I took a step forward to the downed fighter and turned her over with a toe before pursing my lips in surprise. With my hand held out, Eneus’ sash tickled my palm so I could pull it from the floor. The cultist was still alive and conscious.
The woman smiled, displaying broken teeth, her face covered in blood. “Nora Hazard, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Dark Asag, but you really are one tough bitch.” She drew a shuddering breath. “I used to be a Wyvern. Knew you by reputation but we never fought before you escaped this dump.”
“Used to be?”
“Look around,” she said, moving her eyes. She grinned and said, “We are in hell. The Wyverns don’t exist anymore, if we ever really did. I made my choice, followed my sisters, but now I’m damned.”
“Why?” I let the simple question hang in the air.
The dying woman didn't speak right away. Finally she answered, “My old lover was a Wyvern too and got involved. Friends too. By the time I realized what we were all actually doing, it was even before I was doing anything like this. Just a little bit here, a little bit there, we turned from fighters to thieves to murderers and by then it was too late. I was never going to be anything in life anyway, though.” She smiled grimly, and I could practically see the life draining from her. “The last couple months I just kept reminding myself that I got to be orb-Bonded, even if it was just a soldier orb.” She chuckled. “Didn’t do me much rotting good against you.”
“Orb-Bonded? Why didn’t I see any status before over my eye? In fact, why not now?”
“Tattoos.” Her eyes moved in a circle, indicating her face. “What about you?”
“Doesn’t matter now, does it?” I grunted.
“I guess not.”
The smell of the dead woman’s blood behind me, and the dying woman’s blood on the floor suddenly turned my stomach. I shook my head. “How could you take part in this though? Don't you care about anyone in Bittertown who isn't working for Lisa or dark gods? You have to have friends, right? Family?”
“Rot Lisa,” she snarled. “That bitch is the worst, rot her heart. But no, no family. I was a street kid. There are some decent people in town, yes. Nobody getting cut up for parts to feed these things deserved it, and nobody else does either, out there in the world. Now that I’m about to be dirt, it’s easier to care about them over my own skin.” She tried laughing but began coughing, eventually hissing in pain until it turned into a faint wheeze.
She didn’t have much time left, and the sudden realization that this woman and I had a lot in common chilled me to the bone. If I’d been a Wyvern, or hadn’t fallen out with Lisa, or even just had stayed with the Jackals, would this be my fate, feeding innocent people to true-demons?
I’d like to think that I had a better moral center than that, and that Arren at least would have helped me from doing something as evil and stupid as these cultists before she’d died, but...I’d trained with Lisa in the first place, hadn’t I? It wasn’t like I wasn’t aware that I’d been desperate for family in the past, to belong.
How would I talk to me if I were on the floor right now? I wondered. Then I fixed the dying woman with a steely eye. “What is your name?”
“Erikka.”
“Erikka, you are dying a painful, dishonorable death. Do you have any children?”
“A daughter.”
I shook my head and sighed, but continued on. “You are probably damned, and I’m sure you know it. A lot of people are going to die soon, and I’m sure you know that too. Your leaders aren’t going to stop. This is about to be war, so all those people you care about at all, your daughter, they will all be in danger. Whether you are gonna reincarnate or turn into light doesn’t matter at this point—maybe you should do the right thing before you die. Tell me what you can about this place and about the cultists. Let the last thing you do on this rotting world be something that isn’t terrible.”
The tattooed woman looked at me with defiance at first, but I watched as it fizzled out. She hacked and spat; her eyes rolled back for a moment from the pain. “Fine. What do you want to know?”
For the next few minutes, I asked questions and Erikka answered. When her speech started slurring and she couldn’t finish a full sentence, I knew it was time. “Thank you. If I can ever put in a word for you with the Creator, I’ll tell him that you weren’t a complete, evil bitch, at least to the last—that you did something decent. No promises that it will make any difference, but you have my word. And if I ever meet your daughter, I will lie like crazy and tell her that you died a hero, too.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. Tears ran freely down her cheeks. She closed her eyes as I raised Eneus. The blade flashed downward, striking true.
