Tom Lloyd - The Dusk Watchman

‘Ready to charge,’ Fernal commanded, ‘on my signal!’

Forty yards from the wyverns, the black-armoured knight spurred his horse forward. Vorizh’s laughter echoed across the battlefield as he drew Eolis with a blazing flourish, but the knight did not falter; instead, he forced his horse into a breakneck charge, couching his lance as he closed. Twenty yards, ten, five — the lance-head snapped down just as the wyvern dodged around it, moving far quicker than any normal creature could.

The lance wavered as the wyvern slipped to the knight’s right — but it was enough. The steel head drove into the side of the wyvern’s neck, and the crisp crunch was audible over the thunder of thousands of hooves hammering the ground. The wyvern staggered under the impact as the shaft of the lance shattered, but even as Vorizh slashed at the knight, he drew his own sword and deflected the blow up and past.

The wyvern’s flailing wings caught the knight’s horse and it lurched sideways, battered off-balance by the heavy blow, but the knight slipped nimbly from its back.

Vorizh too jumped from his stricken beast as the wyvern vomited blood onto the churned-up ground below, but he faltered when the knight pulled the tabard from his chest. ‘Koezh!’ Vorizh shouted, ‘noble brother! Come to teach me the error of my ways?’

Koezh didn’t respond as he raced towards his younger brother, the air burning around him. Vorizh flicked Eolis round to meet him, but Koezh’s own weapon was already moving and the silver sword clashed against the black in a blaze of light, once, twice Koezh pressed forward, and Fernal felt a jolt inside him as he watched the vampire move with shocking speed and a grace the Demi-God had never before witnessed. The black sword tore through a haze of magic as Vorizh filled the air with fire to buy himself some space, his desperate defence turning Eolis into a blur of silver, but Koezh was always ahead of him, bewildering his brother as he worked his way into position. And then it was over: Koezh slashed upwards as Vorizh, dodging the previous strike, inadvertently moved into the way. His armour split with a crack and Koezh danced forward and smashed his shoulder into Vorizh’s chest, unbalancing him, and in the next instant, chopped hard into his brother’s neck.

Vorizh was driven to his knees by the force of the blow and Eolis spilled from his limp fingers. Koezh caught the hilt of the sword on the tip of his own and deftly flicked it up so he could pluck it from the air.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered as he withdrew his sword.

Vorizh fell backwards, mist rising up from the ground to meet him.

Koezh glanced back, and saw the advancing line was almost upon him. Above them were the other wyvern and the winged white-eyes, who had retreated into the sky, stunned by Vorizh’s death. He ran to his horse, and after a quick check to ensure the wyvern had not badly injured it, he mounted up.

Lord Fernal called the charge and the cavalry leaped forward, lances slowly descending as they closed on Ruhen’s Children.

Koezh was out of position so he didn’t wait for them; instead, he urged his horse towards the nearest of the white daemons racing forward. His swords were a strange pair, though both were made by the same Elf; Bariaeth was an ugly black blade forged in Aryn Bwr’s grief and hate; silver Eolis was the last king’s finest creation. For all the daemons’ speed and fanatic fury, Koezh was faster, and heads tumbled in quick succession as the mismatched swords killed with equal ease. Then the Farlan were behind him, and Koezh cast an arc of light ahead of him to drive a path into the enemy.

Behind him Fernal roared with bestial bloodlust as he readied his own warhammer. As the first of the white monsters ran to meet him, Fernal tightened his grip on the reins and turned his charger to meet them head-on. First one, then a second, and a third, crashed into the steel-ridged barding covering the enormous horse’s chest and were smashed from its path, falling under the hooves of those around it.

More and more of Ruhen’s Children fell beneath them. Fernal swung his massive hammer and a head disintegrated under the blow. Beside him Suzerain Fordan’s voice was raised in strange delight, his laughter cutting through the screams and sounds of butchery.

As Fernal cracked skulls and shattered bones the deep, distant crack of thunder came rolling down from the sky. He heard a blessing in that thunder, a benediction from his uncaring father. He growled and struck again. The God of Storms had no place here; the company of these frail and fearless men was all the blessing he needed. Horses tripped and riders fell to the ground to be trampled by their own, or set upon by Ruhen’s howling monsters. As his horse slowed to a halt, unable to get through the press of flesh, Fernal felt the claws grasp at his legs, but the storm was now surging through his veins. He swung his warhammer tirelessly as the Farlan fought on with equal fury; as the black-armoured vampire cut a swathe of scarlet death; as the thunder continued to boom up above and lightning split the sky. Some part of him, some divine flicker in his blood, told him the end had almost come. A shiver ran down his spine as he realised the entire Upper Circle of the Gods were close by, drawn forth by the power Ruhen commanded.

Still he fought and still he killed. Until the last of Ruhen’s followers was dead, nothing else in the Land could matter to him.

Isak raised his head as the shadows unfolded all around him. Ruhen knelt at the centre of the circle, his small fingers around the crystal sword’s grip. Aenaris pulsed with power, casting its white light over the stones and revealing the indistinct figures in front of each one. Isak could taste the magic that filled the air; he knew the Gods attended.

Behind him he sensed Lord Death, summoned by the vast power as both Aenaris and Termin Mystt responded to Ruhen’s call. He tried to fight it again, to break the flow, but he was not strong enough. He could not even free himself from the silver chain that bound him, or command the weapon stuck fast in his own hand. Termin Mystt was a burning brand against his chest, the chain itself was eating at his skin.

He could only watch as the Gods themselves, so weak they could not fully manifest, bowed their heads to Ruhen. A wisp of light was dragged out of the blue shadow of Nartis, then Kitar and Karkarn, and in moments each thread was wrapped around the blazing blade of Aenaris as the Gods submitted to a power they could no longer match.

Venn stood before the one unclaimed stone, an empty space where Ilit had been killed. Then the shadows squirmed, and a shape appeared there too. Grey matted hair and dead eyes, a tarnished crown and cruel triumph on her face: the Wither Queen manifested and knelt and her soul leaped forward to join the others. The Goddess of Disease gladly claimed Ilit’s place in the Upper Circle of the Pantheon of the Gods.

Once there were twelve bound to him, Ruhen smiled in the stark light of Aenaris. With his free hand, he pulled a small bottle from his tunic, thumbed off the stopper and downed the contents in one. He tossed the empty bottle into the flames surrounding them.

Before the poison could take effect, Isak heard shouts from beyond the circle, cries of warning, followed swiftly by the clash of steel. Ruhen looked up, but his smile remained in place, his plans complete. Isak tried to stand, but Tiniq struck him again, leaving the white-eye as bowed as the insubstantial God in his lee. Through the stars bursting before his eyes Isak saw men and women charging towards the bridge across the flames, but there were Harlequins and Acolytes ready to meet them.

Distantly he made out Daken’s shouts above the clamour and he twisted his head to see the blurry man of the Brotherhood exchanging blows with an equally blurred Harlequin. One of the Sisters of Dusk was at his side, thrusting her spear at the white-masked warrior, but the Harlequin somehow defended itself against both attackers, its slender blades striking like snakes and catching the Brother in the shoulder, sending him reeling.