Eldritch Assassin

by Adam Witcher

  All three of them looked exhausted. Their hair was matted in sweat, and their swipes with weapons became slower and more labored with every swing. But they fought on.

  He couldn’t hand his gems away. It would mean the end of everything, wouldn’t it? He had to keep fighting despite the pain. Gritting his teeth, he tried to think despite the pain, tried to remember the idea that had been so vivid in his head just minutes ago.

  The face of Garramuch entered his mind, an expression corrupted into utter insanity by phantasm gems, and suddenly, he remembered the idea. It was a gamble, but desperation and pain demanded it. Despite the pleas of his companions, he continued reaching into his bag. He pulled out a phantasm gem—a big fat one that glowed more brightly than the others—and held it up like an offering to Scorpius. The beast man’s eyes widened at the sight of it. He reached forth to grab the gem, and Isaac touched it to his stinger.

  More pain erupted from Isaac’s shoulder, and Scorpius gasped at the power that flowed through his tail and into the rest of his body. He shuddered with something like pleasure.

  “Isaac,” Rhotha called, “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Trust…” Isaac grunted. “Me…”

  He wasn’t so sure he was worthy of her trust, but he hoped saying the words aloud would make them truer.

  Scorpius removed his tail from Isaac’s shoulder and staggered backward. Isaac collapsed and clutched his wound. Rhotha rushed over to him. She pulled the last dredges of healing paste from her bag and rubbed it on his wound. There wasn’t enough to heal it, but he gasped at the small relief.

  Scorpius grinned maniacally. His tail lit up with an even brighter purple glow, but he didn’t move to shoot right away. Instead, he wobbled on his feet for a moment. Rhotha started to speak when Isaac cut her off.

  “Give him everything,” he said. “Every gem you’ve got. Tell the others too.”

  “What? Isaac, you’re losing it. Why would we give them over?”

  “Garramuch,” he said, mind going woozy again, “He warned us. These things are too powerful for anyone to control. They made him lose his mind. Let’s… let’s overload him.”

  “They haven’t made us lose our minds,” she said. “What if he can handle them?”

  “Look,” Isaac said. “He’s already unstable. We’ve only been using small amounts, and I still feel the pull.”

  It was true. Scorpius looked heavily intoxicated—eyes glazed and twitching, swaying in one spot. But with each passing moment, he seemed to gain more control over himself. Soon he stood still, eyes fixed, stinger pointed with accuracy.

  “Duck!” Isaac yelled.

  Heat and light blasted over their heads as they ducked and rushed forward. When the beam passed, shooting off into the horizon, Isaac turned to Edwin and Aerin and said, “come here, now!”

  They turned away from their tentacle foes, eyeing him with a blend of fatigue and confusion. But they said nothing and moved toward him, dodging fissures and tentacles along the way. Isaac silently thanked them for their loyalty.

  So overloaded with power, Scorpius’s tail recharged in no time at all. By the time Edwin and Aerin were close, he was ready to strike again.

  “All the gems you have,” Isaac said. “Rush him with them. Touch him. Give them to him.”

  Aerin said “But—”

  “I’m telling you,” Isaac said. “This is going to work. Just do it!”

  “You’d better be right about—”

  “No time! Go!”

  Hoping his three companions were in tow, Isaac charged the remaining dozen or so feet to Scorpius, trying to ignore the remaining pain. As he ran, he pulled out the two largest phantasm gems he could find in his satchel and held them in his fists. Judging by the look of wonder in Scorpius’s darting eyes, the others had done the same. The foe’s eyes darted back and forth between them. He grinned, exposing rows of sharp grey teeth.

  Isaac leaped, wrapping his arms around Scorpius’s torso and holding a gem to either side of him. Edwin went for the legs, placing his modestly sized gems at his feet. Rhotha held a gem bigger than her fist, and she punched Scorpius in the gut with it. He doubled over slightly, but he displayed no pain. Aerin, in a jump Isaac did not know she was capable of, reached his face. Scorpius spread his mandibles apart, and she shoved a gem into his mouth. They all held on a moment, then at Isaac’s wave they retreated.

