by Steven Drake
“Alright, I hate sneak attacks, but under the circumstances, I suppose I’ll take any advantage I can get.”
“One more thing,” Darien added with a serious tone. “Leave Avirosa to me. He’ll be the one speaking. Focus on the other shades. They will be the next most serious threat. I have an idea to take care of the goblins, at least for a short time.”
“What about the beast in the cave?”
“Wyverns are hard to control. I doubt he’ll risk trying to control it while he’s fighting me at the same time, but be wary of it all the same.”
“What do I do?” Jerris said.
“Just stay here out of sight. Against these opponents, you’ll just be in the way.”
“But I’ve been practicing the magic like you showed me and…”
“There isn’t time to argue about it now, Jerris. Just do as you’re told,” the older half-elf didn’t wait for Jerris to finish. This was no time for misplaced heroics. The younger half-elf fell silent and hung his head.
Darien left the alcove, and rode slowly forward toward the rock wall and the dark cave. He had not gone far before the enemies became aware of his presence. They turned towards him, readying themselves, but one of them, a tall thin figure, raised a hand, and they made no move to attack. The Executioner had drawn to within twenty yards, just where the edge of the canyon shadows gave way to the light of the morning sun. A strange sensation came over him, a sudden stirring of some long forgotten secret, some lost memory, something missing, something important. Then it was before him, staring back at him out of the black marble of its eye, sitting on a red stone boulder just a few feet ahead, the answer to all the riddles, the crow. He remembered it now, his mind wincing at the shock, and the sudden realization that it had been right in front of him all along. He had seen it a few days earlier, and heard its call many times, but in the haze of his past, the importance of this creature had been lost. The crow served Avirosa, but Darien had forgotten. It was always there, sitting upon the wraith’s shoulder like a hunched shadow. It never left him except when spying on his targets. Darien remembered now, the beasts who served Avirosa were not bound merely by spells that wore off after a time, but were permanently bound to him, so he could control them with only a thought, or see through their eyes. Each of them had a powerful enchantment placed directly upon it, altering its mind and enslaving it to his will. When the Executioner had drawn within a few feet of the bird, it abruptly flew off towards the rock wall, lighting upon Avirosa’s shoulder. Now all the questions were answered; this was how the enemy had known where to find them. With the riddle finally solved, all that was left was the confrontation that must occur, the one that, though he had not realized it, had always been inevitable.
“Avirosa!” the Executioner shouted into the light. “I would speak with you, to negotiate for the lives of my companions.” The dark figure nodded, and without hesitation, Darien dismounted, and walked forward into the light, arms raised. The cloaked figures of the shades glared at him ominously. There were five in total, fewer than he had expected, but more than enough all the same. The goblins let loose shrill war cries, like the howls of monkeys.
As Darien drew near, Avirosa lowered the hood of his cloak, revealing his sunken corpselike features, and pallid complexion. His stringy white hair flowed down the sides of his head, clumping together into long ropey strands. The thin skeletal hand of the Wraith rose, and the crow flitted away. Darien stared straight into sickly yellow-green eyes, which met his gaze and returned it. The two men stood in silence, each sizing up the other, prepared for any move. Neither made any, and the Executioner was content to wait for his opponent to break the silence. Every second of distraction worked to his advantage.
Finally, Avirosa spoke, his voice thin, cold, calm, quiet almost a whisper, but clearly heard over any other sound. That was one of his special talents, the voice of the dead, as it was called. Whether it was some form of augmentation magic, or simply a talent of the throat, or some combination of both, Darien could never tell. Either way, to hear it again in this place was disturbing. “Well, Darien. It seems our little game is at an end. I must say, you have given me an interesting chase, turning into the wilderness. How was it that you knew we were waiting at Galad? I must admit I was quite surprised when you turned south. No matter, you changed nothing.” The Wraith smiled a thin, sickly smile.
“So it seems, but then you have good fortune to thank as well. I might have gone west from Kantu. You took a considerable risk placing all your strength here in the Craglands.”
Avirosa shrugged and chuckled slightly. “A risk? No, I think not. You underestimate your value to the Master. Of course I was not the only one sent after you. The Master and I both expected you to run west, and that way was watched as well. Had you gone that way, you would already be dead. We sent our very best.”
