by Eric Vall
“Take your time,” I said to the others as I pushed upward. Then I lifted my foot up to the next available cranny and reached up to grab for another protruding rock.
Upward we went, making surprisingly good time even when we had to set pitons and run lines to ensure our safety. I frequently glanced to check on Morrigan and Carmedy coming behind me, but only occasionally having to help one or the other with a difficult spot. Though their chosen professions weren’t centered on physical power or fitness, feline grace, elven nimbleness, and our many weeks of adventuring made what would be a hard climb for most much easier.
“You’re doing well,” I called down to them. “We’ll be at the top before you know it.”
“Good,” Carmedy said shakily. “I’m not exactly enjoying this team building activity.”
“I think it’s pretty fun,” Rana said as she swiftly climbed up the pit’s side. “It’s good exercise.”
The fox had proceeded much faster than I had and was already several body lengths ahead of me as I would have expected. Even though she was quick, the fox woman was still careful with her climbing, and it certainly helped that her partner was the well-trained warrior Annalíse.
“Easy for you to say,” Carmedy grunted as she pulled herself up to the next rock. “You and Annalíse are super athletic. This is a breeze for you.”
Rana flashed a smirk downward at that, but Annalíse was purely focused on the climb, and her face hinted that she was also thinking about the conundrum I had presented her with.
“Well, Carmedy, perhaps if you spent less time snacking and more time partaking in physical activities, this would be an easier task,” Morrigan wryly observed as she ascended ahead of the cat-girl.
“Haha, very funny,” Carmedy said as she stuck her tongue out at the elf… and in the process, she failed to pay attention to where she was reaching. Instead, the cat-girl grasped at a loose stone, and in the blink of an eye, it tore loose.
Her green eyes went wide in realization, and she began to fall backward.
Even as my other minions froze in horror for a split-second, I did not. My grip was already cinched, the cleats of my boots were well cinched in grooves in the stone, and our tethers were tight. All the same, I decided not to play with dear Carmedy’s safety. Simultaneously, I summoned up my own dark power mixed with Cethin’s weather magic and the twin gods’ animalistic might.
I hadn’t mingled the power of three gods at once yet, but there was no better time to do so.
Before Carmedy had fallen six feet, my shadow slaves rushed forth at my command to intercept her fall as the cold air burst into motion with a terrific updraft that caught the alchemist and slowed her descent. Even so, she hit the end of the tether with a hard yank… but the animal gods’ gifts had turned my hands into the powerful grip of the Snokka ape.
I didn’t budge an inch, and before Carmedy could even finish crying out in fear and surprise, my shadow slaves had caught her from my buffeting winds and pulled her invisibly back up to a safe perch in my arm that held her rope.
“Are you guys okay?” Rana called down as her wits caught up to the moment. Carmedy was still wide-eyed as she now clung to my armored shoulder and chest for dear life, but Morrigan only cracked a faint smirk as she glanced up languidly at the fox woman.
“Yes, of course, we are fine,” the she-elf said calmly. “The Master is here to take care of us.”
“Hooray for Master! I knew he’d save me!” Carmedy nodded enthusiastically and bounced right back from her fear as our resilient cat-girl always did, and Rana’s look of concern melted into relief.
“Yeah, Morrigan,” the fox woman said after a moment as she favored me with a smile. “You’re absolutely right.”
I nodded confidentially in return, and then glanced down at Carmedy as she pulled away from my chest, found her handholds and footing, and then looked up at me with adoration shining in her emerald eyes.
“Are you ready to continue, Carmedy?” I asked. “Or do you need a moment to recover? If so--”
“I knew you’d catch me, Master,” she said with utter confidence before nodding slightly. “But no, I’m good! Let’s beat this wall!”
“That’s the spirit, pussycat,” Rana said with a chuckle. “We’re moving on, princess. You ready?”
Annalíse looked up at the thief and nodded sharply as she broke her silence. “Always, Rana!”
