City of Delusions (The Dying World Book 2)

by John Triptych

  Ujurok’s distant chuckling sounded like grinding metal. “Zeren is no mercenary. He is a brigand and a murderer. He is not a member of the Black Dargons, nor is he a member of the Silver Shields. By massacring the helpless people in that tavern, he has forfeited his life. Hand him over and I shall let you live.”

  “If you were listening to what we were saying, you would have heard I wasn't the one who killed those people in that tavern, you moronic grub worm!” Zeren said.

  “Desperate men tell desperate tales,” Ujurok said. “You are surrounded, and if you come to me peacefully, Grimgrin, I shall give you the honor of a quick death.”

  “If you are truly dumb enough to believe that I killed all those people in the tavern,” Zeren said. “Then you are probably too stupid to realize that I can do the same to you and your men!”

  “You fought against one old mercenary leader and three drunken Watchers before you killed the rest, which were but slaves and city folk,” Ujurok said. “I have brought close to a hundred men with me this eventide, and not even a cowardly Magus such as yourself can take us all and live.”

  “He will kill us three no matter what we do,” Lobron whispered while leaning against the pillar for support. “When our own men inquire about this, he will probably state that it was Grimgrin who killed me and Sardom before he himself was slain by the Stings.”

  Sardom hefted his axe. “Their men must have followed us here. Pity I did not bring any bodyguards with me.”

  “Stay behind me,” Zeren said tersely while turning and making a dash towards the sides of the great hall. Gesturing with his left hand, he let loose a cascading wall of force that slammed into a group of four Stingers and hurled them backwards into the stone walls, knocking them senseless, their weapons clattering on the old marble flooring.

  Sardom grabbed Lobron by the elbow and both men quickly followed Zeren. They could see the twilit portal that indicated the side entrance just ahead of them. Two shadowy forms suddenly appeared to block their exit, but both opponents soon fell to their sides, arrows sticking from their backs. Zeren smiled as he neared the exit way, for he knew that Ylira was now covering them with her bow from across the street.

  Another arrow coming from the temple interior struck Sardom at the back of his left shin, causing him to topple over. Without the bigger man to lean on, Lobron lost his balance as he fell forward, and ended up sprawled on the floor. Zeren cursed as he turned and ran back towards them. A member of the Stingers came out of the shadows behind them and leveled his bow towards the man they called Grimgrin, while another leapt out from behind a pillar to their left flank and charged while brandishing a bone sword. As the enemy archer let loose with his bow, Zeren held his hand up, diverting the flight of the arrow, striking the charging Stinger in his upper chest. The man cried out as he dropped to his knees before falling on his face.

  The stunned men near the side entrance had somewhat recovered as they scrambled in the darkness to retrieve their weapons. Three more men charged at them from the main entrance, screaming and brandishing their spears. Zeren gestured with his left hand once again, and a loose slab fell from the ceiling and crashed down onto the three Stingers, completely smashing them with a loud thud that shook the building’s foundations. The other Stingers that had witnessed it let out a gasp, and some of them began to hesitate.

  “Get up you lazy grubworms,” Zeren said, drawing his broadsword. He had been building up his Vis all day in case of a battle, but the constant use had steadily drained his reserves. Zeren knew he would not be able to keep it up for too long. “We need to leave now.”

  One of the Stingers was able to gather enough courage and ran at them with his spear out in front. Zeren used his mindforce to nudge him, altering his direction just slightly so his adversary ended up charging right past him. Zeren pirouetted as the shocked man dashed by, and cleaved the Stinger mercenary at the back of his exposed neck with his blade. The man fell face first onto the ground, his lifeblood rapidly draining from the mortal wound.

  Another man came at them, this time at Sardom. The Black Dargon leader parried the man’s attack with the flat part of his axe and took a half step forward, before using the spike located at his weapon’s handle to smash it into his opponent’s visage. The Stinger fell backwards, his face caved in. Sardom finished him off by completing his axe swing in a downward stroke, tearing the man’s chest wide open.

