“That must be him,” Creed said, looking at the underling sitting beside the female, Elypsa. His robes were black as night. He was as big as a man, with a presence that dominated the room. “I’ve never seen eyes like that on any of them. They are cold as iron. My blood turns to ice.”
Venir’s blood started pumping. His jaws clenched. Even without the helmet, the underlings made his blood boil. Now, he was only a few yards away from his greatest enemy, Master Sinway. “Who is that man on the other side of Sinway,” he asked Creed. “Do you know him?”
“Yes. Ebenezer Kling. A fine swordsman, just not as fine as me.”
“I thought as much. If he were quick, he’d stick a blade in that black heart’s throat.”
“He’s quick, just afraid of losing his own life, I’m sure. I can’t say I blame him. Perhaps this is the setup that Altan Rey is waiting for. We are in here, and a fine fighter is up there. Maybe there is a whisker of a chance.”
The arena was filled to capacity now. The underlings sat shoulder to shoulder. There were mages and fighting men among them. The savage bare-skinned badoon, elite underling hunters, sat among their ranks. It was a small army of leaders all in the same place at once.
“Just focus on Sinway. It will be a great blow to all of the underlings.” Venir cracked his neck side to side. “I’ll kill all you fiends. I just need my axe.”
Kazzar held his hands over his head. The underling audience went quiet. He motioned to the underling dugout. Someone inside the dugout pushed Venir’s rucksack through the bars. An underling soldier carried the pack to Kazzar.
Venir eased over to the door that barred him inside. He gripped the steel with white-knuckled fingers and pulled. The metal groaned. The crowd stirred.
Kazzar chittered an incantation in underling.
“What is he doing, Venir?” Creed said. He covered his ears. “Something’s wrong.”
Kazzar transformed from underling to man. He grinned at Venir and winked. When he spoke again, he spoke in words that both man and underling could understand. “Master Sinway, I, your faithful servant, Kazzar, have a great gift for you.”
Venir tore at the bars. “You traitor! You’re selling out your own kind!” He shook the cell door’s hinges. His biceps were bursting on his arms. Creed grabbed the bars and shook them as well.
“I am Altan Rey, from the Royal House of Kord, and we pledge our loyalty to you. To prove our dedication, I have brought you a gift—your mortal enemy known as the Darkslayer. It is him behind the bars. The both of them have served in that same capacity. And I also offer this.” He pulled the stitched-up sack from the pack. “The bag that holds his armament.”
The underlings hissed. Master Sinway floated from the top seats to the bottom. He stretched his long gray arms out. The mystic sack slipped free of Altan Rey’s fingers and landed in Sinway’s hands. His iron eyes fastened on the stitched-up leather bag. He gripped it as if his life depended on it. “You have done yourself a great service, Altan Rey. What is your request?”
“Immunity for my house. Prosperity for my castle.”
“You will have it.”
“Shall I resume the games, Master Sinway?” Altan Rey said with a bow.
“Bring them forward.”
Altan Rey backed away from Venir’s dugout. He sent underlings to open the door. The lock clicked. Venir flung the door open, knocking the underlings aside. He bore down on Master Sinway. Speeding toward the wall, he leapt at Sinway’s throat. The underling’s eyes flashed. An unseen force knocked Venir flat on his back. Creed writhed beside him. Venir couldn’t move a muscle. Something tremendous was crushing him. He couldn’t breathe.
Sinway’s voice silenced the stirred-up crowd. “Men like these have been a thorn in our side long enough. Today, I will make them feel pain!” The underlings jeered. “We will make them feel pain! I’ll make an example of them for all to see. The games will continue. They will bleed, bleed, bleed through their last gurgling breaths. We shall hang them like banners that drip blood on the castles!”
BOOK 9: HUNT OF THE BEAST
CHAPTER 1
What in Bish has happened to me? Melegal couldn’t see, but he could hear. He was vaguely aware of his surroundings. Manamus’s presence was nearby. For some odd reason it felt like she’d sat on him. His bones creaked in a back-and-forth motion. The witch did something nasty to me. I’m rocking.
