The Veredor Chronicles: Book 02 - The Journey West (21 page)

‘Eben,
it’s too late for me…Fiora’s Bridge, it is…it…’ with this Chiara’s spirit left. She lay still and lifeless.

Eben’s
eyes fill with tears as he turned to face his enemy. He lifted the Sword of Light.

‘This
could not be helped,’ said the Astarian. ‘The leader of the Fiorians had to die. You, Ecorian, will be offered something greater than this unfortunate fate.’

‘I want nothing you can offer me, Prince of Shadows.’

The Astarian clapped gleefully, delighted with Eben’s words. ‘Ecorian, do you really think the Lord of Veredor would come here with only forty thousand muckrons and a few dozen wyverns? I am sorry to disappoint you; I am not the Prince of Shadows who you refer to, yet I am an Astarian, my name is Callidus. I serve the Lord of Veredor, and I have been instructed by him to offer you a great place in this world if you bow down and accept the rule of your rightful master.’

‘I want nothing he can give,’ said Eben angrily.

‘Well, obviously the alternative is certain death. Of course men never stood a chance. If you look down at the battlefield below you will see that this pathetic army of men is already preparing to retreat. What they don’t realise is that they will have no home to return to. A hundred thousand muckrons entered Vastoria yesterday from the Iron Gate Pass. They are marching toward Faircastle as we speak, and they will burn the city to the ground. The Sapphire Throne will be ground into dust.’

Eben felt his fear growing. He thought
about Princess Apherah unprotected in Faircastle.

‘I see
; there is someone who you care for in Faircastle,’ said Callidus with a sly grin.

‘He hopes to marry
Princess Apherah,’ said Acartor coldly.

Callidus nodded and grinned
again at hearing this news. ‘How sweet young love is. Perhaps you can save her by swearing allegiance to the Lord of Veredor. We could use you to end this ridiculous war. Men and mer would follow you. You could teach them to bow down before the Lord of Veredor.’

‘Princess Apherah will not be a slave and neither will I,’ cried Eben. ‘I challenge you,
Astarian, to a duel to the death!’ Callidus shook his head contemptuously at hearing Eben’s reply.

‘Foolish indeed,
I expected more from you, Ecorian. Unfortunately I have promised Tuskhead the pleasure of killing you if you refused to serve the Lord of Veredor.’

Callidus lo
oked up at the massive muckron standing by his side. Tuskhead was a huge muckron, being at least eight feet tall.

‘
Tuskhead is one of the five kings of the muckron race,’ said Callidus. ‘He carries the Muckmace, a weapon akin to the Astarian swords. If you want to duel me you will have to duel him first; nevertheless, I doubt your ability to survive after witnessing your pitiful attempt to overcome Acartor. You really are such a disappointment, Ecorian. Tuskhead, kill him.’

Tuskhead
stepped forward and snorted loudly as drool flowed from his gaping mouth. He raised the massive mace, which was surrounded by an orange glow. Tuskhead’s red bloodshot eyes glared directly at Eben. The monster then threw his head back and let out a horrific howl. Eben raised the Sword of Light and focused his full attention on his opponent. The beast then approached, swinging the Muckmace in a circular fashion.

Tuskhead
then suddenly bounded forward; the Muckmace descended from above. Eben leapt aside as the mace smashed into the ground, causing the rocky surface to quake and orange sparks to fly in all directions. Eben retaliated quickly and stabbed out, but Tuskhead just as quickly raised the Muckmace to deflect the stab. Again Tuskhead swung his great weapon; Eben attempted to parry, but the sheer size of the Muckmace crashed through his defence. He felt the heavy impact thump into his shoulder. Eben fell and almost lost his grip on his sword. Tuskhead stood above him, gloating with a throaty laugh.

‘Superbly executed
, Tuskhead,’ said Callidus gleefully. The Astarian clapped loudly and was enjoying the show.

Eben struggled to his fee
t. He remembered back to Chiara telling him not to reveal his intention. He lifted the Sword of Light and pointed the blade directly at the monster.

‘Come on,’
cried Eben as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Tuskhead
snorted through his hairy snout and raised the Muckmace again. The foul monster charged forward. Eben waited, completely still until the last possible moment, and then sidestepped whilst simultaneously cutting out. He felt the blade connect with the flesh of the muckron. Tuskhead roared in pain and stumbled backward, his shoulder bleeding from a large wound.

