Tasha knelt in front of the siblings. “Tell me about this Master. Who is he? What does he want?”
“He is… twisted and sagging, like warm wax.” Raj’s lips curled exposing his pointed teeth. “He seeks the power within the people he steals. I never saw what was below.”
“It is magic we are unfamiliar with, but there is some… thing down there.” Jazeera shuddered. “I saw it once when I brought him food. So many colors. It was bright, then dark, and swirled with vapors…”
Raj spoked to Yun in the caprikin’s rapid language. Yun’s reply, a curt flood of syllables, sounded like a curse.
“He says it looked like a tear.” Raj furrowed his brow. “A tear in… the air. It just hung there like… a doorway to another realm.”
Tasha chewed her lip. “A fae nexus, perhaps?”
Raj posed the question to Yun. Grunting, the caprikin shook his head.
“Yun has seen a fae nexus, in Yoake. He thinks this was not like that.”
Vasco burst into the camp. Leaning on his staff, he gasped for breath. Aerik approached him, his sword held at the ready. “Coward! You abandoned them to death.”
Vasco shook his head. He panted to utter the words, “No. No.”
Tasha pushed Aerik’s sword arm down. “Just tell us what happened.”
Vasco described the room containing the pile of bodies, Aveline’s charge, and her subsequent argument with Therkla. “Then a wizard attacked them. He was… misshapen. I’m not certain he was even human. I was behind the pile of bodies, out of his sight, I think. He subdued them so quickly… I didn’t think it was wise to confront him alone. Oh, I have the key to their shackles, I think.”
He passed the key to Tasha.
“Master.” Raj’s voice quivered.
Tasha knelt before the siblings. Using the key Vasco provided, she unlocked their bindings. “What can you tell us about him? Do you know the room Vasco described?”
“He threw all the failures there.” Jazeera hissed, curling her lip. “Sometimes, they were dead. Other times, just close to death. Occasionally, the draks would eat from the pile, if the bodies were fresh.”
Raj hugged his sister close. “Everyone ended up on the pile. They all failed his tests.”
Aerik’s eyes widened. “What tests? Why does he test them?”
“We don’t know. He only wanted humans, though.” Raj rubbed his wrists, shivering.
Tasha took Aerik and Vasco aside. “I’m not going back to Curton without Aveline. We have to go back for her and Therkla.”
Aerik gripped her shoulder. “I’m with you.”
“As am I.” Vasco tapped the earth with the butt of his staff.
“Give us blades.” The three former prisoners held out their hands. “We’ll help.”
Tasha rubbed her amulet as visions of her last expedition into an unknown underground lair with a group of stalwart companions flashed through her mind. She hoped to live the rest of her days without replicating that experience.
Chapter 21
Awakening with a shiver, Aveline groaned. She squinted against the coruscating light that flickered in her vision. To her surprise, chains rattled when she moved to sit up, and she remained pinned against the hard stone table. Restraints bound her arms and legs. Slowly, the room came into focus. Numerous candles illuminated the small space, which appeared to be a ritual chamber of some sort. Whoever bound her had stripped her naked.
Jerking the chain, she labored to free herself. The metal bindings cut into her wrist. “Maris’s bloody spear!” Aveline yanked again.
Nothing.
Lying motionless, she closed her eyes, breathing deeply to calm herself. Somewhere in the distance, she heard angry shouting. Rhythmic pounding of metal against stone echoed through the corridor.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Synchronizing her effort with the digging, Aveline heaved against the chain. She hoped to draw no attention as she broke her bonds. The cracking of stone greeted her latest attempt. Despite remaining secure, the fastener loosened, and the chain slackened. She yanked again. And again. Finally, the chain broke free.
Whipping around her, it bashed her head. Stars exploded in her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut against unbidden tears. Manipulating the chain with her free hand, she gathered it to her side. As she willed the pain in her head to subside, Aveline heard the padding of feet approaching.
Returning her free hand to its bound position, Aveline blinked back her tears. Her head throbbed worse than her last hangover. A drak shuffled into the room, mumbling as he approached her.
