Stone Guardian(55)

“This night I will fight at your side.” Terak turned to Larissa. “Stay near the mage. She will protect you.”

He was a great warrior. She had seen it herself in many circumstances. That didn’t change this hollow ache inside her. It was unnecessary, but she had to say it. She had to know she said it, a charm that would protect him. It had to. “Terak, be careful.”

“I will be.” He gently pushed her toward Laire while holding the mage with a hard glare. “If she dies Battle Mage, until my last breath, I will dedicate every moment of my life to the destruction of your world.”

For once, Laire was not the smartass Larissa expected. Giving a perfect bow, she answered, “I will protect her, Clan Leader of the Gargoyles.”

Fallon broke in. “Now that we got the mushy stuff out of the way, let’s go meet us some goblins.” She turned to Laire. “Shield Larissa, but don’t worry about the rest of us. Break the wizard so we can cut through the army.”

“Understood,” said Laire. She grabbed Larissa’s hand, bringing her over to a nearby wall. “Sit on that stone wall. I’m putting a barrier around you.”

“A barrier?”

“A magic shield. It will keep the bad guys out.”

Larissa sat. The Asian woman made a motion as if she were clutching a ball in her hands, then pushed out toward Larissa.

Nothing happened. Larissa looked around her, but nothing was different. “Umm, is it working?”

Laire yelled out, “Aislynn, help me here.”

The elf turned and shot an arrow right at Larissa, the point heading straight for her forehead. It came closer and closer and...

And it stopped dead, falling to the ground several feet away, as if it had bumped into something solid.

“There’s your proof,” Laire said. “So don’t do anything stupid like try to run out. It wouldn’t work anyway, you’d only hit the barrier, but those things hurt like hell if you run into them full speed.”

“No, I won’t.”

“They’re in range!” Aislynn started firing arrows again, this time at the upcoming army. They were still far enough away that they looked like little more than black dots in the distance, but the elf called out, “Laire was right about the shield spell, the arrows are bouncing. Laire, you need to do something.

“Working on it,” called out Laire. What it looked like she was doing was working on her statue-mimicry skills. She stood stock still, her hand held out toward the open field with her thumb perpendicular to the ground and her first and middle finger curled above it, the other two fingers pressed against her palm.

Her body might have been still, but sweat was beading on the skin of her forehead and neck, the same way it would for most people who were in the middle of intense physical exertion.

“How long?” Fallon asked.

“Don’t know. He’s good.”

Fallon smirked. “Are you saying some pansy-ass is getting the best of our mage?”

“Instead of flirting with me, why don’t you swing your little sword and hit a couple of them? Just because they have a shield over them doesn’t mean they would like it if they were batted around like a baseball.”

“Good idea.” Fallon turned to Terak. “You might not be able to fly up high, Gargoyle. Doesn’t mean you can’t fly at all, and a shield won’t prevent them from being picked up and thrown from their mounts.”

Terak looked back at her. Larissa smiled at him, with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “You saw the arrow bounce. Out of everyone here, I’m the safest. If you think meeting them is the best way to end this, you need to leave me.”

He nodded. “I will make this as quick as possible.”

“I know.”

Terak’s wings snapped out to their full wingspan. He ran a few steps then took off into the air, his battle cry quieting the wolves coming toward them and even Fallon looked a little in awe as she said, “That’s rather impressive.”

They were arriving fast, what only moments before looked like black dots were now fully formed silhouettes of small creatures riding atop vicious dogs.

Terak reached the army. Some must have seen him coming, because she heard the ping of fired arrows at him. He didn’t react as if he had been hit, but in the past no matter how beaten up he was he never stopped fighting. He swooped down, grabbing some of the creatures and lifting them into the air. He flew high and dropped them down. Once they hit the ground, they didn’t get back up.

Fallon was right. Whatever shield was on them wasn’t helping against Terak.

Arrows were flying at them now. Aislynn hid in cracks in the stone outcropping, while Fallon stepped in front of Laire and drove her sword into the ground. “Tenro, shield,” whispered the swordswoman, and the sword glowed. The volley of arrows that should have hit her and the mage instead disappeared into the light emitted by the sword.