Cyhan grunted in agreement. “Yeah, you should quit it while you can. Keep at it and you’ll wind up like me.”
“You’re still breathing.”
“There’s more to life than breathing,” said Cyhan with an uncharacteristic sigh.
“You sure you didn’t drink some of my mother’s tea?” asked Dorian.
“Who knows?” said Cyhan. “She’s trickier than both of us.”
The tunnel emerged in a storeroom that was located under a small warehouse. The doors were locked and none of them had the keys, but that wasn’t much of an impediment for Dorian and Sir Egan. Whether the noise of their destructive exit alerted anyone, they couldn’t be sure, but there was no one visible in the street when they stepped out.
They resumed their former arrangement, with Penny ranging forward while the other warriors spread out around the Queen, the noblewomen, and the children. They didn’t have much farther to go before they would be free of the populous region around the capital, then they could breathe easier.
Dorian heard the clash of steel first and his eyes flickered to Sir Egan who nodded a moment later. The earth-bond made their senses more acute as well as enhancing their physical strength. Lifting his hand, Dorian signaled for their party to halt momentarily.
“The Countess has encountered the enemy ahead of us. We will head down the right hand lane in the hope of avoiding them,” Dorian announced softly.
Everyone nodded, except Gram, “Which way is Aunt Penny going?”
Dorian paused to answer his son, “She’s moving left, to the north.”
“We aren’t going to help her?”
“She’s helping us. Once she’s led them away or removed the threat, she will catch up,” he explained patiently.
The older children exchanged looks. None of them liked it, but Dorian exuded an aura of authority that would brook no more delays. Ariadne put her hand on Gram’s shoulder for a second, and without further urging he went along with her.
As they moved, the sounds of battle grew louder, until everyone could easily hear the noise. Hurried footsteps, the sound of armored men running, and the occasional grunt of pain, it got louder for a bit before receding in the darkness. Everyone was tense, but Moira’s magesight showed her what was happening as they walked.
“She’s alright,” she told Conall reassuringly, making certain that Matthew could hear her words as well. “She wounded several men, and the others can’t catch her.”
“How will Momma find us?” asked the small boy.
“She can see and smell almost like a cat in the dark,” whispered Matthew standing on the other side of his younger brother. “Plus she knows where we are going. Mom will find us.”
They traveled on into the night, leaving the outskirts of the city via some of its lesser traveled roads before circling slightly to head toward the World Road. One of the better highways went in that direction, but they kept to the lightly wooded areas beside the road rather than risk being caught in the open.
It took them several hours to cover the distance to the western gate of the fortress that protected the World Road. Under more ordinary circumstances the trip would have taken less than an hour, but the moderate forest and the occasional farm they were forced to circle slowed them down considerably. As they progressed, Dorian’s face grew sterner as he privately worried about Penny. He hadn’t expected her to take so long catching up to them, whether she had killed their enemies or simply evaded them. She should have returned to us by now, he thought to himself.
The massive open archway seemed to loom ominously as they passed under it into the darkness that gathered there. Fifty feet more and they emerged into the starlight which was all that illuminated the courtyard. They had yet to see any sign of the guards who normally were posted on the walls or at the entrances. They had either been killed or had returned to the city itself, to join Ariadne’s resistance or to hide with their families.
“Tremont’s power is still too thin for him to spare men to guard even this, the most strategic of Lothion’s strongholds,” observed Ariadne with disdain.
“His strength is built on lies,” said Rose. “This coup of his is like a house of cards. Once his allies realize how precarious his position is, his support will vanish.”
Sir Egan listened with anxious impatience, “We should get to the tunnel entrance. We are too exposed here if the Duke has posted anyone to the walls. There is no way to ward ourselves if he has bowmen above us.”
“What about the Countess?” questioned Lady Thornbear.
“Egan is right,” said her son. “We should at least get out from under the open sky. We can wait for her there as long as is possible.”
