The Chronicles of Lumineia: Book 02 - The Gathering (30 page)

The king
scratched his chin, his brow crinkled in thought. “Perhaps you are right. It’s
a big city, and even with the size of their army it will take time for them to raze
it.” His decision made, he stood. “It’s settled then. We will stop long enough
to resupply before moving on.”

Anders threw
Gaze a grateful look and watched his father disappear into the dark. Hungry,
Gaze reached into his pack for a piece of dried meat. Chewing, he savored the salty
flavor before washing it down with warm ale from his flask.

 “I didn’t
want to destroy my home," Anders murmured into the night, "but I
couldn’t convince him.”

Gaze swallowed
his food and shrugged. “I don’t think it will matter anyway.”

Anders
expression clouded in anger. “You had better not be losing faith!” he hissed.
“You may not know it but these men are counting on you, and if you lose hope
then they will.” He grunted. “The only reason any of us is alive is because of
your magic.”

Surprised by
the intensity in the prince’s words, Gaze held up a hand to placate him. “I
wasn’t doubting. I’m just worried, is all.”

“Me too, my
friend,” Anders sighed, “and sorry for that. I’m just grateful you are here.”

 “I’m glad I’m
here too,” Gaze said, and then flashed him a sly grin. “At least to hear you
admit you can’t do this without me.”

Just as Anders
opened his mouth to protest, a crash echoed from the burning forest a mile
away, sending a flurry of sparks skyward. The sound caused them both to jump to
their feet and scan the distance.

“A tree
falling down?” Gaze asked, and Anders shook his head as a gigantic shadow moved
in the fire.

“We aren’t
that lucky,” the prince said.

The king’s
voice cut across their camp. “Mount up, let’s get out of here before anything
makes it through.”

Gaze exchanged
a worried glance with the prince and turned towards his horse. Snagging his
pack on the way, he hurried to mount, wincing at the protest from his aching body.
Urging his horse forward, he moved to the other side of the camp to wait for
the rest of the men . . .

—Fiend howls
shattered the night, close and from the
west
? Confused, Gaze spun and brought
down a bolt of lightning. His heart stopped cold as the blast of energy
revealed a flood of black hounds streaking towards them, barring their path.
How
did they get past us?
he thought, his mind in shock.

“They flanked
us!” the king bellowed. “Gaze, give us more light and try to clear a path. The
rest of you line up behind me, we have to break through their line!”

His rising
fear caused his skin to prick and tingle, but Gaze gathered every shred of energy
he could find, desperately trying to get the sky ready to make a path in time.
The men massed around him, their horses nickering and prancing in terror, their
movements mirrored by their riders. Drawing a steadying breath, Gaze brought
down powerful bolts in two parallel lines through the blockade.

Howls of pain
along the thin corridor were drowned out by snarls of anger and the black flood
pressed to close the gap. Again Gaze arced lightning to the ground, clearing
the way. “We must go now!” he cried. “There isn’t enough energy to sustain this
for long!”

The king
raised an arm—but a hulking form rose up behind him. Lit by the flickering
firelight that reflected off his bone armor, the twelve foot behemoth charged like
a demon. Before anyone could react, the creature slashed a massive black sword through
both the king and his horse. To a man, the remaining soldiers roared in anger
and attacked, but the fiend waded through the assault as if they were summer
wheat, knocking their strikes aside and cutting them down.

Gaze fought to
collect more energy and attack, but if he pulled any more the path would close,
and they would be wiped out in seconds. “Anders!” he shouted, his voice full of
desperation, “I can’t strike him or I won’t be able to keep the way clear!”

His words
reached the furious prince as he launched his spear. Flying true, the sharp tip
buried deep between two pieces of chest armor and held fast. Bellowing in pain
the goliath tore the spear from his flesh and flung it back at Anders.

Straight to
its target, it pierced the prince’s horse and nicked Anders side as he threw
his body clear. Dazed, the prince sprawled to the ground and tried to get to
his feet—but the hulking fiend wasn’t finished. From fifty feet away the
creature began to charge. Picking up speed, he whipped his enormous sword high
and roared as he plowed through the desperate attempts to stop him.

