King of Chaos

by Dave Gross

  "Count, Alase: if you have any more bolstering spells, now is the time. We must fight our way through."

  "We could go out the window," said Gemma. Once again she had found an opportunity to use her spidersilk rope.

  "They'll spot us before anybody reaches the ground," said Radovan. "I've got a better idea." Rather than explain, he went back into the library. By the time Alase closed the door behind us, he was already pulling at stones to widen the hypocaust vent.

  "Stand back," I said. He was slow to obey, so I moved him.

  "Careful, sweet—"

  I struck the corner of the stone wall with the heel of my palm. With a cloud of mortar, the stone yielded.

  "I see you got this," said Radovan, stepping back.

  The pain to my hand was considerable. While the tough leather of my gloves spared me cuts, my magic belt gave me strength, not invulnerability.

  "All right," said Radovan when I opened the hole all the way to the floor. "That should be plenty. Follow me."

  He stepped through the hole and dropped, folding his knees so quickly that he appeared to vanish into a deep chasm rather than a mere two-foot passage.

  Alase followed him.

  "It's pitch black," Gemma said, prompting Jeggare to go next. With the light of his ring illuminating the hypocaust passage, Gemma waited for me to go next.

  "I'll bring up the rear," I said.

  "You're going to need help." She nodded at my shield, too wide to fit through the opening.

  I set the shield aside and kicked at the corner of the stone protrusion, loosening another block. Gemma tugged at the strap beneath my pauldron. Instinctually I drew back, but I saw the need. I allowed it.

  Demonic voices shouted from the hall.

  "There's no time," said Gemma. "Go!"

  I plunged headfirst into the hypocaust passage. The faulds around my hips caught in the opening. They stuck fast, preventing me from moving forward or going back.

  Gemma pushed on my legs. I struck my faulds with the heel of my fist, denting the steel only slightly. Behind us, the doors of the library burst open. A fiendish voice uttered hateful, unintelligible words.

  Count Jeggare's light dazzled my eyes for an instant.

  "Help her," said Alase. She crawled out of the way to let Radovan move toward me. He braced his feet against the little pillars supporting the floor above us and offered me his hands. I gave him one and continued to beat at my faulds with the other.

  As he pulled, Gemma let go of my legs. A demon screamed. A moment later, so did Gemma.

  With one last smash of my fist, the faulds slipped through the opening. The instant I was free, I twisted around to reach back.

  Gemma reached for me as fiendish talons closed around her face. One plunged into her eye, another widening her mouth to her ear.

  "Cap—!" She flew away, out of my sight.

  "Come on," Radovan hissed in my ear. When I didn't comply, he tugged at my arm. I resisted, then relented.

  We crawled on elbows and knees, dragging our bodies through the hypocaust chamber and into an angled shaft leading to the floor below. Count Jeggare awaited us, letting us pass him before breaking one of the rune-sticks from the cache in Nekrosof Tower to fill the level above with a mass of thick, sticky webs.

  The cries of fiends grew muted behind us as we descended to the third floor, and then the second. At each pause, I glanced back but saw and heard no sign of pursuit through the hidden passages.

  Fiery blasts and shouts greeted me as I awaited my turn to emerge from the vents. By the time I stepped into the furnace room, the battle was over.

  Erastus and Naia stood over the bodies of three guards, two men and a half-fiend. I saw from the dropped shovel and torches that they had meant to fire the furnaces beneath us, roasting us in the hypocaust.

  The count dropped an expended riffle scroll into his coat pocket even as he kept the point of his Shadowless Sword trained on the body of another fallen half-fiend.

  "Hurry," said Naia. "Guards approach the first bridge."

  We burst out of the furnace room and ran across the courtyard. No one barred our path, but a rough voice cried out a warning above us. Erastus turned and shot. Naia's arrow flew an instant later. The wall sentry toppled, both shafts jutting from his chest.

  "Wait!" said the count. "Stay near me." He discharged another of his peculiar little scrolls. Those nearest him vanished. I moved toward the spot where I had last seen Erastus and bumped into him. I put his hand on my arm and reached blindly until I touched Naia.

