Elfshadow - Elaine Cunningham [134]
Awe filled both Bran and Danilo, who had now reached the garden. It held them, immobile, in its spell. Never had they seen such fighting. In any company, each of the agile gold elves would be considered a rare champion. Although two of their number had fallen to Arilyn's sword, the remaining four wove a dance of death around the half-elf. Off to one side stood another gold elf, a tall slender quessir who awaited the battle's outcome with an expression of self-righteous confidence.
At that moment, one of the fighters managed to knock Arilyn's borrowed sword from her hand. In the bright moonlight, Danilo could see the triumphant sneer on the face of Tintagel Ni'Tessine. Panic struck the nobleman, and with it a moment of indecision. He had not intended to reveal the moonblade until he'd found the elfgate and moved it to safety.
Tintagel Ni'Tessine raised his sword arm across his chest, preparing to deliver a backhanded strike to Arilyn's throat. Danilo made his decision swiftly.
"Arilyn!" he shouted, thrusting his wounded hand into the magic sack. A second blast of pain ripped through his arm as his fingers closed around the magic sword. The startled elves looked toward him, and Danilo hurled the sheathed blade toward Arilyn.
A flash of blue lightning ripped through the garden like an explosion. Magic thunder shook the ground, and the gold elves were knocked to the ground by its force.
Arilyn stood at base of the statue with a glowing sword in her hand, a powerful figure of magic and vengeance. Smoke from the explosion flowed toward her. Before Danilo's stunned gaze, the writhing smoke swirled and twisted, forming a faint circle behind the half-elf that glowed with an eerie blue light.
"The elfgate!" shouted Kymil Nimesin, pointing. "You must get past her and into the elfgate!"
The elven fighters rose to their feet and exchanged uneasy glances. Danilo took one look at Bran Skorlsun's puzzled face and immediately understood what troubled the elves. They could not see the gate.
Some dimensional doors were visible only to powerful mages. Of all the people gathered in the garden, only Danilo could see what Kymil Nimesin was pointing to.
The nobleman grabbed the spell scroll from his bag and prepared to move the elfgate. With a start, he realized that Khelben had not told him where the gate should be moved. An ephemeral smile touched his lips when an answer presented itself. Conjuring a mental picture of the elfgate's new location, the young mage began the lengthy chant and gestures of the spell.
"For the honor of Myth Drannor!" shrieked Kymil, galvanizing the elves into battle. Three of them circled Arilyn. Wielding his staff, Bran raced to aid his daughter, but was stopped by Filauria Ni'Tessine. The tall Harper and the elven circle-singer made strange opponents, but Filauria held him back with astounding skill.
"Your sword cannot shed innocent blood," Tintagel reminded Arilyn smugly. "It is worthless against me."
"Times have changed. Care to chance it?" she asked. Tintagel confidently advanced, and in three strokes Arilyn's moonblade had found his heart. The elf's eyes widened in disbelief as he slumped to the ground. With a keening wail, Filauria fled the battle and dropped to her knees beside her brother's body.
"The time to mourn our martyred dead will come later," raged Kymil. "You must get through the elfgate."
Arilyn slashed viciously at her two elven attackers, intent on preventing them from following Kymil's orders. The moonblade found the heart of one elf, killing him instantly. With her next stroke, Arilyn gutted her final opponent. His sword fell to the ground as he clutched at his spilling entrails. Arilyn slipped on the spilled blood and fell to the ground.
"Show me," Filauria demanded. Kymil pointed her in the direction of the elfgate and shoved. The etriel ran, leaping over Arilyn's prone body and into something she could not see.
At that moment Danilo completed his spell. The scroll disappeared from his hands, and a second magical explosion rocked the garden. The survivors