Chapter 27 - Storms

"Wonderful," he muttered so no one could hear. His mind pondered over details for the day's travel, making note that the rock would be slippery now, as he began waking the others. It seemed his mind was constantly in a state of worry these days. He was beginning to doubt they'd be able to make it in time, much less come out of this quest alive. He still wasn't even sure that what they were doing would matter in the end. A part of him wondered if they wouldn't have been able to make more of a difference if they had stayed behind and helped fight off the Elar armies after all.

At least you're not dead, he reminded himself, trying to force some optimism. And there must be something to this quest, or the Elar wouldn't send so many men after this ragtag little group.

That was the fact that troubled him the most. There were potentially two hundred Elar and accompanying demons coming. It seemed like a lot to be sending to deal with just six travelers, no matter how powerful Jetha might be able to be.

Then again, there's Alldeh too, he told himself. At least he's becoming more dangerous to them than he is to us. The last two demonstrations of Alldeh's power had him worried about the madman's potential danger even more. He'd not gotten to see whatever Alldeh had done to destroy the demon, but the portal had been an obvious display of power. He'd heard a wizard speak wistfully about the idea of creating a portal, but to do so aparently required some sort of extensive ritual and several powerful wizards. Nonetheless, Alldeh had just chanted a few words and created one without seeming strained in the least from the effort. His only hope was that Alldeh's showings of magic would continue to work in their favor. He'd found himself praying more and more, although he made sure that Father Marus received no hint of it.

Breakfast went quickly. When there wasn't much food, it didn't take them much time to eat, and they were moving again in record time. At this point it didn't take much more than rolling up the blankets and putting out the fire before they could be picking their way across the mountains again, grim determination evident on everyone's faces. The group was quiet these days, hardly bothering to hold conversations anymore. He suspected that not many of them expected to come out of this alive, if any at all. He thought back to the promise he'd made to Jetha's father. It seemed a lifetime ago.

Other memories fell on him as the snow did--little bits that added up. He thought about other jobs he had done, which ones had been satisfying and which ones not.

He thought about the last woman he had been with. Anessa, he eventually remembered. He wondered what had come of her, and if he would ever see her again. He doubted it a little regretfully. He wondered if her brother would end up a bard or not, or if the Elar would have prevented that by now. He supposed the Elar would have changed everything for a lot of people. He wondered how many dreams would be crushed while reality around people changed completely.

They pushed on through the falling snow all day. They did find dead wood to make a fire with. After discussing the risks and merits, they decided the risks were small enough to live with. Fire would keep animals away, and their position would limit the areas their fire could be seen from.

Niza seemed to sleep very well through the night, but she woke up looking even more concerned than normal. She did not say anything, and he did not press the subject.

They moved on. By that point he was almost used to their footprints in the snow filling themselves in and vanishing. They talked very little through the morning, and they ate lunch mostly while still moving. It was well into afternoon when a large rock shattered against the rock wall next to them.

At first he assumed that it was loose rock that had collected and finally weighed down a larger piece until it broke. They had seen evidence of rockslides here and there, although fortunately none had been close enough to cause much concern for the group except to change their course slightly to veer around. This one was close, however, just in front of the group as they moved along a ledged area near the bottom of one of the mountains they were going around. The fact that the rockslide was accompanied by a large, booming voice, however, changed Ullden's theory immediately.

He looked at the source of the voice and swore, drawing his sword. The largest man he had ever seen, easily six times as tall as Ullden himself, stood watching them, a second rock being hefted in his massive hand. Despite the fact that the distance between them and the giant was only a few steps for the giant's long legs, it would take Ullden a few minutes to cross the distance over the jagged rock, and would be difficult at best. Ullden glanced at Jetha next, knowing the girl's magic might be the only chance they had. Kyla was already loosing an arrow, but he somehow doubted that it would make much difference. The arrow hit home in the giant's shoulder, but the giant plucked it out with his huge fingers and discarded it as if it was merely some pesky insect. He seemed to be laughing at them, his huge voice causing small real landslides here and there across the mountains.

"Jetha!" Ullden yelled, trying to be heard over the giant. "Use your magic!"

"Wait!" Alldeh yelled suddenly, dancing around and waving his arms. "Play! Play with meeeee! Ooooh, ooooh! Play with meeee!"

"Alldeh!" Marus cried, trying to pull him back. Alldeh was dancing dangerously close to the edge, but Marus managed to grab his arm and keep him from slipping off.

Ullden could see than Jetha was building up to cast a spell, her face tense with concentration. Light suddenly shot out, away from her, in a stream towards the giant. The giant raised an eyebrow as he stepped to one side, avoiding the spell with amazing nimbleness.

