Rojuun

by John H. Carroll

  Chapter 30

  “I’m fine,” Liselle said in frustration. She was determined to go with them today no matter what they said. She wasn’t completely back up to strength, but was well enough to take care of any minor healing that needed to be done and could also throw a fireball or two if a sstejj got too close. “I’m not going to cast fire throughout the caverns. I’ll do only what I’m able, and that much only if necessary.”

  “I’m not convinced, Cousin.” Tathan stood with his arms crossed. “The healer said two weeks, not four days.” He held up a hand to prevent more argument. “I know you understand what you’re able to handle better than anyone. I also know that you won’t strain yourself if you can avoid it.” He took a deep breath and continued. “But those creatures don’t stop coming and you may not be able to avoid using magic.”

  “I can!” Vevin leapt to his feet. “I will keep her with me and make sure that she gets to safety if things get that bad.” He stepped toward Tathan. “You know I’ll protect her with my life, Tathan Friend. You know that nothing can stop me from keeping her safe.”

  Tathan sighed. Having Vevin spend all of his time with Liselle wasn’t the solution he was looking for. “I know, Vevin.” He sighed again when he noticed his cousin smiled at the idea. Tathan wanted to argue more or even put his foot down, but had the wisdom to know that wouldn’t go well for him. “All right. If things get bad, Vevin is to get you to safety,” he said to Liselle. “I know you can take care of yourself, but I want to be smart about this and not stress your powers too soon.”

  “I agree to that, Tathan.” Liselle came over and gave him a big hug, holding him tight. It felt good and relieved some of his tension. “So let’s go,” she said eagerly, grabbing the picnic lunch she had packed for them.

  Tathan led the way through the door. They met Marrraa and the trainees outside the main entry before heading to the cavern.

  Marrraa glanced at Liselle and gave Tathan a questioning look.

  He held his hands out helplessly. “She’s going to limit her magic. If things get bad, Vevin will get her to safety.”

  Marrraa nodded in response. A short while later they were back at the gate at the end of the tunnel. There were only a few sstejj this time. Marrraa let Sir Danth through the door and he quickly dispatched them. Tathan, Marrraa, and the knight scouted ahead, finding one more small pack, which they let the trainees dispatch.

  The warriors led the builders to the right, heading toward a tunnel past the two gated the day before. They came across two more packs, one of which Tathan handled with Aaruulaa’s help. Once again, he let her do most of the fighting, though he did take out one of the creatures that headed toward the builders. Marrraa and her sister took out the other pack. She let Turrr kill all but one as well. The young trainee walked back with a satisfied grin on her face.

  Tathan had a bad feeling. Part of it was that there should be more sstejj trying to get to them, especially since the companions had taken yesterday off. He also felt unreasonably worried for Liselle.

  Mostly, he just had a very bad feeling about things. He used to trust those bad feelings, but he had cut through so much empty air lately that he wasn’t sure anymore. They were doing everything right and it should be safe. He was certain they could handle any sstejj intrusion. After a few moments of restlessness, he moved next to the knight. “Sir Danth, I have a sense of dread and I can’t shake it.”

  “I am certain Lady Liselle would not have come out were she not feeling well enough. She does not strike me as a fool.”

  Tathan shook his head. “It’s not Liselle, it’s just a general sense of dread, like something is wrong. I can’t place it.”

  The knight looked at him thoughtfully. “I believe your instincts are to be trusted, Master Tathan. I do not know how to attack a sense of dread, however.”

  Tathan chuckled. “I haven’t figured that one out either. Just be ready for the unexpected I guess.”

  He nodded. “I will be extra diligent, Master Tathan.”

  “Thank you.” Tathan placed a grateful hand on his shoulder.

  They reached their destination a short while later. This tunnel was near the river, which flowed just a short distance away. A waterfall poured out of the wall about twenty feet up, creating a pool that would be perfect for swimming in when the cavern was safe. From there, the river traveled to the lake on the far end. They were on high ground, enabling the party to see everywhere else. The glow of life in the river made it bright, while phosphorescent moss from the ceiling and walls combined with the plants, giving the cavern a moonlit cast.

  The builders set up camp between the pool and the tunnel they were going to gate. They began work just as soon as everything was set. Liselle stayed at the camp with Vevin and his trainee. Sir Danth, Tathan and Marrraa took their trainees and scouted the area.

  It wasn’t long before they came across a pack of sstejj that had caught scent of the builders. Sir Danth and Marrraa led their trainees into the pack while Tathan fell back to catch any that might get past. He looked at Aaruulaa to see if she were ready. She was juggling her knives and grinning at him, ready for anything that should come.

  He was surprised to see three of the sstejj get past Sir Danth and Marrraa right away. It was a larger pack than usual. Tathan leapt onto the back of one, slicing through it and somersaulted to the next, killing it just as efficiently while his trainee took care of the third. She looked at him in surprise, as he had never taken the first kills like that. There was also some awe there as she saw how easy he made it seem.