Eben
felt his confidence increasing. He dashed after Tuskhead and unleashed a burst of stabs and slashes. Tuskhead parried as he was forced back toward where Callidus was seated. Eben then faked a move to the left, forcing his much larger opponent to adjust to face him; he then went to the right and stabbed out, pressing the blade into the hideous monster. Tuskhead wailed and dropped the Muckmace. Eben withdrew the Sword of Light as Tuskhead fell to the ground at his feet.

Callidus looked down at the dead
muckron, puzzled by what he had witnessed. The Astarian shook his head in disbelief. Eben then turned to face his remaining enemies.

‘Now, Calli
dus, I will deal with you,’ said Eben firmly.

Callidus
stood up and drew his sword. ‘This is the Sword of Midlight. I believe this sword was once carried by both your father and mother.’ A confident grin crossed the Astarian’s face. ‘Of course this sword truly belongs to the Astarians, as does the Sword of Light. I intend to take the Sword of Light from you as I took the Sword of Midlight from your mother’s hands.’ The Astarian stepped forward and lifted his blade.

Eben charged at the
Astarian and thrust the Sword of Light forward. Callidus easily deflected the attack and dashed to the side with incredible speed. He then struck back, forcing Eben to stumble. Almost instantly a flurry of attacks followed. Eben found himself retreating and simply not being able to find an opportunity to counterattack. He desperately tried to parry each blow and was straining to his limits. Callidus then cut a deliberate shallow blow across Eben’s upper chest and stepped back.

Eben f
elt exhausted. He could feel blood streaming out of the gash across his chest. He raised his eyes to Callidus and lifted his sword, but Callidus stepped back away from him.

‘Do you see
now, Ecorian? You have completely failed. Or do you still refuse to acknowledge the truth?’ Callidus shook his head scornfully. ‘All of Fiora’s plans failed long ago. Most of the Astarians were too unwise to see the truth. The old plan was foolish from the beginning. Men are much too fickle. Betrayal is the way of men.’

‘I won’t betray anyone,’ said
Eben, his voice low and hoarse.

‘
You’re a man; betrayal is simply in your nature,’ said Callidus contemptuously, turning away in disgust. ‘Look how little it took for us to convince Acartor to betray his friends, his people, and his entire race. He so easily chose his own life over the thousands who have died here today. He brought you and all those men on the battlefield here because we asked him to. He brought you all to your deaths. This is the way of men: you deliberately cut each other down only to gain a pittance for yourself. How can your race survive with such weakness? Men are so insecure, so fearful, and so reckless. Often betrayal is the only way they can feel that they have any power at all. Men have stained the purity of Veredor long enough. We are doing a good service eradicating your race from our world.’

Eben
looked across at Acartor. The traitor stepped back and looked away shamefully.

‘Some of us stand by our friends,’ said Eben.

‘You are no different from your father and mother. They both said almost exactly those same words. They paid the price for their foolishness.’

‘What happened to my parents?
’ asked Eben shakily.

‘
I will tell you when you give me the Sword of Light,’ said Callidus with a snickering laugh.

Eben
, seizing the moment, launched himself at the Astarian and stabbed out with all his remaining focus and energy. Callidus raised the Sword of Midlight, easily deflecting the incoming attack. The Astarian then turned his sword and thrust the blade through Eben’s chest. Eben felt the pain and shock as he realised the sword had completely passed through his chest and out his back. In that moment he knew that he had lost. Callidus sneered and grabbed Eben by the throat with his free hand, squeezing tightly. Eben couldn’t breathe.

‘
This is not your world!’ cried Callidus. He then withdrew his sword and pushed Eben to the ground. Eben felt his blood leaking from his body. He grasped the Sword of Light with his weakening hands. He tried to speak but found he lacked the energy to muster any words.

‘
Now, as your last living act, give me the Sword of Light. The sword belongs to the Astarian race. I will use the Sword of Light when I lead the attack on Faircastle.’

Eben look
ed down at the sword he was still clutching. He knew in his heart he could never allow Callidus to take it. He summoned his last remaining strength and cast the sword over the cliff. He then lay down on the cold stone surface and was ready to die.

‘No!’
cried Callidus, dashing to the edge of the cliff. Callidus watched the Sword of Light disappear beneath the waves far below. He shook his head in disbelief. ‘You stupid fool!’

Eben felt the light fading from his eyes as he watched Callidus stride over and grab him by the scruff of his neck.
The Astarian lifted him up off the ground. ‘Die, Ecorian!’ cried Callidus as he cast Eben from the cliff top.

Eben saw the water
quickly approaching and the giant waves smashing into the cliff face below. A moment later he crashed into the turbulent sea and gently drifted beneath the waves. All went dark.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Red parried an incoming spear and cut down the muckron who had charged him.

