Demiourgos

by Chris Williams

  “If we can get back up to the pass we can hold them off.” Liostro whispered to her. “I don’t know how they planned on getting past the stairwell anyway.”

  “The sorcerer lord that Rahknand sent specialized in bending the earth to his will so I am guessing he was going to make a hole in the mountain for them to march right through.” Rose said once she dropped the amplifying spell she had been holding. “Now they will have to climb the mountain themselves and in small groups venture through the caverns, I don’t think…”

  Rose threw her hands up suddenly; enacting a mentalist power. A hail of four arrows stopped mid-air and dropped to the ground followed by another volley. She scowled and held the spell for a moment and turned to her companions. “I guess that’s their answer, prepare yourselves.”

  In the distance Rose could see the first men of the army climbing their way up the stairs. The elves that had assisted her in channeling magic were grouped at the top throwing whatever weapons they could find. Stones, daggers, one even had a short bow. Rose knew they had to reach the entrance or the gathered elves would be slaughtered. To her surprise what looked like a long line of armed and armored elves began pouring out of the cavern. Several of them stood at the head of the stairwell ready to defend it against the attackers. “Why do they continue? I don’t understand it; they will die in droves trying to climb.”

  “Worry about us first!” Liostro shouted as he sliced his blade through an attacking ashkanti’s tail, laying the squirming foe to the ground and shoving the tip of the blade into the flailing creature’s chest to silence it.

  Several more of the aggressors were advancing, the decision had been made. She dare not call on the Spellrage again, it was too dangerous. Rose spread her hands wide and then angled them toward the sun as she gathered the heat to her. Everyone around her was already sweating but the sweltering heat increased tenfold as two long tendrils of fire formed on her hands gathering in size as she channeled. “Everyone get closer and touch a part of me or you’ll be burned.”

  When all of them had their backs against her she flung her arms down then back upward, twirling them into a twist as her hands clapped together. The two strands of fire grew to the size of small tornados and warped together as they spiraled their way outward. The two long spirals of fire clawed through the ranks of the army and Rose prodded her allies forward taking the lead. Using almost all of the magic she had left she clapped her hands together hard enough for it to hurt and the sands in front of her sprayed forth in a long wave. When she spread her hands apart the wave turned into two walls and pushed their enemies away leaving a small path for them to run through. Time slowed down as the snarling faces of each man, woman and creature they passed loomed out of the diminishing sand wall. Several times Rose had to duck or dodge a blade or some other type of weapon in order to continue on. She had a multitude of nicks and cuts and each one began healing quickly but her body was having trouble keeping up with so many. When they reached the stairs she had more blood on her than sand.

  Barius and Noranda lifted her from the ground and carried her up the stairs while Avreel and Taines cleared the way up. Rose glanced behind her and found Liostro climbing the stairs backwards attempting to keep the tide stemmed long enough for them to retreat. Rose nearly passed out twice but they reached the top and the elves standing guard let them through and called for Liostro to retreat. He dispatched his current opponent and broke off from the single-man melee climbing the stairs as quickly as he could with the mercs behind him barely a few paces away.

  Her two escorts put her on the ground gently and she collapsed into a heap. The battle started again behind her as Liostro fell down to his knees as well. He looked over at Rose he crawled toward her then put her head in his hands. “If you ever do that again; well, gods help you if you do.”

  “I am spent Liostro I can’t even stand.” Rose said through ragged breaths as her body began to heal the hurts just a little faster. “I don’t understand why they aren’t they breaking.”

  “I don’t know.” Liostro replied to her as he turned around to watch the elven guard rotate trying to keep their strength up and stem the flow simultaneously. “Their leader is down, the easy way in is lost but they march on.”

  “Thrall!” Avreel exclaimed as she came to a conclusion. “The sorcerer lord has them under thrall or they wouldn’t throw themselves at us so recklessly.”

  “How do we break it?” Liostro was the first to speak over the din of battle.

  “We can’t, this battle will have to play itself out. Our only hope would have been Rose but I doubt even she can break the hold on so many of them.” Avreel indicated the cave. “A tactical retreat may be in order here so we can regroup and gather up our reinforcements.”

  “I don’t have time for this; I have to go after Nina.” It was painfully obvious even to herself that she was in no state to pursue Nina but she refused to let any more time come between them. “I have to go, I cannot wait any longer.”

  “How exactly do you plan on getting past all of them?” Liostro queried as he lifted her up to her feet and began the retreat. “It’s not as if we have one of those flying ships the detritus had.”

  “There’s another way out of the mountain.” Rose was able to stand on her own now so she wobbled along wearily beside Liostro and Avreel. “Barius, Noranda, the two of you lead the others out of the caverns. Send your fastest runner to gather the rest. Liostro, Avreel and I are heading for the deepingway.”

  “May the watchful lord be with you.” Barius said as they all saluted the trio breaking off from the main group into a side cavern.

  With their armed escort gone Rose took up the lead. Each step saw her just a little stronger than the last. Liostro kept a watch at the rear and Avreel walked beside her keeping an eye on the familiar-looking caverns around them. Rose knew few inhabitants of the deep caverns came this far up but there were still dangers to be wary of. “The deepingway is a place of commerce left over from when my people owned this mountain and much of the surrounding lands. Not much lives here but several things still walk the corridors.”

