After searching through the desert sand for more than an hour earlier, she knew she didn’t have much energy left to stay in the air much long. She looked around. The others fared no better than her. Normak had the advantage of speed, so he could attack and retreat easily enough, but even his war hammer couldn’t kill the reaper wolves. No matter how hard he hit them, sometimes knocking their skulls from their bodies, they’d pick up the parts that got knocked off and reattach them as though nothing had happened. Both Rakzar and Urza were cornered but still maintained a fair distance from the reaper wolves.
I must do something!
The torch she’d dropped lay in the middle of the arena. So did Normak’s. Had he discarded his in the same way she had, or had he tried to use it on the reaper wolves? She had no other ideas, so she flew toward the middle of the arena and swooped down to snatch up the torch.
Normak must’ve had the same idea.
Rayah collided with Normak, sending them both tumbling across the arena floor. Normak recovered quickly and sprinted away with his torch, but the reaper wolves chasing after Rayah closed in quickly. Too quick for her to recover and fly off.
The reaper wolf in the lead lunged for her, its claws poised to rip into her.
Rayah did the only thing she could. She sank deep into the sand floor, narrowly escaping the claws of the reaper wolf. But the reaper wolves started digging into the sand. She flew through the sand, giving herself some breathing room. The reaper wolves didn’t seem to be able to track her. They continued to dig where she’d entered the sand. It gave her an idea.
Through the sand, Rayah snuck up underneath one of the reaper wolves and pulled it down into the sand by its hind legs. The reaper wolf struggled to free itself from the sand, so she did the same with the other three. Then she moved on to the ones that had Urza cornered. By the time she’d buried all twelve of them, the first reaper wolf had almost worked itself free from the sand.
“I can’t keep doing this,” Rayah said. “We need to figure out how to get out of here while we have a chance.”
“Nay,” said Normak. “Fights be to the death.”
Rakzar wiped his snout with the back of his hand. “We’ll be dead of exhaustion before we figure out how to kill them.”
Urza walked up. She’d held up well, all things considered, but she panted far more than she should’ve.
Rayah placed her hand on Urza’s wither. “Are you okay?”
“Me?” Urza turned her head to the side and her neck popped. “Never better. Are you? You’re the one who’s bleeding from the head.”
Rayah reached up and found the tacky spot close to her left temple. “Must’ve happened when I ran into Normak.” She wiped it with her hand, but it just made a mess on everything.
“Sorry, lass,” said Normak.
“Incoming,” growled Rakzar.
The first reaper wolf she’d buried had finally freed itself and headed straight for them. Four of the others were almost free as well. Rayah grabbed one of her knives and thrust it at the incoming reaper wolf. She guided the knife with her hand, and it struck the reaper wolf right between its eye sockets, lodging itself up to the hilt in its skull. The reaper wolf crashed to the ground and slid several feet in the sand.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Tendons, muscles, and flesh began covering the fallen reaper wolf.
Rayah’s knife dislodged itself from the reaper wolf’s skull. The reaper wolf stood and shook its head. Then it came at them again. Normak shot forward and swung his war hammer at the reaper wolf’s head.
Rayah nearly felt the solid, thunderous crack when the war hammer connected.
A spray of blood peppered the air and painted the sand.
The reaper wolf flew off its feet, crashed to the ground, and lay in an expanding pool of blood.
Three more reaper wolves came at them. Rayah tried the same maneuver with a second knife, but it deflected harmlessly off the reaper wolf’s skull. She didn’t understand why it didn’t work like it had the first time.
Urza, Rakzar, and Normak stepped forward and engaged the three reaper wolves. A fourth reaper wolf freed itself and charged her.
With her hands and mind, she called her knives back. They sailed through the air and back into her open palms. The reaper wolf lunged for her. She had no time to think as she threw her first knife—the one with her blood on it—at the reaper wolf. Again, she directed her knife straight at the center of the reaper wolf’s eyes. Like the first time, it sank into the reaper wolf’s skull all the way to the hilt. She sidestepped as the reaper wolf fell to the ground.
