Defiant Swords (Durlindrath #2) Read Online Free Page A

those things held his attention. Something else
filled his vision, drew his gaze even though the horror of it was repellent.
    A shape rose amid the steam. It flowed and writhed, but it was a thing of substance and not
vapor. And it was massive.
    He knew what it was, but his mind refused to accept what his
eyes saw. It rose higher, reaching up and out of the void and into the air of
Cardoroth.
    “What is it?” he whispered to the lòhren. “ How have they created such a sorcerous beast?”
    Aranloth answered through gritted teeth. “This is not made
of sorcery. Rather, it is called forth by the dark power of Shurilgar’s staff.
It is a beast, a real beast, but drawn from the otherworld, summoned from some
dark pit of horror. It is a serpent, but one such as has never hunted any dim-lit forest of Alithoras.”
    Gilhain shook his head. “No. It can’t be. No serpent ever
grew so big.”
    “Not on this earth,” Aranloth answered.
    Up the serpent rose, swaying back and forth, yet ever its
eyes, slitted pits darker even than the hollow from which it emerged, fixed on
the Cardurleth – or those standing upon it.
    “How shall we fight it?” whispered Gilhain.
    “Nay,” the lòhren said. “Men must fight men, and lòhrens
must oppose dark sorcery. This task falls to my kind. It is for this that we came .”
    He stepped close to the edge of the battlement, a figure
robed in white and clothed in determination , but a small and frail thing compared to what it faced.
    Aranloth raised his arms, and all along the wall a dozen
other lòhrens, apparently waiting for some such signal ,
lifted high their staffs.
    The serpent rose higher still, and its shadow fell over the
Cardurleth. It looked down upon the lòhrens and soldiers. Slime dripped from
its pale belly. The scales that formed its skin were large and smooth,
shimmering luminously from beneath but gleaming darkly along its top. Near its midsection was a massive bulge ; the remains of what it had last eaten.
    The chanting of the elugs reached a new height of frenetic
madness. The drums beat wildly. But the spell of the elùgroths soared above all else , and
yet gathered all in and drew it into its own power, shaping it to its own dark
will.
    On the battlement, all was still and no sound was made. Men
flinched when the shadow of the serpent touched them, but they made no cry of fear. Though terror menaced
them, they held their ground; the longer the siege endured, the greater their defiance grew .
    Gilhain gave a signal. Perhaps this attack was beyond mortal
strength, but that did not mean the soldiers could not attempt to fight anyway. No one should just meekly await their fate .
    A carnyx horn sounded at the king’s gesture, and its deep-throated voice sent a command to every captain
along the wall. And they in turn gave their own commands.
    Within moments the air was dense with arrows – the
red-flighted arrows for which Cardoroth was famous. They whistled as they flew,
blazing through the air like a spray of blood. But when they struck the massive
serpent they shattered or
glanced away. Some few stuck, but they did not penetrate the thick scales into the softer flesh beneath. The
creature ignored the attack, swaying ever higher.
    The next volley of arrows flew. These were better aimed,
seeking the two places that were likely more vulnerable: where the great angular
head joined the body, and the eyes.
    Arrows stuck thickly in the skin at its neck, but they had
no effect there. Those that struck the eyes seemed to trouble it, and it rose
higher with a jerk, but then two great inner-lids, thick and leathery, came
across from the sides. These offered protection, but
seemingly no hindrance to its sight.
    A ripple of movement ran through those on the
battlement. Gilhain looked, but he did not at first see the cause, though he
noticed a change. The men stepped back, but not in retreat.
    It was only when the lòhrens took a pace forward that he
realized the time for