Realm Of Blood And Fire (Book 3) (16 page)

“Can you stand up?”

“Let me help.” Arcese nudged Edmund out of the way and placed her hands under the realmist’s arms, careful not to slice him with her claws. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

Arcese effortlessly lifted him to his feet and held him to make sure he wasn’t going to fall. Elphus grabbed the rough stone wall to steady himself, his head hanging down for a moment. “I think I can walk.”

“If you can’t, I can carry you.” Arcese slowly took her hands away.

“I’m okay, just a bit of a headache. Let me see if I can draw power.” He opened himself up to the black corridor, and the way was clear. As a precaution, he drew power and kept the link open.

“Your Highness, what’s that noise?” The soldier holding the torch edged past Edmund and looked down the
lit hallway. “It’s coming from right down the end, there.”

Arcese cocked her head to one side. “That is a definite noise that doesn’t sound like it should be here.” She stared at nothing for a few moments
while she sent a mind-message to the captain. “I’ve asked Pernus to send one of the dragons and some men down here. I don’t like the feel of this. Something’s wrong.”

“Do you think this is a trap?” King Edmund looked at Elphus then Arcese.

“Maybe I was bait, to get you down here. I thought all the access tunnels under the castle had been closed off years ago.”

“They had, but what if they’ve found a way to reopen them?”

The young soldier with the torch looked back at Edmund. “Something’s coming.” He ducked his head back and waited behind the wall, his sword arm poised to strike.

Edmund lowered his voice. “Can you tell what it is?”

“They’re big, like Arcese, but they’re too far away for me to see exactly what they are. It looks like the torches have been put out down there too. There’s two, or three big shapes, maybe more.”

The group waited, eyes fixed on the intersection of the corridor. The young soldier felt the urge to run, but he stayed still.
Adrenaline warmed his stomach and throat. He turned to look at Edmund and saw fear and anger in his king’s eyes.
I won’t let them kill my king,
he thought as he turned back to watch.

Arcese could feel the dragon’s ancient enemy—it felt as if the air was heavier and she couldn’t breathe properly. The gormons’ subtle stench preceded them. The dragon princess wanted to draw power and shield them, but she didn’t want their enemy to know she was there. Instead, she drew power from the river that lay deep beneath where they stood. The shield she created wasn’t as strong as if she’d used Second-Realm energy, but it was better than nothing.

“Stay back,” she whispered to Edmund and Elphus. “Get ready.”

They could hear the click of claws on stone coming closer. How many were there? The dragon felt as if she had stopped breathing, tense, waiting to strike. But then a noise from behind them—one small click.

Elphus, Edmund and the soldier at the rear turned, the realmist creating a fireball that lit the passage as bright as day, making them squint in the sudden brightness. Perculus had returned.

Edmund gasped. His former advisor had grown taller, wider, his skin a near-translucent gray. His forehead had widened and his jaw elongated, but the man who used to be Perculus
was still there, staring out of eyes that were set farther apart than before.

“Do you fear me,
King?
Don’t think I didn’t see you look down your nose at me over the years. You think you’re so much better than everyone, but I know the truth. And now Leon, our rightful ruler, has given me a chance to stand alongside him. Prepare to meet your fate.” Perculus swiped a clawed hand at the soldier. The man threw himself to the side. Too slow, he was knocked to the ground. Perculus smiled and turned to Elphus.

The young man, who couldn’t
have been more than nineteen Edmund surmised, clutched his stomach and looked down—but, to his surprise, Arcese’s shield had stopped the blow from gutting him. Sword still in hand, he scrambled to his feet as Perculus turned on Elphus.

Without taking his eyes
off the monstrosity, Elphus spoke to Arcese.
I can’t throw the fireball with the shield in the way.

I’d take it down, but I have my own problems.

Elphus let the ball of fire die out and turned his head. Over his shoulder, he saw four gormons. The fully-matured version made Perculus look like a harmless puppy.

Edmund, wanting to know what had made
Elphus’s mouth drop open, turned to look behind himself. His own calm thought surprised him.
So that’s what a gormon looks like. Hmm, they’re a bit bigger than a dragon but thinner and much uglier. How in the Third Realm are we going to kill them?

Perculus tapped Elphus on the shoulder. “Ready to die?” He bit into the realmist’s neck, but his teeth stopped a centimeter from his flesh. The juvenile gormon hissed and bit down again,
denied a second time. His frustrated scream made Elphus smile.

“Aw, poor Perculus. Hungry, are we?” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the soldier nearest him try
to circle around the back of Perculus. “Lad, no. Come back!” But it was too late—he had walked through the shield’s boundary . . . out of its protection.

The young man drew his sword back and stabbed at
Perculus’s back, trying to run him through the middle. Perculus turned and swatted at the blade. He deflected the blow from his back, but his forearm felt the sharp bite of the blade—a slight flinch, the only sign that he felt the injury. Perculus grabbed the young man’s arm and drew him forward. While this close together, the soldier couldn’t maneuver his sword, and he stared up into Perculus’s eyes, the pupils ringed with red.

Edmund looked on as his man struggled in the grip of the thing that used to be his advisor. The boy gagged when Perculus breathed on him. The king ran forward, sword poised, wanting to divest Perculus of his head. But Elphus grabbed his arm. “You’ll step out of the protective bubble that Arcese has made. If that boy had stayed in here….”

Stricken, Edmund watched as the traitor breathed acid-infused fire into the soldier’s face. His skin melted before he had time to scream. The almost-gormon pushed him away and turned to face Edmund.

