Lost Lands: The Game - Atlantis (24 page)

 
*   *   *   *   *

Even though the Peacekeepers still outnumbered the Outlanders, the invaders were now on the defensive and felt as if they were caught between Scylla and Charybdis or more commonly known as a rock and a hard place.

Grand Marshal Jericho sensed all this and knew that he was outmatched by the dark knight with the axe. Jericho still had the slimmest glimmer of hope that he could turn it around right up to the moment his sword broke. Falling onto his backside, the Grand Marshal raised his battered shield in a feeble defense and called, “Parley!”

 
*   *   *   *   *

All around the
battlefield, the Peacekeepers stopped fighting, dropped to one knee, lowered their weapons and looked to their leader. The Outlanders paused in their attack and followed their gaze.

Unseen by all, there was still a battle raging but it was inside of Cozad’s psyche. The Ed mindset was fighting a losing battle against the Chaos Spirit. The more Cozad had waded into battle, killing indiscriminately, the stronger the Chaos Spirit became. With each passing second, Ed felt the chains of hatred bind him deeper and deeper within his own self
. So much so, that he could no longer speak. However, a new voice had taken his place. A sweeter voice that continually whispered words of lust, malice and greed. Cozad looked down on the battered form before him. The enemy commander was bleeding from numerous wounds but instead of bearing them stoically like a true warrior, he was calling for a parley.

“Only a
coward would ask for mercy.”

Raising his axe high, Cozad brought
his weapon down with as much force as he could muster. The soulbound axe seemed to scream in delight as it cleaved through the Grand Marshal’s shield, armor and body.

Chapter 28

Grigoris shook his head in a mixture of disgust and despair as he watched the Dreadknight
split the Peacekeeper commander in two. Not for the fact that one of game’s constructs had died. Death was only the logical conclusion of life. Without the threat of death, one cannot truly know the value of life. That was a universal truth.

No, it was more than that. Cozad had killed an enemy that was beaten and had in effect surrendered. He did this willingly which showed that his brother’s influence had won out. He was now an instrument of the Chaos Spirit.

Grigoris turned his attention back to the other Outlanders. One of them must be the key. As always, he could do nothing but watch and pray.

Chapter 2
9

Tao couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. Yes, he’d seen and done some horrible things during his time in
Iraq but this was different. What Cozad had just done topped them all, including the stuff the damned CIA Spooks did to Iraqi insurgents. Tao ignored those around him as he rushed across the battlefield. When he saw the Dreadknight move toward the nearest Peacekeeper and raise his axe once more, he screamed, “No!”

However, it wasn’t his command that halted the Dreadknight nor the fact that he had a change of heart. It was the arrival of a new combatant on the field. A large dragon-like creature with rust colored scales, a long tail and the head
that was reminiscent of a rooster landed next to the corpse of Jericho. Sitting on its back was a man that had the look of a typical wizard; black robes, brass spectacles and pointed but floppy wide-brimmed hat. However, he seemed very spry and alert despite the long grey beard.

“By the Maker, that’s a cockatrice,” came a voice in Tao’s ear. The scarlet samurai glanced quickly to his left to find that Jerrick had joined him and Gamble
on the battlefield. The reformed raider kept speaking. “I didn’t think anyone, not even the Atlanteans could tame them, at least not enough to ride on.”

Tao nodded toward the wizard. “You know him?”

Jerrick shook his head. “Nope and I don’t think I want to.”

The
black-robed wizard stood tall in his saddle and looked over the battlefield. “And what do we have here?”

Tao assumed that was a rhetorical question and kept silent
. The wizard’s voice had a slight nasal quality to it but more than that his tone was full of confidence. Nonetheless, Tao started moving to one side toward the dreadknight and one that might give him a better angle on the cockatrice if it came down to a fight.

The wizard hopped off and gazed down at the
body of the grand marshal. “He was a good commander, once. Lately he’s been making too many mistakes.” He patted the huge Dreadknight on the shoulder like one would a pet. “You saved me the trouble of killing him. Thanks.”

Cozad planted the butt of his axe in the ground and looked down on the newcomer. “And just who do you think you are?”

The wizard cocked his head to one side and was about to speak when another voice echoed across the battlefield.

“Sartael!”

The wizard turned and smiled, although Tao noticed that it didn’t reach his eyes. “Ah, Kastle. How good of you to come. Did you finally get tired of preaching to the little people in Crooner’s Gap?”

