by Tiger Hebert
Vacinne said, “No one’s stopping you. Go ahead, get out of here!”
“I can’t,” snarled Renlar. “The magic won’t let me.”
“Guess you’re stuck with me, Renny.”
Renlar looked up and threw his hands into the air. “Gods, why?”
He stormed back at her, and within a few strides he was right in her face. “You pompous, spoiled little brat. We might be stuck together, but no more personal talk. Everything is about destroying these eggs.”
“Good, because I don’t want to know any more about your salacious past.”
“Oh, don’t you worry. The moment the bond is broken, I’m getting as far away as the winds will take me.”
“Good! Now how the hell do we deal with these eggs?” asked Vacinne.
Renlar’s eyes shifted from her blue eyes to the dozens of eggs around them. They had grown significantly since they had entered the chamber just a short time ago. Some of the eggs had grown another twenty to thirty percent. And the larger ones had already begun to stir.
Renlar cursed. “I don’t know how much longer before this magical ward wears off, but we are about to be overrun. Even if the ward breaks, we are still going to have to fight our way out.”
Vacinne said, “What do you mean out? We can’t just let her escape!”
Renlar’s eyes met hers. He saw the anger burning in them. He nodded in silent agreement.
“Vacinne, Sutara will be dealt with, but if we chase after her, there’s little chance we are going to make it out of this tunnel alive. We know the vorthor demon went that way, and there is no telling how many more eggs lie between us and the exit. Our best bet is to—”
“Raaaaaaawk!” screeched a hatchling as it burst through a nearby egg.
Vacinne spun and whipped her blade free from her sheath. The runeblade flashed its brilliant yellow glow before severing the head of hatchling.
Thud.
Several other hatchlings burst forth, uttering shrieks and squawks all around them.
“Time to go!” shouted Renlar.
Vacinne charged after him. “What about the wards?”
“There’s one way to find out.”
Renlar and Vacinne darted through the hatchery. The fully-grown eggs blocked much of their paths, so their flight was reckless. Membranes split and tore as eggs all around them gave up their treasure.
Squawk!
The snapping maws of hungry demon hatchlings emerged in every direction, as did the cries of their wretched souls. The young demons thrashed violently as they broke free from the eggs. It was time to eat.
Renlar shouted, “Can your shield protect us from a big fall?”
“What?”
“If we fell a long way, would your shield protect us?”
“It will shield us from impact, but I don’t know to what extent,” shouted Vacinne as she sprinted hot on his heels.
With only the glow of her runeblade, the Warden and the rift hunter ran for their lives as the tunnel came to life around them. The proliferator demon had been busy at work. Screaming demons of every type joined the hunt.
A demon roared ahead in the darkness. The light of Vacinne’s blade barely illuminated a thrassalt demon too damn big to be just born. Its massive, muscled frame filled nearly the whole passage. The squat body seemed to be barely held above the stone floor by four misshapen legs. Its multiple bladed appendages jutted forth. They were the spears of anxious pikemen prepared to end the enemy’s charge.
Renlar flipped his wrist and jerked his right hand forward in a violent gesture. Black daggers shot from out of nowhere, through the air. The blades darted past Vacinne and Renlar as they made the deadly approach on the thrassalt. In a second, the blades were gone. They’d vanished.
Roa—
The demon’s ferocious roar was silenced as the black blades ripped through the back of its throat. The demon choked and gagged as the airborne blades eviscerated it on the return sweep. The small blades gave no quarter. The decapitated demon’s head tumbled to the floor.
Renlar screamed as he dashed around the fallen demon. “Keep running!”
They flew past the corpse as it toppled. With each new exploding egg membrane, the tunnel came to life in a new and nightmarish way. They watched as a wyvern-like demon shattered the shell of the egg that held it. Its wings snapped open, spanning four feet across. They beat at the air, lifting the writhing, serpentine body upward. Glowing orbs of wispy moonglow and malice stared back from hollowed sockets.
“It’s a shadesvyrn! Shield us now!” Renlar threw his hands forward.
