Taylon Read online

  Another table looked like it held cosmetics. Taylon was running out of options. That was when he stumbled over something hidden half under the couch. A hilt poked out from underneath. Once he brought the full weapon into the light, its beauty amazed him. A two handed broadsword that looked as new as the day the blacksmith sold it. Even in the dimly lit room, it was spectacular.

  “I need to check on my other tenant...” a female voice said from behind the wall. Taylon turned as the speaker came out of the kitchen. His guard came up instantly, preparing a defense. He recognized her as the elf that had attacked Euphoria—the one that started all the trouble.

  “You!” His tone was accusatory to say the least.

  The dark elf smiled as if it had been a compliment. “Yes...me. I didn’t think I would be given the pleasure of taking you on in battle.” She didn’t give Taylon any time to think as she threw a dagger at him. Taylon used the two-handed sword to deflect the danger.

  He did not charge, but held his ground. Only a fool would rush in and attack. This elf was a skilled warrior. She reached along the side of the opposite wall while keeping an eye on her prey. In no time, she wielded a katana.

  Taylon stopped in awe of the weapon. In his training, he had only ever heard of the slim sword. But he quickly shook away the wonder and readjusted his grip. So many emotions ran through him. This elf started it all. She had brought the demon to Faldoa.

  “So are we just going to stand here and look menacing, or are you going to attack?” The assassin taunted as she moved side to side.

  “Who were you torturing in there?” Taylon kept a steady eye on the elf looking for tells on attacks.

  “Oh…you were coming to her rescue? How noble.” The dark elf lashed out with the sword. It lightly nicked his arm, but still drew blood. “You humans do posses a loyalty to each other.” She slashed again, this time striking the wall.

  Taylon retreated a step, trying not to close his eyes in pain. The cut burned.

  “Who?” And he thrust an attack. Clang! Parried easily, the elf tried a counter, but he was ready for it. Ching!

  “How is your beautiful princess anyway? She still has my necklace? Nobody steals from Katrena.” She feigned a step forward, drawing forth an attack from Taylon. It missed by a foot. He recovered his defense quickly.

  “Your necklace?”

  “She did not—” Clang! “—tell you.” The elf struck out again but the captain deflected the blow.

  “Queen Euphoria is currently razing the marketplace.” The soldier feigned and struck. He landed a blow on her stub of an arm. Fire erupted in her silver eyes. She launched an attack.

  Clang! Ping! Zing!

  The force pushed Taylon back. She came in fast and powerful. His sword defended it all, but slowly the elf backed him against a wall. Kicking out, he pushed her back a few feet. It winded him tremendously.

  Katrena regained her stance. She stepped forward, but stooped low as she swung. Taylon swung high, felt the katana slice through his knee, skipping off bone.

  Pain peaked through him and his legs weakened, trying to collapse. Somehow he maintained, taking a hop back as the katana swung back. The broad sword struck out again, catching the elf on the shoulder but bounced off, not making much of a wound.

  Blood seeped from Taylon’s wounded knee. He knew the battle was turning against him. Pushing away the pain and the burning, he readied himself for more of the onslaught.

  “Why Euphoria?” Taylon asked, as he passed the sword from hand to hand.

  The elf paused briefly in her movement. “She had my necklace. Her father imprisoned me, using his puppet Kreitan to do the dirty work. Since I could see neither of them suffer, I needed her to pay for their sins. And I will soon have my revenge list complete. Kara will soon die by my hand—shortly after I defeat you.”

  “Kara?” The dark elf rose back for an attack, the surprise on his face evident. Suddenly, a blade erupted from her chest.

  “Ahh….”

  The katana fell from her grasp, as her body shuddered. Taylon stood startled, but quickly added his own crippling blow. She crumpled to the floor. Behind her, in the doorway, stood a girl.

  Kara looked down at the elf, a scowl of anger, resentment, upon her contorted face. Blood dripped from a puncture wound on her forehead making the young girl look like a war-torn veteran.

