Destiny (18 page)

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Location Irlendria / Lúthien Narmolanya:

Lúthien’s head jerked up as she heard Imperium war horns echoing throughout the forest. A second later she swore under her breath as explosions rang out ahead of them. “What in Tapio’s name was happening now?”

Worriedly she glanced at Enelya struggling under Argus’ weight. Her cousin’s face was ghostly white from pain as she gulped air in wheezing gasps. Glassy-eyed, she returned Lúthien’s anxious look croaking hoarsely. “Smoke!”

Lúthien tried to stop as Enelya began hacking uncontrollably, but her cousin stubbornly drove them forward with a sharp shake of her head as blood ran down her chin. Frustrated, she followed Enelya’s unspoken command taking up the lead once again as Argus’ head lolled back and forth on his shoulders. He’d collapsed unconscious after helping them escape from Daeron Fortress. Lúthien didn’t know if the Wenci still lived or not, but if Warden Morwen’s understanding of the Sál Tengilinn bond was correct, Enelya’s life was connected to the animal’s. The Wenci must still live.

Lúthien understood the need to reach the city of Bel Arbre Ciel before the Ironidium Knights, but not if it killed them in the process. Slowing down, she looked at Enelya anxiously. “We have to stop. You have to rest before you kill yourself!”

This time, Enelya glared at her. Struggling to speak, she spat blood from her mouth. “Listen.”

“I’ve had just about enough of this; you’ve got to …” Lúthien’s voice died away at the sounds of clashing weapons and the screams of combat. Turning around, she froze as the distinctive stench of smoke came to her on the wind, before rushing forward again wide-eyed with Enelya in tow.

As they neared the Forests Elves’ capital, the visibility dropped to almost nothing. Coughing from smoke inhalation, Lúthien pushed on until she broke free of the heavy foliage. Stopping in horror, she saw the entire grove of Bel Arbre Ciel was aflame. Already the flames had reach the enormous boughs of the Mother Tree high overhead making it look as if the heavens were on fire. This close to the grove the sound of the roaring blaze was deafening.

Staggering half-blind through the smoke, Lúthien made her way towards the grove as the shrill screams of the dying filled the air as shadowy figures fought around her. Bolts of pure energy streaked through the haze as the Forest Clan’s runic bows lashed out at their attackers leaving pulsing trails of light through the heavy smoke. Burning bodies rained around her as the Elves trapped high overhead chose to plummet to their deaths rather than be burned alive, while the deep thrumming call of war drums thundered around her as the defenders of Bel Arbre Ciel warned the neighboring communities of the Imperium’s horrific attack. Making her way towards the struggling lines of warriors, Lúthien stopped as a large burning branch slammed to the ground blocking their path. Through the burning flames she saw Prince Galdor go down under a rush of armored Minotaurs.

“Nnnooo!” Screaming in denial, Lúthien backed away from the searing heat as more fiery branches crashed to the ground in front of her.

Galdor was a long time childhood friend. Although he’d always wanted to be more to her, Lúthien had always begged off his advances saying she needed to focus on her studies, but, in truth, she’d always been more interested in his younger brother. Still, she cared for him greatly. As Lúthien saw a humongous Minotaur with large curved horns lift its battle-axe over Galdor’s bloody head, she raised her hand shrieking out a word of command.

“Eldur Ray!” A searing ray of light shot from Lúthien’s palm as tears ran down her cheeks. Instantly the spell blasted the Minotaur full in the face with its scorching magic fire as the bull’s massive head jerked up from the unexpected assault. Staggering backward, the Minotaur bellowed in rage as its beady red eyes focused on her from across the burning blockade. For a second, the bull’s face melted away until she was staring at the corpse-white features of a Tuonellian Hulk before its hate-filled face reformed into that of a Minotaur once again.

“Save the Prince!” The call rang out across the grove as Lúthien saw King Elladan lead a small force of Elves into the teeth of the attackers. For a second, the Minotaur line was pushed back as the smaller forms of the Elves threw themselves sword first into the advancing ranks. Swarming over the lead Minotaurs in an enraged frenzy their runic blades pierced in-between the gaps of the legionnaires’ armor as they bore the line to the ground.

“Get him to the safety of Ciel Lieu!” Leaping to his feet Kind Elladan held back the Imperium’s advance with his house guard as more Elves carried Prince Galdor away to safety. Around him, flashing streaks of rune arrows blasted into the Minotaur ranks from overhead with devastating results.

