Demiourgos

by Chris Williams

  Their biggest obstacle had been a much-damaged stone wall blocking their path. Nina had surmised that the wall had been placed magically since Rose’s trail seemed to disappear right beyond it. Tracking their way around it had taken almost a full day but they had continued on after picking the trail back up. That is what had brought them to their current locale. The two of them were standing before a huge stone door parted down the center with what seemed to be a human carved on the front. They had actually stumbled upon the door accidentally after exiting an adjoining grotto only to stare it right in the face. Rose had apparently entered the city and left. Figuring they had already been spotted they approached the entrance. Their limited radius of light did little to illuminate the ceiling of the cavern or the top of the tall door. After a pause they heard someone calling out in a harsh rocky language. Liostro was the first to speak as he attempted to see the person addressing them. “I have come seeking a companion of mine, do you understand me?”

  Nina looked at him and shrugged when they did not get a response. Indicating the ground beneath his feet she looked down the corridor the trail followed then back at the door and Liostro. “I don’t think they understand. We should just follow her trail.”

  “I suppose you’re right, I was just hoping for some sort of sign. A little bit of hope wouldn’t hurt us right about now.” Liostro shook his head and wiped sweat from his brow using his hand. “Rose could have left and returned several times now, she may very well be within.”

  “State your business surface dwellers.” A distinctly feminine voice called in slightly broken common from somewhere near the top of the gargantuan door.

  Liostro faced the speaker as best he could and stood tall. With the echoes bouncing off of the cavern behind him he could not be certain of her exact position. “A friend of ours passed through these doors some time ago, we only wish to know where she is.”

  “This friend, does she have a name?” The woman replied disinterestedly.

  Liostro paused for a moment, unsure if he should mention any names at this juncture but he finally decided that not taking the risk would be worse than not knowing. “Her name is Alethia Rose though she goes by the latter.”

  “And your name then?”

  “I am Liostro and this is Nina.” Everything went quiet and for a moment Liostro feared they had been abandoned. A sudden rumble caught his attention and the door swung open. A single gray-skinned woman walking with several armed and armored guards stepped out of the door and walked toward them. Dipping into a low bow and motioning for Nina to do the same he spoke. “I humbly beseech your aid.”

  “I am Namia and I must say that you are as handsome as she told me you were.” Namia replied to him with a grin when she was satisfied with who she was talking to. “I can tell your words are truthful Liostro, your Rose spoke highly of you.”

  “Pray tell me that she is still within the walls of your city.” Liostro replied to her as cordially as he could manage. It was hard for him knowing that she could be close.

  “I wish I could but I cannot. A mining party volunteered to assist her in returning to the surface several days ago and we have not heard from any of them since.” Namia replied while trying not to frown. “They were supposed to return after prospecting the granolith quarry. I fear they may have run into some trouble. Please, follow me and I will explain what I can.”

  “If that’s the case we cannot wait.” Nina said before Liostro could.

  “At least let me offer you supplies and fresh water to take with you.” Namia gave the back half of her escort orders and sent them back inside to carry them out. “I promise you it will not take long.”

  “You got to know her then?” Liostro asked Namia as he leaned against the cavern wall to rest for a moment while they waited.

  “For the short time she was here, yes. She is an intriguing person with a large heart.” Namia replied with a smile. “She freed my brother from the demons and then freed our entire city without expecting any sort of thanks in return. That takes a rare person.”

  “That it does.” He agreed with a nod, sharing a look with Nina. They were both eager to be on their way and something didn’t feel right about the woman standing before them. It was nothing tangible just something that he had brewing in the back of his mind. Liostro reverted to the elven language, a gift from his late mother, before talking to Nina. “Ready yourself, something feels amiss.”

  “You’re just being paranoid; we’ve been down here so long you expect everything to be hostile.” Nina replied and shook her head at him. Inwardly her bold words did little to assuage her fears.

  “Have I been wrong yet?”

  “No.” Nina agreed reluctantly.

  When a larger contingent of guards returned to the gate all armed and ready his fears were confirmed. He drew his long blade and held it before him with both hands, watching it gleam in the flickering light of the bobbing orb flying in front of him. “I thought you seemed a little too unassuming.”

  “None of these fools can speak the common tongue, I’ve seen to that personally so I will speak freely. My master required the head of Alethia Rose but I could not provide it seeing as she was the city’s hero. I even felt a bit of remorse because of the service she did my family. I gave them a false map that led them straight into a patrol route frequently used by the Infernis elves. I even had to converse with one of the disgusting wenches to give her a warning that the party would be coming.” Namia’s face was hard and cold and the though the guards looked puzzled as to what she was saying they were all at the ready apparently by her command. “I regret that my brother swore an oath to protect her but she should be dead by now.”

