by Duncan Pile
All of a sudden a grating screech sounded from above, making every hair on his body stand on end. The group came to a stop, glancing upwards to see the air spirit diving down, screeching once more as it snapped its wings open and landed on Rimulth’s extended forearm.
“The Darkman is on us!” Rimulth said.
“Then we have no choice,” Voltan said, drawing a long dagger from a sheath at his side. Baard dropped his pack and freed Bonebreaker from its harness.
“Wait!” Gaspi said, an idea germinating in his mind, inspired by the urgency of the moment. “We’ve been so stupid! How could we not have thought of this before?”
“Speak sense boy!” Voltan snapped.
“Give your amulet to the air spirit!” Gaspi instructed.
Realisation dawned in Voltan’s eyes. “Of course!” he said, grasping the amulet around his neck and pulling it over his head. He threw it into the air and the hawk took off, catching it in its beak.
“Fly!” Gaspi cried, but it was already winging its way off towards the Thundering Gorge. The fire spirit intruded on his senses, its fury evident as it dropped from the skies to join them in battle, but Gaspi sent it a direct command to stay out of it unless he called for aid. Frustrated, the spirit obeyed him nonetheless and returned to the skies.
“Voltan, give me the other part,” Gaspi said. Voltan withdrew the second piece of the amulet from within his clothing and passed it over. “Rimulth, the moment we see the Darkman, tell the air spirit to land. Everyone, gather round, grab hold of someone. Make sure we’re all touching.”
The different members of the group started to understand Gaspi’s plan, with the exception of Baard, who did what he was told with a look of utter bafflement on his face. “What’s goin’ on?” he asked. “Shouldn’t we be getting’ ready ter fight?”
“There’s no time for questions,” Gaspi insisted. Baard fell silent. They faced back the way they’d come, hearts in their throats as they waited for their nemesis to appear. For long moments there was nothing, and then came the sound of hissing breath and scraping rock. The sounds grew louder and then, from around a corner, a creature from nightmare emerged. Its head was lowered to the ground, but then it stopped and looked up, freezing in place when it saw them. It was tall – much taller than Gaspi had imagined - and its entire body was burned, scaly and black and covered in painful-looking lesions. Its ruined skin stretched tight over long limbs taut with lean muscle. Its hands and feet ended in wicked claws, but worst of all was its face. Its mouth was nothing more than a ragged gash, its nostrils two vertical slits, and its eyes burned with the fire of hateful, obsessive madness. Its baleful gaze found Gaspi’s straight away. Its eyes widened, its nostrils flared, and every muscle in its body snapped taught. It lifted its arms and bony protrusions thrust from its wrists, dripping with foul, black effluent. With a grating cry that froze the blood, it leapt towards its prey, so fast it almost caught him by surprise.
Gaspi clutched the amulet, channelled power into it and cried out the word of power – “Convoke!” Before the demon could reach them, they were caught up in the magic of transportation.
Twenty-seven
“Holy crap!” Baard said when they reappeared. The whole group was thrown into fearful chaos at the terrifying sight of the Darkman. Gaspi locked eyes with the air spirit. “Go!” he commanded. It took off in an instant, winging its way towards the Thundering Gorge. “Everyone, run!” The group burst into frantic motion, trying to put as much distance between them and the Darkman as they could. Gaspi was under no illusions they’d transported to safety. In bodily form, the air spirit could only have covered a thousand yards before Rimulth had told it to land. The Darkman would be on them again in a matter of moments. Casting his senses out behind him, Gaspi tried to detect the demon’s nearness. There it was! A black blur of wrongness speeding towards them like an arrow shot from a longbow.
“Stop!” he called. “Gather round.” Within moments the group was ready to transport. He wasn’t going to let the Darkman get so close this time. “Rimulth!”
The tribesman closed his eyes a moment. “Done,” he said, just as the Darkman came into sight over a nearby ridge.
“Convoke!”
