Taylon (17 page)

“I need to check on my other tenant...” a female
voice said from behind the wall. Taylon turned as the speaker came
out of the kitchen. His guard came up instantly, preparing a
defense. He recognized her as the elf that had attacked
Euphoria—the one that started all the trouble.

“You!” His tone was accusatory to say the least.

The dark elf smiled as if it had been a compliment.
“Yes...me. I didn’t think I would be given the pleasure of taking
you on in battle.” She didn’t give Taylon any time to think as she
threw a dagger at him. Taylon used the two-handed sword to deflect
the danger.

He did not charge, but held his ground. Only a fool
would rush in and attack. This elf was a skilled warrior. She
reached along the side of the opposite wall while keeping an eye on
her prey. In no time, she wielded a katana.

Taylon stopped in awe of the weapon. In his training,
he had only ever heard of the slim sword. But he quickly shook away
the wonder and readjusted his grip. So many emotions ran through
him. This elf started it all. She had brought the demon to
Faldoa.

“So are we just going to stand here and look
menacing, or are you going to attack?” The assassin taunted as she
moved side to side.

“Who were you torturing in there?” Taylon kept a
steady eye on the elf looking for tells on attacks.

“Oh…you were coming to her rescue? How noble.” The
dark elf lashed out with the sword. It lightly nicked his arm, but
still drew blood. “You humans do posses a loyalty to each other.”
She slashed again, this time striking the wall.

Taylon retreated a step, trying not to close his eyes
in pain. The cut burned.

“Who?” And he thrust an attack.
Clang
! Parried
easily, the elf tried a counter, but he was ready for it.
Ching!

“How is your beautiful princess anyway? She still has
my necklace? Nobody steals from Katrena.” She feigned a step
forward, drawing forth an attack from Taylon. It missed by a foot.
He recovered his defense quickly.

“Your necklace?”

“She did not—”
Clang!
“—tell you.” The elf
struck out again but the captain deflected the blow.

“Queen Euphoria is currently razing the marketplace.”
The soldier feigned and struck. He landed a blow on her stub of an
arm. Fire erupted in her silver eyes. She launched an attack.

Clang! Ping! Zing!

The force pushed Taylon back. She came in fast and
powerful. His sword defended it all, but slowly the elf backed him
against a wall. Kicking out, he pushed her back a few feet. It
winded him tremendously.

Katrena regained her stance. She stepped forward, but
stooped low as she swung. Taylon swung high, felt the katana slice
through his knee, skipping off bone.

Pain peaked through him and his legs weakened, trying
to collapse. Somehow he maintained, taking a hop back as the katana
swung back. The broad sword struck out again, catching the elf on
the shoulder but bounced off, not making much of a wound.

Blood seeped from Taylon’s wounded knee. He knew the
battle was turning against him. Pushing away the pain and the
burning, he readied himself for more of the onslaught.

“Why Euphoria?” Taylon asked, as he passed the sword
from hand to hand.

The elf paused briefly in her movement. “She had my
necklace. Her father imprisoned me, using his puppet Kreitan to do
the dirty work. Since I could see neither of them suffer, I needed
her to pay for their sins. And I will soon have my revenge list
complete. Kara will soon die by my hand—shortly after I defeat
you.”

“Kara?” The dark elf rose back for an attack, the
surprise on his face evident. Suddenly, a blade erupted from her
chest.

“Ahh….”

The katana fell from her grasp, as her body
shuddered. Taylon stood startled, but quickly added his own
crippling blow. She crumpled to the floor. Behind her, in the
doorway, stood a girl.

Kara looked down at the elf, a scowl of anger,
resentment, upon her contorted face. Blood dripped from a puncture
wound on her forehead making the young girl look like a war-torn
veteran.

Taylon’s legs finally gave out and he became like a
penitent, falling upon his wounded knees. The broad sword dropped
to the floor before he did.

“Captain…” Kara ran to him.

“A little bandaging…all I need.” He said weakly.
There was so much he wanted to ask this girl, but energy was
leaving him. “But Euphoria…need to stop her.” With a flutter of his
eyes, all went black.

