Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising (33 page)

The dragons began to retreat backward
over the bridge but as they did so, one of them slipped on the
bridge, falling hard onto the wood and sending a section of it down
the gorge.

Karven’s desperate voice
entered their minds. “
Dragons, get out of
here, now!
”

Shout rose from the battlements as the
crossbows on the east side took aim at the ground surrounding the
gorge and began firing. The dragons fled in all directions, flying
down in the gorge and back into the forest. The bridge had been
crushed into splinters under the frantic movements of the dragons
and safely splashed into the river undetected.

Some bolts found their targets and the
painful roar of dragons filled the air.

Vartan recognised the roar
of his brother and turned to head down the stairs. Andrielle
grabbed his arm tightly and brought him close to her face. “I know
you care for the dragons, but whatever has happened
cannot
be stopped now.
All will be lost if we are discovered here.”

He breathed deeply and said, “You are
right. Onward!”

They headed deeper into the turret,
following each other in single file as the path narrowed. They
neared a section of the wall with shiny markings that had been
partially blasted open and carefully peered inside. The room was
empty.

Stepping inside, Helenia
looked around in disgust and stared at the blood stained bed. “This
was
my
room. They
defiled it.”

Vartan brought his finger to his mouth
to silence her as he heard the sound of footsteps on the other side
of the door. Gesturing for Helenia and Andrielle to stay inside,
the rest of them prepared to open the door. Crouching down, Vartan
peered through the keyhole into the corridor leading to the dining
room, where the furniture was hacked to pieces and he saw armoured
vampire warriors facing the other wall, cutting wood into bolts and
piling them into the corner. The sound of axes chopping and saws
cutting provided the perfect cover.

Vartan showed six fingers, dragged his
finger across his neck and they nodded in return. Carefully opening
the door, he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. Makya,
Dryden and three other elven warriors followed suit and they
approached the vampires from behind. They eased their swords out of
their sheaths and prepared to execute them.

The moon shone brightly through the
dining room’s windows and caught the blade of the nearest elf. One
of the vampires noticed the reflection on the wall. Before he had a
chance to react, their heads were sliced cleanly off their bodies.
They turned to dust inside their armour, and the men and elves
quickly changed from their dragon and elven armour into those of
their victims.

“
This is disgusting,” said
Makya, shaking vampire dust out of one of the helms.

Helenia, Andrielle and the remaining
warriors entered the dining room, carrying the dragon’s
flag.

Vartan turned to speak. “If memory
serves me correctly, opening this door will lead us outside and
from there; there will be no turning back. When you hear the
crossbows shatter, then it will be time for you to join the fight
and one of you will need to take this flag to the battlements and
signal for the dragons to also join the fight.”

They nodded and Helenia approached her
husband, “Be careful.”

The men looked at each other with
determination as they each picked up a handful of bolts. Vartan
opened the door and proceeded outside, with Makya and Dryden close
behind. The vampire army was far greater in numbers than they had
imagined and they exchanged concerned looks before staring at the
portal in the lower grounds of Greenhaven, unsure of what to do
next as the final piece of the artefact slid into place. Vartan
nodded and gestured toward the crossbows as they split up, running
to each of them and appearing to replenish their stocks.

That doesn’t look
good
, said Keturah.

I know, but we have to
destroy the crossbows first or we don’t stand a chance. We can deal
with their artefact later
, said Vartan,
his inner voice strained.

As Vartan ran to his first crossbow,
he stopped in his tracks when he saw Tusdar marching toward him,
barking orders. “Take those to the east battlements,
now!”

By the gods, Tusdar is a
vampire?
Thought Vartan, his gaze
following his old ally.

Snap out of it!
Screamed Keturah.

Vartan responded with a deep voice,
“Of course!” and proceeded to the east battlement. Keeping an eye
on each other’s positions, they dropped a few bolts at each
crossbow and placed a small black orb underneath each one, twisting
it slightly to activate the magic within.

Hurry back to me
Vartan,
said Helenia.

The boy of dragon’s blood had just
finished dropping bolts at the last crossbow and placing the final
orb, and smiled at their success. Turning to head away from the
battlements, he found himself facing Lord Aryun.

“
What are you doing? How
many times do I have to tell you? We need more bolts! Half of your
legion has already activated the portal and here
you
are in the middle of
battle, taking your time to give a small handful to each one. You
useless pile of…”

The lord struck Vartan’s helm with his
right fist in an emotionally fuelled effort to punish his warrior.
The helm flew off his head and landed on the ground behind him. The
lord’s eyes widened in shock as Vartan pushed his sword deep
through the joints in his armour, piercing his heart.

Aryun screamed as he
disintegrated at the hands of Vartan and a nearby warrior rang a
warning bell. “
Intruders
! Our walls have been
breached! To arms!”

