Myrkron (Volume Two of The Chronicles of the Myrkron) (43 page)

"You will have your chance, Brother.  You cannot fight this war for everyone even though that is exactly what you want to do," Reek reminded Michael.

Michael felt the ground tremble and turned to see the King and his knights galloping out at full charge
, followed by the infantry who were falling farther and further behind.  Michael thought he saw some dwarves among the running infantry, but couldn't be sure.

"The Forest Guard
is certainly living up to their reputations today," Branik commented as he watched many Weres go down with arrows piercing eyes, throats and chests.

A loud crackling ball of yellow flame went shooting over their heads to land in the middle of the
Were's ranks followed by another and another, each detonating with a blast that could be felt even from where Michael was standing.  Hundreds of weres burned to death almost instantly.

Michael's light was nearly out and he was considering sending up another when he heard a familiar roar
overhead.  Charging passed him came hundreds of tigers, lions, panthers and wolves, everyone of them wearing a vest like harness displaying a white rampant tiger on a field of green, the crest of the House of Felinius.  Looking up, Michael saw the silhouette of two dragons, arrowing toward the enemy.

A loud explosion came from behind and rock showered out around Michael, bouncing harmlessly off his shield.  Looking once again to the pass, he saw a gaping hole blasted in each side.  Out of these fissures came the Garolith.

Michael yelled out, "Mirbon!" and hit the closest one with a power draw so intense it flattened the Garolith face first into the ground.  It thrashed for less than a heartbeat and then went still.  Michael saw four of the monsters now.  Two had issued from each hole.

The three still upright shrieked as they saw Michael standing in his purple robe and golden sash.  "Myrkron!"  They cried in unison.

Michael mentally commanded the Garolith, lying face down, to attack its nearest companion.  It shrieked in defiance and threw itself at its brother.  The two went down in a twisting writhing mass tearing at one another with savage rage.

The other two, seeing Michael controlling one of their own, began to race toward him.  Branik, his eyes beginning to glow, quickly tossed one of his blades to Reek
, then charged the Garoliths.  Reek was only a half step behind him.  The Garoliths stopped short upon seeing the swords the two humans wielded and turned to flee back the way they had come.  Both reared up as they saw Micah blocking their path.  His eyes were a smoldering red.  His mouth was opened wide, displaying glistening white fangs, and his hands were splayed at his sides with claws that were razor sharp.

The Garolith split apart and each headed for a different fissure.  Micah leapt at the one on his right and landed on its back as it extended to
reach the fissure.  Reek and Branik altered their course to pursue the other one.

"Do not follow it into the cave!"  Micah yelled as he was dragged into the hole by the Garolith he had a hold of.

Reek and Branik immediately broke off and returned to Michael's side.

Michael watched the two giant creatures grapple with one another.  The Garoliths rolled back and forth across the ground, tails twisted together and claws slashing, neither seemed to be able to get the upper hand.

Branik turned suddenly as Michael felt something hit his shield from behind.  It felt like someone had slammed a mountain into his back.  It was all he could do to maintain his hold over the Garolith, as he staggered forward onto one knee.  He shook his head, and growled in anger.

Branik could see nothing
, but he knew something was there, even before Michael was attacked.  He motioned for Reek to remain with Michael and began to walk in the direction from which the attack seemed to come.  He saw nothing more than strewn rock from the blasts, so he closed his eyes and focused on his other senses.  Moving slowly, Branik listened carefully.  An odor suddenly assailed his nostrils; one with which he was not familiar.  He adjusted his course slightly and, keeping his eyes shut, moved cautiously in the direction of the smell.  It was moving.  He turned his head slowly, trying to track the scent, but the wind coming through the pass was making it difficult, and whatever was out there was adept at stealth.

"Avari!"  A warning cry came from behind him.

