The Elf King (69 page)

“
You killed everything,”
Ern gasped. His mouth stayed sagging, his eyes wide as they stared
upon Tane’s hand. “What are you?”

Tane could not answer his
question. All he could think about was the power in the sword. “I
am the Flame of Blood.”

They were silent for a few
moments. Screams sounded from further away: Men and Elves dying in
a horrible fashion. Tane pressed his wound against his leg to stop
the bleeding, to hide the glowing flame. “I have to find
Shadox.”

“
There! “ Ern pointed. “You
can see their sorcery! Let’s go!”

Tane raced away with a
horrible feeling that he had no idea what he was.

Chapter 38

Q
enn watched Kandish fall to the ground. She lay unmoving. The
vision left him stunned. Everything about him turned numb. He felt
sick. He wanted to run to her, but he lacked the ability. He could
do nothing but stare in shock, feeling himself crumble inside. The
pain was so enormous, the regret so deep that nothing could fill
the void. Chills laced his skin. Everything had fallen apart.
Everything had gone so terribly wrong. And now the entire mission
had failed. Kandish was dead. The
Mrenx
Ku
would take over the world. Qenn’s stare
became blank. The staff slid out of his grasp. His legs buckled,
sending him down on his knees. But everything went unnoticed. His
stomach churned, his body stopped drawing in air. He felt cold,
empty, and lifeless. Slowly a black wash swept in, swirling his
vision like his mind spinning helplessly. He welcomed it. He stared
at Kandish’s form until nothing was left but darkness.

Qenn had already drifted
away before his face smacked into the dirt.

He dreamt then. It was dark
and he was in the woods running after Kandish, who was lost in the
fog and shadows. He could hear her scream. He could feel the terror
in her voice. But something darker than the shadows appeared out
before him. It had taken Kandish, he knew. Her voice screamed no
longer. And now it was turning towards him. He backpedaled, turning
as fast as he could. But it was faster. He felt it hovering over
him, felt its presence smother him to the ground and begin choking
him. The air was leaving his lungs in small gasps, and none was
entering. He struggled for a moment, then realized that it was
useless. Kandish was gone. He’d rather not live.

He awoke with a start,
jumping to his knees with a loud scream. His senses had alerted him
that something was drastically wrong, shaken him loose of the
dream. But he still felt something choke him. He was dizzy and
disoriented.
The magic in the
tunnel!
He realized that it was killing
him. It was removing his will and would eventually take his life.
Qenn became aware that he needed to flee, his senses screamed at
him to run. And so he did. As quick as he could, he raced over to
Kandish and noticed that she was breathing. He snatched her up into
his arms then grabbed her torch and began running.
Hold on, Kandish! I will get you out of
here!

But the magic dizzied him
even further and he quickly realized that he did not know what
direction he was running. He was weak and exhausted, dehydrated and
sunken emotionally. Still he felt the darkness pressing against
him, clinging itself to him, embracing his skin beneath his
clothes.

His pace slowed to a near
crawl. The tunnel branched away into several, seemingly everywhere.
Qenn continued on straight, not remembering any of this on his way
in. He kept Kandish close to him, feeling her quiver slightly. It
was the
LifeWaters’
power. It was doing something to her. But she was alive, he
thought. Nothing else mattered.

The trail slanted downward
on a slight slope and it took everything that Qenn had not to
tumble down. He was so tired. The magic was making him so. It was
weakening his senses, continuously applying pressure to who he was,
until he was lost altogether. It was hard to keep his eyes open,
let alone focused. He realized then that something had gone wrong;
that he’d been running for too long.
Where
is Kamen? We should have been out by now.
But then he was sliding, tumbling down a steep slope, trying
to keep from rolling down over Kandish. The torch dropped from his
hand, rolling away from him. A few seconds later, he came to a
stop. A small cavern stood before him. Empty and pitch black. A
dead end.

As his eyes adjusted to the
dark, he noticed something odd. Strands of the blackness were
stretched out latching onto the walls, ground, and ceiling,
appearing like veins. And far into the cavern, where it was the
darkest, he heard a sound like a heartbeat.

Then the darkness began
moving.

“
S
hadox!” Tane yelled as he
raced towards the sorcerer fighting alongside of Terill. The two
were fighting together in the midst of a handful of Elven bowmen as
a massive swarm of
Takers
circled them.

Tane ran hard next to Ern
and Slina, but they were still fifty yards away. Then suddenly
Blooders swept down like a cloud of smoke, diving into the
Takers
, bursting through
their bodies then ascending back into the sky.
Takers
dropped lifelessly. The birds
raced down again for another attack. This time red fire seared into
them as
Takers
followed their flight pattern and burned a few of them before
dying themselves.

“
Slina!” Tane called to
her, running hard now, his mind thinking of his new power. As the
lithe elf looked up to him, he slowed. “Can you call them
here?”

