The Darkslayer: Lethal Liaisons (Series 2, Book 4) (Bish and Bone Series 2)

by Craig Halloran

  The man screamed and crashed into the emerald floor. Others came to his aid. Venir pounced on the nearest underling. Its hands turned brighter than stars. A blast shot from both hands. It knocked Venir from his feet, sending him sliding across the floor. He shrugged off the bone-jarring impact, gathered his feet, and sprinted for the exit, barring everyone’s path.

  “No one is going anywhere, you magic-sucking jackals. Tell me where Kam is!”

  The robed men and underlings backed off. There were ten of them. Some wrung their hands. Others clutched their robes.

  “One more time—where is Kam!”

  “Kill him,” one of the underlings said to one of the wizards. “Prove you’re loyal, and kill this vermin.”

  Blood dripped from Brool’s blade and splashed on the floor. The air around Venir began to shimmer. Helm pulsated. Jaws clenched, he sprang into action. He smashed into a row of mages.

  Whop!

  The ginger-limbed men crumpled under his girth. He socked spell casters in the mouth with his fist and shield. He didn’t shed the blood of men unless he had to, unless given no other choice. “You picked a bad day to pick a fight, you men in dresses!”

  Zing! Zing! Zing!

  Glowing missiles glanced off his helmet and shield. Something burrowed deep into his body. Blood racing like fire through his veins, Venir let loose. Lifting Brool high, he dropped it like a hammer.

  Split!

  The razor-sharp blade severed off a man’s shoulder.

  Slice! Slice! Slice!

  Hands, fingers, and legs were loose. Blood ran like water on the emerald floor. Venir was speed. Terror. He tracked down two remaining underlings and pinned them in a corner. Mystic blue shields of energy popped up around them. They hissed and chittered. Brool’s well-honed metal collided into the shields with awesome force. The magic barriers cracked and dissipated.

  “Chitter now, mangy dogs!” Venir jabbed the great axe into one underling’s throat. He ripped it out and aimed for the other. The underling crouched behind his arms. “Die, black-hearted fiend. Die.”

  “That’s quite enough!” A commanding voice shook the entire room like thunder, rattling Venir’s bones.

  Limbs frozen, Venir’s grip on Brool’s shaft quavered.

  The underling lowered his arms and grinned.

  Venir’s grip became white knuckled. “No, it isn’t.” He rammed the axe spike straight through the underling’s chest. Glitch.

  “Drop the axe, fool of a man!”

  Venir jerked the axe out. The underling sagged, black blood running freely on the floor. Venir turned.

  The man who had spoken was strongly built for a wizard and wearing crimson robes trimmed in gold. His hair was auburn and wavy.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

  “No, Venir, we haven’t. I’m Kam’s father, Kavell.” He made a quirky motion with his fingers.

  An unseen force tugged at Brool and Helm.

  “Don’t do that,” Venir warned.

  “This is my tower. I do whatever I want here.” Kavell dropped his oversized hands. “I’m not here to make friends, Venir.” He surveyed the bloody carnage of his magi on the floor. “What you’ve done is beyond repairable, sorry. Now I have to kill you.”

  “Then you’re just going to wind up like all the others that tried.” Axe ready, Venir started forward. His feet were held fast to the floor. And then they started to sink into the floor, as if it were quick sand. In seconds, he was knee-deep in the terror. “Slat on you, sorcerer!”

  CHAPTER 16

  Pall’s machete cut the end off the rider’s spear.

  Slice!

  “Watch where you point that thing, human,” Pall growled. “I’ll end you. I’ll end all of you.”

  The party of scavengers pulled their mounts back. Their wide eyes darted amongst one another. A feverish look started among them.

  “He can’t take us all,” the leader said, ripping his blade from the sheath mounted on his saddle. He raised the blade over his head. “Trample him! Trample him over!” His horse reared up onto its hind legs, neighed, and came back down. “Onward!”

  A bright flash of light ripped through the air.

  Sssssrazz! Boom!

  The leader on horseback exploded into chunks and pieces. The smell of burnt flesh filled Lefty’s nose. What just happened? Pall exploded into motion, jostling Lefty in his sack.