It seemed like after ending my best friend’s life, after honoring Arren’s promise on a lonely Bittertown street, I’d just been doing more of the same ever since. I felt no true sadness from killing Erikka, just a hollow sort of coldness. Talking to her had reminded me that the cultists were people. Rather than make me feel sorry for them, I felt even more angry, and deep down, I also felt some awkwardness.
I just couldn’t shake the question I kept asking myself, what if that had been me?
A set of keys on the wall of the blood-splattered shack was sure to include the keys I’d been looking for. Now that the last of the cultists were dead in this area, I had some work to do before leaving, though.
First, I headed to an unoccupied cage with a stone and bone altar inside. The true-demons made a terrible racket as I walked past, some of them slamming against their enclosures, but the bars held. It took a few air-drills from my hand to dislodge the altar. Then I kicked the rest over. Good, I thought. That’s done. I didn’t understand how any of it would work, but I’d believed Erikka when she’d said the creepy stack of debris could create a portal. It was embarrassing to admit, but I’d never wondered how the cultists were going to get all their monsters out of this cave system. Now I knew...sort of.
I walked to the middle of the tunnel, surrounded by true-demons on all sides, hardened metal bars being the only thing between me and dozens of the hideous things. My skin crawled at the sight and the sound. Before I’d been through Dingeramat years ago, this experience might have broken me, but I was tough now, just one giant mass of scars.
My gaze traveled over the pens, and I very deliberately extended Eneus into a spear, then lengthened it to be much longer than normal. If I’d been fighting all these things at once, I would have had some serious problems. Meanwhile, stabbing things that couldn’t attack or run away all trapped in cages, well, I could handle that.
My foot landed on a bone from something that the cultists had fed their pets. After interrogating Erikka, now I knew the creatures didn’t only eat people—the cultists had needed to feed them body parts to keep them under control. The atmosphere in the reeking cavern suddenly changed, and the true-demons all quieted down, watching me with disturbing, predatory eyes.
“When I killed that woman back there, that wasn’t personal,” I said conversationally. “But this? I have to admit I am going to enjoy this.” I smiled without humor, and one of the humanoid demons in the cage in front of me broke out of its stupor, ramming its whole body against the bars. It reached a spindly, clawed arm toward my face.
Eneus’ blade was still bloody, and the liquid began to slide off, dripping to the floor as I pushed Vibration power into it. “This is for all the people you ate,” I hissed.
I was no rotting hero, but some things just needed doing. A few minutes later, there was no chance that this group of monsters would ever attack Bittertown again. I let myself float into the air, my face like stone, and shot off down the tunnel back the way I’d come. Behind me, I left only silence and death.
If I kill nightmares, what does that make me? Like the other question I’d asked myself earlier, I didn’t have an answer.
Price of Freedom
The moment I returned to the prisoners and verified that the area w
asn’t overrun with cultists, I began unlocking cages. I’d thought about handing the keys off to one of the slaves, but it was faster and safer for me to just do it myself.
As the prisoners all filed out, forming a huddled mass, I talked to the old woman and a chubby, middle-aged man who seemed to be the slaves’ leaders. The man had been in one of the cages on the other side of the tunnel from the woman.
“Thank you,” said the man, keeping his voice low. He was missing an arm, but compared to other slaves I’d seen, he seemed to otherwise be in good shape.
Suddenly, I heard noises coming from the direction of the entrance to the tunnel system, shouting. “My friends must be here,” I whispered. I stepped back from the group of slaves surrounding me; their smell was getting a little too strong for comfort.
“Ah. Maybe we will survive this after all,” said the Fideli man, hopping over to us. “I am Alban, and you are?”
“Nora Hazard.”
“I am Trish,” said the old woman.
