The Darkslayer: Series 2 Special Edition (Bish and Bone Bundle Books 6-10): Sword and Sorcery Adventures

by Craig Halloran

  At the same time, Jarla, Jubilee, Fogle, and the stranger said, “Venir.”

  Hand to his chest, the stranger stepped back. “I know how Jarla knows him, but how do you two know him?”

  “Who are you?” Jarla demanded.

  “Me?” The man dropped his hood down. His face was youthful, slender, and light eyed. A warm smile was on his face. “I’m Slim. Slim the Healer.”

  Jarla sheathed her sword. “I don’t know you, but I know of you.”

  “And I know all about you.” He was talking to Jarla, but he gave Fogle a wink. “The mere sight of you is a marvel, and it’s not because of your excellent body.”

  “No? Why is it, then?” Jarla asked.

  “It’s because your head is still attached to your shoulders. I could have sworn by now Venir would have taken it.” Slim’s face filled with some worry. “He’s not dead, is he? Zuusnalong! Of course he’s dead, or there wouldn’t be underlings everywhere.”

  “I don’t think he’s dead,” Fogle replied.

  “Me neither,” Jubilee agreed.

  “So you do know him?” Slim’s voice filled with excitement. “Hah! We both lived to tell the tale from…” He glared at Jarla and then pointed at her face. “Our victory at Outpost Thirty-One. It’s ours now. Well, sort of. But you took it, and we got it back. Seriously, how do you still live?”

  “I’m a survivor.”

  Olg and Ugg reappeared from the kitchen with trays filled with greasy meat, cheese, and bread piled up to their fat necks. They sat down on the floor and ate with Brak. The three of them had cuts, bruises, and burns all over them. Gobbling up the food like a pack of hungry wolves, they appeared to be in a savage form of elation.

  Slim cocked the head on his long neck to one side, stared at Brak, and said, “Those eyes. I know those eyes. That’s the bastard son of Vorla.”

  Brak stopped eating and sat up. “Huh?”

  CHAPTER 25

  Melegal’s head snapped up. Joints sore from the shock of the blast, he nevertheless rolled over onto his elbows. The last thing he remembered was the underling dropping out of the sky in a bright explosion of yellow. His eyes ached. His hand went to his head. The floppy cap was gone.

  Slat, no!

  Another blast sounded off like the cracking of glass.

  Melegal turned toward the sound. Kam and Joline were laid out on the ground with the yellow-eyed underling hovering over them. The haunting sight of the underling’s hypnotic gaze sent a chill down Melegal’s spine. His fingers searched for his cap.

  It has to be close.

  Keeping his eyes fixed on the underling aggressor, Melegal’s fingers combed the surrounding ground.

  The underling’s hands charged up with mystic power that swirled around them. The deathblow of the women was about to be dealt.

  No! Do something, Rat. Fight, or … they die.

  With his mind still addled by the earlier blast and the cap missing, Melegal was at a loss. His friends were about to die, and he had no way to help them. Fingers clawing at the dirt for his cap, his wrist snagged on the ground.

  Slat! The dart launchers!

  Melegal took aim and squeezed the thumb-sprung trigger.

  Twing! Twing! Twing! Twing! Twing! Twing! Twing!

  The darts buried themselves in the underling’s exposed face. One of them stuck in its eye.

  It teetered backward, clawing at the missiles in its face.

  Nikkel appeared in the corner of Melegal’s eye. The powerful youth sprang to his feet and charged the underling, yelling out a battle cry. “RRraaawwwwwrrrr!” His full weight collided with the stunned underling and drove the fiend to the ground.

  At long last, Melegal spied his cap, snagged it, and pulled it onto his head. He drew his blade and moved in to aid Nikkel, who was hammering away at the smaller underling with his fists. The thief sensed danger. The hairs tingled on his arms. He shouted a warning to Nikkel. “Get off him!”

  Zzzz-rap!

  Nikkel’s entire body shuddered and stiffened. His hair stood up on end. He fell backward and flat on his back.

  “No!” Melegal screamed.

