Dragon Sword (The Dragon Lord’s Bride #2)

Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

I clapped a hand over my mouth as blood poured from the wound. Luja’s wide eyes revealed his confusion and terror as Mother Dunn shoved his head down near the top of the altar. His mouth moved in a silent question: why?

Mother Dunn sneered at him. “Only our master will be seated on a throne, but we will keep our word. You will become a part of him and so enjoy his victories.”

Akka grabbed Luja’s legs and together the pair hefted him onto the stone. Luja’s lifeless eyes stared upward as the sky began to darken. A bone-chilling wind appeared and swept around us. The shadows from the altar rose and swirled about the stone, forcing the sisters back.

“I don’t like this!” Sylvia shouted.

The eagle stepped back and looked over his shoulder at us. “We must flee!”

Will shook his head. “If we run then whatever is coming will only give chase! We have to stay and fight it!”

I grabbed his sleeve. “But how can we defeat it when even an elf king couldn’t?”

He set a hand over mine and smiled. “The elf king was alone. We’re not.”

Sylvia wrinkled her nose as she dropped her bag onto the ground. She hefted her bazooka onto her shoulder and aimed it at the altar. “Then let’s see if that matters!”

She clapped her hand over the top and pressed half the remaining buttons. The pipe roared to life with a half dozen different colors before magic burst out of the cannon. Sparks, balls, bolts and more shot out and flew at the altar.

The two sisters jumped in the way and flung up their hands. A great hedge of bushes rose from the ground in front of them and blocked the magic. Sylvia lowered her weapon and scowled.

“Step aside,” Alisa snapped as she rolled up her sleeves.

A brilliant green glow emanated from her hands as she, too, flung her arms up. Trees shot out of the earth and crashed through the bushes before vanishing, leaving only a few branches of the hedge. The trees also revealed the furious faces of the sisters and the state of Luja’s body.

His corpse now floated a foot above the altar. The blood flowed like threads out of his form and onto different points of the shrine. The black magic slithered down the stone to the ground where it stretched out like tendrils to attach themselves to the large rocks around us. The unearthly glow surrounded them, too, and the earth began to tremble. The stones cracked and a hideous noxious gas erupted from the top. The black fog arched up into the sky and came crashing down into Luja’s body.

His corpse shivered and jerked about like a puppet before his eyes flew open. They were blacker than those under the dark magic and a cruel smile curled onto his lips. His body floated to an upright position and he lifted his arms in front of him. He flexed his hands and nodded, and when he spoke it was in a deep voice that echoed around us.

“Good. Very good.”

“Master!” Akka shouted as her sister and she dropped to their knees before the creature. “You are free once more!”

The creature’s gaze fell on the two supplicants. He floated down to stand before them. “You are the ones who released me?”

Mother Dunn nodded. “Yes, Master! We sought to revive you so you might wreak your revenge on the elves of the white city!”

He turned his nose up and narrowed his eyes. “Descendants of the one who imprisoned me?”

“The very same, Master!” Akka confirmed as she pointed a finger in the general direction of the city. “They are only a short way over yonder. Work your magic and destroy them!”

The creature known as Varjo frowned. “You would order me about?”

Both their faces turned as white as a sheet and Dunn shook her head. “She didn’t mean that, Master! She only meant that you can take your revenge whenever you wish! The king is weak and the protectors are without a leader! Now is the perfect time to destroy them!”

He scoffed. “As though the lonely solder could stop me. Even at this meager strength, I can wipe away any army.”

“Is there anything we might do to help you, Master?” Akka offered.

His cruel smile returned and his eyes glowed. “There is.”

“Anything, Master, so we might be by your side!” Dunn added.

He lifted one hand and pointed the palm toward them. “Offer your lives to me.”

The pair stiffened and expressions of horror marred their faces. Akka shook her head. “B-but how can we serve you in the future, Master, if you take our lives?”

Dunn bobbed her head. “We can be very useful still, Master! You’ve been asleep for a very long time and will need guides to help you through-”

“I need nothing but your lives to sustain me in any time.”

Two black glowing tendrils shot out of his palm and wrapped around them. The screaming women were lifted off their feet as the glowing shadows around their bindings flowed over their bodies. Their faces and hands shriveled as their life force was drained from them and absorbed through the tendrils. He closed his palm when the light around them began to fade. The tendrils vanished and their dry husks crashed to the ground in a clatter of bone and crackling skin.

Varjo flexed his hand and grinned. “Excellent.” He lifted his eyes to us. “Who else would like to become a part of me?”

“Not on your life,” Sylvia snapped as she clapped her hand down on the remaining buttons.

Another dozen different magics shot out of the cannon and straight at our foe. Varjo held his hand in front of him and the magic shattered against an invisible wall in front of his palm.

He scoffed. “Is that all you can do against me? Cheap tricks?” Alisa’s hands glowed green as she stepped forward. Varjo’s glee twisted into disgust as he looked her over. “A pitiful elf such as yourself dares to go against me?”

“Yep,” Alisa snapped as she flung up her arms. The towering trees shot out of the ground below his feet but the plants withered at the first touch.

Varjo threw back his head and laughed. “You believe your weak power can harm me?”

The eagle king lunged at him with his beak and claws ready to rip and tear. Varjo swept his arm in front of him and a blade of dark magic shot out. The evil struck the eagle in the chest and sent him tumbling back. Those overhead screeched and dove down, but the king managed a sharp squawk which stopped their descent.

Varjo’s attention settled on Will and me. “Would you like to show me the pathetic limit of your powers?”

Will stretched his arms out on either side of him and two towering columns of fire shot up. The flames lit up the area and their heat dispelled all the fog within a hundred feet of the stones.

Varjo scowled at the evaporation of his magic. “Impressive, dragon, but too small to stop-”

Will didn’t wait for him to finish his mocking before he flung his hands downward and out, sending the columns crashing down on the creature. Varjo raised one hand and blocked the flames but the columns didn’t vanish. Instead, sparks flew between their two magics. Will gritted his teeth and the columns grew in size, melding together to create one huge heat tornado.

Varjo’s eyes showed shock as he was slowly brought to one knee. He lifted his other hand to block the attack and the next moment he flung his palms upward, shoving Will’s flames into the air. The sudden shift in direction twisted the fire and broke the columns. Will dropped to his knees panting with sweat streaming down his face.

Varjo hardly looked better as he climbed to his feet. Part of his face was burned and smoke rose from the wound. He lifted one shaking hand and brushed his fingers over the scorched flesh. His lips curled into a snarl and he flung his palms out toward us. A half dozen tendrils shot out and wrapped around our companions. One tried to grab me, but Will jumped in front of it and was captured. Others entrapped him in their slimy black bodies and all my companions were lifted off the ground.

“Let go!” Sylvia snapped.

“Fiends!” Alisa growled.

Will twisted his head around as he thrashed in the thing’s grip. “Run!” I froze. Indecision ruled my thoughts. Will let out a strangled cry as the creature tightened its grip. Still, he kept his pleading focus on me. “Run now!”

I stiffened my chin and nodded. And that’s when I ran.

Straight toward him.