Return of the Paladin

by Layton Green

  After Caleb finished talking, the wizard looked towards the sea as if digesting the information. “Thank you,” he said softly. “Where is it you wish to go?”

  Caleb inclined his head towards his older friend. “I want to take him with me.”

  “Take me where?” the Brewer said. “What are you talking about?”

  “That will be fine,” Salomon said.

  “Hey—what’s fine?”

  When Caleb said where he wanted to go, one of the archmage’s crooked eyebrows curled higher, and the Brewer held out a hand. “Now wait—”

  “Do you want to go or not?” Caleb said.

  “I . . . yes, I’ll go if you want.”

  “Do it,” Caleb said to Salomon. “Now.”

  After the Brewer rushed to gather his pack, Salomon reached into a pocket of his tweed coat, opened a small vial, and tossed a powdery emerald substance onto Caleb and the Brewer. As soon as it touched them, they started to dissolve, and Salomon shook the powder over their dappled white mare and Caleb’s larger mount. Moments later, there was nothing left but Salomon himself and the flicker of the campfire.

  Deep in thought, the archmage stepped closer to warm his hands by the embers. The least interesting brother in the beginning had turned out to be the most promising case study of all. For as great as Salomon’s power was, he still had absolutely no idea what the Coffer of Devla actually was, who or what had made it, and how Caleb had managed to use it. As far as Salomon knew, Devla had not made himself known to the Roma people for centuries untold—if he ever had in the first place. Salomon did not profess to know very much, but he knew that time was an ageless thing and that countless suns and moons had risen on countless worlds and universes. As Elarion had sought to explore with the tower, the nature of all reality was an enigma so great that Salomon shuddered at its weight, and he foreclosed no possibilities.

  “Most curious,” he said to himself as he began studying the signature of Caleb’s spirit residue. “I really thought he would ask to join one of his brothers.”

  -28-

  After Val and Dida passed through the oval archway in the temple on the lightless bottom of the ocean, using a glow stone to examine the bizarre runes writhing across the ivory-white surface, Kiva had to issue a series of harsh commands to get her troops to pass through. On the other side, the tunnel was the same size and shape as the entrance portal, and crafted from the same white stone. The smoothness of the walls imparted the feeling of walking through a giant egg.

  Everyone bunched together as they traversed the final length of tunnel, soon emerging into an enormous chamber crafted entirely of albalium. Val’s mouth dropped when he saw that the walls were covered in sophisticated drawings and runes similar to those on the archway—except these runes were glowing, as if coated in bioluminescent paint. To his unpracticed eye, the chaotic scrawl of the runes looked almost digitized in nature, as if some mad, ancient, multi-handed genius had gone berserk on Photoshop.

  This cavern, too, was oval-shaped, as was the basin that comprised most of the room, the size of a Ferris wheel lying on its side. As in the rooms above, a set of steps encircled the basin, leading to the darker water below. Even without the runes, the precision of the chamber walls spoke of intelligent design.

  “So much albalium,” Dida murmured. “This is an extraordinary find. Unprecedented. And these runes . . . they look so fresh.”

  Around the perimeter, the walls and ceiling had caved in at four spots equidistant from one another. The destruction gave the impression there had once been a cave-in, blocking the exit passages. As Dida began to wander giddily about the room, studying the spidery runes, Kiva and her warriors fanned out near the archway and stood rigidly awaiting orders.

  Disappointed to have seen no sign of the Trident, Val studied the imagery interspersed among the runes, elaborate drawings of scenes so bizarre they left him breathless with the thrill of discovery, as well as unnerved. He saw a boiling ocean surrounded by flaming volcanoes and sheets of fire that fell like rain. Weird jungles with blue soil and mushrooms instead of trees, some as tall as skyscrapers. Clear cavern streams filled with sponge-like creatures that resembled human brains.

  Along the wall opposite the entrance, Val found a set of images that caused a chill to sweep down his spine. The scenes portrayed a group of short, pale-skinned humanoids standing on steps in a rock-walled chamber. The steps led down to a basin, where the humanoids were using long-handled brushes to wash the bulbous head of a creature half-submerged in water.

