by Mark Albany
I agreed. Whatever danger we were in, she was in it too, regardless. It didn’t make me trust her enough to release her bonds, but I felt comfortable in turning my back on her to face the undead that were slowly coming toward us.
“We should head into the tunnels,” I said softly, inching backward. “This many of them will be able to flank and overwhelm us. At least in the tighter quarters we can funnel them into better kill zones.”
Everyone agreed, so we started to move back. The undead followed, sensing that their prey was trying to get away, and let out low, gargled roars of anger and hatred as they did.
I pushed some of my remaining power into my sword and watched the runes come alive with bright, white light. I was tempted to use everything I had to break a line through the monsters we faced, but there was very little point to that, and it would drain me and leave our team minus one member.
I looked around at the others. Norel had already prepared a couple of blasts of lightning. Lyth had an arrow ready to shoot. I still wasn’t sure if she had a power other than astral projection, but, more importantly, I wondered why she hadn’t summoned Frarris to our aid. If there was ever a time to have a massive, fire-breathing dragon on our side, it was now.
She let fly first and sent an arrow into the group, piercing a monster through the eye. The rest seemed to take that as their cue to attack as a group. A pair of ear-splitting lightning bolts shot forward, leaving a pair of scorch marks on the ground, as well as a dozen or so of the monsters that had been caught in the blasts. As the creatures surged forward, it was my turn. I stepped forward, between the creatures and my team, as the power surged through the sword in my hands and cut a wide swathe of white power into front line of undead.
It didn’t take out as many as Norel had accounted for, but it was enough of a buffer to buy us time to retreat.
“Into the tunnels!” I shouted, then turned and realized that the women were already headed into them, seeming to have thought that Norel’s attack was enough. I sucked in a deep breath and sprinted after them.
“I’ll teach you ladies to leave me behind!” I roared as the power drain of using magic started to tell on my muscles. My legs burned with each step as I pushed onward.
“Duck!” Lyth called, with another arrow nocked in place and aimed at me. Or almost. I did as ordered, dropping and turning it into a controlled forward roll as I heard an arrow whizz over my head and cut into a couple of the creatures that were coming in close behind me.
“You left me behind!” I growled as I smoothly jumped to my feet again and rushed over to where the women stood.
“We thought you were behind us,” Braire hissed and flicked her wrists, showing a pair of blades in her hands. Aliana was couple of steps in front of her, blades already out in the open and slashing a couple of the creatures that had come in closer than I would have liked. I spun around and used my wrist to drag my blade through a couple of undead necks as well.
“Next time, be sure,” I snarled.
6
Cutting through the monsters wasn’t as much fun when there were so many of them about. Anytime we made a dent in their front line, a dozen or so more rushed in to take the place of the dead. Or undead, in this case.
As we moved through the tunnels, my appreciation for the intricate stonework that would last almost forever decreased with each step. Of all the places to be stuck while being chased by a horde of the undead, a maze of tunnels that was used as a graveyard for elven royalty was not my preference.
Just then, we arrived at a branch in the tunnels. I looked over the three ways that were open to us and shook my head.
“Bloody hell,” I hissed, looking at the women. “Do any of you know where we’re going from here? Lyth?”
“I’ve never set foot in this place,” the archer snapped as she drew another arrow from her quiver. “How the hell am I supposed to know where we’re supposed to go?”
“They’re your family!” I called, stopping as a group of five or so of the monsters came into striking distance. I swung my blade in a flat arc and sliced open the closest undead’s throat. Lyth launched another arrow at the one that jumped in to cut me down. Aliana stepped in to help as more came inside.
Their eyes glowed in the dark, I realized. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed that before. No, wait, I had. How could I forget something like that?
“Hey, if you idiots wouldn’t mind breaking me free from these bonds!” I heard Faye shout. “You sure seem like you need the damn help!”
“Not a fucking chance,” Braire growled and pushed the woman back to the ground where she could keep an eye on the proceedings. Lyth stepped backward. I wasn’t sure how many arrows she had in that quiver of hers, but I assumed that she would run out soon. Hopefully that meant she’d dig into whatever other abilities she had. I didn’t have time to worry about that, though.
Even though the tighter confines of the tunnels worked to keep the undead from bringing their full numbers to bear on us, there were still a lot of them, almost too many to deal with. We were constantly pushed back into the tunnels. Aliana, Braire and I dealt with the front line as well as we could, but with my larger sword, I needed to keep my distance from the monsters in order to have room to swing. And with more of them coming in, I needed increasing amounts of room. I was forced back again and again, trying to get enough room to swing or stab. Aliana and Braire had no such problems with their daggers, of course, and for the most part they were able to cover for me, but that wouldn’t last.
We needed a way out, which was annoying, considering how hard I’d pushed to guide us down into these damn tunnels in the first place.
“Seriously, Lyth,” I heard Norel call as she gathered her power to help us. Other than Faye and Lyth, the rest of us were still drained from acting as Aliana’s familiars and having had too little time to recover. “How sure are you that we’re in the right place? What is this place? Why is it such a maze?”
