Blood Vengeance

by Dan Mat

  In a blink of an eye, creature was in front of Roshnak. With its long, hooked, front legs, centipede tried to grab onto shaman’s feet. From there, it would be easy to climb the body, and towards the orc’s exposed neck. Centipede could already feel the warm, sweet blood in its mouth. The sensation was so strong, creature shivered in ecstasy, as it begin to secrete the venom from its fangs. But shaman was ready.

  “Taemk nis saben ur bethruk.” Roshnak hastily said.

  Bluish ray erupted from the open palm of the shaman’s outstretched arm, striking centipede on the head. The force of this ancient power, surging through his entire body, almost instantly froze the creature. And once Roshnak stopped channeling the magic, a few seconds later, the frost already shut down all the life functions of the centipede, turning it into one large, ugly icicle. One strong, precise kick that followed, shattered the creature in thousands of tiny shards.

  There was a small probability, that this action could discourage the rest of the centipedes. Roshnak hoped that would be the case, but he didn’t count on the nature of these beings. In their eyes, shaman was potentially the most delicious meal they smelled and saw in forever. A couple of centipedes were already several yards away from Roshnak, and the rest didn’t seem to linger far behind. A bit unfortunate for shaman, seeing the nature and the specific ways in which he called upon the ancient powers. Their verbal component ment it would take time to cast the spells. Significantly more time than he actually had, judging by the pace in which centipedes drew closer.

  Roshnak took a step back, as he pulled the staff out of the leather casing attached to his belt. He could almost immediately feel the energy surge through it. The bond he had with this object, helped him to focus the magic much easier. It served as an extension and enhancer of his powers. And it showed immediately, as all of the stone runes embedded in the staff, begin to glow in mild, yellow light.

  Moments later, a pulse from one of the stones formed the translucent sphere-shaped mantle, about twenty yards in diameter. It encased nearly dozen of centipedes, stopping them in midstride. And once trapped in the bubble, only outcome was a certain death. Those outside of it could only wonder, why are they stopping with the attack.

  Erratic, rapid, clicking of the centipedes huge jaws, filled with long, sharp teeth, told Roshnak they were capable of much more than a simple survival instincts. They communicated. And by the ways in which their conversation went, shaman could deduct, that they are trying to decide what and how to proceed. It showed him, that they understand some form of tactics. For what soon followed, genuinely surprised Roshnak.

  Beside the frontal, direct assault, two groups of centipedes now tried to flank, and surround him. The group coming from the orc’s left side, nearly succeeded in their attempt, before he could manage to withdraw into a tunnel, some thirty yards behind his back. At the same time, Roshnak released a couple of identical spheres, leaving them as traps for the incoming centipedes. Knowing very well that wouldn’t be enough to stop them. But still hoped that will do the trick of slowing them down, at least for a bit.

  And he did managed to dispatch another dozen of these horrifying creatures. Not that it really mattered, for many more came rushing through the passage. Seeing they could move across the walls and ceiling as fast as they were on the ground, that was to be expected from them. Roshnak knew he had to continue pulling back. The centipedes came crashing like a flood and they had no intention of stopping. Just a moment of inadvertence, or slight hesitation from shaman, and these creatures could overwhelm him. And that would ultimately ment his end.

  Half of the runes on shaman’s staff suddenly begin glowing in bright, red light. At the same time, rather strangely, a fiery sphere begin forming in front of the shaman. First, no larger than his fist, but it soon grew to the diameter of the tunnel. And in the nick of time, for he reached the end of the passageway.

  As soon as he stepped in the adjacent cave, Roshnak stretched out his arm, releasing the collected energy back into tunnel. Blazing, red fireball went rumbling through the pass, crashing on the opposite wall, into thousand tiny embers. The enormous fire, followed by a roaring burst, for a moment completely illuminated the cave, revealing gorgeous, naturally carved walls. But it only lasted for a brief moment, for in the next the darkness set back in, as the last of the sparks disappear into the nothingness.

