by Eric Vall
“But the rumor is that this one is incredibly powerful,” Aedan said as he rubbed his hand over his bald head. “Best use caution.”
“I know, I know,” Quinlan said as he stifled a yawn. “Those words bother me by the way. Deity, god? I prefer to call them beings. Those types seem to think that they’re so superior to everyone else when they are quite capable of being slain.”
I found the elf’s words particularly amusing given the fact that he seemed to think that he himself was so superior, but I continued to watch in silence. I wanted to glean all the information I could to plan the perfect demise for these intruders.
“Aedan, you have grown quiet again,” the elf said with a smug smile. “Does this mean that you are indeed frightened of the being that lives here?”
“What utter nonsense,” Aedan grumbled. “I have no reason to fear this deity. I have slain my fair share of gods just as you two have. None of them was a match for me, and neither will this one.”
“You just said this particular one is supposed to be a bit more challenging than the others that we have faced though,” Quinlan pointed out.
“We should just be cautious,” Aedan said with a look of determination. “I’ll strike him down easily.”
Who were these mortals that made such bold claims against me? They had no idea with whom they intended to do battle with.
“If he does indeed prove to have a little more spirit in him than the last two gods, I’ll just use this again,” the bald man continued as he brushed his fingers across the talisman on his neck.
Suddenly, it came to me.
The former king of Valasara had worn a similar talisman, a talisman that had been given to him by the dark wizard Tuzakeur. My fury redoubled at the realization, but I forced myself to keep quiet for a while longer. If these were servants of Tuzakeur, I had to be sure before I struck.
“I was already one of the mightiest warriors in my homeland, but when Tuzakeur gave me this, I became unstoppable,” Aedan boasted.
So, I was right after all. The wizard had given this man the talisman that he wore. Not only that, Tuzakeur appeared to be their master.
“Enough of your boasting,” the bearded man at the head of the group growled. “We’ve heard it all before. Don’t forget that we too are the best warriors from our homelands and that Tuzakeur bestowed gifts to us as well.”
Aedan opened his mouth to retort, but Quinlan interrupted him.
“According to Tuzakeur, this one is causing quite a raucous. First, he killed Tuzakeur’s little puppet king in Valasara, then there are the reports that he’s helping that fox woman gather the sacred objects, which certainly cannot be good.”
“He isn’t even in his dungeon.” Brín nodded as they turned another corner. “So this should be easy. Although, I’ve never heard of one of their kind being able to leave their prison.”
“I don’t study them,” Quinlan sighed. “I just kill them.”
I found it extremely amusing that the dark wizard thought that two mere humans and a very conceited elf were enough to put an end to me. Quinlan was particularly arrogant, but the other two also seemed to think that they possessed more than adequate enough skill to defeat me. They had no idea how very wrong they were.
Every fiber of my being screamed at me to put an end to their impudence and strike them down right where they stood, but I kept myself in check. However much I wanted to splatter their blood across the rocky walls, I needed them alive so that I could question them about Tuzakeur. Surely men that worked for him directly would have useful information, and perhaps then I could discover his whereabouts and the full extent of his magic.
But just because I needed them alive didn’t mean that I couldn’t toy with them and make them suffer for their impudence. I would have to capture them in order to gather the information, and I figured I may as well enjoy the process of ensnaring my prey.
Finally, the adventurers emerged from one last passageway and into a vast cavern, the exact same cavern in which I had first captured my beautiful minions. I had shown the women some mercy because of my curiosity and desire to see what they were capable of. These men would not be paid the same courtesy. They were the servants of my enemy which made them my enemies as well.
I would take delight in their destruction.
The three men paused at the cavern’s entrance and gazed around at what sprawled out before them. The floor sloped down sharply into the depths, and the chamber was filled with spires of jagged rock that jutted out from the floor and ceiling. Water dripped from the ceiling and plinked down in stagnant pools of water that sent soft echoes off the walls. I’d already adjusted the layout a bit to account for three men instead of four women, and I felt my spirit grow excited with what the next few moments would bring.
