by Tiger Hebert
“You talk too much,” said the four voices with a roar.
“You agreed to the riddle, and I have answered it, and answered it well,” replied Dom.
“No more words!”
The four beasts reared back on their haunches and drew deep breaths as if to inhale all the air within their mountain domain. The power grew, and the air around them churned and twisted with a violent angst. The confluence of unseen rivers of magic thrummed with potency. The palpable power rumbled through the air waves, and the beasts’ gemmed eyes began to glow fiery red.
“You’re going back on your word, you blasted hypocrites,” shouted Dominar. “Even your stupid riddle says you hate lies!”
The four beasts’ response was that of haunting laughter, and the howl of surging magic began to rise. In an out-of-character outburst, Dominar cursed at the beasts. Then he turned and ran. The dwarf had screamed for his companions to flee, and they were quick to heed him. Smoldering blasts of streaking red sorcery lanced out at them. It narrowly missed the stumbling dwarf. Before he knew it, Dom found himself on his hands and knees, scrambling into a bear crawl as the blasts of magic scorched the cobbles behind him. The others fanned out as they fled from the bronze guardians.
Kiriana shouted and pointed to the large pillars to the right. Sharka and the others made a break for them. Incendiary streaks of magic exploded all around them as they dashed for the cover of the colonnade.
The hounds leapt from their pedestals, as they broke into pursuit and sounded their fury. The howls from their metallic maws was a terrible screech. In unison, torrents of angry magic sprang forth from the beasts. Each flaring blast was a brilliant red scar that exploded with virulent power. A new wave of magic was released towards the still stumbling dwarf.
Dominar hadn’t quite made it to the cover offered by the massive stone pillars, and he was right in the line of fire. Nal’drin turned and sprinted toward Dom. The young king dove and tackled the dwarf. The searing magic tore through his backpack as the two men crashed onto the cobbles. Nal’drin screamed as intense pain raked the flesh of his back. The hounds closed in on them. Theros lunged forward, and before his friends could gain their bearings, he yanked them to safety just in time, for as another wave of sorcery charred the ground where they had been.
Kiriana pulled her pack from her shoulders and shouted, “Take this and get out of here, I’ll take care of these guys.”
“To hell you will,” shouted Nal’drin before grimacing in pain.
“They’ll kill you,” said Dominar.
“Not today.”
The sorcerous hounds released another wave of the dreadful magic as they closed in on their prey.
The redhead smiled as she pulled a handful of small contraptions from her belt and said, “I’ve got this. Go!”
Theros did a double-take. She’s smiling... she’s lost her damn mind!
Kiriana held four, metal-ringed crystal shards in the palm of her hand. The once dull crystals no longer offered up their usual hazy milky hue, but instead began to pulse and radiate intense pink light. Kiriana grabbed the metal band that was wrapped around one of them and began to twist it until it couldn’t twist any more. The ratcheting clicks of the device sounded off, as the unseen mechanical assembly was engaged. She released the metal band. The coiled springs released and the metal band began to unwind with a soft hum. Kiriana smiled once more before turning toward the hounds and hurling the shard.
The eyes of the beasts snapped back to follow the strange object as it sailed into their midst. The four voices shouted to flee, but they were cut off by the detonation. The percussive blast of the explosion thundered in the keep. A wall of sorcerous wind shattered the air, and at least one of the four hounds. The quaking echo rippled through the cavernous expanse, drowning out the howls of the enraged beasts. Massive chunks of stone and metal were scattered in every direction. Amidst the barrage of sound, Kiriana heard and felt a large object crash down nearby. As she turned to her left and looked, she watched the bronzed head of one of the guardians roll past her.
She smiled. One.
Soon the dust settled and the sounds of destructive magics faded, and the hunt was back on. Kiriana heard the crashing sound of the beasts resuming their pursuit. She bolted from her hiding place behind the column. Leaping over strewn rubble, she made it to the next pillar to the left just in time to watch a swath of red fire roar through the opening.
