The Willbreaker (Book 1) (32 page)

Brandon felt awkward again wearing the swords on his back, as if he could actually use them. It felt like everyone stared at him.

“Not really. They are longer and lighter than my old short swords. Plus, they glow. Honestly, that makes me uncomfortable. If you want them, by all means, you can have them.”

Donald laughed as if he knew something that the others did not. “No, son, I did not earn those swords. You cannot trade those swords, or give them away. You were the one who took them, and you are the one who now owns them. They are yours, whether you like it or not.”

“I didn’t earn them either. I got lucky when I killed the Blademaster, and apparently, the other creatures did not want them either, because they gave them to me. Why don’t you use them, at least then they might do us some good.”

“You can’t get lucky and kill a Bauth’Dok Blademaster. Luck has nothing to do with it. Anyways, they are yours, so get used to carrying them. Maybe with a little help, we will get you to the point where you don’t cut your own arm off when you use them. Besides, those are not just any swords. They are a tool, for magic.” He thrust Brare forward, as if to let Brandon know he had finished the conversation.

Edward mounted Firecracker, obviously over the tension that he and the stallion once shared. Jasmine threw her leg up over Baby and motioned to Brandon that she waited to share the saddle with him. As Brandon lifted himself in the saddle with Jasmine, Donald turned Brare around to face them.

“We have a couple of options. I really think you need some training on those blades, Brandon. At least if I knew you were capable of protecting yourself with them, well, then I’d feel a lot better about leaving you alone if I ever had to. There is someone who could help us, but it is a long and dangerous road. Jasmine, I know one of the reasons you have stayed with us was to ensure Brandon’s safety. He’s safe now, are you planning on sticking around?”

“To the end,” she said confidently.

“Alright, let’s talk as we ride.” Donald flipped his stallion around and rode south. Edward and Firecracker rode up on Donald’s left side, and Jasmine and Brandon rode Baby along his right.

Donald rode silently for moment before speaking. “We are going to head to…”

Edward yelled out, fear cracking his voice, “DANGER!”

Instantly, everyone turned and looked wide-eyed at Edward. Edward’s eyes were all white, the blood drained from his face, and his hands shook in the reigns of his horse. A tree, somewhere south of them down the river line, snapped and cracked an echo through the woods like thunder. Everyone’s head whipped forward.

“Down! Hide! Get the horses in the woods!” yelled Donald, who pointed into the tree line to their right. Another loud crash, a hundred paces to the south, kept their attention. Brandon yanked on the reigns and planted his feet firmly in Baby’s side, kicking her into a run straight towards the trees. Edward and Donald were right beside them.

Another tree snapped and cracked as it crashed to the ground along the river’s edge. A woman on an all brown quarter horse rode from the tree line. She wore long red robes, trimmed at the neckline and sleeve cuffs in yellow braided cord. Light reflected off her beautifully red hair. On her flanks were three of the largest creatures Brandon had ever seen. They were humanoid, but their shoulders were as high as the woman’s even though they walked on the ground. They were grossly gigantic, a massive wall of a body, rippled abs, and a three layered chest. Two massive arms hung outward from its boulder-sized shoulders, another two arms were directly underneath, and a third set of arms connected to its mid-body. It had the face of a brutish man, and had no hair. It walked on oak tree-like legs. Every step made the ground shake and sounded like someone dropped a wheelbarrow of stone off a roof. They were the most intimidating things Brandon had ever seen.

Behind the woman rode fifteen women, all covered in armor, bearing the letter “A” on their chest. Each had a long staff on her back, topped with a curved blade.

              The horses running through the trees seemed unusually loud to Brandon as they ran away from the redheaded woman and her group of trouble; snapping branches, horseshoes tearing into the earth, and their adrenaline-fueled breathing filled the air.  He did not think they could make more noise.

              They entered the woods as the group of women and the three monstrous, six-armed creatures exited the trees south of their location. Brandon assumed the woman saw them. They rushed through the trees as fast as possible, but the thick brush and dense spacing of the birch and aspen trees made quick travel difficult.

              A woman yelled from behind them. Although the words were not understandable, she clearly directed them at Brandon and the other riders. Donald turned his head both ways and cried, “Don’t stop! Ride!” Brandon looked over at Donald and his stomach reeled; had never seen that look on Donald’s face before, a look of pure fear. No one needed to ask how much trouble they were in if Donald had reason to be concerned. They did not look back and pressed their horses harder.

              A shaking of the air, loud hissing and cracking, engrossed their senses and Donald yelled out. The earth ahead of them churned and roiled as the air above it warped, distorting their view. In an instant, the wall of twisted air ignited into flame, spanning sixty feet across and shooting up past the tops of the trees. The explosive wall of heat hit the riders like a hammer. The horses planted their legs and neighed with the strain of their immediate slow. Brandon and Jasmine felt the horse slam to a stop beneath them but their momentum propelled them forward; Brandon’s body slammed into Baby’s neck and slid up over her head. With Brandon suddenly yanked forward, Jasmine lost her balance and toppled forward off the saddle. Brandon smashed into the ground, coughing hard as his breath ripped from his lungs. Jasmine met the earth a few feet from him, landing on her right shoulder and bouncing her head off the hard soil. Somehow, Edward and Donald were able to stay mounted.

