by Sam Ferguson
He wondered, would the tiny larvae consume the demon? Could they access the gaps in the demon’s bone plate armor and find their way into the open wounds?
Then again, it had taken Pintar around an hour to begin feeling the effects. This fight would be over one way or the other long before that.
The demon roared and began to shake its body. It hunkered down, placing its hands on the ground as it snarled and shook. Torgath knew it couldn’t heal itself; that was the promise of the dragon blade. But what was happening?
A spike launched from the demon’s shoulder and flew directly at Torgath’s face.
The orc dove to the ground and then rolled as three more spikes launched at him. Before the orc could regain his feet, the demon charged like a bull. It launched through the air and swung one of the worm-woman’s arms, catching Torgath in the chest and knocking him to the ground several feet away.
The air left the orc’s lungs and his chest burned as he tried to regain it.
The demon stretched tall and came at Torgath, its spiked arms ready to deal their deadly damage.
Torgath leapt to his feet and deftly blocked one, then two arms. Hunks of bone chipped off as sparks flew from the sword. The sheer force the demon fought with nearly overwhelmed Torgath, pushing him back a couple of steps with each swing. Torgath kicked at the bone plates covering the gash he had put on the demon’s belly, but it had no effect. The demon swung both of its left arms in a back-handed motion, connecting with Torgath’s sword and knocking the orc backward several feet. Fortunately the orc kept his footing, for the demon rushed him again.
Torgath dodged to the left and let the demon crash headlong into a tree. The palm snapped in half and the demon roared in anger. It turned and picked up the broken tree.
“Khefir’s breath,” Torgath cursed.
The tree whooshed through the air as the demon swung the thing back and forth, forcing Torgath to run backward.
A horrid squeal erupted from behind Torgath. The orc turned and saw that the worm-woman had seized his horse by the neck, her fat tail squeezing as she bit the horse over and over. Blood covered the worm-woman’s mouth and neck as she feasted. The horse tried to pull away, but the worm-woman’s tail constricted so tightly that soon the horse’s ribs broke. She dragged the animal down to the water’s edge, and Torgath saw the beginnings of new arms growing from where the other arms had been.
“What in the name of Hammenfein are you?”
The orc felt the rush of wind just in time to duck below the swinging palm as the demon came in closer. The orc sheathed his sword and watched the tree swing back the other way. He ducked below and then rushed up to grab the top of the tree and push. He leaned into the palm with everything he had, and it worked. The demon spun on the slimy grass and lost his footing. The bone-plated behemoth fell, landing square on his rump.
Torgath stopped then and turned to use the tree like a push stick, shoving the broken end into the demon’s bone-plated chest. The demon, off balance as it was, wasn’t positioned well to push back, and instead the smooth bone plates slid easily over the slime-covered grass.
“GAAAHHHH!” Torgath roared as he drove forward, sliding the snarling demon into the water and tumbling the thing backward into the pool, its legs flailing as it fell upside down into the liquid. The demon released its grip on the tree soon after and Torgath grunted as its full weight shifted to him. He tossed the thing down and then backed away.
Horseless, he knew he would have to wait and confirm that both of these monsters were dead before he could try to escape across the sands, for either could catch him easily.
Which was to say nothing of the sand worms if they still hungered.
Torgath caught his breath and looked around, trying to find something to give him an advantage over the monsters. The worm-woman seemed easy enough to kill, as his sword would cleave through her flesh without a problem. It was the demon that he needed to strategize against. If it charged him again, he would need a way to get through the bone plates, and now that Torgath knew the worm-woman lived, he would have to keep his eye on the waters so as not to become ambushed like his horse.
Just then, the waters broke and two bone-covered hands emerged. The demon hauled itself onto the bank of the pool and coughed violently. Water spewed from its mouth, and then the demon roared once more.
Blood and grime coursed over the bone plates, loosed by the tumble into the pool and the waters themselves. Hopefully that would prove the demon’s undoing. The sword had never failed to weaken a demon before, though admittedly it seemed to be taking longer this time.
