Broken Blades Don't Sing (Tales of Ashkar Book One) (17 page)

A shadowy force expelled outward from his blade,
knocking the slivers of ice aside.

Serraemas tensed and changed his stance, holding
his weapon with both hands and bringing up his staff
defensively.

That barrier was not something Aramal generated
of his own accord.

Aramal continued to breathe heavily and appeared
exhausted. He muttered something under his breath that Serraemas
could not hear, as if talking to himself. Regarding Serraemas once
more, the man opened his mouth to speak—

For the third time, Serraemas would not let him
do so. The icy elementalist dashed forward, then leapt to his
opponent’s left side and swung his staff in a wide arc.

Aramal raised his blade and parried the attack,
though the force of the swing overwhelmed him. In defense, a
shadowy tendril launched out of his blade at Serraemas as the man
staggered backward, nearly tumbling over before regaining his
composure.

Serraemas reflexively leapt several feet behind
him, evading the counterattack. He waved his arm again and shot
another signature sliver at his target, but the same dark force
radiated outward once more and protected the stranger from
harm.

Aramal kneeled to the ground in exhaustion, and
struggled to support himself with his blade. He looked up at
Serraemas weakly, his face pale and trickles of sweat disappearing
into his forest of a beard.

Looking more closely, Serraemas noticed that the
man's features now seemed as though he had aged several years from
when they met in the tavern; his beard contained considerably more
grey hairs, and the staff-wielder even saw wrinkles beginning to
appear more pronounced.

Serraemas walked slowly toward his target,
creating spikes of ice in quick succession and hurtling them at the
stranger as he neared. The man attempted to deflect the attacks
with just his blade at first, but quickly resorted to relying on
the dark energy to continue shielding him from the barrage. Lending
evidence to Serraemas’s presumption, it seemed as though the
shadowy force caused the crippling exhaustion that plagued
Aramal.

Just a few feet from where the man now lay,
Serraemas raised his arm and created the finishing blow—

A deafening explosion erupted from behind
him.

Serraemas wheeled around to see the source. To
his surprise, he saw Raxxil swinging his released hammer in a
furious rage in wide arcs. The fiery elementalist was surrounded by
several dozen of the shadowy minions, and had sustained multiple
injuries including several deep cuts throughout his body that bled
profusely.

Serraemas turned back to his to where his target
had been, but discovered that Aramal had seized the opportunity to
flee. Off in the distance Serraemas saw the man's silhouette
disappear into the night.

Of course.

He turned his attention back to Raxxil, clicking
his tongue and shaking his head in disapproval before dashing
toward the burning rage.

"Well, he broke the rule after all", remarked
Zaranet.

---

Erendil instinctively leapt backward several
feet, away from the eruption of fire that radiated outward from
where Raxxil had just been. The blast purged scores of the shadowy
minions, and Erendil could hear their screams pierce the night as
they vanished from sight. He watched in awe as his explosive
companion emerged from the raging inferno. It appeared as though
Raxxil did not even acknowledge the injuries that he had sustained,
instead opting to continue his assault with burning purpose.

What was most dumbfounding, however, was the new
weapon that Raxxil now held in his hands. Much like Erendil’s bow,
the hammer Raxxil held was far different than its simple form used
to appear. It was now much larger, and its shaft was black except
for strange runes that emanated a reddish, orange glow. The shaft
continued until the head of the weapon where a large, black
gauntlet with similar runes gripped a thick, squarish block.
Depressions in the block that resembled streams of lava ran
throughout the black stone, while two curved spikes that resembled
horns jutted from the top. The weapon radiated a yellowish, orange
aura that scalded its surroundings except for its wielder.

Despite his many wounds, Raxxil appeared to be
in an uncontrollable rage. The explosive elementalist swung his
weapon wildly, which caused bursts of lava and fire to spew forth
with everything it touched, illuminating the night sky. If he had
been an efficient killing machine before, Raxxil was now an
unstoppable eruption that consumed hordes of the shadowy monsters.
Unfortunately, there were also several villagers still fighting
valiantly nearby, and they were in danger since Raxxil seemed to
pay no mind to the destruction he caused.

