The Black Morass

by Gerald Lambert

  "Clever," Will approved. "Looks like we made it through the maze."

  "But I doubt the fun is over," Ajh dryly commented. "We still haven't faced this Shade character. And her less evil version was absolutely delightful. Anyone still interested in that

  snack?"

  The nine friends quickly ate a light meal before walking to the city wall. Directly in front of it stood an unremarkable table, whereon sat a solitary goblet filled with clear liquid. At

  the bottom of the chalice rested an ornate key. Beside the cup lay an elaborate square of parchment with these words written in an elegant script:

  You have made it this far?

  Congratulations, dear friend.

  But as you likely have guessed,

  The fun is not at an end.

  Now a brave soul this liquid must drain,

  If entrance to your final test you would gain.

  Only the drinker may wield the key,

  But hurry they must; poisoned they'll be.

  Turn the lock and prepare for a shock,

  For death's darkest delights await.

  "Pretty good," Ajh critically proclaimed as he finished reading it aloud. "But that last stanza was a little weak. She spelled it right out for us, didn't she? Everyone ready for this

  'shock'?" He grabbed the goblet.

  "Ajh, wait!" Hanna cried.

  He turned and gave her a cheerful smile. "I'll be fine, sugar. Just have that antidote preparation ready. I think we'll need it."

  "Ajh, seriously," Nefin seconded. "Let's think about this."

  "Why?" Ajh asked. "Someone needs to drink this. I was thirsty anyway. And I haven't been much good in here, like you others. All I managed to do was almost get eaten by burrow

  grubs and identify one of my mother's crazy spellcasters. Let me pull my weight. I'm sure all those months of drinking power potion gave me some type of immunity to nasty

  beverages."

  He again smiled jovially and downed the contents of the goblet in several large swallows before anyone could offer further protest.

  Ajh caught the key in his teeth. He yanked it free and stumbled forward, clutching his throat as it started to close. His vision blurred as he clumsily fitted the key in the lock. Since

  when did Ilirea's main gate have a standard sized doorway with a small lock, anyway? Never in the time Ajh could remember.

  He struggled to focus around the painful burn in his head and stomach, which seemed to be rapidly spreading throughout his entire body.

  Hurry, dimwit, he prompted himself. Or your brave offering will be for nothing.

  Finally Ajh managed to turn the key, and a satisfying click announced his success. He didn't actually shove his way through the door as much as slump forward against it, though his

  uncontrolled movement had the same effect.

  As the entrance swung inward, six of Ajh's friends rushed past him, weapons at the ready. Only Zadí and Hanna hung back. The latter caught his head in her lap before it bashed

  into the hard cobblestone avenue. Hanna's beautiful, panicstricken face was the last thing Ajh saw before his eyes slid shut.

  Fitting, he absently mused. An angel's countenance accompanies me to heaven. At least I hope that's where I'm headed.

  And then all was black.

  Ilirea's usual sprawling main avenue did not await the nine youth just beyond the altered gate. After Zadí and Hanna dragged Ajh's limp body through the entrance, the door

  slammed shut. Echoing booms reverberated around a cavernous chamber that most closely resembled a mausoleum. But instead of handsome monuments to the dead, piles of

  bones adorned the floor in the evenlyspaced niches bordering the room. Flickering torches affixed to the walls in each of these alcoves dimly lit the vast space in a disorienting

  jumble of dancing shadows.

  Brom immediately made himself invisible and shielded his mind, wanting to be prepared for whatever they might have to face in here. Once the echoes from the closing door died

  away, another sound filled the immense tomb. Grating stone on stone accompanied the arrival of a solitary figure in the center of the floor, who seemed to rise straight out of the

  ground.

  The personage, whose full appearance was distorted in the shifting light, began clapping.

  "Bravo," an emotionless voice extolled, its owner still applauding contemptuously. "You made it through my trap. I am impressed."

  Brom mentally warned, It's the Shade. I'm already prepared to counter her every magical attack. But be ready to fight her physically. I don't sense any other living creatures in

  here. Zadí and Hanna, just stay down.

