“You there, guardsman,” Robert called to one of the nearby elven warriors. “Show me your sword, son.” Momentarily confused, the guard drew his weapon and presented it to the mercenary, who inspected it with an expert eye. Robert plucked the elegant blade from the elf’s hands and replaced it with his own, heavier blade.
“I’ve never seen a finer sword,” Robert breathed as he swung the elven weapon back and forth with a display of his expertise. “Are all of your weapons of this quality?” The guard nodded mutely as he looked with disdain at the mundane weapon now in his hands.
“I’m just going to borrow this one for a little while,” Robert confided. “I promise to bring it back when I’m done.” The guard glanced at Gwynne, who silently nodded her assent.
“May it bring you honour in the coming battle,” the elf intoned with a bow.
“That’d be nice, but I really just need it to kill the monsters,” Robert grunted. “Okay, I’m all set.”
“If you are ready, please stand before the barrier,” Gwynne instructed. Aiden felt his heart beat faster as they gathered near the shimmering magical wall. Their darkened reflections looked back at them as they awaited the signal to go through.
Robert and Spartan stood at the van, with Sayana close by. The glowing outline of elaborate magical protections covered her from head to toe, and she held her staff with its tip pointed towards the barrier. The staff glowed with a brilliant light, reminding Aiden and Nellise to summon their own lights, for where they were going there was only darkness.
“When you are ready to return, strike the barrier three times in rapid succession, and I will reopen the aperture,” Gwynne said as her brows knit in concentration. “I will also peek inside at five-minute intervals to monitor your progress. May fortune be with you.”
The distorted mirror-like surface parted, revealing the darkness on the other side of the barrier. Robert stepped forward, clearly braced for anything but upon stepping inside the breech, discovered only silence.
“Clear,” he called from beyond, signalling the rest of them to follow inside. Aiden drew Salinder and clutched the hilt tightly, then with his companions, stepped through the aperture into the darkness beyond.
Chapter Ten
Their lights revealed little about the terrain within. There were few buildings still standing, in what had once been a thriving section of the city. Most appeared to have been knocked down, leaving little more than charred remains. The architecture was identical to the forest city, though blackened and corrupted by time, lending an otherworldly feel to the place. There was no plant life at all, and the silence was deafening.
“It stinks in here,” Pacian whispered, as if to avoid gaining the attention of anyone — or anything nearby.
“Sulphur,” Aiden remarked. “The ground underfoot seems to have melted from intense heat.”
“Possibly from trying to burn through the barrier,” Sayana suggested.
“We press on and get this over with,” Robert growled. “If we don’t meet anything along the way, so much the better. Spartan, you’re in the lead. Everyone else, form up on his flanks and stay sharp.” They all moved to obey as the dragon stalked forwards, his senses alert for any sign of trouble. Behind them, the aperture shrank and closed, leaving them locked inside the barrier for the duration.
You should not have brought me here, Salinder said within Aiden’s mind as they crept along, his voice heavy and clear.
“Can you sense threats that we cannot?” Aiden whispered back.
The signs are everywhere — whoever the occupants of this place are, they have enough power to burn through stone. They passed by more buildings as if walking along some ancient promenade, each one blackened from the same heat that had scoured the entire area.
The portal is just ahead, Spartan remarked. I can sense the its presence. Aiden couldn’t see anything within the confines of their light, so he shifted his vision to the spectrum of magic and saw what the dragon was referring to. In the husk of a fallen building was a large object, glowing fiercely with magical energies against the background of darkness.
Cautiously, they moved closer until it came within range of their lights, at which point Aiden relaxed his sight to see it better. Standing against the opposite wall was their objective, a large rectangle of blackened stone twelve feet high and seven across. The space between was filled with a glowing red curtain of light, rippling as if under the influence of a soft breeze.