“And I am Nash.” The older man said. I didn’t have time to talk, so when he began, “If you ar—” I interrupted him.
“All of you grab weapons, stones if you have to. We need to kill the demons at the entrance as quickly as possible.”
One of the other prisoners nearby, a young woman, asked in a strangled tone of voice, “Demons? True-demons? You want us to fight true-demons? We are—”
“It’s either that or die. This is a war and you are right in the middle of it. I’m not saying it’s right, but this is the reality. Fighting will help you escape faster at this point. Maybe you can get some payback while you’re at it, too. I want to be clear, there is no safety unless my friends win, even if you escape. The cultists are attacking Bittertown.”
“What happened to staying quiet?” asked Trish, the old woman. “Shouldn’t we be trying to avoid notice?”
“New information. Plans have changed. They have to know we are coming now, so there is no point being too sneaky.”
“Will we really be much help?” asked Nash. His scruffy face screwed up in a skeptical look. “I mean, look at us.”
I decided not to soften the truth. “No, you can’t help much. But if you can only distract them, you might be able to help, might save yourselves and the whole country. You aren’t monster food locked in cages anymore. If you die, at least you’ll die on your feet.”
“But—”
I shook my head, suddenly raising my voice. “All of you, turn those lights up and follow me. We are about to help my friends. This is not an escape, it’s an attack. After the first line of defense back there is gone, you can leave, yes, but you can stay and fight too. We have to go back that way whether you’re joining the fight or leaving, so grab what weapons you can and follow me.”
Many of the prisoners just stared with blank expressions, or naked fear, but a few squared their shoulders and walked, limped, or even crawled forward. The one person crawling, a man with a tourniquet on each knee had so much fire in his eyes I couldn’t help but salute him, fist to heart. Then I hovered before flying back towards the growing sounds of violence. Over my shoulder I instructed, “Stay outside the range of their chains, and make sure you kill them before moving on.” My instruction had been brief, but I was confident they’d understand.
Part of me felt an old, familiar guilt as I ordered freshly escaped slaves into danger, some to their deaths. But we really didn’t have much time, and for the escapees to save themselves, they needed to help save the town above.
I rose to the top of the tunnel again, using my combination of Element: Air and Vibration sight that I decided to name Surround Vision. There was a new source of light ahead. The tunnels began to grow brighter, my normal vision actually able to make out details ahead. Then I traveled around another curve and found the source of the commotion.
The Serpents were fighting, which I’d expected. What I hadn’t expected was the sheer number of people there, and the fact that they’d brought long spears I hadn’t seen before. As I grew closer, I noticed that the spears seemed to be freshly cut wood, probably small trees that had been tipped with spear points. I hadn’t been briefed on any of this, but it was smart.
Each true-demon was going down hard, but the Serpents had already killed a few of them. They were advancing on the closest, and I was amused to see how the chain was keeping it from being a more serious threat now that the tunnel was lit and the Serpents were actively fighting.
I flew behind the snapping, snarling demon, watching as it moved too fast for most normal fighters to handle. It must have either sensed me or noticed the reaction of the Serpents as they saw me, because it suddenly turned and tried jumping, jaws snapping. My spear flashed down, and Eneus’ Vibration-enhanced point went through the creature’s entire skull and into the stony ground.
As the rest of the Serpents either stared or cheered, I noticed the presence of new people I didn’t recognize. One of them raised a crossbow, preparing to point it at me. A Serpent punched her in the back of the head with a hiss. “That’s The Hazard!” she whispered.
“Get out of the way. Move!” I could recognize Beem’s shouting voice behind the mass of people ahead of me. This portion of the tunnels was still fairly narrow, and the press of all the bodies invading the place had created a wall of gangers. Now that I’d killed this demon, a few of them were shining magic torches past me, mutters growing to shouts of anger, fear, and excitement. They edged forward slowly. In the tunnel, all the noises they made echoed.