The demon stepped forward and clicked several times.
Torgath lowered to a nearly kneeling position, ready to leap away at a moment’s notice. The demon stepped forward and then stopped. Its lower right hand scratched at the bone plates over its stomach and it snarled.
Maybe the little larvae can work faster. After all, Pintar had only swallowed a few handfuls of water. The demon had been fully submerged for several seconds with an open wound.
The demon shook its head and bent down for the tree, ever clicking as it moved.
Torgath drew his sword and prepared to fight once more. The demon swung wildly and charged, then spun around and around, making it hard to dodge the tree as Torgath back-pedaled from the oasis grass to the rocky terrain in the thick mist. The demon spun around once more, but this time it released the tree, something that Torgath realized too late. The trunk clipped Torgath’s shoulder as he miscalculated the distance to evade the object. He toppled to his side and stumbled over a sizeable rock, slamming onto the ground.
Torgath almost made it to his feet, but the demon had already launched its staff. It whirled through the air until the business end of the demon’s staff slammed into Torgath’s chest, preventing him from standing.
The demon leapt through the air with grace that should not have been possible. It tore through the mist and punched down with one of its hands. Torgath moved his head to the left just in time as the armored fist slammed into the rocky ground below. The bone plate covering the demon’s knuckles cracked and the demon howled, but it brought down another arm. Torgath managed to block the arm with his sword, but the demon’s strength was greater than his own, and the spikes along the elbow and forearm were pressing ever closer to the orc.
The demon brought its face near to Torgath’s and sniffed loudly. Torgath shifted his head once more to evade the dripping water from the demon’s mouth, afraid it might carry unseen larvae.
The demon started to cough. Torgath took hope, thinking the larvae were eating the beast, but then the orc realized the demon wasn’t coughing. It was laughing. It planted its other two hands nearby Torgath as it pressed down with the one arm.
It wanted Torgath to see the defeat coming.
The demon was relishing the victory.
Torgath kicked at the demon as the spikes came within a couple inches of his flesh, but the bone plates deflected the kicks as easily as if Torgath was assaulting a castle tower of stone. There was nothing he could do.
So close! Only one demon after this one, and he could present the teeth to Hatmul! How could it come to this? Now this demon would not only consume Torgath’s soul, it would likely absorb the energies within the teeth from the necklace, making it that much stronger as it feasted on its fallen brethren.
No!
Torgath summoned the strength to push the demon’s arm upward an inch, but the victory was snatched away immediately as the demon snarled and leaned its weight onto Torgath’s sword. The orc was losing ground faster now, and all was lost.
A mass of brown swung in from the side and collided with the demon’s face with enough force to crack the demon’s forehead plate and snap the creature’s head to the side.
A rope then looped over the demon’s head and tightened around its neck. The demon flew from Torgath as though it was nothing more than a hollow skeleton. Torgath frowned.
Had the warlord sent more men?
The orc leapt to his feet and surveyed the area to find Tui and Kiuwa pulling the rope and dragging the demon toward a tree. They quickly wrapped the end of the rope around the tree and then moved to engage the demon.
“No don’t!” Torgath called out. “Its armor is too thick.”
Tui had his long knives out and went in first, jabbing his blades between the bone plates as the demon scrambled to get off its back. A spiked arm flew out, but Tui dodged it.
“Takes more than that to take down a Kuscan!” Tui shouted.
The demon howled and shook. Torgath charged in, but the spikes flew long before he could reengage. Tui dodged most of them, but one of the spikes landed in his thigh.
Kiuwa rushed in and pulled his brother back as the demon got to its feet and went for what would have surely been a killing blow had Kiuwa not reached Tui first.
Torgath was there just a second later. He noticed the bleeding hand that the demon had broken on the stone when trying to pummel him. Torgath swung for the cracked armor and was delighted to see three fingers detach as his sword finished cutting through the breach.