  "Ready."

  We ran past the count's illusory gate guards. The lifeless images ignored us as we rushed across the bridge leading back into Undarin. We turned left at the statue of Areelu Vorlesh, its upper body cloaked in darkness, and ran south toward the bridge leading out of Undarin and into the eastern fields.

  An unseen force shoved me down to one knee before I caught myself from falling. I lost contact with Naia and felt Erastus's hand leave my shoulder. An instant later, I saw Erastus appear, tumbling away from the statue we had just passed. He looked up at the monument, eyes wide.

  The shadows fell away from the statue, revealing not only the image of Areelu Vorlesh but a pair of demons.

  The two were of a kind, winged and lanky with oversized claws and tusks jutting from the jaws of their batlike faces.

  Each of them pointed a long finger at Erastus.

  Two crooked black rays leaped out to strike the Isgeri in the chest. Ever stoic in battle, Erastus wailed in agony as the dark energies drew flickering radiance from his body and dispersed it. The fiends were devouring his soul.

  "Go now," I said. "Stay close to the count. I'll follow."

  "But Captain—" said Naia, who remained invisible.

  "It's an order. Go."

  I drew the Ray of Lymirin.

  Its light leaped up toward heaven, a beacon every fiend in Undarin could see. On the statue, the death demons opened their mouths to shriek.

  But I heard only the choir.

  I ran toward them, leaping onto the statue's base to slash at the taloned feet of the nearest demon. It leaped away, its wings blasting me with an infernal stench.

  The other demon glared not at me but at Erastus, who backed away, reluctant to obey my last command. "Go, I said!"

  His eyes met the demon's. They widened and sank down into his skull, the last reflection of life dying as the fiend drew out the final ounces of his soul through his eyes. His face withered and grayed. He fell.

  Grasping the statue's arm, I pulled myself up to strike the fiend that slew Erastus. The Ray sang vengeance as it cut deep into the abomination's scaly thigh. I struck again as it leaped away, severing the talons of its trailing foot.

  Darkness enveloped me as a heavy body drove me off the statue and onto the ground. Talons scraped across the back of my cuirass. Sharp nails dug through the chainmail where my missing pauldron left a gap in my defense. A heavy body fell upon me, strong limbs encircling my chest.

  I twisted, but the fiend remained atop me, its knees digging into the pits of my arms. Its unholy halo dimmed even the divine light of the Ray. I stabbed blindly over my shoulder.

  The demon clutched my wrist, holding the sword at bay with one hand. Its strength was terrible even before it added the second hand and pushed my own blade down toward my neck. Even the magic of my belt wasn't enough for me to resist.

  "Iomedae," I whispered. "Grant me strength."

  At my prayer, the radiance suffused my body, strengthening my muscles. I pushed back, forcing the blade away from my throat.

  The demon's jaws opened in an expression of surprise. I shoved with all my magic- and deity-granted might, pushing it off of me. For all the power of Iomedae, I knew I had not hurt the fiend in our struggle.

  Behind the demon, Radovan raised his big knife to stab again from behind. The fiend twisted around to fend off the surprise attack. When it released my arm, I raised the Ray in both hands and struck off its wing and
arm together.

  It reeled, and Radovan stepped around to strike it again from the side. Harried from both sides, the fiend lashed out, but Radovan had already withdrawn. I struck again, spilling the fiend's viscera in a steaming pile. The demon fell.

  "I told you to go."

  "You ain't the boss of me. Besides, if I went back without you, that stupid unicorn would kill— Get down!"

  We hit the ground just in time to avoid the swooping attack of the other death demon. It flew past us to land beside Erastus.

  The fallen ranger stood, his head turned at an unnatural angle. He cast away his bow and glared at us with undead hatred.

  I knew that stare. I warned Radovan, "Don't let him touch you."

  He crouched, sidestepping to flank the demon. "Got it. Also, company's on the way."

  I had already seen the emaciated figures of assassin demons stalking toward us. Radovan and I had faced their kind before, in the Fierani Forest.

  But not alone.