"I wondered how long it would be until you returned, young one," the giant surprised them all by saying. "Looks like your spell worked after all." He dropped his boulder and reached forward picking Alldeh up with two fingers under Alldeh's arms. Marus tried to hold onto Alldeh, but was unable, falling back to the ledge as the giant gently placed Alldeh so that he was sitting on the palm of the giant's other hand. Alldeh's legs swung over the edge of the hand, one swinging at either side of the giant's wrist. Alldeh clapped his hands and squealed happily as the giant began chanting some words that Ullden couldn't understand. Ullden was distracted momentarily as he realized he'd been standing there for a moment, his mouth hung open and the tip of his sword having dropped down to the ground. He closed his mouth and brought his sword back up again, trying to feel bigger.

"Hey!" he yelled up at the giant. "Put him down!" His heart dropped in his stomach as the giant turned his gaze onto Ullden. It was all he could do to keep his knees from buckling. He'd never come up against anything quite like this before. He hoped he didn't look as helpless as he felt just then. Unfortunately, the giant's amused expression wasn't helping much.

"You don't look like the others," the giant said, looking down.

"What others?" Marus had the presence of mind to ask. Ullden could only assume that Alldeh had encountered these on his last trip here. He hoped the man had not annoyed them in any way at the time.

"Hard ones, rough-skinned ones."

"Elar," Ullden said.

"Is that what they are?" the giant asked. "We don't like them."

"There are more of them coming," Ullden said. "Many of them," he added, not knowing if the giants would understand the numbers involved or not. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Play with us," Alldeh said with a giggle.

"The bad one is back, then?" the giant asked Alldeh. Alldeh started idly picking his nose.

"Yes, he is," Marus answered. "We think this time we can stop him for good, but we're running out of time."

"Strange," the giant said, cocking his head and looking at Alldeh, "that we did not feel his return.

"I take it you know Alldeh?" Ullden left it there as more of a question, despite his feeling it was really a statement instead.

"Alldeh?" The giant squinted at Ullden for a moment and then seemed to suddenly understand. "Ahhh! Is that what you call him then? I know him as Narien. He has long been called friend by our people. Though not so by the fallen."

"I've always wondered if that was really his name," Marus said, nodding. "Who are the fallen?"

"They are ones who were once like us. But the last time the demon came..." the giant shook his head sadly. "He seduced them. Their valor was lost in the blood of the innocent. The few who remain have not stirred differently, however. It seems the demon has forgotten them, despite the vigil they keep. We still stand to keep them in check. We hope they will one day return to us again."

"They are just like you?" Ullden said, suddenly realizing what the two factions of "beasts" that fought here really were.

"Like us in form and figure, yes. But their hearts were turned to ice when they once sold their souls to the same demon who plagues you now."

Another giant climbed over a ridge and started walking closer. He wondered just how many of them there were.

"I am sad to hear that," Marus said. "Perhaps if we can stop him for good this time..." he trailed off.

"Our own power is not what it once was. Our numbers are few now. Maybe Narien remembers what we were like once. He warned us that when we saw him again that he would be different, and that he might not remember. He had to hide."

"He has been hiding for some time," Marus said. "I have been caring for him for quite a while now, not knowing until recently who he was."

"Friends of his may pass through our mountains unchallenged," the giant said.

"Ah, hello, friend," the second giant said to Alldeh when he got close enough. He ignored the rest of them, which Ullden did not mind.

"There are many Elar chasing us," Ullden said, not wanting to be left out of the discussion completely. "They are trying to stop us from stopping the demon, but there are too many of them for us to handle. We also have little time left."

"Then I shall call others, and we will carry you to where you must go, although we like that place not," the giant said. He lifted his head high and called out a low, rumbling yodel that echoed among the peaks and valleys and chasms and cliffs.

"Won't the others hear?" Jetha asked, voicing the same question that had leapt to Ullden's mind.

"Yes, but we have fought recently enough that they are unlikely to come," the giant answered. "They have lost some from hardship over the years and we have better numbers. They will not come after us with so many wounded right now."

"Lost from hardship?" Ullden asked, with a growing suspicion. "What about battle?"

"Ahhh," the giant nodded at Ullden. "We do not kill our bretheren. When the demon was imprisoned before, those who fell from valor lost their power. They relied on the power the demon gave them while he was free, and it went with him. They are weak. We could kill them if we wanted, but they were once our brothers. We hope to return them to us. With us, they are the last of our kind. The demon saw to killing our women. There will be no more once we are gone."

Alldeh began weeping in the giant's hand. "Such a sad story," he said mournfully.

