Shadow Realms: Part One of the Redemption Cycle

by J. R. Lawrence

  “No,” he replied silently.

  Maaha smiled at his answer and relaxed her sword arm. She came to stand beside him and lifted her satchel into the air. It shimmered with a dark green that illuminated the towers point, but its light did not affect the tender eyes of The Follower standing there.

  “Then Vulzdagg will have nothing to deliver to the Urden’Dagg when the time comes. And when that time comes they shall face the punishment that has awaited them for so long a time.” Maaha paused as she relaxed her arm to her side, the satchel still glowed brightly. “It appears too long a time.”

  “That is only if they live out the hour,” Hestage pointed out.

  “They will live,” she said evenly. “But the one shall not.”

  Book Four

  The Urden’Dagg

  Urden’Dagg: No one has ever seen this Urden’Dagg. So no one really knows what it is. Is it a Fallen like us? Is it a Horg, or is a simple Gnome? If we’re not sure what race it is, then how exactly are we sure it even exists? These are questions that every creature of the Shadow Realm should ask themselves. These are questions that need answers, else everyone falls out of line, and the thing that is said to exist – but seems otherwise – is cast off and must act… if it is even there.

  I’ve asked myself these questions countless times, and I get the same answer: silence in my mind, as though I’ve suddenly stopped thinking.

  They raised me to believe in this Urden’Dagg, so throughout my childhood I didn’t even bother thinking about these questions, because my innocent mind didn’t think it worth worrying about. But now that I’ve gone through my era of childhood, I begin to wonder. I wonder if it would anger this Urden’Dagg to doubt its very existence.

  Now, though, I find I have little memory of my childhood. Whether that’s for the better, I know not. But a memory almost always comes back to me. A memory of an experience I could have lived on for decades without experiencing. It is the memory of learning of the cruelty of my own family; how they spoke of the destruction of Zurdagg as though it were a simple thing.

  Perhaps it was just a simple thing, or perhaps they hid their sorrow from the loss of their fellow Followers beneath a mocking laugh, and then lie as they tell questioners that they did not destroy Zurdagg, and murder Deotuer.

  I begin to wonder – as I have many times before – if their holding back information, in the hopes that I’d grow up to be a warrior without fully realizing the horrors a warrior would actually experience?

  I ask myself these questions often. But did I ever in my youth ask my family for the answers?

  No.

  ~ Neth’tek Vulzdagg

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Zurdagg’s Wrath

  The roar of the Horg chieftain roused every soldier to arms, and every captain to his or her commanding post, within the walls of Vulzdagg. The bells of alarm began as before, ringing with such furry that the earth beneath the people’s feet shook with each swinging beat of the hammerer against the bells side. But the clamor of the alarms was soon shrouded by the roars and screeches of every monster that had been summoned from the Lesser Realms, up into the compound of Vulzdagg.

  It was Gregarr, and his troop of one hundred and fifty faithful Grundagg soldiers, that were first to their feet and gathering in formation with weapons in hand. It was also Gregarr who took hold of a Vulzdagg warriors arm as he ran by in a panic.

  “What’s happening?” Gregarr shouted over the many other shouts and roars that echoed and reechoed throughout the compound.

  “We’re under attack!” The Follower cried in return, wrenching free from Gregarr’s grasp so that he might save himself.

  Gregarr let The Follower run free, and then standing straight he looked to the stalagmite wall of Vulzdagg. He cursed under his breath as he saw in the infrared spectrum the Horg’s that he had been expecting. His hand went by impulse to the hilt of his sword, gripping it tightly but not drawing it until needed.

  “Mazoroth!” shouted Gregarr to alarm all around him, and in his own private anger; and then added silently, “I suspected such a move from you.”

  There came a tremendous cracking echo from above their heads. Stones seemed to fall loose from high above the Vulzdagg compound, and come crashing down to shatter nearby Gregarr. But this was no stone of the natural earth.

