Immortal

by T Nisbet

Chp. 41

  The pain kept me conscious. Each choking breath brought with it a nearly indescribable throbbing and tasted of dust, burnt flesh and brimstone. I looked around in agony as the dust began to settle and saw the molten red flesh of the hellhound I’d stabbed lying nearby. I groaned and struggled to my feet, leaning against the wall for support. Above me a sputtering torch set into a sconce, lit the hallway. Gwensorloth’s hilt stuck out at an odd angle from the beast’s chest.

  My tunic top was destroyed on the right side. Most of it had burnt away along with the skin covering my ribs. The skin of my upper arm and shoulder was charred and dotted with large puss filled blisters. I flexed my arm and was rewarded with a pain so intense that my vision swam, but my arm worked. That was something. A large section of my leather pants on either side of the miraculously unscathed sword belt had burnt away as well, and the skin beneath was much the same as my shoulder and arm.

  I tried to ignore the incredible pain and looked around. The corridor was completely destroyed. I prayed Toby had made it back far enough to escape the collapse. I ran over the ‘cave in’ in my mind and tried to remember the details through the pain. I was pretty sure that I had seen space on the other side, which meant Ivy, Toby and Guldan were probably safe, if being trapped between tons of rock and dozens of horrendous creatures from hell was safe.

  I tried to call out, but coughed instead. My arms and legs began to shake. The dust from the cave had coated my mouth and throat. Each cough lent fire to the intense burning sensation on my exposed ribcage. I struggled to breath, stifling the coughs wracking my body and yelled for Toby and Ivy as loud as I could manage.

  The shaking grew worse as I listened for a response on the other side of the collapsed hallway. Each spasm caused the pain from my wounds to flare. I knew I was going into shock as I listened, but ignored it, focusing on my hearing. I couldn’t hear anything but the distant braying of the hounds.

  Needing to do something, I staggered painfully over to the dead hellhound and retrieved Gwensorloth. The blade wasn’t nearly as bright as it had been. I wondered briefly if that meant there was no evil around, or if the enchantment was wearing off. I sheathed the blade and checked my pants pocket. The lump that was the Cardinal ruby was still there. I breathed a momentary sigh of relief.

  I looked at the cave in more closely. There was no way I was going to be able to move the massive stones filling the hallway. Even if I managed to, it would probably only bring more of the ceiling down on me. I imagined Toby frantically trying to get through to me and bringing the rest of the ceiling down on him and the others. Hopefully Guldan was still alive and would stop him.

  I stared at the cave in helplessly. The rough stones mocked me, but I knew in my heart there was nothing I could do to help them. I cursed my blasted intuition and hoped Thallium heard me. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to find the entrance to the dungeon, get past however many dark elves that were guarding it, and through hundreds if not thousands of hellhounds to free them.

  I couldn’t even let them know I was alive. It felt as if the weight of the world had crashed down upon my shoulders with the cave-in. I was alone now. I concentrated on my breathing trying to control the waves of panic that rushed through me in time to the throbbing of my burns. The breathing exercise helped a little bit, as I turned away from the cave in and left my friend’s behind.

  It took me awhile to find the spring that tripped the trapdoor on the wall of the storage room, but I eventually found it. As I staggered along the dark tunnel Guldan had constructed with only the blue light of my aura to guide me, I couldn’t stop thinking about my friends. I didn’t try and stop the tears that flowed down my dust-covered cheeks. I had to try and maintain some type of hope for them, but I couldn’t find any. There wasn’t anyway they could escape, and without food or water, they wouldn’t survive long trapped in that hallway between the cave in and Ivy’s shield. I tried to tell myself they would find a storeroom filled with provisions, and that Ivy could keep the shield up indefinitely, but I knew better. I’d never been good at lying, particularly to myself. I was alone.

  The white-hot pain of my wounds turned to a dull throbbing that was manageable as I moved slowly down the tunnel. Maybe it was just that the pain of loss was so much greater than the physical pain, I don’t know. I found the ladder at the end of the tunnel and gingerly climbed up into the basement of Guldan’s Manse.

  With the blood elves dungeon sealed off, it would be awhile until they knew Guldan was involved and raided his Manse. So I wasn’t particularly careful as I made my way up through the huge house to the room I’d used earlier. I didn’t see anyone or anything on my way there, and I was nearly beyond caring regardless. I peeled off my dust-covered leather tunic as I entered the room, stifling a cry of pain as the leather slid over my burns, and threw the damaged tunic onto the bed.

  I had to wash the burns or they would get infected if that hadn’t already begun. I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror as I took off my dust-covered sword belt. I was surprised that my burns didn’t look nearly as bad as they had in the debris filled hallway under the torchlight. As I looked more closely, I could see fresh pink skin surrounding the edges of the burn and the blisters had all but faded. Maybe after I had a shower I could tell whether I was really healing or if the dust covering my wounds just made it look that way.

  I stepped out of the burnt pants, retrieved the Cardinal Ruby from my pocket and set it on the counter next to the sink before stepping gingerly into the shower. I needed to wash the dust out of my hair and off my skin if I was going to make it out of Grimhome. The wounds throbbed more intensely as the warm water flowed over them, so I turned the warm water down and turned up the cold.

  After rinsing the dust off, I grabbed a bar of soap and began to wash. I knew I had to scrub the burns, but decided to save them for last. The cold water was soothing and helped clear my head a bit as the dirt and grime pooled around my feet before going down the drain. I needed Thallium’s help, but I wasn’t very tired and I certainly couldn’t get drunk at the moment. I wished there was another way to get in contact with him, and then I remembered the fairy’s wood. If I could get back to the clearing in the woods, I could get his help and maybe find a way to get my friends out of the dungeon. If he didn’t have any solutions, maybe Bronn or Gill would. I grasped that slight bit of hope and began to wash the wounds.

