Fate Rides Wicked: Volume I of the Lerilon Trilogy (24 page)

The hiftnuvin dismounted and the four climbed the wall
as Quez used a spell to bring down the three thrandrils,
Worlef, Findra and Buynar. These four immediately joined
the others on the ropes and soon only Flandroke and his
choice of soldier, Ubilitare, stood with the horses.

Tych and the others arrived at the battle to find it fully
engaged. The first twelve up struggled against close to one
hundred xadineft. Quickly the other eight joined and
stopped the battle from swinging against them. Gaylin
sang in Tych’s hand, and grew louder each time it met
xadineft flesh.

Tendelbro yelled out, “Don’t be near them when they
are hit by the sun. Their blood will instantly become acidic
and they’ll become an acid bomb.” A xadineft made him
refocus on the battle.

Within an hour the xadineft lay at their feet. The sun
had hit some of them and only a pool of acid remained of
them. As the sun moved and others got hit, more
explosions followed and the expedition had to avoid being
hit. “Is anybody injured?” yelled Tych.

Lendril yelled back, “Everybody’s accounted for and
can move. We haven’t had time to check for injury.”

“Then let’s get out of here.” They ran into the trees
back towards the pass. At the ropes they all stopped.
“Okay, anybody injured?”

Tendelbro came limping towards the group. “Sure we
can all move. I have a cut in my leg, two broken fingers
and an acid burn on my shoulder. Other than that I feel
great.” His voice was filled with sarcasm.

A few others had nicks and cuts and bruises but nothing
else as serious as Tendelbro. “Nandel, take Tendelbro
down and work on his wounds. We’ll follow. I will go last
after sending down the ropes.”

The whole operation of getting down and coiling the
ropes and getting back in the saddles took a quarter of an
hour. As night fell they reached the top of the pass. After
setting up camp, they fell quickly to sleep. They camped
on the border of Efrenbont, their first real challenge, but
that would begin the next day.

In the early morning hours, just before dawn, the sound
of battle and cry of the sentries in the tent woke the
sleeping expedition. All had slept with armor on, so great
did they think the danger to be. In moments they charged
out into the pass, weapons ready, to find Tych, Lendril and
Aquendar barely visible, surrounded by xadineft and
forangen. The humans could only see the moving shapes
and the light from the blades of the two endarils.

Instantly, Nandel raised his staff and pointed above the
battle, knowing that the humans lacked the heat seeing
ability of everybody else. A large orb spun from the staff
and hovered above the battle for a moment before igniting
itself. Now the battle would be fair, for endaril, neftir,
human, forangen and xadineft alike. For a moment, all the
combatants froze, stunned by the sudden light.

Nandel and Blard took advantage of this, ripping into
the enemy with fire and lightning. This sent the enemy into
complete confusion and they scattered for a moment.
Ofeldar unslung her bow and sent an arrow into one of the
xadineft horns knocking it from the blower’s hands. A
dagger from Tych caught the surprised monster in the back
and he fell. Reichet charged forward, swinging his huge
battle-axe like a toy. His fame for this could be heard of in
the villages of all the neftir and daril races.

Vilmar, the hiftnuvin archer, let loose as Ofeldar
released again, and two forangen fell. The monsters had
begun to regroup, when the first rays of sun peeked over
the horizon. Tych yelled, “Don’t wade into them! The
xadineft will start exploding soon!”

Nandel yelled back, “No, everybody disengage and pull
back to me! It is time for the magicians to go to work!”

Tych took a last swing with Gaylin and dropped back
behind Aquendar. Reichet removed three heads and
stepped back. The others each did similar things and
moved backwards. The xadineft and forangen began to
advance, but paused when they saw the two robed figures
chanting and glowing. Sometimes sorcerers traveled with
their armies, so they knew the awesome power of
magicians.

Quez stepped out and fired a web, then fell back behind
Findra. Panic hit the monsters and they began to run. The
bow-wielding members of the expedition stepped forward
and fired. As their missiles hit, a swarm of flaming
meteors left the hands of Blard and Nandel, racing towards
the enemy. As they fell from arrows, the balls of fire
exploded amongst them. The expedition members covered
their eyes.