Three more hounds, three more charges. You’ve got this, girl, she thought.
She twisted the metal band on the next crystal, preparing the charge. Then she poked her head around the pillar and lobbed it toward the nearest hound, before ducking back behind the huge stone pillar. The hound opened its maw and loosed a torrent of magic at the object. The object simply sailed through the barrage and landed right in the beast’s open mouth. The briefest look of shock and realization had just started to settle on its face when the charge detonated. The maug beast’s head was blown to smithereens. The effect of the spell’s explosion within the beast was awesome. As the floodgates of the charge’s magical force was released, the hound was obliterated. The cascading effect of the blast sent fragments of the second guardian into the atmosphere, in every direction.
Two.
She didn’t have time to revel. She couldn’t wait for the dust to settle. She turned and sprinted through the choking clouds of dust and smoke toward the distant pillars. She reached the first pillar before the dust cleared, and she made her way to the next one. The master slayer hurdled a chunk of one of the dismantled guardians and landed safely behind the large pillar. The dusty cloud dissipated.
Once the cascade of dust and debris had passed, Kiriana was ready to make her move, but they would be waiting for her. She picked up a nearby rock and tossed it to her left, the direction they’d anticipate her going. The rock only sailed a few feet into the opening between the pillars before it was disintegrated by the red streams of fire.
That’s not going to work. I’ve gotta come up with something else.
The two remaining beasts surveyed the room with their blazing red eyes. They decided to split up, lest one explosion take them both out. The lead beast made its way toward the pillars where she had once hidden. The other hound made his way further into the center of the long colonnade’s hallway. Vibrations rumbled through the ground with each step of their heavy, sculpted forms.
The two hounds spoke as one. “Charges, clever girl to bring them here, but such expensive trinkets are not come by easily, or cheaply. We would think that you’ve spent your supply. Now what will you do?”
Kiriana said nothing as she examined the two remaining charges in her hands. The hounds were right. The trinkets were incredibly rare and impossibly priced. The only reason she even had them is because Grandmaster Duncan had insisted that she bring them. He’d said to use them wisely. She never thought she’d have to use them, especially not their first night in the ruins. She only had these two left. One for each beast, true, but one mistake and she was done for. She had to make them count.
The momentary silence was shattered by the pounding of the hounds heavy feet. They were on the move, and they were moving fast. Kiriana had to act, and she had to act now.
The air in the cavern began to whip and whoosh as if a great whirlpool of magic had just formed. The roaring sound of surging magic filled the room as the hounds’ drew the sorcery into them once more. The twin beasts howled, and the magic leapt from them. Snaking ribbons of sorcerous red fire shot out from the beasts’ snarling faces. This barrage of magic was different than before. Unlike the first assault, this magic seemed to take on a life of its own, and it seemed intent to take a life of its own—hers.
Kiriana watched as rolling and twisting tendrils of magic raced between the distant pillars as if they’d crash into the walls, but the magic turned and climbed the wall in a great sweeping arc and turned in her direction. The magic had found her, and it was coming. Her heart leapt. Before she realized it, Ki
riana had screamed. Her shrill voice was a piercing cry, betraying her position. She was doomed.
The hounds howled. Turning their attention to where she hid, the beasts charged. Kiriana didn’t have to see them. She could feel their charge. Kiriana did the only thing she could do. She turned once more to her left and she ran. The fire ripped through the air after her like a violent red scar, just paces behind her. The hounds were also in howling pursuit, although still a dozen yards behind.
A surge of power hit the slayer with tremendous force. Not the surge of the hounds’ magic, but the surge of adrenaline. She thought she’d already tapped into that reserve by now, but fight-or-flight has an astounding effect on people. She flew with reckless abandon, as her mind gave way to reflexive, instinctual movement. Her feet flew with new-found speed, but the pursuing magic was quicker. It was closing in on her.
