Myrkron (Volume Two of The Chronicles of the Myrkron) (45 page)

Diving
several times and breathing out a line of fire, they finally met and closed the barrier.  It did not matter that the marsh was wet, dragon fire would burn anything it touched, and water would not put out the flame.  The line would hold until the fuel behind it was exhausted.  Quin and Rena climbed again and began to wing their way back toward the mountains.

A sudden streak of lightning flashed out of the clouds and hit Quin square in the face.  The big dragon made no sound as he tumbled in mid
-air and dropped.  Rena shrieked and dove after him.  She saw his body change back to human form, and she cried out once more.  Tucking her wings against her sides, she dove past Quin and inverted herself, catching his body in her front claw.  Righting herself, Rena beat her wings as fast as she could to return to The Slot.

Mortow took in all that was transpiring.  The forces of Kantwell fought well
, but they were overrun.  The Weres were doing a better job than he had anticipated.  Of course, their losses were extremely high as he had known they would be.  They were pushing the opposition back.

Suddenly,
Mortow saw flames erupt among the troll troops and watched the dragons race back into the clouds.  Each time they dove, they spread more fire and more death.  He had to do something to stop them before they wiped out that entire part of his army.  He reached out with his magic and took hold of the potential for lightning.  He waited, but they did not make another appearance.  Then he saw them breathing out a fire barrier to stop the troll advance.  He tried twice to hit the closest one, but the dragon would dive quickly, breath fire, and soar back into the clouds.

The two dragons met up once again and turned
, this time, toward The Slot.  Mortow sent another bolt and smiled when he saw it strike one of them.  It began to fall.  He was reaching for another bolt when he saw the falling dragon unexpectedly change into a human.  "Now that is interesting.  I best not kill them both.  I will need to study one when this is finished."

His attention was drawn by a
spontaneous cheer rising up from the battlefield.  Mortow looked down, and his jaw dropped.  All of his Weres had changed back to their human forms and were fleeing for their lives.  Mortow was livid.  What could possibly cause all the Weres to turn to human form?  What troubled him more was the fact that they were not turning back, they were simply running.  Releasing his hold over the storm, Mortow waved a hand out and cried, "
Extinguo incendia!
"  The line of dragon fire flickered and went out.  The trolls reformed and began marching once more.  The ogres were right behind them.  His opposition may have dealt with the Weres, but now they would face trained soldiers, and it appeared as if they had already lost more than half their number.

Karg was swinging his hammer down on a tiger that had sliced a gash down his leg
, and was shocked when it connected to a human head instead.  Scanning quickly about him, he did not see a single Were in animal form. They had all become human once again and had stopped moving.  Every face he looked upon turned from feral rage to confusion and finally, to fear.  Karg’s yellow face split in a wicked grin, and he bellowed once more, swinging his war hammer in huge arcs.  The Weres not hit by the massive hammer began to run.  Karg and his warriors pressed forward killing every one that was within reach.

The knights and infantry fought as one now
, as every horse had been slain.  King Brose and Captain Hamil fought back to back.  It had come down to them. All of the men that had helped Hamil reach the king had already fallen.  King Brose’s once shining armor was mud and blood-spattered and bore many dents and creases.  He was exhausted from constantly swinging his sword.  If it were not for Captain Hamil at his back, Brose might have fallen and not gotten back up.

Captain Hamil’s great sword seemed to grow heavier with every cut he made.  He held off every attack that had come at him and
, other than a rip in the left sleeve of this chainmail, he was miraculously unharmed.

Both men were panting when the
Weres changed suddenly to human form.  So stunned were they that both men allowed their sword arms to hang at their sides motionless.  They watched as the now human Weres began to run in panic.

“My liege, what is happening?”  Hamil asked between gasps.

“I would say our friends from Kantwell have figured a way to draw the Were’s fangs,” King Brose replied, barely managing to stay standing.

Hamil looked around and saw
, with relief, Salic running after the fleeing Weres.  He was swinging wildly and killing any naked body in sight.  All around were similar sights.  The allies were taking the fight to the hobbled Weres.

King Brose took a deep breath and shout
ed for a regrouping.  He and Captain Hamil began to walk toward the pass, followed by more and more as the command was spread.  Neither man had the stomach to look down. They had to walk over bodies, and many of those bodies were armored men.  The field was covered in corpses.  If King Brose were not so tired, he would have cried at the cost in lives this war had already extracted.

The Avari had fared better than their allies
. When the Weres turned human and began fleeing, they simply began to withdraw from the battlefield.  There was no honor in killing unarmed men and women, even if they were Weres.  Of the four hundred plus Avari that had taken to the field, over three hundred and fifty remained.  Instead, as they withdrew, they began searching for wounded and helping those they could.

King
Westan and his men retained their animal form, but they, too, ceased their attack when their cousins changed form.  King Westan heard the human king shout to regroup.  He roared out for his men to follow, and they began to lope back to The Slot. He was joined by Prince Rein as they ran though he was no longer white.  Rein's gleaming coat had turned red with blood.  King Westan imagined he must look much the same.

Ralk and Bran
held their ground as the suddenly human Weres started to flee.  Their small group had gotten smaller.  Bran searched for Dain and found him tending a fallen dwarf.  He found Kale leaning over, panting, close by.  Counting, Ralk's heart sank.  There were only twenty three dwarves left.  His race was disappearing and nothing he did seemed to be able to change that fact.  At least Gant and the others would have a chance if they stayed within the mountain.

