Hemlock took the lead. She reached the corner of the passage with the others close behind her. The passage extended for another hundred feet before opening up to another finished room beyond that. There were two rows of man-sized stone arches set one above the other in the room. It was a curious and unfamiliar sight.
The group crept up the passage. A stench became noticeable the closer they got. Hemlock looked tentatively at the group behind her as the smell became more powerful, but received only resolute glances in response. She shrugged and continued to creep forward.
Soon they stood at the doorway of the chamber. The arches were stacked in six rows of eight across, one atop the other. There was a waist-high wall that obscured the opening of each arch, preventing her from seeing clearly behind them—especially in the upper arches that towered above them.
There were about eighty feet of open floor between her and the floor level arches, and there was no visible means of egress from the chamber.
Hemlock heard movement and heavy breathing coming from the upper arches.
“They’re here,” whispered Tored.
“What do we do?” asked Hemlock.
“We should dash across the room and make for those arches,” said Otticus.
“Let me go,” said Hemlock.
“No, we should stay together,” said Tored. “Remember, this may be their lair, and there could be an ambush waiting.”
“BE GONE FROM THIS PLACE!” came a booming voice from the upper arches. It reminded Hemlock of the sound of rock crumbling.
A figure loomed above them, glaring. It was crouched in a central arch and appeared to be at least six feet tall. It had heavy limbs, and its skin was textured like a mixture of rock and earth. Human-like breasts identified it as female, although they, too, appeared to be fashioned from rock and earth rather than flesh. Glowing brown eyes set off a wide face on a hairless head, at the bottom of which was an angry mouth with granite teeth.
“The demon!” cried Otticus.
“Hush!” chided Renevos.
“We are just passing through and have no quarrel with you,” yelled Hemlock.
“YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS HERE! I’LL NOT WARN YOU AGAIN!” cried the figure.
“We have to continue! Let us pass in peace,” said Hemlock.
The creature snarled and hefted a large rock from the ground at its feet. It hurled the rock at Hemlock with startling accuracy, forcing her forward into the room while scattering her companions back into the passage.
Taller, wiry figures appeared in the top three rows of arches above, and more rocks began to rain down into the chamber. Hemlock was forced into a running dodge, and then she decided to dash forward toward the bottom arches.
More rocks crashed heavily to the floor behind her. Otticus shouted from inside the room. The sound of running footsteps confirmed for her that the others were joining her in her dash.
As she neared the arched openings, there was a common thirty foot deep chamber behind each of them, which housed a stone stair that rose to the next level. Several of the tall, wiry figures were dashing down the stair to meet her. Their skin looked like a blending of stone and flesh and they moved with surprising speed for their size. They did not carry weapons, but their fingers were tipped with claws that looked heavy enough to do concussive damage in addition to cutting.
Hemlock sensed a spell of warding behind her as she skirted the waist-high barrier and moved to engage the first of the Oruk.
She tried to fell it with a quick strike, but cursed as her blow was struck far more slowly than she had planned. It was easily dodged by the larger Oruk. The creature side stepped her attack and aimed a cross-body punch at her head, which she ducked. Another Oruk moved to engage her on her right flank, but stepped back as she heard Tored and the others arrive.
She heard heavy crashes from behind her, and, turning, saw there were additional Oruk jumping from the floors above, trying to outflank them.
“Behind us!” she yelled.
She turned back just in time to see the Oruk in front of her swinging its two fists down toward her.
She jumped back and to the side to avoid the strike. The Oruk redirected, trying to catch her from the side.
This left the Oruk’s head unguarded, and Hemlock channeled her power to leap and aim a cleaving blow at the creature’s neck. Its head was hewn straight off by her attack, leaving a gurgling torso spewing a deep brown fluid as it crumpled to the floor.
She turned to see how the others were faring. Tored had killed one of the creatures, and Otticus, tattoos flaring, had chopped another’s arm off as Renevos hit another in the chest with a crimson ball of fire.
