Descent Into Darkness (Book 2)

by James R. Vernon

  "This is your sister?" he said, a hand going to his chin. "Well, I suppose she can't be your sister technically, as you are human and she clearly is not, but you were passing her off as your sister. So I assume, then, she is something else from the Abyss? Like your imp?"

  "What did you do to her?"

  Tilting his head to the side, Sadiek flashed Ean a frown. "I took her wings obviously. They have such strength and make a fine addition to my body. They will be very useful in the coming years. I have such wondrous plans, and the ability to fly will certainly help."

  "But you've practically killed her!"

  Again, that slightly confused frown. "An acceptable loss. You can always summon another one after all, if she comes from the Abyss..." He passed a hand over his head, his fingers running over it as through hair that was no longer there. "Does this specific one mean something to you?"

  "Yes," Ean growled. With the energy flowing through him, he was getting his senses back, but his mind was still foggy as he struggled to think up a plan.

  "Oh," Sadiek said with a shrug. "Well, that is unfortunate. I had planned on asking you to join me in my mission, but that will be difficult now, yes? If you are the type to hold grudges, of course. If not, then we have so much we can accomplish together."

  "What mission?"

  "To change the world, my boy!" Laughing, Sadiek began to pace around. Ean took the opportunity to inch his way closer to Azalea while the man went on a rant.

  "The people in this land, the Deadlands, Ven Khilada, and the lands to the south that those savage Umdaer hold, have made countless mistakes. The Plague being the most recent, but there was an even more devastating mistake before that. Cast out, the people of this land were, sent to this land from one a hundred times better, all because of the actions of their deities.

  "Selfish gods, that's what the people here worship, what I used to worship. I followed the Goddess of Knowledge for the longest time, studying and learning as much as I could. But now I know the truth, know how both their actions and inactions continue to bring all of the races that acknowledge them down." Sadiek threw his hands in the air, his wings expanding again.

  "They must be brought down, and only I have been told the way to do it."

  Ean had made his way over to Azalea's side by that point and reached out a hand to her. Grasping her shoulder, he shuddered at how cold her skin felt.

  "So," Sadiek said, turning his attention back to Ean. "Will you join me?"

  Stall. What he was stalling for, Ean had no idea. Other than the hound waiting just outside, he had no one else to help him and no plan. And every passing moment, Azalea was that much closer to death. He needed time to think.

  "Those monsters, the things that used to be men that went missing from the caravan, did you do that?"

  "Yes!" A wide grin spread across the older man's face. "Magnificent, are they not? Just a little change to their bodies and they became so much more than simple wagon drivers and loaders. They are the future of humankind!" He waved a hand at nothing, laughing sheepishly. "Well, the first steps, at least. I am still working out what I can do with the human body."

  Ean had to keep him talking. The moment the man realized Ean wasn't going to join him, he was probably dead. He had to help Azalea, no matter what, that had to be the first priority. She might not have much time left.

  "So, the whole land is going to be a bunch of mindless monsters?"

  "No, no. I just said they were the first step. Experimentation, that's the key. Unfortunately those that I used could not handle such a drastic change and at such a quick pace. It broke their minds. The next group, I will make sure to change slowly, a few pieces at a time. Maybe not as dramatically as well." He let out a short laugh. "I have to admit, I got a little excited at the possibilities once I started changing the first man."

  "I don't think I really like the idea of being changed," Ean said carefully. Clearly the man was unhinged and dangerous, best not to make him angry. "Would it be possible for me to join you and not end up like them?"

  Sadiek scratched at himself as he considered the question, giving Ean time to think. He had to help Azalea. Rottwealth powder and some Flashseal could close and heal the wounds but he had neither and doubted Sadiek would allow him to apply them anyway....

  The bond.

  If he could form the same magical bound that he had with the hound, he could give her some of his strength and get her back into the fight. At the very least he could keep her alive. Then maybe the two of them and the hound would have a chance.

  "No, trust me my boy, the change will be good. You will be stronger, a better person on top of the skills you already have. After all, as you are, you are physically weak. It would be for the best, I think, to improve your body to match your growing abilities."