“This is it,” he said quietly, noting the design of the portal’s frame to be very similar to the arcane generators he’d seen at Fairloch and Bracksford. Satisfied it was indeed from the same creators, Aiden sheathed Salinder and pulled the Lexicon from his pouch, then began searching around the base of the portal.
“The lights are mesmorising,” Criosa remarked softly, staring at the shifting red curtain.
“Don’t let your guard down,” Nellise warned, her voice sounding hollow in the echoing darkness. “I’m sensing the presence of something nearby.”
“Can you be more specific?” Criosa asked, turning to face her, but Nellise shook her head.
“Perhaps we should scout the perimeter to make sure we’re alone here,” Sayana suggested.
“No, don’t split up,” Robert protested. “We hold position and protect Aiden while he does his thing.”
“Agreed,” Criosa decided, continuing to keep an eye on their surroundings. Taking his cue, Aiden licked his lips and crouched next to the portal, where a small panel was visible on the side of the device. He flipped through the ephemeral pages of the Lexicon, certain he’d seen something similar to the shape of the portal device within. Sure enough, he found what he was looking for — several pages of information accompanied the diagram of the device, and now all he had to do was figure out the sequence of runes to shut it down.
Soot and grime covered the panel’s runes, forcing him to remove his gauntlet to wipe down the surface with his trembling hand. There was a combination of seven runes to activate it, and he recognised four of those at a glance. The other three he hadn’t encountered before, and he was torn between looking them up in an attempt to reverse the activation procedure and continuing to look through the notes for a specific sequence.
Absorbed by his work, Aiden flipped through the pages of the Lexicon scanning for information. He gleaned a general understanding of their meaning and decided to make his first attempt. If his guess was right, the sequence involved targeting the portal to some other place, and the runes represented various markers to identify the exact nature of that destination.
He wiped the grime from his hands as best as he could, then tapped the glyphs visible on the panel in a similar sequence to what he could see in the Lexicon before him. When he was done, he stared at the shifting luminescence of the portal for any sign that it was about to close, but nothing had changed.
“What’s happening?” Criosa asked Aiden, the tension evident in her voice.
“Still working on it,” he mumbled in reply, his mind more focused on the problem than his surroundings. When he heard a sharp intake of air from Nellise, Aiden glanced in her direction and from out of the darkness, saw a humanoid figure approaching. As it stepped into the illumination, it seemed to drain the light from around it, as if it were cloaked in a mantle of darkness itself.
The figure was female, and overtly so, made obvious by an almost complete lack of clothing. Looking upon them with glowing, angular eyes, she surveyed their approach. Her hair was short and jagged, rising from her scalp in a strange, flame-like manner. Although her skin was fair and smooth, it ended at her wrists and ankles where black scales covered her extremities. Her hands and feet were in fact vicious claws, and her entire demeanour was that of sultry hunger as she swayed towards them.
Aiden had studied much of the lore regarding the planes of existence, and the bizarre forms of life that dwelled on each one. He recognised this as a succubus, a demonic creature able to sway the minds of those it wanted to manipu
late, or kill those it could not control.
Solas Aingeal, held in Nellise’s hand, suddenly flared with brilliance, a sure sign of impending doom. In response, the strange creature let out a guttural scream, forcing Aiden and the others to clutch at their ears from the terrible noise. Spartan didn’t seem to be affected however, and the dragon leaped forward and savaged the inhuman creature with tooth and claw.
“What was that thing?” Pacian gasped, shaking his head to clear the after effects of the piercing cry. Before there could be an answer, there was a change from the portal. A dull rumbling noise, as if a thousand horses were galloping in the distance was coming from somewhere beyond the red curtain of light.
It flared brighter than before, and from his position right next to it, Aiden could see an immense claw wreathed in flame come through the shimmering curtain. It was followed by another, and a huge creature covered in red scales squeezed itself into the chamber, its back alight with huge wings of flame. Aiden scrambled backwards as an immense demonic monster towered before them.
