The Compass Key (Book 5) (34 page)

The forest tracker flips over the fallen pillar and charges back into the building with Timoran a few steps behind. A boulder crashes through the side of the building and the roof begins to collapse. Luke dodges a chunk of stone while
the larger warrior uses his axe to cleave through the falling debris. A distant bellow causes them to give up being careful and race for the doorway. Spires and pillars smash into the building, turning it into a pile of rubble and sending a wave of dirt across the street.

“Regroup!” Luke shouts as he sprints toward Delvin and Nyx. He sees a shadow cover him before Timoran tackles him out of the way of a boulder.

“We should fall back,” the barbarian says while dragging Luke to the safety of Nyx’s magical shield. “There are too many of them and they are staying at a distance. We need to find another way to the mountain.”

“But we’re so close,”
the caster argues. Another boulder strikes her magic shield with enough force to bring her to her knees. “These things will follow us anyway. They’ve been after us for the last two hours.”

“Let’s push forward and get into
the mountain,” Luke suggests as the ground shakes from something heavy landing in the distance. “Gabriel said that the monsters here couldn’t get inside the temple, so we should be safe inside. At least for the first few yards where we can recover our strength and plan for traps.”

“We need to move into a building,” Delvin calmly declares. He gestures for Timoran and Luke to get closer and looks over his shoulder at Nyx. “Are you able to put a
thin barrier around the small building to your right? You need to make our enemies think you’re protecting the structure, so they will come closer when the decoy shield shatters. I think they’re staying back out of fear of you since you were flinging fire around after the first boulder nearly took your head off.”

“I was startled and I already apologized,” she snaps
while weaving a weaker shield around the building. “That shield will take a few hits and make a loud shattering noise. Lead me inside, so I can focus on keeping the real shield up. Those boulders are hitting with enough force to make my bones ache.”

“I have her,” Timoran offers,
carrying the caster to the building. Another boulder shatters against the shield and he can feel her body quiver from the impact. “Do we have any idea what we’re fighting?”

“No, but we’re going to find out soon enough,” Delvin replies, taking a final look around the area for a sign of the enemy. “Just be patient and keep quiet. They might have superior hearing like Timoran.”

Boulders rain down on the building, bouncing off the magic shield and smashing into other structures. It takes several minutes of constant blows for the ear-wrenching shattering of the shield to appear. Nyx focuses on making the shield look like fading shards of glass in an attempt to coax their enemies into the open. She breathes a sigh of relief when the rain of stones stops and silence covers the island.

“Get
to high ground and stay out of sight, Luke,” Delvin whispers, pointing at a window ledge. He peeks out a lower window as the half-elf climbs up to the perch. “Let me know if you see anything.”

“I see something and you’re not going to like it,” Luke replies without trying to keep his voice down. The building
shakes as something massive walks in their direction. “We have another army to deal with.”

“An army of what?” Nyx nervously asks.

Luke watches the tall, hulking forms that are steadily making their way through the abandoned city of stone. Rags of animal fur and cloth cover their groins, but the rest of their bodies are bare and glistening with grease. The monsters’ dark brown skin is covered in a layer of thick, oily hair, except on their pimply chests and spiny elbows. Large, crooked teeth stick out of their mouths and their square noses desperately snort for air. Many of the two-horned creatures carry wooden clubs with a few wielding rusty swords that are larger than a fully grown halfling.

“
Ogres,” Luke calls down. He drops to the ground and moves to the doorway, pressing himself against the wall. “That explains the rock throwing. Ogres are strong, but they try to weaken their prey from far away. They have amazing vision, which is how they can throw boulders with such precision. Given the size of the island and an ogre’s typical sight range, they could have continued their assault even if we made it to the shore.”

Nyx stares at
the forest tracker before rubbing at her eyes. “How do you know this?”

Luke’s breathing becomes ragged as he feels stronger tremors through the ground.
“My grandfather taught me monster lore, so I know all about them. Now is not the time for this. Honestly, monster lore rarely comes up in conversation.”

“Both are valid points,” Delvin points out, taking a position on the other side of the door from
the forest tracker. “Do you know how we can beat them, Luke?”

“Ogres don’t have weaknesses like trolls. Their skin is like leather armor and they’re strong enough to throw an adult bear
. Any blow that isn’t a crippling or kill shot is a waste of time. Nyx might be our safest bet because they’re not immune to magic. I can try to turn into a griffin and fly us to the mountain.”

“We would weigh you down and you would be knocked out of the sky,” Timoran claims from the center of the room. Stretching his arms over his head, the barbarian prepares to charge at the first ogre he sees. “Our only chance is to fight fiercely. We can force them to retreat or break through their ranks if we strike hard.”

“We could run,” Nyx suggests, jerking her thumb toward the back door. “I don’t know about you three, but I prefer to save my energy for whatever is guarding Sari. The ogres are dangerous, but they are the remnants of an old army and they’ve been asleep for centuries. I’m sure the source of the corruption is worse and it hasn’t been sleeping.”

“I’m with Nyx,” Delvin says when he sees the ogres
getting closer. He leaves the wall and hurries toward the back door. “Luke take point and Timoran take the rear. Let’s hope we can get around them and reach the mountain without incident.”

Luke silently slips out the door and runs in a low crouch, staying in the shadows of the buildings. He gestures for the others to follow from several yards back while he looks around the corner at the ogres. They are focused on the building, giving the adventurers enough time to get several buildings away. With a terrifying crash, the building falls in on its self and the sounds of rampaging ogres fill the air. The forest tracker races ahead with the others close behind as they attempt to reach the end of the road and get out of view.