“Alistair the Abyss was sent after me, all that way north.”
“He was, and once we knew you were headed here, word was sent. He’s on his way now, probably already making the journey down the underpass. You’re trapped. I have orders to take you alive if possible, but dead if necessary. Just give up and make this easier on yourself. I have no interest in the two who travel with you. Surrender, and they may go their own way. I have no reason to pursue them.”
“Trapped, am I?” the Executioner said. “You forget, Avirosa, I have the Demon Sword. None but the Master, himself, can best me. The way I see it, we each have a great deal to lose here.”
“If you did not fear to use that weapon, you would have already drawn it,” Avirosa said as he smiled back at Darien. “The Master knows everything about that sword. It is his property, after all.”
“I’m sure he does, but that hardly matters to you. If the need is dire enough, I will certainly risk using the sword, and you will certainly not escape.”
Avirosa laughed heartily. “Oh ho. Maybe not, but where will you go? We’ve seen to it that you have nowhere to run. You forget who it is you are up against. My life is of little consequence. Death is nothing to me. I die at the Master’s command without hesitation, but you, how weak and pathetic you have become without the Master, a foolish, petulant child, just as you were when we found you. I was Kirin’s favorite student before you were, if you remember. I know how he thinks, and so I know how you think. You are, after all, so like him, clever, but predictable. It is not surprising that you both betrayed us. Elf scum have no place in the Order, gifted though you are. Your blood is too tainted by that accursed race. You always loved your elf blood more than you loved the Order, just as he did. The two of you were always so immovable, so calm, so detached, as if that made you better than us.”
“Still jealous that I took your place? Even after all this time? I’m not interested in old rivalries, and it’s disappointing that you still carry such a grudge. A shade should not indulge in such pointless trifles. It is beneath our dignity.”
“Arrogant fool! You, a traitor, presume to lecture me on what the Order is about. You do not understand the magnitude of our power. You never did. You always belonged to us, from the very beginning.”
“Oh, do explain,” Darien taunted Avirosa. Already nearly a minute had passed, and Avirosa continued to willingly fall into the trap “As always, I find the anger and envy of you humans so amusing.”
Avirosa did not react at first, but slowly, a smile formed on his face, snaking across from right to left, like a worm creeping across dead dusty soil. “Very well then, fool. You deserve to suffer for your treason.” Avirosa spoke coldly, and with a confidence that unnerved Darien. A moment ago, the wraith had been seething with anger, and now seemed almost amused. What secret was he keeping that gave him such assurance? “How do you think it was that you were brought into the Order? How do you think we found you? Did you really believe Kirin just happened upon your mother’s execution? Didn’t that strike you as a bit too convenient?”
Ah, so that’s it, Darien thought. Of course he doesn’t realize Kirin told me b
efore he died. “Is that all?” the Executioner smiled back, chuckling wickedly. “Did you really think I didn’t know that you arranged her execution already? I knew Kirin far better than you did.”
“So, he told you did he? Even so, there’s something yet you don’t know.” The Wraith continued to smile confidently. “You do remember that day don’t you? You remember the axe falling? You remember how her head fell away from her body? Does it still haunt your nightmares? Can you still see it in your mind? I certainly can.”
What did he mean? Darien’s mind groped for answers. Avirosa was there? How? Even so, Darien kept his calm, allowing no trace of confusion or doubt to show through on his face. “You were there then? What difference does that make?”
“What difference? Don’t you remember? Aren’t you Darien the Executioner? That was the name you chose for yourself on that day, wasn’t it? I remember speaking to you that day. I had no idea my words would inspire you so.”
Then, like an avalanche crashing down, the truth sunk into Darien’s mind. A horrible rage rose up in him, a cold fire that rose out of the depths of his soul, chilled his spine, and ran all the way out to his fingers. He could feel it overtaking him. “It was you? You were under that cloth? You killed my mother, then you… you twisted the truth to save yourself…” His voice was quiet, almost a whisper. You won’t save yourself this time, Darien added silently, speaking only to himself.
“Kirin didn’t tell you that, did he? I suppose that he didn’t think it was all that important. After all, he was probably more interested in his own vengeance against the Master than he was interested in your welfare.”
