Fate's Hand

by Lynn, Christopher

  Asher grabbed the dagger lodged in Val’s hand and yanked it free. Val screamed and grabbed his wrist in agony.

  “What’s going on?”

  Asher placidly turned away and started going through his pouch.

  “You made a noise, a small moan. It woke me up. I looked over to see you creeping in the light. Not you. Your hand. You withdrew your dagger and raised it over your chest. It looked as if you were going to stab yourself…so I stopped you.”

  “You threw a dagger through my hand! Are you crazy?”

  Asher regarded him briefly, but said nothing and turned his attention back to his pouch. He opened a leather wrap containing an assortment of needles and some fine string. He laid it aside with his water canteen. Asher reached over and took Val’s hand away from him. As Val opened his fingers, the two men saw the wound was almost completely sealed with almost no blood and little scarring.

  “Well, it doesn’t look like you’ll need this,” Asher said. He gathered his pack and crossed over to the other side of the fire. “I suggest you try to get some sleep now.”

  Val looked at his hand in fixation. Though still shocked and frightened, he felt almost no pain in his hand. It was gone. He laid back down knowing very well he would not be able to fall asleep.

  I tried to stab myself? The thought brought his mind to his weapons. He had another dagger strapped to his thigh. Val popped up and reached for the blade with his unhindered hand, but it was missing.

  “I’ll return it in the morning, Val.” Asher said from across the flames.

  Uneasily, Val settled back down on his roll.

  How did you get that dagger? Val thought. And what is going on with my hand? Val flexed his fingers, testing the strength of the leather straps. He realized how lucky he wasn’t alone in this.

  “Thank you, Asher.”

  A grunt in the dark was all he received.

  Drask raged, and sweeping everything off his makeshift summoning table. It had taken him two full days to gain the link with his lost hand and one more to muster the strength to take over the human’s body. He breathed heavy as he realized how taxed his body had become in those two days of meditation and spellcasting. Glass crunched under the footsteps of his invisible guardian as it walked to a dryer spot. The spilled spell ingredients covered Drask's hands, a few of the reagents mixing into his wound, a shard of glass pierced his palm. He hunched over and tried to regulate his breathing while watching the human skin sizzle.

  “Weak,” he murmured. The dark blood poured across the white skin. He resolved not to let the weakness seep into his body.

  “Would you like for me to have the imp set it up again?”

  “No,” Drask answered. “The human found the hand to act on its own and stabbed it. I thought his entire body would be under my control, but he is stronger than I believed or farther away than I thought.”

  Drask raised his head to look at where he figured the invisible arch demon would be standing.

  “Yusar?”

  “The red wizard needed to heal, but he is ready to help now. He wants to get out of the tower.”

  Drask smirked. “Good. Have him go for the giants, then the gnolls. Let him wear a collar until the task is done. Link it to Rurrick and have him chaperone.”

  Silence. Drask’s expression of confidence fell as he looked out into the empty room.

  ”What?”

  “Rurrick is dead. Killed by the battle mage. He escaped. He had help waiting for him in the woods.”

  Drask sighed.

  “The tower stays here. Have Sirash start summoning my loyal troops. Cut off one of her arms first. Tell her I will have her head next time she fails me. Then let her have the arm back.”

  “Yes, Prince.”

  “Have this mess cleaned up. I need a few days' rest so I can think clearly.”

  Drask grabbed an empty bottle and started collecting his own blood as he walked out the door. “Only disturb me if there is something to report.”

  Arihem silently opened the door for Drask. “What about Temo?”

  Drask sighed. “He served his purpose perfectly. I already have an messenger sent to bring him a message.”

  There was a moment of silence and Drask could sense the Archfiend wanted to know more.

  “I brought the battle mage here to help break Yusar's spirit. Now I will give the wizard an opportunity to redeem himself. Once he is back in my good graces, any thought of banishing me will be completely out of his mind. It will not be long till he tells his guild what happened and where we are. Soon, we will be greeted by the first entourage of humans, and I will be waiting for them.

