Beast of Zarall

by E B Rose

  The demon took the doorframe, and a chunk of the wall with him, as it squeezed into Valnar’s room. It shook the rubble and splinters off its back. Its fiery eyes found Valnar backed up against the far wall. It snarled victoriously.

  Valnar threw the cloth. He held the sword up with both hands, raised it in front of him. Red veins ran along the blade of the sword, giving it a bloody appearance. Red dragonscale; the only variety of metal in Earthome that could hurt a demon.

  The hound took a cautious step forward. Its molten eyes were narrowed at the sight of the red-veined steel. Valnar swallowed. He had never faced a hound alone. The fear threatened to freeze his muscles. The demon pulled its lips back. Wet fire dripped from its teeth, burning the wooden floor.

  Valnar noticed he was standing inside the praying circle he’d drawn on the floor, near the bathtub. He couldn’t have wished a better place to make his last stand.

  “Kiejain, the first warrior…” he started praying.

  BEAST

  When Beast’s muscles were unlocked, he pushed himself to sit up. His limbs were aching where Valnar had kicked and punched, but the pemitoin still allowed him to ignore the pain.

  Valnar... Beast hated him. He wanted him dead. He wished he could do it with his own hands, but being ripped apart by a demon hound was almost as good.

  Alarm bells were ringing around the manor. He stood up and walked over to the edge of the roof to look down.

  Ink’s body was splayed on the ground below. The front of his leather armour was charred and a faint smoke was rising from there. When Beast called, the hound had used Ink’s body to get here.

  This was what the hounds needed to get to Earthome; bodies.

  Why did you do it? Keder whispered in his head. Ink was trying to help you.

  Ink...

  “No,” Beast said. “He was going to betray me. Only, I didn’t let him.”

  You don’t know that.

  “I’ve seen it happen before. I saw his face...”

  Ink was different...

  “None of them are different!”

  Ink was the only decent one amongst them.

  “They’re all the same! All free men are greedy! Their currencies may be different, but they’re all greedy for something or other!”

  You’re wrong.

  “No, I’m not! And why are you speaking like this?”

  Like what?

  “You’re defending them! You’re the one who kept saying not to trust them.”

  The Demon Lord giggled inside his mind. The sound made Beast grit his teeth. It’s nice to know you see it for yourself now.

  “I want you to stop talking.”

  Beast pulled his eyes off Ink’s dead body. He hated that ache in his chest. He’d killed men before. None of them made him feel this way. He’d heard about remorse. He never understood the concept. Still didn’t. He wondered how people stopped it.

  “Damn it, Ink,” he muttered. “Why...?” When the pain grew, he stepped back from the edge. That’s when he noticed the movement and the shouts around the yard.

  At first, he thought the alarm bells were for him. But now, he was seeing men fight each other. He narrowed his eyes, trying to read the battle. It was chaos. Vadithas’s men sounded confused. They were attacking each other. The whole scene reminded him of the coup at Castle Brinescar.

  “What’s going on?” he muttered to himself.

  The demon answered. They’re distracted. Could you find a better night to kill your friends and escape?

  “They’re not my...” Beast gritted his teeth. The demon was right.

  Again.

  This was a perfect opportunity to escape. He glanced at Ink one more time - that bitter feeling flooded his insides - then walked along the edge, back to the hatch. The ladder was charred in places. Beast sat by the edge and carefully jumped down.

  The walls and the ceiling of the watch room was singed, though nothing seemed to have burnt down. He was surprised to see the two guards still tied up. He would have thought Valnar, Kiejain’s righteous warrior, would have released them. They seemed petrified. Their eyes were bulging and they were shaking visibly. One’s pants were wet.

  Keder laughed mockingly. What, you guys never seen a burning puppy before?

  “They can’t hear you.”

  I know. Hey... Where do you think you’re going?

  Beast stopped halfway to the door. His forehead creased. “I’m getting out of here. Why?”

  The men’s eyes grew larger as they watched him talk to himself. They glanced at each other, and attempted to crawl further back.

  You’ll need a weapon.

