Taylon (19 page)

“Let—
squeal
—me go!” came a high-pitched voice.
Taylon held on as it kicked and bucked.

“Why were you running at us?” Kara asked, not sure
what she could do to help Taylon. The struggling stopped after the
question.

“I was running away from the market. From your army.”
And with a quick tug, the creature escaped Taylon’s grasp and took
off. The ex-captain made to go after the pig, but stopped himself
as he realized it would be futile.

“Why are they attacking the market?”

He answered with a shrug. “Everything sounds great
when Euphoria tells it. She gets in your head. But then, when it
actually happens, things just seem wrong.”

Kara looked behind her, the creature long gone, and
then she faced forward, knowing that was the way they had to go.
“We need to find my friends.”

***

Reggie was true to his word and led Jesset and Fret
right to Hambone and Ra’na. Of course, he wanted some kind of
reward for his services rendered. Ynob kept telling Fret to raise
his hands and the bird would get a reward that it wouldn’t
forget.

“Where’s Gantha? Did you find him?” Ra’na asked after
hugs.

“When he saw the elf army, he ran into the battle
convinced he had to do something,” Jesset said. The battle
continued in front of them, but they were at a safe distance to be
only spectators.

Roberto, the sprite, took an interest in Ynob. He
flew around what looked to everyone else like empty air. The wizard
tried to swat at the ball of light, but his ghostly hand mainly
went through Roberto. He twittered loudly.

“There’s no one there,” Hambone said, but the sprite
chittered away.

“Great, a sprite and a boy can see me. I shall never
be lonely again,” the wizard said in a mock tone.

“Fret is that…?” Jesset turned, watching the
sprite.

“Yes.” It was a dry response. He was getting sick of
being the only one to be able to see and hear the wizard. Even if
the sprite could see Ynob, Fret couldn’t understand sprite-speak to
converse about the wizard.

“What is all this?” Ra’na stepped forward.

Did you all forget about me? Hungry crow here.
Reggie piped up from the tree. No one answered him. Jesset looked
at Fret. Hambone stepped up to the boy too.

“Okay. Okay! Somehow, I can still see Ynob in spirit.
He is right there.” Fret pointed to the blank space near where
Roberto hovered. All eyes stared, and then looked back at the boy,
unconvinced. “I know. I’m the only one that can see him. And hear
him. It’s because of this ring.” Fret lifted his hand and showed
off the ring.

“But…I don’t know what to say.”

I know. How about feed the crow?
Reggie
squawked again.

“We also found out that Fret can channel the wizard’s
magic,” Jesset added.

“What?” Hambone said.

“Ynob started a spell, and the flames came out of my
hands.” Fret said, leaving out the part about frying some of the
elfin warriors in the process.

Hey! Hey! Hey!
Reggie cawed urgently.

Three people turned toward the crow to yell at
it.

Jeesh! I just thought you would want to know that
something big is going on in the market over there. A blue glow and
lots of screaming.

From their point of view, they saw nothing but the
market. But as they gazed furtively, a horrible laugh came through.
Fret shivered instantly.
I know that voice
. Ynob too, looked
scared.

“Uh oh,” Hambone said and pointed to the market.
Elfin warriors were approaching the group, their stares fixated on
Jesset and Fret.

“Not again,” Fret murmured. Ra’na stepped forward,
which threw the warriors for a loop.

Suddenly the ground shook and a hot blast knocked
everyone to the ground.

***

Power exploded from the creature. A ring of fire shot
forth, singeing all who were on bent knee. The whole market
suffered the force from the new god monster. As good as it felt
releasing the shockwave, the side effects brought the giant to her
knees.

Screams echoed all around her, yet her force remained
drained and helpless. She reached out and was able to pluck a
dwarf, one roasted by the fire. It became nothing but clothing in a
matter of seconds. The energy fed the new creature, but did not
rejuvenate it by far.

She crawled forward, bodies strewn all around. Why
was she so weak? Close by were a few of the burned worshipers.
Quickly she sucked what energy they had left, which gave her enough
power to stand.