  The underling’s eyes locked on Melegal’s. There was a deep hatred. Anger. Coming to its feet, the underling charged its hands with new fire that built into something that Melegal somehow knew would wipe him from the map.

  Letting his mind merge with his cap, Melegal summoned a command he hoped was in Underling. “Die.”

  The underling’s magic fizzled. Its good eye danced in the socket. It clutched at its heart and floated backward.

  It worked. It worked!

  Moving forward with his blade still drawn, Melegal went in for the kill, fighting the headache that threatened to make him pass out.

  The underling staggered over the ground, but there was still fire in its eyes. Fists shaking, it reached up and pulled the dart out of its eye and screamed at Melegal in Underling.

  Almost close enough to hit, Melegal forged right for the fiend and prepared his swing.

  The underling floated straight up into the sky, became one with the wind, drifted, and disappeared from sight.

  Jasper! Kam!

  Melegal ran back to help the others. Not one of their huddled forms was moving.

  ***

  It didn’t take long for Venir to catch up with Elypsa. The hobbled female underling was using her sword for a cane and spitting blood in the dirt. Helm urged Venir to finish her. If it was underling, it must be destroyed. The throbbing in his skull became more powerful the closer he got.

  Elypsa came to a stop and faced him. “Go ahead, finish me.”

  “Drop your sword,” he replied.

  Elypsa tossed it aside. She held her arms out with her wrists pressed together. “Are you going to imprison me again?”

  Fighting against Helm’s urgings, he unbuckled the chin strap, took off the helmet, and stuffed it in the sack. His breathing slowed. The hunger for death subsided. “We’re going to see what happened to my friends first. Then I’ll decide whether or not you die.”

  “That’s more than fair. I wouldn’t show you any kind of mercy.”

  Venir stepped around her and pointed the axe point at her back. “I know. I’ve already had this conversation.” Staying behind her, he marched her forward into the pass they had come through.

  The underling vicious Sornay lay dead on the ground. His head was collecting dust.

  “I have to admit, you are far more formidable than I ever imagined. I wonder how you would do without your weapon,” she said.

  “Why would I fight without a weapon?”

  “I think you understand my meaning. Clearly you fight with capabilities not your own. Those items you carry make you special.”

  “Are you challenging me to a fistfight?”

  Elypsa glanced over her shoulder and looked him up and down. “Your kind has a brash way with words. No, I was not thinking of a fistfight, but a duel with swords.”

  “I haven’t always had the axe and helmet, but I’m still here,” he said. “And I killed plenty of underlings before I had them. It’s a tradition, with or without them.”

  They made their way out of the hilltop pass and flattened out on the sandy sunbaked ground. Elypsa continued to limp and move too slowly for Venir’s great strides.

  He poked the back of her shoulder, drawing a spot of her blood. “Move faster.”

  She picked up the pace. “It’s only fair I warn you I’m certain your friends are dead. The one who beset them has great power and is renowned among the underlings. When the moment comes and you realize you have to dig many graves, unleash your anger and take my head.”

  “No, I’m not going to do it your way.”

  Elypsa slowed, turned, and walked backward. “Then how will you do it?’

  “I’ll let my dog hunt you down and eat you. He hates underlings even more than I do.”

  Elypsa swallowed. “You would do that.”

  “Have done and will.”

>   Still walking backward, she said, “I believe I have underestimated your heart. It sounds as black as mine.”

  “It might be black and blue, but it’s all red within. Now turn around and get going.”

  She turned.

  Venir’s neck hairs stood on end. A mystic black hole appeared in the ground in front of them.

  Elypsa moved like a jackrabbit and hopped right in.

  Venir gave chase.

  The hole collapsed and vanished, leaving only the dirt and dust. She was gone.

  “Bone!”

  He stuffed Helm onto his head, eyed the sky, and scanned the surrounding area. He didn’t see anything or sense anything. Thinking of his friends, he took off and ran after Billip and Chongo. After a few minutes of running, his friends came into view.

  Chongo barked and ran up to greet him, licking from helmet to toe.

  Venir found Kam and Erin huddled together. Jasper and Melegal were talking, and Billip was gathering the horses.

  Venir kneeled by Kam. “How are you?”