  Hanna was frantically administering to an unconscious Ajh using the antidote potion Blödhgarm had given her. Now that the elves and Brom's magical capabilities were restored,

  Brom could also hear her muttering words of healing in the ancient language to slow the poison's spread through Ajh's system.

  "And I do believe you were looking for something," the Shade continued, holding up her pasty white hand. A golden ring glinted in the wavering light. "This, perhaps?"

  Will took two steps forward. "Where is she?" he shouted.

  "You must be Will," Trianna stated. "Brave boy, clever boy. Do you miss her? I'm sure the princess had high hopes that you would rescue her. Too bad you will fail. No harm in

  sharing where she actually is, now is there? Especially since Tenga can just leave with her whenever he wishes and take her wherever he wants. He has Lena on Vroengard, stupid

  children. And you will never see her again, for as I promised, the fun is not yet over. In fact, you might say it has only just begun. My master instructed me to kill you all however I

  wished. Our maze did not function quite as hoped, but I assure you that I intend to fulfill his command. Shall we begin? Let me introduce my friends."

  The Shade snapped her fingers as Brin, Nefin, Will, Var, and Keeta sprang forward. Whatever her snap was meant to do, Brom didn't have a chance to block it, for the Shade lashed

  out with her mind, intending to freeze his companions midstride.

  Brom counteracted this spell, much to the Shade's astonishment. She leaped back before the five could surround her, angrily screaming, "Who did that! And how?"

  The Shade's wards protected her from Brin and Nefin's first several thrusts. Then Trianna whipped out her sword, deflecting blows from the five fighters' weapons as she cried, "But

  forgive me! You haven't met my friends!" Then she cackled coldly as the stone lift she had entered on abruptly dropped away. Brin and Nefin were closest to the Shade, and they

  both staggered as the floor vanished beneath their feet. Will and Var wrenched the two back to safety before they fell through the hole.

  Then all five quickly retreated as a new horror emerged from the opening. Trianna tossed the ring into the monster's gaping maw, where it disappeared from sight.

  "I would love to see you get your ring back now, boy!" the Shade challenged.

  "I'll get it!" Will bellowed. "But you might not be around to see it!"

  Brom was so focused on the Shade and understanding her magical efforts that he missed what was happening around the perimeter of the chamber. As did his five companions,

  whose attention was wholly enthralled by the translucent, eellike monster slithering through the hole with alarming speed.

  Its thick body seemed never to end as it uncoiled. A sleek skull dominated by slitlike earholes and nostrils wove side to side as the creature rose higher and higher toward the

  domed ceiling. Just behind its head, a spiny dorsal fin ran the length of its muscular body. Two tiny flippers uselessly waggled at its sides, for the beast was not in its normal

  habitat. Trianna must have somehow adjusted het pet monster's ability to temporarily survive out of water, though it seemed to have emerged from a boggy lair. Putrid water

  rained down to the tomb's dusty floor, splattering his
friends with murky black muck.

  When fully free of its subterranean cage, the eel stood thirty feet tall. Visible beneath the glistening transparent skin was the entire network of its internal organs. They pulsated

  and churned in a sickly green mass, delineated by darker veins and arteries.

  The eel released a jarring screech, revealing row upon row of tiny needle teeth. Then it snapped its jaw shut and a ringing clash bounced off the walls of the mausoleum.

  "Isn't he beautiful?" the Shade admired with the pride of a doting mother. "He cannot see, but he can hear and smell better than these elves, I'd wager. I made sure he would be

  hungry today. Such a fine meal he will receive for his patience."

  The eel struck out toward Nefin with deadly accuracy, and the elf spun away at a dizzying speed, releasing two arrows in rapid succession toward the abomination's head. Had the

  creature possessed eyes, Nefin's missiles would have landed perfectly, but it didn't. They sank into the next best target—its ear slits—but the serpentine beast seemed completely

  unbothered.