When they peeked out, no movement came from the
monsters. Tendelbro began to laugh heartily, his deep
rumble echoing off the surrounding peaks. “Well done,
magicians! Many times have they used human sorcerers
against us. It feels good to see it used against them!” His
laugh continued and soon they all fought for breath, their
mirth almost overwhelming.

After they recovered Nandel said, “If only we could do
that in every confrontation.”

The hiftnuvin commander, Rendind, asked, “Why can’t
you?”

“We had good fortune today. First, the monsters fled
into a group. Second, you were not fully engaged, making
it possible to pull back. Third, they were afraid of us, so
they didn’t do anything to break our concentration. Finally,
Ofeldar managed to disable the horn so that no others came
to the aid of these.”

“I see the conditions of casting are stringent,”
responded Tendelbro. “It is a good thing we have warriors
with us.”

“When we can help, we’ll provide devastating attacks,
but you’re right, soldiers are a good thing to have with you.
Many times I’ve had to fight with my sword and wished for
the help of a few more.” Nandel now started laughing, the
contagious nature of it still in the air. Once this round
settled down, they set about building a fire and eating
breakfast.

The pemilons joined them as Aquendar put the tent on
the back of his horse and mounted his steed. Tych nodded
at the pemilons and yelled “Hold on!” In moments they
seemed to be flying down the pass. The rapidity of the race
made Vilmar fall from his saddle, and he crashed to the
ground. Only Ubilitare, the other pemilon, and Aquendar
followed him, so only they stopped. The rest continued the
race down the mountain.

At the bottom of the pass, an hour after leaving the
camp, they stopped and paused to get a normal breath.
They had covered almost two hundred miles through the
magic of the pemilons, in a very short span of time.
Immediately a horse disobeyed its rider and walked up to
Flandroke. After a series of whinnies from both, Flandroke
turned to Tych, who had been looking around the group.
Simultaneously, they turned to each other and said, “Three
are missing!”

Lendril turned her horse around back up the pass and
said, “Worlef, Loktaro, follow me.” She spurred her horse
forward and all three galloped back into the pass.

Tych announced, “We’ll wait for their return. Be
ready, we are vulnerable here.” The archers took out their
bows and the others drew blades, and they waited.

About ten minutes passed before a group of men came
riding from the west. Tych could see a ribbon of color on
the one in the lead, and knew it would be time to talk fast
again. “Nandel, humans approach, can you talk to them?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t, Tych. Last time I came through
here, about two weeks ago, I’m afraid I left a bad taste in
their mouths. They tried to imprison me and kill me in my
sleep. Instead I used my magic to lock them out and slept
like a baby.”

With a slightly bemused smirk, Tych ordered the
human soldier Wiltev and Sir Xalt to handle this one,
telling Nandel and Blard to get out of sight. He assumed
correctly that the illusionist had also played mischief on
these guards. Flandroke had already vanished.

Sir Xalt and Wiltev sheathed their swords and separated
themselves from the expedition to meet the arriving guard.
The captain came forward and looked the two soldiers over.
“Who are you and why do you pass into Efrenbont?”

“We are Sir Xalt and Wiltev of Polentair. We are on
our way to Efrenak to have an audience with King Sey.”

“There are devil races and trolls with you,” responded
the captain. “Explain this one knight.”

“They are all very high-ranking envoys from their
races.” At this moment, Lendril returned with Ubilitare,
Aquendar, Worlef and Loktaro. Vilmar lay tied down to
Ubilitare’s back. Quickly, before the guards could get a
good look, the pemilon handed the hiftnuvin to Nandel and
bent his legs to be only as tall as the other horses.
Aquendar rode forward to Xalt’s side.

The captain’s eyes lit up. “Aquendar, you four legged
fool, what are you doing with this motley bunch.”

“I am one of the escorts of Prince Tych di Corl of the
Endarils, Commander of the Army of Li and Liberator of
Efreiden, slime ball. I am also now the Commander of the
Efreiden army and Lieutenant-Commander in the army of
Li.”

“You’ve moved up in the world in rank if not company.
We’ll let your bunch pass, and only since you’re with them.
We’ll hold you responsible for their actions.” The captain
crossed his plate mail-covered arms over his chest and
turned his horse around. “Come men, this group poses no
threat to the kingdom.” The guard turned their horses and
rode back down the road.

