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Morigu: Book 01 - The Desecration Page 17
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"So you've said over and over these last weeks." The elf turned away. He tried to cut off the rush of magic through his feet. "The others," he made a vague gesture about him, "the others, sometimes they are wrong. . .sometimes I can't tell what is a danger, what is wrongness to be attacked!" He pressed his fingers into his forehead.
"Margawt, you must," Anlon moved closer, "you must ride with the Ard Riegh's army." He struggled for words. "The, the enemy does not know you exist. You are our weapon, maybe our best."
"Weapon!!" screamed the Morigu, his voice breaking. "Oh yes, the promise." He bit his lip, drawing blood. "A weapon to wield vengeance, that is what I am. The sword of two edges. I cut both ways, Anlon . . . . "
"The Fomarians are ancient evil, Margawt." Anlon's hooves stamped. "You must fight them."
"Goblins are evil," Margawt turned to the other, his face purple with his anger, "I know that. I know what they do. I've seen what they do. I've. . . " his words failed him.
"Margawt, goblins are the slaves of such as the Fomarian. Cut off the head and the body dies!"
"I know that," the elf laughed a hard sound. "I know all about that!" He withdrew his knife and slit his hand across the palm. Staring at the blood he whispered, "I bleed, too. We all bleed, but we don't all die . . . . "
"Margawt," Anlon's voice was gentle, "it is your destiny."
"Some say," he turned pleading eyes to the unicorn, "some say Dammuth has betrayed us."
" How . . . " Anlon shook his great head, "where could you have heard such a lie!"
"I can hear almost anything, anywhere I want, Anlon." The unicorn's eyes widened at that. This was a power the elder Morigunamachamain never had. "I can hear the cries of the newborn, the curses of the dying. I have heard this said. I have heard it said by many."
"It is a lie!" Anlon's fire from his nostrils burned the grass at his feet. "A lie!"
"It is said!" Margawt shouted back. "Who could free the Fomarians? You say they could not do it themselves. Dammuth could.
We know that Dammuth could!"
"There are other powers."
"Other powers," the elf spat, "always other powers." He walked away again, saying nothing. Finally, he turned back. "So be it," he shook his bleeding fist, "so be it. If Dammuth has turned, I will kill him. KILL!!!!!" The shout turned to a wail--stopped suddenly. "I have to," he finished quietly.
"Margawt."
"No. No more," he gasped. "I must go. I must fight this thing." The unicorn's fierce features somehow showed his pity for the Morigu's plight.
"On my back, Margawt," he said, moving to the other. "I have not found you to desert you. It is time the Morigu went to war." Margawt leapt on the unicorn's back. All his mind, his thoughts, chaotic as the need of the earth increased.
"Kill!!" he cried, though he did not know he said anything. Anlon took off, forgetting the threat ahead of him as his heart filled with pain for the poor, mad boy.
He wasn't unaffected by the power of the Morigunamachamain. He could feel the earth magic reaching through his body to grasp the soul of Margawt. It was unbearable. 'Mother,' he thought, 'how could you be so cruel. . . ?'
The Morigu drew his sword, screaming in bloodlust, urging Anlon on. And lost in the wind of their great speed as the two rode to war were their tears, one shed them from pity, the other from pain.
C H A P T E R
Ten
Lonnlarcan reined in and turned to Ceallac. Pointing ahead he said, "See cousin, the hills seem to narrow through here. Our scouts say the whole land is shaped like a funnel, a downed tree there, a rock slide there. It is as the pyridin has said. The Fomarian seeks to have us follow the path he has laid down, follow right into his powerful arms."
"If we had not been warned," said Ceallac, "we would've ridden right into it."
"Aye, we will circle around and trap the monster, but surprise will not be enough. The fomarians were once the earth gods. Only the Goddess could face them. Then the Hunter joined her and the young gods against the fomarians. Our people were in their youth then and had not the power they now possess. Fallen god though he is, the Fomarian will sorely test our strength."
"How, my lord, did he get to our borders without the empire's knowledge?" Cucullin asked as he rode up and joined the two.
"I do not know. He must possess much of his old earth power." Cainhill, Lord of Ionaltraye, rode up. He wore blue-washed armor, his long white hair held in a horsetail braid at the top of his head. His purple eyes did not focus on the others as he spoke.