Manamus spoke to underlings in her bitter voice. “Do what you must do and be done with it, you vile things. But you better not damage a single item in my room. I’ll turn your gray skin inside out for it!”
“Lorda Manamus,” a soldier said shakily. “Countless apologies for the intrusion. There is an intruder that the sentries are searching for. He was seen coming up your stairs by one of the servant girls. He poses as one of us. Have you seen anyone new?”
“Barnaby, isn’t it?” she said.
“Y-Yes, Lorda Manamus.”
“Tell me, Barnaby, do you believe every word that comes from a lesser vessel?”
“Er… I don’t follow your meaning.”
“No, of course you don’t. You are a lesser vessel yourself. A man of ignorance created for the sole purpose of following orders. This servant, did she give a fair description? Is the intruder a man or a woman?”
“A man, drawn up and gaunt,” Barnaby said. “He smelled somewhat like manure.” He sniffed.
Melegal pictured the scene that was going down. Underlings prowled the room. Tables rattled. Drawers and cupboards were opened. There was much in Manamus’s room to search. There was a bed frame with a canopy, chests and drawers and a single wardrobe. The hinges creaked from the wardrobe opening and closing several times. Pah, I’m not in there. I’m not sure where I am. But that smell of manure, eh, perhaps that lingers. The price for being polite to the troublesome serving wench.
“How many times must you fiends look in the same place!” Manamus yelled. “You search my drawers! What kind of man can fit in a drawer? Get these fools out of here!”
“I have no authority over them, Lorda Manamus,” Barnaby said. “Also”—he cleared his throat—“your presence is demanded in the arena.”
“Oh delight. Nothing like the smell of blood to sour my stomach. Are we finished here, Barnaby?”
“That is not my call, Lorda. Ah, it seems the underlings are satisfied with their search.”
“Good. I’ll be down in the arena momentarily,” Manamus scoffed. “You are dismissed.”
“Begging your pardon, Lorda, but we are under orders to escort you directly to the arena. We won’t be waiting. Please, let us go with urgency.”
“Barnaby,” she said.
“Yes.”
“Remember that threat about turning the underlings inside out? I’m promising the same to you.”
The man gulped.
“Now,” Manamus continued, “help me out of this rocker. When I sit too long my knees get stiff.”
“Yes, Lorda.”
Manamus, Barnaby, and the underlings departed the room. The door closed on its own behind them. The room became quiet, aside from the sounds of the castle that carried with the wind through the windows. Melegal tried to move, but his bones were stiff as boards. She turned me into a rocking chair. Such power is frightening. She sat on me. More frightening. After what seemed to be a very long time, his body started to loosen. His sight returned. He was standing in a chair position. His joints burned when he moved. “Ah,” he sighed. “A good thing to move again.”
He peeked out the window. The soldiers, men and underling, moved in squads. It was clear that the manhunt for Melegal had begun. They even had a description. Just when I thought it was going to be easy. Well, if anyone is up to the challenge, I am. He moved toward the door. It silently swung inward, cracking open about a foot. Slat! Two underling soldiers were posted at the end of the hall. One of them cocked its head and stared at the door. Chittering to the other, both of them came his way.
It seems that success wo
n’t be easily come by today. He crept back into the room. There was no place to hide. Pressed to the wall, he felt something small and out of place rubbing at his ribs. A foreign object was lodged in the pocket of his clothing that he didn’t recall. He dug out the object with his finger. It was a ring made from gold and silver twisted together. It tingled to Melegal’s light touch. Magic. Manamus left me magic, but what?
The door swung open. An underling’s fingers wrapped around the edge of the door. Its head started to appear.
Melegal slipped the ring over his right little finger. His body tingled all over. His hand with the ring vanished. So did the rest of him. Haha! I’m hidden!
The underlings slipped into the room. One of them sniffed. The other walked right by Melegal. As soon as their backs were to him, he darted out of the room, quick as a fox. The underlings didn’t even notice. He bounded down the stairs four at a time all the way to the main level. He went into one of the living rooms. A pair of men were talking to the servant he encountered. She trembled.
