Upon This World of Stone (The Paladin Trilogy Book 2) (34 page)

*

Even though the tentacles were jerking with the emergence of this new monster, Shannon knew instinctively there was no time to hack all three of the arms wrapped around her Father before he was drawn into the black mass and lost forever, so there was only one hope.

She must kill the Juggernaut.

She charged into the very midst of the tentacles, the black arms slithering like monstrous snakes to capture her, but Shannon had been taught the ways to avoid blows by an expert, and she leaped and twirled through the coils like Adella herself.

Only Shannon had both the agility to pass the defenses of the Juggernaut and the purity of hands to carry the Avenger with her. She saw movement on the other side of the monster, but she paid it no heed, intent on delivering that one decisive blow. She tumbled to the left, sprang to the right, sliced a tentacle that came too close, and waited for the opening as her mentor had taught her.

There was no time.

The coils holding her Father were nearing the central body, his fate closing upon him, and in desperation, Shannon charged forward beneath the slashing, heedless of the dangers. She drove Sarinian right into the base of one of the tentacles holding Darius, partially piercing the black shell of Juggernaut’s cocoon.

On the opposite side, Adella had been awaiting for this very moment. She judged the distance and the range, and she thrust Bloodseeker into the back of the same tentacle at the same moment.

Deep within the shell of the Juggernaut, the tip of Sarinian touched the tip of Bloodseeker, and only the magical flesh of the titan had the power to hold those two deadly opposites locked against each other. An explosion of white and red lightning burst all around the emerging form, and Shannon and Adella were both thrown backwards, electricity leaping from the hilts of both swords in massive lightning bolts that shot hundreds of feet into the air. The energy that had powered the Juggernaut was pierced at last.

But the winged creature struggling to emerge still lived.

*

Argus saw the lightning enveloping the emerging body of the Juggernaut, and he let out a cry of rage, knowing without fully understanding that a critical juncture had arrived. The green beam had crushed the Wizard’s defensive wall and was now touching Malcolm, but he had no time to insure the death of a single human. The Ohric was roaring warnings in his ears, and he unleashed its power at the dying titan, not even sure what magics he was sending forth.

*

The time had come for the Arch-Mage Malcolm to honor his oath to Mraxdavar. He knew the power smashing down upon his shield was about to switch, but if he waited for it to be gone, he would be too late to intercept the Ohric’s next spell. For a fleeting instant, he glanced down at the ring on his left hand, a band of gold set with a diamond, a ruby, and an emerald, and he made his decision.

Even as the green dynamo switched to the Juggernaut, Malcolm yielded to the power crushing down upon him, directing his last magic towards the same target. There was an explosion of yellow as Malcolm’s body vaporized, and only the sharpest eyes saw a beam flash out to strike the Juggernaut at the exact same time as the green power of the Ohric.

*

There was horrible crashing sound, and the very earth opened beneath the Juggernaut, a chasm reaching down into oblivion as if the world itself had cracked. The thing fell, grabbed blindly with its tentacles to save itself, and it was falling, vanishing into the gaping abyss. Then with a deafening smash, the crevice collapsed in upon itself and vanished, the staggered faces of the spectators the only proof it had ever existed.

The Juggernaut was gone.

In its death throes, it had ejected both swords out of its body and they lay at opposite ends of the circle.

But the thing had taken Darius with it.

“The challenge is complete and the weldmort is satisfied,” the Median announced, quite indifferent to the devastation of the last few seconds. “The three armies of the Silver Horde now fall to Brillis and the city of Jalan’s Drift.”

From high above the city came Argus’ booming laugh, and a moment later, a massive beam of green power struck down on Brillis and encapsulated her in green fire.

“I am the designated defender of the Drift, so the armies now serve me!” he announced. “But my authority does not hinge merely upon the weldmort! Behold! Regnar is dead by my hands, and the Ohric is now mine!”

*

Adella did not wait. She seized Bloodseeker from where it lay and rushed to the side of the devastated girl standing helplessly at the site where she had last seen her Father. Shannon’s face was a moonscape of devastation, unable to understand let alone accept what had just happened. She dropped to her knees, her hands digging at the earth as if to reopen the abyss that had taken Darius from her.

Adella grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and dragged her to her feet, but Shannon still reached down for the earth, the place where her Father had vanished…the place where…he lay buried.

“Call the sword,” she told the girl tightly. “Shannon, see if you can call the sword.”

“My…Father,” the girl said dazedly. “My Father…”

“Call the sword, damn you!” she said, shaking her shoulders hard.

Shannon blinked and held up her hand, trying to remember what words she needed to speak. It didn’t matter. The next instant, she found herself holding the shining form of the Avenger.

“So it is indeed true,” she said dully to herself. “My Father is dead.”

“Your Father is gone, that’s true enough,” Adella answered. “But he’s still a long way from dead. We have to get out of here and now.”

The words eased the resistance in Shannon’s shoulders, and Adella took full advantage. She drove her towards the mob of Northings that blocked the way to Sherman’s Alley, and the stunned barbarians gave way before them.

“Where…?” demanded Shannon taking hold of Adella’s arm, though the woman kept driving them both past the press of warriors. “If he still lives, where has that thing taken him?”

“That’s for us to discover,” Adella whispered back as she pushed through the back of the unresisting crowd. “Where’s that fool Jhan?”

*

Jhan had been as stunned as anyone by the unforeseen twists of events, and after Shannon had entered the circle, he had found himself stumbling over towards the Wizard’s Gate as a likely path of escape. Then, just as the two beams of power collided and the Juggernaut vanished, something small came tumbling down from overhead, something that tinked once against the stone, struck his shoulder lightly, and landed on the ground.

A ring.

He reached down and picked it up. It appeared to be made of gold with three gems embedded in its top, one clear, one red, and one green.

Adella was hurrying Shannon towards the sewer grate at the end of Sherman’s Lane, and Jhan started in the same direction. Regnar was gone, the Northings defeated, but the sudden appearance of this new tyrant was apparently enough to send her again seeking the sanctuary of the sewers. He looked down at the ring and frowned. Without thinking why, he placed it on his finger.

“Move quicker than this, or we’ll be left behind,” a voice suddenly said in his head. “And wipe that stupid expression off our face. I have no desire to be thought a fool.”

*

Far above, Argus moved the encapsulated Brillis in her glowing green sphere to the top of the building beside him, the woman helpless and frozen within. He turned to stare at the cringing figure of Georg-Mahl, and the man’s eyes widened as he heard the silent commands of his new master. He stood forward, and his voice boomed forth with a power far beyond that of a normal man.

“The woman Brillis is hereby impeached for thus hazarding the safety of the city,” he announced to the gaping crowd. “By the power vested in him by the Council of Lords, Duke Argus is now Lord Protector of Jalan’s Drift and all the Principalities of the Southlands…”

Argus laughed out loud, the power of the Ohric flowing through his being like a second blood, the city, the Silver Horde, and the armies of the Southlands all bowing to his majesty. Who now was left to oppose him?

END OF BOOK II