  Clatch-Zip! Clatch-Zip! Clatch-Zip!

  A bolt tore through one man’s throat. Another impaled the nearest rider. Horses whined, reared up, and galloped away. Brilliant light followed.

  Ssssssrazzz! Boom!

  Another scavenger’s arm exploded off his shoulder. He teetered out of the saddle, dead before he hit the ground.

  The marrow in Lefty’s bones froze. He caught the first glimpse of his assailants.

  Underlings. Little black men closed in, chittering and pointing sharp and pointy weapons at them. Another one in dark robes hovered above them. He chittered angry commands. His fingertips twinkled with life. Terror rained down on the humans.

  “Pall! What are you doing?” Lefty started to climb out of the backpack.

  “You stay put!” Pall shouted.

  Zip! Zip! Zip!

  Crossbow bolts whizzed through the air. I’m a dead halfling in here! Suddenly, Lefty felt himself lifted through the air. In the next second he was galloping away on horseback. Pall bellowed loud and clear. “Woooooo Hoooooo!”

  The underlings gave chase, as many as thirty in number. They ran on foot. They rode on the backs of spiders. They screeched and chittered.

  I need to get out of this pack! “Where are you going?” Lefty yelled.

  “Just hold on, little man!”

  With his tiny heart pounding inside his chest, Lefty weighed his options. Pall hadn’t run from anything before. This shook his confidence in Pall. The dwarf had managed to make quick work of the small companies they’d come upon, but this was different. This time there were well over a score. Maybe more. I can hide. He can’t. He started out of the pack.

  Another bolt zinged over their heads.

  Lefty climbed back in and gripped his axe. Never mind. If I die, I deserve it. If I fall, I might as well fall with Pall.

  “You still back there?”

  “Yes!”

  “Hang on, then!” Pall said.

  The horse leapt over something and bounded over another. It rushed over a steep slide of rock and shale. Lefty squinted at the dust cloud behind them. The underlings came through it unfettered. He’d lost sight of the mage. He scanned the sky as they raced down a dry creek bed. Where is he?

  Shards of bright light streaked through the sky. Ssssraz! The ground exploded beneath them. Boom!

  Lefty was pitched into the air and came back down hard. Pall scrambled to his feet and rushed back down the dry ravine. His long strides slowed, and he came to a stop. He took his time turning all the way around.

  Gemstone eyes glimmering with ravenous evil, the underlings had them surrounded.

  “Don’t worry, boy,” Pall said, spitting into the dirt. “I’ve handled half as many before.”

  “Half?”

  “Maybe half.”

  CHAPTER 17

  “We want immunity,” Melegal said, cleaning his nails. “No prosecutions from your kind or those Royals in the towers. And our gold stays our gold.”

  “I tire of your silly demands,” the underling said. His clawed hand squeezed the hilt of his sword. “You keep your lives and whatever you can carry. That is it.”

  Melegal huffed a laugh. The small watercraft wobbled. He’d been making a list of demands, one absurd thing after the other. Parlay. Delay. What’s the difference? He’d somehow managed to chew up about thirty minutes without getting all of their throats slit. But the underlings were easing in. Two more craft had appeared through the tunnel. He noted the craft that the underling he spoke with was on. It was the same kind the citizens used on the lake at the three great falls. Blast
ed Royals are supplying them.

  Jasper tugged on the cuff of his pants.

  He made eyes at her. What?

  Her eyes glanced up at the cave ceiling and back to the underlings. She gave him a wink.

  The underlings spoke in low voices and began to fan their boats out. Their gemstone eyes were intent on the building behind the wharf.

  “I don’t believe the Darkslayer is in there.” The underling plucked a jagged-shaped dagger from his belt. “If he’s there, call him out.”

  “You know as well as I do that no one really knows where he is. He may be lurking in these waters for all I know.”

  The underling leaned his head over the side. Others’ eyes searched the black waters.

  Venir really is a pain in their arse, isn’t he. Heh. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I gathered your name, underling?”

  The underling’s lip curled back. “I did not give it, human. And my patience has run out.”

  “So, going forward, I would like to be a liaison between you and the Royals. Or rather, us, you, and the Royals. They need us. We supply their goods, and I’m assuming part of the reason you are here is to take control of that part on their behalf, or cut them off from it. Am I right?”