“Yes. I’d never seen the man before. He said he was new.” Her face was flushed, and her cheek was red and swollen.
Shaking her shoulders, the soldier said, “Why did you wait so long to report it?”
“I-I didn’t know. That’s why I asked another.”
“You’ll get us all killed, Molly. All of us.” The soldier shook his head, released the woman, and began to pace the room, his hands on his bald head. He looked right through Melegal several times. “I’m sorry, Molly. But we’re going to have to hang you.”
You should have kept your yap shut, Molly. I don’t know that I can save you too.
CHAPTER 2
Master Sinway’s strong, filed fingertips needled the weather-beaten leather sack. Ebenezer Kling wasn’t entirely sure what the sack was, but no doubt it was of grave importance. The underling ruler held it like a prize that he’d worked a lifetime for. He scooted farther away. As he did, his mother, Manamus, was brought in. One of his soldiers, Barnaby, had her by the elbow. She jerked it away and sat down by Ebenezer. “Welcome, Mother.”
“That’s Lorda.”
“Yes, Lorda Mother.”
She scoffed. As she did so, she leaned forward and stole a quick glance at the sack gripped in Sinway’s fingers. She smirked and sat back. Casting her eyes to the center of the arena, she said, “More meat for the slaughter, I see. Such barbaric entertainment.”
Ebenezer leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and studied the men in the arena. Creed, one of Bone’s finest swordsmen of Castle Bloodhound was painted in black and red war paint, trimmed in white, which gave him a formidable look. He and the bloodhound fighter were similar in build. Both were much taller than average men, but the man beside Creed had the build and body of an Outland savage and looked freakishly inhuman with the paint streaking over his skin. The man’s hands were huge, arms long and bound up with bulging muscles that rippled with every move. His eyes were volcanic blue and bore holes into the underling, Kazzar, only to shift from time to time onto the sack that Master Sinway held. The man was ready to spring. Ebenezer was eager to see the man fight.
Manamus searched the arena and said under her breath, “There are a great many sorcerous underlings in our midst. Or rather, we are in the midst of them. I have to say, I never could have imagined this. We’ve been fools, playing games with our own kind and not being prepared for something like this.”
“I thought the royal games were supposed to prepare us for anything.”
“Eh.”
Long thick lengths of chain were brought out by the underling soldiers. At the point of a spear, both men were collared and chained to an eye hook in the arena wall. The underlings moved the weapon racks back to the other wall. They left a single dagger in the middle of the arena.
***
Altan Rey, also known as Kazzar the underling, appeared now as a man, not a gray-skinned fiend, and stepped into the center of the ring. He held up his hands. “It gives me and the House of Kord much pleasure to entertain Master Sinway.”
Venir charged Altan Rey. The length of chain grew taut. His head snapped back. Fingers stretched short of Altan Rey’s robes, Venir yelled, “I’ll kill you! Traitor!”
The audience hissed and chittered. Altan Rey coolly moved away. “We’ll let the devourer decide who kills who.” He motioned toward the dugout door with his hand. A half-naked underling dressed in lizard skins and with tiny finger bones tied up in his long hair waltzed out. The underling carried a long rod carved from wood. A lizard bigger than a man slunk out of the hole. Hard black and green scales covered its body. The underling rapped the stick on the side of its head. It hissed. A black tongue flicked out from a mouthful of hundreds of spear-like teeth.
Underling sentries removed Venir and Creed’s chains as Kazzar entered the dugout. “Try to keep it entertaining!” He closed the door behind him.
Venir scooped up the dagger and tossed it to Creed.
Ebenezer couldn’t control himself. “This is a sacred place, Master Sinway! We don’t fight lizards. We fight with steel. Honor the contest.”
The underlings surrounding them fell silent. Master Sinway turned his iron gaze on Ebenezer. “You dare speak to me as an equal. You will forever regret it.”
Ebenezer held the underling’s stare for a moment. His eyes began to burn. He twisted his head away. “Gah!” He rubbed his palms into his sockets.
His mother held his arm. “You are a fool. You’ll get us both killed. Who cares about honor at this point? It’s survival.”