  Lobron staggered to his feet as he drew his longsword. “You better go, Zeren. At least one of us needs to live in order to tell the others.”

  Sardom could barely keep himself upright while a large group of men began to surround them. “Both of you, get out of here. You two can move much faster than I.”

  Zeren held onto Lobron while the other man placed his free arm over his shoulder. “Tell your brother he was a good man.”

  “That I shall,” Sardom said before he started screaming at the top of his lungs. The big man limped forward as he swung his axe in wide circles towards the enemies surrounding him.

  Zeren ran towards the side exit while half carrying Lobron. He used his last reserves of Vis to push the men blocking them out of the way. A few of the Stingers tried to jab him with their spears, but he created a bubble of force around his body and their weapons simply bounced off. Sardom whirled into the main body of mercenaries, but one of them ducked down underneath and stabbed him in the groin, just beneath his mail shirt. Sardom wobbled as he tried to use his axe to keep himself upright, before two more Stingers plunged their spears into his arms and legs, bringing him down.

  Just as Zeren and Lobron reached the archway of the side entrance, one of the Stingers, hiding in the shadows beside the doorframe, dashed out and thrust his spear into Lobron’s back. Lobron was wearing a leather gambeson, and the obsidian spear point penetrated a few inches into his side before it broke off. Lobron cried out in pain as he swung his longsword wildly, the edge of his blade tearing through his opponent’s wrist, nearly severing it. As his screaming opponent fell back, Lobron pushed himself through the portal and out into the street. Zeren pulled him back up and they both started to cross to the other side while he held his left hand up in the air, hoping that Ylira could see that Lobron was not the enemy. Two more Stingers ran out after them, but they were quickly felled by arrows: one was hit in his eye, and the other took an arrow point in the knee.

  Lobron could barely hold onto his longsword as Zeren pulled him into an adjoining building. Their pursuers stood just behind the entryway to the temple as Ylira kept them back using her bow. The moment they were inside the ruined building, Zeren sheathed his broadsword so he could use both hands to bring Lobron up the stone steps and into the upper level. Just as they reached the landing on the second floor, a large, muscular man came out of the shadows and tackled them. Zeren tried to get up but the man quickly slammed his head against the stone wall, temporarily stunning him. Lobron sat up and tried to bring his sword to a guard position, but the hulking man parried it away with his falchion before slashing his weapon at Lobron’s forehead.

  Zeren tried to shake himself awake as he staggered back onto his feet. The large man sensed he was recovering and quickly turned in his direction while swinging the falchion in a sideways strike, hoping to split Zeren’s exposed head wide open. Zeren sensed the attack in time as he held up his right vambrace, the metal armor in his forearm parrying the near fatal attack away.

  His opponent sidestepped into the center of the room, the moonlight from the windows revealing his face. It was Qhux, Ujurok’s second in command. He had successfully surmised that Zeren might have had allies with bows stationed at an adjoining building, and he made his way along the nearby ruins, hoping to find them. The moment the arrows fell, he realized where the archer was at, and he was on his way upstairs to deal with her before he heard the sounds of footsteps behind him. Qhux loved to use his father’s falchion, and the only armor he ever wore was a leather vest with reinforced chainmail on it. Like his master, Qhux was a master
in the art of dueling.

  Zeren was still feeling woozy from the blow to his head. He could not concentrate to bring much Vis to bear against his opponent. Qhux, sensing a momentary weakness, ran straight at him to try and skewer him to the wall. He only partially succeeded as Zeren was able to parry his falchion’s point with his vambraces, but he did manage to get his free hand onto Zeren’s throat and pin him to the wall.

  “I have always wanted to see just how the great Grimgrin is in actual combat,” Qhux muttered under his stinky breath. Zeren was able to hold onto his sword arm, but his other arm was pinned to his chest, unable to move it as Qhux used his body to press him against the wall. “Now it looks like you ran out of breath.”

  Zeren wheezed as the iron grip on his throat became tighter. Qhux was slowly choking the life out of him, and he couldn’t concentrate enough to push him away using his mindforce. If he let go of Qhux’s sword arm, the Stinger sub-leader would surely stab him with it. “Yutktmch,” he said softly.