  We had to move fast before we were overwhelmed. When I saw the demon's eyes flick toward Radovan, I charged. As the fiend moved to defend itself against the Ray, I turned and thrust instead at Erastus. The sword pierced his armor and split his heart. It was the only mercy I could offer.

  "Find peace in the light, crusader."

  Above the radiant choir, I heard a bone-crunching impact. Radovan cried out in pain. I turned in time to see him hit the ground at the base of the statue. The death demon coughed its mockery as it stalked toward him. Ichor streamed from its wounded thigh and foot as it locked its eyes on Radovan.

  "Don't look!" I shouted, but too late. Radovan gawped at the demon's face. Multicolored soul essence rose from his body to stream toward the fiend's gluttonous eyes.

  A prayer to the Inheritor on my lips, I gathered all my faith into a single blow. When the Ray came down upon the demon's spine, it came with all the weight of Iomedae's wrath. The sword blazed and sang, combining its own righteous fury with my own. The death demon fell in uneven halves at Radovan's feet.

  He shook his head, stunned as much by the blow that threw him to the foot of the statue as by the fiend's gaze. The assassin demons moved to cut off our escape left and right.

  I pulled Radovan to his feet. "Go now, and no argument."

  "I'm not going to let you—"

  "You're no use to me here, not without your devil upon you." He flinched. My words stung, but he needed to hear it. "Go now, before—"

  "Viridio!" he shouted. "Come on, I'm inviting you through!"

  "Stop it! What are you doing?"

  "We need the big fellow. Come on, Viridio!" Radovan beat his chest. "Get in here!"

  A shadow fell toward him. I pushed Radovan aside and struck upward with the Ray. The death demon screamed as it rose once more, retreating from my holy blade.

  Radovan rolled back to his feet. He appeared less startled by the sudden attack than by the absence of any physical transformation. "It's no good," he said. "I don't think it's enough to call on him. What I need is his sigil, venom, and plenty of it."

  "I need you to tell the count to look for me in the river."

  He frowned, but his eyes widened with understanding. He nodded. "Will do."

  "Now get out of here. I can't fight and watch out for you at the same time."

  He didn't like hearing the truth, but he accepted it. "Give 'em hell, sweetheart."

  I disliked the familiarity, but I allowed it.

  He ran, raggedly at first, and then with arms and legs pumping. I went with him as far as the second bridge. To the south, a befouled stream from the cellars of the Widowknife Clanhold fell into the Sarkora River.

  Radovan paused once to look back. I waved him off and turned to face the chaos alone.

  The remaining death demons flew up, out of reach of the Ray. I felt the absence of my shield as they pointed down at me and shrieked. Yet they did not attack. They waited as the mob approached.

  Far more of them were human than I had expected, the rest orcs and half-breeds. They wore garments in the colors of filth and violence. The boldest ran to the front clutching curved daggers that reminded me of Radovan's big knife.

  I braced for the rush.

  And still they did not come. Instead, they stood well back from me as a buzz of insects rose behind the mob. As it grew louder, the crowd parted to allow their champion to approach.

  A head taller than I, the man wore mismatched armor: one pauldron decorated with a demon's face, the other with the Andoren eagle. Upon his shield was welded an iron locust, its wings sharpened to blades. Bloodied with paint and scratched with Abyssal runes, the sword of the Inheritor lay embossed upon on his breastplate. Considering his size, it had to have been made specifically for him.

  The man had once been a paladin.

  I reached out with the radiance. Even surrounded by demons and cultists, his presence stood out as the most evil.

  "Where did you fall, crusader?"

  He unsheathed a heavy blade. A cloud of darkness streamed out of the scabbard after it, each tiny mote growing within instants to form a locust the size of a man's thumb. A few perched on his armor, one upon his cheek. The rest formed a dark halo around his head. He came toward me.

  His blade flew high, but I was not deceived. The first attack came from the razor wings of the locust on his shield. I retreated and stepped aside, swinging the Ray in both hands to deflect the shield. Once more I lamented the loss of my own shield.

  The fallen paladin rushed me. This time I stepped to his right, calling on the radiance as I struck his blade. Blinding light seared the hovering locusts as our swords clashed. With both hands, I should have struck the weapon from any lesser foe. This dark crusader was as strong as I, even with my magic belt.