***

Queig and Chele weren’t sure what was happening.
There was yelling and customers running past. Arrows dropped from
the sky, none reaching their booth. Queig did his best to get
someone’s attention to find out what was going on.

“Humans are attacking!” a small little elf cried out
in response to the goblin.

“Humans?” Chele asked, a hint of hope for her old
life threaded her voice.

“You don’t look human any more. They would more
likely kill you than rescue you.” In a matter of moments, both were
armed. Chele selected a sword of black forged crystal; metal and
gold adorned the hilt. It captured the light making the weapon look
as if fire coursed through the blade. Queig twirled two miniature
hatchets.

Being set back farther in the market, they saw the
elf army before the humans. Elfin warriors hustled past, not
bothering to be kind to the merchants or patrons. A squadron of
elves trampled a small salamander man. A soldier stopped and
hesitated by Chele, uncertain if she was a human. Queig waved him
away.

The first human combatant broke through a neighboring
booth. Canvas ripped as the human tore through. Another followed
close behind, slashing at everything. It had been a pottery booth,
so all the wares shattered easily. The potter fled with the rest of
the crowd, unable to defend her space.

Queig ran forward swinging the hatchets at the first
soldier. His attack would have been very successful if he had not
announced his attack with a horrible yell. Only one of the weapons
found purchase as the goblin ran by, but it was enough to wound the
soldier. He fell upon his wounded knee, blood spraying as the bone
crunched on the ground. Chele stepped forward to behead the
soldier.

She hesitated before striking. The pause gave the
second soldier an opportunity. “Die you filthy demon spawn!”

Without trained reflexes, the blow would have ended
her life. A shift to the left let the attacker’s sword slice into
her side instead of her heart. Pain demanded instant retribution.
The black sword did a half circle in the air before cutting through
the man’s neck. A sizzling sound—burning flesh—followed the path of
the sword. Pure power surged through Chele. She let forth a
bloodcurdling scream.

The other soldier, still wounded, but very much
alive, struck out at Chele’s exposed leg. If there had been enough
force, the sword would have severed her foot, but the soldier’s own
wound had prevented an excellent attack. Not a sound came from her
open mouth, as her face contorted with pain.

Queig leapt on the man’s back, buried one hatchet in
his shoulder for purchase, and swung the other at the side of his
head. The goblin sprang off his back as the soldier collapsed to
the ground.

Chele did her best to stay standing, and she only did
so by support from a nearby post. Queig ran to her, inspecting the
wound. Another human soldier had come through the opening, had seen
the destruction of two other men, and raised his own sword.

“
Arr! Arr! Arr! Arr! Arr! Arr!”

Something small, furry, with a large mouth skittered
across the ground and clamped down on the attacking soldier’s leg.
Sharp shark-like teeth tore into the flesh causing instant pain
evident across his face. Instead of attacking the previous threats,
the man swung his sword down at the furry thing attached to his
leg.

Chele tried to warn the thing, but it already had
sensed the sword. It let go, and pushed away just as the sword was
about to hit. Having the full force behind his swing, the soldier
cut through his own leg. The goblin retrieved one of his weapons
and finished off the soldier while he was down.

The furry creature came over to Chele, looking up
with big eyes. The goblin came over. Queig saluted the creature,
before turning back to Chele’s wound.

“What is it?” she whispered quietly to Queig. In her
early market days, Queig quickly taught Chele not to point and ask.
“A geth. Now hold still.” The goblin’s touch was clammy, as he
applied a makeshift bandage. She winced a bit.

“It’s still here.” Chele whispered.

Queig seemed annoyed. “So?”

“
Arr arr arr arr.”

“See? He likes you.”

Chele looked at the geth next to Queig. It returned
her look and then tried to smile. The geth’s mouth tried to curve
upward, but all it was able to do was show its bloodstained teeth.
Chele smiled back weakly. “That should hold until we can make it to
a healer. Try it.” Chele put weight on the leg.

“There’s some pain and numbness, but nothing I can’t
deal with.”

The goblin turned to fetch his other weapons. The
geth moved aside.