The archer didn’t immediately respond. She pulled more arrows from her quiver and tucked a couple of them into her hand, then fired the last one into the mass that gathered to charge us again.
“These burial grounds were used by the whole family in question,” Lyth explained, shouting over the din of the battle. I wanted to step away from the fight to better hear what she had to say, but there were few enough openings as it was and I doubted that we’d have the opportunity to break away without killing a good many of the creatures that were entering the tunnels in force, now.
Despite the darkness, I saw Aliana and Braire working in tandem. The beastmistress hadn’t called on her beasts, yet. She had said that it required her to be in a particular state of mind to summon them, which I supposed meant that she wasn’t in the right state of mind to do so. I thought I understood at the time that she talked to me about it, but I would have to ask again another time.
“They shared the burial grounds back in the day, letting the families stay together even after death,” Lyth explained as we managed to kill our way to a small reprieve.
“That’s not foreboding at all,” I muttered sarcastically.
“Why?” Aliana asked as we headed farther down the central path that opened up for us.
“Well, I assume that the family she’s talking about was her family as well, right?” I asked as I looked around and pushed a small amount of power into my blade, preparing for the fight to continue.
“Ah,” Norel grunted. “That is foreboding.”
She didn’t need to tell me. As it turned out, we all ended up too busy to discuss the foreboding nature of our situation. It was one of the benefits of being in a life-or-death scenario, I realized, staying behind as the rest of them continued on. You had to make decisions on the fly, and if you survived, you were vindicated by knowing that the choice you made was the right one. If you didn’t, there were no regrets. Dying simplified things quite a bit.
My eyes were adjusted to the darkness, so I closed them as the blast from my sword l
aunched toward the surging line of monsters. It wasn’t that powerful an attack, granted, but with how closely they were pressed in with each other, the toll was still at an acceptably high number. As they faltered under the assault, Lyth’s arrows cut into their numbers with pinpoint accuracy. I charged, gripping my sword with both hands, and cut a wide swathe through several of their necks. Their unprotected bodies fell. Black blood splattered my skin as I jumped in and quickly reversed my strike, ducking under an ax that swung at my head and retaliating with a low cut. They would survive without their legs, of course. They didn’t even seem to feel pain, but it would slow them down if nothing else.
Something slashed me and opened a shallow cut in my shoulder, forcing me back a step as my attacker screamed in that horrifying, gargling way as it tried to press its advantage.
I screamed back, not even sure what I was doing as I pulled my sword up in a diagonal sweep. The razor-sharp blade sank into its chest as I put my weight behind it, punching forward and out the other side. It was dead by the time the blade came out of its back, but I still didn’t feel like it was enough and pushed what little power I had left into the steel. I couldn’t see the runes, but I felt them, and those on my hand, burn as I launched another blast of power into the undead monster. Its body heated to the point where it was uncomfortable to stand near it, and a shot of white light blasted from the sword. The creature still impaled on it burst into a bloody mess, leaving me coated in its remnants.
I spluttered and stepped backward, lost my footing on the suddenly-drenched flagstones, and hit the ground hard. The breath left my lungs in a rush as I landed. I quickly pushed myself back upright, still holding onto my sword, although it was a struggle. I saw the gaping hole that my blast had created, obliterating the monsters for the most part. I hadn’t realized that I had that much power left in me.
Hell, I hadn’t known I was capable of something like that even when I was full and ready for a hard fight. It was nice to surprise myself like this.
A new batch of undead quickly filled the gap, however, and rushed toward me as I struggled to stay on my feet, still gasping for breath. For a moment I thought I felt the ground shaking, but when it stopped, I assumed that it was just my imagination. A trio of arrows dropped three of the closest monsters. The arrows flew in such quick succession that I wondered if they were all fired at the same time.
It wouldn’t be enough, I suddenly thought. They were advancing in an unstoppable wave. I made my peace with it. I’d known that we wouldn’t come out of this as soon as we stepped into the tunnels. Or that it was a possibility, anyway—I wasn’t suicidal like that. I fought for every step deeper into the tunnel, using my sword to force them into keeping their distance. The undead didn’t fear a blade or death, from what I could tell, but the fact remained that the blade was still sharp and they were still mortal, and fell back under my strikes. I couldn’t summon any more power so I was forced to rely on martial prowess, and the drain on my muscles was already affecting me.
Cold fingers wrapped around my wrist and dragged my hand off my sword’s hilt. My heart hammered in my chest as I roughly pulled my hand free and cut the beast down as I backpedaled desperately. I was fighting for my life, trying to push the creatures back.
Something raised the hairs on the back of my neck a moment before my eyes were suddenly blinded by white light. I heard the crack of one of Norel’s lightning bolts coming to the rescue a little too close for comfort. I was pushed away by the force of the blast, once again knocked onto my back. I landed well away from where Norel was unleashing a flurry of bolts that left my ears ringing. I lost my sword for a moment but quickly grabbed it again, and made sure that Faye’s spear was still attached to my hip before I turned from the power being leveled against the monsters on other side of the room.