Which are you? Do any of you have names? She saw a set of keys on his belt.
Aveline waited until he reached her side. Swinging the chain still attached to her wrist, she whipped her arm at him.
“I see you’re… what? Urk!” The chain wrapped around his throat. Aveline pulled him closer. His claws scrabbled at the earth as he attempted to make purchase, but her strength more than matched his. Lifting the drak off the ground, she pulled him across her body.
With a sickening crack, she twisted his head with her still-bound hand, breaking his neck. She tried all the keys on his belt until she found the one to unlock the shackles on her wrists. She shoved his limp body to the floor. After unlocking the irons restraining her legs, she rolled off. As her feet hit the floor, she felt an unwelcome, yet familiar, tightening in her lower back and abdomen. Seriously? Now? This can’t wait for a few days?
A cursory glance around the room confirmed neither her clothes, nor her weapons and armor, lay nearby. Other than the table where she had been held prisoner, the room contained only a rag and bucket. A lone passageway appeared to be the only exit. Damn it. I don’t want to wander down here naked, especially if I’m about to bleed. Damn you, Cybele, can’t I pay your price at a more convenient time? She inspected her wounds. Her ribs ached where Therkla tackled her. Otherwise, Aveline found no signs of further injury. She retrieved one of her shackles and chain, keeping it handy as a makeshift weapon.
From the exit, she peered around the corner. Up ahead, the passageway split—the left branch descending and the right branch continuing level as far as she could see in the dim light. The sound of digging continued, echoing off the earthen walls. Heading deeper led to more danger thus far. She chose the right branch.
Keeping low and close to the wall, she proceeded forward. Ahead, flickering light cast dancing shadows on the walls, although she could not determine who or what made them. As she drew closer to the light source, she heard humming.
“Master says you’re not pure, but strong. Strongest we’ve had, but still not pure. Not like the other lady.” The raspy voice hummed between words, half mumbling, half singing. Aveline continued forward, taking care to remain shrouded in darkness.
Peeking around the corner, she viewed a robed, green-scaled drak rubbing a naked, grey-skinned body with a wet cloth. The figure wrung out the cloth on the floor before dipping it into a nearby bucket and repeating the process. Therkla lay on a stone table, similar to the one upon which Aveline awoke, her arms and legs shackled.
Groaning, the oroq’s eyes fluttered open. The bones in her neck cracked as she rolled her head. When she moved to rise, her shackles prevented almost all movement. “Where… Maris’s bloody spear, what are you doing?” Writhing in an effort to avoid the drak’s ministrations, her efforts proved futile.
“Must be clean. Yes, yes. Master says they must all be clean. No filth in the rituals, even for impure souls.”
Therkla snarled as the drak scrubbed her thigh. “I’m going to eat your heart to Maris’s glory, Drak.”
Aveline ran her hand along her arm. Did they bathe me too? Putting the thought aside, she weighed the iron shackle in her hand. Doubting the restraint alone could quickly render the drak unconscious, Aveline gripped it in one hand and held the length of chain in the other.
She waited until the drak bent over his bucket. Leaping forward, she brought
the chain over his head and around his neck. His squeal of surprise became a strangled gurgle as she lifted him into the air.
His clawed hands scrabbled at his neck, trying to wedge between the chain and his throat. Twisting, Aveline slammed him into the floor. She rammed her knee into the side of his head while continuing to tighten the chain.
With a crunch, the drak’s neck snapped. Holding him until his body stopped twitching, Aveline dropped the chain. Upon finding no keys in his pockets, she tried the one she obtained from the other drak.
Therkla regarded her wide-eyed as Aveline unlocked her shackles. “I’m impressed.” Sitting up, the oroq’s eyes wandered over Aveline’s body. “You throw a pretty good punch too. Too bad circumstances are different. I’d take you…”
“Later.” Putting the thought of the oroq’s lust out of her mind, Aveline searched for anything she could use as a weapon. “Have you been out the entire time?”
