Mighty Hammer Down (53 page)

"They are hidden over there in the
center of the field. We had them dig trenches so that they could
lie down and not be seen among the troops. They will rise up as
soon as we sound the horns."

"Do it," Zidaoz said as he tugged at
his beard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uritus turned to the sound of horns
echoing across the field. He had been walking calmly past the men
fighting for their lives, killing any who came too close. But the
horns caught his attention. He turned around to see a haunting
image that took his breath away. Rising above the Bhoor army were
great beasts that stood as tall as buildings. They were gray, with
bright white eyes that seemed to lack a soul. Even from a great
distance he could sense their menacing nature. These things had no
capacity for love or mercy; they were nothing but killing machines.
He briefly wondered how such animals found mates.

One of the things arched its back and
looked to the skies. It let out a terrible howl that caused the
battle to almost cease as everyone turned in confusion. The howl
was followed by a series of loud clicks that the other things
repeated when they heard it. All of them began moving in unison,
swatting Bhoor soldiers out of their way as they marched toward the
front line.

He wondered for a moment if the Zidaoz
had lied about the Dirujen not being a beast. The gigantic monsters
wading through the Bhoors were certainly close to what he imagined
the Dirujen would be, although for some reason he had pictured them
to be red and with wings. Whatever the truth of the matter, the
Zidaoz had discovered something beyond the southern wall, and
apparently he was in control of them.

A man swung his sword at him but
missed. He stretched out a hand and sucked the life from the man,
sending his soul to Morendiir in a bright flash of light. He was
quite pleased to see that the man was Medoran. He had finally made
it far enough into the battle to see Medoran soldiers, and it was a
pleasant change of scenery. It was becoming quite boring killing
only Bhoors, and he was glad for the change.

He was trying to keep a low profile
and not draw unnecessary attention to himself. It was hard enough
to do so on the streets of Burnhamheade, but right in the middle of
a violent battle it was much more difficult. There was no shadow
where he could hide, and all eyes were drawn to him in his
conspicuous black robes. This was the best plan though, since he
was sure that Tannis Tirinius was somewhere on the field. Perhaps
Rommus could escape him for now, but Tannis was a dead man. He
picked up the sword the Medoran had dropped so that he could
continue his killing more discreetly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are those things?" Alana said in
shock.

Vohl answered as he leapt from his
horse. "Those are Thrahks. They are incredibly dangerous. Do not go
near them. I will try to get one’s attention and control
it."

He wasted no time when he reached the
battle. He dove into the chaos and slipped in among the enemy,
disappearing between them like shadows at dawn. Even when Rommus
lost sight of him he could see the Bhoors dropping dead all around
him. He was swift and efficient, wasting no motion as he slowly
made his way toward the oncoming beasts.

Rommus dismounted and handed the
reigns to a stunned Medoran soldier, ignoring him when he asked if
he was really Arius. "Alana, stay close to me. That chain mail is
not going to do you much good in here. I want you where I can see
you."

"I am no amateur Rommus. I can handle
myself."

"This is no street fight; this is war.
It’s too dangerous for you to be on your own, and we don’t have
time to argue about it now."

She swung her sword at a Bhoor running
at her, splitting his stomach open in a gruesome spray of blood and
gore. "What’s the plan Rommus? What do we do?"

He blocked an attack and crushed a
man’s skull with the pommel of his sword, sending the man into
convulsions. "The men need to see me. I need to get over there
where the ground is a little higher. Then I need to find a way to
draw attention to myself."

She kicked a man in the groin and
hacked at his neck as he hunched over. "Well get going. We can’t
just stand here."

All the men around them seemed to be
in shock. They were confused at the sight of the god of war
fighting alongside them, and talking to a female Vindyri warrior as
he did so. A few of them were so caught off guard that they fell
under the swords of the enemy. Rommus thought that perhaps wearing
the armor into the battle was not a good idea after all. It was too
late however, and he needed to get to higher ground so that the
Medorans could see him and see that the god of war was fighting
with them. If he could only inspire them, perhaps they could defeat
the enemy.

"Where are the Vindyri soldiers?" she
yelled over the roar of battle.

"I thought I saw some black armor over
there, but I can’t be sure. Everything is just a blurry
mess."

He slashed his way through the
never-ending wall of Bhoors lapping at the front line like
relentless ocean waves. Their leather armor did little to protect
them, so when he confronted any, they were not hard to kill. He had
lost count of how many he had slain, and he had only been fighting
for a few moments. The dead were strewn all about, leaking wet,
slippery blood onto the battlefield, making it hard to walk. He
almost fell many times, catching himself ungracefully before he hit
the ground. There were a few times he felt a sword glance off his
armor, but luckily no blade caught his flesh. He pressed onward,
making his way toward a small hill where he could be seen more
easily.

"Watch your step Alana, and keep an
eye out for those Thrahk things," he said as he turned to her.
Panic shook his soul when he saw that she was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While the strange and incredible
sights of the battle were hard to ignore, something else had caught
his attention. Even with the bright, deadly flames and the giant
things walking calmly toward him, his vision was pulled to a woman;
a blonde woman. His eyes were not as good as they were when he was
younger, but Tannis could see well enough. This was the woman who
had stabbed him back in Brinn. He could not understand why this
woman was fighting alongside the Medorans, but it didn’t matter. He
cracked his neck and brought Rhodiir to a run.