The dining room burst open as elven
warriors launched into battle from below. The sound of clashing
metal and battle cries filled the great city. Andrielle pulled her
daughter back from entering the fight, yelling at her in annoyance.
“Follow the plan!”

Vartan reached down to recover his
sword and the sound of Mestal’s primal scream sent shivers down
their spines.

“
You will die at
my
hand, human!” she
cried, her body blurring as she met his blade on the battlements.
Makya spoke the words to activate the orbs under his breath as he
spun out of the way of two attacking vampires, slicing their heads
clean off with the smooth movement of his own swords.

“
Incendia intus vos quod
exuro solvo!
”

Almost at once, the orbs exploded,
disabling the many crossbows inside the city, with the exception of
one. The fragments of wood flew around the city, lodging into many
vampires and narrowly missing Mestal.

“
Damn!” cursed Vartan,
kicking Mestal in her chest and leaping off the battlements. He
looked around as a swarm of vampires approached him and Mestal was
gaining on him. Remembering back to his training at Weeping Falls,
he concentrated as his power burst to life within him. Time slowed
down as he watched the vampires bearing down upon him and he
focused hard. He drove his mind deep into their bodies, finding the
water that flowed in their blood. Screaming with fury, he felt his
body warm up as he heated the water inside them, boiling the
vampires from the inside.

Tusdar leapt into Mestal’s way,
knocking her to the ground and keeping her far from Vartan. “No!
Don’t go near him, he will kill you.”

The blood curdling screams escaped the
dying vampires; they stripped off their armour and tore at their
skin in an effort to cool themselves. This spectacle distracted the
other vampires nearby. Dryden took the opportunity to run to the
wheels controlling the bridge and began lowering it.

The sound of metal scraping filled the
air as the portal was activated and the circles spun to life,
bright red light flickering within.

“
It matters not! Once the
portal is open, all of you will die!
Father
!” cried Mestal, tears
streaming down her face.

Vartan’s glowing blue eyes
narrowed as he pushed out his arms and sent the vampires flying
into the army around him. He turned back to look at Helenia’s face
and yelled, “We have no choice; they cannot be allowed to open that
portal. It has to be done
now
!”

Eleven warriors ran to Dryden’s aid,
one of them clutching his throat as it was sliced by an attacking
vampire. The other elves dispatched the vampires along the way and
began to turn the wheels to raise the gate. Makya growled as he
pushed his way through the army’s ranks, tearing through them with
each powerful blow. His bloodlust fuelled his anger as he screamed,
“Insects! Prepare to die!”

The portal was now fully activated,
the red light filling the inner circle and the outer circles locked
into place. Shindar’s voice filled all of their minds.

Bow before me!

Vartan cried out at the top
of his lungs, “Shindar is coming and we don’t have Talonsphere!
Helenia, do it
now
!”

Helenia shook her head in an effort to
rid herself of the demon’s voice. She ran to her old room, throwing
off her royal armour and slipping on her lightest blue and white
dress.

I cannot run at full speed
with my armour,
she thought, picking up
the dragon’s flag and running out of the dining room with it in
both hands. She cast a spell to enhance her senses as she ran
directly into the path of the army. “
Tendo
meus voluntas quod rector mihi per sospes.
”

“
Helenia, no!” yelled
Andrielle, her eyes watering as she watched her vulnerable daughter
run into an army of vampires and she sprang into action, shutting
her helm and charging into the fight in an effort to keep vampires
away from the princess.

Helenia felt her heart beat faster and
only heard the sound of her breath as the battle seethed around
her. She ducked to avoid a blade and watched its shiny edge cut
through the air above her face. Continuing her run, she turned to
see Vartan sending vampires flying into the air as they swarmed
around him like bees. Looking further to her left she watched as
Shindar’s towering size stepped through the portal with armour as
dark as the blackest of shade and drew a long black sword engraved
with glowing red symbols. His glowing red eyes shone through his
fierce helm, shaped like a skull with demonic horns.

He swung his sword through two
attacking elven warriors, their screams fading as their bodies were
sent flying out of Greenhaven and plummeted to the ground below the
castle.

The time has come for your
world to be mine!

Behind her, Makya was also being
overrun as Dryden turned his attention to defence as the elves
continued to open a path for the Marithian army.

I can’t make it to the
battlements; there is only one thing left to do
, thought Helenia.

She turned back to watch a large bolt
rocketing toward her heart and swung her flag to knock it out of
the way as she ran further into enemy lines. Vampire warriors near
her were confused with the sight of a formally clothed woman
running at them with a flag. They watched as she turned toward
Greenhaven’s outer wall and leapt through the window and far down
onto an outer guard’s tower. She turned east and crouched down on
one knee, waving the dragon’s flag above her head before slamming
it down into the ground. The flag and her hair flickered in the
wind.