Deepforge

by R. J. Washburn

Daemon

  Brendon seemed confused, and looked at the scroll again, back and front.“Shit,” he said, and looked around suspiciously. He then put the bird into his backpack and returned to camp.

  “…there was this huge…I wasn’t sure at the time what it was, kind of like that thing I showed you, coming across the bay,” Bruno told an epic story as they all sat for breakfast, the leaders congregated at the same table. “I learned it was called Cetus. I’ve also heard it referred to as a Kraken. Well, all the people started freaking out, as you can imagine. Andromeda was tied to the rocks screaming for her life. Poor girl. I can’t imagine how frightened she was. But, I wasn’t too concerned, ‘cause I knew the creature’s weakness. I had battled it before and neither of us had been able to harm each other. So, I thought about it logically.” He pointed to his head. “All that stuff I went through the weeks prior had prepared me. That’s when I pulled out the head of Medusa and basically pointed it at the creature.” He smiled and took a mouth of food.

  “Well? Then what?” Grognor was on the edge of his seat.

  “It turned to stone. I saved Aethiopia, released and married Andromeda, and the gods were upset with me. Well, some of them anyway, especially Poseidon.”

  Everyone at the table applauded.

  “So, there really are gods, then?” Teelena asked.

  “Teelena, don’t you remember? They stepped in and stopped the battle with the humans a few weeks ago,” Grognor said.

  Everyone looked at Grongor like he had lost his mind.

  “What? No, that was the dragons, Husband. There were no gods.” She nudged him.

  Grognor had been sure there were gods at the battle…but, now he was beginning to doubt the fading memory. Had he dreamed it?

  “Yes, in fact my best friend, well actually my father-in-law now, is Thor of Asgard,” Bruno boasted.

  “Oh, come on, now! You’re just telling stories.” Victoria scoffed.

  “I assure you, General. It’s all true. In fact, if you look at the ancient prophesy of the Dragon King, you’ll see that gods will be playing a big part.”

  “You really are something, Bruno. These stories have been amazing, especially the one about the devil and the space craft on that Cassandra world.” Delvin laughed and took a bite of food.

  [1]

  “Yea, that was heart wrenching. I lost my one true love that day,” Bruno said, thoughtfully looking out at the morning mist.

  Brendon came and sat down with a plate full of food. He didn’t say anything, just began eating, glancing at each person.

  “Brendon, do you have any war stories you’d like to tell?” Bruno asked.

  He simply smiled and shook his head ‘no’.

  “Well, I imagine some of our stories would be a bit more…personal. Seeing as we were enemies once, eh?” Grognor slapped Brendon on the shoulder.

  Brendon forced a smiled and continued eating.

  “Still, there were some epic battles. The battle for Little Hill for instance,” Victoria said. “I’ve never seen dwarves run away from a battle before.” She smiled at Grognor.

  “None of us had experienced black power weapons before that day. At least, not in that way,” Grognor conceded.

  “I heard about that. Sounded like a one sided battle,” Teelena said.

  “Hardly,” Victoria explained. “They ran like little girls the first time we shot off an exploding cannonball, but they quickly turned the tides on us. Well, he did.” She motioned to Grognor.

  “Yea, that was amazing, if I do say so myself,” Grognor chuckled.

  “Why, what happened?” Bruno asked.

  Victoria told the tale, “We had a line of cannons shooting off right into their ranks, but this guy right here.” She tugged on Grognor’s whiskers, grinning. “He didn’t care. He ran right through them, dodging the bullets and cannon balls. But, the most incredible thing I had ever seen…he actually deflected one of the cannon balls with his hammer! It exploded, sending him flying. But, that didn’t stop him, either!” She pointed at Grognor, grinning.

  Teelena listened intently as she watched her husband begin to blush with embarrassment.

  Victoria continued, “He actually got up and waited for the next round. Well my husband, rest his soul, decided it was time to take out the dwarven menace once and for all. He fired the cannon right at Grognor.”

  Teelena gasped.

  “I caught it,” Grognor boasted, now fully embarrassed.

  “No shit?” Bruno said, grinning.