And that was that. The rest of our climb was strenuous but without further issue. There was a shelf near the top of the cavern walls, a straight cliff of cut stone where the supporting arches began, no doubt cut by the original architects of this fortress. That was where we wound up after a good hour of hard climbing. Rana and Annalíse managed to make it to the top before my group, and the two women waited for the rest of us.
“Welcome to the top!” Rana spread her arms out in congratulations as I hauled myself over the side. She and Annalíse both were quick to come to the edge, however, and help me pull Morrigan and Carmedy up to safety.
As we all caught our breath, Rana flashed me a wink. “Unfortunately, you guys came in second, but hey, good job anyway!”
“It wasn’t a race,” I pointed out with a wry grin of my own.
“You’re only saying that because you came in second.” Rana waved her paw and winked at me.
“Whatever,” Carmedy said as she struggled to catch her breath. “I’m just happy we made it safe and sound.”
“I agree.” Morrigan nodded. “That is adequate enough reward for me.”
“They’re just saying that because they lost,” Annalíse said to Rana in a mock whisper.
“Alright, that’s enough, you two,” I said as I rose to my full height, my tone now serious. “We have a castle to storm, and you, Annalíse, must now tell me the answer to your test.” I gestured grandly to the ancient carved stones above us. “How will we proceed to storm the High King’s castle?”
All eyes turned to the warrior princess. Rana leaned against the wall, arms crossed, Carmedy blinked up at Annalíse as she sat demurely on the cliff, and Morrigan regarded her with a cool, thoughtful stare. The freckle-faced human looked from friend to friend as if she was trying to settle her final thoughts before turning her eyes up to me.
“Master, confirm for me something before I begin,” she said with deliberate thought. “I have seen you raise protective wards, much like the one from Rana’s ring but much bigger. If you raise one, does it move with you or is it set where you cast it?”
“Interesting question,” I said with a slight smile. “If I were to conjure one of my sanguine shields, it will indeed move with me, though I would need to maintain concentration on its maintenance to do so.”
A slow smile spread across her own lips. “Now, when you say that you need to concentrate, would doing so impact on the control of your conjured monsters?” The way she asked the question made me think she already knew the answer, but I humored her nonetheless.
“It is well within my capabilities, yes.”
Annalíse nodded sharply and then spoke with confidence. “Then our path is clear to me. We will have the element surprise, and a vast army at our disposal.” She nodded to me. “Master, you will encase us in one of your protective shields. Your ice demons and summoned beasts will be our vanguard to sweep ahead and incapacitate any guards in our way.”
She then looked to Carmedy and Rana. “But we can’t count on that alone. Carmedy, you told me about the incapacitating poisons you bought the chemicals for in Tarmsworth. Mix some of that up for Rana to coat her daggers with, then get as many of your choking gas bundles ready for yourself as you can.”
Carmedy’s eyes lit up at the mention of her alchemical concoctions. “Oh! I see! That poison is for injection normally, but as long as it gets into wounds, it should be effective.” She turned to look over at Rana. “Your knives will be like very long needles.”
“Not really, pussycat,” Rana said with a wave of her paw, “but I get what you’re saying.” She
looked to the princess. “That way, Carmedy and I can back up the monsters in putting guards down while doing as little damage as possible.”
“Exactly,” Annalíse agreed.
“And what of me?” Morrigan asked with a slim white eyebrow arched. “It would perhaps not be best if I were to use my necromantic power. Death fog and death projection are exceedingly lethal. Even if I were to use soul exorcism and release my grip early, it would not be a pleasant time for your countrymen or their sanity.”
“I have a few critical jobs for you, as a matter of fact,” the princess continued, eagerness in her voice. “Two things in particular. We’ll need Fea and Macha to do a quick search of the area when we break into the lower levels of the castle so I can get my bearings. Our goal is the throne room, and the faster we can get there, the less damage done, but the first and even more important thing we need?”