Kastle moved forward slowly with his warhammer still in hand. “But…but you
are an Atlantean. Why would you be leading the Peacekeepers?”

The wizard waved off the
priest’s concerns with one hand while the other one caressed a strange looking device that was stuffed in his belt. “Oh Kastle, you are so naïve. I am no more an Atlantean than you are a Norseman.”

The priest
stopped moving and cocked his head to one side. “What? But you bear the mark and you said you were from Atlantis.”

“I lied. Actually, I’m from Seattle.”

“You’re an Outlander?”

Sartael glanced over at the Dreadknight. “Is he always this
dense?”

Cozad nodded. “Yes.”

Sartael shook his head. “I used you and your companions because you had something I needed.”

Kastle’s eyes flicked down to the wizard’s waist and recognition flooded his face. “You needed our weapons. But
…but why?”

“It’s simple. In this land there are only two types of people, those with power and those too weak to seize it for themselves. The rest of you are in the latter category. I knew this from the moment I met you. I thought about asking you to join me but all you and your companions wanted to do was complete some lame quest and return home.” Sartael’s eyes flashed with excitement as he spoke. “This is truly the land of opportunity. If we want something, we take it. No rules, no cops, no jails. We can be gods here.”

“But that is
so wrong. Might does not make you right.”

Sartael shook his head and sighed. “I had hoped that a few years living with the little people would’ve changed your mind but I see you are beyond hope.”

Cozad moved up to his side. “I bet you have a plan.”

Sartael smiled again but this time it was more like
the one a cat gives the mouse that it was about to eat. “Yes, yes I do. Kill them and bring me their weapons.”

Cozad lifted his axe. “Why?”

Sartael pulled out a strange device and held it aloft. It looked like some kind of staff with a crossbar about a foot from the top where one half of a black globe on top of it. As the black robed wizard lifted it higher, Tao could tell that the cross-bar was actually two wands.

“
This is only one-half of the Dragon Orb. I’ve been experimenting with it for the last few years and I’ve discovered that the weapons Al Shaytan gave us when we crossed over have enough energy to power this device.” Sartael waved it around proudly. “I can already control the lesser dragon-kind. Hopefully with the addition of their weapons, I can control the dragons. Let me demonstrate.”

Sartael lifted the device high overhead and it began to glow with a
black light. Every wyvern screamed as if in pain. Those that were still flying immediately turned on their riders, while those on the ground attacked whoever was closest, friend or foe.

It was
pure anarchy.

The worst part to Tao was hearing Cozad’s laughter. Taking two steps forward,
the samurai pointed his frost covered katana at the wizard. “Stop it.”

Sartael lowered his
caduceus and raised one eyebrow. “Hmmm…a samurai. You must be an Outlander, Al Shaytan told me he was sending me some new recruits.”

Cozad hefted up his axe. “H
is name is Taote Ching and he is quite formidable.”

Sartael began to pace as he looked the samurai up and down. “Can you take him?”

“Yes,” Cozad answered quickly. Almost too quickly.

“You know
, I believe you. But then, if he’s as dangerous as you say, you may get injured and that will delay my plans. So…” The black robed wizard grinned like the Cheshire Cat when he waved his caduceus.

T
wo terrible things happened. A horde of goblins rushed out of the nearby forest to attack anything that moved. But worse than that, the cockatrice attacked. The rooster-headed serpent must’ve realized that the samurai was the greatest threat because that was its first target. Tao would’ve died in the initial attack if it hadn’t been for Jerrick.

A cockatrice was not only a fierce fighter able to rend flesh with its
mighty beak and sword-length claws, it possessed a most terrifying breath weapon…petrification.

As the beast exhaled its deadly cloud of poison, Jerrick dove forward and knocked his
new commander out of the way. Unfortunately, that also meant he took the full brunt of the toxin. One moment Jerrick was full of life…a living, breathing person. The next, he was a statue of solid rock.

Not wanting to waste his friend’s sacrifice,
Tao became a blur of motion as the cockatrice leapt forward and shattered the newly formed statue. Tao rolled and slashed, dove and stabbed but he could’ve been pissing on a forest fire for all the good it was doing. His blades cut into the serpent’s hide but not deep enough to do any major damage. Tao’s only advantage was the fact that he was extremely agile and by staying underneath or near its legs, the cockatrice couldn’t bring his breath weapon to bear on him. Or at least that was the plan and it was working, right up to the moment that the ground exploded underneath him.

Tao felt himself flying through the air. It was a strange sensation. The world seemed to slow down and a loud ringing filled his ears that drowned out all other sounds but he was aware of everything else.

