by Steve McHugh
We both used our air magics to probe the pipes for a blockage, but it took a nervous few minutes before we found something.
“There’s a crack in the pipe,” Mordred said. “The water is seeping out into the rock. If we can crack the stone the water should come out. We only need a small crack through.”
We put air bubbles inside the rock, expanding them as the sound of cracking mountain filled the air around us.
“I think this is a bad idea,” we said almost in unison.
There was an almighty crack and before either of us could do anything, the rock gave way as thousands of gallons of water tore forth.
The water burst out of the rock as if it had been building up for years, the power behind it throwing Mordred and me back across the roof. It pounded the roof, tearing large parts off and pushing us both over the side, despite our magical shields. Huge pieces of masonry and rock fell all around the building as Mordred and I smashed into the street below, followed by even more water, which continued to pour over us.
We eventually managed to crawl off to the side, away from the waterfall, just as William ran out of the house, slipped, and was carried away toward the end of the street. Kasey turned into wolf-beast form, ran through the water, caught William with one hand, and threw him to safety. She slipped, but her momentum got her through the worst of the flood. By the time they made it back to us, the water had turned the street into a lake, and the building we’d been on was collapsing under the weight of the water on the roof.
“What happened?” Kasey asked as Mordred and I coughed up our lungs.
“Miscalculation,” Mordred said. “On the plus side, William looks clean.”
Kasey looked between Mordred and me.
“We didn’t count on the rock being so brittle,” I told her. “The second we tried to force it apart to let water out, it just crumbled to dust. Hence the sudden bath.”
I was upright, leaning against a nearby house when the sound of a horn tore through the noise of the water and collapsing buildings.
“We need to leave,” I said. “Now.”
Kasey hoisted William to his feet and pushed him along. She paused beside Mordred and me. “You okay?”
We both nodded as a horn sounded again. Closer, more urgent.
“Let’s go,” Kasey said. “We’ve lost a lot of time, and I don’t want to find out firsthand what those blood elves do to their captives.”
CHAPTER 19
For the next few hours we made haste through what used to be a bustling hub of dwarvish life, but was now all but abandoned. We came across several elven patrols, usually in groups of at least six, and managed to avoid most of them without incident.
On those occasions when violence was necessary, it was short and sharp, and the elven bodies were hidden as best as possible to cover any obvious trail.
We stopped rarely, usually only for a few minutes at a time, so that we could drink something from one of the many sources of water, without almost killing ourselves. It hadn’t taken long for our clothes to dry, especially with a little fire magic thrown into the mix, but no one wanted to stop for long.
It wasn’t until we got past the patchy patrols and further into the city that we first saw the citadel. Even from a half-mile away, it still loomed over everything, stretching up high into the mountain above us to a place I couldn’t see.
“Wow,” Kasey whispered from our hiding spot in the shadows of a large building.
“We do not want to go in there,” Mordred said, his voice surprisingly calm.
“I’m not planning on it,” I assured him.
Kasey looked up, following the citadel for as far as it went. “Does that place have a giant eye floating on top of it? Because it really looks like it should.”
The dark brick that had been used to build the citadel was lit by torchlight, casting eerie shadows over even the most benign of places on it. Dozens of elves patrolled a massive bridge that connected the citadel to the rest of the city. I wondered how many hundreds, if not thousands, more lived in the camps that sat around it.
“We shouldn’t linger,” Mordred said.
I nodded, but continued to stare at the feat of architecture in front of me. It was a fearsome sight, made even more so with the makeshift spikes that had been placed on the many windows all over the structure. It was not impenetrable—nothing was—but it talked a damn convincing game at saying it was.
We moved off, keeping to the wall, and let the rock overhang shield us from the eyes of the blood-elf empire.
“Even this distance is too close,” Mordred said.
It was harder going through this more inhabited part of the city. Blood elves were everywhere, and more than once we had to dart into the nearest building—on the assurance from Mordred that they’d be empty—and wait for them to leave.
“Why are all of these buildings empty?” Kasey eventually asked.
“Blood elves don’t want to live where the dwarves lived,” Mordred explained. “They don’t like being enclosed. They have camps in the levels below this one, where they’re closer to the heart of the mountain.”
We slipped back into silence after that while we continued through the city. By the time we’d reached the archway where the troll was, I was beginning to wonder what we were going to do with William once we were past the traps incorporated into it.
“Any chance we can’t just walk around it?” Kasey asked as we crouched behind a large boulder close to the archway. “The rock up there appears to be climbable.”
I dug through the elf’s memories once more. “No. There are more trolls, spiders, and other things living in the holes that litter the rock around us. This is the safest way that doesn’t involve hours, if not days, of walking to get around it. And that walk will take us through heavily populated areas. We’ve managed to get lucky so far. I’d rather not push it further.”
“So what’s beyond the arch?”