              Edward shielded his face from the blast wave of heat, awkwardly moving Firecracker away from the magic-fueled wall of hellfire. Donald turned around on Brare, shield covering his forward flank with his mace held tight to his body. He yelled something to the three others but the crackling and hissing from the wall of fire made his words inaudible. Trees and brush around the wall burned, adding smoke and another level of danger to the already chaotic situation.

              Donald glanced over and saw Brandon on the ground trying to gain his feet. Jasmine lay motionless on the ground. Edward dismounted, rushing to help the two injured. Donald looked forward and then back at his friends. He quickly dismounted and with the plant of his leg, he charged through the trees towards the fifteen armored Blade-Maidens. They gripped their polearms tightly and ran towards the Donald with fury and aggression. Donald let out a fierce war cry as he pushed through the trees towards the oncoming women.

              The woman in the red robes sat on her horse at the tree line with her three bodyguards, holding her right hand lazily in the air as if she held up an invisible egg within her thumb and two first fingers.

              Donald took a deep breath before he collided into the wave of charging women. He felt the air swirl within him and he locked it inside, energizing it like a blazing sun. He concentrated the fuel into his chest, where the rebounding energy pushed hard against his control. With another squeeze, he released the force within him. It burst into a million infinitely small, super-charged bits of potent magic. The power raced through his veins, out to his fingers and down to his toes, in through his mind, and throughout his muscle, energizing him with unearthly strength.

              The first woman to enter fighting range with Donald met his shield bash. Her weapon hit the shield first, shattering, sending a ripple of force through her arms as the bones in her hands and arms ruptured to pieces. Her body met the force of the shield next, as it fluctuated from the first point of impact outward, the waves within her skin devastating her internal organs and bones. Blood spat out of her mouth, eyes, ears and nose as her insides turned to mush. Her limp body flew back and exploded into a mess of blood and gore as the large birch tree behind her stopped her flight.

              Donald’s gift granted him incredible strength, and his ability with weapon handling made him one of the most sought after weapons masters in Karpathos Kingdom. He used his skills to land his mace in between the polearms of two different maidens, crushing downward on the shoulder of one them. She crumpled to the ground hard; a broken, dead heap of woman, now misshapen and lumpy.

              Donald released a ferocious yell, knocking the swinging polearm out the hands of another woman and then jamming the forward edge of his shield directly into her face, caving in her head around the edge of the shield.

              Brandon moved over to Jasmine; she had been knocked unconscious from the fall. They both looked up to see Donald in the center of the wasps.

              “I have to help him!”

              “No Brandon! You will get yourself killed!”

              Brandon withdrew one of the trexalite swords strapped to his back.

“Don’t leave her side!” He gripped the sword in both hands as he bolted past Edward, ignoring the old man’s pleas to stay with him.

As he ran, Edward looked at the woman on the horse behind the Blade Maidens. She marched her horse into the trees. The six-armed monsters were on both sides of her, tipping over trees like dominos and smashing and breaking down others with the same ease. The woman had her eyes locked on Donald as he ripped through the Blade Maidens like a dog with a newspaper. She watched as he whirled his mace through the air, whistling as it moved, connecting with the armored helmet of a maiden; it crushed it and broke her head off completely away from her shoulders. On his return swing, he backhanded a maiden in mid-swing of her polearm square in the chest, causing her body to fly backwards as if shot from a catapult. Her limp and broken body flew upward and grossly wrapped around a large tree branch.

The woman on the horse remained calm, and judging from the look on her face, perhaps even amused. She lowered her hand from the upright position. As she did, the searing wall of hellfire eased down and then vanished. The brush and trees still burned and smoked.

She spoke in a voice that demanded attention, strong and commanding, as she raised her hand again, signaling her Blade Maidens to stop fighting.

“Wait!” With the single order, the remaining six maidens backed away from Donald, holding their polearms at the ready. Donald held his shield and mace tightly, never lowering his guard.

The woman spoke again. “Well, well, well. Isn’t this interesting? It is funny where you run into the gifted. I would not expect to find someone of your… talent… so far from a major city. Judging from your armor, you are from… Castle Belkin?” she said, wryly.

Donald stood half-crouched, ready to attack. He stared at her hard, not saying a word. Brandon stopped his advance and moved his sword behind his back awkwardly, trying to hide it from view. Edward held Jasmine in his arms, but had his eyes locked on the woman in robes.

“Well,” she continued after not getting a response, “you are quite a powerful fighter. I am interested in you. You could be of use to me. Let us say you put down your mace, and join me. For your protection services, I will give you the honor of leading my personal guard. You will shadow me at all times, ensuring my safety. As long as you do exactly as I say, I will make sure you have no wants.” Her lips curled back in a small smile.

“Ha!” Edward screamed and then ducked his head when everyone turned to look at him. Donald eased up on his battle stance, not a lot, but a bit.

