The Realms of Animar (38 page)

“Yes Ellyn. And how could you turn on your own kind? For that bird?”

“She was pure evil Ash, her heart was black. The only love she had was for herself. I turned her away many times but she only wanted the Alpha.”

Ash shook his head. “Maybe so, but you could have just left. I would have been made Alpha and she would have wanted me, even with this,” he said before he touched the long scar that marked his left cheek. “Even with this she would have wanted me.”

“I had no idea Trussil was here until we came that day. It wasn’t me that alerted them Ash. They must have spotted someone else. I would have warned you. I never intended to hurt you.”

“Maybe not but I will never forgive you. You will pay for what you did.”

Mordigal looked through the rain at his brother’s angry glare. He knew that he the last of his family was now lost forever.

“Fatalis is a madman Ash,” he said to his brother. “Look at this, look at what he has brought to slaughter these people…and for what? What harm have they done to him?”

Ash pointed his sword at Mordigal. “You will have to go through me brother.”

“I won’t fight you,” he replied and showed his empty hands.

“Then you will die quicker than I thought.”

Mordigal backed up and quickly looked around when Ash moved toward him. He did not want to fight but he needed to leave before the soldiers noticed the confrontation taking place in their ranks.

Suddenly Ash yelled and sprang forward with the blade lifted above his head then swung down when he drew near his brother. Mordigal spun to avoid the blow at the last moment with his rain-soaked cloak following closely behind. In a blur he was behind Ash and without hesitation he sliced low, quick and true, then backed away.

Mordigal watched his brother collapse to the ground screaming while he clutched his left calf. His severed Achilles had retracted into his leg and although not fatal it was certainly a crippling wound.

Pity tugged at Mordigal’s heart when Ash struggled to his feet while the rain continued to assault him from above. He hated to leave his brother like this but he needed to find Fatalis. He turned to leave.

“Don’t you run from me!” Ash yelled after him.

Mordigal continued away, knowing his brother could not keep up. As he reached the small clearing where Fatalis had been he realized his prey was gone. He quickly scanned the soldiers nearby. Nothing.

“You coward!” Ash screamed.

Mordigal sighed and looked at the ground, then back to his brother who was creeping toward him, dragging his wounded leg behind. Once more he turned away, eager to leave the conflict behind him.

“I will find her,” Ash called after him. “I will track your precious love down and slit her throat. I will do to you what you did to me. I will get my revenge. You can’t run forever!”

As the words struck home, Mordigal’s heart sank and a rush of sorrow overcame him. He looked to the sky, through the falling drops of rain and the mass of dark clouds that slowly moved across. His mind wandered through the past, picturing things as they were long ago. He remembered playing in the woods with Ash when they were young, the fun they had together and the moments they shared. Their lives had changed so much. Mordigal loved Ash dearly despite his flaws.

Shaken from his thoughts by the yells of battle around him, Mordigal turned and faced his brother. He would make it quick.

Chapter 38

T
he rush to Thane’s senses started with silent blackness, disrupted only by a deep boom that seemed to shake his spine from head to toe. It was an unfamiliar sound, similar to thunder yet different. In the seconds that he pondered its origin, the boom echoed in his ears once more only this time he appeared just in time to see the source of the curious noise.

He stood before the massive gate that led into Avryndale, a towering wooden representation of the skilled craftsmen of their kind. The only entrance to the village, it had been careful formed and shaped to withstand an incredible assault. As they toiled over its surface, cutting and sanding, carving and hammering, it was doubtful that even the most grim-thinking worker could have imagined the force that now put it to the test.

Thane gripped the swords firmly, one in each hand, as he stared at the massive wooden creation, waiting for the next blow. Although his vision was somewhat clouded by a strange light blue haze, his eyes were keenly aware of every detail of his surroundings, from the dust that fell as the stalwart gate shook to the voices of the villagers that scurried around him in the search for safety.

A tug at his right arm that was accompanied by the melodic words of a young woman briefly shook his concentration. Frantically she pulled and yelled at him, trying to capture his attention. He jerked his arm free and brushed her off without a glance. His focus remained forward, fixed on the gate.

Another voice called to the girl from somewhere above. It was a voice Thane recognized but he did not recall the name. His memories, for some reason, were lost.

The girl cried as she left his side and scampered away and somehow cracked the trance that blocked the rest of the world from his mind. A part of him longed to call to the girl, reach out and comfort her tears yet he dared not look away from the door.

He struggled to regain focus as he wondered briefly what fate has befallen his parents or what would become of his friends if he failed. As if in response to his wandering mind a tingling sensation trickled through his limbs and washed all concern from his thoughts. His moment had arrived. Nothing else mattered.

His heart beat wildly and pushed blood through his body at an astonishing rate while his muscles twitched with anticipation. Yet somehow, bathed in a magical presence, his breathing was calm, even when a crash shook the gate yet again and caused a crack to appear in the center. Spreading from top to bottom, it was a fracture as black as night and it threatened to burst at any moment and unleash the devils of hell upon them.

With the rest of the villagers in hiding, or watching from the walkways atop the wall, the entrance to the village was now deserted except for Thane. He now stood alone, filled with a magically gift that he could never understand.

He felt the weight of the swords in each hand. He heard his breath echo in his ears. He felt the rain trickle down his skin. Then he saw the gate burst open, sending splinters flying into the air as the end of a tree broke through before it was withdrawn, leaving a gaping hole in its wake.

Thane did not flinch as the carnivore army poured through the opening. The dampness that covered him was only the rain for even as they raced toward him he did not perspire. In the face of the worst kind of horror his thoughts remained steady. This was his stand.

