Shield of the Gods (Aigis Trilogy, Book 1) (38 page)

             
The sensation lasted until they crested the lip of the waterfall. Aerigo rode the water over the fifty-foot wall. His stamina gave out once they cleared the greying rock. He landed off-balance and released his control on the water. Roxie let go and fell separately as they both rolled to a wet stop feet apart. Aerigo flopped to his back, arms spread, and eyes open.

             
Roxie sat up and watched Aerigo’s chest heave rapidly. She smelled burning drifting in the wind. Many plumes of smoke marred the city view. She turned back to Aerigo, reluctant to cut his rest short, yet unable to ignore Phailon’s plight for one man’s sake. “Aerigo,” she said softly, “I’m sorry to bother you, but Phailon’s still under attack.”

             
Aerigo took one more deep breath, then rose to his feet, seemingly recovered. “Rox, go to Rooke’s place and get both yourselves to safety. Rooke’ll know where to lead you.”

             
“But what about what Maharaja said?”

             
“Don’t argue with me right now. Just use your mind’s eye to find Rooke, and stay in hiding until I come to get you.”

             
“What about the Elves?”

             
“You can outrun them. Now go! I have to get back to Leviathan’s icon.” Aerigo sped off at superhuman speed.

             
Roxie held back the tears welling in her eyes. She felt so vulnerable and frightened without Aerigo to protect her. But the smoke rising behind the fortress wall pointed out to her that now was a bad time for a pity party. She took off at a superhuman run as well and let her mind lead her toward Rooke.

             
The part of Phailon north of the pillar looked like it had been through a terrible earthquake. So much of the ground had broken, some parts sunk underground, while others had jutted into the air. Many buildings had fallen since she last passed through, but many looked like they had exploded by some force not caused by an earthquake.

             
The dragon...

             
She pressed on until she reached the pillar, which remained unharmed for the moment. Roxie relocated their packs and canteens, and took the liberty collect them, figuring their belongings might as well hide with her. She mentally searched for Aerigo’s presence, but for some odd reason, he was absent. Roxie pressed on, more concerned about not getting cornered.

Chapter 25

Dark Revenge

              Aerigo sped along a circuitous path with every surviving Elf hunting him from the shadows. He counted ten of them, all working to envelop him in their next trap. But he didn’t care. They were leaving Roxie alone, and that’s what mattered most right now. He’d resume guarding Leviathan’s icon as soon as he could safely work his way back there, without leading any enemies right to it.

             
Aerigo slowed to a fast jog as he neared the next four-way intersection, then skidded to a stop and shielded his head his with forearms, throwing up a magical shield to catch three crossbow bolts aimed for his heart. The bolts sunk halfway, causing the thin blue barrier to ripple, then the bolts dropped to the ground with a clatter as he dispelled his shield. Three Elves materialized before him.

             
Aerigo spun around when he heard a fourth Elf shout. He erected a round magical barrier as a flaming gargoyle sped toward him. Instead of exploding, the gargoyle rammed headfirst into it and unceremoniously fell in a heap. The gargoyle shook its fiery head and hissed at Aerigo as it maneuvered its four gangly limbs underneath it. The Aigis held out a hand toward the ruined building nearest one side, punched toward it with his other first, then arced both arms over his head and to his other hip, bringing down a large granite slab on the creature with a boom. The ground shook and a few traces of smoke puffed out from underneath the stone.

             
The Elf who shot the flaming demon charged with both scimitars drawn. Aerigo leapt onto the slab and charged, knowing the other three wouldn’t shoot with an ally in their line of fire. Sucking in his gut, Aerigo threw up his arms and hopped backward as the first scimitar slashed at his stomach, then ducked and rolled off the slab as the second sliced where head and arms had just been. Putting all his weight on his hands, he kicked the Elf’s elbow, shattering the joint. Aerigo planted his first foot and swung out with the other, but connected with nothing. He pushed himself to his feet and posed in a fighting stance. The Elf stood with his injured arm dangling in front of him. Aerigo seized the Elf’s good arm and started growing. The Elf let out a long, agonizing scream as the Aigis grew. It wasn’t until he reached a good four times the Elf’s height that his opponent finally began to wither, and then died.

             
The three other Elves fired their crossbows at the giant, however their bolts bounced off the Aigis’ tough skin. Aerigo threw the corpse at them, taking out the Elf in the middle. Both Elves tumbled and rolled a good ten feet down the road.