“Yes?” the pale elf asked, her curiosity piqued.
Annalíse pointed at the worked stone above our heads. “We need you to use that elven bow of yours to make our entrance through the stone walls. That black hole arrow made surprisingly little sound when it sucked up that tree so it will make a lot less noise than if Master were to use his powers to break it down.”
“Ah, very clever,” Morrigan conceded. “We shall keep our element of surprise long enough for us to find our location and begin our assault.”
Annalíse was almost flush as she turned to me. “So… Master… what do you think? Did I pass your test?”
I kept my expression neutral and my eyes dark for a moment as I ran every variable of Annalíse’s plan through my mind, but I only did so to be thorough. I already knew my answer, though I admit, it was endearing to watch Annalíse fidget for a moment as she waited for my answer. Finally, I let a smile play across my lips.
“You have earned the right to face your father, Annalíse,” I said with all seriousness. “You are ready.”
There was no need to say it was time to begin. All I had to do was draw the God Slayer from my void pocket and slam it onto the rocky ledge to unveil its full glory. Annalíse drew Bloodscale as Morrigan did the same with her bow. Carmedy reached a hand out towards Rana as she dug in her pockets for a vial of clear liquid, her new paralytic toxin no doubt.
“I will conjure the shield after Morrigan has opened our way,” I said as Rana handed Carmedy one of her elvish daggers. “Though my wards should allow our attacks to pass through, that bow is ancient elven magic. It is best not to assume anything in using it.”
The white-haired elf nodded as her ravens fluttered anxiously on her shoulders. “And I shall hold until Carmedy has prepared.”
“Almost ready!” the cat-girl said diligently as she applied the surprisingly sticky fluid to Rana’s blade with a small brush. “I need to be quite careful. Wouldn’t help to nick my finger and get all frozen, would it?”
“That would be a poor start to our assault,” I agreed as I began to gather my dark power.
“And there,” the alchemist chirped as she carefully handed the dagger back to Rana. “Ready!”
“Then you’re up, Morrigan,” Annalíse said with the ring of a true leader in her tone.
Morrigan gave the princess a brief nod before she wordlessly raised her golden bow and pulled back on the string. As she had demonstrated before, a sparking black arrow of magical energy sprang to life on the bowstring, and after only a brief moment of aiming, the elf let it fly.
The arrow sang as it flew through the air and thunked lightly as it sank into the thick granite, something no normal arrow could do. There was no surprise this time when the black arrow surged with power. A split-second later, inky swirls formed in the stone and spun into the black hole we had seen before. The space around the hole seemed to twist and distort as the granite all around the point of impact spiraled and cracked, and then, it was gone. The stone was neatly sucked into the space beyond, whatever distant dimension the black hole accessed, and in its place was a neat, perfectly smooth hole in the foundation of the castle.
“Now, Master,” the princess said at that very moment, and I complied.
My minions instinctively huddled close to me as I rose the God Slayer over my head and channeled my dark magic into it. Scarlet energy cracked up and down the many blades as I spun the halberd over my head, and that power collected into first a solid disc of sanguine light before pooling around us all in a sphere.
“Our ascent may be a bit rough, so watch your balance,” I said as I kept the God Slayer spinning. With a mental direction, the sphere levitated upward and through the hole Morrigan had opened in the foundation. Though there was an initial shudder that almost caused Carmedy to trip, the ride smoothed out once everyone adjusted to the curved floor of the shield.
A mere moment later, the shield slid neatly through the hole, and we breached the High King’s mountain fortress.
The chamber we rose into seemed to be some rarely visited storeroom. The walls were the same ancient granite of the foundation and arches below us, with dusty wooden shelving lining the walls. Stout crates and small, iron-bound chests were neatly arrayed on those shelves. A single set of double doors led out into the bowels of the castle beyond.
“Excellent, this is one of the sub-basement storerooms,” Annalíse said as her eyes scanned the room. “Supplies and preserved foodstuffs in case of an extended siege.”