“I want nothing to do with you, witch. You work for a delusional madwoman with daddy issues. She wants nothing but a dictatorship, and she will go to any means to achieve that. The world should not be run that way. People should have a say in their own lives.”

The woman’s smile vanished. “That madwoman… is my sister. My name is Ivy Arclight, Shadow to the Empress, Sister to the Flame, and second in command to the Armies of Cloudkeep. You shall withdraw your insults, or you will pay the price for your mockery. Maybe I will teach you some manners while we are at it.”

Donald chuckled at her disrespectfully. He opened his arms up in a waving motion to the dead Blade Maidens around him. “They tried teaching me some manners, and it didn’t work out so well for them. Perhaps you should reconsider your offer.” He smiled at her and rage curled her lip upwards, twisting her mouth and baring her teeth.

Ivy hopped down from her horse, but as she did, she looked to the Kella’Dune. “Kill them! Kill them all!” she screamed. The Guardians moved with stunning speed; they were eminently faster and more agile than one would think. With a single yell, the Kella’Dune rushed towards Donald. As they moved, so did Brandon, sword held in both hands as he charged towards the group.

Brandon had no idea how to fight creatures so large and quick. In addition to their towering size, they had six arms.
It would be easier running through a den of vipers
. Brandon raised the sword above his head as he ran and yelled, half in fear, and half in hopes it would make him more courageous. Two of the Guardians swarmed onto Donald, and the third, seeing Brandon’s charge, turned to face him. The Guardian planted his feet, lowered his brow in anger and took in a massive breath. With all six arms outstretched, the beast bent forward at the waist and focused his booming voice towards Brandon. It detonated like a bomb, immediately hitting everything in front of him in a powerful sound wave. Bark ripped from the trees, standing weeds and flowers slammed into the dirt, leaves flew, and Brandon’s feet left the ground as the blast wave hit him, whirling him like a twig through the air. The sword in his hand flipped down, sticking into the base of a passing tree.

Donald ducked as the large beast in front of him tried to grab him with its upper arms. He crouched, unable to avoid the second set of arms, which slammed a log-sized fist into the face of his shield, knocking him backwards into the dirt. Before he could get to his feet, the second Guardian stood over him. It raised its clenched hands in the air and brought them down. Donald’s eyes went wide with the shock of their speed. Six fists slammed to the ground breaking it to pieces as Donald rolled underneath the creature’s legs.

He grunted as he avoided the first Guardian, which moved to his position. He rolled away from a grabbing hand and withdrew the small blade held on the back of his belt.

“Is that all that you got?” He yelled viciously, gritting his teeth. A Guardian moved at him, trying to grasp him with its two middle arms. Donald shifted to the right, bringing his falchion down on the thick arm of the beast. Donald hit the arm so hard that he could have cleaved a tree in half, but the sword glided across it without leaving a mark. Another shifting movement, and Donald relocated to the creature’s left, his blade sliding across the thing’s massive chest. Again, nothing.

The giant beast planted its right leg and pressed against it hard, throwing his weight in the opposite direction, right towards Donald. Donald danced around him, spinning off the shoulder of the incoming creature as it collided with a thick birch. The tree instantly burst into a thousand pieces. Donald threw his blade to the ground, grabbed the handle of his shield tightly in this left hand, and clenched a tight fist with his right.

The second Guardian had moved in. Its top arm arced in a crushing downward blow, swinging right for Donald’s head. Donald bent his knees as he straightened his back, preparing for the impact. He focused his power, his relentless and raw strength, and threw up his forearm to take the impact of the blow. As the massive fist met Donald’s arm, Donald’s legs sunk into the earth up to the middle of his shin, but his form did not waiver. He rammed the shield edge into the stomach of the creature. The Guardian spewed air as it tumbled backwards. Donald turned in time to catch a monstrous fist in the chest. His body lifted upwards as he flew through the air, coming to a stop when his back met an aspen tree. He fell to the ground with a thud.

Brandon picked himself up from the dirt, twenty paces from where he previously stood. The monster walked towards him, looking hungry for a kill. Its steps crushed everything beneath it, snapping and breaking trees and bushes. Brandon glanced around realizing he dropped his sword, and saw it between him and the Guardian, blade stuck halfway into a birch tree.

              He reached behind him. One sword left.
C’mon, you fool, don’t lose this one!
He wrapped his fingers around the black leather wrapped handle and withdrew the long, curved single-edged sword. The semi-transparent metal emitted a ghostly red glow. Sword in hand, Brandon felt the ease of tension within his muscles. He felt the knots in his back and the tenderness in his legs vanish. The power of the sword pulsed through him. His ability to heal stretched wide and far, reaching every point in his body. It grew as it reached his subconscious, working in the background of his mind. For a brief second, Brandon wondered how it would be if he knew how to control the power within the sword.

              The monster reared its arm up, hips twisting, putting power in the backhand headed for Brandon. Brandon moved backwards, catching his heel on a creeping root, and fell to his rear. The birch tree where Brandon stood cracked and fissured into countless pieces as the backhand connected with it. Brandon shuffled backwards on his hands and legs like a crab and then shot to his feet, holding the sword outward towards the beast.