             
Aerigo charged the other Elves, who took off in opposite directions. He stopped and aimed at the Elf to his left, and punched the air. A fireball as big as the Elf erupted from his knuckles and obliterated the Elf. The corpse flopped onto the cobblestone street as it burned.

             
Aerigo ran after the other fleeing Elf. Without breaking stride, he picked up a boulder big enough to fill his giant palm, then rounded the street corner, took aim, and threw. The rock hit the Elf between the shoulders, sending him face-first into the ground. The rock skipped along the street with a blood smear in one spot. The Elf it just hit lay in a pulpy heap, unmoving.

             
Aerigo closed his eyes and shrunk to his normal height, not wanting to waste any more energy sustaining his giant form. He picked up his dagger lying next to the stone slab, put his back to a building, and waited for the rest of the Elves.

             
The building guarding his back start to crack, slowly at first, and then faster and faster, the cracks appearing so close together that the stone began to resemble leather. Aerigo backed away from the five-story building, checking behind him ever few steps.

             
A series of cracks ran up the building facing him, then all five floors crumbled, the chunks falling in his direction. Aerigo strafed the first pieces, all of which were larger than him. More fell towards him, as if someone were willing the debris to crush him. Aerigo darted out of their trajectory, and the granite splattered onto the street. Debris pelted him, yet caused nothing more than minor bruises all over.

             
Now an open space where the building just was, Aerigo found himself inside a minefield of granite higher than he could see.

             
Two Elves appeared overhead with their crossbows honed on him. Aerigo jumped back, then fell into a backward roll as round after round bounced off the rocks. He surged to his feet and did a superhuman leap onto a t-shaped piece of granite. He caught a glimpse of the two Elves keeping pace with him right before he took cover behind was used to be a floor.

             
Two Elves appeared within arm’s reach of Aerigo’s face and fired their crossbows. Aerigo cartwheeled away from the first one and caught the other while upside down. He reversed the bolt in his grip and threw it like a dart. It buried itself in one Elf’s neck, who reached for it just before he collapsed and died.

             
Aerigo landed on the street, putting himself back in the line of sight of the first two Elves. He crossed his forearms over his chest, erecting a magical barrier all around him. The three Elves spent every last bolt they had, turning the barrier into a shimmering blue pincushion. Dozens of bolts clattered to ground after Aerigo released the spell, and then the first two Elves charged in, all four scimitars drawn.

             
Aerigo barely kept up with their flurry of attacks with his dagger in one hand and using his other forearm as a shield. He gave up ground and took many small cuts to his forearm, yet every time he blocked or parried, he put a burst of his immense strength behind it, throwing off the Elves’ rhythm, and giving himself just enough time to react to the next attack. They could match his speed, but not his strength.

             
A second pair of Elves jumped into the fray from behind with their scimitars leading.

             
Aerigo put out a burst of speed, putting one Elf between him and the ones who’d been right behind him. He grabbed the Elf’s wrist and guided a thrust at the leaping Elf, who couldn’t react fast enough. Both Elves ran each other through. The Elves’ bodies shook with spasms then fell lifeless among the rubble.

             
The two remaining Elves hesitated. Four on one, and their numbers had been cut in half in seconds.

             
Aerigo weighed the idea of whether or not he should kill these Elves. He hesitated only because they did. He dropped into a fighting stance and let his foes show him whether he should give them his mercy or not.

             
The Elves glared at him, but stayed at bay.

             
“You owe us your life, Aigis,” one of the Elves said in a heavy accent. “We haven’t forgotten or forgiven.”

             
“Why right now?”

             
The Elves only smiled, then dropped into fighting stances as well.

             
Aerigo let out a resigned sigh, then chucked his dagger at the Elf on the left, who effortlessly parried the attack.

             
“Fool,” the other Elf said, sneering.

             
Aerigo waited for his opponents to make the first move, but they just stood there. Just waited. For what? Their breed of Elf was quick to go on the offensive, unless...

             
Where were the other remaining two?

             
Aerigo scanned the nearest few blocks and came across only a scant few humans.