Chaos still reigned around her. The market burned,
people still fought, but she could not enjoy any of it. Standing
was a chore for her. She needed to feed, needed magic. The
necklace, which now was a combination of the shard Da’Lynn wore and
the bat pendant Euphoria donned, glowed dimly around her neck.

No one approached her. Charred bodies three deep
surrounded her, as well as booths and other merchandise aflame. She
tried to calm her internal rage that built, a frustration that had
a hunger to feed. As her internal core cooled, she was able to
sense a source deeper through the market. Something magical.

Slowly, she stepped forward. And then again. She
could feed along the way. She needed that source, that magic.

***

Chele sat up, dazed from whatever knocked her to the
ground. Looking around, she saw two others picking themselves up
off the ground. The last thing she remembered was beheading another
human with her lava sword.

Queig was up, and by her side. “Are you okay?” He
offered a hand, but she refused it. Chele didn’t like the touch of
the goblin, or any of the races for that matter. She stood under
her own power.

“What…what happened?” Fire burned behind her. The
blast, or whatever it was, had come from there. Looking back, she
glimpsed something tall pushing through the booths. It was a…she
was never good with races.

“What is…?” The goblin muttered as he watched the
thing trudge through the next aisle.

The thing had dark milky skin and was completely
naked, from what she could see. Most of the races were modest. All
she could do was stare in wonder. What the heck was that thing?

A blue glow caught her eye and made her want to
follow it. She took a step in that direction.

“
Arr! Arr! Arr!”
The geth exclaimed loudly,
protesting her progress.

“Get out of the way.” This new pet was getting
annoying. She stepped forward, and the geth allowed her to pass.
Chele broke into a run as the beast moved quickly.

She heard the geth behind her, and Queig a few paces
behind it. Chele kept her eyes focused forward, ready to strike at
anything human, or anything that got in her way. She bumped past a
nymph, who looked a little perturbed at the rough treatment.

Most of the customers cleared the aisle. The only
ones who remained were die-hard merchants and patrons that wanted
to kill something. It was fine with Chele. As long as they didn’t
bother her, she had no problem with them.

The creature she followed paused every now and then,
as if stopping to pick up a coin. With each stop, the blue glow
grew. Chele did not stop. There was something about the creature,
the glow, made her want to follow it. The geth barked at her heels.
She hoped Queig was keeping up, too.

***

Nonk picked himself up, not knowing what had hit him.
Was it some sort of explosion? The elf he had been dueling with was
still on the ground. He stabbed his sword through the creature’s
heart.

Most of his soldiers picked themselves up before
their elfin combatants, but a few met their death due to the shock
wave. Nonk took a quick look around to get his bearings again.
Something in him felt different. It was almost as if his purpose
had left him.

He looked at his men, and they had a similar look on
their faces. What was their goal in taking this marketplace?
Captain Nonk could not remember.

Another elf approached. Nonk took two strides and
ended its life.

“Men, to me!” Nonk called his soldiers. Havoc was all
around. The soldiers had caused some of it, while other fires were
because…Nonk was not sure.

Several of his men came ’round, while others stared
at him unsure of what to do. He was not particularly sure what he
was going to say, but he knew he needed to say something. Should
they retreat? Should they press on? At least a dozen sets of eyes
looked to him, hungering for some purpose.

“I don’t know what that was…but we must be
frightening them if they have to use magic against us. Remain
watchful and alert.” Nonk ended his simple speech with a yell, his
sword in the air.

Soldiers echoed the battle cry and ran forward. The
surge surprised the elves, yet none showed fear.

Nonk pushed forward, cutting through a furniture
booth, the proprietor having long ago fled. His sword stuck when he
tried to slash a chair out of his way. As he struggled, something
jumped at him from behind a bench. Something small and green
gripped his head, fingernails digging into his scalp. His hands
left his sword and instantly went for the creature. Nonk’s huge
hands grasped and squeezed and turned and broke whatever they
found. A horrible scream of pain let loose from the creature as it
fell to the ground. A bone poked through its forearm while one of
its legs definitely twisted in the wrong direction.