  The gems stuck to his body where they’d placed them. Every inch of his skin glowed deep purple. He seemed to be sucking every last bit of energy he could from them. Soon his glow increased until they could no longer make out his facial expressions. Then they had to look away.

  Scorpius screamed—not with rage, fear, or even insanity—but with power. It was as if he could not control the current flowing through him. Purple light shot from his head and blasted off into the sky. Shielding his eyes, Isaac glanced up to see if the elders reacted, but if they did, he could not recognize it. Still they stood, unmoving.

  After a moment, the purple light in the sky faded, and Scorpius became visible again. Wisps of light emanated from his nose and mouth, and his eyes were a solid purple. He giggled, his mandibles quivering. The giggles turned into a belly laugh, an unrelenting cackle. He no longer seemed to notice Isaac and the others. The remaining tentacles all slithered back into their fissures.

  Scorpius looked up to the three elders and screamed to them.

  “Do you see how powerful I am? Am I worthy now? Am I? I said, am I?! You’re damned right, I am. I’m more powerful than you! I will be the master of all realms. This realm, that realm. Every realm!”

  He burst into another fit of giggles.

  “And when I am the master of realms, you will answer to me! To me, to me, to me! So long you’ve thought yourselves better than me, more worthy than me. Well who is laughing now?”

  Scorpius collapsed on the ground, arms around his torso, belly laughing so hard he could not speak.

  And finally, one of the elders moved.

  Scorpius didn’t even notice as the giant raised his foot high in the air above where he was collapsed.

  “Back off!” Isaac cried. “Let’s go!”

  The four ran away from Scorpius in his final moments. He was still laughing when the foot came down.

  Then, only silence for a moment. The foot lifted, goo and chunks of carapace coming up with it. Their purple faded away quickly.

  They looked up at the elders, and Isaac wondered if they were next to be squashed. But the elders paid them no mind. Isaac wondered if they’d even cared about merging dimensions at all, or if they’d simply agreed to give audience to a man-beast who promised greatness and failed to display it. With enormous booming footsteps, they began to walk away.

  When the crashes of feet faded into Tenebromar’s horizon, Isaac turned to his companions. They all cheered, throwing themselves into a group hug. Tears of joy flowed from their cheeks. After a moment, they stepped apart.

  “C’mon,” Isaac said. “What do you say we celebrate in our own realm?”

  “What about them?” Edwin nodded toward the caged mutants. From somewhere in the destroyed tunnel, cries of pain and distress rang out into Tenebromar.

  “Right,” Isaac said. “We’ll, uh… we’ll come back for them later.”

  22

  “Gods, she’s beautiful.”

  The Fireside hummed with the chatter of buzzed patrons. In his newly transfigured dwarven form, Edwin stared across the tavern floor at a dwarven woman sitting alone. Though short and squat like all other dwarves, she did have a certain softness to her dark skin and hair that almost made her attractive. If you were into dwarves, that is.

  Isaac, Aerin, Rhotha, and Edwin sat before tankards of ale at a table. Being back in the city was still surreal. After riding home a week ago, they’d made it to Homoken before realizing that nobody in Avalour had even the slightest clue what they’d done. To their credit, the citizens of Avalour had their own problems to worry about. When the mut
ants showed up a day later via Isaac’s portals, people started asking questions. Once their families recognized the mutants, attention quickly turned away from Isaac and his friends.

  “I’m going for it,” Edwin said.

  “You sure buddy?” Isaac asked. “You just figured that disguise out, what if you turn back into an elf mid-thrust later?”

  “You really think she’d go for it that soon? She looks pretty classy.”

