Chapter 34
The Lamiens
The adventurers had walked miles in the under-underground city below Mt. Pizenchaffe. The trip was very dangerous due to the hidden traps that were concealed quite frequently along the ground, walls, and ceilings. Lot, however, spotted every single one of them. Locmire thought that Lot had to be the single most perceptive person he had ever encountered, but that was not saying much considering he had not met many people in his lifetime. After miles of narrow corridors and dead ends, they finally came into a large open area. This came as a big relief to Red who was trying his best to overcome his claustrophobia.
“Looks like we are in one of the old towns,” said Golgar.
They were surrounded by broken buildings, homes and merchant shops. Every single structure was dilapidated and dust was thick on the ground. Locmire was frozen, his imagination ran rampant. He could just picture the tiny Dainties going about their daily lives. At one point in time, life had thrived down here. Now it was a picture void of life and times long forgotten. As he looked at the old armory, he could see the Daintish smith pounding out a blade with his large hammer. He could smell the aroma from the apothecary as the alchemist brewed up his elixirs and potions. The sound of squabbling Dainties came from within the old pub. Locmire imagined that he had the ghost town pictured perfectly in his mind.
Urganox walked over to a nearby wall and was examining a large, soft, clay-like statue standing in a cut out.
“Impressive. Is it not?” Oggy asked.
“What is it?” asked Urganox.
“That, my friend, is a Lamien. If you notice they are placed all around these walls,” Oggy said, as he pointed out the other Lamiens that surrounded the city.
Urganox looked around at the ten foot tall clay statues. Their detail was impressive, so impressive that they almost seemed to be alive.
“What is their purpose?” asked the Brazurkin.
“In the old days, they were used as protection against the creatures that came from the bowels of the earth and plagued the city. They were the Dainties' primary form of protection for quite some time. Eventually, it came a time when the Lamiens became too much of a nuisance. They became unpredictable and at times would attack their Daintish makers. There was no foolproof way of controlling a Lamien,” said Oggy.
The rest of the party came over to admire the clay protector.
“How do ye Dainties make sumpin like dat come ta life?” asked Red.
“I am not for certain. I have never actually seen one in real life until now. It was said that the souls of fallen Daintish warriors were captured and infused with the Lamiens,” Oggy replied.
“Dat does not seem like a good way ta spend da rest of yer life. Once ye be keel hauled, ye should stay dat way.”
“To these warriors, it was an honor to become a Lamien. It was the ultimate reward,” said Golgar.
“Sounds like slavery to me,” said Urganox.
Lot called for everyone to come to him so they could discuss the rest of their journey. Many objectives lay before them, but the main goal was to find a way to the surface. Locating the missing Dainties was also on the agenda, if the opportunity presented itself.
Locmire enjoyed seeing Lot take charge the way that he had been since becoming separated from his brother, Thaddeus. They would need a great leader if they were to make it to the surface alive, and although Locmire was good at convincing people to join the fight against Hasbarie, he was not a true leader. Sure, he was good at handing out orders to his subordinates back at Fogarth, but he was not at Fogarth, and he did not think it wise to start barking out orders at his present company.
Red was still standing in front of the Lamien, lost in its stare. For the life of him, he could not understand why any living thing would want to succumb to such a fate. As he was taken in by the Lamien's infectious gaze, something unexpected happened. Its eyes turned from clay to a haunting black. Red's own eyes seemed to double in size. What in da-. His thought was cut short as the Lamien raised its heavy arm and sent it crashing down toward the Pirate's head. Dust flew from the ground as Red rolled out of the way from its attack and drew his cutlasses. The others began to rush to the aid of their friend who was engaged in battle with the ancient guardian, but their path was blocked by the other eight Lamiens who had also sprung to life and were charging directly at them.
The clay warriors were relentless with their onslaught of attacks. Their powerful strikes slammed into the ground, narrowly missing the fleshy targets by inches. It took a brief time for the heroes to evade enough of the incoming blows to actually regroup and begin their counter assault.
