Emperor by Isaac Hooke

Author:Isaac Hooke [Hooke, Isaac]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-10T07:00:00+00:00

22

Malem gazed forward, past the periphery of the light cone produced by Abigail’s flaming globe. The black forms of uraks swarmed the passageway ahead, with every fourth one of them carrying a torch in one hand, and a short sword in the other. The rest wielded their usual two-handed swords. They all wore that strange, multicolored armor with the two bronze horns stamped onto the chest pieces.

At least he could sense them, unlike the undead. He reached out, searching for any weak-minded among them, but they were all strong-willed, just like the earlier uraks that had attacked at the inn.

“How did they get in front of us!” Gwen said, firing madly.

“Obviously there are multiple ways down,” Wendolin said. She caused vines to grow from the shafts of some of the arrows and wrapped them around the uraks. She was weak, however, and the vines weren’t very thick. Most of the uraks simply hacked them away. The stamina bonus from that fountain had already worn off.

As the uraks approached, they threw their torches at the party. Solan and Gannet, in the front, deflected those flaming brands with their bucklers so that the fires hit the walls harmlessly.

And then the uraks collided with their ranks.

Solan and Gannet shoved into them with their shields, while Xaxia, Timlir and Goldenthall used their bladed weapons. Malem stayed close to Ziatrice at the rear, and was ready to defend when the undead came at them from behind. He could see the lich behind the skeletal soldiers; it hadn’t launched any of its withering magic yet, but Malem knew it was coming. No doubt the lich was merely conserving its strength, attempting to recover after using its power to cross all those collapses.

And then Malem had a thought.

“Actually…” he said. “Force your way through! Drive a wedge into the urak ranks! Let them fight the undead for us! Remember, target their faces and heads, as their armor might be magic resistant!”

Solan and Gannet drove forward as requested, shoving the uraks to either side. The other members of the party followed, with Malem and Ziatrice bringing up the rear.

Xaxia pulled ahead of Solan and Gannet, her blade glowing a bright purple as Biter fed her stamina from the creatures she slew. She moved extremely fast, a veritable blur, full of energy. She had ignored his advice, and was cutting off arms, and hewing directly through the chest pieces of the uraks. Malem guessed that whatever magic-resistant buffs had been applied to the urak armor had worn off long since they entered the dungeon.

Malem and Ziatrice deflected the blows of several uraks on either side, until they were many ranks deep. Behind them, the urak ranks had closed to seal their way back. Those on the outskirts had turned to face the undead they’d spotted beyond.

Speaking of the undead, those in the forefront arrived only a moment later.

Uraks shouted war cries as their blades met those of the undead. The eerie silence of the skeletons was all they got in reply.

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