Chapter 4 Part 3

The common room was a shamble. Four men with armor and swords were battling ten townsfolk armed only with whatever they could grab. The men were wearing the flame symbol of the Baron’s elite guard.
Armegon reacted the fastest. He cast a binding and suddenly the four flame-clad guards found themselves hopelessly entangled in their own clothing and armor.
“Good spell.” said Avery as the four men flopped and kicked as they struggled with their bonds. "A much better choice than that barbaric slaughtering thing you used earlier."
"Slaughtering?" Ultrecht asked as Avery pushed past Armegon and himself to apprehend the downed soldiers.
"I used a Force Scythe," Armegon informed him. It was a touchy subject for Avery since he had created the spell, but meant it as a means to quickly harvest crops. The ranger did not like seeing his spell used as a weapon in such a way.
Ultrecht looked to the townsfolk. Thomas was among them. “Where’s your mother?”
“She went with Deke to get Captain Regald.”
“Ok, we are going to the square.” He gestured at the guards. “Bind these men and put them with the others.” He was about to leave but stopped. “Do you still have the mage?”
“Uh yes sir. He’s upstairs. ”
“Good. Bring him down.”
The men in the room clubbed the four guards unconscious and bound them. Two others carried the unconscious Kiron into the room.”
“What’s with him?” asked Armegon.
“This is that lesser mage I was telling you about.” Ultrecht said as he examined the unconscious and naked man. “Thomas, did he have anything on him?”
The young man handed him a pillowcase stuffed with Kiron’s belongings. Inside were his clothes, various spell components, and a bronze bracelet. He held it up. “Avery, anything interesting?”
Avery studied the object with his enchanted sight, seeing through illusions and concealment. “It has an aura of magic. It does hold an enchantment, but I can’t say what.”
Ultrecht tossed it back into the case. “Oh well, I was hoping he’d have something to use against the Balrog.” He stood. “Let’s go.”
The city streets showed evidence of fighting, but they didn’t come across any trouble until they reached the square. Ultrecht gasped. Captain Regald was in close combat with three flame-clad guards. He was in trouble but was standing his ground, desperately protecting Sara who lay in a crumpled heap at his feet.
“No!” Shouted the alarmed Elementalist. He cast a quick combat spell and one of Regald’s opponents burst into flame.
Surprise made the two healthy guards hesitate, and Regald’s sword took his rightmost opponent in the throat. With the burning man now a non-combatant, the captain was easily able to defeat the remaining swordsman.
Ultrecht rushed to Sara, not even noticing the heavy fighting that raged through the square. His two friends followed, covering for him.
Sara was hurt bad. He and Regald both knelt to either side of her. A sword had taken her in the chest. Ultrecht looked up at the captain and their eyes met. Agony stood plainly in the other man’s face. Together they gently lifted her and carried her to the shelter of a nearby porch. Avery and Armegon covered for both of them, exchanging a puzzled look.
Gently they set her down and tried to make her comfortable. She took a ragged breath and coughed up blood. Ultrecht, his eyes never leaving her face, grabbed Avery and said, “Please. Help her. ”
Avery noted at the tears showing in his friends face and didn’t even hesitate. He knelt, carefully opened her shirt, placed his hands over the wound, and began to heal.
An arrow thunked deeply into the wall to his left prompting the healing ranger to pause long enough to tell Armegon and Ultrecht to make themselves useful. Ultrecht was reluctant to leave Sarah until Armegon grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him bodily to his feet. “We got trouble. Avery’s busy, so you gotta help me. ”
Ultrecht saw the fighting in the square for the first time. Non-human mercenaries, flame-clad guards, and ordinary citizens all fought in a chaotic throng. They didn’t dare use mass spells, because such spells would kill indiscriminately. It was also apparent that their group was a choice target.
“I’m guarding,” Ultrecht yelled as he cast a protective spell.
Armegon nodded and drew his rapier. The sorcerer was a better spell caster than a swordsman, but his skill was more than sufficient to hold trouble at bay. Especially with Ultrecht beside him casting spells.
A black shadow crossed the square and the Balrog dropped heavily onto the stage. It lazily grabbed a nearby guardsman and ripped his neck open with its teeth.
“Oh crap!” Armegon exclaimed. “Avery, hurry up! We’re gonna need some help here.”
Avery stood and drew his sword. He was steady, but his face was pale. “How…” asked Ultrecht.
“Not to worry old friend,” Avery said with a ragged voice. “She’ll live.”
Swallowing hard, he turned to Captain Regald. “Guard her well. I’m going to shield you both.”
Regald nodded, Sara’s head cradled in his lap, and said, “With my very life.”
Avery and Armegon conferred on tactics while Ultrecht cast a powerful dome-shaped shield. On the stage all fighting had turned to fleeing as the Balrog continued its deadly game.
