The Book of Deacon: Book 02 - The Great Convergence (35 page)

"What are you thinking about?" Ivy asked,
breaking the trance-like wandering of Myranda's mind.

"I was wondering if this place had a name,"
she said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, it helps me to keep from thinking
about less pleasant things," Myranda answered.

"Well, you and I could talk. No one else
seems to like to talk," Ivy said.

"Yes . . . I would like that very much,"
Myranda said.

Thus engaged in the rare luxury of mutual
conversation, the journey seemed to pass more quickly. It was a
little difficult at first. Ivy didn't know enough about herself to
answer any questions Myranda asked, and Myranda had to take special
care not to upset her again. Instead, Ivy asked scores of questions
about Myranda and the others, and about the world in general. She
seemed to be only vaguely aware of some of the most significant
events of the past few decades. Hearing of the war bothered her,
but she seemed very interested in anything Myranda had to say about
Kenvard. Ivy was mid-sentence when a gust of wind from the south
caused her, as well as Lain and Myn, to lock their eyes on the
horizon.

"What is it?" Myranda asked.

"I smell something," Ivy said.

"Nearby," Lain added, almost silently.

Myn planted herself in front of Myranda,
claws dug deep into the frozen earth, teeth bared and wings spread.
Whatever was near was a significant threat. Ether sampled the air
with her human nose, and when it proved insufficient, plucked a
hair from Ivy's head. After a few moments, she stood as a perfect
duplicate of Ivy, complete with the sense of smell she desired.
Myranda looked desperately about. There was nothing to see. Then .
. .
he
appeared. Perhaps fifty paces ahead of them, near the
bank of the lake, the spell he had used to conceal himself slipped
away like a dropping curtain and there stood Arden, or more
accurately, Epidime.

"You disappoint me. I have been waiting. The
party has grown, I see," he said.

He held his weapon, identical to that held by
the wizards he had sent after them in recent days. Lain burst
forward, sword drawn, ready to make short work of this foe once and
for all. At the same instant there was a flicker in the gem of
Epidime's halberd. Lain stopped suddenly and retreated slightly.
Ivy gasped and hid behind Myranda. Myn dug her claws deeper, and
Ether abandoned the malthrope form for her fiery one.

"What is wrong?" Myranda asked.

"So m-many . . . too many," Ivy stuttered,
terror in her voice.

"Dragoyles. Dozens of them. I couldn't smell
them until now," Lain said.

A second flicker and the landscape darkened
with no less than fifty of the crude, horrid beasts. They stood as
if posed, perfectly at attention and perfectly still.

"Attack now and I shall have them kill you.
Try to run and I shall have them kill you. Behave and we shall have
a calm, intelligent discourse.
Then
I shall have them kill
you. I think that the choice is clear. Consider it for a moment.
Consider for a moment the possibilities and opportunities that
these precious few minutes will provide you. Perhaps you will work
out some miraculous battle plan that will afford you a victory.
Perhaps you will outwit me. It really doesn't concern me," he said
with an alarming level of calm.

Lain stood, sword readied. Ivy cowered.
Slowly her fear crept outward. Myranda could feel it tingling in
her spine. Her hands shook as she held her staff defensively. Eyes
turned nervously to Ether. She floated just over the ground. She
alone might begin this battle prematurely. Fortunately, she lowered
herself to the ground and shifted to stone. From her expression,
her decision was motivated by the sheer size of the task ahead.

"Well done. Now, I must congratulate you.
Bagu made a rather sudden and
very
angry appearance in the
capital. I have never seen him so badly injured, nor have I ever
seen him so furious. He immediately sent me out to find and destroy
the lot of you, with special emphasis on the shape shifter. That is
rather out of character, and quite at odds with the standard course
of action. Demont is the beast wrangler, he would be best left to
leading these creatures, and the precision strikes are usually led
by Trigorah. Worst of all, killing even one of you before all of
the others have revealed themselves is a terrible waste of time.
Frankly, I consider this an act of folly," he said.

"Use the bow. Aim for the mouth," Lain
instructed.

Myranda nodded, slowly sliding the weapon
from her shoulder. Epidime continued as though oblivious to the
action.

"Now, I am quite satisfied with my knowledge
of the shape shifter. I do not object to her demise. I would like a
look through Lain's head before he dies, and a second try at
Myranda would be satisfying, but my real fascination at the moment
is with that cowering bit of fluff behind her," he said.

