Fate Rides Wicked: Volume I of the Lerilon Trilogy (55 page)

“It will be my honor and pleasure, Fleld and Molif.
Doleofa will be in good hands.”

Fleld rose to hover in the middle of the circle with a
giant beat of his wings and a little magic. “The ceremony
is ended. After thousands of years of tense coexistence, the
endarils and gold dragons are now united! Let no daril or
dragon tear us apart.” A huge feast followed the ceremony.
As each dragon left afterwards, he or she left a portion of
their treasure behind for the youngest of them.

Soon only Tych and Buhlaht remained in their hosts’
chamber. Fleld addressed them both. “You have both
given her gifts better than riches. She will find you in a
year, Tych. Goodbye, Buhlaht, my Lord. Goodbye, Tych
di Corl, Lord of Li.”

“Goodbye, Fleld and Molif and Doleofa. Kelef E
Kelefentofin Cladledelentofin.” Buhlaht vanished.

“Before you go, Tych, take this book. It contains a
translation of our language plus a section of secret words.
Much of the language has no daril equivalent, and they
have power over us. Needless to say, if it falls into the
wrong hands, we are finished as a race. You will need it to
train Doleofa.”

Tych took the book. “It will be safe. Goodbye, my
friends.” He teleported back to camp. The sun hung
halfway down in the east. It was down for hours before
Tych finished telling Lendril what he could of his exciting
day. The Feast of Growth began in only five weeks and the
Lake army learned quickly. Nandel had disappeared three
weeks earlier, and now he approached the border of
Murlan.

Ofeldar’s crew found only frustration and success
eluded them. Every lead and tip proved false. During the
past four weeks they had traveled to the lake, to the coast
and back again. Everywhere they went, the devils had
moved out only a few hours earlier. Now they rested in an
inn in Murlanak.

Arif sat up. “They have to make their move to kill
Vrekian before spring. Why don’t we just wait?”

“No, they will send somebody to do it and we can’t stop
them all. One might succeed. If we can send this second
group back to the north, they won’t have time to send more
in time to get one past us here. No, we’ll hunt them down
then come back here to protect the king.” Ofeldar swung
out of bed and stood, straightening her cloak as she went to
the window. There are two cities on the Great Lake big
enough to hide them. We’ll hit all the towns between here
and Port Valor, then move south to Port Crafter.”

“Let’s hope our contacts know something. The devils
seem to be just avoiding us.”

“Lazol and Aquendar are already asleep. We better join
them. The sun is almost up and I can sense a blizzard
coming. We’ll need our energy tonight.” She removed her
cloak and closed the blinds. They fell asleep quickly, but
slept fitfully. They had a plan of action but little hope of
success.

Ofeldar glided to a stop. Her skis sank into the two feet
of snow where she pulled up. The moon Nuvi came out
from behind a cloud. Arif shivered. “What is it, Lioness?”

The scout pointed at the forest to the right of the trail.
There’s a single light in the trees through there.”

“We’ve been going for a week. If we’re on course, that
should be Blatleminfie’s Inn.” Lazol stopped next to Arif.
“The trail will come out on the road a few hundred yards
above the inn.”

Aquendar pushed a few yards ahead. “We may be off
course, be ready to fight.” They all loosened their weapons
in their scabbards and belts and turned down the trail. They
reached the road and could see the familiar shape of the
sign above the door. A red glow lined the horizon. The
special unit glided down the slight slope, towards the inn
and the rising sun.

Kitchen noises reached Arif. “The fat man is awake.
We’re just in time for breakfast. They took off their skis
and laid them against the wall, next to a single pair.
“Business is slow, he has only one guest.”

Ofeldar rapped on the door with her sword handle. A
few minutes later a voice rang out. “Who is it at this early
hour?”

“Friends, Blatleminfie, good friends,” answered Arif.
The door slowly opened and the innkeeper peered out
cautiously. Upon confirming the truth of Arif’s statement,
he flung the door open and put his club down. The black
clad warriors entered, unshouldering their packs. “Hello,
Blatle. We need food, beds and information.”

