Free Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising by Peter Koevari Page A

Marithia posed as a way
to weaken his adversaries.
    Surrounded by the thousands of
skeleton warriors and shadow demons, Kassina felt ready for a
chance to avenge her defeat at the Battle of the Elven
Woods.
    Kassina pleaded desperately
to her master, “Shindar, let me back into Marithia now and I
will never disappoint you again.”
    He touched her on the shoulder
reassuringly, taking great care not to belittle her in front of his
armies.
    “ In due time my girl, in
due time. First, we have magic of the highest order to study
together, and our forces are not yet ready for an invasion,” he
answered.
    Kassina let out a grunt of
disapproval.
    Careful not to invoke his wrath for
challenging him, she quickly said, “As you wish,
Shindar.”
    “ Are you bored my dear?
There are scriptures we haven’t even begun to explore yet. Our
monks have discovered new spells that will serve to strike terror
into the hearts of our enemies,” said Shindar proudly.
    “ Oh really?” she asked,
cocking her eyebrow and speaking sarcastically, “Show me something
that I have not seen before that is so impressive.”
    He smirked, stopping in his tracks and
retorted. “You challenge me?”
    His voice then boomed over the land
and filled the ears of his army, “Clear the west grounds! Only
thirteen warriors are to remain.”
    Shrieks filled the air as skeleton
warriors as far as the eye could see scattered from the training
grounds. The requested number of skeleton warriors remained in the
centre of the large dirt circle, their gaze darting from side to
side; fearful of what was to come.
    Shindar closed his eyes and raised his
arms high, breathing deeply in concentration. Black smoke began to
spill from his glowing red eyes.
    Suo lemma per pulvis
insquequo unus bestia somes , Shindar
chanted.
    The skeleton warriors looked at each
other, confused, until they began to screech in fear. They dropped
to their knees uncontrollably, swords and shields falling before
them as if they were discarded. One by one, their bones were ripped
from them and reduced to dust. Their dusty remains spun in the air
like a whirlwind.
    Shindar’s chanting became louder and
more intense.
    Beneath the spinning bone dust,
Kassina saw something materialising. Piece by piece, a great bone
scorpion formed. When the final piece of the tail was completed, it
turned and awaited its master’s instructions.
    Shindar relayed his next command with
a dark smirk, “Release two prisoners into the arena, choose only
strong men that will give us a good show.”
    In no time at all, two muscular humans
were thrown into the large circle to face the scorpion. Shindar
turned his gaze to the two men and spoke to them
directly.
    “ If you defeat this
creature, I will grant you freedom to leave the underworld and
return to Marithia as you stand today. I may be the demon of
darkness, but I am no liar. I give you my word. Do you
understand?”
    The two men looked at each other, fear
giving way to hope, then turned and nodded to the dark
lord.
    Shindar’s voice echoed over the
underworld, “Let the battle begin!”
    They picked up the fallen armour and
swords the desiccated skeleton warriors had left behind and circled
the horrifying bone scorpion; they slowly turned their blades in
front of them in anticipation.
    Iuguolo lemma
utriusque , said Shindar.
    The scorpion sprung to life, shrieking
as it ran toward the man in front of it. Rolling to his left to
avoid the giant beast from crushing him, the man swung his sword
into one of the scorpion’s legs. The sword managed to dispatch one
of its eight legs, while the other man jumped on its
back.
    Squealing with annoyance, the scorpion
shook viciously from side to side until the man lost balance,
falling on the ground near its front claws. With a swing of its
tail, the scorpion impaled the man through the chest and brought
him high into the air, as he cried out in pain. It brutally smashed
the man repeatedly into the ground until the cries