Chapter 74 #2
And in my last days, I unexpectedly fell in love.
Holding the man of my dreams, tears that were a physical manifestation of gratitude and grief escaped.
I bathed in this moment, unaware of how much time had passed.
The others held conversations around the caravan, too far away to hear clearly from where we stood amongst the dragons. My focus wasn’t on them, anyway.
Our army settled when the dragons didn’t attack.
In fact, most of the giant creatures looked relatively at ease, some preening themselves like cats.
Big puppies, if they deemed you as ally and not foe.
They participated in their own conversations, generally along the lines of how they were excited to eat something other than mountain goat.
Ignoring them was more of a task, but with Dae in my arms, his scent in my nose, the softness of his skin brushing against mine, I melted into him over and over again.
“Something’s wrong,” Dante said.
From where we stood, I barely heard him. Dae and I straightened but didn’t release each other. We made our way closer to the others.
“Want me to check it out?” Jasper asked.
Dante nodded, staring ahead at the forest that showed no signs of disturbance.
The gargoyle took off with notable speed.
Dante shifted, angling his wolf ear in one direction, then marginally adjusting to another.
He repeated the action, like he couldn’t pinpoint the origin of whatever he searched for.
“What is it?” King Nicholas asked, coming up to his side.
Nervous glances passed between our gathered group.
Nora’s daggers remained poised in her grip, and Melody seemed prepared to wield her magic within a moment’s notice, her fingers wiggling loosely at her sides.
I reached for the arrows at my back out of instinct, only to realize I hadn’t had my quiver or bow for days.
“I need arrows.” I whipped my head to face Dae, panic flooding my system.
“I’ll get you some.” He was gone before I could blink, those strong legs carrying him with focus and determination toward the loaded wagons full of battle preparations.
“The energy. It’s…shifted.” Dante’s ear twitched, and there was a lilt to his voice like he was questioning his own statement.
“How?” Nora asked with the bold confidence of a queen.
“It used to be this concentrated power, but now it’s gone quiet. I’m sorry if that doesn’t make much sense, it’s hard to put into words.”
I tuned in to the forest around me. He was right, something had changed.
“Maybe they lost it? Or maybe it killed them?” Melody suggested.
“Maybe. It would explain why it feels like a dampening fire,” Dante said.
The minor rumble of shouting voices became a cresting chorus. Soldiers grew frenzied in a wave as a few on horseback galloped along the outskirts toward us from the south.
Nick ran to meet a messenger, and most of us followed.
“Majesty, they’re attacking the flanks,” the man spat out.
“Who?” Nick asked.
“The dark wielders. It’s a slaughter. All of Windguard’s army from the rear is gone.
Highcrest and Duski soldiers are falling as we speak.
” The man’s dark face was ashen, sweat glistening across his forehead.
He’d seen what the dark magic was capable of.
Even I hadn’t yet, and seeing this man’s fear hinted that I didn’t want to.
“It’s been minutes,” Nora whispered in disbelief, her weapon filled hands falling slack at her sides.
“They’ve established themselves around the perimeter!” Jasper approached at breakneck speeds, landing with enough force to dent the earth. “They split up, drawing the dark magic around us on both sides. We’re surrounded.”
Terror in its purest form rushed through my body as sure as my blood. Dae returned to my side, empty-handed. “No one would spare them.”
Well that did nothing to make me feel empowered. Surrounded and weaponless. Great.
Sounds of distress grew louder, men and women belting out their war cries. I couldn’t swallow the lump in my throat. “Braxius!”
My not-so-small blue dragon propelled himself from the ground, his wings a thunderous boom as he came to me.
“We’re surrounded and they’re attacking from behind. Take all of your horde and protect the army!”
“On it. DRAGONS, WE’RE SURROUNDED!”
Within a moment, they all took off southward, their shadows crossing the earth as Brax and Tyberius led them to the front lines. Dante followed beneath, racing on all fours, and King Nicholas and Prince Marco rushed behind.
