CHAPTER 27: THE GUARDIAN
Darian didn't wait.
He launched himself at all three at once. Shadows burst from his feet and crawled forward like a dark tide.
Liriel raised her staff. Thick roots burst from the stone floor, piercing through the shadows and tangling around his legs. Before he could free himself, Brom was already on him.
"Flow Perception."
The world slowed. He saw the fighter's sword approaching in a horizontal arc. He saw Eryndor moving to his flank. He saw the mage preparing another spell.
He didn't dodge. He didn't block.
He channeled fire and air into one of his swords. The resonant crystal absorbed the energy and compressed it until it formed a blade of blue-white plasma that hummed like a swarm of wasps.
He threw an explosive slash at Brom point-blank.
The fighter was sent flying. His chain mail melted on impact. The skin beneath was left raw. He screamed.
Darian had no time to celebrate. Eryndor grabbed him by the throat.
The elf's fingers closed like an iron trap. The air cut off. He struggled, but the grip was absolute.
"You're fast," said Eryndor, with a terrifying calm. "But not fast enough."
He slammed him against a column. The stone cracked. Something broke in his back.
He hit the ground. Blood ran down the back of his neck.
Vael roared from a ledge. A gust of wind struck the elf in the face, forcing him to release his grip and step back.
"Vael, no!" Darian shouted.
Liriel raised her staff. A thin root burst up beside the dragon and struck him in the side. Vael shrieked, but stayed in the air. He staggered back, not falling.
"What an annoying creature," she said.
Darian tried to get up. The impact had left his back numb. He could barely feel his legs.
Brom got to his feet with a smoking chest. Burned skin hung from him in strips. Even so, he gripped his sword.
"You're going to pay for that."
He approached. He raised his weapon.
A fire arrow grazed his head and slammed into the wall.
"Get away from him!"
Kára entered the cavern with her hammer raised. Varkas was at her side, sword drawn.
"Reinforcements arrived," said Brom, turning.
Varkas said nothing. He just charged at him.
Kára went straight for Liriel. The mage launched another volley of thorns, but the dwarf raised her hammer.
"Kazak'Thur."
The weapon vibrated. An electric field exploded around her. Sparks and miniature lightning bolts danced in a two-meter circle. The thorns incinerated upon contact.
"You're annoying," said Liriel.
"And you talk too much."
Kára advanced. The mage stepped back, throwing more thorns, more roots. The electric field destroyed them all.
Varkas clashed with Brom. Sword against sword. The fighter was wounded, but the adrenaline kept him on his feet. They exchanged blows. Brom opened a cut on his arm. Varkas returned a punch to the burned chest. Brom screamed.
Eryndor watched. He didn't intervene. He waited.
Darian, staggering, managed to get to his feet using Vael for support. Blood ran down his face, the back of his neck, his arms. His back responded halfway.
"I'm fine," he lied. "I'm fine."
Varkas and Kára stepped back until they were at his side. The three enemies regrouped before them. Brom limped. Liriel was untouched. Eryndor hadn't even broken a sweat.
"We can't handle all three," Kára said quietly.
"I know," Varkas replied.
"I'll hold them off," said Darian, staggering.
"Out of the question," she cut him off. "You're going to find Aria."
"But..."
"Listen!" Varkas grabbed his shoulder. "We open the way. You run. Understood?"
Darian looked at him. He saw the determination in his eyes. He saw Kára gripping her hammer. He saw Vael, still trembling, ready to follow him.
"Understood."
Kára raised her hammer.
"Kazak'Thur. Get ready."
The electric field intensified. The lightning bolts grew more furious.
"Now."
She struck the ground. The field expanded like a miniature storm, forcing Liriel and Brom to jump back. Varkas charged at Eryndor and drove his shoulder into him.
The passage was open.
"Run!" Varkas shouted.
Darian shot toward the exit. Vael flew after him.
Liriel, from a distance, raised her staff. A wooden lance burst from the ground and shot toward the boy's back.
Varkas stamped his foot on the ground. A stone wall rose between the projectile and Darian. The lance slammed into the rock and shattered.
"Your fight is with us," he growled.
Brom tried to flank him. Kára threw a burst of fire that forced him back.
Eryndor recovered from the shove. He saw Darian disappear through the exit. He saw the two warriors planted before him. He saw his allies falling back.
"Enough."
He raised his shield. A golden light burst from his chest.
"Protector's Sentence."
The sacred area expanded around him in a perfect ten-meter circle. Liriel and Brom stood inside. The light bathed them. The burn on the fighter's chest began to close. The mage's cuts disappeared.
Varkas and Kára stepped back.
"What is that?" she asked.
Eryndor smiled.
"My true power. You shall not pass."