Scorch flicked his finger. The pie splattered into Cappy’s face.
Zurth and Slom fell to their knees, holding their bellies and bursting out in raucous laughter.
“Shut up, you two!” Cappy dug the pastry out of his eyes, leapt onto the table, and started kicking away at the food. “Shut up!” He jumped off the table, sword arcing high and bearing down straight on Slom’s laughing face.
The half-orc dove under the table.
Zurth, half laughing, sprang up to his feet and delivered a solid punch into Cappy’s pie-encrusted face.
The older soldier’s knees wobbled. Making a desperate cut, he clipped Zurth’s shoulder, drawing first blood.
Zurth, the bigger man, ripped his sword out and said, “You really need to work on your sense of humor.” He parried the blow. Clang!
“The only thing I need to work on is cutting you in two!”
“That was a little funny,” Scorch said. He picked up another pickle and nibbled on the end. “But hardly good material.”
Melegal locked his fingers behind his head and watched the men try to carve their names in one another. Cappy’s skill with a blade was much more formidable than his appearance suggested. Zurth backed away, parrying blow after blow. Slat! Now I’m about to lose one of my henchmen!
CHAPTER 31
Sustaining blast after blast, Venir was flattened on the floor. Seared flesh. Rattled bones. It was all part of the battle. With Herculean effort, he fought on, rising to his feet. Brool licked out, clipping through a mage’s leg. A moment later he was lifted from his feet and suspended in the air. Across from him, floating above the throng of men, was Brak. His son’s face was savage. Inhuman.
“Cowards!” Venir yelled.
An odd chuckling arose from the wizards. The sordid lot of men pointed their fingers at him. Tiny glowing needles were flung and sticking to his skin.
Venir smelled his own flesh burning. He bellowed in laughter at the pain. “Is that all you have?”
The Nexus Chamber was now a bloody battlefield. Half of the mages were dead, face down in pools of blood on the floor. Blood smeared all of their robes. None were unscathed. Venir caught a subtle movement out of the corner of his eye. Fogle huddled near Kam, unseen by the others. The man locked eyes with him for a moment. Venir dipped his chin a hair. Get her out of here.
“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you about this outcome, Venir.” It was Kavell. The High Wizard revealed himself, stepping out of his protective group. “And who is this madman we have over here? Your son, I presume?” Kavell stroked his chin. “Is he slobbering? Like father, like son, eh? I’d expect such behavior in your taverns, but we cannot have that in our towers. It’s”—he held his palm out, facing Brak as it charged with power—“uncouth.” He let loose a golden bolt, striking Brak square in the solar plexus. It blasted through one side and out the other. Brak’s chin sunk to his chest. His smoking body spasmed and quivered.
“Noooooo!” Venir screamed. He fought against his unseen bonds. His limbs were frozen. Minds assaulted his, holding his actions at bay. “I’ll kill you for this.”
“You had your chance. Now, for all the blood you’ve shed, you must pay your debts. First with your son, and then with my daughter.” Kavell stepped toward the dais where Kam was bound. The brood of wizards parted, clearing a way to the slab. Kavell’s jaw hung open. Kam was gone, Fogle with her.
Venir started laughing. “She’s gone, you proud fool.”
Kavell’s brow furrowed. He glared at Venir. “You are the fool! I would have let her go in return for you. Your brainless son would have been spared.”
Venir’s body strained and flexed against his bonds. It was his will against all the others. A collective of strong intellect and debased minds fighting against his. Forcing him to do their will. “You lie,” he managed to say through clenched jaws.
“You’ll never know, will you? Now all of you will die. I’ll hunt her and Fogle Boon down soon after I turn the both of you inside out.” He pointed at the remaining Savasons. “Torment these two until only one last breath remains.” He turned to Brak. “Start with his son first. I want him to see it all. I’ll start.”
Brak’s head snapped up. He started screaming.
CHAPTER 32
Sidebor sat back in a pewter chair, holding a cloth over his face. His own dark blood smeared his face. A searing pain throbbed in the socket where his right eye had once been. Grinding his teeth, he then said, “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Didn’t I?” Sinway said. The all-powerful underling mage stood in front of the roaring furnace, holding his father’s eyeball in his hand. “Get it? Didn’t eye?” He chittered a laugh and casually tossed Sidebor’s ruby-red eye into the furnace.
A flash of bright light exploded, billowing Sinway’s robes. He dusted off his hands. “Since you are my father, I have chosen to be merciful. It’s much better than being dead, is it not?”
“If you want me to say that I’m grateful, I won’t.” He glanced at the Vicious looming nearby, the one that had carved out his eye. “I even created that one.” He grunted. “I’d call you a bastard, but I know you aren’t. How’s your mother?”
Sinway’s face split open with a smile. “She’s well, but we won’t be making any plans for a reunion. After all, I can’t have you spawning any more children. You never know how they might turn out.”
