Fate Rides Wicked: Volume I of the Lerilon Trilogy (59 page)

“Nandel, do the magicians know their task?” Lendril
asked the wizard.

“They have been learning spells and preparing.”

“How is the morale?” she asked.

Aquendar answered, “Better than you might expect.
They have a common enemy. The neftir have impressed
everybody with their strength and the speed of the daril
races has earned them respect too. There are still doubters,
but most of the problems are with soldiers afraid of the
battle ahead.”

“Tych is going to try to defeat Rangdor in time to return
for the battle. That would improve morale. Otherwise, this
plan I am about to relate to you will have to do the trick.”
The others nodded.

Tych chose to fly to the Valley of Death as a raven,
shape-changing a skill the book from Doleof had taught
him. He knew that would be a common sight. Lendril had
cried and held him before he left. He had promised her to
return. Now as he glided into darkness, the first tinges of
doubt came up. He fought them back as he watched the
ground bubble red in small lakes of molten earth. He could
see tunnel entrances in the hills where Rangdor’s forces
passed in and out.

Tych had left minutes before his own army marched.
He quickly passed out of sight and changed his form, first
traveling as an eagle, so that his own eagle armies wouldn’t
attack him as a raven. Then he took his current form as he
approached the mountains.

He searched with his mind for his opponent.
I’m right here, Tych,
came into his head.
Come and
get me!

The prince knew that Rangdor wouldn’t be the only
creature in the cavern. Tych could feel the space in that
place in his mind with his new powers. Still, he changed to
gold dragon form and teleported.

He caught Rangdor by surprise. The beast had
expected an endaril or raven, but the largest gold dragon he
had ever seen appeared. Tych immediately fired mental
blasts at the three large demons rushing him and they
exploded with screams of pain. Tiny birds and other flying
creatures rushed him but with two giant beats of his wings,
they smashed against the walls.

Rangdor roared, “I suppose it was too much to hope,
but I won’t be so easy.”

“I never expected it to be,” Tych said as he blasted
across the cavern towards the black form in the corner.
Red beams left all five of Rangdor’s eyes but a blue shield
appeared in front of each one, deflecting them. Tych
crashed into him, glowing claws striking out. By
themselves, his claws would have done nothing, but he
coated them with powerful energy. They struck a red
shield of energy.

Both had exchanged blows and now they split and
gained space. They came around again, a black mass of
pure hate and evil, and a gleaming gold dragon. The clash
sent streaks of energy into the walls, shattering rocks
everywhere. To the combatants, they felt like grains of
sand compared to the force of their impact. Neither did
much damage in the pass, so they circled around again.

As they approached, Tych swerved down and left. For
a second Rangdor hesitated in putting up a shield. Tych’s
glowing tail smashed him across the cavern like a stick
hitting a ball. Rangdor growled loudly, stopping before he
hit the wall. Tych twisted and turned back up but Rangdor
had counter-struck, catching him with a bolt of energy in
the back, sending the endaril reeling.

Rangdor pressed the advantage, rushing towards Tych
with bolts firing. The endaril teleported out of the path and
appeared behind the creature. He blasted again, lighting
the cave up on Rangdor’s red shield. Each attack and each
defense took energy, but both had a lot to spend. They
circled again and again, energy and physical blows
exchanged with each pass.

Tych sliced up on coming around and hit Rangdor head
on. The beast absorbed him into his energy so that they
became a blur of gold and black. Tych felt a little
suffocated but just fought back with as much fury as he
could muster. The energy and blows proved too much for
Rangdor and he threw Tych free.

The Prince of the Endarils didn’t hesitate, firing back
with the same fury he had fought with inside the blackness.
Rangdor fell back against the onslaught, trying to get shots
through. Finally, enough did that the endaril fell back. The
dragon swooped away and came back by turning over
himself. As he did so, he exposed both wings.