  “Dida, get over here.”

  The bibliomancer gasped when he rushed over. “The rooms from above! Before they filled with water!”

  In other parts of the chamber, interspersed among the runes, were similar scenes: pale humanoids cleansing the heads of these creatures, bowing before them, offering them sacrifices. In one disturbing image, a man hung from a pair of iron rings set into the wall, next to a figure wearing ritual beads and the decapitated head of a seal. The shaman was pulling the victim’s entrails out of a wound in his side and feeding them into an oval maw surrounded by needle-like teeth. It was unclear what creature the mouth belonged to, but Val noticed with a start that the walls of the room in that image were albalium.

  “Great stones,” Dida whispered. “They’re worshipping the beasts.”

  “Our geomancers speculate,” Dida said thoughtfully, wagging a finger in the air, “that at least one, and perhaps many, vast bodies of water exist within the core of Urfe. Perhaps the ocean floor on which this temple rests was once the surface. Perhaps these basins once tapped into an ancient underground aquifer, reservoir, or even a sea far below the surface.”

  “Something else comes to mind,” Val said. “Think about the design of the temple. The sole entrance via the tower. The narrow passages. The progression from the upper to the lower levels.”

  “It all has a ritualistic feel,” the bibliomancer murmured.

  “As if they’re terrified of those beings in the images—thus the rock walls and narrow passages, keeping them inside—yet also worship them. And the runes and walls in this room—I don’t think primitive humans did this.”

  “Agreed.”

  “What if those things were part of an advanced civilization? What if they gave these humans tools and language and who knows what else? What if they were their gods?”

  “This place could be tens of thousands of years old,” Dida said in awe. “It would explain why there’s no trace of anything except the rock.”

  Val swept an arm around the rune-covered walls. “And whoever—or whatever—did this.”

  They kept moving. Near one of the cave-ins opposite the archway, Dida grew excited as he pointed out what appeared to be the hilt of a weapon sticking out of the rubble. Val got Kiva’s attention, then swam over for a closer look. When he peered into the debris, he could tell the hilt belonged to a sapphire blue, five-pronged trident as long as his staff.

  A prolonged gurgle came from behind Val. He spun to find Kiva staring at the weapon.

  “Is this it?” Val asked. “The Trident of Terengotha?”

  “Indeed.”

  Val felt a wave of relief. He had begun to suspect the Trident had been lost or stolen away. After Dida checked for wards, Kiva pulled the Trident out of the rubble. Though elated by the completion of the quest, a troubled thought entered Val’s mind.

  If the kethropi expedition had once dropped the Trident through the tower opening, how had it gotten all the way down there?

  It was almost as if the Trident, lying conspicuously among the rubble, had been placed there.

  Kiva waved for her warriors to head for the exit, and started swimming across the chamber with the artifact. With a shrug, Val called out to Dida, knowing it would be hard to pull him away from the runes. As the bibliomancer turned to respond, a creature rose out of the basin, startling everyone and leaving Val weak in the knees, gaping in disbelief.

  A nest of tentacles appeared first, grasping o
nto the top of the steps with suckered appendages. The tentacles straddled the basin from all sides as it continued to emerge, rising to a height well over ten feet. The tentacles converged into a thick and rubbery torso of grayish hue that reminded Val of seal blubber, atop which sat a bulbous head with two eyes and a maw filled with teeth as long and as sharp as daggers. Once the thing stood upright, using the steps to support its tentacles, the milky pupils swept the room, large and liquid, shining with intelligence. A pair of tentacles ending in pincers extended out from each side of the torso, pinching the water like a crab in front of the strange being.

  Before anyone could react, the creature used one of its tentacles to sweep up a kethropi and hold him high off the floor. It gazed on the kethropi warrior with a contemptuous air as another tentacle snaked over to tighten around his neck, decapitating him with a jerk.

