The Ways of Mages: Starfire (21 page)

Perel
a’
s heart seized when she saw how few remained. Of those who had stayed only thirteen remained including Duncan,
T’
Garen, and Perela herself.  Of the one hundred and twenty nine who had stayed to distract the enemy, only thirteen remained.  And still the Dark Sons came. Perela raised a shield again. The grotesque Dark Sons clawed at it angry that it kept them from their prey.

The knights took the opportunity to get a breath and take a drink of water or mulled wine from their flasks. Others tied off wounds received during the fight. 

A mocking voice filled the air making everyone pause and look about. The Dark Sons salivated
.“
Sister, ah siste
r…
Do you really think you can survive this? Take a look around. So many of your army have fallen. You have no hope against the darknes
s
…”

“
Altana
.”
Perela muttered. Duncan looked at her sharply, his hand tightened on his swor
d’
s hilt.

“
Perela
.”
Altan
a’
s voice cooed overly sweet.

“
To answer your question, there is always hope. After all, Light always defeats the darkness
.
”

“
Truly
?”
hm
m…
I do
n’
t think you are truly aware of the situation you have found yourself in. You
r‘
ligh
t’
is failing. It is weak and powerless, after all, light always goes out
.”
Altana mocked.

“
Then why does it take three Dark Lords on a special night to fight one Light
?”
Perela heard the Dark Sons growl at her words.
 “
I seem to have struck a nerve
.”
Perela mused softly.

“
You will die
.”
Altana fumed
.“
You will all die. Your God has left you to the Dar
k’
s Mercy
!”
The  o
r lack thereof
remained unsaid, but everyone heard it anyway.

Perela saw some of the men falter. She straightened. She would not let these men forget who their King of Kings was
.“
You know not of what you speak,
sister.
Our God has never left us, nor will He ever leave us. This he has promised us
.
”

“
Promises are often broken
.”
Altana replied

“
By the Dark, perhaps. But our God has never broken His promises since before the dawn of time. His strength will never fail though the flesh of man is weak. I pity you sister, for the Darkness will never win. In fact, it has already lost
.”
Perel
a’
s words reached the men and they stood straighter. The crosses brightened. The darkness quailed from the light.

With a snarl, three Dark Lords appeared and their dark power bore down on Perela. She lost her hold on her shield, but a flash of light sent the three back to whence they had come. But the shield had failed. The knights were ready, though, revitalized by their faith.

Duncan fought the creatures of nightmare and hell. He and his men fought bravely, but the simple fact was that the numbers were against them. Men were simply overwhelmed. Duncan stood in a triangle with
T’
Garen and Henderson. There were four such groups circling about Perela, watching each othe
r’
s back and letting one man rest for a time. It was Dunca
n’
s turn to rest. He smiled tiredly at Perela. Suddenly Perel
a’
s face paled and her eyes widened.

Her cry was lost to the chaos of war. Duncan turned to see Henderson on the ground and a shadowed blade driving toward him. Even as he raised his sword against this incoming threat, Duncan knew that he would
n’
t get his sword up in time. A blur and the blade was gone. In the ruddy light Duncan saw
T’
Garen grasping the shadowed blade sheathed in his chest.

***

Outside the secret door in the outer wall Ryan turned toward the Wizard known as Zebendon, his face shadowed by the Fires
.“
There they are. Tell me, what is your plan for getting in
?
”

Bendon started moving past Ryan
.“
I have till I get there to figure it out
.
”

“
I guess that works
.”
Ryan muttered as he watched the rest of the group follow after Bendon
.“
God be with you
.”
He whispered as he reentered the city. The sounds of the screaming damned became muffled once the door closed.  Ryan leaned his head back against the door, the image of the hundred foot flames danced still in his min
d’
s eye
.“
May God be with us all
.
”

***

“
No
!”
Duncan cried as he dragged
T’
Garen toward Perela. The other triangle formations tightened their rotation; one of which reached Henderson before the enemy. The man on rest pulled the young knight into the safe circle. Henderson was still alive, clutching his bleeding leg, but his pain filled eyes were locked on the stricken
T’
Garen. Duncan made to pull the shadowed blade from
T’
Gare
n’
s chest.

“
No
.”T’
Garen grunted
.“
To
o…
late for that
.
”

“
We need to remove it so Perela can heal you
.”
Duncan persisted.

T
’
Garen smiled sadly
,“
Do you really thin
k…
I would let her waste what magic she has lef
t…
saving my sorry hid
e…
when she could be shielding the others? Dunca
n
…
”
He gasped, his breathing harsher. Duncan felt tears cutting through the grime on his face
.“
It has been a
n…
.honor fighting with yo
u…
Do
n’
t cry for me, frien
d…
I am going home to m
y…
Kin
g…
Stay strong, la
d…
The kingdom needs yo
u…
Thomas will need yo
u…
Ann
a
…
”
The last was so faint that Duncan barely heard it. But he understood. Anna was
T’
Gare
n’
s wife; a woman who would not see her husband again till she left for Heaven.

