Of course, she had her huge ax tied to her back, a smaller sword on her left side, and the traditional bag of sharp rocks on the right.
When she felt Ty’s presence up above, beside the bridge, she gracefully rose to the surface.
Ty was similarly attired, wearing a sleeveless vest with rings of metal sewn across it, trousers with metal plates sewn into them, and stiff boots. He also wore a metal helmet that had holes carved out of the top so that his ears could poke through. (Not that Christine still considered it a failure of the entire Troll race that while they had pointed ears, they had no control over them and couldn’t swivel them like a dog’s. She’d even tried several illusion spells so that it looked as though she could, but none of them had ever worked properly.)
“Good,” Ty said, nodding at her outfit. “I’m glad you’re prepared.”
Christine stiffened at Ty’s gruff voice. The demon hunter didn’t sound scared, not exactly. No, more like raggedly determined, like a dog who’d chased his prey down to the earth only to have them vanish into thin air.
“Where are we going?” Christine asked as Ty started conjuring a portal. “Who are we fighting?”
“We’re going to the world of the fawns,” Ty said. His voice carried weird grim overtones. “And if we’re lucky? No one. If we’re not lucky? Demons.”
Christine wasn’t sure why Ty hadn’t given her more warning, telling her that they were about to go to where the fawns had been slaughtered. Had he been hoping that the shock would provoke more action from her? Didn’t he realize that she’d been visited at least once a year by fawns, usually shyly going on vacation, their human illusions firmly in place? She’d always made time for them, finding a quiet corner of the Arboretum for them to sit in as they acclimated to the human plane.
A single dead fawn would have prompted her into action.
The mass slaughter of every fawn they ran across? Christine could no longer contain her growls, though she tried to hold them under her breath after Ty had asked her for silence more than once.
The world was lovely. It reminded her of Seattle on its best days, when it was sunny but not too hot, green and full of life.
There wasn’t any way to bring the fawns back. Christine knew that with each passing day, the pocket world of the fawns would lose more and more of its magic, until it was drained of color and air. It might turn into a hunk of useless rock, a barren wasteland, or it might collapse and disappear altogether.
Ty followed trails that Christine could barely discern through the trees and the underbrush, avoiding the main trails. Though the paths weren’t much larger than two rutted trails running side by side, big enough for a small cart to be dragged along.
They passed several small villages before they finally came to the largest town, at least according to Ty and the maps he told her about. It was a walled place, though the ramparts were made of dirt, not stone. Most of the houses hidden behind the wall were similar enough to the ones in the villages, round and made of wood, with conical thatched roofs.
However, as a sign of how rich this place actually was, the wooden homes now frequently had beautiful carvings on the walls, or in some places, designs that had been etched in the wood with a controlled beam of fire. A river ran beside the main road, where fish still jumped and swam.
Off in the distance, toward the center of the town, a fire raged.
Ty tried to stay downwind of the smoke.
Christine coughed more than once, until Ty turned and glared at her. Then she tried to stay silent, particularly when she wanted to gag at the scent of roasting flesh. It almost smelled like venison. Almost. But it had a flavor of long pork as well, a scent that Christine wasn’t ever likely to forget.
The sound of demons arguing came to them on the wind. Ty and Christine shared a look, then Christine drew out her ax and Ty unsheathed a long, wickedly curved sword.
Christine knew she should be horrified by what was around her, but she’d already grown numb. She also knew that she shouldn’t be looking forward to any sort of fight with the demons, though she kind of was.
Any damage she inflicted on the demons remaining on this world would neither bring the gentle fawns back nor truly avenge their deaths.
The other reason Christine was looking forward to the battle was because she was curious how Ty handled that sword. It was a professional interest. Not that she was spoiling for a fight. Really.
“So what’s the plan?” Christine asked quietly, coming up and whispering almost in Ty’s ear.
He glanced at her, then back toward the direction the bulk of the smoke was coming from. “We need answers,” Ty said.
Christine tried watching his mouth as he said the words, then quickly realized that was useless, as Ty’s snout wasn’t actually doing the speaking, that the words were spoken aloud using magic.
“Why the demons attacked the fawns?” Christine guessed. “And why they’re cleaning up after themselves, burning the bodies?”
Did the whys matter? Not to her. What she wanted was revenge.
“Yes. Everything they’re up to,” Ty said.
“You think they’re just going to tell us?” Christine asked. “Even if we capture one of them?”
Ty rocked his head back and forth. “Demons are kind of stupid. Particularly minions, the kind left behind to do cleanup work. They can be tricked into revealing more than they realize.”
“Oh,” was all the reply that Christine had. She hadn’t thought of that.
Then again, she was a troll, and they weren’t known for their sneakiness.
After Ty gave her a sharp nod, Christine moved out in front of Ty before they continued down the street. It wasn’t that Christine was a better hunter—she adamantly was not—but they didn’t really need hunting skills at this point. Where the demons were standing was obvious.
