Empire of Night (Age of Legends 2)

"No, I--"

"Then we die. I can't keep them from you. I can only give you a head start. If you don't take it, then we continue going like this."

Another fiend dog jumped at Tyrus, snagging his leg before he kicked it off with a stifled cry of pain. He glowered at Moria, and she knew that while her point had been made, nothing in Tyrus would let him flee from battle, flee from her side.

"Daigo?" she said.

The wildcat spun and charged Tyrus. The prince stood his ground, his feet planted.

"Don't you dare--" Tyrus began.

Daigo hit him, knocking him away from Moria. The fiend dogs saw their chance and rushed at him. Daigo spun, hissing and spitting while moving backward, bumping into Tyrus, forcing him to retreat.

"Leave them!" Moria shouted at the shadows. "They are no threat. I'm the one who can banish you."

She wheeled on the one closest to her and boomed, "Begone, spirit!" so loud the forest rang with her words. To her surprise, the shadow exploded, black shards flying up and dissipating. The rest of the pack hesitated.

"Run," Moria said to Tyrus. "You can't get past Daigo."

He scowled, sword rising as if he'd like to use it on the wildcat.

"I can't hold them for long," Moria said. "I'll be right behind you."

"If you are not--"

"You'll stop. I know. So I will be."

Still he hesitated, rocking, unable to break whatever barrier told him, Thou shalt not. Not run. Not turn his back on danger. Not abandon her. Finally, Daigo had to charge him again, forcing him to turn and then battering him until he ran. The fiend dogs tore after them.

"No!" Moria bellowed. "If you touch him again, I swear I will send every last one of you curs to eternal damnation."

They turned toward her, eyes glowing as their growls rippled through the night.

"Yes, you hear me, curs. That's what you are. It's what you were in life, and now you're condemned to your true forms. Slinking curs. Traitors and cowards."

The fiend dogs growled louder, pacing around her now.

"You dare attack them?" she said, jabbing a finger at Tyrus and Daigo as they fled. "An imperial prince and a Wildcat of the Immortals? True warriors? Honorable warriors? And me? I'm the Keeper. A mere girl who can grind your worthless spirits beneath her boot--"

They charged at her, but she was expecting it and had been gathering her power as she taunted them. As they came at her, she shouted, "No!" with everything in her, with the power of the goddess herself running through her like bolts of pure energy. The beasts fell back as if hit by a giant wave of force, turning to shadows and red eyes and enraged snarls.

Moria spun on her heel and ran as fast as she could, the ground flying under her feet. There'd been a time when she would no more have fled than Tyrus. When she'd have stood firm, confident in her powers, expecting to see every last fiend dog disappear in a puff of smoke. Now she knew better. Her powers were strong; her powers were not invincible.

Sure enough, she hadn't gotten far before the beasts recovered and tore after her, howling and baying, hounds on a scent. Ahead, Tyrus looked back for her.

"Keep going!" she shouted.

He did, and as she ran, the clouds thinned again, and she could see Daigo dropping back, running midway between them, close enough to the prince to keep driving him forward but close enough to Moria to return to her if needed. She waved for him to continue on.

Though the fiend dogs' paws made no sound as they ran, their howls and snarls told her they were gaining ground. When she saw a shape flash out of the corner of her eye, she twisted, and as she did, she hit something in her path and stumbled.

I cannot fall. If I do, I'll never get up again. They'll swarm over me as they did Tyrus, and I'll be lost.

She skidded and grabbed for whatever was nearest--a spindly sapling. Ahead, Tyrus wheeled. The fiend dogs sensed victory. One leaped at her. Fangs slashed her arm, blood spraying.

She wrenched the sapling to propel herself upright, then flung off it, running again, her ankle throbbing, blood flicking from her arm. Another fiend dog lunged and knocked into her, and she pitched forward, both hands out to brace her fall--

No! I will not fall. I will not.