Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising (31 page)

Karven stuck his head back through the
tent’s opening. “Queen Andrielle, our forces have retreated from
the forest’s edge as we are heavily under attack. The fire
continues to grow and Vartan is working on putting out the fire. As
instructed, we continue our assault on Greenhaven and the bridge
will be days from completion.”

“
Thank you King Karven, are
you confident that Vartan will be able to put out the
flames?”

“
I have no doubt. He walks
with the soul of Mazu inside him,” replied the dragon
king.

Helenia’s mouth gaped as
she asked, “The god, Mazu… lives
inside
Vartan?!?”

“
Indeed and it will prove a
great advantage in battle, but we are no closer to being inside the
walls of Greenhaven,” said Karven.

“
This is what concerns me
the most. I lived inside that city for years and I
know
that it is easily
defendable in the event of a siege. The blood red moon continues to
create fresh clouds of blood which keep their forces replenished
and strong. We
do
not know if Shindar has returned to Marithia, but at the very
least, we do know that we managed to dispatch Kassina at the elven
woods. Our heavy losses were not in vain. Great king, were you able
to gather any information?”

“
As the balance of souls
tips further in the underworld’s favour we will feel the bite of
Shindar’s direct involvement. The blood clouds and red moon are
only the beginning. I am sure all of you have noticed that nights
have become longer and this will continue to worsen until we no
longer see the sun. Sadly, I have seen this world covered in
darkness before. If the vampires secure Greenhaven and open a
portal for Shindar to step directly into the castle… there is a
great chance that he will find Talonsphere, destroy it and all will
be lost. Reclaiming Greenhaven
is
vital.”

“
Evidently, time is of the
essence. If you have defeated Shindar once, we can defeat him
again,” said Andrielle resolutely.

Makya drew deeply on his
pipe and blew out smoky images of swords and shields into the air
before speaking. “I do not know this,
Shindar
, but I have known many evils
in my own world. It sounds as if we need to take back castle
Greenhaven before they have the opportunity to gain the upper hand.
When your enemies expect you to strike them with your right fist,
why not sweep the legs out from under them?”

“
I do not follow…” said
Helenia, staring at the trader with a firebird perched on his
shoulder.

Makya stood and approached the table,
pointing to a hastily drawn map of Greenhaven and picked up an
inked feather. “King Karven, you were saying that you gathered
information… may I ask what you have discovered regarding their
defences?”

“
I could not get close
enough to the castle to see deep within the walls. Their crossbow
crews appear to be wearing enchanted masks which reveal dragons
even when we are hidden in the sky. I narrowly avoided a volley of
bolts to discover this fact. I lost count of the crossbows in their
attack, but I noticed that the crew manning them were wearing full
body armour with shaded glass covering their masks, as were many of
their warriors. An attack in daylight would not be possible as they
would be unaffected by it. The only good news is that they
obviously could not produce enough masks for their entire army.
There are crossbows in every corner and lined along the walls,
including crews on the ground. An attack from the air will mean the
death of dragons.”

Makya was busy drawing crosses to mark
the crossbows. “Blast, I was hoping for a daylight attack, but it
matters not. Is it possible to scale the walls of
Greenhaven?”

Andrielle spoke up. “I know our city’s
defences well, and they would pour burning oil over our people. Not
to mention that we do not have ladders tall enough to scale them.
If we were to make them, it would take many days
preparation.”

Shanka squawked in Makya’s ear. “I
know, I am getting to that,” whispered the trader.

He drew an image of the ground
surrounding the castle, the river flowing through the gorge, and
the sea. “Where is the shortest section of the gorge?”

Helenia approached the map and pointed
to a section near the edge of the gorge, leading out to sea. “The
two river banks almost merge here. But it is the most visible and
exposed of locations.”

Makya turned to Andrielle and asked
the question burning inside him. “Every castle has a secret escape
route for the royals. Where is Greenhaven’s?”

The queen hesitated for a moment
before pointing to the castle wall across the gorge. “It is here…
and before you ask, only I and Helenia know how to open that door,
and I cannot take the risk of anyone else doing so.”

Makya nodded knowingly and turned to
Karven, he relayed his plan. “The way I see it, those vampires are
far too busy scanning the skies for dragons that they would never
expect you to walk over to the castle, would they? We take our best
warriors and they walk under the protection of your invisible
wings. Once we open the secret entrance and make our way inside, we
take vampires out in the closest vicinity and wear their armour. If
they are covered from head to toe as you say, they will not know
the difference. In my weapons crate, there is a large box of
enchanted globes. We should have enough to destroy all the
crossbows but we have to get close before we activate the
globes.”

Makya breathed in a long breath of
smoke and breathed out a cloud in the shape of a crossbow. Within a
few seconds, the puff of cloud burst open.

“
They will not know what
hit them. We will need to lower the bridge, and more importantly
signal that it is safe for the dragons to fly over Greenhaven and
assist us in battle.”

Andrielle beamed. “This is a great
plan Makya, but how do we signal the dragons?”

