Cythera spoke another phrase in some ancient language, and the tentacles dissolved into smoke – leaving a gaping hole in Eric’s chest. Deep in the cavity, Merridack could see the boy’s ruined heart still struggling to beat.
“And the point of this is…?” Korvos asked, totally unmoved.
“Watch,” Cythera said.
Eric struggled to breathe as he choked on the blood pouring out his mouth and nose… and then he stopped. He was dead.
Two seconds passed… and then his ribs crack-crack-cracked back into place. His skin reformed and healed, and he came back to life with a hacking cough that spewed blood across the ground.
“He can’t die,” Cythera said, then smiled. “Which makes him the best plaything ever.”
Merridack shivered.
If this plan failed, he was going to slit his own throat before Cythera could get her hands on him.
“What if he regains his power?” Korvos asked.
“He won’t. The Unnamed One made sure of that.”
“Where IS the Unnamed One? I would speak with him.”
“He is no longer here.”
“What do you mean, ‘no longer here’? Where has he gone?”
“I do not know. I am not his keeper.”
“Will he return for the assault at Morrill?”
“There is no need,” Cythera said haughtily. “I have my army and all of Eric’s old power. I could vanquish our enemies all by myself, just by summoning demons to fight next to my undead.”
“Then what need is there for me and my men?” Korvos asked.
“You’ll be backup. Just in case.”
“Wonderful.”
“Have a care, little general – I am in charge now.”
“I was promised a fourth of the Shattered Lands. From the Seas of Alombria to – ”
“The Deserts of Silarta. Yes, I heard,” Cythera said drily. “And you shall have them… after Morrill falls, and the gathering armies are destroyed.”
“Gathering armies?”
“The elves and dark elves have apparently made a pact, and are racing here as we speak. The goblins and Hurokians are on the march… and the dwarves of Morrill might even deign to fight once we knock on their gates. Once they are all destroyed, the Shattered Lands’ spine is broken… and you may do whatever you wish with your precious fourth.”
“When do we attack Morrill?”
“We should be there in two days’ time.”
Korvos bowed stiffly at the neck. “Then I shall withdraw and prepare my men.”
“Make sure you do so.”
“Um… anybody mind if I stick around and take a crack at him for a while?” Merridack asked.
Cythera and Korvos both stared at him.
“You forget, the little bastard killed me,” Merridack pointed out.
“He killed me, too,” Cythera snapped. “Slit my throat.”
“Yeah, but you’ve already got your licks in. Quite a few, by the looks of it. I’d like to spend a little time with him myself,” Merridack said, and grinned.
Cythera shrugged. “There’s nothing you can do to permanently damage him, so… be my guest.” Then she walked out of the tent.
Korvos shook his head in disgust. “I am not waiting for you.”
“Didn’t ask you to. But, uh, would you mind leaving a couple of your men behind outside the tent?” Merridack asked. “I don’t really trust her merry band of dead men.”
“Fine.”
“Thanks, Korvie. I should be along in an hour or two.”
“Stay here with her forever, if you so desire,” Korvos said as he walked out. “In fact, consider it a request.”
“Don’t forget the two armed guards.”
Merridack poked his head out of the tent and waited until Korvos sent two armored soldiers, both with helmets on, to stand on either side of the tent entrance.
“Perfect,” Merridack grinned, then pulled his head back inside the tent.
96
Merridack knelt down by Eric’s hand to examine the spike piercing it.
“What are you going to do, you asshole?” Eric muttered. “Carve out my eyes? Cut off my tongue?”
“Tempting, but I was thinking about saving you.”
Eric’s eyes opened wide in shock, then narrowed again. “Haha… nice joke,” he said without laughing.
“Not a joke. A mutual acquaintance of ours is paying ten thousand gold pieces for your safe return.”
“Daniel?!”
“Keep it down, damn you,” Merridack hissed. “If you bring anybody in here, I’m going to have to cut you to keep it realistic. Shit, they hammered these in good…”
“Daniel’s paying you to get me out?!” Eric whispered.
“Yes. Look, there’s some good news and bad news.”
“What’s the good news?”
“The good news is I can definitely get you off this thing.”
“…what’s the bad news?”
“I’m not going to be able to pull out the spikes.”
“So what does that… oh God, no…”
“Yeah, we’re going to have to pull your hands and feet out over them.”
“No, Merridack, no – ”
“Can’t be any worse than having a baby svathrak pop out of your chest.”
“The tops are twice as big as the spikes themselves! It’s not going to work!”
Eric was right. The spikes were tapered, and the tops were twice as thick as the middle.
“Hmmm… maybe you’re right.” Merridack flicked out a knife. “Guess I’m going to have to cut you out.”
“No, please, NO – ”
“Scream as much as you want. It’ll make it more realistic.”
Merridack positioned the knife between the middle and ring finger of Eric’s left hand.
“MERRIDACK, NO – ”
Slice.
“AAAAAAAAAH!” Eric screamed.
The good news was, the hand slid right off the spike.
The bad news was, his hand was bifurcated like a flipper now.