  Suddenly there were more sstejj rushing toward them, a lot more.

  Sir Danth yelled at his trainee to fall back.

  Tathan and Aaruulaa covered their retreat. Marrraa and Turrr also fell back to Tathan’s position.

  The sstejj rushed past their flanks. There were too many

  Marrraa pulled out a horn to sound the alarm to the building party.

  Sir Danth stood at the front of the rush and raised his sword. Brilliant light emanated from the blade. He plunged it deep into the ground. An enormous shockwave knocked scores of sstejj off their feet and shattered creatures close to him. The force of the shockwave acted as an overload of vibration to the sstejj, stunning them.

  The warriors dashed back to the perimeters of the camp to take defensive positions.

  Sstejj flowed toward the camp like a tidal wave.

  The builders congregated with weapons ready. Vevin stood at the right rear flank of the camp in a crouch, purple whip coiled around his body. Liselle stood behind him, not taking any action. They would be safe near the pool.

  Sir Danth, Tathan, and Marrraa spaced themselves at the outer diameter of the camp with their trainees and fought the rush.

  A crack of thunder sounded through the cavern, then another and another. Purple lightning killed large swaths of sstejj as Vevin cast his spells, determined to keep Liselle safe. Tathan felt a burst of speed and began cutting through sstejj twice as fast. All of the warriors were moving faster. He felt Liselle’s touch in the magical energy and knew she had done something to give them speed and strength. He hoped that it wasn’t too much for her, but decided to be more thankful than upset.

  Magic flared forth from the builders. Tathan had been told that all Rojuun could do magic, but was surprised to see so many spells cascading into the pack. Vibrant colors of fire, ice, lightning and other spells washed through the sstejj. In addition, Tathan discovered that his vision became sharper, he moved even faster, and there was power in each action he performed. Rojuun spellcasters were sending their own boosting magic toward the warriors. Suddenly Tathan became confident that they could take this fight easily in spite of the numbers.

  The cavern shook with a deep scream, which sounded like one made by sstejj, only louder and larger. Tathan dispatched the creature in front of him and looked. The scream came from a sstejj the height of five Rojuun
. Slime dripped from its enormous teeth, each as thick as Tathan’s waist. Behind it came even more sstejj, swarming like ants moving in for the kill.

  Tathan turned to Vevin and started to yell for him to get Liselle to safety. But he realized there was no way the dragon could take her back through the locked gate without breaking it down, endangering Garrrn Cavern. It was a terrible oversight on their part. Cold fear struck his heart. He didn’t want his cousin to die. He didn’t want any of them to die, but the terrifying horde coming toward them did not look to be stopped.

  Before he could worry further, he was surrounded by sstejj, each trying to take a bite of him. Then they were being hit with blue fireballs, screaming as they died. Tathan turned to see Liselle cast two more in rapid succession. He felt like an idiot as he realized his cousin was just as worried about him. At that moment, she was doing a better job of keeping her head than he was.

  Aaruulaa was moving at magically boosted speeds, killing every one of the creatures that came near her. Marrraa and her sister were holding their own. Sir Danth was even more deadly with the additional speed and strength from the magic of the Rojuun. Tathan leapt onto the back of the next sstejj and ran his sword along its length as he jumped to the next, dispatching it just as easily. He began slaughtering the beasts in earnest.

  Then the monstrous sstejj was in front of them. Numerous spells from the builders shot forth into the creature’s face and body. A cold fist grabbed all of their hearts when they realized it wasn’t affected by magic. The creature had a large red gem in the center of its head that glowed brightly as each spell hit. A magical force field flared around its body each time, deflecting the spells. The only good thing that came out of it was that the spells killed any sstejj that were in the location of the deflection.

  Battle slowed for a moment as everyone digested what had just happened. The monstrous sstejj let out a scream of triumph that rocked the cavern. It moved forward once more with the rest of the horde.

  Tathan was still leaping across the backs of sstejj as he killed them. They couldn’t fight someone who never touched the ground and he moved too quickly for the creatures to pin down a scent. There were so many sstejj coming that Tathan could walk across the cavern on them, but he needed to kill the monstrous one.

  He dashed toward it, slashing every sstejj he ran across with his sword as he went. Tathan had more agility than any acrobat and could keep his feet in an earthquake. In an odd way, running atop the shifting and dying bodies was fun for him.

  An instant later, he was at the monster. It was going to reach the camp soon if he didn’t kill it. Tathan leapt for the first leg. He grabbed the stony structure with his free hand and swung to the next, moving closer to the body. He hit the second leg with his feet in a move only the most dexterous could ever accomplish. A somersault that would have made Vevin proud brought him to the third leg right next to the body of the monstrous sstejj. Tathan did a sideways somersault and landed on the body, driving his sword into it.

  He was stunned when the creature didn’t die. His sword went into the body easily enough, but when Tathan pulled it out, the wound resealed. He thrust repeatedly, each new wound resealing. Tathan managed to keep his feet when the next spell hit the creature, this one a bolt of lightning from Vevin. The monstrous sstejj staggered for a moment, but the gem in its head flared bright, protecting it from destruction.