Gaze saw what
was coming and didn’t hesitate. Reaching skyward he channeled everything into a
single, blinding strike. Bone snapped and flesh burned as the super
concentrated energy coursed through the fiend's body. Still alive, it tripped
and went down, but its momentum caused his huge form to tumble towards the
prince.

Without
thinking Gaze leapt from his horse and raced to his friend. With all his
strength he barreled into him just before the large form came to a stop—with
its six foot sword embedded into the ground where Anders had been kneeling. Still
moving, Gaze began a stream of small lightning bolts to surround their small
camp. Just as the shield closed, countless demon dogs smashed into it. Reaching
both hands outward he looped the electric energy back onto itself, creating a
charged ring of crisscrossing bolts. Although he’d only practiced the technique
once, with disastrous results, it somehow managed to hold—but he knew it
wouldn’t last long. It drained the source too fast and they only had minutes
before it would be gone, leaving Gaze without magic for several hours in this
location. Maintaining the field he stooped and helped the prince to his feet,
but Anders stopped him.

“No,” the
prince growled, blinking as he fought to focus, “there is something I need to
do.”

Gaze shook his
head, “We have no time!”

Without
responding the prince stumbled towards the hulk that had killed his father.
Smoke rose from its charred form and broken pieces of the bone armor protruded
in odd angles, but it was still attempting to rise. Stepping close, Anders drew
his sword and put a foot onto the snarling head, forcing it to the ground.

“We
will
defeat you,” he said, his voice shaking with determination. Then he plunged his
sword into a space in the armor. Quivering one last time, the huge fiend
relaxed and lay still. With a yank Anders tore his sword free and sheathed it,
calling out to the six surviving riders. “Gather any of the horses that are
left.”

The men raced
to collect the few that hadn’t been killed. In moments Anders stood in front of
the five mounts next to the six soldiers. He closed his eyes, and then looked
at the body of his father. Shaking his head, he said, “Two of you need to stay
with me. The rest of you will ride with Gaze and get to Herosian.”

Each of the surviving
men of the fifty-second cavalry exchanged looks, and then one of them shook his
head. “No, Prince Anders. Three of us will remain here so you may escape.”

Gaze fought to
keep the field of energy in place, but couldn’t help the tears that sprang to
his eyes.

Ignoring the
prince’s protest, the man that had spoken reached down and grabbed a bow from
the back of a dead steed. “I will do what I can to keep them off you as you
leave.”

All five men
nodded in agreement and reached for their weapons but the prince shook his head
in resignation. “Fine,” he said through the knot in his throat. “Which three
will ride with me?”

The remaining
five exchanged looks, but two of them, who looked remarkably alike, responded
first. “We will stay,” they said at the same time, and then one added, “We are
both good with a bow.”

The prince clasped
each of their arms. “Keep the way clear,” he exclaimed, “and know that every
son of Talinor will sing songs to your name.”

Gaze mounted,
still concentrating to maintain the thin fence of energy that kept the snarling
animals at bay. The others climbed onto the remaining mounts.

“I can only
hold for another few seconds,” Gaze said as he felt the energy begin to wane.

The prince
nodded and leapt into his saddle. “Let’s go,” he said, his voice dead and
toneless, kicking his horse towards the electric fence. Gaze followed, but
waited until the last moment before sending the entire force of the fence
blasting outward. In an explosion of thunder the trapped lightning detonated,
tossing the fiends like leaves.

In moments the
shield evaporated, plunging the plains into darkness. Blinded by the night, the
sounds of snarling and pounding paws cascaded towards them. Using the last of
the energy in the sky, Gaze struck a few bolts to help clear the way, and then
put his head against his horse’s neck . . . and prayed.

Driving
forward, the five riders raced to escape the path as it got smaller and
smaller. Within feet of freedom, Gaze watched as one of the faster dogs managed
to distance the pack and leap for his throat, its gaping maw reaching towards him.
Exhausted beyond measure, without ability to bring his magic to bear, he waited
for the end—but it didn’t come.