His gesture was met with a resurgence of wind. Powerful bursts of air buffeted the shadesvyrn. The flying demon was driven backwards, but it somehow managed to fight against the invisible barrage of Renlar’s magic. The demon reared back, and its evil eyes flared with magic. Its fanged mouth flew open. Vile fluids erupted from the demon’s throat as it spewed its toxic venom.
Bright green liquid splashed across Vacinne’s pale yellow barrier. Renlar didn’t have time to breathe easy, though. Neither of them did. They were about to be swarmed. Renlar surged toward the demon. Armed only with his momentum and Vacinne’s protective ward, he slammed into the thing. The magic barrier staggered the winged demon. Its serpentine body whipped about and its wings beat furiously as it was thrown back several feet.
“Drop the shield, now!” shouted Renlar.
Somehow Vacinne had anticipated it, and the shield was already down. Renlar lunged out and grasped the demon’s snaking tail. The muscled tail wrapped around his arm. The shadesvyrn went in for the kill. Its fang-filled maw shot forward just in time to taste cold hard Ashthorill steel.
The finely etched runes blazed with the fire of a brilliant yellow flame as it cut right through the demon. Her swing was flawless. The shadesvyrn’s body fell limp, pulling Renlar’s outstretched arm down with the weight. Renlar moved quick to unwrap the demon’s coiled tail.
“Thank you,” gasped Renlar.
“No time,” snapped Vacinne as she spun away from him and delivered a deadly backhanded slash of her sword. The runeblade effortlessly slashed through the torso of a crawler hatchling. She turned back, grabbed Renlar by the arm and pulled him with her. Renlar was ready to go. The two were off and running, escaping into the scantly lit darkness.
Renlar and Vacinne would have been hard pressed to outrun adult demons, but with the hatchlings they still had a fighting chance. With a favorable wind at their backs, they ran with everything they had, and more. With each passing step, the distance between them and the hatchlings grew until the tunnel’s exit came into view.
Between labored breaths, Vacinne managed to ask, “What... do... we... do... now?”
“Give us your best shield,” shouted Renlar.
Vacinne’s magic took effect before he was done speaking. The magic shield wrapped around them.
“What now,” demanded Vacinne as they sped toward the exit.
Renlar said, “Get the hell out of the way so I can bring the mountain down on these filthy bastards.”
“What?” screamed Vacinne.
Running on spent legs and gasping with burning lungs, they burst from the tunnel into the pallor of the moon’s early light.
“Jump!”
9
Frozen Ascent
Renlar and Vacinne leapt. With a mighty wind at their backs, they were launched from the eighty-foot-high ledge. The avalanche roared with fury above and behind them. Their terrified screams went unheard, drowned out by the surging snow.
Vacinne didn’t know which was more frightening: the cascade of rock and snow that pursued them, or the ground below that appeared to be racing up toward them.
Swirling gusts of wind twisted beneath their feet, and their descent slowed to a glide. Vacinne and Renlar took ragged breaths and looked about with frantic eyes as they drifted down and away from the mountain at an easy slope. The ground still came upon them fast, but Vacinne’s protective shield absorbed the sh
ock, and their boots touched down soft upon the frozen ground.
With a wink, Renlar casually said, “Best to keep moving.”
They had a good head start, but the avalanche was still coming. Vacinne didn’t need to be told twice. She followed his lead back into the ruins of Esboralis. They didn’t run, but he did lead them in a quick, weaving manner through the ruins. The idea was not just to put distance between themselves and the avalanche, but as many barriers as possible.
Renlar stopped about a hundred yards into the ruins. Vacinne joined him and the two turned to watch the rest of the scene unfold. The southern side of the mountain was whitewashed. The tumbling and crashing snow blanketed everything in its path. The tunnel entrance was long gone, likely hidden under dozens of feet of snow and ice. Even the ledge was indecipherable now, completely lost in the growing base of white powder. Snow spilled well into the distant fringe of the ruins. A few spires and stone walls collapsed, but it wasn’t long before the avalanche’s reaching arms came to a rest. Vacinne and Renlar made it. They were safe.
