“What do we have here?” one of the goatmen said, pointing a crossbow at them.
Tonles looked at his adversaries, hefted his ax, and replied, “Your death!”
He, Lud, Fleck, and Erantel, along with most of the other prisoners led by the old man, rushed the stunned-looking guards. It was a bloodbath as Tonles hacked and chopped all who came in contact with his mighty ax. Fleck parried and sliced many. Lud, working out of a high guard, rained down deathly blows, while Erantel jabbed and thrust his spear into the bellies and throats of the goatmen. The old man managed to eliminate one of the Hurnol before he fell, and the females fought gallantly, slaying a few more. When the battle was through, Tonles and his brothers, along with seven females, stood proud, then ran off until they reached the building now known as the Sleeping Giant.
****
As soon as Konafar and the others stepped out of the inn, a large group of guards, led by a giant holding a chained war beetle, came upon them from the east. Woo’s eyes widened in fear, and he shouted for them to run. The guards heard his warning and fired arrows at them, striking down several prisoners. The giant released the chain and ordered the war beetle to attack. The creature shrieked, snapped its mandibles a few times, and scurried toward the fleeing party.
Konafar guided them down several streets, trying to lose the creature, but it was no use. The bug followed and crashed into several wooden structures with one goal in mind: devour its prey. With the party tiring, and with no hope of outrunning the creature, Breen had an idea, raced over to a building, and told the others to follow her inside. They were almost inside when the beetle came crashing through another building directly behind them, trampled on a few prisoners, and grabbed another one with its mandibles. His dying screams followed Jacko and the others through the room and out the back door.
After the beetle swallowed its meal whole, it followed the fleeing party through the house, bringing the structure down upon its head. When it finally emerged from the rubble, it gave chase and ran into a large pack of goatmen. The beetle mistook them for the enemy and attacked. By the time the giant arrived to restrain the beetle, all the lesser creatures were dead, and the prisoners were nowhere in sight.
****
The diversion gave Konafar and the others enough time to reach the building with the dead giant.
Once inside, they went down to the cellar.
Konafar realized right away some of their party was missing. “Where’s Ponduit? Thessor, where are your men?” He asked.
“Wesss all that’sss leftsss,” Thessor hissed, pointing to the two lizardmen next to Jacko.
“Ponduit fell,” Tonles stated sadly.
“What about Runit and Awret?”
“We haven’t heard from them or the lizardmen,” Lud added.
“Let’s wait here for them. Jacko, go wait upstairs and bar the door,” Konafar said.
Toward the back of the room, the same middle-aged man, who annoyed Konafar, was growing impatient and was talking to another prisoner. “Now what? Are we just supposed to wait here forever?”
Tonles overheard him, walked over with rage in his eyes, and slapped him in the face. “Open that trap of yours again and you will die.” He pointed directly at him, and the man cowered while rubbing his jaw in obvious pain.
Jacko came running down out of breath. “Guards…Lots of guards…and two giants...I think they know we are in here.”
They heard someone banging on the door.
“Wesss hasss to goesss,” Thessor hissed.
It was obvious they couldn’t wait any longer and moved through the door, closing it tightly behind them to set the trap.
A few minutes later, the giants, not knowing there was an escape tunnel below, decided to knock down the building and bury whoever was inside.
Konafar remembered where they were going and led them through the tunnels until they reached the secret door. Jacko pushed the rock and opened it. The morning light poured in from the outside.
“We don’t have any cover from the guards above,” Breen stated.
“It’sss sssafer in the pitsss,” Thessor said.
“He’s right,” Konafar added.
Everyone agreed and, with the help of Thessor and his brothers, they made it safely down into the pit.
They were near the end of the pit when they heard the front gates opening.
“Now what?” Konafar said.
“I’ll goesss takesss a lookssss,” Thessor said. He climbed out of the pit and hid behind a nearby tree.
At least twenty guards were coming out of the town and started walking around the area. The lizardman wasn’t sure if they were searching for them or if it was their daily routine. When they weren’t looking his way, he snuck back down the pit.
“There’sss lotsss of guardsss out theresss,” he hissed to the others.
“Can we make it out without them seeing us?” Mao asked.
“I don’tsss think ssso.”
“I want everyone to go over there and get ready to climb out and run to the forest,” Konafar said to the others.
Jacko could tell he was up to something. “What are we going to do?”
“Give you enough time to escape.”
“There has to be another way,” Jacko insisted.
“No, there isn’t. I’ll keep them busy while you escape.”
“You’re not going without me,” Tonles insisted.
“My friend, rage fills me, so let me do this alone.”
“And let you have all the fun? I don’t think so.”
Konafar knew that it was useless to argue with him.
“I’m going too,” Fleck said, and Konafar nodded.
“What about me?” Lud asked. “I want to kill some more.”
“And me?” Erantel added.
“I need you and Lud to help them get to the forest,” Konafar said.
“Isss wantsss to helpsss,” Thessor said.
“Help them escape.”
Thessor spoke to one of his brothers. “Hesss will helpsss yousss,” he said to Konafar.