Bran noticed the humans were pulling back.  He nudged Ralk and pointed.  Ralk nodded, neither had the breath to speak.  Rounding
up what was left of their kindred, they walked tiredly to the pass entrance.

Pace, Attis and Mardak remained with Dain
. All three bore wounds, though not life threatening, which would need tending.  Mardak's size had shielded the other three from the lightning blast.  He'd been scorched and momentarily stunned by the bolt, but it had done far more damage to the three Weres who were directly in its path.  Of them, nothing remained except a charred crater.

All of the allies gathered at the entrance to The Slot.  Their number
s now much less than when the battle began.  The ogres and the Avari were the only groups that had not sustained high casualties.  The dwarves had lost nearly three fourths of their people.  The King's army had lost every horse and, of the fifteen hundred knights, only a little over six hundred remained.  His infantry now numbered under four thousand.  Of the two thousand ogres, nearly seventeen hundred had survived.  The Avari had lost only thirteen men and women.

Ataum and Alissa came down from the cliffs to meet with the King.  His people had only lost two
. They had both been slain by the blasts that released the Garoliths from the pass walls.

King Brose noticed the huge corpse as he got close to the pass.  The wizards of Kantwell were gathered with a couple Avari and
were conversing.

Merric looked up at his approach and walked out to meet him.
  “My liege, the Garoliths attacked after the charge began.  Somehow they managed to find passages within the mountains and lie in wait,” Merric informed him.

Still breathing heavily
, King Brose replied, “It would appear you and your wizards had things well in hand.”

“We cannot take credit.  Michael and Lord Micah fended them off.  There were four
.  However, three managed to flee back into the mountains.  Lord Micah followed one into that cave, but has not returned, Michael sealed the cave through which the other two fled.”

The king nodded
, too exhausted to speak further.  It would not matter that the monsters had escaped.  There were still many thousands of troops marching on them.  They would not last out the morning.  At least the sun was coming up, though the cloud cover blocked the shining disc.  Fortunately, they would no longer have to fight in the dark.

The king turned to Salic, “Have the men ready themselves,” he
commanded, squaring his shoulders and standing up straighter.  “We will send many of them to the ether, before we are done.”

“As you command, my liege,” Salic replied.

King Brose then noticed Captain Hamil.  The big warrior had a pleased smile on his face.  “How can you smile at a time such as this?”  He asked perplexed and slightly irritated.

“I am not a man to die old and toothless, rocking by the hearth.  I will meet the Great One at my King’s side with my blade in hand and the enemy at my feet
, defending my homeland and her people.  There is no greater fate a warrior could seek.” Hamil spoke loudly so the troops would hear him.

A loud cheer rose from the men and women of all races
, and King Brose smiled.  He had known Hamil most of his life and this speech was comprised of more words than he had ever heard the big man speak.

“
Your words are truly inspiring,” Brose said sincerely. He then raised his voice so all could hear.  “There is no greater honor a king could be given than to have each of you at his side.  I am proud to fight with you, and I thank each one of you on behalf of Branna and her people.”

Fists went to chests with loud thumps and the allies
reformed.  King Brose looked out on the battlefield and could see the advancing troll army; their time was short.

Michael walked up to the King with Reek and Branik at his sides.  “King Brose, I have a plan that could possibly stop all this.  It would not have helped against the Weres
, but it might against the troll and ogre armies.”

“Commander Salic and Wizard Merric speak highly of you, Michael.  If you think you can end the fighting
, I grant you leave to try,” King Brose told him skeptically.

“I
f what I have planned works, all we need worry about is Mortow and his wizards.  If not, then we will have lost nothing.”

“What do you require?”  King Brose asked.

“Only that you let me meet the approaching armies alone,” Michael stated firmly.

King Brose shook his head.  “Even a powerful wizard is no match for what lies yonder.  You would be throwing your life away.”

“You are correct, but then, I am not a wizard.  If my plan fails, I can at least balance out the sides, if not outright destroy the enemy,” Michael said confidently.

Merric had heard Michael’s plan.  He was unsure if it would work
, but if it did, the killing would stop.  He did not like the idea of Michael expending his power on the spell he previously used at this very place.  Merric was afraid Michael would kill himself in the process.  He had reluctantly agreed, knowing if Michael was unsuccessful, none of them would survive anyway.

Michael bowed to the King
. He began walking out onto the field, flanked by the two Avari.  Once he reached the battle line, he stopped and waited.  Reek and Branik stood before him, hiding him somewhat from view.  The trolls were marching like a dark tide toward him. Michael could just now begin to see them as more than an advancing shadow.  He would let them get close enough to see him clearly before he revealed himself.

There
were so many, Michael began to wonder if the spell would have any significant effect, if his plan failed; but, then again, Mason had done it.  Soon, he began to see facial features and decided it was time.  Michael clapped his hands over his head and cried, “
Lumen!
”  A ball of white light shot up over the field making it as bright as midday.  He stepped from between Reek and Branik and let the light shine on his robe and sash.

Michael had the satisfaction of seeing the trolls immediately in front of him
, stumble and begin glancing around uncertainly.  His heart was beating so fast, he was sure they could hear it.  He held up his hand and shouted, “Hold!” in as commanding a voice as he could muster.

The entire line instantly stopped at his command
.  Michael exhaled in relief.  A bolt of lightning hit his shield suddenly, and he quickly looked around.  He could not see Mortow, but he had made himself known.  The ground around him erupted and Reek and Branik were thrown back.  Two more bolts of lightning hit his shield, but he ignored them.