by D Murray
Before she could even speak he was limping away to the cell Selby was in. Ruah watched him go, passing the huddling townsfolk and placing his arms around Selby.
Another flaming torch was dropped in through one of the high middle windows, landing on hay and bursting to life. Ruah leapt onto it and began to stamp at it. Her leg tingled with each impact, the ticklish, almost sore sensation coiling up her body in the same pattern as the pain, a mirror of it and a reminder at the same time. She snuffed out the flame as the sound of axe work came again at the door. She turned towards it and dropped the small bench. As she turned, the twang of the bow sounded again. A cry sounded from her rear and a body smashed into her, knocking her off her feet. She rolled over, shifting the weight from her legs.
A pale, sunken-eyed version of Jarleth, the potter’s son, looked up at her, blood reddening his lips. “Twisty. Help.”
Anger flared thick in her throat, constricting it. “Name’s not fucking Twisty!” She kicked his weight from her as he squealed, and shuffled backwards towards the sound of the splintering door. The black smoke from the hay fire was spiralling up and out of the gable window now, restricting the work of the bowman. She looked down the long-house. She couldn’t see Bergnon. Dead for all she knew. Hal sat pressed up against the wall, shielding Selby and rocking her as she wept. Ruah looked about her; townsfolk clung to one another. The door above her cracked again and the tip of an axe shone through, metallic and ugly. Her thoughts turned to Tusk’s happy dog-smile, and she broke. Tears welled, warm and heavy. She dashed them away with angry swipes of the backs of her blood-stained hands. She watched as Hal rocked Selby, and she let go of her hatchet as the fracture in the door cracked open further.
Kalfinar watched the grotesque form of Grunnxe enter through the tall black doors of the temple. The cut across Grunnxe's neck was covered in dried, dark blood. A wound to his chest was visible, marked by the plume of a bloodstain on his doublet. His grey flesh was waxy, and tight across his cheeks. The body of the old king was clearly dead, but his black, shining eyes screamed of a terrible life inhabiting his husk. He smiled at Kalfinar as he walked slowly into the temple, stepping over bodies. The mixed ranks of Solansian and Raven Man edged in behind him, followed by the shimmering forms of the two demons.
“I know you.” The mouth of Grunnxe worked awkwardly about the words, slurring them. “I’ve tasted your nightmares. Yes. I know your scent. You were once nearly mine.”
Kalfinar’s eyes darted about the front rank advancing behind the body of Grunnxe.
Murtagh, Jukster, Ferdus and Harvind backed up and came into line with Kalfinar.
Broden leaned heavily on his sword. “Don’t we know you?” Broden asked, shoving himself upright. “Kal,” Broden turned to his cousin, “isn’t this old skinbag the not-so-mighty King Grunnxe?”
“Aye,” Kalfinar grumbled, eyes fixed on the obsidian black orbs in Grunnxe’s skull. “Looks like him.” The amulet around his neck seared at his flesh.
Broden looked back at Grunnxe and scratched his chin. “Hm,” he mused. “Didn’t you punch your sword right through his guts?”
“I did.” Kalfinar watched as a hungry smile spread on Grunnxe's face. “As I recall, he had the same grey pallor this one has. Tell me, Grunnxe, did someone get at you with a blade again?” Kalfinar forced a smile. “Or would you prefer I call you Balzath?”
“You may call me as you please,” Balzath said. He sniffed the air, a black lizard-like tongue darting from his mouth and licking across his blood-stained teeth. A shiver ran through the husk of Grunnxe’s body, and his eyelids flickered as his smile widened further. “Your stench is delicious. I wanted for your fears and your pain, Kalfinar. It was so raw. So delicious.” The face of Grunnxe’s husk jerked and shuddered. “Tell me, did you think of them as you rutted with the whore of Dajda?”
Kalfinar swallowed the insult, catching movement in his periphery. Evelyne was moving towards where Valus had just released Olmat from his crystalline prison.
“What’s this?” Balzath asked. His head jerked to the side, looking beyond Kalfinar. “I see,” Balzath continued. “You play for time.” He laughed, a sick, wet sound escaping from the rent in Grunnxe's throat. “It matters not. All time is gone.” Balzath pointed at Kalfinar. “Don’t kill this one. I’d like to wear his body.” Balzath raised his voice, calling over Kalfinar to Evelyne. “You would like that, my beloved, wouldn’t you? It would make our union easier for you.”