Nodding, Therkla rubbed her head. “The last I remember, I was beating the shit out of you. I blame you for this, woman. I thought Aerik was reckless…”
“You can bitch at me all you want later. I’ll even buy you an ale first.” Aveline retrieved her trusty shackle and chain. “We need to find our gear.”
Therkla counted on her fingers. “There can’t be that many draks left. How many have you strangled to death with that so far?”
“Just two.” Three in the corpse room, plus the two outside. “There’s no telling how many there are, though, plus that nasty-looking wizard.”
Therkla stretched, swinging her arms to get the blood flowing. “All right, let’s find our stuff and bust some heads.”
* * *
Tasha and the others led their horses across the hills. Since keeping everyone together seemed safest, she hoped to convince the three former prisoners to remain outside and guard their steeds. As they drew closer to the mine, the eastern sky brightened.
Her crows greeted them as they arrived at the makeshift camp just outside the mine entrance. Revan and Korbin, taking to the air, flew around the group before alighting on Tasha’s shoulder. Feeling their mood within close proximity without effort, she determined the denizens of the mine posed no immediate danger to them.
“Vasco, how long will your spell hold the drak in that tent?”
The wizard counted on his fingers as he faced the eastern horizon. “I should reapply it if you intend on keeping him alive.”
Jazeera and Raj inspected the two tents.
“This was Seventh.” Jazeera waved her hand in front of her nose to ward off the odor of the dead drak.
“This is Fourth.” Raj dragged the paralyzed drak out of the tent by his ankle, holding him for all to see.
“Seventh? Fourth?” Tasha furrowed her brow. “Are those their names?”
The faelixes took turns explaining how the draks called themselves the Hands of the Master, but, individually, they were numbered, like fingers. Raj tossed the drak to the ground so Vasco could reapply his binding charm.
“So, there are ten?” Tasha figured if they called themselves fingers, it would not make sense otherwise. “I don’t suppose the master has feet too? Maybe another ten draks?”
Jazeera snorted. “No, just two hands, but he may have more draks down there. His hands are his closest, most trusted servants. Perhaps he doesn’t count like we do.”
“We slew three more before the master showed up.” Vasco finished securing the drak, then shoved him into the tent.
Aerik spat on the earth. “Then you fled like a coward.”
“I sought reinforcements.” Sniffing, Vasco leaned on his staff. “What you call cowardice, I call discretion.”
Tasha silenced them with an upheld hand. “So all we know for certain is there is a wizard down there who captured our friends who has at least three more draks serving him. Is that correct?”
Yun spoke to Raj. He swung a sword through the air, testing its balance. Tasha noticed familiar markings on the blade. It belonged to Aveline. The caprikin must have taken it from her saddle.
She took Raj aside. “What did he say?”
“Yun says he saw a few humans when he was helping carry bodies, and he said he would kill the drak if you didn’t have the stomach for it.”
Tasha glanced over her shoulder at the caprikin. He continued to move the blade around his body as he stretched muscles unused during his captivity. “That won’t be necessary. Make sure he knows Aveline will probably want her sword back, though she doesn’t really use it anymore. Let’s check the area for supplies, rope, torches, anything that might help.”
Raj nodded, then spoke to Yun while beckoning his sister. When they finished, Jazeera ducked into the tent with the dead drak, returning with two daggers and a length of rope.
She handed a dagger to her brother before flipping the other one into the air. “They’re too light and small, Raj. We may need to use tooth and claw.”
“Bah, I hate the taste of drak.” Raj commented to Yun. The caprikin laughed.
Aerik drew a small blade from his boot. He handed it hilt first to Jazeera. “This might work better.”
She accepted his dagger, then tossed hers to her brother. “Now we just need to find our possessions. They’re in there.” She gestured toward the mine. “Somewhere.”
Crossing her arms, Tasha shivered. She peered into the inky-black entrance. Revan and Korbin fluttered on her shoulder. The scar on her neck tingled. When she unconsciously scratched it, her fingers brushed against the amulet serving as her arcane focus before closing around it. Her thoughts returned to that day when Strom Lightbringer pushed her and Lorelei to assault a city of draks and minotaurs in the name of eradicating evil.