Branik spun to the source of the cry and saw an elf on a ledge.  The arrow in its bow was nocked and pointed directly at him.  He raised his sword in a defensive posture as the elf released the arrow.  As Branik dove to the side, he heard the whistling of a blade swung at speed pass overhead.  The arrow hit something solid right before it would have reached his former position and seemed to hang in mid-air.  Rolling, Branik sprang up and swung at the empty air in front of the arrow.

Fanis heard the wizard with the Avari shout out
, and saw the Garolith slammed to the ground.  This wizard was obviously dangerous if he could affect a creature as powerful as the Garolith.  Fanis weighed his options.  He knew the stone was meant for Mael, but this wizard was something Mortow had not counted on.  Pausing for only a second, Fanis threw the stone at the wizard's back and saw the big Avari turn as the stone struck the wizard's shield.  Fanis smiled as he watched the wizard stagger and fall to one knee.  Mortow was indeed powerful.

He started to move in for the kill when the big Avari began moving in his direction.  How could he know Fanis was here?  The cloak made him invisible.  Remembering that Mortow said he would only have a few minutes before
the spell would fade, Fanis began to circle around to the left, giving the Avari a wide berth.

Seeing the wizard get back to his feet and that the other Avari was guarding him
, made Fanis change his plan yet again.  He decided he would have to take out the two guards before he could get to the wizard.  The power of the stone should have sufficiently weakened him so he would be easy prey once his protectors were out of the way.

Angling around the
big one, Fanis came up behind Branik and was getting ready to swing his dagger at the Avari's neck when the warning shout came from behind.  Fanis swung quickly, but the big Avari moved faster than he expected, and then he felt something slam into his back just below his shoulder blade.  The pain and impact of the arrow caused him to stagger a step forward.  He looked up to see a bone white sword descending on him.  He tried to move to the side, but was already off balance.  The sword struck him on the shoulder.  His eyes went wide with shock as he felt the blade slice through his chest and down across his abdomen.  He dropped his daggers and gasped as his body separated and tumbled to the ground.

Branik's swing was delivered with all his power behind it.  He swung in a downward
, cross-body arc.  He felt the blade impact something solid and heard the gasp of shock.  Two wicked looking daggers the size of short swords suddenly appeared as they fell to the ground.  An instant later, Branik saw the troll materialize as its body fell in two large pieces, split from right shoulder to left hip.  The troll's lips moved a few times, then the wide staring eyes went blank.  Branik wrinkled his nose at the smell of the blood gushing from the body.  "At least now I know what that smell was."

Michael had not taken his eyes off the battling Garoliths.  They smashed into the canyon wall as they flailed and writhed
and then suddenly they were apart.  The first one to disengage bolted for the cave and disappeared inside.  The other one lay still on the ground where it had come to a stop.  Michael felt the link taper off and stop as the glowing red eyes slowly faded.  The darkness continued to deepen and he was almost deafened by an awesome crack of thunder.  Turning quickly, he saw the sky light up with multiple lightning strikes.  The thunder that followed was constant.  Michael sent a blast of energy inside the cave the Garolith fled into and had the satisfaction of seeing it collapse.

He looked up and saw several robed elves raise their hands to the sky.  He could see their lips move
, but the thunder made it impossible to hear what they were saying.  Gesturing for Branik and Reek to follow him, Michael ran for the battlefield.  The fighting was everywhere, and the allies were being pushed back by the press of so many Weres.  Michael saw many running his way and drew his swords.

As they came closer, two screaming balls of yellow flame
streaked into them and exploded.  The explosions left Michael seeing spots, though he could see that not a single Were remained standing.  Merric and Mathis were protecting their only escape route.  Michael racked his brain for something, anything he could do to help, but he had told Merric he would not repeat the spell he had cast the last time he was here.  He heard a familiar female voice in his head once again.

You need not kill to help your friends, Myrkron.  You have power over nature.  That is power over all living things.  The power to change living things.