She rushed to meet the Oruk approaching from the floor outside the arches. Suddenly, the creature that Otticus had identified as “the demon” dropped to the floor from above with a massive crash, shaking the entire chamber.
The Oruk stood aside as the heavier-limbed monster lumbered toward Hemlock, eyes bright with rage.
Hemlock dashed into the open floor and met her charge with a heavy overhead sword swing. The blow struck home as the earth creature did not attempt to dodge, and the blade sparked as it contacted rock. Some of the earth surrounding the rock was dislodged, however, and the creature howled in pain.
Hemlock was left uncomfortably close to the powerful and heavy creature, and in response it lifted a leg and stomped down hard, causing the floor to shake violently, making Hemlock drop to a three-point stance to avoid falling over entirely. The Oruk around her were knocked to the ground, and a curse from Otticus indicated that he had fallen as well. A heavy stone crashed to the chamber from above, seemingly dislodged by the earth creature’s stomp, crushing a prone Oruk.
Hemlock was forced to skitter backward across the floor as the creature tried to stomp her underfoot, then she was able to regain her footing. As the creature lifted its leg again, Hemlock leapt into the air toward it, and while using an energy burst, landed a heavy slash to the neck of the creature. The extra force she put behind the blow dislodged some of the rock, notching the blade of her sword in the process.
The beast again cried out with rage, turned its upper torso, and held its arm toward Hemlock as she landed behind it. A fist-size rock slammed into Hemlock’s back, apparently launched from the earth creature’s own arm. The creature howled in pain, but Hemlock was also hurt. As she took several running steps and turned, she felt intense pain in her back, and subsequently each breath hurt in the vicinity of the impact.
The Oruk had scattered, leaving the earth creature to fight alone. Tored rushed up behind it and landed a strike with his axe. Again the creature turned and stomped, but the four companions were able to anticipate the attack and kept their footing.
Renevos struck the creature with a bolt of lightning as Otticus moved to flank it. More earth and rock burst from the stony body, and the creature stooped in agony.
Suddenly it broke into a loping run toward the side of the chamber. Hemlock easily kept pace with it; its glowing brown eyes turned toward her. It launched another rock from its arm with a yelp of pain, but Hemlock was able to duck out of the way.
The creature was now pinned against the wall. It made a motion like a swimming stroke, and not a second later, it began to merge with the granite in a combination of digging and passing through the rock.
Hemlock struck the creature several more times before it was gone, causing it pain, but not slowing its escape.
A narrow path through the rock was left in the creature’s wake. The remaining Oruk had fled out of the passage.
“Can we follow it?” asked Otticus.
“It would be suicide to engage such a creature in a confined space like that,” said Tored.
“I think we wounded it, but I’m not sure how badly,” said Hemlock, wincing as her ribs tormented her.
“You are hurt,” said Tored.
“Come here,” said Renevos. He cast a small healing spell, which dulled the pain significantly, although the area was s
till quite tender.
“My spell power is low. Can we make camp here?” Renevos asked.
“Perhaps,” said Tored, “Let’s explore the upper floors.”
They climbed to the remaining levels, which mirrored the makeup of the lower with the exception of the uppermost level, which featured an unfinished passageway exiting the room.
The trail of Imperial magic continued along that passage.
“This room seems as defensible as anything—perhaps more so since this earth creature can apparently swim through solid rock. We’ll spend a few hours here so Renevos can rest,” said Tored.
Hemlock agreed, and the three sat and ate lightly while Renevos fell immediately asleep. Hemlock nodded off about an hour later. Tored had agreed to stay up on watch.
In a few hours, Renevos woke up and Hemlock rose and fought off the heaviness of lingering sleep. Tored looked tired, but did not complain of any fatigue as the group made off down the passage.
Any elevation they had regained in the chamber of arches was quickly offset by the rapid descent of the passage over the next few hours. There were a few branching caves along the way, but Hemlock’s ability to sense the trail of Imperial magic was unerring.