As the giant was speaking, a lot more giants had been joining the group. Eventually, a rough count had Ullden trying not to gawk at the thirty giants that stood before them. His mind raced at the good fortune they had possibly just found. Maybe we stand a chance, if they will help defend us. He found himself holding his breath, hoping they wouldn't feel the same about killing Elar as they did their bretheren.

Other giants greeted Narien, and the first explained that he was now called Alldeh. The first giant asked the others to help carry the group. The giant that scooped Ullden up was careful, and while it was awkward at first, he ended up on the giant's palm unharmed. The ground seemed a long way down.

The giants covered ground quickly, and Ullden moved to the middle of the giant's hand more, although the ride was smooth enough.

"Whee!" Alldeh exclaimed several times. The wind blew in Ullden's face. They were moving at what he guessed to be the equivalent of a decent gallop. Once he got used to it more, he took some time to look around them.

His giant was not a chatty one. He could see that Marus was making conversation well enough, but he couldn't hear specifically. Niza looked like she was probably the most nervous.

It was still several hours before they reached the cave and they were all gently lowered down. He hopped off the giant's hand onto the hard stone.

"Thank you," he said. The giant nodded slowly in reply.

"We will not stay here," a giant warned them. "We will go now. When you are finished perhaps we will see you again."

"The Elar chasing us will have fallen behind by now," Ullden said, "but they will catch up eventually."

"They will pass through our valleys to do so," one of the giants said. He was not sure any more if it was the first one or not. "They will regret doing so."

"Remember," Marus said to Ullden, "they may be coming from more than one direction. We should still plan for defenses during the ritual."

"Yes," Ullden agreed, surveying the terrain surrounding the mouth of the cave. He pointed out an area above it that looked somewhat unstable. "As a last resort, we may be able to rig something up there that would cause that rock to fall, blocking some of the entrance. Rockslides could work to our advantage if we can arrange for them to happen when we want them to."

He was distracted by the giants, who were each stopping and bowing before Alldeh before leaving. One giant remained after the others had begun moving away.

"It is time, Narien," the giant said in a gentle voice.

Alldeh jumped up and down excitedly, as if expecting some sort of game. The giant brought something out of a bag on his belt, a crystal medallion of some sort, tied to a leather cord. It was far too small for someone the giant's size, and he dangled it from the cord between two fingertips. The giant began chanting something in a tongue Ullden didn't understand, and the medallian glowed from within the crystal with a crisp, bluish light. The light glowed too bright for Ullden to look at directly, and he shielded his eyes from it with one hand while still trying to see what was going on. The others were watching the scene, with looks of intrigue that matched Ullden's own. Then the light moved, suddenly shooting out of the crystal and into Alldeh's face, knocking him backwards against the wall. Afterwards, Alldeh screamed horribly, as if he was in terrible pain, and clutched his head between both hands. Marus was immediately on his knees next to him, chanting a healing prayer. Ullden drew his sword.

"What have you done to him!" Ullden demanded of the giant. The giant did not turn to look at Ullden, but continued watching Alldeh instead, the medallion still swinging in his large fingertips.

"I have returned that which was lost," the giant answered. "Or, rather, that which he placed in my care so long ago. He said he would need it back only once he returned to this place." Alldeh stopped screaming, collapsing into a small heap on the ledge. Then he raised his head slowly and looked up at the giant.

"Thank you, Normethen," Alldeh said in a surprisingly steady voice. He slowly stood, then reached up and took the medallion from the giant, looking at it briefly before slipping the cord around his neck. "You have been a great friend indeed."

"I will not say farewell," Normethen said, "for I believe we will see each other again in the afterlife."

Alldeh only nodded in response, and the two seemed to understand one another without saying more. The giant turned and moved off, to follow the others, and Alldeh turned to look at the group. Ullden noticed that his hands were shaking and his face looked drawn, but Alldeh's expression was more clear than any Ullden had previously seen.

"We have a lot of work to do," Alldeh said. "Come." Then he turned and strode into the cave without hesitation.

Ullden and the other followed him inside. The cave was like a rough-carved tunnel leading down into the mountain. As Alldeh moved deeper in, torches set in iron sconces lit themselves.

They came to a point where the cave sloped down more sharply, and steps were carved into the floor. They went further and further down, and eventually Ullden realized they were following a wide spiral down.

"What made this?" he asked, trying to think of some natural circumstance that would create the spiral tunnel. The walls had the smoothed features of a natural feeling cave, and stalactites and stalagmites reaching towards each other from ceiling and floor made for eerie irregular columns.

"Necessity," was all that Alldeh said.

They were quiet as they advanced further down as the muffled echoes of their footsteps followed them. Torches continued to ignite as they went. He wondered if they stayed lit behind them or not, and whether it was some magic set up before or whether it was something that Alldeh or Narien was doing now.

