The Divine Path (The Divine Series) (17 page)

             
Along with the air came hate.  Hate so intense Kade could feel it.  Hate so strong he could taste it.  He not only wanted to kill, but he wanted this thing to suffer horribly.  How dare it threaten him!  How dare it try to take his life and the life of the one he loved!  The creature grunted hard, and for just a fraction of a moment, it thought it might have a chance to gain the upper hand again, but then something happened to the man holding its arm.  The man became infused with the Divine.  Kade resituated his grip, and the arm snapped at its shoulder, separating from the body.  The creature fell back hard and its arm fell to the ground.

             
Kade climbed to his feet and slowly turned to look at the creature while tasting the clean air.  He was pure malevolence.  It tried to scramble away, but Kade grabbed it by the ankle and twisted.  The leg snapped with a sickening pop.  He let it go, and again, it tried to scramble away.  Kade grabbed the other leg and twisted until it, too, snapped with a sickening pop.  It fell onto its back and put its remaining hand up to fend off the man, but Kade just grabbed it by the wrist, put his foot on its chest and pulled.  The arm snapped free of the body, and black blood oozed everywhere. 

Kade reached down,
picked up the creature by the neck with one hand and lifted it into the air.  He brought it to within inches of his face as he looked deep into its wide eyes and started to squeeze.  Was that fear he was seeing?  If not, it was the closest thing these creatures could feel, and it was good enough.  Kade squeezed, and squeezed, while the creature squirmed furiously.  His fingers sank into the flesh, if it could be called that, and kept going until he felt what had to pass for a skeletal structure, and then he squeezed even harder.  Kade shook under the effort, and his teeth shown as his lips curled into a snarl.  With a yell, he put everything into that grip and the neck snapped as the head popped to the side.  The body jerked spasmodically as it fell into death.  Kade held it for several long moments, watching the life fade from its eyes.

             
“Rayden, here, now!” Kade yelled as he threw the quivering body to the ground.  The dragon flinched hard under the mental command that accompanied the voice. 

             
Kade raced to the mound of black mass and tore into it.  The dragon raced up and joined him in his killing rage.  The shield was failing quickly.  Kade knew what he had to do, but Darcienna was not going to like it.

             
“Darcienna, hold on.  This is going to hurt,” Kade yelled over the noise.  He performed the Divine Fire Calling and let it engulf the pile of writhing, black bodies that were still covering the barrier.  They fell away from the shield screaming just as it failed.  He could have sworn he heard Darcienna’s scream mixed with the creatures’, but he was not sure.  She was down on one knee, panting hard.

             
Kade rushed to her side and quickly performed the Healing Calling.  Her breathing eased, and she wearily looked up into Kade’s eyes.  She smiled weakly and nodded her head in approval.  Kade let out a long breath, grateful she was okay.

             
“Rakna, how are you doing?” Kade asked, but he was met with silence.  Fearing the worst, he yelled again.  “Crayken!  Rakna!”

             
“Over here,” the king responded from a nearby tree. “We made it back to safety.  We are much better fighters up here.  We should be able to hold our own for a while.”

             
Kade and the dragon returned to clearing the path to the Great Hall.  The spiders dropped back to the ground and stayed close to formidable pair.  The Apprentice Chosen focused on keeping the right side clear while the dragon burned the left side with its breath.  The area reeked of burnt tar.  They moved quickly and made it to the Great Hall with only two spiders going down, but they were not mortally wounded.

             
“Everyone in,” Kade yelled.  The queen buzzed, and the spiders poured into the tree.  Kade scanned the clutch, looking for the king, but he was not among them.  He watched for Crayken to pass, but the black spider was nowhere to be seen.  Kade was certain the king was bringing up the rear.

             
“Rayden, keep the king safe until he gets in,” Kade said. 

Rayden quickly moved to the back and smashed several of the
creatures into the dirt.  All of the Morphites around the clutch were either killed or mortally wounded.  Soon, the spiders were all in the tree and Rayden turned, eager to find more of the creatures.

             
Kade froze as he heard a loud screech of anger that caused his scalp to tighten.  He watched in surprise as a winged monster about half the size of the dragon faded into view.  It was just like the creatures with the exception of its size, the wings and the huge talons that hung at the end of each hand.  It was only visible for a few seconds, and then it disappeared from sight again.

             
“That is the leader of the Morphites,” the queen said.  “He won’t attack.  He never enters the battle.  If things get too dangerous, he will retreat,” she said in disgust.  “What kind of leader lets his people be slaughtered while he stands by and watches?  He will only strike if he is sure not to take injury.  He is a coward.  My only worry is those things overrunning us.”

             
“We will do everything possible to keep them from taking your home from you,” Kade vowed as he rubbed his neck.  “I am sure we can handle whatever they throw at us,” he said with a malicious grin.  “I think Rayden is enjoying this,” he added as the link brought him the feeling of what could only be called pleasure.

             
Kade turned to the dragon that was guarding the entrance and gave it the signal to attack.  Rayden roared excitedly.  The tree shook with the vibrations as the dragon tore into several of the black creatures that were trying to slide around the entrance.  Rayden obviously considered himself immune as he charged in with teeth and claws slashing, tearing into anything he could reach.

             
“Your dragon seems to be a little more effective than we were,” Crayken commented as he limped over to stand next to Kade.

             
The dragon chased a group of the creatures into a clearing that was two hundred feet from the tree.  Kade watched and narrowed his eyes, sensing something odd about the way the creatures were acting.  These things fear nothing, so why are they running?  If Rayden were not easily seen, Kade might have been more concerned, but as it was, there were only a few large trees between him and his dragon.  He watched for a moment more as his companion raced around to snatch a creature and bite down hard.  Rayden quickly turned to look for the next victim as it spat the black mass to the ground.