  Taylon’s legs finally gave out and he became like a penitent, falling upon his wounded knees. The broad sword dropped to the floor before he did.

  “Captain…” Kara ran to him.

  “A little bandaging…all I need.” He said weakly. There was so much he wanted to ask this girl, but energy was leaving him. “But Euphoria…need to stop her.” With a flutter of his eyes, all went black.

  ***

  Queig and Chele weren’t sure what was happening. There was yelling and customers running past. Arrows dropped from the sky, none reaching their booth. Queig did his best to get someone’s attention to find out what was going on.

  “Humans are attacking!” a small little elf cried out in response to the goblin.

  “Humans?” Chele asked, a hint of hope for her old life threaded her voice.

  “You don’t look human any more. They would more likely kill you than rescue you.” In a matter of moments, both were armed. Chele selected a sword of black forged crystal; metal and gold adorned the hilt. It captured the light making the weapon look as if fire coursed through the blade. Queig twirled two miniature hatchets.

  Being set back farther in the market, they saw the elf army before the humans. Elfin warriors hustled past, not bothering to be kind to the merchants or patrons. A squadron of elves trampled a small salamander man. A soldier stopped and hesitated by Chele, uncertain if she was a human. Queig waved him away.

  The first human combatant broke through a neighboring booth. Canvas ripped as the human tore through. Another followed close behind, slashing at everything. It had been a pottery booth, so all the wares shattered easily. The potter fled with the rest of the crowd, unable to defend her space.

  Queig ran forward swinging the hatchets at the first soldier. His attack would have been very successful if he had not announced his attack with a horrible yell. Only one of the weapons found purchase as the goblin ran by, but it was enough to wound the soldier. He fell upon his wounded knee, blood spraying as the bone crunched on the ground. Chele stepped forward to behead the soldier.

  She hesitated before striking. The pause gave the second soldier an opportunity. “Die you filthy demon spawn!”

  Without trained reflexes, the blow would have ended her life. A shift to the left let the attacker’s sword slice into her side instead of her heart. Pain demanded instant retribution. The black sword did a half circle in the air before cutting through the man’s neck. A sizzling sound—burning flesh—followed the path of the sword. Pure power surged through Chele. She let forth a bloodcurdling scream.

  The other soldier, still wounded, but very much alive, struck out at Chele’s exposed leg. If there had been enough force, the sword would have severed her foot, but the soldier’s own wound had prevented an excellent attack. Not a sound came from her open mouth, as her face contorted with pain.

  Queig leapt on the man’s back, buried one hatchet in his shoulder for purchase, and swung the other at the side of his head. The goblin sprang off his back as the soldier collapsed to the ground.

  Chele did her best to stay standing, and she only did so by support from a nearby post. Queig ran to her, inspecting the wound. Another human soldier had come through the opening, had seen the destruction of two other men, and raised his own sword.

  “Arr! Arr! Arr! Arr! Arr! Arr!”

  Something small, furry, with a large mouth skittered across the ground and clamped down on the attacking soldier’s leg. Sharp shark-like teeth tore into the flesh causing instant pain evident across his face. Instead of attacking the previous threats, the man swung his sword down at the furry thing attached to his leg.


  Chele tried to warn the thing, but it already had sensed the sword. It let go, and pushed away just as the sword was about to hit. Having the full force behind his swing, the soldier cut through his own leg. The goblin retrieved one of his weapons and finished off the soldier while he was down.

  The furry creature came over to Chele, looking up with big eyes. The goblin came over. Queig saluted the creature, before turning back to Chele’s wound.

  “What is it?” she whispered quietly to Queig. In her early market days, Queig quickly taught Chele not to point and ask. “A geth. Now hold still.” The goblin’s touch was clammy, as he applied a makeshift bandage. She winced a bit.

  “It’s still here.” Chele whispered.

  Queig seemed annoyed. “So?”

  “Arr arr arr arr.”

  “See? He likes you.”