  “Underlings only serve underlings,” it said. It waved more craft forward with its hand. “We control everything.”

  “Give us until tomorrow, then. We can gather our things and remove our families.”

  The underling shook his head. He lifted his hands, palms up. Half a dozen robed underlings, scattered among the craft, rose up into the air. Their fingertips and eyes started to glow with a faint red light.

  I’m not dying in these black waters. “It seems you’ve come to a decision. Eh, what did you say your name was?”

  “I didn’t.” The underling flicked a finger forward. An underling mage hurled a ball of fire through the air. It exploded into one of the buildings. The fires started to spread. “Enough chatter, human. Time has run out. Depart or we’ll burn you all out!”

  “Fine,” Melegal said. He nudged Slom with his foot. “Take me closer.”

  The half-orc glowered. “What?”

  “Do as I say.”

  Slom dug the paddles into the water and the boat eased closer, bumping into the underling’s craft.

  Melegal offered his hand. “You offer free passage and all that we can carry. Agreed, underling.”

  The underling huffed and offered his hand.

  Melegal pulled his away. “But I’ll need your name to prove your word to any other of your kind if needed, won’t I?”

  “You can have my name, but you can’t have my hand. I don’t coddle to your weak breed’s customs.”

  Melegal looked down on the underling’s wiry frame. It was no bigger than Jasper’s. Remember. Small like a woman but strong like a man. Little fiends. He extended his hand. “I’m Melegal, and as for our custom, you might as well get used to it. Glad handing goes on all the time.”

  With a raspy hiss, the underling offered his gray hand with black nails like sharp files. “I’m called Kinas.”

  Melegal took his hand. The grip was cold and strong like iron. “Well, Kinas, there’s a saying down here. ‘Mess with the Nest, die like the rest.’” He summoned a charge from Sefron’s ring.

  Zap!

  Kinas’s hair stood on end. His body went upright.

  In a fluid move, Melegal slid a dagger between Kinas’s ribs and pushed him into the water.

  The underlings’ high voices erupted with wrath. Two other underlings in Kinas’s craft jumped up with their swords. Melegal pushed the craft away, toppling them both into the waters. Splash!

  A bolt of green zipped toward Melegal’s head. He ducked under it. “Earn your salt, Jasper!” Another bolt tore through his sleeve, singeing his clothes. “Zurth! Get those sluggards started.”

  Zurth’s voice boomed. “Defend your gold, Rogues! Death to the underlings!”

  A raucous chorus rang out. Swords were hoisted high. “Aye!”

  Jasper gestured, and a large boulder dropped from above and smashed through an underling craft. Stones bigger than men’s heads splashed into the waters, busting up more small craft.

  Katoom! Katoom! Water splashed. Boards cracked. Crash! Crash! A boulder crushed an underling’s upward face. Thud!

  The rogues let out a triumphant cry and paddled across the waters.

  Underlings in armor sank. Others splashed in their own waves. Some swam through the dank lake.

  “I thought you said they couldn’t swim,” Slom said.

  “First time I’ve seen it,” Melegal replied. He whisked his blade from the scabbard. “Let these roaches have it!”

  The underlings lit the cave ceiling up with fire. Rogues hidden on well-concealed networks of catwalks caught fire and plunged headlong to watery deaths. Within seconds, the underlings and purse snatchers clashed. Some of the steely men took to the waters and toppled underlings’ boats over. Others jabbed at them with long spears.

  A flash of fire ripped into Slom’s shoulder. “Aargh! That burns!” He slapped at the seared flesh. “That’s it. Someone else can row!”

  “Stay on those oars!” Melegal said. “Jasper, have you anything to counter—”

  A bright-purple shield of energy crackled to life in her hands, shielding their craft. “How’s that?”

  “Late.”

  Slom and Zurth guided the craft through the watery wake. Jasper’s shield countered the assault of the minions. More fiery bolts ripped through the air, hitting flesh and charring bone in the craft around them. Men screamed. Others drowned in burbling woes. An underling craft with four of the bright-eyed fiends bore down on them.