“Wow,” said Vacinne as she still fought to catch her breath. “That was amazing. You were amazing. Insane, clearly, but that was brilliant.”
Renlar didn’t look at her. Stone faced, he stared at the mountain before them. His response was subdued. “Thanks.”
Vacinne moved in front of him and stared him in the eyes. “You just saved our lives. And trapped an entire demon hatchery under hundreds of tons of snow and ice. What’s wrong?”
Renlar met her gaze. “Our passage is gone.”
Vacinne said, “Okay, then we go around. Either way, this was a win, and it’s because of your quick thinking.”
Renlar sighed, not from irritation, but exhaustion. “Thank you, but we can’t go around. We won’t have time. It looks like the vorthor demon is still on the loose, most likely hunting Warden Masoc. There is no way we can get to him in time to protect him, if he is even alive still. Then there’s the real wildcard: Sutara. We’ve got no way of knowing what her real objective is or who she is working for, but it’s clearly not good. We need to find her and stop her.”
“You’re saying we need to pass over the Drechic Mountains, where winter has already hit?”
Renlar’s answer came in a gentle reply, “What other choice do we have?”
Vacinne mulled it over for a moment. There are no other choices...
She asked, “And these mountains are still full of frost giants?”
With a nod, he said, “Yep.”
Full of resolve, Vacinne’s face grew hard and her eyes narrowed. “Well, no one becomes a warden or a rift hunter for the easy life, now do they?”
“Not one,” said Renlar with a faint smile.
Vacinne started looking around. “Hey, Renlar...”
He waited for her to finish.
“Any chance our horses escaped your, uh, wintry conditions?” asked Vacinne with a nod toward the aftermath of the avalanche.
Renlar chuckled. “Alabaster is special. They got away safe. Unfortunately, by now they are also back enjoying the warmth of my stables.”
“So, we’re on our own here?”
“Afraid so.”
“Great. I can’t wait to begin,” quipped Vacinne.
“Well, if you hadn’t noticed, we are down to one pack now.” Renlar pointed to the compact one Vacinne carried on her back. “And unless you’d care to entertain some company inside your bed roll, we’ll need another one.”
“Yeah, not going to happen,” said Vacinne without hesitation.
Renlar laughed. “Fortunately, I keep one of my storehouses up here. We’ll swing by, grab some additional supplies, then begin our hike.”
“Why would you keep a storehouse up here?”
“For situations like this,” he said plainly.
“And you find yourself in these situations frequently?”
“We didn’t sign up for the easy life, remember.”
She shook her head. “Alright, let’s do this.”
Renlar led Vacinne to an old abandoned bank in the center of the ruins. He took her into the back where the vault was. The heavy door was sealed shut. At least until Renlar worked his magic. Vacinne listened intently as a series of independent locking mechanisms opened, releasing the spindle. Then without laying a finger upon anything, Renlar spun the spindle. The mechanisms inside the door moved, unlocking the vault. Vacinne simply stood in awe as the massive round vault door swung open with ease, revealing a neatly organized storehouse of goods ranging from clothing to non-perishable foodstuffs, and of course a massive stash of thin black daggers.
“Remarkable,” muttered Vacinne.
He shrugged, “Would have been far less impressive had they simply used steel. Fortunately, they did not.”
Renlar started to quickly fill an empty pack with the supplies he figured they’d need for their journey.
Then in a blink, he was buckling the pack closed, and was strapping a bedroll to the back of it. He turned and walked over to a makeshift coat rack that stood off in the distant corner. He grabbed two cloaks from the coat rack and held them up. He glanced at Vacinne, then back to the cloaks. He tossed them aside, before pulling another one from the rack. He sized it up, nodded, and tossed it to her.
She protested as she caught it. “With all the armor and that on top, I’ll barely be able to move.”
