The Shadow - Part 6
It took them the rest of the day and all the next morning to slowly circle around the busy centre of the city to its southern suburbs. They began to see enemy soldiers after an hour or so as they searched the city for them, and lost count of the number of times they had to hide until a large group of them had gone by. At first the enemy was confused and disorganised, running this way and that looking for them, and it was easy for the Beltharans to slip past unseen, but as darkness fell they began to settle down and organise themselves, and soon every road and intersection was guarded, the patrols dividing the city into blocks and sectors, searching each and every one in a regular, methodical manner. Avoiding them became more and more difficult, and several times they avoided discovery and capture by the very barest margin. The situation wasn't helped by the fact that, as they reached the outskirts of the city, they were forced to cross large open fields between one built up area and the next, exposing them to view from a distance, and the only way to avoid being seen was to crawl on their stomachs through the waist high yellow grass.
Crawling through one such grassy field, which looked as though it had once been a sportsfield, they were alarmed to see a human figure flying, superman fashion, over a cluster of ruins several hundred yards away. The wand in his hand and the silver trimmed black cape that flapped across his back marked him as a wizard, either using a flight spell or employing a magical artifact that allowed him to defy the force of gravity, and his appearance dismayed them. If he came their way, he would see them for certain, even in the long grass, and would send every Shadowsoldier in the city after them.
"He's getting closer!" hissed Rivan fearfully. He was right. The flying wizard was sweeping this way and that above the ruins, each pass being a little closer, and in a few minutes he would pass right over them. "What are we going to do?"
"If we can make it to those buildings over there, we can hide until he goes away," suggested one of Gallit's men.
"If we move, he'll see us immediately," pointed out Gallit. "We've got to kill him somehow."
"That would also alert the enemy," said Resalintas. "He's visible from miles away, up there. If they see him go down, they'll know we're here."
"Then what in the name of the Nine Hells are we going to do?" demanded Rivan. "We're dead whatever we do!"
"I'll hear no more of that defeatist talk!" snapped Resalintas sternly. He thought for a few moments. "We'll kill him and then run for it. If we're lucky, we'll be able to get away before they get here." He drew one of his throwing knives. "I'll wait until he flies right over us and then get him with this."
"Can you throw that hard?" asked Drake doubtfully. "He's pretty high up."
"Our Lord will give me the strength." The old priest muttered some prayers under his breath and waited as the wizard got closer and closer. He flew past a mere fifty yards away from them, and Resalintas knew that he would see them on his next pass. Sure enough, as the enemy wizard flew past again, he suddenly swerved from his course and came straight for them at great speed.
"He's seen us!" shouted Resalintas, springing to his feet and holding the knife ready to throw. "Run for the buildings!" The others scrambled to their feet and sprinted for the ruins at the edge of the field, leaving the old priest to meet the wizard, who was diving at him like a swooping falcon. Resalintas waited until the last possible moment and then threw the knife with all his strength. It flew straight and true towards the wizard's heart, but suddenly swerved and missed as it hit the magical barrier he'd placed around himself. The wizard laughed scornfully and released a hail of firebolts that hit the old priest in the chest, making him gasp in pain and double over as the wizard flashed past overhead.
Resalintas used every mental discipline he knew to suppress the burning agony and straightened to meet the wizard's next attack as he circled around for another pass. Clearly, ordinary weapons were useless against him, so he would have to draw upon the War God's holy power. As the wizard dove towards him again, therefore, he began the chanting of a special prayer, and as the wizard began his second dive, aiming with his wand, a solid beam of holy power leapt from the old priest, striking the wizard dead centre and cancelling the spell that kept him airborne. So great was the power and holiness of the priest's prayer that the Shadow itself was affected by it, and the terrible supernatural darkness drew back for the briefest moment, allowing a flash of pure, natural sunlight to shine through. For a moment the ever present miasma of despair and futility was banished, to be replaced by a surge of hope and optimism, but all too soon the Shadow closed in again, engulfing the old priest once more in its suffocating embrace. It all happened in a flash, so fast that the wizard was still falling when it was over, but it gave the old priest a much needed moral boost, leaving him in a much better condition than he'd been in a moment before.
The wizard landed heavily fifty yards away and lay still, momentarily stunned by the impact. Resalintas drew his sword and ran towards him, meaning to finish him off while he had the chance, but the wizard recovered before he could reach him, casting another spell that created a wall of invisible force between the two men. Resalintas ran around it, but by the time he reached its end and got on the other side of it, the wizard had fully recovered from his fall and was ready to fight again.