             
They’re stalling!
The Aigis launched at both Elves, who dodged in opposite directions. Aerigo squared off with the one to his left. The Elf attacked in rapid succession in a dual wielding dance. Aerigo was forced to block with both forearms, and took dozens of nicks up and down his arms and torso as the blades came from the left, the right, the left, overhead, below, behind. The second Elf stabbed at the small of his back. Twisting to one side, Aerigo deflected the frontal Elf’s jab and grabbed the wrist of the other and crushed the joint with one squeeze. The Elf let out a howl of pain and brought his other scimitar around. At the same time, the first Elf came at him with a horizontal slice. Aerigo forced the second Elf’s weapon up in front of his glowing eyes, and metal rang in the air. He heaved their weapons away, knocking both Elves off balance and twisting them around. Still holding onto its wrist, Aerigo yanked the Elf toward him and bashed the back of its skull onto his kneecap, then let its lifeless body fall to the ground.

             
The surviving Elf let out a cry of dismay. “You...! Evil!” He scanned the debris, then sized up his quarry. “The tales of your power are true. Now I truly understand why my kin never bothered to seek revenge.” He gazed at the darkening sky. “Nexus be damned! He can fight his own battle with you himself!” The Elf sheathed his weapons and knelt beside his dead comrade.

             
“Why did Nexus have you lure me into this trap?” Aerigo said. “Answer me, or I kill you, too.”

             
The Elf paused, scowling, then went back to collecting the fallen scimitars. “What do you think, Aigis? The god is obsessed with your powers. You’re his biggest threat.”

             
“He knows I’m trying to stop his war.” It was more an observation than a question.

             
“Something like that, but I don’t care anymore. Nexus can do whatever he wants; I’ll have no more part of it.” He returned the weapons to their sheaths and held out an arm, fingers spread. “Farewell, Aigis.” The Elves world-hopped off Phaedra.

             
Aerigo searched for his dagger and quickly found it lying among a bunch of rocks a few feet away. He deposited it in its broken sheath, then kneeled with his palms pressed onto the cobblestones. Every nick and cut along his body stung, but the ones he had to get rid of now were those on his hands. The rest could heal later. Aerigo concentrated on the ground in front of him for several seconds, then his hands began to sink into the rock, as if it were no thicker than mud. He sunk to just past his wrists and held them there until the rock touching his hands turned to sand. He brushed off his hands and inspected them for injuries, of which there were none. He had lines of fresh pink skin where the cuts were. He rose to his feet and ran on in search of more foes.

Chapter 26

The Attack on the Obelisk

              Roxie ran with one backpack over each shoulder, hoping she’d get back in time before anything bad happened to Rooke. She wondered if there was a chance Gem was still alive.

             
She hung a right down the next street, miles away from the central pillar, then turned left and ran up to the entrance of the store. She bounced on the balls of her feel while she waited impatiently for the lazy doors to slide open, then bolted in. “Rooke! Where are you?”

             
“Upstairs! What’re you doing back so early?”

             
Roxie ran up the stairs three at a time to find Rooke in the middle of doing dishes.

             
“What’s wrong?” He grabbed a towel and dried off his hands.

             
“Phailon’s under attack! We’ve gotta get outta here! Is there anywhere safe we can go?”

             
“Whoa, wait! Slow down! The city’s being attacked?”

             
“There’s a dragon, trolls, and some Elves, and they’re killing everyone!”

             
“Mighty Leviathan! Phailon hasn’t been attacked for over a thousand years!” Rooke rubbed his balding scalp. “There are a few secret tunnels near the city center. They were built for sieges and—”

             
“Good! We’ll move for those.” She grabbed Rooke by the wrist and led him out of the building as fast as he could move. “You don’t have another motorcycle, do you?” she asked as they hit the sidewalk.

             
“No. Why?”

             
Roxie inwardly cringed. “Um.” It sucked being the bearer of such bad news. “A troll smashed your bike.” She looked at the ground.

             
Rooke only sighed. “Hey, at least it’s replaceable.”

             
Something in Roxie’s peripheral vision caught her attention. She looked across the street but saw nothing. Roxie searched with her mind and found something non-human hiding behind one of the curved pillars. This creature was much older than her and several hundred years older than Aerigo.                            

             
As if sensing its own discovery, the dark creature stepped out from its hiding place and started walking towards them.

             
“Well done,” it said in a harsh voice with an English accent. “You found me before I could kill you.”

             
This being was taller than Aerigo. He wore a long black cloak with the hood obscuring his face, black ninja-type clothing, and gothic boots, with long flat skulls tied to his shins. The same clothes as the people by the waterfalls. Elf. Straight black hair flowed from the hood, framing his pale face.

             
“That’s close enough!” Roxie said in a shaky voice, putting her fists up and standing in the ready position Aerigo had taught her on the cruise ship.
Okay, now where’s his crossbow?
Rooke cowered behind her.