They came to another large chasm, but this one was bridged by a narrow, forty foot bridge of rock. They were back to using torches for light, so, though they couldn’t see the bottom of the chasm, they could tell that it was very far down.
“The trail extends across,” said Hemlock ruefully.
“I don’t like it,” said Renevos.
“Nor I,” said Tored, “But I see no alternative.”
When it became clear they were all resigned to cross, they tied themselves together with rope, and Hemlock started across first.
The companions had reached about mid-span when the room began to rumble and shake around them.
The earth creature had emerged behind them without making any significant noise, and was stomping the edge of the stone bridge.
“YOU WILL ALL DIE!” it cried as it stomped.
Hemlock quickened her pace, less worried about her own balance than that of her companions. She also feared that the entire span might fail, but it did not do so.
Reaching the other side, she turned to see Tored right behind her. At a distance of several paces, Otticus was helping Renevos across. The earth creature stomped again and Hemlock watched in horror as the old wizard took an awkward, running step forward and then stumbled. At the same moment, a shard of rock fell from the ceiling, landed in front of Otticus, and severed the rope that had connected him to Renevos.
Otticus dodged the fallen rock, rushed forward and shoved the old wizard into Tored’s waiting arms. But the young wizard lost his footing in the process, and slipped off the side of the bridge.
“No!” shouted Hemlock. But it had happened in a flash. Otticus was gone.
With a defiant cry, the earth creature burrowed into the rock and disappeared.
“No, it can’t be!” cried Renevos.
Hemlock despaired until she heard a strained voice cry out. “Hey, can I get some help here?”
Tored and Hemlock rushed onto the span and saw that Otticus had somehow managed to grab an outcropping of rock as he fell. Tored was able to pull him up with some effort, and soon the four were reunited and stood, regarding the shadowy chasm.
“I thought I was going to meet my maker,” said Otticus.
“We all thought so,” said Hemlock, patting the young wizard’s back affectionately.
They proceeded along the route indicated by the Imperial magic and continued to descend deeper into the depths.
“Are we getting close?” asked Otticus.
“Yes, I think we are,” said Hemlock. “The magic is getting stronger.”
“What do you think this creature is?” asked Otticus.
“I don’t know, but it’s strong. I’m not sure if we’re wounding it, or whether it is still at full strength. It seems like it’s able to pick the best places to ambush us. I don’t like it one bit,” said Hemlock.
“Whatever it is, let’s hope it will not have any more opportunities to ambush us. Do you think it has some interest in the Wand we seek?” asked Renevos.
“I don’t know,” said Hemlock, “but it sure acts like it does.”
“Maybe we should ask it,” said Otticus.
They were all silent for a few moments.
“It does speak, so the idea has some merit,” said Tored.
“Fine,” said Hemlock, “we’ll have a nice chat with it next time we see it.”
They continued to descend for another hour until a dull, red glow began to light the system of rocky passages that they were following. As they walked, the glow increased in strength until finally a cavern was revealed. A wide river of lava cut through the middle of the cavern. The liquid rock popped and undulated as it flowed, and pockets of air-cooled surface crust coalesced at times, only to be reclaimed by the fiery undercurrent in the next moment. Hemlock realized with a certainty that this lava was not like the Maker’s Fire she had seen suspended in the Wands. It was somehow less brilliant, and the undulations in it seemed less kinetic and more mundane. The heat in the room made the air appear hazy, and what light there was seemed besieged by the darkness, and managed only a flickering deep red that left most of the room bathed in an oppressive shadow. They saw that a column of rock had collapsed from the ceiling and now bridged the distance between the gap in the rough floor, providing a means to cross over the lava flow.
The earth creature waited for them across the fallen slab of rock.
“Why are you attacking us?” yelled Hemlock.
“YOU INVADE MY HOME!”
“We’re looking for a Wand. We have no argument with you.”
“IT IS MY WAND! YOU ARE LUCKY THAT I AM OLD AND WEAK. IF I SWAM FOR A DAY IN THE DEEP ROCK, I’D CAST YOU ASIDE LIKE THE VERMIN YOU ARE!”