“LOOK!” Melody pointed toward the eastern area of forest. Black veins crawled up tree trunks, spoiling the green leaves that sprouted until they shriveled from decay. A wall of impenetrable, hungry black closing in and devouring life in its path.
Dae shifted beside me. His bones cracked and his skin stretched in a way I hadn’t noticed before. Like this form was ruthless from its very creation. His claws dug into the soft ground, suffering through the change.
“Are you hurting?” I asked, placing a hand on his midnight fur.
“It's growing more intense. I think it’s the magic, I think it wants me to wield it. The longer I don’t, it’s like it’s punishing me.”
Maybe The Eleven hadn’t had a choice but to wield dark magic. In their cruelty, they sentenced Dae to the same fate. I wanted to scream so loudly that the earth split and sucked up these wretched beings for the harm they’d caused.
A figure came into view, one of The Eleven walking amongst the darkness.
“We have to stop him!” I shouted, drawing everyone’s attention. Unfortunately, I whirled around to see another member of The Eleven closing in from the west, bringing just as much dark destruction in her wake. “Another!”
“Jasper!” Tio called. He whispered and beckoned the gargoyle to follow. Together, they ran straight for the woman.
Dae took off, running for the man.
“Melody!” Nora shouted for her sister, bringing her attention to the two people walking safely through the spreading magic from the northeast. But they didn’t walk atop the inky veins, it cleared out of their way.
“They’re regular magic wielders!” I informed the sisters. Nora nodded in confirmation, and signaled for Melody to advance with her.
I bolted through the huddled mass of soldiers, running directly into the fray as our people pinpointed the enemies closing in from the surrounding woods. Magic sliced through the air, attacks from Highcrest and Duski wielders hurtling toward the sparse adversaries in the woods.
Harnessing multiple magics, members from The Order sent diverse attacks into our dense army.
Fire balls crashed into bodies and didn’t dissipate until their target fell motionless.
Roots lurched upward, wrapping around legs and midsections, and descended back into the ground with such force that bodies broke and contorted before my eyes.
Whips made of water lashed our soldiers’ exposed skin, leaving huge gashes in their wake.
Half a dozen creatures ran into the action, slashing and fighting against magicless guardsmen.
Wind blazed around groups of people, lifting them into the air in a spinning tornado before sending them flying against trees where they would strike with force too strong to survive or be impaled on branches.
Destructive veins continued writhing, crawling forward from the outskirts.
In the disorienting array of attacks, soldiers were tossed directly into the dark magic, or weren’t aware when it got too close.
Life instantly drained from their bodies, leaving nothing but sickly, shriveled corpses behind within a matter of seconds.
Death was all around, thriving, drinking up the carnage. A quiver full of arrows and a bow sat on a flatbed of supplies, untouched since most soldiers in this front and middle section were wielders. Pretty gods damned fortunate for me.
A familiar face caught my eye, and I stilled. Wearing his classic vest with no shirt, wrists bound in leather cuffs with his own bow and quiver strapped to his back, Ravinder blasted his wind, sending two Order members ricocheting off trees.
“Hey, you made it,” I said, nearly breathless and overwhelmed at seeing my friend.
He gave me a double take, and his eyes widened. “You’re alive,” he said with a little too much disbelief than I cared for.
“For now,” I replied dryly, grabbing the bow and quiver and flinging it onto my back. “You owe me a beer,” I stated nonchalantly.
“Oh, do I? And why is that?” He fought a losing battle with the smirk across his lips, and that familiar strike of pride hit me.
I simply shrugged. “I just think I’ve done a lot to deserve it.”
He shook his head with a chuckle, glancing briefly at the ground before looking up with a degree of tenderness that warmed my heart. “Deal.”
I smiled, not affording myself another moment to consider the losses we shared and the pain he’d endured before turning on my heel and racing back to Dae.
Through the haze of magic and weapons, I focused on one thing: returning to fight alongside my friends. Step after step pounded against the soft ground, the beat almost hypnotic. It was that moment of disassociation that nearly ended me.
“RO!”
