The Demon's Blade Read Online Free PDF Page B

arrows tore through the defenders, felling many and wounding more. When he had drawn within a dozen yards, he formed a second shadow void in his left hand. Once he had drawn near enough, he hurled the void from his left hand into the blockade. The remaining orcs were torn into pieces by the power of the magic. The minotaurs were thrown forward onto the ground. One was impaled upon its own spear, and the other was knocked unconscious. Only Gorlak managed to stand his ground. Darien gripped the reins again with his left hand. He rode straight at the chimera, gaining speed. It was slow and witless creature, with a mind just intelligent enough to allow it to be useful. It only knew its task, to hold the gate. The monster raised its staff, preparing to swing, but the Executioner anticipated the strike, and urged Darkstar to even more terrifying speeds as he leaned forward, using the Demon Sword as a lance. Gorlak swung in a wide sweeping arc, right to left, but too slowly. The Demon Sword impaled the beast straight through the chest and the chimera was pushed back suddenly and swiftly into the gate. Gorlak dropped his staff almost instantly, and the staff’s enormous weight fell to the ground before it could complete its sweeping attack. The iron portcullis creaked and bent as the monster’s bulk crashed against it. Then Darien released the shadow void still churning upon the end of his sword. Metal twisted and broke, groaning and crunching as the heavy portcullis crumpled and burst in several places at once, leaving a gaping hole in the middle. Nothing remained of Gorlak. Either the void had consumed it, or the force had rent its body into tiny bits. Darkstar stepped through the hole in the gate, and they were off.
    The escape, however, was just beginning. Escaping the castle was one thing, but outrunning the pursuers who would follow was another. Darien, now a fugitive, headed west, the one direction that made sense, westward toward the river Saldean. That river marked the western border of the Master's domain. The water itself had powerful magics upon it. The waters of the river were fatal to the orcs, ogres, trolls, and other evil minions that made up the bulk of the Master's armies. Powerful magics of wind and water made crossing almost impossible. The wind blew perpetually to the east across the waters, and the waters pushed all boats towards the shore. The magical barrier had stood over eight hundred years against the Master's power, ever since the Order of the Golden Shield had been formed to oppose the Order of the Shade and the Master. Were it not for this barrier, the Master would have ruled all the lands between the Endless Forest in the west and the Sundering Mountains in the east.
    There was only one place where a crossing was possible, Lake Kalena. The water and wind were calm there, and while the enchantments upon the water would not be fatal to human or elf, the crossing would still be difficult. A thick, perpetual fog covered the water, and a spell of confusion, something older and more powerful than the magics of the Golden Shield, lurked within the fog. Boats that sailed into the fog would sail straight on for hours only to emerge in the same spot where they had first entered the fog. Darien planned instead to swim, just beneath the water's surface where hopefully he might avoid the magic of confusion. Somewhere in the fog lay a hidden island. The Master's winged spies had seen dark shapes of ruined buildings and scraggly trees through the fog from above. Darien had never heard of anyone reaching it, yet in the desperation of this flight, there seemed to be no other choice. There was no other way across the river except to go thousands of miles north, or cross the seas in the south, and he would be easily caught long before he could make such a journey. Ordinarily, traveling to the lake took two days, but he would have to cover the distance far more quickly. He would ride his horse until the beast could go no