  “You’ve missed my point entirely, I see. Just go for it, man.” He sipped his ale. “You’re going to anyway.”

  “Alright, thanks man.” He stood and approached the dwarven woman.

  Aerin laughed. “Even if she rejects him, maybe it’ll inspire his next novel.”

  “He writes novels?” Rhotha asked.

  “Romance stories,” Isaac said. “You can’t tell from looking, but Edwin is really a big softie.”

  He looked again across the bar floor. Edwin had chosen the most attractive dwarven form he could manage, and in accordance with most dwarven women’s preferences, he was quite fat. His belly jiggled as he waddled across the room.

  “On second thought, maybe you can tell from looking.”

  An elf with the body of a black tarantula approached their table. His head was at normal height, perched on top of a long stalk. They tried to smile at him, but it was hard not to grimace. Hopefully they and the rest of the city would get used to the mutants quickly. Maybe someone could figure out a cure.

  “Can I get you folks anything?” the spider-man asked.

  “Nope, nope,” Isaac said. “Still fine.”

  When they were alone again, Aerin sighed. “I think I’m going to go talk to my mom today. I haven’t seen her since everything happened. She needs to know.”

  She polished off her ale and stood up. “Isaac, you’re going to study the Occultus this weekend, right?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said with a laugh. “Trust me, I’ll be a good student.”

  “Good, I’m going to quiz you. And trust me,” she said with a wink. “If you study hard, I’ll make it worth your while. And I’m sure Rhotha will help me. Right?”

  “I’ll make it worth your while even if you don’t study,” Rhotha said with a shrug. “I’ve got needs too, you know.”

  Aerin nudged her playfully.

  “Okay fine,” Rhotha said. “Only if you study.”

  “I’m off then,” Aerin said. “Wish me luck.”

  They did so, then returned to their ales as Aerin headed out. Across the bar, Edwin’s approach seemed to be going successfully. He and the dwarven woman sat side-by-side, her hands on his thigh.

  “What about you?” Isaac asked Rhotha. “Got any plans? I guess I haven’t talked to you about this, but are you planning on heading back to Barbaros?”

  “Nah,” she said. “I like it here. I’ll go visit eventually, but I’m in no hurry. I’m actually about to go look at an apartment. It’s just down the street from your place. Perfect for late night meetups.” She winked.

  “You can always just crash with me.”

  She shot him a look.

  “Too soon, Isaac. We don’t even really know each other yet. I like where this is going, but let’s not rush anything.”

  Isaac shrugged and nodded in agreement. He liked where it was going too, though he wasn’t sure exactly what it was. He, Aerin, and Rhotha had been inseparable since their adventure ended. It felt natural, and he suspected it did for them too. Neither seemed bothered by jealousy. If anything, they were as interested in each other as they were with him. He certainly didn’t mind sharing. Who knew, maybe if he played his cards right, this could be a real relationship for all three of them.

  Rhotha finished her ale and stood. “Got to go. I’m supposed to meet the apartment guy in ten minutes. Study up, okay? I’m not going unsatisfied because of your laziness.”

  Isaac laughed. “Sure, sure, I’ll study. Good luck with the new place. I’ll see you later?”

  She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Definitely.”

  She left Isaac alone, but he didn’t mind. He felt good. He felt confident. Beneath his tunic, Saldana’s dagger hugged his waist with a reassuring weight. When he’d spoken to the goddess earlier that week, she wanted him to keep it, to remain her acolyte.

  It beat being a thief. Sarcosia was safe for now, but who knew what kind of evil would pop up next? It excited him. He pictured himself on another mission, two gorgeous women at his side, vanquishing the realm of darkness.

  Smiling, he reached into his satchel and pulled out the Arcaneum Occultus—the incredible tome that had started this entire ordeal. Then he sipped his beer, opened the book, and started reading.

  A Note from the Author

  Thank you for reading Eldritch Assassin! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider leaving a review on my Amazon page.

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