Kamahl's great rawk was easily twenty feet long from the razor-sharp tip of its curved beak to the edge of its golden-hued tail feathers. The rawk launched itself from the edge of the vortex and spread its silvery wings, which spanned twenty-five feet, gliding off to the east, rising steadily into the sky with each beat of its huge wings.

As soon as the first rawk launched, Balthor saw another set of claws grab the edge of the vortex.

"Right," he mumbled to himself. "Ye got the flyers. I'll jest see what I can do about that army coming up from behind us, shall I?

Balthor slipped his reins between his teeth and chomped down on the gritty rope. He grabbed his battle-axe and began to infuse the blade with mana until the weapon thrummed with power and threatened to vibrate out of the dwarf's grip. Standing up on his horse, Balthor raised the battle-axe up over his head and threw it with all his strength straight over his horse's head toward the ground ahead of them.

'When the empowered weapon struck the dirt, it unleashed its force in a massive explosion, shooting bolts of electricity into the ground in every direction. With energy coursing through the ground in front of him, Balthor snapped his head back to yank on the reins, prodding his mount to leap over the imbedded battle-axe and the growing lightning field.

As the horse vaulted over the weapon, Balthor dived to the side, swinging to the ground with the reigns in his teeth, and yanked his battle-axe out of the dirt as he passed by. Pushing off the ground, the dwarf swung back up into the air to land on the horse again, battle-axe in hand.

Looking back, Balthor was pleased to see the ground begin to buckle, break apart, and open up from the power of the electricity quake he'd unleashed. The quake rolled through the ground back toward the pursuing Order warriors, who would have to find their way around the affected area or take their chances riding through the unstable ground.

Who says mountain magic has to be lethal? thought the dwarf as he glanced up at Kamahl's rawks winging their way to meet the avens flying out of the sun.

"I bet he draws more blood with them rawks than I do with me quake. Hmmph."

The warriors galloped on, leaving their Order pursuers behind to deal with their respective spells. The edge of the forest grew nearer and nearer with each moment. But with barely a hundred yards of plains stretching out in front of them, a hundred yards of tall grass standing between their horses and the forest's edge, they finally reached the trap that Balthor had been dreading.

As Balthor pushed his mount to catch up with Kamahl, hindered by the tether lashing his horse to the one carrying Jeska's body, the dwarf saw a blue-black blur of motion in front of Kamahl. He watched in horror as his adopted son flew over the head of his horse, which had been stopped dead in place and ripped in half by a huge lump of a beast. Balthor pushed his horse even harder as the massive humanoid casually tossed the horse's forelegs, which it still held in each hand, to the ground and began moving toward the prone Kamahl.

"Keep away from me boy, ye beastie!" screamed Balthor as he stood up on his horse for the second time that day and launched himself through the air toward the retreating monster. While in midair Balthor hooked the head of his battle-axe between his heels and began rolling. When he hit the ground, he went head over heels toward the beast, his blades flashing.

Balthor rolled right between the creature's legs, opening a huge gash in the beast's groin that would have shredded the stomach of any normal creature. Kicking his feet at the ground as he rolled, Balthor popped up in front of the beast, spun in the air, and swung his battle-axe back up from his feet. Using the full force of his momentum and his arm strength, Balthor landed a massive blow in the monster's torso, embedding the axe head deep inside the creature's chest.

"Here I come, Balthor!" yelled Kamahl. "Hang on!"

"1 ain't got much choice," said Balthor, his feet hanging about a foot from the ground as he held on to his battle-axe, which he could not yank out of the beast's side. "Get yeself into the forest boy!" he yelled as he dropped to the ground and rolled back underneath his foe's legs to avoid the beast's massive hands. "Take me horse, and get Jeska to safety. I'll take care of this beastie."

As Balthor rolled back up to his feet, he saw Kamahl jump on the horse and ride off toward the forest's edge just before the creature turned and swung his great fist, hitting Balthor square in the jaw and sending the dwarf and his iron helmet flying in different directions.

"You're a strong one," said Balthor rubbing his jaw as he staggered back to his feet, "and quicker than ye look. Let's see ye outrun this." Balthor clapped his hands together and shot a beam of lightning, striking the beast in the stomach just below the embedded axe and burning a hole right through to his back.

Still, the blue-black monster came on.

"Great Fiers!" said Balthor. "What in the nine hells are ye?"

"His name is Burke," came a reply from behind Balthor. "And you can't kill him."

Balthor glanced over his shoulder to see a tall, silvery-blue man with small horns on his head.

"Ye must be Laquatas," he said, moving to the side, so he could keep both the mer and his monster in sight. "Nothing's unkillable, believe me. And when I'm done with your pet, I'll be coming for ye."

"I'll be waiting for you over here, old man," said Laquatas. "If you live, you can take your best shot."

As Balthor looked back at Burke, he began to believe that the mer was telling the truth, for the flesh surrounding the gaping hole in the jack's torso was flowing together to mend the huge wound, leaving no evidence, not even a scar, of the hole Balthor had blasted through the beast just moments before. However, Burke did nothing about the wound in his chest or the battle-axe still trapped within his blue-black body.

"Won't give me my weapon back, eh?" said Balthor. "I don't blame ye. But having no weapon's never stopped me before."

Balthor danced out of Burke's way as the creature advanced on him. He was just quick enough to avoid taking another shot to the head. Leading the beast ever away from the forest, Balthor gathered more mana, hoping he could burn the creature to ash.

Turning around just after Burke made another pass, Balthor unleashed the lava flow spell that Murk had tried on Kamahl during the tournament. Curling his fingers as though he was about to scratch the beast, Balthor concentrated on the air above Burke. A torrent of lava began to spill from this spot, cascading down upon the jack, searing its head and shoulders with red-hot, molten rock.

Balthor poured more and more mana into the spell, opening the rift in the air wider to release gallons of lava on top the beast until it was covered from head to toe, and the river of lava pooled on the ground, threatening to start a brush fire in the tall grass.

Releasing the spell, Balthor warily watched as the lava cooled, entombing Burke within the black- and red-streaked, still-smoldering rock. The ironwood shaft of Balthor's battle-axe, impervious to the heat, protruded from the rocky prison, but there was no movement from within.

"Unkillable, eh?" asked Balthor, glancing back at the mer, who sat stoically, looking bored and unconcerned with the fight. "There's nothing nor nobody on this world I cannot best in battle."

"Finish this battle first, and then we'll see," retorted Laquatas.

Balthor humphed at the mer and turned back to the lava-encased beast. It still hadn't moved, and Balthor was sure nothing could survive the heat and power of that much lava. He slowly, cautiously, approached, intending to rip his axe free and use it to crush the misshapen black statue.