“Have a seat by the fire.” The warriors took the table
closest to the raging flame, the sub-freezing temperatures
already burning out of them. By the time their meals
arrived the warriors had shed their winter cloaks.

As Blatle later took their empty plates, a figure cloaked
in black came down the stairs. On the way out of the
dining area, Ofeldar bumped into him. Recognition spread
across her face as she turned to apologize. “Nandel, what
are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same question but mine is a less
plausible answer. I had a feeling you would be in Murlan.”

“You two get some sleep. Aquendar and I have some
information to obtain.” Lazol shrugged his shoulders and
led Arif up the stairs behind Blatleminfie.

Nandel told his story. “For the last three weeks, I’ve
been looking for something worthwhile to do until the
Feast of Growth,” he finished.

Ofeldar told about their last eight weeks while the
wizard ate. She wrapped it up by saying, “Now we are
searching for the second set of devils.”

Nandel leaned forward on his elbows. “You’re on the
right track. Tales of horror were all over Port Valor.
There’s been several murders and even the assassins and
thieves are frightened.

“It also sounds like you need a wizard. Let me help
you finish your task here. I need something to help me get
a grip on my loss.”

“It’s fine with Ofeldar and me, but we’ll have to check
with our partners.”

“I understand. You’ve been traveling all night. Go get
some sleep. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Yes, it’s good to see you again, but we do have to
leave tonight. Till dinner then.” The warriors stood and
left. Nandel leaned back in front of the fire and closed his
eyes in thought. He opened them soon, as thoughts of Cert
brought tears to them.

Port Valor stood on a slope that rose away from a huge
expanse of ship-laden docks. Its regular population made it
the second largest city behind Murlanak, but with all the
sailors and merchants it grew to be the kingdom’s largest.
The five hunters arrived to a sparkling spectacle, at night,
two days after arriving at Blatle’s inn. The sun had gone
down two hours earlier.

From their vantage point, at the highest point in town,
they could see the low, unlit warehouses by the water. Arif
pointed to them. “We’ll find our prey in there. They may
be ready for us, so watch the roofs.” She turned her skis
down the slope.

In no time at all they flew down the two miles between
their location and the warehouses. They skied into an alley.
While they removed their skis, Arif told them her plan.
She had proven to be better at this than Ofeldar and had
taken over this duty. "Eagle won’t reveal his powers until
the final confrontation,” finished the former thief.

Eagle, Nandel, nodded. They put on the gloves, masks
and spikes. Crossbows hung on their backs and ropes
coiled around their torsos. They pulled down their masks
as Aquendar tossed a claw towards the top of the two story
building on the edge of the warehouse district. He missed
and it fell softly to the snow. He hooked it on his second
try.

When Aquendar reached the halfway point of his climb,
a darkly dressed thief came to the edge of the roof and
pointed a hand-crossbow at Zebra. The warrior let go but
he stayed an easy target. The only thing he had to dodge,
however, ended up being the thief’s body as he fell
grasping his neck. “Very subtle, Eagle. Let’s try again,”
said Aquendar, thankful for Nandel’s magic. Zebra started
back up the wall.

They all made it to the roof. All five unslung their
crossbows and loaded them. Glass Spider led them to the
south. Flashpoint watched their rear. They crossed the
roofs of forty warehouses before Arif dropped in the snow.
The rest crouched near her.

“Where?” whispered Ofeldar.

“Two warehouses down, across the street.” They
looked closely and could barely see four devils entering a
door on the roof. A moon came out from behind a cloud,
Arif rolled onto her back and fired. Flashpoint almost
levitated from the roof and planted a spiked fist in the neck
of the second one as the first stumbled off the roof.

One leaped on Aquendar, who flipped it over the edge
into the street. Ofeldar brought her crossbow around in
time to drive the last onto its back, dead before it landed.

They circled up in a crouch. “We’ll be expected. Let’s
go to the roof across from them and be patient. Perhaps
they will show.” Arif preferred to use her crossbow.

Aquendar liked the sword. “Let’s just assault them.
The Lioness and I can enter from the roof while you three
take the doors.”

The Eagle had the best plan, using his three thousand
years of good wisdom. “Glass Spider, The Lioness and I
should go to the roof. Glass Spider will watch the bay
doors, since the dock comes out the other side. The Zebra
and Flashpoint will enter after we have begun the assault.”

