Even Gods Must Fall - Christian Warren Freed Page 0,142

from the ground and flattening what remained of Arlevon Gale. Thousands of soldiers and Goblins were thrown to their backs. The weak of heart died instantly. Their bodies added to the lifelessness already gripping the world. At once the battle ground to a halt. Both armies struggled to pick themselves up and retreat in the face of this new threat. All were oblivious of what was happening below ground.

Artiss Gran and Amar Kit’han were locked in deathly grip. Neither was stronger than the other. Their magic slowly began to break down their molecular structure. Ancient bodies withered and crumbled to ash. Colliding colors washed between them in amplified rainbows. Amar opened his mouth to roar but flames and ash spewed forth. Artiss could barely blink before their combined power began to disintegrate them both. Soon only ash remained.

The Dae’shan were no more. Their evil was already washing away from the world as a far greater evil returned. Blood streamed from ears and noses as the dark gods forced their way back into Malweir. Millennia of endless torment drove them mad with impatience. They clawed their way back into the world before Groge could accomplish his task.

Foul power drove the Giant to his knees. He retched across the blood-stained stone. The Blud Hamr suddenly felt heavy. His heart beat fast, much too fast. His body threatened to rebel. Groge closed his eyes and began to pray to his god. The only god of his people. He opened his eyes with clarity of purpose, focusing on the wizard.

“Now Groge! Smash the stone!” Anienam cried out before he collapsed.

Groge tore his eyes from the prone wizard and hefted the Blud Hamr over his head. The Olagath Stone drew his attention, attempting to mesmerize him into succumbing to the irreversible power locked within. Spectral fingers reached down through the hole in the ceiling as the dark gods were desperate to stop Groge from fulfilling his role. Dark fire plunged down to strike his iron-thick hide. Terrible burn marks scored him as he brought the Blud Hamr down, fulfilling his destiny. The chamber was plunged into darkness.

Golden light suddenly flooded the ritual chamber. Anienam dared to gaze upon the light even as the sheer strength of it rendered his heart to stop. The last wizard felt darkness eclipse him and the world was lost.

THIRTY-SIX

Through the Hurt

The battle was ended but none of the survivors were fool enough to believe their world would ever be the same again. There was no explanation for what they had witnessed. The golden light showering Arlevon Gale wasn’t natural. Some believed the gods of light had returned. Others figured Bahr and his group had succeeded in their quest but were destroyed in the process. Many just didn’t have the stamina left to care. The battle was over. What was left of the Goblin army was in full retreat. It was a movement that would eventually fail. Already Dwarf and Minotaur commanders were planning to hunt down and exterminate them. Most of the people of Delranan and Rogscroft lacked the stomach for any more fighting, even the vaunted Wolfsreik.

General Rolnir stood looking down into what remained of the ruins. His burly arms were folded across his chest. Confusion stitched across his brow. Nothing in the last few moments had made any sense. An ill feeling clung to his nerves.

“Have the scouts reported anything yet?” Aurec asked from Rolnir’s side.

“Nothing. I fear Bahr’s group has met their doom.”

Aurec wasn’t so sure. There was no explanation of the gathered darkness nor the purity of light immediately following. Rather than waiting for his mind to conjure ghouls and stark images, he struggled to find conversation. “What do you suppose that was? All the light and dark?”

“Hard to say. I almost felt…a divine presence in the world,” Rolnir admitted. The notion proved particularly disturbing. He’d never placed much faith in gods, light or dark, and to have come within the presence of so many at once threatened to tear the fragile constructs of his mind. “And now this,” he gestured to the haunting glow in the sky. “It should be the middle of the night yet we stand in an ethereal landscape void of either light or dark. Are we dead?”

“I don’t feel dead,” Aurec said. “This is…something else. Maybe Bahr succeeded after all? The wizard seemed convinced this was the day of reckoning. They might have won.”

“Perhaps. We’ll find out soon enough. Dawn is approaching,” Rolnir added. “I figure if the dark gods were