So much for any remaining stealth, I thought. Good thing it doesn’t matter anymore. When Beem finally pushed her way within sight, I asked, “What is going on?”
The Areva showed her leadership experience by thankfully not answering my question with other questions. She got directly to the point. “We had a few plans you weren’t a part of. Last night, some scouts were sent to meet up with remnants of the gangs that were already destroyed, or anyone else they might know who would fight with us. Even I’m surprised by how many actually showed up today. They are still coming down those unholy rotting stairs.”
“They were going to meet us here anyway?”
“Yes. If we would have pulled back to land somewhere else, I would have told them where to go,” Beem answered.
“And the spears?”
Anippe elbowed her way forward and said, “Those were my idea. After we cleared the area, we linked up with our reinforcements and made more weapons, for them and for us.”
“Smart,” I said and nodded. “You will need them.” A mass of fighters in a tunnel with spears would be helpful while fighting demons.
“You have news?” asked Beem. She eyed my clothing and armor, all of it covered with filth and dark blood.
“Yes, and we don’t have much time. Tell all of these people to stay here, get your spears and ranged fighters out front, and we need your command people up here too. I have to tell you what is going on and time is running out.”
Beem eyed me for a second, searching my face before nodding. “Anippe, get this lot organized. You heard her.”
As Anippe nodded, I held up a hand and asked, “Who is staying up top?”
“Your dragon friend is up there for sure. We will probably also leave another group to watch our backs. I haven’t had a chance to deal with it yet. With all these new people joining us, and the fighting we had up there, it’s been rotting chaotic.”
“Makes sense,” I said. “You need to leave more up there, though. It takes time for people to get down here. Send a message for at least a decent-sized force to stay up there. We already have demons in Bittertown.”
“What!? It’s already started?”
“Sort of.” I could feel a truly nasty headache growing at the back of my skull. “I need at least a few up top other than Jadanak who might be able to move fast.”
“Tell me where to send them now, then.”
“No. Have them meet me up there. Actually, by the time I get up there, more than just a guard
. I will take whoever can go with me back to the city. You have a job to do down here still. An important one, but I need to go back.”
Beem slowly nodded. “I think I might understand. There is another fight far enough away that only orb-Bonded, mages, or dragons can get there, eh? But you still need backup?”
“Pretty close,” I confirmed. I began floating backwards and said, “I will give you a few minutes. While you are doing that, walk everyone forward slowly. I will start killing more of these sentry dog things while you do.”
“Understood,” snapped Anippe. “We will be out in front when you get back.”
***
I returned after I’d killed three more sentry demons. The Serpents command team that I’d dealt with on the island, minus Frederick, were waiting for me. Three more women stood with them, and I recognized one of them, Zella, the old Hawks leader. She tightened her eyes when she saw me, and I didn’t blame her. I’d broken her arm with my club almost five years ago. Now was not the time to rehash old history so I stared her down from above until her eyes lowered.
After I’d landed, I didn’t waste any time. “Get more light over here,” I ordered, then I began drawing on the ground using Eneus. The blade easily cut through the stone with some Vibration power, and I illustrated as I talked.
“This tunnel continues on until it splits to the side. At the intersection, the cultists had slaves in cages. Down the side tunnel were pens full of true-demons. I killed the demons and freed the prisoners. They are waiting for you and some have decided to fight. Most of them are in bad shape."
The leaders and some of the fighters behind them who had been listening in began to mutter. One of the unfamiliar leaders, a surprisingly young woman, raised her hand to ask a question but I ignored all of them, pushing ahead. "I questioned one of the cultists, and orb-Bonded, before I killed her." The whispers and other noise around me stopped.
I continued, "Farther down the tunnel there is a big room, a cave. This is where the cultist base is. There are two more side tunnels on either side, also with caged true-demons. They are going to be opening portals in about an hour to send all those monsters into Bittertown, at the location of the hellgate they are opening in the city."
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