  "Alas," the Shade mourned, "he cannot feel pain. I believe you will discover that he is harder to dispose of than you think."

  Since the Shade had performed so little magic, Brom was rapidly working to mentally reverse her wards, which effort she was completely oblivious to. He thought he had removed

  enough that Brin now stood a chance of engaging her, so he shouted in her mind, Brin, attack her! I'll work on undoing the spell she used to protect her pet. She can only be killed—

  With a stab through the heart, Brin impatiently finished, bounding forward to attack the Shade. I know! Focus, Brom!

  Brom had only seconds to begin removing the eel's immunity to pain before Trianna started magically assaulting his companions. Blocking these spells became his first priority, for

  Hanna was too distracted attending to Ajh to be aware of the danger right then.

  A distant scream almost registered in Brom's awareness, but he unconsciously dismissed it, automatically focusing on his task as he had so diligently trained himself to do.

  But nothing in the world would divert Var's attention from that cry of distress, for it came from Zadí. As Brin leaped forward and slashed at the Shade, Nefin dodged yet another

  strike from the eel, and Keeta and Will charged forward to assist him, Var whirled around to observe dozens of skeletons descending upon his wife, Hanna, and Ajh.

  Skeletons? Var wondered in morbid bemusement. Where did those come from? And whose are they?

  Then he remembered the neat stacks of bones piled in each recess of the tomb. And that the Shade had snapped her fingers right after offering to introduce her friends.

  Friends, Var repeated. Not friend. She was referring to the skeletons and her hideous pet. And she somehow reanimated them so they would move.

  And make noise. Each of the skeletons released heartstopping shrieks of agony and horror. Var shuddered.

  The unexplained decrease in light over the last minute also now made sense, for each skeleton brandished the torch from its alcove like a club.

  Zadí was right where she had obediently remained by the door. She had grabbed Ajh's sword and stood protectively in front of the two on the floor, bravely wielding the blade and

  scattering the skeletons' hands, arms, or heads as they began to reach her. But such measures were entirely ineffective, for the skeletons continued moving without their heads and

  now their numbers were overwhelming Zadí, which was why she had screamed in terror.

  All of this Var deduced as he sprinted toward his wife, hollering at the top of his lungs in case the skeletons would respond to it and turn away from Zadí.

  Then he heard the Shade screech over the unearthly clamor in the room, "Oh, you have discovered my other deathly delights? How fantastic! Aren't they fun? In life they served a

  noble purpose indeed, these dear captives. But I thought to myself that it was such a shame to let their bones go to waste in Ilirea's dungeons, so I brought them out to enjoy one

  last romp. And you really can't hurt them, now can you? After all, they are already dead!"

  The Shade crowed maniacally, and the clanging of sword on sword alerted Var to the fact that she ended her rant to focus on Brin for a minute.

  Var reached Zadí and began wrenching the ghouls away from her. They viciously swung their torches toward him, never ceasing to emit their jarring screams. He disarmed two of

  the fiends and used their weapons against them. The bones ignited like fine kindling, and the burning skeletons senselessly staggered about until the fuel was consumed.

  "But I did think you would appreciate knowing," Trianna breathlessly though doggedly continued, "that one of them actually knew you. What a delightful character, that Isaac. He

  seemed to remember you with some fondness, he did. Had a change of heart right there at the end. And provided me with a magnificent experience, inspired by his own crime. Watching him get eaten alive was easily my favorite. There he is right there! Say hello to your old friends, Isaac!"

  The skeleton reaching for Zadí's throat with his bone fingers released a harrowing cry. Zadí exclaimed in dismay, and Var jerked him away from her. Isaac—could it really be true? —broke into pieces, which Var stomped into powder beneath his feet.

  "I wanted to kill you the first time you hurt her!" he bellowed, struck by a nauseating sense of déjà vu. "Not quite as satisfying when you're already dead, but I'll be grateful for

  what I can get!"

  Var could see that Zadí was about to pass out from the overwhelming wrongness of the situation. "Get down, Izz!" he commanded. "I'll hold them off!"