I peered around the corner at the arch. It was huge. Maybe fifty yards long and high enough to fit a double-decker bus under. Dozens of dwarven runes covered the archway, the black of the runes a stark contrast to the gold and red of the stone used to build it. One building sat on the other side of the arch, but I couldn’t see beyond it.
“The main living quarters for some of the dwarves,” Mordred said before I could. “Those who lived here were government officials. Beyond there is where the dwarf artisans lived and worked. The arch used to be manned by dwarven soldiers, and you had to show documents to be allowed in. Basically it was a way to separate the various districts of the dwarves: separating the rich from the poor.”
“So everyone in the city went under one arch?” Kasey asked, astounded.
“No, there are over two dozen of them in a sort of ring around this area. I don’t know if they all still work, or if they’re booby-trapped. They never used to be; just manned.”
I continued to watch the large hut just beyond the arch. “The blood elves clearly don’t like visitors.”
“Seeing how none of us can read dwarven runes, any chance that William can?” I wondered aloud.
Mordred unfastened William’s cloth gag. “I’d answer the man.”
William wiped his mouth and rubbed his jaw. “No idea. I just know that if someone walks through there without a rune inscribed on them, you won’t feel very good. Oh, and the troll.”
“You’d better work, then,” I told him. “Let’s go.”
The four of us dropped down from our vantage point, and, after checking that no one was around, walked toward the arch. I looked up at the runes as we approached the archway, expecting them to do something, but they remained dark and seemingly inert as we got closer.
“Can you see the troll?” Kasey asked. “Because I can’t see it anywhere. I can smell something pretty awful, though.”
I searched the area around us. “Nope. Is that good or bad?”
“It stays hidden until it needs to come out,” William assured us.
; “Even so, keep an eye out,” I said.
“If this doesn’t work, I’m going to kill William,” Mordred said, just loud enough for the human to hear. “Painfully.”
As we were about to step under the arch, William paused and turned to us. “I told you I wouldn’t let you down.” He took a step and the runes above us shone a deep blue, but otherwise nothing happened. We stepped after him and still no negative reaction.
“There’s something I forgot to tell you about that archway,” William said. “I guess I do know what those runes do. They’re linked to similar runes in that hut over there.”
The door to the hut in front of us burst open and a cave troll stepped out.
“They’re a bell,” I whispered.
“There used to be several more buildings here,” Mordred said, glancing around at the rubble.
“They didn’t need them,” I said. “The elves destroyed a lot when they took over here. They left the buildings further on, though.”
“Just walk with me and you’ll be fine,” William said, sounding incredibly confident about his current predicament.
The cave troll was at least eight feet tall, and his brown-and-green skin was covered in armor that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a tank. Huge spikes adorned his silver pauldrons, and he wore spiked gloves. He was bald, his head a mass of scar tissue, and I wondered what had been done to him before he’d been chained up inside the hut. The chain itself was as thick as my leg, and trailed off back into the hut.
The troll sniffed the air, and then appeared to relax, his hands dropping to his side and his head lolling forward.
“What happened?” Mordred whispered.
“You don’t need to be quiet,” William said. “It can smell the elven blood. Makes it docile. It’ll be like that for a while, certainly long enough for us to get away.”
“Let’s leave quickly anyway,” I said. I’d fought trolls in my life, killing more than a few, but cave trolls were vicious and cruel, and I really didn’t want to see if anything in the tunnels carved into the rock on either side of us contained even more of his kind. One cave troll is bad enough.
We’d walked past the troll and around to the side of the hut when William took off at a flat sprint. Mordred launched himself forward to give chase, but I called after him to stop, and to my immense surprise, he did.
“He might be trying to lead you into a group of blood elves,” I told him. “He can tell them what he likes. They’ll never find us before we reach the dwarf stronghold.”
I was more than a little surprised when William didn’t run down the slope toward the rest of the city, but turned and sprinted around the nearest pile of rubble that used to be a building.
We soon caught up to where we’d last seen William and checked the area, spotting him running back up toward the hut, using the rubble to keep himself hidden from the main path.
“He’s running back to his masters,” Mordred said with a sneer.
“Let him be,” Kasey said. “You can’t force him to be free of them.”
We continued on our path until a roar of pain stopped us. It came from behind us, and we turned to look back at the hut.
“You think the troll got him?” Kasey asked.
We were about a hundred yards away from the hut and I didn’t see anyone. There wasn’t anywhere for pursuers to hide. “That didn’t sound like a human cry. And we’re sitting ducks out here. Let’s get moving.”
We paused at another roar of pain. Part of the hut collapsed in on itself, and then something sailed over the hut and bounced a dozen or so yards from us.
“That’s the troll’s head,” Kasey said. “What can tear off the head of a troll?”
“I think the boy was hiding something from us,” Mordred said as we watched William kick through the back of the hut, razing it to the ground. He was twirling part of the chain in his hands as he strolled slowly toward us.
“We should run,” I said, and no one disagreed. William had doubled in size and the smile on his face was as bloody as the rest of his body. We ran in search of hiding places.
