Tragic Innocence

Chapter 58

             “Are you so decrepit—even a child can easily retrieve!”

            An unfamiliar voice traveled over to Rolac and he twisted about with surprise, finding two dark figures stationed beneath the arched entrance.  His eyes tightened with anger and he chuckled with mirth.

“Ah--Crow, Zolata.”  He gave them a deep and gracious bow.  “It has taken you long enough.  How did you enjoy my little drop of the stair?”   Rolac batted the air with a nonchalant hand and sleekly said, “Come, you were about to miss all the fun.”

            “Blackguard!”  Zolata glared at him and, without warning, injected a fatal blow to his gut with a blazing orb of flames.

            His strained breath was heard as he staggered to the cold floor, taken completely off guard.  Fury bubbled deep in his writhing belly.

Crow instantly gripped Zolata’s wrist and shook his head in a single jerk.  Feeling himself pale for the ignorance at just how deep his foe’s sorcery rooted, Crow hastily began to concoct a plan for Pentulla’s liberation.  He must be very careful, lest Rolac should destroy her along with Shen’s offspring with a mere flick of his small finger, which would be most unpleasant!

            “You sure do have a way with the females.”  Crow did not remove his eyes from Rolac’s, his bow firm and hard against his palm.  He had not known what to expect when they had first entered this well-hidden chamber.  Perhaps Pentulla upon the floor in a crumpled heap of nothing?  A shiver shot up his back.

He shot a glance at Pentulla who remained fast to the wall, her face wide with alarm.  He could feel his heart increase in tempo as relief and anger washed over him.

            Rolac tossed his palm high into the air, a blast of sound rippling forth.  It sent Zolata rolling with a harsh grunt.  “Do that again,” he bellowed before Crow could release an arrow that suddenly appeared cocked, “and you shall forever lose both of your comrades, you fools!” Rolac thundered as he rose steadily from the ground, his cloaked figure dark and imposing as he straightened to full height.

Crow cursed under his breath, too vigilant to remove his sights from the scoundrel to assist his unfortunate Zolata.  He carefully weighed each option and played and replayed to a near obsession the possible outcomes if he dared an escape for Pentulla.  The only viable solution would be to throw the imp off his focus, to somehow dim his objective as much as possible; for though many a year had passed for the relic, he still possessed the greater skill.

“Release her!” Crow shouted, brows pulled deeply over the narrow bridge of his regal nose.  He shuffled quickly a few steps, the arrow in his capable hands determined to feel its target.

A mocking snigger vibrated within the decaying walls of the odd chamber.  “You’ve no chance with me, Turon.  To think at one time your creed had thought to destroy me!”  Rolac threw his head back and allowed his amusement to increase in volume as its crescendo caused debris to rain upon them from the dark ceiling overhead.

His head snapped up, red eyes blazing above his hooked nose hidden by the shadowed hood, “Mortal weapons are mere child’s play!”  With that, he wound a fist behind his head and launched it over his chest as if hurling a large stone.

Crow’s bow and arrow was at once ripped from his hand with a burning sensation that throbbed up the length of his arm.  He growled and watched his weapon shatter against the wall like a puff of milkweed.

            Zolata snarled lividly, readying a spell at the palm of her right hand.  At once, the sorcerer clamped his extended hand and snuffed the glowing light that began to grow.  Zolata gasped in astonishment, her hand tingling painfully.