“Certainly,” she replied, stepping over to the doorway. “I'm glad to see you're learning.”
“I'm trying,” he smiled.
The maiden magically inspected the portal before assuring him that it was perfectly safe. Paul slipped Telseir into its sheath, raised his shield, and boldly took hold of the door's handle. The evil presence seemed almost to completely surround them. He couldn't tell precisely where it was, but he was sure it was near at hand. Taking a deep breath, he threw the door open and went to step inside the chamber beyond. Fortunately, the scene that met his eyes immediately froze his feet.
The door led, not to another chamber, but out of the bottom of the stronghold into the nothingness beyond. Directly below, was the same star-filled abyss they had seen from the edge of the narrow sward. Above, Paul could see the rough stone foundation upon which the fortress was built. The young man quickly pulled his foot back, placing it once again on the solid stone floor.
“Once we're done,” he said, “we need to lock this door.”
“Lock it?” Joey asked, glancing over his friend's shoulder. “We need to weld it shut.”
“I don't know,” the paladin replied. “It'll make taking out the trash easy.”
“Maybe,” Joey said, shaking his head, “but don't count on me taking it out. My feet are tingling again.”
Having come to an unquestionable dead end, the party turned and made their way up to the next landing. As they moved forward, torches coming to life as they approached, the flickering light suddenly revealed black runes scribbled on the floor a short distance ahead.
“It's close,” Paul whispered, his blade at the ready. “Whatever it is, I can feel it.”
“Okay,” Joey replied in hushed tones. “Well, before we go any further, you need to get rid of those runes. I don't see any reason to fight this thing on its terms. You may as well try to sanctify the place before we face it. I mean; even if it jumps us while you're working on it, we won't have lost anything.”
“Actually, that's a really good suggestion,” Nyssa asserted.
“It is,” Alena agreed. “After all, as Joey pointed out earlier, bold isn't synonymous with stupid.”
“You're right,” Paul nodded, sheathing his sword. “Hand me a flask.”
As the paladin said a prayer of blessing over the water, the evil he sensed grew stronger. He lifted his head to see a number of shadowy red figures moving quickly toward them out of the darkness beyond. Instantly, he dropped the flask and drew his sword.
“There they are!” he cried, charging to face their oncoming enemies.
“Where?” Alena asked.
“Right here,” Paul yelled, engaging the first of their foes. “Are you blind?”
“Maybe!” she replied. “I don't see anything!”
In truth, Paul couldn't have said exactly what he saw himself. He had expected to get a clearer view of them as the torches ahead burst into flame. However, what they had been in the shadows, they were in the light. The monsters seemed to be nothing more than nondescript blobs of red mist. It was obvious to him that they were some kind of incorporeal undead, but he hadn't encountered anything like them before.
Time and time again, he swung his blazing blade; lashing out at the opponents who were doing their best to surround him. He couldn't be sure if he was doing any damage or not. Although the creatures did their best to avoid his blows, there was no way to tell if those he managed to land were having any effect.
“As fun as this is to do by myself,” he cried, as something ripped into his face, “I could really use some help! What are you waiting on?!”
“There's nothing there!” Alena shouted.
“I assure you, there is!”
“Come on!” Sarrac yelled, lifting his blade above his head.
“Wait!” Joey demanded, stepping out in front of him and beginning to chant.
The apprentice wizard raised his hand as he brought his spell to an end. Shimmering dust shot from his uplifted palm, filling the area before them. Immediately, the glittering powder revealed the outline of several large, spider-like monsters as Paul screamed out in pain. The paladin's allies rushed to his aid, falling on their now visible foes.
“What did you do, you idiot?!” Paul cried, as another talon ripped into his face. “You've blinded me, you moron!”
“I made them visible!”
“Not to me!”
Paul felt as if his face were on fire. Whatever these creatures were, their bites - or claws, or whatever had cut him - were obviously venomous. Of course, as bad as that was, it wasn't as bad as not being able to see. He could hear his companions around him, but nothing was distinct. It was simply the din of battle. It had been difficult enough to fight these creatures while they were hard to make out; now that he couldn't see them at all, it was virtually impossible.
“Paul!” Myra cried, “Behind you!”
The young man lurched forward in response to this warning and, tripping over something he couldn't see, fell to the floor. He was no sooner down than up again, but he had no idea where his enemies were. There was only one thing to do: he grabbed hold of his holy symbol and turned with everything he had to give.
A wave of golden light instantly blasted its way through the chamber.
“I don't want to discourage you,” Darek yelled, “but that didn't seem to do anything!”
“You can see them, Paul,” a familiar voice said softly in the paladin's ear.
“Cal Morrin?!”
“Concentrate,” the voice commanded. “You weren't seeing them with your physical eyes before. You were seeing them through the eyes of faith. All you have to do is focus.”
“Right,” the young man replied, taking a step back and doing his best to follow the disembodied voice's advice.