  I hooked my ankle behind his, but he stood fast. Breaking our blade lock, I stepped past him. Borrowing a trick from Radovan, I shot an elbow into his back. Even a spur of steel would not have penetrated my foe's back plate.

  He whirled, but not following me as I had expected. His shield slammed into my sword arm. The locust wings caught my cowter, their razor edges tearing at the steel.

  I kicked backward, this time catching his calf. He fell into a half-kneeling position. I turned hard to the right, sweeping my blade across his neck. The Ray's edge sparked on his heavy steel collar.

  He swung his sword low. I leaped, but not high enough. The back of his hand caught my heel. I tripped, rolling away as I came down.

  He also retreated, panting less from the exertion than from his close call with decapitation. He motioned to the mob of cultists as he stepped back. At his unspoken command, they surrounded me.

  Brandishing the Ray sent those nearest me scurrying away. One lingered a moment too long. My blade licked out. The cultist fell, pushing himself away with his feet as he clutched his bleeding throat.

  The dark paladin uttered a demonic phrase. He pointed at a cultist whose face wept with blisters. "Kill her!"

  The chosen cultist gaped, eyes wide for an instant before narrowing with malicious intent. He raised his wicked dagger and leaped for me.

  Even as I turned to sweep the Ray across his undefended belly, I knew the fallen paladin was ready to strike. As I eviscerated the cultist, I continued to turn, dropping to the bridge and rolling as the dark paladin's sword smashed the stones inches behind me.

  He struck again with his shield. I continued to roll, barely avoiding the crushing blow. When he struck again with the sword, I surprised him by rolling backward, parrying with the Ray. I kicked up with both legs. The surprise blow knocked his shield aside. I released his sword and thrust the Ray beneath his shield arm.

  He wore no besagew beneath his spaulders. The tip of the blade thrust deep into his armpit.

  He roared in pain as I rolled back to my knees and scrambled away. His shield slumped at his side.

  I stood and asked again, "Crusader, where did you fall?"

  His only answer was to spit a curse.

  Cr
ying out the Inheritor's name, I flew at her betrayer. My first strike beat aside his swarming blade. The second he caught in a last, desperate raise of his shield. I struck the steel locust from its face in a shower of sparks. His shield arm fell dead at his side.

  "Deskariiiii!" he screamed.

  A miasma of dark insect wings intensified around him. Motes of corruption burned my eyes and filled my nostrils. A million infinitesimal mandibles gnawed my flesh, striving to burrow into my heart.

  He struck and struck again. Dazed by the power of his demon lord, I slashed wildly. The Ray deflected his sword once, twice, but not the third time. It cut through my pauldron and deep into my breastplate. An instant of ultimate cold, and then I felt the wet wound trickling down my shoulder.

  I stepped back, both hands steadying the Ray in a defensive posture.

  "Iomedae!"

  She answered, the radiance surging through my body. It did nothing for my sundered armor, but it seared the corruption from my wound before closing it.

  My foe uttered a profanity to the lord of locusts. The insects swirled around the fallen paladin's body to form another suit of armor.

  Thus healed and fortified, we threw ourselves back at each other.

  As he flung the dark powers of the Abyss at me, so did I hurl the might of Heaven at him. His was the stronger arm, mine the fiercer blade. His servitude to Deskari was absolute, but so was my devotion to Iomedae. He would fail, because he fought to destroy me, while I fought for time.

  As I retreated, parrying a furious sequence of head strikes, I glanced over the bridge. The ravine lay much farther below us than I had realized, or perhaps it only seemed so now. The polluted stream from the cellars of the Widowknife Clanhold looked far shallower than I had hoped. The sluggish waters barely dampened the channel before pouring down into the Sarkora River below.

  I kicked my foe's knee. As he lowered his guard, I struck at his head. He raised his blade again, but it was too late. I shifted my aim and swept the Ray in a downward arc. Its blinding white edge cut through his tasset. A gout of blood and severed chains from his chausses followed as I withdrew the blade.