  “By the gods I hope you don’t mean undead.” Avreel shivered a little and took a breath to steady herself. “How do you know all of this?”

  “I think most of it is Leonidus. When I absorbed his power it was different from the rest. I recovered quickly and he left some knowledge the wake of his passing. There are things swirling around in my head and the more I try to sort through it the more jumbled it gets. I overhear snatches of conversations I never had and feel memories I should not know.” Rose turned her head to make sure Liostro was still following them. “We must get to Nina before they can take her before the sorcerer lord.”

  “What are you going to do if they get her there first?” Avreel questioned, glancing over at Rose then going back to inspecting the caverns for danger. “It’s not as if you can take on one of the sorcerer lords yet.”

  Rose was silent and when Avreel attempted to question her again she just shot a glance at the perplexed elf and shrugged her shoulders. There was something brewing in the back of her mind. She knew it was from Leonidus, some forgotten lore he had discovered but she wasn’t ready to reveal her secret yet. It was a long shot but worth a try if she needed to confront Rahknand. The cavern gave way to a set of stairs that led downward and the walls that were before uncut and rough-hewn gave way to smooth stonework that seemed to be carved out of one solid block. She knew that her people had used spells to carve their seemingly impenetrable kingdom out of the mountain itself. The torches that lit the way had long since expired and Rose had dared use a little magic to conjure several dancing balls of light that floated and flitted around like faeries playing in the wind. After the long decent they walked into a larger chamber that led the trio past stone shops and storefronts long sense forgotten and unused.

  Having never seen the home of her people she drew her blade and held it aloft and used it as a focal point to cast another spell, thi
s one with enough light to illuminate even up to the high ceiling. They all gasped. Even Avreel, from the most beautiful and deadly city below the earth, found her voice taken. The walls were carved deeply depicting the history of the naarabian people in such detail that Rose could have mistaken the large carved bodies for living beings had she not known better. At the end of the long walk with the intricate carvings they came to a crossroad. To their left and right were more passageways lined with stone columns that touched the high stone chamber’s roof. Their attention was on what was in front of them though. Before them stood a large black metal door with golden jackals for knockers, it was awe inspiring. The door knockers had rings that Liostro could stand in and not touch the top. The double doors were closed and the golden rivets that lined it shimmered in the intense light. Dust and debris stirred around them thicker here and in the distance down one of the corridors they could hear a loud series of groans.

  “If we weren’t in such a hurry…” Avreel let the thought lapse as she turned around eyed the corridor behind them. “We’re in trouble.”

  “What is it?” Liostro said with his sword raised before him.

  Avreel focused her concentration. “I sense undead behind us and they are close but I didn’t sense them there before. It is one of my abilities as a priest of the watchful lord; I am always alert to the movements of the dead. The Darkwatcher despises undead creatures.”

  “I’m not so fond of them myself.” Liostro replied to her over his shoulder. “Right then Rose, lead us out of here before we become trapped.”

  “We need to head down to the right. There is a passageway that leads downward and out of the mountain through a hidden door. Leonidus kept that knowledge to himself in case his people needed to evacuate.” Rose put a hand on the side of her head and sighed. “It’s getting fuzzy.”

  “Just go!” Liostro shouted, pushing them toward the right hand passage.

  Before they could continue Avreel grabbed Rose by her black-and-red vestments and pulled her to halt. With closed eyes she stood stone-still for several breaths while Liostro watched the corridor behind them and to each side. “We’re surrounded.”

  “How? I don’t understand.” Rose said while simultaneously looking around all three paths then at the door behind them. “I thought you said you could detect them.”

  “The ones grouped to the right and left were out of my reach and the ones behind us are incorporeal so they must have been hiding just out of reach as well. Undead are not usually this intelligent, I feel influence of an unseen hand at work.” Avreel touched something underneath her tunic and whispered a prayer.

  “The sorcerer lord? He could not affect so many this far could he?” Liostro asked Rose more than Avreel.

  “No, it cannot be. For all of his power he would have to be close to call down more than a few undead upon us.” Rose tapped into the divine magic at her command and whispered a light prayer to assist them against the dead. “How many do you think Avreel?”

  “At least a score probably more behind that and they’re advancing slowly.” Avreel indicated the doorway behind them with her hand. “It would be wise to back ourselves into a corner and prepare for a heavy fight. The dead are my area of expertise; many of them are attracted to living beings like flies are to offal.”

  “I don’t want to get any closer to the door; I can feel something tugging me.” Rose replied as she backed away with them anyway. She had a feeling that whatever was controlling the creatures wanted her to get closer to the fallen city of the naarabi. Her thoughts were pulled away from that as the first of the creatures shambled into view. It had patches of fur clinging to wispy age-old flesh that was nearly decayed all the way. From its bone structure she could tell that it was a naarabian female. “Oh my god, they’re the remnants of my people.”

