Bastial Frenzy (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 4) (55 page)

He and his sister were targeted by every Krepp that saw them. Doe must have offered a reward for killing them as well. Only the ally Slugari drew more attention than the blue tunics around Zoke and Zeti’s torsos. The Krepps were mindlessly going after the Slugari, practically dropping their weapons so they could grab the little creatures and bite into them.

While nearly every Krepp that saw a Slugari got him or herself killed, a few did manage to get through at just the wrong time. It was horrifying watching pieces of the Slugari being ripped off while they were still alive and screeching. Every Slugari that Zoke saw had been bitten into at least once. There were so few of them with the mages, and so many Krepps everywhere.

The ally Dajrik had killed countless Krepps, but he’d taken too many arrows. His speed had slowed, and he stumbled often. It wasn’t long before he fell and barely managed to get up. This was when he retreated to the west, his massive legs slowly carrying him to safety. Zoke didn’t mind. The giant had done plenty and was more likely to fall and crush their allies than do much more at that point.

Cleve and Alex had taken advantage of the Krepps targeting Zoke and Zeti. Cleve’s Bastial steel sword thrashed through the air at the speed of a dagger, yet it was even longer than Zoke’s sword.

Reela had taken a tumble caused by an enemy Dajrik. She was clearly hurt but still powerful with psyche as she hobbled to keep up with the four of them.

“Traitor!” a Krepp yelled, wildly swinging at Zoke.

He blocked the attack, but not the spit. It splattered against his forehead. Zeti shot the enemy in the chest with a close-range arrow before Zoke could find a way in with his sword.

In the breaths between fighting, Zoke’s focus turned south, where Doe still went unopposed, shooting constant fireballs from his claws. Zoke caught sight of one of the Elven brothers kneeling over the other. Terren grabbed the Elf on his knees and pulled him back just as a fireball struck the fallen Elf. Rek or Vithos—Zoke couldn’t decipher from his distance—but one of them was certainly dead.

“We need to fight faster,” Zoke urged. “Our comrades are dying around Doe.” Then he repeated the same thing in Kreppen for his sister.

“I can’t keep running,” Reela said, grabbing her knee. “I’ll stay here and fight.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Cleve said.

“No, go. It looks like they need more help over there.”

Reela was right. The ranks of Krepps around them were quickly thinning. But farther south their allies were still outnumbered. Much of Tenred’s army was gathered there as well, not to mention Doe. Every time the Slugari would cast, one person would die, sometimes two or three.

Zoke led the four of them closer, now running and refusing to stop. All the Krepps before them fell quickly. Zoke drew their focus, Zeti impaled them with arrows, Alex stabbed them in the chest, and Cleve took their heads off.

But by the time Zoke neared Doe, he’d lost sight of Terren and whichever Elf still was standing. He did find Steffen, though. The chemist was fighting with Effie and her Slugari, easily slaying a Krepp blindly chasing after Leo.

But a familiar enemy was coming behind Steffen with an open glass vial.

Brady
. Zoke felt his teeth come together from the sight. He was too far to stop the heinous Human. Brady already had begun to toss the contents of his red potion from his vial. It splashed onto Steffen, who turned quickly and swung his sword back and forth to keep Brady at bay.

Effie was screaming at Brady, hysterical. “Get away from me!”

She had her wand aimed. But Brady was circling around, keeping Steffen between him and Effie. Steffen seemed lost, swinging his weapon nowhere near Brady or even the other enemies coming at him and Effie.

“Protect me,” Zeti said, readying an arrow. “I’ll shoot them.”

Zoke kicked away the Krepp coming at them. He heard his sister shoot. Zoke ran his sword through the Krepp’s stomach. Then he saw Zeti’s arrow had struck a warrior from Tenred in the chest who practically fell on Effie.

Steffen was looking in the wrong direction. He was about to be stabbed from behind by Brady. Effie was casting at two warriors rushing toward her. Zeti had just loaded another arrow.

Zoke wanted to shout to Steffen, but it was already too late for that. Brady was lunging forward.

But somehow Steffen must’ve known because he jumped to the side. Then in one motion, he turned and stabbed his sword fiercely into Brady’s chest.