  Chele looked at the geth next to Queig. It returned her look and then tried to smile. The geth’s mouth tried to curve upward, but all it was able to do was show its bloodstained teeth. Chele smiled back weakly. “That should hold until we can make it to a healer. Try it.” Chele put weight on the leg.

  “There’s some pain and numbness, but nothing I can’t deal with.”

  The goblin turned to fetch his other weapons. The geth moved aside.

  “So what now?” Chele retrieved her black sword.

  Chaos bloomed around them. Not many patrons were running away now. Anyone remaining was here to fight. Farther down the aisle, the nymphs were battling fiercely. A few human soldiers looked on, dazed by the creatures’ beauty, only to feel the slice of a curved boomerang blade. Nymphs use the weapon, known as a klould, when one of their customers became a little over eager.

  “I think they have it pretty well under…” Queig started saying as a crossbow bolt nipped at his shoulder. More soldiers were pushing through the booth opening.

  Chele snarled her face up with an angry look. She showed Queig she had no qualms about attacking the humans.

  ***

  The warriors spread through the market. Da’Lynn commanded they kill any human. It had been a long time since these soldiers had seen fighting, so such a command surged them with ambition. None of them seemed to notice their mistress headed in the opposite direction.

  Aladedas was a huge place. Two armies could easily be lost in just a part of the market. Da’Lynn had never visited the market much. It was too plebian for her tastes. Even now, it irritated her to be setting foot inside the place.

  Panic spread through the market; so many of the booths Da’Lynn passed were empty. Her visage had not changed, even after feeding from a stray dwarf, an elf-hating orc, and two sprites. She had no worries about her secret being discovered.

  The power, the force she felt, was moving too. It was not in the direction she headed, but something told her it would travel this way. A calling, a need.

  Da’Lynn trampled through merchandise, ripped through stall walls, and added to the chaos. The fear of war and attack left most of the races feeling helpless. Cowards.

  One satyr saw what the elf was doing and stepped out to challenge her. “Ma’am, if ye don’t stop these destructive ways, I’ll have to stop ye myself.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. A simple goat-man to stop her. How ridiculous. Da’Lynn raised her hand and sent a fireball at him. It quickly engulfed the poor goat-man and his fur, skin and hair ignited. He blindly ran screaming as he burned. Da’Lynn saw, to her great delight, he lit several booths on fire before the inferno finally claimed him.

  No one else challenged her.

  ***

  They knew something was up when they were less than a mile away. Black smoke rose above the trees and the unnatural sounds of screaming echoed through the air. Metal-against-metal rang through the air.

  Gantha and Fret were first to the market. Jesset followed. All stared at the scene before them. Elves battling humans while the marketplace crumbled. Three groups of soldiers squared off, while a nearby booth burned, unrelenting.

  “Good grief this looks messy,” Ynob stated as he appeared behind Fret. None of the others heard the wizard.

  “This is terrible.” Gantha said finally. An elf was struck down by one of the humans.

  “We’ll never find anyone in there,” Jesset said. This time an elf took down a human.

  Gantha turned back to Jesset and Fret. “I have to do something. Stay out of sight. My fellow elves are in heightened battle mode, so they will kill anything human, or anything that gets in their way. I should be allowed to pass.”

  Before the other two could protest, Gantha ran into the market, away from the battle and flames. Jesset and Fret watched stunned. The elf warriors took down the remaining human soldiers viciously. Even as the humans fell, one elf warrior wasn’t satisfied and hacked away at the corpses before moving on.

  “I never did like elves,” Ynob said with a disgusted tone. Fret looked behind him at the wizard. The look the boy gave showed his frustration, but Ynob seemed to stare at the destruction before him.

  Jesset looked around the forest, but all the woodland creatures had fled from the commotion. Not even a crow or a buzzard looked on.

  “What can we do?” It was a hopeless plea from Fret. He used to enjoy suffering, but not on this scale. Guilaud’s ring sparkled in the light as if glowing with power.

  “I don’t think there is anything—”

  “Let them kill each other,” Ynob interrupted Jesset, who continued talking.