  Stunned by the violent display, the rest of the kethropi regrouped to attack the creature as green blood fanned into the water. Thrusting spears bounced off the thing’s rubbery flesh as it lurched out of the basin, using its nest of tentacles to carry it swiftly back and forth around the chamber, scuttling like a crab.

  One of the kethropi rushed for the exit. A tentacle lashed out like a whip, almost severing the kethropi’s arm. The being’s pincers snatched another kethropi and drew him close to its maw, attaching to his face as he screamed and kicked his legs. Moments later, the creature tossed the mangled corpse into the water.

  All of this had taken place in seconds, yet three kethropi were dead. Val had seen enough. He extended his hands and Spirit Fire erupted through the water, causing Val to wonder if it was a good idea to release energy like that through a conductor. The black lightning sparked more than usual as it slammed into the torso of the creature, causing it to scuttle backwards with an ear-splitting shriek. A gaping wound appeared in the center of its chest, muddying the water, but the powerful magic did not disintegrate the thing.

  Its movements took it within reach of another kethropi. As the fish man darted forward, prepared to thrust a spear through the creature’s eyes, the beast suddenly stopped moving, growing as still as a placid lake. The kethropi’s spear lowered, and he hovered in the water as if confused, ensorcelled in some manner. With a shocking burst of speed and power, the creature scuttled closer and hugged the kethropi to its chest, coiling its four arm tentacles around the warrior’s body. After a wet crunch of bone, the creature let go, and the kethropi sank lifeless to the floor.

  Dida was busy inscribing the outline of a glowing wall in the center of the room, cutting the creature off from the remaining members of the party. Val knew the spell; the runic magic was strong enough to stop a stone giant.

  Yet the tentacled thing moved right through it, slowing just a fraction.

  Val felt fear coil tightly around him.

  Calm and collected, the creature wrapped a nest of tentacles around the limbs of the nearest kethropi warrior. As the fish-man tried to free himself, the monster jerked straight out with its tentacles, quartering him.

  Only Kiva was left, and she looked terrified, unsure what to do.

  “Stop!” Val yelled, trying a different tactic. “Why are you attacking us?”

  To his surprise, the thing stopped moving and turned to face him. As they locked eyes, Val felt an overwhelming sense of awe at the vastness of the intelligence reflected in those silvery orbs.

  A voice resounded in Val’s head, deep and sonorous.

  *You are human but can speak with your mind.*

  “I didn’t know that,” Val said, using his voice. “What do you want with us? Why do you kill us?”

  *Your ancestors betrayed us. We had an agreement.*

  “Those weren’t my ancestors. I’m sorry for whatever it was they did.”

  *You tended to us, and we gave you things. Was it not enough?*

  The longer they talked, the more Val found himself immensely curious about the origins of this amazing being, overwhelmed by its presence.

  *We taught you how to burn and how to speak. You served us for millennia.*

  His arms hanging loose at his side, his magic forgotten, he asked, “How old is your race?”

  *As old as the stars that struck the oceans.*

  “Where did you come from?”

  *From the beginning.*

  Val felt the urge to lie prostrate in worship. Yet dimly, in the back of his mind, he heard someone calling his name. He turned and saw Dida and Kiva suspended in midair, enwrapped in tentacles that now seemed beautiful and powerful to him.

  *Look at me.*

  Val obeyed.

  *Will you tend to us, human? We will find you a mate and start anew.*

  The mention of a mate sparked a memory in Val’s mind of someone fair and golden, with turquoise eyes that mesmerized him just as much as this tentacled being’s stare.

  *Allow you to produce children and serve us as before.*

  What greater calling could there be, Val thought, than to spend my life in service to these great beings with Adaira by my side? As her image sharpened, a series of numbers flashed in the air in front of Val’s eyes, a pattern that snapped his mind awake.

  “Don’t look at its eyes,” Dida called out. “It’s hypnotizing you!”

  *Ignore him.*

  Val teetered on his feet, his attention attracted to the flashing numbers, but also drawn to the mesmeric voice in his head.