However, Christine was a lot tougher than Ty. Than any human, dwarf, or orc. Hell, she was tougher than most trolls by this point. Hopefully, tougher than the demon minions as well.
She’d been turning herself into a bad-ass warrior princess (as Dennis had called her) for a reason.
Now, it was time to reap the benefits of all that training.
They stalked forward silently. At least most of the dead fawns had been picked up by this point, though their blood still lay splashed against the cobblestone road, highlighting the carvings on the walls, as well as spilled onto the beautiful roses still humming with bees.
Around the corner lay a large town square. A huge bonfire burned in the center of it. Three demons were arguing before the burning pyre.
The demons were what Christine would consider the minion variety. They were shorter than Lars or the upper class demons, and more, well, normal looking. They resembled corrupted men and women rather than creatures of nightmare. They had the usual pus, sores, and warts of all demons, though at least one had the stubs of bat wings reaching up from her back, offsetting the pointy breasts on the other side.
The other two were grossly male, with huge penises hanging down almost to their knees. They had the look of slobbering dogs, though with sharp snouts, more like hyenas, particularly with the spotted fur going across their chests.
They appeared to be arguing, complete with hisses and shrieks, about whose turn it was to do…something. Probably something so disgusting that Christine wasn’t interested in learning more.
Then, another demon appeared, coming around the corner of the pile. He carried a fawn up above his head, prancing around like he was carrying a joyous gift.
Only then did Christine realize that the fawn still weakly moved.
The body was still alive.
Without waiting to consult with Ty, Christine charged.
“Keep at least one alive!” Ty had roared as Christine neatly decapitated the second demon.
Christine growled her discontent, though she knew Ty was right. They needed to capture one of these damned demons and trick it into revealing their plans.
In the
meanwhile, Christine’s air elemental had rescued the fawn as the demon had heaved her onto the pyre, carrying her away to the roof on the far side of one of the huts that faced the square, keeping her safe there while at the same time, not letting her see the awfulness taking place.
Were there more fawns still alive? Christine wanted to get through this group of demons so she could possibly go and rescue any living fawns. She hated to think what the poor fawns had been going through while in the clutches of the demons.
In the meanwhile, Christine turned to face the remaining two demons. She easily swung her ax first in one hand, then in the other. The two demons circled her warily, having seen the damage she’d already inflicted. Ty was facing his own demon who’d been called in to help.
How many more were there? Christine needed to finish off (or knock unconscious) at least one of the demons facing her.
“You’re too late,” the female demon croaked. “All the fawns are dead. Or cooked. Good eating, fawn is.”
“Then why the pyre?” Christine said. “Why not roast them all?”
The demons glanced at each other as if they didn’t have a good answer.
“Uh…can’t eat that much meat all at once,” the male said. “Even the mighty armies don’t have that many mouths.”
Mighty armies. Had Lars already gathered together his armies? But that still didn’t explain the pyre, and what they intended to do with it.
“You’re going to lose,” Christine told them. “You, and all your kind. You’ll start the Great War, then you’ll fail. As you always do.”
The pair of demons cackled at Christine, which told her of their confidence. They circled again, keeping Christine facing the wall of burning bodies.
How many of the fawns had been alive when the fire had started?
Christine growled and rammed her ax at the female while slashing out with her hand at the male, hoping to catch it in the neck. However, he hopped back just in time.
Christine’s air power growled, being kept from the fight by the injured fawn. But she couldn’t split her attention. Besides, these demons were no match for her ax, if she could just catch them.
A howl suddenly erupted behind her.
Christine threw a glance over her shoulder.
Another demon had just shown up. It wasn’t a minion, like the one Ty had already dispatched. No, this looked like a more important demon, complete with a huge belly, deadly tusks, red leather skin. It stood at least a head taller than Christine.
Oh shit. It also breathed fire.
And it seemed to have gotten the drop on Ty.
Christine suddenly realized that demons she’d been fighting had purposefully kept her facing away from her friend so that the huge fiend could show up and surprise her and Ty.
She couldn’t use her air power to lift the two of them up and slam them together as much as she wanted. There wasn’t a handy water source close enough that she could drown them. She could throw stones at them, but it didn’t seem worth the effort—she’d decapitate them soon enough.
Her fire power, however, was happy to play with the fire provided, causing long whips of living flame to suddenly lash out at the two demons.
The cackles of the demons turned to outrage that an element that they controlled was suddenly fighting against them. They turned away from Christine, who sprinted over to where Ty was very outclassed.
Mind you, the demon hunter knew how to fight demons, and he used that long sword to his advantage. She wished she had a moment to admire his form.
However, he had no chance with a creature who was three times his height and who blew great gouts of fire at him.
The smell of burning fur overtook the obnoxious scent of burning flesh as Christine drew closer. Then she swung into action, dropping down and chopping at the nearest leg of the demon, hoping to hit the Achilles tendon, if she was lucky.
Her luck was never that good.
This new demon had been anticipating her as he didn’t merely lift his leg out of the way but then kicked out with it, nearly smacking her in the head.