Although he couldn't see the room or his allies, the shadowy red forms he had seen previously began to take shape once again. Two of the creatures were on either side of him; moving quickly to attack. The young man fell back, giving himself a moment to catch his breath before renewing his assault. As he concentrated on seeing his enemies, their forms became more definite.
The beasts looked much like giant spiders, but their heads were humanoid. Filthy, lank hair hung down around their short necks, and their mouths were filled with pointed teeth. The foremost two limbs of the creatures were very much like human arms; each ending in a hand which, at the moment, held a long bladed dagger.
Of all the monsters he had encountered in Zanoth up to this point, he found these the most disturbing. There was just something very wrong about giant spiders with human heads. He knew he was going to have nightmares about these things for weeks to come. Still, the best way to combat dreams of that nature would be to kill a few of these abominations himself. Fortunately, now that he could see them, he didn't think that would be overly difficult.
He stepped forward, raising his shield to one of his attackers, while deftly blocking a blow with his blade from the other. His counter attack severed one of his enemies' arms; rendering the portion of it that fell to the floor perfectly visible to his companions. This done, he deflected yet another attack with his shield, spun around, and cut his second enemy's head neatly from its body, causing its burning corpse to collapse instantly onto the cold stone floor.
The paladin's one-armed adversary did its best to escape, but it was too late. With another blow, Paul ended its life before turning his attention to their remaining foes. His companions had done very well and only three of the beasts remained. He wanted to help, but it would be difficult; not being able to see friend as well as foe.
He slowly opened his eyes and was very happy to find that his vision was beginning to return. Everything just looked like a bunch of blobs, but he could easily tell which blobs were his allies and which were his enemies. As he was considering this fact, something attracted his attention.
An unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke behind him.
“I'll see your soul rot in the hells, paladin,�
�� it asserted.
The young man spun around to see the mother of them all. At least, he hoped it was the mother of them all (and that there wasn't a father of them all anywhere in the universe). The creature appeared exactly like those he had already faced, but was roughly seven feet tall. Its face struck him as somewhat feminine, but that was probably only because he believed in the depth of his soul that only women could feel the level of hatred that was clearly in this creature's eyes. In each hand, the abomination held a two handed sword; both drawn back, ready to strike.
“Yeah,” the young man said with a sigh. “That figures...”
Having made this observation, he charged boldly at his adversary. As soon as he was within reach, she struck. As the monster's thunderous attacks fell against his shield and sword, he thanked everything good that his mother had forced him to drink so much milk as a child. Paul felt that, if she hadn't, both his arms would have broken off under the force of the monstrosity's initial attack. As it was, he was in a great deal of pain. He couldn't even imagine what it would have felt like if his limbs had just popped off.
These thoughts were driven from his head by the idea that he had better counter-attack before she simply beat down his guard and then beat him to death. He lunged forward, doing his best to stab the creature in the chest, but it leapt back; knocking his blade to the side with one sword while attempting to remove his head with the other. Sadly, she seemed to know what she was doing.
Paul heard chanting behind him and realized that Joey was casting again. He felt, in all probability, it was that I'll blind Paul spell. As a result, he closed his eyes just before the entire area was once again filled with glimmering powder. The paladin's forethought had saved him from another blinding, and he looked on with sincere pleasure as his allies rushed to his aid.
To say that the battle became easy would be untrue. However, his companions were able to shift the tide enough to make it winnable. Darek was slammed into the wall at one point; breaking several of his ribs. Nyssa ended up stuck to the ceiling by a mess of webs the creature shot from its abdomen. Alena's shield arm was broken, and Sarrac's right thigh received a gash that went nearly to the bone. Paul managed to avoid any further injuries, although the poison coursing through his veins caused him to almost vomit during the middle of the battle. Myra and Joey were both wise enough to stay out of the fray, but each channeled enough power that their blood seemed as if it were on fire.
Finally, Paul managed to take the creature off guard. Just after she sliced through Sarrac's leg, the young man leapt forward and plunged his blade into the very heart of the living nightmare. Its dying screams echoed through the chamber as golden flames enveloped its collapsing carcass.
“Well,” Joey said, slowly sliding down the wall to take a seat, “that wasn't so bad.”
Chapter 18: Not Again
“If by wasn't so bad,” Paul said, stepping over to Sarrac, “you mean none of us died, I agree.”
Having made his opinion clear, the paladin quickly healed the ogre, slapping him on the forehead as he did so.
“Do you have to do that?” Sarrac chuckled.
“I don't know,” he replied, shaking his head. “Cal Morrin.”
For several seconds, the paladin stood in silence.
“Cal Morrin?”
“Why are you calling him?” Joey asked.
“Because...”
“Read the book, Paul,” the disembodied voice interjected softly.
“Of that,” the paladin continued.
“Because of what?”
“Because he's here,” Paul explained. “Didn't you hear him?”
“No,” all the paladin's companions agreed.
“Well, he is,” the young man asserted. “Cal Morrin.”
His summons received no answer.
“Well, he was here,” Paul said, glancing quickly around the chamber before turning his attention to the former lich. “What were those things?”
“I can’t be sure,” she replied. “I’ve never heard of anything like them before.”