The first soldier that reached him was a small dirty man carrying a short sword. Without hesitation the soldier leapt for Thane’s throat, anxious to deliver a fatal blow. The blade sliced through the air and was indeed a well-placed strike, or would have been had Thane not vanished before impact and appeared just to the side of his attacker. In one quick motion Thane sliced the man through the torso, sending his body crashing to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Thane thought nothing of his action. There was no remorse for the dead. He looked to the next target. Then vanished.

***

Frightened, Alia crouched down on the walkway and closed her eyes as Joli had directed. She dared not look. She knew that all around her, littering the platform and on the ground below were bodies of archers and other villagers that had fallen victim to enemy arrows. Where there were no bodies there were pools of blood mixed with rain. Death was everywhere.

As she fought back tears Alia felt ashamed. Faced with violence she realized that she was not brave at all. She was just a helpless little girl, useless and scared, hoping to be protected by Joli who had called her up from the ground just seconds before the army had broken into the village.

She was trapped now along with the surviving archers atop the platform and, although the ladders had been kicked down, the carnivores would reach them eventually. Despite the screams around them her eyes remained clinched shut. As she peered into the blackness of her lids she wished she could just imagine it all away. If only she could.

Alia felt Joli’s embrace, welcome and unexpected comfort offered by a stranger in a time of desperate need. Alia was amazed that the woman had remained calm despite the fact that she and the other archers had run out of ammunition long ago. Her bow having been discarded Joli now clutched a small silvery dagger, the only thing standing between them and certain death.

Lost in despair, Alia was startled when she heard the woman speak.

“This is incredible,” Joli said aloud to herself. “So fast.”

Confused by the words, Alia opened her eyes and looked at Joli. The woman’s jaw was agape and her eyes fixed on the ground beneath them where the army was seeping into the village through the breech in the gate. As she had expected, bodies were scattered everywhere, victims of the brutality of warfare.

To her surprise, although they were flowing steadily through the opening, the bloodthirsty carnivores failed to progress into the village. In fact, none of them had advanced more than a few feet. She then realized that the corpses strewn about the entrance were not those of villagers but those of the enemy. She was stunned.

Alia struggled to comprehend what was taking place as she watched the incredible scene unfold. All around the courtyard the carnivore soldiers fell as quickly as they entered. She then spotted the source of the butchery, a flickering figure that bounced from one victim to the next as they poured into the village. She strained her eyes to focus but each time she saw the shadowy killer, poof, he was gone again.

The figure appeared behind them, beside them or in front of them, moving at an unthinkable speed as if time itself had frozen for the unseen force and allowed it to slash and cut its prey down mercilessly, slaughtering the carnivores in their tracks.

“What’s happening?” Alia asked, unable to take her eyes from the violence unfolding on the ground below.

“It’s Thane,” Joli replied in awe. “Look at him...amazing.”

The girl was shocked. Not so much by the reply, but because she herself had not realized it sooner. Just minutes before Thane had ignored her cries and pushed her aside without a glance. She had thought he had gone mad, perhaps collapsed under pressure in the face of death. But now, as Alia stared in awe, she witnessed the true power that he possessed.

***

As he walked purposely up the hill toward Avryndale, Fatalis passed the bodies of fallen soldiers from both sides. He had lost more than he would have guessed, but the pathetic cattle had hardly dented his magnificent army.

The slaughter had been so fast in fact that his Avian allies had even elected to leave before it was over, apparently having decided to skip the feast that was soon to follow. Although concern never entered his mind he was rather annoyed at their sudden departure. He vowed to deal with their defiance at the earliest opportunity.

Fatalis looked to the village entrance and noticed that his men had broken through the gate and had funneled inside. He imagined the rush they felt as they chased down and devoured whatever resistance remained. He decided to pick up his pace. He wanted to watch for himself.

On his way up the hill, Fatalis walked past the carcass of one of the giant mysterious creatures that had toppled so many of his soldiers. It was lying flat on its belly and was so horribly disgusting that even to Fatalis it did not look the least bit appetizing. He then noticed something rather peculiar – it was not dead as he had thought but rather still alive.

The dark blue beast seemed to strain to breathe although Fatalis could only detect a few small wounds upon its shiny dark flesh, certainly nothing worthy enough to fall the massive specimen. He then realized that it was not from a wound that it was struggling but a dagger that was lodged near its giant tail. The tiny blade paled in comparison to the size of its victim yet it was made of the very substance that was capable of trapping the creature in its animal form. Although a gigantic beast, it was obvious that it could not breathe which meant that it was something different, something from another place. It was an Aquan!

Fatalis wandered up to the eye of fallen creature. It did not blink or follow him but he knew that the Aquan was aware of his presence.

“What a horrible way to die,” Fatalis said. “I could end your suffering now but that would be too easy for you. Know this you foolish slug before you leave this world. Siding with the cattle was a mistake your kind will regret until the end of their days. I will find your home and slaughter everyone you love. You failed them here today. You sent them to their graves.”

Fatalis watched as the large eye blinked once before the creature’s gaping mouth quivered slightly. The pathetic beast was trying to respond. Inside Fatalis laughed. What a stupid creature.

He then turned back at the battlefield that stretched out around him. The dead were everywhere. It was an incredible sight to be sure and one that caused his thoughts to spiral back to a horrible nightmare that had frequently plagued him as a child.

In this dream, this terrible vision that kept him awake so many nights as a small boy, he was alone in a field, surrounded by every kind of animal that he could imagine. Every creature he knew about, from cows to sheep, elephants to tigers, carnivores and herbivores alike, they all surrounded him in this field and stared at him, waiting.

His father then appeared, from where he never knew - the stuff of dreams of course – he just appeared and looked down at him with angry eyes.

“Eat them!” his father commanded. “Eat them all!”