Rise of Legends (The Kin of Kings Book 2) (17 page)

Annah pointed in the direction of their enemies and spoke slowly to the Fjallejon. “They killed our king. He didn’t want to fight. None of us do. Now they’re trying to take the rest of Kyrro.”

“King always die. New king take Kyrro. Humans never satisfy. Fjallejons enjoy peace, humans no enjoy peace. You promise peace to us, you break promise. Always. War never stop for much time.”

“We don’t want war,” Annah explained. “They do. They’re trying to kill us to take our land.”

The Fjallejon translated over her shoulder. Then Basen heard many deep voices murmuring, giving him the impression that hundreds of Fjallejons had gathered around the boulder to listen.

“Who’s leading this group?” called out a deep tenor that sent prickles down Basen’s back. He recognized Abith Max’s voice from his years of training with the master mage.

“I am,” Jackrie announced.

“This is Abith Max. Who are you?”

“Just call me Mage,” Jackrie shouted back.

“Are you from the Academy?” Even in the tense situation, Abith still managed to sound friendly as he often had while advising Basen on how to best cast complex spells.

But Jackrie didn’t reply.

The Fjallejon translated all to her kin.

“You must know there’s no way out of here alive,” Abith added as if he was giving advice, not issuing a threat. “Surrender and you won’t be killed.”

Alabell touched Jackrie’s shoulder and whispered, “You mustn’t.”

Even if the rest of them were allowed to live, Alabell certainly wouldn’t. Her relation to the late King Kerr meant Tauwin would have her killed. There might even be a reward offered for the person who took her life.

Jackrie put her hand on top of Alabell’s and nodded, then paused for a moment of thought.

“We have a psychic here who can tell if you lie.” She beckoned for Annah, who came to her side. “What will truly happen to us if we give up?”

It was silent for a long moment.

Abith rushed around the corner with a thick sartious shield floating in front of him. Cleve and Peter shot their arrows, but neither could penetrate the thick energy. Abith barreled toward them with his shoulder low. Jackrie shot her fireball before he could get there. It exploded against the green shield and knocked Cleve and Peter onto their backs.

It was too late for Basen to cast his fireball, for Abith was already standing over Cleve, and a swarm of men had come in behind him. Abith let the block of sartious energy drop. Cleve rolled to avoid it as it hit the ground and broke into pieces.

There was just enough room for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder in the narrow tunnel, though everyone seemed to push against each other to find a position. Basen shot around Abith and into the lot of enemies. His fire exploded against one man, who screamed as his flesh burned while the others ran past him as if he didn’t exist.

To Basen’s surprise, Abith drew a bastial steel sword. It must’ve been a gift from Tauwin. With a sharp crack of metal, it clashed against Cleve’s bastial steel sword just in front of his face. Peter drove his weapon at Abith, narrowly missing Abith’s ribs as he somersaulted forward off Cleve. He lunged toward Jackrie, but Basen anticipated the attack and batted down his sword with his own.

When Abith’s gaze collided with Basen’s, he could see recognition dawn in his former instructor’s expression. Abith suddenly jumped as a flash of color swiped down and took Basen’s sword out of his hand. As the moment of shock passed, he realized it was Cleve trying to take Abith’s arm off. On his way up, Abith thrust at Basen, but he rolled toward his fallen sword to avoid it.

By the time Basen got his weapon back in hand, Abith had somehow knocked over both Peter and Cleve. He left them and turned toward Jackrie, but Annah sprang out from her cowering position in the back. Her psyche took Abith down to a knee. He grunted and forced himself back up as if standing against the weight of a waterfall.

Basen swiped at his legs, but Abith jumped and kicked him in the face. Basen stumbled backward into the wall as Abith came after him.

“I’m sorry to have to do this,” Abith said.

Basen blocked the first swing of Abith’s bastial steel sword, but the second was a blur. It cut into Basen’s leg just below his hip, and he let out a scream. At least his flesh slowed Abith’s weapon enough for Basen to get his wand out. But Abith grabbed Basen’s wrist and twisted.

