Lost in the Light Ch. 14

Riyarra rose to her feet. Her hand twitched, eager to feel steel in its grip and to slice this old man's head from his shoulders. Whatever fear magic he was trying to use on her was having the reverse effect, she was enraged against him. She denied his prophecies, such a horrible fate could not possibly happen.

"Strike me down if you like, otherwise I die at a traitors hand."

"Why do you pray here?" She asked, infuriated. "You are no pious man..."

"The Mother hears my prayers," He argued bitterly. "She may not have forsaken me, but instead wishes to remind me of her power. She withheld a player in this farce that would have saved us both - a boy that was supposed to return from meeting her. It is to her fickle, evil, capricious nature that I pray..." he mumbled. The fire of argument left him and he went back to his silent praying.

Riyarra could not believe this wretched man - praying to a demon for salvation? Quickly she turned to Brylen, her hands a flurry of communication as she tried to relay all that the Father had whispered in a short amount of time. His face scrunched up in confusion as he digested what he could and fought against yelling at her to stop and be more clear.

The door burst open, and the largest human Riyarra had ever seen walked boldly into the Chapel. He wore short leggings that ended at the knees - almost a skirt or loincloth, and no shirt, proudly displaying his heavily muscled, red skinned chest. His face was just as hard as his body, and his eyes saw through Brylen and Riyarra as if they were flies and fixated on The Father.

"Father!" the man said loudly and strode forward. Brylen stepped back to get out of the man's way. The Father stood and rose.

"Rasj," He replied evenly, as he turned around to regard the massive man.

"The Mother spoke to me last night," The man said with conviction. He stopped short of the old man and stared down at him with contempt.

"Did she? That bitch..." The Father chuckled. Rasj's hand flew out in a swipe at The Father's head. It was so forceful, a pane of glass in the far window cracked and shattered outwards. But The Father had no intention of going quietly. He ducked out of the way and quickly jammed two fingers into Rasj's elbow. The large man's arm started to spasm uncontrollably, but he took no notice and roared as he grabbed the old man by his free hand. The Father was old, and not as maneuverable, but he was not defenseless. He struck this arm just as he had the other, but the nerve spasms didn't occur and release him. So he struck the hand, and Riyarra heard bone shatter from The Father's attack. Yet the red man seemed to be immune to it. He dropped the Father, but before the old man landed, he kicked him squarely in the torso. Riyarra heard bone crack from the impact right before the frail body of the old man smashed against the stone alter and crumbled to the ground as a rag doll. The Father was dead.

"A new god has risen!" Rasj the Red bellowed throughout the hall. Riyarra heard men enter the Chapel, see the Father's crumpled body on the floor. As one of the men leveled his sword at Rasj and looked to engage him in combat, he was run through by his comrade to his own surprise. The Guard kicked him off his sword, now red with blood, and in a twirl severed the man's head cleanly.

"I bow before God," The man said and went to one knee.

"Kill the disbelievers." Rasj commanded and strode to the middle of the hall where a stunned Brylen and Riyarra looked at each other and the approaching monstrosity. Brylen drew his swords first, but Rasj had closed the distance between them in a single leap, snatched the elf up by the neck, and broke it with a sickening twist by his mangled wrist.

"NOO!" Riyarra screamed involuntarily as she saw her friend die so easily and fall to the floor. She yanked her own blades out but not before that same monster had snatched her up by the head. She had to drop her blades and grab his thick hand for support before he pulled her head off her shoulders from his sheer strength. She struggled as he walked out into the afternoon sun and presented his captive to all those that would see. Huanguard loyal to Rasj bowed to one knee, the rest were busy culling their ranks as men cried out in death screams all around. Death and blood was everywhere as The Monastery was being purified for the coming of its new God.

"Bind this one," Rasj commanded and threw Riyarra to the ground. She landed ungracefully and tumbled through the dirt. Before she could rise, hands were upon her, tying her hands behind her with rope, and then around her neck to make it choke her should she try to struggle. She was lifted up by her arms, dragged out into the courtyard and dumped onto the ground next to a Zecairin woman in blue robes. They looked at one another and recognition crossed between them.

"you?!" Riyarra hissed at The Mischievous. The Mischievous only laughed madly at the dark twist in fate.