  “The corpses left slain by the betrayer no doubt.” Avreel said with a nod as she suddenly found her back pressed against the door. Liostro did the same but Rose had stopped moving. There were so many of the undead humanoids she knew that not even she could banish or turn them all away. Without Rose having her full power to command there was no way they were going to walk away from this unscathed. “Rose back up and draw your weapon.”

  “No I don’t want to get any closer!” She shouted.

  Whispers could be heard in the cavern around them, flitting bits of conversation it seemed, but Avreel knew better. She had only read about undead called whisperers, undead creatures created in violent deaths involving several creatures in the same locale. If listened to for too long they could cause madness or worse. “Rose! Back up quickly.”

  It was then that the doors parted behind them causing both Liostro and Avreel to stumble a bit and turn around. As the doors slowly swung open they gasped and Rose almost fell to her knees in resignation. Behind the door was another host of the dead naarabians. Liostro brought his blade to bear and watched the group behind them while Avreel and Rose watched the ones pouring in from the commerce road. The coming attack did not happen though. The undead creatures all stopped midstride and stood frozen for a moment. Avreel was confused until they all knelt down before the three of them. Many tried to grunt something but it was unintelligible.

  Only the whispers of the shadowy ghosts in the rear could be understood. “All hail the queen.”

  Rose was shocked yet again as she gazed down upon the host of creatures all kneeling before her. None of them moved, not one as much as stirred as they knelt down showing their fealty to her. The three of them walked among the dead through a path they had left open. In the center of the main chamber of the large room was a door not unlike the main entrance but smaller and this one was already open. They followed the open walkway toward the room and all kept wary of the bodies kneeling around them. The walk to the open door was excruciating and slow but once they reached it the torches along the walls lit and wavered in a stale breeze that swept through the city’s dead-cluttered streets.

  This room had once been a grand throne room. The floor and walls were all carved of a black stone Rose knew to be granolith. The kurenai had prized the stone above even the best gems. As they walked along the pre-carved path all eyes fell on the set of thrones up at the top of the raised platform. Both of them were seemingly carved out of a bluish glass-like material. The seats were tattered and ragged but they looked to have been of the utmost comfort once. The thrones crackled with contained electricity. Sitting upon the left throne was a creature in a long black and gold robe. At its side sheathed in the handles of the throne were a sword and scepter, both of which it clutched in its bony hands.

  “Long have I slept.” The mouth of the creature moved slowly, it was obviously stiff from not being moved often. Two bright golden points of light ignited in its eye sockets as he gazed upon the three visitors. “Long have I dreamed and remained silent in the dead city.”

  “You are the last king of…” Rose began before she was cut off by an outstretched hand of the decaying creature.

  “Do not utter the name of this city before me. This is the city of the dead and the home of sacrifice, the center of the betrayal.” The creature was obviously angry from its tone. “The dead of this city owe fealty to your blood, as do I my granddaughter.”

  “You are my grandfather?” She said softly, eyeing the undead monster warily. “I can’t believe that, why would you walk the halls of our people as this thing, what happened to you and what happened to the rest of my family?”

  “I choose to remain in this city of my own free will. I would not leave our legacy unguarded for treasure hunters and pilfering grave-defiling interlopers to loot freely. As to what happened we were betrayed by a man we trusted with our lives. The elven sage Leonidus came to us seemingly in friendship and then slew everyone alive within these city walls. Those lucky enough to flee escaped out into the world but because of his treachery our people are all but gone from the face of this continent, once our seat of power.” The old creature stopped for a moment and its eyes faded a
little before it continued on with its story. “My daughter and son-in-law fled this place and that is the last I saw of any living naarabi.”

  “My sisters and brothers defended the throne to the last breath while our people fled into the deepingway and out into the world. Your brother Xyroxyss visits from time to time when he is able but it has been an age since I have last seen him.” The creature paused again and then continued. “When you came so close to our city last time I called to you but you did not come. I feared you had been harmed but then I felt your presence again and now you are standing before me. I would know your name granddaughter.”

  “Alethia Rose.” She said softly, still unable to believe this creature was one of her long dead relatives. “And yours grandfather?”

  “I am, was, Lor’Makkar Tembin Nalfys. Last unliving son of the bloodline that founded this city and if not for you and precious few others that line would have been lost. I am glad to have met you Alethia Rose Nalfys.” The creature almost seemed to be smiling at her and the look was disturbing. “Your brother left a message with me if I were ever to fall into a meeting with one of our bloodline, which is why I summoned you.”

  “Tell me.” Rose almost pleaded with him stepping forward a bit.

  “His ability to sustain the red fever is waning. He had hoped one from our line would take over for him so as to keep the sorcerer lords at bay.” The creature eyed her for a moment. “I can tell from your aura that your destiny is for something grander.”

  “It is and right now I must depart grandfather. An elf under my charge has been taken away and I must save her.” Rose said almost apologetically.

  “Traitor!” It cried loudly, growling within its rotten throat. The hands at its sides clenched as it stood and stepped forward onto the stairs before the throne and simultaneously unsheathing the sword wedged into the arm of his throne. “You would protect one of those who betrayed us?”