“Good, I like it.” Lazol suddenly froze. “There are
devils coming out of the roof door.” They all turned and
dropped prone. The heavy crossbows can hit from here.”

“Nine have come out already, meaning both leaders are
here. Rangdor has sent a new one.” Arif unloaded her
crossbow and took a crouching position again. “Zebra and
Lioness stay here, you have the heavy crossbows. Eagle,
you climb down and enter the warehouse when Flashpoint
and I are in a position to provide crossfire. You must reach
the leaders.” They waited for a cloud to cover the moon,
and then Nandel, Arif and Lazol went to the next roof.
Nandel teleported to the warehouse door and flattened
against the wall.

Arif and Lazol dropped in the snow and loaded their
crossbows. Seeing Nandel’s sign to fire, four strings
twanged and four of the devils fell. Eight of the remaining
twelve fired back but they hadn’t discovered the direction
of their targets. Four more fell before they got their
bearings but only six remained with crossbows.

Two bolts landed in the snow in front of Arif and Lazol.
Two bolts planted in each of two more devilish archers.
The devils retreated behind the housing of the door and
stairs. A huge hole exploded a few yards away from the
door and the roof began to burn. The archers could hear
the claxon bells for fire go off almost immediately.

Ofeldar and Aquendar started down the street. Two
archers that came out to shoot at the fighters from a side
door fell to bolts and their missiles went astray. All six
remaining devils made it into the door by taking advantage
of reload time. Arif and Lazol stood, slung their crossbows
on their back and dropped a rope over the front of the
building. While The Lioness and Zebra covered them, they
rappelled down the wall. As they hit the ground, the roof
of the warehouse fell in. Halfway across the street already,
Aquendar and Ofeldar flew backwards as a section of the
front wall exploded. They picked up their swords and ran
towards the gaping hole.

Nandel entered the dark warehouse. Quickly he cast an
infra vision spell, giving himself the same ability to see
heat in the dark as the daril and neftir races. In the fifteen
seconds it took to place these on him, the four remaining
devils had crossed over to him and surrounded him. He
drove his sword through the closest source of heat and used
the door to guard his back. He caught a blow with the studs
on his left glove and pulled his sword free.

The wizard shifted right and stuck a second devil as a
lunging devil planted his sword in the wall where Nandel
had stood a second earlier. In one fluid motion he removed
his sword from another dead devil and removed the head of
the devil attempting to free his blade from its captivity.
The last one proved a more dangerous opponent and made
a controlled attempt to remove Nandel’s head. The wizard
ducked and stopped the double-bladed axe with his sword
as it came back around. He kicked out, catching the devil
in the groin and bringing a moan. Following through, he
slammed his sword hilt into his opponent’s helmet,
knocking it off. The final devil crumpled to the ground as
ashes.

He quickly cast a prismatic sphere on himself, a seven
layer shield with different types of protection attached to
each. The first two layers disappeared deflecting a fire
stream released by a leader. It careened off and crashed
into the ceiling two stories up. Only half the warehouse
had separate floors. The wizard cast a light spell revealing
the hovering monsters. They screamed and countered with
darkness but the damage had been done. One fried in a
lightning bolt from Nandel.

Nandel looked up and saw six heat sources coming
down the open stairs. He remembered four pillars from his
brief period of light and found one on his left. He knew
two things: The roof burned and the devil leader could see
the prismatic sphere in the dark. He waited long enough
for the devil to ready a spell and fire, and then ran from the
pillar. It exploded behind him and he stopped behind the
next one on this side, teleporting immediately. He could
hear the roof begin to give and a couple of devils fell from
the stairs to the hard floor below.

Appearing near his original spot, he ran to the pillar on
his right and fired a meteor swarm at the one on the devil
leader’s left. Three quarters of the roof collapsed in an
explosion that used up all but one level of the sphere
protecting him. The stairs fell with it. The wizard turned
as the badly wounded leader appeared next to the door,
which still stood. Nandel released a firestream but the
devil had prepared a blink spell, a limited form of
teleportation that could be used over and over.