Armegon called out, “Force spells!” and began to cast. Ultrecht nodded and began spells of his own, while Avery advanced.
Two powerful spears of pure invisible force took the Balrog squarely in the chest. It screamed in rage and pain but showed little sign of injury. Avery leaped at it, Liberator flashing in a deadly arc.
The first cut took the demon low in the belly. It screamed again and dodged backwards. Avery pressed it hard cutting and slashing in furious attack. The demon shrank back, blood running from its body. Then something flashed between its clawed hands.
Avery swung a hard overhand cut at the demon’s head. To his surprise the beast parried with its bare hand.
It was immensely strong and Liberator no longer cut it. "Oh, so now you want to play fair," Avery muttered at the sword, now parrying the demon's attacks Avery found it his turn to fall back. "Just because the darn thing was a slave, you won't kill it? It sure as heck doesn't return the sentiment!"
Armegon was swearing and casting small deadly knives of pure energy at the demon in rapid succession. While they were giving Avery some respite, they we not very effective at hurting it.
Ultrecht watched and drew in power. Before he made his choice in what to cast he saw movement at the skyline. His eyes wide, he opened his cloak and enfolded Armegon as the dragon swooped down upon them. The world seemed to explode into flame. The building they were standing in front was became an instant inferno.
The dragon slammed its tail into the front of the building as it passed. Timbers ripped and shattered, the front of the building collapsed on them, and the fires shrieked out of control. Beating its damaged wings hard and roaring it’s flaming cry, it turned for another pass.
Suddenly the rubble burst upward and Armegon stood, his skin glowed with the power of his rage. Ultrecht got an idea. He telekinetically grabbed a burning timber and slammed it into Armegon from behind. “It’s behind you!” he shouted.
With a primal roar the sorcerer spun to see the dragon coming towards them. His rage nearly consuming him, he cast. Abruptly a two-foot thick arc of lightning connected him to the dragon.
The huge beast screamed and went stiff. The momentum of its flight carried it into the buildings below. Wood and debris went flying as it crashed into the shops and homes just outside the square.
“The demon!” Ultrecht cried, and hit Armegon from behind again.
Swearing profusely, the enraged sorcerer spun and began hammering the demon with fist sized arcs of lightning. It fell back shrieking and Avery fled, his hair standing up and sparking.
Keeping a firm mental grip on the timber, Ultrecht ran hard for the dragon. Climbing over the rubble he found it lying in a heap, eyes closed breathing labored. He shook his head and climbed to the chain at its neck. The demon trap was shaped like a wine bottle, but made of dull iron. It had a loop at the neck, which was attached to the chain. He struggled with it for a moment but couldn’t get it off of the chain.
Pain blossomed in his thigh. Twenty feet away Krell was readying another knife to throw. Gritting his teeth against the pain he flung his timber at the assassin.
From the corner of his eye, Krell saw movement and threw himself flat. A large piece of smoldering wood passed over his head. Quickly he scrambled forward, knife in hand and leaped at the mage. A short scuffle, and he pinned the mage against the dragon with his knife poised at the old man’s throat.
“Well Zachary, you would seem to be more than you appear,” he said with a nasty grin. “Now why don’t you tell me what it is you want with the dragon’s bottle.”
"I was really thirsty.”
Krell pressed the blade. “Cute. I don’t really have time for these games. It seems you’re friends have managed to hurt the dragon, but it’s not dead yet. I must now decide whether to help it or finish it.” He smiled evilly. “It might be nice to rule for a change.”
Ultrecht cleared his mind and summoned power. “I told you before. I don’t like overbearing little men who prefer brutishness over manners. ”Krell’s smile faded as the dagger went soft and limp like an old rag.
The chain parted at the dragon’s throat and stalked snakelike at Krell. The small man backed away, his eyes wide. He turned to run and the chain whipped itself around him binding tighter and tighter until it was all he could do to draw a breath.
Bottle in hand, Ultrecht limped up to stand over him. “You will wait here for me,” he told the terrified man before he hurried back as fast as his injured leg would carry him.

The square was a nightmare scene. A few hardy folks were watching from whatever cover could be gained, while trying their best to fight the fires. Avery and Armegon were both hurt. The Balrog had managed to protect itself from the sorcerer’s onslaught and was now attacking.
Ultrecht stood tall and tapped the pattern on the bottle that the dragon had used. Nothing happened. Thinking quickly he reversed it.
Avery lunged forward, blade first, and stumbled when he encountered no resistance. The demon was gone! He looked around, Armegon was a few steps away, staggering from exertion, and Ultrecht was across the square with a strange looking bottle. He smiled a tired smile and leaned against the stone stage. “I hope you put the cap in tight,” he said as his friend limped up.