It felt like hours of spiralling downward until they came to a huge open chamber. It had a high, domed ceiling spiked with ancient looking stalactites dripping slowly, like saliva on mammoth fangs. In the center was a rough edged pit, far enough away that he could not judge the size of it by the light of the final tunnel torch.

"Here," Narien said. "Here is where it finally ends."

He chanted a couple of brief words and the light from the final torch brightened some and jumped into Narien's hand. He held it aloft so he could see as he led them further down, until Ullden began to wonder if they weren't heading to the very core of the world itself. He waved his other hand before him, chanting a few words, and the rough, brittle rock of the pit sides smoothed itself before Narien, creating a path downward for them to walk.

The pit was deeper than it was wide, and it was some time yet before the light reflected back from a pool of dark water at the bottom. Here and there ripples shimmered across it as drops from the stalactites splashed down into it, echoing in the vast space around them. A path of smooth stone led across to the center of the pool, with a small space to step across on either end of it. In the center was a perfect circle, covered in something black that Ullden decided could only be ash based on how it felt when his boot fell upon it. The ground within the circle was charred. In the very center of the circle a part of something stood in the ground, next to it was what looked to be another piece of it, broken off in half. Whole, it would have looked similar to the scepter that Niza carried, only missing the stones and burned black.

Narien chanted a few more words that Ullden couldn't understand, and the flame in his hand flew up and divided into several more, lighting the circle as they hung in the air around it. Then he picked up the two pieces of the burnt scepter, pulling the one from the ground, examining them as he did. Ullden realized that the madman, Alldeh, was gone now. This man was clearly Narien now.

"What now?" Ullden asked, breaking the silence that hung around them all. Narien looked up, taking them all in one at a time, as if considering each of them for a moment. Ullden found himself shuffling uncomfortably under the man's gaze, as if he was nothing more than an errant child.

"Now," Narien said, "for one thing, the demon will know I'm back, and will know precisely what we intend. Jetha and I have a lot of work to do before sunset."

"And what do we do?" Niza asked.

"You need to stay close with that scepter," Narien answered. "It allows the demon to channel energy. The last time the demon was here it wanted to control the world--"

"So not much has changed, then?" Ullden grumbled, realizing only too late that he had interrupted.

"Wrong. This time the demon intends to become a god. Gods gain their strength from prayer. They have been able to help less and less as the number of followers dwindles. But if the demon can get enough people believing it's a god, it can become one."

"There are scepters like that across the world, taking that subtle prayer energy and sending it to the demon. But it also serves as a link to the demon, a chain of sorts, and a stronger one than I had last time. This time, instead of binding the demon away, I think we can destroy it. But to have even a chance at that I need to teach Jetha a lot right away. More Elar will be here before sunset to stop us. Go prepare defenses, Ullden. I think you understand what's at stake."

"Father, Kyla," Ullden said, "shall we?"

"Alld--Narien?" Marus asked. Ullden realized that the priest looked a little lost just then, as if unable to wrap his mind around Narien taking charge as he was. Ullden admitted he was a little surprised by it himself, but then Marus had watched over the man for much longer.

"Yes, thank you, Father Marus," Narien said, stepping forward and put a hand on Marus' arm. "I may not have the opportunity later to say it. However, I'm afraid there is not time for much in the way of explanation. I had hidden myself away in the hopes the demon would not see the threat. I am the last one left who knows his true name, as it cannot be spoken - only seen within one's mind. I had to protect that. The others who came here with me before died protecting that. I am myself again now, and now we must finish what I once began. You have looked after me with kindness. I thank you for that."

Ullden realized, looking at Narien, that the man did not expect to survive. The wizard was saying goodbye, whether Marus realized it or not.

"But now you must help them with the defenses. The Gods do not have much power left to offer you, my friend. But I know they are waiting to help you all they can. For them, everything rides on this night. If we fail, they will be lost to the world in short order. The demon will convert or kill the last remaining followers as quickly as he can. Go now, to safeguard this place. I must focus on readying Jetha for the ritual."

"Yes, of course," Marus nodded, concern mixed with his expression. Narien wasted no time in turning back to Jetha and Niza, gesturing that they join him at the center of the circle. Marus turned and looked at Ullden, as if waiting for instruction. Kyla was already surveying the pit around them.

"Well," Ullden said, in part to break the silence, "defending low ground is always harder. We'll want to start either outside the cave or at the cave mouth, and set up a number of fall-back points." He walked quickly back up, continuing to talk as they went.