Christine pivoted immediately and swung again, aiming for the back of the knee.
The demon was no longer in the same spot.
Damn, something that big shouldn’t be able to move that fast!
That appeared to be the demon’s specialty. One moment, he was breathing fire down her neck, then the next, he was laughing at her from halfway across the square. He also moved in a disturbing fashion, like a speeded-up film. It was so wrong it sent shivers down Christine’s spine.
She could take him given time.
Time was one thing she didn’t have.
The next attack wasn’t directed at her, but at Ty, who couldn’t move out of the way fast enough. A large claw slashed down the front of the demon hunter, through his chainmail vest, leaving a bloody trail behind.
Ty stumbled back and fell.
“No!” Christine shouted. Her earth power slammed into the ground, causing the demon to wobble. The demon tottered to one side as her fire power slapped him hard with living flame.
While the demon was momentarily distracted, Christine’s air and water powers carried Ty out of reach, at least for the moment.
“Enough fun and games,” Christine said. She bounced up, calling on her air power, so that she was close to the same height as the damned demon before she struck out with her ax.
He deflected, of course.
How could he move so fast? How could she counter it?
She called up more rocks, digging up the cobblestones of the road they stood on. As a troll, it was her natural ability to be able to hit anything she threw at, as long as there wasn’t some sort of stupid shield up.
This time though, she purposefully missed with the shower of stones as it rose up. The demon skipped and leaped and hopped in that disturbing fashion it had.
And it laughed, a blood-curdling sound that might have made Christine hesitate if she hadn’t been so pissed off.
How cute. The demon thought that he had naturally avoided all those rocks.
Christine swung her ax from hand to hand, as if she was desperately attacking, keeping all the demon’s attention on her and not noticing the pile of stones that had massed like an angry hive of really wicked bees.
After another swing of her ax, Christine released the rocks from where they were poised.
No demon could avoid such a large barrage. Particularly when he thought that she’d just thrown the rocks away, not realizing that she’d been gathering them together just past where he stood.
The demon stumbled, its head bowed.
For once, Christine’s luck was good enough that she was able to hit a vital artery in his neck with her ax.
The demon groaned as he fell to the earth. A muffled whump followed, as if most of the demon magic in the area had also just vanished.
Christine didn’t have time to gloat, however. Instead, she turned and ran over to where Ty lay. The poor fawn had been squatting down next to him, but it scurried away as she approached.
Ty was still breathing, but just barely.
The claw, of course, had been poisoned.
Christine needed to get Ty to help. Now.
The only person Christine could think of was Tina. So she ported them into Tina’s living room, despite how she knew that her doppelganger would bitch about the blood on her new carpet.
Chapter Nineteen
Tina sat in her magical practice room, well, not practicing, when the call came.
The best she could describe it was a disturbance in the force.
One minute she was sitting there feeling sorry for herself, and the next minute she was on her feet, wand in hand, ready to fight whatever was coming for her.
Nothing was in the beautiful green room except herself. No demons loomed, snarling in the corner.
No trolls, either.
Speaking of trolls…
With a quick look, Tina figured out exactly where Christine stood.
And with whom.
Tina immediately closed her practice room and emerged where they were.
Ty lay bleeding to death on her new carpet, the one she’d just had to replace because she’d gotten a little careless and allowed the fire in the fireplace to leap a little too high. (Okay, so maybe she was the one who’d been a little high at the time. She’d certainly learned her lesson and was never trying pot again. Not if it caused her to lose control like that.)
“What happened?” Tina asked as she dropped to her knees. The smell of vile smoke rose up from him. “Ugh. What have you two been fighting?”
Christine stood with her ax at her feet, resting her hands against the top of the haft. “Fawns. The whole world. Dead. Demons.”
Tina couldn’t help but shiver. “Why would the demons attack the fawns?” she asked, incredulous. “Why didn’t the fawns just drive them away?” While the fawns looked small and helpless, they could throw a wicked magical punch.
“Don’t know,” Christine said. She gave a choked laugh. “Maybe because they tasted good.”
Tina’s stomach rolled in rebellion at the realization that that was the smoky scent that rose up from Ty.
“Didn’t know who to take him to,” Christine said after a moment. “Wound’s full of poison. Need to save him.”
Tina nodded, realizing that Christine thought that maybe Tina could save him.
Well, she was certainly going to try.
“Just a sec,” Tina said. She reached into a pocket world beside her and grabbed her wand. Then she readied herself.
She could do this. It was a simple drawing spell.
She had to be able to do this.
Holding the idea of what she wanted to do firmly in her mind, Tina started the spell to draw the poison up, out of Ty’s body.
For a short while, it seemed to be working. A sticky vein of sickly yellowish gunk rose up, following her hand as she slowly drew it up Ty’s chest. It felt like wet spaghetti as she wrapped her fingers more tightly around it. Cold and slimy and slippery.
The Troll-Demon War Page 12
