Army of the Dead (68 page)

Marak was not sure if Myka could kill the demon. The lacerations in her wing surely had to affect her ability to maneuver quickly, and the Torak could see no weakness in the demon.

Myka wobbled as she flew, and the demon cackled as it circled. On one pass the demon spit at Myka, and a large glob of acidic spittle landed near Marak. The glob smoked as it started to eat through one of Myka’s scales. Marak’s hand darted to his pack to retrieve a piece of cloth to blot the sputum, but Myka spoke sharply.

“Mind your knife, Torak,” ordered the dragon.

“Wise, Myka,” cackled Barrok. “There is no need to worry about scales when you both shall be dead soon.”

Marak’s hands immediately gripped the knife tightly. The demon darted inward towards Myka’s injured wing from the rear. Myka suddenly folded her wings inward and began to drop precipitously. The demon shouted in surprise and streaked after the falling dragon. The Torak’s body lifted off the dragon’s back, and he remained affixed only by his hands holding the knife. Without warning, Myka’s wings suddenly flared outward, and Marak’s body slammed into the dragon’s scales. The demon had been tricked into believing that Myka was heading for the ground. As the demon instantly caught up to the dragon, Myka twisted in the air and snapped her jaws tight on Barrok’s throat. The demon gagged and flailed as it tried to break free, but the dragon increased the pressure as her teeth sunk ever deeper. Acidic, black blood seeped out of the demon’s neck and flowed along its body. With a loud snap, the demon’s head lolled to one side. Myka flipped her head and discarded the creature’s body. Marak watched the demon’s carcass fall to the ground.

“You did it!” exclaimed the Torak.

“This is no time for congratulations,” sighed Myka. “Agad and Caliphia are coming out to play.”

The Torak glanced towards the temple and saw two distant black shapes winging away from the building’s roof.

* * *

“Have them blunt their arrows,” shouted King Avalar. “I want them to hit solidly when they are fired. There will be no flesh to bite into. The task is to break the spinal column supporting the head.”

“I will see to it,” promised Galantor.

The elven king returned his attention to the duel in the sky in time to see the demon gore the underside of the dragon.

“That doesn’t look good,” commented Ukaro. “Isn’t there anything that we can do to help?”

“Not according to Myka,” Lyra shook her head. “The demons are immune to magic, and our weapons are puny in comparison to the armor of their hides.”

“Emperor Marak is being tossed around dangerously,” frowned Princess Alastasia. “If Myka dies, so does the Torak. How can he manage to hang on?”

“His life depends upon hanging on,” Ukaro said softly.

StarWind came running towards the group and halted alongside Lyra.

“We have contacted the Astor,” she reported. “We were just in time. The free tribes were just about to advance into the field of skeletons. They have halted and are awaiting instructions.”

“They will have to wait a bit,” Lyra said distractedly. “I don’t know how to continue without the Torak.”

“We must continue,” balked King Avalar. “We are all committed to destroying Vand. There is no other option for us. He will destroy our world. Surely the Star and the Astor will carry on?”

“I understand the position that we are in,” Lyra retorted tensely. “What I meant by my words is that the prophecies clearly state that the Three will battle Vand for control of the world. If the Torak dies, the Three are no longer. I do not know if just the Astor and I can fulfill the prophecy.”

“I will not accept that,” Princess Alastasia declared. “Everyone here will fight to the death to destroy Vand. I do not care what the prophecies state. We are all committed to this campaign, and we shall finish it, one way or another.”

“Well spoken, daughter,” smiled King Avalar.

“I would have it no other way,” explained Lyra. “I have no intention of backing out. I just want everyone to realize that our fight may be futile. That is not to say that we would even think of abandoning it.”

“A tail to the face!” exclaimed Ukaro. “Myka is going in for the kill.”

Everyone’s attention returned to the battle overhead as Myka’s claws ripped into the demon’s face and then the demon shredded the dragon’s wing.

“This is not going well,” StarWind remarked with nervousness. “Can’t we do something? I would rather attack than stand here watching helplessly.”

“Myka does look wounded,” sighed King Avalar, “but I would never give up on a winged warrior. They have the spirit of Kaltara abiding within them.”

“Within her,” corrected the Star of Sakova. “Myka is the last of her kind.”