Michael thought a minute then compressed his lips together and nodded.  He sheathed his swords and brought his fists up beside his ears calling out, "
Reverto ut humanus vultus manentia!
"  He flung his hands out in front of him and felt the magic flow outward as he concentrated on his enemies.

Michael could see the
Weres running at him stumble and fall as they were, almost instantly, forcibly changed to human form.  He poured more power into the spell and widened its focus.  Between thunder cracks, he thought he could hear cheering.

The
Weres immediately ahead of him rose to their feet, and he could see they were flexing and tensing.  They were trying to take animal form once again, but Michael had stripped it from them, permanently.  It was a fitting punishment for their kind.  Michael began to walk forward again, his swords once again in his hands.  He walked straight for the naked humans before him.  They turned and ran.

The rest of the army quickly took advantage of this new turn of events to
slaughter as many of the fleeing naked humans as they could.  Without teeth, claws and animalistic strength, the former lower caste were truly naked before the defender's blades.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Mortow, Mieka and Megan walked behind the army.  It would take a while before the order to charge waved back to their position, and Mortow had absolutely no intention of running.  He would wait and then teleport to the location he had already chosen as a vantage point.  As he walked, he grew more anxious.  He knew Kantwell and her allies were no match for his army in sheer numbers, but his father had thrown a few tricks he had not foreseen.  Merric could be damnably devious when he put his mind to it.  No, the only things that truly worried him were his father and the young wizard, Michael.  The rest were hopelessly outnumbered.

Mortow's reverie was broken by a sudden burst of light in the distance ahead.  It looked as if someone had summoned the sun directly to the battlefield.  Light that far reaching and intense was beyond anything his father could muster
.  It was beyond anything he himself could call forth.  It had to be Michael.  Mortow frowned deeply then, remembering the Garolith, he smiled.  It doesn't matter how powerful the boy is.  He cannot hope to fight four of those monsters at one time.  Mortow felt a draw on his power and knew Fanis had activated his cloak.  He wished he could see Mael's face as the troll slit his traitorous throat.

The light stayed above the battlefield for a good long time before it started fading.
  Mortow could not help himself.  He was impressed with the amount of power that display had shown.  As the light began to fade, he saw three tiny points of light, like shooting stars, flare up and then explode.  It was time to act.

Mortow stopped, closed his eyes
, and spread his arms out at his sides.  He gathered the clouds more thickly over the field ahead and spoke one word, "
fulgar.
"

Even with his eyes closed and
at a distance, he could still see the flashes of lightning.  The thunderous chorus of the strikes lent a fitting backdrop to the clash on the ground.  Mortow reveled in the feeling of the magic.  He had been delegating so many of the magical tasks to his students, that he rarely got to enjoy the ecstasy of the magic flowing through him from the larger endeavors.

Megan watched
as Mortow cast the spell and waited until he lowered his arms.  "Master, I will take my position now."

Mortow nodded without looking at her

Megan spoke the words of transport and vanished.

Mieka ignored them both and watched the lightning.  She knew each of those strikes meant the end of one or more lives
, and that knowledge bothered her more than she had anticipated.  This was the first actual war she had been in, and the reality of it was making her doubt the choices she had made.  She finally looked over at Mortow and saw him frowning at her.  She averted her eyes.  "I will take my position now as well."  Mieka did not wait for a reply.  She simply teleported away.

Mortow was beginning to doubt whether Mieka had what it took to see this through to the end.  He had seen the look on her face and
, angrily, it reminded him of his father.  "Hagan!"  Mortow growled.

"Yes, Magika.  I am ready," the troll replied.

Mortow spoke the words of transport, and he and Hagan disappeared as well.  He and Hagan reappeared on a rocky outcrop that was much closer to The Slot.  It was one of the few elevated areas in the marsh.  Mortow slipped in the wet moss that covered the stone underfoot.  Hagan grabbed him by the upper arm, saving him from a long steep slide down the face of the rock.  Mortow shrugged off the painful grip of the troll, angry at himself for slipping.  Hagan dipped his head and stepped back a few paces.