As Tych approached, Rangdor went for the outstretched
wing. At the last second, Tych changed to his normal form,
Gaylin already in his hand. The blade sang loudly as it cut
into the shield of the beast on the pass. Rangdor circled on
the hovering endaril, changing to a red dragon as he came.
Like he stood on solid ground, Tych flipped out of the way
and landed on the beast’s neck. He drove Gaylin in and
lost the blade as Rangdor changed back to his normal form.

At first Tych thought he would be in more trouble at
this size, but instead the concentration of energy and blasts
increased. The beast released him sooner this time and
Tych teleported to Gaylin. He knew that each time he
mixed with Rangdor, he took as much damage as his
opponent. The army would tire sooner without knowing
why on this first day of marching from the energy Tych had
drawn before leaving. The endaril only hoped what he had
would be enough.

Rangdor just hovered. “You are a worthy opponent,
Tych. It is too bad you will die and never challenge me
again.”

Tych laughed. “I will end your existence and my
armies will wipe out your forangen and xadineft. The
humans in your army will be locked up forever. It is just a
matter of time.”

As if knowing each other’s mind, they both fired out
beams that formed large creatures at the other end. As each
supplied energy, the two beasts fought, tearing. Rangdor
pushed forward, shortening the distance for his energy to
travel and giving his creature the advantage momentarily.
Tych cut off his stream and dodged his opponent’s. He
charged with Gaylin, ready to strike. Rangdor took the
form of a four-armed demon, a sword in each arm.

The endaril moved quickly enough to stop all four and
they exchanged blows, pushing back and forth. Eventually
they both saw the futility of this form of attack. The two
changed back to dragon and beast and squared off again.

Lendril leaned into Nandel’s tent. “Can you help me?”

“What do you need, Lendril?” asked the wizard.

“Can you find Tych?” she said as she entered.

“Yes, I can try.” The human stood and crossed to his
books, kept safe by Dnard during his journey. He pulled
one out and turned through the pages. When he found his
spell, he reached into his bag and pulled out herbs and bark
and other nick knacks. Lendril watched with keen interest
as he began to chant. Slowly, each material disappeared.

After ten minutes, the spell finished. Nandel went into
a trance for a little longer. “He is still in combat, but he
lives.”

“They have been fighting for a full day. I hope he isn’t
hurt too bad.”

“He is doing what he must, Lendril. He will live. He
has prophecy on his side. I will do what I must after the
war to rescue your sister-in-law.”

“As I’m sure you will. So is Tych. That is why he
forgave you and let you back. He knows it’s not over yet.”

“We can check on him again tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll
find him alive and well,” finished Nandel.

“To your health, Nandel.” Lendril left the tent.

The next day, as the army started forward again, Tych
still battled Rangdor. The gold dragon circled below the
beast, looking for an opportunity and firing at Rangdor.
Every time he fired, his opponent’s shield came up and he
returned a blast.

Sensing an opening, Tych flew straight up and let loose
again. The protection went up but the prince didn’t stop.
He just pushed up against it until Rangdor hit the ceiling
and kept going into the rock. With his entire energy
helping, Tych lifted. Rangdor took most of the impact and
three times as much damage as Tych. Then they hit molten
earth and both took equal damage as they tried to get to the
top.

Rangdor and Tych broke through the surface together,
dripping red rock. The endaril shook it off, but Rangdor let
it harden. He had sustained the most damage yet and used
a lot of energy. As a shield, the rock would serve him well.

Free from the confines of the cavern, Tych absorbed as
much energy as he could, reaching all over the world.
Nandel told Lendril about this as Tych blasted at Rangdor.
If not for the stone covering, the battle would have ended
right there. As it happened, the beast’s stone armor
protected him. Rangdor did reel with pain, a good portion
of his energy gone. The endaril rushed him, but Rangdor
took him in again.

They flew out of the valley, Tych satisfied with his
position, doing most of the damage. Over Polentair,
Rangdor broke free and took the form of a demon, but he
kept his area of blackness for color. The prince struck with
his claw and Rangdor fled towards the south, also rising
higher. Tych caught him after they left the atmosphere,
clawing and biting him.