  As it shattered, the rocks broke into twenty or thirty shards that seemed to scurry about like mice. When seeing this, Gregarr drew his broad sword from its scabbard and stepped away from them in alarm. One of these stone mice grabbed hold of Gregarr’s boot with six small legs. Gregarr kicked and smashed his foot down upon the ground several times before the thing finally released its hold on him, sailing through the air as he kicked it.

  “What devilry is this?” Gregarr exclaimed.

  “I’d like to know what that is!” Razbaar said at his side, pointing upwards at the once dark and out-of-sight ceiling.

  The ceiling of the great cavern was no longer out of sight, and they didn’t need their infrared vision to see it. In fact, with the infrared vision it was much more difficult for them to get a good view of the sudden bursts of heat from above.

  A troop of Vulzdagg warriors marching in formation passed by Gregarr and his soldiers as they made their way to guard the gate of the city. Gregarr barely noticed their passing as he was drawn to the increasing light above them, and eventually the light caught the attention of most of the fighters in the city. Soon all were glancing or even staring up at the glowing substance instead of paying heed to the more dangerous of dangers before them.

  It was Razbaar who shook Gregarr from his stare into the glowing light, and brought him back into the understanding of the danger they were all soon to be in.

  “Captain, what are your orders?” Razbaar shouted over the rising commotions around them. “Your troops stand ready for anything!”

  Gregarr shook his head to get his mind clear of the panic rising within him. “Get the troops into formation, and head for the citadel doors! We must protect Vulzdagg with what weapons we have!”

  “Protect Vulzdagg?” Razbaar asked, having hoped Gregarr to order their retreat to their home.

  “What else are we to do? We must stand and fight, or die fighting for ourselves if not our kin!” Gregarr shouted at him, “Now to the citadel!” He turned round, waving his sword above his head as he led the Grundagg troops toward the iron doors of the Vulzdagg citadel.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Monster of the Elements

  More stones fell from above and shattered into shards of stone mice. Every mouse of rock climbed atop one another and grabbed hold of each other in a frenzy to form something that no one could guess, or want to guess.

  A heap of stone was formed by these stone mice, and that heap began to rise to what appeared to be feet… And then legs… And then arms! A humanoid monster rose from the crumbled stones with eyes that stared with a green light upon all that surrounded it.

  Soldiers of Vulzdagg gathered into formation before this monster, drawing weapons of swords, scimitars, and steal shafted crossbows that were all leveled toward this humanoid monster of earth. The thing grew in height as more stone mice ran to it and attached themselves to its form. All people that could see this thing could name it at once as an Earth Elemental, its green eyes burning brighter as more and more life came into its stone body. The Elemental stared down at the warriors beneath it, waiting for enough energy and life to come for it to destroy all in its path.

  Such was its purpose.

  Razarr, standing at the front of his host of fighters, lifted his sword above his shield and cried with a loud commanding voice, saying, “Attack!”

  Darts were released and came splintering into the stone hide of the Elemental, and swords were merely blunted as they hacked at its legs. When they discovered to their dismay that this monster was not going to crumble to pieces, they scattered into chaos; searching for a place they thought would be safe.

  Razarr gathered t
ogether what soldiers were brave enough – or crazed enough – to stand their ground before this monster.

  A wave of life came rushing into the Elemental’s body, and filled its essence with power. It lifted a heavy stone hand into the air to bring it down against the earth at its feet with a tremendous Boom! And then winging a wild fist the Elemental took out of a portion of Razarr’s ranks, sending them hurtling into structures.

  The Followers took every excuse to run from the Elemental that they knew outmatched them all. The Elemental lifted a heavy foot from the ground to take a long step toward the retreating Followers, and began its slow pursuit; destroying building with great swings of its arms and kicks from its legs. No Follower seemed to have the courage to hold his or her own ground against such a monster of the Lesser Realms. Anyone who had been there would think back on the time when the Faxtogar demon had risen to destroy them at Zurdagg, and those who had been there would also remember how Dril’ead led them to a mighty victory against that demon.

