But Dorian hadn’t wasted time gloating. Even before his foe had struck the wall, he had launched himself into motion, charging at the shining god. Before the god could recover, he had closed the distance and his armored fists began hammering into Karenth’s head and stomach. Inside his armor, the son of Gram Thornbear howled his rage, even as he drove his powerful punches home, each one striking with the force of a battering ram.
The stone blocks of the wall behind Karenth shifted, and dust fell from above, as Dorian pounded mercilessly at the shining god’s body. However, his blows had little effect upon the god himself, and eventually he could hear the god laughing, even as his body was driven against the hard stone again and again. Enraged, Dorian refused to relent, for he knew his foe would recover within seconds if he stopped.
He had underestimated the power of the shining god however, and after a time Karenth grew bored. “I think you’ve had enough fun,” said the deity, and with nothing more than a thought he sent Dorian flying across the room, as though he had been struck by a giant, invisible fist.
Dorian had been thrown in a similar fashion once before, during his brief and disastrous confrontation with Celior, and this time he was better prepared. Twisting in the air, he managed to get his feet under him, and while he still struck with enough force to break stone, he was able to keep from being stunned by the blow. Instead, he launched himself from the wall, using it as if it were a springboard, to propel himself back at his divine enemy.
“You really are too stupid to know when you’re beaten,” said Karenth, and with another exercise of his will, he caught Dorian in mid-air with a blast of pure force, sending him flying again into the wall. This time the Knight of Stone was unable to save himself from a bad landing. He struck the hard wall sideways, at an awkward angle, before crashing to the floor. He began struggling to rise almost immediately. The god of justice raised his hand again, and a dark purple light began to glow around it, as he prepared an attack that would put an end to Dorian’s resistance.
Dorian glared at Karenth through the visor of his helm and somehow found the strength to stand again. “Maybe I am,” he replied, through lips that felt dry and sandy. His voice had grown deep, almost guttural, “I’d rather be dead than admit defeat at your hands.”
Chapter 26
“I think perhaps your fight is with me, rather than my friend here,” I said from the far end of the hall.
More quickly than a snake, Karenth switched targets and leveled a scorching bolt of searing purple energy in my direction. I had expected that of course, but it still nearly caught me as I dodged to one side. The high table, a large portion of the wall behind it, and one of the rooms beyond that, were destroyed. Fragments of rock, wood, and other debris flew in all directions, and part of the ceiling above that area sagged downward as it lost support.
“Perhaps you should introduce yourself before trying to kill me!” I shouted once the noise had faded.
The shining god snarled and sent a hasty bolt of pure energy at me. This one was much weaker, but his aim was impeccable, and my reflexes were nowhere near quick enough for me to dodge in time… not that I had planned to dodge; but Dorian didn’t know that. He had been moving since my surprise appearance, and with a burst of speed, he managed to intercept Karenth’s second attack. It was an action of pure altruism. “Run Mort!” he screamed at me, and then the energy struck him.
Whatever the nature of Karenth’s purple bolts of energy truly was, it wasn’t pleasant. It had already destroyed part of the roof and some of the interior of the castle, not so much with physical force, but with a type of ravenous purple fire that seemed to consume whatever it touched. Dorian was close when he intercepted the beam, which allowed him to block the entire thing, before it had spread much. It ran over his armor like a beast trying to devour him, even as the blast itself flung him across the room to land beside the spot where I stood.
A second blast engulfed my body, and in an instant I was gone.
Walter jerked for a second before glancing at me again.
“What?” I asked, “Did he take the bait?”
“Dorian intervened, he took the blow meant for the illusion,” said Walter in a tone of utter shock.
“No!” I shouted back at him. “We were going to draw him away! Is he alive?”
“I’m not sure,” said Walter, concentrating. “His armor appears to be gone, but I think his body is intact. There’s something strange about him. Karenth is approaching him now, looking for your remains I think.”
My mind raced, and I silently cursed my inability to use my own magesight. It would have been far simpler if I could have seen what was occurring for myself. “Create another illusion of me, place it further back, outside the hall in the area he destroyed. He might think I avoided it somehow. If he follows after, create a fog to obscure things and then drop the illusion and create another one close to the stairs.”
“You still think we can lure him?” said Walter uncertainly.
“Just do it! Don’t waste time,” I commanded.
A tense minute passed while I waited for Walter to tell me the result of our latest ruse. I could only hope that the disappearance and reappearance of Walter’s exceedingly realistic illusions would convince Karenth that I was teleporting myself somehow. Not that I was capable of such a thing. While it might be possible for the gods, it took far too much calculation for a human wizard to teleport without a lot of extensive preparation… that’s why we generally used circles. I could only hope that Karenth’s opinion of my abilities was overinflated.
Sweat was beading on Walter’s brow when he finally spoke again, “He’s coming for the second illusion now. He’s too close, Mort. He can sense me!”
I watched the older wizard struggling to maintain his composure under the ominous pressure that Karenth was creating and felt another pang for misusing my friend in such a manner. Our sacrifice is the only way to save them now, I told myself, hoping to ease my feelings of guilt. If you knew the truth, you’d probably tell me to do it this way. Of course, if he knew the truth it couldn’t possibly work.
We were standing in a corridor running through the cellars and storerooms beneath Castle Cameron. One more turn and another short corridor would put us next to the hidden entrance to the Ironheart Chamber. “You have to draw him closer Walter. One more illusion and you’ll be done. Once that’s done, you can drop the spell hiding me.”
“But… he’ll find you then!” said my friend.
I shrugged, in what I hoped was a nonchalant and heroic fashion, even as I flinched inwardly at my deception. “Just do it! I’ll be hiding inside the chamber in a moment anyway. He won’t be able to touch me.”
“You’re going inside? That makes no sense!” he protested.
The time had come to reveal the rest; I only hoped it wasn’t too soon. Squaring my shoulders, I faced him. “I’ve kept some secrets Walter. The Ironheart Chamber isn’t meant purely for protecting the God-Stone, it’s also a weapon, and one that I think can stop Karenth dead in his tracks.”
“But…,” Walter began before I interrupted him.
“Hurry up! I’ll explain the rest in a moment, after you do the next illusion. There isn’t much time,” I insisted.
The older wizard closed his mouth and gave me an irritated look, before closing his eyes to concentrate. His lips moved as he quietly whispered the words to give power to his illusions, and his forehead creased in an expression of pain, as the shining god grew ever closer. I watched him closely, with eyes that seemed woefully inadequate without my magesight. After a moment he began to twitch ever so slightly, and the veins on the side of his head bulged; I doubted he could hold out much longer.