“
We take one of our dragon
flags with us, and once the crossbows are destroyed, we wave the
flag on the battlements.”

“
This is a risky plan, but
I believe it to be the best that we have,” said Andrielle. “We need
to speak with Vartan. I will check on the progress of the bridge.
We have a castle to reclaim!”

Vartan’s skin felt as if it was about
to melt as he stood in front of the blazing fire. Anakari worked
hard to cast spells of deflection at any bolts that flew through
the flames.

Vartan yelled over the roar of the
flames. “There is only one way we can stop this and I will need to
trust you to keep me alive while I do this. Can you handle
it?”

With glowing green hands, she grunted
as she slapped another bolt out of the air with her hands. The bolt
glowed green as it fell to the water below. “I will protect you,
but hurry!”

Vartan focused his mind and
activated the powers within, opening his glowing blue eyes and
looking through the flames before him. Pressing forward, he moved
his mind to the flowing water below. The current ran strong in the
water and he felt himself become one with the element, feeling
every movement within the river. He could
feel
the position of every fish,
rock, and plant within the water.

Come on, you can do
this!
said Keturah.

Placing his arms out wide, he screamed
with the intensity of the power releasing within. The scream became
a growl as he began to raise his arms, and the sound of rushing
water filled the air. As if something beneath the river had
exploded, the water beneath the gorge burst upward in a vertical
tidal wave. Facing a giant wall of water, all of Andrielle’s army
stared in wonder at Vartan’s power. They watched as fish fell out
of the sky and onto the bare river bed.

Vartan’s body began to shake as he
reached his peak and he clenched his fists as if he was holding on
to the water. Dropping to one knee, he pulled back with all of his
might and everyone took cover as the water plummeted into the
forest fire, soaking the trees and extinguishing the
fires.

The roar of cheers replaced the fire
and sent a demoralising message into Greenhaven. Momentarily, the
volley of bolts ceased.

Vartan shook his head and let his
powers subside as he grabbed a shocked Anakari and ran back with
her into the safety of the forest.

“
Thank you. I need to
return to the queen’s tent and I need you to stay safe,” said
Vartan as he glanced back to the river which was now beginning to
refill and flow again.

Anakari nodded as she watched him run
through the army’s ranks and into the deeper sections of the
forest. Collecting praise, clapping and cheers of admiration as he
went.

Woman of the gods, we did
not expect to see you sent here
, said a
voice in Anakari’s mind.

Turning around, she came face to face
with a glowing unicorn.

“
It can’t be…” she said,
admiring the beauty.

Only you have been granted
the ability to cast a spell which will turn the tide of prophecy
against Shindar. When we meet again, we will have much time to
discuss the many questions you have in your mind. For now, I only
want you to take this gift. Open your mind, great woman of the
stars…

Anakari felt herself drop to the
ground when their minds connected. Then she felt herself standing
again, but she stood over and outside her prostrate body. Opposite
her was what appeared to be a tall naked elf with snow white skin.
He spoke a strange language that at first, she could not
understand, but the words began to make sense in her
mind.

This spell will reduce the
power of the blood red moon, but while you cast the spell, you will
be far too weak to even walk and you must be protected. Once the
spell is unleashed, you will be in control of how long it lasts. It
will only end when either you choose to wake, or your
death.

He walked toward her and placed a cool
open hand on her forehead. She felt a small tingle on her face as
the transfer of knowledge sent streams of images and words into her
mind. When complete, her eyes flew wide open; she took a few steps
back to steady herself.

“
I understand what I must
do,” she said.

We will meet again, in
Daessar…

She opened her mouth to speak, but
before she had a chance to form any words, she snapped back into
her body. Standing quickly, she searched frantically for the
unicorn… but it was nowhere to be found.

Anakari marched toward the queen’s
tent and through the many ranks of their army, with the spell’s
power scratching against her skin and begging to be released. Her
symbols flashed wildly as the power surged.

Vartan and the other leaders stood in
front of the tent and as she approached, they all stared at her.
Vartan approached her carefully. “Anakari, what happened to you?
Are you alright?”

She looked down and saw that her
clothes had melted off her body and steam rose from her skin. Her
symbols burned bright and she looked up at the queen with watery
eyes. “When I cast this spell, you will need to protect
me.”

She could no longer hold the power of
the spell within and she closed her eyes as her body lifted from
the ground. Her symbols flashed wildly until she screamed the words
of the spell.

“
Vindico nos ex malum
niveus luna exuro cruor cado ex divum subsisto sub universitas ex
amoveo!
”

The forest was filled with light and
everyone was forced to look away or shield their eyes. A large ball
of light burst from her body and rocketed toward the moon and they
nervously watched as it impacted its surface. The moon’s glow
gradually changed from red to white and for the first time since
the battle of the Elven Woods, they felt as if Marithia was their
home again.

Anakari fell to the ground and was not
conscious, but appeared to be breathing normally. Yuski ran to
Anakari and covered her with her jacket. Vartan approached them
both. “Yuski, please take her inside the tent where it is safe and
she can be guarded. Do not worry; she is going to be
fine.”