Refuge: Kurt's Quest (25 page)

“Shit,” she yelled, overriding her reaction
that wanted her to pull her hand back.  She needed that sword, and not grabbing
it now meant it would walk out of reach.  And the mummy with a grip on her
shoulder was not letting go, despite her efforts at shrugging it off.

She pulled
Fire
from its victim and
brought the sword back, hoping to strike the mummy that had her shoulder.  The
flaming mummy staggered into another that was advancing, and set the other
creature on fire.  Jackie was distracted at the sight of one taking out the
other, and didn’t see the mummy that grabbed at her right arm with both hands. 
She turned and started to jerk her arm back, sure that she could free herself,
when the next mummy in the front grabbed at the same arm, and suddenly she
found her limb trapped.

“Help,” she yelled out, turning her head to see
where Kurt was.  He was busy fighting a half dozen Skeletal lords at the same
time, holding them off, but barely.

“Hold on,” yelled Garios, aiming his hammer her
way and sending a beam of holy light from it into the mummies.  The creatures
all cried out, a strange sound made by desiccated lungs, and threw their hands
over their eyes.  The Dwarf was also obviously weakening, and his powers were
not enough to destroy the undead, not any more.

[What’s the hold up?] sent Kurt over mind
speak.

[We’ve run into more of these things,] sent
back Sir Gromli, one of the few of the Nord knights who could communicate in
this manner.  [We’re cutting through, but it could take us longer than
expected.]

Longer than expected and we might be
overwhelmed
,
thought Jackie, cutting down a pair of mummies in rapid motion, then going
after a third while they were still blinded.  There were only a dozen mummies
left to her front, and she was beginning to think that she and the big German
might just win this fight on their own, when another score of the skeletal
warriors stepped out of the shadows to join the undead assaulting her.

*     *     *

Normally, doctrine called for either holding
the line and waiting for reinforcements when the recon ran into more than it
could handle, or retreating and drawing the enemy into an ambush. 
Unfortunately, in this case the reinforcements were cut off, and, for the same
reason, there was no way to retreat.  All he and Jackie could do was stand and
fight.  And the odds were bad and getting worse by the moment.  He had killed
thirteen of the very strong and competent creatures, and there were twice as
many of them attacking him as they had initially deployed.

The sword was still singing in his mind.  By
its way of thinking, this was the best possible situation.  Plenty of enemies
to kill, and the most powerful wielder possible.  It never seemed to enter its
mind that its wielder might be killed.  Its mind didn’t work that way. 
Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be losing any of its abilities to destroy the
undead.  Every creature he struck down fell to the ground as ashes. 
Unfortunately, their armor, which was not being destroyed, was starting to pile
up underfoot, and the Immortal found himself close to losing his footing on
several occasions.

The big Immortal kicked some of that armor out
of the way, then moved just in time to avoid a blow that stood a good chance of
hitting above his pauldron, into his flesh.  His own sword swept down and beat
down the blade of a skeletal lord that was dressed in exceptionally fine
armor.  Kurt brought his sword back up and down in a blur, slicing through the
armored shoulder of the skeletal lord and sending its ashes to the floor.

Another skeletal warrior thrust its blade into
the German, taking him in a gap in his side armor that was only protected by
chain.  It was good quality magical chain, and he was surprised that the blade
made it through, until he saw the glow on the metal and realized that it was
magically enchanted, probably for the very purpose of cutting through very
tough armor.  He grunted as the warrior twisted the blade and started to push
it deeper.  A left backhand sent the skeleton flying, the blade still in Kurt’s
side.  He reached down and grabbed the hilt of the sword, pulling it out with a
gasp of pain.  Blood flowed freely from the wound as he threw the sword from
him.  He had no doubt the wound would heal quickly, and also that he would be
weakened by blood loss for several minutes at least.

It seems this was a very bad idea,
thought the Immortal,
shaking his head as his vision blurred for a moment.  Two more swords struck
his armor, and it was all he could do to knock the blades aside, then move out
of the way of another attack.

Garios grunted, and Kurt glanced back to see
the Dwarf knocking back a mummy with his shield, while trying to staunch the blood
flow from his upper thigh where some weapon had sliced him.  Kurt completed his
turn and sliced into the mummy, turning the creature, bandages and all, into a
cloud of dust.  As soon as he struck, he felt the nick of another blade on the
side of his neck, and swiveled just in time to knock it away before it did more
than superficial damage.

These things are not only smart and great
fighters, they have no fear.  This was not what I was expecting.
  But it was what he
had gotten.

*     *     *

James raised his arms and pointed his fingers
at the mummies that were shuffling forward.  Hot flame shot out and struck the
front of the horde, setting them on fire.  A few continued to stagger forward,
while many more moved in random directions, running into others of their kind
and spreading the flames.

“We have to get through these things,” yelled
Sir Gromli, trading blows with a skeleton that was dressed in plate and chain.

These things were not what I expected
, thought the Mage,
turning his hands and sweeping the skeletons with flames, much like using a flame
thrower.  Several of the skeletons caught on fire, though they were not as
flammable as the mummies.  He watched as some of the skeletons, their eyes
glowing a fierce red, beat out the few flames that had caught on the ragged
clothing they wore along with their armor.

“Look out,” yelled one of the knights, his
shout turning into a scream.

James turned to see the man beating at the
flames his own sircoat and underclothes had become, and losing the battle as he
went from human to human torch in an instant.  James cast a spell he was not
well practiced at, almost surprised when it worked and a spray of water hit the
man and put out the fire.

Drake became aware that something was watching
him.  Not just watching, but studying him with deadly intent.  He looked into
the shadows, seeing two pinpoints of fierce red light that stared back at him,
seeming to look directly into his soul.