Rayah jumped on the reaper wolf’s back just as it finished transforming and slit its throat with her second knife. The reaper wolf seized for a few moments and grew still as blood pooled around it.
That’s when the solution hit her.
“Blood!” she screamed. “Use blood on your weapons and it will turn them. Then they can be killed.”
The others cut themselves, smeared blood on their weapons, and made quick work of the last ten reaper wolves.
All four of them dropped to the ground, breathless and covered in blood and sweat. Thankfully, none of them had been scratched or bitten.
“Nice work, Rayah,” said Urza.
“Yeah,” said Normak. “Saved me butt fer sure.”
Rakzar remained silent.
Rayah ribbed Rakzar. “Still wish you’d left me behind?”
Rakzar glared at her. “Dumb luck.” Underneath that glare, she swore she saw something more. Something… tender.
She smiled and lay back in the sand.
Thunk-thunk-thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk!
“Not again,” groaned Rayah.
She stood and watched for more of the steel doors to fall but none did. Instead, the floor opened up in the center of the arena.
Normak zoomed away and back in a few moments. “Looks like we ‘ave ourselves a way out.”
But what are we gonna have to face next?
† † †
Rakzar led the group down the stairway from the blood arena and into the water aquifers and sewers beneath the ancient city. Knee-deep water slowed their pace as they trudged forward. Every turn in the maze of tunnels looked the same, each intersection identical to the last. Rakzar stopped and looked back the way they’d come. They were lost, but he’d never admit to it.
Rayah looked back as well. “It seems like we’ve been walking in circles for the last hour.”
“You think you can do better, dryte?” Rakzar stepped to the side. “Have at it.”
Rayah huffed. “I never said that.”
“Lemme do it,” said Normak. “Mapping tunnels is what I do.”
“And you’re just now bringing that up?” questioned Urza.
Normak backed up with his arms raised. “Hey, not ‘ere ta step on toes. Gimme a task an I’ll do it.”
“Fine,” growled Rakzar. “Find us an exit.”
“Gimme a few minutes.” Normak left in a flash.
Urza leaned against the tunnel wall and panted. The reaper wolves had taken more out of her than Rakzar had first thought. It pained him seeing her that way.
The water rippled and then a black mark appeared on the wall.
“Did you see that?” asked Rakzar.
Rayah looked up. “See what?”
“Never mind.”
Normak came back, out of breath. It was the first time Rakzar had seen him that way.
“Found an exit.” Normak took a deep breath and held his chest. “Sixty paces up and to the left. Looks to be an iron door and a well of some sort. Should lead us to the surface.”
“I didn’t think you got out of breath with those shoes of yours,” said Rakzar.
Normak grinned and took another deep breath. “We ain’t alone down ‘ere. Had ta double time it. Best we move.”
Perfect.
Rakzar turned and sprin
ted in the direction Normak had pointed. When he reached the corner, he peered over his shoulder as he rounded it. Rayah and Normak were right behind him, but Urza wasn’t.
He halted, and Rayah plowed right into his hip. She stuttered back a step, but the impact barely registered in his mind.
“What happened to Urza?” asked Rakzar.
Rayah and Normak looked back. The tunnel around the corner lay empty. Water swished about, recently disturbed.
“Told ya we ain’t alone.” Normak moved toward the iron door but Rakzar arm barred him.
“No one gets left behind, got it?” growled Rakzar.
“Might be too late,” said Normak. “Them naga and nagi sirens don’ mess around.”
Rayah gasped. “What in Ƨäʈūr’s name are naga and nagi sirens?”
“Naga be the boys. Nagi be the girls. Ya ‘ear the singin’?” asked Normak.
“Yeah,” said Rayah. “It’s beautiful…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes glossed over. She turned back the way they’d come.