“Yes it’s there," Ultrecht assured him. "What happened? That sword of yours should have been more effective against the demon."
"It was being stubborn," Avery explained. "It would defend me, but because the demon was a slave and not acting on its own, the sword would not yield its full strength."
Armegon stood hands on knees, panting heavily. “I… I hope we’re about… done here.”
“I just need to stop that.” Ultrecht said, gesturing at the fires. He straightened painfully and cast a water spell. The humidity rose sharply for many long seconds, then all that water suddenly condensed out of the air. A short, but incredibly heavy downpour ensued. In less than a minute, the fires were knocked down to a manageable level.
With a gesture, the rubble covering Sara and Regald shoved itself aside and revealed them huddled safely together under the shimmer of Ultrecht’s shield. He released it and the captain tenderly helped Sara to her feet and walked with her to where the master Elementalist stood.
Sara was about to speak when Armegon staggered and fell. At the same time Ultrecht felt a terrible and familiar void. Baron Roth stepped out into the open, Krell’s head in one hand, and his sword in the other.
“How nice of you to stop the fires,” the Baron said. Lifting the head, he added, “and of course I really must thank you for such a nicely wrapped gift. I’ll remember it when I rule here.”
Ultrecht looked at Avery. “That’s the one I mentioned earlier. Think you can manage?”
The ranger was looking at Liberator with a strange look. He could feel the same void his friends did. His own magic was muted, but he could also still sense the power of his own sword. It was still there and every bit as potent, just somehow oddly muted. “I’ll think of something,” he said as he shook the water from his hair and strode forward.
Roth watched him approach with contempt. The baron stood nearly a foot taller than the stocky built ranger. When Avery took up a ready stance before him, the big man smiled and tossed the head aside.
“You know your magic toy there is useless don’t you?” the big man taunted. They circled each other once looking for an opening. Abruptly Roth lunged forward slashing to take advantage of his heavier blade.
Rather than try to block such a blow, Avery sidestepped and used his blade to deflect. In an eye blink both men were facing each other again. The ranger smiled inwardly. For all the baron's boasting and for the fears of Ultrecht and Armegon, the baron's sword was powerless against Liberator. True, the mage-killer nullified Liberator’s outwardly powers, but the Dawn of Law was still unbreakable, and razor sharp. It was man against man.
Suddenly they launched at each other in a flurry of slashes, thrusts, and parries. They danced a dance of razor-sharp death, neither giving quarter, neither seeking it. The whirling blossom of sharp steel wove itself in and around the square as Roth sought to use his greater strength and size while Avery countered with speed and agility.
By now both men were bleeding from numerous small cuts, but Avery had been previously hurt, and was tiring fast. Roth was gaining an insurmountable advantage, but he stiffened in pain and shock when a crossbow bolt appeared in his side.
Avery didn’t hesitate. Recklessly he stepped into the baron’s guard. Desperately Roth tried to block him, scoring a deep debilitating cut into the ranger’s left side, but it was too late. Liberator pierced his breastplate and slid neatly between his ribs. They stood in that deadly embrace for a small eternity staring at each other, the baron’s last few heartbeats pulsing down the blade to Avery’s hand. "I'm sorry," the ranger whispered in pity. At long last, the big man slid to the ground. Across the square Captain Regald lowered a crossbow.
Ultrecht was kneeling next to Armegon. The sorcerer was struggling to breath. He’d used so much of his life energy to combat the demon that he was dying without his magic. “Sheath that blade!”
Struggling against his pain, Avery worked the mage-killer back into its sheath.

Two hours later, a small crowd stood around the dragon. It was awake and struggling against the magic bonds Ultrecht had placed on it.
“I’m not sure how long I can hold it.”
Avery nodded and stepped up to the beast. He slowly drew his sword and stood before the dragon’s eye. “You have committed terrible crimes against the peoples of this land. You have subjected sentient beings to your hunger as nothing more than cattle.” After a long pause, “still, you were only true to your nature.” The ranger looked around him, at the destruction that had happened so fast. “Perhaps you no longer have a place in this world.” Grimly he gripped the sword with both hands. “I leave your fate to the Law.” Avery gave his will over to that of Liberator.
Instead of the thrust to the eye that the crowd expected, the ranger laid the blade against the dragon’s snout. For a long while nothing happened but with a mighty surge it burst its bonds and stood looking wildly about. The crowd fled in sheer panic, scrambling away in a terrified rush.
Ultrecht was reeling, he tried to summon the power, but his concentration was shattered by the dragon bursting free of its bonds.
The dragon reared onto its hind legs and stood shaking, shaking as if terrified, its eyes wide with untold emotion. It became totally still and tears rolled out of its eyes. Finally with a horrible cry of dismay it launched itself skyward and disappeared to the west.