Ivy shrieked and crouched down, hugging her
knees and rocking back and forth. The spike in fear sent a visible
shudder through her, and a similar one through Myranda and Myn. The
event did not go unnoticed by Epidime.

"We put a great deal of work into that little
project. I was beginning to wonder if any of it would bear fruit.
Forced empathy is intriguing. What else do you have to offer, I
wonder?" he asked.

The intimidating man took a step forward,
Myranda drew an arrow and made ready to let it fly. Lain shifted
his stance.

"Yes, I suppose the time for battle has . . .
" Epidime began.

Before he could finish, Ether had shifted to
her fiery form and burst toward him. He deflected the attack with
his halberd and willed the dragoyles into action. The earth shook
and the sky blackened as dozens of massive beasts leapt into the
air and thundered across the ground. Lain released a trio of
dagger-like weapons he'd pulled from his cloak. Two met their mark,
both beasts reeled back in pain. The less fortunate of the two let
out a pained roar as orange light flashed brilliantly from its
mouth. A moment later the unearthly orange glow emanating from the
hollows that served as the creature's eyes faded and the beast
literally crumbled to the ground. The second recovered and tried to
locate its target once more, but Lain swept in and drove his sword
nearly to the hilt into the creature's mouth. With equal speed he
withdrew the blade and evaded the spray of the horrid black acid
that came spewing forth from the beast as it flailed about before
crumbling way.

Myranda took aim and launched arrows as best
she could. It took all of her strength to fully draw back the bow,
her hands shaking from fear and effort. She made up for her poor
aim by guiding the arrows in flight. Despite the fact she did not
hold her staff, and her focus was severely impaired, she still
managed to knock a few from the sky. Myn heaved great bursts of
flame that did little more than draw the attentions of the beasts.
As they approached she took to the air, expertly avoiding their
leaping attacks and puffing away clouds of black breath with the
wind from her wings. She managed to distract a handful, but with so
many, it was clear that Myranda could not afford to stand her
ground for long.

"Ivy, I need you to try to make it to the
trees," Myranda said.

"N-no! I c-c-can't!" she stammered. She had
her eyes tightly shut and was fairly whimpering with every breath.
Around her, somehow, there was a faint blue glow.

Ether was mercilessly assaulting the halberd
wielding wizard. He wore the same unconcerned, superior look he
always did, not a bead of sweat betraying the unimaginable speed
and precision of his reactions. Ether's fiery glow faded ever so
slightly with every clash with the gem. Finally she managed to land
a single flaming swipe down the side of his face. Anger rather than
pain finally found its way into Epidime's expression. He shifted
and drove his halberd deep into her form. She cried out as the gem
began to ravenously tear at the very core of her strength. She
desperately tried to pull herself away, but the gem seemed to have
a grip on her.

Myn was causing chaos. The dragoyles,
mindlessly attempting to annihilate her, trampled, sprayed and
rammed each other. One or two had succumbed to accidental crashes
and lay in broken heaps on the ground. Her nimble maneuvers kept
her just beyond their reach, but as more and more of the beasts
joined in the task of removing her from battle, the escapes became
ever narrower. Lain had his hands full evading the attacks of those
beasts focused on him. The air was thick with the caustic breath,
and even one as skillful as he could not avoid a whiff of the evil
fumes occasionally, sizzling against his clothes and fur. Quickly
slipping through an opening, he charged toward Epidime and the
ailing Ether.

Epidime pulled his halberd free to block
Lain's blow, allowing the shape shifter to shift to air and launch
skyward. As she rose up, she began to stir the air around her,
drawing up the black mist, clearing the battlefield and
concentrating the vile stuff. As dozens of the dragoyles spiraled
after her, she rose higher and higher. Finally, she released the
accumulated ball of acid at the trail of beasts. They had been
immune until now, but even their tough and stony hide was not
enough to withstand so concentrated a dose. A half dozen of them
dropped to the ground, writhing briefly before collapsing outright.
Lain hoped that the beasts would stay at bay for fear of injuring
their master as they had in the past, but such was not the case,
and he found himself dodging powerful blows from behind and
lightning fast strikes from in front.

