Possessing the Grimstone (7 page)

Tolan smiled. “No, my friend. You haven’t been a battle mage in over sixty years. Your magic is not up to that, these days. You must stay here, protect Cardoon, and scry the battles.”

Sooth-Malesh looked at him with disappointment, but nodded. “Of course. May Thet watch over you.”

Tolan didn’t like refusing him, but he was not the fierce mage he used to be, and his magic these days was little more than amusement for the King. Tolan nodded back and ran to the armory with his men, picking out the strongest, sharpest weapons the city had to offer.

The gates opened, the trumpets sounded, and a single bell rang in the spires. The cavalry of Cardoon rode out to battle.

From the spires, Sooth-Malesh watched, and the skies darkened. Black clouds thickened, and the morning sun dimmed against the scourge of war.

###

They’d held out all night, but the battle was beginning to take its toll. Olani wept with her handmaidens and servant girls; Nachin sat in the corner, watching, his face in shadow. Somewhere in the depths of the tunnels, the council of old men cringed.

Debris rained down upon those hiding in the tunnels. The smell of soot and burning flesh flooded their senses. The structures trembled.

Olani feared the worst. Were the walls even still up? Was the city filled with strange, fierce creatures? What of her people above? Were there any left?

She looked up at the ceiling, dust assaulting her, and prayed quietly.

Monstrous, guttural howls wafted in the winds of war, the whistle of catapulting boulders cut through the air. The sound of thunder cracked, but above all the din, Olani heard the sound of trumpets: soft, fighting to call above the sound of war.

A sliver of hope entered her heart, and her tears halted. Those around her noticed her demeanor shift, and their eyes brightened.

All was not lost.

###

Tolan led the men through the North’s lush, green lands. Above him, the sky shrouded with dark, black clouds. Wind lashed at his face; the smell of death was in it.

He came upon Bhrungach’s grand carriage roads, and took the main path to the city proper. The sound of war grew louder as they approached. Tolan snapped his reins harder, the horses galloped faster, the horns blared more loudly.

The young soldier’s heart slammed against his chest, his adrenaline rushed through every part of his body. Hoisting his spear above his head, his men armed themselves, spears aloft, bows loaded.

The city towers came into view above the hemlock trees and the firs. One of the towers was in flames. Moments later, the first of the enemies’ war machines came into view: a massive catapult, which unleashed another spiked ball into the air as Tolan watched.

He gritted his teeth, swallowed, and prepared himself. Sweat seeped from beneath his helmet.

The first of them came into view.

By Thet, himself… what are they?
Tolan thought his eyes had betrayed him. This army before him was something from childhood nightmares.

The creatures stopped their assault on the city walls, and turned in the direction of the cavalry. Their flesh was a patchy gray and charcoal, black lips curled over jagged teeth, and tufts of hair sprouted from their knuckles and muscular arms.

They wore plated armor covered in bones: bleach-white bones of both man and beast. Bone necklaces were strung around thick necks. Their eyes were the darkest black.

Round and rectangular shields were covered in chains, femur bones, and animal hides. Battle axes, pole arms and clubs glinted with razor-sharp edges.

Some of the creatures stood on legs like tree-trunks, while others sat on reptilian steeds, whose saddles dripped with chains sporting morning stars and skulls of their victims. Their tails lashed like whips.

All of the creatures clicked clawed hands, gnashed sharpened teeth, and wore hides of bristling fur on their backs. What really shocked Tolan and all of his men, though, and sent the fear of the dark right down their spines, were the spirits that hovered above each of their enemies.

Shrieking, misty forms floated above each soldier in this monstrous army. They were pale-white with spindly, clawed fingers, like ghosts tethered to each of the flesh and blood bodies. These spirits were bestial, feral, with long faces and jaws, hollow eyes, and misshapen forms. They accompanied each of the foot soldiers, and rode on the backs of their reptilian steeds.

Tolan knew the men were shaken, and that terror crawled inside them, but he led them on, shouting his encouragement and showing no fear in the face of evil.

It was a second’s glimpse of the enemy, but Tolan’s mind soaked it all in with utter horror that he would never forget. He let out a roar and aimed his spear.

