Chapter 19 #2
A high-pitched shriek rent the air as the blade disappeared about four inches, presumably into a symbiont, and I shoved harder so it pushed through more.
Seconds later, a human form became visible as the dark blue substance of the symbiont slid off the body to puddle on the ground.
Killing the symbiont had lifted the glamour, and I took a moment to acknowledge the vacant human face before I pulled my sword from its body and it slumped to the ground.
The face was that of a middle-aged man with light brown hair just graying at the temples and a couple days’ worth of beard stubble. The man likely had a wife, perhaps children. He was someone’s son. Someone’s brother. Someone’s friend.
In war, he was just another casualty, and one of many to come. I never took death lightly, but I also couldn’t dwell on it. If I stopped to mourn everyone I killed, I’d end up dead myself.
As if to emphasize that, I had to throw myself out of the way as another void in the mist shot toward me. Thank the gods Cyra had gotten the idea for this fog. I couldn’t see what was going on elsewhere, but at least I could tell when something was coming at me.
I turned to face the invisible symbiont as it circled around for another pass. I readied my sword and braced to shove it through the hard exoskeleton of the creature.
Just as the thing was on me, a massive form hurtled out of the mist and caught the symbiont by the throat, or what was likely its throat. A twist and crack of its neck, and the blue matter slid off yet another body.
I looked up at the giant stone form of Samhail and nodded my thanks. I’d know his gargoyle form anywhere. His glowing blue eyes met mine, and he nodded before disappearing back into the fog.
My body went cold as Cyra’s scream pierced the air.
It was a long keening sound full of pain, and every nerve in my body went raw as terror rampaged through me.
What in the three hells had caused her to make that sound?
I couldn’t tell from which direction her cry came because the fog made the sound bounce around, and my frantic call to her was drowned out by the roars of three gargoyles who undoubtedly felt the tug of the divine imperative that willed them to help her.
“Cyra!” I yelled again, but either she didn’t answer, or I couldn’t hear her above the fighting.
I tried to access my power and reach out to her, but I still couldn’t feel anything, and my skin prickled in fear. I had to get to Cyra.
I took off in the direction I’d last seen her run, but I didn’t get far before a familiar figure emerged from the fog in front of me.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Sandrian asked as he stepped in front of me. “Going to help your lady?”
I didn’t bother answering. I just attacked. I swung my sword at Sandrian’s head, but to my surprise he blocked the blow. I immediately swung again, but he parried that swing and my next two as well.
Sandrian had always been a competent fighter if not a great one, but he’d apparently improved.
I waited for him to attack, but he seemed content to stay on the defensive. He wasn’t trying to kill me, I realized, just keep me from getting to Cyra. He couldn’t beat me, but he could keep me at bay.
Dread flooded my veins as my mind went wild imagining what was happening to Cyra across the field.
“Cyra!” I yelled. “Answer me!”
“Have no fear,” Sandrian said. “Your lady is fine. Magdalene just wanted some time alone with her, so you get to play with me instead.”
Adrenaline coursed through me, and I attacked Sandrian in a frenzy. His eyes widened as I rained down blow after blow on him while he did his best to deflect them.
I half expected a bolt of lightning to hit me at any moment, but I supposed that was another benefit of Cyra’s fog.
With all the droplets of moisture permeating the air, Sandrian seemed afraid to use his lightning.
I didn’t know for sure what would happen, but it was possible it would diffuse enough to shock everyone, including him.
It was a small blessing, but a fleeting one. On my next wild swing, Sandrian dodged the blow and then lunged forward to press his hand to my chest. I cried out as his lightning jolted through my body, but, luckily, I was thrown back quickly enough that I only got a small piece of it.
My vision blurred for a moment, and I shook my head.
I was on the ground as Sandrian loomed over me, and I rolled out of the way just in time as the point of his sword came flying down at me.
The blade sunk into the earth where I’d just been a moment earlier, and I kicked out at his legs.
They buckled under him, and he went crashing to the ground with a cry of surprise.
I was on him a second later. I didn’t have the leverage or angle to use my sword, so I dropped it and punched him as hard as I could across the jaw.
My shoulder screamed in pain as I forgot about my wound, and Sandrian took advantage of the second I took to collect myself.
He pressed his hand to my chest again, and I was barely able to throw myself off him as his lightning jolted me again.
I groaned as I lay on the ground. I was starting to feel like my insides were being cooked. Thankfully, Sandrian was just as slow to get up.
We staggered to our feet, ready to fight again, when we both felt something change.
A pulse of power reverberated over the field and echoed in my chest. The air was already cool, but the temperature dropped several more degrees, and the sky darkened as if night had started to fall early.
A strange clamor rose across the field from nowhere in particular, like the sound of hundreds of bodies moving and grunting.
The effect felt familiar, but it couldn’t possibly be…
No one had that power but me.