Mortow gazed out on the scene before him.  The lightning continued to strike
, but the majority of the sizzling bolts were not reaching their intended targets.  He furrowed his brow and watched closely.  It was hard since even he did not know where the bolts would strike.  Finally, he saw one.  It flashed out of the clouds and should have incinerated a mounted knight, but the bolt just dissipated.  The knight fought on not knowing how close he'd come to death.  Mortow caught site of another that failed to strike as well.  He knew all the forms of magic his father had at his disposal, and this was not part of it.  It had to be Michael.  That could prove to Mortow's advantage after all.  If the boy was distracted with protecting the army, then he would be more vulnerable to the Garoliths; and magic of that magnitude would drain him quickly.

Turning his attention to the battle, Mortow saw that the
Weres were engaged with the humans and ogres.  His troll and ogre troops had not made it into the main fray yet.  He noticed a small knot of white clad men and women ripping through the ranks of his Weres.  He watched as this small white island killed every Were that came against it.  He had known the Avari by reputation only, but it seemed that reputation lived up to the reality.  No matter.  The Garolith would balance them out.  Their swords would be no good against it.  It would rip through them as they did the Weres.

Megan appeared on the northern face of the mountain
where she could see the battle raging below her.  She searched for any sign of Kantwell’s wizards.  Her job was to protect Mortow’s troops from their spells, but so far it seemed the wizards were staying out of the fight.  That was fine with Megan. It gave her time to search for Michael.  He was her other job.

Watching the battle below, Megan saw the ogres that had allied themselves with Kantwell decimating the
Weres.  What they lacked in numbers they made up for in sheer ferocity.  Megan decided it was time to balance the scales a bit.  She concentrated on a large group of ogres.  "
Erumpo.
"  Megan saw with satisfaction the ground under their feet burst upward, sending the ogres and a few Weres flying.  Several did not get back up and others were attacked while they were trying to regain their feet.  Smiling, Megan looked for another grouping. Finding one, she repeated, "
Erumpo!
"  She laughed softly as bodies flew into the air and rained down on others, knocking them down as well.

Mieka transported herself to her designated location
, which was a small outcropping on the opposite side of the battlefield from Megan.  The site below made her close her eyes and turn away.  She did not like the killing, but Mortow assured her it was a necessary part of the plan.  With the races' numbers reduced, there would be less conflict as they turned to rebuilding their populations.  The skills of the separate races would be required by the others to aid in restoration and construction of that which was destroyed by the war.  Mieka reran all of what Mortow had explained to her through her mind, trying to see it as he did; but all she could see was death.  Turning back, she forced herself to open her eyes.  It was hard to see anything clearly.  All was a jumbled mass that writhed and cried out.

Seeing a plume off in the distance, she focused on it.  Bodies flew through the air and tumbled back to the ground.  She closed her eyes again
, but a sudden image of her father slaughtering a hog imposed itself on her mind, Mieka turned and wretched.  There could be no good come of this.  At least what her father did was to feed his family.  She had never liked it, but she understood it.  This, she could not understand. This was not the surgical thing she had deluded herself into believing. This was slaughter bordering on genocide.  Mieka spoke the words of transport once again and left the battlefield.

She found herself on her rock beside the stream where she had always come as a child.  Throwing back her hood, she heard a woman gasp in fright.  Mieka sat down without turning
.  She did not want to be disturbed.  Drawing her knees up, she laid her chin on them and listened to the water.  She could hear light footsteps approach and turned to tell whoever it was to go away.  But her voice failed her when she saw the slim elderly woman, bucket in hand, reaching out to her.

The woman pulled her hand back quickly and her eyes went wide.
  "Kiki?  Child, is that you?"  The woman asked in astonishment.

Mieka could not help herself
. She started crying.