  Reaching his right hand underneath his torn shirt, he searched around until he found the small piece of bark hanging from his neck that bore Azalea's summoning rune. Closing his eyes, he pictured the rune becoming part of the others that now covered most of his upper body.

  The designs on his body flared to life, the dark blue light slightly overwhelming the torch light and covering the room in a dark blue hue. Sadiek quickly took a few steps back, eyeing Ean wearily.

  "What are you doing?" The old man said, confusion mixing with annoyance in his voice.

  "Saving my friend," Ean grunted in reply as the magic took hold. Both Sadiek and Ean watched as Azalea's summoning rune suddenly appeared on Ean's exposed arm. It rode the rest of Ean's tattoos like a current, rising and dipping as it moved up his arm, over his shoulder, and then coming to rest on the right side of his chest. Just as the hound's rune had done, Azalea's rune settled into place and quickly began to merge with the designs already there. In a matter of moments it was completely integrated with the rest of his body. The bond was there too, sending him Azalea's torment and sadness.

  And that's when the pain came.

  If felt like two jagged blades were jabbed into his back just below both of his shoulder bones. The pain came so suddenly, Ean was caught off guard and writhed in agony, both hands reaching back to grab at blades and wounds that were not there. Trying his best to block out the pain, Ean took in as much energy as he could to dull the pain through the bond. It worked enough, diminishing to feeling like a sore back than two stab wounds. Catching his breath, Ean did his best to focus on Azalea's emotions and not so much on her pain. Sadness, fear, and a small amount of acceptance. She knew she was dying.

  "That did not look like you provided much help," Sadiek said, cautiously moving closer to where Ean was laying. "But whatever you did to cause yourself such pain, it is a good sign. I'm afraid you have a lot more pain to come as you change into a better you. And you will be better off without your friend here anyway."

  "I'm not done with her yet," Ean growled, and poured everything he had into the bond between himself and the Yulari.

  Ean's attention was on Sadiek, but he heard Azalea gasp and start to cough behind him. He let himself feel her agony again, a small smile touching his lips as he felt the wounds on her back start to lessen in pain. Risking a glance back, he let his smile grow as he watched the wounds on her back slowly close. It had worked.

  "What did you do?" Sadiek said, his voice slightly strained. "How are you doing this?" Walking over, the old man reached down and grabbed Azalea by the hair and lifted her off the ground. She gave a low whimper as she was dragged up and suspended in the air, her hands weakly began to claw at the hand that held her suspended. Her nails barely left scratch marks.

  Turning her to the left and the right, he watched as the last bits of bruising and cuts disappeared from her body, leaving two long, thin scars running down her upper back. As the last of her wounds disappeared, Ean lessened the amount of his own energy he sent over. She still seemed weak, but he couldn't give her much more if he wanted to have any chance of defending himself as well.

  Giving Azalea one last look over, Sadiek let her go and turned towa
rds Ean. Before Azalea even hit the ground, her body folded up on top of legs too weak to hold her up, Sadiek had a firm grasp on what was left of Ean's shirt. Lifting him up so that they were face to face, Sadiek licked his lips as he regarded Ean. The stale smell of rotted meat washed over Ean every time the man opened his mouth.

  "There is still so much I do not know about what you can do," Sadiek said, looking Ean over like he was a piece of meat. "You are quite the puzzle, and I do like figuring out puzzles..."

  Sadiek's eyes started to drift off to the side, his attention seeming to go elsewhere for a moment. Ean took the moment to glace down at Azalea. The Yulari was on her hands and knees, but she was struggling to sit up. Ean felt nothing but determination through their new bond. If they weren't in such a bad situation, Ean would have complimented Azalea on her refusal to give up. Instead he settled on sending pride through their bond.

  "Don't look away from me while I'm talking to you!" Sadiek was suddenly shaking Ean, small specks of spittle coming out of his mouth. "It is quite rude after all!"

  Ean's attention snapped back to the man. "Sorry," Ean managed to get out before the man shook him any harder. Thankfully it was enough to calm him down. Not enough to get him to put Ean down however, leaving Ean still stuck in front of the man's foul smelling breath. Or was it the man himself that smelled...off...