Resalintas sheathed his sword just in time to place his hands together in prayer, summoning the power of Samnos and generating a shield of holy power around himself that protected him from the fireball that would otherwise have turned him into roasted meat, following it up with an attack of his own. Throwing a pinch of sulphur at the enemy wizard, he prayed to the War God for the necessary power and a vertical column of fire roared downwards out of the sky onto the wizard, engulfing him totally. For a moment he thought he might have killed him, but the wizard calmly walked out of the flames, a sneer on his face, and launched yet another attack. This time it was a cone of freezing cold that froze the grass around the priest's feet, making them shatter when he trod on them and putting a layer of frost on his clothing. Resalintas gave a cry of pain as his skin developed splotches of frostbite and he was temporarily blinded. His joints screamed at him as he strained to make the hand movements necessary for another strike, and his breath came out as clouds of fog as he spoke the words.
The battle went on for several minutes as holy power and magical energy flashed between them, each searching and probing for a weakness in the other's defences. Resalintas became vaguely aware that they had drawn a crowd of spectators as Shadowsoldiers, attracted by the spectacle, gathered around to watch, but he dared not divert his attention from the enemy wizard to see how many they were. He called up a sphere of water around the wizard, hoping to drown him, but he merely made a gesture and it exploded, sending a shower in all directions that drenched Resalintas and the spectators, who roared in approval. The wizard then retaliated with a hail of wooden darts that the old priest barely managed to dodge, although one tore through his sleeve, cutting him just above the elbow. He ignored the trickle of blood as he raised his arms above his head and called up a windstorm that tore around the wizard, whipping up his clothing and drowning out his voice, effectively stopping his spellcasting. Resalintas drew his sword again and ran in for the kill, but the enchantment ended abruptly, reminding him that his Lord's power was weak here, and allowing the wizard to cast another protection spell.
Resalintas began to become concerned about the outcome of this battle. It was rapidly becoming obvious that this wizard surpassed him in power and that, unless he could bring the conflict down to a more physical level quickly, he was going to die here. The smug, self assured look on the wizard's face told him that he still had plenty of magic left, whereas the priest was rapidly reaching the limit of his endurance. Had they been anywhere else in the world, he would have defeated this wizard long ago, but here, in the Shadow, where good was weakened and evil strengthened, he was at a serious disadvantage. There was only one thing left that could possibly save his hide, and he did it, ignoring the risks. After all, if he didn't do it, he was dead anyway.
He took hold of the golden griffin in his hands, filled his heart and soul with praise and adoration for Samnos, his Lord and Master, and spoke a single word of such holiness and power that it tore the Shadow apart for a hundred yards in all directions, blinding the Shadowsoldiers as bright, golden sunlight flooded through. The wizard screamed as the Holy Word hit him like a clap of thunder, deafening him, and quick as a flash the old priest was upon him, cleaving him from head to navel with his sword. He then turned and ran westwards before the Shadow could heal itself and the Shadowsoldiers recover their vision, losing himself among the ruins.
The others had gone south, and Resalintas knew that they would stand a much better chance of getting away if he led the enemy in a different direction. West was, as Pars had said, the way the Shadowsoldiers would expect them to go, so it would be easy to make them think that they'd all gone that way. He would lead them out of the Shadow, back to the lands of clean, natural sunlight where he could rely on the power of Samnos once more, assuming he could avoid capture that long, something that was by no means certain considering the number and nature of the enemy and his own weakened condition. He would then be able to use his Lord's power to teleport back to Fort Battleaxe, covering the hundreds of miles in between in a single instant.
"You're in charge now, Gallit," he muttered as he heard the pursuit begin behind him. "Get them home for me." He noticed some more Shadowsoldiers ahead of him, fanning out to surround him, and went through them with three swipes of his sword that left three of them writhing on the ground trying to hold their guts in. The others fell in behind him and gave chase, but he was a good runner, despite his age and weariness, and easily left them behind. This could be tricky, he thought. To remain free to run while keeping them on his tail for two days would be one of the most difficult and dangerous things he had ever done. Let’s hope it's not the last thing I ever do, he thought grimly. I will be needed when war comes. Praying silently for strength and endurance, therefore, he ran on, with more and more Shadowsoldiers joining in the pursuit behind him.
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