Darien scarcely heard his enemy speak. His thoughts had become lost in the rage that was now consuming him whole. All thoughts of his companions and his situation were utterly lost. Nothing mattered but killing the thing before him, the thing he hated more than anything else in the world. He reached back over his shoulder for the Demon Sword. Another moment, and he would have drawn it, tapping into its forbidden power, but just at that moment, a sudden flash of lightning distracted him.
Rana had chosen the perfect moment to strike, running straight into the mages and bringing down a bolt of lightning from the heavens to leap and dance between the four who stood several paces behind Avirosa. Two of the four fell to the ground, convulsing violently, and the other two staggered uneasily back. The sword of the lady knight buried itself in the nearer of the two, piercing the enemy’s heart, and flinging a streamer of blood outward as it was withdrawn. Only one was left, but the goblins were already charging across the water.
Shocked by Rana’s sudden attack, Darien’s senses returned to him, and instead of the Demon Sword, he drew the longsword at his left hip, and leapt backwards, then left into the middle of the river, thrusting his sword down into the gravel of the river bottom, and preparing to channel a spell. A second later, the river froze solid all the way to the mouth of the cave. The goblins, who were just reaching the river, tumbled and slid, falling off their mounts and crashing into each other in a jumble of dark fur and yellow skin. This would at least buy the lady knight a few moments to dispatch the last of the apprentice mages before dealing with the goblins.
There was no time, however, to worry much more about his companion. Avirosa was upon him in a moment, thrusting for his midsection, like a snake unleashing a violent and sudden strike. Darien dodged, again leaping backwards, but his enemy gave him no time to regroup. The wraith was intent upon staying close to his opponent, as range was to the Executioner’s advantage. They exchanged blows, parrying and thrusting, neither having enough time to cast any offensive spells. Darien knew that he had to gain distance. At close range, Avirosa had the strength of magic to counter his spells, dissipating them before they could form. Only if he could get away long enough to conjure a shadow void could he hope to end the battle swiftly.
A new problem quickly surfaced. The wyvern which had been hiding in the cave had stormed out, and now taken wing. Avirosa’s hold on it had been stronger than he’d anticipated, and the creature had joined the battle. Its yellow eyes were focused on the Executioner, and even as he continued to dodge blows from Avirosa, the beast arched its wings and dove upon him, a green arrow from the heavens. It only narrowly missed, burying its foot-long black claws in the loose gravel. In dodging the wyvern, however, the Executioner had left himself open and Avirosa had slashed his right thigh, not a devastating wound, but deep enough to slow his movement. He would not be able to keep up his pace for very long. He had to take a risk. While the wyvern was beating its wings and preparing to lift off again, Darien ran behind it, using the body of the beast as a screen between himself and his enemy. As he did so, he slashed the beast several times, not vital points to kill the monster, but rather flesh wounds aimed to cause the beast the most possible pain. Finally, just as Avirosa was catching up with the slowed Executioner, a thrown dagger pierced the yellow eye of the monster, sending it into a thrashing frenzy.
The tactic worked. The wyvern’s extreme pain broke Avirosa’s hold upon the beast momentarily, and it lashed out at everything nearby. The Wraith was forced to retreat to get clear of the frenzied creature. Now, Darien had the distance he needed. A moment later, the wyvern flew off and lighted upon the eastern rim of the canyon, still shrieking in pain, and momentarily out of the battle. The Executioner and the wraith stared across the few yards of open space between them. The former formed a shadow void ready in his right hand, while the latter raised his sword, and it exploded into blazing blue flames. An instant later, Avirosa swung the blade and a ball of blue flames hurtled toward Darien at frightening speed, but not fast enough. Darien stepped quickly to the right, feeling the heat of the fire pass his left cheek. Two more fireballs flew at him, but he was already prepared, forming some of the ice of the river into a shield which hovered in front of him, hissing and melting as the fires impacted it. An instant later, it shattered like a piece of glass, and the broken pieces flew at Avirosa like sharp knives. The wraith tried to dodge, but the flying projectiles were too many and too widely spread. One buried itself in the wraith’s left shoulder, and a second sliced through his left arm, just above the elbow, severing muscle and tendon, and leaving the arm hanging limply, useless. The enraged Wraith leapt forward at the Executioner, furiously brandishing the fiery sword in his good arm. Darien was prepared, and he pushed his right hand still holding the shadow void directly into Avirosa’s fiery strike, sword and all. The Executioner knew well that his opponent had no defense for a fully formed shadow void, and that this would end the fight.