"Ah, I see you know one another." Came Silas's whiny voice. Riyarra looked up at him, saw his smug expression, and met the real master of this cabal.

*****

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Tamain cursed to himself silently as he watched from the rooftops. He sent whispers out carried on the wind to their targets as fast as they could. This was not a contingency they had planed for. As they watched human kill human he wasn't sure which one to help before it was all too late and mostly over. This had been planed from the beginning and his people were caught unawares.

"Hold, wait!" He instructed his people. "Move in if they look to strike at her! We need more time!"

"Lysia! Rouse Corella, she's slept it off enough, we need an escape route now!"

"Valel! MOVE! They have her! Looks like an execution! Brylen is down!"

"windmaster..." came a guttural voice from underneath him. Tamain spooked, looked over the edge of the rooftop he was perched upon and saw just a large box attached to the wall. There was a latch on the outside, and he could smell a foul human inside. "...open this lock." The voice instructed. "then be prepared to carry them over the wall."

*****

Valel sent the hand signals across the ranks as fast as he could. Archers pulled back their arrows and took quick aim. Valel drew his blades, ready to give his signal. He looked to the east wall to where he had stationed a reserve group, but could clearly see them already engaged with the enemy. Bodies were dropping rapidly.

"MOVE!..." Valel heard the call on the wind.

"MOVE!" He reiterated before the rest of the message was conveyed and leapt from his branch. He hit the ground at a dead run, flanked by a dozen leaf knights, their blades already in their hands glinting off the sun's rays. Not but halfway down the hill he had hoped to see a flight of arrows overhead but none came. He glanced over his shoulder and could see fighting breaking out in the treeline with some unseen enemy. They were formidable these humans, they had prepared for the Elthairins. He cursed himself silently, and prayed that his mother would fend them off in time.

But he could not come to her aid. He had his mission, and so his feet never slowed.

*****

"The Father has fallen. His weakness has poisoned us." Rasj called out to his men as the last of the unfaithful had been silenced.

"Kill me and Elthair will erase you from this world." Riyarra said to Silas, her desperation was obvious in her voice, but she managed to keep her fear still hidden.

"Your own brother paid us to get rid of you," Silas laughed at her. "We need to make good on that promise. Despite our failure in leadership." he gestured around himself. "All of this is because of you, Princess. The Huanguard never fail. Failure is a heresy."

"He paid you?!" she practically screamed as she struggled against her bonds. The one part of her mind that wasn't cracking into hysteria had realized that the longer she kept them talking the greater chance she had for a rescue.

"In a manner of speaking," he smiled coyly.

"Silas?" The Mischievous giggled. Her red eyes glared at him lustfully. "do you remember the hot iron you shoved inside of me? I've been trying to think of something worse to do to you, and I finally came up with it." She said gleefully. Her comment made his sickening smile fade away, and he looked to one of the men standing watch over them.

"Let me leave here and you can still claim to be rid of me, I'll live in exile I swear!" Riyarra shouted as she saw the guard draw his sword. "I have knowledge and magic I can tra-"

A metal blade swung beside her and red spray covered her face. Riyarra fell sideways and stared aghast at the headless body of The Mischievous. The head rolled to a stop and faced away from her.

Riyarra screamed for help and mercy.

Rough hands picked her up and dropped her back on her knees. She looked up one last pleading time into the sickening face of the fat man.

"The devils of Light and Dark seek to corrupt us! Their punishment will be swift and righteous!" Rasj boomed for all to hear. Riyarra turned to look at Silas one last pleading time.

"I have power I could share." she offered quietly. Silas scoffed, and Riyarra knew it to be futile. Whoever this man was, he was more than what he appeared to be as he now seemed to command the Disruptors. Behind him, Riyarra saw someone sickly shuffle out of the chapel. She tried to watch him, but the fat man wanted her to watch him instead. As Riyarra looked up into Silas's gaze, she saw that malicious wickedness that hinted at an even darker secret. She knew he was toying with her, and she waited an eternity for the words to hear her out to come from his lips. But something behind him distracted her. A flying man came from the open doors of the Chapel. It wasn't so much that he flew as that he leapt really high, and came down really fast with a spear aimed at the fat man.