Strom, his squire Runt, and Yuri all died that day. She, too, nearly perished after a minotaur defending his home slashed her throat.
His home… we went there to destroy evil. I suppose we did, but we brought as much of it with us that day.
She commanded Revan and Korbin to watch over the horses. “If anyone wants to stay out here, now is the time.”
No one accepted her offer.
Tasha removed her amulet, then held it before her. “Fos.” Light from the gems in her talisman pushed away the shadows and darkness. She led the motley group into the mine, expecting the weight of the earth to press against her once the entrance disappeared from sight. Instead, to her surprise, Tasha felt comforted and safe. She placed her hand against the earthen wall.
The embrace of Gaia surrounded them, and Tasha understood. The Earth Mother called to her from this place. In an instant, she knew the layout of the mine and sensed all the life within—from the worms tunneling through the earth, to the spiders weaving webs in forgotten corners, to the Master Under the Mountain, his three remaining draks, and the slaves they kept. She felt the familiar presence from her visions as well as the disturbing force, and she felt the life-force of Therkla and Aveline.
It appeared to her as a scintillating burst of colors at first, then as cacophonous sounds, odors both sweet and sickly, and, finally, sensations of heat, cold, pain, and pleasure. Simultaneously, it revolted and fascinated her.
She recalled a history lesson from the Arcane University. “There’s a chaos rift here.”
Aerik’s brow furrowed as his mouth fell agape. The faelix siblings tilted their heads, staring at her.
Vasco’s wide-eyed stare told a different story. “You’re certain? I feel something… but it is indistinct, distant.”
“It is deep in the mine, but I’m certain of it.” She gestured to the group. “Let’s keep moving.”
When they reached the first junction, Aerik pointed toward the right. “We went that way.”
The left branch called to Tasha. “What’s this way?”
Aerik grunted. “Therkla said a dead end, a shaft with a broken lift.”
Tasha turned left. Just around the next bend, she saw the shaft, a black pit hewn from the earth and rock, plunging deep into the mountain. From the edge,
she looked downward. Resisting the sudden and illogical urge to hurl herself into the abyss, she placed her hand on the wall to steady herself.
The familiar presence dwelt in that hole. She examined the pulley attached to the ceiling. It appeared strong enough to hold, but the attached rope, frayed and rotten, disintegrated at the touch.
“What are you thinking?” Vasco stood beside her. “This isn’t the way we went. I’m not sure we were as far down as that shaft seems to go.”
“I have to go down there.”
Chapter 22
The farther Aveline and Therkla traveled beyond the rooms in which they’d been held prisoner, the more maze-like the mine became. Half-dug chambers connected to short, unlit passages, which led to dead ends or to twisting tunnels descending deeper into the earth. They remained in darkness as much as possible, dashing from shadow to shadow in tunnels where the draks left candles or lanterns burning.
At last, after what seemed like several arduous hours, the two women found a passageway that ascended. Therkla waited at the bottom of the tunnel, sniffing the air before nodding for Aveline to proceed. Not long after, she noted the odor, too, the familiar stench of decay and rotting flesh.
The brief reprieve from the fetor of the corpse room brought her no joy. However, its return heralded hope of escape. Areas of shadow to hide in became scarcer as they made their way upward through the twisting passages.
Approaching the all-too familiar room, Aveline held her hand out to stop Therkla. She heard voices ahead. Therkla indicated she heard them too. They crept forward together, drawing closer until the voices became distinct. Two people spoke in whispers, both men.
“Another one for the pile.” The first one spoke with an accent that resembled Aerik’s. “Can you believe that melted bastard’s making us do this?”
“Eh, those two new ones killed a lot of his draks. The man’s gotta make do.” The second man’s voice sounded more western to Aveline’s ears, perhaps from Muncifer.
“Doesn’t matter, I guess. We’re still getting paid. He’s letting us keep their effects too. Nice bonus, eh? Too bad we can’t have some fun with them before he ruins them with his magic.”
Summer of Crows Page 16