The group watched as the demon circled the wounded dragon. Breaths were held and the camp fell silent as the demon spiraled closer and closer.

“She’s falling,” gasped Lyra. “Oh, Kaltara, save her.”

The demon dove after the falling dragon, and everyone held their breath again. When Myka flared her wings and struck the demon in the neck, the whole crowd cheered loudly. They watched with satisfaction as the demon’s body plummeted to the ground.

“I thought Marak would fall off when Myka began dropping,” Lyra sighed with relief. “He was barely hanging on, and a fall from such a height would surely have killed him.”

“Praise Kaltara that that is over with,” exhaled Ukaro.

“Praise him indeed,” King Avalar said softly, “but it is not over. Look towards the temple.”

The group gazed towards the towering Temple of Vandegar and saw the two black specks flying towards the dragon.

“She is in no condition to fight right now,” frowned Ukaro. “She must flee to fight another day.”

“She is trying to flee to the east,” remarked StarWind, “but her flying is erratic. I don’t think she will be able to elude them.”

The demons saw the dragon’s intended path and moved to intercept her. The two demons separated in altitude as they approached Myka, and everyone knew that the fight would commence soon. There was no way for Myka to escape. As everyone watched in horrified silence, the demons angled to get the dragon between them so that they could both attack at once. Myka tried frantically to outmaneuver the demons by twisting and turning and reversing course, but it was not to be. Another battle in the sky was about to begin, and this one was not a match of equals.

A sudden communal gasp ripped through the forest as Emperor’s Marak’s body separated from the back of the dragon and plummeted towards the ground. No sooner had he fallen than the demons swept in to strike the dragon and deal a deathblow to their mighty foe.

As the group watched Emperor Marak fall from the dragon, the Star of Sakova dropped to her knees in prayer. Absolute silence reigned for several seconds and then wild cheers erupted from the group. Lyra rose swiftly and tried to see why they were cheering.

“Tell me,” pleaded Lyra. “What happened to Marak?”

“Weren’t you watching?” replied Princess Alastasia. “He landed in the lake.”

“Is he alive?” Lyra asked.

“We can’t tell from here,” King Avalar said softly, “but there is hope for him now. Had he landed on the ground he would have surely died.”

“We must go to him,” declared the Star of Sakova. “StarWind, get everyone ready.”

“There are thousands of creatures between us and the lake,” warned StarWind. “We may not survive the journey.”

“We would have to go there and then bring Emperor Marak back here,” added Princess Alastasia. “We cannot possibly defend him at the side of the lake, and those creatures are sure to pursue us.”

“I don’t want excuses or warnings,” screamed Lyra. “Get the chokas ready now. The Sakovans are going to get Marak and bring him to safety.”

StarWind backed away from Lyra, her eyes wide with surprise. While Lyra often had emotional outbursts, she had never screamed in fury before. The Star of Sakova’s face was scarlet and her eyes were piercing. StarWind swallowed and nodded silently before she raced into the campsite and called for the Sakovans to mount up for battle. Ukaro stepped next to the Star of Sakova and placed his arm around her comfortingly.

“The Sakovans are only five hundred strong,” he said softly.

Lyra turned, pushing his arm away as she glared at the Chula shaman. Her mouth opened wide to deliver a verbal tirade, but Ukaro smiled and placed a finger on her lips.

“Here my words,” Ukaro pleaded. “I am not saying that you should not go, but I want you to realize the seriousness of what we are going to do.”

“We?” frowned Lyra.

“Marak is my son and the pride of the Chula people,” smiled Ukaro. “Did you actually think that we would abandon him? I do not know how much help the Chula will be, but we will run with you.”

“In cat form?” asked King Avalar.

“It would be the only way that we could keep up with the chokas,” nodded Ukaro. “That is why I said we may not be of much help against the creatures. We can run or fight, but doing both at the same time is not very effective.”

“Would your people accept riders?” asked Princess Alastasia.

Ukaro smiled broadly. “Elven archers perhaps?” he asked.

“That is what I was thinking,” nodded King Avalar. “Marak is our Torak as well. We have not come all the way from Elvangar to see him die at the hands of these creatures.”

“With pleasure,” Ukaro nodded vigorously. “We can only carry five hundred archers. The rest of my people are not shamans and cannot perform the transformation.”

