Richard Tuttle - Army of the Dead

Shortly before dawn, someone noticed the immobilized sentries. Shouts rippled through the encampment and soon the entire Motangan camp was awake. Torches flared to life, and the shouts increased to a frenzied pitch as the tyriks were sighted. Most of the Motangan soldiers retreated towards the temple, but some of them attacked the tyriks believing that their multiple lives made them invincible. The attacking hellsouls slashed out with their swords, but the tyriks were hard to wound. The giant spiders turned on the attackers, spinning strands of web to encase the Motangans or injecting them with fast-acting, paralyzing poison. While the battle raged, the tyriks that had spun the outer webs turned inward to complete the task abandoned by the two inner columns.

Far above the battlefield, on the roof of the temple, Vand scowled into the predawn light with anger. Bolts of lightning streaked downward from his raised hands and burst into the clumps of tyriks. Some of the giant spiders suddenly exploded, the smoke from their burning carcasses curling up into the sky. As Vand screamed obscenities and continued casting murderous lightning bolts upon the spiders, Pakar and his twelve appeared on the roof.

“Join me in destroying the spiders,” shouted Emperor Vand, “but send one of your men to summon Zarapeto and the others. I want these beasts destroyed.”

Pakar directed one of his men to find the demons and return with them. He then directed the rest of his mages to attack the spiders. With thirteen mages attacking from above, the tyriks scurried to the east and to the west. While the tyriks could move quickly for short periods of time, they eventually had to slow down. That was the reason that Rejji had been moving his troops only a half day at a time. The tyriks could move no faster over long distances. The quick scurrying carried many of the tyriks beyond the range of the mages, but many more had died before they could get clear. Scores of burning hulks littered the ground and columns of rising smoke filled the sky obscuring the view from the roof.

“Our master calls?” Zarapeto’s deep voice boomed.

Vand spun around to face the three remaining demons.

“I want every one of those spiders killed,” ordered Emperor Vand as he pointed aimlessly at the battlefield and the retreating tyriks. “Do not let a single one of them escape. When the three of you have killed them all, join us in the throne room. I want the rest of our opponents destroyed today. I will determine what part each of us gets to enjoy.”

The Emperor did not wait for a response, as none was necessary. He marched across the roof and entered the temple. Pakar and his mages quickly followed, leaving the demons alone on the roof.

Zarapeto looked down from the roof at the fleeing tyriks. He grinned maliciously and pointed to a large group heading to the southeast.

“Xero,” he bellowed, “those are yours. Yunga, you get the ones going northeast. I will take the ones going to the west.”

“You are getting more than us,” accused Xero. “Trade with me.”

“I was summoned,” spat Zarapeto, “and I received the order. Do as you are told.”

Without giving the other demons a chance to argue, Zarapeto leaped into the air and sped westward. Yunga grunted with distaste and also took to the air to complete his task. Xero growled and spat at the retreating Zarapeto, but the other demon was already too far away. The acidic spittle fell to the ground and landed on a Motangan soldier who promptly screamed as the acid ate into his flesh. Xero grinned in appreciation and leaped into the air and headed to the southeast.

Far to the southeast, Emperor Marak sat on the dragon’s back. The slit in Myka’s scale that the Torak had used to house his knife no longer existed. It had been healed with the rest of the dragon, but that no longer mattered. The Torak had created a harness that would hold him in place on the dragon’s back. As he saw the three demons split up and begin attacking the retreating tyriks, he tested the harness and ordered Myka into the air.

“Place your sword along my body,” instructed the dragon. “Do not let Xero see it before we make our move.”

Myka flew low over the plain southeast of Vandegar. She kept an eye on the demon that was heading towards them, but Xero had not noticed the approaching threat yet. The demon was intent on killing the tyriks, and it felt quite invincible. As the dragon started to pass over the fleeing tyriks, Xero noticed her. The demon’s wings faltered for a heartbeat and its eyes blinked as if not believing what they were seeing.

“The demon has seen you,” announced Emperor Marak.

Myka did not need to respond as she had already begun to soar skyward. The dragon did not fly towards the approaching demon, but rather shot almost straight up as if she were trying to get above the creature without being seen. The demon hissed, its wings flapping furiously as it strove to cut off the dragon.

“You must act swiftly,” Myka warned softly. “You will recognize the moment.”

When the collision appeared imminent, the demon’s talons stretched outward towards the dragon. Myka tilted forward so that her body was parallel to the ground and then pulled her wings in tightly to her body. For barely a second the dragon seemed to hang in the air motionless. It was during that precise second that the demon screeched overhead. Marak swiftly raised the Sword of Torak and rent the creature’s underside.

Myka dropped like a rock, the ground hurrying upward at a dizzying rate. The dragon’s wings flared out to break the decent, and Marak’s body slammed against the dragon’s scales. Before Marak could even bounce back, Myka had banked sharply to reverse direction, her eyes scanning the sky in search of Xero. Black, acidic blood flowed out of the demon’s gashed body, but it had also turned around and was diving towards the dragon.

“My turn,” Myka declared. “Hold your sword high, and let Xero see what has caused its wound. That will be the distraction I need.”

As the two huge flying beasts approached one another at a frantic pace, Emperor Marak held the Sword of Torak high above him. The rising sun glinted off the sword, and Xero howled with vengeance. The demon set its eyes on the Torak and flapped it wings even faster. Just as Xero stretched its talons to shred the Torak, Myka increased her angle of ascent and snapped her jaws shut on the demon’s neck. The two behemoths collided roughly and began to fall as they struggled. For a short period, Marak was actually upside down, praying to Kaltara that the harness would hold, but the struggle ended quickly. Myka opened her mouth and let the body of the demon fall from the sky. The dragon swiftly righted herself and headed northward to engage Yunga.

“Are you alright?” asked Marak. “Do you need healing or a rest before the next demon?”

“I have never felt better,” grinned the dragon. “Yunga has seen us already, but Zarapeto has not. Let’s engage while the odds favor us. Hide your sword again.”

Yunga had already destroyed all of the tyriks in the northeast and had turned southward to help Xero. That is when the second demon had seen Xero fall from the jaws of the dragon. Yunga screeched loudly in alarm, but Zarapeto was too far to the west to hear it. Yunga had the choice of fleeing from the dragon or fighting it alone. The demon hissed menacingly and decided to fight.

“Same plan?” asked the Torak.

“No,” answered Myka. “Yunga knows that I have seen him. He will not fall for that ruse.”

“What is the plan then?” asked Marak.

“We improvise,” replied the dragon.

“You mean we have no plan?” Marak asked accusingly.

“That too,” Myka said defensively. “I will think of something. Have you never made up plans in the middle of a battle? Do you not fight on instincts alone sometimes?”