             
To Roxie’s surprise, the Elf stopped in the middle of the road. “Very brave of you, little girl, but your unsure fists won’t save you. I’m going to take great pleasure in killing you, along with the Aigis named Aerigo.”

             
“My name is Rox, and you better remember that!” she snapped. Roxie held her stance, all the defensive moves Aerigo had taught refusing to come to mind.

The Elf laughed and pulled off his hood, revealing his pointed ears. “Kabiroas is the name of your murder.”

              “Rooke, I think you’d better run back inside or something.”

             
She got no argument. The stout man took off toward the city center.

             
“I guess you’re first then,” Kabiroas said, drawing a scimitar.

             
Oh, shit!
The Elf swung his weapon at her face with amazing speed, the blade almost slicing her nose in half as she backed away. He reversed his swing and Roxie backpedaled. He had a sword and she didn’t. Kabiroas pursued her with his scimitar. Roxie could try to get the Elf to chase her around, but then she’d have to find Rooke again, and for all she knew some other monster would kill him while she tried to save her own hide.

             
Roxie backed into one of the curved pillars fronting Rooke’s building. The Elf slashed sideways again, cutting through the stone. Roxie ducked and rolled under him, backpacks and all, then stood up to put a little distance between them.

             
The Elf turned around and glared at her, and pulled out his second scimitar.

             
At the end of the street, another Elf stepped out of hiding as Rooke hooked a left on a connecting street. It pursued Rooke with a scimitar in hand. She gaped in horror, then dodged one slash from Kabiroas. In what felt like slow motion, she watched the second blade’s downward stroke as it bit into her shoulder. The blade sliced in, then deflected off, leaving behind a five-inch-long gash. Roxie clutched at the bleeding.

             
The Elf looked at his bent scimitar, mouth agape, and saw blood gleaming on the end. Roxie sent the Elf flying with a powerful kick to the stomach. Kabiroas slammed into the pillar he had sliced a moment ago and fell unconscious, his scimitars clanking on the ground next to him.

             
Still holding her shoulder, Roxie ran after Rooke.
Some protector
I’m
turning out to be. I almost lost an arm, and I’m about to lose him.
She turned left on the street where the two had disappeared. Rooke was two blocks away with an Elf closing in. Ignoring the ache in her shoulder, Roxie ran full-tilt as she slipped a backpack off. She whacked the Elf off his feet with a swing of Aerigo’s backpack as she ran by, grabbed Rooke’s wrist and kept running, but slower. “Which way?” she asked without looking back.

             
“Stop!” he begged. “I... gotta catch... my breath.”

             
Roxie let go and Rooke bent over, gasping. It would cost them dearly if they were going to stop every few blocks. She got an idea. “I’m gonna carry you.”

             
“
Carry
me?”

             
She dropped packs and canteens by Rooke’s bare feet, then jogged into the street. “You’re just going to have to point the way for me. Don’t touch me while I do this,” she said, remembering the troll.

             
“What’re you doing?”

             
Roxie imitated Aerigo’s stance, shut her eyes and concentrated. She felt the sensational ‘whoosh’ of going up in an elevator. Seconds later she opened her eyes to see whether she was tall enough.

             
Rooke was only half as tall as her shins, and there wasn’t much room left between her shoulders and the nearest standing buildings. “Okay, that’s good,” she said, kneeling to collect her cargo. Rooke stared, his mouth agape. Roxie saw the Elf that she had belted was on his knees, rubbing his head with one hand and holding a scimitar in the other. He looked in their direction.

             
“Get on!”

             
Rooke rounded up the packs and canteens and hopped into her enormous hands. Roxie stood, watching the dazed Elf. “Which way?”

             
Rooke pointed in the direction they’d been running, and Roxie took off, changing direction from time to time under her friend’s guidance. People fled in all directions from her, the fires, and the collapsed buildings, and Roxie had to be careful not to step on anyone. There were a few close calls, and a few people stared open-mouthed as she passed.

              Aerigo had little difficulty relocating the dragon. It was huge, noisy, and left a massive smoke trail in its wake. He sprinted along streets littered with rubble and dead bodies. The sight sickened and angered him, but there was nothing he could do fix what had already been done. Clutching his dagger in one hand, he turned onto the street the black dragon was presently harassing.