"The tunnel gives us control," he explained. He indicated some of the stalactites on the way, especially at points where they narrowed the tunnel more. "These create additional choke points we can take advantage of. Places where they can't come at us in groups, but have to come two at a time. If we had Jetha's spells to work with we could really take advantage of them."

He pointed out four good places they could fall back to and have another choke point to defend. Each time the Elar pushed past one, they could fall back to the next one. The cave mouth itself would be their starting point.

"Kyla, the more you can injure with arrows as they approach the better," he suggested.

"Of course," she said.

"Father," he tried, "I don't suppose you could pray that they just never see the cave mouth?"

"No," Marus replied. "Hiding people is one thing, because someone doesn't automatically know where they might be. Hiding a permanent piece of terrain would take illusion, and even that might only work for a while if they know where it is. Not something I can help with in this case. I can bless our armor and weapons to make them more effective, and perhaps boost our strength and endurace."

"That would all be good. Kyla, perhaps you could scout any other possible approaches. Any sources of timber would be valuable for making spiked barriers, but it looks like that might be tricky."

He looked out around the mountains. Theirs was not the highest peaks, but they were well above the timber line. The areas still green in the lowering afternoon sun were far enough down that getting anything brought up in time would probably not be feasible. Between two of the peaks he could see the open plains, and just then he wanted to be anywhere but where he was.

His eyes caught movement in the mountains below them, and his heart caught in his throat as he watched Elar filing through a narrow space between two sections of rock, heading towards the mountain where Ullden now stood. He pointed silently for the others to see as he gauged how fast the Elar were moving. He followed the line they moved along and started to have an idea of their numbers. Three demons now headed the line. Ullden wondered if they had acquired another summoner or managed to summon a third demon between them. Obviously the demon they had managed to kill recently had been replaced. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to come to terms with his life up until that moment. He knew now how Narien must feel - he was unlikely to survive what was coming.

He let a few minutes drift by him before setting it all aside. He returned to the rockslides he'd been thinking of earlier instead.

"There's not going to be enough time to set up a lot," he said, looking at Father Marus. "Is there anything in that book of yours that can make the earth shake or a noise loud enough to pull those rocks down?"

"There are some defensive prayers to Ogrun that might help us," Marus nodded. "There is one that is supposed to bring about a small earthquake. The only concern I have is that we, too, would be buried in the rubble."

"Yes, so it's something we'll need to use as we're pulling back into the tunnel." Ullden surveyed the area of mountain below them as well. "Perhaps we can set up some areas with rope where we can drop small rockslides down onto them. If we set them up right we may be able to get some sort of chain reaction with loose rock below us too." He wished the path to the mouth of the cave were steeper. There were several areas where the Elar would be able to travel up with relative ease.

The heavy, ominous clouds that had been gathering and looming overhead seemed all the more low and heavy from where they stood. They had been consolidating, so that there were fewer gaps for the sun to shine through. They took that moment to start with heavy drops. Lightning pounded down on a nearby peak and thunder echoed around them.

"If we're lucky, the rain will make for slick mud that might delay them some," Father Marus said hopefully.

"A little extra time won't let us gather anything to work with if we also have mud to deal with," Ullden pointed out as the rain started falling in force. They stepped back into the cave out of the rain.

"Then we at least have a dry place to wait for them," Kyla said.

"We have time to pray," Father Marus said. He took their hands and they stood in a circle. He prayed for the strength of their courage and their armor, the sharpness of their will and their weapons, protection from their enemies and the might to stand up with a greater cause against greater numbers.

Part of Ullden felt like all that was left of humanity was behind him in the cave. He knew that was not the case, but reminded himself that he was in essence standing between the Elar and the rest of humanity. The battle that would happen here might very well determine the fate of the world, he told himself.

They had a couple of hours at least before the Elar arrived, possibly more with the rain. They did not have a lot to work with, but he set them to work with what they had. He and Marus moved rocks and stacked them in ways they could pull down. Kyla set up the ropes they would use to trigger them. She had some knowledge of making traps, so they put that to use.

They also pulled their cloaks out and used them as nets to hold more rock, piling what they could into them and attaching ropes that they could release once the Elar had made it past the first rockslides. Ullden didn't expect it to gain them much more than time, but knew that time was what they were trying for at this point. He shivered as he surveyed it all, the wind cutting into his armor and chilling the sweat he'd worked up moving rocks.

"What about the path down?" Marus asked once they were finished setting up rocks. They could see the Elar coming closer, the two demons already reaching the base of the mountain. Ullden was thankful that neither of these particular demons were winged, meaning they would have to climb up like the Elar did. He noted, however, that the demons were waiting to climb in formation with the soldiers, destroying Ullden's hopes that they could take out the two demons before the Elar had even gotten close.