“I’ll find you all!” he shouted, as his laughter echoed around us. “I think the elves would like it if I brought back your heads.”
“What is he?” Mordred asked when we finally stopped running and had hidden behind a large wall next to a disused street.
“No idea,” I said. “He said something about making the humans read scrolls. Maybe this is the effect.”
“It turns him into the Hulk?” Kasey asked.
“He’s human, I’m certain of it; the elf I killed was certain of it. I have no idea what the hell is letting him kick a troll’s head around like a rugby ball.”
Mordred peered around the corner. “We need to keep moving. I don’t think he’s giving up.”
I took a look for myself and watched William walk down the ramp and into the workers’ part of town. He appeared to be even larger than before and just as determined to find us.
We slipped away into the side streets, where buildings remained intact and there were fewer crystals lighting the way, but kept running, stopping every now and again to listen for elven patrols, even though this part of the city appeared to be devoid of anything remotely elven.
An almighty crash behind us stopped us all in our tracks.
“What the hell was that?” Mordred asked.
“Maybe he kicked in another building,” Kasey suggested.
I ran to the end of a nearby alley and looked back at where I’d last seen William. Five dwarves had surrounded him and were trying to bring him down, but he was fighting back, and had thrown one of them into a nearby building, which had collapsed from the impact.
“They’re going to die,” Kasey said from beside me.
“And we might, too,” Mordred pointed out.
“You two, see if you can get to the dwarves to attack from the rear. I’m going to keep William busy. Don’t be long; I’d rather not be punted all over this city.” I stepped out of the shadows and onto the street, where I was easily visible.
“Come on, William!” I called, my hands cupped around my mouth. “Why don’t you come and fight me instead? Don’t you prefer the unarmed type?”
William shoved a dwarf into a nearby wall and began running toward me. It didn’t take long for his massive frame to reach full speed, which made the street beneath my feet judder with every one of his steps.
Fortunately for me, the size increase hadn’t improved his maneuverability or intelligence. I dove aside, and allowed the now nine feet, four-hundred pounds of William to crash into the building behind me. I sprinted past him until I was a good few dozen yards away before I stopped and waited for him to remove the roof that was currently on his head.
Huge pieces of masonry flew in my direction, but a quick blast of air magic sent them tumbling harmlessly to either side of me. I threw a ball of flame that hit him with no effect whatsoever. Apparently my magic wasn’t going to work on him, either. Great. I was really beginning to hate this realm and everything that lived in it.
Once William was back on his feet, he roared at me, and I ignited my soul weapon, spinning the battle-ax in my hand as if I were currently in the most casual of settings. My nerves and fear were shoved aside; I’d beaten bigger and badder things than whatever the hell William was, but I’d done that with my magic—with my power. Not being able to use that was a severe blow, and I had no idea what kind of effect my necromancy would have on the monster before me. While I’d absorbed the blood elf’s soul, making me faster, stronger, and quicker to heal, that didn’t really mean much when going up against . . . well, for want of a better term, Hulk-lite.
William stepped out of the rubble, kicking a large piece of it toward me. “Little sorcerer!” he screamed.
I motioned for him to get on with it.
William rushed toward me and threw a huge, deceptively fast punch. I dodged and raised my battle-ax, cutting through his arm. It left no mark, but he screamed in pa
in.
“What did you do to me?” he screamed.
“It’ll wear off in a few seconds. But this won’t.” Kasey ran right into William as if she were a freight train. She grabbed hold of whatever she could and used her considerable strength to take him off his feet, dumping him on the ground, his head bouncing off the street.
William tried to grab Kasey, but she was too fast for him and easily avoided his attack. William got to his knees as a short sword thrown by one of the dwarves slammed into his chest. He caught one of the dwarves that got too close and threw him aside, the small, stocky, figure sailing over the nearest building.
“Stay back,” I told Kasey when she stepped toward William again. Kasey could tear a car door off, but only moments earlier William was much, much stronger than she was. She nodded and stepped back again, joining the dwarves and Mordred circling around him.
He swiped at us, but we were out of reach. Snarling, he stayed where he was, turning his head so he could see when any of us made our next move. He wasn’t about to leave himself open to attack.
“We are at a stalemate,” William said with a chuckle.
Kasey inhaled and there was a sound like the cracking of ice on a frozen river. An instant later, a blast of ice left her mouth and crashed into William with terrifying force. The ice drove him back toward the building behind him, and then as quickly as the ice had started it stopped, leaving William’s arms pinned to the wall.
I had no idea Kasey was even able to use her mother’s elemental powers, and seeing her in full wolf-beast form as ice exploded from her open mouth was a staggering, and scary, experience. I wondered for a second just how powerful a werewolf-elemental could actually become.
“This won’t stop me!” he shouted at her.
“That will,” she said, and she pointed up.
William looked up at a dwarf leaping off the roof, a broad sword in each hand. William roared in defiance, struggling to free himself from the ice, but he wasn’t fast enough. The dwarf drove both swords into his skull, right up to their hilts.