  Haggard and wary, she touched his grizzled face. “We had a scare, but we’re durable, just exhausted. I’m glad you’re well.”

  “So what happened?”

  “An underling mage dropped out of the sky and sent a shock through us.”

  Melegal was holding Jasper’s hand and rubbing it. The young sorceress was pale, and her raven hair was singed. The thief wiped away the blood that was caking under his nose. “He was a powerful one. I think we wore him down, and I feel like I’ve gotten a nail driven into my head to pay for it. What about you?”

  “Elypsa and a vicious cut us off and tried to take me down.” Venir took Erin from Kam and cradled her in his massive arms. “I took the head from its shoulders, but black magic whisked her away.” He eyed everyone. “We’ll all stay together from now on.”

  “And what are we going to do now?” Melegal asked.

  “We need to get after the dwarves. We’ll be safest among them.”

  “Travel will be slower, Venir.” Billip led a horse up by the reins. “This beast is fine, but the other two are dead.”

  “We’ll just have to make do with what we have,” Venir said. “Get what we can carry from their saddlebags, and let’s go.”

  CHAPTER 26

  “Where are we?” Elypsa sat on a rock inside a grove of leafless trees. Her breathing was rapid, and her voice raspy. “Where, Kuurn, where?”

  He took her by the hand and patted it. “You’re safe. I’d never let anything happen to you.”

  She jerked her hand away. Her stomach was in knots from the transportation spell. “Don’t touch me. I’m not grateful.”

  “As you say,” he replied. “But my feelings will never change. Where is Sornay?”

  “Dead.”

  “He was already dead.” Kuurn fingered his gored eye and grimaced. He was still plucking darts from his face. “I hate to admit it, but those fragile humans gave me a surprise. They fight like hungry urchlings. Some of them aren’t so weak as I thought, and they weren’t terrified of me at all.”

  She drew her knees up to her chest and winced. Her ribs were sore, probably broken. The man, Venir, had almost kicked the evil out of her. “Some humans have more guts than others.”

  Kuurn’s head tilted, and his brows wrinkled. “They do? I hadn’t noticed.”

  “It’s not a literal word, just a term of endearment they use to reference their wills. They say the stupidest things.” She looked up at Kuurn. “So did you kill any of them?”

  “Perhaps.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I never thought I’d see the day when I’d fall trying to kill humans.”

  “I don’t think we should mention this encounter to Master Sinway when we greet him,” Kuurn suggested.

  “And how do you suppose we explain the loss of his precious Sornay? He won’t take it lightly.” She kicked at the dust. “I’ll just tell him he died fighting to protect me from the Darkslayer. It’s an honorable death. Besides, he’s certain to be angry with me anyway.” She dusted her hands off and scanned the area. “Which way?”

  “We don’t have to walk anywhere if I wait a couple of days. The battle put me to task, but I saved enough magic to rescue you.”

  “You’re going to keep reminding me, aren’t you,” she said, extending her hand.

  Surprise filled his eyes as he helped her up. “I would do anything for you, Elypsa. You know that.”

  “Anything?”

  He nodded.

  “Close your eyes and pucker your lips,” she said with a smile.

  “Pucker my lips?”

  “Like this.” She pursed her lips.

  Kuurn closed his eyes and did as she requested.

  She didn’t know why she was going to do what she did, but something about the humans had gotten to her. She balled up her fist and slugged him in the jaw.

  He fell over backward and didn’t move a muscle. His breathing was fine.

  Hands on her hips, she laughed so loud it hurt her ribs. “Ha ha ha!” She sucked air through her teeth. “Enough of that, but it’s so funny it hurts.” She felt free and liberated somehow and wasn’t certain why. The only thing she could think of was she’d faced death by the Darkslayer and she had not died. “Hmmm … I never thought being alive could feel so good.”

  Kuurn came to consciousness. Sitting up on his elbows, he moved his lower jaw from side to side and glared at her. “What did you strike me for?”

  Thinking of the human women she’d met, she replied, “I guess because you’re male and I’m female.”

  “Meaning?”

  She shrugged. “Get your arse up, and let’s get going.”