             
The dragon named Brago hovered in the air and spit fire at a building standing before it. Aerigo jumped from one mound of fallen stone to another, getting higher and closer with each bound, then gave one final leap, hurling himself at the dragon’s belly. As soon as he could make out each individual scale he lashed out with his dagger. Brago flapped his great wings, propelling himself backward. Aerigo etched a line in three scales that were each the size of his chest and began to fall. The dragon let out a roar as it retreated.

             
Aerigo kept on falling. The dragon swung its tail at him and missed on the upward swing. The Aigis grabbed the tip of its tail with one hand and dug his dagger into scaled flesh. Brago roared again, and whipped his tail backward.

             
Everything blurred by Aerigo as he flew downwards, then up. His vision recovered as the tail reached its peak, stopping level to where the dragon’s wings protruded.

             
Brago looked between his neck and one wing. He lashed his tail down and forward, and Aerigo lost his hold on the upward arc.

             
Aerigo flailed his arms as he sailed upside-down high above a street, trying to get his feet back under him. He cleared the roof of the nearest building by a couple of feet, reached the crest of his flight path, then twisted himself upright as his momentum slowed. He skidded to a halt on top of the building’s far side. The dragon loomed closer and opened its great jaws. A red glow formed in its throat. Aerigo stood and scrambled towards the dragon as it spit a ball of fire right at him.

             
The flaming sphere was twice his size. Aerigo switched hands with his dagger mid-stride and swung out at the last bit of open air between him and the ball as he stopped at the edge. The ball of fire reflected off his magical barrier and rebounded back at the dragon.

             
Brago spit another ball of fire and both spheres cancelled each other out with a huge explosion and a flash of light. Sooty flame fell to the street like arms of a squid reaching out. The dragon looked down at Aerigo, who stood ready for the next attack.

             
The dragon dived at the building with his jaws open wide. Aerigo slid his dagger into one boot, jumped to the next roof as the previous one crumbled under the drake’s massive jaw. Brago clamped to the building with with four deep thuds, its massive wings spread. After a quick search it noticed Aerigo waiting on the next roof. It shrieked, then grabbed a mouthful of broken granite and spat. Aerigo dodged and dived out of the way of the saliva-drenched debris. Aerigo fell backward when five talons, each as big as his leg, hammered on his roof, then started free-falling as the structure broke. He landed on one foreleg just as the other set of claws horizontally swiped at the building. The rest of the top floor was swept to the ground.

             
Brago retracted the foreleg Aerigo was running up, sending the Aigis into a backward somersault.

             
Everything suddenly went dark, hot and wet for Aerigo. He was lying on the dragon’s slick tongue with his hands braced against its ridge-lined roof of its mouth. The tongue squeezed him against the roof of its mouth and tried pushing him down its throat. Aerigo dug his fingers into flesh, drawing blood, and slid his feet under him as the tongue relaxed. Blood dribbled down his arms. He pushed the drake’s jaws open with his superhuman strength, and Brago forced his jaws to close, but Aerigo was stronger. They reached a stalemate with Aerigo staring down the beast’s throat with his arms and legs stretched like poles, and the dragon unable to crush him. The dragon shook his head like a dog would a toy. Aerigo’s blood-caked fingers held him in place as his boots shifted around. He took a steadying breath when the head stopped, and coughed.

             
A molten glow rose closer to his boots, and a strong scent of sulfur filled the air.

             
Brago sucked in a deep breath.

             
As soon as the dragon finished filling in his lungs, Aerigo grabbed a top-jaw tooth and swung out of the way of the fireball. He straddled Brago’s snout and the fireball sailed like a comet into the darkening sky. The dragon snarled and reached for him with both foreclaws. Aerigo pushed into a backward roll, slashing down at a reptilian eye with his dagger as he passed it. He rolled to his feet, then grabbed one of the dragon’s blade-like horns. He yanked on it as he jumped for the nearest building. He smashed the side of the dragon’s head into the granite and let go. Brago let go of the building with his hind legs and dropped to all fours on the street below.

             
After shaking its head several times, Brago glared at Aerigo from below with its good eye. It snorted smoke. The dragon hesitated, then turned its massive body and fled into the sky.

             
Aerigo pulled his broken sheath out of a pants cargo pocket and sheathed his dagger, then stuffed both items back into the pocket. He put one foot on the edge of the building and looked down. No one populated the streets below; just a few fires and piles of rock. And corpses. Aerigo bent his knees, took a deep breath and concentrated. He focused his gaze on the horizon, then launched himself into the air with arms outstretched.