The demon roared and spun around, but the rope jerked it back as it reached the end of its tether. Kiuwa came in with a large rock and brought it down on the back of the demon’s skull. The demon was knocked to the side, but it remained on its feet. It hissed and swiped at Kiuwa, but the Kuscan had already moved aside.
“GARGH!” Torgath looked to see Tui had somehow lifted the broken palm tree by himself up over his head. He brought it down and cracked the trunk over the demon’s shoulders. The bone plates held strong, but the demon fell to its knees.
The orc could see that the demon’s forehead plate had separated a bit more. He rushed in and thrusted his sword, but the demon turned away at the last moment, and the blade bit a hunk of bone off, but nothing more.
The demon flailed its arms, knocking away the broken tree and snapping the rope that bound it. The demon turned on Torgath, but then it made a grunting noise and its left leg seemed to spasm as it turned around again.
Kiuwa and Tui both seized the opening, taking more large stones and heaving them at the demon. Neither of the rocks did much damage, but the beast did step back from the trio and then spin around again, snarling angrily and swiping at the air.
“What is it doing?” Kiuwa asked.
Torgath smiled as he realized. “Don’t drink the water,” Torgath said.
The demon twisted again, and then fell to its knees. Focused on the larvae inside its body, the demon was unable to stop Torgath from aiming his sword and piercing through the crack in its forehead plate. The demon twitched once as the blade entered. Torgath kicked the beast to the ground and pulled his sword free so he could work it between the plates covering the demon’s heart. The blade forced its way in and then fire ignited from the wound and began to consume the demon.
Torgath left his sword in as the fire grew, backing away as green and orange flames engulfed the demon.
The orc reached down for a sizeable stone and then slammed it into the demon’s jaw, breaking a tooth loose for the necklace. He scooped up the tooth and ran toward the demon’s staff. He took the weapon in both hands and snapped it over his knee.
“I’ll never cease to be amazed at that,” Tui said as souls flew free from the staff.
Torgath nodded and went to work with his necklace, lacing the tooth onto it and sealing the demon’s soul within.
“How many souls have you saved?” Tui asked.
Torgath shrugged. “I never kept count.”
“I bet you would have done it whether it was a hundred souls or a single soul.” The large man looked down at his thigh and gently poked his fingers around the protruding spike.
“You should have been faster,” Kiuwa reprimanded as he approached.
“Could have been worse,” Tui replied.
“Why did you come?” Torgath asked. “Your marks are gone. They disappeared when we arrived at the city.”
Tui smiled. “I missed you, orc.”
Kiuwa shook his head and grunted. “We couldn’t very well leave you to fight this demon alone.”
“We got here just in time too,” Tui said. “That creature had you.”
“But how did you get past the sand worms?” Torgath asked.
Kiuwa and Tui glanced to each other and then shrugged. “Didn’t see any worms. We just rode here after the captain told us where you had gone. The whole war party had gone after you, and we didn’t think you should have all the fun.”
Torgath smiled. “You have my thanks,” he said. “A more honorable pair of warriors I have never met.”
Tui limped to a boulder and lowered himself down to it while Kiuwa ripped the man’s trousers around the wound.
“This isn’t good,” Kiuwa said. “It looks infected.”
Torgath moved to his friend and saw that the flesh around the spike was swollen and red. Small pustules were starting to appear on the skin. “We may need to amputate,” Torgath said, his heart falling to his stomach.
“No, I am not about to walk out of here with only one leg,” Tui said as he waved them off. “Just pull the spike and be done with it.”
“If I pull it, I could do more damage,” Kiuwa said. “If the demon’s spike has infected your skin, then...”
“Just cauterize it,” Tui said with a shake of his head. The Kuscan reached up and wiped sweat from his forehead.
