By the Sword - By Sara Flower Page 0,67
before stalking toward another section of Sanctus’ knights.
“We have to stop that one next,” Tanel said, pointing at it.
With his heart pounding violently in his chest, he jogged, with the others following, to the raging animal. They formed a line and then fired a round of arrows at it. It hastily yanked out several arrows with its flexible forelegs, darting its angry eyes in their direction.
It stormed over, shaking the ground under its great weight.
Tanel and the others continued to shoot at it, but that didn’t stop the crazed animal. Its skin was much thicker than the giant dragon’s.
“Retreat!” shouted Wenyn.
Everyone turned and broke into a sprint, but Tanel knew that it was only a matter of moments before the powerful creature caught up to them.
Chapter Seventeen
Deep within the magician’s lair of the castle, the warlocks chanted in unison. Their deep, solemn voices echoed throughout the cave. The cloaked forms stood close to one another around a growing plume of smoke, swaying uniformly.
“Stop!” shouted Uittan.
Immediately, the chanting ceased. The mist dissolved and all of the magicians turned their hooded heads to face their intruder.
“How dare you interrupt us?” growled one of them.
He removed his hood, revealing angry blue eyes.
“What is your name?” asked Uittan.
“My name is Mote. State your business or die.”
“Mote, I dare to interrupt you because the God who is far more powerful than your wicked lord sent me!”
“Kill him,” said Mote.
The warlocks began to chant one of their spells, but Uittan held up his hand.
“Stop. You have no power over me. The blood of my Savior will protect me against any weapon that the devil throws. Jesus sent me here so that you might know the same truth.”
“Fool!” cried one of them.
A deep rumble resounded throughout the cave as the ground quaked beneath their feet. The magicians ceased their chanting, looking around nervously.
“Why have you stopped?” shouted Mote.
The magicians scattered, except for their leader.
“Aterun will have you thrown out of the brotherhood – or worse – when he hears about this!”
One of them stepped forward, eyes wide.
“But the power has gone out of us! When we chant, nothing happens.”
“You are giving in to the cheap trickery of their God!”
A near deafening explosion came from the cauldron room. All was quiet for a few moments. Then, all of the warlocks bounded out of the gathering room. They stopped once they saw the complete destruction of their scrolls, books, and cauldrons. The statue of their lord had been shattered to pieces. God had destroyed every imaginable thing to do with magic in their lair.
Uittan’s pulse raced.
Some of the magicians wept. Mote walked up to the broken statue and touched a piece of it. He faced Uittan with moist, reddened eyes.
“It can’t be,” he said. “This statue was crafted by the prince himself to be indestructible, but… it’s… it’s ruined! This is impossible.”
“Of course it is not impossible to destroy something created by someone that turned his back on his Creator,” said Uittan gently.
The lead warlock tore at the collar of his robe and sank to his knees.
*****
Tanel’s leg muscles burned as he ran down a hill with all of his might. The great monster was gaining on them. He imagined its great fangs sinking into him at any minute, severing him in two or tossing him high into the air like a rag doll.
“Die, beast!” shouted a loud, deep voice.
Tanel stopped and looked back.
The giants!
Six of the large men accosted the enormous creature with their long, powerful spears. It fought back with fervency, but Saclam managed to spear it right through its long neck, and it fell at once.
“Thank you!” called Tanel.
The giant nodded and continued on to the next monster.
Tanel remembered the catapults then. He glanced at Atalsa and Wenyn, who were still catching their breaths nearby.
“That was close,” said Wenyn.
“Too close,” said Atalsa.
“We should make our way down to the catapults. We will eliminate yet another one of Ittonifer’s advantages,” said Tanel.
Atalsa and Wenyn nodded.
“God has protected us this far. I believe that He will see us through this as well,” said Tanel.
The archers charged with a renewed vigor toward Ittonifer’s castle.
*****
Ittonifer trembled with rage as his nephew blocked another swing. Jalarn glared at him. He had chosen that girl over everything that Ittonifer had given to him. What a fool.
“You dare to go against me in my own castle after all that I have done for you? Now you will both die!”
A sharp pain seared though Ittonifer’s left shoulder. The little wench had stabbed him. He