The Last Canticle: Summoner's Dirge (38 page)

“Shit,” Zephyr cursed. “Brace yourselves.”

Damir drew an arrow from his quiver. Balin watched with a hand braced on the hilt of his sword as the ship lowered to the ground several yards out and landed. It opened its hatch, and from the bridge, General Gaius rode out on Severius, an army of Pheorian soldiers behind him. Beside him, on a white stallion that complimented Severius, a woman rode. Her white hair fluttered in the chilly breeze, the strands twisted back from her temples in a complicated braid. She was dressed warmly in furs, but Balin could see that little was beneath the thick black coat.

She was stunning. Balin could think of no other word. She was the kind of woman who could stop a man in his tracks. Full lips were set into an expressionless line. Her frosty eyes stared straight ahead. From beneath the fur coat, a blue line peeked out, brilliant against her alabaster skin, and wrapped around her neck and wrist.

“Persondra is with them,” Israel said. The air instantly shifted as the Anima Stella joined General Gaius. A charge ran through them all as sharp as a bolt of lightning.

Blood would not be the only thing that was shed.

Damir lifted Drachenseele and lined up a shot. General Gaius pulled on Severius’s reins and stopped five yards out. He sat regally upon the horse, his cape whipping behind him like wings.

“I hoped we would run across one another again,” General Gaius called out. His gaze was locked on Damir.

Balin fought the urge to shield Damir from General Gaius’s hard stare. He had to allow Damir to fight his battle. It would be the only way to bring closure, to finally seal the wounds that had remained open.

Damir called, “It’s all I’ve thought about.”

A smile twitched at General Gaius’s lips. Tendrils of anger whipped up inside Balin, like the lick of fire and brimstone that boiled in his belly. The man had come into his and Damir’s lives and crushed it beneath his fist. There was no remorse in his eyes, no sign of regret for the life stolen. Elina’s death had been a forgettable accident.

He glanced over at Damir, whose eyes were wide. Drachenseele shook in Damir’s grip. Balin tightened his fingers around the grip of his broadsword. This was Damir’s war, but Balin would be the soldier who fought it for him.

Balin drew Magiertøter and said softly to Damir, “I will take him.”

Damir opened his mouth and shifted his eyes only slightly to meet Balin’s stare. He nodded and turned to General Gaius.

“We will not let you pass. I will not see Zoria fall into the hands of a madman,” Damir called. His voice carried, guided by the mountain breeze.

“So you turn your back on Pheor? Your king? The Child-God?”

Resolutely Damir pronounced, “I fight for the Child-God. I fight for Zoria.”

General Gaius nodded. He drew his sword. “I give you one last chance. Surrender, or this field will be your final resting place.”

A deadly grin slid across Damir’s lips. “I’ll swallow you whole before I surrender.”

General Gaius raised his sword and cried, “Charge!”

There were twenty soldiers behind him. Damir released an arrow. It struck a soldier in the throat. He began a rapid fire of arrows, which rained down on the knights.

Balin ran forward, moving through time and space with the ease of a man that wrapped himself in shadows.

Severius reared up with a jerk of his head as Balin feigned an attack. General Gaius tried to hold on as Severius bucked. Balin dodged a hoof that shot out and swung Magiertøter wide. Severius twisted as the blade pierced leathery flesh. General Gaius fell off the back of the horse and hit the ground hard.

Balin descended on him. General Gaius grabbed his sword from the ground and threw it up. Steel cracked against steel. Balin snarled at the general.

General Gaius clenched his jaw and threw his sword forward. Balin caught himself before he could fall. Severius had crossed the field in a maddened rage to protect himself.

Balin struck again. His blow was deflected by a glowing shield of shimmering energy. He glanced over to where Persondra remained seated on her horse, hand raised in the air.

To Balin’s right, a crack of light hit the ground and threw several soldiers backward. Israel’s skin glowed feverishly beneath the pale sunlight. General Gaius caught sight of him, the distraction long enough for Balin to lash out. The tip of Magiertøter cut across the general’s cheek, a thin red line left in its wake. He slammed his fist into General Gaius’s solar plexus and threw the man into the snow.

Zephyr pressed his back to Israel’s and fired off a melee of mithril bullets. Each one was aether-enhanced, and the trigger ignited a flame. A soldier screamed as the inflamed bullet tore through his stomach. Fire enveloped him quickly.