…
This time no-one needed telling what to do. They were running in the direction of the gorge from the moment awareness returned, and the hawk was already winging its way ahead of them. They pounded over the stone until they reached a narrow, natural bridge, spanning a short but very deep chasm between spars of rock. Zlekic and Zaric were already across before Gaspi realised the bridge was there. He glanced behind him. They had to go slowly to avoid falling, but time wasn’t on their side. They all needed to be across before the Darkman arrived or they wouldn’t be able to transport. He reached out with his senses, searching for the Darkman. It still had quite some distance to cover. He glanced at the group again and saw that Emmy had joined the twins on the other side and Sabu was already halfway across. There was no choice now – they all had to get to the other side!
“Move quickly,” he said. Sabu finished crossing without hesitation, and Voltan had no problem with it either, but then it was Baard’s turn. The giant kept glancing down, his eyes wide and his skin pale and sweaty. He was going far too slowly! The Darkman would be on them in another few moments. Lilly’s restoration of his energy meant that Gaspi had some fresh reserves of power, so he reached out with a finger of power and propelling Baard across the last few feet of the bridge. Talmo and Rimulth went next, both of them crossing with ease, which only left Taurnil, Lydia and himself.
“Gasp!” Taurnil hissed, looking over his shoulder. Gaspi spun around to find the Darkman racing towards him, its clawed feet ripping up huge chunks of rock.
“Get Lydia across, now!” Gaspi said. Lydia had already started across the bridge, but was going slowly, disturbed by the depth of the fall.
“I’m not leaving you,” Taurnil said.
“Do it!” Gaspi said sternly. “Get across and form the group up. Tell Rimulth to make the air spirit land. GO!!!”
Looking utterly tortured, Taurnil turned around and followed Lydia. Gaspi didn’t even watch him go. He summoned power as the Darkman drew near, looming larger and larger in his sight. It was truly terrifying to behold, taller even than Baard, its eyes red as blood, and its limbs taut with violent intent. It didn’t slow down this time, but bore right down on him, bony blades extended and ready to kill. Gaspi summoned as much power as he could, forming it into a hard, broad strike. He just needed time to get across the bridge.
The Darkman took three long strides and leapt into the air, twisting as it did so, its poison-drenched weapons scything towards him. For a moment Gaspi was overwhelmed by the demon’s presence. Much like a Bale-beast, it exuded a sense of wrongness, rapaciously consuming life and warmth. Its nearness drained him of hope and purpose, stealing the very essence of what made him human. For that brief moment, fear made Gaspi’s limbs shake and threatened to steal his nerve, but at the last second he rallied, drawing deep on his reserves and thrusting out with all his might. His strike slammed into the Darkman, catching it in mid-air and flinging it away from him. Without waiting to see how quickly it recovered, he turned and raced across the bridge. Reaching the other side, he grabbed hold of Taurnil, channelled power into the amulet, and spoke the word of command.
…
Wordlessly, the group bolted for the gorge. They could hear it clearly now, the churning waters roaring noisily somewhere ahead of them. If they could just get across, they’d be safe from the Darkman for a little time. Right then Gaspi would settle for five minutes of safety! How close had he come to being skewered on the end of those weapons? To being infected by that hideous poison? Repressing a shudder, he kept on running, following the air spirit as it flew ahead of them. They ran swiftly, their feet made fleet by fear.
The ledge widened before them and the group spread out, running in ragged formation. How far was it to the gorge? A few hundred feet
? More? Gaspi threw out his senses once again, searching for the Darkman. It was right on them!
“RIMULTH!” he yelled.
“Ready,” the tribesman called back. “It’s not on the other side of the gorge though.”
“No choice,” Gaspi said. “Everyone gather.” The group formed a circle, grabbing each other just as the Darkman burst out of the underbrush behind them.
“CONVOKE!” Gaspi yelled, as a bony blade swung whooshed towards his head.
…
They appeared on the near side of the gorge, a huge gash in the land a thousand yards deep and hundreds of feet across. The tumultuous waters thundered far below, echoing off the steep walls of the gorge and roaring in their ears.