Erendil rushed over to aid a man nearby who was
struggling against one of the minions. The archer quickly nocked an
arrow and loosed it upon the demon. It struck the vile creature in
its chest, its essence disappearing with a shriek.

Relieved, Erendil approached the man—

The man swiped his blade at Erendil.
Reflexively, the archer dodged the attack. He raised his free arm,
gesturing for the man to stop.

"Wait, I am not your enemy!" yelled Erendil,
ducking as lava flew past where his head had just been. He looked
over at Raxxil, who was still in a rage—callous to the damage he
caused around him. "Please, listen to me and get everyone away from
the battle. There are children in harm's way!"

The man stared at Erendil in shock for a moment,
then regained his composure and looked around. He nodded and dashed
off to warn the others. Erendil did the same, looking around for
those in need of aid.

He came upon the child that Raxxil had fixated
upon just before entering his new state. She sat on the ground,
cowering and raising her arms up to her head in meager protection.
Her hair, which covered much of her face and head, was a beautiful,
bright blond. The little girl wore plain and simple clothing—a
crudely patched shirt with matching trousers that appeared to have
splotches of fresh blood on them.

Erendil made his way to where she sat with agile
maneuvers, firing a barrage of arrows upon his enemies along the
way. As he neared the girl she cowered even further, visibly
shaking and beginning to whimper. He stopped a few feet from her
and kneeled, extending his arm out to her.

After a brief moment, the girl lowered her arms
and peered out at Erendil. Her eyes widened upon gazing at him, and
she appeared to lose herself in shock at his presence. She had a
smudge of blood on her face, though it did not appear to be
hers.

Do they all think me a monster?

"It's all right, little one", he said
reassuringly. “I am here to help.”

The girl furrowed her brows and narrowed her
eyes slightly at his words, seemingly moved by his ability to
speak. She lowered her arms completely, but continued to whimper
and made no effort to accept his aid.

"I want my mama and papa", she said
hoarsely.

Still extending his hand, he moved closer to the
small child. "Just take my hand and all will be—"

A shadowy claw aimed to pierce his scaly hide,
but Erendil sensed the malicious presence behind him in time to
evade the attack by shifting to the side. He lurched forward,
grabbing the defenseless girl and leaping backward as he turned to
face his foes. The girl screamed and thrashed in his clutch, but he
kept firm.

He felt slightly lighter, and for a moment he
could not figure why. He then noticed his quiver lying on the
ground in front of him with the strap torn, which meant that the
attack had been even closer to reaching him than he had thought.
Luckily, he no longer had a need for his arrows so long as his
weapon was released.

Shifting his attention to the enemies before
him, Erendil beheld several of the shadowy minions. Their gazes
were fixated on him with murderous intent. Beyond them he noticed
that the majority of the monsters now congregated on Raxxil like
insects to a bright light. Unfortunately for them, they perished in
droves under the hammer-wielder’s might.

The archer focused his attention back to the
enemies that lunged at him. He strafed to the right as a ghostly
claw slashed the air he had just occupied, and set the flailing
child down next to him.

"Stay near me!" he yelled to the girl.

Erendil raised his bow and aimed at his opponent
as he pulled the string taut, holding his breath as he
concentrated. Darkness swirled and molded into the shape of an
arrow from where he held the string to the smooth wood where he
gripped. Releasing his grip on the string, the arrow flew rapidly
at his foe and pierced its chest. Erendil quickly twisted his torso
to the right, nocking and firing a series of arrows in quick
succession at several more shadowy figures, and their forms
dissipated with shrieks of pain.

Drawing his focus away from the battle, Erendil
felt pressure around his right leg. He looked down, discovering
that the girl clutched onto him desperately, her gaze fixed on the
horrific battle that was taking place. She was visibly shaking and
appeared to have wrapped herself around him instinctively.