Elma parried as a guard rushed at her. She followed the block with a lunge and forward recovery, her rear leg pulled up into an en garde to change direction. The clash of swords sounded like the crack of thunder. She swept her rapier out in a glide and forced the soldier’s sword down.

DAMIR FIRED ANOTHER arrow before spinning around. He swung Drachenseele out, the blades of the bow slicing through the exposed throat of an attacking soldier. He felt constricted in his fur coat.

He drew another arrow from his quiver, his supplies once again dwindling. He fired the arrow. It struck a soldier in the thigh, and he crumpled to the ground with a screech of pain.

Damir could see Persondra on top of her horse, creating shields for the soldiers. Her skin glowed softly from beneath the coat. Damir shuddered, his power rolling up his body and flickering inside him. He strained to catch Israel’s eye.

Israel blazed from where he stood, alternating between light blasts and blunt smacks from Barat. Damir could sense the aether building, the aura of stars clustered together. It was a massive collection of energy ready to explode.

Israel collapsed his weapon and passed it into Zephyr’s hand, who looked briefly in surprise. Israel stripped out of his jacket and removed his glasses after another beam of light was sent hurtling through the fray. Zephyr stepped away to give Israel a wider berth and slammed his foot into a soldier’s abdomen.

Damir turned an arrow on another guard as a blade cut into Zephyr’s arm. Zephyr fired off another shot, point-blank.

Light wrapped around Israel in a supernova. The brilliance was scattered as powerful gusts of wind swept across the battlefield, and from the belly of a large cloud a beautiful swan erupted.

Israel let out a loud cry as he swooped down, drew back, and flapped his wings, sending a blast of air at a group of soldiers. They toppled, some blown away like leaves and thrown into the mountain. A light ensconced Zephyr as a sword came down on him, a great protective shield of aether.

Damir turned to find Balin knocking a knight out of his way with a sweep of his sword. General Gaius thrust his sword out. Balin spun, barely missing the blade, and drove Magiertøter through the air. The blade cut deep into the general’s side. General Gaius slammed his foot into Balin’s ribs and threw him backward.

Persondra swung off the impressive white horse, catching Damir’s eye, and flung her jacket from her shoulders. Her breasts were scarcely covered by a plethora of golden chains and beads that draped around her neck.

Her ankle boot crushed snow as she stepped forward. The other boot rose high, cut off midthigh. Her breath came out in a stream of white. Her flushed nipples hardened into tiny peaks.

Persondra’s skin glowed, a raging star ready to explode. The blue lines that coiled around her body withered like piles of azure snakes. Ice crackled around her feet, rose up in spears. Icicles built up, encased her in a crystal chamber. It broke, cracked down the center, and shattered into diamond dust.

From the ground a giant cerulean serpent rose. She was fifty feet in length. Her scales rippled like the water. Pale aquamarine fins extended from her head and tapered down the length of the serpent’s body by ten feet. Large fangs extended from her open mouth. A thin tongue shot out. At her tail, another set of fins formed, hooked claws at the ends.

She swung her tail, aimed for Balin. A light flashed up in time, cracked like thunder as her tail struck the wall of light.

Damir dropped Drachenseele, threw off his quiver and jacket, and called upon the power inside him like an old friend. His body burned hotter than ever before. Thunder crackled in the sky, black clouds rolled in like quickly spreading bruises. Lightning pierced the obsidian horizon and struck Damir.

He burst from the clouds, spinning, his wings flung out, claws extended as a mighty roar erupted from his throat. Persondra hissed and raised her tail. Water rose from the ground, a deluge of ice that slammed into Damir as he came down upon her.

It cut through his scales like razors.

He didn’t stop. He couldn’t.

Not when lives were at stake.

He released a blast of fire, melted the ice, and burned through the diminishing line of soldiers.

Israel sent another blast of wind that spread the flames and burned through the infantry. Persondra summoned another tidal wave. The flames extinguished as the tidal wave crashed into Israel and hurled him to the ground.

From the sky Damir watched Balin drive Magiertøter into General Gaius’s shoulder. General Gaius slammed the hilt of his sword into the side of the assassin’s head just as Balin prepared for a killing blow.