  “You’ll pay for this, one way or another.” Liostro scowled at her openly as he and Nina began backing away from the armed guards and the vile woman. As they turned and broke into a run she heard Namia shouting something in her native language and the pursuit began. “We have to evade them quickly; we don’t have time for this.”

  ~~~~

  “Damn her and her need for her belongings.” Avreel had encouraged Rose to leave but she had refused to go without her weapons and proper clothing. Everything taken from the prisoners had been stored not far from the dungeon in a locked room. She had the key, that wasn’t the problem. The dust hadn’t settled since their little coup. Only hours after the attack her brother had attempted to wrest control of the entire house from his other siblings as was normal for their kind. She knew she would be killed on sight if any of her siblings still remained. The other problem was the spelltouched zombies that were still roaming the halls in search of living victims; she doubted Rose was still in control of them.

  Creeping out of the storage room she was relieved to find a clear hallway and no sounds of movement. As a precaution she used a bit of her stored spell energy to make her life energy invisible to the eyes of undead creatures. As an added precaution she drew her mace and decided it would be prudent to hug the walls and watch her step. Though she wasn’t trained in stealth like her older brother she knew enough to keep her hooves from clacking on the stone floor and avoid loose debris. The smell of dust and blood still hung in the air like a thick fog. The four way intersection that connected their hideaway to the rest of the house was clear in front of her but she could hear a voice echoing around her, it seemed to be coming from the right hand corridor. There was no evidence of the guards Rose had killed save charred marks on the floor. Proceeding with extreme caution she crept up to the corner and looked down the hall with one eye.

  Her instincts had proven right; around the corner she spied her eldest brother Revis speaking with a quad of soldiers and Hannan. They were obviously arguing about something because the discussion was heated. The snatches of conversation she could hear made her believe they were talking about her, their other siblings and about Rose. Her sister was defending her and offering up the excuse that their house was almost broken and the more nobility they had the better. She knew her brother would never a
bide by anything that would keep her breathing any longer than necessary. With a sigh she crept across to the left hand corridor and attempted to make her way down the hallway without attracting their attention.

  Her sister had no leverage as far as Revis was concerned. She knew he hated the females of the house above all else though Avreel knew not why. As she slunk down the long hallway she passed several shambling zombies heading toward the only source of life in range, her siblings. Hoping they would be distracted for at least a short time she continued on in a roundabout route until she reached the storage room in question.

  Pulling a key from a pouch at her belt she unlocked the door and walked inside. There was a slight moment of relief as she leaned against the heavy door from the inside of the room. Among the various items they had pilfered from their captives she found the pack and weapons Rose had been brought in with. Avreel stowed as much as she could into the pack and belted the sword on the inside of it so it would rest across her back as she walked. As an afterthought she grabbed a set of clothes they had taken from an elf noble of a rival house that had mysteriously disappeared on a routine patrol. She shook her head at the thought of her people and their vicious natures as she walked back over to the door. Her ear revealed nothing as she listened intently for at least a full minute.

  Once she was satisfied with the silence she opened the door and peered down both sides of the hall. The unusual stillness in the normally bustling house unsettled her even though she held no true love for her family. She had known many of the house guard that had been killed and at least a few of them had been semi-decent. Leaving such thoughts for a later time she crept out into the hall again and started the long trek back to the storage room.

  The sound of metal on metal greeted her before she could get very far, startling her to a jump. Though she had more pressing business she was curious to see who was fighting. The zombies that the remainder of the guard was clearing preferred their own fists more because they lacked the knowledge of how to use the weapons.

  Her walk down the hall was slow and agonizing and she was still startled at the amount of damage Rose had done simply by draining the house of its magical wards and preserving spells. Her thoughts were once again lost when she spied a light-skinned blonde elf running toward her at full speed. “Nina!”

  Avreel knew exactly what the confusion on this elf’s face signified; she knew that were she in Nina’s position she would be skeptical as well. “We don’t have time to debate; you and Liostro must trust me. I know where Rose is.”

  The conflict that was visible on Nina’s face wasn’t lost on her so she pulled the sword from its holster behind her back and presented it to Nina with two hands, unthreateningly. She could see the recognition in the young elf’s eyes. “I was gathering her things so we can escape, I can take you to her.”

  “Lead the way, Liostro will follow.” Nina took up behind the alien-looking elf and relayed her position to Liostro via the mental link that he had established with her. She just hoped the newly anointed paladin would survive long enough to get them out.

  ~~~~

  Liostro stood in the center of the hallway facing off with the elf that had identified himself as Revis. Though the group had been five strong when Nina and Liostro had first confronted them both he and Nina had carved the group down to a one on one fight. He’d sent her on to search for Rose while simultaneously keeping a mind link between the two of them so they could monitor each other’s movements. She knew Nina was following an elf who claimed to know where Rose was and the only thing that had convinced him is that the elf knew Nina on sight. Shaking that from his thoughts he continued to try and catch his breath as did his opponent. Though Revis was wielding two blades and he was only carrying the one, Liostro’s blade was much bigger and so far he had proven himself to be strong enough and fast enough to keep the skilled swordsman at bay.

