THE FOURTH CREATION Part 3

Cullen woke with the sun. It filtered through the swamp trees with golden beams that lit up the watery areas around the land they chose to camp on. It was cooler this morning, as though summer had finally broken and fall had begun.
Cullen stirred the coals of the campfire, adding a few sticks to the circle, hoping for heat for warm tea. Sonia sat up next to him and he glanced at her and smiled. She was sleepy but smiled back and he breathed a prayer for moments like this, when it was just they two sitting together.
He got an image of the rising sun in his head and he realized Tris’tan was saying good morning to him. He grinned and sent back images of tea and warm bread. Tris’tan loped back into camp from wherever he had been, still in wolf form and sat next to the fire.
Tik finally roused and came to sit with the others, giving Tris’tan an absent scratch behind the ears. Cullen looked at the group with great joy and he felt good today, seeing them around him.
But he knew today would be hard, for all of them. Today he would confront Connon, the man driven by God to use the Sword that Cullen knew he was meant to have. With the Shield and the Sword he could fight the Host. It was time to win the Creation back and finally find the Fourth Creation.
Sonia quickly brewed tea while Cullen brought out bread and cheese to eat. All of them quietly shared the food, tossing some to the massive wolf that sat near them. Tris’tan sent images of walking ahead, sniffing through the swamp to find the best places to ride through.
Tik made sure the horses were ready, each of them saddled and fed. Cullen gave Sonia an extra kiss for luck and mounted up, watching the others do the same. The Asrai wolf walked into the shadows of the trees and found a path to use where the horses could follow.
Cullen listened for the buzzing that the Sword gave off, ignoring the other buzzing from Vlad’s weird sword. He sent his feelings to Tris’tan while he ran ahead and together they mapped out a plan of approach.
They would narrow down the general area where Connon and Dragos might be using the attraction of the Weapons and then Tris’tan would further explore until they knew where the Godsman was. Then they could plan an attack.
They rode all morning as the sun climbed into the sky and Cullen wondered if Connon was on the move too. The day warmed considerably, but never reached a point that was uncomfortable. The three friends didn’t speak much, each of them gearing up towards the battle they knew was coming.
Tik wanted to keep Sonia safe and he felt that was his task. Cullen would storm straight in, knowing that Sonia would help with the Bow. But someone had to be there to help the archer, so Tik assigned himself as her guardian. He assumed the Asrai would find his own place in the fight easily.
The group stopped for a lunch break, taking the time to rub down the horses, feed and water them and have something for themselves. Cullen felt that they were close and should find the Godsman in a few more hours.
After a short break, they remounted and trundled on. Tris’tan ran ahead again, but had to back track more than once because the swamp was getting thicker and more congested with branches and bushes and fallen trees.
It was then that Cullen knew how close they really were. This would be the best place for an ambush, somewhere in the middle of all this bracken and tumbled brush. This is where the man must be hiding.
Cullen sent the feelings ahead towards Tris’tan and he confirmed that he was on the trail already. Cullen reined up and slid off the horse. Tik and Sonia followed his lead and they walked their horses a bit further on.
Tris’tan came back sending images of tight areas of trees and branches, all torn down and making a single path up ahead. They would have to stay off the horses and walk single file through the brush.
Tik tied up the horses near a grassy hill where they could graze while Cullen talked to Sonia.
“I’m going to go in and find Connon,” he started, “I need you to watch for Dragos. I think Connon will face me but will have you attacked by that traitor to distract me.”
“I’ll watch for him, but I’ll try to help you also,” Sonia answered. “I’ll watch out for her,” Tik added when he walked over.
Cullen nodded. The Asrai wolf ran ahead again, going into the branches where Cullen couldn’t. Cullen drew his sword and hefted his Shield onto his arm and walked forward. There was a clear trail leading into the darkness of crushed braches and fallen trees.
Cullen walked ahead, trusting in Sonia and Tik to guard him from behind, while he stayed focused on the front. He could feel the buzzing getting stronger and he knew he would see the Godsman any time now.
He turned a corner in the trail and saw a clearing where Connon stood waiting, standing in shadows produced by the lowering sun. Cullen hissed at the others and stepped forward. Sonia crouched at the end of the trail with Tik right behind her.
“Connon!” Cullen shouted. “Give up the Sword!”
Connon looked up at Cullen’s voice and then laughed. He raised the Sword up to waist height and readied himself. He shook his head and nodded for Cullen to come on.
Cullen thought he looked crazy. His eyes were wild and his face was covered in hair, a beard grown in while he scurried through the swamp to find a place to attack. He was sweating but still wearing his full armor, except for the helmet.
Cullen stepped forward into the clearing. He knew words were lost on the man now and all there was to do was fight. He lifted his sword into a defensive posture and slowly stepped forward again.
Connon leaped ahead and swung the Sword, pushing its magic out. Cullen raised the Shield and used its magic to defend against the sweep of fire and force that erupted from the Sword.
