A Crown Imperiled

  Then his face split into a grin. ‘I have a wonderful idea!’

  ‘I would welcome that,’ said Martin.

  Nakor turned to a boy holding a flaming brand next to a bucket of oil. ‘Give me that torch,’ he said, grinning maniacally. If the defenders reached the gate, they were going to be met with flaming death from the wall above.

  The boy handed over the torch.

  Before Martin could frame any sort of question, Nakor leapt up into the crenel and dropped over the wall. Martin, Brendan and the others leaned out to see the small man land on his feet with east.

  ‘How do they do that?’ asked Martin of his brother.

  ‘I have no idea,’ replied Brendan.

  Nakor ran to where Miranda and the water demon battled. Shouting at the water demon, Nakor managed to get close enough to burn his legs with the torch.

  The monster howled in rage and pain. Throwing Miranda hard against the city wall for a second time, he turned his full attention on the pesky little man with the torch. Nakor leapt aside deftly as the water demon raised a massive foot out of the harbour, water cascading off it in streams. To Miranda Nakor shouted, ‘Stay where you are! I have an idea! Find the last magic-user!’

  The water demon lifted the other leg out of the water. Now he was fully on the land.

  Miranda slowly stood up, holding up her hand to indicate she understood.

  Nakor darted in and thrust the burning brand hard against the creature’s leg. It howled, lifting a massive foot to crush him, but he leapt nimbly to one side, darted in, burned the creature a second time, then turned and ran.

  Nakor wove a course up the hill, diving to his left, then his right, occasionally stopping long enough to dart back and smack the water demon with his torch. The demon was surprisingly quick for its size, but Nakor was always just out of reach.

  Suddenly the air was filled with arrows as the Keshian commander on the hill realized what Nakor was attempting. Whoever was supposed to be controlling this monster obviously was not doing so, and it posed a threat to his own forces.

  Nakor seemed able to dance between falling feathered shafts, and when one did strike, it bounced off, as if striking an invisible shield. His shrieks of delight seemed only to further infuriate the water demon who redoubled his efforts to get his claws on the maddening little man.

  With a whoop of naked glee, Nakor turned and ran straight towards the waiting Keshian army.

  ‘He’s insane!’ said Martin.

  Calis, who had known Nakor for years said, ‘That’s hardly a unique opinion, yet I’ve seen him do madder things.’

  Brendan looked at the elf prince and said, ‘Madder than this?’

  ‘He once annoyed an invading group of magicians so much they nearly burned down half a city trying to blast him with fire bolts.’ He shook his head and said, ‘There is so much more to that little man than any of us will ever know.’

  Brendan glanced down and saw Miranda had returned to her feet. At the same time, she looked up and pointed towards the far south-east corner of the harbour-side, the point where Brendan and Ned Pevy had launched their boat. Brendan waved back to show he understood. He turned to his brother. ‘The Keshians are turning to come ashore, over there.’ He pointed to the narrow stretch of burned-out quay before the rocks that separated the quay from the distant beach. ‘It’s a bottleneck!’

  Martin took only a moment, then said, ‘We don’t wait at the wall! I want you to take every man who can ride, especially bowmen, and set up a welcome for our Keshian guests. If a boot touches the stones, I want the man dead before he takes a second step!’

  Brendan was off as fast as he could, calling for horsemen to join him. A good thirty men left the wall with him, and Martin did a quick reassessment of his position. So far he’d lost no one and the Keshian battle plan was completely confounded. Now it was clear that the monster was supposed to have battered the door down at the south-west corner of the city, opening the way for the Keshians to charge downhill from the west, while another force would assault the eastern gate after they had gained the shore by boat.

  Martin saw Bethany and Lily standing nearby and pushed aside a sudden urge to order them off the wall. He knew it would be a waste of time and energy arguing with the headstrong daughter of the Earl of Carse, and while he might succeed with Lily, as long as Bethany refused to yield ground, he assumed Lily would hold as well. He said, ‘You two, make yourself useful and go over there.’ He pointed to the south-eastern corner of the main wall. ‘If Brendan and his troops are forced to withdraw, provide cover fire for them.’

  Bethany studied his face for a moment as if weighing whether he was placing her out of harm’s way or giving her an important task. She nodded once then led Lily to the far corner of the wall.

  Martin turned his attention back to the struggle outside.

  Miranda shook off the last vestiges of shock. She could use much of her magic skill to create some mystic armour, but that still didn’t prevent such a massive impact from affecting her. She glanced to her right and saw Nakor’s mad dash into the Keshian line and for a brief moment, both aspects of her being, Child and Miranda, marvelled at the seemingly incomprehensible behaviour of that little gambler. Yet the part of her that was Miranda knew that if there was ever a being for whom the phrase ‘Method to his madness’ was justified, it was Nakor.

  She looked to where the Keshian boats were making ready to come ashore. Then she turned her attention farther to her left and almost out of sight from her vantage point, she glimpsed a company of riders approaching. She took a few steps away from the wall and saw young Brendan forming up his horse archers, ready to greet the Keshian marines as they came ashore.

