Page 76 of Empire of Death
Another wave of Barbarians hit us, and the battle continued, the dead that surrounded me acting as a funnel to prevent the Barbarians from attacking me all at once. I had little experience fighting with the gifts Callum had granted me, and I was still surprised by the way my heavy sword felt like a butter knife and my opponents a warm piece of cheese. My muscles didn’t burn with exertion like they should. There was an endless supply of fuel that fed my body exactly what it needed to continue.
The fight carried on, and Callum was with me but silent like I didn’t need his aid, not when the dead protected me from all sides. But I could feel his presence even when I couldn’t see it, watching the battle from several angles, being the eyes in the back of my head.
All I focused on was the next Barbarian who came for me, but every time their body fell, I could see the endless line of men stretched out before me. When I glanced around me, I saw all the dead soldiers piled up…because they hadn’t been as successful in the battle as I had. In fact, they were being massacred, even with the army of the dead that I’d raised.
I thought the battle had turned in our favor, but it had only turned in mine.
“I’m going to check on the fleet,” Callum said.
I’d just felled the next Barbarian, and I stopped to catch my breath, the dead stopping my new opponents so I had a reprieve.
“We should have bought the dead enough time to destroy their ships.” He came to my side. “I’ll be gone a few moments.” He didn’t ask for my permission with his words but his eyes. “Or we can flee now.”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
He gave a nod.
He wouldn’t leave me if he didn’t think I could handle it, so I wasn’t afraid of his momentary absence.
Then he disappeared, and it was just me and the dead.
More Barbarians broke through, determined to take me down like I was single-handedly responsible for the resistance—which wasn’t untrue. The men were easy to take down, but I knew that was only the case because I had my own personal guard and the strength of a god in my limbs.
Then a horn sounded, a horn that boomed so loud it brought the battle to a momentary standstill. The Barbarian who tried to cut off my head stepped back slightly, like the sound had significance to him.
What was happening?
When he stepped to the side, I could see what was coming from behind him. A line of enormous orcs, Behemoths, creatures that were seven and a half feet tall with arms thick with muscles. Superior to men is stature, all clad in battle armor, their eyes misshaped and unequal in size but bloodthirsty.
And they all stared at me like I was the target.
The men behind me all started to retreat, to leave me standing there alone to face them like I had a chance. The army of the dead remained, including the ones that circled me, but against these menacing creatures, they wouldn’t hold. The strength of a god would be enough to help me defeat them one-on-one, but with the desertion of the army, it was just me against at least three dozen.
And I couldn’t run.
I kept a straight face and refused to show fear even in the face of certain death, but I could feel my heart race as my pulse bounced off my thick armor. I waited for Callum to return, to grab me by the arm and usher me away from this bloodbath.
But he didn’t come.
The Behemoths came to a stop, bearing their rows of sharp teeth that could rip apart my armor. Drool came from the tips, and their misshapen eyes showed a demand for revenge when I hadn’t wronged them.
Then altogether, they released a single mighty roar, a roar so deep and potent that Callum must have heard it on the ships out to sea.
Then they sprinted, immediately shaking the earth with their communal mass, all bearing down on me like it was a race to see who could rip off my head first. It was a stampede that would break through the ranks of the dead with ease. My only option was to turn and flee—but I would never outrun this.
Then I heard it from the sky, the mightiest roar I’d ever heard.
“Rooooooaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrr!”
I gasped before I looked up and saw the brilliant black scales in the overcast sky, the enormous jet stream of fire that unleashed from his angry mouth. He came in for a hard landing, shaking the earth when he hit the ground in front of me, putting his body in between me and the Behemoths that were just seconds from massacring me.
Zehemoth released an explosion of fire directly at the monstrous orcs, setting their flesh ablaze with the power that burned deep in his belly.Get on!
I snapped out of my reverie, rushed to his flank, and grabbed on to the straps of the saddles to climb up. I was barely in the saddle when he opened his wings and released more fire at my assailants before he lifted his heavy body from the earth with a few flaps of his wings. As he took off, the Behemoths that didn’t burn launched their spears and blades at his hide, but most of them missed, and whatever landed bounced off his scales.
“Rooooaaaaaarrrrrr!”
I gripped the horn so tight it was like I’d never ridden a dragon before, still in shock from almost getting every limb ripped from my body like a toy doll.