One by one, Merridack cut the other hand and feet.
Every time, Eric screamed like he was dying.
But 45 seconds later he was lying on the ground instead of upside-down.
“Alright, time for part two,” Merridack whispered. “I’m going to bring the other two soldiers in here, kill them, and we’re going to steal their armor so we can walk out of here.”
“You ASSHOLE!” Eric whispered, his teeth gritted in agony. “I can’t walk!”
Merridack looked down at the mangled remains of Eric’s feet. “No, I guess that’s a problem… you heal up every time you die, right?”
“Yeah, so?” Eric suddenly realized what the thief had in mind. “No – WAIT – ”
A flick of the knife, and Eric’s neck was cut ear to ear.
Eric’s eyes bugged out as he clutched his throat with his ruined hands. They offered absolutely no help as blood spurted out of his jugular.
“Cythera would be pleased you’re dying the exact same way you killed her,” Merridack jeered. “Too bad I can’t throw you off a bloody wall like you did me, you little prick.”
Eric’s eyes dimmed… and then he went slack.
Seconds later, he gasped awake, choking on the blood still in his throat.
But his neck had healed, and his hands and feet were back to normal.
“I ought to kill you,” Eric wheezed.
“You killed me, I killed you, now we’re even. Don’t do anything rash while I bring the two boneheads in here. I’ve got ten thousand in gold on the line.”
Merridack went over to the tent door and peeked his head out. “Oh gentlemen – do you mind coming in here for a second? I made a little mess, and I need your help.”
Twenty seconds later, the skullheads both had knives spiked through their helmet visors and into their foreheads.
Five minutes later, two black-armored soldiers came shambling out of the tent. They started walking through the
ranks of reanimated corpses, heading towards the outskirts of the camp.
It was a long, long way. Probably half a mile.
Merridack wasn’t sure they were going to make it.
“Keep your head down,” the thief whispered.
“Why?”
“You’ve got a few too many layers on your face, that’s why. Too much skin, not enough bone.”
Eric looked down at the ground and whispered, “How are we supposed to get out of here?”
“I have no idea.”
“What do you mean you have no idea?!”
“Supposedly your friend has some sorceress on his side.”
“Sorceress?”
“Some woman who sees all.”
“Rebecca,” Eric realized.
“Well, you better hope this Rebecca is as good as he says she is, because if we have to go all the way to the edge of camp – ”
From not so far up above came the piercing shriek of a griffin.
Merridack froze.
“Azzoth’s balls, he’s not going to – ”
There was a flurry of giant wings out of the darkness, a rush of air, then
WHAM!
A heavy weight slammed into Merridack. It would have knocked him back ten feet, except for the massive talons gripping his body. The talons would have surely pierced him clean through, except for the Hell armor he was wearing.
He felt himself being lifted up into the air as corpses screamed and gurgled all around him.
To his right was Eric, limbs splayed out as the griffin’s other foot clamped down on him. Up above him, Merridack could see a lion’s forearm and the vague outline of wings against the starry sky.
As the griffin wheeled around, Merridack could see the tiny sparks of bonfires far below them, now no bigger than embers in a field of black.
“Well, that’s one way to do it,” he muttered to himself.
97
Daniel
At the edge of a forest some twenty miles from the army, Eric and Merridack removed their armor. Daniel watched with Siffis as he stood next to the griffin.
“That was an interesting method of rescue,” Merridack said as he flung the last piece of armor into the grass.
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“I didn’t fault it, I said it was interesting. You know what else is interesting? Ten thousand pieces of gold. Where is it?”
Daniel sighed and walked over to the largest oak in the tree line, which looked big enough to house an entire family of goblins amongst its exposed roots. Daniel fished out bag after bag of jingling coins and tossed them onto the ground.
“By Tyreth’s tits, I’ve never been so happy in my life,” Merridack whimpered as he plunged his hands into the bags and let the coins sift through his fingers.
“Then you should go check out the Mines of Alark,” Daniel said. “You’d die of happiness. Or maybe just die.”
He looked over at Eric, who was staring down at the ground, completely silent. Daniel wondered if he’d interpreted the crack about the mines as a jab. Daniel hadn’t meant it that way – he was just thinking of the giant snowdrifts of coins and the vicious creatures guarding them.
He walked over in front of Eric, forcing him to look at him.
“It’s good to see you again,” Daniel said.
Eric nodded silently. “Thanks for getting me out.”
“A-HEM,” Merridack said, loudly clearing his throat. “WHO got you out?”
Eric rolled his eyes, then looked back at Daniel. “Thanks for paying to get me out.”
Daniel grinned. “My pleasure.”
“As usual, the true hero goes completely unthanked,” Merridack said.
“Unless, of course, you count ten thousand gold coins as being thanked,” Daniel retorted. He looked at Eric and gestured with his head. “Come on, let’s go. We’ve got a bit of a ride in front of us.”
He walked over to the griffin.
“Wait – WAIT!” Merridack yelled as he stood up. “You can’t leave me out here – this is the middle of NOWHERE!”
