Silver Dragon (44 page)

Garrick sliced out the throat of an ogre and twisted around to see Namitus defending the scrawny old man who used magic. It was a cowardly way to live but the old man's magic was holding the trolls at bay and those that got past him, the rogue cut apart with the odd curved sword he wielded. It wasn't the rogue or wizard that had called him, though.

Garrick continued his dance, swinging at an ogre and having his sword blocked,
and then grabbing the club of another ogre in his off hand and smacking it back in the surprised creature's face. He saw Karthor behind the ogres, fighting amongst trolls and ogres himself. The priest's mace dripped blood from the creatures he fought, a testimony to his warrior spirit. Garrick's grin widened until he saw what it was the priest was fighting towards.

Mordrim was picking himself up from where he'd been tripped by a troll. Another troll was lumbering towards the dwarf with its mouth open. It wasn't the troll that alarmed the priest
; it was the giant coming up the tunnel.

His distraction cost him as an ogre
-swung club smashed his sword down. Garrick's reflexes kicked in and kept him from letting go of the weapon but when it hit the stone with the club still bearing down on it, the blade twisted and broke.

The barbarian jumped at the ogre and buried the remaining length of his once mighty sword into the creature's chest. He stabbed him three times and used the momentum of the ogre to force his way through their ranks. The ogre fell while Garrick pulled his axe free. He looked at the axe and kissed it,
and then hurled it towards the rising dwarf.

Mordrim looked up and his eyes widened as the axe narrowly passed over his head. He stared at Garrick and snarled,
and then saw that Garrick's eyes were behind him. The dwarf twisted and saw the troll staggering and reaching up to remove the dwarf-forged weapon from where it had sunk deeply into the flesh that joined his shoulder and neck. Mordrim slammed the troll in the head with his hammer to finish the job, and then turned back toward Garrick.

Mordrim threw his hammer at the barbarian,
and then turned back around and wrenched the hand axe free. Garrick caught the awkward weapon and used it as a club, and then paid the price as the ogres were able to press against his unfamiliar weapon. He learned quickly but as more ogres pressed against him, he found himself driven backwards.

"Giant," Mordrim called out.

"I know, I want it," Garrick growled.

"You look kind of busy right now," Karthor reminded him while dodging the gangly arms of two trolls that were anxious to tear him in half.

The ground rumbled underneath them, drawing everyone to a halt. Man, dwarf, ogre, troll, and giant alike—they all looked around and wondered why rocks and dust were falling from the ceiling. Garrick raised the dwarf's hammer to take advantage of the confusion when a flash of reddish light burst out of the side tunnel that Alto had gone up. An answered flash was visible at the other tunnels.

"What was that?" Karthor jumped closer to the two warriors and asked. "Alto?"

"Aye, had to be the boy," Mordrim said. "Probably got himself roasted."

The ogres and trolls stayed still, not advancing. They looked about and then at the exhausted men before them. Namitus and Kar ran around them and rejoined them, breathing hard and both showing themselves harried and bleeding from wounds.

"Giant," Garrick said.

"He's all yours," Mordrim offered.

Garrick and the dwarf switched places, turning about each other. Garrick raised the hammer high and charged the massive man before him. The giant shook his head as though confused and then looked down at the man running at him. He raised the sword he held in his hand, striking it against the roof of the passage and sending chips of rock flying.

Garrick slammed the hammer into the side of the giant
’s ankle, which was at his own knees. The giant howled and teetered, and then had to put his hand out to catch himself on the side of the cavern. The barbarian kept at it, running around and striking the joints of the giant until it crashed to its knees. The giant dropped his sword and reached for Garrick, only to find the barbarian slipping under his grasp and then striking the giant in the wrist.

Garrick finally managed to swat the giant on the knuckles of his closed fist after he pounded the ground where Garrick had stood a moment before. The crunch spoke of broken fingers and caused the giant
to yank his hand back from the stinging. Garrick leapt forward, following the hand and leaping up onto the giant's leg so he could leap off that and strike the giant with the hammer as hard as he could swing it between the eyes.

Garrick crashed into the giant's chest, his weight toppling the off
-balance behemoth over. When he staggered back to his feet and raised the hammer, he saw the giant laying there and staring up at the ceiling with sightless eyes. There was an impression several inches deep in the giant's forehead where the hammer had struck it.

Garrick turned back to see his friends standing and watching him. They were alone
; the ogres and trolls had fled out of the passage. The northman grinned and said, "I killed a giant!"

"Aye, now give me back my hammer," Mordrim grunted.

Garrick laughed and walked over to the dwarf. He handed him the hammer and took his hatchet back. "Not bad, but I prefer a sword."

"Stick with the blade, you're lousy with this," Mordrim said. "I could have taken him in half the time."

Garrick spun and looked at the dead giant. "Half the time? Just because you're half the man doesn't mean you'd have done it any quicker!"

"You be listening, tall, dark, and stupid," Mordrim rallied.

"Boys, enough," Kar said as his son finished tying a bandage high on his arm. "We'd best go and find Alto. He'll want to know we've routed the enemy army and saved him the trouble."

"Unless they've gone for reinforcements," Namitus suggested.

Garrick frowned. "I broke my sword."

"There's one over there for you
." Namitus pointed at the fallen giant's sword.

"That's too big!"
the barbarian scoffed.

"Bet you don't hear that often," Mordrim muttered.

