“…And how soon will that happen?” Visna asked, her tone growing more bitter as she looked at the floor of the room.
“That depends. If things go well, we’ll leave within the week.” Serel paused and shook her head. “If things do not go well, you’ll have the pleasure of seeing all of us die. Though likely as not, another force will arrive and take all of you away, in any case.”
“I don’t take pleasure in death. All life has meaning to it. Even if I hate you, I wouldn’t take pleasure in your death,” Visna replied caustically, causing Serel to pause and look up at her thoughtfully.
“I suppose. I find that strange.” Serel shrugged and shook her head. “But I am now studying. I will not answer further questions.”
The room grew silent as Visna looked out the window and Serel read the book, thoughtful in spite of herself, pondering Visna’s words.
* * *
“Do you think this part is going to be as dangerous as implanting the gems?” Vivian asked as the two women got dressed in the outfits designed to hide them from Medaea’s senses.
“It shouldn’t be. According to my notes, the gems are connected to all of her primary sensory centers, and they should keep her from realizing what’s happening, though her body may involuntarily react,” Serel replied, shaking her head slightly. “It will still be dangerous, and the notes point out that a violation of her specific precepts might possibly wake her, so we need to be cautious. Our task is to brand her, though that is going to be difficult in its own right.”
“How is it even supposed to work? You said that we’re going to be maintaining this ritual for a day, so doesn’t that mean that the holy ground will destroy the brand almost immediately afterward?” Farin interjected her own inquiry as she adjusted her arm coverings.
“That’s why we’re taking a day to do it. The brand can be broken by holy ground or holy water, yes, but that only happens once the ritual ends.” Serel shook her head as she continued, sighing. “In this case the ritual will technically be done in less than ten minutes, as normal. However, we’re going to keep the ritual going for a full day so that the day has passed before the ritual ends. That way, it can’t be broken by holy ground. It’s going to take an immense amount of mana, though, which is why the Archon sent all of the mana stones he did with us.”
“Oh.” Farin digested the thought for a moment, then smiled. “That’s a clever way to get past the holy ground. Expensive, but worthwhile in this particular case.”
“Assuming we succeed. I’m guessing this is why you’re having us rotate who speaks the ritual lines every repetition, and that we rotate participants every hour?” Vivian commented, tilting her head slightly as she finished wrapping her arms, with only her face next.
“Quite. This is going to be long and tedious. Try not to get us all killed. I’d be very put out,” Serel replied with a slight grin.
“Right,” Vivian murmured with a nod.
Farin just grinned and shook her head, teasing. “Don’t plan on it.”
* * *
Most of the equipment she’d been given for this mission was simple and elegant, like the poison and gems, Serel reflected. They were carefully designed to carry out their purpose with minimal effort.
The heavy steel framework that they’d assembled around Medaea was the opposite of that. The piping was obviously designed to be heavy, and it sat wide of either side of the bier the goddess laid on. Getting the parts down the stairs and assembling them had been a pain in the ass, particularly in the clothing they had to wear to avoid her attention. The two pieces attached to the frame were even simpler. A padded bar was designed to go across the goddess’ shoulders and was attached to the frame by bars and springs that would push her back down if she tried to move, while a similar one was across her hips, though that one also had the elaborate branding iron set into it as well. And all across the frame were dozens of sockets for the mana stones she’d been supplied with for the project.
The last of the stones were in place, and she took a deep breath as the bars settled against Medaea, the branding iron pressing around the gem that had perfectly fused into the deity’s skin. Fortunately Medaea didn’t stir at all, her breathing soft and slow.
Smiling slightly, Serel took a deep breath, nodding to the others as they took their positions, and then she began to speak the words of the ritual. The words were guttural and deep in the echoing chamber, and the branding iron began to glow with a violet light.
Everyone flinched as the goddess shuddered, then convulsed slightly, pressing up against the springs, which quickly pushed her downward again with soft creaking sounds. They had no illusions about what would happen if there was a harsh reaction from the goddess. The springs and framework would be less than useless if that were the case, but it was mostly there to keep her from moving so much that the branding iron was in the wrong place.
Serel continued speaking, her voice steady as she watched the deity, hoping that she wasn’t about to die here.
* * *
It had been an exhausting day. Hour after hour of rotating through who was speaking the ritual’s words, and the occasional other Enforcer coming down to replace one of the five who were participating. When one left, they would have three hours to eat, drink, and rest before they had to return down and do it again.
But Serel knew, no matter how grungy and tired they were, that they were near the end of the ritual. They’d cycled through twenty-four times, so as soon as the next Enforcer came down and gave her the nod that it had been at least twenty-four hours since they started, they could go through the final stages of the ritual one last time, and they’d be done.
She almost missed it when one of the others appeared in the stairwell. Exhaustion and habit had long since taken hold of her, and she spoke the words habitually as her turn came. It was only then that she noticed Adam in the doorway, gesturing to her. Her heart surged with joy as she realized that they were almost done, and she almost screwed up one of the words of the chant from the distraction, which wrenched her attention back to what she was doing.