  Sirash sat in the main balcony of the inner tower, supervising the demons below.

  “He isn’t happy with you,” said the invisible sentry.

  “Considering I’m not back in the abyss, I can only assume you weren’t sent to kill me? He doesn’t have another who can perform the tasks I can.”

  Sirash felt the edge of a shard blade pressed against her lowermost arm. She didn’t look, but forced a smile around gritted teeth. The blade came away.

  “An arm is what he wants? That seems a little harsh for the sweet, peace-loving prince,” Sirash said and turned. Standing before her was a lithe devil. His skin was so dark color it reflected the light like black water. His elongated jaw and massive curved horns framed her face, nearly touching it. He stood staring at Sirash, a scimitar in hand and his wings slightly out behind him. The entire scene made Sirash shake in excitement. She turned away and began slithering down the hall toward her chamber.

  “Take it if you will, Arihem.”

  She went into her room, left the door ajar, and stood in the middle of her room breathing heavily, waiting. Sirash's hair was sucked into the air behind her as Arihem entered and slammed the door. He glared at the naga with her back to him and grunted loudly. Sirash didn’t cower, but instead held her chin high. Arihem exploded into action, tackling the demon and throwing her to the bed. He flipped her over and mounted her, holding down two of her hands and sliding his legs up to pin the rest. Sirash hissed at him and snapped at his face. He jerked back, then quickly moved in to bite her neck. She instantly stopped resisting, her tail flipping around playfully.

  Arihem lingered over her neckline, biting just shy of breaking the skin. Sirash clawed at his arms and legs that pinned her, reeling in anticipation. After a lengthy tease, the large devil moved his legs down and pulled his knees tight around her mid-section. Sirash reached with one of her free hands and removed the sword from Arihem’s scabbard. He smiled and continued his teasing. Her tail wrapped around his neck and pulled him up to sit on her. She bit her lip as she slashed across her body, cleanly taking off one of her own arms at the joint. She let out a feral roar and released Arihem, who drove into her kiss her roughly and muffle the scream. Her yell quickly turned to moaning as she used her other free arms to work a spell and hold the arm back onto its joint.

  Arihem worked into her harder, trying to break her concentration. She sank her fangs into his lip as he made her body quake in pleasure. Sirash continued with her spell as the ligaments from her severed shoulder began to reach out and take hold of her disembodied arm. She could feel her muscles reforming and holding her arm tightly into place. She released her shoulder and grabbed scratched her nails down Arihem's back.

  When the arm was back in full operation, she arched her back and began to fight against Arihem. The arch demon grabbed her throat and clasped her mouth. She shifted her weight and flipped the large demon over on her bed, using all of her arms to hold his limbs down and began to work her body across his in ecstasy.

  Arihem toyed with the jewel on his necklace. He gathered himself up and offered a parting smile to Sirash, who lay sprawled out on the bed.

  “Do you think his plan will work?” she said to stop him.

  “Who knows exactly what his end plan is. I believe he knew the battle mage was going to escape. He may have even helped. I’m not sure. But I know
I loathe the abyss. He says he has a plan to make it where we can stay here. I can’t say I share his ambition to live as these surface dwellers do. But I would enjoy the freedom this world provides. We would be like gods to these mortals.”

  Sirash put on a pouting look and nestled herself into the pillows. “You wouldn’t want to stay here with us and rule?”

  Arihem frowned slightly and looked out the window.

  “No. I don’t want to live under any rule or command. Drask hasn't properly researched all the details for the spell he's using. He wants to make us immune from returning to the Abyss, but I don’t know how the Angels would allow it. I will not be made into a mortal. When I die, I want to be sent back to where I came from.”

  Sirash admired her new scar. “I do enjoy our time together. Come into my chamber when you want to talk some more.”

  Arihem activated his necklace, rendering him invisible. “Oh, you can count on that.”

  Sirash smiled as his two rough hands slid around her body, pressing her back onto the bed.