[So powerful, for such a youngling,] came a
thought into his mind.  [How did you come by such power?]

[What are you?] sent James, saying the words of
a spell that enhanced his vision.  The shadows seemed to disappear, revealing
another skeleton.  This one was without armor, instead dressed in what had once
been fine robes, before the ravages of time had worked their destructive processes
on them.  The eyes, though glowing red like those of the skeletal warriors,
were different as well.  More intelligent, fiercer, the orbs of a creature that
was a threat to all life.

[I once was a mage, much like yourself,] sent
the creature.  [I was Ellala, and so much longer lived than a human such as
you.  And I became old, and did not want to die.  So I became like I am.]

A litch
, thought the young man, his limbs shaking at
the thought of what this thing had done to itself to stave off death. 
I’ll
take the afterlife,
thought Drake, shaking his head. 
Or even oblivion,
after they lay my body in the ground.

[You know not what you will choose, until the
time comes when you face death,] sent the Litch.  [Not that you will live long
enough to have a choice, as I will destroy you this day, despite your power.]

Without warning a bolt of fire came in and
struck the human.  He felt the heat of it on his skin, though to him it was a
gentle warmth.  Fire was his element, and since he had come to this world, fire
had been unable to harm him.

[Are you like those I fought earlier,] sent the
Litch, disbelief riding under its surface thoughts.  [No, you are not such as
they.  You are different, and fire is your strength.]

A bolt of lightning followed that thought, streaking
almost instantaneously toward the young mage.  But he had been prepared, saying
the words to the counter spell as soon as the Litch had mentioned fire being
his strength.  A shield sprung into existence before him, absorbing the
lightning, bouncing it off at all angles away from him.

Let’s see how you do with fire,
thought Drake, pulling
his hand back, then throwing it forward, a ball of energy flying from it toward
the Litch.

The ancient being was just as ready, and its
shield sprang up just as quickly, deflecting the fury of the fireball.

“No you don’t,” yelled Drake, pointing his
hands at the Litch and sending a spout of dragon fire at the evil creature. 
The torrents of flame washed around the creature’s shield, as it kept up a
continuous shout of spells to reinforce its protection.  If it had still been
made of flesh James was sure that sweat would be pouring off of its face.  It
gave the impression of intense concentration. 
It can’t keep this up for
long, can it?

The Litch dropped its hands for a moment, then
started with a different gesture.  The shield fell, the dragon fire flew in to
engulf the Litch, and it was gone.  James stopped the spell, and the dragon
fire was gone in an instant.  Most mages would be weakened by now, almost
devoid of the energy that powered their fire magic.  James could feel the
almost unlimited power in the earth below, sensing a magma pocket only a couple
of kilometers down.

Something touched Drake on the back of the
neck, and he felt his muscles freeze, losing total control of his skeletal
muscles, going rigid as a statue. 
What the hell
, he thought,
panicking.  The skeletal creature stepped around into Drake’s sight, its boney
grin a boast of triumph.  The red eyes burned into his own, looking into his
soul and sapping his will.

[You are the most powerful of your party, and
the greatest threat to me,] sent the Litch, reaching out and touching the robe
of the human.  [Your control of fire magic is almost beyond belief.  But your
other knowledge appears to be lacking.  A simple teleport spell, and I was no
longer in the line of fire.  A common paralysis touch, and you are helpless.]

[Why is a creature of your power acting as a
guard dog?] sent James, trying to buy time, knowing this thing could kill him
in an instant.  [Shouldn’t you have a lair of your own, making your own plans?]

[I came to this place to find the artifact that
you seek,] it sent, starting to pace in front of Drake as if nothing else
existed around them.  [I thought I could challenge the Gods, but I was
mistaken.  They trapped me here, under a compulsion to serve.  I cannot even
destroy myself, and so escape back to my Phylactery, there to resurrect.]

The Phylactery, where a creature like this
keeps his soul.  And when this body is destroyed, he will retreat there to
begin the process of resurrection.  We can’t really kill him, but if we banish
him from this place, it will serve the same purpose.

The only trouble was that he couldn’t say the
words to the spell he needed to get free.  Right now he was as helpless as he
had been since coming to this world and discovering the extent of his new found
powers. 
There has to be a way out of this.  There has to be.

[It is time to end this conversation, and to
end you, my young mage.  My compulsion drives me to destroy your other party
members, so I must be about it.  Don’t worry, I will make it painless.]

Fuck that
, thought the Mage, doing the only thing
he could do in his present state, draw in power.  With his powerful mind he
reached down to the source of almost unlimited fire magic, the magma pocket kilometers
under his feet.  In an instant he could feel the power begin to trickle into
his body, followed by a powerful stream, then a torrent.  There was nowhere for
the power to go as it built up in his body.  His clothing started to smolder,
then smoke.

The Litch released his own spell, one based on
cold that would have frozen the Mage solid, killing him instantly.  Cold met
the heat coming off his body and the area filled with steam.  Drake willed his
body to release the energy, and a wave of fire spread from his form to a dozen
meters in every direction.  The Litch was in that wave, and the fire hit hard,
burning robes, then down to the bones.  The creature tried to teleport away, at
the same time sending a blast of mental energy at Drake.  Drake fended off the
mental attack with his abundance of power, reading the mind of the Litch at the
same time and getting the teleport spell burned into his own memory. 

He felt his body free itself from the
paralysis, raising a hand and sending a stream of fire into the Litch before it
could complete its spell.  With a mental scream it dissolved away into ash and
bone chips, its body totally destroyed.  James could still feel the presence of
its mind, filled with hate, anger, and a healthy measure of gratitude as its
spirit faded from the area, headed across the thousands of kilometers to where
it Phylactery was located.