should have severed his head and sent it rolling through the street, but the Felhelad stopped. Lathaar protected him, sparks exploding between them as their blades collided.
“Your faith isn’t enough to challenge me, boy,” Carden said.
“Ashhur thinks otherwise.”
They pulled back and swung again. At the collision of their god-blessed blades, orcs and men alike shielded their eyes against the light. Lathaar and Carden pushed against each other with all their strength, locked in a stare of death. Whoever blinked, whoever faltered, would die.
“The city falls,” Carden said through clenched teeth. “No heroism will save it.”
“Shut up already,” Jerico said as he swung his mace from his prone position. Bonebreaker struck Carden’s ankle, bent in the metal, and then touched flesh. The magic within activated, and Carden screamed as the bones in his foot shattered. Antonil leapt in, thrusting his sword through the exposed gap in the armor underneath Carden’s arm. Blood soaked his sword, but before he could twist it the dark paladin spun. His giant blade batting them all away like insects. But as the blade spun around, Haern appeared directly before Carden, a wicked grin on his face. He sliced his sabers across the sides of Carden’s neck, severing an artery before somersaulting away.
Lathaar saw the blood, saw the pain, and knew his opponent beaten. In one single move, he spun a full circle and swung. The momentum and power pushed aside Carden’s last attempt to block. The Elholad melted his armor, cut through his arm, and cleaved his body in two. The black fire around the Felhelad vanished.
Outside the gate, Krieger shrieked in mindless fury.
W hat is the matter?” Qurrah asked. Velixar’s face had grown ashen in a rare expression of sorrow.
“Ashhur has always been bitter in defeat,” Velixar said. “Two of my dearest friends are dead. Still, we have not entered the city.”
“Are you sure we can’t play yet?” Tessanna asked, smiling and batting her eyes like a child. Meanwhile, a dark paladin rode up on horseback and saluted Velixar.
“A spellcaster has formed twin walls of fire at the southern gate,” he said. “Their forces are ready to break, but we have no means to combat the magic.”
“So damn stubborn,” Velixar said, a bit of frustration leaking into his voice. Qurrah kissed Tessanna’s lips and then bade the dark paladin to give him a ride.
“You cannot go,” Velixar said. “You are too valuable. The portal must be opened, and if you are killed…”
“If I am killed,” Qurrah said, “then I never had the strength to aid you in the first place. Our armies are dying. There is no honor in this, not for either side. Let death come swift.”
The dark paladin waited for a sign from Karak’s greatest prophet. After a moment, Velixar nodded.
“So be it,” he said. “The south gate is yours. Return the moment our minions enter the city.”
Qurrah bowed. The horse turned and rode for the south entrance.
“So few,” Tessanna said, laughing at the man in black. “All our numbers, all our power, and we are held back by so very few.”
“Valiant efforts disgust me,” Velixar said. “The west gate is yours to destroy. Let in our troops however you see fit.”
Tessanna beamed and blew him a kiss. “I knew you’d let me have my fun,” she said.
She eyed the city as her breathing quickened and her pulse raced. Fire consumed many buildings. The smoke floated in a gentle breeze. Somewhere within was her reflection. Mother had told her to shatter her reflection, and she would obey. The pleasure in the imagining was overwhelming. But the men at the gate with their shields and swords were keeping her from her pleasure.
“Blood is a strange thing,” she said. Her fingers crossed. Magic leapt out of her like a river. A hundred orcs lined before the gate lurched and howled as their blood exploded out their bodies. The blood flowed through the air in rivers, pooling above the ground as Tessanna held it firm in her mind. “It is our life, and at its loss we die…but no other substance in our world holds so much magic and desire for death. Well, other than you, Velixar.”
The blood sank to the ground. It grew thicker, stronger, congealing and reshaping as necessary. From the great pool three forms stood, each with feminine features. They had no eyes, but they did not need them. They could sense the blood of their foes. Tessanna shook her fingers, and strange words poured faster and faster from her mouth. The beings grew larger, drawing in the blood from which they formed. Soon they were five times the size of a normal man. Around their heads blood congealed into long ropes of hair that flowed down to their ankles. Although they had no eyes, they did have mouths, and each one opened and let out a shriek that pierced the sounds of battle.
“You must teach me that spell,” Velixar said as he watched in awe.
“Blood elementals,” Tessanna said as she smiled. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
The elementals marched toward the gateway where Antonil’s men stood horrified. The two paladins rushed the front and stood side by side. Haern, however, had other plans. He weaved through the ranks of the soldiers to Mira, who sat resting against a wall.
“You’re needed,” Haern said to her.
“Haern,” she said. “Will you protect me?”
He took her hand. “Until death, my lady. Now come.”
The first of the blood elementals neared the entrance. It was taller than the walls, but rather than duck inside the gateway it struck with its fists. The stone cracked and crumbled. A second stepped beside it and rammed its shoulder against the wall. Soldiers dove back as the gateway collapsed in on itself. At first it appeared the rubble would still hold them at bay, but then the three grabbed chunks of stone and hurled them away.
Antonil stood at the front of his soldiers as the first elemental stepped through the wall and into the city.
“Can these things be killed?” he asked Haern.
“Everything can be killed,” the assassin replied. “Be brave. Your men need it.”
Mira raised her hand to the air, a tiny pebble of light swirling inside her palm.
“Demon elemental,” she shouted. “Be gone from my sight!”
It raised its foot to crush her. The light shot from her palm, leaving a trail of red in its wake. When it hit the skin of the elemental it pierced through, traveling up its leg to its waist before exploding. The thing shrieked as it was severed in two, its upper body collapsing in a shower of blood. The legs toppled in the gateway. The magic holding the elemental together was broken. Streams of red poured across the feet of the soldiers. The second elemental stepped inside, bellowing in rage. Mira raised her hand, and another white pebble formed across her palm. The elemental, however, grabbed an enormous chunk of stone and hurled it at her. Mira released the light, shattering the stone into a giant rain of pebbles. Clanks and pings filled the air as the stone fell upon armor and shields.
Before Mira could prepare, a piece of the wall hurled through the air toward her.
“Get back!” Haern shouted. He took Mira in his arms and leapt aside. The rock smashed where she had been then continued, crushing several soldiers in its path. The elemental passed through the wall and into the city. At Antonil’s command, his soldiers charged, hacking at the elemental’s legs and feet. The swords cut through the thick dried layer that made up its skin and released the blood swirling inside. It poured over them all in sheets, coating their armor and weapons.
The thing let out a shriek, a strange sound akin to a wounded bird of prey. Furious, it slammed its fists to the ground, crushing men in their armor, then kicked a soldier so hard he flew through the air and landed atop a house. Two more it hurled back to the orc army. Still the cuts grew in number, biting into its skin and keeping it at bay.
Haern put Mira down far to the side of the entrance. The blood elemental was still visible, fighting against soldiers that came up only to its knees.
“It’s just blood,” the girl said as she watched the fight. “Just blood.”
Fire enveloped her hands. She unleashed her power in a stream of flame, its width greater than the length of her own body. The stream arced as if shot from a cannon, striking the elemental in the chest at the height of its ascent. The elemental shrieked, its skin hardening into long black strips that fell from its body. Jerico slammed his shield against its leg, and then it went down. Antonil led the rest, hacking and cutting its body as it lay vulnerable.
The last elemental picked up giant rocks in each hand and hurled them at the soldiers slaughtering its sister. Both pieces shattered in the air, broken by unseen magic. Lathaar glanced down the street, and his heart lifted at