  Qhux chuckled. It wasn’t long now. “What did you say, little ret?”

  Zeren gasped. He was starting to black out from the pain in his throat. He had to act now. Sensing his foe’s overconfidence, Zeren kicked him in the groin with his knee. Qhux’s eyes opened wide as he staggered backwards and gasped in pain.

  Rolling sideways before getting back on his feet, Zeren quickly gestured and the longsword that lay on the floor flew up and into his waiting hand. Qhux recovered somewhat and he limped towards him with the falchion ready to strike, but Zeren used a small bit of Vis to slide forward while keeping his head down. He slipped underneath the bigger man, driving the point of the blade into Qhux’s groin before forcing it upwards, tearing into his opponent’s abdomen. Qhux titled his head up before falling on his back into the trash strewn floor.

  “I said you talk too much,” Zeren replied, before he ran over to where Lobron had fallen and picked him up after dropping the blade. “Now you know how the Magi feel when they have one of their emasculation rituals. Pity you are not a Vis user, though.”

  Zeren brought the unresponsive man up to the roof. Ylira had run out of arrows and saw them coming up the stairs. She ran over to help and the two of them carried Lobron across an adjoining roof before heading back down into the glooms of the nearby ruins.

  They gently laid Lobron down on his back. Shafts of moonlight beamed down from the broken roof above to give them enough illumination to examine the wounded man. Ylira crouched down and placed her ear on Lobron’s chest to check for a heartbeat.

  Zeren was still catching his breath while standing above them. “Well?”

  Ylira exhaled before looking up at him. “He is dead.”

  Zeren cursed the gods out loud. The only two men who would have believed him were now gone. Everyone would be hunting him. In a city where gold was king, it would be just a matter of time before they caught up to him. He was out of options. The walls were closing in and there was little he could do to escape it.

  Chapter 9

  The sun had not yet begun to rise when Ujurok was allowed through the gates of the manse. The guards eyed him contemptuously, and he was forced to relinquish his weapons for the time being. He hated coming over here, and he wished that one day he could bring his men inside and kill everyone in the entire place, but he recognized where his income was coming from, so he just bode his time, believing that good fortune would always come to those that waited for the right moment.

  He was led into a parlor and told to remain standing while the matriarch was summoned. The torches that hung along the walls gave the entire scene a faint orange glow. His heavy boots had left faint traces of dust on the shiny marble floors and he noticed the disgusted look at some of the house slaves, for they knew that they would need to clean the room again after his visit. There was an open doorway beyond, and he could see what looked to be the edge of a water fountain in the nearby courtyard. Near the side of the room that he was standing in stood a bronze statue of a naked youth, its upraised arm posed as if about to strike something. Ujurok had always been jealous of these nobles and their extravagant luxuries while the rest of the city’s inhabitants wallowed in poverty.

  Matriarch Tanys was already awake; she had a habit of rising before dawn. It was her favorite part of the day, for she could stroll through her palace with nary anyone bothering her. The quietness suited her aging mind, since her mindsense was not as formidable as it used to be. Nevertheless, her gift of Vis was still potent, and no one dared to say anything that would anger her. It was prudent that every member of her household only think of happy thoughts, for her power was so great that it would be enough to kill anyone with a single wish.

  Ujurok instantly stood to attention as the matriarch entered the room and sat down on an elaborately carved stone chair while facing him. “Hail Matriarch Tanys, head of House Aranida, the most powerful family of Lethe,” he said.

  Tanys dismissed his sycophancy with a wave of her hand. She knew that deep inside he had an utter disgust for all the nobility, but she needed him for now. “Enough of your servile nonsense. What have you to report?”

  Ujurok bowed his head slightly. He knew it was best to tell the truth, since the matriarchs could read his mind. “My men failed to kill Grimgrin, but we succeeded in eliminating the leaders of the Black Dargons and the Silver Shields. The Dargons may still elect a new leader from amongst their ranks, but the Silvers are finished- I believe that my outfit could absorb their remaining members with nary a protest.”