Just as Kade was about to
turn away, he saw something strike Rayden, causing the dragon to stumble as a slash about three feet long opened up on its side.  He understood immediately why the creatures’ actions did not make sense.  They were not smart enough to know to run.  They had led the dragon into a trap.  Kade gasped, and the king and queen buzzed furiously.  Darcienna grabbed Kade by the arm and squeezed.

             
“I’m shocked!” the queen exclaimed in disbelief.  “There has to be some reason he is doing this.  There is more going on here than we know.  There must be.”

             
“Us,” Kade said as if that was all that was needed.

             
Rayden lunged in the direction from whence the attack had come.  His teeth came together on empty space.  Several of the creatures screamed in delight at the sight of their leader turning things in their favor.  Rayden expelled a blast of fire, but it dissipated without finding its target.

             
“I’ve got to help Rayden,” Kade said as he moved for the exit.  Another gash opened in the dragon’s other side.  Rayden made another attempt to catch the invisible creature, but again, came up empty.

             
“You can’t go out there.  You will never see him coming.  One strike and you could be dead,” Rakna hissed desperately as she wrapped her legs around him and held him fast.

             
“The dragon may be our only chance to keep these creatures from defeating us,” Kade said as another slash opened up just behind the dragon’s right wing. “I don’t know if I can keep all these creatures at bay for long if the dragon dies. Besides, I would rather give my life defending Rayden than stand here and watch him be torn to shreds.  I will not let that thing kill him without hearing from me first!” Kade vowed as another slash opened on the dragon’s leg, causing blood to run.  Rayden stumbled and almost fell but then righted himself.

             
The dragon regained his footing and lunged for the air again only to come up empty once more.  Kade felt the call in his mind from his friend, the call for help.  His throat closed up, afraid that at any moment the creature would strike the dragon in a vital area.  Rayden spared a glance toward the tree and mentally called out for Kade again.  The dragon knew without a shadow of doubt that Kade would come.  Kade would never abandon him.

             
“I am not going to just wait here and watch!” Kade screamed, preparing to use his strength to pry off the queen’s legs.  The dragon started to back away from where it expected the next attack to come from.  Kade watched as another long slash appeared down the center of its back.  Rayden was covered in blood and glanced back at the tree once more.  “Darcienna, prepare your shield,” Kade called to her.  She did not answer.  He turned to look at her and saw despair in her eyes.

             
“Kade, I am too exhausted,” Darcienna said as she tried to raise her arms.

             
“NOOOOOO!” Kade screamed as he forced his arms free of Rakna’s grip and conjured a lightning bolt.  He sent the calling racing the two hundred feet through the air just over the dragon’s back in hopes of catching the creature making another run.  The bolt passed over the dragon without making contact.  Kade quickly called on the Divine Fire and sent that over the dragon, and again, it made no contact, but at this distance, the flame was almost useless.

             
Kade realized that there had been no attacks while he was throwing blasts of fire so he conjured them as fast as he could.  The calling was quicker to perform so he conjured fire over and over in hopes of keeping the dragon safe until he could get to it and perform his healing.  Just as he threw another calling of the Divine Fire, the creature struck the dragon in the tail hard enough to spin it around, but it did not get away without taking its own injuries.  The Divine Fire had connected.  Even though the distance diminished its effectiveness, the Divine Fire still made the difference.

             
The bushes to the dragon’s left were smashed to the ground as something unseen flattened them.  Kade immediately sent another blast of Divine Fire at the spot, but the fire consumed only the bush.  The dragon was moving sluggishly as its life drained from it.  It was losing so much blood that Kade had doubts about it being alive by the time he got to it.

             
“Wait,” Kade said as he quickly closed his eyes and performed the Reveal Calling.  The leader popped into view fifty feet to the right of the dragon and twenty feet up as it flapped its massive leather-like wings.  It looked like an oversized bat, but it was pure black like the creatures on the ground.

             
The leader of the Morphites oriented for another strike at the dragon.  Kade worked his Lightning Calling just as it started its run.  Kade finished the calling and it exploded from his hand.  It raced to intercept the creature.  Kade felt his pulse pound at the anticipation of the contact, but at the very last second the creature swerved.  It banked much sharper than Kade thought possible, but not enough to avoid being clipped by the calling.  The lightning bolt spun the creature around as it crashed into several small trees.  It let out a loud screech as it oriented on Kade.

             
“I’m coming, Rayden,” Kade yelled.  He also sent the thought to the dragon and felt something back through the link.  Was it hope?

             
“I need to get to the dragon,” Kade said forcefully.  Rakna was still holding him around the waist.  “I hit the leader with the last bolt.  He won’t be able to attack again without me seeing him,” Kade said as he half pleaded.  He did not want to hurt the queen, but he was not going to stand and watch his dragon die.  If he had to use force to dislodge her, so be it.

             
“Then we go together,” Rakna said.  Kade opened his mouth to argue when the king weighed in.  “There are still too many of those black creatures out there to make it to the dragon safely,” Crayken said with all the authority of a king.  He turned and issued several short buzzes of command.  Thirty spiders leapt to their feet and raced to follow.

             
“It’s now or never,” Kade said as he surged forward.  Rakna released her hold.

             
As Kade worked his way toward Rayden, he could see the dragon was quickly losing strength.  He was not even sure that Rayden could fend off another attack, even if he knew from where it was coming.  Darcienna’s eyes blazed bright blue.  She screamed as her shield popped into existence for just a fraction of a second.  Something large thudded off it and the shield was gone.  He looked back, shocked and surprised that she was with them.