Duncan whispered
T’
Garen his last rites before crawling over to Henderson. Perela handed him a good chunk of her cloak that she had shredded. Duncan tied a length of it above the weeping gash on the younger knigh
t’
s leg hoping to staunch the blood flow. He then wrapped the wound tightly with the rest of the cloth. Henderson grunted in pain, but did not protest.

When Duncan looked up again it was to see that his men had tightened ranks again. They were practically on top Henderson. The screaming of the Fires intensified. The men were resigned that they would die this night, but they would all fight till the end. The remains of
T’
Garen their last rally point.

Suddenly the screaming Fires died.

Pressure caressed the back of Dunca
n’
s neck before a blast of power rippled through the ranks of Dark Sons. Perela laughed delightedly
.“
Father
.”
She smiled simply at Dunca
n’
s questioning look. The Dark Sons screamed and turned toward this new threat. Perela took advantage of their distraction and blasted them again. Unlike when the Fires had burned, every Dark Son her power touched vaporized. She then erected a shield that pushed the Dark Sons away from the twelve remaining men. Soon the group could see Bendon casting waves of magic that burned away hordes of Dark Sons.  Near him was Robert wielding his black sword, cutting down swaths of the damned creatures. Defending their backs were Toliver, Tommy, and Trevor.

Perela let her father and his companions into her shield. Then the two mages continued to blast the remnants of the dark wave. Robert knelt beside Henderson, and still tapping whatever power his sword held, cleaned away the poison from the gash. Then he helped to close it. Trevor dropped to his knees beside
T’
Garen his head bowed in grief. He then got up and helped Toliver, Tommy, and Robert check the survivors. Duncan tried to help, but they told him to sit and rest.

“
I told you that you needed me
.”
Trevor grumbled as he checked Duncan.

Duncan rested his hand on Trevo
r’
s shoulder
.“
Yo
u’
re here now. Thanks for coming when you did
.
”

Trevo
r’
s eyes darkened
.“I’
m sorry it was
n’
t sooner
.
”

“
Your place was with the rest of the men. But I am very glad to see you now
.
”
 
The two then joined the rest of the surviving men in watching the two mages clean up the remains of the Dark Kin army.

***

Altana leaned upon the battlement wall watching with delight as the Fires of the Damned burned. It was like watching on
e’
s child succeeding beyond expectations. Her hand stroked her rounded stomach.
Hopefully you will do just as well.
She thought at her unborn child. But the child had it easier, she supposed. After all, its only purpose was to house her Lord and Master Maltacken.

A short man of five feet stood next to her. Some would mistake him to be a child, but that assumption would be their death. His eyes had the maniacal intensity of a vicious predator.  His swarthy skin helped him melt into the night.  Altana shared a smile with the Proconsul Salvo before turning back to the beautiful flames. The distant screams were music to her ears.

Suddenly, with no warning, the Fires collapsed as a strange, yet vaguely familiar pressure became more pronounced. Then a familiar pressure replaced it, fingering the back of her neck and she hissed angrily. Her father was interfering yet again. But it was impossible for Bendon to destroy the Flames. He was powerful, but not
that
powerful. Bright swaths of power cut away at the darkness that was the Dark Sons. The Dark Sons had nowhere to run and thus perished. Some tried to scatter, but they could not out run magic. And in the middle of the wasted field, Altana could just see the glowing light of the monastic knigh
t’
s crosses. Some had survived the attack.

In a rage, Salvo jerked her around. His surprisingly strong fingered hand wrapped around her throat.
 “
YOU have Failed your MASTER for the LAST TIME
!”
he snarled. A sickly pressure built and suddenly Altana found herself in a room she had never before seen. It was a dark, dark room. Sickly green flames burned sporadically about the circular room. A black round table dominated the room. Bloody runes pulsated on the table. Chairs formed of a chaotic mix of human and animal bones sat about the table. There were twelve of them. On a dais above the others was a thirteen chair, or was it the first one? Two dragonet skulls served it as armrests. 

More horrific then the chairs was that they were filled with the Dark Lords and Ladies of the Dark Kin Council. All of which were look at her hungrily. She could see her lord and lover as a writhing mass of impotent shadow.  Most concerning was the robed figure on the raised chair.

A soft, slithering voice slipped from under the robed figur
e’
s cowl
.“
You have failed us, Altana for the third time. I have been patient with you. But no longer
.”
The last was said in a clipped sharp tone
.“
Troukalck, Us
t’
uck
.”
The Dark Lord said. The two Dark Kin straightened
.“
She is your plaything for now. You are not to kill her yet or damage the husk she carries.  If I decide that she dies, it will be at
my
pleasure
.
”