Page 329 of Of Empires and Dust

“To me!” she howled, ripping her sword free. A score of Kingsguard fell in beside her in an instant, shields levelled. Most of her warriors had cleared out to the side streets at the sound of the horn as Kira had instructed. But they couldn’t all go, lest they be overrun. Some had to stay and hold back the tide. And she would never be the leader who stood in the back and shouted orders.

She threw her left shoulder forwards and rammed the rim of her shield into the mouth of a helmetless dwarf, teeth snapping and blood spraying. Within a heartbeat, another dwarf took its place, hacking and slashing with a long-hafted axe.

More Kingsguard fell in beside her as they recovered from the waves of lightning that had torn them apart. The elves had only sent a handful of mages, but they wielded the Spark with utter devastation.

“Do not let them pass!” Lumeera shouted. “Heave!”

Across the line, each of the Kingsguard pushed forwards with their shields, then stabbed down into the crush of dwarven bodies hemmed in by walls of rubble piled either side of the entranceway. The lines would not hold for long. The elven mages were toying with them. They could have ripped the formation in half with fire or lightning or whatever other manner of destruction the gods had granted them, but instead they seemed content to let the Volkuran dwarves throw themselves at the Belduaran shields.

Arrows rained down from the rooves of the nearby buildings. Many bounced and ricocheted off steel plate and shields, skittering across the stone. But some found their way through the thick dwarven armour, blood spraying.

“Heave!” she roared again, and in perfect unison the Kingsguard pushed forwards, stabbed, and fell back into the formation. As the dwarves gathered themselves, the second row struck through the gaps, steel slicing flesh and spilling blood.

A long, bearded axe blade flashed at the edge of Lumeera’s vision, glinting in the golden light from the flowers on the chamber’s ceiling. Lumeera swung her head back to avoid the full weight of the blow, but the blade cut a burning gash through the bridge of her nose and she let out a gasp.

The dwarf tried for a second swing, but Lumeera thrust her sword and buried the steel in the meat of his arm, piercing the rings of mail that had already been damaged. She pulled the blade free as the dwarf stumbled backwards.

Just as Lumeera fell back into formation, tightening her grip on her shield and readying herself, a sound like no other rumbled through the mountain city, as though the mountain itself raged and howled, and the ground beneath her shook.

“Behind us!” came a cry.

Lumeera glanced over her shoulder, bringing her shield high to protect the back of her head. “By the gods…”

Her heart stopped as she stared at the monstrous creatures that charged down Vindakur’s main thoroughfare. Abominations plucked from the darkest stories of her childhood. They stood taller than even Uraks, bodies wrought from jagged rock, veins of glowing gold rippling through them. Horns of rock splintered out from their skulls, all twisted and harsh, and a golden light misted from their eyes.

“What manner of demon…” a voice whispered beside her, and it seemed even the dwarves of Volkur had stopped to stare at the dark manifestations.

The ground cracked beneath the creatures’ steps, then reformed once they passed over. Each one of the beasts wielded an enormous spiked hammer as long as Lumeera was tall, wrought entirely of rock and shimmering light.

The fear rising within her stilled at the sound of cheers and the clapping of steel that rang out from the dwarves of Durakdur, who had pulled back at the horns. Could it be? Could these stone-forged demons be the great power Kira had spoken of?

The queen had been clear: do not stand in the way.

“Fall back!” Lumeera roared. She looked over her shield. The dwarves of Volkur stood with their mouths open, axes hanging loose at their sides. Lumeera shoved the soldiers next to her, shouting again, “Fall back!”

The Kingsguard broke off and sprinted towards the side streets, but some weren’t fast enough. She watched in horror as a man tried desperately to escape the charging monsters’ path, but one of the beasts caught him with a stone leg and sent him hurtling across the ground. Dread coiled in her stomach as a second creature brought its foot down and snapped the man in half without breaking stride, crushing his plate and bones in a single step.

The beasts crashed into the Volkuran lines with such devastating force that Lumeera thought she had stepped into the Godsrealm. Massive rock hammers crushed dwarven plate in single swings, golden light shimmering with each blow. They fought with a savage fury, roaring and howling words in a strange language as they ripped the Volkurans apart.

She watched in awe as one of the great monsters slammed an enormous fist down onto a dwarf in a horned helm and crushedhim in an explosion of gore and bone, strips of flesh clinging to the jagged rock. The creature lifted its leg, then stomped on a fallen dwarf, shattering their legs, before swinging its hammer and tearing a body clean in half.

Lumeera had never seen carnage like it. These beasts were death incarnate.

Another horn blast sounded, but this one did not come from within the city.

A sharpwhooshwas followed by a blur and an enormous bolt smashed into the arm of one of the stone beasts, tearing it free in a spray of dust and shards of rock. Anotherwhoosh, a second bolt, and a leg was ripped from one of the creatures.

The bolts were followed by arcs of lightning that streaked from behind the destroyed doors, tearing strips of stone from the ground and ripping through dwarf and monster alike.

As one of the creatures fell to the ground, the horn sounded again, and the Volkuran dwarves let out a thunderous war cry and charged forwards. They swarmed around the creatures, hacking and slashing with renewed vigour, steel skittering off rock. Even more warriors swarmed past and towards the thoroughfare beyond. Towards the Portal Hearts. Towards the citizens of Belduar.

Lumeera surged forwards without hesitation, her fingers tight around the hilt of her sword.

Arrows continued to rain down from above, bouncing off dwarven armour. Deep, sonorous horns bellowed from further down the street, and Lumeera cast a glance to see the rest of the Durakdur forces breaking into a charge, crimson cloaks of the Queensguard fluttering, axes raised above their heads.

Lumeera pulled her shield tight and slammed it into the side of a charging Volkuran, sending him sprawling. She leaned backwards to avoid the swing of an axe, then opened the wielder’s throat. More Kingsguard and Belduarans floodedaround her. There were no lines drawn, no shield walls or slow advances. The battle descended into pure madness and slaughter. Lumeera stabbed down into a dwarf’s open mouth and ripped the blade free in the same motion. “Do not let them pass! Do not let them reach the portal!”

A roar sounded near the entrance, and she watched one of the stone monsters sweep aside a score of Volkurans with one mighty swing of its hammer before taking a bolt to the chest and a second to the knee. It fell, reeling, and then an arc of lightning smashed into its head and shattered it to pieces.

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