  But right then the skeletons began to retreat, and Var followed them away from his wife toward the others fighting in the middle of the room.

  Brin whirled away from the Shade's bold thrust, yelling in pain as the Shade grabbed her long locks, which flew out behind her as she spun. Yanking as hard as she could on the

  handful of hair, Trianna forced Brin to topple backward while simultaneously knocking her sword from her hand. Brin landed on her knees, already reaching for the dagger in her

  boot so she could slash the Shade's hand and free herself.

  But before Brin could complete this plan, a dozen macabre skeletons closed in around her.

  The Shade hissed in her ear, "See if you can get away from me while fighting them at the same time, brave warrior! And while you do, I shall unlace this lovely armor and bare

  your delicate neck. The mail shirt may block my every thrust, but once it is gone, I will slit your throat! What a shame! And then I do believe I will take it. Never before have I

  beheld its equal."

  Brin kicked out with one foot as the nearest skeleton extended its clawlike phalanges, knocking the torch from its hand. This she caught in her own hand, lashing it out to incinerate

  the skeletons closest to reaching her.

  Brin struggled to distance herself from Trianna, who was doing just as she threatened by unlacing the steelsilk armor around her neck, but the Shade had never loosened her hold

  on Brin's hair and she couldn't move away at all.

  More skeletons swarmed her, and Brin screamed desperately as they continued clawing and swiping, eye sockets gaping and jawbones working in harmony with their harsh wailing.

  One succeeded in burning through her pants, and Brin's second yelp was both frantic and agonized.

  The cold steel of the Shade's sword pressed against her throat. And this blade wasn't dulled with magic. "Say goodbye, sweetheart," Trianna lovingly whispered.

  "Help me!" Brin screamed as loudly as she could with the pressure against her windpipe.

  Nefin heard Brin's scream over the thunderous din in the echoing chamber. He turned and saw her predicament in the same second. Without even pausing to think, he buried an

  arrow right into the Shade's eye.

  Trianna's blo
odcurdling shriek somehow surpassed every other deafening sound bombarding Nefin's ears. He watched in fascination as the Shade's stretched skin deteriorated from

  white to gray, which color also composed the cloud of mist that swirled around her form as it vanished from sight, leaving behind nothing but a heap of clothes and her weapon.

  Brin scrambled back over the pile, clutching the gushing cut on her throat with one hand as she continued lighting the skeletons on fire with her stolen torch.

  Nefin realized that the Shade's spell to reanimate the ghouls must have worked independently of her immediate presence or vitality. But he didn't dwell on such trivial matters any

  longer, for the eel again stabbed down toward him right at that moment and Nefin instinctively darted to the side.

  Nefin had done his best to keep the monster's attention focused on himself, knowing Keeta and Will weren't fast enough to dodge its attacks. While he had succeeded in this effort,

  allowing the other two ample opportunity to hack at the beast's body, the painnumbing spell permitted the eel to fight on and on in spite of its mortal wounds.

  As he spun back around to face the creature, Nefin saw Var fighting off another group of skittering skeletons. No wonder he hadn't been able to help Brin! How many of those

  cursed marionettes were there? That's what they reminded Nefin of—jumping dolls controlled by a deranged puppeteer.

  Then Brom shouted, "I've reversed the spell! Kill it now!" This Nefin barely heard over the tormented roaring of the mutilated eel, who could suddenly feel the pain of its grievous

  injuries.

  As it finally slumped down enough for them to reach its vital organs with their blades—Nefin had already pumped them full of arrows from below—Will lunged forward and plunged

  his sword deep into the beast's heart, which was visible through its translucent skin. The monster howled in agony and thick green blood spurted out around Will's sword, but he

  didn't attempt to avoid the shower as he dragged the blade through the eel's body toward its stomach.

  There he hacked open a gory incision and reached in his hand to feel around. Nefin was repulsed, but he finally understood Will's intention when he withdrew his hand clutching