Lúthien was still urgently dragging Enelya and Argus with her as she searched for a way around the fire to King Elladan when a loud crack reverberated through the air. Her head whipped around just in time to see the Mother Tree’s central trunk crumple in on top of itself near the base. In horror, Lúthien watched Elves catapult into the ground as the disintegrating Mother Tree jerked to a sudden stop. Her breath caught in her lungs as the central trunk tilted at a precarious angle as the Daughter Trees of the Grove held the weight of their dying Mother.

For a second the Imperium line of legionnaires wavered as they looked up at the impending fiery doom above their heads. Shrieks of terror rang out from Elves still trapped high up in the burning branches as the entire grove was engulfed in magical fire when suddenly the deafening sound of snapping timber drowned out all sound. As one side of the grove collapsed under the weight of the Mother Tree’s enormous trunk, Lúthien dove to the ground in terror as flaming chunks of wood blasted through the air as the Daughter Trees suddenly exploded.

Lifting her head, Lúthien gaped at the firestorm raging where Bel Arbre Ciel had stood just a moment before. Gritting her teeth she rose to her feet weakly helping Enelya clear Argus of burning splinters, when a strangled cry came from nearby. Looking over her shoulder, Lúthien froze as the Tuonellian Hulk rose to its feet with King Elladan gripped in its clawed fist. She couldn’t hear what was being said over the sounds of the roaring flames, but before Lúthien could think of what to do, the Hulk ripped the Kings face off with one bite of its misshapen maw.

Lúthien screamed in terror as the creature threw its head back howling in triumph. She immediately stopped as the monster’s beady red eyes focused on her from across the flames and burning debris. As the Hulk blinked its eyes in sudden recognition, she saw a look of pure hunger cross the monster’s grotesque face. With a savage growl, the Hulk threw King Elladan’s broken body away striding directly for her. Ignoring the roaring fire the monster effortlessly began tossing aside the burning branches blocking its path with its clawed fists as the Hulk made its way towards her.

Staggering backward in fright, Lúthien felt herself roughly propelled away from the grove as a callused clawed hand suddenly gripped her upper arm. Whipping around in fright, Lúthien immediately settled down as she saw Argus’ furry face looking back at her. His whiskers fearfully twitched as he stared wide-eyed at the burning forest fire raging around them with instinctual terror, but somehow he managed to keep his fear in check. Hunched over in agony, Argus guided her away from the grove pulling Enelya close behind him.

“Where are we going?” Lúthien lungs burned from the heat and smoke as she hacked uncontrollably, but Argus simply ignored her question pushing her forward. “Dammit Argus, where are you taking us?” Tears streamed down her face from the thick haze as she caught Enelya’s hoarse answer.

“We head for the Otso River.”

Lúthien’s thought’s raced; that was nowhere near one of the Forest Clan’s cities when she suddenly realized what Enelya meant to do. “Morwen told us to go to the Forest Clan. What can the Wild Clan do to save us?”

Enelya’s face hardened as she met Lúthien’s imperious gaze. “More than King Elladan can do to help us now.” They all looked back at the sudden loud crash behind them as the Tuonellian Hulk smashed through the last burning barrier between them and the grove. With a look of terror, Enelya shoved them all forward yelling.

“Now run for your lives!” With a strangled cry of pain, Argus suddenly scooped them both up in his arms leaping for the river.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Location Irlendria / Startüm Ironwolf:

Water pounded my head and shoulders like giant sledgehammers as we plunged deep into the turbulent river at the bottom of the waterfall. Immediately the whirling undercurrent seized us in its powerful grip driving us through an underwater forest of boulders hidden in its depths. Clutching the girls protectively to my chest, I felt my battered body repeatedly pummeled by the swirling vortex as I fought to free us from its sucking grasp.

My lungs felt like they were going to burst by the time I finally broke the surface. Gasping for air the deafening sound of the pounding waterfall roared in my ears as the rushing river swept us down stream. Consciousness came in flashing waves of lucidity as I strove to reach the bank speeding past. I couldn’t have said how much time passed before I became aware of my steel-toe boots dragging in the soft sand of a sandbar. My head reeled, but somehow I managed to crawl on my knees out of the waist deep water as my vision faded in and out, before collapsing once again on the cool, wet sand. Laying there burning with fever, I heard the girls’ weak fluttering heartbeats in my ears. They were dying.

