by Jon Bender
Continuing to pour magic into the void to counter the fire mage’s cast, Keller raised his other hand forming a smaller version of the shadow wall. The stone missiles connected solidly against it and he released the shield to counter with daggers. It was a significant disadvantage of the shadow wall. While protecting him, it also blocked sight of anything on the other side, a flaw that the earth mage had taken advantage of. As the first of Keller’s daggers formed and flew toward the mage, a final hunk of stone the mage had waited to fling clipped his hip painfully. Staggering back, he felt his hold over the void slip and the fire mage’s flame push closer. Regaining control, he firmed his cast to stop the flames from advancing any further. He had managed to hurl two of the daggers before getting hit, but the earth mage had been prepared. Bringing both hands upward, stone shot up from his feet to intercept Keller’s attack. Pieces of the newly formed wall began breaking away and speeding toward Keller. Unable to see him, the earth mage was firing them at random. It was a sound strategy. In such a small space accuracy was irrelevant. He needed only get lucky once. With no other choice, Keller raised his own wall again to stop them. Now completely on the defensive, with Elitha and her men nearing him, he concentrated his will to try and overwhelm the fire mage before it was too late. He tried to pull more power into himself, but his body would not allow it. In any case, there was little more to draw upon with the overwhelming light of the flames diminishing what power was available. Squinting to look over the inferno, he could see the fire mage gritting his teeth at the effort it took to hold Keller back. He wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer, but he didn’t have to.
Elitha had made it to his side and had raised her dagger to finish him. A dark space in the air that should not be able to exist in the bright light came from behind Keller. Seeming to simply appear in front of the thief, the shape sharpened into the form of a man holding a curving sword. The newcomer was dressed in all black, and though Keller could not see his face, he knew that all but the eyes would be covered by a mask made of deep shadows. The faithful were one of Or’Keer’s most powerful weapons. Men and women imbued with magic as Keller was, but to a much lesser extent. It allowed them to blend into darkness and move with incredible speed. Keller had no idea where the faithful one had come from, or how it had known he was here. He was just glad that it had arrived.
The faithful whipped his sword out towards Elitha who had no choice but to retreat, her dagger outmatched by the superior reach of the dark blade. As she leapt away, the two men with her moved forward wielding their own swords, the three working together to overcome their swift opponent. With the faithful buying him time, Keller poured all his strength into forcing the void forward inch by inch, all the while continuing to hold the shadow wall against the barrage of stones. Looking into the fire mage’s eyes, he could see the panic taking hold there as his own cast was pushed closer.
“Do something!” the fire mage shouted to his companion. “I can’t hold him much longer.”
The impacts against his shadow wall ceased, but Keller did not release the cast thinking it another ploy as before. As the void continued to advance, seeming to suck the flame into itself as it destroyed the magic, the ground began to shake. Dust and small stones fell loose from the ceiling. Something powerful struck his wall with enough force to stagger him back. Before he could firm the protective barrier, it was struck again and again, the last blow breaking it completely and throwing Keller to the ground as the fire mage’s cast roared overhead. The flame vanished making the room instantly darker and leaving only the light of the torches still burning on the ground.
From his back, Keller saw the fire mage sag forward in exhaustion. It was a feeling he understood having fended off two mages at once, but it was not the fire mage he concentrated on. Standing before Keller was a thick, stone golem over eight feet in height, white gems placed where the eyes should be glowing softly with power of its creator. The magically constructed creature raised its clubbed arms intent on smashing Keller beneath.
With the wall having already failed to hold back the stone behemoth, Keller reached out his hand and summoned Or’Keer’s finger from the ground at its feet. The black tentacle swirled up a stone leg and wrapped around the golem’s waist, stopping it from advancing further.
With the most immediate threat dealt with for the moment, he looked to the fire mage who he was sure would be readying another attack but the mage was staring down at his chest, hands wrapped around a curved blade protruding from just below his sternum. The black blade was jerked out, allowing the man to fall away. Keller felt the resistance against his cast lessen as the golem began to lose strength, but only for the time it took the earth mage to hurl several chunks of jagged stone picked up from the floor. The faithful saw the attack coming, but even her magically enhanced speed was not enough to avoid it. Her body was hurled forcefully back into the tunnel from which she had come.
With the faithful now out of the way, the earth mage resumed his control over the golem. Keller could almost feel the amount of magic being poured into the creature as it struggled to break free of his grip.
No longer needing to ward off attacks from the fire mage, Keller was now free to concentrate solely on his remaining opponent. Casting with his other hand, another tentacle formed on the floor and began climbing up the golem. Soon, each limb was securely wrapped in shadowy loops holding them firmly in place.
Focusing his mind, Keller concentrated on one of the golem’s arms. His effort was rewarded with a loud popping as the stone began to snap apart, but still the earth mage struggled against him. His opponent was attempting to keep the limb in place and mend the fractures. The struggle became a contest between their wills and the amount of power each could summon. Keller was tiring from the exertion of facing two mages, but he could also see the sweat dripping from the earth mage’s face. He twisted and pulled against the limb, ever so slowly making progress. Finally, the stone arm broke free of the body with a crack that reverberated throughout the chamber.