"No time," Ullden answered grimly. "The best we can do is pick them off as they narrow to navigate the path. Keep ahead of them. If the rockslide works as we pull back into the cave, they'll have to dig their way through. Picking them off should be easy as they start to come into the hole they dig. Then it's just a matter of keeping ahead of them enough. Any barriers we set up on the path down to the pit would just hinder us as much as it would them."

"What about the path across the water down there?" Marus tried. "Couldn't we do something to prevent them from crossing that?"

"If we had oil or something, we could set it on fire once we were across," Ullden replied. "But we don't have enough left to matter."

"We could soak cloth with what we have," Kyla suggested, holding out her pack. "It might be enough to slow them again."

"True," Ullden conceded. "I'll go set that up. I should be back before they come into range of your bow."

He didn't wait for any kind of answer, knowing time was short. He took the packs and turned back into the tunnel, moving quickly. He realized that the way down to the pit was really shorter than it had felt when he'd first descended it. As he ran down the spiraling steps, he wished there were more of them to slow the progress of the Elar.

Jetha and Narien were drawing symbols onto the ground of the circle when he reached it, while Niza sat near the center, clutching the bundle with the scepter in it. He only paid a little attention as he laid clothing and blankets on the ground across the bridgeway to the circle, drizzling them with the last of the oil as he did. He set up a lit torch on either end of the pathway just to be sure.

Niza met his eyes from the middle of the circle. Jetha and Narien were busy drawing and chanting, and seemed not to notice his presence. He did not want to distract them. But Niza looked trapped in the middle with nothing to do. She gave him a fearful look. He nodded back, hoping it looked reassuring.

He rushed back up to the others, reviewing in his head everything they had prepared. Father Marus was on one knee praying aloud, sword in one hand and book in the other. He looked the part of the warrior priest. In the flickering torch light he looked like a younger man, and Ullden remembered the priest telling a story of getting the sword and armor from an older priest who had used them in his youth.

Kyla was squatting on the floor, gazing outside while chanting something and stroking the feathers on her arrows. The chanting was almost more just low and guttural sounds than anything he considered words. There was an enchanting rhythm to it that he found solemnly beautiful. He did not want to interrupt either of them. He wondered if they were both preparing themselves to possibly die.

He himself had long had his own little rituals before going into a major battle. There had been a number of missions that had seemed unusually risky, and there was never any guarantee of a safe return. Often enough it had involved a woman the night before.

He looked out the cave mouth at the surging rain, thinking that his night before had been much too long ago. He promised himself he would seek her out when he was done. She had struck him as a resourceful woman. He felt certain she was alive out there somewhere. The long roar of an angry demon brought him out of his reverie of wondering if it was raining wherever she was.

The rain seemed to fall heavier as the Elar drew closer. Father Marus stood up from his praying only a moment after Kyla stopped her own chanting.

"I asked the Gods to give me sight of them again," he informed them. "Their numbers have been weakened. Presumably by the giants. I'm estimating that they were actually up to nearly three hundred when they entered the mountains, or they combined with more since somehow. I didn't have time for an exact count, but they number under two hundred now. Probably about one hundred and sixty or so."

"Oh good," Ullden said with a grim smile. "Is that all?"

"They will soon be in range of my bow," Kyla said, forestalling further comment. "Shall we loose the first rockslide?"

"Soon," Ullden said, looking down at the Elar climbing the mountain. They stretched far enough that some appeared more like ants crawling up towards them in steel armor. Ullden hoped the weight of the armor would tire them out as well.

"The rock won't do anything to those demons," Marus said. "I have prayed for protection on several levels for this space that surrounds us here, but it will only do so much."

"If there is some way to anger the demons, perhaps they will advance early?" Kyla asked. "Better to deal with them before the rest of the Elar. I will try to target the summoners first. They are arrogant to come so near to the front of the line."

"Between your arrows and the first few rockslides, maybe we can get them to advance," Ullden agreed. He reached forward and grabbed hold of the first rope, pointing to one of the others. "Be ready to pull that one on my signal. I'll loose this set first."

He gave the rope a swift, sharp tug and it pulled backwards beneath several large rocks, turning them in the process. They tumbled down the mountainside, towards the Elar, followed by a loud shower of small rocks and pebbles that had been piled up behind them. While the demons seemed only barely annoyed, the Elar were close enough that Ullden could hear cries of alarm as some of them tried to move out of the way or otherwise avoid being hit by the small rockslide. Ullden signaled to Marus, who had grabbed up the second rope to be pulled, and a second pile of rocks followed the first, tumbling and bouncing down towards the advancing Elar.