  “Where is Dril’ead Vulzdagg?” people were shouting in hopes that he would answer, “Where is the demon slayer?” Only cries of death and panic came in answer. Dril’ead was nowhere to be found among the fighting.

  The earth split open to make way for the oversized crablike monsters to crawl from the realm beneath. A red glow emanated from within such passages, revealing the light of the Lesser Realms. Such lights blinded The Followers and only increased their panic. Such a light also came from above that Gregarr and his troops had noted earlier, and that glow increased steadily and was spreading across the ceiling, revealing more and more of that unseen place to the eyes of everyone who could see; and those who saw that place could see the thousands and thousands of waking monsters suddenly emerging from above to follow that light as it made its slow way toward the citadel.

  Such monsters brought fear into all who saw them, and none held their ground against the cave-crabs as they came at them, and many lost their lives in attempts to survive such monsters as they. Their pinchers were like iron that snapped against stone, shattering the rock from their face.

  The soldiers of Vulzdagg were dwindling, and soon there would be nothing left of the city when the Earth Elemental was finished.

  *****

  The towers repeated the alarm over and over throughout the attack, and The Followers within the stalagmite towers shouldered crossbows to fire poison darts at everything that emerged from the earth. The darts, however, bounced harmlessly off the hard shells of these monsters, but the tower guards had much more to worry about than just the cave-crabs. Horg’s were attempting to climb the wall, and Mazoroth himself was there with them.

  The moment the first dart zipped past Mazoroth’s ear, he leapt from the wall and onto the roof of a structure directly below. He rolled once before jumping to his feet and running across the roof to leap onto another and repeat the motion, all the while going in the direction of the citadel. His Horg’s following close behind.

  Several or more of the Horg’s didn’t make it over the wall, and lay at its base with many poisonous darts protruding from their thick hide. The ones that did live followed Mazoroth from rooftop to rooftop toward their destination, but as they ran the towers repeatedly fired darts into their midst, bringing one to its death every now and again.

  Mazoroth had with him twenty or so Mazar’s left, and that number was dwindling fast. He began to regret ever accepting Maaha’s deal, and would rather be still dealing damage to the Grundagg Branch as he almost always enjoyed. But it was too late for that now. He had made his choice, and knew that if he hadn’t he would be lying dead at Maaha’s feet in his cavern.

  “No turning back now!” Mazoroth grumbled as he came to the last of the rows of roofs before reaching the citadel itself.

  Glancing over his shoulder, Mazoroth saw only fourteen of his clan left following him. He cursed under his breath the name of Maaha and all The Followers that had ever lived to anger him – and even the ones that never did.

  Looking to the gates of the citadel, Mazoroth saw that there was a great host of The Followers armed and guarding the way in. But Mazoroth also noticed that these Followers were not of Vulzdagg, their armor not matching that of the Vulzdagg troops. These soldiers were from Grundagg, Mazoroth knew. No one outside of that Branch recognized a Grundagg soldier better than Mazoroth, and neither did anyone hate that Branch as much as he. So seeing them, standing between him and his chance of escaping the danger that he – and what Horg’s he had left – had been landed in, made him all the more enraged.

  Several darts bounced off the stones underfoot as Mazoroth reached the place he was to leap to the last roof before the Grundagg’s. A shout arouse from the captain of the Grundagg’s, and a hundred darts were fired straight in Mazoroth’s direction.

  Mazoroth’s eyes widened as he saw his death before him. With great agility he decided not to make the jump, but dropped down between the structures instead.

  “Down!” shouted Mazoroth to what was left of his troops behind him, as he fell into safety.

  The Horg’s dropped into the chosen shelter just in time as the darts sped towards them. Landing hard and atop one another, the Horg’s rested briefly for a moment. In that moment, however, Mazoroth saw that there was one Horg missing from when he had last counted.