The earth mage staggered, and Keller did not waste the opportunity. The tentacle reared back and whipped the stone arm, easily weighing five-hundred pounds, at the man. In a panic, the earth mage raised his arm stopping the massive projectile midair. It was all the distraction Keller needed. Releasing both tentacles, he aimed at the mage and cast the void. The black beam, as thick as a man’s arm, shot beneath the floating stone to hit him in the stomach. Death was instantaneous, the floating stone crashing to the ground and sending dust into the air, adding to that created by the golem’s collapse into rubble.
Keller wanted to lay back and catch his breath, but knew he did not have the time. The first faithful to arrive was still holding back Elitha on the other side of the room where he had managed to push them, but he still faced three opponents who were not taking any risks that would provide an opening. Keller also didn’t know where Hailey had gone. The tunnel he had last seen her in was now empty except for the dead body of an unknown man.
Standing slowly, he looked in the direction of Elitha and her men. Since the beginning of the ambush, he hadn’t the time to feel anything other than surprise. Now he felt anger. She was responsible for the trap, and more, she was one of the traitors who had abandoned Or’Keer. Keller’s mind went back to the guard he had killed, and a realization settled over him. He had murdered a loyal servant for nothing. The man’s death had not protected his mission. Elitha had known who he was all along.
Raising his hand in their direction, he took some measure of satisfaction in her look of fear and resignation. Drawing on his already drained strength, he pulled the shadows into himself and cast. The void, now considerably thinner, was still enough to tear through the dividing space and strike one of the men in the chest. Now faced with only two opponents, the faithful went through a series of moves that Keller could barely follow. He swiped at Elitha forcing her to jump back, then shifted a few feet to the side and sliced the second man’s thigh causing him to drop to a
knee. Slashing back upwards, the faithful cut his throat. Squaring off with Elitha who held no emotion in her features, the faithful moved to finish her.
“Wait,” Keller called out, getting a handle on his anger. As much as he wanted to see her punished, his identity had been discovered, if it had ever been a secret. Somehow this woman had known who he was, and likely knew where he could find those she was working with. “Leave her and go find the other woman. Bring her back to me if she is alive.”
The faithful took two steps back and lowered its blade before dashing off down the hall Hailey had been in. As soon as he was out of sight, Elitha rushed for Keller, a predictable and futile attack. Or’Keer’s finger formed at his command, grabbing up the woman and holding her in place.
“I won’t tell you anything,” she spit, struggling to free herself from the coils.
Keller took a deep breath to steady himself. If not for the exhilaration still pumping through him, he was sure the drain from the short but furious battle would have taken him to a knee. It had been a long time since he had been so close to death, and his hands still quivered slightly from the excitement.
“Perhaps,” he said, doubting her statement. Many had said the same before being taken to a temple. As much as he hated to resort to such tactics, they needed whatever information she had. They stayed as they were as he waited for the faithful to return. Elitha said nothing in that time, her icy glare never leaving him, until she broke it to look where Caldin and Serg lay. “I should have killed you in the tunnel,” she said.
Keller followed her eyes to the two dead men, and he remembered the look in her eyes as he exited the house from the cellar. She could have collapsed the tunnel on him when he had passed through it, but that would have meant trapping her men on the other side. She had likely thought they would be able to overwhelm him here, and did not wish to sacrifice her men needlessly. Now they and everyone else with her were dead, because she had not been willing to do what was necessary. Her failure helped prove to him that his killing of the guard had been the right choice, even if she had known who he was at the time. Things would have likely ended differently had he used his magic in front of her. She would have run and waited to collapse the tunnel on him, or she would have fought him right then. Either way, he would never have taken down two enemy mages and the handful of men he had. Even knowing he had struck a strong victory for Or’Keer, he still could not shake the image of the guard on his knees.
“Yes, you should have,” he said.
They resumed their silence as Keller contemplated the cost of his victory. When the faithful returned, he was preceded by Hailey at the tip of his sword. Her face was dirty, and there were tears in her clothes. Otherwise she appeared to be unharmed.
The blonde thief did not look happy, but it was not at Keller her ire was directed. She stared with narrowed eyes at Elitha who returned the sentiment with a look of disdain. He was not interested in their feelings of betrayal. Or’Keer had demanded that the dissidents in Karadin be dealt with, and at the moment, these two were his only link to finding the rest. The only reason Hailey was not bound as her fellow thief, was that she had chosen to help Keller when she could have easily slipped away.
“What of the other traitor she was fighting?” he said to the faithful.
“He’s dead,” the masked man said, his voice so low to be almost inaudible.
Keller would have preferred to have captured another of the traitors alive, but he had not instructed the faithful to do so. Those changed by the dark god’s magic were selected because of their unyielding devotion. They followed commands without question, and nothing more. In any case, it was best that everyone involved in the ambush was dead or captured. He would rather that whoever Elitha worked with was left with uncertainty as to what had really happened.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Holiness Benkt commanded us to follow you, but gave instructions not to interfere unless you were betrayed.”