A noise caught Dorian’s ear as they entered the eastern tunnel. Looking back across the courtyard his sensitive eyes spotted movement, and seconds later he recognized Penelope Illeniel sprinting toward them. He breathed a sigh of relief and started to announce his news to the others, when he glimpsed the dark shapes of her pursuers. Behind her came five inhuman forms and no two were alike. One moved on four legs, like some monstrous bull, while two others ran on long spindly legs like giant birds. The fourth was stranger still, fifteen feet tall, it moved on long spider-like legs that seemed slow and graceful, belying their true speed. The fifth was still too far to discern properly, but Dorian guessed it seemed even bulkier than the others in the shadowy darkness.
“Everyone move! Down the tunnel! Run if you can!” ordered Dorian loudly, startling the others who had yet to see anything. “Penny is coming, but she has unwelcome guests following close behind.” Reaching back he pulled loose the cord that kept Thorn from shifting or slipping on his back. Drawing the sword was not as easy as it was with his longsword; the blade was too long for a man’s arm to clear the tip from the scabbard.
Once the sheath was loosened, he was able to pull it away with one hand while taking Thorn’s hilt with the other. After he had freed the blade, he let the scabbard drop to the sandy ground. Egan stood beside him, holding two of the famous Sun-swords, one in either hand.
“Don’t forget!” shouted Dorian over his shoulder, “Turn right at the end. We’re heading for the Lancaster gate.” The others were already moving, but Dorian could imagine the reluctance on Cyhan’s face. I’m sure he hates it, but he’ll do what needs doing.
“Are those like the thing you fought at the palace?” asked Egan.
The senior knight was rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. “Probably,” he admitted. “I don’t think any two of them look quite the same.”
They moved farther back down the sloping ramp that led into the tunnel, making sure they were completely covered by the deeper shadows there. Penny was close now, no more than fifty yards away and running for all she was worth. Her body moved with lithe grace while her powerful legs sent her flying forward faster than even the swiftest horse. Despite her incredible velocity, her pursuers were gaining, moving with inhuman gaits on their long, strange legs. Whether their human prey would reach the tunnel before they caught her, was still uncertain.
“Remember, their hides are like iron. They aren’t easy to cleave. Be wary lest you snare your weapons,” Dorian cautioned Sir Egan.
“She isn’t going to make it,” said Egan, preparing to start forward, but Dorian put his hand on the other knight’s chest.
“We can’t take the open ground. All’s lost if we get surrounded,” he reminded Egan.
“But…!”
“She’ll make it, damn you!” barked Dorian. She has to…
Adjusting to a sideways stance, the senior knight lifted Thorn and twisted his torso, muscles stretching as he readied his swing. His vision narrowed as he watched the oncoming monstrosities, speeding after the small woman, like hounds in some grotesque hunt. Penny seemed tiny as they closed on her.
Time slowed, and Dorian Thornbear’s heart began to follow a deeper rhythm as he felt the power of the earth reach up from below and embrace him. Penelope was almost to the beginning
of the ramp as one of the bird-like creatures drew abreast of her, reaching out with an arm that was shaped like a farmer’s scythe. In a frozen moment, Dorian could see dark blood running down across Penny’s forehead and cheek, threatening to obscure the vision of one eye. She was breathing hard from her lightning sprint, and while she could feel the presence of the monster behind her, there was no way for her to see the blade-like arm that was sweeping toward her neck.
Nooo! cried Dorian’s heart as he saw death slicing toward her. Even if the chainmail stopped the cut, the force would surely break her neck. A glint of starlight on his armor must have alerted her then, for he saw her eyes lock on him as she leapt forward. Surprise and relief lighting her face as she realized help was near.
The distraction disturbed her pace and she stumbled, falling forward into a mad headlong tumble.
That accident of fate was all that saved her life as the dark god’s appendage tore through the air where her head had just been, ripping one of her long braids. The momentum of her flight sent her falling down the shallow slope past Dorian and Egan, and her foe was close behind.