“You were my best student,” Abith said as if it pained him.

A scream tore out of Basen’s throat as his arm threatened to break. He tried to head butt Abith, but he dodged and then kneed Basen in the groin. He barely kept from collapsing and raised his sword just in time to block a slash that would’ve cut open his chest.

Abith looked both surprised and proud.

With Basen’s back pressed against the wall, there was nowhere to go. The Fjallejon’s boulder blocked the path to his left, and the three women of his group were pressed against each other to his right, Jackrie trying to find an opportunity to cast without killing Basen in the process. Cleve and Peter stood shoulder to shoulder just past her, both busy holding off a small army.

Abith forced him to block a flurry of strikes. He was too quick and skilled. It would be only a matter of time before he would get through Basen’s defense. Fortunately, Jackrie had put away her wand and now rushed at Abith with a dagger, but he kicked her with ease, too quickly for Basen to take advantage of his vulnerability.

Annah aimed her palm at Abith with her face contorted, but he continued to resist her psyche flawlessly, giving off just a small grunt.

“Take down the other men,” Basen told her, knowing it would give Cleve and Peter a chance to help him.

She shifted her arm and let out a loud shriek. From the corner of his eye, Basen noticed the soldier in front of Peter crumple to the ground.

The warrior spun around with his weapon over his head, but Abith was ready. As quick as a cat, he struck Peter on the nose. There was a sickly crack as blood spurted out. Peter cursed and grabbed his face. Cleve barely saved him from getting stabbed from behind by one of Abith’s men, then kicked the attacking enemy backward and moved forward to block the entire path.

Basen barreled his shoulder into Abith, knocking him against the jagged wall. But his spry teacher bounced off as if it were rubber and nearly took Basen’s head off with a quick slash. By the time Basen was upright again, Abith had knocked Peter over. Basen dove and grabbed Abith’s leg before he could impale Cleve from behind. It halted him only for a blink before he shook his leg free.

“Behind you, Cleve!” Basen shouted.

Cleve jumped backward into Abith, surprising him. The two of them fell over Basen, and he lost track of them. There was no time to turn and help Cleve as Basen and Peter stood together to defend against a dozen swordsmen. A line of them twisted down the narrow stone tunnel and around the nearby corner.

Peter edged forward as he fought, and Basen stayed right beside him. With no room to dodge, landing the first attack became key as he and Peter buried their weapons into one torso and then the next.

“Get down,” an enemy yelled ahead of them. “Get down now!”

Sensing it was an archer, Basen drew his wand with his right hand. Then, as everyone in front of him bent down, revealing an archer ready to fire, Basen shot first. His fireball blasted the archer, but not before the arrow was loosed. It broke against the wall, part of its shaft finding the neck of the swordsman crouching in front of Basen.

He quickly finished off the dying man and progressed farther down the tunnel with Peter still at his side. The moment of reprieve had given Basen another opportunity to shoot, and he gladly took it, engulfing the next two men in a fireball.

Basen and Peter continued onward, and soon they’d amassed a trail of corpses behind them. Basen glanced over his shoulder to see Cleve and Abith’s bastial steel swords clashing violently as they fought with teeth clenched. Annah, Alabell, and Jackrie were stuck in a tight space between them and the boulder, though that didn’t stop them from trying to help, the women darting in and out in hopes of stabbing Abith with their daggers.

“Annah!” Basen yelled, diverting his attention back to the endless enemies at his front. “Get here.” He’d fought long enough now for all of his sword training to come back to him. Confidently, he pressed back his attackers. These men didn’t seem to be as expertly trained as he was, and the reinforcements started easing away as they saw their comrades die.

Peter was a sight to behold, killing two men for every one Basen could claim. The warrior moved incredibly fast for a man his size, often overpowering and surprising his enemies by blocking their attacks, head butting or driving his fist into their faces, and then sticking his weapon through their leather armor.

