Chapter 26
Wodred
Sprinting forward with a battle cry, I swing my ax toward Grazrath as the demon drops my beloved to the floor.
I have to get him away from Melelea. The archdemon jumps back, dodging my blow and extending his claws, growling and spitting curses.
He rips the javelin out of his shoulder, tossing it to the ground.
I trade blow after blow with the demon, but he fights me at every quarter, blocking hits that should be fatal and dealing brutal blows of his own.
Though he is vulnerable with that swath of human skin across his chest and face, he still has the size, strength, and speed of a demon.
I can’t quite gain the advantage to end him.
Behind me, I hear Gunag and Dame Zera finally catch up.
When the imp took Melelea, I jumped on my warbeast and followed the creature up the mountain, pushing Claw to his limits.
We climbed over snow and ice and rock, pushing to get to Melelea in time.
I didn’t even check to see if the others were following me.
My only focus was getting to Grazrath’s lair.
Now, I need them. I cannot even tell if Melelea is still alive, if she’s lost too much blood.
She needs a healer, and she needs one now, if she’s to have any chance at survival.
“Gunag!” I cry, even as I still fight Grazrath. “To Lady Melelea! She needs you!”
I cannot turn to see if he does as I bid, all my attention is on the fight before me, but I hear footsteps running into the cave behind me.
From my peripheral vision, I see Gunag heading toward Melelea, and then a sword joins my ax in attacking Grazrath, Dame Zera entering the fight.
Grazrath snarls at her and begins flagging, struggling to keep up with fighting us both while injured.
Then he whips out a hand, sending a wave of force toward us, pushing Dame Zera and me back.
I plant my feet and am only moved a few hand spans, as is the knight, who braces with her sword.
But the delay of being pushed back costs us.
Grazrath uses his wings and leaps toward the pile of dragon bones, his hand making contact with them.
A pulse of power echoes through the room, and then the bones begin to glow and disintegrate.
The glittering powder of the bones flows into Grazrath, and he, too, begins to shine, as if from within.
He seems to get even bigger, his muscles bulking.
“We must stop him from absorbing the magic!” I cry out.
Dame Zera and I dash forward, weapons at the ready.
But Grazrath whips around, one hand still on the bones, absorbing them and the other reaching out to erect a shield.
The knight and I bounce off the glowing barrier, and I impotently attack it with my ax.
“You are too late, orc!” Grazrath sneers. “With this power, I will raze Ilustan to the ground and capture your queen. Her magic will be mine, and with it I will take Anar’i. Now watch as I summon my army and despair!”
The bones are almost completely gone now, mostly absorbed by the archdemon.
He lifts up his hand that was on the bones, while using his other hand to keep us at bay.
A burning rift, like a line of fire, appears in the air as Grazrath tears through the very fabric of Anar’i into the Nether.
The rift opens, a portal to the Void Where Demons Dwell.
Through the tear, I can see roiling hordes of untold thousands waiting to be freed.
Imps and siegebeasts and devils of every kind.
But there are also bars made of pure light in front of the portal, like a magical prison.
Grazrath growls. “So, Karnia grows more wily. She thinks to block me from freeing my soldiers, but she did not plan for the power of a dragon!”
The demon puts both hands forward, abandoning his shield so that he can blast more power at the bars blocking his minions from leaving through the rift.
Sensing an opportunity, I attack the shield again, and this time it cracks under the force of my blow from my orc-make weapon.
Dame Zera, seeing this, also attacks the barrier, both of us working to break it down.
However, as we strike it, it takes a toll on our weapons, the metal buckling and cracking.
When the shield finally crumbles, our weapons are destroyed, useless.
I toss the shaft of my broken ax to the ground and reach back into my quiver to grab my second javelin, but Dame Zera is already moving.
Tossing the hilt of her ruined sword to the side, the knight dashes forward, her body low, and she tackles the demon.
She takes him by surprise and knocks him off balance, the power coming off of his hands veering wildly around the cave, tearing through the stone.
As he begins to fall, Dame Zera recovers with some quick footwork and kicks his chest, sending him tumbling toward the rift that he opened.
“NO!” screams the demon, but it is too late.
He is falling through his own portal, back into the Nether where he belongs.
But at the last second, he grabs Dame Zera’s still extended leg, steadying himself and trying to pull himself back onto solid ground.
I see the instant Dame Zera makes a decision, and she lunges forward, making Grazrath lose his balance again.
But as the demon falls into the Nether, he pulls her with him, both figures disappearing through the rift.
“No!” shouts Gunag from behind me. “Zera!”
Without Grazrath on this side to hold it open, the rift begins collapsing on itself, getting smaller. Gunag dashes forward from behind me, heading straight for the crumbling portal.
“No! Gunag!” I cry out. “Stop! She is lost!”
But the orc doesn’t listen to me, diving straight into the remaining tear. Then it snaps shut behind him, and he and Zera are gone. Stunned, I stare where they disappeared. Where did they go? Are they in the Void Where Demons Dwell with Grazrath? What will happen to them?
But then I shake my head. I can do nothing for them.
My concern needs to lie with Melelea. Whirling around, I run back to where Melelea is still on the floor.
Sinking to my knees, I desperately feel at her neck for a pulse.
The wound at her shoulder where Grazrath was feeding on her is closed, so I know that Gunag was using his healing gift on her, for which I am grateful.
A weak, thready pulse greets my fingertips as I feel for it.
She is alive, but barely. Gunag seems to have stabilized her, but she has lost a lot of blood.
I need to get her to a healer, a strong one.
I need to get her to Kirigard. He can save her if I can get to him in time.
With great care, I lift Melelea into my arms and jog with her to my warbeast at the entrance of the cave.
I give a sharp whistle, and Claw sinks to his knees, allowing me to climb onto his back with Melelea in my arms. Then I squeeze with my knees and the warbeast rises, turning with the pressure of my knees to head down the mountain.
Gunag’s warbeast does not even try to follow, waiting for a master that will never return.
I’ll send someone to collect him later, but for now, there are more pressing things to attend to.
“Run like our lives depend on it, Claw,” I growl, my hands holding Melelea as her head lolls back, showing how very weak and vulnerable she is.
Because my life does. If Melelea doesn’t make it, nothing will matter anymore.
Nothing.