The modicum of energy that I regenerated naturally was being fully consumed to keep my own body functioning, but even if I could have saved up enough energy to heal them, it wouldn’t have been enough to stop the effects of the Fring consuming them from the inside out. The only thing that could help them now was food. Without it, they were going to die, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I felt the useless rage of my Werewolf half welling up inside of me as my life slowly drain away. Out of everything we'd survived, our fight couldn't end here. There had to be something I was missing.

Gathering my thoughts, I prayed to Ukko for guidance. As the holy presence of my God filled me, my eyes suddenly focused on the pulse beating in my wrist when the idea hit. With a wordless grunt, I push myself upright using my forehead until I was sitting back on my knees. Unsheathing the dagger at my waist, I pulled back a leather armor gauntlet before cleanly slitting my wrist. As the blood welled up from my vein, I gathered Starfire into my arms pressing her lips against the wound.

At first, Starfire didn't respond, but as the blood began running down her chin, I felt her body suddenly stiffen. Our Werewolf's predatory nature makes us survivors. Even at this young of an age, our bodies are instinctively drawn to the scent of fresh blood. Within seconds Starfire unconsciously began drinking my life's essence. Closing my eyes, I sighed in relief as my thoughts began to wander once more as I gave thanks to Ukko.

Faith is a strange concept. During my time on Earth, the Humans I’d encountered during my travels always spoke of faith in their gods, but as I came to learn more about the various religious beliefs of their world. I realized that for most humans, the definition of this concept was very different than the actual dictionary meaning of the word. Most of the religious groups I met espoused a doctrine called monotheism. I’d initially believed that meant their religion had only one deity that they worshiped, but that was not the case. The precepts for these religious followers meant that there existed no other gods except for their own, which they called the one and only true God. This ideaology would have made more sense to me if there were only one belief worldwide, but that was not the case. Numerous religious groups typically surrounded these religions with their own different god that also denied the existence of any other religion’s god. It was as if in denying the truth before their very eyes, these followers could make these other religions cease to exist.

I guess it did make sense on one level. Faith was used by many of these religions as a weapon to deny the existence of anything contrary to their religious beliefs. By converting or killing the followers of another religion, you, in essence, made their God cease to exist. It was the same general tactic that Loviatar was using against Ukko.

Still, even after all the time I spent living on Earth among them, I still found Humanity’s precepts of faith difficult to comprehend. No matter what you believed in, the truth was the truth. Denying what was before your eyes made absolutely no sense to me. What someone believes or doesn't believe in shouldn’t change what you believe is right and wrong. The only time a person’s differing religious ideas become an issue is when there is a question in your own heart as to what you believe is the truth.

Maybe I found the acceptance of such reasoning so difficult to comprehend because of my relationship with Ukko. My status as his Paladin afforded me a unique perspective on the metaphysical realm that most people searching for the truth never experienced. Whenever I gave my classes on Self-Defense and Healing, I also taught the precepts of Ukko. Instead of lying to people that their suffering was a part of some greater good, I told them the simple truth. The universe was not a perfect place, and bad things happened to good people all the time. Tragedy and evil were a part of everyday life, but it was up to us as individuals to take the responsibility of creating the world we wanted to live in.

Nothing in life was a guarantee. Ukko didn’t have all of the answers, nor was he all-powerful. What he did offer was help in facing the everyday challenges of life and the strength to make the world a better place. Surprisingly enough, the Humans I'd met on Earth had flocked to my teachings of Ukko. Before I knew it, my precepts had become a movement that had begun a ripple across the world.

My thoughts were interrupted as a feeling of lightheadedness washed through my body. Thankfully, I caught myself before keeling over in exhaustion. It took me several tries, but finally, I was able to focus my mind enough to send my senses flowing into Starfire.

Immediately, I could tell that my blood had made a difference. Already Starfire’s fever was receding, and the effects of the Fring had lessened dramatically, but still her body was struggling to fight off the ravaging effects of the demon’s venom. Taking a shuddering breath, I realized for now that would have to do. Pulling my wrist from her mouth, I laid Starfire aside before scooping up her sister into my arms.

Unconsciously, Frostbrand’s fangs immediately sank into my wrist at the scent of blood as my eyes rolled back in my head. I tried to fight my body as it began shutting down, but I’d pushed myself too far. There was nothing left to give. I felt my body pitch forward as everything went black.