Dominic’s voice could be heard somewhere behind. “They are elemental creatures, fashioned by black arts. Our weapons have no effect.”
The Tsurani seemed unperturbed despite that fact, attacking the creatures as they would any enemy, with no hesitation. While the blows received did no damage to the creatures, they obviously inflicted pain, for the Tsurani’s onslaught caused the creatures to withdraw and hover for a moment.
Gardan looked and found Kasumi and Dominic close by. They both had shields and stood at the ready. Then the creatures were on them again. A soldier screamed, and Gardan caught a glimpse of a Tsurani falling nearby.
Gardan saw Kasumi avoid the rush of two of the creatures, using sword, shield, and agility to good advantage. But the captain knew there was no hope of survival, for it would be only a matter of time before they tired and slowed. The creatures showed no sign of fatigue and were attacking with as much fury as when they arrived.
Dominic lashed out with his mace, and a creature warbled a high-pitched note of pain. If weapons could not cut the magically constructed hide, then at least they could break bones. The creature fluttered in a circle, trying desperately to stay aloft, but slowly it approached the ground. From the way one wing lamely flapped, it was obvious Dominic had broken its shoulder.
Gardan dodged another attack and danced to one side. Behind the two creatures attacking him he saw the wounded one touch the ground. As soon as its feet made contact with the earth, the creature emitted an ear-splitting howl of pain and burst into a shower of sparkling energies. With a flash, near-blinding in the evening gloom, it vanished, leaving only a smoking patch on the ground. Dominic shouted, “They are elementals of the air! They cannot abide the touch of earth!”
Gardan swung a mighty overhand blow at the creature on his right. The force of the blow drove the creature downward. It made the briefest contact with the earth, but that was enough. Like the other, it exploded into sparks. In panic, it had reached out a hand and gripped the trailing tail of the creature beside it, as if trying to pull itself away from the destruction below. The sparking energy traveled up the tail of the second creature and it, too, was consumed.
Kasumi whirled about and saw that three of his six men lay dead. The creatures now numbered nine, and they swarmed the remaining fighters, though there was now an element of caution in their approach. One swooped down toward Dominic, who braced for the attack. Instead of reaching out for the monk, the elemental beat backward against the air, buffeting the cleric, seeking to knock him down. Gardan raced up behind the creature, ducking to avoid claws reaching for him. He lunged forward, barely keeping sword in hand, and threw his arm about the dangling legs of the creature facing Dominic. He hugged them close, his face buried against the naked thigh of the thing. His stomach churned at the stench from the elemental’s body, the odor of things long dead and best buried His unexpected weight pulled the thing downward. It shrieked and beat its wing furiously, but it was off balance and Gardan pulled it to the ground. Like the others, it burst into sparks.
Gardan rolled away, feeling pain erupt along his arms and chest, where he had gripped the creature when it exploded: he had been burned in the process of destroying it. He ignored the pain and felt a growing hope. Those on the shore numbered seven—Gardan, Kasumi, Dominic, three soldiers, and a boatman wielding a pole—and the creatures were now only eight.
For a moment the attacking elementals chose to circle overhead, out of reach of the surviving soldiers’ weapons. As they began to peel off for a swooping attack, a shimmering began a short distance down the beach from the defenders Gardan prayed to Tith, god of soldiers, that it wasn’t the arrival of another attacker. One more foe would surely tip the balance and overwhelm them.
With a flickering of light a man appeared upon the beach, dressed in simple black tunic and trousers. Gardan and Kasumi at once recognized Pug and shouted a warning to him. The magician calmly surveyed the situation. One creature, seeing an unarmed opponent, howled with maniacal glee and dove for him.
Pug stood his ground, showing no defense. The diving creature reached a point less than ten feet from him, then crashed into an invisible barrier. As if it had struck a stone wall, the creature crumpled to the ground. It vanished in another blinding flash.