“I told you to run.”  Cronos said between gritted teeth, blocking an overhand swing from one of the monsters with crossed blades that cut its arm to the bone.  “Now I have to get us BOTH out of here.”

“I’m not leaving you behind.”  She snarled as a set of razor sharp claws slashed through her upper arm before she could dodge it.

“Sometimes you need to learn to take orders from others.”  He said, a strange tone in his voice.  “Sorry you had to learn it this way.”

An explosion erupted from beneath her feet, catapulting her through the air and onto flat third story roof of a building.  Looking down, she saw that her brother had been transfixed by four of the creature’s clawed hands.  The bloodied tips had punched all the way through his body, sixteen points of stained ivory spelling out a death sentence.

Something broke inside her and Callindra slumped to her knees, crying like she hadn’t since she was a child.  With a crash, Vilhylm, Kain and Holt broke through another alley with the small contingent of guards at their back.  They were too late.  It was all her fault.

–

Her brother was dead.

After the ill-fated battle where she had been lured into the ambush where Cronos had died saving her life, the city had burned.  All the Taken inside had died in the ensuing inferno, as had any surviving humans.  Vilhylm had managed to get her and their brother’s corpse out before the fire destroyed everything.  Callindra was grateful that they would have something to bury.

She and Vilhylm stood before the grave they had made for their brother.  Between them they had formed something out of stone that would seal forever.  They both knew that Cronos wouldn’t want to take any chances of coming back as a Taken.

The people of the town they’d saved had softened, seeing what they had sacrificed to defend complete strangers.  Hearing the reports from the soldiers about how many Taken they had slain and about how many more townsfolk would have died had they not fought.  Their understanding only made Callindra feel worse.

“It wasn’t worth it.”  She told Vilhylm bitterly.

“It was not your choice.”  He said, putting a hand on her shoulder.  “You may have decided to help those people, but he is the one who chose to save you.  We made you our leader for many reasons, one being your sense of duty and honor.”

“I shouldn’t have gone that last time.  I should have listened when he told me to wait.”  She squeezed her eyes shut, but the tears leaked out anyway.  “He should not have died protecting me.”

“Tryst died for us too.”  Vilhylm said softly.  “A person’s life is theirs to spend.”

Holt came up behind them.  “Kain and I have something to add for the memorial, if it is acceptable to you.”

Kain stood behind them, fiddling with his robe nervously.  “I thought that since evil is supposed to have more difficulty crossing running water, and that this seems to be near a small underground spring I could purify it.  Holt found the spring and I think I can do the rest.”

He stood behind Cronos’s coffin and held his holy symbol in both hands.  Speaking in his native Orcish, the words of prayer and reverence seemed strange, but as he prayed they could feel the presence of the Divine.  Kain put his hand on the stone wall behind the coffin and a brilliant white flame began to burn.  The stone cracked and water flowed out over the sealed coffin and down the hillside.

“He shall never be corrupted by the forces of evil.”  Kain said, weary satisfaction in his voice.

“Thank you two.”  Callindra said, wiping tears from her cheeks.  “This means the world to us.”

The water of the small stream flowed down and into the river below, its purity obvious as the waters mingled.  Something began to throb, sounding for all the world like the slow beating of a heart.  It should have sounded ominous, but as the pure, clean water began to filter into the muddy river, Kain assured them this was something good.

“The earth is attempting to cleanse itself.” He said with a smile, “I know it isn’t much, but everything starts off small.”

Ahead of them, the town of Woodfordshire was burning.  Callindra could hear the screams of people and the clash of steel on steel and bone over the roar of the flames and a flame of rage had begun to burn within her breast.  She had seen enough of people being slaughtered.

“We are going to get in there, save as may of those people as we can and put an end to the Spawn of the Abyss that are causing this destruction.”  She pointed to a small beach on the river bank.  “Land there, we don’t want to risk the boat.”

With grim determination, they checked their weapons and armor once on shore.  Callindra hadn’t seen them this focused in a long time if ever.  They’d seen what the results of a town being overrun by Taken was a few days earlier.  None of them were soon to forget or forgive the destruction of so many, even though the townsfolk hadn’t all been friendly.

“Let’s make this fast and hard.  Hit anything Taken that’s in the way but focus on anything that is attacking humans.  I’m leading, Holt and Kain you flank, Reed you’re behind me as lookout.  Cronos, rear guard and damage control is on you, I’m counting on you to keep us from getting swarmed or pinned down by anything big.”

She looked at them all to see their nods of confirmation before calling on the Winds and Weave to speed her sword arm.  They moved through the outskirts of the town at a swift trot, keeping their eyes moving.

“Ware high.”  Reed said in a tense voice.  Two arrows flashed from Holt’s bow almost before Reed finished speaking, punching through the skulls of two Taken humans standing on rooftops.

They rounded a corner and saw a mob of Taken humans, animals and monsters attacking a group of warriors who were guarding the entrance to an alley.  Callindra broke into a run and slammed into the rear of the Taken, cutting two of them down with a slash to the left and right.  She was dimly aware of her companions attacking behind her but her focus was on the monsters ahead.

With a shout of anger, she swung Shadowsliver in a broad sweeping arc and released a raw blast of wind focused into tiny whirling blades that exploded into their midst.  Her spell severed limbs and carved great holes in flesh and she kept running, dodging a sword thrust.  The anger she felt at these THINGS for the atrocities they had committed against the living had reached a critical breaking point.

Three monsters that might have once been bears converged on her, reaching with wickedly curved claws.  She ducked one, parried a blow from another with a strike that split the creature’s paw to the wrist.  The third one caught her across the stomach, ripping through the tough leather of her armor and scoring the flesh beneath.

She snarled in fury, spinning to disembowel the one that hit her.  Her follow up strike took it up under the jaw as it slumped forward and punched through the top of its skull.  Callindra danced sideways, whipping Shadowsliver out of the falling monster.  The motion caused it to land in the path of the second, giving her time to dispatch the first with a slash that nearly removed its head from its body.

A rumble of thunder from above made everyone but her momentarily stop and look up.  She raised Shadowsliver over her head and a bolt of lightning lanced down into his twin tips.  She pointed five splayed fingers at the enemies on her right and scintillating bolts flashed out at her enemies, burning them to charred and smoldering flesh.

Callindra turned to the remaining foes, electricity crackling over her skin and making her hair stand on end.  They would pay for this.  She would send them back to the Abyss.  Lowering her blade, she prepared to unleash her fury on them but a ringing slap to her face made her blink in surprise.

She realized Vilhylm was shouting at her.  Looking around, she saw dead chopped and burned Taken all around them.  Her brother had narrowly stopped her from blasting the soldiers they’d been trying to protect into oblivion.  The Weave still seethed through her, demanding release.  With a curse she grounded Shadowsliver, the heat of the discharge turning the sand under her feet to glass for a pace in every direction.