory of his near drowning flooded back to him. It added to his panic and with one last surge of frantic energy, Hal kicked and fought and scratched and wrestled... and was set free.

  Tumbling to the ground some feet away, Hal gasped for air and reveled in it's cold, surprisingly sweet taste as it filled his lungs. Awareness slowly returned.

  Skarlett Black continued battering at the golem that had been holding Hal suspended in the air. Pulling his mace back, the wemic smashed down one more time, chipping small pieces of it away with his prodigious might. A second statue, one that Hal hadn't seen yet, was approaching from behind on Skarlett. But the cleric apparently knew that it was there when he supported himself on his forepaws and lashed out with both of his hind legs, knocking the statue back several feet.

  Tasha was off to the side dodging yet another sheet of flame, tumbling safely out of harm's way. She had dropped her sword, continuing to run from one side of the temple to the next, trying to keep ahead of the flames that were being hurled at her and diving for cover.

  The bard seemed to be having just a grand old time, still surrounded by a group of Sunraiders. Two marauders were down in puddles of their own blood while the others were just being completely befuddled by Ambori's tactics. One man nearly sliced his friend in two when Ambori slid between that man's legs to safety. The other two accidentally ran into each other after the bard leaped over one of the men's heads and the second barreled headlong into him. Both of those men fell to the ground trying to reorient themselves.

  The man whose legs Ambori slid between charged, his sword held high. The bard sprinted straight for him and then slid on his back right into the man's legs. Effectively tripping him up and sending him to the ground. Ambori knocked the man's sword skittering away.

  Kicking back up to his feet with his incredible agility the bard made ready for the next man. This one came in on Ambori warily, a heavy dagger in each hand. Ambori then made a comment, provoking the man. The bard sidestepped a double-bladed lunge and grabbed a hold of the man's hair. Using the Sunraider's own momentum, Ambori swung him around and tossed him away so that he could deal with the next man.

  The Sunraider came charging in, swinging a morning-star high over his head. Ambori back-flipped away from the overhand swipe and ducked low under the desperate backhand sweep. Taking full advantage of the man now that he was off balance, Ambori leapt high into the air and tightly wrapped his legs about the Sunraider's neck. That done, Ambori threw himself backwards, dragging the now helpless man with him. In a flash Ambori was atop the man, pinning the Sunraider to the floor. A quick swipe with his dagger across the exposed throat and it was all.

  Ambori jumped back up to his feet and staggered. The acrobatics were keeping him alive but the effort expended was rapidly exhausting him.

  Tasha appeared in his view, sliding behind cover immediately before the base of the tower. Her amber eyes blazed brightly in the dim chamber and her hair was wild as she stared up at the mage. Flames and sheets of lightning began to rain down at her, but she held her ground. The energies passed her by, tearing furrows into the stone floor to either side of her position.

  "Hal!" called out a deep, breathless voice. Turning his gaze, Hal saw Skarlett Black quickly trotting over to him. In the background the wemic had arranged for the golems to crash into each, giving Skarlett the break he desperately needed.

  The cleric skidded to a stop before the big man and dropped to his haunches. Without a word of warning he slapped a massive hand onto Hal's blood-sticky head and closed his red eyes. There was a sudden surge of light behind Hal's eyes. It felt as if his whole body was being pricked by a needle-sharp tool at one time. Then it felt as if ice water had replaced his very blood as a deep, soothing chill filled him to the marrow of his bones.

  The light was gone. Hal blinked and Skarlett was already back to his feet, hoisting his mace once again. He looked even more tired now then he had before. "That was... the best I could do... Excuse me." He panted before charging headlong at the first of the statues and hammering on it with his mace. The second one gave him a bye and began to advance on the still seated Hal.

  Hal vaulted to his feet feeling in a rush, his body responding with the thrill of adrenaline and the surge of sudden fear. His ribs were healthy and as strong as ever, back in their proper place. The cuts and scrapes were gone and the pain he was feeling had become something he could ignore in the face of danger once again. Hal could tell that he was still a bit woozy from the blood he'd lost but he'd been in worse conditions before.

  The golem advancing on him had a wide slash at about the waist level. As Hal took a closer look he saw the haft of his axe still lodged there, never to be used again.

  Hal looked up into the glowing blue eyes of the man-lion statue and was incredibly nervous. Clamping one hand down on the large hilt of the broadsword at his waist, Hal took a deep breath and whispered a silent apology to Aeros for having to a
ctually use the sword and dishonor it with his ineptitude.

  He unsheathed the three foot blade with one solid pull and marveled. The normally ebony colored blade was practically aflame in sapphire blue light. It was incredibly cool to the touch and light in weight, much less than that of a normal broadsword. As Hal wielded the weapon, leveling it point first at the statue, he watched the blue light creep down the crosspiece and flow over his hands. As it did an overwhelming feeling of sheer Power rushed into Hal's body that he had never before experienced and that he sincerely hoped would never stop.

  That was when the unfeeling stone statue came fully into his view once again and reached down for him.

  Hal bat the extended hand away with one swipe of his blade and looked up into the glowing blue eyes. He smiled. "Good night," he softly whispered. Then he reared back with the sword known as Stormbringer and swung.

  Feeling only a slight resistance, Hal cleaved the bottom half of the statue's leg cleanly off its' body. The statue teetered once before it tumbled to the ground with a loud crash. Even then, it's good leg and both arms still waved about frantically. Desperately it tried to grab a hold of the big man once again.

  Knocking away the flailing arms, Hal stepped up on the statue's broad chest and swung Stormbringer around until the point was leveled directly at the wemic-golem's chest. Without another thought, Hal reared back and drove the point home. Stormbringer's impact sent a bright surge of blue flame into the golem which was accompanied by a literal thunderclap.

  The statue's arms continued to flail, but much more slowly. Eventually they stopped, frozen in position. In fact the whole thing was completely frozen as Stormbringer turned the statue's magicked stone into pure, crystalline ice.

  Hal stared in wonder at the sight of the now transparent statue for a long moment. Then he realized that there was still a battle to be fought. With that, he got a firmer hold on the sword's hilt and fiercely twisted the blade free. The shock of the motion created another thunderclap and the ice statue shattered into a million shards, spreading out across the floor of the temple in all directions.

  Standing in the direct center of the remains, Hal stared about him in wonder, the whole incident completely beyond his comprehension. Then he took a long look at the still glowing sword in his hands and examined it from all sides. "That... wasn't exactly what I was expecting," he mumbled.

  Then Hal turned away to find their next target.