“You might die,” Mao said to Konafar.
Konafar smiled. “We’ll see about that. Now get going and wait for us to begin kicking the crap out of them.”
They started moving toward the other side when Breen stopped.
“Thank you for everything,” she said.
“Thank us later. This is child’s play,” Tonles responded and began climbing up with Konafar, Fleck, and Thessor’s man following close behind him.
Jacko wondered if he would ever see them again.
After they reached the top, they moved behind several trees and took out their weapons. Konafar nodded to the others, and they crept along until they were close enough to the guards and attacked. Without mercy, they began hacking and slashing their way through their ranks.
During the battle, the wrath curse took hold of Konafar and turned him into a fighting machine as he further decimated their numbers. Meanwhile, Tonles was swinging his ax with such velocity that limbs were flying in all directions. Guards tried closing in on Fleck, but they couldn’t get close enough, because every time someone tried, he’d parry their weapon with Fate and drive Enlightenment into their throats. Near Tonles, the lizardman was slashing and bashing anyone who came near him.
****
After they heard the fighting start, Thessor, his kinsman, Jacko, Erantel, Woo, and Lud climbed up and helped the others out of the pit. Mao took the longest because of his shoulder. When everybody was out, they ran for the woods.
With their numbers dwindling, the remaining guards retreated to the town and met their end when two armored giants, carrying great spears, appeared and skewered them with their spears for running away.
Konafar saw the giants, and his bloodlust drove him to attack them. When the first giant saw him running at them, he defended his position and blocked several attacks, then countered with a few of his own.
The other giant was about to jump in when Tonles s
uddenly appeared and slammed his shoulder into his midsection, knocking him off his feet. Before the giant could get up, Tonles moved behind him, wrapped his left arm under his chin, grabbed his arm with the other hand, and, using his feet for leverage, yanked his head with every ounce of strength he had. The giant struggled and gagged for many minutes until his neck broke.
Several feet away, Konafar and the other giant exchanged wounds, none of which did enough damage to stop the other, until the giant stabbed Konafar in the side, tearing through his armor and biting into his flesh. Konafar remained upright until his foe retracted the weapon, then he fell over, gasping for air and unable to move. The giant was about to stab him again when Fleck suddenly appeared and sliced him across the right wrist, severing a few of his tendons. The giant yelled and swung the spear, hitting him with the shaft in the head, and sending him tumbling away unconscious. The giant turned his attention back to Konafar and was about to kill him when something rammed him from behind, jarring the spear loose from his grip and sending him stumbling toward the pit.
Tonles followed and was about to bring Ripper down on his head, but the giant regained his footing, grabbed his arm, and lifted him in the air. Tonles punched him in the face with his free hand, but, despite dazing the giant, he held firm and grabbed Tonles by the throat and squeezed. Tonles did everything possible to break loose, but it was useless. The giant was too strong, and Tonles soon passed out.
His life would’ve ended a few seconds later if not for the lizardman jumping onto the giant from behind and digging his claws into his back. The giant couldn’t bear the pain any longer. He dropped Tonles and tried grabbing the lizardman instead, but the creature was too fast and worked his way around the front while clawing at the giant’s face and tearing into his flesh, drawing huge amounts of blood that dripped into his eyes, blinding him. The giant shrieked as the lizardman continued to claw at his head.
Meanwhile, Konafar climbed to his feet, despite the great amount of pain, and staggered toward the action. When he was close enough, he started running with the intention of driving Carnage into the giant’s midsection and ending his life. However, he stumbled and crashed into the giant’s legs, knocking him off balance and sending him, the lizardman, and himself into the pit below.
Tonles finally regained consciousness, shortly after they fell over the edge, and got up to see what befell his friend and the lizardman. After he reached the pit, he saw the giant skewed in several places, including his neck, head, and chest. Konafar lay on top of him with a spike poking through his left arm. To their left was the lifeless body of the lizardman. A large spike protruded through his head. Tonles climbed down and went to work on freeing Konafar.
Konafar stirred. “Get my arm off of this thing,” he said.
“You’re one lucky bastard,” said Tonles. “Ready?”
“Make it quick,” Konafar said and bit down on his lip.
Tonles grabbed his arm by the forearm and underneath the bicep, then pulled it off the spike in one swift motion. Konafar bit down so hard on his lip, to keep from screaming, he drew blood. After wrapping his arm with a piece of cloth, they retrieved Carnage and climbed out of the pit.
Fleck was on his way over, holding his head. “Let’s get out of here,” he said.
The guards, watching from above, were terrified of the humans; they didn’t do anything but watch them leave.
“We’re waiting for them,” Jacko said to the prisoners after they were bugging him to leave.
“Your friend is pale and needs a healer, or he’s going to die,” one of the former prisoners said.
“He’ll be fine. If it wasn’t for Konafar and the others, he wouldn’t even be alive.”
Breen touched Mao’s head. “Jacko, he has a fever, let me take him and the others to Wistful,” Breen offered.
“They’re right. He probably has an infection,” Lud added.
