Chapter 512: It’s Not Here For Us… (Patreon)

“Get away from the boy!” shouted a valley warrior as several more warriors rushed into the street.

Freya grabbed Tristan and pushed him behind her. Nora stepped up next to them and raised her hands, ready to cast at a moment’s notice.

Hefting Oginum, Freya tried her best to hide her exhaustion and snarled at the warriors, “I’ve killed plenty of you tonight, what’s a dozen more?”

“You won’t find any victory here, dwarf.”

Nora and Freya stiffened at the voice that had haunted their dreams for the last year. Marek stepped out from behind his warriors, orichalcum spear in hand. “I’ll say it once, hand over the child.”

“It’s you…” Freya muttered. “The warlord of the Cairn.”

“He is the Dusk King,” corrected one of Marek’s battle mages.

“He’s just a cowardly backstabbing murderer,” sneered Nora.

Marek stared at them and tilted his head to the side. They seemed oddly familiar. “Have we met?”

Nora’s expression filled with rage at the mere question.

“We were there, at Widow’s Crag last year,” Freya answered grimly.

Marek nodded in recollection. “Oh, the students. I remember now. So then you both know how this will play out. Leave the boy behind and I’ll spare your lives.”

Tristan gripped the hem of Freya’s tunic and hid behind her, his small body trembling.

“Spare our lives?” Nora muttered. “Is that what you did to Callum? Did you spare his life?”

“The son of Gale? No, I killed him,” Marek answered calmly. “But he did not run away like most, he fought to the end, and not once did he falter. I respected him and honored his death, a feat I rarely have made for an enemy. He was a true warrior. You should be proud to have had such a comrade.”

“He was my fiancé and the father of our child.”

“Ah, I see… Then there really is no reasoning with you is there?” he asked wryly.

“There was no reasoning with the vampiress Nokti either,” Nora spat.

Marek frowned, “What are you talking about? Where is Nokti?

She smiled maliciously. “I’m here aren’t I?”

“What did you do to Nokti?”

“Oh? Did she mean something to you?” 

“What did you do!?”

“What do you think?”

Marek roared, pulled back his spear, and aimed at her. 

“Now!” Nora shouted. Lightning sparked at her fingertips and erupted in a wide arc.

A valley mage stepped forward and wrote a quick scarlet sigil in the air. A red translucent shield formed in front of Marek. The lightning struck the Red ward spell and scattered. Before anyone could react, Freya was already running straight at the valley warriors. She leaped into the air and swung Oginum down on the ward shield.

The golden hammer flashed in brilliant light and shattered the shield with a blast of energy. Freya pushed through with her swing and Oginum slammed down on the valley mage’s head. The hammer flared on impact and his skull burst like an apple.

Freya landed on her feet, spun with the momentum of Oginum, and raised the hammer for another swing. Marek waved his spear in a wide arc, catching Freya by the chest, and sent her flying. She landed on her back and gasped for air. Her ribs burned with every breath.

“Freya!” Nora rushed to her side.

Marek pointed the spear at them, “You both look exhausted, and yet you still try to kill me? You were smarter back on that Crag.” He channeled Orange and flames ignited in his palm.

Freya sat up with a grimace and tried to channel yellow, but there was so little mana left in her body she couldn’t even weave a single spell. Nora jumped in front of her and spread her arms wide. Water swirled to life around her wrists. Nora slammed her hands together and a whirling shield of water formed in front of them.

“It won’t be enough!” Marek shouted. The flames rumbled to life in his hand and grew to a towering pillar above him. He swung his hand down and sent the fiery pillar crashing down on them.

A snake of flames lashed out from the end of the street and clashed with the pillar, exploding in a fiery plume of orange. The rain sizzled and evaporated all around, leaving a cloud of steam in the middle of the street.

Freya looked up and saw a massive silhouette in the steam looming over her. A pair of hardened grey eyes stared back at her. As the steam cleared, she could make out a grey beard, burly muscles, and the lower side of a horse.

“Maximus…?” she muttered.

He grunted with a nod.

“Are you two alright?” asked Loh from atop his back.

“Professor!” Nora exclaimed. 

“And who in all the bloody Realms are you supposed to be?” asked Marek.

The steam cleared away amidst the rain, leaving Loh’s arrival clear to all. She glanced at the two dozen or so warriors standing at the dire human’s side. “Maximus, there are more than I thought…”

“I’m aware,” he said dryly.

Loh dismounted, careful to not put weight on her injured leg. “I’ll deal with the giant, you take care of the rest.”

“Agreed,” Maximus nodded and hefted his ax.

“What are you doing?” asked Freya.

“You’ve come to save them?” Marek shook his head. “I’ve come so far to get here, and right when I’m this close to ending it all, people like you keep getting in my way.”

“Am I an obstacle to you, Marek?” Loh asked coldly.

He sighed, “Am I supposed to know you as well? Were you at Widow’s Crag too?”

“I was, but last time I failed to protect my students,” she admitted softly. “This time, I won’t fail them.”

Freya glanced at Nora and nodded, “Together.”

“No,” said Loh. “You two take the child and head to my family’s manor.”