“That’s odd,” the elf said as he glanced around the cavern. “I feel like we’ve gotten turned around.”
“I told you that we were going the right way,” Brín hissed at Quinlan.
“Yes, yes, congratulations.” The brown-haired elf rolled his eyes. “Now, where are we supposed to go next, oh fearless leader?”
Brín grimaced at Quinlan but said nothing. The bearded man simply stared down into the pit-like cavern and scanned the numerous tunnel entrances that lined the walls as he stroked at his beard.
“I believe that--” Brín began to say when suddenly, their torches blew out, extinguished by a fraction of my magic, and left the trio in pitch blackness.
“Blasted wind,” Aedan growled as he fumbled around in his pockets in search of a match.
“What was that?” Brín whirled his head around wildly. “Something blew out our torches.”
“Yes,” Quinlan said with an exasperated tone. “We’ve already established that the wind blew them out. Do try to keep up, man. I did not think that even you could be this dense, but perhaps I was wrong.”
“I’m not so sure that was wind,” Brín said suspiciously as his eyes darted around in the darkness.
Aedan quickly found a match, hurriedly relit his torch, and then used his flame to light the others’ torches. Within moments, the orange flickering flames had returned, and the men’s long shadows were cast across the cavern floor once more. Brín continued to look around suspiciously as though he anticipated an attack. His dark eyes scanned the area thoroughly, but seeing that there was no visible threat, he relaxed his hulking shoulders a bit.
“Let’s get going,” the large man said to the others. “As I was saying before, I think that--”
Just then, the torches flickered out again.
“Not again,” Quinlan moaned. “This wind is quite tiresome.”
“I’m telling you this is no wind,” Brín snarled. “This must be the work of the deity who lives here.”
“For one, he isn’t here. Second, if he was here why would he spend his time blowing out our torches?” the elf said with annoyance dripping from his voice. “If he is truly so powerful, why would he waste his time with such tricks? Why not just attack us?”
“Perhaps he’s toying with us,” Aedan narrowed his eyes as he felt around in his cloak pockets, I assumed for additional matches.
“You really think so?” Quinlan raised an eyebrow.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” the bald man grumbled as he continued to search his pockets. “Typical of these petty gods.”
“I do hope he shows himself soon,” the elf said with a bored expression. “I want to get rid of him and be done with the matter as soon as possible. I have other things to attend to elsewhere on the continent.”
He turned to look at the armored man as he fumbled in his cloak. “Oh, come on, Aedan. We don’t have all day. What are you doing, digging to the next continent to find those matches?”
“It looks like I’m out,” the bald man said as he drew his hand from his cloak pocket. “Do you have any more, Brín?”
“I have some left in my pack,” Brín replied. With his eyes still darting around in the darkness, he remove
d the pack from his shoulders and began to feel around in it. Suddenly, he stopped his movement and narrowed his eyes. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Aedan asked.
“That noise,” Brín said slowly.
“I did not hear anything,” Quinlan said nonchalantly.
“I’m sure I heard something,” Brín said firmly. “It sounded like… scraping.”
“Scraping?” the elf man snorted.
“Yes, something scraping against the rocks,” the large man replied. “It could be the deity or some sort of monster that he’s sent after us.”
The first signs of fear and paranoia among my prey always sent a shiver through my soul, and I fought against the urge to let my dark laughter fill the caves.
“You worry too much.” Quinlan waved his hand absently. “We have dealt with plenty of demons and monsters and such. This should be no issue for the likes of us.”
“You mistake my caution for fear,” Brín said with a note of anger in his tone as he continued to dig through his pack in search of the matches. “I simply don’t want to be caught unawares.”
“Instead of spending time digging around for your matches, I could just use my arrows,” Quinlan said, ignoring Brín’s words as he folded his arms over his chest.
“No,” the bearded man said to the elf. “Save your arrows. We should only use them when necessary. Exercise a little patience for once.”