As the fight lingered on, it became apparent that this was not going to be an easy battle. The Lamiens fought exactly like any other Dainty did, without fear. The only difference was that the clay creatures were almost three times the size of a normal Dainty and three times as strong. For a brief moment, the heroes began to wonder if they could even defeat the rampaging warriors. They were becoming desperate; their attacks were useless against the Lamiens. Every hard earned strike they landed seemed to have little effect on the ancient protectors. It seemed that retreat was only moments away, but then it happened; Red defeated one of the Lamiens.
Red, after realizing that his steel had no effect, drew his pistol and fired off two well-placed shots. His lead connected with the Lamien's black eyes and sent it slumping to the ground. He gawked at the creature for a moment; he could not believe that he had killed this beast. In all of his years on the sea or land, he had never seen such a creature. His mind was finally redirected as he heard the sounds of his comrades engaged in battle. He quickly turned to lay down some fire with his four remaining shots. He extended his arm and took aim at the Lamien who was blocking and countering Oggy's attacks when a blinding pain shot up the length of his arm. He was caught off guard by a large fist that connected with his forearm, breaking it in half. His pistol flew from his hand, and purely out of instinct, he rolled out of the way of the second strike, narrowly avoiding being crushed. He took a quick glance at his arm; both the radius and ulna had been fractured. Red did not know the anatomy of the human body, but he did know that the bones were not supposed to be sticking out through the flesh. He was now evading an overwhelming onslaught of attacks, once again, with his cutlass drawn and his dominant arm dangling in the air.
Everyone was frantically dodging and ducking the Lamiens' furious attacks and trying to sneak in a well-placed strike of their own when the opportunity presented itself. If it had not been for Locmire, there was a good chance that no one would have survived. He stayed at a distance, providing protective enchantments around his friends. The enchantments did not totally protect the combatants, but they did help to soften the blows. When Locmire saw an opening, he would send force spells at the Lamiens, knocking them back a few feet and giving everyone a break before the attacks came again. Locmire unleashed several different types of offensive spells into the Lamiens, but with lackluster results. They seemed to be impervious to his magic.
Red came running through the middle of the fray being pursued by the Lamien that broke his arm and yelled, “Ye gotta hit em in da eyes! Hit em in da eyes an dey done for!”
Urganox's flail connected with the chest of one of the Lamiens, only creating a small dent in the thick clay. He evaded another incoming attack and yelled to Lot, “What did he say?”
“I think he said,” Lot rolled out of the way of a wide looping strike. “If we destroy their eyes, they will die.”
“I thought he said something about a disguise,” Urganox replied amused, as he was thoroughly enjoying this test of skill.
Oggius was the next to topple one of the Lamiens. As the Lamien raised its arms high above its head preparing to deliver a double fisted slam, Oggy took the handle of his war hammer and landed two quick strikes, poking both of its eyes out and sending the titan reeling backwards. Oggy jammed the flat head of his hammer into the Lamiens midsection, doubling it over. He
brought his hammer up in an arcing motion, which landed squarely on the chin of the Lamien, sending its head flying through the air.
Oggy walked over to the decapitated Lamien and said, “Hard to fight without a head, eh?”
Urganox was the next hero to bring not one, but two, Lamiens down, but his means were a little more barbaric. He waited for one of the two Lamiens he was dueling with to show a break in its defense. When he saw an opening, he charged in and tackled it to the ground. He sprang back up and took the heel of his foot and began to savagely smash it into the Lamiens face. He had flattened out the clay-like creatures head, destroying both of its eyes in the process.
The other Lamien charged recklessly toward him. He squatted low to the ground and shoved his shoulder into the Lamien’s midsection, securing one arm around its neck and the other around one of its legs. He shot up to his feet and used his strength, along with the momentum of the charging Lamien, to flip it over his shoulder. By the heel of his shoe, the second Lamien met the same fate as its deceased counterpart. After he made sure both Lamiens were dead, he raised his foot and wiped chunks of thick clay off of his boot. He decided that if he was to keep fighting foes such as these, he would need to invest in a trowel to remove the clay from his boots.