Sweat trickled down Kalfinar’s back, and he gripped tight about his weapons. He could feel the pressure in the air change as the tension reached its crescendo.
“Kill them,” Balzath shouted.
The ranks of Solansian and Raven Man soldiers parted, and the two demons lumbered past them and into the temple. A dark shadow undulated through their iridescent forms, eventually growing in dominance. The demons stopped halfway between Balzath and Kalfinar. Their heavily clawed hands, each the size of Kalfinar’s head, hung by their inverted knees at the end of long, muscled arms. Their bone- and horn-knobbled heads jerked from side to side as they took in their gathered opponents.
“Harvind, Broden,” Kalfinar hissed, “you split off with me. Ferdus, Murtagh, Jukster, you three take the other demon.” They split, moving to either side of the hall. Kalfinar’s eyes were locked on the nearest demon as they moved. “Spread out,” he said. “Aim to take out their knees and immobilise them. Don’t see the demon, see the flesh.”
“Kill them,” Balzath ordered. “Do it now.” His voice rose to a shout.
The demons split up and lumbered forward to a chorus of cheers from Balzath’s troops.
“Hold back until there’s a clear strike,” Kalfinar shouted to Broden.
The demon charged down on Kalfinar, opening its maw to reveal a double row of ragged teeth. Its eyes flared from deep red to fire bright as it closed the space. A shiver of terror coursed through Kalfinar’s body, tingling down his arms. The demon raised a clawed hand above its head and swept towards him. Kalfinar leapt away from the swipe. Harvind dove in low with a sword slash across the back of the demon’s leg. A clawed hand swept around, slicing open Harvind’s sealskin jacket. The Maracost stumbled backwards but showed no sign of injury. Kalfinar saw his opening and ducked in low. He thumped his hatchet blade across the heel of the monster and swept his sword across its knee. Black blood welled up from the wounds, an oily slick smearing the undulating shadow of the creature’s flesh.
The demon howled, but pressed on at Harvind. The Maracost backed away towards the rear of the hall. Broden stepped out from behind a column as the demon passed, and slammed a massive blow across the side of the beast’s knee. The sound of cracking bone echoed loud in the temple as the limb gave way under the creature. The demon bellowed as it turned, finding nothing but shadow where Broden had stood.
A high-pitched scream sounded to the front of the temple, but Kalfinar had no time to look. He ran in and smashed a downward blow across the back of the demon’s neck, leaping from the clawed hand that snatched out at the space he had been in. Broden ducked back out of the shadows of the column and drove his sword point deep into the dark, bloody gash opened by Kalfinar’s sword. Broden released his sword, cross-guard flush to the demon's flesh, and limped across the where Kalfinar stood. The demon’s arms rose, weak and shaking as Harvind stepped up and punched his sword point through its eye. He pulled free his sword, and the demon’s chin slumped down and rested on its chest. Broden stepped up and freed his own sword before placing the sole of his boot on the monster’s shoulder, shoving it over.
Kalfinar glanced across to Evelyne. Olmat’s head rested on her thighs as she knelt to the right of the black flame. She shook her head. He was still alive. Kalfinar looked back to the entrance of the temple and saw Ferdus hobbling away from the swinging claws of the demon. Bright red blood streaked from his left arm. Murtagh lay with her back to a column, blood pouring from between fingers clamped tight over her stomach. Her face was pale and shi
mmering in the torchlight. Jukster faced the demon head-on. He smashed an overhead blow down as the demon tried to block, cutting free half of its clawed fingers. The blackened, bloody stump of the demon’s other hand lashed out and punched Jukster, sending him flying. Harvind screamed and closed the distance, ducking under the swipe of the half-clawed hand and ramming his sword point-up into the creature’s side. A flare of light and colour flooded out across the shadowed body of the demon as Harvind released his sword and stepped away from the creature's spinning form.
Jukster had regained his feet and now yelled with unintelligible fury as he ducked under the claws and reversed his swing, taking off the rest of the demon’s razor-sharp fingertips. The demon crouched, opening its mouth, and clamped down hard on Jukster’s shoulder, lifting him from his feet and shaking him before sending him crashing into the pale form of Murtagh. The big man’s chest was soaked with blood as the terrible bite wound spilled out his life. He crawled up and leaned against the column, touching his head to Murtagh’s. She took her fingers from her bleeding stomach and gripped Jukster’s hand before their eyes rolled in their heads and their chests stopped rising.