A moment before he was to skewer the portly man, Rasj the Red shoved Silas out of the way and took the spear through his leg. The flying man hissed unnaturally, his eyes red with the same demonic power as the Zecairin's and he twisted the spear in Rasj's leg.

"Rassssj..." Wolfe hissed out gutturally from between inhumanly sharp teeth. A leathery red tail whipped back and forth agitatedly behind him.

"W-wolfe?!" Silas's stammered in disbelief as he crawled backwards and tried to get to his feet. "N-no, that can't be! KILL IT!" he shouted to everyone gathered. "Its not a man! Kill it! If it gets away, the Mother escapes!"

Rasj grabbed the man's head with both hands and squeezed. Wolfe's skull shattered with a sickening crunch of bone and gore. But the body pulled the spear out of Rasj's leg and tried to stab him through the heart. The moment he saw the pullback for the strike, Rasj threw what was left of the headless abomination against a wall. Men descended on it hacking the unnatural creature to bits as gore and blood sprayed all over the ground and air.

Tamain dared to stand up. He knew his camouflage would flicker from his movement if someone was looking his way, but this new distraction was what they so badly needed. He could see Valel running down the hill, and activity in the trees behind them with no arrows coming their way. This was the one chance to keep this horrible situation from getting worse.

"NOW!" he whispered to the wind and sent it out to his people On a whim he leapt down, dropped his camouflage and bashed the lock off the wood bars with his boot. The man inside opened the small door and stepped out.

"Kill her!" Silas snapped as he rose and started to walk hurriedly toward the chapel. The Huangard had finished dismembering what had once been Wolfe into bits that finally stopped moving independently.

The swordsman that had killed The Mischievous moved away from the brief melee, and drew his blade up high for the killing stroke.

A wood shard flew through the air end over end and impaled him through the neck. He fell backwards with a wet gurgle and slowly choked to death on his own blood.

"Liam!" Rasj snarled at the attacker. The soldiers, instinctively poised to retaliate, spooked at the mention of that name, and parted to make way for the gangly man.
Liam strode forward with heavy breath.

"...spread your cloaks out." the words came to them on the wind. "...prepare to glide."

Tamain kept them in his sight and called his magic in front of him. A ball of swirling air formed. Then another, then twice as many, then twice that, and again until twelve orbs hovered in a row. He sent them out towards the charging Elthairins, and a chill ran down his spine when he saw Zecairin lizard riders emerge from the treeline behind them.

"fuck..." He whimpered, this situation was going from horrible to nightmarish, but he kept his concentration. He saw that his message had been received, each Leaf Knight was holding their cloak open behind them.

Tamain placed a vortex before each sprinting elf, and careful matched their speed and direction. This was the taxing part - each elf weighed different than the other and each one required individual finessing to make this work. First one lifted off the ground, then another, then five, then nine. Finally all twelve floated up into the air. Tamain felt his brain trying to throb out of his head, this was it, only one shot.

He aimed, pulled on all twelve, released the orbs, and elves flew.

"Rasj..." Liam growled. "Look up..."

Rasj wouldn't take his eyes off Liam. But the men beside them startled as twelve angry shadows descended upon them from above them like vengeful angels. Five men died outright, impaled from the landing elves, their death cries steeled their comrades into action. Each elf rolled into an attack onto the nearest Huanguard. A massive melee erupted around them. Those not slain outright engaged the battle fully and pushed back the Elthairins. Shadows shimmered out of the corner of the eye, and an unsuspecting Acolyte brandishing a spear clumsily found his throat slit.

"Shadowraiths!" one managed to get out as the killing blow got his cheek instead of his throat. Chaos erupted in the courtyard, as armed men who had been watching the elite push back the Elthairins suddenly found themselves equally embattled. With their back and flanks compromised the Huanguard's offensive faltered. This gave the Elthairins a moment to press the advantage. Bodies were dropping on both sides, blood and screams of pain accompanied the terrible battle.

Liam never took his eyes off Rasj. Neither did the red giant.

Rasj took a step forward, testing his tenderly healed leg. A wince of pain curled his lip. The chaos around them ignored both men. It was something about the deathly stillness of how they stood that made any onlooker immediately decide to find another target.