Torgath sighed as he realized the wound was already much worse than he had thought. “Pull the spike!” Torgath shouted, realizing that there must be more to it than a simple infection. The orc pushed Kiuwa away and seized the spike securely while placing his left hand on Tui’s thigh. He yanked the spike out as the Kuscan howled in pain and blood welled within the hole. The orc turned the spike over in his hand and then spied an opening in the tip. He moved to a rock and pressed the tip to its surface. A small amount of yellow liquid emerged from the hole and began smoking on the stone.
“What is it?” Kiuwa shouted over his brother’s howls.
“The spike, it had something in it.”
“What?!” Kiuwa stood and moved to Torgath. The Kuscan yanked the spike away and stared at it. The man’s mouth fell open and he turned back to his brother.
“I’m sorry,” Torgath said.
“No!” Kiuwa shouted. “We can stop the poison. We can amputate, you said so yourself. Come on!”
Tui looked to Torgath and offered one final, goofy smile. “I would have liked to dance with that dark-haired woman,” he said. Then he fell from the boulder and crashed to the ground in a lifeless heap.
“TUI!” Kiuwa rushed to his brother and shook the man, but there was no bringing him back.
Chapter 13
Kiuwa and Torgath sat with Tui’s body through the rest of the night. The venom continued to spread through the flesh, turning the veins black and the skin a dark gray. Kiuwa sang the prayer songs of the Kuscans. Torgath stood watch, vigilant against any attack the worm-woman might try, but she never came. When daylight broke, they lashed Tui’s body to one of the horses that the Kuscan’s had brought and rode eastward over the dunes as quickly as they could, stopping only once at the cache Tui and Kiuwa had hidden on their way from town.
At the base of the jagged mountains, Kiuwa and Torgath buried Tui.
Torgath helped dig the grave, and then observed silently as Kiuwa spoke the prayers in the Kuscan tongue.
“I have asked our ancestors to guide him, to help his spirit find its way to the sea,” Kiuwa said after he had finished the prayers. “Our people are part of the waters,” he said as a tear fell from his left eye.
“A finer brother had no one,” Torgath offered.
“I am going to meditate,” Kiuwa said suddenly. “It is tradition, after the death of a loved one, to meditate for the morning after their passing, to help them find their way to the waters.”
Torgath nodded. “I will keep watch.” The orc watched Kiuwa walk off into the trees a
nd disappear into the forest. The birds in the trees began to sing as they grew accustomed to Torgath’s presence, and as time passed along, the orc tried to come to terms with what had happened. Tui had already lost the mark. He had been free, and yet he had put himself in jeopardy to come to Torgath’s aid.
A Kuscan dying for an orc.
Tears welled up in Torgath’s eyes and threatened to fall, but the orc wiped them away before they could touch his cheeks. The birds went silent. At first, Torgath thought his movement had scared them off, but that wasn’t it. The air grew chilled, and a rift opened just a few feet from the grave.
Torgath’s heart stopped in his chest as Khefir stepped through the rift, his fleshless form covered in dark robes.
The collector of the damned stretched his bony hand over Tui’s grave. In response, Tui’s soul rose from the ground. The ghost of Tui looked up to Khefir and then glanced back to Torgath before crying out.
“But, I want to go to the sea,” Tui said.
Khefir shook his head. “You are coming with me.”
Torgath found his courage and forced himself to speak. “Terramyr’s mark has left him, he saved my life, trading his own for me in the process!”
Khefir turned and pierced Torgath’s soul with his eyeless stare. Yellow, glowing orbs sat in Khefir’s eye sockets, staring right through the orc.
“A little good does not change a lot of bad,” the god said. Khefir opened his hand and Tui flew toward it helplessly. The god grabbed Tui’s soul and dragged Tui through the rift.
Torgath could scarcely breathe, watching in terror as his friend was stripped of his eternal rest.
The orc sat there long after Tui had vanished, staring at the space where the rift had been.
After several hours, Kiuwa emerged from the forest with a wide smile on his face.
Torgath looked to his Kuscan friend and tried to say what he had seen, but the words wouldn’t come out.