She pointed then to the door. “Rana, check the door with your fox senses, see if there are any guards or servants down here. If you hear nothing, open it up so Morrigan’s ravens can get our exact bearings.”
Then the princess turned to me. “Master, start summoning your monsters, those that will fit in here. I think the ice demons will be best as they are fast and are dangerous even if they don’t use their claws. When we get to the larger upper levels, Snokka apes would be a perfect compliment to them.”
I nodded proudly at the swift, confident series of directions and did as Annalíse bid, and my other minions did as well. Rana slipped through the edge of the shield silently and put her ear to the door as Morrigan concentrated. Her eyes went black as the red mage markings on her smooth skin glowed, then the two ravens fluttered to join Rana at the door. While the alert rogue listened for danger, I began to conjure my antlered ice demons around the room while leaving us a clear path of movement out into the castle.
There was a long moment of tense silence before Rana glanced back and gave us a thumbs up.
“All clear,” she whispered and cracked one of the double doors open just wide enough to let Fea and Macha flutter out into the hallway beyond.
What followed was a tense few moments as Morrigan whispered what she saw through her raven familiars’ eyes. As Annalíse had suggested, this sub-basement was nearly empty. No one, even the cagey High King, expected an enemy force to tunnel through a mountain to attack from below. As Morrigan filled in more details of the layout of the passages, Annalíse’s eyes lit up more and more with a look of understanding.
“I know right where we are now,” she said at last. “You can call back your ravens, Morrigan, and Rana, open up those doors. Everyone, stay inside Master’s shield and follow my lead.”
With that, Rana threw open the doors, and we rushed outside with my small contingent of ice demons leading the way. The hallways in this sub-basement continued to be made from the same granite as the room we had been in, but more attention had been paid to the artistry here with thick, geometric carvings in the stone, and not a speck of dust was to be seen. With more room to maneuver, I summoned more demons to our growing troop as Annalíse directed our direction with precise commands.
Fea and Macha flew back to us before we had gone down two corridors, and before long, we came to a large set of stairs that were wide enough to take four men abreast easily.
“Master, there are a few servants on this floor,” Morrigan pointed out before we began to mount the stairs. “Should they be restrained?”
Instead of answering immediately, I looked
to Annalíse. I wished to have her see this assault through to the very end, to serve as a culmination of the many lessons I had imparted on her about strategy and leadership over our time together. She caught my eye and shook her head quickly.
“This staircase is the only way to the castle proper,” the princess noted. “Leave a rear guard to ensure they don’t sound an alarm, but they won’t be worth the time to deal with.”
I nodded. “As Annalíse says, Morrigan.” With that, I gestured upward. “Let us move on, by your leave.”
Morrigan and Annalíse both nodded, and the freckle-faced human called out the order to move on. As the staircase broadened, its ceiling rose as well as we entered, soaring to a steady twenty feet at least. With that clearance, I added a pair of Snokka to the ice demons that ranged ahead, the white yeti-beasts the best choice for grabbing and restraining the soldiers of the castle.
It was as we came to the basement level proper one flight above our point of entry that we met our first round of resistance. A pair of heavily armored soldiers, perhaps returning to the upper castle from some errand, came out onto the stairs from the main hallway, greatswords of much the same make and style of Annalíse’s old blade at ease over their soldiers. As with the Tamarisch warriors we were familiar with, they wore the same plate armor with the roaring bear motif, and the moment they saw the ice demons and our glowing crimson dome, they sprang into action.
But it was far too little and far too late for them.
Before the two warriors had taken a step forward, one was pounced upon by three ice demons while the other was scooped up in the massive mitt of a Snokka, his arms pinned to his sides helplessly. His brother-in-arms did manage to knock a demon aside and skewer it with his sword, but one of Carmedy’s bundles full of choking yellow gas exploded in his face courtesy of her golden slingshot, and that was the end to his resistance.