Before he could even take a step toward the wall, the five volkaanes leaped easily up onto the top of the thick barrier. Rave reached down and grabbed Leesa by the wrists and hoisted her effortlessly up onto the wall. Bain lifted Dominic the same way, and Halee pulled Cali up.“Girl power,” Halee said with a smile as Cali alighted atop the wall.The three volkaanes lifted their charges into their arms and jumped lightly down to the ground inside the cemetery. Leesa took advantage of the moment to plant a kiss on Rave’s cheek before he set her down.“Thanks for the lift, big guy,” she said.Dominic was already peering out into the dark cemetery, which seemed to stretch endlessly before them. He pointed to the south.“The magic is that way,” he said.Leesa followed his finger, but saw nothing but uneven rows of graves that faded into the darkness. She had no doubt, though, that their foes were where Do
Dominic led the party deeper into the graveyard. Most of the markers they passed were standard stone or marble rectangles with rounded tops, but scattered among them were monuments of other types—mostly obelisks, statues and pointy steeple shapes.They walked close together, except for Dral and Bain, who had flanked out to either side. Leesa walked on Dominic’s right, a half pace behind him. Rave marched beside her, his two metal spikes gripped in his hands. Cali followed a few steps behind Leesa, and Ulric and Halee brought up the rear.Dominic extended his arm to the side, palm facing backward, signaling everyone to halt. Caught unawares, Leesa bumped into the wizard’s outstretched arm. She gazed ahead, trying to see what had caused Dominic to stop.As she peered into the darkness in front of them, the answer was abundantly clear—they had reached the area of the cemetery affected by the black magic.Even here at the far edges, dozens of rope-like black strands twisted through the ai
LEESA WATCHED DOMINIC GO for just a moment. Cali took advantage of the pause to place her hand on Leesa’s hip. At the same time, she raised her other hand to the rear and concentrated hard, imagining a beam of yellow magic shooting from her palm just like she had done in the woods with Leesa and Dominic. Somewhat to her surprise, a pale beam immediately shot forward from her hand in a continuous, laser-like stream. She kept the beam aimed head high, sweeping it across the ranks of zombies. She watched the magic blast into nearly a dozen zombie skulls before it abruptly shut off. The creatures all collapsed to the ground.“That’s what I’m talking about,” Cali said, more to herself than to anyone else.Dral acknowledged her help with a quick wave of his hand, then continued darting into and around the pursuing zombies, plunging his spikes into their heads as he passed.“Let’s go,” Leesa said.She trotted forwa
Dominic kept his magic focused on the spot where his foe had disappeared for another few seconds, making certain that Viktor’s magical essence could never be regenerated. When he was satisfied that Viktor was destroyed forever, Dominic turned his attention to the oncoming zombies, who were no longer held in check by Viktor’s magic.“To my side, Halee,” he yelled, wanting the volkaane out of the way.Halee bounded to Dominic’s side as the wizard unleashed a wide swath of magic, instantly incinerating more than a hundred of the nearest creatures. There were still plenty more zombies behind them, but they were far enough away to give Dominic and Halee some breathing room.When Dominic finally let his power subside, the surviving owl had landed on the ground beside its fallen mate. A silver flash briefly lit up the night. A moment later, a man Dominic had never seen before stood in its place. The wizard was pretty sure he knew who the m
With only Dral and Bain holding back the oncoming zombies, some of the creatures had drawn dangerously close to Leesa and Cali. The two volkaanes raced around spiking the nearest ones, but more and more continued to attack.“Can you encase you and Cali completely inside an air shield?” Rave asked Leesa.She nodded. “Yeah, I think so. But I don’t know how long it’s going hold against so many of these things.”“I don’t think it will have to. They are guided by their unceasing hunger. I’m betting when they can no longer smell you, they’ll head elsewhere to satisfy their cravings.”Leesa pictured an invisible cocoon surrounding herself and Cali as she invoked the air shield spell once more. As Rave predicted, as soon as the shield materialized the zombies suddenly turned away and began heading in the opposite direction in search of human flesh.Leesa breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the creatures lumber away—until she realized that the closest human flesh would be Dominic.“Rave!”
With the four volkaanes leading the way, the party surged forward into the mass of hungry zombies, cutting through the mostly slow moving creatures with relative ease. Wanting to save his strength for the confrontation with the Necromancer, Dominic used his magic sparingly now, flinging bursts of magic only at some of the faster zombies who got too near.Leesa and Cali stayed close behind the wizard, with Jenna bringing up the rear and using various spells to keep the pursuing zombies at bay. First, she turned the ground to mud, causing the ungainly creatures to slip, slide and fall over one another. When the mud spell wore off, she froze the ground, which had the same effect on the zombies’ footing as the mud. She would have preferred to destroy as many of the creatures as possible in revenge for Michael’s sacrifice, but she knew she could never kill enough of them to slow their advance the way the mud and ice did.Finally, the party broke through the last
Rave wasted no time. He knew Dral’s actions were merely defensive and would not stop the beast. And once the creature finished with Dominic, Rave knew Leesa would be its next target.With a running leap, he threw himself up onto the dragon’s back as it swerved away from Dral and Dominic. Leesa looked on in horror as Rave wrapped his powerful legs around the beast’s neck to hold himself in place as he rode the dragon. He struck downward onto the top of the monster’s head with one of his spikes, hoping to pierce its brain, but the scales atop the creature’s head were too thick and hard, even for Rave’s volkaane strength. Changing his strategy, Rave plunged the spike down through the top of the dragon’s snout, where the scales were much thinner. This time, the weapon sank deep into the beast’s head. With his other hand, Rave stabbed upward into the fleshy bottom of the monster’s jaw, impaling it from beneath with his second s
“I can help you lift it with a spell,” Jenna told them, “but I’m going to need you to drop it on top of the pool.”The two volkaanes positioned themselves on opposite sides of the square while Jenna wove her lifting spell. The frozen hunk of ground tore itself loose from the earth and rose a few feet into the air. Halee and Bain grabbed the edges and heaved it atop the pool. Their aim was perfect. The frozen square landed without a splash, completely covering the black pool.“Quickly, now,” Jenna said. “Pile some gravestones on top.”Halee and Bain ripped a dozen headstones from the earth and tossed them into place.“Can you melt them?” she asked. “And then let the stone harden, like concrete?”The two volkaanes set to work with their blue fire, doing exactly as Jenna instructed. When they finished, the effect was as if the pool had been capped in stone. The whole enterpr