Everything moved in slow motion. No
sound reached his ears as he focused on his target. She was busy
defending herself and totally unaware of him as he sped towards her
with his sword drawn. There was no way that he could miss her. His
sword was raised high above him, his muscles already burning with
the strain of the mighty swing. The whole scene moved painfully
slow, looking more like a still painting than a battle. He could
count the thundering hoof beats booming in rhythm with his own
heart. His sword whistled through the air, and she was still
totally oblivious. In another instant her body would fall to the
ground, followed by her head.

Chapter 36

He felt a sudden, numbing pain in his
right hand. He couldn’t understand how the girl wasn’t dead. As he
rode past her he saw her swinging her sword at the Bhoors
surrounding her, apparently unaffected by his attack. In his
confusion, he looked down at his hand where his sword should have
been, only to find it missing. He turned his horse around,
perplexed but still in a white-hot rage.

He jumped from his horse when he saw
his sword on the ground. Someone must have hit it with their sword
as he rode past and knocked it from his hand. It was the only
explanation that made sense. As he bent to pick up the blade, a
heavy boot came down on it.

"She’s with us, leave her
be."

He slowly looked up at the man who was
standing on his sword, ready to tear his arms and legs from his
body as soon as he stood up. When he saw who it was, his rage was
totally extinguished and he felt as if he was going to
faint.

"Arius? It cannot be," he
stammered.

Arius did not answer but turned to the
girl and helped her to kill the rest of her attackers. Tannis stood
in awe as he watched the god of war slice through his enemies. He
was filled with a dizzying mix of pride and confusion, and he found
it hard to stand. When the girl’s eyes finally met his, she went
pale, looking as if she might faint herself. He could not see the
eyes of Arius, for a strange darkness inside his helmet kept his
face hidden even in the bright sunlight.

"This woman fights for the same cause
we do. Why would you try to kill her?"

"She tried to kill me in the city of
Brinn. She is an assassin."

"You’re mistaken. She was wrongly
accused."

"No Arius, I am certain."

The girl began to cry. "Rommus, he is
right. It was me. I have felt so terrible, but I just couldn’t tell
you."

Tannis glared at the girl. "Rommus?
How do you know the name of my son? What is going on
here?"

"I think we all have some explaining
to do," Arius said as he removed his helmet.

"Rommus! How dare you wear armor like
that and pretend you are a god? And what are you doing with this
woman?"

The girl spoke before he could answer.
"Please forgive me General Tirinius. I was wrong to do what I did.
I am Alana Irith; you killed my father and my brothers Angelo,
Edgar and Logan. I was seeking revenge, but I regret it
now."

"I have killed many men in my life,
but only men who sought to do me harm," he said as he looked at the
two of them. He could see his own fury mirrored in the eyes of his
son.

"How could you lie to me all this
time? How could you do this after all we have been through?" Rommus
said, barely containing his anger.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I did
it before we went through anything Rommus. It was a mistake and I’m
sorry."

Rommus put the helmet back on. "I
don’t think your apology is enough."

Tannis wasted no more time. He bent
down to pick up his sword, fully intending to slice open the girl’s
belly. But then he heard a scream behind him. The girl had spun in
a flash and cut a man nearly in half; a man who would have killed
him if she didn’t kill him first.

She wiped the tears from her face as
the man thrashed on the ground. "When this battle is over, we can
argue over if that makes up for trying to kill you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a terrible sound that
pierced the air and brought pain to his ears. Zidaoz could see men
dropping their weapons to cover their ears, and he found that he
had covered his own, twisting his face in hatred for the sound.
Lohken stood silently next to him. He didn’t seem affected by it at
all.

"What is that?"

Lohken smiled, creasing his chiseled
features. "It is the Thrahks. They have come to the place safe
enough to use their power. See over there? All those Medorans have
just been killed."

"I see nothing. The beasts are in my
way."

"Look beyond them; over there to the
right. Can you not see the scorched earth?"

"Ah yes. I see it now. What
happened?"

"If you wait a moment you will see it
for yourself. The females will mimic the male."

Sure enough, another shrill sound cut
through the roars of battle. He saw a bright blue light in front of
one of the Thrahks as it walked towards the Medorans. The beam of
light came from its chest and absolutely annihilated everything in
its path. The beast seemed thrilled with the outcome, and clicked
its claws together rapidly in excitement. Other Thrahks answered
with clicks of their own.

Lohken laughed. "Look at how the
Medorans run. They are losing their nerve because of these
beasts."

"What did it do? How did it do that?"
Zidaoz asked. "I could not see very well."

"Believe me Zidaoz, it is much better
to see it from this angle than from the front of the beast. Its
chest opens, exposing a sort of magical core inside the thing, and
an instant later a beam of energy is created. Nothing can survive
that attack."

"Yes I can see the devastation. Does
it tire? When I use magic like that it drains me and I need to
rest."

"It will eventually run out of energy,
but it has vast reserves. The seven of them could probably destroy
the entire Medoran army before they needed rest."

"Excellent," Zidaoz said with a smile.
Then something caught his attention. "Lohken, do you see that man
down there in that open area? Is that a man wearing black
robes?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Medoran soldiers almost seemed to
clear a path for him as he made his way through the battle. He
shook his head to himself as he thought of the fools. They were
afraid of him because he was a Mage, and instead of trying to kill
him, they just let him pass. It was certainly easier than hacking
his way through the Bhoors though. The Bhoors didn’t care who they
killed; all people who did not worship their god were their
enemy.