***
Deep in the thrall of the magic, the fragment of Mind did not control the Titan, he became the war machine. He stood fifty feet tall, his head even with the battlements of Ilumidora. A hundred men could not have lifted his blade, but he swung it with ease, slashing across the ranks of fiends as he raced for the fortress.
He felt more powerful than he ever had, even as Draeken. The sheer power in the Titan’s flesh made him invincible, and he savored the swing of the sword, the strength of his legs as he kicked a skorpian. The beast flipped end over end, flailing before it crushed a pair of quare leaping over a streambed.
He roared his challenge, the voice carrying the joined timbre of three speaking as one. Merged as he was with the girl and her father, Mind could feel their excitement and fear. Fiends clawed at their legs and scaled their back, digging their claws into the ancient flesh, but Mind dove to the ground and rolled, crushing hundreds before he regained his feet.
He charged through the ranks, avoiding the dragons. Skorpian bolts soared in his direction, plunging into his body or bouncing off his armor. A kraka swung at his leg but Mind stepped on him like he was an insect, and then Mind dragged his sword through the fiends charging his flank.
He picked up a tree in his free hand and used the entire tree like a club, bashing fiends on all sides. Mind had trained for combat for thousands of years, and used both weapons to the pinnacle of his skill, slashing and striking, moving with such agility and speed that fiends could hardly touch him.
He hurled fallen trees, leveled thousands with a sweep of his sword, and shattered an entire charge. A boulder from a catapult fell nearby and he picked it up and sent it hurtling into a collection of skorpians, the great stone crushing hundreds before it finally came to a stop.
He felt the kinship with Stella and her father, their unity empowering the Titan to greater efforts. The host of fiends were like insects scratching and biting his skin, but his might would not be constrained.
He expected one of the generals to appear, but the minutes stretched into an hour. Wherever the fighting was thickest, he fortified the defenders. He saved dragons and city walls, and held the horde at bay. Several times he spotted the generals, and once Bartoth came in his direction. Each time he glanced to the sky, and knew it was not yet time. He kept his distance from Plague and Famine, and never saw Death. In his great black armor, War seemed content to watch the Titan, and Mind made no move to engage. Between the Titan, the dragons, and the alliance, they stood against the endless horde and refused to yield.
Twice he spotted Draeken flying above his fiend army. He did not engage on his own, and Mind was grateful. For now, it seemed Draeken wanted to wait until the walls were destroyed before risking his generals. But as the second hour passed it seemed Draeken grew impatient, and Bartoth appeared in his path.
Unhurried, Bartoth advanced across the ground. At twelve feet tall he’d always seemed enormous, but not this time. Now he seemed small and insignificant. He spun his sword in lazy circles.
“You want me?” he called. “Come and get me.”
Mind charged, sprinting through the ranks of fiends and tossing them aside. Others were trampled beneath his boots. Bartoth did not deviate, he accelerated his sword until it began to whine.
Mind closed the gap in a rush and swung his sword like a woodsman chopping a tree. Bartoth jumped and flipped over the blade. Landing on his feet, he darted in and slashed once, cutting deep into the Titan’s knee.
Mind sucked in his breath. Connected as he was to the Titan’s magic, he could feel the pain in his own knee. He spun and lashed out, and this time his sword struck Bartoth on his side. The general blasted through a group of quare, bouncing and tumbling until he slammed into a boulder. He fell to his knees and Mind raised his hand, motioning an invitation. Bartoth rose to his feet with a snarl and charged, closing the gap in a rush.
Mind swung his sword again, but Bartoth swung his own blade, knocking the giant weapon upward. Mind leaned down and struck the ground, but Bartoth dodged and swung, slicing deep across Mind’s hand.
For several furious seconds they dueled, their conflict spilling into nearby fiends. Mind possessed the greater strength, but Bartoth’s magic gave him agility and speed, both elements that the Titan could not match. But what the war machine lacked in speed, it made up for in brute strength.
Mind leaned down and punched the ground, the earth bursting in all directions. Fiends were knocked into the air, a pair of logs were thrown thirty feet, where they collided with a trio of krakas. Even War was tossed onto his back, and Mind raised his sword. He brought it down and drove it into the ground, just missing the general as the troll rolled to the side.
Bartoth jumped to Mind’s arm and scrambled up his elbow. Mind released his sword and swatted at the rock troll. Bartoth ducked and jumped, and managed to catch the ridge of armor at Mind’s throat. With his weapon in hand, he plunged the heavy blade into the Titan’s shoulder, driving the sword all the way to where Mind and his friends were locked in a meld.
Mind instinctively ducked as the sword entered their chamber, narrowly missing his ear. Still deep in the Titan’s magic, the war machine also ducked, and Bartoth yanked his sword free. With a savage burst of strength, the rock troll swung. The sweeping attack came from under the war machine’s shoulder, and cut deep into Moren’s leg.
All three cried out, the pain transferring. The Titan stumbled and fell to its knees. Bartoth leapt away and landed nearby. Mind released the meld and reached for Moren. Like a doll dropped by child, the Titan fell forward, landing on a contingent of krakas and rolling down a slope into a shallow recess. Mind yanked a section of cloth from his shoulder and tied it around the gushing wound.
“He needs a healer in Ilumidora,” he said.
“We’re five hundred feet from the wall,” Stella said, her voice worried.
“Hit the rune,” he said.
“Mind!” Bartoth called. “I must say I’m impressed.”
“When he’s distracted,” Mind said, “get your father to the city.”
“I’m not abandoning you.” Her jaw tightened.
“You’re not leaving me,” he said. “You’re saving your father.”
Moren’s eyes fluttered and the cloth Mind used to wrap around his leg was already dark with blood. Stella grimaced at the choice but nodded, so Mind opened the hatch and climbed out. The Titan had rolled down the slope onto its back, and Bartoth stood on the giant statue’s stomach, his armor bent but not broken. Mind stepped into view and noticed the ring of fiends.
“A valiant effort,” Bartoth said. “But not even a Titan can stop me.”
“That’s why I brought someone else,” he said.
Behind him, Stella slammed her hand onto the rune he had placed, and a crackle of energy appeared above the Titan, the threads brightening as an arch drew power from the flesh of the Titan to create the Gate. Bartoth charged, but the Gate shimmered to life, and two figures stepped into Lumineia.
Tardoq and the Bonebreaker.
Chapter 39: Breached
Benjamin (killing me to switch perspectives here! UGH!)
Shadow spun and cut his sword through two quare that had climbed the wall, darting between them to strike at another just appearing over the battlements. Above him, Lorica dove in front of the wall and slashed her sword across several climbers before banking away from a skorpian bolt.
The battlefield lay in ruins. Dragons roared and breathed their deadly breath. Fiends stampeded in every direction. Cavalry raced about, their ranks in shambles as they fought scattered fiends that made it past the dragons. One aquaglass wall was on the verge of crumbling, the blue material so damaged that crossbow bolts could no longer pass through. Drawn to the weakness, the fiends rushed the spot, led by Famine.
Shadow spotted Famine and shouted to Lorica. The assassin folded her wings and dropped to his side, both sprinting to intercept the general. As they did, Shadow began to feel the hunger, forcing him to turn into shadow form.
All around, soldiers of every race began to wilt. They cried out and grasped their stomachs, their food stores molding before their eyes. Shadow shouted for Light and his brother darted to his side.