At the same moment flames heated my skin, a wall of water erected against it. Steam hissed like a territorial cat, and I stumbled. Jai appeared at my side, encouraging me to stand. Kaval blasted his elemental water toward an Order member. The sleeve of my shirt was charred and wet.
“Thanks, kid,” I said to the youngest Pradeep brother.
He flashed his boyish smile. “Time to fight fire with fire.”
The water wall dropped, soaking the grass around our feet.
Jai thrust his forward facing palms, releasing a steady stream of whipping flames directly for the Order member who’d targeted me.
As Kaval called the water from the ground to wield again, forest roots exploded from the soil, wrapping around his shins.
They squeezed and ripped Kaval from where he stood, dragging his body away from our cluster of soldiers and into the forest.
I spotted the wielder responsible and my heart shuddered. A thick line of black makeup ran over his eyes. One of The Eleven. The living forest pulled Kaval away from his comrades, heading straight for the inky lines of decay that creeped forward from the accepted.
Time seemed to slow. Jai’s terrified scream muffled against the solid beat in my ears. I’d lined my shot while taking in the inevitable scene, and released.
But I was too late.
At the same moment my arrow pierced the accepted’s heart, Kaval’s feet touched the dark magic.
Inch by inch, his legs deflated beneath his pants.
His pelvis and hips collapsed in on themselves.
He tilted his head back, locking eyes with his brother as his warm brown skin leached color, and small strings of black raced to consume him.
“Give ‘em hell,” were the last words from his pain contorted mouth.
His body shriveled and withered until the unrecognizable husk became devastatingly still and shadowed.
“KAV!” Jai raced for his brother, as if reaching him would reverse the loss.
Though the dark wielder had fallen, the magic around him remained. Tears streaked my cheeks, and my heart fractured, but Dae couldn’t lose another brother. Jai clearly wasn’t thinking, propelled by grief toward the same fate.
I had seconds. He’d already gotten a head start, I wouldn’t be able to catch him in time. “RAVINDER.” From several hundred yards away, he heard my cry. “STOP HIM!” I pointed to Jai, the young man running straight for the stain of black death.
Rav waved his hands in the air, and I watched the wall of wind blast across the distance, grasses and leaves bowing in its wake. A few fighters in the way felt its effects, thrown off their feet, but no one was seriously injured. The wind slammed into Jai, causing him to tumble and roll.
I took off running, by the time he’d recovered and started resuming his path, I reached him, grabbing his hand with both of mine. “Jai, stop. It’s too dangerous. Kaval wouldn’t want you to risk your life like this. And Dae needs you.” Tears fell and emotion clogged my throat.
His indecision was palpable, like he frantically searched for a solution to somehow still get to his fallen brother. “H-he only came because I insisted.” When we finally locked gazes, pure guilt lined his watery brown eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Jai.” I bit my bottom lip, placing my hand on his arm and squeezing tight.
Our attention was pulled from nearby screams. The battle around us would grant no time to mourn, only opportunity to lose more of our loved ones.
“Don’t tell Dae, okay?” Jai pleaded with more than his words, resting his hand atop mine. His tears watered the ground before he tried to wipe them away with his sleeve.
As much as it broke my heart, Dae realizing his loss would only serve as a distraction. So I nodded fervently. Jai saw my confirmation, then took off running to the nearest conflict. My feet remained planted while I reined in my emotions when a hand rested on my shoulder.
Amethyst eyes greeted me. “The light wielder needs you. Go,” Evenita said, entirely too calmly in the midst of a raging battle.
The seer had long earned my trust, so I focused on getting to Melody.
Finally, I made it back to the front. Jasper and Tio were still contending with one of The Eleven.
The gargoyle zoomed through the air, dropping rocks and sticks on top of the member’s head, while Tio pelted the enemy with rocks and twigs from the ground.
The member harnessed wind, staving off any deadly hits Tio sent her way, but the dark magic beneath her didn’t move. It waited, like an attack dog on a leash. As long as they kept her distracted, the others had time to take down more from the forest.