Kalfinar and Broden engaged the demon, each feinting, drawing the demon’s eyes as Harvind stepped in, punching his sword through its back. The sword point burst through the chest of the demon in a flare of light. Eyes like burning coals looked down at the point of metal, dripping black with blood. It looked up and across to Balzath, then fell flat on its face against the flagstones.
Kalfinar peered over his shoulder to the rear of the temple, and then back to the hungry eyes of Balzath. He backed away towards the rear of the temple, Broden, Harvind and Ferdus following.
The husk of Grunnxe stepped forward, quickly closing the distance. Balzath’s black eyes shone in the flickering flame of the torchlight. “Now, now. Don’t run.” He raised his hands and swept them forward, directing the soldiers to spread out and surround the columns.
Kalfinar could smell his flesh burning where the amulet touched him. The closer Balzath got, the hotter it seared him. He continued to back away towards the rear of the temple. A thought came to him.
“You want my soul?” he asked, eyes flicking around to see the Solansian and Raven Man soldiers filing down the outside walls of the temple, effectively enclosing them. He looked over his shoulder to see Evelyne and Valus pulling the inert form of Olmat towards the black column of flame and away from Balzath’s spreading soldiers.
“I do. Once I had a taste of it, I just knew your suffering was rich. These townsfolk, they give me some strength, but nothing like what I would gain from you.” The black, reptilian tongue swept out of Grunnxe’s mouth, licking dried lips.
Kalfinar stopped his retreat. Olmat’s skin was waxy and stretched tight and thin across the bones. His chest barely moved. Evelyne drew his eye, and she smiled sorrowfully at him.
He will slip, Valus’ voice sounded in his head. Kalfinar looked to her and nodded. He turned back to face Balzath. “If it’s my soul you want, then you may as well come and claim it.” He tossed his hatchet to the flagstones before his feet, where it clanged to the ground. Balzath looked at him in puzzlement.
“Kal,” Broden said from the side of his mouth. “You know what you’re doing?”
Kalfinar reached for the amulet hanging about his neck. He broke the chain and pulled it free. He held the round copper amulet in front of his face.
Balzath’s mouth split in a wide grin. He started forward with jerky, trembling steps, hand outstretched towards Kalfinar.
Kalfinar turned and tossed the amulet towards the column of black flame. An explosion of green sparks burst from the flame as the amulet made contact.
“No!” yelled Balzath, though his cry was cut off as the shower of green sparks faded. The sound of the black flames burning behind Kalfinar had ceased, and Balzath stood shuddering before him. His obsidian-black eyes burned as his hands trembled against some force, and slowly reached towards him.
Kalfinar raised his sword in a double-handed grip, above his head, and then smashed it down across the husk of Grunnxe, cleaving the body’s ribcage open. A mist of black blood and gas erupted from the husk before Kalfinar swept a backhanded cut across the husk’s neck, dropping the head to the flagstones.
Gasps sounded on either side of the columns as the headless body trembled and jerked a foot forward. The hands still stretched towards Kalfinar.
“Kal!” Evelyne’s voice sounded over his shoulder.
Olmat floated inches off the ground, and a beam of white light shone from his chest. The light swelled and enveloped him as a small, thin song sounded from his throat. A muffled song sounded behind Kalfinar, and he looked to see it emanate from the Horn of Dajda. The song of the two girls caused the crystal to sizzle away in a mist. They remained floating as a white light radiated from their mouths. Their song joined Olmat’s, and their voices rose. The song was beautiful, a symphony of the purest warmth and joy. Kalfinar’s mouth was agape as he watched them float. He shook himself from his reverie, and saw the Solansians and Raven Men were enraptured by the song. Kalfinar turned around to Evelyne. Her back was arched, belly jutting forward. Her head tipped back and a ragged scream of pain erupted from her throat. Her body shook as the song of the Horn of Dajda flared louder into a crescendo. An explosion of bright white light blinded Kalfinar, and a gale of hot wind swirled about the room, knocking him off his feet.