A heavy boot ended the creature’s life. But before
Nonk could retrieve his sword, his peripheral vision caught sight
of something, and he jumped back. A warrior elf swung downward, its
sword barely skidding off the captain’s armor before striking the
dirt. Instinct took over, and Nonk used the grounded sword as a
step and forced the elf down to meet his uppercut. As the enemy
released its sword, Nonk snatched it up to dispatch the elf.

Leaving the elf impaled, the captain quickly
retrieved his sword. He felt good. His purpose returned, filling
him with anger and rage.

“Onward!”

***

“Something’s coming.” The wizard’s voice held a
frightened tone that Fret had never heard before. He looked behind
him at Ynob’s ghostly form. It stared deep into the market, through
the fires and the smoke.

Everyone picked themselves up after the blast—shaken,
but not hurt. No one was sure what happened. The approaching elves
backed off, looking confused and disoriented.

“Ynob says something’s coming. Something powerful,”
Fret told the group. Roberto the sprite twittered too.

“Powerful? But what could that be?” Ra’na asked,
knowing that no one had an answer for her.

Fret looked back to the wizard, but he wasn’t
offering a clue. What could make a dead man so scared? But as he
turned back to follow Ynob’s stare, fear crept into his heart.

Roberto shot forward, a red streak into the market.
Something moved deep among the chaos—Fret could see it through the
flames. It was something tall.

The rest of the crowd looked toward Fret, his
reaction turning into something that made everyone else feel
unsure. Worry showed upon Jesset’s face. Hambone stepped forward,
outstretching his arms in front of Ra’na and the group. Fret knew
Ra’na could take care of herself, yet Hambone needed to play the
male role and feel important.

“Maybe we should go into the market. Meet whatever it
is head on,” Ra’na said. She flexed her arms. Each hand had a short
sword that looked very sharp. The elf was ready for battle.

“Um….I don’t know,” the Mordock said. Reggie the crow
was nowhere. The blast had probably knocked him out of the tree.
Without any animals nearby, his talent was useless.

Roberto zoomed back and buzzed by Ra’na’s ear.
Sprite-speak came in waves as it sounded like the little guy was
out of breath. Fret waited for someone to translate, but it
appeared no one would.

“This is not good.” Hambone said slowly. He looked
defeated already and hadn’t even engaged in battle.

“What? What did it say?” Fret asked.

“He,” Ra’na corrected.

“What?”

“That
it
you spoke of is a being. He.
He
. And
he
said there is something big headed
straight for us. The creature looks to be a blend of human and dark
elf. And a necklace with a blue stone and a shard hangs from her
neck.”

Jesset looked shocked. “The human part could be
Euphoria.”

“And maybe my mother?”

Everyone sounded defeated. Fret, on the other hand,
fought his fear. “Ynob, I will need you to be at your best.” This
statement snapped everyone’s glum mood for the moment, including
the wizard’s.

“What crazy notion do you have in your head, boy?
Just because you have a little magic power doesn’t mean you can
defeat it.” No one but the sprite and Fret heard the wizard speak.
They looked on anxiously.

Roberto twittered loudly.

“The necklace?” Ra’na repeated the sprite.

“Of course, the necklace!” Hambone exclaimed.

“I don’t know, boy. It is not that easy. I am sure
this super wraith will have some protection or something, knowing
it is her weakness,” Ynob said, his tone a little brighter but
still not convinced.

“We have to try. All of us have to try. Maybe
something one of us can do will break through.” Fret looked around
at all of them. Hambone nodded. Jesset looked a bit doubtful. The
sprite…he looked like a sprite. Ra’na was unreadable.

At last, she looked up at Fret. Her silver eyes
mysterious, yet charming. “We go. We are the only ones that know
anything about how to defeat this. The only thing is, we need to be
careful. There is still a battle going on. Jesset and Fret should
remain covered so the elf warriors don’t attack them. If Ynob
helps, we can discourage the human soldiers from attacking us.”
Fret nodded without consent from the wizard.