With terror gripping her, she looked back over her shoulder to see the red streak just paces behind her when the tip of her boot caught the lip of an uneven stone. Kiriana lost all sense of balance and sprawled awkwardly across the cobbles. She landed on her back, face up toward the magic that prepared to devour her. Like a great predator, the sorcerous tendrils pounced. The ribbons shot into an upward arc before descending on the girl.
I’m going to die.
The thought flashed through her mind, and just hung there as the burning streak fell upon her. She closed her eyes and screamed.
She felt nothing. No new pain or discomfort.
Wait, what? I can’t be dead, because I still hear those infernal hounds. Shut up and move, stupid!
Despite the bruises and the pain from the fall, Kiriana lifted herself to her feet, then she remembered the charges. There in her white-knuckled grip were the remaining charges. Much to her surprise, their glow had become far more intense.
“It must have absorbed the magic!”
The blasts of magic were coming far more frequently. At every move and sound, the trigger-happy beasts bared their magical fangs. Kiriana knew that with just two charges left, she had to make them count. Missing with either one would be the end of her. She had to think quickly as her fingers slid the ratcheting metal band of the first charge.
“Here, boys,” she said with a whistle, before darting behind a different pillar.
The hounds howled in tandem as they drew close. Kiriana turned back to the direction she had come from and she spotted one of the doorways.
Gotta go.
She dashed for the doorway to the adjoining hallway that encircled the large room. The newest howls let her know that the hounds saw her.
Good.
They changed direction and charged back toward the doorway. Kiriana slipped through the doorway, then turned back and tossed the crystal phylactery through the doorway at the nearest pillar. She barely had enough time to duck behind the wall before the blast.
The freshly charged crystal was even more potent than the previous two. Even though she was shielded from the explosion, the blast still knocked her to the ground, but she had no time to lick her wounds. She had to make this count. Kiriana scrambled to her feet and raced headlong into the maelstrom of dust and raining particles. Ducking low, she hurried under the cloak of stone dust.
At the sound of her movement, the hounds unleashed their sorcery. Scorching volleys of red fire burned holes through the dust-filled air. Their initial assault focused on the doorway where she had fled, but they were wrong. Kiriana had already slipped out from the doorway, back into the hall. She reached down and snatched a large chunk of rock and hurled it to the opposite side of the room. The rock careened off of some unseen object, and the thunk and clatter drew the fire of the enraged guardians.
That momentary diversion gave her the few precious seconds that she needed to circle around to safety, but her work was not done. She slipped between two massive stone pillars on the opposite side of the room, directly behind the two magical beasts who stood one in front of the other. She looked down at the single, wildly pulsing crystal charge in her hand, its vibrations coursing up her arm.
Not yet.
She looked up at the beasts that thrashed about in the dust cloud ahead and smiled.
Kiriana cleared her throat, and with a laugh said, “Over here, boys.”
The snarling and snapping beasts wheeled about, their blazing eyes searching. The sorcery leapt from the hounds. Kiriana lunged behind the pillar to her right just in time to see the first wave of reckless magic erupt from the burning eyes of the rear beast. A flame-like torrent of indiscriminant power tore through the other hound with a savagery that Kiriana had never witnessed. The surging beam of magic simply disintegrated the back of the hound’s skull as it passed through it. What started as two hounds howling in painful unison soon became the lone wolf cry of one wounded, enraged beast. The smoldering remains of the dead hound’s head fell away as the winds of magic scattered the ashes.
Three.
A strange look of disbelief seemed to take up residence on the lone surviving guardian’s now contorted face. The snarling whimper of a growl only confirmed its confusion. The beast towered over the companion that it had just killed.
Kiriana did not wait for the bronzed beast to regain his bearings though. With three clicks of the ratcheting metal band, she armed the crystal charge. She rolled around the side of the pillar.
“Fetch.”