“The agreement was ten thousand gold and safe passage away from the army. There was nothing about transporting you to a town,” Daniel said.
“So you’re going to leave me out here to die?!” Merridack yelled.
Daniel sighed and threw him a wineskin and a small basket of food. “There – that’s enough to make it to a small town.”
“I can’t carry this much gold with me!”
“So take enough to hire some horses and come back for it,” Daniel snapped.
“Look – just drop me off at the nearest village – ”
“All the villages are that way,” Daniel said, pointing south. Then he jerked his thumb north. “We’re going that way.”
“It’ll be thirty minutes out of your way,” Merridack said.
“More like a couple of hours – at least,” Daniel said as he got up onto the griffin and extended a hand to Eric.
“You can’t just leave me out here!”
“Watch me.”
Merridack pulled out two throwing knives. “I ought to kill the both of you.”
Daniel glared at him. “You know that Eric can’t die – or, at least, he comes back to life pretty quick. Fun fact: so do I. And believe me, with my dying breath – before I come back, that is – the last thing I’m going to do is order my griffin here to tear you to pieces. Now, you wanna put away the knives?”
Merridack grumbled as he lowered the blades. “Lousy little no-good ungrateful whoresons…”
“Enjoy the gold, asshole,” Daniel said.
“Merridack,” Eric said.
“What?” the thief snarled.
“…thank you for saving me.”
The thief stood there silently… then nodded.
The griffin took flight and disappeared into the night sky.
98
Rebecca Wolff
At ten o’clock in the morning, Rebecca sat on a bench in the park, watching small children play while watched over by their mothers. It bored her to no end, but that was fine – it wouldn’t last long.
After ten minutes, Jerome – the head of Varidian’s game engine programming department – sat down on the bench next to her. He didn’t look at her, and she didn’t look at him, either. They both pretended not to look at each other as they spoke.
“Is this cloak and dagger nonsense really necessary?” Jerome asked in his soft-spoken English accent.
“Yes, it is. You left your phone in your office, correct?” Rebecca said, still without looking at him.
“The rumor is you’re semi-officially off the company blacklist, but I still don’t – ”
“I said, did you leave your phone in your – ”
“Yes. It’s in my car.”
Rebecca looked around, as though making sure no one close by was talking on a cell phone.
“Why the paranoia?” Jerome asked.
“It might be listening in.”
“The AI?”
“Of course the AI,” she said in a sneering voice. “What else?”
“You’d been away such a short time, Dr. Wolff, I’d forgotten why you’re my favorite person. But you’ve managed to remind me in under 30 seconds.”
She slid a paper bag over to him.
“What’s this?”
“Look inside,” she ordered.
He pulled out a box. “What in the world…?”
“That’s to track the transmitter.”
“What transmitter?”
“The one you’re going to track.”
“How tautological of you.”
“It’s not tautological, it’s – never mind, just plug it in and be prepared to give the coordinates on the screen.”
“When…?”
“I’ll explain. There’s more in the bag.”
He pulled out a box with a ham radio set. “What’s this?!”
“I had to call seven different hobby shops before I found that.”
“I would think so – what is this, 200-Year-Old Technology Day?”
“It’s not that old,” she said, then hesitated. “…I think.”
“Why not cell phones?”
“Because the AI can monitor any digital form of communication.”
“What’s so great about this, then?”
“It’s analog. The AI is digital. Unless it takes over a digital radio, I’m not sure it would even consider tapping into an analog communications device.”
“Don’t you want to have a backup? Maybe two tin cans with a string between them?”
She gave him a cutting look, the first time she’d deigned to look at him.
He sighed. “Why not walkie-talkies? They’re still in use… in some smaller, poorer companies, probably.”
“The range on walkie-talkies wouldn’t cover the distance between Varidian and my household.”
“So you want me to show up at Varidian with this thing? That won’t look suspicious at all.”
“It’s a department full of socially awkward men. Tell them it’s your new hobby, they’ll accept it right away.”
“Why would they accept it right… hey, I’m not a socially awkward man!” he protested.
“When was the last time you had sexual intercourse?”
“First off, that’s none of your business, and secondly, referring to it as ‘sexual intercourse’ isn’t helping your case that you’re not socially awkward.”
“I never said I wasn’t. It wasn’t a judgment, it was a statement of fact.”
“I beg to diff– ”
“We’re wasting time.”
“You’re the one prattling on about sexual intercourse,” he said in a petulant voice.
“I wrote down the frequency I’ll be broadcasting at. I need you to listen in, 24 hours a day if necessary.”
Jerome looked at her sideways. “…listen in to what?”
“To everything I do in my condo.”
Jerome was silent for a moment. Then – “Look, if this is some weird thing you have, that’s all well and good, but I’m not – ”
“I think the AI might come after me, you idiot,” she hissed.
Jerome frowned at her. “What makes you think that?”
“I know how it thinks. I created it. And it has given away some very disturbing clues in its behavior.”
Shattered Lands 3 Demon Wars Page 29