They went through the final words, the mana pulsing around them one last time, and then with a gesture, Serel brought the ritual to an end. The next person nearly started out of habit, but didn’t get far enough as she gave him a look, shaking her head. And she slowly stepped toward the frame, the mana stones on it almost all dark and empty, as Medaea slowly settled down again. Reaching forward, Serel noticed her hands were trembling as she undid the bolt holding the branding iron in place, and then carefully removed it.
Her breath caught as she saw the beautiful, perfectly formed crest inscribed into Medaea’s skin. It was a deep, rich purple, unlike any other brand she’d seen before, and of a far more complex design as well. She slowly smiled, then circled around to the goddess’ head.
Licking her chapped lips, Serel barely noticed her outfit as she spoke softly, “I order you to continue sleeping until ordered otherwise. Sleep deeply, and do not take notice of being moved or intrusions into your domain.”
Medaea sighed and seemed to settle even deeper into sleep at the order. Serel hesitated, but decided that now was the time to test whether or not it had worked. So she reached up and unwrapped the bindings around her head, breathing the open air for the first time down here as the other Enforcers tensed. When the deity didn’t respond, she unwrapped her right hand and reached out to touch the deity’s skin gently.
There was a shock, like when one had built up static electricity, but it didn’t hurt Serel, even though she jumped slightly. But the deity’s skin was warm and smooth, soft like nothing Serel had touched before. She sighed slightly, then looked at the others and nodded. “Take down the frame. We’ll come down tomorrow to put her in her casket to transport her.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Adam spoke in hushed surprise, and Serel smiled broadly as she nodded to herself.
With Medaea subdued, they would soon be able to move her out of the temple. She thought that Adam would
be tasked with arranging the capture of the angel who was the temple chapel’s guardian. While not specifically part of her orders, it would not be amiss to bring another prize to the Archon, should the regular priestess brand work on the angel. If it didn’t, she could always have the angel killed.
Serel hummed happily to herself as she climbed the stairs, a spring to her step as she headed for the bed she’d claimed as her own to rest for at least six hours. Sleep would be lovely.
Chapter 18
Sistina’s attention was drawn away from experimenting with combining the mana from her nodes when she noticed a group of four dozen humans, a few half-elves, and about two dozen elves that had just come into sight outside. They were well-armed, and had dozens of what had to be horses. Sistina hadn’t remembered what horses were until just a moment before, but the sight of them had brought the memory of them back. The group stopped a decent distance from the front cavern and began to set up camp, causing her to frown internally. She couldn’t properly sense them from this distance, but she thought that most of the ones doing the labor were the elves, though a few humans were doing so as well. Were these people from Kelvanis? Either way, she thought that this could very well be the start of an invasion. So she opened her eyes and headed over to where Lily was working on her soup for dinner.
She’d made herself clothing after adjusting her body, which had actually been simpler than making clothing for Lily, since she was perfectly aware of her own body’s shape. The same plant that she’d used before supplied the fabric, and she’d chosen to go with simple green dyes to make her life easier. Besides, the tunic and trousers matched the colors of her leaves.
“Sistina?” Lily looked up and blinked slightly. “Is something wrong?”
Considering a moment, Sistina nodded and then pointed toward the entrance. “Intruders.”
Pointing at Lily, she added, “Inside.”
“Ah, you want me to stay inside because of intruders?” Lily obviously knew what she meant, and was just checking to be certain, so Sistina nodded. The elf and smiled. “I can do that. Thanks for letting me know.”
Nodding again, Sistina gave Lily a faint smile and headed back toward her tree, growing thoughtful as she went.
* * *
“Alright. The camp’s set up, get organized for the night. We’ll test out the cave early tomorrow morning,” Lord Evansly ordered his troops with a grin, patting one on the shoulder.
It usually took new members of his company by surprise that their commanding officer was a dusk elf, and that he tended to get along so well with his troops, but they usually got over it in short order. The slaves, on the other hand, tended to hate his guts since he was a filthy traitor in their eyes.
Evansly preferred to think of himself as being an opportunist who’d seen the way the winds were blowing over a decade ago. He actually felt bad about what he’d had to do to get a position with Kelvanis, but his wife had finally forgiven him for sacking her hometown almost six months before, and not a moment too soon from his point of view. Besides, she never would have been as wealthy as she was now.
Evansly knew it was a combination of his knowledge of elves, his loyalty to Kelvanis, and the loyalty of his troops that had caused the Adjudicator to choose him for this job. If he performed well, why, he might even get promoted to rule over a city or fortress. That would allow him to stay home much more, which would be a wonderful change of pace. He’d like the chance to settle down and raise a family.
With that in mind, he looked at the cavern entrance with a smile on his face. It was oddly regularly shaped for a cave entrance, in his opinion, but he shrugged, ordering, “Set a full squad to watch the cave entrance, half with boar spears. That should hold off the bears if they come out.”
Unlike the previous scouts, he was prepared.
* * *
Sistina’s internal frown grew as a group from outside ventured into her cave. There were three slaves with them, two elves and a human, and they currently had one of the elves twenty paces ahead of them testing the floor and ceiling cautiously while the group behind them was armed with long spears with cross-bars, heavy crossbows, and enchanted bolts. There were a few other enchanted items on them, but she couldn’t examine them properly when they were in the intruder’s satchels.