  “You’ve gotten sour with death,” Fret said to the wizard, forgetting about the Mordock.

  “What?”

  “I? My dear boy, when you have dealt with these races—”

  “Is the wizard here?” It was Jesset’s turn to interrupt Ynob’s spiel.

  “Can you tell him kindly to shut up?”

  Fret turned to Jesset. “Yes he is, and he is being his usual miserable self.”

  “I’ll have you know—”

  But again the Mordock cut Ynob off without realizing it. “What’s he saying? Can he do anything to help the situation?” Jesset looked expectantly behind Fret, as if talking to the wizard.

  Fret screamed in irritation. It helped him release the emotion, but a few passing elves heard. They conferred and quickly moved into an attack. Jesset turned his back so he did not see the advancing threat.

  “Um…” Fret pointed to the two warriors running forward. Jesset quickly searched the ground for something to defend himself with. Fret put up his hands in a show of peace.

  Ynob began muttering something.

  “We aren’t with the….”

  Voom!

  Fire shot from Fret’s palms straight at the elves. They were unprepared, and engulfed by the flames. Their cries carried as they continued to advance, their flesh burning.

  The boy looked in utter horror and amazement. Jesset stared at the carnage and then at Fret. One warrior collapsed—a charred corpse right at their feet. The other swayed to the left and lay down as the flames took his life.

  “What…?”

  “I don’t know!” The boy exclaimed and turned to the wizard with palms raised. Even Ynob held a look of utter disbelief. He glanced at Fret.

  “Put your hands down!” He said frantically. Fret complied.

  Jesset looked back at the market, but saw no other warriors near. “What did you do?”

  “I don’t know. I think he did it,” Fret yelled. He quickly looked around realizing his voice projected loudly. They moved behind the tree, not wanting another confrontation.

  The wizard did his best to compose himself. “I…meant to do that.”

  Fret observed. Jesset kept looking from Fret to the space Fret looked at. “What?”

  “He doesn’t know either.”

  “Of course I do. A wizard never does magic unexpectedly.” Ynob’s tone became haughty again.

  Jesset noticed the ring on Fret’s hand for the first time. “Isn’t this…” He took Fret’s hand. The boy looked down at the ring.
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  “Yes, he stole it,” The wizard said behind him.

  “I think this is why I can see Ynob. Unfortunately.” He never wanted any kind of responsibility. As Fret thought back, he never had any ambition back in his old life.

  Jesset let go of his hand. “Well, it could be the saving grace of this whole situation.”

  CAW!

  From behind, a crow startled them. It perched in the tree next to the one they had hidden behind.

  “Reggie!” Jesset recognized the crow.

  This is some serious mess you got yourselves mixed into. Reggie cawed.

  “I know.”

  “Wow, I can hear the bird clearly. I guess death has its advantages!” Ynob exclaimed loudly behind Fret.

  “We need to find our friends—a dark elf and the Dwarc,” Fret asked, hoping the crow had some advice for them.

  That’s an easy one. They’re farther down with a little glow bug. Funny thing is, they sent me to look for you. Reggie cawed at the irony and cackled loudly. A few elves looked his way, but didn’t pay any heed to the bird.

  Jesset interpreted for Fret. “What about Snow? Our rabbit friend.”

  “Wow, rabbit friend. I believe she would not take kindly to that comment,” the wizard remarked. Fret ignored him.

  The crow cocked its head. I did see a funny looking rabbit going away from the market. It was actually going south. Don’t know if that helps ya out any.

  “Funny looking? Fret raise your hands again, and I will show this crow some manners.”

  Fret turned and talked to the space behind him. “No. Stop it. You’re being mean.”

  Um, you may want to lose the boy. I think he has a few cogs loose in that head of his.

  “He will be fine. Please lead us to our friends,” Jesset said, and the crow flew off with a caw.

  Ynob moved closer to Fret, within whispering distance. “We should’ve fried that crow. It called you crazy.”

  “Shut up, Ynob.”