  “Prepare to be boarded,” Zurth said, brandishing his sword. As the underling craft closed in, the well-knit man pounced onto it. His sword came down on an underling shoulder. It screeched out in pain.

  “Fool!” Melegal yelled. The underlings were crafty fighters. An underling slid in behind Zurth with its knife poised to strike a fatal blow.

  Dart launchers ready, Melegal fired.

  Twing! Twing! Twing! Twing!

  The attacking fiend lurched. Zurth clocked it in the face with the pommel of his blade. “Got him!”

  The third underling jammed a blade in the big man’s side. Zurth’s eyes widened. He made a desperate cut, glancing off the underling’s skull. He began hacking like a wild man. The underlings latched onto his legs and arms and dragged him out of the craft and into the waters.

  “Zurth!” Melegal and Jasper yelled.

  “The fool is lost,” Slom said, shaking his head. “Wearing armor on the waters. Pah.”

  Bubbles burbled to the surface, but there was no sign of Zurth or any of the underlings he’d been fighting.

  Why did the fool do that?

  With bloody skirmishes all around, Melegal readied his launchers and took aim.

  “Melegal!” Jasper cried out. “We have company!”

  A great shadow hovered over them with long black billowing robes. Its pewter eyes bore into all of them. It pointed its hands, whispered a word, and a circle of lightning appeared.

  Melegal fired.

  Twing! Twing! Twing! Twing!

  It laughed. With a flick of its finger, the circles of lightning darted right at them.

  Melegal grabbed his cap and sprang into action. Jump!

  Too late. The boat exploded. Boom! His teeth clacked together. The white flash of light turned cold, wet, and grim.

  CHAPTER 18

  Brak stumbled, crashed into a chair, and fell down.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Ruut said. The man sat behind a desk, eyes wider than moons. “Fogle! How dare you!”

  “Be still, Ruut,” Fogle said, fingers twitching at his sides. “I’m here, and I’m not toying with you.”

  Holding his stomach, Brak rose to his feet and glanced at Fogle. The mage gave him a nod. He closed in on Ruut.

  “You jest,” Ruut said. With a flick
of his wrist, he sent Brak careening into the wall, shaking the entire study.

  Fogle flicked his fingers at the bookish man. Golden bands of mystic energy cuffed the man’s hands.

  “Are you mad, Fogle?” Ruut said. His face became a mask of concentration. “Invading my privacy. Wrecking my study.” His eyes narrowed. “You always were cocky.”

  “Brak!” Fogle said. “Get moving.”

  Rubbing his head, Brak grumbled. Slowly, he made his way up to his feet.

  Ruut snapped the bands and counterattacked Fogle. Tiny missiles shot from his fingertips.

  Fogle brought up a shield. The glowing needles ricocheted and dissipated. “Brak, do something before he escapes.”

  “Fine,” Brak said. He grabbed the edges of a decorative rug that half covered the room and gave it a heave. The desk, tables and chairs shifted toward him. Ruut lost his footing and cracked his head on the edge of the desk. Brak marched over. Ruut was out cold. “Done.”

  Fogle walked over, looked down at his former colleague, and said, “Unconventional but effective. Well done.” He kneeled down, withdrew some silk rope, and bound the man. “That’ll hold him.”

  “Did you really need me?” Brak said.

  “You want to have a hand in rescuing Kam, don’t you?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “But is a conditional word, Brak. What is your condition?” Fogle dragged Ruut up into a chair. “Well?”

  “I think I was a decoy, like Venir. I don’t like that.”

  “As big as you are, you’ll always be a decoy. Nothing I can do about that.” He secured Ruut to the chair with more rope. “But I needed you. Don’t doubt that. You see, magic users like us aren’t used to scuffling with brutes like you. We can wrestle with our powers, but not so much with our bodies. So I needed you in case he one-upped me. A little blunt force trauma always helps. Understand?”

  “You’re the mind, and I’m the muscle.”

  “Something like that.” Fogle found a handkerchief inside the desk and stuffed it in Ruut’s mouth. “Can’t have him talking. Most good mages have an escape word.” He patted Brak on the side of the arm. “That was a good move with the carpet. I’m impressed. I never would have seen that coming.”