“OVER THERE!” Gaspi shouted to the air spirit, pointing at the far bank. It shot off straight away, winging its way over the gulf. He cast his senses back to find the Darkman, confirming his worst fears. It was closing fast. He glanced back at the air spirit, estimating the distance to the far side. It was going to be close.
“Everyone gather,” he said. The group formed up, grabbing each other in readiness for transportation, but he couldn’t give the command yet. The hawk was still out over the gorge. He looked around at the tense faces of his companions and glanced at the hawk again. Just a little bit further! They waited, each moment seeming like an eternity. The Darkman burst from the brush twenty paces from them. Emmy screamed. Gaspi threw a look over his shoulder. The hawk was landing. The Darkman was running at them, eyes ablaze. He opened his mouth to give the command, but at that exact moment Zlekic and Zaric drew their weapons and charged, issuing fierce war cries.
“NOOO!” Gaspi cried. Baard was reaching for Bonebreaker and Sabu already had his scimitar in his hands. Gaspi summoned power, ready to fight to the death, but a band of force snapped into being, encircled the whole group and stopping anyone from breaking away.
“Gaspi!” Voltan barked. “Transport us, now!”
“But Zlekic and Zaric,” he pleaded.
“…are buying us time. Now go!” Gaspi paused, unable to contemplate what Voltan was saying. A cry of pain sounded from one of the twins, and Gaspi looked over to see Zaric falling to his knees, holding his hands over a huge gash in his stomach. Even as he watched, a slimy loop of entrails slipped through his fingers and slid to the ground. He looked up at Gaspi, his eyes rich with pain.
“Go,” he mouthed hoarsely. Gaspi looked one last time at Zlekic, still bravely battling the greater demon and somehow holding it at bay with wild strokes of his heavy sword. “GOOOOO!” Zaric cried. Torn apart by grief, Gaspi shouted the word of command.
…
“NO!” Gaspi cried again when they reached the far side of the gorge. He grabbed the pouch containing the Wizard’s Eye, tipped the artefact into his hand and channelled power into it. A moment later, he was zooming across the gorge, nearing the place where Zlekic was miraculously still doing battle with the Darkman. Gaspi watched in horror, noting numbly that the warrior hadn’t landed a blow on the demon, but he was bleeding from a dozen wounds. His face was grey with fatigue and something else much worse. Gaspi gulped, swallowing tears as he saw his friend being butchered before his eyes. He knew what being killed by the Darkman meant – it meant being unable to pass on to the afterlife, your soul trapped in a dreadful limbo for as long as the Darkman remained in this plane. The Darkman was pushing Zlekic towards the lip of the gorge with blistering strokes of its bony weapons. Zlekic fought on, displaying reflexes even Sabu would be proud of, but Gaspi knew it was no good. Even if by some miracle he managed to survive the fight, the Darkman’s weapons were coated in poison that would rot his body and ultimately take his life. There was no chance of that happening however. His heels were right back against the long fall to the river below, and every last desperate defence only just held.
What the Darkman hadn’t noticed was that Zaric had pushed himself to his knees behind them. He grasped his fallen sword and, leaning heavily on it, rose slowly to his feet. His entrails spilled from the wound in his belly like a nest of slippery snakes, but he made no attempt to capture them. Taking slow, staggering steps, he came up behind the Darkman and, summoning his last strength, thrust the blade through the demon’s back. The Darkman threw back its head and roared in pain, spinning to deal with this second adversary, but Zlekic too took advantage of the moment and drove his sword into the demon’s side. It roared once more, trying to shake them loose, but the brothers held on for dear life. They shared a hard, decisive look. Gaspi couldn’t bear it, but he couldn’t look away either. The twins drew themselves hard against the Darkman, clinging even more tightly to their weapons, and then as one they threw themselves over the edge of the cliff.