The humans returned to the group to find Vilmar flat on
the ground. Nandel and Blard kneeled next to him, trying
to treat him. Sir Xalt dismounted and began to take
something out of his pouch. “Out of the way magicians. It
is time for some clerical magic.” The magicians stood and
stepped back. Sir Xalt knelt with one knee on either side of
the seriously wounded archer and sat back on his heels. He
placed both hands on the forehead of the hiftnuvin and
began to chant.

Under each hand, unseen by the others, he pressed two
pieces of wood shaped like lightning bolts into the skin of
his patient. In a moment, they both began to glow. Sir Xalt
turned his head towards the sky and pleaded, “Oh almighty
Frentera, God of all gods, I hold you above all else and ask
for your healing mercy.” The others closed their eyes as
patient and healer became encompassed in bright light for a
moment. They opened their eyes to see Vilmar opening
his.

Sir Xalt stood. He held out his palms to show two
black marks in the shape of lightning. “The symbol of the
God I serve, Frentera. The marks will fade, but I will not
be able to do what I just did again until they do. The spell
invokes help from one of his minions.”

Vilmar sat up. Several bones in his face, arms and
chest had been broken in the fall and he had been bleeding
from a cut on his leg. Now no sign of injury showed on his
body. He stood and shook himself out, as if he had been
sleeping wrong or in a very uncomfortable place.

Andri said, “It seems that between us we can cover all
the needs we might have. We have holy and arcane magic,
warriors and a scout. Let us ride to Efrenak.”

Tych turned his horse and said, “Yes!” Sir Xalt helped
Vilmar into the saddle and jumped onto his horse. Lendril
made sure they all held on tight, and then spurred her steed
into the lead. They sped off down the highway, past the
guards and into the treeless, hilly, northern half of
Efrenbont.

By night the glow of the capital could be seen above the
distant hills. Clouds had rolled in and the night air’s
mugginess sat heavily on the party. Tych and Lendril
swapped watches with Ofeldar and Aquendar, who
appeared to be growing quite enamored of one another.
The two endarils split up in their separate walks and
Lendril soon lost track of Tych. She had learned that he
could vanish very easily and made no noise when he
moved.

She just about jumped out of her skin when he dropped
out of a tree next to her. He drew Gaylin and handed it to
her. The sword sang a high note, as if in protest, so Tych
glared at it. The glow died out as if the blade no longer
decided to cooperate. Tych took the sword back and said,
“Step back.” With a mighty swing he sliced into a very large
tree, going most of the way through. He sheathed
Gaylin, took Lendril by the arm and walked back towards
the sleepers a few feet away.

“Since Gaylin won’t cooperate, I’ll have to tell you out
loud,” whispered Tych. “There are soldiers in heavy
combat with forangen a couple of hills to the southeast.
The humans will not...” suddenly the sound of a crashing
tree filled the air and everybody in the expedition jumped
awake and reached for weapons. “Archers follow Lendril
first. I’ll take the rest around to the other flank of the
enemy.”

Nine of the groggy members followed Lendril into a
brisk run towards the mountains. The other nine followed
Tych south. Most of the group felt confused, until they
heard the sounds of battle. Lendril pulled up the archers.
“If I guess Tych’s idea right, he plans to split up the two
groups, exposing the forangen to our fire and allowing us to
get between the soldiers and the monsters long enough for
them to recover. Let’s go.”

Crossbows could be heard straining as their users
cocked them. They ran another two hundred yards and
came to the top of a hill. Below over one hundred forangen
threatened to destroy the twenty or so remaining soldiers.
Lendril shouted, “Load,” and placed a bolt into her
crossbow. Taking aim, they waited.

Two more soldiers fell, and still Tych had not reached
the battle. Lendril took aim at an especially dense group of
the enemy and felled one. Three or four more shots rang
out and the same number of forangen fell.

Suddenly, battle cries rang out and Tych, Reichet and
Aquendar rushed in, leading the others. Like a wedge they
drove deep into the enemy forces, separating soldiers from
the enemy in as many places as possible. Forangen fell as
if the three had become a giant scythe. The soldiers fell
back, the injured ones dropping out of the battle altogether,
the healthy ones finding each other for their own charge.