Poor thing…

Erendil looked back at where Raxxil continued
his unrestrained furor dozens of feet away. The archer discovered
that Serraemas was now making his way to the center of the fray
expertly. Every move the staff-wielder made was graceful and
precise, and he dealt swift blows to the monsters that barred his
path.

Raxxil raised his arm and shouted in rage,
preparing to bring down his weapon forcefully—

Serraemas closed the gap much faster and reached
up with his right hand. He grabbed Raxxil's arm before the hothead
could bring it down, locking eyes and shouting something Erendil
could not hear amongst the deafening sounds of battle.

Whatever Serraemas said must have been profound,
for Raxxil apparently awoke from his self-induced frenzy.

Around him, Erendil saw that the villagers were
still locked in small skirmishes with the malicious entities, but
their numbers seemed to finally be thinning. The majority of the
shadowy entities were now focused on the veteran elementalists,
though his companions overwhelmed them with ease.

Serraemas dashed about gracefully, spinning his
staff in agile maneuvers and striking down the monsters in numbers.
Next to him Raxxil was now in control and wielded his weapon with
focused purpose. He still swung with forceful blows, clearing the
sea of darkness much as he was doing before, but was at least aware
of his surroundings. Strangely enough, his hysterical laughter and
demeanor was now replaced with a quiet, stern visage.

Erendil decided to focus his efforts on ensuring
the safety of the villagers, and within a short span of time the
shadowy monsters all but dwindled until their last numbers as the
battle drew to a close. The archer surveyed the area, noticing that
several of the villagers—both armored and unarmored—had fallen
during the course of the battle. Several of the nearby structures
had also been damaged severely, though whether that was just from
the explosive surge that Raxxil had just displayed Erendil did not
know. As a result of the hammer-wielder’s abilities, the ground had
been scorched from the lava that was now smoldering, sending smoke
into the morning sky.

He looked down at the small child that still
sobbed uncontrollably next to him. She had loosened her clutch
slightly, but still held firm.

"Where is your mama and papa?" asked Erendil
softly.

"I d-don't know", she replied as she sniveled.
She looked around, but could not seem to locate them. "I was w-with
them until the m-m-monsters showed up and I don't know what
happened after."

Erendil sealed his bow, returning it to its
normal form. Satisfied, the towrth looked around.

The sun had started to rise, its bright smile
peeking out from the edge of the world. The villagers were now
going through the fallen and tending to the injured. Quite a number
had been slain mercilessly, and he felt his heart sink. Many women
and children—grieving for the brave men that had defended them
courageously—were crying or otherwise expressing their sorrows.

Some of the villagers were huddled in groups,
whispering amongst each other and pointing at the questing
elementalists—particularly at Erendil. He guessed that they thought
the traveling elementalists a strange cohort, especially
considering that the towrth held a bow and had one of their own
wrapped around his leg. Erendil even caught sight of the oddly
costumed man who, despite sustaining several injuries, managed to
remain valiant in his efforts to lend aid.

Raxxil approached hurriedly to where they stood.
He held a solemn expression—teary eyed and quivering. Just as quick
as his weapon had changed forms, it was now reverted back to a
simple hammer and was once again slung over his back. Raxxil
kneeled down and grabbed the little girl, pulling her away from her
clutches and hugging her despite her resistance. She flailed her
limbs again much like she did earlier, but his grasp was too
strong.

"Everything is okay, Tanaria", Raxxil whispered
softly under deep breaths. "Raxxy's here."

"Let me go!" screamed the girl, still attempting
to wrest free. "My name is Arwynn!"

Serraemas intervened, grabbing Raxxil's arm and
pulling with such force that he dragged the fiery elementalist
several feet away and caused him to release his hold on the little
girl. As soon as she was free from Raxxil’s grip, she scurried off
without a word into the crowd of villagers.

Erendil had an inkling as to where she was going
and why. Looking around he noticed that Raxxil’s odd behavior, and
subsequently the girl’s outbursts, had garnered even more attention
from the troubled villagers; the villagers now looked their way
with more than just curiosity. Off to the side, the two veteran
elementalists had broken into an argument, leaving Erendil to his
own musings.