"The pyridin have found an approach for us, my lord." Cainhill's voice was gruff for an elf. "The fomarian has conjured some sort of creatures made from the earth itself."
"How many?" asked Lonnlarcan.
"A thousand, maybe more. They are hard to see even for the pyridin."
Baibre joined the warriors. She was tall and her hair was a bright red reaching to her knees. She was clad in a full mail suit, its mirror polish reflecting the red hair and eyes. She, with Teague, was the foremost of the wielders of magic the elven host contained. In lieu of a spear she carried a long oaken staff.
"The mages are ready, lord," she bowed to Lonnlarcan. "One quick attack against the Fomarian is planned. After that we will focus our magic on his troops. It is in your hands to defeat him." She made it clear by her tone and gesture that she felt it was her power that should be matched against the earth god.
"Do not look so, lady," the king rebuffed her. "The Fomarians have always been very resistant to any sort of magical attack. It has always been the warrior's lot to face them." Lonnlarcan lifted Kianbearac to eye level. "Weapons he will feel, not magic." He turned to Cainhill. "Get the host in motion. You will lead the attack against these earth creatures the creature has." The elf lord lowered his head, not pleased with the thought of missing the chance to fight the monster. "Ceallac, you will lead my guard in a straight charge to cut a way to the Fomarian. Cucullin and I will follow and seek to engage it." Ceallac began to protest. "After the way is clear, my cousin, join us. We will need all the help we can get."
The necessary orders were given. The elves wrapped the surrounding lands in a concealing mist, and then moving even more quietly than before, they left to meet the Fomarian.
The battlefield was a place of hill and stone. The Fomarian waited for the elves in the end of a small valley, his armies ranged around the valley's sides and mouth. They were creatures of earth magic, conjurings of the demigod, made of earth and stone, badly shaped, some humanoid, some four-legged, some unrecognizable. Their deformed and stunted limbs dropped loose earth and stone to the ground as they waited. They were all large, some bigger than a horse.
As a mist filled the valley the Fomarian allowed himself a moment of pleasure. He could dispel this magic fog easily, but didn't wish to expend his power. He knew it would be needed against the elves. Neither he nor his army were dependent on eyes to see. Suddenly, the land filled with the wail of elvish horns. The creature turned in confusion. They come from behind!'
The elvish charge caught the enemy completely by surprise. The Ard Riegh's knights burst through the thin skin of earth creatures and rode straight toward the Fomarian.
He was an impressive sight. His twelve-foot frame was impossibly thick. His muscles were knotted cords of power. From a distance he looked entirely human, except for his pure massiveness. Then as the elves came closer they saw the third arm of the Fomarian. It was sickly looking and attached to a second shoulder that jutted out from underneath the giant's right arm.
The demigod was covered in a breastplate, greaves, shin guards and shield all formed of stone. In his right arm, the good one, was a massive mattock. With no hesitation he moved to meet the elves' attack.
Five lights of power burst from the elves to intercept the Fomarian. His sickly right arm thrust forward. In the palm of the hand was a dark eye. The magic rays hit the eye dead-center.
The eye closed its eyelid and then opened it. From it shone a single grey light that
shot at the advancing warriors.
The light hit the ground in front of them and the earth formed a great wave that enveloped the whole front rank.
Lonnlarcan followed his knights. Even as the magical attack began one of the fomarian servants rose in front of the elf king. His horse plunged two hooves into the man-shaped thing. Both legs went through the creature and stuck. Its arm clubbed Lonnlarcan, throwing him to the ground. As he rose to his feet, two other creatures barred him from his mount. With a shout he thrust Kianbearac into one of them. The monster shivered and shook itself apart. Its comrade, looking like a mudpie dog, leaped at the king.
Lonnlarcan said a Word and from his eyes a sunburst flew and the creature melted to the ground as if a downpour of rain had dissolved it. The king moved toward his horse and freed it from its assailant.
Ceallac was covered by the earth wave the Fomarian had created. As the weight of the land settled on him he heard his horse's neck crack. His shout of anguish was muffled by a mouth full of dirt.
