Zach Brenner's Arc

Chapter 30 of 86

Zach raised his blade, then stopped. The standing stones glowed under the torches. He didn't know how the seal worked. One wrong move might spring it early and wake Darkthorne with his own hands. He crouched low and turned to Talon. "If we rush in blind, we could trip the seal ourselves. How does it open?" Talon watched the hooded men move among the stones. "I've seen them do it twice. They touch the stones in an order. Get it wrong and the ground shakes." He drew a slow line in the dirt. "We take them quiet. No noise near the center stone. Then we hold it and wait for the sorcerer." Raven pressed her ear flat and listened. "Six of them. Two by the far stones." Her cat ears twitched. "I can slip behind. Cut the torches. In the dark they won't reach the center." Ayla gripped her staff. "Do it clean. If blood spills on that stone, I don't know what it does." She nodded at Zach. "We go together." They crept down the slope. Raven vanished into the dark and dropped the first two men before they turned. Zach struck a third with the flat of his blade. Garrok crushed a fourth. Lyra froze the last pair where they stood. It worked. No one reached the center stone. The seal stayed shut. Zach breathed out. "We hold here. When Malachar comes, we take him at the stones." Then the torches bent sideways. A cold wind poured through the ring. Malachar walked out of the dark, green eyes bright under his hood. He looked at the fallen men and sneered. "You waited for me. How kind." Zach charged. He was three steps away when Malachar raised his staff. "Now I summon the essence of Maximus Darkthorne." Black smoke tore from the staff. It rose and took shape. Claws formed. A single red eye opened in a skull-like head. The shadow demon stood taller than any man, its body dark mist and edges like knives. The air went thick. Zach's arms went heavy. He dropped to one knee. Around him the others fell too. Garrok's axe hit the dirt. Lyra choked on her spell. The thing pinned them all just by standing there. Malachar stepped past them. He pressed his hand to the center stone. He touched the others in order. The ground shook. Light poured up between the stones. The seal was open. "One more," Malachar said. "Then he wakes." Zach fought to lift his sword and could not. He looked at Ayla. She had one hand raised, shaking, her crystal glowing white. "Hold on," she gasped. "All of you. Grab me." Zach lunged and caught her robe. Raven seized his belt. Garrok gripped Lyra. Ayla slammed her staff down. White light swallowed them. They landed hard on stone streets. Walls rose around them. Tyr Alys. Safe, and far from the seal. Behind them, north, one seal now stood broken. Only one remained.