  How I managed not to pass out from the pain I’ll never know. When I finished, I stepped out of the shower panting from the exertion and looked in the mirror again. There was no denying it, I was healing. The pink skin surrounding the wounds had grown larger and the darkened skin was peeling back revealing the raw, healthy skin beneath. I shook my head in wonder, but didn’t question it. If this was one of the perks to Immortality, I was happy to have it.

  I left my ruined pants on the floor and grabbing the Cardinal Ruby and my sword, exited the bathroom. I had to figure a way to get out of Grimhome and that started with finding some clothing. I searched the cabinets and the dresser, but didn’t find anything I could wear so I left the room naked.

  It took me a few minutes to find Guldan’s room. The large master suite was filled with nearly as much exotic junk as his study was. Papers, parchments, books and weapons littered the floor, beside pieces of armor, boxes and crates. Strange machines and globes of liquid were scattered about haphazardly. I stepped around the jumble of debris to a closet and opened it up. Tunics and pants in various colors hung in surprisingly neat order given the condition of the room. I pulled out a handful of black tunics and pairs of pants and made my way over to the satin-covered bed.

  I tried on several of pairs of pants until I found one that fit my thighs, though they were a bit short. Finding a tunic top that fit was more difficult. I was much more heavily muscled than the elf. I had to make several trips to the closet before I found a black tunic that I could get over my chest and shoulders. It was extraordinarily painful squeezing into the dar
k leather top, but I managed it. I found a hooded black cloak easily and then searched for some black boots. Luckily, Guldan and I wore the same size and my only problem became which pair I should pick. I pick a pair that looked worn and put them on.

  When I’d finished dressing, I went into his master bath and looked in the mirror. I resembled a bodybuilder who wore clothing two sizes too small to show off his muscles, but it was better than nothing, and did pass for what the blood elves wore. I strapped on my sword belt and pulled the hood of the cloak over my face, stepping back from the mirror. I was impressed. I did look the part, beside the fact I was way too tall.

  I left Guldan’s room and went downstairs to the main room. Through the windows on the front of the Manse, I could see that darkness had fallen, and it was raining heavily. How was I going to get out of Grimhome? Had Guldan’s diversion worked? I realized I had no way of knowing and was probably going to need to create a diversion of my own, but first I needed a horse, actually, a couple of horses remembering what Gillian had said. I needed to find Guldan’s stables.

  It took me awhile, but I eventually found a side door that led into the stables. I shook my head in amazement at how tidy and clean they were. Nothing appeared to be out of place. Seven horses were saddled and ready, tied in front of their stalls. I picked the two darkest horses and led them towards a large door leading to the street. I did my best to adjust the stirrups, pulled the hood of my cloak low, hiding my glowing face, then drew open the doors.

  The rain fell hard on the stone pavement in front of the stable, splashing up knee high, obscuring my vision. I wrapped the cloak around me tightly, hiding my glowing hands. Dark figures ran past, ignoring me as I mounted one of the horses. They were too busy trying to get out of the rain, I guessed. I set my feet in the stirrups and holding the reins of the other horse as a lead, walked them out into the rain. I didn’t bother shutting the doors, under the circumstances, I didn’t think Guldan would mind much.

  As I walked the horses down the narrow street I slumped forward in the saddle so I wouldn’t appear too tall and draw any attention. Under my cloak I sweat profusely thinking I’d be challenged at any moment. Peering out from under the baggy hood through the pouring rain, I turned onto the wide boulevard towards the gates we’d entered before dawn.

  I shook my head trying to clear it, peering out from under my hood towards the gate. I could barely make out a group of figures standing before the gate. I cursed under my breath. There was no way I was going to get through without a distraction of some kind.

  An idea popped into my head, and I started gathering in magic, praying it would work. As I got closer to the gates, I watched as they opened up for a group of horsemen and made my decision. Concentrating on a fixed point in the air to the right of the gate, past the wall, I released my will. Magic surged out of me and a blinding white light flared into being. I fed it more magic and it grew. A couple of the horses entering the gate reared, pawing at the air in fear.

  “Now, I have to do it, now!” I told myself and kicked my horse into a gallop through the torrential downpour. As my mount surged forward, the reins to the other horse ripped out of my hand, and I felt a tearing in my left shoulder. There was nothing I could do but continue, bending over the horse’s neck further. The gates were still open as horses danced sideways, still frightened by the sudden light. I gathered more magic as my horse thundered towards the gate across the rain-slick paving stones.

  An opening appeared in the confusion, and I made for it, when a panicked horse skipped to the side blocking my way, the dark elf on its back fought to regain control of the beast, as gate guards ran in to assist him. I didn’t slow my horse and braced for impact. At the last second, one of the guards saw me approaching and cried out a warning, then dove out of the way.

  My horse slammed into the dark elf’s panicked horse, which slipped on the slick wet road and went down carrying its rider with it. How my horse stayed on it feet I don’t know, but it saved my life. The other rider’s mounts panicked further adding to the confusion.

  Kicking my horse forward, I pressed my way through the crowded gate, releasing more magic under my horse’s hind feet and willing it to become light. Another brillant radiance burst into being, where my horse had been, flooding the gateway behind me. I heard the cries of elves and horses, as my horse bolted out of the gateway in a dead sprint.

  I chanced a look behind me to see if I was being followed and saw a mass of confusion. Slapping my horse on the neck, I allowed myself a grim grin. I was out! All I had to do now was make it to the fairy woods so Thallium could help me figure a way to get Toby, Ivy and Guldan out of the dungeon. It would be okay, or so I told myself.