“So what now?” Chele retrieved her black sword.

Chaos bloomed around them. Not many patrons were
running away now. Anyone remaining was here to fight. Farther down
the aisle, the nymphs were battling fiercely. A few human soldiers
looked on, dazed by the creatures’ beauty, only to feel the slice
of a curved boomerang blade. Nymphs use the weapon, known as a
klould, when one of their customers became a little over eager.

“I think they have it pretty well under…” Queig
started saying as a crossbow bolt nipped at his shoulder. More
soldiers were pushing through the booth opening.

Chele snarled her face up with an angry look. She
showed Queig she had no qualms about attacking the humans.

***

The warriors spread through the market. Da’Lynn
commanded they kill any human. It had been a long time since these
soldiers had seen fighting, so such a command surged them with
ambition. None of them seemed to notice their mistress headed in
the opposite direction.

Aladedas was a huge place. Two armies could easily be
lost in just a part of the market. Da’Lynn had never visited the
market much. It was too plebian for her tastes. Even now, it
irritated her to be setting foot inside the place.

Panic spread through the market; so many of the
booths Da’Lynn passed were empty. Her visage had not changed, even
after feeding from a stray dwarf, an elf-hating orc, and two
sprites. She had no worries about her secret being discovered.

The power, the force she felt, was moving too. It was
not in the direction she headed, but something told her it would
travel this way. A calling, a need.

Da’Lynn trampled through merchandise, ripped through
stall walls, and added to the chaos. The fear of war and attack
left most of the races feeling helpless.
Cowards.

One satyr saw what the elf was doing and stepped out
to challenge her. “Ma’am, if ye don’t stop these destructive ways,
I’ll have to stop ye myself.”

She threw her head back and laughed. A simple
goat-man to stop her. How ridiculous. Da’Lynn raised her hand and
sent a fireball at him. It quickly engulfed the poor goat-man and
his fur, skin and hair ignited. He blindly ran screaming as he
burned. Da’Lynn saw, to her great delight, he lit several booths on
fire before the inferno finally claimed him.

No one else challenged her.

***

They knew something was up when they were less than a
mile away. Black smoke rose above the trees and the unnatural
sounds of screaming echoed through the air. Metal-against-metal
rang through the air.

Gantha and Fret were first to the market. Jesset
followed. All stared at the scene before them. Elves battling
humans while the marketplace crumbled. Three groups of soldiers
squared off, while a nearby booth burned, unrelenting.

“Good grief this looks messy,” Ynob stated as he
appeared behind Fret. None of the others heard the wizard.

“This is terrible.” Gantha said finally. An elf was
struck down by one of the humans.

“We’ll never find anyone in there,” Jesset said. This
time an elf took down a human.

Gantha turned back to Jesset and Fret. “I have to do
something. Stay out of sight. My fellow elves are in heightened
battle mode, so they will kill anything human, or anything that
gets in their way. I should be allowed to pass.”

Before the other two could protest, Gantha ran into
the market, away from the battle and flames. Jesset and Fret
watched stunned. The elf warriors took down the remaining human
soldiers viciously. Even as the humans fell, one elf warrior wasn’t
satisfied and hacked away at the corpses before moving on.

“I never did like elves,” Ynob said with a disgusted
tone. Fret looked behind him at the wizard. The look the boy gave
showed his frustration, but Ynob seemed to stare at the destruction
before him.

Jesset looked around the forest, but all the woodland
creatures had fled from the commotion. Not even a crow or a buzzard
looked on.

“What can we do?” It was a hopeless plea from Fret.
He used to enjoy suffering, but not on this scale. Guilaud’s ring
sparkled in the light as if glowing with power.

“I don’t think there is anything—”

“Let them kill each other,” Ynob interrupted Jesset,
who continued talking.

“You’ve gotten sour with death,” Fret said to the
wizard, forgetting about the Mordock.

“What?”

“I? My dear boy, when you have dealt with these
races—”

“Is the wizard here?” It was Jesset’s turn to
interrupt Ynob’s spiel.

“Can you tell him kindly to shut up?”