A pair of hands gripped me by the shoulders and quickly dragged me away. I still couldn’t hear anything except the ringing in my ears, but the way that something wooden with a string hit my head with every step my rescuer took, I could guess with a fair amount of certainty that Lyth was the one pulling me away from the fighting.
It wasn’t the most dignified way to be rescued, but survival was still the idea. I staggered to my feet once I was able, still blinded and deafened by Norel’s attacks. Lyth put my hand on her shoulder and thus guided me back toward where the others were standing.
I coughed as dust entered my lungs. This time, I knew it wasn’t my imagination. The ground shook dangerously, and from the way Norel suddenly stopped her attacks, I knew that something was happening.
My vision was returning by bits and pieces. I looked over at Lyth, who was shaking her head. Aliana, Braire, and Norel were holding each other’s hands, which told me that the first two had been working as familiars for Norel and powering her sudden attacking prowess, which explained where the sudden attack came from. It also explained why Aliana and Braire hadn’t been on the front line with me, using their knives. Lyth had been charged with keeping Faye in line, so she’d used her arrows to help from a distance. I assumed that her rushing in to drag me clear wasn’t part of the original plan, but it certainly was a welcome one.
“Thanks,” I grunted and firmly nodded to her before looking up at the ceiling as dust started to come down from it. “Do you know what this is?”
She nodded. “I think we might have been a little too enthusiastic with our attacks, and the foundation is making us pay for it. We are underground, after all.”
“Nothing magical about this, then?” I asked, ducking and covering my head as the dust gave way to small rocks.
“Not that I can tell,” she replied. It was worrisome. Magic always had a way out. Usually, anyway. Nothing would save us from a regular cave-in.
I glanced over as Norel, looking drained and exhausted, raised her hands. An almost invisible shield came into being, deflecting the rocks that fell in greater size and speed.
I realized that I could do the same. I had been taught how, and even though I was similarly drained of power, it wouldn’t take much. I put my hands up, the runes in my left hand burning painfully, as the roof gave in under the weight above us. I kept my eyes open, fighting to stay upright and protect Lyth and Faye as the roof caved in on top of me. I fought with what strength I had left to keep us safe, but the weight bore down and pushed me to my knees. I felt cracks start to spiderweb across my shield, even if they weren’t yet visible, a moment before my control broke and an avalanche of rocks came down on my head. I didn’t have time to protect myself, and everything went black as something hit my head.
7
The fact that my head hurt was the first thing I realized. Thinking felt like walking through waist-deep water. It was tiring and difficult, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep doing it. But, the pain was enough to clear the annoying mental sluggishness. I groaned softly and gently shook my head.
That was a mistake, since it only made the pain worse. I couldn’t help another low growl of annoyance as I forced my eyes open.
I wasn’t sure if that had been part of my imagination as well, since all I could see was black. It only lasted a moment, though. A gentle blue light brought my attention to a face that rested near mine. I didn’t realize how close it was until a pair of eyes opened barely inches away from my own, reflecting the soft light.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Lyth said, although it took me a few seconds to remember her name. The blue light wasn’t painful, I realized, but healing. It originated from her hands, both of which were pressed to my temples. I recognized it as a healing spell, similar to the kind that Norel used, although the light from her hands was generally white instead of blue. I sucked in a deep breath and tried to remember what happened.
We were still in the tunnels. The last thing I remembered was the roof collapsing on us after our magical strikes on the undead weakened the structure of the tunnels around us. The fact that Lyth was still alive—along with Faye, who was still bound and backed up against the wal
l, looking over at me with what looked like genuine concern in her eyes—gave me a measure of comfort.
The light wasn’t that strong, and I had just been hit in the head quite hard. The shadows were playing tricks on me. That was the only explanation for that.
“How do you feel?” Lyth asked and patted the side of my head as the light from her hands faded.
I opened my mouth to answer, but a sudden feeling of nausea swamped my senses. I turned away, retching and heaving for a few seconds, as the light meal I’d had for breakfast came back up in a painful and annoying way.
I coughed and gagged a few times before I recovered and pulled myself back to the wall that she had propped me up against, slowly wiping my mouth.
“Sorry about that,” I muttered and closed my eyes for a moment as darkness descended on us.
“It’s perfectly fine,” Lyth said. I heard her move to where Faye was seated. “It’s normal to have an unsettled stomach after a hard hit to the head. Even after the injury is healed.”
“How bad was I injured?” I asked and slowly worked my way onto my feet. My balance was off, and I swayed. That needed to go away, quickly. My sword lay at my feet, so I braced myself against the wall as I bent to pick it up. I didn’t have much strength—my knees wobbled under the strain of staying on my feet. I didn’t have much power, either, but there was just enough to illuminate the runes on the blade and giving us some faint light as she moved over to check on Faye.
“Where are Norel, Aliana, and Braire?” I asked.
“The cave-in separated us,” Lyth replied as she looked around. “I wish I could tell if they were still alive or not. Either way, we still need to keep searching, at least for a way out of here.”
