Alutar: The Great Demon (79 page)

“Do we attack anything we see?” asked Dorforun.

“We destroy everything we come across,” answered the Mage. “Not kill, but destroy. Some of the attackers will already be dead. Even the tiniest of creatures can bring death to any one of you. Everything must be decapitated or consumed by fire.”

Eulena finished preparing the meal and the mages sat and ate in silence. When the meal was done, the mages prepared to play their nightly game, but Fakir Aziz shook his head.

“The time for games is over,” the Mage declared. “We will need as much sleep as we can get.”

The mages settled down to get some sleep, leaving Atule and Crystil to take the first watch. The two old mages sat back to back in silence for a long time before either one of them spoke.

“I know that you hate me,” Atule eventually whispered, “and I do not blame you. I was young and foolish and didn’t realize what a treasure you were. I suppose that I hurt you a great deal, but you may take satisfaction in knowing that my life has been empty without you.”

Crystil shook her head. “Is that so?” she quipped. “Is that why you could not even remember my name when we met again after all those years?”

“No,” Atule replied sincerely. “I couldn’t remember your name because I spent hundreds of years trying to forget you. I finally did. I convinced myself that you were long dead.”

Crystil did not respond, and they sat in silence for a long time.

“I do not hate you,” she eventually whispered. “I was as stubborn as you were. We were both at fault for what happened. If it is any consolation, I did not taunt you any more than I taunted myself. Many a night I berated myself over my stubbornness. If nothing else, it taught me humility. What’s done is done, Atule. Neither of us can turn back the sands of time.”

“Perhaps we can,” Atule said hopefully. “It is never too late.”

“No, Atule,” smiled Crystil. “We were different people then. The love we had is gone, but I was wrong to replace those long lost feelings with hatred. It was as immature as my earlier stubbornness. Let us be friends and enjoy the memories that we are creating now rather than dwell on things that never were. Can you find it in your heart to be my friend after how I treated you?”

“I will not have to look hard to find such a feeling,” smiled Atule. “Friends we shall be forever.”

The two mages fell silent, each lost in memories of olden times. An hour later, Crystil stiffened. The pressure against Atule’s back was enough of a warning to drag him from his thoughts, and he leaped to his feet. Crystil stood and pointed towards the dark woods. A light soared from her fingertips and hung in the air just outside the perimeter of the enclosure formed by the pillars.

“Ogres!” shouted Atule. “Lots of ogres!”

Crystil turned slowly and sent several more floating lights into the woods in different directions as the other mages scrambled to their feet. The ogres had the camp surrounded, but they seemed unable to advance into the clearing. They growled and snarled as their arms tried to reach into the clearing to snare one of the mages, but they withdrew their arms in pain when they came in contact with the invisible line between the pillars. Atule targeted the ground beneath a large group of ogres. The soil instantly liquefied, and some of the ogres started sinking in a bog of quicksand. Crystil pointed at individual ogres, and the selected ogres fell to the ground, their blood vessels exploding. Kalmar threw tree mines deep into the forest, and the giant trees exploded in a flurry of jagged wooden splinters. Dorforun targeted large rocks and cast a dwarven spell used in the mines to shatter stone. The slivers of stone flew outwards piercing all of the ogres in the area near it. Eulena caused vines to grow down from the huge misshapen trees. The vines wrapped around the necks of the ogres and lifted them off the ground. As the ogres struggled to free themselves, the vines continued to tighten until eventually the ogres’ heads separated from their bodies. Both portions of the ogres then fell to the ground below, and the vines shot down to snare their next victims.

Zynor closed his eyes and concentrated on the ogres nearest him. A moment later, the ogres began attacking each other. Valera stepped up next to Zynor, and flames leaped from her fingertips. Fakir Aziz stood in the center of the clearing observing the attack, his eyes searching for ogre deserters. Whenever he saw an ogre retreating, he pointed at the creature. A small tendril of light shot from his finger and struck the selected ogre. The ogre was instantly enclosed in a flash of blinding light. When the light faded, the ogre was gone. Once the initial attack was rebuffed, Atule began targeting the ogres in the quicksand. He pointed at individual ogres and sent a bolt of power blasting into their necks, causing their heads to separate from their bodies. Zynor eventually opened his eyes and gasped when he saw a unicorn in the distance. He whirled around to where the unicorns had been sleeping and saw that none of them were still in the camp.