  “Yep, he actually caught the cannon ball. Of course, it knocked him back a ways, but he got back up and…now, you’re not going to believe this…” Victoria paused for dramatic effect, and then mimed throwing. “He threw the cannon ball back at us, the fuse still burning! We couldn’t believe it. The ball exploded right above the powder cache, and it was like nothing you’ve ever seen. We ran for our lives!”

  Grognor nodded. “From that point on, Little Hill was called ‘Little Table’, because of the blast. It blew the whole top of the hill flat, and nearly killed me. It took several months for me to recover. I still have scars.”

  Everyone was impressed and applauded. All but Brendon.

  “You were at that battle too, Brendon. I remember you down at the other side right in the middle of the hand combat,” Victoria said.

  He nodded and said, “Yea, I remember. Pretty amazing.” He continued to eat, not showing any emotion, but glancing into each person’s eyes in turn, as if looking for something.

  At that point, Eugene came to the table and sat down. His eyes locked on Brendon’s with nothing but disdain. Brendon caught Eugene’s eyes, and he glanced at his professionally crafted bow and quiver full of perfectly straight arrows. He stopped eating and stared back at Eugene. The two of them continued to stare at each other until Eugene finally broke the tension.

  “Well, there was this one time,” Eugene started, turning his gaze from Brendon, “when my family and I were out hunting. We were surprised by a green dragon. None of us had ever seen a dragon before, at least, not a chromatic. We panicked a bit until my wife said, ‘that could feed the whole village for a week!’ So, it was decided.” He stopped and began eating.

  “Go on.” Grognor said.

  “Oh, well so we brought it down and butchered it. Not bad, a bit gamey.” Eugene smiled.

  Victoria looked at him with disappointment in her eyes. “Seriously? You’ve got to be the worst story teller…ever!”

  Everyone laughed except Brendon, who kept his eyes on the hunter.

  Eugene didn’t understand what was so funny.

  Teelena calmed herself and said, “Ok, so, we want to know exactly how you brought it down.”

  “Oh, we shot it down.”

  Grognor palmed his face, laughing. Victoria rolled her eyes and shook her head. Bruno laughed out loud, as did most everyone else.

  Brendon spoke up, “You shot down a dragon while in flight?”

  Eugene turned to look at him. “That’s right. Like I’ve said before, all the Naw-nee people are expert marksmen. Shooting down a dragon in flight is relatively easy, if you know where to aim. In fact, I’ve personally brought down many a large bird while in flight. Birds are easy. Just aim for the head, so the breast meat is not spoiled by the shot.”

  The table remained totally silent as the others watched the exchange.

  “Well, that’s very impressive,” Brendon said, dryly. He excused himself from the table.

  Everyone at the table watched as Brendon walked over to his division and continued to eat.

  “He knows,” Eugene said.

  Grognor glanced at Victoria and back to Eugene. He quickly shook his head ‘no’, but it was too late.

  “Knows what?” Victoria asked as she continued to eat.

  Everyone remained silent.

  Victoria looked up at everyone, suddenly suspicious. “Knows…what?” she asked again.

  Everyone else shared a glance of panic, not knowing what to do
next. Eugene expressed his shame for having said anything. He cast his gaze down.

  “Knows…what?” Victoria asked again, now highly suspicions. She put down her fork and glared at everyone. “What’s going on? Why’s Brendon acting so strange? Knows what?”

  Grognor knew there was no way to explain this one away. He sighed in frustration and produced the scroll. As he held it in his hand, he urged, “Now Victoria, there’s something going on here, and we need to know you won’t over react.”

  She stared at the Emperor, coldly. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  The tension at the table rose quickly as everyone watched the exchange.

  Grognor handed the scroll to Victoria. “Eugene shot down a stealth night dove mechanical bird last night, one that Brendon had released. This is what was in its message compartment. We repaired it and sent back a response so he would think it got through, but,” he paused and looked around at the faces, “we must have gotten it wrong, ‘cause he obviously knows he’s been discovered.”