The Darkman didn’t understand the danger until it was too late. It was already toppling, dragged down by the weight of the two men clinging to the blades they’d buried in its body. It roared again, ripping at the rocky cliff side with desperate claws, but it couldn’t get any purchase. Using the magic of the Wizard’s Eye, Gaspi followed them down into the gorge, watching the twins smash up against the canyon walls and lose their grip, plummeting to their inevitable deaths. The Darkman bounced off the wall of the gorge, once, twice, and then, with a brutal concussion, landed on a rocky outcrop that skewered it right through the chest. Its body shattered, it wriggled and writhed, sliding up the spear of stone until it was free once more. It pushed itself off the outcrop, leaving dark smears of black blood behind it, before falling the rest of the way and splashing into the tumultuous waters. Gaspi sent his sight down towards the water, searching for signs of the demon, and then he saw it – a black shape being swept rapidly downstream on the current. He tried to follow it but his vision started to disintegrate, and then finally it gave out altogether and he was back on the edge of the gorge, holding the Wizard’s Eye. Falling to his knees, he let go of the Eye and started to sob, huge uncontrollable movements of his body that could never express the horror and grief he felt.
Twenty-eight
They sat around in ones and twos, bound together and yet separated by grief. Voltan sat in silence, his head bowed. Sabu knelt with his forehead on the ground, muttering a quiet ritual none of them were familiar with, but which every one of them understood. Baard sat with his head in his hands, fat tears rolling freely down his face and slowly soaking his beard. Emmy and Gaspi sat together, holding each other in quiet consolation. Lydia had curled up in Taurnil’s protective embrace, resting her head against his chest. He stroked her hair slowly, rhythmically, staring numbly into the distance. Rimulth and Talmo had separated themselves from the group to perform their own rite for a fallen warrior, and Heath had taken off into the trees, carrying Lilly’s prone form. The bleak terrain they were accustomed to travelling through was broken up by a narrow strip of greenery around the gorge. There were trees, bushes and even a stream, so Heath had placed Lilly in the water, where she had transformed, finally able to recover from her ordeal. Loreill had joined her, the presence of vibrant, living things enabling him to transform as well, but the elementals displayed none of their usual joy, respectful of the twins’ sacrifice and the grief of their bond-mates. The sun was setting, colouring everything with the last of the evening light and throwing long shadows across the ground.
Gaspi could hardly comprehend that the twins were truly dead. Yes, he’d seen the Darkman mortally wound Zaric and yes, he’d seen them fall into the gorge, but it still made no sense to him at all. The twins, who’d kept the group’s spirits up throughout the long journey, were gone. He remembered the jokes they’d told around the campfire, their bawdy but hilarious stories that made him laugh so hard his sides hurt. They’d cared about everyone, even the elementals – they’d built the harnesses for them to ride in and carried them for miles without complaint. And now, when faced with an enemy that was trying to take Gaspi’s life, they’d given their lives to save his. It would be an impossible debt to repay under normal circumstances, but they had been killed by the Darkman, which
meant it had stolen their essence to strengthen itself and their souls were in torturous limbo. It didn’t even bear thinking about!
“We must kill the Darkman,” he said, the first one to speak aloud in a long time.
“We mustn’t be distracted from the quest,” Voltan said wearily.
“We don’t have a choice,” Gaspi said. “Where’s Heath? There’s something we all need to discuss.”
“Right here,” Heath rumbled, stepping out from among the trees. Loreill and Lilly followed him, glowing beings of blue and green light, but the moment they emerged from the trees they transformed. Loreill scampered across the ground, his creamy ferret form lithe and swift. He raced into Gaspi’s lap, ran up his arm and curled around his neck. Emmy held out her arms to Lilly, who waddled over and clambered into her lap. Emmy buried her face in Lilly’s fur, her tears for Zlekic and Zaric still flowing.
Drawn by the noise, Rimulth and Talmo finished their rite and re-joined the group. Sabu too lifted his head from the ground and sat cross-legged, looking at Gaspi expectantly.
“What is it you want to discuss?” Heath asked.
“We must kill the Darkman,” Gaspi started, repeating his earlier statement. “We can’t seek to avoid it – it has to die.”
“You saw that thing Gasp,” Taurnil said. “It would rip us all to pieces.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Sabu said quietly.
“It already took the twins,” Baard said. “We don’t want ter lose anyone else.”