Chapter 20 The End of Delwin Troubles
The morning sun barely broke through the tangle of forest canopy.
Somewhere in the distance birds were chittering endlessly.
Ashlyn sat astride Moon Dancing with her cloak drawn close about her.
Beside her were Marcus and Pandora.
They were watching the road for any signs of life.
The tension in the air was thick.
“The calm before the storm.
I don’t like it,” Pandora commented as she searched the surrounding
trees for anything out of the norm.
“Too quiet,” Ashlyn agreed.
“I hate waiting.”
“You don’t have long to wait,” Marcus pointed down the road.
“Do you see what I’m seeing?”
The faint sounds of a charging army could be heard and seen moving up the
road quite a distance away.
“Let’s get ‘em ready,” Pandora turned to race back followed
closely by Ashlyn and Marcus.
The army was ready to go.
They only had to say the word and they charged forward to meet the enemy.
The storm was breaking with a vengeance.
Ashlyn jumped off of Moon Dancing and was charging with the ground
troops.
Lots of hack-and-slash was involved in taking on the enemy soldiers who
sadly didn’t stand much of a chance against the Amberites’ blades.
In the distance Ashlyn spied a man who was using sorcery to help him in
fighting the battle.
She could only guess that this could be Riven and began to work her way
toward him.
It didn’t take long for him to spot her coming and he began to direct
his magic toward her.
She had ducked just in time and found that tree directly behind her was
on fire as a result.
“Ashlyn, look!” Pandora jogged her shoulder and pointed up to a rocky
ledge above them that was overlooking the battle.
There was a woman that neither one of them recognized and another man
they both recognized as Eros and they were just calmly watching the fight.
Both girls’ attention were drawn away from Eros as a blur had run past
them and six soldiers who were behind them suddenly fell to the ground.
Ashlyn knew she was no match for that and concentrated her energy on
going after Riven. Once
he saw her coming he began to retreat and this gave Ashlyn new found confidence
as she began her charge but she didn’t get very far.
Some kind of ghostly apparition seemed to pass right through her and she
found herself on the ground racked with pain from head to foot.
She was able to follow the apparition with her eyes and saw that it
returned to the woman who was standing with Eros.
It hurt to move and it hurt to even breathe but she somehow managed to
find shelter with the nearest tree.
She was only dimly aware of what was going on around her and the pain
wouldn't stop.
She could almost swear that the other side was retreating but she
wasn’t sure.
All she could do now was lay as perfectly still as she could and breathe
shallow until help could arrive since it hurt too much to concentrate and try to
heal herself.
It seemed to take forever before help finally arrived.
Just when she thought she wouldn’t be able to bear the pain for much
longer, Vincent had found her and took the pain away.
Ashlyn drew in a great sigh of relief as she was able to relax for a
moment.
Marcus, Finch, Pandora and Benedict had soon joined her.
“Did we win?” she asked once she got her breath back.
“Yes.
We managed to beat them off for now,” Vincent soothed.
“It turns out that while we were here, Eric took a small force with him
and attacked Amber.
Benedict informs me that Martin was able to defeat him by taking
him
out with the Wraith Blade. We
won’t be hearing from him again any time soon,” Marcus said solemnly.
“Well that’s some good news,” Ashlyn replied as she tried standing
“Just a moment,” Benedict spoke up, taking a Trump call.
“Charisma! What is it?”
He paused for a moment and spoke again.
“But of course! Give me
your hand, everyone!”
Before anyone realized what exactly was going on they found themselves
crowded around Charisma in the castle. She
wore both a look of relief and a look of worry all at the same time.
Behind her the forms of Delwin and King Denethor could be seen fighting.
“Please do something!” she pleaded, but then it was too late.
Delwin dropped Denethor’s lifeless body to the ground but not before he
removed the spikard from Denethor’s hand.
With a laugh of triumph he Trumped out, leaving the Amberites staring
dumbly into the space he was just occupying.
“Father!” Charisma was at her father’s side openly grieving and
sobbing inconsolably. The Amberites
hung back silently with bowed heads as a sign of respect for the moment.
“Ashlyn,” Benedict said softly as he placed his hand upon her
shoulder. She looked up at him
slightly startled.
“Better call Brand,” he said solemnly.
Ashlyn only nodded in response as he stepped away to try and comfort
Charisma. Ashlyn pulled out her deck
and stepped aside. Brand’s card
was right on top.
“Yes, Ashlyn. What is
it?”
“I’ve got some excellent news that should make you feel a whole lot
better. Come armed,” she extended
her hand. With a smile that
completely lit him up he took her hand and was standing before her the next
instant with Were Windle already strapped to his hip.
“So that’s where it went!” she patted the hilt, saying it more to
herself than to him.
“The news, Daughter? Don’t
disappoint!”
“Yes. Well. You can go
after Delwin now. Benedict said,”
she smiled warmly, noting how suddenly happy that made him.
He almost looked giddy with the news.
“Delwin just killed King Denethor and made off with his spikard.
Benedict thinks you know how to track him down,” Ashlyn continued.
“I most certainly do!” Brand turned to address Benedict.
“I’m taking the others here to take on Delwin.
You can finish here?” Benedict
only nodded his approval.
“Right you are, then! Let’s
go, all!” Brand took Ashlyn’s hand. As
they joined hands they then found themselves on the edge of the Abyss. It
was a place that was very unfamiliar, and the terrain was most uninviting.
“Are we in Chaos?” Finch ventured to ask.
“Yes. Look over there!”
Brand pointed up the hillside to an outcropping of rock where there stood
Llewella, Osric and Delwin in conversation, just now becoming aware of their
presence. Llewella wasted no time
whatsoever and disappeared in a flash along with Osric and Delwin was looking
none too pleased.
“I’ve got an idea!” Finch hissed.
“I need a diversion so I can get in closer to him!”
Finch took off in a dead run and was soon nothing more as a blur as he
began to circle round to get behind Delwin.
Most eyes instantly turned to Brand hoping for some direction but Vincent
had something else in mind.
“HEY, DELWIN! GET A LOAD OF
THIS!” Vincent shouted and proceeded to drop his drawers, turn around and gave
Delwin a perfect view of his B.A. (kids,
if you don’t know what B.A. is, ask your parents)
It was completely unexpected and it was enough.
The girls had stopped in shock and stared in disbelief.
Brand was laughing outright. Once
Marcus had regained his composure he began to applaud, but the mirth was short
lived as Finch put his plan into action.
Everyone had stopped in shock and sheer disbelief as Finch ran right up
to Delwin and didn’t slow one iota. The
momentum carried the both of them off of the outcropping of rock and over the
edge, plummeting into the Abyss. It
had all happened so fast that there was nothing anyone could do to save Finch.
They stood at the edge and silently mourned.
Ashlyn had turned to leave and had suddenly become frozen in her tracks
as a Trump call came in and held her unwillingly to the spot.
It was the Man in Black.
“No! Not again!” Ashlyn
protested aloud. “Get out of my
head!” Pandora had turned just in
time to see the rainbow after effect as Ashlyn was suddenly yanked away.