“Very well.” Quinlan shrugged his shoulders. “Aedan, will you please give me some space? You are standing far too close for my comfort.”
“What are you talking about?” Aedan asked with a look of confusion.
“This is the second time that you have bumped into me,” Quinlan said quickly, barely giving Aedan a chance to finish speaking. “I was kind enough not to mention it the first time, but now, you are annoying me. Not only that, you are standing so close to me that I can feel your breath on me, and it is most irksome. It is hot, and it smells as though you have recently consumed rotting fish.”
“Watch your tongue, elf,” the bald man sneered, “and I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t bumped into you, I haven’t even touched you.”
“You hit my shoulder only moments ago,” Quinlan hissed. “Why do you insist on lying?”
Aedan opened his mouth to offer a retort but Brín spoke before he had the chance.
“There now,” the bearded man said as he pulled a match from his pack and held it tightly in his large fingers. He slowly bent down to the ground and struck the match against the cavern floor. The match ignited instantly, and Brín lowered the tiny flame onto his torch. As the torch flickered to life, he slowly turned around to face the others, and his lips parted to speak, but when he turned to look at his companions, his eyes widened, his mouth stuck open, and his hand slowly reached for his sword.
Seeing the hairy man’s face, Quinlan started to chuckle. “What is the matter Brín? Did the sight of Aedan’s face frighten you?”
Aedan gave Quinlan a scowl and muttered something under his breath.
“Back away from the wall slowly,” Brín said to the two men with a dark expression as he unsheathed his sword.
“Whatever for?” Quinlan chortled, and both he and Aedan turned around.
The self-satisfied look that had been plastered on the elf’s face abruptly shifted to a look of shock as he came face to face with one of my ice demons. The gangly beast clung to the wall directly behind him, its bony talons dug into the rocky surface to keep it anchored in place.
I had been busy while these fools fumbled around in the darkness.
Quinlan sucked in his breath sharply as his eyes met with the antler-headed creature only a few inches away from his own. The ice demon opened its unnaturally wide mouth and hissed, drool dripping off its vicious fangs.
The brown-haired elf quickly regained his usual haughtiness and gave the ice demon a superior smile. “Is this all you were worried about Brín?” Quinlan called out with a dry laugh. “This vile creature? Why it’s nothing but--”
A chorus of snarls and scraping sounds echoed off the walls to cut the arrogant elf off mid sentence. Quinlan and Aedan slowly tilted their heads upward and what they saw brought fear flickering to their eyes.
“No,” Brín said quietly, torch still in hand. “That is what I’m concerned about.”
The flame from Brín’s torch revealed that about ten feet above where the lone horned demon was, there were over a hundred more ice demons that almost completely covered the walls.
And they were crawling their way down towards the adventurers.
As I said, I had been quite busy, and this was but the opening move of our little game.
The ice demons slunk down the wall as they hissed and gnashed their teeth. I drank in the men’s fear as the trio slowly backed away from the wall. Their eyes darted between each of the numerous demons that approached them.
“Quinlan, use one of your arrows,” Brín said to the elf in a hushed tone, but Quinlan was already pulling back his bowstring as he took aim at the ceiling.
The elf squinted his eye for a moment and then let the arrow fly. It whizzed upward to the roof of the cavern at breakneck speed, and as it flew, the tip of the arrow started to radiate white light. The comet-like arrow slammed into the ceiling and embedded itself into the rocks. From the glowing shaft, millions of white sparks flew into the atmosphere and illuminated the darkened cavern.
Quinlan’s face suddenly grew dark. “It seems that our problem is a little bigger than we thought,” he said to the others and gestured to the ceiling.
The other two men quickly glanced up to see that the light from Quinlan’s arrow had revealed that there were countless more ice demons on the ceiling. They clung to the rocky spires that jutted out from the ceiling, filled the crevices between them, and wove a tapestry of terror above the intruders.