  Victoria read the note. As she did, her fair skinned face began to grow red. She very calmly rolled the scroll back up, handed it to Grognor, and got up from the table. She didn’t say a word.

  “Oh, shit,” Bruno said.

  “Victoria, don’t!” Grognor said.

  Victoria ignored him and unsheathed her sword. She very calmly walked toward Brendon.

  “Oh, shit!” Bruno said again as he jumped up from the table with everyone else. They ran toward Victoria.

  Grognor yelled at her, “General Victoria! I command you to stand down immediately!”

  Victoria stopped in her tracks, the sword still in her hand. Brendon saw her and heard Grognor yell. He knew the jig was up. He dropped his plate and unsheathed his own sword. All of his division also stood up, weapons in hand.

  “Ah, hell!” Bruno said.

  The entire encampment stopped what they were doing to watch the unknown drama unfold.

  “You low-down, worthless piece of shit. You will face me!” Victoria yelled at Brendon.

  Grognor yelled as he quickly moved to her, “General Victoria! I said stand down!”

  Victoria glanced back at Grognor, and reluctantly sheathed her sword and stepped back. Her fury was peaking. “I stand down, but only because the Emperor has ordered it so…you son-of-a whore Brendon!”

  All of Brendon’s division walked with him as he moved toward Victoria.

  Victoria’s division was immediately on alert, and stood with their weapons ready, not knowing what the issue was.

  Teelena looked up at Bruno. “Can’t we stop this?”

  “No, I don’t think so. The cat’s outta the bag, now.”

  Teelena looked up at him in confusion, not recognizing the phrase. “Well, it’s just as well. I’d rather see him dead, anyway.”

  Grognor walked in front of Victoria as she glared at Brendon. “We’ll deal with it, just step back.”

  Brendon jumped and slashed at Grognor, hitting him square in his back. Grognor went down in a heap.

  Victoria screamed and unsheathed her sword just as Brendon spun around for another attack. The swords met in mid-air with a loud ‘clang’, and remained as the two warriors faced each other.

  “Traitor! You’ll taste my blade for this!” Victoria screamed.

  Teelena screamed and grabbed her hammer, running at the two in engaged in battle.

  All at once, twenty of Brendon’s division roared forward, ready to battle.

  “Oh, crap!” Bruno yelled. “Protect the Emperor! Brendon’s a traitor!”

  All divisions suddenly grabbed weapons and engaged Brendon’s warriors in battle, not really understanding what was happening. Chaos ensued.

  Grognor lay motionless at Victoria and Brendon’s feet as the two warriors struggled with their locked swords.

  “Victoria, I thought you understood what we were doing here?” Brendon spat out.

  “Clearly, you’re the one who’s misled, you son-of-a whore!” She feigned a motion, and then kicked, knocking Brendon back and disengaging the swords.

  They circled each other as Teelena came screaming to Grognor’s side. He had a bad wound in his back, and was bleeding profusely. He was dying. In pure rage, she jumped up and threw her hammer at Brendon. Brendon stepped aside as the hammer flew past him. The raging Empress ran at him as Victoria yelled for her to stop. It was too late. Brendon met Teelena with the point of his sword, running her through.

  “Join your beloved husband, you horrendous creature,” Brendon said as he kicked Teelena off the sword.

  Bruno panicked and ran to grab Grognor. He was horrified as he saw the attack against Teelena. “Shit!” he yelled. He concentrated and placed his hands on Grognor, trying to use his mental talents to heal him. It wasn’t working, his wound was too severe.

  Brendon looked up just as Victoria swung her sword down, catching him on the shoulder. He swung up, deflected the blade and spun around for a piercing attack. She jumped back, avoiding the attack and swung down to deflect the blow.

  Behind them the battle raged, with Eugene and the Naw-nee killing several treacherous warriors with arrow shots, and the Stone Children pushing back Brendon’s division. The others stood confused, simply defending as a few got through. Most of them had no idea why this fight broke out, except for Bruno’s exclamation. It was clear that Brendon had been accused of being a traitor, but none of them save the elite few directly involved knew the details. Victoria’s division stood ready to attack and defend her against Brendon. She looked over to them and shook her head ‘no’. It was understood; this was her fight.