Kyla moved forward and started firing. She sent arrow after arrow down. Ullden signalled the final rockslide, and Marus triggered it. It frustrated Ullden not being able to see what effect, if any, it was all having.

"What's going on down there?" he asked Kyla.

"The rocks and mud are slowing their advance," she said between arrows. She fired half of her supply and then pulled back.

"The conjurers have been hit, one at least dead, but the demons do not seem to care," she warned them. "It may be that at this point the main demon is controling them directly."

"It's time," Ullden said to Marus.

"Stand back away," Marus instructed, raising his arms and stepping forward. He prayed to Ogrun, asking that He show his Wrath, that it shake the world.

The ground did shake. Ullden had never experienced an earthquake before, but had heard descriptions, mostly bards' renditions. It was enough to knock stalactites from the ceiling, and they moved back into the cave to avoid being crushed. The rumbling noise drowned out any chance of hearing anything from outside.

The cave mouth did fall mostly in, and by the time the dust started to settle there was an opening barely large enough for a small child to squirm through.

"One of their demons will open that up larger," Ullden supposed.

"And any demon that does so will put itself in reach of two swords capable of harming it," Marus said.

"I will hold my remaining arrows for the Elar when they start poking their heads through," Kyla said. It was quite a few minutes until they heard shifting rock outside the cave. The waiting made it seem like hours. Ullden wished it actually could be.

Eventually, the hole grew bigger, and Ullden could see demons on the other side of it, pulling the larger rocks away from the small opening. He moved in close and thrust his sword through, holding the grip firmly with both hands to get more force into it. He felt it hit and penetrate through the demon's tough skin, and heard an answering roar as the demon pulled away from the blade.

As he drew back, Marus stood to the other side, ready to strike again when the next opportunity came. The second demon made the mistake of looking inside the hole to determine where they were, and Ullden watched as Marus stabbed his sword directly into it's face. It roared louder than the other had, and Ullden had the first moment of the day in which it occurred to him that they might manage to succeed. He waited, poised at the opening, for the next opportunity.

There was quiet for a while. Some small sounds of rocks being moved, but none directly near the opening. Ullden wanted to peer through it himself, to see what they were up to, but knew that he would likely suffer a worse injury than the demon who'd made that mistake. He focused on breathing and waiting to strike instead.

Suddenly, a demon hand shot through the opening. Ullden brought his sword down on it's wrist, severing the hand from the rest of the arm, but not before the demon managed to cast the spell. As the stump, oozing a blackish blood, pulled back out of the cave again, flames erupted around Ullden. The air itself seemed to have ignited around them. It was hotter than anything he'd felt before and he found himself screaming as his armor felt as if it was cooking him alive. He could see Marus chanting. The priest seemed to have been far enough to one side that he had only barely been in the area affected. Kyla had a look of horror on her face as she watched him flail about, trying to beat the flames away. The padding between the metal of his armor and his skin was burned away entirely before Marus' prayer somehow made the flames disappear. He fell to his knees, trying to peel pieces of the scalding hot armor away from his skin, but some of them seemed to be burnt into his flesh, and he couldn't pull them away without it causing worse pain than he already felt.

All he was aware of was the pain and horror. He knew he was dying. He had failed.

Marus chanted something and abruptly the pain dulled. It was not gone, he was still aware that it was there, but it felt almost remote and disconnected.

An arrow zinged through the opening. He hoped it was one of Kyla's. He looked down at one hand and moved his fingers. Skin cracked and blood oozed out some of the cracks. There was a dim awareness of pain, but it did not hurt per se.

"It's only temporary," Marus said. "We'll have to cut the armor off before I can heal you properly. But I've dulled the pain to make it tolerable until we can do better." Another arrow zinged, and he heard an Elar cry out. One of the demons raged in frustration against the rocks, and some of them shifted.

"This won't last long," Kyla warned.

Another demon hand came through the opening. Marus swatted at it with his shield, and the hand burst into flame and was yanked back with a howl. Ullden and Marus' eyes met briefly.

"Demons don't like godly things," he said with a shrug. Ullden lifted his sword, and then hopped back out of the way of a rock thrown through the opening.

"They're not trying to come through the hole anymore," Kyla pointed out. "They're digging their way through. We should get ready to fall back."

"Am I going to survive this, Father?" Marus asked, holding out a charred hand. He was afraid to think what his face might look like. He could tell that it hurt, but he had no easy way to know how badly. He could not bring himself to look in anything reflective, and did not dare touch his face. It was not as bad as he feared, he told himself.

"There is little the gods cannot do when they deem, my son. Let's live through this and all wounds can be healed." The priest's words made him feel better, and they moved back, taking a position where Kyla could send her last few arrows at them as they came through.