  *Serve us.*

  Dida screamed as the tentacles started to tighten his body, and that piercing human cry brought Val all the way back.

  Dida. My friend. This thing is killing my friend.

  Val roared and blasted the creature with Spirit Fire, this time aiming for its eye. It gave an inhuman screech as the eye melted, and released Dida and Kiva. Val almost emptied his store of magic, burning a hole right through the creature’s head. Its shriek reverberated through the water and caused Val to clamp his hands over his ears. Yet still it didn’t fall. How is it still alive?

  Kiva raised the Trident, then changed her mind and joined Dida and Val in a mad rush for the exit. Val looked back and saw the creature heave, press one of its tentacles to its eye, and rush after them.

  As they fled past the basin, another creature rose out of the water, smaller than the first and with beige spots on its head. It swept an imperious gaze around the room and saw its wounded companion scuttling across the chamber.

  Dida was frantically inscribing runes in midair with his hands as they raced for the archway. Both creatures followed them into the oval tunnel. Val’s terror made him want to vomit, but he pressed forward, turning only to release a weakened bolt of Spirit Fire the lead creature barely noticed.

  They were almost to the archway. Val prayed the things could not fit through. Yet the creatures had gained so much ground that even if Val and the others made it out, a tentacle was going to catch one of them by the legs and drag them back inside. Dida was bringing up the rear with his ponderous strokes, and Val feared he wouldn’t make it. Just as they cleared the portal, Val turned to help his friend, raising his staff. The beige creature was less than ten feet away. A tentacle shot towards the white archway to ensnare Dida. As Val moved to intercept it with the staff, the tentacle stopped in midair at the entrance to the archway, and a bolt of electricity arced back through the water, causing the creature to seize up. A sheet of purple light filled the egg-shaped opening, and Val recognized another of Dida’s barrier glyphs, this one stronger and more focused in the smaller space of the archway.

  As Val and the others fled down the narrow tunnel, back into the temple and out of reach of their pursuers, the eldritch beings released a cry with an entirely different timbre than before, keening moans of rage and eternal despair.

  Terrified the creatures would pursue them, Kiva led them up through the ocean without delay. She didn’t seem to understand Val’s worry about the bends, the deadly decompression sickness caused by surfacing too quickly, but the Skincloths must have protected him and Dida, becaus
e they arrived unharmed. Val felt immeasurable relief at the familiar sight of the moon and stars, of the fresh cool air on his cheeks.

  The dolphins arrived soon, nuzzling Kiva as if relieved. Distraught by the decimation of her team, shaken to her core by the encounter on the ocean bottom, the kethropi leader grimly led them back to the underwater city, stopping to rest for a mere two hours on the return journey. Val was so exhausted when they arrived that he embraced Adaira and fell straight into bed.

  The next morning, Adaira had the unenviable task of managing the diplomatic fallout from the disastrous mission. She decided to stay another day to help smooth things over, but Lord Alistair ordered Val and Dida to return immediately to New Victoria. After Val said his goodbyes to Adaira and promised to meet her soon, Alistair opened a portal and took him and Dida through.

  Later that same evening, Val found himself back inside the rock-walled headquarters of Undertown, facing Zagath again on his floating throne. Val held his staff upright in one hand and the Trident of Terengotha in another. He was alone this time—or so it appeared.

  As promised, once Val had stepped foot in the entrance to Undertown by the Goblin Market, a heavily armed contingent of Zagath’s men had arrived to meet him. After insisting on a blindfold, they had led him on a long walk through the sewer, and then a ride on a canoe. No black sash accosted them along the way, as Val knew they wouldn’t.

  Zagath’s eyes latched onto the Trident as soon as he saw Val. Outside of the water, the sapphire artifact did not gleam so brightly.

  “You’ve brought it,” Zagath said.

  “You sound surprised.”

  “I am . . . impressed.”

  “Because we overcame the horrific guardians you conveniently forgot to mention?”

  “I don’t know—”

  “Don’t lie to me,” Val warned. “You couldn’t have known about the runes unless you were inside the temple. You saw those things, too.”