“You know, those two have a lot of power,” Fogle said. “I don’t see how we can survive it if they decide to strike us down. They can. They can strike down a small army if need be.” He wiped his hands on his knees, dusted them off, and stood up. “I don’t think they think they can kill you, though. It’s what holds them back. They have tried before and only failed. Every time they have you dead to rights, you wriggle out of it and turn it against them.” He picked up pieces of the withered scroll. It turned to dust in his hands. “They are trying a new tactic: they want to wear you down—test your limits.”
Venir didn’t like what he heard. “I need a straight fight. Can you make that happen. Can you make anything happen?”
“Well, they can’t float forever,” he said.
It was true. The underlings’ spell would not last forever. They had to eat and they had to come down and rest. They would have to hide when they did. Venir knew he would be able to track them anywhere on Bish now. But he would get hungry and tired too. Still, he was determined to be there whenever they came down, wherever it may be. One could not escape the other.
“Fogle Boon, I am going to track them so long as I can. So long as I have all of this …” He tapped his helmet. “I am meant for it. I always have been.”
“It’s an insane mission. You will never get a wink of sleep without help.”
“It shouldn’t take forever. I need you to stay with Chongo. Mood will return, I am sure of it. I have not heard a croak in a while. I am sure he is coming here. It’s been good with you, Fogle Boon.” He pulled out Fogle’s amulet and stuck it back under his vest. “I’ll keep this with me at all times in case I don’t come back soon.”
The underlings were moving away. Venir had to follow. He had to stop them somehow. He had never been closer.
Step by step, he vanished into the burning horizon.
CHAPTER 98
Mood and company arrived a couple of days later.
“Great Bish! What happened to Chongo?” Mood asked.
Fogle filled him in and Mood was grieved.
“Mood, what happened to the balfrog? Did you slay it?” Fogle asked.
“Indeed,” the dwarf said.
“How?”
“Well, I let him eat me.”
“What?” he exclaimed. ”You let him eat you? Are you being serious?”
“I am. He sucked me in with his three forked tongues. Then I gutted ’em inside out,” he said, chopping his axes. “No air in there, but I can hold me breath a long time. It took me hours to gut him out, but I burst free. Next time, I take you with me, wha’cha say?” he said with a nudge.
“Is that dried frog guts I smell? It’s foul.”
“It sure is, little man. So we going after Vee. Me kin will take care of Chongo and get him back to Dwarven Hole.”
“I guess so. I’ve nothing better to do. Hold on,” Fogle said.
Mood fired up a cigar.
The wizard began his casting, holding a small dart in his palm that twirled inside of it fast then slowing down to a stop. Northeast was the direction it pointed, then it began to rise.
“Why’s it rising?” Mood asked.
“Every inch up is every few miles. So I’d say he’s only twenty miles away. We’ve got some catching up to do.”
Fogle couldn’t believe the man had chased the underlings that far already. He must have been running. He pictured the man walking away. The muscled juggernaut strode away on foot, big axe in hand, helmet glinting in the suns. How would the man last in the sun?
“We gots the horses, so let’s go then,” Mood said. “Eh … Mage, is there any way to know if he is alive or dead?”
“No,” Fogle said.
They were heading closer to the edge of the world and the mist began to loom far away in the distance. Mood would check for signs of the man, but his face showed deep concern. He was unable to find so much as a single trace of the man passing through. Fogle began to question his magic. The outright disappearance of the man began to bewilder him. What he thought would be a two-day trip became ten. They might have been going in circles. He wondered if the mist had something to do with it.
“I’ve never come this close to the mist before,” Mood said in a comment that surprised Fogle Boon.
The mist went up as high as the eye could see. It still was miles away, how many they could not tell, but they had no desire to approach it, either. They could see a ledge forming as well, but were not tempted to peer over it. Many had and been fine from it, but many paid for it as well, drawn into it and never able to return. It was the most foreboding thing in all of Bish: the utter unknown, as foreign to the races as the Underland to an eagle.
As they trotted along, Fogle watched the needle rise again then float ahead. It stopped and fell on a pile of rocks. A horrifying feeling sunk in their bellies. The rocks were large, almost too big for a man to move, but a giant dwarf could.
“What do you think? Should we move them?” Fogle asked.
“We? Little man, you ain’t movin’ nothing. Me and the mintaur can handle this,” Mood said in a gruff voice.
Rock after rock, Mood and Ox strained to carry each boulder away. As each rock thudded to the ground, a sense of dread filled the mage’s chest. As the last big stone was moved, Fogle saw a shallow grave covered in dirt. The dart hovered now above it. Ox and Mood cleared the dirt away. An outline of a body was covered by a thick black cloth. It appeared to be lying on its side.
“Shall I do the honors too?’ the dwarf asked, reaching forward..
“No … let me,” Fogle said as a chill raced down his spine.
Fogle boon tore the dark burlap cloth away. He jumped back in alarm, startling them all. Nothing was moving but them, though. They all were gathered and got a clear view of two bright colorful eyes glossed over in death. It was an underling, no doubt. He took it to be one of the two Venir sought.
Mood pulled the corpse from the grave and set it down. The dead underling mage indeed seemed to be one of the two they’d fought. Venir’s hunting knife was still deep in its back, with the tip poking clear through its chest. Fogle’s amulet was tied around its neck.
“He killed one of them; the crafty human actually did it. But how? There is no sign of him anywhere,” Mood said in awe.
Fogle spent hours contemplating what had happened over a fire and some stag meat that Mood had brought along.
“Do you think he entered the mist, Mood, or followed the other one in there?” he asked.
“No.” Mood tore a big hunk of flesh from the leg. “We are going to keep looking for him. Someone is bound to see him. He’s too big and loud not to show up.”
“Do you think he is dead? I just don’t know.”
“I don’t, either,” Mood grumbled. “He’s hard to kill, that man. If he got one of them, I’d say it’s likely he’s bound to get the other.” Mood spat. “If he ain’t already.”
“I agree, but too many mysteries remain.”
Fogle couldn’t shake the feeling that he would never see his friend again.
“Were you born yesterday?” Mood said. “That’s how it is on this world, you know.”
“I just like having some answers,” Fogle said, staring into the mist.
“Well, startin’ tomorrow, we begin trying to find you some. Rest knowin’ that our friend it still out there doing what he does best: huntin’ down and killin’ underlings.”
The next day, Mood cut off the underling’s head and burned the rest of the remains. Fogle held onto Venir’s hunting knife. Along with Ox, the pair searched the world over for the man, trying to find any source anywhere, but whatever evidence existed of the Darkslayer, they were always ten steps behind.
The Darkslayer—Venir—had become a shadow that they could not find.
About the Author
Craig Halloran resides with his family outside of his hometown Charleston, West Virginia. When he isn’t writing stories he is seeking adventure, working out or watching sports. T
o learn more about him go to: www.thedarkslayer.com
Other works by the Craig Halloran
The Darkslayer, Volume One
Zombie Day Care
Eight Maids of Milking
In the works by Craig Halloran
The Darkslayer Volume Three – Slated for Released SUMMER/FALL 2012
The Darkslayer, Volume Four
The Darkslayer, Hunt for the Brigand Queen (A short Darkslayer novel)
Zombie Rehab
The Blades
The Darkslayer: Book 02 - Blades in the Night Page 35