Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One (50 page)

His black eyes were unreadable and Sariel feared that he wouldn’t cooperate.

Finally, the officer answered. 
“This passage leads to a cavern beneath the mountains to the south
. 
Many women are being kept there.  The passage
was
flooded and we’re
trying
to get them out.”

“One of the women is named Sheyir.  Make sure she gets out alive?” Sariel asked.

“I will,” Kai answered in a whisper.

“W
HERE IS SEMJAZA
?” Dandu
e
l shouted as he walked briskly across the stone floor
, accompanied by Nuathel.

“He’s not here,” Sariel answered.

“My Rada,” Kai called out.  “This passage leads
underground
to
the mountains south of here. It was flooded by his soldiers.  But there is a cavern at the end, above the waterline.”

“Semjaza?” the Fer
-
Rada asked
quickly
.

“No.  It is full of humans.  And something else—”

“Where is that traitor!” Danduel said through clenched teeth.

“
There has to be another passage into the chamber…for v
entilation,”
Sariel
blurted out.

Both the soldiers turned their heads.  Danduel’s face looked like it was about to explode in anger.

“Was there another?”
Sariel continued, now that he had control of the conversation.

Kai thought for a moment.  “Yes.  In the ceiling, but—”

“Semjaza’s escaping,” Sariel interrupted.  “He’s probably on the other side of the mountains by now.”

The color drained instantly from Danduel’s face as he realized what was happening.

“We must fly quickly,” Sariel added
, looking now at the
Iryllur
commander.

“My Rada,” said Nuathel, stepping
forward.  “We’ll accompany him.”

“Very well,” the senior officer answered.  “Take whatever remains of your forces and go quickly.  As soon as we’ve cleared this fortress, my
Anduar
ym will give chase by ground as well.”

“Yes, my Rada,” came the quick and trained response.  Then, Nuathel looked to Sariel.  “You lead the way…and do what you promised.”

Sariel nodded.  “Let’s go.”

The southern cliffs
of
Mudena Del
-
Edha
disappeared
behind the
Iryllur
ym
.  Below, grassy
plains stretched
all the way to the coast of
the Great Waters
.  A faint trail of disturbed vegetation passed beneath the angels as they tracked the former Pri
-
Rada.  Far ahead, only a few miles before the forests of
Murakszhug
, something was moving over the land.  It was only visible for erratic moments between patches of mist rising from the earth.

“Is he riding something?” Nuathel called out.

Sariel turned his head.  “
…h
is hunting beast.
 
…s
ome abomination the Myndarym
s
haped
for him.”

Nuathel nodded.  “We’ll
take it out from under him.  The rest is up to you.”

Sariel looked back to the south and squinted as the
Iryllur
ym pulled ahead and began their descent.  He dropped into formation behind them, but allowed them to create some distance.  Less than a minute later, the winged angels caught up with Semjaza.

The creature beneath him was powerful and fast, propelling itself and its oversized master on eight long, muscular legs.  Its
elongated head and snout were topped with a mane of chestnut hair which matched its fluttering tail.
2
3

Fim
-
Rada Nuathel split his
Iryllur
ym
into two groups which spread apart from each other as they approached the flanks of the retreating commander.  Dropping to within a foot of the waving grass, they approached fast and silent from behind.  With
v
aepkir
extended to their sides, they cut the legs from underneath the unfortunate beast in a rapid succession of glancing blows.

The animal
instantly
dropped to the ground and tumbled, end-over-end, while Semjaza dove sideways and did the same.

Sariel pulled up and slowed to a hover before dropping to the ground.

Ahead, the grass was parted into a wake behind the steaming body of the
flailing
creature.  Blood was scattered everywhere from the severed limbs.  To the right, the
dark
outline of the Pri
-
Rada rose from the grass.  Shrouded in a drifting patch of mist, his condition was unknown.  But judging by his unhindered movements and the fact that
he
still held both a shield and
a
spear, Sariel guessed that he was not injured by the fall.  In fact, he appeared to have expected it.

Slowly, the mist passed to the southeast.

Semjaza’s massive form
remained still.  Standing a full head
taller than
the typical
Anduar
soldier, he towered head-and-shoulders over Sariel.
 
The
burning embers of his eyes were fixed on
Sariel.

The returning
Iryllur
ym
dropped to the field
on all sides, for
ming a perimeter of two hundred feet
to enclose the pair of combatants.
 
T
he wailing sound of the dying creature came to an abrupt stop as one of the winged angels put the abomination out of its misery.

Semjaza didn’t even flinch.  He just stood with
vandrekt
and
skoldur
hanging at his sides.  His body was tense,
ready,
but unmoving.

“
The last time we spoke, I made you a promise.” Sariel’s voice seemed to disappear into the vast openness of the plains.
  He removed his helmet and cast it aside, so that Semjaza could see him clearly.

