Obsidian Ridge - Jess Lebow [79]
Malicious, misshapen beasts from the Obsidian Ridge swarmed in every corner. They blotted out the light. Anything bright or good about this room was swallowed by their darkness and evil. The white marble floor ran red with blood. The statues that adorned the outer wall were all torn from their stands, many smashed to bits. Even the ceiling, with its painted reminder of the dark days of Eleint, was not left unscathed-a soldier's sword jutted from the stone overhead, its edge dripping with black ichor.
In the center of it all, Magistrates stood back to back, their swords striking in unison, their movements frantic as they fought for their lives. Mixed into the melee were soldiers from the regular army, their uniforms less elaborate, but their skill in battle no less sharp. And on the edge, spilling from the many secret doors that fed into and out of this chamber, came the Watchers, Princess Mariko's spies and the king's eyes in Erlkazar.
The seat of power was under attack. Lines of battle and discipline had broken down, devolving into a free-for-all. One look at the faces of the men and women fighting to defend the throne of their king and it was clear. Everything they stood for, everything they had ever held sacred, was in jeopardy, and they fought now not just for honor and duty. They fought now because this fight was all they had left, for if they did not win, all that they knew would be gone.
King Korox Morkann pulled his enchanted blade from its sheath. With one step and one stroke, he cut down a black beast. With another step and another swing, he cut down a second. And so it continued, Captain Kaden at his side. The King of Erlkazar fought his way to the center of this swirling melee. He fought his way through the teeth and the mass of twisted blackened muscle until he reached his throne on its dais.
Dispatching the beast that sat upon it, he placed his foot upon the seat and lifted himself up to stand above the fight. There, poised atop his throne, Korox lifted his sword high in the air, looking down on his soldiers, the Magistrates, and the Watchers.
"For Erlkazar!" he shouted.
And in the next moment, he disappeared from view, buried by a pile of shiny black flesh.
+++++
Quinn made his way through the dark passage, the spell cast on his open palm lighting his way. He scanned ahead as he marched, not sure what he would find but hoping that he found it before it found him.
He waved his magical light over the wall at the next corner-and it lit up like the full moon on the clearest of nights.
"Trap!" shouted Evelyne, dodging back.
But Quinn shook her off. "Shh. This is no trap."
Stepping up to the stone, he traced the line of light with his index finger, mimicking the lit symbol that had appeared when his own light had hit it. For the first time since arriving in the Cellar he finally had some hope.
"What are you doing?" Evelyne came up behind him, still cautious.
Quinn smiled at her and lifted his hand, showing her the glowing symbol on his palm-it perfectly matched the one on the wall.
"It's the princess's sigil," he said. "She's alive, or was not that long ago." His smile grew even wider, and he pulled Evelyne along down the hallway. "Hurry. We're on the right track."
+++++
A gasp went up in the audience chamber as Korox disappeared under a pile of black creatures.
"To the king!" shouted Captain Kaden.
The grunted exertions of men and the sound of metal cutting into flesh grew to a cacophony. This was not the entirety of Erlkazar's fighting forces, not even close, but each of the nearly one thousand warriors who fought inside the palace had become a berserker. Each had found the strength of ten soldiers. And blood continued to spill, as those warriors fought and died.
They moved as a group, each trying to reach the same goal, converging on the back center of the audience chamber and the raised dais that was now a swarming mass of shiny black beasts. They hacked, shoved, and slashed, aware even without words that every strike counted, that every moment they were unable to