  “I care not about your recruitments, Ujurok,” the matriarch of House Aranida said. “I care about that shipment of guns that was stolen from my warehouse. You need to take this Grimgrin alive, for he is the one who knows where they are hidden.”

  “Grimgrin is finished,” Ujurok said. “The word has spread that it was he who killed the leaders of the Dargons and the Silvers on neutral ground, and it will be just a matter of time until he is found. With every single faction in the city out for his blood, he stands no chance.”

  “Make sure that your men get to him first,” Tanys said. “Offer him sanctuary, if need be. Those weapons are priceless. If the Magi get their hands on those things, then it may tip the balance over to their side. We cannot have that.”

  “Yes, milady,” Ujurok said. He had witnessed a private demonstration on the effectiveness of those guns before, and he was in awe of their power. “But can you not make more of those things? Your house is the most powerful because of the mines, yes?”

  Tanys shook her head slightly. “Two things. Those weapons were antiques, and my craftsmen no longer have the skill with which to create them. The second reason is because every time we find an iron vein in the mines, the rusting sickness begins in less than a day, so we can only mine a very small amount before the entire vein becomes useless. Therefore it is imperative that those weapons are found.”

  “But your rivals would not know how to use those guns effectively anyway,” Ujurok said.

  “They can learn,” Tanys said. “With enough practice, anyone can learn how to use guns, they take less skill to master than bows or swords.”

  Ujurok thought about it for a minute. “If it is indeed the Magi who are trying to acquire such things, then perhaps we should strike them now and kill their leaders.”

  Tanys rolled her eyes. This fool was so stupid. “The Magi are few, but they still have enough power to destroy your little band of mercenaries. I will not order my men to attack until we know who is behind this and what their plans are. We have the advantage, and we will not waste it on such a stupid idea.”

  Ujurok shrugged. “All I can do for you is to attack who it is that you wish and to keep my ears open, but I have no influence in the nobles quarter, nor with the Watch, or the Magi.”

  “I know that, you fool,” Tanys said. “I have other spies to deal with this. Now go, and do not come back until you succeed this time.”

  “Yes milady, I take my leave now and report to you soon.” With those
words, the leader of the Stingers walked out of room, heading down the stairs towards the gate.

  Tanys continued to sit silently for a few moments before she turned her head slightly, to where the opposite doorway was. “You may come out of the umbrage now.”

  Lord Falx of the City Watch came out from behind the other side of the doorway that led to the courtyard. He had been silently listening while tucked away at the other side. “It seems that a mercenary war was avoided. That is good news. The last thing we need is more blood on the streets. My men are stretched thin as it is, and there is no telling who to trust among them anymore.”

  Tanys rested on her elbow along the sides of the chair while tapping her forehead. “That mercenary idiot should not have attacked the other leaders like that. We may need to eliminate him soon, for he is incompetent and prone to bloodthirsty actions.”

  “Did he tell you everything?” Falx said.

  “No, but he did not have to since I culled the entire experience from his mind,” Tanys said. “It seems that Grimgrin had an interesting tale to tell before that fool and his men interrupted him.”

  Falx was intrigued. “Oh? What did he say?”

  “The massacre at that tavern in the merchant district,” Tanys said. “It seems that the Magi are building an army, and not just an ordinary one.”

  Despite the early hour, she now had his full attention. “What?”

  “The rumors that told about large numbers of mercenary brethren who disappeared may now be confirmed,” Tanys said. “I had thought that one of the other houses hired them for an expedition to explore the Dead Lands, but it seems they were kept here after all.”

  Falx strode over until he stood in front of her. “So it was the Magi who hired them?”

  Tanys nodded. “The Magi seemed to have done something that I thought could not be possible. I remember a tale from the ancients. It was about a man who was cursed by the gods to wander across the lands before finding his way home. He and his men journeyed to a place where its inhabitants would feed on a plant that took away their memories and enslaved their minds.”