  And the spell left nothing behind, once it passed. Dozens upon dozens of centipedes, that found themselves in the path of the fiery destruction, were obliterated in an instant. The tunnel and the adjacent cave were completely empty. Where creatures stood before, not even the ashes remain. Roshnak allowed himself to let a smile, pleased with the efficiency of the magic. It did exactly as he hoped for, getting rid of the threat at once, and before they could even had a chance of inflicting more trouble. As he assumed, they are quite capable of doing so.

  Shaman turned around, to continue with his journey back, towards the cave in which he descended a couple of days before. Now that he found the passage into the mines of Gollvin, only thing left was to wait for the Waghein’s report, regarding the ground troops movement. Once they get the signal, once they were sure about the position of the army, Roshnak could proceed to open the magical gates. With that, they will significantly lower the risk of being detected. At the same time, shaman knew it would be much easier to coordinate the attack. Attack that will ensue, only if Uggut haven’t forget how to open the other side of the portal.

  But before he even took a single step, Roshnak felt slight, barely noticeable touch of the several sharp, hooked legs, on his shoulder. Orc had no time to react, or even to blink. Powerful jaw, full of long teeth, closed around his neck. Centipede let a loud hiss of relief, as it released a significant amount of thick, potent venom.

  Roshnak could immediately felt its effects, as the warm excrete begin spreading through his body. He knew his organs would soon begin to shut, if left untreated. Without using his healing magic, shaman felt the complete paralysis would ensue in less than fourty minutes. He had to act fast, if he was to avoid any permanent damage. But not before he dealt with this creature, which somehow managed to avoid the fireball.

  “Taemk nir malnneg reib!” Roshnak growled in anger, grabbing onto centipede’s head.

  Powerful squeeze made the creature to release shaman’s shoulder. Although involuntarily, creature had to let this, for it, quite tasty and juicy flesh. Centipede shrieked loudly, as its body shook in anguish. Roshnak waited patiently, making sure those fangs are completely out, before wildly swinging towards the cave wall. Creature met the wall with such a force, it let rather noisy pop. Despite being quite thick and hard, centipede’s armor did not withstood the pressure.

  Roshnak close on top of it, grabbing the creature, at the same time, as energy pulse came out of his palms. Ancient power of the frost touch traveled through the cracks in centipede’s armor, and straight for the heart of the monster. Encased in ice, the heart stroke for the very last time, before bursting in hundreds of shards. Only then shaman released his grip, tossing the centipede aside, with disgust.

  “Taemk nis thelen ur senuir.” Roshnak said, as he carefully touched the place of the bite.

  Despite knowing this magic won’t heal him, he hoped it would delay the effects of the venom. Shaman knew he don’t have much time. He could feel some of the symptoms. His extremities already begin to tingle, his muscles were cramping. Wouldn’t be long, before they seize to function altogether. But at least they should last long enough, for him to reach the shaft cave. There, in their makeshift camp, he could meditate, in an attempt to heal. In the worst case Roshnak knew, he could always ask for help, from the ice maiden of Tyrsh.

  A couple of hours later, shaman was finally back in the camp. Not a moment too late, for orc was at the end of his strength. In the last quarter of an hour, his movement became a struggle, to the point of being unbearable. Every step presented itself with even more pain than the last. Venom almost completely spread through his body.
His muscles were in a constant spasm. His breathing became shallow and interrupted. He fought to stay concious for the last twenty or so yards, almost crawling to his sack. And once there, he fell to his back, letting a loud sigh.

  Not so long after that, shaman’s spiritual energy was traveling through the shadow realm, in search of a calm and peaceful place. The spot where he could neutralize and remove the effects of the venom. Roshnak looked for the specific pockets of magic. The sources of energy that defied and intertwined through planes. And as soon he is to enter one of them, orc’s spirit could then channel the healing energy back into his body. With a bit of a luck, he hoped, this search won’t last for more than a couple of hours. He wouldn’t dare to risk staying in the meditative state for much longer.