Brín glanced back at the ice demons that were still crawling down the side of the wall then down at the one closest to them on the wall. The beast hadn’t yet attacked. I wanted to give the panic a chance to set in fully, and I wanted to give them a chance to scramble around and form whatever useless plan that they would come up with.
It was much more fun that way.
“Both of you, make a break for the bottom of the cavern on my signal,” Brín hissed to the others. “We can’t fight on this ledge.”
The two men nodded in response as Brín kept his eyes on the demons that were on the wall. A wise decision as those were the enemies that were within the closest proximity.
Not that it would matter.
“Now!” the hairy man suddenly bellowed, and both he and his companions whipped around and took a hop over the edge. Then the trio ran down the cave’s sloped side as quickly as they could without taking a misstep.
At that, the lone ice demon released an ear-splitting screech, a call to arms at my command, and all the wall-crawling demons leapt down to race after the men as they let out menacing sneers and hisses. The trio had nearly made it halfway down the slope when the ice demons reached the side of the ledge. Half of my demonic legion broke off from the rest and scurried down the side howling while the others stayed on the ledge and rose to stand on two feet at my command.
It was time to draw first blood.
Shiny ice daggers emerged from the demons’ wrists and slid into their clawed grasps. Without hesitation, the pale creatures proceeded to hurl them at the men. The bombardment of ice daggers fell down on the party, and most of the initial volley whizzed past the party’s heads, shoulders, and legs before they shattered on the rocks.
“Blasted things have built-in daggers!” Aedan shouted as another dagger flew past him narrowly missing his neck.
“I have never seen creatures like this,” Quinlan yelled back. “They would be most useful-- Agh!”
One of the ice daggers cut him off as it plunged into his shoulder blade. The elf grimaced with pain, and he hastily ripped the icicle free. Blood dripped from th
e tear in his clothing as the trio, no doubt realizing they could no longer run, stopped to make a stand. To my surprise, the elf’s wound began to heal rapidly.
So, the elf possessed healing magic. Most likely from something given to him by Tuzakeur. What other magical skills did these men wield?
Aedan had collected a few hits into his silver armor which held fast against the volleys of ice, and Brin batted a few projectiles out of the air, so I commanded my demons to cease their ranged assault, it had done its job, and had them join the horde about to overrun the interlopers.
Brín planted his feet firmly on the ground and gripped his sword tightly. Aedan, however, simply stood with one foot in front of the other with his fists clenched in a strange martial pose, similar to some of Rana’s fighting stances, as the talisman around his neck glimmered.
Interesting. That talisman that he wore around his neck, he had mentioned that he would use it against me if necessary. I was curious as to what powers it held. I would have to force his hand.
“Aedan, Quinlan, you two take care of this group,” Brín nodded to the rapidly approaching throng of ice demons that raced down the rocky slope before he tilted his head up to look at the demons that still clung to the protrusions on the ceiling. “I’ll keep an eye on these.”
“I do wish you’d stop ordering us around,” Quinlan groaned as he pulled back on his bow and released a fresh arrow.
The arrow cut through the air and neatly pierced the forehead of an ice demon with a loud wet crack. The creature dropped dead in its tracks, but the arrow didn’t stop there. It bored through the demon’s head and blasted out the back before and piercing the skull of the next ice demon. Once more, the arrow blasted clean through, then curved as if guided by an unseen hand to kill a third monster before hurtling back to the elf’s quiver.
Impressive, but alas, it wouldn’t be enough to save him from me.
Meanwhile, Aedan spread his feet apart and raised his clenched fists in the air. His ruby talisman started to shine with a solid red light, and as a primal yell escaped the armored man’s lips, his muscles began to bulge as his entire form seemed to swell. With that, the bald man turned to grasp one of the rocky formations in the cavern floor, pinched his lips together in concentration, and then pulled on it as if to wrest it from the cavern floor. Whatever magic flowing in his veins from the amulet was strong, because to my faint surprise, the stone cracked and split as the bald man tore the chunk of stone from the ground.