They were already wading into battle with the hellhounds.
You should have called earlier, brother, Ferro reprimanded. Why save all the fun for yourself?
All of the brethren were large and muscular with ropes of defined muscle. They each had long, salt-and-pepper hair flowing down their backs, the result of all the centuries spent battling. All had scars to prove they had been wounded mortally on more than one occasion and yet had survived. Each had the tattoo of their creed flowing down their backs, but that was where the similarities ended.
Ferro was the most intimidating of the brethren. He had unusual eyes the color of iron complete with rust running through them. It gave him a stare that was mesmerizing. He was quiet in most situations, but of all the brethren, Isai considered him the most dangerous.
I am grateful you are here. The high mage put a spell on the hellhounds. They want to kill me and as many as I kill, more arrive, Isai explained.
With the snow thickening and throwing itself in every direction seemingly at a capricious whim, Anatolie’s vision was completely cut off. He could no longer delight in his prisoner being eaten alive by the demonic hellhounds.
I have come to save you, brother, Sandu weighed in. It seems this is to be my lot in life.
Sandu had eyes as black as night yet a red flame burned deep in their depths, giving one a glimpse into the fiery volcano inside of him.
Someone has to give you a little work. You were becoming lazy.
Isai shot two more of the hellhounds, and this time, Petru, with slashing eyes of mercury, sliced off their heads.
Do you plan on riding that hellhound back to hell or are you going to get off your butt and help out? Petru inquired.
Isai placed his exact weight in the noose of lightning and freed himself, allowing Anatolie to think he still had his prisoner. It appeared to be so when Anatolie managed to glimpse the Carpathian warrior being dragged over the ground. Carpathians could produce illusions as easily as a mage.
Benedek, with his unusual dark eyes and long flowing hair, came out of the blizzard and signaled to him to go east. He circled around to the west to get behind the high mage. Anatolie would know in a few moments that Isai had tricked him and that others had joined the battle. He didn’t want to fight toe to toe with a high mage. If the man chose to cast spells and then run, which Isai was certain he would do, he might succeed. However, if Isai could catch him unawares, he had a chance to kill him. The last thing any of them wanted was a powerful mage coming at them from behind when they went after Barnabas.
Anatolie had done what Isai would have predicted, given that his son Vasile had chosen the same method to protect himself. He was in a sheltered alcove of rock, a small fortress surrounded, Isai was certain, by a powerful grid that, moving through, would trigger the same types of traps Vasile’s defense system had. Isai didn’t have the time to take them all down.
Rising as vapor, he streamed over the defense grid, warning Benedek. He felt his way carefully, knowing the air could be protected as well, although Anatolie didn’t have a lot of time to spend on his own defense, not when he’d gone right away on the attack.
The high mage had to step outside the grotto-like fortress in order to wield the lightning, but as long as he had his enemy on the end of his whip, he wasn’t worried. Isai came in from his left side, dropping low. As he did so, the shadow cats leapt from his back. The six cats distracted Anatolie as they emerged from the snow, coming straight at him.
When he looked up, Isai was in front of him, his face set in an expressionless mask. Benedek was at his back, just as stone-faced. Isai plunged his hand through the chest wall and got the heart while Benedek took the mage’s head with one slice of his sword. It was Isai who called down the lightning to burn the body.
“I will make certain that Julija removes the spell to replenish the hellhounds once I find her. Thank you for coming.”
“The others are guarding the compound in case there is trouble there. Elisabeta was very uncomfortable. All of us felt your need.”