  Beast looked at his hands. Was the demon joking with him? Nothing he could find in this room would be useful without the hands to use them.

  You don’t need hands to kill two tied up men.

  Beast scowled at the guards. He knew where the demon was going with this.

  You need more hounds. You can’t escape on your own. Not when you’re crippled like this.

  He remembered the hole he’d opened at the floor of the flooded cave. The demon hounds were waiting eagerly to jump down and get here.

  They need passage, the Demon reminded him. You need to kill.

  Beast stood over the two men. One of them made a pathetic attempt to kick him. Keder was right; Beast was in no shape to defend himself. He needed the hounds.

  Kill them.

  DIENUS

  Lord Brocton was playing along nicely.

  It wasn’t like he had any other choice. The order came directly from the Queen. Inoeveth had a way of convincing people. She was a very inspiring Queen. Dienus didn’t know what his mother told the man in her letter, but upon receiving it, Lord Brocton was nothing but complacent in Dienus’s plan.

  He now understood why Master Ruzen wanted him to wait until after the Fire Breath, which Dienus had watched by the way. He’d laughed when Lion of Zarall caught on fire and was running around like a headless chicken. He’d wished his father could have seen it too. Although Dienus’s orders were to capture the slave alive, he still thought this was a fitting end to that troublesome purebred.

  Just as Master Ruzen expected - or orchestrated - the Union had invited Lord Brocton over for the feast. They wanted him to meet Prince Lygor and pledge his loyalty to him. At Dienus’s orders, Lord Brocton had accepted their invitation. He was nervous about this whole plan and he kept saying he had a bad feeling about this. Dienus had reminded him how the King and Queen could make him feel even worse.

  At the end, Lord Brocton had provided uniforms for Dienus and his men and took them to the manor with him. Master Ruzen made sure none of Vadithas’s brutes looked too much at Dienus and the others. They’d walked in with no resistance. This was too easy.

  Although Dienus wasn’t able to bring Lion of Zarall to his parents, he could still present them Prince Lygor’s head. He watched Lygor, sitting at the head of the table, as if he owned the whole place. He was blonde, like the rest of his line, and he had a dumb face women would find attractive. Lygor leaned over towards Lord Brocton, who was sitting at his right side. Lord Brocton said something and laughed. Lygor didn’t. He gave a serious reply and stared hard at Lord Brocton, until the man blushed and muttered.

  Dienus contained a scoff. He’d been watching Lygor for no more than half an hour now and he already couldn’t wait to beat that self-righteous expression off the brat’s face.

  He glanced at Master Ruzen impatiently. Ruzen was sitting right next to Lord Brocton. He’d asked Dienus to wait for his signal. He’d said he needed time to position his own men at the doors, so that he could let the rest of Lord Brocton’s forces in.

  Dienus, Gennald, Norrol, and a dozen Vogros men disguised in Lord Brocton’s colours were already in the feast hall. The rest of his men were outside the manor, waiting to charge in when the doors opened. Dienus smirked. Vadithas’s brutes were not going to know what was about to hit them.

  Ruzen laughed out loud. He was being
noisy, talking vulgar, and swaying at his seat. He pretended - Dienus hoped he did - to be drunk. The other members of the Union - three men and a woman Dienus didn’t recognize - were sitting across from him. Dienus recognized the host - Vadithas - and he knew the others by name, though he hadn’t met them in person.

  The woman watched Ruzen with an open distaste. She rolled her eyes when Ruzen slammed his paws on the table, laughing his lungs out. The young mage, dressed in white robes was sweating. He seemed uncomfortable to be there. The other man leaned back on his chair and sipped from his wine. He had a smirk on his face.

  “What’s taking him so long?” Gennald mumbled at Dienus.

  “Probably trying to remember the Words,” Dienus mouthed. He eyed the two purebreds, standing behind Lygor. They both had impressive sizes and blonde curly hair. They carried expensive armour with black and gold lion engravings on them. Dienus was amused how Lygor could dare to openly show his colours. The purebreds looked straight ahead; their eyes blank and glassy, as if they didn’t care if they lived or not. Once they took over the manor, Dienus would love to see if he could bring life to those eyes.