The two powerful spells collided. Darien felt a terrible pain as his hand and arm burned. Avirosa, however, took the worse of it. His arm twisted and contorted as his sword broke entirely, the pieces thrown back or consumed. His sword arm below the elbow had been consumed by the void, and the sword lay in a surreally twisted, tangled mass of metal a few yards away. The fires of Avirosa’s spell had managed to partially cauterize the bleeding stump of his arm, but an even more severe blow followed. Avirosa had focused all his attention on the shadow void, and had not noticed the sword strike until it was too late. The sword in Darien’s left hand had pierced Avirosa’s right side. The combined force of the blows knocked Avirosa to the ground, gravely wounded.
For a moment, it seemed that Darien would win, but as he moved in to strike the killing blow, he suddenly heard Rana yelp. She had slain the final apprentices somehow, but the goblins now had her pinned against the rock wall. She was holding them off for the moment, but they were too many. More goblins had appeared from somewhere, and two more mages had appeared from out of the darkness of the cave.
“HOLD!” Avirosa yelled, and all the attackers froze for the moment. “Let me go, and I’ll call them off.” Darien ignored the words as if he hadn’t even heard. The sight of the man he now knew to be his mother’s killer, beaten and broken before him, had filled his mind with dark thoughts. I will make him suffer now, suffer and beg for death. Once again, he felt the
call of the Demon Sword, beckoning him with the power to make his hated enemy suffer more horrible levels of pain than even he could imagine. He kept his sword at Avirosa’s throat with his left hand, while with his badly burned but still usable right, he reached over his shoulder for the Demon Sword. Avirosa’s eyes grew large with fear. “Please… don’t.” He begged. “Please just kill me.”
“Not a very tempting offer from an already dead man.” Darien said in a cruel and empty voice, dripping with hate, one perhaps not entirely his own. “You should have kept quiet, but now you will know true pain.” He gripped the sword firmly, and readied himself, but he never got the chance to draw the blade.
“Darien, don’t. Don’t do it.” The Executioner heard someone say. A moment later he recognized the voice of Jerris.
“Dammit, Jerris, what are you doing?” Darien barked, his voice once again his own. “Don’t be a fool.”
“No, I won’t, I won’t let you do this!” Jerris cried. Darien noticed that Jerris had taken out the starstone, and it had begun to shine with a bright light.
“What is that?” Avirosa cried. “By the Master’s life, is that a starstone? Leave the girl. Get that stone. That is worth more than even Darien is. Get it or die in the attempt.” He shouted to his servants, momentarily forgetting his fear, or perhaps sensing an opportunity to escape.
The goblins and the two mages closed rapidly on the boy, ignoring Rana and Darien as they charged up the canyon, but Jerris could no longer be seen through the blinding light. Even the afternoon sun seemed to dim before the incredible shine of the stone. The goblins and their commanders approached Jerris, but they only staggered awkwardly ahead, blinded by the growing light. Even so, they would be upon him very quickly.
“Stay back. Stay back.” Darien could hear Jerris saying as the light diminished slightly. They were almost upon him, then suddenly, there was a noise, a whirring, screeching sound. The light from the starstone focused into a single point, which fired tiny beams of burning white light. Each one flew out from the starstone at an incredible speed passing through the foreheads of each of the two approaching mages, and several of the goblins as well. Then there was a flash, and a blinding explosion of light. Jerris flew backwards, crashing into the stony gravel a few yards behind. The whirring sound stopped, and the starstone’s light went out as it fell to the ground. The two remaining mages fell to the ground, dead, each with a smoldering hole through the middle of his forehead. A few of the goblins lay dead as well, but not all, and now the remainder howled in frenzy, angered by the death of their comrades, and charged at the fallen body of the boy. Rana was down on one knee near the cave mouth, still recovering from the battle. The wyvern still remained upon its perch on the canyon rim, watching closely.