“The unicorns!” Zynor shouted. “They are out in the forest.”

“Do not worry for them,” stated Fakir Aziz. “They are decapitating any ogres that we missed. They will come back when they are finished.”

Crystil’s floating lights began to fade, and she sent new lights floating into the surrounding forest. The group of mages scanned the forest looking for live ogres or revenants of ogres. There were none to be found. Hundreds of ogre bodies littered the floor of the forest outside the clearing, but none of them moved. Eventually, the unicorns returned, their horns dripping with blood. Zynor moved quickly to greet them and started washing their horns. Within minutes, his waterskin was empty. Fakir Aziz smiled and handed the Zaroccan mage his personal waterskin. Zynor thanked the Mage and finished cleaning the horns. When he was done, he hefted the Mage’s waterskin and raised an eyebrow. The waterskin was still full. With a shrug, he refilled his own waterskin from the Mage’s and then returned Fakir’s waterskin to him.

“Wasn’t it dangerous to let the unicorns go out into the forest?” asked Zynor.

“Yes,” the Mage replied distractedly. “There is danger lurking in this forest for all of us. The unicorns are aware of the danger. Do not restrict their movements.”

The camp quieted as the mages realized that the battle was over. Kalmar and Valera took over the watch while the others returned to sleep. The two young mages sat back to back as Crystil and Atule had done earlier. For a while, neither of them spoke.

“I do not like the use of such violent magic,” Kalmar eventually said in a whisper. “I would be quite happy to restrict myself to the healing arts when all of this is done.”

“I understand,” smiled Valera. “I know that we are not the only ones with such feelings. I think that is why Crystil spent so much time experimenting with pillars. It is a peaceful way of avoiding conflict.” The smile slid from the Vinaforan’s face as she continued, “I wonder why the Mage chose us for such a violent mission. Surely he knew our hearts when he chose us.”

“He is not a violent being himself,” retorted Kalmar, “but the nature of these creatures is truly evil. Avoiding conflict is not always the best path to take, Valera. Traveling the world these past few months has shown me that. In fact, I would like to continue traveling when this is all over. I feel as if there is much to learn by seeing how others live. I would like the traveling even better if you would consider joining with me.”

Valera smiled and nodded. “I would enjoy that.”

* * * *

The yaki leaped towards the column of riders, his fur a blazing inferno. Dorforun threw himself off the unicorn, the fiery yaki barely missing the dwarven mage as it sailed over the unicorn and smashed head first into a tree. Fakir Aziz immediately dismounted and shouted for the other mages to do the same. The unicorns raced into the trees as the dismounted mages continued their fiery barrage on the herd of yaki. Dorforun picked himself up off the ground and joined in the battle, flames flying from both of his hands. In minutes the battle was over. All that was left of the huge herd of yaki were the fires dotting the forest. The unicorns worked their way through the trees, methodically decapitating the burning bodies.

“When will this end?” complained Atule. “For days we have been battling these creatures night and day. We have left thousands of carcasses behind us like a breadcrumb trail all the way from the desert. Is there no end to this madness? Are we to remain in this foul place until every evil creature in the Forest of Death has been eliminated?”

“The destruction of ogres and yaki is now behind us,” answered Fakir Aziz. “These were the last, but do not rejoice just yet. The worst of all is just before us. We are less than an hour away from Alutar and his bevy of demons. Some of the demons may flee from my presence, but not all of them. Alutar’s allure is strong, and some of the demons will stay to fight us. Do not underestimate their powers. When they are close to their master, they can draw enormous power from him. We will rest for a bit before we finish this journey. You will all need to be fresh for the coming battle. Eulena, find us a clearing away from this smoke.”

The elven mage nodded and started walking along the trail. The other mages followed. After a few minutes of walking, Eulena selected a small clearing for the camp. The mages settled down for a simple meal, and an hour later when the unicorns entered the camp, Zynor rose and greeted them.

“He dotes on them,” Atule nodded towards the unicorns. “You would think that they are like family to him.”

“Maybe they are as close as he has ever come to having a family,” retorted Kalmar. “Our profession tends to be a lonely one. What happened between you and Crystil all those years ago?”

Atule’s brow creased as he gazed at the Koroccan healer. “That was a long time ago,” he eventually sighed. “We were young and in love like you and Valera are now.”