In one hand it held a vicious blade, and in the other was a metal shield fashioned to resemble a man’s face screaming in agony. It was clad in black plate armour and an intense aura of heat suffused it.
Its head crunched into the ceiling, sending chunks of crumbling masonry falling onto the ground. It let out a tremendous roar that instilled a sense of raw terror into their hearts, but instead of fleeing, Nellise moved to stand before the walking nightmare with her blazing white sword held aloft.
“This blade has beaten far worse than you, spawn of darkness,” she called fearlessly up to the towering creature. “You will have to do better than scream and roar to shake the pillars of heaven.” In response, the demon inhaled sharply and spat out a torrent of flame that engulfed the area. Aiden rolled to one side, using the bulk of the portal to protect him from the worst of the heat, yet still found parts of his longcoat charred and smouldering afterwards.
Expecting the others to have been burned in the blast, Aiden glanced around and saw Sayana deflecting the flames to either side, like a ship’s bow cutting through the water. In reply, she raised her staff and sent a storm of lightning bolts crackling across the demon’s body, which bellowed loudly enough to shake the ruined building.
The others moved to support each other, weapons held in trembling hands as a host of smaller beasts charged through the portal to join the fray. Spartan let out a roar, issuing his challenge to the oncoming foes, and inhaled sharply before breathing a bolt of lightning into the horde.
“Hold position!” Robert roared over the noise as the rest of the enemy joined the fray. The monsters were easily ten feet tall, with massive limbs tipped in huge claws. Their faces were more animal than human, with gaping jaws lined with sharp teeth. Tiny red eyes glared at them in undisguised hatred.
Sayana sent a ball of fire into their midst that exploded with impressive force, knocking some of the monstrous creatures off their feet. They did not appear perturbed by the flames themselves however, and quickly regained their footing. Criosa and Pacian shot arrows upon the advancing foes, but it was Solas Aingeal’s blazing light that sent a ripple of fear through the ranks of the enemy.
Through this, Aiden tried to focus on the task at hand, for he knew right away that if he didn’t figure out how to close the portal, the number of creatures coming through it could be unlimited. His companions slashed and cut at the beasts, lacerating their thick hides and leaving a bloodied mess in their wake. Robert’s elven-crafted blade sliced through them with ease, but those he cut down were quickly replaced by a dozen more succubi stepping through the portal.
Witnessing their arrival up close, Aiden knew his friends were going to be hard-pressed to hold off the hoard. Abandoning his work on the portal, Aiden activated his gauntlet, and felt the surge of power running through his body as he drew Salinder and whispered a word to bring his shield into being. The newcomers hadn’t seen him to the side of the portal as yet, and were surprised when Aiden brought his sword to bear on their flank. Although each blow struck with immense power, he didn’t seem to be dealing the killing blows he had expected.
“Are you holding back?” Aiden shouted at his sword, ducking under a flurry of claws as his enemies struck back. He positioned his shield to deflect as much as he could, but he took several blows before being forced back.
If I squander my energy now, I may not have enough left when we face the Ironlord, Salinder warned.
“If you don’t help me out, we might not make it out of here alive!” Aiden shot back. Ahead, Spartan leaped upon one of the larger demons and crashed to the ground, sending the two of them tumbling around as they clawed and bit at one another.
A blast of crackling green energy soared over his shoulder as Sayana unleashed her might upon them. The monster she struck lit up with the crackling green energy before being blasted into a million pieces, leaving a cloud of ash and cinders falling to the ground.
Robert was distracted for a moment by the sudden explosion, more than enough time for his opponent to bash him with a heavy strike sending him rolling across the ground. Two other huge demons were upon him in moments, their massive limbs pummelling the fallen mercenary with terrible force.
Sayana saw this and immediately brought her staff to bear. With a brief flash of blue light, Robert disappeared from under their fists and reappeared right before her, where she offered him a hand to help him back on his feet. Aiden noticed the hole in their defensive line and rushed towards it, uncertain if he was going to be able to hold back the enemy by himself.