Kalfinar rubbed at his dazzled eyes as the brightness faded. His ears rang with a tinny, whining sound. He blinked and saw Evelyne lying on her back, a smouldering black mark on her breast above her round, pregnant belly. He scrambled towards her, scooping her shoulders into his arms, and bringing her head into his chest. He felt her pulse, and relief washed over him.
“Is she alive?” Valus asked, rubbing her eyes.
“Aye,” Kalfinar replied as the song of the Horn faded away. A deep, sonorous boom sounded outside the temple, and the lamps in the sconces began to shake. Dust and grit agitated on the floor and between the flagstones as the temple began to tremble. The boom sounded again. Kalfinar looked up and saw the headless husk of Grunnxe still fought against some force to try and reach him. He looked down at the head, and saw the intense hate and want in the black eyes. “What’s going on?” he asked.
Boom.
“Balzath is trapped,” Valus said, looking about the ceiling of the temple, a thread of fear entering her voice. “The amulet. It must have held residual power of Dajda. When you threw it in the flame, you threw it in the source of Balzath’s power. It broke off his own strength, though I don’t know for how long.”
Boom.
Kalfinar cradled Evelyne and looked back at the shuddering husk of Grunnxe, white ribs protruding from the horrible wound. The deep booming sound echoed through the temple again. “What is that?”
“That is the Horn of Dajda calling the Anulii,” Valus said. The temple shook even more now, clouds of dust falling from the ceiling.
Evelyne’s weak voice sounded from where Kalfinar held her. “They’re coming.”
A gust of hot wind crashed through the temple, and a flare of light followed. The booming, sonorous noise flooded Kalfinar’s ears as the light dazzled his eyes. When he opened them next he saw a bright flare of carnage unfold. Bright streaks of light swept around the room, ripping through the Solansian and Raven Man forces and leaving them bloody and scattered. One bright streak of light broke off from the rest and swept around the devastated husk of Grunnxe, encircling him before stealing him off his feet and, along with his head, sweeping him out from the temple.
Kalfinar watched in awe as the swirling lights slowed and began to coalesce. Before him stood seven giant, androgynous forms, both beautiful and terrible. They were easily eight feet in height, with broad shoulders bedecked in burnished silver armour. They wore golden circlets about their heads. Kalfinar took in their faces. Their flesh was of every race Kalfinar had ever seen, and more.
“Children of
Dajda.” One of the Anulii stepped forward in front of Kalfinar and spoke in a deep, resonant tone. Kalfinar looked up at the massive figure, noting the huge sword sheathed by its side, and looked into the creature's black, cold eyes. “Your god thanks you for your faith and service.”
Kalfinar could only stare at the creature before him. It turned its head towards Valus, scrutinising the Lihedan dedicant as though she were some unusual insect. “You are not of Dajda.”
“The deal, Kalfinar,” Valus hissed. “Remember the deal.”
The deal. Undo the bind! Free us of our yoke! Her terrified voice screamed in his head.
“She helped us,” Kalfinar said to the giant Anulii. “We wouldn’t have been able to free Dajda had it not been for her.”
The massive Anulii looked back at Kalfinar and frowned. “You do not make deals for Dajda, child,” it sneered, showing metallic teeth with sharp incisors.
“But there was a deal!” Valus shrieked.
You’ve betrayed me! You’ve betrayed us all! Curse you, Kalfinar! Curse you, Dajda!
“Dajda makes no deals. Your pathetic gods will remain forever in the dark.”
No! Valus’ cry screamed in Kalfinar’s head, driving spears of agony through him.
Valus scrambled backwards, but the speed of the Anulii was stunning. It reached out with a massive hand. Its fingertips, sharp with metallic nails, grabbed hold of her. It lifted Valus above its head and then smashed her down onto the ground, cracking the flagstones.
The shrieking pain of Valus’ scream cut off in Kalfinar’s head. She lay broken and bleeding on the ground before him. Her eyes were wild with pain, rolling about her head as her back rose and fell in shallow draws. She looked at him, and coughed out one word. “Corruption.” She stopped moving.
“You, too, would die at Dajda’s command,” the Anulii frowned at Kalfinar as it spoke, “but you have served well, and Dajda is ever a forgiving god. Think well on this, and remember your path.” With that, the massive Anulii turned into light and swept from the room, followed by the other six massive creatures.