Kalmar raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?” he asked with mock offense.

Atule chuckled, “Your feelings are well known by everyone in this camp. Perhaps with the exception of yourself,” Atule added after a slight pause. “We have all lived longer than you, and we have all seen it a thousand times before. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Valera is a very talented and beautiful woman.”

Kalmar sighed and shook his head. “I am not sure how I feel about her,” he eventually said. “I do not deny that there is a strong attraction there, but you have strayed from the question I asked. What happened between you and Crystil?”

“We were both too stubborn,” shrugged Atule. “We felt different obligations pulling us apart, and neither of us was willing to forego our own destiny. We ended up going our own separate ways. It was nothing more than that. We are good friends now,” he added as he turned to look across the small clearing at his former lover.

Atule frowned and slowly rose to his feet. He crossed the small clearing to where Valera sat gazing up at the trees.

“Where is Crystil?” Atule asked.

Valera blinked and lowered her gaze to stare up at the jungle mage. “She went on ahead,” Valera replied.

“On ahead?” scowled Atule. “What do you mean she went on ahead?”

All of the mages turned to look at Atule as he stood over Valera with his hands on his hips.

“She thought it would be wise to construct some pillars to isolate Alutar from his demons,” answered Valera. “Fakir said that the demons could draw power from Alutar. Crystil wants to make sure that they cannot do that.”

“And you let her go?” snapped Atule. “Why didn’t you at least go with her?”

“I wanted to,” frowned Valera, “but she insisted on going alone. She said that she alone would be able to move among the demons without detection. Why are you getting angry with me?”

“Valera is not at fault,” the Mage said in a soothing voice. “There is some truth to Crystil’s words. If she is careful, the demons will not detect her, but Alutar might. We should continue our journey immediately.”

The mages quickly mounted their unicorns and set off along the trail. Atule immediately moved up alongside Fakir Aziz.

“What did you mean when you said that Alutar might detect her?” Atule asked the Mage. “Are you not sure of his capabilities?”

“He is quite capable of detecting Crystil,” answered Fakir Aziz. “I said might because Alutar will be preoccupied with the demonstone. He is immortal and can withstand things that mere mortals could not, but that is not to say that everything is simple for him. He has the demonstone now, and he wants to incorporate it back into himself, but that is not an easy task. Such a task demands great concentration and a considerable amount of time. While time is normally something that barely concerns the Great Demon, he has little of it right now. He knows that I am coming to banish him. That is why he sent every one of his creatures to attack us. He never expected the attacks to be successful, but they have slowed us down.”

Atule sighed nervously and nodded. “Will we be in time?” he asked.

“I do not know,” admitted the Mage.

The group rode on in silence for over half an hour before Fakir Aziz held up his hand to halt the group. They all dismounted, and the Mage signaled for them to gather around.

“We go on foot from here,” stated the mage. “If Crystil has completed the pillars, we need to get inside the enclosure defined by them. That will limit what effect the demons can have on us.”

“If she has failed?” asked Dorforun.

“We will be tested severely in any event,” answered the mage, “but our task becomes close to impossible without the safety that the pillars provide. You need to drive the demons outside the protected area before I can deal with Alutar.” The Mage paused and glanced at each of the other mages before continuing, “Do not waste your time and power trying to strike Alutar. He is beyond your capabilities. Concentrate on the demons. Confuse them. Keep them off balance. Do whatever you can to make them act defensively, and strive to keep them away from Alutar and me. Whatever you do, do not get within striking range of their wings. Their physical power is unlike anything you have ever faced before. Follow me.”

Fakir Aziz turned and walked silently through the trees. The other mages followed him. After a few minutes of walking, they came to a large stone pillar. Fakir smiled. He walked past the pillar and turned to his right, heading perpendicularly to his previous path. He halted a moment later when the eastern edge of a large lava lake came into view. The group also halted and gathered around the Mage. In the center of the lava lake, Alutar’s upper body protruded out of the lava. The Great Demon was looking to the group’s left, and the mages followed Alutar’s gaze. In the distance on the southern shore of the lake was a large bloodstained altar. A grotesque demon stood by the altar, staring at the Great Demon, as if in a trance. Behind him were scores of other demons, and many of the mages felt shudders of fear race up their spines.