David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation T.C. Crawford (icecream ebook reader txt) 📖

When all hope seemed lost and a defeat was everything but sure, a horn blew somewhere in the distance near the mountain pass.

The demon army began to turn around and face an unknown threat to their rear, giving up on their relentless pursuit of the men in the valley who were scattered and fleeing for safety.

Confused, the fleeing men turned to see what had caused their attackers to abandon their pursuit. They could see the demons fighting something, but they couldn’t tell what it was, until finally a vanguard of elves in brilliant armor came rushing through the enemy forces, led by a pair of raging barbarians wielding heavy battle axes.

They were screaming fiercely and sending demons and undead flying with every swing of their axe as if they possessed super-human strength.

As they neared, the men began to shout and cheer. They could finally see who it was leading the charge – it was Reingard and Holzer, and they had come back with an army of Elves and Dwarves at their side!

With the sudden sound of the horn behind him and the abandonment of his force’s pursuit of the defenders, General Krauss let up on his relentless attack to turn and see what was happening.

Just as he did, Orin gathered what strength he had left in him and sent a powerful attack towards the General, knocking him back several feet. Exhausted beyond all hope as the effects of his elixir finally wore off, Orin gave in to his weariness and dropped his staff to the ground. He could fight no longer as he embraced the end that would soon come his way.

Enraged and seeing the old mage apparently defeated, General Krauss walked back to Orin to finish him off with a final blow. With a smirk on his face, he looked down at his opponent before lifting his swords high into the air and driving them down with all of his might. Orin looked up at the coming attack defiantly, determined to face his end with honor.

Suddenly, a streak of silver flashed behind General Krauss and the attack immediately halted. Slowly a thin line of blood began trickling from his neckline as his head casually tilted and toppled over before falling to the ground. His body fell to its knees and likewise toppled to the side, falling into a lifeless heap.

Confused and overwhelmingly relieved, Orin propped his head up to see what had happened. Rex was standing over the body of General Krauss, holding his blood-soaked battle axe horizontally as he followed through with his deadly swing.

The old mage just lay his head back and let out a hearty laugh. He couldn’t believe what incredible luck he had.

Rex and General Ryan carefully helped Orin onto his feet as he took a look around the valley.

The last of the demon army was quickly being chased down and hacked away by the elves and dwarves along with what remained of the defenders of Ravenfell – they had actually done it – they had won the battle!

Ravenfell would live to see another day.

Chapter XXIV

With the demon army defeated and General Krauss no longer a threat, the remaining forces of Ravenfell, with the aid of the Elves and Dwarves, began the long and difficult task of sorting through the carnage of the battlefield.

They roamed through the wreckage and massive field of bodies for hours, finding the wounded and carrying them to the infirmary while the dead were taken to a field and prepared for a great funeral to be held that evening.

The battle had taken a massive toll as expected, but the number of demons and undead easily outnumbered the fallen men ten-to-one. Still, they had lost a sizeable portion of their forces and knew that it was only a matter of time before the demon army would rebuild – being constantly supplied by the underworld with fresh recruits of demons and undead.

This thought, although distant at the moment for most of the men – whose primary focus was sorting through the mixed emotions of having survived the battle only to have to bury many of their friends and family members – it remained constantly in the minds of their leaders.

Nearly as soon as the battle had ended, the men were given orders to take care of the wounded and dead. Rex, Orin, General Ryan, General Owen, and King Eldergate then met with the Elven prince, Gilric Ellisar, and King Tybrin Hammerclaw of the Dwarves, to thank them for their courage and assistance and to create a plan for the path ahead.

As they were walking to the castle for their discussion of their remaining forces and future battle strategy, the sun was setting behind the mountains once again as it had done twice already since the battle had first begun. Suddenly, the sound of distant yelling came from the road leading up the valley towards the mountain pass.

They turned and could see a lone soldier running quickly down the path towards them, arms flailing as he screamed.

All they could hear were his words, “He’s coming!”

For a moment they were startled and confused, but the uncertainty lasted only a moment, for shortly after they saw a bright green streak fly high above the mountain pass before barreling down at incredible speeds and plummeting into the castle upon the hill. The impact was so powerful it imploded the entire structure and sent a shockwave reeling outward at incredible speeds that knocked everything in its path backwards and through the air.

In a matter of seconds, the entire stronghold of Ravenfell was obliterated to nothing but a pile of rubble surrounding a crater where the castle once stood.

In the middle of the crater, floating just high enough for all in the valley to see, was the Defiant One.

His voice, ethereal and fierce, echoed throughout the entire valley, bouncing off the mountains around them.

Man, Elf, and Dwarf alike covered their ears against the