  Bruno continued to try his best at healing, but the Emperor continued to bleed and slip further away. “Damn it! Come on! You can’t die now!”

  Victoria lunged forward and feigned a swing, then swung down the other side. Brendon jumped out of the way and hit Victoria in the mouth with his fist, busting her lip open. She blocked the next sword blow and kicked him, knocking him down. She then jumped to stab him as he struggled to get up, scoring a glancing blow in his side. Blood began flowing down his side. They stood apart, circling and sizing each other up.

  “You wanted them dead, just admit it,” Brendon said, taunting her.

  “I rose above the need for vengeance. For peace. You, however, were a traitor. You went against the Queen’s orders and attacked them like the coward you are.”

  “Coward? We took on the brave task of attacking the malevolent dwarves when no one else would! We’re heroes!”

  He lunged forward, but she deflected his attack and retaliated. He deflected her attack, and then she deflected. After several minutes of the exchanged blows and clashing swords, she dropped and rolled, knocking him down. Brendon lost control of his sword as she began stabbing at him, missing. He grabbed her sword and the two wrestled for it. Finally both losing control, her sword went flying. He managed to get to his feet and kicked her in the head. The blow knocked her back, but she quickly recovered and returned the favor. She grabbed a hold of a sapling and swung around; hitting Brendon in the side as he nearly got his sword from the ground. He hit the ground hard, her on top of him punching his face as hard as she could. He managed to get his arm around her and get a choke hold, which she easily twisted away from. He then reached up, grabbed a rock and smashed it on her head. She fell away and scrambled to recover.

  He didn’t give her a chance to get fully upright before he body slammed her into a tree. Ribs snapped, and she screamed in pain and anger. He backed up to get a better position, and saw her sword close by. He lunged for it, but she stopped his movement by throwing herself on him. They both went down, snapping a couple of his ribs. As they wrestled on the ground, he finally got another choke hold on her, he kneeling with her in front, nearly sprawled. He twisted and squeezed, screaming in anger as he desperately tried to close off the circulation in her neck.

  One of Victoria’s division shot an arrow, hitting Brendon in the face. He released her and fell back, b
leeding. It wasn’t a fatal shot, but it did make him struggle to get it out. As he did so, Victoria caught her breath and jumped for her sword. She grabbed it about the time he retrieved his. He turned her direction just in time to see her sword pierce his side. He yelled and hit her in her broken ribs with his elbow. She screamed and jumped back as he swung down with his sword. She deflected and swung at him, missing as he jumped aside. She spun around and swung again, losing breath as a snapped rib punctured a lung.

  Brendon deflected the blow and then kicked at her, causing her to stumble against a tree. He then lunged at her and scored a piercing blow to her chest. His sword went all the way through, pinning her to the tree. Brendon released the sword and stepped back, leaving her pinned. Victoria’s division rushed Brendon until he threatened with his dagger to finish the job.

  She dropped her sword and grasped down on the one in her chest, struggling to get a breath. As her life began to fade, she pulled as hard as she could to remove the sword. Blood poured out of her wound, mouth and nose as she struggled.

  “You’re the traitor, Victoria,” Brendon said. “Even after everything that’s happened. Even after he killed your husband right in front of you, you still align with him? We’re patriots of the human race, not cowards aligning with the dwarven scourge. Die a traitor’s death, bitch.” He looked up at her division ready to tear him apart, and at the battle going on against his comrades. He knew; he wouldn’t leave this battle alive. He approached her as she successfully wrestled the sword from her chest and fell to the ground.

  Bruno continued to try and heal Grognor, but his wound was just too severe. Blood poured out. “Damn it! No!” he yelled.

  Eugene joined him, trying his best to close the wound, the blood flowing out like a fountain. “Keep trying. I’ll stitch the wound together!” He quickly produced a needle and thread, and hastily stitched up the wound, stopping the biggest artery from spewing blood.

  Bruno continued to concentrate, and it slowly began to work. The blood vessels started to mend.

  “It’s working!” Eugene yelled, and continued to stitch as fast as he could.