Zeti fired, her arrow reaching another Tenred warrior near Effie. He grabbed at Effie’s arms as he stumbled. She twisted to free herself, but the man wouldn’t let go. He was on his knees, dragging Effie down with him. Then her little Slugari clawed his arm, and the warrior finally fell.

“Can you get a shot at Doe?” Zoke asked, unable to take his eyes off two Krepps who’d just killed a Kyrro warrior and now were coming for him and Zeti.

“Not from this angle. There are too many Krepps around him.” Instead, Zeti shot one of the Krepps approaching. Zoke killed the other.

There was a blast of light, another fireball killing more of their allies. An Elf was one of several who were tumbling away from charred dirt. When the Elf got up, Zoke was close enough now to see it was Vithos. Doe was targeting him, as was every Krepp nearby except those defending their leader. They were sticking to his sides and covering his tail, many of them archers looking for enemies who were a threat at range.

One found Zeti and shot an arrow in her direction.

“Down!” Zoke yelled as he pulled his sister to the ground.

There was a clank. Zoke looked up to find an ally had blocked the arrow with his shield. It was a commander, a man clad in steel but not from the Academy.

“Go,” he demanded. “I know you’re trying to get to Doe. I’ll help clear a path.” He blocked another arrow. “Don’t let any enemies through!” he yelled to others. “And watch for arrows from the south.” The men tightened their lines.

Soon Doe was just ahead of Zoke…but still with armored Krepps surrounding all but his front. Terren, Effie, and Steffen were with Vithos, trying to find a way for the Elf to use his psyche on Doe. But there were too many enemies constantly rushing in with their swords.

Allies were everywhere as well, though. It was sheer madness, and the moment Zoke tried to lead them through it, he lost track of Alex and Cleve. Even Zeti got separated, but he found her when he turned. She was pulling her leg out of the grasp of a dying Krepp who was grabbing her from the ground, one of his arms missing.

“Traitor,” Zoke heard the Krepp utter. Zeti kicked him and got away.

Another bright light, then an explosion. More screams. Zoke felt a blast of heat strike his face. Doe was just a stone’s-toss away, his massive body the center of the frenzy as allies and enemies were dying on top of each other.

Fireballs were soaring over Zoke’s head constantly. He fought every Krepp between him and Doe as he moved forward, but there seemed to be no end to them. Doe still was casting while he screamed, “Kill the Elf!”

He shouted orders for the Krepps to turn when he needed to maneuver his rotund body. There were many between Doe and Vithos, yet Doe didn’t let that stop him. Krepps or Humans, it didn’t matter who was in front of him. It was clear he was going to keep casting until one of his fireballs hit Vithos as it had Rek.

Zoke found no chance to let his sword-arm rest. There were too many enemies to kill, and he could feel fatigue taking over, the sound of his heavy breathing now of concern.

It was starting to become clear he couldn’t get to Doe. The Slugari was so close, but it was going to take too long to get through all the Krepps between them. The entire battle had come to this spot. Archers, mages, swordsmen, chemists, psychics, all of them fighting, a chaotic melee where some allies had their backs pressed against enemies without even realizing it.

There was no keeping Zeti or himself safe in here, except by luck. It was a mad brawl.

“Cleve!” Zoke shouted, barely able to hear his own voice over the battle cries. “Alex!”

“Over here,” he heard Alex yell. He found the Human within spitting distance. Cleve was beside him, killing two Krepps in the brief moment Zoke looked over.

“We need to find a way to get to Doe,” Zoke said.

“We’re trying,” Alex replied. “But there’s just too many.”

“I’m out of arrows,” Zeti told Zoke, bending down to rip one out of the chest of a Krepp she’d just shot.

Most archers must be by now,
Zoke realized.

He couldn’t think. It took all of his focus to defend against the enemies. But he couldn’t ignore the flashes of light and the screams that always followed.

They fought on and on, killing more Krepps than Zoke could keep track of. Strength came and went. Exhaustion struck at times.