A surprised yelp escapes from Luke’s lips when a large chunk of stone lands in front of him. He whirls around to see that the ogres are pushing their way through the fallen building and jogging toward them. Several of the monsters hurl stones at the escaping adventurers, who chaotically scramble away. Timoran lags behind, making himself a more interesting target to attract the boulders. He smashes the incoming stones with his great axe, but a few ogres aim for the others. Delvin dives against a building to avoid one boulder while Nyx casts a spell to save herself. The explosion sends her sailing back and a piece of stone grazes her head, causing the caster to stand in stunned confusion.

“They’re going to overrun us!” Luke shouts as he rushes to Nyx. A stone pillar impales the ground in front of him and he cannot avoid
slamming into it.

Timoran scoops
the half-elves up as he charges away from the roaring ogres. He can hear the ogres gasping for air as he tries to run with his friends and his axe in his hands. The scattered boulders force him to move slower and leap over the obstacles, giving the ogres time to catch up. Glancing over his shoulder, the barbarian sees that a red-haired ogre is within reach and raising its rusty sword.

The clang of metal on metal gives Timoran a sense of relief as he sees Delvin block the ogre’s sword. The warrior’s shield smashes into the monster’s face, sending it backwards and opening it for a slash across the throat. Delvin expertly lunges forward to pierce another ogre’s
chest and steps to the side to avoid a club. Never giving ground, he parries and stabs with incredible precision. By the time Timoran is near the end of the road, Delvin has a dozen dead ogres at his feet and the others are cautiously backing away.

“A
re you going to retreat?” the brown-haired warrior asks with a steely gaze. He spins his sword and makes a sudden move toward the ogres, causing several of them to back away. “You guys aren’t used to one man being so dangerous. I guess your old master kept the real threats away from you.”

“Kill them!” shouts a tall ogre from the back. “Eat the champions’ flesh!”

Delvin wastes no time sprinting away from the enraged ogres, occasionally swinging his sword behind him. He feels the brief sensation of cutting flesh followed by the deep growl of an injured ogre. With the mob on his heels, the warrior turns the corner and is surprised to find his friends standing in front of a large wall that blocks the street. The wall is a crude collection of stones, obviously set up by the ogres. He has little time to be impressed by their cunning due to his thoughts being broken by a club that bounces off his shield. The force sends him bouncing down the street and crashing into a barrel.

“Snap his bones!” screams the tall ogre again.

“I’ve had enough of you,” Delvin mutters under his breath.

With a glint in his ice-blue eyes, Delvin spins away from an ogre’s clu
b and hurls his longsword at their leader. The weapon slams into his target’s face, silencing him for good and dropping him amidst his soldiers. A blast of fire strikes the crowd before the ogres can grab Delvin and tear his limbs off. Screams of pain and rage erupt from the monsters before a blast of lightning rips through them. The survivors retreat down the road, leaving the dead behind to rot in the sun.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Delvin says with a smirk. He retrieves his sword, wiping it clean with a rag from his belt. “Maybe we should have tried a frontal assault. The sneaking around didn’t help us much.”

“Do not get cocky, my friend,” Timoran whispers as he feels a tremor in the ground and notices the wall shiver. “We are not done with the ogres yet.”

“Stand close,” Nyx orders the others.

She points her hand at the ground and runs around her friends, leaving a ring of red magic around them. The moment she jumps into the circle, a pillar of earth erupts from beneath them and carries them above the wall. On the other side is a larger force of ogres, who immediately throw boulders at the pillar. The stones crash against the enchanted earth, raining shards of rock on the monsters. With terrifying roars, the ogres knock down the wall and surround the pillar to beat on it with their clubs and fists.

“Luke has to fly us out of here,” Delvin says, crouching low to avoid getting hit by a boulder. “It might be slow and dangerous, but it’s our only choice.”

The forest tracker gauges the distance to the mountain, stumbling back to dodge a spinning club. “We’ll get knocked out of the air before I get very far. Nyx could protect us with a shield, but the impact would slow me down.”

Nyx hurls a fireball at the ogres, forcing them to momentarily stop their attacks. “I have another solution. I can cast feather weight on myself, Delvin, and Timoran.
That will allow Luke to go at full speed.”

“I can jump along the rooftops,”
the barbarian quickly claims.

“I’m really sorry about this,
big brother,” Nyx apologizes as the pillar shakes and shifts under the constant attack. “I know you don’t want me casting magic on you, but the alternative is to let you die. Please give me permission to cast the spell on you.”

“I don’t think we have time for a debate,” Luke
says, growing feathers and a beak. He hunkers down to hide himself from view, curling up as he transforms.

Delvin puts a hand on Timoran and Nyx’ shoulders, pushing them down to avoid a jagged pillar.
“Luke’s right! You two knew this would happen at some point. It isn’t that big a deal. Cast it on him, Nyx, and we’ll be on our way.”

“I won’t do that to him!”

“Why not?”

“I would never force my magic on
someone who is against the practice.”

“Even if it’s to save their life?”

“I want to give him a chance.”

“Then cast it on us, so we don’t have to worry.”

Nyx casts the feather weight spell on herself and Delvin, the white mist ignoring Timoran. She stares at the barbarian, waiting patiently for him to speak. He looks down at the ogres and back at the caster, fear and anxiety written on his face.

“Damn it, Timoran! Don’t make me do something I’ll regret!”
she screams, jabbing her finger at large warrior.

“This is not an easy decision,” he helplessly responds.

One of the bigger ogres rams into the pillar, sending cracks along its face. The ground under Nyx gives way and she starts to fall. Timoran catches her by the elbow and smashes an incoming boulder with his great axe. Twisting his body, he moves her to safety while his boots lose their grip. The only thing to keep him from slipping over the edge is Nyx, who is not strong enough to hold onto the barbarian. He closes his eyes and waits for what he expects to be a painful death.