Ullden knew his body was shaking, despite the fact that he couldn't feel the pain. The grip he still managed to have on the sword was awkward, and he wondered if it, too, was welded to the skin on his hand, preventing him from dropping it. He leaned into the wall for support, doing his best to will his muscles to do what he wanted them to do.

It took a few more minutes of what sounded like Elar shifting rock outside before it suddenly fell silent outside. Ullden and Marus shared a look.

"That can't be good," Marus voiced for them both. He held up his shield again pulling close to Ullden and drawing Kyla in behind them. Ullden could tell he wasn't the only one holding his breath as they waited to see what happened next.

There was a loud roar outside and then the rocks that were still piled up, blocking the entrance, came flying apart towards them. Most bounced off of Marus' shield and a shimmering wall that it put up around them. The wall didn't manage to include everything, however, and Ullden watched, rather than felt, one leg be shattered by a large rock that smashed into it. He slumped over as the leg gave way beneath him, unable to hold his weight any longer. Marus did his best to hold Ullden up, as Kyla fired another arrow over the two men and into one of the Elar that were now entering the cave mouth.

His own words rang in his mind as he looked at the demons and Elar heading towards them, once I agree to do something I follow through with it. I promise you, sir, I will do everything in my power to keep your daughter safe. He had promised Jetha's father. He'd never broken a promise before.

"Not today," he told himself quietly. "Everything in my power."

Marus looked at him and Ullden could see the man's eyes filled with concern and uncertainty. We don't have time for that, Father, Ullden thought. It's not your choice to make. I always knew I'd go down fighting. The regrets he had seemed to wash away as he made his decision. He used the other leg to pull himself back up against the wall and away from the priest.

"Go," he said firmly. "Pull back and keep fighting from a distance as long as you can. Don't forget about the bridge to the circle. I'll hold them here as long as I am able."

"Ullden..." Marus began, the protest already in his voice. "I can still help you if we could just get -"

"There's not time, Father," Ullden cut him off. "I can either buy you time now or get you all killed trying to save me. I've made my choice, Marus."

Marus hesitated a moment more. Ullden was touched by the grief he saw in the man's eyes. The Elar, however, moved forward, the two demons leading the path. Ullden could see that he would meet the demons first. He only hoped he could take one or both of them out before they managed to finish him. He focused on that, forcing his hands to grip harder on the hilt of his sword.

"GO!" he yelled at Marus, turning away from the man. "Fall back!"

He heard them running behind him. Kyla's footsteps were soft next to Father Marus' booted feet. He stepped away from the cave wall, out in the open of the tunnel so that no one could pass by him without coming into reach of his sword. He himself fell back to a point where only two at a time could really get at him.

It was the one-handed demon that charged first. It lowered its head and ran at him full on. Ullden stood his ground defiantly. At the very last instant he jumped sideways and brought his sword down in a sweeping arc, severing the demon's head. He heard it hit the ground past him and slid a little. For just a moment he was distracted by the happy thought that that had been easier than he had expected.

The other demon was more cautious and advanced slowly. What seemed like a teeming sea of Elar followed just behind it. Please, Ogrun, he prayed silently, I've never asked for much...if anything. Please just let me do this one last thing.

The demon stepped close enough and flexed its clawed hands. One of those hands swept out at him, and he blocked it with his sword. The sword felt alive in his hands. His arms felt strong and sure. The demon pulled back its claw, black blood oozing from a cut palm. It roared its anger.

It leapt at him, swinging with both claws and bowling Ullden to the ground. One hand kept a grip on his sword, but he did not have leverage to swing it. The demon was heavy on top of him, pinning him to the rough stone floor. Drool fell on his face before the thing bit deep into his left shoulder. He heard a crunching sound but felt no pain.

"Everything in my power," he said through gritted teeth as he managed to shift his grip on his sword. He stabbed up into the demon and it snarled, hopping off of him on reflex. It came at him with both claws again before he could even begin getting to his feet.

He got his left hand in front of his face, and the demon grabbed his arm at the wrist. It yanked and tore his arm off at the shoulder. That pain he felt, but it still felt remote. The demon threw the arm and he swung with his right, slashing the demon across the chest. It bought him time to stand up.

The demon came at him one more time, and forced long claws through Ullden's chest armor. He could not breathe. He coughed and blood came. He swung his sword but it slipped in his bloody grasp. The sword hit but had no force to do any harm.

The demon grabbed his other arm with its other claw and pushed the sword out away from it. It bit into Ullden's throat, forcing his head back. The last thing Ullden saw was the small stalactites forming on that part of the cave ceiling as he thought, I killed one of them.