Marked for Death

Chapter 40

Kandler slashed at Superior with his blade, but the war-forged leader stepped back and waited for his fellows to join in. The justicar took advantage of the momentary space to reach down and scoop up Xalt’s severed finger. It was cool to the touch, wet with whatever fluid passed for warforged blood, and not as heavy as Kandler had expected.

The knights formed a tight circle, covering each other’s back. Sallah reached out and pulled Kandler in to join them. As he fell back, he grabbed Xalt by the collar of its grease-stained tabard and pulled him into the circle’s center. He was busy binding his wound, trying to staunch the flow of his own blood.

While the other warforged surrounded Kandler and the knights, their swords rattling in anticipation of the coming fight, the justicar tossed Xalt his loose finger. The greaser caught it with his good hand, bobbled it for a moment, and then cradled it close to its chest.

“Surrender!” Superior said. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

“On you or us?” said Kandler. “Aren’t you going to kill us either way?”

“You are good and valiant foes,” Superior said. “If you put down your swords, I guarantee you passage from this land.”

“We will die before we submit to you again,” Deothen said. “You tricked us into lowering our weapons once. We will not fall for such chicanery again.”

“I promised you passage from this land,” Superior said with a chuckle that raised Kandler’s hackles. “I just didn’t mention it would be into the afterlife-assuming you have those souls you believe in so much.”

“Step a little closer,” Kandler said, brandishing his blade. “I’ll give you a chance to tour the next world yourself.”

A shadow fell over the combatants. Even in the dimness of the Mournland, Kandler felt the change. He stabbed out at Superior, testing the warforged’s skill, and glanced into the sky as the inevitable parry came.

A smile split Kandler’s face as he looked back into Superior’s eyes. “Surprise,” he said.

The shadow grew larger around them. Superior stepped back out of Kandler’s range and looked up to see what had made the justicar so happy. He gasped and staggered back.

The other warforged looked up to see what had their leader’s attention. As one, they goggled at the airship as she sailed down at them from out of the sky.

“Scatter!” Kandler shouted. “The ring’s coming right for us!”

The warforged turned and ran. Brendis and Sallah started to follow, but Kandler reached out and hauled them back. “That was just to scare them off. Stick close to me. We’re hitching a ride as soon as that thing come down low enough.”

Sallah pointed to the rope ladder dangling down from the side of the ship. “We can’t all climb that at once. They’ll cut us to pieces.”

“That’s not the only way to get on that ship.” Kandler’s stomach flipped as he spoke. While he was thrilled to not be executed, the thought of Esprл diving so bravely into danger made him nauseous. He hoped Burch was with her.

Deothen stared at the justicar. “Where, by the light of the Flame, did you find an airship?”

Kandler herded the crew over to one side of where he thought the ship would land. “It wasn’t through a life of prayer,” he said.

Brendis stared at Sallah. “It’s the prophecy,” he said. “Only a fate as large as yours could command such fortune.”

“Quit yapping and get ready to jump on the lower arch when it hits the ground,” Kandler said. He didn’t know if the arch would come that close to the ground, but he hoped that Esprл and Burch would brave it.

“When it hits the ground?” Sallah said. “If that arch breaks, the entire ship might explode.”

“It’s that or the warforgeds’ blades. Take your pick.”

“I’ll go with you if I may,” said Xalt. Kandler could hear the pain in the warforged’s voice. “I think I’ve worn out my welcome here.”

Kandler glanced at the greaser and grinned. “It’s the least we can do.”

As the ship neared the ground, Kandler shoved the others ahead of him toward the fiery ring’s lower arch. “Hit it hard, and hold on tight!”

Superior looked back from the edge of camp where he’d fled and realized what was happening. “No!” he shouted. He launched himself toward the ship. The other warforged held back, unwilling to risk their lives to take on a flying ship in hand-to-hand combat.

The ship smashed into the ground with a loud crunch. The ring of fire flared out and scorched the nearby earth. A couple of warforged who had crept too close were engulfed in the flames, burned to metal-clad crisps before they had a chance to scream.

The rest of the warforged scattered before the landing-except for Superior. He charged at the escaping prisoners and slashed at them with it blade.

Kandler turned to face the warforged leader. He needed to buy the others some time or Superior would cut them all down as they fled. He parried the first blow, but Superior lowered his shoulder and plowed him back into the dirt. The justicar’s head landed less than a foot from the ring of fire.

“Get off!” Kandler roared at the creature trying to crush him. As the pair struggled, the others clambered onto the fiery ring’s lower restraining arch. Sallah boosted the battered knights and the wounded Xalt up ahead of her, then turned her attention to Kandler’s plight.

The justicar struggled to escape, but Superior laid into him with all its weight, pinning him down. It was all he could do to draw a ragged breath.

Kandler had a hand on the warforged’s sword arm, trying to keep the creature from impaling him on its blade. But he was no match for Superior’s strength, and the warforged pressed the tip of its sword inexorably toward the justicar’s throat.

Kandler knew he had to do something fast. He looked up and saw the ring of fire roaring only a few scant feet from his head. His hair smoldering from the heat, Kandler rolled away from the fiery ring as hard as he could. Determined to prevent his victim from getting away, Superior pressed back in the other direction with his full bulk.

Instead of continuing to struggle against the warforged atop him, Kandler switched directions and allowed Superior’s momentum to carry the warforged over him and into the fire. Immediately, Superior realized his mistake and clawed at Kandler to try to prevent himself from rolling over into the ring, but it was too late.

Superior screamed as the flames swallowed its head and shoulders. He tried to pull free from the fire, but Kandler held him there, the skin on his hands and arms blistering.

“See you in Dolurrh,” Kandler said as he shoved Superior off him. He scrambled away from the fiery ring and toward the restraining arch.

Sallah saw the justicar coming. She pounced upon the arch herself and reached back to give Kandler a hand up.

“Go, go, go!” Kandler shouted as soon as his feet left the ground. The airship leaped into the air. As she went, the carved wood of the mystic arch creaked, complaining about the abuse of the landing and the load of its passengers, but it held.

As the ship gained altitude, the warforged in the camp peeked out of their hiding places. Some of them brought out bows.

“Archers!” Sail ah shouted out above the noise of the raging fire.

Kandler smiled despite himself and shouted, “Hold on!”