Now the beast reeled in pain and felt close to losing.
Tych cocked his head back and blasted. Rangdor cast a
forget spell, running it back along the stream of blue
energy. The beam hit the beast, as the endaril reeled from
the return forgetfulness. The Prince of the Endarils
watched Rangdor take a humanoid shape, looking a lot like
a lizard as he began to fall. The body of his opponent
tumbled towards the planet.

Tych fought to remember how to save himself as he
fell. He didn’t notice Rangdor fighting the reentry, getting
enough energy back to survive it. The dragon’s scales
became very hot and the endaril lost consciousness. He fell
until he plunged into the sea, sinking to the bottom, four
hundred miles south of Li. He would not wake up for days.
The volume of water above him would block all searches
for him, even magic.

“I still can’t find him.”

“Nandel, how can that be?”

“I can’t find Rangdor either. They must have left this
plane of existence.” The wizard pulled his cloak tighter.
The army had made very good time and now rested at the
top of the pass, half on one side, half on the other.

The endarilan princess looked up into the sky and said,
“Lendela, if you have any mercy bring him back to me.”

“You will be with him again, Lendril. You two are
destined to be together.”

“I hope you’re right.” Lendril turned and walked out
into the camp.

A soldier rushed up to her. “The forangen army is on
the move. They travel at night to protect the xadineft.”

“Then it is as we feared. Inform the generals to begin
the transition. I want all humans asleep and all non
humans awake.” Lendril watched the soldier leave. She
took a deep breath, steeled herself for the responsibilities
she could see in front of her and headed for Cort’s tent.

The commanders all sat at the table waiting for her.
“Nandel says Tych is not on Li anymore.”

Every person at the table reacted differently, from sighs
to hanging their heads. Cort, always the comforting one in
his family said, “He will return. I have every faith in my
brother. Now, let us get to the task at hand.”

“Nandel will join us in a few minutes. He had to clean
up from his spell.”

“Good. As many of you have heard, the enemy army is
moving swiftly across the Plain of Death. They outnumber
us three to one and travel at night, indicating there are
xadineft amongst them.”

Lendril sat down. “The race plan has been put in
motion already. The enchanted races, with their night
vision, are being roused for the watch. They will sleep
tomorrow while most of the human army moves down.”

Commander Zif, Prince of Seftrel, said, “I think we
should modify our plan. If the xadineft march with the
army, that would be one thing. I would also guess that
many of them are still in the mountains. We can’t forget
there are humans in that army and they know we’ve been
watching. They would like nothing better than for us to
rush down to the field and get pinned on both sides.”

Reichet nodded. “Zif is right. They want us out there
on the field at night so the xadineft can rush us.”

“Is it decided?” Seeing no objections, Cort clapped his
hands and a thrandril stepped in. “Send out three squads of
neftir, one to the northwest, one to the north and one
northeast. Have them look for a place to set up camp about
halfway down the mountains.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I will leave tonight to take the plan to the Lakian
army.” Lendril could barely contain her sadness.

“You can’t travel alone. We will send a squad of
warriors with you.”

“No, you’ll need them here,” said Nandel as he entered.
“The magicians have to travel north and intercept the
supernatural beings in Rangdor’s army. We will travel
with her to the Lake army and leave from there.”

“Once we make camp tomorrow, the humans will take
the watch while the others sleep. Findra, make Arif and
Lazol exceptions to this rule and put them with a squad of
mendar. Those two humans have more night skills than
any of us.”

Suddenly, the camp erupted in noise. A soldier burst
into the tent. “There are xadineft everywhere. They rushed
in from all sides.”

“Order the human generals to keep their men back and
start building fires just inside the outer ring of tents.” Cort
stood. “Come, it has begun.”

When the commanders reached the perimeters they
helped the humans with finding places to build fires then
waded into the melee. The soldiers on watch had held out
barely long enough to allow the rest of the neftir and daril
soldiers to charge into the lines.