Liam sprung first. Halfway between them he kicked up a discarded dagger, snatched it out of the air, and threw it at the man's head. Rasj dodged it easily, but it brought him right to the side to meet Liam's knee as it rose quickly to land on his chin. Rasj threw up both hands and struck downward, counterstriking the blow in an attempt to shatter the knee. Liam kicked out suddenly, taking the blow on his elbow, but delivering his own bone crushing strike to Rasj's wounded thigh.

Both men crumpled backwards. Rasj unable to stand. Liam's left forearm dangling loosely and grotesquely from a dislocated elbow. The difference being that Liam was still mobile, and slid forward into a sidelong kick at Rasj's shoulder. The large man twisted to block it, but the angle had accounted for his larger limbs and he couldn't grab Liam's leg in time, his forearm took the brunt of the blow, but his shoulder took the rest and he toppled sideways and slid across the ground a few feet away.

Liam was on him an instant later, with his arm around the big man's neck in a choke hold. Without the use of his other arm, he couldn't get the leverage he needed to make it effective, but it was enough to distract Rasj, and the moment he reached for Liam's arm, he threw his leg around the large man's chest and grappled him down to the ground. To his surprise, Rasj had anticipated this maneuver, grabbed Liam's grappling leg and slung the man through the air with a vicious roar.

Liam's body crashed through the plaster and timber wall of the mess hall and disappeared in the cloud of smoke that erupted.

An Elthairin Knight tried to take the opportunity to finish off the large red man, but the moment she struck out with her blades to take the man's head off, she found them embedded in her own chest. She toppled backwards with a look of disbelief right before the life left her eyes.

A shadow tried to finish what she had started, but Rasj whirled on it, snatched Gerrick up into the air, and slammed his forehead into the Zecairin's nose, shattering it, and killing him instantly.

"Liam?!" Riyarra shouted over the settling debris as she hurriedly climbed through the makeshift doorway with a Huanguard sword in one hand and an Elthairin blade in the other, both red with blood. A man rose from the rubble and looked up at her with one deadly eye, and one shattered one.

"Follow Silas. Kill what you find down there." He took a step towards her. She froze, unable to shake that murderous gaze of his, made all the more hideous by his starved complexion, and battered body. He grabbed her arm fiercely. "Now!" he barked. "Don't let him near it. Follow The Mischievous, she went after him not long ago. Leave him to her, but make damn sure you kill whats down there or all of this is for nothing. GO!!" his screamed shattered her out of her shock.

Riyarra fled out the real door, got her bearings, and ran towards the chapel. Inside, she found the altar split apart revealing stairs descending steeply down below. The smell of a musty catacomb welcomed her. Without slowing her speed she dove down, allowing gravity to carry her through the air. She stuck out her weapons, letting the metal dig into the stone and grind sparks into the darkness. This both illuminated her way, and slowed her descent as she approached the bottom. She hit the ground, tumbled and rolled, and continued her pursuit at a dead run.

****

A Huanguard soldier accompanied Silas through the darkness. He carried the torch as the fat old man led the way. The sorcerer was in a foul mood, cursing about betrayals and devils escaping as he wound his way deeper in. The soldier just looked around cautiously, trying to keep the torch in his hand ahead of him, as well as his spear at the ready.

"Whatever you see down here, if you mention any of it, I'll feed you to it." Silas barked.

"My lips are sealed." The man replied. "I bow before god."

Silas trudged on until the catacomb tunnel opened up into a wider chamber. This place was not made by an ancient order of human monks. It was much, much older, and very elaborate. Humans couldn't create the stonework pillars that held up the arched ceiling so high above.

The soldier whistled his appreciation. Silas stopped in his tracks and gave the man a murderous glare.

"Sorry," The man whispered. Silas scoffed and rolled his eyes disdainfully. But didn't say another word. The soldier suddenly looked uncertain that he should continue following the sorcerer.

"Teagan isn't it?" Silas commented. "fourth year? Almost a master aren't you?"

"Aye," Teagan acknowledged and tried to stay in formation with the torch.

"That will be all Teagan," Silas said and conjured up a wisp of blue flame in his hand. "I am close enough now." The unnatural fire grew brighter. Silas turned around to regard the Huanguard. Teagan looked at him quizzically.

"How many fourth years still use a spear?" Silas condescended. "Who are you?" he demanded. Teagan looked like he was about to protest until he saw the blue flame start to spin into a fireball. He looked to the torch ruefully.