Tolan let the spear fly at the first thing that made eye contact with him; it hit in the center of the beast’s chest. The creature squealed and fell down, and the apparition attached to it shrieked, as well, slipping into the air and vanishing. Tolan drew his sword and charged.

The cavalry clashed with this unknown force, and chaos ensued.

Two armies collided, with the enemy army’s axes swinging like mad, chopping the legs off Cardoon soldiers, and ripping open their horses’ throats and bellies. Reptilian steeds pounced onto the horses, biting into their hides and necks as blood flowed like a river.

Cardoon soldiers launched spears and arrows, piercing the tough enemy armor, shattering bones, and gashing gray flesh.

The ghostly spirits reached with long, clawed arms, tearing riders from their horses down to the ground, where axes fell and chopped.

Yellow-green fireballs shot through the charging cavalry, burning both rider and horse into ashes. Screams filled the air, arrows soared, and fire crackled. Men swung at the ghosts all around them, but their weapons went right through them as the mortal monsters clubbed and bashed their stunned victims.

For every creature that fell, the animal spirit tethered to it wailed and vanished. The dual enemies were like nothing the Cardoon men had ever seen: they were powerful and fearless. They slaughtered horses with clubs and axes, even breaking their necks with bare hands. The men would fall and meet their deaths by axe or club.

The enemy pushed on, some with many arrows stuck in their hides, seeming to be impervious to the pain.

Tolan raced through the legion of them, slashing at thick necks with his sword, a man galloping on either side of him until fireballs plucked them from their rides in a cloud of ash. Tolan looked past the carnage and saw two enemy mages standing on a catapult in the rear of the flanks, spinning ghoulish flames in the palms of their hands, heads crowned with hollow skulls with curled horns, bodies covered in black animal skins.

Tolan grabbed a spear from a fallen comrade and raced toward the mages. He kept them in sight and hurled his spear.

It soared through the air with true aim, and ran one of the mages right through. Black blood spurted across his fellow mage, and he toppled from the catapult. Tolan drew his sword and howled.

Claws raked down the length of Tolan’s back; searing pain rippled through him. He turned and swung his sword, but it ripped through nothing more than an apparition. The spirit laughed at him as its master smashed a club across Tolan’s shoulder, sending him toppling from his horse.

He looked up to see a spiked club coming straight down. Rolling out of the way, the club narrowly missed his head. The creature wound up again, and Tolan kicked him in the gut. The creature barely moved, but it halted his swing.

He got to his feet and attacked, sword meeting club. His enemy bashed him in the face with his head, forcing him to stumble backward. Tolan swung and swung, parrying against the brute, but he found himself moving back further and further, losing ground.

He tripped over a downed horse, and lost his sword. The creature raised his club, and …

Geyess jumped on top of it, smashing the thing with his sword. The creature turned and bashed Geyess with a backhand, knocking him to his rump.

Tolan jumped to his feet, and found an enemy axe. He swung and smashed the bone armor across the creature’s chest.

“Remember, Geyess,” Tolan called. “Bone breaks!”

The two of them slashed and hit the creature, its spirit animal lashing out, but unable to strike them. At last they battered through the creature’s armor, and sliced it open from gullet to tail.

It grunted and went down, black blood seeping from it. Its spirit animal howled and vanished.

“Thank Thet for you, my friend.” Tolan extended his hand to Geyess.

“They have ghosts fighting with them!”

“That, or their souls travel outside their bodies.”

“Whichever the case, the ghosts don’t die by sword or arrow, yet they do damage to us! It is like fighting two foes!”

Tolan looked around the battle scene: his comrades fell and screamed as foes of both flesh and spirit pressed against them relentlessly. Howls and growls rose, weapons clattered, horses screamed.

A catapult launched another boulder at Bhrungach. Tolan followed the rock with his gaze as it smashed against the walls. They were riddled with cracks, and the top crumbled; it wouldn’t be long before it came down. He spotted Bhrungach soldiers there, and a woman… it was her: the Lady of the Council.

He looked back to see the enemy loading their catapult, again.