  The group of orcs were tense after finding two of their scouts dead. The leader, Grumek, doubled up their scouting teams, but whoever felled their brothers hadn't struck again. With no more sightings or issues, he would return to normal shifts that night. Grumek made a final head count on his troops and the slaves. Goblin slaves carried his pack and food at the head of the column. Two massive half-ogre brothers named Zuk and Rend stood in the middle of the group, giving deadly looks to all the slaves. Around the half-ogres' waists were custom-fitted metal belts with numerous loops around them, each loop holding the chains to the slaves. The brothers had been in the slaver business with Grumek for years. Even with a full belt of slaves pulling against them, the two large beasts could not be moved.

  The largest human male, the brothers' favorite to pick on, was looking away. Zuk heaved on the man’s chain, dragging him in closer. As the tension began pulling the man in, he panicked and cried out for help. The slaves lowered their heads and shuffled their feet. . Zuk reined the man within an arm's distance and grabbed his head, lifting him off the ground. The man kicked and thrashed, but his fatigued body soon went limp.

  Grumek noticed the large half-ogre and called out to him. Zuk dropped the man and looked away, ignoring the slave as he flopped to the ground. The others gathered around and lifted him up. The slaves learned quickly if any of their own fell behind, the chain was cut and the wilder orcs in the back would beat them to death. Grumek did this periodically to any slave he deemed unworthy of the trouble, just to keep his pack happy. The sun was setting and it was time for the slavers to set out. Grumek grunted to his two groups of scouts. The eight looked back at him and nodded, split into two groups, and set out slightly north and south of the group.

  Grumek looked the slaves over as he gave the scouts a head start. His eye wandered to the young female he found at the edge of some farming village. Her eyes were sad and sunken in but still held some fire. She had been a handful, and it was hard to keep his orcs away from her at night, but she would fetch a handsome price in the market. Zuk and Rend were not given many rules on their duties, but one was to keep the young females safe and untouched.

  Grumek looked her body up and down. Her clothes were ripped revealing her legs and shoulders. Daria felt his eyes on her and wrapped her chained hands around her body, trying to pull her clothes tighter around her exposed skin. Rend noticed his leader ogling the woman and grunted, sliding his large axe out from behind him. He stepped in to block the view of the young woman. Rend and Grumek stared intensely at each other. Grumek finally broke with a smile. The two shared a hearty laugh as Rend replaced his weapon. Grumek signaled to the group and the march resumed.

  Val hid behind the rock at the entrance of the small valley. When he first arrived, his body shook with anticipation, but over the long period of waiting he relaxed. Rylan and Asher had stationed him at the entrance for a reason. He was laying on his bed roll with a blanket over him. They covered his blanket with a small layer of pebbles and several larger rocks. He was already well-hidden behind boulders, but they didn’t want to take any chances. He was to lay as still as possible. The two men would only launch the attack once all the orcs had come into the pass. At that time, he could jump out and cut off their only escape route. He listened for any noise and for a while he feared the orcs had gone another route. But he didn’t dare come out, for fear of ruining the attack. So he laid in wait.

  Asher sat poised above the valley, behind a row of saplings that grew out of a fissure in the boulders. He had propped up a blanket on some branches as a decoy. The trap was right in his line of sight and his concealment was solid. He scanned the moonlit rocks, bow in hand.

  Rylan felt cold and ill-prepared. He was naked, his back to the rocks a little ways from the entrance of the valley. The only movement he made was to keep his tattoo wet. After some thought, he opened the vial labeled “geko” once more. He slathered on a few drops of blood and felt it take a stronger hold on his body. He looked at his hand, black and glassy and rested his hand on the stone to see its color once again became a dull grey with several black striations. He looked out with his night activated vision and searched the valley and skyline. He saw no sign of the orcs, but trusted Asher's prediction that they would use the pass. He squinted his large golden eyes and tried to rest until he got the signal.

  Asher heard them before he saw them.