The gormons standing near Arcese breathed their own acidic fire, but
Arcese’s defenses held, and she noted that they didn’t have quite the range the dragons did. This standoff couldn’t go on indefinitely, though. She had to fight back while she still had the energy—she couldn’t hold this shield forever, and she imagined the gormons could spew their venom all night if they wanted.
Elphus, I’m going to drop the shield. Attack as soon as I do. Fireballs work well, because their skin is coated with some kind of oil.

On three?

Yes. One, two, three!
The dragon dropped the shield and simultaneously breathed fire and drew Second-Realm power. Two of the gormons caught alight, their screams reverberating off the stone walls, floor and ceiling. One managed to erect a Second-Realm shield that protected the gormon next to him as well … just in time for her freshly-thrown fireballs to dissipate harmlessly. Before they could retaliate, she created a shield but only around herself—she couldn’t watch the gormons and Elphus at the same time and didn’t want to stop any attack he was in the middle of.

As the gormons burned, Elphus threw fire at Perculus. Perculus lifted his recently elongated arm and yelled, “Stop!” The flames licked up and around his barrier, leaving him unharmed. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to hurt me,
Realmist. And when I’m finished with you, I’ll deliver your
king
to Kwaad.”

Instead of roaring fire or throwing a missile, Perculus, assuming Elphus would have a Second-Realm shield erected by now, leapt at the realmist. The force knocked him to the ground. Elphus struggled to breathe—added to his own bulk, the weight of the creature was too much. The barrier could protect anything from directly touching him, but weight could still be transferred.

Perculus placed his clawed hands around the realmist’s neck and squeezed.

Edmund watched his friend’s face turn blue, eyes bulging, Perculus astride him grinning manically. Hatred welled up in the king. Elphus had never hurt anyone—none of them had. Damned if he was going to let evil triumph over them this night. He
ran, snatching the dagger out of its sheath in his belt as he reached Perculus. “How does it feel to lose? You gormon-loving traitor.” Edmund plunged the dagger into Perculus’s side.

Perculus’
s grip loosened, and Elphus sucked in air.

“What did you…?” The beast slid off the realmist
and fell onto the floor. As blood leaked out of his veins and sloshed about uselessly inside his body, he curled into a ball, his vertebrae visible through his translucent skin. His groan turned into a gurgle as blood bubbled from his stomach, into his throat and out of his mouth to dribble onto the floor.

Not wanting to take any chances, Edmund raised his sword and sliced down, depriving the dying
advisor
of his head. Then he kneeled next to Elphus to see how he was.

Behind them, Arcese called out to the dragons above.
We’ve been betrayed, and gormons are coming in under the castle.
She pushed the blond-haired soldier behind her and stood within her shield. The two remaining gormons watched warily—their dead comrades had taught them a valuable lesson. “Come on then, stupid beasts: what are you waiting for?” Arcese tried to goad them into making a mistake.

The smaller gormon—similar in height to the dragon—advanced on Arcese,
its mouth open, dripping acidic saliva. It was the move the dragon was waiting for. She could allow the gormon to attack, let her shield down when he regrouped, and then breathe fire on him—he would be in the way of an attack from the other gormon. But the soldier behind her was trying to squeeze through the gap between her and the wall.

“Stand back.” She moved to block his way. The gormon pushed past her
on the other side and ran for Edmund. “No!” Now she was open to an attack from the front, and she couldn’t breathe fire on the gormon as she would surely hit the king and Elphus.

“Watch out, Edmund!” It was all she managed before the soldier rushed out from her protection
and threw himself at the gormon who still stood in front of them.

“For Talia!”
he cried. The gormon lunged for him, and the soldier swept his sword across, embedding it into the beast’s forearm, where it stuck into the bone with a jarring impact. Pulling with force, he managed to free his blade, but as he positioned to strike again, the gormon shot out his other arm and raked his talons from the soldier’s collarbone to his hip.

Knowing he was as good as dead, Arcese dropped her shield, sucked in the deepest breath she could and opened her mouth. A jet of fire shot out, enveloping the soldier and gormon. Their screams intermingled for a few seconds
then the only sound was the crackle of burning flesh.

Drawing Second-Realm power, Arcese turned, ready to throw a shield over Edmund, but she was too late. The gormon had the king under its arm and a massive foot on
Elphus’s chest, crushing him.

The dragon princess couldn’t use fire or lightning on the gormon—Edmund would be killed too. Then she had it. Drawing more power than she had in a long time, she cut through the stone at her feet, fashioning a thick
icicle-shaped piece of stone that was as long as her arm. The sound of stone grinding against stone filled the small space as it emerged from the floor, rising to rest in her hand.

She drew her arm back and threw, using
Second-Realm power to guide and speed the projectile. As it hit its mark—between the gormon’s far-set eyes—Arcese double over in pain, gripping her pregnant belly.

***

Not long after Edmund left, Pernus waited, Aramonius with him. The other three dragons had been sent to different corners of Bayerlon, two stationed with Alaine and Fernis, to make communication easier.

The
captain scoured the night sky. He ground his teeth together, one hand on the sword at his hip, the other ready to grab a nearby torch and start lighting arrows. In the still night air, the acrid smoke from the flaming brands hovered around the men and made his eyes water.

His soldiers stood at intervals along the top of the wall, waiting to light arrows for the nearest archers. The gormons’ oily hide would hopefully be their undoing, and with Elphus having done
who-knew-what to the arrows with energy from the Second Realm, they would be more accurate and fly farther.

Pernus wiped a sleeve-covered arm to clear his watering eyes and
then stared at the horizon—a black expanse in the black distance—and he laughed.

“What is it?” asked Aramonius.

“Nothing. Why am I even looking out for those beasts? I can’t see anything in the blasted dark.”

“Just be ready. I can see a bit better than you, although these
flaming brands aren’t helping my night vision.”

“Sorry, but we need them. Maybe they’ll blind the gormons a bit. Apparently they don’t like bright light.”