The Champions by Jeremy Laszlo Page A

as his legs would carry him to the front lines.
    By now the young fool king would believe him dead. Sigrant
smiled.
    *****
    Tommy raced right past the champions of Valdadore, looking
to report to King Garret himself. Leaping high into the air he looked around
and spotted the young king not but a few hundred yards to the west. Changing
direction, just a few bounds later and Tommy stood before the king.
    “The deed is done, your majesty!” Tommy nearly yelled.
    “You are certain?” Garret asked, believing the war would now
end as the opposing army would fall apart.
    “Yes, your majesty, I saw it with my own two eyes. Sigrant
fell. He was missing an arm, and bleeding from the throat as his entrails were
spilled out around him.”
    “How far from his healers?” Garret asked.
    “Too far for them to make a difference once summoned,” Tommy
grinned, showing his stubby, pointed teeth.
    “Well done, Tommy. Join the troops. Let’s see how long it
takes for Sigrant’s army to disintegrate,” Garret grinned wickedly.
    Thousand Hole Tommy bowed low, and turning, he sprang into
the air to cover an impossible distance before leaping again. Two jumps and
Tommy was among the other created champions who served Valdadore.
    Garret liked the new plan. Not because he thought his
brother was right in his thinking about the gods; perhaps he was, perhaps he
wasn’t. Garret liked the plan because once the invader’s champions were
destroyed, the rest would turn and flee. The battle could be ended this very
day. Garret liked the idea of returning to the city a victor, and summoning
Linaya to return and reclaim her place by his side. Today the chosen champions
of the gods led by the fallen King Sigrant would follow him to the grave. Garret
smiled and strode towards the front lines.
    His troops had their orders; everything was in place.
Valdadore stood waiting, looking out across the field at the enemies who simply
stood looking back.
    Garret waited. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes seemed
to take eternities. Garret paced back and forth, wearing a rut into the grass
beneath him. Those around him simply observed the enemy who either did nothing,
or milled about seemingly just as anxious as the defenders.
    More minutes passed and Garret realized what the problem
was. The invaders had no one to call the attack. Simple enough, Garret thought,
he would just attack the attackers and draw them out.
    Calling upon his blessing Garret exploded in size, sending a
concussive wave of air out in all directions. Taking this as their cue, the
rest of Valdadore’s blessed called upon their abilities as well and in seconds
an imposing wall of giant warriors and beasts stood before the common troops of
Valdadore, blocking any enemies from moving upon the infantry and archers.
Seeing no reaction from the enemy, Garret did the only thing he could do. He
ordered the attack.
    A wall of giant soldiers rushed across the field to meet
their enemies, each of them fully expecting the blessed champions of their
enemy to retaliate in kind. Nothing happened. With orders not to kill the
enemy’s common troops, the Valdadorian champions, having closed the gap, simply
stopped when they met the enemy unsure as to what they should do. Garret was
too late to realize what he had done.
    From the middle of the enemy army a surge of troops rushed
forward between the giant Valdadorians. These appeared to be common troops, and
as such the champions ignored them. Having passed the Valdadorians, however,
the enemy troops called upon their blessings as well. With nothing standing
between them and Valdadore’s common soldiers, Sigrant’s champions hurled
themselves at the wall of shield and spear-wielding infantry.
    Garret turned in time to see the first couple of blows as
several troops of the likes he had never seen before exploded in size, wearing
nothing but armor carved from skulls and bones. These troops, though only
twelve to fifteen feet in size, were devastating. There