Obsidian Ridge - Jess Lebow [112]
"Hurry now," said Quinn. "No sense in getting caught again."
Mariko nodded. Then, giving him one last kiss good-bye, she and Evelyne slipped down the hall.
Quinn watched them go, thinking that he had spent a lot of time lately doing exactly that. When she disappeared into the darkness, he turned and went the other way down the lava tube.
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In the middle of the swirling melee, where men fought and died, where the future of a kingdom lay at stake, a friendship turned the tides.
"Get up, Korox."
The Warrior King, Korox Morkann of Erlkazar, sat on his knees-in the center of the battlefield. His sword lay on the ground before him. His face rested in his hands. He recognized the voice. Lord Purdun, the Baron of Ahlarkhem, old friend and brother-in-law to the king, stood before him, defending Korox against the onslaught of fighters.
"I have nothing left," he said, shaking his head. "I have doomed my kingdom to save my daughter, and now I have lost everything."
"This is not the man I know." Another would-be assassin went sprawling to the ground, split across the belly by Lord Purdun's sword. "What would your father think if he saw you now? Where would we be if he had given up when his wife, your mother, was killed?"
"He did not lose everything," said the king. "He had me, and his daughter-your wife."
"And you still have me, and your sister, and a kingdom that needs your leadership if it is going to survive."
Purdun spun to catch another assassin just under the chin, taking his jaw from his face with a single blow and sending the man reeling-no longer able to scream.
Korox took a deep breath and looked into the eyes of his old friend. "We fought hard to get here," he said, remembering the battles they had won when they both had called themselves Crusaders.
"And we must fight hard to stay here," said the Baron of Ahlarkhem, pausing long enough to cleave the golden-haired symbol of Waukeen from the chest of an incoming assassin and add him to the pile of dead at his feet. "The tides have turned against us, and only you can turn them back."
Korox looked out at the battlefield. He did not know exactly how long he had been wallowing in self pity. However long it was, it had been too long, and things had changed.
Xeries's army had them surrounded. The assassins of Waukeen had turned back against him and his men, and most surprisingly-the Matron had arrived. She spurred her forces onward, her veil flowing in the afternoon breeze, casting spells into the battle at her whim.
She had come here to see him removed from the throne. She had come to see him killed at the hands of her assassins.
Korox picked up his sword and hefted it toward Lord Purdun in a salute.
"You are right, my friend-my brother. I have a duty to uphold, and I owe you a debt of gratitude."
Purdun bowed his head. "I am your humble servant."
"Then you will fight by my side, one more time?"
The Baron of Ahlarkhem smiled. "One more time would be an honor. Let us hope it is not the last."
With that, the two men charged back into the fray, pushing their way past the Magistrates, Watchers, mages, and elite guards to cut into those who would threaten their home, their kingdom, and the nation they fought so hard to free from the rule of Tethyr.
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The Matron had been successful in turning her assassins back to the task of killing King Korox, but it had been a poor tactical decision. Xeries's army of beasts did not take the time to distinguish between those fighting the king and those fighting with the king. The obsidian beasts mauled and ripped and macerated everything in their path.
The Matron's desire to take the throne had trapped her minions between two foes, and now they paid the price. The assassins had been compelled to turn their attention away from the invaders to attack the king and his troops. For their efforts, they were simply chewed to pieces from behind. The beasts came at them with their mouths agape, killing a man in one bite, a half-ore in two.
Praying to the goddess Waukeen as fast as