The goblins had broken through the perimeter and were threatening to overwhelm the humans. Kastle and Gamble were battling Cozad. Mathias, Arieal, Aaliyah and Pixi were all fighting the berserk wyverns and through all of this confusion, the power-hungry wizard was calmly walking his way. Tao even noticed that Sartael had an evil grin plastered on his face with his pet serpent at his side. Tao felt all the air leave his body when he slammed against the stable wall and the world went fuzzy. He knew at that moment that he was at the mercy of his enemies and there was nothing he could do about it.

He had failed.

*   *   *   *   *

Arieal couldn’t believe her eyes. The wyverns that she had come to think of just as big, ugly, winged horses had turned on them. Luckily for Mathias, he and a few of the archers had dismounted only moments before. The rest of the reformed bandits were already lunch for the wyverns. But then, the beasts were only following the commands of the black robed wizard.

Even from this distance, the dark elf could feel the power which radiated from him
, or more importantly from the strange device he was wielding. It was intoxicating. It called to the necromancer part of her soul. It promised pain and suffering to all living things and the power to have the dead permanently walk the land.

She,
Aaliyah and Pixi had taken position off to one side of the battle. From here, the three mages had been able to aid each other while directing their spells and servants all across the battlefield. However with the attacking horde of goblins on one side and the wyverns on a rampage on the other, it was only a matter of time before one faction or the other reached them. Arieal had been secretly hoping for the goblins. But no, the huge beast Tao had ridden into battle turned towards them and with a couple flaps of its mighty wings it was on them. Thankfully one of Aaliyah’s stone constructs was standing in front of them acting as a guardian and intercepted it.

Arieal was about to cast a spell against the beast when she spied Tao flying through the air towards the sole remaining building. To complicate matters, a band of ten hobgoblins broke through the line of defenders and were heading
toward the archers. Mathias had his back to the onrushing enemies and didn’t realize the danger he was in. Arieal knew at that moment that she would have to make a choice, aid the samurai or the archer. She didn’t have time to do both. Biting her lip as she made her choice, cast her spell and hoped for the best.

 
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Callistra and Tariq watched the raging battle from the vantage point of the hay loft.

The assassin’s first instinct had been to rush out and help his former companions. Actually that wasn’t true. His first instinct was to slip in the shadows and out the back. With his skills, he could make a decent living anywhere in this world but he had made his choice several days ago by choosing to aid Calli and he still felt he owed some penance. Therefore, he would stand by her side. What he was most shocked about was that it was the vampyress’ idea to quietly wait. He thought she would leap out of the loft when the rooster-headed dragon creature attacked her husband but other than chew on her fingernails and a few whimpers, she remained silent.

Finally, Tariq nudge
d her. “What are we waiting for?”

“Our one chance,” she replied without looking away from the expanding battle. “
I was captured by Jericho because I acted rash. I didn’t think. I reacted out of emotion, not logic. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” She pointed at the wizard. “That’s Sartael. He is a very powerful wizard. He aided my original party when Al Shaytan brought us across. But he killed my friends and would’ve killed us if we hadn’t escaped.”

“Why? Why would he do that?”

“Because he wants power, absolute power and domination over all living things in this realm.”

Tariq cocked his head to the side. “How do you know all this?”

Callistra pointed at Sartael’s jerry-rigged wand device. “Because he has my wand.”

Tariq squinted at the device, not that he could make much out of it from this distance.
“Are you sure?”

“
It still calls to me although not as strongly as before. It is slowly becoming his. I can tell you this, he’s using it to power that black orb on top of his staff and that’s what giving him dominion over the dragon-kin. We need to separate it from him if we are to have any sort of chance.”

Tariq looked incredulously at the witch. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, but Sartael isn’t your concern. He’s mine.”

“And what did you have in mind for me?”

Even as she pointed toward the rooster-headed cockatrice, she flinched as Sartael’s bolt knocked her husband for a loop. “You must take out its eyes. That is our only hope.”

Tariq swallowed hard. “Surely you can’t be serious.”

Callistra flashed him a crooked grin. “I am serious…and don’t call me Shirley.”

Before
the assassin could say anything else, the witch drew her two daggers and jumped out the window.

*   *   *   *   *

Sartael was pleased with himself as he gazed around the battlefield. His day had started bad when he’d received reports that the witch had escaped but now he saw that as a blessing. If she hadn’t run, then the other Outlanders wouldn’t have arrived on site to rescue her.