A Perilous Journey

The Ahlissan Chronicles

~ Novella 2 ~

A Perilous Journey

~ 13 ~

Salvation

Lord Brion was stunned as he felt something or someone drop down onto his shoulders and begin to claw at his helmet with large black talons. Dropping his shield he reached up and grabbed at the wrist of one of the hands and pulled forward and down until whatever it was fell to the floor. It landed cat-like in a crouched stance.

"What in the Nine Hells...?"

He barely had time to get a look at this new foe before it leaped at him again and clung to the front of his armor with its clawed feet. Dropping his sword he grabbed just above the hands that were again trying to claw their way through his armor. Brion had no doubt that without his helmet this thing would have stripped the flesh from his skull in mere seconds.

* * *

Seeing the knight was occupied with Deloraa, Lyzandred made his way back to Eryca. Upon reaching the sacrificial altar the lich found his quarry had been unchained but still too weak to resist his magikal advances. Placing a hand on Eryca the lich again began his spell to drain what precious life was left in her and transfer that energy to himself. As he neared the crescendo of his incantation he was hit square in the back just as a large purple ball of flames slammed into his right side.

"No more foul undead!" Yelled Marcella as her hammer landed yet another solid blow sending the lich sprawling over the altar and his victim. Meredith's fireballs had managed to burn away the remaining shreds of the magikal black silk that covered Lyzandred's face revealing the patches of withered flesh that clung to the almost bare skull beneath.

"Vile bitches! I will have the skin stripped from your bones for this!" screamed Lyzandred in frustration as he stood despite the blazing violet fireballs that Meredith continued to send his way. Turning towards the dark haired caster the Arch-Lich spoke a few words in the demon tongue as he manipulated his fingers and suddenly wriggling ebon tentacles burst forth from the cold stone floor, grasping at Meredith and breaking her concentration. Marcella bellowed with rage as she again swung her massive hammer against her former master.

"Leave off my sister unholy creature!"

"Witch it is your death that should concern you now!" yelled the undead Archmage as he swung his staff at Marcella but found his blow blocked by the buckler that was strapped to her arm.

"You have given us more than our fair share of pain lich!" said Marcella as she single handedly attacked Lyzandred.

* * *

Lady Eryca could barely see her vision had tunneled and the people around her appeared more as shadowy images with indistinct details. As she sat up on the altar she felt strong, much stronger than ever before. Deep within, her mind screamed that this was not right, that the boundary had been blurred and that she stood at the precipice between life and undeath. Surveying the room she saw the warrior in black armor and he stirred feelings deep within her although she could not remember why. The other figure though, the blue demoness was fresh in her memory and reminded her of pain and unbearable heartache.

Rising quickly to her feet she felt as if the distance between herself and the creature evaporated before her eyes as Eryca found herself plunging the dagger in her hand between the demoness' shoulder blades. The evil witch-priestess howled in pain as Eryca grabbed her and pulled her off of the warrior. After throwing the demoness hard on to the flagstone floor, Eryca sat astride her and began to pummel the horned witch.

* * *

Brion was in shock as he watched the woman he loved grab the demonic creature off of him, throw it down and begin to grapple with it. In her withered state Eryca had the strength to fight hand to hand with this creature, that was not a good sign. The undead possessed physical strength beyond that of mortal creatures and Brion knew that Eryca was teetering on the edge. Grabbing up his sword as he moved he ran to his companions and cut them free of the sticky strands that held them to the floor.

"My friends, Eryca is almost beyond hope! We must end this now before she slips away from us completely!"

"Agreed my Lord, free the young mage and the five of us should be able to bring down this mad lich!" said Aizantius as he freed himself from the last of the sticky webbing.

Lord Brion was already moving, however, slashing at the writhing black mass of otherworldly tentacles that were attempting to crush the life from Meredith. As Brion cut Meredith free she was able raise a hand to her lips and as she blew through her curled fingers the air that left her hand felt as frigid as the great northern wind. Where the freezing air touched the tentacles they froze and became as brittle as ice allowing the knight to smash what remained of them.

"Are you unharmed?" Brion asked as he offered his hand to pull her to her feet.

"Yes, thank you dark warrior." She offered. "We need to aid my sister against Lyzandred."

She watched as the armored man ran to the aid of Marcella who was even now being throttled by her former master.

* * *

Lowering his shoulder Lord Brion slammed into the undead lich causing him to drop Marcella to the floor. Lyzandred stumbled backwards staying on his feet.

"Bastard knight, you shall die this day and become one of my shades! Then I will finish what I began and make your sweet maiden mine!" stretching forth his hand the Archmage's staff leaped into his grasp from where it had fallen to the floor. Swinging his staff in a wide arc Lyzandred the Mad began once again to fight with the warrior in black armor. Brion slashed and stabbed at his undead foe as anger for what had been done to his betrothed drove him on. He was not blinded by rage he was better trained than that, instead he forced his anger into his limbs and used it make them stronger, faster. Holding his hand and a half sword with both hands he swung it at his enemy almost effortlessly, deftly striking his opponent.

From the corner of his eye he saw the warrior maiden from earlier attack the lich's right flank while he continued his frontal assault. Then from somewhere behind the undead were bright flashes of magikal green and purple fire. He could only assume the purple flames emanated from the woman that he had freed from the tentacles. Then on Lyzandred's left side Brion saw the golden glow of one of Astinos' offensive spells. He smiled behind his visor as the full strength of his friends and the lich's former slaves were being brought to bear upon the evil creature.

"You will pay for all the atrocities that you have committed lich! You will be made to answer for all that you have done this day!"

Then from his right flank Lord Brion heard Astinos call out to him. "Brion the jewel is the source of his power, destroy it!"

