Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising (32 page)

Yuski carried her lover in her arms
toward the queen’s tent and Helenia tapped her husband on the
shoulder and pointed toward the sky. “Look!”

They watched the blood clouds
dissipated in front of their eyes and the sky turned crystal
clear.

Chapter 26 : Battle Of
Greenhaven

“
I see all that is
happening around us, as if I am with the gods, looking
down.

May we succeed on this day and bring us
one step closer to a life of peace.”

(Anakari - Sorceress)

Kassina flew into a fit of
rage and destroyed anything she could lay her hands on. She cut her
way through a line of prisoners to feed her bloodlust and only
ceased when Shindar approached and yelled, “
Stop
!”

Her chest heaved as she
turned to face the lord of darkness. “Vartan
lives
! I saw him for myself through
Aryun’s eyes. Not only does he live, but he has grown in
power.”

Shindar barely moved a muscle on his
face in reaction to the news. “That is unexpected. But this is not
what concerns me the most. I believe that the gods have intervened
in this war, sending aid of their own to the Marithians. Walk with
me to our tower.”

Kassina wiped her brow and sheathed
her swords, accompanying the great lord over the dry
battlegrounds.

“
How do we know this?” she
asked, clenching her fists to control her anger.

“
Calm yourself, my dear.
Time is on
our
side and our plans are not in vain. Before I send you back
into Marithia, you need to be aware that although the blood red
moon has risen, we now are not only locked in a war with
Marithians, but with the gods.”

Warriors opened the heavy doors to the
tower and they headed toward the portal room.

“
My Kassina, only stay in
Greenhaven until you succeed in finding Talonsphere, and it is
important that we find it first. We must destroy it. If you can’t
destroy it and all else fails, you are to activate it.”

Standing in front of the
portal, she faced Shindar with a blank look on her face. “You want
me to
activate
Talonsphere?”

“
I want to win this war and
our first priority will be to destroy the weapon and for you to
stand by my side in our rule, but if you are given no choice… I
need to know that you are willing to sacrifice yourself to the
weapon and
become
Talonsphere.”

Kassina nodded knowingly and embraced
her lord tightly. “I will do anything for you, my lord. But how can
I sacrifice myself to the weapon. Only the boy born of dragon’s
blood can do that.”

“
Ah, but the legends have
evolved over the years. The ancients did indeed create their weapon
against me and the key to activate it was one born of dragon’s
blood, but they never specified a boy. I have waited all these
years to give you answers to your many questions about your
history, and it is now time. Your father was the descendant of the
vampire king Delano, but your immense powers of magic stem from
dragon’s blood, not vampire. Although it is not as pure as
Vartan’s, it would be enough for you to activate their
weapon.”

Kassina stared at him in disbelief,
“My ancestors were dragons?”

“
According to our seers, it
is the case. The dragons have lived human lives more than once over
the course of history. There was a dragon who made that choice at a
time that fits. You can imagine my surprise when my seers told me
that the girl of our prophecy was not only vampire but dragon as
well.”

She stepped backwards and
shook her head violently. “No! I cannot be like,
them!
”

Shindar took her into his
arms and held her. “Shh. Worry not, this changes
nothing
. You stand
beside me as you always have. The dragons likely joined in this war
as they feel responsible for your creation. They have a duty to
eliminate what they see as their…
mistake
.”

Kassina’s face hardened as
tears streamed down her face. “Mistake…
Mistake
! I will give them a reason
to call me such a name.”

“
Yes…
feed
off your anger. Let it drive
you to the heart of their weapon so that you can destroy
it!”

Kassina turned toward the
portal and snarled, “I am ready, open a portal for me in
Greenhaven…
now
!”

Shindar cast his spell.
“
Propinquus fragor patefacio prolixus
transporto greenhaven ut nostrum pars
!”

The wall shifted for a moment but then
returned to its former state. Shindar approached it quickly and
laid his hand on the wall, staring intently into the marble. “No…
it can’t be, the moon is at its highest.”

He turned to Kassina. “Something has
happened to the blood red moon and is interfering with my powers. I
will need time for our seers to discover the source of the
disruption.”

“
Open a portal to our
tower. It is always connected to the underworld and I will proceed
to Greenhaven on horseback.”

“
Kassina, have you gone
mad? You will encounter the entire Marithian army! No, I will not
lose you.”

Kassina smiled, “Mad? They
are yet to see me
mad
. Please Shindar, open the portal. I need to get to
Greenhaven before it is too late. I will send fear into their
souls!”