  "As I was saying..." Sadiek blinked a few times and paused, then shook his head and continued. "You are a puzzle, but a dangerous puzzle. Since I don't know exactly what you can do, or how many other creatures you have summoned," He waved at Azalea. "Or what I can do will mix or reject whatever is happening to your body already, it creates quite the list of problems."

  "Which would be a good reason why you shouldn't try to--"

  Pain exploded on the right side of his face as Sadiek backhanded him. Ean again didn't even see the blow coming. Black spots raced across his vision, fading in and out for a moment.

  "Do not interrupt. If I decide to keep you around, you must learn to only speak when spoken to or say to others what I have given you permission to say. Our numbers are small, especially since your pet girl killed four of my new creations and none of the other ones have returned. If they are all dead, that would just leave the two of us to continue on with my mission. As powerful as I am and as you might be, I fear most of the people in both the Deadlands and back in Ven Khilada are not ready for what I have planned and would try to stop us. So it is best, I think, if you don't speak once we leave here."

  "I completely understand." That you are crazy. "I can keep quiet." Until I figure out how to escape.

  "Good." The older man set him down much gentler than he had Azalea. "Now, let us see how good you are at following more orders. Kill her." He gestured at Azalea like he had just told Ean to kill a gnat.

  Why was he pandering to this lunatic? If he had to face the man and die, he might as well get it over with.

  "No."

  "Ean, Ean, Ean," Sadiek said, shaking his head. "For a moment there I thought you understood your situation. I suppose you need a few more lessons first." Ean tensed as Sadiek took a slow, deliberate step in Ean's direction. This was it.

  A loud growl emanated from Ean's right, stopping Sadiek in his tracks. They both turned to look and found Yaeger slowly walking towards them both, his head low and his teeth bared. Ean had been so focused on his bond with Azalea that he had forgotten the hound. The huge beast moved slowly, its eyes locked on Sadiek as it took deliberate steps towards him. The older man watched the hound warily, a frown marking his face.

  "If that is your animal, Ean, you better call it off," he said through clenched teeth. "I promise you things will get much worse if I have to put that creature, as well as your girl, down."

  "I don't think so," Ean said, his tattoos glowing brightly as he took in even more energy. "I'm not going to let you hurt either of them."

  "NOT GOING TO LET me? Interesting. I'm going to kill them both, and you as well now, and I promise the process will hurt a great deal."

  Before the words were even completely out of his mouth, Sadiek took two quick steps towards Ean. The hound responded, covering the remaining distance between itself and Sadiek by the time the older man was taking his third step. Yaeger leapt at Sadiek, its teeth bared wide.

  But the older man was fast, faster than even the hound. He sidestepped Yaeger's attack, the hound's teeth biting down and just missing Sadiek's chest. As the hound sailed past, Sadiek thrust out both palms, catching the hound in the side and sending him spinning off course. Instead of landing straight on his paws, the force of the blow sent the hound hitting the ground on its side, its head smacking into the smooth stone floor.

  But Yaeger was up in an instant, turning around and facing Sadiek with squinting purple eyes. It growled loudly again, drool dripping from its open mouth. Steam rose as its slobber hit the ground, sizzling as it landed. If the hound could just land a bite or even get some of that drool on Sadiek's skin, it might distract him enough that they would have a chance. Ean would have to help.

  This time when Yaeger charged, Ean went running in as well. Being faster, the hound reached Sadiek first, making a move as if it was going to leap at the man's chest again, then changing at the last moment and sticking to the ground, its mouth going for the man's legs instead.

  Again Sadiek was just fast enough, leap-frogging the hound and barely avoiding its gaping jaws. Not a drop of saliva hit the man, but he was still on his way down when Ean reached him.

  Not slowing down, Ean ducked his shoulders and plowed into Sadiek, wrapping his arms around the man and taking them both down to the ground. To Ean it felt like he was tackling a tree, his shoulder ached from the impact, but he heard the satisfying whoosh of air escape from the man's mouth as the breath was knocked out of him.