After realizing he was being selfish, Jacko agreed.
“Let’s meet at the Inn of the Slaughtered Fawn tonight,” Erantel said.
Jacko nodded and left with the prisoners.
In the distance, Lud saw three humanoid figures approaching. Two of them were assisting the other.
“It’s them,” he said to the others, and they left their concealment and met them.
The first thing Erantel noticed was the blood dripping down Konafar’s leg, then how he was barely able to stand upright. Erantel and Lud relieved Tonles and Fleck of their burden and escorted Konafar back to the fire. Tonles walked over to Thessor and told him what befell of his comrade. The lizardman told him he was at peace and someday he would join him.
Once Konafar was seated by the fire, he was handed a few furs. “Where’s everyone else?” he asked.
“They went to Wistful. Mao needed a healer, and the prisoners were eager to have a hot meal and a good night’s sleep.”
“Good, they deserve it,” Konafar said, wincing in pain at the same time. “I’m afraid that I’m in need of a healer as well. Can you help dress my wounds?”
Erantel nodded and helped him remove his armor. His wounds were deep, and it took Erantel a while to dress them properly. When he was finished, Konafar fell asleep within minutes.
“How bad was it?” Tonles asked Erantel as soon as he walked over.
“The one on his side is serious.”
“It was from a spear, and the one on the arm was when he fell into the pit.”
“Pit?” Lud asked from across the way.
“We fought a couple of giants, and he fell into the pit with one of them.”
“Giants? There weren’t any present when we left.”
“They appeared shortly after we killed the guards. I killed one, and he killed the other. We’ll talk later. I’m really tired,” Tonles abruptly said, then wrapped himself in furs, sat down next to Konafar, and fell asleep.
Fleck fell asleep as well after he had something to eat.
They waited several hours for them to wake. After they did, they doused the fire, mounted their horses, and rode toward Wistful and the pending storm looming in the distance.
****
When Runit woke, he found himself alone in a poorly lit room and strapped tightly to a table. He struggled against the restraints for several minutes and gave up, because they were too tight. He wondered where everyone was and how he ended up here, but then it came back to him.
He was lighting buildings on fire with Awret and two lizardmen when one of the structures came crashing down on them. Since they weren’t with him, he could only imagine the worst had happened. He thought about the others and hoped they were on their way to rescue him, but he knew deep down inside they weren’t.
Eventually, he grew weary and fell asleep. In his dreams, he was back at his Order working out with Awret. They were grappling, and after he was pinned, Awret let him get up, then kept punching him in the face. After the third time, his eyes snapped opened, and he was awake again.
The door at the far end opened, closed, and someone began walking toward the table.
“I’m glad you’re awake, because I have some questions for you,” the person said.
Runit didn’t reply.
When he was close enough, he put his hand on Runit’s forehead and brought his pale, scarred face into view.
“What is your name?”
Runit didn’t answer.
“I’ll ask once more. What’s your name?”
Runit still didn’t answer.
“Okay. Have it your way.” His antagonist punched him several times in the face until he broke his nose, then he stopped. “Now will you talk?”
Runit spit at his face.
“Now you pissed me off.” The antagonist moved away and returned with a wicked curved dagger. “Every time you don’t answer my questions, I will flay you. What is your name?”
Runit did not answer, and his captor took the knife and cut off a good portion of the skin from his left arm. Runit screamed very loud.
“Are yo
u ready to speak?”
Runit nodded.
“Good. Name?”
“My name is Runit.”
“Now we’re making progress. Glad to meet you, Runit. You may address me as Master or the Red Knight, whichever you prefer. Remember, don’t lie to me, do you understand?”
Runit nodded.
“Why did you come to my town?”
“To rescue the prisoners.”
“How did you get into my town?”
“We used one of the hidden entrances underneath the town.”
“I want the names of the people you came with?”
“I was alone.”
“Are you sure you were?” The Red Knight smirked.
“Yes.”
The Red Knight chuckled. “I told you not to lie to me.” He clapped his hands, the door opened, and someone walked over.
The Red Knight turned away and then back. “I have someone here that I’m sure you’d like to see again,” he said and held the head of Awret a few inches in front of his face. “I know you know him.” He smiled. “I want the names of the other people you came with.”
“You bastard.”
“NAMES!” the Red Knight yelled.
Runit stared into his friend’s eyes and didn’t say another word.
“Have it your way.”
The Red Knight took the knife and began flaying another portion of Runit’s skin away from his arm. This was too much for him to tolerate, and he passed out. When he finally came to, the Red Knight was still there and was surrounded by a few Chatar creatures holding jars of greenish goo.
“The substance in the jars will prevent you from falling unconscious,” the Red Knight said, grinning, then began torturing him again.
Eventually, he got every answer he wanted, including their names, what they looked like, and the Order to which they belonged. After they were finished, they left the room. Runit cursed himself for telling him, but the pain he endured was far too great to resist.
About an hour later, the Red Knight returned. “Runit, I’ve made a decision.”
A Demon's Quest the Beginning of the End the Trilogy Box Set Page 24