“Hold them back, my friend!” Tolan shouted. “Shatter the bone armor!” Geyess nodded, slashing his sword across a stalking reptilian’s neck.

Tolan raced through the battlegrounds to the catapult. Ghostly claws reached for him, and battle axes swung toward him, but Tolan eluded both. He leaped onto a reptilian beast and launched himself into the air.

Coming down on the catapult, he ran his sword through its controller, and was swarmed by six other hairy, hulking creatures, their axes and clubs sweeping past him. He managed to climb up into the catapult chamber, and with all of his strength, rolled the boulder out and over the side.

The rock crashed down two of his enemies, their wails carried above the sounds of battle, and their spirit companions evaporated. Tolan raised his sword to the other four, but a green fireball exploded at his feet, sending him to the ground.

His enemies circled him, but their bodies were suddenly riddled with arrows. He looked to see Bhrungach archers looking down on him. Some of his foes fell, but one stubborn one fought on. Tolan dodged its axe, climbed up, and rammed it into the catapult wheel, forcing the arrows all the way through its tough hide. The animal spirit clawed at Tolan’s face, and the creature hissed at him before it died.

Tolan gasped for breath. Yellow-green fire roared past him, setting the ground aflame. He looked up at the Bhrungach archers.

“The mage!” he yelled, and pointed. “Take out the remaining mage, on the other catapult!”

The Lady of the Council understood, and directed her men. A hail of arrows found their mark, and took down the other mage. His magic was no more. Tolan saw that half of his men were gone, but with the fall of their mages, the creatures backed off, retreating to the nearby tree line. Horns and drums called. Creatures groaned.

Geyess met with Tolan. “They retreat?”

“No,” Tolan answered. “They’re calling for reinforcements, and for more mages. The magic gives them power; the mages call upon the piece of the stone in their possession. Which means…”

“It’s not with them, here.”

“No. It’s mostly likely back at their base of operations, the Red Coast. Geyess, we must get the Lady and the council, and whoever else we can out of Bhrungach, before they regroup. We have no more forces here. I’m afraid Bhrungach is lost.”

Geyess nodded and turned. “Collect yourselves, men! Help evacuate the city; help the wounded.”

Tolan looked up at Olani. “M’lady! We must get you away from here! Your city is lost… it is not safe. The enemy is returning with more forces.”

She waved to him and left the wall. The city gates eased open, and Tolan met her at at them.

“You have saved my people.” She put her arms out with open palms, her eyes bright with hope.

“I’m afraid it’s a temporary stay, M’lady. They are just disrupted without their magic. More have been summoned. We need to flee now while we can. Half of our forces are gone. We do not have the strength to fight on.”

“May Thet bless you for your efforts. I will summon my council, now, and my guide, Nachin. Please take as many people as Cardoon can accept. The rest of my army will be at your disposal.”

“You are gracious, M’lady.”

“I’m afraid many of my people have fled into the Wizened Forest.”

“There is no time to find them all, M’lady. Let us pray they find their way to safe havens.”

“My heart breaks for them.”

Over her shoulder, Tolan saw the white-haired men of the council stumbling out of the city one by one, their faces drained of all color, far-away looks in their eyes.

Behind them, Nachin made his way, joining Olani’s side.

Tolan and his men gathered their dead, ushered the people of Bhrungach to the roads, and compared notes on the enemy with the soldiers of the North.

The ragged group headed away from the North and its beauty, the green forests, and the cool, rushing rivers, and tranquil lakes.

In the distance, they listened to drums, and knew the creeping terror would follow them through all the lands.

###

Pim sat at the table with his mother and father. It was the morning meal, and the family passed around toasted homemade bread, buttered with briar nut jam. His brother, Tal, was absent from the table, still sleeping in his bed. He’d always been a late sleeper, missing most of the morning meals. Not Pim. He had been awake most of the night, bubbling with the excitement of his new achievements. He was bursting at the seams to tell them all about it, but he dared not. For now, he enjoyed toast, porridge, juice, and chicory tea.

He caught a glimpse of the sky outside. Dark clouds stirred across it, swallowing the sun. He’d never seen anything like it. The sky looked menacing, as if at any moment, it would unleash something terrible over Gonnish.