  Alone, and without protection, in this, as it showed quite dangerous cave, that would be foolish, and borderline stupid. Waghein was still up, on the surface, waiting for the army. And Roshnak had no idea how long will he remain there. It could be minutes, days or even weeks. For what he knew, the army could be anywhere from here to Zhinnaeg. Perhaps they were still back in the old fortress. Roshnak couldn’t know, that only ten minutes after he went under the deep trance, a bundle of goat hide, fell through the shaft. It was a beforehand agreed signal from scout Waghein, ment to announce the arrival of their main army forces. A signal for shaman to open the magic gates towards Zhinnaeg.

  CHAPTER 22

  Loud, hard knocks on the front doors of beautiful, Xavnier Gloir’s villa, made halfling startle, enough for him to jump from the chair. Surrounded by the piles of papers, he combed through, for the last couple of days, made him somewhat outraged. And undoubtedly very spend and betrayed. He was searching for the contracts in regards to Vallsynk and Gollvin. He barely slept, barely ate, but was persistent to complete this task. The task of finding out, if Ors Mykhil’s accusations were genuine.

  Xavnier might’ve lost a couple of nights of sleep, and he might’ve lost the track of time. But in the end, he received much more, by gaining the insight in all of the shady deals. And it was as bad as Mykhil have said, if not even worse. It was so overwhelming, the halfling even considered of dropping everything. He couldn’t believe the things, councilors were prepared to do, for a bit more profit.

  Their corruption infected every deal with the Gollvin miners. And it probably infected every other business on which they put their dirty fingers. If Xavnier was to proceed on searching even more, who knew what else could he discover. Or whom. What other guild, beside mercantile, was involved? What other collusions and intrigues will he unearth, if he was to keep on digging? More importantly, who would believe, that he wasn’t involved in planning and execution of said deals?

  This changed everything. Xavnier became avare of it almost immediately. In the light of this, he knew he couldn’t expect of becoming a Lord. If he was going to expose the deals, or any other dirty business for that matter, he had to find some allies. But which councilors could he trust? Which ones were not corrupt? Xavnier knew he’d have to examine the affairs of every single councilor, before the continuation of the assembly. And seeing that his meeting with Ors Mykhil wasn’t a secret, one of them could catch a wind of his actions. That would undoubtedly prompt even more problems, which halfling knew, he had no chance in dealing all by himself. For a moment, Xavnier recon of asking lady Falkner for help. But what if she was involved too?

  He shook his head, in an attempt to break such a poisonous flow of thoughts. He had to stop being so paranoid. He had to stop suspecting everybody. Well at least for now. Not just because he heard the footsteps of his butler and mining commissioner from Gollvin, approaching the hallway, leading into his office. But for the fact, he could only speculate, without having any proof. Fortunately, Xavnier knew where he could procure some of the evidence. Only first, he had a duty to rectify the injustice, they inflicted upon people of Gollvin.

  “Ors Mykhil, sir.” Xavnier’s chief butler said, as he opened the door.

  “Enter.” halfling pointed towards the chair, which stood on the other side of his work desk “Take a sit.”

  “Would you like anything?” Aldref asked, as soon as commissioner sat.

  “No, thanks.” Ors answered.

  Butler said nothing. He bowed slightly, immediately proceeding to leave the room.

  “Shall we begin?” Xavnier asked, as soon as the door closed.

  “I presume you are now conversant with the business pratices between our two towns?” Mykhil asked, glancing over the documents stacked on the desk.

  “Is it too late for an apology?” Xavnier looked down.

  “It is not, if you’re willing to make amends, alongside with the clear sign of intentions to change.” Ors retorted.

  “I’ll do everything in my power, to rectify the injustice done to your town and your people.” Xavnier said “But frankly, I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Perhaps this could help.” Mykhil hastily pulled the envelope from the inner pocket of his coat.