Soon he and Basen neared the corner. The next two men ahead of them didn’t approach like the others but waited at the bend. They looked as if they wanted to lure Basen and Peter into a trap, so Basen quickly drew his wand and shot them with a fireball.

When the explosion cleared, both were still alive, yet injured, slowly getting up from the ground. Peter put his sword into his sheath, drew his bow, and finished them before they could get back on their feet.

Annah came running up behind them. “There’s still many more I’m sensing.”

“You can’t pain Abith?” Basen asked.

“No, he can resist me too well.”

Peter spun around with an arrow notched. “I’m going to shoot him. Watch for anyone coming behind me.”

“You’ll hit someone else,” Annah complained, though she did move out of the way.

Abith and Cleve were still at it, with Jackrie and Alabell close by as they kept trying to stick Abith with their daggers. But he was too quick as he danced around Cleve, nearly making the women impale Cleve instead.

Peter let down his bow with a discouraged grunt, then wiped the blood off his nose. “Keep anyone from coming through,” he commanded as he redrew his sword, then ran back down the tunnel. Abith saw him coming and sprinted straight at Peter. Cleve was on his heels.

Peter halted, crouched, and readied his weapon as he prepared for the collision. Abith motioned one way, then went the other and swatted away Peter’s sword. Abith didn’t slow as he headed straight toward Basen and Annah, to Basen’s shock.

He had just enough time to gather the necessary bastial energy and cast a fireball, but Abith blocked it with a sartious shell that appeared instantly. As fire washed over it, darkening the green energy, Abith slid out from below it.

Basen got his arm over Annah and fell on top of her as Abith aimed his wand at them. There was a crash above them as a blast of heat struck Basen’s back. Stone crumbled down on him. He got to his knees and drew his sword to slash at Abith as he crossed by, but Abith easily deflected it, jumped over the fallen rubble, and quickly rounded the turn to disappear from sight.

Cleve and Peter were right behind, disappearing just after him. Jackrie and Alabell were next, then Basen and Annah.

Basen cursed at what he saw. The cavern was completely filled by swordsmen. He drew his wand but found no clear path to his enemies as Cleve and Peter engaged with Abith. Swordsmen came around from behind their leader at his beckoning, but Annah crippled them with psyche while Cleve and Peter slashed them down.

Archers in the back looked for their chance to shoot, but the cavern was filled with twisted pillars blocking their line of sight. Basen moved so that a hole in one pillar gave him a view of an archer and shot a fireball through it, killing the man. Basen ducked as arrows flew back through the hole at him. He gathered energy and stuck his wand up, then fired blindly. There was an explosion but no screams. Perhaps he’d struck a pillar. He tried again, but the sound was the same.

The ground began to shake as stone crashed down against it. He finally heard the screams he was waiting for, but mixed in were voices yelling, “Move, get out of the way.” A stream of dust came through the hole.

When it cleared, Basen took a quick glimpse to find the ceiling had collapsed where a thin pillar used to be. He ducked back down as two arrows zipped through over his head.

He saw that Cleve and Peter had now pushed Abith back, leaving a trail of corpses. Annah and Jackrie followed close behind.

An enemy archer took a risky shot and struck his own swordsman in the back, who fell forward into two others. Jackrie knelt and stabbed the closest man in the head with her dagger, but Abith gave her a swift kick to the face before she could finish off the other. Cleve took the opportunity to behead the rising swordsman.

The man with an arrow in his back managed to get up, only to be struck by another arrow from a different archer. He screamed out a curse as he fell. Jackrie, reeling from the kick, stumbled backward until she was all the way behind Alabell at the rear.

Basen jumped over the bloody head rolling toward him and tried to catch Abith off guard, but he ducked Basen’s jumping kick. Basen landed on his feet yet suddenly found himself with Abith and his allies behind him and countless enemies in front, and immediately regretted his decision. Basen lifted his weapon to block an attack, but Annah must’ve pained the swordsman with psyche because the man dropped his blade as he fell to his knees. Basen killed him quickly with a clean slash across his neck.