Shindar kissed her on the forehead,
“That’s my girl… fear lives not in your heart. I will send a legion
with you for your protection. If it is too late, I expect your
immediate return. Do not engage the army by yourself, especially
without aid of the blood clouds and Blood Red Moon. If you are
able, open a portal for me to step inside the walls of Greenhaven.
With you close enough to the castle, you should be able to cast the
spell of activation. The time has come.”

Kassina watched as he
marched outside the tower and heard his booming voice, followed by
the hustle of a legion of skeleton warriors. Once they had reached
the portal room, he turned to the legion and cast another spell.
“
Intorqueo formo of ferrum quod veho
insquequo vestri reverto.
”

Half of the skeleton warriors hunched
over in agony as their forms were twisted and stretched to become
bone horses. Kassina mounted the nearest bone horse and the
remaining warriors followed suit.

He turned back to the
portal. “
Propinquus fragor patefacio
prolixus transporto mugio terra ut nostrum pars
!”

The portal sunk into the wall and as
it opened, a foggy wall came into view, Kassina wasted no time in
leaping right through it. The rattling sound of bones followed her
through.

Tusdar remained close to Mestal’s side
and carried various weapons out from the armoury. They emerged from
within the castle and halted in their tracks, their eyes widening
as they stared at the red surface of the moon, its white glow and
the clear skies. “What in the name…” exclaimed Mestal.

Lord Aryun approached them quickly.
“It is as we have feared; the blood red moon’s glow has somehow
been… enchanted. Whatever it was came from the forest; one of their
sorcerers. Also, a man who was dressed as a knight has immense
power and raised the river below us to put out the flames. We have
conserved our oil for a siege as it would be useless to continue
firing.”

Tusdar stepped out into the
open and shouted. “Speaking of firing, why have
they
stopped?”

Aryun’s face dropped at the
realisation and his body blurred as he moved to the battlements
facing the gorge, watching for any signs of movement. “Keep your
eyes on the skies and ready the oil on every section of the
wall!”

“
Look!” pointed Mestal.
They turned to see a firebird flying swiftly across the
sky.

“
Shoot it down!” cried
Aryun.

The crossbows took aim at Shanka and
the heavy thuds of their release sent a volley of bolts hurtling
toward her direction. The agile phoenix dodged them with relative
ease as they continued firing.

Lord Aryun snapped to a
group of vampires who were busy readying bolts. “Our plans have
changed. With the moon disrupted, we will need to construct the
portal for Kassina’s arrival. Open the crate of underworld
artefacts and begin our preparations. Split your men up and get it
done,
fast
!”

A vampire wearing whitened stripes on
his shoulder plates nodded and barked orders at the legion under
his command. They dragged a heavy crate into view and using the
hilts of their swords, snapped the locks open. The large pieces of
the portal spilled onto the ground before them.

“
Now!” ordered Makya, deep
within Karven’s wings. The long line of dragons remained cloaked as
they walked past the scorched trees and into the open.

“
Are you sure about this?
What if they shoot the bird down?” asked Vartan, concealed
within.

Ask him that once we are
inside Greenhaven’s walls, do you have a better plan?
Asked Keturah.

“
Stay focused, we only get
one chance to get this right,” said Andrielle.

Karven moved aside to let the four
dragons hiding the ladder under their right wings approach the
shortest section of the gorge and the swordsmen carrying it laid
the ladder down slowly. They did not need to wait long for the next
layer of their plan to unfold.

The catapults had been shifted to the
rear of the forest facing the front gates of Greenhaven. A line of
archers approached the front of the forest and fired volleys of
arrows into the battlements. The clear night’s sky filled once
again with fiery rocks flying toward the great city. Screams and
shouts were heard from Greenhaven and they watched as their army
shifted their attention to the front of the castle.

They quickly extended the bridge over
the gorge and Karven led them forward. They covered the makeshift
bridge before anyone would have a chance to see it and ensured that
the cloaked dragons were on top of it at all times. As if they had
built an invisible tunnel of dragons, they ran to the section of
castle wall that contained the secret entrance.

Helenia wasted no time in putting her
hands on the wall and when she turned around, they watched as the
stones shifted open and the heavily damaged tunnel opened before
them.

“
By the gods, what happened
here?” asked Vartan.

“
I do not know, but we
don’t have time to worry about it, let’s go!” ordered
Andrielle.

Helenia approached the wall and turned
a lamp clockwise. The sound of a metallic click emanated from the
wall and was followed by bubbling. The fluids within the wall
blended together and the pitch-black tunnel lit up with the colour
of moonlight.

“
The wall looks to have
been spared, but there is plenty of damage to the stairway, be
careful!” said Andrielle.

Once all of them were inside the
walls, Helenia resealed the entry and they heard the stones shift
back into position.