“
…
if you didn’t release my woman,
I would bring your kingdom to an end.”

Semjaza
quickly
brought his shield up and burst forward into a run. 
Lunging forward, he thrust
his spear at Sariel’s chest.

Sariel pivoted to the side and diverted the attack with his left blade.  The sound of clanging metal
rang out over the grass.

Semjaza came forward again, stabbing repeatedly as he advanced.

Sariel quickly blocked each
left-handed
strike,
moving backward
with each one.

Again Semjaza lunged forward and stabbed.

This time Sariel stepped
to the right of the
v
andrekt
and
brought his
v
aepkir
across to parry the attack. 
In the same motion, he brought his right forewing around
and
drove the
carpal
joint
over
Semjaza’s outstretched
arm and into his
face.
  An audible smack accompanied the impact.

The Pri
-
Rada
flinched at the surprise counter
-
attack and stumbled backward a few steps.

Sariel
instantly surged
forward and followed with a left cross, running his forearm blade across Semjaza’s exposed ribcage
.

Immediately, the massive
Anduar
commander brought his shield around
from the right side of his body and
s
lammed it into
Sariel
.

Sariel was
stunned and
thrown backward by the force of the blow.
  Before he had time to recover, a sharp
strike
glanced off his bladed forearm and tore through the flesh of his upper arm.  The pain brought him back to his senses
immediately
.
  Seeing the next spear thrust coming, Sariel
dodged
left and grabbed the shaft of the spear.  As Semjaza pulled it back, Sariel rode the momentum and jumped forward, bringing his left blade over the top of Semjaza’s shield.

But the
Anduar
was too quick and strong, quickly
ducking below
the attack
and using the momentum and the leverage of
his shield to throw Sariel
over his shoulder.

Unable to control hi
mself
, Sariel
drifted twenty feet through the air before crashing to the ground. 
The wind was knocked from his lungs
and he struggled to get his feet
beneath
him.

Semjaza was on him instantly, following the throw with a running jab.

On instinct,
Sariel
ducked under the spear and rolled
forward
, striking with his
left fore
wing to take the
Anduar
’s legs from underneath him.  But the blow only caused Semjaza to lose his balance just long enough for Sariel to get to his feet.

Now
,
the two enemies faced each other, both
breathing heavily.

Semjaza
’s face and chest were covered in the blood that flowed from his nose.  And he was
also
bleeding heavily from the cut on the left side of his abdomen.

Sariel’s right arm was
covered in red
,
as well, and
dripping from the elbow.  His face felt numb and he was sure he’d broken some ribs.

Before this fight, Sariel
had been confident in the
advantage of
his
speed.  But the
Anduar
commander was nearly as fast, and much stronger.  As Sariel studied his opponent, Semjaza came forward again, relentless in his aggression.

The spear came for Sariel’s face.  He ducked and swung his left
v
aepkir
as hard as he could.  A sharp
, metallic sound pierced the air
as Sariel’s weapon shattered and Semjaza’s spear flew
sideways, torn from his grip
.

With his only weapon wielded by a wounded arm, Sariel was nearly helpless against Semjaza’s following charge.  Struggling to bring his right arm up
quickly enough
, he was unable to stop the shield that smashed into his face and drove him backward. 
His
feet slid across the
damp grass, unable to find traction. 
Sariel was helpless against the ground soldier who
had both a weight and height advantage.

As
his strength was being rapidly
depleted and the threat of
being crushed to death neared
,
Sariel
quickly
pulled his feet inward and dropped to his back.

The sudden release of opposing force sent Semjaza stumbling forward.

As
the
Anduar
’s
shield passed overhead, Sariel rolled onto his left side and raised his right blade.  Supporting it with his
unwounded
left
arm
, he
shoved the point of the elbow blade upward through the bottom of Semjaza’s belly.

The next instant, Semjaza’s knee slammed into
him
, forcing him to the ground just as a foot came down and crushed the wind from his lungs.

Semjaza tripped forward and fell over Sariel to land face down
in the damp soil.

The resulting silence was deafening as Sariel writhed in pain, fighting for a breath.  It seemed his lungs wouldn’t obey him, as if they were afraid of the stabbing pain in his chest that threatened to kill him for the effort of breathing.

Rolling onto his back, Sariel felt the pain lessen slightly.  A few seconds later, his body agreed to take a shallow breath. 
And then another spasm of pain, followed by a short breath. 
Slowly, he opened his eyes, realizing only now that his pain had been so distracting that he had left himself vulnerable to attack.  Turning h
is
head quickly, he was relieved to see the motionless form of Semjaza, lying face down
in the grass with a
pool of blood spreading around his dead body.