  A strange but familiar tugging at the corner of her mind made itself felt and for an instant she experienced an odd confusion, unsure if it was Child or Miranda who recognized this call. At last the part of her that was Child realized what it was.

  The lesser water demons, the little frog-headed creatures that had been summoned to dig out their massive brother, were now pushing the boats towards shore, and calling out, asking for guidance.

  Miranda considered the simplicity of it all. At first she had wondered why those Keshian demon summoners had taken up residence in the tavern. Not the how of it, because what passed for security in the city was a joke; the boys from Crydee might be earnest and brave, but they were hardly experienced, and there was no one in the city to look after details. So the four Keshian spell-casters had simply come in with the refugees from the west, no doubt. No, how they got in wasn’t the question, but rather why.

  Now she understood. It was so very simple. The demon summoner or summoners would have placed themselves at risk trying to observe and control the huge water demon, let alone this herd of small ones. It was much easier to sit in the tavern, waiting until some mystic signal indicated the demons were ready, then only one simple command was needed: come to me! With an additional instruction to destroy anything that got between the demon and the summoners. Had the summoners lived, the massive demon would have certainly had the gate down by now and in the confusion that would have ensued the Keshian Demon Master would have found a place inside the city to orchestrate the landing. With the summoners’ deaths, the demons had stopped with the last command given. The massive water demon had tried to answer its last summoning, but the battle with Miranda and Nakor’s had distracted it from that command and now its rage had brought it full into the Keshian army to the north.

  With an evil grin matching Nakor’s most malicious expression, Miranda decided what to do. As Child she had commanded demons much more powerful than these frog-creatures. While they might be dangerous as a group, alone each was pitifully weak, both physically and mentally. She merely sent out her own command and suddenly chaos erupted near the shore.

  Rather than pushing the boats in to the shore, now the small demons were swarming them, leaping out of the water to attack the unprepared Keshian soldiers. Many were knocked out of th
eir boats to be pulled down below the surface by the weight of their armour.

  Brendan saw his opportunity and shouted, ‘Wait! Pick out your targets, then kill any Keshian who sets foot on Kingdom soil. Do not waste arrows on those in the boats!’

  A few Keshians in the nearest boats managed to leap into the shallows, only to be met by a fusillade of arrows. Several were missed entirely but were pulled down from behind by the little water demons. Immediately sensing he was wasting arrows, Brendan shouted, ‘Cease!’

  A few of the less experienced youngsters fired again until Brendan’s commands registered. Then the defenders stood silently and watched as horror unfolded.

  Some of the Keshians in the boats were being torn apart by claws and fangs, some of the demons pausing to eat human flesh. Around every boat was a slick of blood and the water that lapped against the quayside was a frothy pink. Bubbles were still rising where men were gasping in vain for their last breath while bodies floated everywhere.

  Brendan looked over to where Miranda stood and saw her indicate with one curt motion of her head that he should return within the city walls and safety. Feeling no inclination to argue with her, he shouted, ‘Back inside!’

  Without one defender sustaining an injury, half the assault on the Kingdom city of Ylith had been utterly obliterated.

  Miranda turned to see how Nakor was doing with the other half. Something in the distance was causing her sense of danger to increase and she reached out mentally and sought out the source. Suddenly recognition hit her like a blast of icy water and she was off and running after Nakor and the demon, praying she might reach them in time to save the little man’s life. Again.

  Nakor howled with glee as he rolled across the ground, ducking under the demon’s clawed hands by inches. The Keshian cavalry was providing additional amusement for him as their horses were bucking, running in circles and generally ignoring their riders as they attempted to get as far away from the demon as they could. It didn’t help the situation that the frustrated demon had managed to crush two animals who had shrieked in panic; that, along with the smell of horse blood, had pushed most of the mounts far beyond their otherwise solid battle training.

  The Keshian field commander was trying to restore order, but at least a hundred of his footmen had followed the horses’ example and were turning west and fleeing back over the rise towards Crydee. His officers were riding around as best they could trying to maintain order, despite their own mounts’ increasingly balky behaviour.

  Nakor was starting to think this time he might have overextended himself, for while he was still finding the current situation hilarious, he could feel a strange and dangerous sensation beginning to manifest itself close at hand. Sparing what little attention he could from the general mayhem on all sides, he saw what looked to be a clutch of officers standing atop a nearby hill, before a proud array of Keshian battle standards and signal flags. In their midst was what obviously appeared to be a magician.

  Nakor desperately hoped he was not another demon summoner, for if he was he might quickly see through Nakor’s guise and discover the essence of Belog beneath the human exterior; should that occur, Nakor would be in for a terrible battle. He had no doubt that with what he had learned from Nakor’s memories and the power he had gained travelling with Child he could resist all but the most powerful Demon Masters, but while he might best the man face to face, the attention such a confrontation would require would certainly leave him vulnerable to attack from other quarters.

  And with a massive water demon and half the Keshian army attempting to kill him, that would prove a problem that even Nakor’s legendary luck and cunning couldn’t overcome.

