Demons and Dragons and Rangers, Oh My!
Chapter 8: For the King!
Halt
As Halt, Gilan and Will fled across the plains, their djinn guards were slowly depleted as they rose to face many enemies, some human, some not, until the only ones left were Halt's faithful servant, Queezle, and Nemaides, Gilan's elite djinni. Nemaides was capable of fighting off anything but Afrits and above, so Halt sent Queezle to fetch Bartimaeus and instruct him to meet them at Castle Araluen to protect Duncan. Once there, well, all out and devil take the hindmost. With only their wits and Nemaides to keep them alive, they set out once more. When they began to near Castle Araluen, Will informed Halt that Nemaides had sensed a magical battle occurring around Castle Araluen. "I'll be willing to wager that's Duncan pulling his weight." He replied. When they reached the surrounding villages, they received many strange stares. Halt ignored them, while Gilan and Will raised their hands in greeting, though they didn't look at the villagers, instead keeping their eyes fixed on the road ahead. Finally, when they began to lose hope, the graceful shape of Castle Araluen loomed up in front of them. Tug, Blaze, and Abelard, all sensing the urgency, burst into a full gallop, which is a fearsome thing when executed by a Ranger horse. People dove out of their way as they streaked past. When they reached the gates of the citadel Halt simply waved his longbow and they scurried to open the portcullis, which was barely open enough for the Rangers to ride under it, hunched on their horses. Guards scrambled for their weapons when they saw them approaching, then relaxed as they realized they were King's Rangers. Halt vaulted off of Abelard when they neared the mighty oak doors and slammed into the right one. Gilan and Will reined their horses in when they saw Halt hit the door. It then swung inward with a mighty groan, Halt still stuck to it about eight feet up. It was only when Halt dropped and began sprinting towards the throne room that they realized he had slammed his saxe knife into it with all of Abelard and his combined momentum. They then dismounted with all haste and followed him into the keep.
Arghh! Another intermission! How dare you, Raudhr, how dare you! I just wanted to say that I am going to add a battle scene, which is why the rest of this chapter is absolute dreck. I'm anticipating the battle scene and it's throwing me off. Also, this story will be at least 20 chapters long. At least! My current plan makes it about 34 chappies long -.- I know, right? And all you inheritance peeps, I'm sorry that I called myself Raudhr for a second, but hey, Dautr abr du Sundavar calls herself Sunda, soooo…
As Halt flew down the hallways, he wondered what would happen if Duncan fell in battle. They couldn't afford another power vacuum like the one twenty years ago that Morgarath used. Huh, he thought. It would probably be best then, in that case, to sprint just a little bit faster. He did as the thought said, well, thought. As such, when he whipped around the last corner like he was trying to make fire, he knew he couldn't stop himself from slamming into the door. So he tucked his shoulder and closed his eyes. The door splintered from his impact. As he stumbled into the room, he instinctively knew to duck. His instincts saved his life, as a Detonation finished the door off, blasting apart where his head had just been. He then, following his instincts once more, he rolled behind one of the thick marble pillars. This time, he was just being paranoid. No attack came. He could hear, however, sounds of battle coming from the other side of the pillar. "Halt?" Duncan's rich bass voice rang out. "Looks like a good thing too!" He replied. The only reason a human could have lasted as long as Duncan had is because Duncan was the most resilient king that had ever lived. He could slay any djinni that came his way, could kill an Afrit with great effort and skill, and could put up a good fight against marids. There is no recorded incident of a human defeating a marid in open combat, so they have good reason to be supremely confident in their abilities. It helped that Duncan wielded LeopardFang, a blade that contained an Afrit, and as such, smote with the strength of a hefty Afrit's Detonation, and another broadsword, which was made of the purest silver his smiths could find. Halt also had a hefty level of resilience, though only enough to fight off djinn. It was pure coincidence that he, as a Ranger and hence a summoner, had resilience. The Rangers didn't look for it in recruits, only what would make them a good Ranger, not magician. Now, back to the story. Halt whirled around and absorbed the scene. Duncan was standing on the elevated area that led up to his throne. Six spirits stood on the lower ground around it. Three were Afrits of middling power, two were low level Afrits, and one was a heavyweight djinni. At least, this was Halt's estimation. The most powerful of them, in the form of a humanoid wolf with mighty horns sprouting from his temples, had obtained a nasty slash from shoulder to shoulder on his back. The others didn't have very major injuries, with the exception of the djinni, whose left arm hung limp at his side. Their forms, from most powerful to least, are as follows: The wolf-man, twin golden lions with fiery manes (As in, made of fire), a whirling pillar of smoke, a normal man, save for the massive curved blades that sprouted from the backs of his hands, and a bright red skinned Egyptian man with the head of a jackal. As for Duncan, he had a vicious gash on his right eye, which was still bleeding copiously, as well as a puncture wound in his left thigh. He grasped LeopardFang loosely in his right hand and a silver-tipped spear in his left. As Halt skimmed the scene, Duncan cast the spear like a javelin into the throat of one of the lions as it reared up to strike, which simply disintegrated. Halt followed up with a silver arrow to nape of the wolf-man's neck. It staggered about the room, groping for the arrow. Eventually it just clubbed the shaft with a paw, which shattered, and disappeared with a flash of light. Halt knew it wasn't dead, but that was insignificant. It was incapacitated for this fight, which was all he was thinking about at the moment. The dead lion's counterpart whirled around, and with rage in its eyes, spewed a torrent of green fire. Halt dove out of the way, but was his right shoulder was still singed and he was propelled into the wall. His head cracked against the marble wall, and red stars began to dance before his eyes. The towering pillar of smoke floated slowly, with great finality, towards his limp form. Duncan slashed at the man with the curved blades as he leapt at him. While he was thus occupied, the djinni seized the spear that had clattered to the ground after slaying the lion, and was smote to the side by two simultaneous Detonations from above. A silver throwing knife embedded itself in a shadowy shape at the center of the whirlwind, which shrieked with pain and rage before imploding in on itself. A half formed thought drifted into Halt's addled mind: Not dead. Okay. The lion opened its maw and let out a ferocious roar. Light flared in the room and seared Halt's eyes. He groaned with discomfort. He heard Will cry out. That snapped him out of his stupor like a bucket of ice water could only dream of. He closed his eyes and seized his bow. Now he waited for the slightest suggestion of its location. Unfortunately, his hint was its full weight slamming into him. Luckily, a Flux from Bartimaeus cushioned his impact into the wall, or his spine and most of his other bones would have shattered. As it was, he simply obtained some impressive bruises. The last thing he saw was the beast raising its paw to strike him dead. He heard a shout dimly before the paw flew at him and it all went black.
Bartimaeus+Queezle+Gilan+Will to the rescue! Will and Gilan are in this fic, but they are just minor characters. Same with Horace. As for Inheritance dewds, (Got to spell something weird. After all, this normal you speak off sounds like no fun at all.) this takes place before even Brom's childhood, so it'll be maybe some Galbatorix as a young child, as a good guy, just to mess with you guys' minds. ^.^ But other than that, it will all be Vrael, Oromis, Glaedr, and OC. What should I name Vrael's dragon? They never said. Except maybe in Inheritance, this is being written before I read it. I will write no more new chapters until I get good ideas. :| SO. Ok, if I get a good idea, I'll use it but still .