Out of
nowhere, an arrow grew out of the Sipers neck, and the animal tumbled to the
ground, lifeless. Two more arrows flew past him and brought down another pair
before they could kill the prince. Gaze looked back at the fire in the center
of the descending army and saw the smile and nod from one of the three soldiers.
Then the darkness swept across the camp and the fire went out. Without another
target, the entire pack turned towards them, howling as they gave chase.

For five miles
the dogs pursued them, their howls rending the night. Three times they drew
close, and each time one of the soldiers gave his life to slow them down. After
what seemed an eternity Gaze heard the sounds begin to fade. In a haze of fatigue,
he looked back and saw the huge pack had halted to wait for the rest of the
army.

Temporarily
safe, Gaze and Anders slowed their horses to a fast trot that would eat up the
miles. Immersed in his thoughts and emotions, Gaze couldn't find the words to
break the silence.

Chapter 24: Amazons and Barbarians

Braon wolfed
down his breakfast of bread and fruit so he could return to his mounting list
of duties. So much had happened since the Azüre people had arrived, some of it
good, some of it bad. Humans from the southern kingdom had been flooding in,
each group needing to be assigned a location. Tall dark-skinned islanders from
the Blue Lake had been filling the ranks and the long-bearded dwarves had
finished gathering their people at Azertorn.

Gnomes and orcs
from the northern plains had begun arriving just days ago, and their king,
Talfar, was now the general over The Gray, the furthest western division.
Although not strategic or experienced in war, Braon had given him the command
due to his obvious leadership skills. Any person that could keep order between
two volatile races would be looked to in battle, but Braon would have to pay
particular attention to that division through Talfar’s Link, Jason.

Despite the
growth in their ranks (Newhawk estimated their numbers at over seven hundred
thousand now) Braon still needed two generals for The Deep battalion and the Lake
Road. Aside from Azertorn’s gates, The Deep, with its low point on the cliff,
and The Lake Road, with its seven-mile rise to the shelf, were still the two
weakest points in their defenses. Without an extraordinary commander in both
locations, they were going to be in trouble. He’d even considered moving the
dwarf general Onix to the Lake Road, but his instincts told him the he should
wait to make that decision.

Downing the
last bite, Braon stood and hurried from the room with Thacker plodding silently
in his wake. The telepath had been invaluable in helping direct the
organization of their defenses. Although he hardly spoke, the fisherman had
become adept at passing on messages. Fading into the background, few paid him
any attention now, just as Braon had hoped.

As they
reached Braon’s office, now piled high with pieces of parchment demanding his
attention, Thacker cleared his throat. “Jair reports that barbarians and
amazons have arrived. He requests your presence due to the conflict they are
causing on the Lake Road.”

Braon nodded
and switched directions. “Have Newhawk meet me on the roof, and have Jair
explain further."

As he climbed the
stairs to the roof of the House of Runya, Braon considered the development.
He’d placed Jair, a human of massive strength that Graden had suggested could
be a temporary leader, to direct the Lake Road defenses. Over six and a half
feet tall, Jair towered over everyone around him, and although he wielded a
massive spiked maul, his heart held only gentleness.

With Seath as
his temporary Link, Jair had skillfully supervised the construction of the
special walls that Braon had commissioned. Braon had even considered placing
him into a permanent role as the commander of the Lake Road, but in his gut he
knew that the huge man didn’t have the ability to assume that command during
battle. He needed someone special for that post, someone warlike and
charismatic.

Arriving at the
roof he was surprised to see the great phoenix without Newhawk. Before he could
ask Thacker where the druid was, a voice spoke into his mind,
Newhawk said
there is something he needed to attend to and asked me to deliver you
.

Grateful again
for the mental link, Braon responded in kind,
Thank you again for your
willingness to serve, great phoenix
. Without hesitation, he mounted and
after a moment, Thacker joined him. In a small explosion of sparks, Reiquen
unfurled his wings and swept them into a powerful down stroke, launching them upward.
In seconds they were gliding eastward towards the Lake Road.