Song of the Ascendant

27. Cataclysm

Fourth of Frostmaire

The killing blow never came. As the beast shifted its attention towards the mages harassing it, it went still, its nostrils flaring again as if it were sensing a new presence. Brimur felt it a moment later, a strange shift in the air. The creature slowly turned its massive head, and a deep growl emerged from its throat. Brimur could sense its wariness, and he hesitantly turned to find this new threat. At first he saw nothing, then the first of Belkai's reinforcements crested a hill to enter the valley. Brimur felt a smile creep onto his face. He recognised more Brilhardem, as well as Narandir elves, and now he understood. Belkai was the last to come into view, with Davos by her side. There was something different about her, Brimur realised. She felt different, as if there was a cloak of energy over her. Sanlim had sensed it as well and lifted its head into the air to face the newcomer. The armies were forgotten as it recognised the new threat.

"What the hell is that?" Davos shifted nervously in his saddle. He could feel his horse beginning to pull, and it took an elven spell to get it to stand firm.

"An agent of Falkar," Belkai answered, tilting her head as she studied the creature. "It's not from this land."

Davos nodded. "Kane said that there were other continents, far bigger than ours."

"You're lucky we don't live there." Belkai took an unsteady breath. "This isn't a fight armies can win."

"What are you going to do?"

"Buy you time," Belkai said as she looked down into the valley. "Get everyone out of there. I don't know if I can kill it, but this is the Brilhardem's fight."

Davos wasn't sure about that, but he knew better than to argue. He rode after the others to spread the word. Belkai turned her mind to Brimur, and quickly found him facing the creature. Gather everyone. This is our fight.

"What are you?" Belkai whispered. The beast continued to stare at her, as if some other force was holding it back. It dawned on her too late as the armies began to leave the valley, leaving the Brilhardem standing alone as they moved into a curving line around the creature. This was Delorax's plan; bring the mages together and destroy them with the beast. We won't go that easily, she silently swore. She dismounted and the horse instantly fled. Belkai ignored it as she planted her feet and looked up at the towering beast. She could sense its defences that had stopped Brimur's attack. Even now the mages had begun lashing Sanlim with bursts of energy as they tried to find a weak point. Well, there was more than one form of magic at play here. Following an unspoken command, the dark clouds above dissolved into dozens of shades that shot downwards to attack Sanlim from above. To Belkai's shock, more tendrils erupted from Sanlim's body and began swatting the shades out of the sky. It shouldn't have been possible, and Belkai wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.

She closed her eyes and let her mind run over Sanlim's barrier. She found no weakness, but felt her fear grow as it bent down to strike at the Brilhardem. She forced herself to focus. She'd once described magic to Davos as a raging river. You couldn't control all of it, you had to learn to take a portion and manipulate that. The key was to find the source of the beast's power and sever that link. An impossible task, perhaps, but she had little choice. She shut out the fear of her fellow mages as they fled from the creature's assault, desperately searching for the source. No time for this. She had to try a different approach. She felt a burning in her veins and embraced it, letting it consume her until it was finally too much to bear. She focused on Sanlim, and unleashed the fury of the fire within.

There was no visible effect at first. The fires of Belamin burned within Sanlim's head, raging against the confines of its skull for several long moments before its head finally erupted in a massive fireball that roared high into the sky. Chunks of flesh and bone crashed across the valley as the long body shuddered and collapsed to the earth. Belkai fell to her knees and gasped for breath, struggling to stay conscious. She felt as if she had been cast into a vat of boiling oil, but with immense concentration she was able to force that feeling away. She blinked away tears as she looked down on the blood-soaked valley. Somehow, she managed to smile through the remaining pain.