The Fhyrrstorm (Guardians of Kallor Book 1)

twenty times stronger than steel. It was rare like diamonds, and so anything made of it was extremely expensive. If the Great Sages had had to pay for Sanctuary’s walls, they would have cost millions of bleedars. Of course, they were the original founders of the material, so they could get all they wanted. While Sigmonium was not unbreakable, it was the closest thing to it, and it showed – the walls of Sanctuary itself, in spite of all the carnage, were still smooth and as strong as ever.

No, it was everything within those pristine walls that was all wrong. Throughout this once marvelous room lay the mangled bodies of the Guardian Sages, killed by the hideous Death Beasts that hovered above them. Their blood stained the carpets and was smeared all over the walls – it would appear the beasts had taken their time with their prey. The sight was enough to make Gallian’s stomach lurch and bile form at the back of his throat, yet he could not for fear of showing weakness to his enemy, which, judging from their number, would have been understandable.

If only I had the strength and skill to fight of Etan, Weapons Forger, Sage Gallian thought wistfully, knowing it would never be. Alas, I am no god, nor do I claim to be anywhere close. All I am is a young Sage with limited powers and only a hope of a greater trick that probably will fizzle with how the way the rest of the day has gone. If only I had paid more attention in my training classes. I still probably wouldn’t win, but at least I’d take out a great many before I died. Maybe they would even flee from my presence. Alas, ‘tis not to be.

Gallian let out a sigh against his will as he thought about what might have been, then he turned his thoughts to what was. He looked out over the room to see what enemies there were out there to fight him and almost laughed. There were way too many for him to kill.

Near the front of the massive army, and closest to him floated the winged creatures known as Draahks. They looked kind of like large bats, but with scarier teeth and a set of clawed, scaly arms. They could tear normal humans to pieces. Next in line stood the Trebors, just as scary and formidable as the one in the hallway. There were perhaps fifty of them, which didn’t surprise him. Trebors were powerful but not smart. They served well as shock troops or a vanguard, though. They could instill fear in their opponents and take out several opponents each before falling themselves.

Right after them were the half-wolf, half-lion, and surprisingly enough biped, Kirteps, a very formidable enemy. They, too, had the ability to run on all fours, and would outpace a Trebor any day. There were maybe a dozen of them, which again was not surprising. Kirteps were generally loners and rarely fought in packs. Gallian had heard how they could rend a man apart and chew on his remains while keeping them alive for hours, and did not care to see it now. He felt a little reassurance since they were near the back, even though they could easily close the gap in seconds if they wanted to.

Behind them were thirty or so Maktuul, insectoid-like demons that fought with primitive, poisoned blades attached to their long, sinewy limbs. Their natural exoskeleton made them hard to take down.

Then, of course, there were Shifters filling in the cracks made by the Death Beast’s divisions, undoubtedly acting as platoon leaders. Definitely the most powerful unit in the army, Shifters had the ability to change to any shape and learn all that being’s skills, to a point. They could not change to anything as big as a dragon, or as small as a mouse, for example. They could take the form of any of the other Death Beasts, though, and change to another when it was more useful, or they could become your best friend. Gallian could only recognize them now through the use of his seereal spell - the stronger cousin of havealooksy.

Near the back of the army were the Surcrams, wraith-like scorpions-on-steroids that could only be harmed by magic. No threat to a Sage, unless there were several dozen of them, which, of course, there were. Behind them and all around the outsides stood lots of other, unrecognizable horrors of Death Beasts that Gallian could barely stand to look at. They were hideous and new, something he had not seen before. The other beasts had been frightening, but these new ones sent a chill through his bones.

At the head of all these beasts were their two commanders, two powerful members of Fhyrr’s infamous Wyvern-Master ranks. The first one, Muertaa the assassin, was so fast with his poisoned black daggers his victims never saw him coming, and the other one, Shade-Spinner the warlock, had so many spells at his disposal that mensch feared him like a demigod. Gallian knew better but was still afraid. A very long time ago, the Wyvern-Masters had been part of the Sage Order, but they had been cast out for following the teachings of Fhyrr, the Dark One.

“Long have we awaited this glorious moment, impertinent Sage,” Shade-Spinner called out, breaking the eerie silence. “We are told by our master that you are the Sage’s best magic user, young though you may be. Perhaps, in this case, the word ‘were’ would be better used, but then again it’s still a bit early.”

“Really? Your master told you that?” Gallian asked in a sarcastic tone, trying to hold back his surprise at the comment. “Well, well, well. I guess that means that either your master is a blundering idiot, or just the weakest creation ever to come to this planet since sliced biscuits. Which could it be? Hmm . . .”

“I would not use such hasty comments about the Great Lord Fhyrr