Eventually he found himself engaged against armored Krepps. Knowing they were the closest enemies to Doe, he stretched his neck after killing one for a glimpse. He could see Doe’s backside. They’d pushed through. Just a little farther, then Zoke could leap on top of the giant Slugari and stab his sword deep into his body. But his heart fell when he heard an enemy ruin his plan.

“They’re coming from behind. We must turn.”

The armored Krepps shifted, fighting the Humans back to allow Doe to turn toward Zoke. Soon they met eyes and Doe’s claws began to glow.

Zoke cursed and yelled to get down. Zeti listened, both of them on the ground when the fireball struck those in front of him, many being enemies who hadn’t moved quickly enough.

The fireball didn’t reach him directly, but he was still struck by the force of its explosion, his body spinning and then bouncing against the hard dirt.

He lost his sense of direction…and Zeti as well. Looking around frantically, he found a path back to Doe. But now there was nothing between them but a line of bodies, and the Slugari’s claws were glowing again.

A Human ran into the path holding his shield high as he charged Doe with a sword. The explosion of light came around the Human, the force of the fireball tossing him and making him drop his weapon. The dazed man tried to get to his feet, but Doe killed him with another fireball before he could stand.

Again, the Slugari’s claws started to glow. This time no one ran in front of Zoke. He jumped as far and high as he could to the side. In midair, he felt the fireball catch his legs, causing him to spin so quickly that everything became a blur.

He kept expecting to feel the ground catch him, but it didn’t come. Losing his sword, he spun and spun, trying to brace himself with his hands. But he couldn’t seem to find the ground.

Finally his shoulder struck something—someone, actually—he realized when he heard screaming. His body struck Humans, tumbling and taking them to the ground with him. The fireball must’ve launched him far higher than he’d anticipated. He tried to grab the soil to stop himself, but his speed was too fast. He crashed into more people.

Finally he came to a stop. He saw blue tunics all around him. He tried to stand, but both legs were numb. Someone grabbed his shoulders and lifted him.

“You’re alive,” Terren said, sounding surprised. Then he let go of Zoke to kill a Krepp.

Feeling came back into Zoke’s legs, immense pain, but at least he could stand. Looking down, he saw they were burned. He turned to see seven or eight allies picking themselves up where he’d tumbled through.

“Zoke.” It was Vithos. “Ready charge Doe? We have plan.”

“Ready,” Zoke said.

“She’s almost done,” Steffen said. Zoke looked behind Vithos to find Effie and Steffen, an arrow sticking out of his leg. The little mage was creating some sort of green ball. Then Zoke remembered seeing her do the same thing atop the Fjallejon Mountains. Though, this ball was three times the size. She was knelt over her Slugari, using his back as a table. The Slugari’s diminutive arms glowed as he clutched the ball. From what Zoke understood, the Slugari was pushing Bastial Energy into it.

Steffen found Zoke looking. “Can you throw it?” the chemist asked him.

“Yes, Zoke throw,” Vithos added. “He strong.”

“It’s done,” Effie said. “Hurry, before it explodes.”

Zoke rushed over. “Throw it where?”

Terren was running his sword through a Krepp’s chest as he shouted the answer. “As close to Doe as you can hurl it!” Terren pointed.

Doe was a stone’s-toss away again, but this was no stone. The green sphere was enormous. It glowed yellow from within and looked to weigh about as much as Zoke’s sword, which he’d lost during his tumble. Zoke grabbed it, then shifted it in his hands, still unsure of the best way to throw it.

“Do it now!” Effie screamed at him.

The heat suddenly doubled, now so hot he couldn’t handle it without his body screaming at him to drop it. But he sucked in a quick breath, ran three steps toward Doe, and then flung the ball from his hip, throwing it as hard as he could over the heads of his enemies.

His hands were smoking, burning painfully. He shook them and winced. The ball exploded among the heap of Krepps just beside Doe, fire erupting out of their cluster and flinging the Krepps in all directions.

Vithos and Terren ran toward Doe, the Elf holding out his palm to disable every Krepp in their path. Zoke found a sword on the ground and ran with them, his legs and palms urging him to stop, sending excruciating pain pulsing through his body.