Will was already picking them off as they came into range. The force-lance spell, like most force effects, didn’t need much turyn when used over short distances, but the cost went up exponentially with distance. At ten yards it was negligible, at twenty it was tiring, and at thirty yards it was well beyond his rate of turyn recovery. He started firing at forty yards, and by the second spell he knew he would run out by the fourth. At twenty yards he started again, but it only took a second for them to close that distance.
He took down ten in that time, though it was obvious they were only wounded. Once they were in melee range, he switched to using the point-defense shield since it was more effective at stopping their forward movement and he wasn’t killing them anyway.
Through that span of several seconds, Tiny hardly moved, though a low growl was beginning to emerge from his throat. The big man seemed to be vibrating, as though he might be on the verge of a seizure.
Will began to despair, for he couldn’t see in all directions, and the vampires on the wings had kept running, circling to flank them. He wanted to turn so he could see the threat coming at his back, but the monsters in front of him moved too quickly. It was all he could do to repulse their attacks with a blinding series of shields.
A roar erupted from Tiny, a sound so deep and feral Will thought some new monster had sprung upon them. The big warrior blurred as he spun in place, and his falchion cut through something behind them. Will didn’t have the liberty of watching. A second later the squire danced in front of him then passed behind, moving around Will in a circle. Clawed hands, arms, legs, and pieces of wood-hafted spears fell to the ground in his wake.
Spears?
They had come in with such speed that Will hadn’t even seen the weapons. Behind the blood-maddened young vampires there were three wearing armor and bearing weapons. They had hung back, letting the wild ones take the damage as they charged in. One of them was now tossing aside his spear in favor of a broadsword.
Seeing the sharp metal made his skin prickle, and Will was acutely aware of the fact that he hadn’t donned any armor that day. He felt naked, and for the first time he realized that perhaps he had grown too comfortable relying on his spells. He could only watch so many directions at once.
Tiny was behind him, and Will saw a shadow pass overhead. Given the way the vampire flailed, it seemed the monster had been thrown, rather than leaping on its own. Will kept using his point-defense shield, for the attacks from the front kept coming too quickly for him to try and inflict damage. He absently noted that several broken crossbow quarrels were now on the ground in front of him. There are more in the back firing at us!
Tiny came around once more, and Will could see several shafts caught in his mail. Apparently, there were fiends firing from other directions as well, directions Will couldn’t see. Tiny was cutting a deadly swath through monsters, but without silver on the blade, the wounds healed too quickly—even severed limbs could be reattached without too much effort, if the cut was clean.
Will had thought the fight would be smaller, that they would have some room to breathe, time to use the alchemical fire he carried to destroy the vampire remains. He already knew these were protected from daylight, since they had survived the ritual, so the spells he had prepared were useless.
It was only a matter of time before Will and Tiny tired and soon after that they would die.
Desperate, Will stepped left to avoid one creature’s rush rather than use his shield, and with that moment to spare, he summoned Ethelgren’s Exhortation. He resumed using the shield a second later, while at the same time he felt the old wizard begin to rush into his body.
He shut that down instantly, pushing Ethelgren back while still defending himself, and his spells never faltered. That’s not going to happen, he sent mentally.
I had to try.
Asshole. I’m surrounded by vampires protected from daylight. Any ideas?
Let me take control, suggested Ethelgren dryly.
Not again. If I die, I’ll drop this rod and your enemies will melt you down.
The ancient wizard gave a mental sigh. Since you’re not dead, you must be defending yourself. What are you using?
Point-defense shield.
That’s all?
I don’t have anything else!
Amateur.
Is that coat of light spell you used built into the rod? asked Will.
It is, but it’s no good if they’re protected from sunlight. It won’t stop physical attacks, and light won’t repel them. You need armor or an iron-body transformation.
I haven’t mastered that one yet.
It’s built into the rod. Let me show you.
Will was still steadily blocking attacks from howling fiends that were just a few feet away. Mentally, he eased up on the pressure he was using to contain Ethelgren and he received a flash as the long-dead wizard showed him the turyn signature needed to activate the iron-body transformation.
A second later, Will repeated what he had felt but with more turyn, which he directed into the relic. The overall sensation was similar to casting a spell, except that instead of routing his energy into a spell construct, he was sending it into an item. It was also much faster, since he didn’t have to create the spell first, so in a sense it was like reflex casting. There was a slight lag, though; unlike a force effect, other spells did require some small amount of time to function. He still hadn’t learned to reflex cast any non-force spells, so the delay had never been noticeable before, but he could feel it now. Even so, it took less than a second, and suddenly he felt a cold stiffening of his skin, slowing his movements.
His skin had darkened, taking on a reddish-brown color, and it felt as though someone had dressed him in heavy but supple leather, from head to toe. It worked! he announced internally. Now I just need a way to kill them.
Are you any good with a sword?
Somewhat, but there’s someone even better next to me.
Do you have any silver on you?
Just money.
He sensed Ethelgren’s mental nod. That works. Another flash of turyn came to Will, along with an explanation. You have to hold the weapon when you cast it, and the silver is consumed. The spell only lasts an hour or so; after that the steel reverts to normal.
It coats the blade in silver? asked Will.
Ethelgren chuckled. I designed the spell. It’s much better than that.
Shifting the relic to his left hand, Will summoned his smallest coin pouch and tried to shake out the coins he needed, spilling gold marks, silver clima, and copper bits in all directions. He caught a few and then discarded all but one clima. He passed it over to his left hand and then summoned his rapier.
During his chaotic coin dance, Will lost focus on what was going on around him and he felt several thudding blows against his body, but no pain. One vampire even managed to grab hold of him, but Tiny cut the creature fully in two; then, when it was apparent that the upper portion was still hanging on, he cut the monster free by slicing off its arms.