Freya shook her head, “But—!”

Loh silenced her with a look. “You can barely stand,” she whispered. “You’ll be more of a liability than anything.” She eyed the warriors slowly surrounding them. “Take the boy and run, that is an order.”

Freya glanced at the warriors and gripped Oginum tightly. “I’m not running away, not again.”

“Agreed,” said Nora.

“If you die, then none of this matters. Don’t let your son grow up an orphan, Nora” said Loh.

Nora stiffened at her words. She glanced down the street in the direction of her home and Kamilo.

“Go, Nora, I’ll stay behind,” said Freya.

“She can’t protect the child alone, go with Nora,” said Loh.

“I won’t leave you and Maximus to fight alone!”

“I couldn’t protect any of you that night,” Loh smiled sadly. “I couldn’t protect anyone tonight either. Not my friends, not my soldiers, not my family… Let me make it right, please, Miss Goldelm.”

Freya bit her lip and nodded. “I’ll come back for you, I promise.” She grabbed Tristan’s hand and turned to leave, but they were already surrounded.

“Did you think I’d sit back and let you all just leave?” said Marek.

“No.” Loh channeled Black. Her shadow darkened and tendrils shot out and grabbed Nora, Freya, and Tristan. With a flick of her wrist, the shadow tendrils picked them up and dropped them past the street walls and over to the next block.

Marek stared in mute surprise at the speed, range, and deftness of the spell. “Who are you?”

“I am just like you,” said Loh.

“And what might that be?”

“Dead.” Orange flames burst from her hands and shot forward.

~~~

Feli buried her head in Stryg’s shoulder and hugged him tightly. “Promise me you’ll come back.”

“Always,” he whispered.

“AL…WAYS…?” a deep gravelly voice rumbled. 

Stryg’s eyes snapped up at the sound. A dragonbane’s head poked out from above the manor’s walls. Xyloth peeled his lips back in a wide smile, revealing a long row of sharp ebon-black fangs.

The air suddenly felt cold and Stryg couldn’t breathe. It was as if he was in the Dark Fringe once more, separated from both the Realms and the Null itself.

A barbed tail rose behind Xyloth, swaying from side to side. Feli screamed in terror. A stone wall erupted from the ground between them and the beast. Vines shot out from the ground and yanked Feli and Stryg back. 

“Get up, you two!” Aurelia yelled. “That wall won’t hold it for long!”

As if to prove her point, Xyloth’s tail thwacked the wall and smashed it apart in a single strike. Stryg sucked in a deep breath and blinked hard. The feeling of being swallowed by darkness disappeared. It had been years since shadows had held secrets from him. His eyes could penetrate the dark with no effort at all, but in front of that monster, it felt as if he was as blind as a newborn.

“Stryg, are you alright?” Feli asked shakily.

He looked at her and nodded hesitantly, “I’m… okay.” The chromatic energies in his body roiled within him as they were slowly drained and pulled into the beast standing at the edge of the estate.

“It’s absorbing our mana,” Aurelia noted grimly. She glanced at Rhian, “Centaur! Get this woman and the Sylvan children out of here! Have their First Mother guide them somewhere safe, NOW!”

Rhian tore her gaze away from the dragonbane and nodded and saluted, “Understood!” She threw Feli over her back, before dashing towards the house. She didn’t care if the door wasn’t made for beastkin, she kicked through it and ran inside.

“Stryg, we need to retreat and regroup with the rest of the Sylvan army,” said Aurelia.

He stood to his feet and shook his head. “We can’t just leave, Mom.”

She clicked her tongue and smacked him across the back of his head with the scabbard of her sword. “Now is not the time to be brave! A lone goblin will be picked off by the wolves.”

“I know,” he said while rubbing his head. “But we can’t run, not yet. We need to buy time for the others to escape first. We need to fight.”

“They aren’t your tribe, Stryg.”

He looked at her with a steady gaze. “They’re everything to me.” 

“Stryg—”

Without waiting for a response, he conjured a flame bolt and hurled it at Xyltoh. The flames splashed on his translucent hide harmlessly.

“It didn’t work…?” Stryg muttered in surprise. 

Aurelia hit him again. “What are you doing!? We don’t want to draw its attention!” 

This creature… Stryg narrowed his eyes. It was resistant to his magic, more like immune. He recalled Plum’s vision she had seen through the memories of the valley tribesman they had captured. This was the beast that had terrified her, the monster that had murdered half the chieftains of the Valley tribes.

“Wait,” Aurelia furrowed her brow, “It’s not attacking us…”

Xyloth had glanced at Stryg briefly after the flame bolt, but he quickly lost interest and began to tear down the walls of the manor, poking his head through a room, before moving on to the next.

“It’s searching for something?” Aurelia muttered.

“It’s not here for us…” Stryg’s eyes widened, “Maeve!”

“Stryg, wait!” But he had already dashed off towards the beast.



(AUTHOR'S NOTE:)

We have finally reached the beginning of book 5's climax! It's been a helluva ride and I can't wait to share with you the upcoming chapters.
Thank you as always for supporting me, my dear readers,
With love, ~Frost.