  Ruzen had told them that the purebreds were Vadithas’s gift to Lygor. They were tasked with protecting the prince. Ruzen was going to find out their First Words and eliminate them when the attack started.

  When the bells started ringing outside the manor, Ruzen still hadn’t given his signal. Dienus couldn’t have missed the signal, could he?

  Silence fell on the feast room where everyone glanced at each other for guidance. Gennald took his hand to his sword’s hilt. Dienus’s eyes met Ruzen’s. He would have suspected the Master of Sands had betrayed them, if the man hadn’t looked as surprised as everyone else. Dienus’s men around the room appeared alert. They were seconds away from drawing their weapons and starting the attack.

  Luckily, Ruzen recovered himself first. He knocked his wine glass off the table, which shattered in pieces.

  This was the signal.

  Dienus’s heart skipped a beat. “Now!” he yelled, as he drew his sword.

  Cold steel echoed all around the room. Dienus targeted the nearest servant, whose back was turned to him. Gennald kept close.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Dienus saw Ruzen standing up and yelling two words. The purebreds behind Lygor collapsed one after the other. Lygor jumped up on his feet and attempted to pull his own sword out but Lord Brocton was on to him. He stepped behind the prince and pressed his knife to his throat.

  And it was done, just like that. One broken wine glass, and Lygor Zarall was Dienus’s hostage. Now all they had to do was to secure this room and the rest of the manor.

  Just before Dienus got to him, the servant turned around. He had a knife.

  OLIRA

  When Olira heard the sound, she was laying on the dirty mattress, trying to get some sleep.

  She sat up, narrowed her eyes and listened. It sounded like a wooden chair was knocked over, and a heavy object fell. After that first sound, it was all quiet. Whatever it was, it passed.

  She put her head back on the mattress, which stank like sweat. Not more than a minute had passed when she heard the footsteps outside the door. She jumped back on her feet and retreated to the far wall.

  It couldn’t be Dienus, could it? Had he captured Lion of Zarall? Were they going to lock him together with Olira? Or maybe they missed him again, and Dienus was just looking to blow off some steam. He was finally sick of playing with slaves and he finally remembered he had Olira locked up here.

  Iron keys fidgeted in the lock and turned quietly. Olira held her breath as the door opened. She recognized the smell of urine and gore before she did his face.

  “Jygan?”

  “Olira! You’re here! Thank merciful Alunwea...”

  Olira opened and closed her mouth, unable to speak. She gave up on her speech and simply threw herself on Jygan’s arms.

  “W-what...? How? What are you doing here?”

  She breathed the faint smell of the tannery in. It was the best thing she’d ever smelled in the world; better than the flowers in the spring, or the most expensive perfume.

  Jygan returned her hug for a while, then wiggled out of her arms. “Olira, we have to go. We don’t have much time.”

  “How did you get here? What’s happening?”

  “I’ll tell you later. We have to hurry.” Jygan was already dragging Olira towards the stairs. Olira clung to his hand as tight as she could, as if he was going to disappear if she let go.

  When they reached the messy living area downstairs, she saw the source of the sound she’d heard before. The guard and the squire, Melton, had their heads against the surface of the table. Emberlash was on the floor, next to a knocked over chair. He’d tried to get up, lost his balance, and fell off with the chair.

  “Are they...?” Olira started to ask.

  “Sleeping,” Jygan whispered. He tugged her towards the back door. “I put dried and powdered venerun leaves in their drinks.”

  Olira scowled. “Hang on. How do you know about venerun leaves?”

  She found her answer waiting just outside the back door. A small body charged at Olira and a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

  “Torren?” Olira kneeled and hugged the boy so hard, she almost heard his bones cracking. Tears started bursting out of her eyes. “Torren? You’re alive! Oh, thank Alunwea, the most merciful! You’re alive!”

  “Olira, we have to go,” Jygan urged.

  Olira couldn’t stop sobbing and laughing at the same time. She kissed the top of Torren’s hair, held his head between her hands, and kissed all over his face.