  Still, always trying to find a way out of seemingly impossible situations, he decided to see how well Keshian officers did in confronting a massive water demon. He dodged as he felt more than saw a blow coming from his left, and rolled on the grass, holding what was left of the burning torch high. He knew he’d stand a better chance of surviving if he threw it away but the fire seemed to be the only thing that kept the demon from chasing after him rather than stopping to randomly kill and eat horses and riders.

  Nakor saw the officers draw their weapons when he started running toward them, and the magician began an incantation. Nakor wasn’t particularly eager to find out what sort of magic the man was attempting; a protective shell or something along those lines would only be annoying to the demon, but might put Nakor at a disadvantage, while any sort of seriously destructive spell could end his existence in seconds. Nakor had a limited supply of magical tricks at his disposal – right now all his demonic energies were directed to speed, extended senses to anticipate any blows headed his way, and a slight armour magic that made his skin and clothing as tough as plate armour – but he knew that a well-placed blast of magic energy could light him up like a holiday bonfire.

  Moreover, it appeared that the magician had taken note of Nakor’s antics and had judged correctly that as long as he was around, the water demon would follow him, and if he ended Nakor’s existence first, then the demon might prove more tractable.

  A sizzling bolt of energy, blindingly bright, shot over Nakor’s head as he tried to burrow into the dirt, singing his hair and leaving the stench of lightning in the air. A monstrous howl of pain and rage cut through the air and shook the ground where he lay.

  As much as Nakor would have loved to have rolled over and observed what had just happened, his instincts forced him to leap to his right, then suddenly to his left, tuck and roll across the ground, then turn and leap back in the opposite direction.

  He caught a quick glimpse of the water demon charging up the hill, one leg half-dragged behind him as he lunged towards the knot of warriors and the lone magician on top of the hill. Nakor had judged rightly: the energy blast meant to end his existence had struck the demon instead. If he wasn’t trying too hard to stay alive, he would have found the situation hilarious. But not for long, as a Keshian soldier charged at him, chopping his blade through the air.

  Without thought, Nakor dropped the torch and reached up to seize the man’s sword arm. The soldier cried out in pain as Nakor squeezed his wrist, shattering it. With a single push he sent the man flying five feet back, despite his heavy armoured breastplate and helm.

  Nakor paused for a second to catch his breath and shook his head ruefully. He had been thinking so much like Nakor, he had almost forgotten he wasn’t the little bandy-legged gambler, but was really a demon with all the strength and toughness a demon possessed. And as it was obvious that the magician not too far away was not a demon-summoner, Nakor decided it was time for more direct action.

  Another solider ran towards him as the water demon began to wreak havoc on the officers and those soldiers desperately trying to defend them. Nakor waited until the Keshian swordsman swung and with cat-like reflexes grabbed his arm and broke it as a child would a twig. The man fell to the ground shrieking as Nakor turned away. He had spent his entire existence as the demon Belog using all his energy for intellect. And yet as he had travelled with Child through the demon realm he had gained prodigious physical strength, even if he wasn’t used to employing it. He decided now was the time to use that raw strength.

  A third warrior started moving towards him when suddenly another figure raced in from Nakor’s right, blowing over the swordsman completely. Miranda turned and said, ‘Are you all right?’

  Nakor laughed. ‘I’m strong!’

  ‘Yes,’ said Miranda. ‘But you’re also foolish. You had no idea what type of magic you were about to face.’

  ‘Let’s go find out.’

  ‘I want him alive if we can manage it.’

  Nakor jumped in a majestic arc over the cluster of warriors attempting to stop the water demon.

  That massive creature was starting to show the effects of being away from the nurturing water and dealing with huge expenditures of energy and multiple wounds. Miranda wasn’t concerned with that, for she knew that the creature would die, ret
urning to the demon realm from where it had come before it could threaten the city again.

  She had found what she had sought, the magician who had tried to blast Nakor. He was holding his robes up so as not to trip on them, running down the hill away from the fight. He would have been comic save for two things: first, he had just tried to help kill a great number of people and while Child found nothing remotely distasteful in that, Miranda did. With each passing day, she was becoming more Miranda and less Child. Secondly, Miranda recognized the magician and that discovery filled her with both disappointment and anger.

  She could run like a gazelle, and she had discovered she could leap nearly a hundred yards, so in one jump and a sprint, she was behind the man. She reached out and grabbed him by the back of his robe then stopped, letting him almost break his own neck when he came to an unexpected and sudden stop.

  Turning, he drew back his right hand and Miranda could feel the magic form. Knowing instantly what he was doing, she slapped him hard across the face before he could finish his conjuration, breaking his concentration and causing his eyes to brim with tears.

  ‘Hello, Akesh,’ she said in tones venomous. ‘It’s been a while.’

  The Keshian-born magician was stunned and shocked. ‘Miranda!’ he blurted. ‘But—’

  ‘I know,’ she interrupted. ‘Dead. Apparently, not as dead as people thought.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Silence,’ she said, ‘or I will happily knock you unconscious. We have much to discuss.’