Savage Messiah

Unable to understand what was happening, most of the K'tons hesitated, and it cost them their lives. They screamed as they burst into flames and followed the Black Ship's broken hull as she went down. A smattering of K'tons escaped. Dazed and confused, they hovered tentatively in the air.

The burning hull hit the ground with a massive explosion; the earth trembled. Great shock waves shook the Jin'Sai's litter even at this distance. Then the Black Ship's ruins burst into nothingness.

Ox appeared in the air by the litter. Tristan pointed at the surviving K'tons.

"Kill them," he ordered.

Bloodied but joyful, Ox and the surviving warriors beamed at Tristan with delight, then flew off to tear into the K'tons.

Tristan turned to look at the orb. A pitiful thing to watch, it still wailed with pain.

"Come to me," Tristan said.

At Tristan's verbal command alone, the orb obeyed. As it neared, Wigg could feel its blazing heat, and their litter rocked violently again.

Tristan held out his arms. "How you have suffered because of us," he said quietly. "But now your suffering shall end." He pointed at the base of the orb.

A delicate, ethereal glow flowed from Tristan's hands to touch the gash in the orb. The orb's wound began to close. Wigg stood spellbound as Tristan healed the orb. When the great rent was finally closed, Tristan lowered his hands.

Almost at once the orb glowed more brightly, and its wailing stopped. Then Wigg saw something he would remember for as long as he lived.

The orb came a bit closer. Its majesty regained, it dipped and revolved one time, almost as if paying homage to the prince. Tristan lowered his head.

"You are free to go," he said.

The orb vanished, leaving nothing in its wake except the terrible destruction it had caused.

Wigg took a careful look around. Save for the sounds of the distant battle between the Minions and the K'tons, silence reigned once more. The ground below them was strewn with the dead, the green grass soaked red with blood.

He walked over to Tristan. They were both sweating and covered with soot. Wigg put one hand on Tristan's shoulder.

"It is finished," he said.

Tristan looked at the wizard, his expression grave.

"You're wrong," he said. "The rest of Wulfgar's forces are attacking Tammerland. There is still a war to fight."

Ox returned to the litter. Bloody and exhausted, he made his report.

"Battle finished, my lord," he said. "Rest of flying monsters dead."

With so many of the K'tons killed by the orb, Tristan had known that the results of the battle would be a foregone conclusion. But he hadn't expected it to come so quickly.

"So soon?" he asked Ox.

Ox beamed and pointed to the sky above them. "We get help," he said.

Tristan and Wigg looked up to see Traax's vast phalanxes hovering high above. He could just make out Traax victoriously waving his dreggan. They were indeed a welcome sight. Smiling, Tristan looked back at Ox.

"Tell Traax to have his forces follow us," he said. "We make for Tammerland with all possible speed. Our struggle isn't over."

Ox nodded. "I live to serve," he answered.

While the faithful warrior climbed into the sky, Tristan took a final look down at the carnage on the ground.

So many dead, he thought. And still so many yet to die.

As the sun set behind the Tolenkas, the litter and the Minion army headed south.

CHAPTER LXXXVII

Whirling around on the bloody deck, Tyra

She spun and parried at the last second, but the blade of her sword became entangled in the tines of the monster's weapon. With a victorious sneer the slaver twisted his trident. Tyra

Then she saw two familiar hands wrap around the slaver's neck from behind. She scrambled to her feet as the fingers squeezed the slaver's throat. The monster desperately tried to reach behind him, but it was no good. His eyes soon bulged and his tongue protruded from between his black teeth.

With a loud cracking of bones, Scars broke the thing's neck. The slaver died instantly. Scars picked him up over his head and tossed the corpse overboard.

Tyra

The battle had been raging for nearly two hours. The sun was setting and darkness would soon fall. All around her, weapons clashed; Minions, crew members, and demonslavers screamed; and massive explosions rocked the heavens. Azure bolts streamed across the waves. Catapults launched fireballs from the demonslaver ships.

Tyra

Tyra

She had told the acolytes to aim first for the enemy masts to render their vessels dead in the water. Only then were they to try to blow holes in their hulls. Five of the slaver vessels that she knew of had been sent to the bottom; without their masts, many of the others wallowed aimlessly at the mercy of the sea, the slavers aboard them helpless to join the fight.

Three of Tyra

Then she saw another orange fireball launch from a nearby slaver ship. Trailing dark smoke, it was following a high, deadly trajectory straight for the Reprise. Helpless, Tyra

The fireball fell short, but it trailed showers of sparks that landed on the mizzen sail. In mere moments the sail was ablaze. Aghast, Tyra

But as Tyra

The fighting aboard the Reprise waned. Scars supervised as the crew lined up the surviving slavers. Blessedly, Tyra

The battle won, Tyra

Exhausted, Tyra

She heard the flurry of Minion wings and she looked up to see K'jarr coming to a landing beside her.