It was Cucullin that was the first to reach the giant. The sounds of the battle goaded him on as he jumped his horse over the area of the buried knights. The Fomarian smiled through its thick beard as the elf approached. He showed more stunted, browned, twisted teeth as he realized he was being attacked by a naked elf.
Cucullin and his horse nimbly evaded the demigod's mattock. The horse reared to its hind legs; its two hooves hit the fomarian's shield. Cu followed through with a swing of his Aislinneena ax , Kervalen. The Fomarian stumbled back in surprise, looking at the great chip of its shield that had flown away at the waving of the elf's arms.
The elf continued to advance. He had to dive off his horse to avoid being crushed by his foe's great shield. He rolled to his feet and gave a great chop at the creature's legs. The Fomarian bellowed in pain as a great slice was taken from his left calf by a creature that bore no weapon.
The demigod's third hand thrust forward again, the eye opening. Cu burst into a bright incandescent flame, but the armor the Aislinneena had provided him with kept the flames from doing any damage.
He held his ax two-handed and with all his might chopped into the Fomarian's stone chest armor. The power of the blow made the Fomarian stumble a step but the damage was negligible. Cu's vision was now hindered by the flames that still covered him and he did not see the mattock come down at him.
The elf lord was hit on the left side, his shield splintering and bones breaking. The warrior was thrown by the blow twenty feet away and he smashed into the ground with terrible force. He did not move.
An elven knight's charge at the demigod was stopped cold as the third arm caught him and lifted him from his saddle. In seconds the pulped body was dropped to the earth. Two more knights fell to the mattock before Ceallac freed himself from the death's embrace of earth and stone. His war shout carried above the din of battle.
The monster turned to face this new threat. It was the bull fighting the wolf and both joined the fray with fury and savagery. But this time, the bull was ready.
For all his speed and agility, Ceallac could not pierce the Fomarian defense. Similarly, the monster could not hit his taunting foe. Ceallac darted about. Finally, his sword scored his enemy's right hand. The bright red blood that flew from the wound hit him in the face. It was like being smacked with liquid metal.
Blinded, his face burning with pain, still Ceallac managed to avoid the mattock. As he strove to fight the pain and clear his vision, a great weight fell on his back and Ceallac went down, one of the earth creatures striving with all its might to split his back.
As the Fomarian lifted his mattock to crush the warrior, a red sunburst blew up in his misshapen face and Lonnlarcan stood against him.
The monster recognized his new antagonist and for the first time spoke. "Die," he said, and the rocks split at his booming voice. Lonnlarcan's horse stumbled to its knees, blood rolling from its ears and mouth. He went flying at the Fomarian's feet. The mattock crashed down to crush the elf to the earth. But this was Lonnlarcan, Ard Riegh of the elves.
The king lifted his spear two-handed above his head. The mattock crashed into it. Incredibly, the spear withstood the blow though the elven king's feet sank four inches into the ground. The elf became a being of pure silver light, a light that hurt the eyes of the demigod, and all the earth creatures within twenty yards of Lonnlarcan fell to the ground lifeless.
The third eye was open again and a dark liquid flew at the king. Lonnlarcan's shield intercepted it . The liquid splashed against the imposed barrier and covered the shield. Quickly the shield rusted and fell from Lonnlarcan's arm, destroyed and useless. Great gaps in his armor appeared wherever the liquid had touched. Undaunted, the Ard Riegh charged his enemy.
From the eye the liquid came again. This time it was the point of Kianbearac that met the attack. The two met and the spear blazed a deep red. The liquid solidified and fell to the earth, a dark harmless mass. Lonnlarcan evaded the mattock easily, and rammed the end of the spear into the already bleeding calf of the monster.
The great stone shield caught him a glancing blow and Lonnlarcan tumbled away. Ceallac, freed and revitalized, attacked again. He cried to the heavens and swung his sword with all his might. It smashed against the stone shield. Both shield and sword splintered, a jagged edge of stone penetrating deep into the elf lord's side.
At Ceallac's cry, Lonnlarcan turned to him. In that instance the mattock crashed into the king's back. The Fomarian shouted in triumph. Lonnlarcan rolled over on his back trying to gather strength to resist the blow he knew was coming. But he could not gather his thoughts.