Lot was dancing a dance of death with two of the Lamiens, recklessly evading their attacks. His dueling partners seemed determined to end him. His two short swords were sinking deep into the clay-like bodies as he hacked and slashed away at them. As soon as his swords would leave their bodies, the clay-like substance they were created from would seem to fill in the gaps and heal itself. He was jumping, rolling and ducking at incredible speeds trying to confuse the ancient guardians. Finally, his acrobatic techniques paid off when he managed to cause the two Lamiens to collide with one another, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Lot jumped into the air and sank the tips of his blades into the eyes of the first Lamien. He retracted his blades and turned to the second one. It was now sitting on its back side trying to make its way back onto its feet. Sprinting forward, he launched himself feet first into its chest. It flattened back out on the ground, and he rolled forward bringing his blades crashing down into the two black eyes.
The other four Dainties were entangled with two of the three remaining Lamiens. The tiny warriors were like insects swarming the giants. Golgar helped decommission one by standing on Erimack's shoulders and jumping onto its back. He attached himself firmly around its thick neck. As the Lamien swayed back and forth trying to shake the unwanted pest, Erimack grabbed one of its legs and sent it sprawling to the ground. Olaf and Zulp mounted the fallen giant and tore out its black eyes with their bare hands.
The last ancient guardian they were fighting was very skilled. No matter what type of attacks the four Dainties sent at it, it was able to counterattack. The Dainties could not get their feet planted under them due to the frequency of blows. They constantly backpedaled to avoid becoming crushed.
Urganox, Oggy and Lot ran to help their small friends. As they were in route to offer aid, Red came darting by, his arm flopping like a string. The relentless Lamien that was chasing him soon abandoned its pursuit when Urganox stuck out his large arm and caught it across the chest. At that exact moment, Oggy swung his hammer and connected with its soft leg, creating a large indention in its knee, causing it to fall. When it fell to the ground, Lot once again sank his blades into the black eyes extinguishing its life.
The four Dainties were now battling for their lives. Locmire came to them and was pelting the monster with spells. With one sweeping blow, all four Dainties went flying through the air. The Lamien was upon them in an instant. He hovered over Zulp and Olaf with both of his fists raised high in the air. Zulp thought, this is it. Suddenly, a lifeless Lamien came flying through the air and smashed into the Dainties' attacker. It landed on top of its twin, momentarily pinning it to the ground. The Dainties pounced on the trapped Lamien and commenced to gouging and smashing out the eyes of the final guardian.
Red came over to his friends and fell to his knees saying, “Me tinks me arm seen beddar days.”
“I think we all have, friend,” Oggy replied.
The heroes were all drenched with sweat. They had just taken part in a ten minute battle of life and death. Some were bleeding and bruised, but with the exception of Red, no one was seriously injured.
“Fascinating,” said Locmire as he knelt down beside one of the fallen creatures.
“What?” asked Lot.
“My spells had very little effect on them. This was only the second time my magic has failed to make an impact on a creature,” said the Wizard as he knelt beside one of the fallen Lamiens.
“It was effective enough, old man,” Lot said as he fell hard onto his bottom. “Kept us all alive.”
“That it did,” said Oggy.
“What amazed me was Urganox,” said Oggy. “He picked up and tossed that Lamien like it was a child.”
“My back tells me that it was no child,” Urganox said as he rubbed his lower back.
“What about the fact that he had a shield the whole time and never once decided to use it?” asked Lot.
“Oh,” Urganox said as he felt for the forgotten shield on his back. “I forgot I had that.”
This gave everyone a much deserved laugh. Even the oxygen deprived Dainties, who moments ago were unable to draw enough wind to talk, managed to let out a few small laughs.
They rested for a short time while Locmire set and wrapped Red's broken arm. He pointed his staff at Red. Red closed his eyes as a blue mist came from the end of the staff and disappeared into the fracture site. Red felt a rush of heat consume his arm. He could feel the bones inside of his arm grinding together, a feeling that made him queasy.
“It should be better in a few hours,” Locmire said.
“Me thanks ye, Old One. Ye be’s purdy good at mendin up broken bones?” he asked.
“Let's just say that I am aware of a few tricks that have been known to heal broken bones quite well,” said Locmire.
“Me thanks ye,” Red replied.
“You’re welcome,” said the old Wizard.
After everyone was well rested and had finished the exaggerated retelling of the events that had taken place, they continued on with their search for the surface.
Locmire's Quest: Book One A Tales from Calencia Novel Page 53