  “Thirteen…” Mazoroth breathed deeply, “It can still be done with just thirteen.”

  “But how are we to enter the citadel?” one Horg asked in despair. “We’re outnumbered by a million to one.”

  “There is still a way,” Mazoroth told them. “There is always a way.”

  It was then that the Elemental took a wide swing with one arm, removing the roofs of the buildings around it – including the roof of the building Mazoroth and his troop were sheltered beneath. Chunks of rock fell upon them, but none large enough to do any real damage.

  “What is that?” a Horg exclaimed as it caught sight of the stumbling Elemental.

  “That is the witchcraft of Maaha,” Mazoroth told them. “Keep clear of it. I do not trust it any more then I trust her. If she does hold true to her promise, than I shall trust enough to accept the deaths of my comrades as yet another slaughter caused by The Followers.”

  Screeches rose from all directions as the unearthly army emerged in greater numbers within the city walls. The crabs tore through each building and into the ranks of the defending Followers, or those who ran from them, without strain. Each monster made its way toward the citadel, over which the light was now glowing the brightest. Many more monsters were among this light, and they crawled down the caverns side to gather amongst the disorderly ranks of the cave-crabs that charged the citadel doors from all angles.

  Only the combined forces of the two branches could hold them at bay, but none knew how long that would last. All knew that Vulzdagg would not last.

  Darts were fired at random from the stalagmite towers and into the Earth Elemental’s rock sides, breaking off small chunks, but did little damage other than that. The Elemental was agitated enough to the point that it reached down and seized a building by its base, tearing it up from the ground. Turning toward the nearest tower, the Elemental hurled the entire crumbling home into the structures side.

  The tower broke into many shattering pieces of rock as it crumbled to the ground.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Another’s Gates

  Gregarr saw the tower fall, and he and his men looked upon the approaching Elemental with growing fear. But before them more dangers were approaching at greater speed then it.

  The crabs of the Lesser Realms crawled quickly toward the tight ranks of Grundagg, now mingled with soldiers of Vulzdagg in an attempt to defend the citadel’s doors with their lives.

  Gregarr raised his sword over his head as he prepared to give the order of attack.

  “Rangers, prepare to release!” He paused, just briefly, before finishing the order, screaming, “Release!”

  The darts were fired and came swift
ly into the charging crabs, only to break on their shells and pinchers, though, or bounce harmlessly aside.

  Gregarr growled in frustration, and glanced nervously up at the Elemental that was coming ever nearer. He heaved his sword before him, taking in a breath of air, which he believed to be his last.

  “Charge soldiers of Grundagg and Vulzdagg, charge!” Gregarr shouted as he, himself, charged forward into the claws of the crabs.

  Gregarr leaped into the air at the last second, and cleared the first oversized crab to land upon the back of the second in their riotous ranks. As he landed he brought his blade straight down into the shell of the beast. The blade bounced back, though, doing little but denting its shell and chipping the blade, and the pinchers grabbed wildly at him as it felt his attack hard on its back.

  Other soldiers were grabbed by the hard pinchers and thrown aside carelessly, or stabbed altogether by the sharpness of their tips. Several did the same as Gregarr, but few lived long enough to do any damage.

  One pincher came uncomfortably close to gabbing Gregarr’s leg, and he swung downwards with his blade to defend himself. The blade did nothing on its well armored body, but Gregarr saw that there was a gap of clean flesh between the pincher and the body of the crab. He took advantage of the monsters disadvantage, and cut downwards at its arm just below the pincher. He could feel his blade cutting into the flesh, and his lips twitched into a grimace at his victory over the thing.

  The arm of the crab came clean off with that swing, and Gregarr didn’t hesitate to do the same to the other. The monster beneath him screeched in pain and distress at its failure to survive, while Gregarr raised his voice to tell the others of his discovery.