  CHAPTER 27

  Inside the Orcen Elbow, Jubilee was dressing a nasty wound on Brak’s arm. She said to him, “Feeling better?”

  Speaking with a mouth stuffed full of meat and bread and with chicken grease dripping down his chin, Brak replied, “Yeah.”

  Jubilee shook her head. “Well, I’m just glad you’re back to normal and nobody died.”

  Brak eyed the tavern room he was in. It wasn’t familiar, and it looked like a tornado had torn through it. There were several people inside it now, picking up the unbroken tables and chairs and throwing the broken pieces into the firewood pile. A man almost as tall as Brak and as skinny as Melegal was coordinating the clean-up effort. “I did this, huh?”

  Jubilee nodded.

  He noticed a bruise on her cheek. “How did this happen?”

  Chin down, the girl shrugged. “I got in your way.”

  Brak’s throat tightened, and his eyes started to water. “I hurt you.”

  “No, I’m fine. Fogle broke my fall. Don’t worry about it, Brak. It was my fault. I should have stayed away like Fogle said.”

  Shaking his head no, he said, “No, it’s not fine.” He felt ashamed. Angry. He’d gone berserk, and he didn’t have any recollection of anything―not the tavern, not the ogres, not any of the wanton destruction around him. It was maddening. Using the knuckle of his index finger, he gently lifted up Jubilee’s chin. “I’m sorry. I promise I won’t let that happen again.”

  Tightening the binding on his arm, she replied, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Brak. Especially to me. I’ve been around you long enough to know what you can and can’t control when you get like that.”

  “It’s a curse.” He clenched his jaws and added, “I hate it.”

  “You’ve saved a lot of lives because of it. Don’t forget that―and don’t blame yourself. You’re a better man than that.” She touched his cheek. “And I’m a tough little woman. I can handle it.”

  “But I could have killed you.”

  “But you didn’t, and that’s what matters.” She offered him a jug of water and wiped his chin. “Now clean yourself up and straighten out.” She thumbed over her back. The ogres were behind the bar, fixing the shelves. “You’re starting to remind me of those two ogres.”

  “So the three of us did t
his?” He stared at the twin ogres. They were huge, standing as tall as Brak but fat and bulky like toads. The boards creaked with every step they took. One of the ogres picked up an entire support beam like a stick of wood, pushed up the sagging ceiling with it, and shoved it into place. “I just remember feeling like I was coming out of a dream and those two were stuffing their faces and still dreaming. I didn’t think it was real until someone said my mother’s name.”

  “That was Slim, the tall guy. This is his place, and apparently he knew your father and mother. At least he says so. He seems nice but odd.”

  Slim caught Brak’s eye and made his way over. He pulled up a chair and said, “Did you get your belly full?”

  Brak nodded.

  Slim’s eyes were penetrating. He shifted in his chair and started to look away. “You have Vorla’s eyes, that’s for certain, but that’s Venir’s chin. So, what happened to her?”

  “She was killed in Bone.”

  “By underlings?” Slim asked.

  “No, by a bunch of cutthroats.” Brak looked away. He didn’t like talking about it. He missed his mother more than anything and often wondered what it would be like if she were still alive.

  “I liked Vorla,” Slim continued. “She was very entertaining. Spirited. The world was much better with her than without her. I just assumed maybe the underlings got her just like they got everything else, including this city.”

  “What happened here?” Jubilee asked.

  “About a year ago,” Slim said as he softly touched Brak’s wounds one by one, “the underlings tore through everything and held the entire town hostage. However, they made a deal with the so-called Royals of Two-Ten City―who are a bunch of orcs and ogres. These Royals turned the humans over to the underlings. They killed every last one of them. Men. Women. Children. They let the rest of the races live so long as they stay out of underling business. A deal was struck in blood and sacrifice.”

  “So all the humans are gone? What about you?” She glanced at his spidery hand. “You’re a man, aren’t you?”

  Slim smiled. “I like to think I’m more than a man, and I sort of am.” He extended his spider hand out of his sleeve. The fingers were long and thin with fuzzy black hairs, and there were eight of them. He wiggled them. “It’s creepy but unique.”