“Neither have I,” Nyssa added.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and never hear of anything like them again,” Joey said, shaking his head. “I’d like to think we’d just driven them to extinction.”
“Agreed,” Paul chuckled. “So, when did you learn that spell?”
“A few days ago.”
“Just figured we might run into some invisible enemies?”
“The thought crossed my mind,” Joey replied with a nod, “but, really, I figured I’d better learn it in case anything happened to Nyssa.”
“What do you mean?” the beautiful fairy asked.
“I just thought that, if you got knocked out or something while you were invisible, it might be hard for us to find you. I couldn't stand the thought of one of us discovering your prostate little body by stepping on it or something.”
“That's really sweet,” she said, looking at him with a wide smile. “But, if I get knocked out, I'll become visible again. You should have asked me.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“That's even sweeter.”
“It is,” Darek agreed. “However, I don't think I'll be able to fully appreciate it until after my ribs aren't broken.”
This observation reintroduced the subject of the immediate present. Between Paul and Nyssa, the companions were healed of all their most dire injuries; including curing the paladin's mild case of poisoning. As soon as this had been attended to, they made their way back upstairs.
The decision was made to climb to the very top of the staircase before continuing their search. They soon discovered, however, that the stairs from the entrance led only to the walls of the fortress. As they stepped onto the battlements, they could see that the walls seemed to run on for miles; encompassing perhaps thousands of acres of mostly empty land. Small groves of ancient tress grew here and there, spread across the vast and overgrown meadow that stretched out before them. In the distance, on the far side of the fields, another large building rose several stories into the air.
“That must be the keep,” Darek speculated.
“I imagine it is,” Sarrac agree, before taking a deep breath. “I think we could build a village here.”
“I think we could,” Alena replied, a wide smile spreading across her face. “Those trees will provide more than enough wood for anything we want to build.”
“You can't chop them down!” Nyssa exclaimed. “They're beautiful.”
“We won't need to,” the ogre assured her. “We can always get wood from Zanoth.”
“We'll still probably want to clear some of them out,” Darek replied. “It'll give us more room to farm.”
“There's plenty of room to farm already!” the fairy insisted.
“We can talk details later,” Paul pointed out. “For now, we need to focus on getting back to the Warriors.”
The companions took one last look across the vast meadow before turning to make their way back downstairs. After a brief search, they discovered the door that led further into the fortress. Paul couldn't help but smile as they marched toward the keep through knee-deep grass. During all his time in Zanoth – which, admittedly, he couldn't be sure he was currently in - he'd never seen this much wild growth, even at the fairy well (although there, the wild growth did seem even more alive).
He sighed with contentment as they stepped within the shades of one of the groves that stood between them and their destination. The sun was filtered by the green leaves above, which were themselves rustling in a gentle breeze. The young man decided to take a chance. He stepped over to the side of the former lich and slipped his hand into hers. She simply turned to him with a gentle smile and the pair continued their journey hand in hand.
After a walk of just over a mile, the companions reached the door of the keep. Myra took the precaution of checking the door and found, to nobody’s great surprise, that it was perfectly safe. They proceeded to search the building floo
r by floor. They discovered armories, barracks, dining rooms, kitchens, and countless bedrooms. Finally, they stepped into a chamber that put a wide smile on Joey's face.
“Now, this place,” the apprentice wizard said, gazing at the countless volumes that filled the shelves of the library, “has got to have a spell that makes people bigger. I just have to find it.”
“I've already told you,” Nyssa said, flying up to the ceiling to examine the books on the top shelf. “You're too big just the way you are. You need to let this height obsession go. Look at Darek, he's the shortest of you and he never even mentions it.”
“It's good of you to notice,” Darek smiled.
“I couldn't help it,” she replied distractedly. “In that regard, you're the cutest guy in our group.”
“Again,” he laughed, “it's good of you to notice.”
“Maybe I am too big,” Joey ceded, “but, I wasn't really planning to use it on me.”
“Well, you heard Darek,” she replied. “He doesn't even care.”
“Actually...” Joey said slowly, “I was kind of thinking of using it on you.”
“What?!” she exclaimed.
“You know,” he said with a smile. “I thought you might want to know what it was like to be bigger. Just for a few minutes.”
“Well, I don't! I already know what it would be like: horrible.”
“It's not horrible,” he asserted.
“Yes, it is!” she insisted. “I'd be hideous!”
“Thanks,” Alena chuckled.
“Oh, not you!” the fairy said, flying down to hover directly in front of the ogress. “Giant looks great on you and Myra. It just wouldn't suit me.”
“I think it would,” Joey assured her.
“From the way you acted,” she replied with a sharp tone, putting her hands on her hips and turning to face him, “I thought you liked me the way I am!”
“Oh, I do!” he said excitedly. “I just thought it might be interesting if I shrank myself a bit and then made you a little bigger at the same time. I figured it would help us see things from each other's point of view. You see what I mean?”
The Fortress of Donmar (The Tales of Zanoth Book 2) Page 31