Asgoleth the Warrior - By Bill Kirkwood Page 0,53

Heart of Ra and concentrated the evil power of his mind upon the glowing jewel. The glow grew stronger and stronger until the entire weapon pulsed with ruby hellfire.

Then a beam of light leapt forth from the thick central rod of the Deathbringer. Straight towards the Draskian infantry and mounted knights it sped until it struck among them with the force of a thousand thunderbolts.

In seconds the Draskian advance was brought to a halt as men and horses perished in the blast. The surviving infantry looked back in horror as their heavy cavalry was wiped out, men and horses reduced to smoking piles of charred bone and melted armour.

Again and again the beam lashed out and where it touched men died. Against such sorcery the Draskians knew they could not prevail and one by one and then in hundreds men threw down their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. They had no desire to lose their lives and perhaps their souls as well to black sorcery such as this.

Some however were not easily cowed and Demos frowned as he received a report that his left flank was coming under heavy attack. He snarled angrily,

‘Fools, don’t they know they are beaten?’

He snapped an order to the messenger,

‘Return at once to your commander and tell him to withdraw towards me. When he lures the enemy within my sight I shall destroy them.’

The messenger galloped off and Demos cursed and resumed his attack upon the Draskian cavalry who, unlike the infantry, continued to regroup and charge again and again. Inspired by their courage many of the infantry picked up their weapons once more and charged back into the fray.

Now his own men were taking casualties and Demos snarled in fury at the Draskians insolence. He sent blast after blast of devastating destruction into their ranks but despite this the Draskians fought on and many an Akonite fell to their frenzied assaults.

Sweat poured down the tyrants face as he slew his foes, then disturbing news reached him. Those who had attacked his armies left flank had suddenly withdrawn before coming within sight of him. They had learned quickly that terrible as this unholy weapon was, it had limitations. If Demos couldn’t’t see you, he couldn’t slay you.

They swiftly adapted to their new tactics of hit and run and soon were taking a heavy toll of Akonite lives. Demos snarled with fury as he saw the looks of fear and doubt on the faces of his men. Unless he could defeat these Draskian scum soon he would start to lose, not only the battle but the fear in which he was held by his subjects.

If they saw that he could be defeated, that his magic was not invincible, then they would eventually rebel against him. He could keep control of his generals he knew but soon their soldiers would start to desert and without an army to command, what use would his generals be?

He cried out in frustration and anger as he realised that no matter how great his magic was, he still had to back it up with force of arms. If he lost control of the army, if they faded away into the night, then with them would go all his dreams of empire. He could not let that happen. He would not allow himself to be beaten by these Draskian scum.

He fought off his growing fatigue and brought his will to bear on the Heart of Ra which pulsed and glowed within its crystal and steel cage. He called upon the mighty power of the unearthly gem and it responded to his commands by sending out bolt after bolt of destruction. Men died where those bolts touched and the air was full of screams and smoke and the stench of burning flesh but no matter how many he slew their place was taken by others, all of them determined to stop the Akonites here at the border. They had heard the horrible stories of what had befallen Torr under their rule and they were desperate to prevent the same thing from happening to their homeland. Despite the mighty and terrible magic of their sorcerer king the Akonites were going to pay a terrible price for conquering Drask.

A sudden charge by the Draskian cavalry succeeded in breaching the Akonite lines. The riders laid about them with their long sabres and heavy spiked maces to deadly effect. Akonite warriors fell to the blows of their enemies and began to stumble back, away from