Dorian’s body uncoiled like a tightly wound spring as he whipped Thorn across to meet the monster’s body where it hurtled toward Penny. The combination of their relative velocities drove the great sword completely through the thing’s hard body, sheering it completely in two with a great sound like that of some massive piece of iron being torn with unbelievable force.
Egan followed this attack as the terrible creature’s body fell across the place where Penny had landed. His twin swords moved with deadly grace as he worked to both dismember what was left of the creature and to keep the scythes from tearing into the Countess before she could recover her wits.
Dorian had no time to waste. He left Egan to finish the first, while he stepped forward to meet the second and third of their enemies. His body was still twisting with the momentum of his swing, and rather than fight it, he went along, spinning like a top. The long steel blade removed the leg of the second, raptor-like creature but failed to connect with the third.
The one that had lost a leg fell tumbling to meet Egan and Penny, who was now rising unsteadily to her feet, while the third, a massive bull shaped entity, whirled to face Dorian. With shocking agility, it altered course and sprang at him lowering its great hammer-like head as it strove to ram him.
Unable to move aside in time to avoid the terrible rush, Dorian fell backward instead, letting his body drop beneath the monster’s oncoming body. The head struck his breastplate a glancing blow, driving him to the ground with even greater force, but he still escaped the worst of the shock. Lifting his feet, he planted them beneath the beast and kicked upward, launching its bulk skyward in a fifteen foot arc.
Rolling to his feet Dorian could see Penny and Sir Egan working in tandem to dismember the one whose leg he had removed. The one that he had launched landed awkwardly on one side, but had already regained its feet. Meanwhile… the fourth. Where is the fourth?
The fourth was the most oddly constructed of the five. It stood tall, like some strange spider on lengthy pole-like legs. It was above him now, ten foot appendages holding it out of reach while two shorter arms pointed downward, a magenta glow forming at their ends.
Leaping sideways with stunning speed, he was still too late. Eldritch energies caught him before he could escape, encasing his armor in a storm of magic and arcing sparks and light. Most of it failed to reach him, but enough passed through the joints and openings in his suit that it felt as though he had been lowered into a river of fire. Pain shot through him, rendering him momentarily blind and senseless.
Smoke rose from Dorian’s armor as he staggered. He never heard Penny’s shouted warning. He wasn’t even certain if he still held his sword. When the bull-like creature reached him this time, he was completely unprepared. It struck with unbelievable force, driving him backward to slam into the granite sidewall that flanked that side of the ramp leading into the tunnel. Stunned, he was still there when it struck again and this time the force of its charge had nothing to mitigate it. He was caught between the wide flat head and the hard stone.
A flash of light accompanied a sharp report as Dorian’s breastplate shattered. The magic sustaining its enchantment had been stressed beyond its considerable limits, and it exploded outward, flinging dust and bits of stone and metal in all directions. The beast that had struck him was temporarily shaken as well, for it faltered, trying to regain its bearings.
Incandescent fire flashed out, filling the air in front of Dorian with white hot flames as Sir Egan turned his sun-sword on the monster that had been battering him. The beast screamed in pain as the fire proved to be unexpectedly effective against even its iron-like hide. Smoke billowed up around it as Egan continued his onslaught, and dark fluids seeped from its burning skin, catching fire as they emerged. In short, it burned like dry tinder soaked in pitch.
The tall, spindly fourth creature then turned its magic-charged tendrils on Egan, disrupting his attack as their power flashed through him, setting his nerves on fire. This time the assault didn’t stop. The monster kept the power flowing, attempting to fry Egan within his armor.
Shuddering and twitching, Egan collapsed but the tall one continued its attack, until something flew through the air to strike it close to its round bulbous central body. Penny had launched herself like a missile, and she removed one of the softer tendrils with her initial attack. She clung to its main body now, and with a second swing she quickly removed the other. Leaping away, she landed near her fallen companions.
