Into the Wastelands: Book Four of the Restoration Series (33 page)

Chapter
26

Flare returned to the portal room. His pack lay in the dust just inside the door. He had dropped it upon seeing his friends fighting for their lives. He paused, frowning. Were they still his friends? Heather had even flinched when he had tried to touch her. It was understandable, though. The Church had spent two thousand years spreading confusion and falsehoods about him. The fact that the
Church
actually believed the lies did not lessen his disgust.

Forcing his thoughts back to the task at hand, Flare pulled open his pack and began rummaging within. He quickly found what he was looking for; a small pack of chalk. He had asked Belgil for chalk when they had been moved
to
the King’s palace. The dwarf had fetched it and, to his credit, had not asked what it was for.

He quickly drew a four foot diameter circle on the floor in white chalk. Then he moved farther into the room and drew a twelve foot circle in red chalk. Then he put the red and white chalk away and returned with blue and green. He quickly, almost frantically, began writing elvish runes all along the inside and outside of the circles.
There wasn’t much time, but this had to be done if they had any chance of holding the cavern.

He
drew the runes
almost without thinking and his thoughts wandered back to when Mortimer had been instructing him.

The first demon that Flare was allowed to summon was Ziteul the imp. Even then, Mortimer had insisted on the protection circles being drawn on the floor.

“Why is that?
” Flare asked, “do you think my will insufficient to command him?”

“I doubt that, but as you are just learning, he could fool you and then escape.”

“But if I make a mistake, couldn’t you then control him?” Flare asked puzzled.

“No,” Mortimer answered looking grave, “the will of the conjurer must be sufficient. I will be little more than a bystander during this process. I will not be able to help you.”

That had worried Flare. Ziteul was a small demon, but he still looked dangerous. “So what can we do?”
h
e
asked.

In response Mortimer had drawn the protection circles on the floor and traced the runes around the inside and outside of the circles.

Flare watched wide-eyed. He wasn’t sure what these runes meant exactly, but he understood what Mortimer was doing. This was magic!
He was using magic to augment his will during Wizardry.

“The protection circles are required for any demon of even modest strength,” he paused and looked up from his work, “unless you don’t mind being torn to pieces.” He went back to writing, but he continued talking. “The runes must be precise. Even the smallest mistake will invalidate the protection. Do you understand?”

Flare had
said he did, but once Mortimer was through drawing the circles, he made Flare copy them exactly.
Flare had done so, or at least he had tried to, but he had made several mistakes. Mistakes that Mortimer found quickly and pointed out to Flare. Then he made Flare draw the circles again. The process continued until Flare finally copied the circles and runes without a mistake. Pleased, Flare expected to finally get to summon a demon, but he was to be disappointed. Mortimer had smiled and told him to do it again.
This had continued until Flare was able to draw the circles and runes perfectly, from memory. Then he had been allowed to summon Ziteul.

Flare finished the
runes
and looked up. He pushed the thoughts of Mortimer and his training away and began furiously checking for any errors. They didn’t have much time, but if he made a mistake, then they could all die.
Mortimer had hammered that point home.

Satisfied that the circles were correct,
he
threw the chalk in the direction of his pack and sat down cross-legged within the smaller of the two circles.

“Ciderium,” he said softly and a small fire sprang forth in the
larger of the
two circles. It was small, but it was the best he could do with what was at hand. If he had something to burn, the magic fire would have taken off, but as it was it sat there flickering palely on the stone.

Forcing himself to relax, Flare stared at the flames. He could feel his heart beating and he found it peaceful. He let his eyes go unfocused and directed his will into the flames. “
Addamon, Orius, Crocell, Ipes; come forth!”

To put it plainly;  the battle wasn’t going well. Already the goblins had tried to punch through the defenders twice; but they had been repulsed both times.
Flare’s appearance
, and the two ferocious dwarves,
had given new life to the Guardians, but the
excitement was wearing off and the
exhaustion was returning. Atock felt they wouldn’t
last
through another charge.

He stood off to the left side of the passage opening; leaning over and breathing hard.
He rested his two sword points against the ground.
He fully expected the goblins would not waste time and that they would renew their attack
shortly
.
He
also
expected that the next attack would be the last one. It actually felt peaceful in a way. If he died now, then at least he wouldn’t have to make a decision about supporting or opposing Flare. It wasn’t much, but when facing death, you took solace where you could find it.

Looking around, he saw the realization that they were about to die mirrored in the other’s faces. Aaron was near the back of the group, his left arm hanging uselessly. Quinn had been killed earlier in the battle, but other than that the rest seemed more or less in good health. To be sure, they were covered with all sorts of small cuts and bruises, but they had received nothing yet that would be fatal.

His attention was pulled back to the passage by a scraping noise.
Someone, or something, was coming though the tunnel. Due to the poor light, he couldn’t see what, or who, it was.

Sighing deeply, Atock raised his sword, preparing for what he felt would be his last battle.

Enton stepped up beside him and said in a very quiet voice, “It’s been an honor to fight alongside you.” He held his sword up in front of them.

Atock nodded and reached over and tapped the end of one of his swords to the end of Enton’s sword. There was a soft
clink
where the two blades connected and then the only sound was the scraping in the passage.