  “And this is?” Xavnier asked, as he cracked the wax seal.

  “A small list of demands our council has put together.” Mykhil answered.

  “Small you say?” Xavnier flipped over several pieces of paper “There are hundred terms in here.”

  “And every one of them will be the subject of our future negotiations. But not today.” Mykhil said “Today, I’m expecting the response to the first three items of the document.”

  “Alright, let’s see. The first item is, a significant increase of the ore value, in relation to the current rate. Second item, enlisting more troops, in aim to better the security across Tanmar. Specifically the mining route. And the third one, help in reconstruction of Gollvin and infrastructure of the mine.” Xavnier read from the paper “Very well, could we go over them, one by one.”

  “Do you have the current price contract among these files?” Mykhil asked, pointing at the pile of papers sitting on the desk.

  “Yes.” Xavnier nodded.

  “The agreement represented the absolute minimum in which we were ready to accept at that time.” Mykhil said “As you can see, we were promised the annual pay increase of five percent, as a part of long term plan. And as a symbol of trust in you, mercantile councilors.”

  “And we abused that trust.” Xavnier said.

  “You can say that, since we never saw any increase in ore prices.” Mykhil answered “What’s more, in the past ten years, our fees became smaller.”

  “But…but that’s robbery.” Xavnier stuttered “Why haven’t you reported that?”

  “To whom?” Mykhil smiled “It happened far to often, we were forced to exchange our goods, under the threat of armed soldiers.”

  “I refuse to believe the Vallsynk army would do such a thing.” Xavnier shook his head.

  “I am not accusing your entire army, just those few rotten apples.” Mykhil retorted.

  “That concerns me even more.” Xavnier was honest “Who knows what’s the extent of the corruption.”

  “Haven’t you said that Panmorn was the one in charge of dealing with Gollvin?” Mykhil asked “I don’t want to sound harsh, but now the councilor is dead, I’m sure it will be much easier to break the rest of the corrupt elements.”

  “Under the condition that he was the one in charge:” Xavnier frowned.

  “Do you suspect in someone else?” Mykhil asked.

  “I doubt he worked alone.” Xavnier answered “If soldiers did threaten you, I can’t see Panmorn behind it. It had to be someone else.”

  “But who?” Mykhil asked.

  “Well that’s for us to find out.” Xavnier said.

  “Us?” Mykhil was genuinely curious.

  “Who else.” Xavnier retorted “Besides, that would benefit the both of us.”

  “Yes?” Ors asked “How come?”

  “By removing the corrupt elements, we can make sure something similar never happens to you.” Xavnier explained.

  “Does that mean yo
u’ll fulfill our demands?” Mykhil asked.

  “I can gladly do the first one immediately.” Xavnier nodded “Your brave miners deserve the just contract and regular payments.”

  “And other two items?” Mykhil asked.

  “What exactly did you have in mind?” Xavnier glanced over the list “More soldiers?”

  “Our caravans need much better protection.” Mykhil said “The last attack proves that by itself.”

  “That was a tragic event. And for what it seems, quite possibly avoidable.” Xavnier said pensively.

  “You are saying that, as if you know something more.” Mykhil noticed.

  “Just a suspicion in yet another manipulation.” Xavnier retorted.

  “So if not councilor Slynan, who else would have such an influence over army?” Mykhil scratched his chin.

  “I really don’t know.” Xavnier said “More the reason we approach this with caution. To whom can you entrust our suspicions?”

  “I trust all of my men.” Mykhil was certain of it “And you?”

  “I can think of one name.” Xavnier said “That of a Vallsynk army commander, Saekul Er’ulrath.”

  “You are certain he’s not corrupted?” Mykhil asked.

  “These several rejected demands for the increase of personnel and manpower, he was submitting almost regularly, on a monthly basis, are telling me he’s not.” Xavnier give Ors the documents “His recent work on investigating deaths of Panmorn and Fletcher, only confirmed my trust in him. Elf is a person of integrity.”