Very well, came Salinder’s reluctant assent, and Aiden immediately noticed the sword in his hand began to glow with a sharp, white light. The rough edge of the ancient blade smoothed out and a dull hum could be heard from it, along with the powerful rumble from his gauntlet.
Although fearsome in appearance, the monsters seemed unintelligent and fought with bestial ferocity, a fact that Robert Black was exploiting to his advantage. While Aiden, Nellise and Spartan used supernatural might to dispatch the demons, the mercenary feinted, riposted and manoeuvred his way through the ranks of the enemy, slashing at whatever vulnerable places he could strike with his elf-crafted blade.
Gritting his teeth, Aiden charged at the largest of them all and slashed upwards with all of his considerable might, his heart racing and his mind screaming at him to run in the other direction. The demon moved his hideous shield to block the attack, even as Salinder sent out its deadly beam. Aiden was momentarily blinded by the intense flash of light, and when it was done the monster’s shield bore a glowing red line across the front to show the impact.
“Spartan, help me defend the flanks — everyone else, drop that damned thing,” Robert bellowed.
The gauntlet on Aiden’s right hand was becoming hot, and he knew that his simple cleaning efforts weeks ago weren’t enough to make the device completely reliable. Feeling time working against them, Aiden moved closer to the demon lord and began chopping at its legs. The demon’s sword swept to and fro, sending a shower of sparks skittering across the ground whenever it glanced off Aiden’s armour.
Spartan suddenly skidded across the ground on his back, having been thrown by one of the many demonic beasts he had sought to block from closing in. The small dragon had deep gouges along his flank, but Aiden and the others couldn’t afford to go to his aid, leaving Robert standing alone against half a dozen succubi.
Nellise moved forward and brought Solas Aingeal to bear, the plumed blade searing the flesh of the monster with each strike. Of all their attacks, the cleric’s blessed sword proved to be the most effective, and when the demon’s own sword descended, Solas Aingeal easily absorbed the immense strength behind the blow.
The glow of Sayana’s tattoos could be seen through the rents in her outfit, and this time a blast of icy cold air engulfed their mighty opponent. It roared in agony and actually threw its sword at her. Startled by the sudden attack, she barely managed to move as the poi
nt of the blade struck her shoulder, spinning her around and dropping her to the ground. They were slowly but surely being ground into a pulp by the monster, and Aiden couldn’t let that happen.
“Sal, I need more,” he breathed to his weapon.
I will not be held responsible for the consequences—
“Just do it or we’re all dead!” Aiden snapped, then raised the point of his blade up towards the demon lord. Instead of a fine beam of white light, a ball of crackling purple energy erupted and shot towards the monster. It brought its shield across to block the strike, but was engulfed by an explosion of purple flame. Aiden revelled in the use of such power, feeling stronger than ever before.
When the light faded a moment later, he saw half of the shield had been vaporised, along with all of the flesh of the demonic creature’s left arm, leaving only blackened bones gruesomely still attached to the body.
This stunning blow had the effect of rallying Aiden’s companions. Pacian shot a bolt at the chest of the monster, only to see it easily deflected away by its impregnable armour. He spat out a curse and rushed forward, dodging around the others to take up position right between the giant’s legs.
Aiming straight upwards, Pacian sent bolt after bolt right into the nether regions of the crippled creature until the cartridge on his repeater was empty. It howled an octave higher than it had before and raised its leg to stomp on him. Pacian was too quick and easily scurried away before the foot came down.
Eager to end the fight, Aiden brought Salinder to bear one more time, and without a shield to absorb the impact, the violet energy engulfed its chest, burning through its armour and vaporising most of its torso in the process. It didn’t even scream this time — the demon lord simply stood there for a long moment before toppling to one side, crashing through part of the wall to collapse on the scorched ground.
Their momentary elation disappeared as flames engulfed the corpse of the monster, increasing its intensity with each passing moment.
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