It hit hard enough to move Cullen backwards, slipping towards Sonia, where she was crouched with the Bow, looking for a shot. The Shield defended her and Tik but the wind from the force of the attack swept through and blinded her from seeing well.
Cullen ran in behind the slash, hoping to get close before Connon could do it again. Connon swung the Sword back and this time hit the Shield, smashing Cullen to the ground in a roll.
Cullen spun out of it in time to get back on his feet but Connon was there again, swinging the Sword to smash it against the Shield. Cullen caught the blow but fell back to one knee. Connon held him there and grinned.
Tik was watching the fight intently, but not with so much focus that he missed the snap of a branch coming at him from behind. He whipped his sword around just in time to block the thrust of a spear from Dragos.
Tik stood quickly and stepped in front of Sonia, who remained crouching in the end of the trail. She gasped quietly and pulled back on her Bow but she couldn’t get a shot off at Dragos either. She kept watching both fights, torn between who she could help.
Connon hammered Cullen repeatedly, using the magic of the Sword to batter the Shield down. Sometimes he would try to get underneath the Shield, but he seemed satisfied to just keep hitting Cullen and keep him down. Cullen heard Sonia gasp but he hoped that Tik was helping her.
He held the Shield’s straps tightly and started using the Shield’s magic to push back. Each strike got progressively less powerful and Connon started to fall back a bit. Cullen would push when each attack came, making it harder to hit him each time and he rose to his feet behind the Shield.
Tik was behind him, battling for his life, using all he had learned to keep Dragos away from him. Dragos was using his spear well, snaking the head in quickly, darting the sharp tip in and out of Tik’s defense, but always staying between Sonia and Tik so she couldn’t use the Bow on him.
Sonia would watch them fight, then glance back at Cullen for a second, then go back to watching Tik. She felt fear for these two men that she loved, and she wanted to help, but there was no shot! She yanked the Bow’s string back, forming a complete gleaming purple arrow in the air. She held the string back trying to choose a target she could hit.
Cullen finally got to standing again, but the fury of Connon’s blows insured that he couldn’t strike back at all. He could only crouch behind the Shield and use it as the Wall for which it was named.
Then he got an image of a wolf leaping on Connon from behind. He grinned but sent caution back, worried that Connon would catch Tris’tan in mid-leap. The Asrai sent back a wave of confidence and Cullen relented. He gave his biggest push back so that Connon’s Sword couldn’t hit the Shield at all and it reflected his arm back.
Then from behind, crashing through the undergrowth came the huge white wolf. Tris’tan leaped up in the air and grabbed Connon’s sword arm in his jaw, yanking the man towards the ground. Cullen immediately struck out with his own sword, slashing at Connon’s unprotected neck.
Connon screamed in more rage than pain and tried to yank his arm back, but the wolf held on tightly and Cullen blow was already hitting him. He felt the sword slash across his neck and his stopped pulling at the Sword.
Cullen swung again just as quickly, cutting deeper and severing Connon’s throat from ear to ear. The wolf pulled him down and he collapsed with blood arcing out of the wound. Cullen stepped into the splashing blood and grabbed the Sword away from the Godsman as he fell.
Sonia saw the wolf leap and attack and then she knew Cullen would be safe. She spun forward with the arrow in time to see Dragos starting to run away into the woods. Tik was reaching for him when she released and the arrow followed him into the trees, exploding against whatever it hit with a brilliant flash of light and sound.
Tik fell back, protecting Sonia and pushing her into the clearing. Cullen caught her before she fell and he got them untangled and straightened out. Tris’tan barked at them happily and Cullen faced them with a scowl.
He hadn’t wanted to kill Connon, feeling that he had been mislead by Mabon, but clearly the man wasn’t giving up on the Sword with fighting, and so he had to be killed. Cullen decided right then that they would bury him here, right in the ground where he last fought.
Without explaining, he just started digging with his knife and the other joined in quickly. It didn’t take long to dig a big enough hole for the body, since the ground was marshy and wet. They buried Connon’s body with no words, but much sympathy.
Cullen turned, covered in dirt and blood and faced his friends. He strapped the enchanted Sword to his belt and he grabbed up the Shield in his left arm.
“Give me the Bow now love,” he said to Sonia as he reached for the third weapon. She handed the silver Bow over to him and he held it close. A light seemed to glow from each of the items, the Shield, the Sword and the Bow, until Cullen was lost in light.
Tik and Sonia raised their hands to block the glare and Tris’tan just sat with his tail wagging, watching the bright light envelope Cullen completely. After a few moments it dwindled and slowly Cullen came back into view.
Around his neck was a Horn, made of silver, just like the Bow and the Shield, twisted into a single turn, with a small mouth piece and a large opening for sound. Cullen reached up to touch it and he suddenly knew what it was for.
“I have to use this to call them to battle!” he exclaimed as it became more clear to him. “The Fourth Creation is the Call!”
Sonia stepped forward with hope in her eyes. “To call who?” she asked.
“All of them!” he said quickly, “The elves, the Dwarves, the King, all of them. This will call them to battle. We must get back!”