Slina was hesitant. “The
Blooders?”

She swallowed hard. She
wasn’t sure if she could or not. But she tried. Whistling in a high
pitch, Slina faced the sky. Tane and Ern watched the cloud overhead
turn their way. In seconds the Blooders were landing at Slina’s
feet.

“
Slina, I want to try
something,” said Tane. He waited for her to approve, then bent down
slowly. Carefully, he held out his left hand. Pressing on both
sides of his wound, he bled slightly. The Blooders turned their
attention to him immediately. Dipping one finger into his flaming
blood, Tane rubbed some of it against the birds. They moved
slightly, mostly from annoyance, but stayed until Slina gave the
word.

“
What are you doing?” Ern
asked. His eyes went from watching Tane to the battle being fought
further ahead of him. White fire lit the sky in blinding arches,
followed by red fire and terrible cries. The sorcerers were
fighting a losing battle, he thought. They needed help soon. “We
have to hurry!”

“
There.”
Tane finished, stepped back away, and told Slina to set them in
motion. “Send them into the
Takers
now.”

Slina was unsure about his
plan, but did so without hesitation. She whistled again, the birds
rising at her sound, flying into the sky out of sight.

Ern began rushing forward
again. Tane and Slina stayed by his side, both watching the sky.
Then they saw them. Blooders flew out of the sky in a blur,
striking into the swarm of unsuspecting
Takers
. Instantly explosions swept
through the mass of demons as Tane’s blood met with the
Taker’s
magic. Tane and
Slina yelled triumphantly. Blooders sped back into the sky, leaving
behind them an open trail for them to pass through.

“
Come on!” Ern raced
forward, watching the narrow gap begin to close fast. Tane and
Slina were at his side, yelling all the while. For Lon, Ern
thought. For Turyn. For Sienna. For Pal Rae. For life. With his
sword raised high, he raced into the enclosure to fight. Then he
saw Shadox drop to his knees exhausted, his hands sending out his
white magic in searing bolts. Terill and Ankar Rie were next to him
as well, struggling. Screams rose and fell around them, the sounds
of the war still raging on.

“
My Lord,” Slina cried,
racing towards Terill, “they are in the Lyyn! They travel far to
the south already!”

They looked around then.
For as far as they could see in the dark hours before
sunrise,
Takers
were overrunning Elves and Men. Small clusters fought
together everywhere. And now the
Takers
army presses into the Lyyn
and even further south unchallenged. They would never make a stop.
Their army was stretched too thin.

“
Then we are done for,”
Terill groaned. “Dawn will birth a new era.”

Even now, running like a
stampede, dark figures pressed towards them from all around. Terill
Estrial screamed in vain, unleashing the magic in the last amount
of strength he clung to. He poured out his heart and soul. White
fire lit next to him as Shadox joined in.

“
Then we will go down
fighting!” Ern Dwull screamed, raising his sword
skyward.

Tane sped to Shadox’s
side. The sorcerer’s hands were extended with blinding light
shooting forth in wicked bolts, killing
Takers
as they pressed their attack.
Within minutes, the group was circled again.

“
Shadox!” yelled Tane. His
face was angry. Explosions lit the field just beyond him as
Blooders dove in for another attack. “What’s happened to me? My
blood is poison!”

“
It’s not poison! It’s the
magic, Tane!” Shadox had no time for questions. “Fight, King
Andelline! Use the power!”

Tane was angry. He began
shouting. “You want to see the terribleness I can do, sorcerer? Is
this what I was meant for?”

Shadox turned away, sending
his magic in continuance. “You are, what you are!”

Shadox’s short answers only
made Tane angrier. He wanted to know exactly what was happening to
him. He wanted to know it all now. Looking around, watching those
with magic spend it ferociously, watching the remaining members of
Elven bowmen and axe men from Cillitran fight a losing war, Tane’s
temper flared and the overwhelming helpless feeling was pushed
aside. His rage boiled. It was happening again, he
thought.

“
Issilix Delsoue!” shouted
Tane into the midst of his attackers. “This is what I have
become!”

He let his anger out then.
The fighting all around him paused, as each of his allies took
notice to what was happening. Tane unleashed his fury, allowing his
power to rise into his hands, balling like flaming spheres. He
raised his hands skyward then, thrusting his magic overhead,
towering above them all, twisting, coiling, and intertwining
together like two snakes fighting. Everything seemed to stop
then.
Takers
screamed in dismay, watching the inferno rise. Then with
shattering force, Tane directed the monstrous fire down into the
field surrounding him. The fire slammed into ground and spread like
a tidal wave that tore through the demon horde for nearly a mile
around, evaporating the nightmares in a fiery wash. The grass lay
smoking, burning still the remains of the
Takers
until nothing was
left.

Tane fell to his knees. His
hands were smoking.

“
Tane!” Shadox was at his
side immediately, lowering Tane to the ground before he
collapsed.