  “Olira, come on!” Jygan pulled her to her feet. “We don’t know when they’ll be back.”

  Olira stood up, but didn’t let go of Torren’s hand. Her sight was still blurry with tears. “How did you guys find me? Where are the others?”

  Torren’s face clouded. Jygan answered instead. “We’ll explain everything, but we have to get away from here first. I’ve got horses waiting. We’ll leave the city now and get as far as possible.”

  “Are the others meeting us outside the city?” Olira pulled her arm free of Jygan’s clutch. “Where are Gilann, Andar and Kowas?”

  Jygan’s expression pained. He looked around the yard nervously, as if expecting armed men to jump out around the corner. He sagged his shoulders and sighed. “I’m sorry Olira. Gilann is dead. Andar and Kowas are enslaved and sent to a slave farm. Torren was with me at the tannery when they came to your farm. But we have to go now. Please.”

  Jygan grabbed Olira’s hand and she allowed him to drag her outside the yard and through the streets of the city. Her eyes had lost their focus. For a brief moment, she believed she could feel Dienus’s hands around her neck again, strangling the life out of her.

  TESLATURAHEL

  Tesla had no idea where Lion of Zarall would be kept in the manor. He could sense the room he was tracking in the north side of the manor, on one of the upper levels, though he wasn’t sure if the slave would still be there. The demon hound had climbed up the roof, then disappeared from there. So, Tesla’s best option was to go up until he found traces of the hound or the Lion of Zarall.

  He located a small door on one side of the manor, which looked like a servants’ entrance. It led into a crummy dine hall and a small kitchen. It was deserted. He walked through the servants’ dine hall and entered the hallway.

  Since blasting the gates open, and scattering those first few guards, Tesla hadn’t seen any further resistance, though he could hear the sounds of conflict inside and outside the manor. He steered away from the sounds of fighting men. He was still not at his best, and he had to reserve his strength as much as possible. He had to save it for the demon hound and Lion of Zarall.

  Tesla had to assume the slave was dangerous and hostile. He wished he had the time to prepare stronger Farhome spells. Simple Earthome spells may not have been enough to apprehend him.

  He turned into th
e hallway which he guessed would take him to the stairs. Four men jumped out of a door ahead of him and blocked his way. Another two came out behind him and cut off his retreat. He was trapped.

  Tesla lifted his chin up and faced the four in front of him. Two of them were pissed-off-looking free men, and the other two were slaves with odd, blank tattoos. They displayed three lines that indicated they were born into slavery, but the circular slave tattoo was empty inside.

  The two behind Tesla was a pair of slave and free man as well.

  “Get out of my way,” Tesla warned. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  This was partly true, though he mostly wanted to reserve his strength. He prepared another wind spell to swipe them out of his way just in case.

  One of the free men mumbled a meaningless word. The slave next to him stepped forward. His lips moved and he made a gesture with his hands.

  The gesture seemed familiar...

  Tesla yelled a defensive spell and raised his hands just in time. A silvery wall rose in front of him. A ball made of fire appeared between the slave’s palms. It launched towards Tesla, struck at the defensive wall, and disappeared harmlessly.

  Tesla thought fast. He cast a deflector shield behind him just in time to meet a rain of lightning. The shield reflected the lightning streams back towards the pair behind him.

  Tesla proceeded with a powerful wind spell directed at the four men in front of him. The second free man gave a command and the second slave cast a shield to protect them.

  “This is impossible!” Tesla barely had the time to whisper.

  The first mage slave attacked again. Thin, black strings shot out of his fingers. They wrapped around Tesla’s left arm, pinning it to his side. Tesla cast a fire spell and burnt them before they could do more. The third mage slave recovered behind him and sent another stream of lightning, which Tesla barely stopped at the last moment. He cast a series of fire balls ahead and behind him, but the mage slaves were able to raise shields in front of them and block the fire balls with ease.

  So far, Tesla hadn’t seen anything more complicated than low level Earthome spells. All their defensive spells were against physical attacks. He decided to raise it up a notch.