“The Wand is evil. We need to remove it. It was created by an Old God—why do you say it’s yours?”
“WHO ARE YOU? THERE’S SOMETHING FAMILIAR ABOUT YOU. BUT YOU KNOW NOTHING. THE WAND WAS PROMISED TO ME.”
“By who?”
“A WIZARD!”
“Well, it wasn’t his to promise!”
“THE PROMISE WAS MADE. HE WAS THE SON OF THE DEAD GOD.”
“Amazing!” said Renevos. “She must be talking about Julius!”
Hemlock considered this for a few seconds, but what little she knew of the wizard Julius, and whatever might have been promised to this creature in ages past, didn’t seem to alter the fundamental reality that she had to release the Witch Crags.
“I’m sorry, but I must have the Wand,” said Hemlock.
“I’LL KILL YOU ALL BEFORE I LET YOU HAVE IT!”
With that, the earth creature stormed forward across the stone span. Hemlock, Tored and Otticus set themselves and waited for the creature to reach them, as Renevos cast several powerful bolts of lightning at the rapidly approaching figure.
The stone creature reached the other side of the lava flow and howled with a primordial fury as it stomped at Hemlock. She dropped to all fours and then sprung back to her feet in time to dodge a rock the creature hurled at her. Hemlock noticed that the creature was becoming noticeably less bulky as each projectile attack sundered rock and earth from its body.
Tored landed a hard hit with his battle axe, and when the creature spun, Otticus and Hemlock both hit it from behind. Renevos was hanging back from the fight, but when Tored ducked a rock projectile, it happened that Renevos was directly in its path, and took its full force in the chest. The old wizard was launched off his feet and landed hard several feet back. Otticus peeled off to tend to him, and the earth creature, sensing an advantage, made toward the prone wizard. Otticus dragged Renevos backward as the creature approached, and Hemlock brought her full power to bear and leapt forward, landing a stroke with her long sword that cut the creature’s hand off at the forearm.
Hemlock was starting
to tire, and wasn’t sure how much more power she could draw upon without seeking the trance-like state to receive energy from other dimensions. And she wasn’t sure how to invoke that trance-like state without a Wand of the Imperator in her hands.
The earth creature was clearly wounded. Hemlock’s cleaving strike had dropped it to its knees, and it ceased trying to kill the prone wizard and began bounding toward the wall of the cave.
Hemlock and Tored sought to prevent it from reaching the wall, but though they made it pay dearly for the passage, its sheer bulk prevented them from holding it back.
By the time it finally reached the wall, it was crawling.
Tored grappled with the creature before Hemlock realized his intent, and though she feared for the warrior, she was impressed with the result. He able to restrain the desperate beast, and prevented it from burrowing into the rock.
“Slay it!” cried Tored.
Hemlock considered how best to accomplish that as a low rumbling started and quickly gained in intensity.
“Hurry!” shouted Tored.
Hemlock tried to thrust her blade into the creature’s hide near where a human heart might reside, but the rock skin turned the blow. She started to frantically slash at the creature instead, as the rumbling got stronger and stronger.
Suddenly something massive smashed through the wall of the chamber. A huge, circular mouth formed by the meeting of two semispherical jaws of rough hide rushed forward along the stone floor, bearing down on Tored and Hemlock. Behind the large orifice, a long, segmented body followed, undulating as the creature moved forward with a tremendous momentum, cracking and crumbling the rock floor below it as it proceeded.
Tored and Hemlock were forced to dash away from the earth creature to avoid being drawn into the cavernous jaws of the massive worm. As they recoiled in shock, they watched over a hundred feet of leathery, segmented hide pass before them until the worm burrowed out of the opposite side of the chamber.
The earth creature was nowhere to be found.
“What was that thing?” cried Hemlock.
“I’ve never seen its like,” Tored managed.
Hemlock And The Dead God's Legacy (Book 2) Page 24