Escape through the Sacred Forest: Lich Lord Wars Book 2

Chapter 9

"Curse it all! Some boy moved the stone. We lost our element of surprise!"

"No time to worry about that now! Hurry and move your army through, before they have time to react!"

Almas could run faster; Cady could not. Luckily they both were smaller then the revenants chasing them. They were able to dash between trees that were to close for their undead pursuers to get through.

They made it to the border of the sacred forest but the revenants were right behind them. The whole time he was running he kept expecting the forest around them to come alive and defend them--but it stayed eerily quiet. What was Ulec doing? Surely he had noticed they were in trouble? Maybe he had fallen asleep?

The path they had used to leave the forest was even gone, which might actually be working to their advantage. While he and Cady were scampering through the thick branches and trees the revenants were having to use their swords to cut through some parts. Sadly it wasn't enough to help them lose the creatures.

Suddenly Cady grabbed his arm and pulling him to the left said, "This way!"

Not being able to waste a moment in argument Almas followed immediately but did manage to huff out, "This isn't the way back to Ulec!"

"Trust me!" Cady responded.

Suddenly the thick foliage gave way to a clearing; in the middle of which stood a firewater tree--complete with its circle of barren ground.

Cady pulled him towards the tree and Almas looked all around for any branches bending down to the ground but he didn't see any. They would have to go around.

They got to the edge and before Almas could say anything Cady pulled him to the left and said, "This way, under that branch!"

She pulled him under a branch that extended far past the border of the barren ground but much too high for them to reach.

"We need to stay away from the blossoms," Cady said in a voice that didn't sound very sure.

Glancing up he saw blossoms sprouting from the branch several feet away.

"What's going on? How do you know?" Almas asked.

"The Unicorn told me," was all she said before they heard hacking at the edge of the clearing and saw the revenants cutting themselves out from the thick foliage. There were five of them.

Almas instantly saw that the revenants would pass under the blossoms as they approached and asked Cady, "I'm guessing we're supposed to stay right here?"

Cady gave a worried nod as the revenants came closer, weapons in hand.

"Hope this Unicorn knows what it's doing?"

"Me too," Cady agreed.

As the revenants got close to where the blossoms were Almas glanced up and to his amazement saw the flowers moving. They looked like they turning to face the approaching undead. Not only that but the back of the flowers seemed to be swelling bigger.

Suddenly each blossom ejected a glob of liquid at the revenants and each glob seemed to instantly ignite as it shot towards the undead; turning into small fireballs that splattered flames all over the revenants quickly reducing them all to ash.

Both Almas and Cady stared as the flames began to die down. Almas broke the silence.

"I think I know why they call them fire water trees."

Cady just gave a shocked nod.

Almas finally snapped out of his shock and said, "We need to ho find Lord Teanas. If a whole army comes out of that magic gate then the whole province could be in danger, not just Mother and Father and the rest of the refugees."

"This way, but I can't run any more," Cady indicated.

"Walk fast," Almas ordered and then asked, "and what's this whole 'Unicorn' thing."

Izybel, Creetan, and his rear guard, Poxan, had broken off fighting and were fleeing with an undead army right behind them when Gidon reached them with four more of his men.

Gidon sent a wide arc of holy magic into the line of pursuing revenants. The first few rows were blasted into dust and all eight of them began a fighting retreat. He had Creetan fighting on his left and his wife on his right.

"Where are Almas and Cady?" He asked Izybel.

"The got cut off from us. I told them to run back to the forest, a few revenants followed them. I don't know more then that," she answered nearly sobbing.

Gidon felt a sudden surge of fear and anxiety for his two young children. He inwardly cursed his current helplessness.

He could only hope Ulec and Lord Teanas would see their plight.

More of his men kept arriving , but the number of revenants seemed to be ever growing. If they didn't turn and flee soon they would be flanked shortly.

Finally one of his men came up behind him and reported, "My lord, we found a hill with only one side that is ascendable. Thick trees on that side make it a very defensible position. We have the refugees on the hill and we have the archers positioned a hundred yards back to cover your retreat."

"Our war mounts?"

"Also in position."

"Signal the retreat then." Gidon ordered

The soldier behind him immediately put a horn to his mouth and blew a signal. A moment later a barrage of arrows flew overhead as Gidon's entire line of warriors turned and fled. Everyone except Gidon.

Spreading out his arms he erected a holy shield spanning the entire line. He would only be able to hold the shield a few seconds but it would give his people a head start. As the shield began to falter he heard heavy thundering footsteps behind him.

He dropped the shield and tuned around. Behind were three forest dragons, all with heavy armor and riders. He dodged a swinging tail that flung the first line of revenants, that had surged forward, away; then he leaped up onto the dragon's back taking a seat behind the rider holding the reins and they were off. Now it was a matter of his men being faster then the revenants.