Keller felt a mixture of annoyance and gratitude toward the priest for taking action without informing him. But for the moment, he had to deal with the situation before him. “Did you know?” he asked Hailey.
Hailey relented her stare to look at him. “About what? That you are a damned priest of Or’Keer, or that one of my lieutenants has been working against him and putting me at risk?” The faithful prodded her back with the tip of his sword for her disrespect, hard enough that she flinched away.
“Both,” he said.
“No,” she said, resuming her stare at Elitha.
“Shut your mouth,” the older woman screamed. “Don’t tell him anything.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Hailey demanded. “Did you not understand when I said we were to have nothing to do with the fighting? We are thieves. We do not involve ourselves with those who claim power as long as they leave us to our business. You brought this on yourself.”
“Do you know of any others who she may be working with?” Keller cut in. He was in no mood to deal with their insignificant argument.
Hailey took a breath before answering. “No. As I said, we don’t take sides.”
“This is not the time to lie to me,” he said, allowing his impatience to coat his words with menace.
His tone was not lost on her, some of the defiance slipping from her shoulders. “If I knew, I would hand them over to you.”
“We will kill you,” Elitha yelled, and started thrashing against Keller’s cast. She tried to angle the dagger she still held to cut away at the tentacle. Raising his hand, Or’Keer’s finger tightened around her body, enough to make breathing difficult and forcing her to drop the blade.
“Bind her hands,” he said to the faithful. The masked servant sheathed his sword and moved to Elitha as Keller released his magic. As soon as she was free, she lashed out with a fist that was easily knocked aside and countered with two quick blows to her head. With the thief stunned, the faithful spun her around and kicked her knee out, forcing the woman to the ground. Jerking her hands behind, he began tying her wrists together.
When Elitha was back on her feet, her arm firmly grasped by the faithful, he turned back to Hailey. “You are coming with me as well.”
Not waiting for a response, he started down the tunnel that would lead them under the river and eventually back to Tiny’s Tavern.
Chapter 5
The sun was already well below the buildings when Harlow locked the door behind his last customer. Heading into the drying room where he hung and stored herbs, he moved to the bench with two woven baskets containing his most recent purchase. The lamp hanging from the ceiling above offered just enough light for him to see what he was doing. Grabbing several stalks of Illisha from one, its sharp almost stinging odor filling his nose, he used twine to bind them together. It was a local plant that helped with memory when steeped in water for a day. He still had many small bottles containing the tincture out in the shop, the liquid combined with honey to cover the bitter taste. He had ordered these to give them time to dry properly and restock the herb for when those bottles sold.
The shop had belonged to his family for two generations before coming to Harlow. Not only had it provided a steady and respectable amount of income, but it had also served to shield his father from being scrutinized too closely by the dark priests. The servants of Or’Keer were not ones to waste time and effort healing the sick and injured, so they required healers and herbalists like Harlow to keep the people in relatively good health. It was a booming business with all other priests now purged from the city.
A slight creak from behind caused him to hesitate for only a second before resuming his work. The sound had come from a loose floorboard on the other side of the room he had been meaning to fix. Tying the twine around his latest bundle, he tensed his muscles in preparation just as he had been taught. When he had first joined Whisper, the mysterious man had sent Menil to teach him how to fight. For two months, Menil trained him at night to master combat with both body and s
teel and had returned at Harlow’s request when he had needed help to train others gathered to his faction.
Harlow did not carry a weapon during the day so as not to draw suspicion, a decision he was now regretting. The strain of keeping his back turned to a threat was almost more than he could bear. If that person was a shade sent to eliminate him, the odds were already stacked against his survival. To have any hope of overpowering them, he would have to let the intruder get closer. He kept his breathing slow and even to maintain the subterfuge that he was unaware. Staying calm would also allow him to hear every sound in the quiet room. The subtle sound of leather soled boots barely scraping wood came to his ears, and he could sense the person was much closer now. Perhaps it was that the cooling night air seemed to be a bit warmer from the body heat of another, or maybe it was another sense animals felt when danger was near. A sense that men had all but forgotten. Whatever the reason, he knew that the intruder was now within steps of him, close enough for Harlow launch an attack.
Dropping the bundle of herbs, Harlow spun into a squat and launched himself upwards, his fist leading his assault. The intruder, cloaked in shadow but clearly a man from the shoulders and size, was prepared for him. Raising an arm with alarming speed, he deflected the blow. But Harlow did not hesitate in swinging the other to try and connect with the man’s jaw. Again, he was foiled when the intruder took a quick step back, allowing Harlow’s arm to pass inches in front of him. Now off balance from his failed attacks, Harlow tried to recover his footing. The unknown man did not let the opening slip by unchallenged. Drawing his sword from beneath his cloak, he stepped back in quickly, bringing the blade just beneath Harlow’s neck and forcing him back against the bench. With nowhere to retreat, and no options for attack with the steel pressed at the base of his throat, he decided he would at least meet the eyes of his murderer. Now in the light of the lamp he could more clearly see the man, his hood pulled low to hide his face.