The redhead made an easy underhand toss. The rose-colored crystal charge spun as it tumbled through the air on its gentle arc. The patient metal band moved. A soft metallic click. The hound stared at the tiny object. The metal band moved again. The second click. The beast stood in stunned disbelief. The hardened crystal clattered as it smacked against the floor, and flipped and popped right back up at the beast’s feet. The contraption spun end over end on its way back to the ground. Then the metal band slid for the last time. The third click was never heard.
Four.
Despite being shielded from this detonation as well, she was once again hurled to the floor. She had tried to cover her ears. It did little good. The explosion was deafening. Kiriana guessed that the dwarves could have carved this infernal kingdom with lightning bolts, and it wouldn’t have been so loud. Fragments of dust and stone rained down around her, and the reverberations of the blast lingered a moment in the great stone tomb and then the echoing remnants of the detonation ceased.
Kiriana held her hands tightly over her ears, but endless waves of high pitching ringing filled her head. It wasn’t even just her ears, but somehow it penetrated deep into her skull. The piercing sound plucked angrily at nerves she’d never felt plucked before. She grimaced and squeezed her eyes shut tight, and groaned, but the ringing remained.
Kiriana rolled off her arm and onto her back. She held her aching head in her hands. Tiny steel daggers of high pitch ringing bored into her skull. She winced in pain, drawing her eyes tightly closed. A commotion of thumping, then muffled noises that vaguely resembled voices seemed to surround her. She forced her eyes open. Her vision swam. She realized she must have hit her head.
That explains the headache, she thought.
Dark blurry figures weaved just on the outside edge of focus. The voices grew louder as the shadowy figures crowded around her, but their voices were mostly drowned out. Kiriana put all her effort into concentrating on the figures before her. She forced her eyes to adjust. Then the figures slowly came into focus under that same strange pale blue light that seemed to illuminate this whole kingdom so far. As she looked at the concerned faces that were crowded around her, she was able to recognized them. The two orcs, the dwarf, and that boy.
Hmm, not bad, she thought. Really? You’re laying here on the ground after you almost got yourself killed, and the first thing you notice is a cute guy? You’re an idiot.
Her internal monologue was cut short as the not-bad-looking young king stretched out his hands. She placed her hands in his, even if she didn’t at first understand the intention of his gesture.
Get up!
It took a moment for her body to catch up with her mind, but she sat up, being sure to keep her movements slow. Then once she was confident in the strength of her legs, she rose with his help. She swayed for a moment as she shifted her balance. Then it dawned on her that her companions had been trying to speak to her since they reached her side, and she’d not said a word.
“I can’t hear anything yet, my ears are ringing” shouted the nearly deaf girl.
As soon as she shouted, she realized that it must have been really loud. Her hollering startled the men, but Sharka simply laughed.
Nothing seems to faze that one. I like her. It was just another reason to smile.
Kiriana turned her eyes from the orc woman to the stoic orc man, then to the kindly old face of the dwarf. Dominar. A tumultuous wave of emotion seemed to still be rolling over his wrinkled gray features. His worry was well worn. His lips were moving quickly. The droning sound of their muffled voices seemed to intensify as the ringing began to dissipate, but she still couldn’t make out the words.
Kiriana held up a hand with her index finger extended, and in an attempt to speak without yelling, she said, “Give me a minute, I think my hearing is coming back.”
Dominar nodded and from what she could tell, everyone had stopped talking for a moment. The maelstrom of sounds that continued the battery upon her ears was lessened. The ringing slowly, gradually faded from the foreground into a nagging whisper. After several minutes of silence, her hearing returned.
Theros set down his pack. “I think that’s enough for today.”
Before the words had even finished rolling off his tongue, Nal’drin and Dominar were already fishing through the packs in search of the food stores; after all, it was dinner time. Theros began building a fire as they broke into a lively discussion about their entree selection. Nal’drin angled for the quicker meal, while Dominar countered the argument with a savory promise of wood-fired kluelle flanks.