The soldier’s armor seemed to have little to no effect on Arkin, Kovos, and himself. With the magical enhancements to their bodies, they even cut through chainmail without issue. Still, he was feeling a definite drain on his magic. In the beginning he had been sure that there would only be a few of them, but they didn’t seem to stop. Arkin was using his magic to fortify their bodies from injury, so if a major vein was cut, the bleeding would stop instantly. Sasha was managing the whole thing from a distance, tapping into their minds and using logic to decide the best amount of energy to be used and where.
Suddenly, on the other side of the clearing an Iumenta stepped into view, and Legon felt his body go cold. Even with magic helping them he wasn’t sure they could stop and Iumenta. What if it was a Venefica? He felt Arkin’s emotions boil up in the connection.
Sasha was shooting as fast as she could. He felt more emotions, but this time from Kovos. They were ones of finality and sorrow. His best friend stepped in the path of the Iumenta, slashing hard at him. He was no match, but Legon and Arkin both started dumping copious amounts of magic into Kovos, who was fighting as hard as he could. He was starting to acquire minor nicks and cuts but didn’t seem to care. The Iumenta was backing away. Kovos was winning!
Still more and more men entered the area. Their camp must be somewhere nearby. Legon could only see one way out. It was going to knock him out, but it was their only hope. He felt magic building in him and also sensed Sasha’s apprehension. The spell was simple, really; it was just going to shred twenty or so men in the area. In the pause Arkin could help Kovos and kill the Iumenta. If they were lucky, when others arrived to see so many of their own dead and a slain Iumenta, they wouldn’t pursue.
He felt the magic hit a point that it hadn’t ever reached before, even more than the other day when blocking the dragon. He released the spell, pointing the palm of his hand at the rushing soldiers. Time stopped in that instant. He saw an orb of lavender magic form in his hand and start to leave. It was size of his head and tear-shaped. The tear was a translucent purple with bright veins of lilac glowing around it. The smaller end stayed connected to his palm. He’d never seen magic like this before. It always had moved so fast; this was beautiful. It continued to stretch, the tiny bit connected to him. Then, moving like water, it snapped back to him, covering his hand and moving up his arm.
He tried to scream as he felt his skin tear and bone shatter. His eyes were on fire. All he could see was magenta light. He felt all of his spells failing as Sasha franticly attempted to disconnect his mind from the others. The pain was unimaginable. He wanted to die. He tried to cry out, but time was going too slow and he couldn’t open his mouth. He opened his scorched eyes to see the smoke that must be his own body burning from the magic. He begged for mercy in his mind and felt something tugging at his consciousness. A deep voice told him that he was worthless, but that he would be made better. He remembered his dreams then, and felt for hope, felt for Sasha and her love. The smoke in front of his eyes cleared to reveal a massive wall of glittering diamonds. They where white and radiated light. A horizontal seam in the wall opened to reveal a violet blue eye the size of a shield.
Chapter Sixteen
“When people look at my sister, they often don’t see the pain of those early days, the days without comfort or solace; but I do, and I love her for them. Had she not had the strength to endure then, where would we be now?”
Sasha frantically worked to disconnect Legon from the others. The moment the spell reverberated back on him she felt raw magic course down the connection and with it, pain. All of Legon’s spells failed simultaneously. She needed to disconnect him so that Arkin could adjust for being one Venefica less than before. She severed Sara’s connection, seeing her friend fall to the ground. Lastly she cut her own. She looked at where Legon was supposed to be, but all she saw was blinding lavender light. She covered her face with her arm and fell back. She hit the ground, causing the back of her head to buzz.
The light faded, and in front of her stood a figure that resembled her brother, but it couldn’t be. He was the same size as Legon with the same clothes and hair, but his skin seemed to have a slight glow to it. Or maybe it was the light. She looked to his ears, which were rounded before but now were tapered at the tops, and from the side his eyes looked slightly larger and more almond shaped. More… Elven.
She marveled at the Elf Legon standing in front of her. Perhaps it was the sound of men screaming ‘Elf!’ that made her look. She didn’t know. She turned to look at Kovos and the Iumenta, who both stood stalk still, mouths gaping. Then, at the same time, they seemed to realize that there was no longer magic protecting Kovos. He slashed out at the Iumenta, who caught the blade with a flick. She saw Kovos’ muscles twitch with magic as Legon reestablished the connection with him, but too late. She could only watch in horror as the Iumenta’s other fenrra came across Kovos at his neck. Time ceased as Kovos’ head separated from his body as he fell to the ground.
Keither watched in horror as his brother’s body fell to the earth. Pain erupted from his knees as he hit the ground himself. Legon cut a man in half and was now on the Iumenta, but the outcome of their fight did not matter.
The Elf and Iumenta were flitting around the clearing at amazing speeds, the fenrra just a shiny blur. A steady spattering of blood was coming from the fenrra, not from fresh wounds, but from the blood of the slain now being flung off by the tremendous speed at which they were being swung.
His brother was dead. He saw the head roll away from his body which still held that ridiculous sword in a limp hand. He felt hot tears rolling down his cheeks and he was aware that his throat hurt. He was screaming himself hoarse, but he didn’t hear the sound. Sara and Sasha were clinging to him, trying to drag him back to the horses. Arkin was attempting to clear a path as the two non-humans fought, pushing themselves to kill the other. Keither hoped they did it. He hoped that Legon would kill the bastard.
A knife flew by him, nicking Sara’s arm and causing her to yelp. He heard that sound. He looked at Sara’s arm now with blood running down it. He looked at his brother, the one who had protected him his whole life, who had tried to make him a man. The one that would never let bad things happen to good people. He had proved that with Sasha. Rage filled Keither. Rage at what he had been through, what Sara had been made into, and what the Iumenta had taken from all of them. His hand was still on the cleaver and he gripped it with white knuckles. Now the scream was not that of loss but of a terrible drive to stop those that had hurt the people he loved. To kill all of those that murdered in the name of the Queen.
Sara let go of his arm, and Keither ran forward, raising the cleaver. One of the morons looked at him coming and smiled, thinking he was going to get an easy kill off of this fat kid. Fat he may have been, but under that fat was the muscle that carried it all. The man attempted to block with a flimsy metal shield. The cleaver dented it and the man’s arm gave way. Again and again the cleaver came down. The shield was a wreck of what it once was. Again the cleaver came down, removing the pathetic hunk of metal from its owner. Now the look of amusement was replaced with one of terror. The cleaver came down again, hitting at the base of the man’s neck, crunching and slurping as it came out.