Renlar searched for one that would best fit him. “A frozen corpse doesn’t move too well either. Put it on.”
Can’t argue with that.
Vacinne nodded and worked to pull the cloak on over her armored figure. Once he’d pulled his dark brown cloak on, he gave her a hand pulling the tawny cloak down over the pauldrons.
Renlar nodded. “They’re not much to look at, but they are thick and rugged. They are made for this type of conditions. These give us as good a chance at surviving these mountains as anything.”
“You know these mountains, not me,” admitted Vacinne.
“Yes, and I know that there is a storm coming.”
“How can you tell?”
“The wind,” said Renlar.
“What wind?”
“The wind coming upon the mountains.”
“Wait, how do you know what’s coming?” she asked.
“I can feel it. And knowing that we are about to head right into a storm is mad, I know. But I don’t know any other way to get to the others in time.”
Vacinne’s countenance fell. “This is a suicide mission...”
“Vacinne LeDroux, you will see your mission through,” said Renlar. “Now we better be off. It’s already late and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover before we make camp. Every minute counts.”
“Okay, I need a minute to myself first, then we can go.”
“What do you mean?”
Vacinne flushed. “I’ve got to pee.”
“Oh, very well. There’s an old washroom next door. Three doors down on the left. Lucky for you we’ve had a lot of rain recently. The reservoir should be topped off.”
Vacinne nodded and hurried out of the room. She’d gotten about twenty paces away when she hit the end of her unseen teether. Hitting the unsuspecting leash in full stride, she was yanked off of her feet. She grunted as she was jerked backward and dropped to the ground.
“What in the Nine Hells?”
She heard Renlar shout from the other room. “Whoa!”
Then he stumbled into the room like he’d been pulled by chains. He barely managed to keep his balance before catching himself on the door frame.
“What happened?” he asked staring at Vacinne sprawled out on the street.
“I was going to ask you! I was just walking when something clotheslined me,” she said with a groan as she tried to rise to her feet.
Renlar’s eyes grew wide with understanding. “Ahh, clever.”
Vacinne groused, “Clever? Do you think I’m making this up?”
Renlar laughed, “No, not you. Sutara said she placed another bond
on us. I bet there is some type of hex she put on us that tethers us together.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“So is being clotheslined by nothing,” quipped Renlar. “Fine, don’t believe me, but let’s test it out. Slowly.”
Vacinne nodded.
“You slowly walk that way, one step at a time. I’ll slowly move the opposite way up the street. But go slow, one step at a time.”
Vacinne took a step away and said, “This is stupid, and I really have to pee.”
“Patience young lady,” said Renlar before taking his step in the opposite direction.
Vacinne took another step, as did Renlar. This silent exchange of steps went back and forth until they were roughly twenty paces apart. Thoroughly annoyed with the game and her arms crossed, Vacinne took another step. Tension caught as the unseen magical tether between them became taught. She was pulling against the resistance of Renlar’s body weight.
Renlar’s eyes grew wide. “Fascinating!”
“Infuriating,” corrected Vacinne.
“Then for as long as this hex remains, we must stay within twenty paces of each other.”
With defiance in her voice Vacinne asked, “And if we don’t?”
Renlar thought for a moment. “Well, considering the magic seems to still obey the laws of physics, I’d guess it depends on the force exerted. So if one of us jumps off a cliff, there’s a good chance we’re both going for a ride.”
“Don’t give me any ideas,” said Vacinne with a frown. “Anyways, tether or not, I really need to pee.”
“I guess I’m coming with you then,” said Renlar with a shrug.
“How come I get a sense that you’re going to get some sick sense of enjoyment out of this?”
Renlar laughed. “I fancy many things, but I can assure you, pretty girls pissing isn’t on the list.”
Vacinne rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Twenty paces should be enough for you to stay outside. Now let’s go before I wet my knickers.”
Renlar shrugged again and followed her to the bath house, where he waited outside with both packs. Once she was inside, with the door closed, she began to cuss as she fought with the many buckles and straps that held her armor in place.