It looked like the elf in front was intended to set off traps, which annoyed her. Especially since the one in front was a slave, and she’d rather not kill slaves. It wasn’t as if a slave would be volunteering to set off traps, and they were worth much more to her alive.
She debated as they made slow progress down the hallways, trying to decide what to do. Finally, mentally sighing, she reached out to the most deadly of the plant-like traps and forced them to go dormant. She’d drop the slaves into pitcher plants or the like and deal with them later. The bigger problem was the armed soldiers. But those she wouldn’t have too much of a problem with, if she handled them right.
* * *
Fredrick made sure to keep the slave in sight as they rounded another corner. The light from ahead was suspicious, but at least Ilmas was taking care to check the floor and walls in front of him before he kept moving, making sure any traps were out of the way. While he didn’t want the slave to die, Fredrick would far rather Ilmas set off a trap than be caught in one himself.
It couldn’t be fun being a male elf, particularly one that wasn’t particularly handsome, skilled, or suited to the gladiatorial arenas, Fredrick reflected. People like Ilmas either ended up as laborers, were recruited into the slave legions, or ended up as glorified trap-finders like the poor man was now. Some women ended up in the same situation, but most of them ended up being shipped off to the orcs if they wouldn’t fetch a good price. But his train of thought cut off as Ilmas stopped and called back softly.
“I see an opening ahead, it’s half-covered by vines, and I can see both light and plants inside,” Ilmas reported dutifully, tension in his voice.
“Move cautiously,” Sergeant Helm ordered, checking his crossbow again. “I’d prefer that we not have to replace you, Ilmas.”
“Agreed, Sergeant,” Ilmas murmured fervently, drawing his dagger before he continued around a corner, with the other group following him.
The light was bright and warm, like the sun, Fredrick noticed, but his eyes narrowed as he realized it was like the light was coming from high noon, not from the angle of mid-morning like it was outside. Glancing at the Sergeant, he murmured, “The light, sir? Wrong angle.”
“Good catch, Fred,” Sergeant Helm replied softly, then called out, “Ilmas! Where’s the light coming from?”
“Umm… some sort of orb in the ceiling. Too bright to look straight at, so I can’t tell you much,” Ilmas replied after a moment, then looked down, blinking as he swore. “Damn. That makes it hard to see. Can I stop for a second to get my sight back?”
“Go ahead,” the sergeant told him, then glanced at the others. “Anyone know what that is?”
“Some of the old legends say that the elven cities before the Godsrage used magical orbs to light the cities at night,” the other elf, Sina, offered, shrugging. “I don’t know any details, though, since they’re just legends.”
“Could be true, though,” Daniel piped up from the back. “Not seeing anything back here, Sergeant.”
“Hmm. Well, we’ll report it when we’re out of here,” Helm decided, shrugging before looking to the front. “Ilmas! You good to go yet?”
“I suppose so. There’s a lot of plants in here, and the ground’s rough, so watch your step,” the elf told them, and stepped into the chamber.
As Fredrick went inside, he was stunned to see huge roses on a bush across the way from him, and blinked in shock before asking, “Isn’t it early in the year for roses?”
“We’re inside, dumbass. If they can grow indoors, who’s to say they can’t bloom when they want?” Sergeant Helm shot back, looking around. “I’m not seeing any animals, but there’re two exits. Take a look at them, Ilmas.”
There were bushes all over the chamber, and Fredrick was studying one to his left, a large, massive tangle with nasty thorns. It would be incredibly unpleasant to fall into, he imagined. A sudden curse from the Sergeant tore his eyes away from the bush and back to the front.
Ilmas yelped as he suddenly fell through the floor before Fredrick’s eyes, and just as the soldier tensed, a scream came from behind him, causing him to spin around, and his eyes went huge with horror. Sina was getting yanked into the air by a huge plant on the ceiling, and he gawked for a moment.
“Ambush!” Sergeant Helm barked. “Fred, bush! Kill it!”
By this point Fredrick was off balance, but he spun again, and gaped in shock as the bush reared back, and revealed that it wasn’t rooted in place at all. It had two gnarled, trunk-like legs, a tangle of branches and thorns forming two arms, and a top crowned by a massive maw lined with thorns. Worst of all, the thing was nearly eight feet tall.
He stabbed his spear at it instinctively, but the leaf-bladed spear went right through the creature without more than tickling it, and the bar caught in the middle of its branches as it bit down at him. Stumbling backward, Fredrick let go of the spear and gasped in pain as the ‘fangs’ of the monster plunged into his right arm when he threw it up to shield his head from the creature.
Staggering backward again, he blinked and gaped as he saw another of the monsters attacking the sergeant, who was chopping at it furiously with his sword. Adams was trying to assist the Sergeant, while Daniel was trying to rescue Sina as she was yanked upward, almost out of reach.
“Retreat!” the sergeant finally bellowed. “Go, go, go! Get out of here, I’ll take the rear with Adams!”
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