Tears streamed down his face. He wiped them off. “Apologies, Master Sinway. I lost my place.” Ebenezer’s vision began to clear. Every underling around him cast murderous looks his way. He swallowed.
***
The black lizard slunk out of the dugout. Its thick claws clacked on blood-stained stone. The underling trainer gave it a rap on the skull. It opened its jaw wide enough to swallow a man whole.
Wary, Creed spoke to Venir. “Have you ever seen such a thing?”
Venir nodded. “Aim for the temple.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to hold it while you kill it. Be quick. You’ll only get one shot.”
“We should be able to handle a lizard, shouldn’t we?”
“It’s not just one lizard.”
The underling handler rapped the rod on the devourer’s back. A swarm of smaller lizards rushed out of the lizard’s mouth. They scurried over the floor and latched onto Venir and Creed’s feet. They crawled up their bodies, snapping and biting at their flesh. Creed screamed.
With a final rap from the underling handler, the mother lizard rushed Venir.
CHAPTER 3
Fogle, Kam, and Billip returned to the barn. They had been searching the city, trying to find out more information on Venir and where he was located. Everyone was present, which included Brak, Jubilee, Nikkel, Slim, Cass, and the old stableman. Nightmare, Chongo, and Quickster were in the stables. One of Chongo’s faces was pressed against the gate. He whined.
“Chongo wants to go after Venir,” Brak said. He reached down into the stable and scratched the dog’s ears. “He won’t stay here for long. We need to go after Venir.”
“You said he was inside Castle Kling.” Jubilee stood by Brak, barely a head taller than his waist. “Cast that spell. Let’s go.”
“We can’t just pop in there.” Fogle sat on a stool, leafing through the spellbook. “I need a better idea of where I’m going first, or at least, where Venir is. I’ve sent Inky. Be patient.” He stood up and walked away. Kam sat just inside one of the stables, out of the way of the others. She was nursing Erin. “Oh, pardon me,” Fogle said. “I was looking for privacy, but it seems you are in need of some.”
“Please, this is nothing you should be embarrassed about.” Kam offered a warm smile. Her voice was soothing. “Come, sit, I could use more of your company. Erin is difficult to feed sometimes. We don’t have the food she li
kes at our disposal. Hard times.” She pulled Erin away and covered back up. “Do you need assistance with any spells?”
Fogle’s eyes hung on her breasts a little longer than they should have. “Uh… what was that?”
Kam tightened the strings that held the top of her dress together. “I’m ashamed to admit that I’m enjoying toying with you, Fogle. I shouldn’t be at this perilous time. That kiss, it got into me more than it should have.”
“I’m glad I’m not alone in tergiversations.” He swallowed. “I think all of this adventure gets our blood running hot, and there is the unknown of when we’ll be able to have a good time again.”
“I should be focused on Venir, but whenever he’s gone, I’m distracted. It makes me angry.”
“You’ve chosen a very hard man to care about. But everything he does, he does for his family. He does for us all.”
“I just fear the time will come when he doesn’t come back again.” She set Erin down. The little girl teetered across the barn to Brak. Kam pulled her knees to her chest. “I honestly don’t know if I’d be more lonely or relieved without him.”
“This is war, Kam. Not all of the soldiers come back. There’s nothing wrong with thinking about your future, but if we don’t stop the underlings, there will be no future to be had. Venir understands that better than any of us, no matter how wise we perceive ourselves to be. My grandfather is like that as well. That armament jades them, I believe.”
Kam leaned her head against the stall. She took a deep breath, straining the leather cords at the top of her dress, and let it out.
Fogle rose from his seat. “I’m going to remove myself. It’s too difficult to concentrate in your proximity. Apologies, Kam.”
“I understand. I need time alone to search my thoughts as well.”
He moved to another stable and closed the gate behind him. His heart raced. What is going on with me? I’ve three women after me. He smirked. Perhaps my reputation precedes me.
The Darkslayer: Series 2 Special Edition (Bish and Bone Bundle Books 6-10): Sword and Sorcery Adventures Page 40