Persondra let out a terrifying roar as the general stumbled. General Gaius grabbed his shoulder, blood seeping between his fingers. Bodies sizzled around them; only a few soldiers remained standing and alive.

Damir let out his own enraged bellow that shook the sky and mountains. In the distance, an avalanche could be heard as it shuddered down a distant side of the mountain.

He flew at Persondra, grabbed on to her slithering body, and dug his claws in. She slammed her tail into his side, lunged forward with her jaw open, and bit into his flesh. Damir took off into the sky. He craned his head down and snapped.

Balin was hurt. He wasn’t getting up. Fear drove Damir higher. He squeezed his arms, wanting to rip through Persondra’s writhing body. The pain of the bite barely registered in his mind. All he saw was Balin sprawled in the snow bleeding, surrounded by Zephyr and Elma.

“Elma!” Zephyr shouted. “Can you transform?”

From where Elma stood, a light beam shot from the ground and into the sky. Damir swerved to miss it, turning as a ten-foot-tall woman with flesh the color of wheat and hair the color of springtime flew up. Golden feathers tipped with rose covered her supple breasts and waist. Her feet were deadly talons, her hands claws that could shred through mithril. She locked eyes of solid gold on Persondra as she hurtled herself toward Damir. From her temples, two large phoenix wings extended.

Elma reached down and plucked at the strings inside her hollowed-out stomach, which was shaped like a harp. The strings were made of moonlight and sunbeams. She pulled on the magical chords.

A blast erupted, echoed a holy hymn that sounded throughout the entire mountainside. Persondra ripped her head away from Damir, leaving a bloody gash, and writhed as the sonic blast slammed into her.

Elma landed on the giant serpent and raked her claws down her side, digging her talons in for leverage.

As Persondra let out a pained howl, a light flashed from a pendant General Gaius brandished. Damir released the serpent. Elma flipped off Persondra and hovered in the sky. Persondra slammed into the ground.

As Damir poised his talons for a final strike, the light pierced him. He instantly shifted back and fell to the earth. Elma caught Damir’s body as he plummeted.

When she touched ground, Elma dropped Damir and flew back from a blast of light. Persondra glowed as she lay unconscious several feet away from Damir. Damir could feel his mind swim in and out of consciousness. The world filtered in on such brief snippets that he could barely piece anything together.

“Retreat!” General Gaius called to the remaining men as he lifted Persondra’s frail form into his arms. Only three were left to follow him. The small battalion airship that had carried General Gaius and his men took off. The larger airship had vanished during the battle, no doubt to escape damage.

Damir struggled to push himself up, weak with fatigue and blood loss. He crawled across the snow, leaving a trail of blood as he inched toward Balin. He was able to stretch his hand out to grasp Balin’s sanguine-stained locks before he collapsed.

Chapter Thirty

Staff of Metatron

Damir slowly opened his eyes and groaned. His vision was blurry, his eyelids heavy as if Mount Helikon rested upon them. Light streamed in through his narrow gaze, blinding. It was like the first ray of sun after a long moonless night.

Where was he?

His body was stiff, but beyond a dull throb in his side, he was fine. Shouldn’t he have been sore? What had happened?

Damir could feel exhaustion pulling him down. He remembered Elina’s smiling face. It had welcomed him, called him forward as she’d beamed down at him. He wanted to open his arms, feel her embrace once more. His heart screamed for it.

He couldn’t, though. He couldn’t go into that silky light.

Why?

Why hadn’t he?

Amber.

Damir’s eyes snapped open.

“Balin!”

He shot up. His head swam through a swamp of memories, the cacophony of blades and screams, and the battle cry of ancient scions as they were summoned. He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed down the roll of nausea.

Where was he?

“I see that you’re awake,” a warm voice called from the doorway.

Damir turned his head around and saw a middle-aged woman holding a tray of food in her hands. Her gray-streaked hair was pulled into a plait down her back. Damir could see a set of eagle feathers tied to the leather cord knotted at the end.

“Who are you? Where am I?” Damir queried. He glanced around the room. A Nilfheim wolf pelt was clutched in his hands.

“You gave everyone quite the fright, child.”

Her voice soothed the frayed edges of Damir’s nerves but could not completely assuage his fears. He needed to find Balin.