  They skidded along the ground a pace or two before coming to a stop, Ean quickly getting to his knees. Hovering over the dazed man, Ean began raining down blows with his fists. He only had experience receiving blows instead of delivering them, so he focused on landing as many blows as he could instead of going for one knockout blow. His fists found their mark, splitting the man's lip and bloodying his nose.

  Sadiek curled into a ball for a moment then lashed out with his legs, kicking Ean squarely in the chest, the force sending him tumbling backwards. He stopped rolling and got instantly back onto his knees but Sadiek was already on the attack, this time tackling Ean the rest of the way down.

  Now it was Sadiek's turn to hover over Ean and rain down blows. Ean brought his arms up to protect himself, but the older man simply varied where he was punching. If Ean blocked his face, Sadiek would land a blow to his chest or stomach, if Ean moved to protect his body, Sadiek would get in two or three blows to his face before Ean could change his guard. Sadiek was quickly wearing Ean down.

  A loud thud was all Ean heard before the blows suddenly stopped. Quickly looking around, he found Sadiek and the hound a few paces away rolling along the ground. Sadiek's hands were somehow keeping the hound's mouth away from his own throat. Despite not being able to reach the man, Yaeger's mouth kept snapping at him, drops of drool landing to the left and right of the man and setting off little wisps of smoke when they hit the stone.

  Ean tried to get to his feet but was still feeling woozy from the pummeling he just received. Unable to stand on wobbly legs, Ean instead began moving on his hands and knees towards the melee.

  While Ean was moving, a scream erupted from Sadiek as some of the hound's saliva finally started hitting his arms and chest. With as close as Ean had gotten, he could see the man's skin start to peel and burn away as each drop made contact.

  But the pain seemed to add to Sadiek's strength instead of sap it. With a great heave he rolled on top of the hound. Freeing his right hand, Sadiek raised it back preparing to strike, his fingers held together and pointing at the hound's exposed belly. Ean watched in horror as the older man's skin peeled away from his finger tips and exposed bone. Four small, point
ed fingertips glistened with the man's own blood. Extending twice as long as they had been right before the change, Sadiek gave a triumphant yell and drove them into the hound's stomach.

  The hound whined in pain as the small bony daggers pierced his stomach. The pain of it coming through the bond almost brought Ean the rest of the way to the ground. But if he went down, Sadiek would surely finish the hound off.

  Using the pain to drive him as well, Ean scrambled a few paces more until he was close enough to launch himself again at the older man. He grabbed Sadiek's arm, his momentum pulling that dangerous hand out of the hound and taking them rolling away. They both landed on their sides, Ean's left hand locked on Sadiek's right wrist, his full attention on those bone blade fingers now covered in the hound's blood. Which left Sadiek's other hand free to grab Ean's throat.

  Ean's eyes went wide as he was suddenly cut off from air. His free right hand went instinctively to grab at the hand around his throat, but the man's grip was iron tight. If he used both hands he might be able to free himself, but that would free up Sadiek's dangerous bone blades. Ean did his best to try and buck around on the ground, hoping to loosen the man's grip enough that he could get some air. It failed.

  His vision started going spotty. He had to try wrenching the hand off his throat with both hands before he lost the strength. If he passed out, those bone-bladed fingers would be free to finish him anyway. Releasing the man's right wrist, Ean grabbed at the man's left wrist with both hands now and tried to pull him off.

  But Ean had waited too long. He could not pull even the slightest bit. As the edges of his vision started to go dark, he saw a look of triumph pass over Sadiek's face. Casually, taking his time now that he was completely in control, Sadiek raised his right hand and pointed two of those pointed fingers directly at Ean's eyes.

  This was it. The end.

  A light blue hand grabbed that wrist before it could descend, four purple nails digging into the man's skin and pulling it back. Air suddenly rushed into Ean as Sadiek released his throat and attempted to rise. A small blue foot caught the man in the face as he rose, spinning him around. Sadiek landed face down, his hands catching him from hitting face first. He rolled quickly away and got to his knees, his eyes blinking quickly as he shook his head.