  Three large scouting orcs made their way through the moonlit rocks. Quiet as they were, the heavy footsteps across the stone betrayed them to the seasoned ranger. Asher keep her concealment behind the rock until the orcs had aligned with his position. As the dark figure came into the peripheral vision of the first orc, Asher let his arrow fly and rolled around the nearest rocks and readied his next arrow. The orc tried to stop the other two scouts, but a sharp pain ran down his arm. He looked down to his unresponsive arm, but instead his eyes became fixed on the arrow shaft protruding from his rib cage. He used his other hand to take hold of the arrow just before his knees went weak. The others saw him fall and immediately took defensive stances. As they exchanged hushed grunts, they made their way over to check on their fallen warrior.

  As one of the orcs kneeled and rolled the dead orc over, two arrows flew over his back. He jumped up, dropping his bow and pulling out his sword and buckler in a panic. He backpedaled, watching his friend clutching at two arrows stuck in his neck and chest. The injured orc stumbled, spilling his blood across the dry stone. The last orc frantically scanned the cracks and dark spots in the rocks and boulders. A stone skipping across the stone to his right caught his attention. As the large creature spun to scan the area, two long, thin daggers jammed in each side under his arms. He immediately released his short sword and shield and was surprised to not hear them clatter against the ground.

  The tall, pale human caught the items and gently laid the orc down.

  The orc watched, disoriented, as the man reached his hands around his sides, and jerked the two daggers free. The orc's jaw opened to shout an alarm, but his lungs quickly filled and the only thing to leave his mouth was warm, bitter blood. As he lay dying, he watched the human turn his back and begin his hunt once more, paying no more attention to the scouting party.

  Asher drew a heavy, blunt-tipped arrow. He could see some movement across the pass as the other party checked the other side. Asher pulled the arrow back with all his might and let it fly high and far ahead of the scouting party. The loud crack and sound of falling rocks caught their attention and three of them sprinted off to check it out. Asher kneeled to steady himself and took aim for the last orc, waited for the other three to leave the area, then fired again. The arrow arched long across the valley. Asher lost it among the stars and darkness. Moments later, he saw the creature fall to his knees, then pitch forward onto the stone.

  Val heard the chains first. Then the sound of footsteps across the rocks, and the armor and weapons clanking. The chains made the most noise. He closed his ey
es and tried not to imagine his sister bound by the chains, hungry and hurt. He tried to steady his breathing and relax, but his heart was pounding. Val gripped his sword with both hands and thought about what he needed to do. For the first time, he was thankful for the hand. Val realized he was squeezing the leather handle so hard it was making a twisting noise, so he relaxed his grip. It was the same feeling as waking up after having slept on his hand, like it had only just begun to get its blood flow back, but the tingling remained. He could almost feel the texture of the leather, or the memory of the feeling. He realized he was holding his breath, and he slowly blew it out.

  As long as you still perform. he thought to the hand. The sound of orcs yelling out in another language caught his attention. His heart began to beat quickly again.

  Grumek walked through the ranks and looked to the edge of the cliff faces that hung over them all. His scouts should have been looking down on him, but he didn’t see any. He got to the head where the party had stopped and looked down the pass with the lead orc. The guide sniffed the air and pointed a long spear out. Grumek took a few steps forward and squinted into the darkness. Something moved across the wall of the rocks. In a hushed tone, he gave the order to extinguish the torches. The stone before them looked as if it was slowly melting as it moved. A creature jumped down off the wall and landed flat across the ground. Grumek tried to make it out, but the thing seemed to disappear into the rocks. He motioned for troops to come forward, pointed at the strange creature, and pushed them on. The three orcs drew their weapons and reluctantly advanced.

  Rylan stood up and walked over to the rock wall of the pass. He removed a rag laying on the ground and began wiping the blood off his neck, lost his camouflage and reverted back to human form, standing naked, exposed in the moonlight. The entire party of orcs and humans looked on in surprise. Rylan grabbed a pair of light cotton shorts and put them on. He casually strolled to the middle of the path and to greet the group with a large smile on his face.