“Rayah!” yelled Rakzar, but Rayah kept going.
“Need some cotton or somethin’ to put in ‘er ears. Blocks their deadly singin’.”
“No time for that!” Rakzar bolted after Rayah and tackled her in the water.
The water enhanced and amplified the song’s volume. A dirge that would carry the dead into oblivion. Mournful, yet magnificent. It spoke to Rakzar. Comforted him.
Rakzar rose from the water and stared at the beautiful creature who stood forty paces away. No, she didn’t stand because she had no legs. From the waist down, she had the body of a serpent. A thick tail with dark green scales. Above the waist, she had skin pure as porcelain and greenish-black hair that swayed back and forth with the song she sang. Her forked tongue flicked the air with each note, and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth glistened with saliva or perhaps poison. Rakzar couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t matter. She sang for him, and that was the only thing that did matter.
Together, Rakzar and Rayah headed straight for the nagi siren.
† † †
Normak looked back at the iron door. So close to freedom. He sighed and shook his head.
Must I do everythin’?
Losing Urza wouldn’t have kept them from finding the crystal and a way out of the ruins, but he couldn’t do it all on his own. Not this time. He needed at least one of them.
He ran after Rayah and Rakzar and scooped up Rayah’s pack on the way. She’d likely have something useful in it.
Thankfully, he’d mapped out the entire sewer system earlier, so he knew exactly where the nagi sirens had taken his companions. A quarter mile back, he’d found a medium-sized room off to the side of the tunnels with a large rock slab at its center. Because of his obsession with dark creatures, Normak understood the purpose of the tan slab.
According to legend, the naga and nagi sirens worshiped Äfäūm, the god of the desert. This god, like most, required blood sacrifices be made to it by its worshipers, so the stone slab served as a sacrificial table for the naga and nagi sirens to flay their victims upon.
Normak flew through the dark tunnels, spraying the walls with water as he went. The marks he’d left on the walls earlier would wash away, but saving his companions ranked a bit higher on his list. Not quite as high as the task his brother sent him to accomplish though.
Knowing the strict rituals of the naga and nagi sirens, he had a bit of time to spare before rescuing Rakzar, Rayah, and Urza. Both tasks were attainable. As he ran, he traced through his mental map of the sewers and located the place he’d likely find their nest: a small room with deeper water in the far reaches of the sewers. Thanks to his winged boots, it didn’t take long to get there, and his hunch had been right.
At the bottom of the water lay several dozen brownish, leathery eggs. He closed his eyes and dove in. His fingers touched one of the eggs but then something rammed him square in the chest. The strong blow took him by surprise and drove the air from his lungs. Instinctively, he took a deep breath and filled his lungs with water.
A loud shriek filled the waters and pierced his ears.
Oy! The nagi siren queen.
How could he have forgotten about her? The prize had distracted him.
He struggled to find either the bottom or the surface, and his boots were practically useless. If anything, they weighed him down in the water.
The second blow came from behind, right in the small of his back. It drove him down, and his feet met something solid.
Gods, let it be the bottom.
Normak kicked off the solid object and surfaced just long enough to spit the water from his lungs before the nagi siren queen grabbed his feet and pulled him back under.
The water burned his eyes when he opened them, but that was the least of his problems. He desperately needed air and fought the urge to take another breath. But none of that would matter if he couldn’t break free from the grasp of the nagi siren queen. Unlike the others, she didn’t possess sharp claws or brandish knives. Her sole job was to lay eggs and nurture them.
She shrieked again.
Her shrieks wouldn’t go unnoticed for long. More naga and nagi sirens would come to her rescue, assuming they weren’t all huddled around the sacrificial table a half mile away. His luck had never been very good.
He slid his dagger from its sheath and stabbed at the hands latched onto his feet. The angle was off, and she kept twisting him around, but he finally connected with one strike. She shrieked and lost her grip on one of his feet. He kicked his heels together with everything he had and smashed her hand. She let go, and he managed to surface again.