After a few moments, the tunnel disgorged an enormous ogre.
Ogres are a huge and disgusting parody of man. They are roughly man-shaped, two arms, two legs, etc., but their features are horribly misshapen. This brute quickly climbed to his feet, as he had been forced to crawl through the passage. He was ten feet tall and had to weigh between four and five hundred pounds. His skin was brown in some areas and grey in others. His arms and legs were muscular but his stomach was flabby and fat. He grinned at the array of humans and his teeth were discolored and pointed in all different directions. He carried a wicked looking sword in his right hand. It had one edge that looked to be razor sharp, while the flip side was serrated.

They were still getting over the shock of the ogre’s sudden appearance, when a second ogre appeared b
ehind the first. After standing, he moved to the right a bit. Slowly, goblins emerged from behind the two brutes.

Atock sighed deeply. His worst fears were confirmed and he had been so hoping that he was wrong.

The left-most ogre roared and charged right at Atock. The brute brought down a massive overhand blow that probably would have split him down the middle, but Atock stepped to the left and used the sword in his right hand to deflect the blow. He then stepped close and slashed at the creature with the sword in his left hand. The sword struck home but did little to no damage; the blade not cutting the monster’s tough hide.

The beast roared again and tried to swing his sword backwards and catch Atock with the serrated
edge
of his sword.

Sensing his danger, Atock dropped to the ground and felt the wind of the blow pass over him. He then popped back to his feet and stabbed both swords straight at the monster’s oversized gut. Once again the creature’s thick hide turned the blades aside.

A
gain the ogre’s sword was out of position, but he had a clear shot at Atock with his left arm. The blow was off balance and reaching, but he still hit Atock hard enough to send the warrior flying backwards.

Atock hit the ground hard, forcing the breath from his lungs. Dazed by the ogre’s blow and by his impact upon the ground, Atock had lost both of his swords. He was at the monster’s mercy.

Grinning again, the ogre took two slow steps closer. He roared as he raised his sword, an echoing roar came from the second ogre, and then he paused.

From behind them
, towards the rear of the cavern
, there came another roar in response. Lying on his back, Atock twisted to see what new calamity had befallen them. He immediately wished he hadn’t looked. His mouth went dry and goose pimples broke out on his arms and legs. There was a – something – walking towards them.

This new arrival was unlike anything that Atock had ever seen or imagined. Like the ogre, it was man shaped, but its arms were longer, hanging nearly to its knees. It was roughly seven feet tall and had to weigh between three and four hundred pounds. Unlike the ogre, this monster was completely muscular without the first bit of fat. Its head was grotesque.
Black eyes looked out from a sunken and dark face,
and two horns grew out of its forehead; one above each eye. The horns then wrapped back around
,
sort of like a ram’s.
It opened its mouth and roared again, and in doing so, showed off a mouthful of small but very sharp looking teeth. In its hand, the monster carried a sword that had to be five feet long. Atock was amazed how the monster could carry such a heavy blade, much less swing it. The blade was the deepest black and reflected not the least bit of light.

A silence had descended on the battle. Both the goblins and the humans seemed mesmerized by this creature and the battle paused.

Forgetting about Atock, the ogre stepped around him and swung his sword at the newcomer. Their blades met with such a ferocious blow that the whole cavern reverberated with the sound. The ogre’s sword snapped at the hilt and the new monster swung quickly; spilling the ogre’s insides all across the floor.

Wide-eyed, Atock stared at the monster. Its blade had sliced right through the ogre’s thick skin, where Atock’s blades hadn’t even scratched the surface.

The ogre’s body collapsed to the ground and then, for a second time, silence enveloped the cavern.

The quiet was broken by an eerie sort of giggle.

Atock looked to see if the giggle had come from the ogre killer, but it hadn’t. He was busy, still checking the ogre for signs of life.

It didn’t take long for Atock to locate the source of the giggles. Three other hideous monsters approached from the rear of the cavern.

Two of the monsters, hideous as they were, looked like they could be twins. They were unbelievably tall – somewhere between nine and ten feet – and skinny. They had dark brown skin that more resembled old leather. The skin was stretched tight over their bodies and there seemed to be no tissue under the skin at all. Their faces were almost human looking, but the eyes were sunk so deep in their skulls and hidden by the shadows. They resembled skeletons waiting on their skin to rot off.
The nearer of the two carried a quarterstaff that had a curved blade on one end and a U shaped blade on the other. The second carried two curved swords, not unlike those that Atock used.

The fourth creature was not in the shape of a man
at all
. It resembled a massive bear’s body with a dragon’s head and neck. It carried no weapon but its ferocious teeth and claws.

The closest of the skeleton creatures charged the second ogre; swing the staff overhand. The ogre deflected the blow with its sword, taking a step back. The
creature swung the staff again
before the ogre had a chance to block it and he hit the side of the ogre’s head. Unfortunately, the handle of the staff made contact not the curved blade on the end.
Sensing an opportunity, the ogre swung his sword. The staff whirled faster than could be seen and somehow the U shaped end of the staff caught the ogre’s sword near the hilt. The creature spun the staff, disarming the ogre and then he completed the spin and decapitated the ogre with the curved blade.

Once again silence settled over the cavern and Atock found himself trying to quietly scoot away from the creature that killed the first ogre.

The monster that resembled a bear roared and charged the goblins. As one they scattered, most running towards the passage.

Warren and Cassandra had both been near the edge of the water and they dove in to avoid the monster.

The monster that had killed the first ogre looked down at Atock as if considering him. It took a step nearer and then halted at the sound of a voice.