His ears filled with the cries of his warriors killing and being killed. With the death of each elf the Ard Riegh shook with pain. He could feel their last moment, filled with surprise or anguish. Some died in rage, some in confusion, but they died, and for the one moment he needed to collect his thoughts and spirit all the king could do was listen to the elves die.
Another blow smashed into Lonnlarcan's undefended body. A half dozen elves sought to protect their lord, but the eye opened again and all fell to its power. The Fomarian lifted his mattock again. He called his magic to him. The end of the mattock began to glow with the accumulated energies. The attacks of the eye increased; none could withstand them. All around the giant the grass withered as he withdrew the earth's power. His mind burst with triumph. Then, in agony and shock, he buckled to his knees.
For the bull had forgotten the wolf. Covered in his own gore, Ceallac had risen to his feet and driven a dagger deep into the fomarian's already wounded knee. Ceallac fell to the ground, depleted. He had used his remaining strength to mask himself from the demigod's awareness.
Lonnlarcan felt the Fomarian's power dissipate as its concentration was broken by Ceallac's blow. He struggled to his knees in time to see a red bolt of pure power hit the giant square between the eyes. The Fomarian reeled and sought to gain its feet. 'Bairbre,' thought the king, and grasping Kianbearac, he rose.
The giant smashed the mattock to the ground, the blow seeming to give him strength. Facing him was the silver flame of the Ard Riegh's anger. Spear and mattock met, their eyes locked in combat for the other's will.
The great fist of the demigod's left hand missed Lonnlarcan by inches. The spear pierced the hand. The eye sapped the king of moisture. A silver flame scarred the Fomarian's face. So great was the power of the battle that none could approach for fear of being destroyed by the energies being released.
But for all the power of the Elven King, he faced a demigod, one who had been an earth god of incredible power. A jagged edge of the mattock tore mail and flesh. No blood ran for the eye continued to sap all water and fluid from the king. A backhand broke a nose that could not turn red. Lonnlarcan began to die.
They came at last, even as the Ard Riegh began to fall. Never had any creature run as fast as the unicorn. Never had a Morigu been tortured by the earth's cries as Margawt had.
Though the earth rocked and split
, the unicorn did not lose its footing. The mattock was easily evaded, the eye had no effect. Horn and sword pierced the stone armor at the same time and the horn burned. The Fomarian bellowed in a deep voice, so deep no human could hear it, but the elves could.
The cry was not of fear or pain, but of pure hate and rage. The Fomarian felt the bite of the She who had once defeated him, and no emotion could match his devouring hate for Her whom he considered betrayer.
The eye blazed a burning red and unicorn and rider were thrown to the ground. The weight of the world seemed to press them down deep into the earth. The unicorn floundered and sought to fight back as he was pressed deeper and deeper into the earth. But the Morigu dove into the ground as if he dove into a pond. Again he saw the crystal earth, the light that was no light, again he rode the warm earth currents, and again he heard the land's cry of pain, and again he sought to kill.
The Fomarian gasped, this time in pain; he was nearly spent. As Margawt swam toward the surface, having avoided the eye's hold, he saw the withered arm thrust into the ground. The eye opened and the earth around him froze and encased him in a great block of crystal. He began to sink in the unsinkable.
Kianbearac burned red and gold in front of the demigod, Lonnlarcan a being of pure flame behind. The Fomarian stamped his great foot once and the earth shook with an earthquake. Great fissures swallowed elf and earth thing randomly. The unicorn sunk deeper. Lonnlarcan fell to his knees.
The Fomarian stamped again and his creatures burst asunder, raining earth and stone among the elf host. Still the king strove to rise to his feet.
The Fomarian stomped a third time, and the earth revolted. Great geysers of dirt flew into the air. The rocks were blown apart from the inside. All that was green and alive died. The air held more earth than air, but Lonnlarcan rose.
The great spear Kianbearac flew from his hand, a javelin of red and gold lightning shot forth by a silver inferno. Through stone and flesh the spear flew, ripping muscle and bone. The monster grabbed the spear, though his hand smouldered, and pulled it from his chest. The ground heaved even more at the anguished cry of a demigod. The first cry of fear he had ever voiced.