The situation had become dire.
The first three of their opponents were down, but two remained. The tall one loomed over Penny as she considered her options. Then impossibly, it began to grow new tendrils from its main body. Farther back, the fifth, and largest of their attackers had finally closed the distance. It towered, manlike in shape, twenty feet in height, a massive thing with heavy, bludgeoning limbs. It had only two arms, but each was thicker than Penelope’s torso. She had no hope of cutting through such massive proportions.
A sound from behind caught her attention, and she saw Dorian’s frame rising from the ground. A strange guttural noise seemed to issue from his lips, and he reached up with one hand to pull his helm from his head. What lay within shocked her.
Gone was the human face she had grown up with. In its place was a fierce stone head. His skin was now granite-like in texture, and while his features were still present, they were coarser, as though he had been carved by some mad sculptor with a penchant for feral, dangerous expressions. Reaching across his body Dorian began tugging at what remained of his pauldrons, and then he stripped the armor from his arms. Underneath was more of the same, stone. Everywhere stone. He had transformed completely.
This can’t be happening, she thought. He’s like Magnus now. He’s gone.
She had no time to grieve for her friend however, the tall one was already aiming its new weapons at her, and she was forced to dodge the first of what proved to be several potentially deadly magical blasts. Sand and stone vaporized wherever the magic touched, and she had no doubt it would be even more effective against flesh, and her chainmail wouldn’t shield her at all. One hit and I’m dead.
Weaving in and out, she moved like lightning, cutting at the creature’s legs, which seemed to be its main vulnerability, but her smaller sword made it difficult to strike with the force needed to cut through the iron-like skin. If it would stay still, and I could make a two handed swing, I could probably sever one. She had more problems than just that however. The fifth was close beside the tall one now, and its huge hands were sweeping down to catch her as she tried to dodge the blasts coming from the other.
Something flashed before her eyes, and then she saw the golem that Dorian had become racing past. He had finished removing the armor and now held his great sword, Thorn, in one hand as he drove himself, shoulder first, into the main body of the larger monster, forcing it back. He rolled away
from it as it fell, and the sword came up, glinting like a silver wraith in the starlight. Gripping its hilt within his two thick hands, Dorian’s sword blurred as it struck and cut with incredible speed. Pieces of the monster flew in several directions as he danced and whirled around it, chopping bits away like some mad lumberjack whittling away at a mighty oak.
The tall one had moved away from her now, stepping back to survey the change in the battlefield. The deadly tentacles shifted, pointing at Dorian once again, and before Penny could react, they unleashed another deadly barrage at his unprotected back. He was transfixed for a moment as the magic ravaged over and through his body, but he didn’t fall.
Penny was about to leap again, to make another flying attack on the tentacles, but Egan’s voice warned her off, “Down, Countess!” The knight had recovered his footing, and his sword was pointing at the spindly monster. Once Penelope was clear, the flames rushed forth to bathe it in the devouring white fire of his sun-sword.
Dorian fared worse. The magical attack had temporarily stunned him, and his massive opponent wasted no time taking advantage; both of its huge arms rose and slammed into him from either side. Cracks appeared in his chest as they drew back, but he seemed otherwise unharmed. Whipping his sword upward with one hand, he struck at the left arm but the blade failed to bite deeply enough. It snared in the hard wooden flesh, and before he could release the hilt, the right swung across to strike the middle of the trapped blade.
A flash of light blinded them all for a moment as Thorn snapped in two.
Everything seemed to stop then as they struggled to regain their vision. Dorian particularly seemed stunned by the loss of his sword, but the fallen god he was facing had no such restraint. It caught him in one large fist, and rushing forward, slammed the stone man against the wall. Then it proceeded to pound him, driving him against the hard stone with massive fists.
Stone and dust flew in all directions, and the courtyard seemed to vibrate with the deep sound of each impact. Dorian Thornbear was quickly being rendered into gravel.