Suddenly Ether swept down, clutching the
shaft of the halberd and pulling steeply upward again. Rather than
release it, Epidime was lifted into the air. Ether launched
skyward, dragging the foe behind her. Despite the rapidly receding
ground behind him, Epidime seemed unconcerned. He willed the unholy
light into his gem and began to assault her with pulses of energy.
She continued to climb. A string of the beasts followed. Finally,
wave after wave of dark energy took its toll and Ether released the
weapon. Epidime plummeted only a short distance before one of the
creatures plucked him out of the air. He moved to the dragoyle's
back and turned to the ground. Ether soared upward, far enough out
of reach that their attentions were turned elsewhere. Her strength
was already beginning to fail, and if she hoped to see this battle
through to its end, she would need to choose her attacks
wisely.

More than half of the arrows in Myranda's
quiver were gone. Not nearly enough remained to fell the beasts
that were focused on her. Despite Myn's best efforts, at least five
had turned to her. Myranda searched her mind for something in her
mystic arsenal that might be of use. Her eyes turned to the lake.
She grabbed her staff, conjuring a blast of flame to melt away some
ice and drew out a long stream of water. Compared to her test in
Entwell, this was effortless. She shaped a dozen or so spikes and
froze them instantly. Maneuvering the ice was easier, and Myranda
was able to direct most of the impromptu projectiles to their
target. Unfortunately, the ice was not as effective as the arrows,
and only two of the beasts fell. The three that remained were
joined by four more and the creatures were moving in fast. She and
Ivy desperately needed cover.

"Ivy, quickly, we need to head for the
trees!" she said, taking the shivering creature by the arm.

"I can't. I can't," she whimpered.

Myranda knelt to attempt to hoist the
malthrope onto her back. Suddenly she felt a piercing, crushing
pain in her shoulder. She was torn from the ground. One of the
creatures had snatched her up in its jaws. Her shoulder was
shattered. She drew together her tortured mind and made ready to
unleash all that she had on the beast that carried her, but a voice
stopped her.

"If you even attempt to escape, this creature
will dissolve the flesh from your bones," said the voice.

On the back of the creature that held her was
Epidime. The pain was unimaginable, and grew with each jarring
thrust of the creature's wings. A long, fatal fall already stood
between Myranda and the ground. Tears streamed down her face and
she screamed out in pain. Suddenly there was a flash of heat. Myn
was rushing at Epidime, spewing flame. He leveled his weapon at the
dragon and released a powerful wave of darkness. Myn dodged with a
nimbleness that the dragoyles still on her tail lacked. The first
of the pursuers was destroyed by the blast. The next collided with
Epidime's mount. The collision jarred Myranda loose. Ether shifted
to flame again and took full advantage of the confusion caused by
the creature's collision, unleashing a flurry of attacks on
Epidime. Warding her off and remaining atop the creature proved
difficult. She scored slash after slash.

Myranda dropped like a stone. A moment later
small, deft claws gripped desperately under her arms. The little
dragon had caught her and was putting forth a heroic effort to
bring Myranda safely to the ground. Barely half of the woman's
size, Myn could only hope to slow the decent. Worse, doing so
robbed her of the agility that had kept her safe. The ground was
rapidly approaching and Myn was beginning to lose her grip.
Suddenly the noble creature's grasp was torn free. One of the
dragoyles had grabbed hold of her left wing and whipped her like a
rag doll. Myranda fell to a painful impact on the ground. The pain
in her shoulder didn't matter, the fact that the air had been
knocked from her didn't matter. As she struggled to pull her
unwilling body to its feet, her eyes locked on the little
creature.

Lain had managed to dispatch three more of
the beasts when he, too, saw the dragon. He had no more daggers to
throw, and the creature was well out of the reach of his sword.
Myranda reached for an arrow, but they had been thrown from the
quiver. Scrambling for the one that had fallen nearest to her, she
realized that the bow had been broken by the fall as well. Without
an open mouth to target, the arrow would do no good anyway. Hastily
she drew her limited knowledge of black magic to mind. She’d never
truly believed that she would have any use for it. The thought that
she would ever want to utterly destroy something was detestable,
but in this moment the only thing that mattered was freeing her
friend, and punishing the beast that had her. Raising her staff,
she cast a burst of raw, destructive magic. Myranda was staggered
by the effort of the unfamiliar technique. The crude, poorly formed
spell crackled viciously through the air, seemingly passing though
the dragoyle. As it did, the monstrosity convulsed wildly, and one
of the wings fell lifeless. Its jaws released a motionless Myn and
both creatures fell to the surface of the frozen lake. Myn bounced
horridly off of the surface before the dragoyle came crashing
through. The whole of the lake surface broke into shifting sheets
of ice, and Myn slipped through a crack into the frigid water.