“Then this is what I propose,” explained King Avalar. “We place the elven archers astride the Chula in the center of the procession. The Sakovans will take the vanguard and the outside flanks. They can hack at the creatures as we shoot our arrows over the Sakovan heads. I will have the archers that remain behind in the forest start to open up a corridor for our return trip.”

“That will work,” trembled Lyra, “but we are running out of time. He will be alone and surrounded by those skeletons. We must hurry.”

Ukaro and King Avalar shouted orders and the entire campsite swept into action. The scene was hectic as the groups quickly assembled. While it only took several minutes for the groups to prepare, it felt like hours for Lyra. She paced furiously back and forth until Goral brought her a choka.

“I will be the tip of the spear,” he told the Star of Sakova. “Do not under any circumstances pass me. If I fall to the creatures, others will take my place, but you must promise to let your people precede you.”

Lyra nodded impatiently as HawkShadow, StarWind, and StormSong got in position directly behind Goral. The rest of the Sakovans moved to one side or the other as elf-bearing cheetahs lined up behind the Star of Sakova. Goral turned and gazed at the formation before holding up his hand as high as it would reach. With a slight intake of breath, the Sakovan giant brought his arm down swiftly and urged his choka forward.

The odd assortment of fighters broke out of the forest and raced across the barren plain towards the south end of the lake. At first the skeletons did not notice the attack from the south, but when they did, they surged to block their path.

Goral had been chosen for the point position because of the long reach of his maul. When the Sakovans reached the wall of skeletons, Goral started swinging his maul continuously back and forth. He kept the devastating weapon at a level consistent with the heads of the skeletons, and disconnected skulls started flying through the air. StormSong and HawkShadow rode side-by-side just behind Goral, and they extended the swath of destruction on each side of the procession. StarWind rode directly in front of Lyra. It was her task to kill anything that got past her comrades. The rest of the Sakovans formed the outside lines of a giant wedge that sliced its way through the crowd of creatures.

Behind the Star of Sakova, and in between the two lines of Sakovans, five hundred elven archers rode on cheetahs and fired blunt arrows at the necks of skeletons. Their task was to limit the number of creatures that would succeed in approaching the column, as the Sakovans could only kill so many. At first the elven archers were only mildly successful, as they were not used to the lope of a cheetah, but they adapted quickly.

Lyra felt helpless as the column raced towards the lake. The flow of skeletons appeared to be endless, and all she could see was a sea of endless white heads. In frustration, the Star of Sakova gazed skyward and gasped. She had forgotten about the battle going on in the sky. When she looked up there was only one demon fighting Myka, but the dragon was dripping blood at a rapid rate. Streams of dragon blood appeared to be flowing freely towards the ground, and Myka’s flying appeared very erratic and slow. The remaining demon still appeared agile, and Lyra could see no injuries. As Lyra watched, the demon made its move. It soared past the dragon and abruptly turned. Sinking its talons into Myka’s back, the demon sunk its teeth into the dragon’s neck.

Lyra could hear the dragon’s scream above the thunder of smashing skeletons going on around her. Myka’s tail suddenly whipped forward and wrapped around the demon’s body. As the demon turned to slash the tail in half, Myka’s head swiveled quickly. Her jaws wrapped around the demon’s neck and her teeth dug in deeply. The demon howled, and the unnatural cry roared across the plain. Both demon and dragon stopped flapping their wings and tumbled to the ground. The Star of Sakova thought she felt the ground shake as the two behemoths impacted the ground, and tears started flowing down Lyra’s cheeks. She closed her eyes and prayed that Kaltara would accept his valiant warrior and give her a special place by his side.

Unexpectedly, Lyra’s choka slashed out at something and leaped into the air. Lyra opened her eyes to see what was happening.

“Keep alert,” yelled StarWind. “We do not want to lose you.”

“What was that?” Lyra asked.

“A skeleton tried to rise in front of you,” replied the Sakovan spymaster.

“Goral missed one?” frowned Lyra.

“He has missed quite a few actually,” StarWind answered. “We have been running over skeletons since the fighting began. It is impossible to get them all, but I think they are starting to get wise. I think that one intentionally laid down so it could rise in our midst.”