‘Red, we have to get out of here
!’ cried Stella. He looked back over his shoulder to where Stella and Meara were battling a group of muckrons about ten feet away. The three of them had been forced back from the slope and pushed toward the shore of the bay. The main army of men was retreating further away from them as they fell back toward the hinterland.

‘We have to help Eben
and the others!’ shouted Red, trying to fight his way back toward the headland.

‘Red, we can’t help them
. The army is retreating!’ cried Meara as she blasted a group of muckrons with a shockwave of raw blue energy.

‘I’m not leaving without Eben
!’ cried Red as he cut down another muckron.

A moment later Stella was by
his side; together they fought toward the slope that led up to the headland. They battled their way forward, following the edge of the cliff, with Meara not far behind. A swarm of at least a dozen muckrons charged down the hill toward them.

’Meara!’ cried Stella, knowing they couldn’t fight so many at once.

Meara raised her hands and shot dozens of glowing blue darts at the monsters; the muckrons all fell. Meara’s turquoise blue eyes looked back to the battlefield; she knew if they continued to fight they would be cut off from any possible retreat. The Irvarians and Everdonians were fleeing the battlefield. They had been completely overwhelmed.

‘Look!’ cried Stella, pointing ahead
beyond the multitude of muckrons to the top of the headland.

At the height of the cliff
, about a hundred yards away, they could see a man clothed in black who was holding Eben’s limp body above his head.

‘No!’ cried
Red hysterically. Meara watched in horror as the Astarian cast Eben from the cliff top. The three of them stood and watched as Eben’s body fell into the raging waves below.

‘No!’ screamed Red, dashing toward the edge of the cliff.

Meara rushed to Red’s side and grabbed his arm; thinking if she hadn’t Red would have jumped off the cliff after Eben.

‘Red
, it’s too late. He’s gone!’ she shouted.

‘No!
’ cried Red, tears streaming down his face.

‘We have to go!
’

‘Maybe he’s alive!
I have to try to save him!’ cried Red. Meara shook her head, knowing Eben would have surely died from the fall if he already wasn’t dead. Stella stared down at the raging water. Her face was pale from shock.

‘Red,
Eben is dead,’ said Meara, the words burning her heart. ‘If we don’t leave now we will die here!’ Red looked across to Stella. Blood was dripping down his wife’s face from a cut across her forehead. ‘Listen to me, Red. We have done all we can. We must go!’ Red nodded sadly.

Meara
led the way back down toward the shoreline and cleared a path through all the muckrons that stood in their way. The vast majority of monsters were either chasing the retreating army of men toward the north or guarding the approaches to the headland. This gave the three of them a clear path to escape along the coast. Within minutes they had escaped the battlefield. Meara led them for about ten minutes through the hinterland until they came to a forested area where they could hide and rest.

A
dark twilight fell across the land. They sat down in a hidden forest glade and wept for their lost friends.

**

‘The shroud has now been lifted and all our fears have been realised,’ said Baftel.

Baftel had used his powers to lead Cassiel, Arlen
, and a group of five stranded Irvarian soldiers away from the battlefield and through the wilderness. They had found a small abandoned farmhouse in the hinterland to the north of Crescent Bay.

‘What about the others, Baftel? Can you see Eben, Stella
, and Red? What about Meara and the Fiorians?’ asked Cassiel.

‘I cannot see Eben at all.
I know that Red, Stella, and Meara live. They are somewhere in the wilderness to the south of us. As for the Fiorians, Tabarians, and the five other Irilians; I fear they may have been slain in the battle because they have fallen from my vision. King Edric managed to escape with what is left of his army; they are retreating north along the highway. As for King Lenard, he was killed in the battle. The Fire Order was scattered after the battle. More than half of the Fire Order was killed.’

‘
How did this happen?’ asked Cassiel, still in shock and aching from the battle.

‘
The knights and men simply couldn’t match the wyverns,’ said Baftel. ‘The enemy’s lindworms caused havoc on the battlefield. The muckrons also overwhelmed our attack on the headland because they controlled the higher ground. The plan to attack the headland was foolish. The battle was completely lost when we were flanked by the second muckron army. Many men fell trying to fight their way uphill. Those that fell back were slain by the muckron army behind us.’

‘What now. Is this the end?’ asked Cassiel, wondering if there was any hope left.

‘We must move north quickly; we won’t be safe here for long, yet I fear the north will not be safe either,’ said Baftel. ‘An enormous muckron army has entered Vastoria from the Iron Gate Pass. The muckron horde will soon invade Irvaria.’

Cassiel stared at the table
and shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t see a way they could possibly go on.

**

Eben awoke.