Brion had seen the flat, dark colored purple and green gem that hung from the thick chain and wondered at its' significance and now his suspicions had been confirmed. He would destroy it and end this foul creatures' wretched existence. Lyzandred also heard what the priest had said and he would not allow them to bring his already long life to such a bitter end. In a split-second he pulled his arms into his chest and then flung them wide, shouting the spidery words that he needed.

"Orbis dë Vis!"

Lyzandred felt the words unlock and release in him the arcane power that had become such an addiction in his life that the constant pursuit of it had fueled his mad desire for immortality. He could see before him the small transparent blue orb that grew at amazing speed to surround him and then exploded and sent shards of raw magik as sharp as any dagger hurtling in all directions outward. It was all the five combatants could do when they saw the orb and heard Brion's warning was to drop to the floor in an attempt to avoid the oncoming shards.

Unseen but just as powerful was the concussive force of the blast which sent them sprawling across the floor. The lich held his arms outstretched howling with laughter! None of these weak mortals were a match for him! First he would finish draining the red-haired virgin mage and then he would make all of them his slaves forever!

* * *

Brion was the closest to the lich and saw the light blue transparent orb begin to form. He immediately knew what it was and tried to warn the others before the inevitable happened.

"Force orb!" he shouted as loud as possible.

Finely honed battle instincts forced his body sideways to minimize the area on which they would strike him. The shards penetrated his plate armor and the chainmail hauberk he wore beneath it; he felt their sharp edges slash deeply across his chest and back. The wounds were deep and clean as if made by razors. The spells' concussive blast threw him back where landed with a loud thud. The shock of the blast and the hard landing knocked him senseless for a moment but as he lay there he could feel the blood as it ran down his body in warm rivulets from his many wounds.

The sound of mad laughter filled his ears, the lich was laughing at them. Five experienced combatants had come at him and he had repelled them, thrown them back with a spell against which they had no defense. Brion felt weak against this creature and that angered him. This undead mage had lived for hundreds of years draining the life from young maidens like Eryca. How many others had there been? How many other lives had this foul perversion of life destroyed or left in ruins? If he failed today, what would become of his beloved, Eryca? Would she languish by his side for hundreds of years away from the warmth and light of real life?

No! He would not let that happen! Through the slightest chance they had found each other and the love they felt for each other was beyond his capability to put into words. Brion knew they shared a love so deep and so pure that no mad lich's magik would ever be able to erase it from her heart. It would stay with Eryca forever tormenting her from the inside out, that missing piece of her heart. Inside his own heart Brion knew he did not want to live without her. If he could not save Eryca this day then it would because his body was so broken and wounded that it was no longer able to carry through with the will of his heart and mind.

Struggling to his knees and throwing of his helmet so that he could breathe more freely through his pain; Brion looked up and saw the lich cackling, mocking their efforts to defeat him. Brion saw the jewel, the dull ugly purple thing flecked with green in the thick silver setting, the seat of the Arch-Lich's power. He knew what he must do and he steeled himself against the pain of his many bleeding wounds. Standing he turned his sword point down in his grasp and with the last of his strength sprinted the distance to his enemy.

"Rrraaaaawwwweerrrr!!"

The young Knight of the Argent Griffon roared as he leaped into the air. Lyzandred looked up in time to see the warrior coming at him and with a wave of his hand and a word; he fired another volley of blue arrows at Brion. However, Brion's momentum was such that while several of the magik missiles pierced him completely, they could not stop him. With his sword downward he used the last of his strength to drive it straight through the jewel and into Lyzandred's chest. The sheer force of the blow carried them to the ground; such was the power of Brion's last desperate strike that it buried half of the sword in the stone floor pinning the undead to the grey flagstones. As the gem shattered there was such an enormous explosion of arcane power that it threw the armored knight off of his opponent. Brion was forcibly thrown back and slammed into a pillar where he fell to the floor.

Lifting his head Brion watched Lyzandred scream and shake as light seemed to pour out of the silver setting, light of all colors. In the brilliance Brion swore that he could see white shadows almost like the ones in the courtyard above, only feminine. Possibly the souls of the countless other maidens the lich had drained over the years? All of this flooded out from the broken gem and disappeared up into the darkness of the vaulted ceiling. Lyzandred's shriek echoed through the circular chamber as his body shook and withered completely, what flesh remained was turned to dust leaving just the skeleton and the scraps of his empty garments.

* * *

Deloraa heard Lyzandred's shriek from where she lay be strangled by the inhuman grip of her daughter. Even though she couldn't see what had happened from the noise and light that followed she guessed what had transpired. The evil demoness looked up into her daughter's eyes and saw the change in Eryca's countenance. Though it would take time for her youth and vitality to return, her eyes no longer stared ahead blankly and Eryca's grip on her throat loosened as the unnatural strength of undeath left her.

Shifting her weight Deloraa threw her daughter off of her and rolling to all fours took off into the darkness as fast as she could. Lyzandred the Mad had been defeated and she was in no condition to battle the five companions who had destroyed him; better to escape now and save her own skin for she still had her own designs and desires to attend to.

* * *

Lord Brion staggered to his feet and limped over to where Eryca had been earlier. He found her lying on the floor next to a pillar; he dropped to his knees next to her. Looking into her face he felt tears welling in his eyes, she still looked withered. Tenderly he brushed a wild strand of her red hair away from her face. Though she had aged she looked at peace, almost too serene to just be sleeping.

Removing his black leather and steel gauntlets he gently touched two fingers to the large artery in her neck. Encouragingly, she was warm to the touch and when Brion felt the life-beat of her blood, he sighed in relief. The ebon knight collapsed against the pillar and cradled the most precious thing in the world to him, his scarlet maiden, against his chest and allowed the encroaching blackness to overcome him.