Normak pulled himself up onto the edge of the sewer channel and coughed up water. She latched onto his feet again but didn’t have the leverage to pull him back under. He took several breaths and dropped back into the water.
One of them would die, and Normak didn’t plan on it being him.
She came at him full-force again and struck him in the gut with the crown of her head, but he’d been prepared that time. He grabbed her around the neck. She shrieked, squirmed, and turned around, and he drew his dagger across her neck.
Her shriek ended abruptly, and green liquid spread in the water. He shoved her away, quickly retrieved a half dozen eggs and stuffed them in his pack, and got out of the water.
He huddled next to the wall and waited a minute to see if any of the other naga and nagi sirens would come for her, but none did. He took a deep breath and then headed back toward the room with the sacrificial table. Another perk to running fast was that it dried him and his clothes pretty fast.
Just outside the room, he rummaged through Rayah’s pack and found a good-sized loaf of bread wrapped tight in a linen cloth. Water had soaked the bread and turned it into a soggy mess, but it made his job easier. He pulled off a small piece of the bread and rolled it between his fingers. Five more times he did that, sticking each piece in his pocket after he rolled it. He stuffed the rest of the bread and the cloth back into the pack and set the pack down.
Normak peered around the corner. Inside the room, thirteen naga and nagi sirens surrounded the large sacrificial table. Rakzar, Urza, and Rayah lay atop it, unmoving and in a deep trance. The naga and nagi sirens continued to sing their song, but they’d nearly reached the end of it. He knew because he’d heard it before. Thankfully, dwarves were far less susceptible to such enchantments.
With a quick breath and a prayer to the gods, he rushed into the room, his war hammer swinging. In one felled swoop, he struck two of the nagi sirens in the side of their heads, bashing them in. They dropped to the floor in a heap. Green liquid poured from their wounds and smoked and sizzled when it hit the floor. Acid blood. That was one fact of the naga and nagi sirens he’d forgotten about.
Keep it clean, Normak.
Normak leapt onto the table, dove over two sweeping daggers, and rolled over his shoulder and off the other side of the table. He swung his war
hammer wildly as he dropped to the floor. Somehow, he caught one of the nagi sirens right in the gut. The thing doubled over and spewed green acid everywhere. Luckily, it missed both him and his companions lying on the table. Two of the other nagi sirens weren’t so lucky. Their songs turned into screams as they dropped to the ground and writhed.
Eight more ta go.
Normak rolled to his feet and jumped back up on the table, narrowly escaping a strike from a naga siren. Unlike their female counterparts, the naga sirens didn’t brandish weapons. Their eight-inch claws could cut right through bone in a single swipe.
He spun in a circle and whipped his war hammer around like a mace with one hand, driving the naga and nagi sirens back several steps. While doing so, he fished around in his pocket for one of the rolled up pieces of bread. With several close calls already, he couldn’t risk taking on the last eight alone.
Normak found two of the bread rolls. His feet were fast, but the shoes did nothing for his hands. As soon as he stopped spinning, the naga and nagi sirens would close in on him.
Let me hands be lightnin’.
He stopped spinning, bent down, and quickly worked a bread roll into Rakzar’s left ear with trembling fingers. The second one fell out of his hand before he could get it into Rakzar’s other ear.
A hiss filled Normak’s left ear.
Jaws clamped down on his left shoulder.
Fangs sank into his flesh.
Pain blossomed and spread down his arm and into his chest.
He twisted and swung his war hammer.
The nagi held fast to his shoulder and plunged its knife into his side repeatedly.
Tightly woven, black chain mail cloth underneath his leather armor prevented the nagi’s knife from doing major damage, but each blow knocked air from his lungs and bruised his ribs.
Crack!
His war hammer caught another naga underneath its jaw and ripped its head clean off.
Rended Souls Page 34