  Tathan realized the gem was key to killing the creature. He ran up to the neck and leapt to the head, thrusting his sword into the center of the gem.

  His world exploded in a flash of red as the gem shattered. The sword had strong magics within it or else it might have failed to do any damage. The resulting explosive reaction wrenched the sword out of his hands, throwing him into the air.

  For a moment, Tathan floated. He couldn’t see anything but the red flash. The only sound was ringing in his head. Tathan flung his body around in order to land as well as possible even if he couldn’t see the ground. When he did land, it was hard. He tried to get up, but could only find his hands and knees. Tathan was momentarily blind, deaf and disoriented.

  Something grabbed his shoulders. He tried to shake it off, thinking one of the sstejj was trying to kill him. Tathan felt a face against his cheek. Hands were on his shoulders, lifting him. Whoever had him was trying to yell something in his ear, but he could only hear ringing.

  Tathan stumbled and nearly passed out a few times as the person led him back to the camp. Someone else grabbed his other side and they carried him. He couldn’t see where they were going, but by the number of hands on him, he thought that he was being carried by Rojuun.

  He weakly asked for his sword. That wasn’t something he never wanted to lose. They didn’t reply or slow down. A moment later, whoever was carrying him set him down on the ground and left. Tathan lay on his back for a moment, trying to regain his senses, but could still only hear ringing and see the red blur from the explosion of the gem.

  Tathan leaned up on one elbow, fighting off a bout of dizziness, and reached into a secret pouch inside his shirt. He fumbled it open, feeling for the seed that was in it. When he found the seed, he placed it under his tongue. The seed was addictive and dangerous to use, not to mention illegal in most countries.

  His back arched and he yelled as the drug took effect. It was painful at first, but then a wave of adrenaline hit him. He lurched to his feet before falling back to his hands and knees. Tathan finally managed to reach his feet, though he wobbled. Slowly, the blurry images began to clear. Sounds began to filter through and he heard shouts of Rojuun intermixed with screams of the attacking aberrations. Tathan’s vision was still tinged with red, while the ringing was a dull noise in the back of his skull.

  After staggering forward a few steps to join the fight, he realized he didn’t have any weapon but his belt knife. He pulled the knife and watched it shake in his unstable hand. Tathan took a deep breath, trying to compose himself better. It worked a little bit, but there was no way he could fight anything.

  Tathan looked around for Liselle. Marrraa was fighting in the distance; at least it looked like her, though it could have been Turrr. Sir Danth was killing just as fast as ever, moving from sstejj to sstejj. He wasn’t using his energy to disappear and reappear, conserving it instead for fighting. Tathan couldn’t see his trainee or Sir Danth’s. He also couldn’t see Vevin.

  To the left, builders were fighting sstejj that had broken through the defenses. There was a commotion to the right where a smaller group of the monsters had attacked. They were running away back through the river to the tunnels, leaving behind the bodies of six Rojuun builders and Vevin’s trainee.

  Tathan stared at them for a moment. He had never seen sstejj run away. He looked at the bodies of the Rojuun lying on the ground and realized that the sstejj had left without trying to eat them. Something was very wrong. The remaining builders in that direction were shouting, yelling and pointing at the retreating sstejj. One of them saw Tathan and started yelling at him, pointing frantically at the creatures.

  It was all so confusing. Tathan took a few steps toward the retreating sstejj and waved his knife weakly at them, but it was no good. A blast of magic to the left destroyed another swath of the creatures, diminishing their numbers just a little more. The Rojuun to his right had made it over to him and was yelling while gesturing madly at the retreating sstejj. The monsters were well past the river and nearly at a tunnel in the distance.

  Sir Danth was suddenly on his left. Tathan absently noticed that the dark knight never got messy in battle. He decided if he ever got enchanted armor that he would make sure it had the ability to stay clean like that.

  The knight took him by the shoulders. “Master Tathan, the creatures took Lady Liselle.”

  His voice was muffled, but Tathan could distinguish the words. The meaning wasn’t clear to him though.

  “A dark creature riding one of the sstejj to
ok Lady Liselle and ran off with her into the tunnels!” the knight repeated.

  Tathan finally understood the words and felt the blood drain from his face. The sense of dread he felt earlier returned tenfold.

  A great roar reverberated throughout the cavern. Appearing in the air above the waterfall was a furious purple dragon. It inhaled deeply as great wings spread out to keep it aloft. When it exhaled, purple flames laced with lightning shot the distance of the cavern, killing nearly all the remaining sstejj in its path.

  The dragon heaved forward through the air and let out another rumbling scream of fury. It shook the cavern, causing debris to fall to the ground from the walls and ceiling. The few surviving sstejj were paralyzed by vibrations of the roar while Rojuun stared at the magnificent creature in awe.

  The last thing Tathan saw before his legs buckled and his vision went black was the sight of Vevin in dragon form darting toward the tunnels.