David Dalglish - The Shadows of Grace

As if in response, the western sky groaned with thunder.

Lathaar circled his horse about and dismounted, smacking it on the rump so it’d bolt back to the city. As the two paladins stood before Harruq and Aurelia, Haern appeared, a smile on his face.

“Care if I join your last stand?” he asked.

“More than welcome,” Lathaar said. “Ashhur knows we need you.”

Harruq stood, and Aurelia stood with him. He pointed a sword at the faint image of Qurrah, and as he did the red glow about the blade turned white.

“He’s mine,” Harruq said. “Kill as you must, but leave him to me.”

Aurelia stepped back, seeing the change in his eyes and unsure of what it meant. The two paladins saw the glow on his blades, however, and could think of only one conclusion.

“Blessed be,” Jerico said, laughing in spite of all the insanity. “Blessed be.”

“W hat trickery is this?” Ulamn said as he watched his soldiers’ attacks rendered futile by the glowing shield.

“They are powerful,” Tessanna said. “Do you still doubt that?”

“I will send in my dead,” Velixar said. “Those there are the city’s greatest defenders, out in the open. We kill them, and Mordeina will fall in time.”

Tessanna opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly stopped. Her muscles tightened. Her head flung back.

“Tess?” Qurrah asked, grabbing her shoulders. “Tess!”

“R emind me to never, ever get into a fight with one of them,” Tarlak said as he watched the rain of spears shatter on Jerico’s holy shield. His heart had been heavy, expecting to watch his friends murdered, but instead they survived and gathered to fight. Beside him Mira smiled, and then suddenly she snapped erect. Her arms flung wide. Her mouth opened, and high above the western sky rumbled angrily.

As one, Mira and Tessanna spoke, their voices impossibly loud. All for miles clearly heard their words.

“Long I have watched,” they cried. “Long I have slumbered. But the Balance is broken. My world, my beloved creation, is ruined. A demon army marches, to free whom I have imprisoned. So be it. If Balance is to tumble, then let it tumble, but not without a chance for redemption. I have been given a sign of faith, and of hope. If Karak is to have his demons, then I will give Ashhur his angels.”

A sound greater than any thunder resounded throughout the vale. The western sky split. All who looked saw a land golden and shimmering, and from it flew men with white wings and golden armor. They were in exact number as Ulamn’s troops, who raised their weapons and shouted in bitter hatred.

Just as sudden as it had opened the tear in the sky closed. The thunder quieted. The angels flew in their formations, over Mordeina and straight for the war demons.

“S uch hypocrisy,” Velixar seethed, his whole body shaking with rage. “The whore promises neutrality, and yet releases Ashhur’s soldiers while keeping Karak imprisoned?”

“It is her last gasp,” Qurrah said as he held Tessanna in his arms. The girl had collapsed after issuing her statements, her eyes closed and her body limp. “She cannot stop us on her own.”

“Destroy the fools on the ground,” Ulamn said as he spread his wings. “We will massacre Ashhur’s soldiers and then move onto the city. We will not fail here!”

The demon took to the sky, commanding his troops and preparing for the assault. Velixar issued an order, and at once his multitude of undead lumbered forward, to bury Harruq and his allies under their sheer weight and number.

“T ime for some fun,” Tarlak said, cracking his knuckles. Mira lay beside him, her back propped against the ledge. She was still breathing, so he assumed she would recover, he just didn’t know when. Being possessed by a goddess certainly wasn’t something he was familiar with. Praying she would be fine, he looped his hands about and hurled a ball of flame through the air. Its aim was true, and it exploded amid a massive amount of undead, consuming their corpses. He chuckled and prepared another.

“Do as much damage while they are still packed tight,” Dieredon said from behind him. Tarlak turned to see the elf riding Sonowin.

“Planned on it,” Tarlak said as he tipped his hat.

Dieredon saluted back, then yanked on Sonowin’s reins. Horse and rider soared over the wall, just ahead of the first wave of angels. He released the reins and drew his bow, trusting his mount. He drew three arrows from his quiver, their tips glistening with holy water. He pulled all three back and fired into the horde of demons, each one piercing through armor, wing, or flesh. Spears flew his direction, but Sonowin dodged with ease. Dieredon fired volley after volley, until the army was almost upon him. He then looped his bow about his back, grabbed the reins, and dove.

High above him the angels and demons clashed, showering the ground below with blood.

“S low their approach,” Haern shouted to Aurelia as the waves of undead charged.

Aurelia stood, all emotion draining from her face as she prepared for battle. Frost wafted from her fingers as she they danced. Giant boulders of ice leaped from her hands, rolling through the ranks of undead. She then created a wall of fire, stretching for hundreds of yards. Wave after wave marched through it, burning skin and setting bodies aflame.

Then the wall of fire vanished as quickly as Aurelia had summoned it. Velixar approached, Qurrah and Krieger at his sides.

“It’s been a long time, elf,” Velixar shouted as his undead marched past him. Aurelia shivered, remembering her battle in Woodhaven years ago. She had thrown everything at him, and he had only laughed. She hurled a bolt of lightning, not at him, but at his minions. Velixar countered, stretching his arms and sending a shimmering black sphere directly in its path. The lightning struck the sphere and dissipated.

“Keep him occupied,” Lathaar said to Aurelia as they braced themselves. “And we’ll keep us alive.”

“Flee you fool,” Qurrah shouted to his brother.

“You stay and fight the dead if you want,” Harruq said, shaking his head. “I’m going for him.”

He charged, slamming through the undead as if they were an inconvenience at best. His twin blades sliced through rotted flesh, leaving a crimson afterimage as they spun and cut.

“Send your troops around back,” Velixar ordered Krieger before casting another spell. A dark mist rose from the ground, swirling into his undead as if their open wounds were breathing it in. Their rotten flesh tightened. Their lumbering gaits quickened. With beyond human strength they struck, and Harruq found himself on the defensive, parrying and dodging their punches and bites.

Jerico and Lathaar sang a song to Ashhur as they fought, even as their bodies cringed at the sheer strength ramming against their weapons and shield. Haern fought as he had in Veldaren, spinning and weaving around the two paladins, so that if either faltered he was there, cutting down an attacker with a precise strike from his sabers. Dieredon flew over, raining down arrows before banking around, dodging a bolt of shadow Qurrah threw at him.

“You fight valiantly,” Qurrah said to his brother, who struggled a mere ten feet away, unable to pass through the waves of undead that seemed unending. “Throw down your weapons, and perhaps you will live.”

A ball of flame exploded among the undead ranks to his right, no doubt a gift from Tarlak.

“I know!” Harruq shouted, ignoring his offer. “I know about your child! I know about your promise!”

Qurrah staggered as if struck by an arrow. He glanced at Tessanna, who was just beginning to stir.

“You know nothing,” he hissed, shadows stretching and growing about his body. “I will end you, worm.”