* * * *

Aleena
staggered under her shield. The enemy kept coming. They were relentless. She thrust into the thigh of the ogre and made the brute howl as she twisted her sword before pulling it back. He hopped back and tried to stem the pulsing flow of blood that sprayed out of his leg.

Celos had proved to be their savior when Sir Amos had fallen earlier. The young knight had cut through three men and a horde of goblins that had overwhelmed the paladin and the men
who fought beside him. He got two of the wounded knights back on their feet and they pulled the elder knight back with them while Celos stood and faced down the horde.

Aleena slammed her sword into the shield of a mercenary, driving him back and giving her a chance. "I'm going to help Celos!" she warned Durak before she climbed over the bodies in front of her and ran to his side.

Durak stayed in the fortification of flesh he and Aleena's remaining two men had made, defending the priests and wounded who were behind them.

"You're a fool
. Get back with the others!" Celos demanded.

"You're the fool standing alone out here. It doesn't matter how big your sword is
—there's too many of them!"

Sir Celos snorted. "Fine, let's fall back to the others, but no
farther. Sir Amos declared this our line. We will not fall back."

"Even if it means our death?"

"Yes!" Celos snapped. "We're not fighting for glory or even victory."

Aleena licked her dry and split lips and nodded. "I understand. We stand."

The horde advanced, their brief respite over. A handful of knights remained along with Durak, Aleena, her two men, Celos, and the wounded. The enemy seemed endless as they emerged out of the dark mass of people in the valley ahead of them.

A brilliant red flare far to the north burst into the sky, lighting up the countryside and striking the ceiling of clouds above. The clouds recoiled, disappearing and revealing the clear night sky. A moment later
, they felt as though a waterless wave washed over them. They turned to each other, mouths agape.

"Did you feel that?" Aleena asked her mentor.

Celos nodded. "Something has happened."

The enemy stared to the north as well. With the clouds gone
, the stars shone down on the valley, lighting it up enough for them to see the giants turn and start to walk away. The ogres jostled one another and looked about, and then followed after the giants, walking or running into the mountains. The goblins ran even faster, ducking into holes or scampering up the sides of mountains to find escape. Only the men remained, yet they still outnumbered the knights more than ten to one.

Celos lowered his sword and looked at Aleena. His eyes left hers and went to the surviving men from the mercenaries she had recruited. His lip twitched before he turned back
and stepped onto a rock covered in gore. "Throw down your arms and Leander will show mercy. You will be allowed to live and to go home."

It took several moments before the first man closest to them raised his arm and let his sword fall from it. From there it was a chain reaction, with the men throwing down the weapons and dropping shields and helms.

"I don't believe it—we've done it," Durak said as he rushed over to them.

"Believe it," Aleena told him. "We had Leander's blessing."

Epilogue

Sarya looked up from where she struggled to climb the rock wall. The pathetic humans were worrisome insects. They destroyed and reproduced, eating and changing everything around them. Then they'd spread and form a new colony and do it over and over. They were a plague on the world even if they did unearth some amazing things.

She
blinked against the shapes that swam in her vision and saw something dark against the sky. Was the fool throwing rocks at her? She hissed out a laugh that made her rasp and cough. She hadn't breathed fire like that in years and it left her throat raw and aching. She ignored it; she was almost there. A little more pain for an eternity of power! She could feel the energy below. It ran between her and her new body; she only needed the catalyst to begin the transfer, the girl, and the burst of pure untainted life from the warrior to make it complete.

Sarya realized that the dark shape hurtling towards her wasn't a rock
; it was the warrior! The fool had thrown himself at her, like half of a doomed couple performing a lover's leap. He was making this easy on her: he'd be squashed like a bug when he hit, even if he did bounce off of her on the way down.

Something pulsed with light in front of him, drawing her cloudy gaze to the sword he held out in front of him. Was it glowing? The warrior streaked past her head in a blur but before she could register
it, she felt he slam into her body. A great fire burst in her back and chest, making her rear up on her hind legs without even thinking about what letting go with her front legs would mean.

Sarya tumbled backwards, consumed by the agony inside. She flipped end over end, her tail striking the wall hard enough to crack the rock and send huge shards of broken rock tumbling to the floor below. She landed on her chest first but her head and neck slammed into the stone at the same time. She felt the popping of her aged and weakened bones, several of them bursting through her once magnificent skin.

Sarya wasn't dead yet. She could still kill the woman and finish it. She moved her head, looking for the corpse of the man. Had she landed on him? Her chest still burned inside worse than her throat ever had. She cast about with her senses, seeing with her magic and looking for his released spirit in her web of souls.

She was returned to her mundane senses by something that pulled at her. Everything was darker. Had she landed on the flames the wizards had lit? Such puny fires couldn't hurt her.

Whatever it was pulled at her again, yanking the flames in her chest. She coughed, spitting out fire that proved there really was a fire in her chest. She'd never seen such a thing before.

The warrior, Alto, he was alive! She struggled to move but failed. Everything was dark and cold. Everything except her chest. Her vision faded until nothing was left,
and then nothing remained but the fire burning her. It consumed her, scorching her so thoroughly that she could only howl in voiceless agony.

The fire lifted free, bursting out of the hole in her back as the sword was finally yanked free. Sarya went with it, feeling it swirl around and within her as it carried her. She touched the warrior and felt him,
and then he was gone and left behind. She'd glimpsed his life and his memories. Everything there was to know about the man she had seen in that brief instant.

Sarya came to an abrupt stop. The flames cooled and left her in peace. She tried to breathe, the first cool breath of air that didn't cause her body to ache. There was nothing. No breath and no air.