  Taking the initiative he leapt forward and drove his blade toward the elf’s midsection. He expected the coming dodge and reversed the direction of his swing faster than his opponent could react properly. The clang of blade against blade rang off the walls and the force of the impact knocked Revis off balance. When he stumbled to the side Liostro pressed the attack and finished his sideways sweep, following it by angling the blade downward in an overhead chop.

  Revis rolled back into his previous stance and stood, taking no time in charging foward and swinging both blades at a diagonal angle. Liostro fell backward to avoid the swinging swords and once again caught his angry adversary off guard. Lying on his back he planted his legs into Revis’s torso and kicked him hard, staggering him backward long enough to recover and climb to his feet. Liostro hefted his sword, which seemed to be getting heavier with each moment, and held it in front of him again. Once he was squared off with the hoofed elf he positioned his feet around the debris and prepared to go on the defensive. “You could just let me go and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

  “You? I’d never let a blood-tainted mongrel like you go, you’re an affront to elves everywhere, even the surface elves. Your unclean parentage only signifies that the elves above are worthless whores.” Revis taunted while waving his blades around like a madman.

  “Oh such strong words from one who has the blood of a demon flowing through his veins. I’d wager your mother spread her legs for a red-skinned devil and loved every minute of it.” Liostro could almost see the elf’s blood boiling but he didn’t have to look hard. His ploy to turn the hooved elf’s insults back on him was successful. Revis bellowed an unintelligible battle cry and charged forward furiously. It would have been easy to dodge or parry the incoming reckless blows but instead Liostro stepped to the side of the first swing and cut his blade downward, catching Revis off guard and sending him down to the ground howling in pain. His next blow dug a huge chunk of stone out of the floor where Revis had just been. The second and third did the same as the nimble elf kept rolling out of the way.

  Now out of the long blade’s reach Revis stood up with a slight limp and glared at Liostro with murder in his eyes. “You’ll pay for laying a hand on me you dog.”

  “That wasn’t my hand you know. I’d rather not soil my gloves on your tainted skin.” Liostro taunted once again. He performed a slow, clumsy diagonal blow that was easily side-stepped. He was deliberately trying to seem like his blade was slowing from fatigue and to add to the illusion he had been increasing the frequency of his breathing as well.

  “You look tired half-blood, what’s the matter? Never fought against a real swordsman?” Revis grinned evilly and spread his arms out wide, tightening his grip on his twin blades.

  Liostro didn’t bother to reply; he merely gritted his teeth and glared. Inside he was smiling with satisfaction, his ploy was working. Two quick swipes came across his midsection and he danced backward awkwardly on purpose, acting like he was going to fall. When his foe stepped in for a quick kill with both blades thrusting forward Liostro dropped down to his knees and poured every ounce of his strength into a counter blow. The sword in his grip severed one arm and bit into the other, cracking the bones underneath. Revis let out a pained cry and fell to the ground cradling the stump of his lost arm with his broken one.

  Liostro leveled his blade right into the wounded elf’s face and felt the temptation to end the wretched creature’s life. Something inside of him thought of Rose so instead he cleaned his blade off on the tunic of a nearby fallen body. “If I ever see you again I will do much more than just sever your hand.”

  He left the room feeling good about himself and wondered how he would have felt if he had actually killed his helpless foe. The distraction was present for a mere moment before he began pursuing Nina and the rogue elf. The halls were quiet once more save for what seemed to be a commotion outside. Dismissing it as unimportant he rushed around several corners almost blindly in search of his companions. At the end of his short trek he was faced with what seemed to be an empty store room. He wasn’t sure how much volume he wanted to put
into finding them but he had no choice. “Nina?”

  When the back wall of the room silently swung open he held his blade up in front of him, until a familiar blonde head poked out and beckoned him forward. He let the blade dip down toward the ground and rushed toward Nina. His legs carried him past her and his sword clattered to the smooth carved floor when he spied Rose lying against the wall of the cavern not far away.

  His heart nearly leapt from his chest as he dropped to his knees and grabbed her hand. She was weak he could tell but she smiled for him and put a hand on his cheek. Before she could pull it away he grabbed it and kissed her palm then let it rest on her lap. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

  “I had faith that you would.” Rose replied in a subdued tone and closed her eyes, sighing in relief.

  Avreel hefted out a heavy breath and rolled her eyes. “I think I’m going to be ill.”

  “What did you animals do to her?” Liostro stood up and turned toward Avreel, when she backed away a step and dropped a hand onto the haft of her mace he narrowed his eyes. “What happened to her?”

  “She saved my life Liostro.” Rose interjected before things could progress any further.

  “My apologies then, you have my thanks.” He gathered his blade and sheathed it at his back then walked back over to Rose and Nina. “We have to get you out of here; I’ll take us to the council chambers.”

  “No!” Avreel screamed when he went to touch his breastplate. She swatted his hand away and shook her head. “Two reasons before you ask, first is because you’re taking me with you. I have no place here now that Rose destroyed my family’s home. Second because if you attempt to teleport out of the city you’ll be either torn apart or thrown right into a stone wall.”