“It’s been quite some time since I’ve copulated. If you don’t have any immediate plans, I could use some leisure.” He pulled the soiled cloth away from the gaping hole in his socket. “And a few bottles of port for the pain will help.”
“I can’t have you out whoring the streets,” Sinway said.
“I’m in a new body, and I’m missing an eye, you fool.” He threw his cloth at the Vicious. “And I wasn’t suggesting I wander about. Rather that you bring them here.”
“We don’t have time to make concubines. Those days are gone for you.”
Sidebor murmured under his breath. For hundreds of years, his essence had been hosted only by his red gemstone eyes. It had been a miserable existence. Formless. Lonely. By chance, an underling loyal to him had come to his rescue. Oran. Now, missing one eye, a portion of Sidebor’s power was gone. He was hardly a threat to his son, Sinway, now. He was almost as proud of his son as the amount he hated him. Just play along.
“Much has changed since you’ve been gone, Sidebor,” Sinway continued. “We have a stronghold in the Outlands, we nearly have complete control of the City of Bone and its Everwells, and the City of Three is nearly ours as well.”
“Let me have command of a regiment. I’ll finish what needs to be finished in Bone.”
“No one knows you,” Sinway said. He glided over to his pewter chair and sat down. “Sorry, but you’ll have to stay close to me. And when I don’t want you around, which is now, you’ll remain inside this castle.”
“And what about Scorch and all of that power you wish to usurp? You know you’ll need me to help with that.”
“I need to trust you first. In the meantime, I can be patient.”
The longer you wait, the more power will slip from your hands. “You sound awfully sure of yourself.” Sidebor chuckled.
“You find it amusing?”
“I’ve been down the path you’re on before. So close to that trophy, but something unexpected always intervenes.”
“Such as?”
“Oh, you should have figured that out for yourself already.”
“If you’re talking about the Darkslayer, I don’t think that is a factor we need to worry about. Since our alien friend arrived, things have changed.”
There’s nothing new under the suns. “Just a warning, Son.”
“Noted. Vicious, see him to his chambers. Keep him alone and under lock and key until I return. And no port or any other amenities either. Let his suffering be a chronic reminder of who runs the world around here.
CHAPTER 33
“Oh, where are we?” Kam
said, trying to sit up.
“Easy,” Fogle replied, putting a damp cloth on her head, “we’re in your bedroom. Back in the Roost.”
“What? How?”
Fogle brought a cup of water and put it to her lips. They’d only been back a few minutes. The cup trembled in his hand. The spell he’d read from Ruut’s spellbook had drained him. In his transparent form without a solid body, he couldn’t cast his own spells, but he could read one from a book. Or so he had hoped. It was a risk he had taken, and it had worked. He and Kam were far from the dangers. For now.
Kam managed to make it all the way up into a sitting position. Her features were gaunt and haggard, her robust body unhealthy and diminished. “What about the others?”
“Sorry?” Fogle said, wiping water off her chin.
“Venir? Brak? Where are they?”
Fogle’s skin turned a little clammy. “You saw them?”
“Bits and pieces, but they were there with me, in the Nexus Chamber, weren’t they?”
“Yes,” Fogle said, showing a sad look. “And they made quite a sacrifice.”
Kam somehow got hold of the hairs on his chest, pulled him down into her burning green eyes, and said in her demanding voice, “Go back and get them.”
“Uh, I hardly have the means.”
“Don’t be a worm, Fogle.” She pushed him away, put her feet on the floor, and headed out of the bedroom. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed. Fogle came to her aid. “Get off me and go and get them.”
“They understood the consequences, Kam. They gave up their lives for yours. We all agreed that your safety came first.”
Her eyes became hot green flames. “Don’t you dare coddle me! After all I’ve been through. The mind grumbles. The twisting of my mind. The assaults on my body. In all that time, Fogle, it wasn’t you I was thinking about. It was him. Sorry.” She pushed herself up to her feet. “And dead or alive, I owe him an apology and I shall give it. With or without your aid!”
Him. The words stung. Kam was a special woman, no doubt—fierce, beautiful… loyal. He’d have left her rotting in a cell. Venir had fought his arse off to get her out. Head down, he said, “I’m a bastard, aren’t I?”
“No, you’re just a man.” She caressed his cheek. “And you aren’t all to blame for this. But slat, I’m the mother of his daughter, and I should do better by that infuriating goon. Will you go get him?”
With a sigh and another crack in his heart, Fogle said, “I’ll try.”
***
Brak’s white eyes returned to normal. Still suspended in the air, he swung and flailed at unseen enemies. “Father! Make it stop! Please!”
“My, he’s a loud one, isn’t he?” Kavell said, covering his ears. He looked up at Venir. “Torture, isn’t it? Your young giant has a very feeble mind. It’s very easy to toy with.”
“You’ll pay for this, maggot,” Venir growled. His arms flexed against his invisible bonds. He had some idea how wizards did their work. Beneath his feet, four of them had him circled. Holding hands, they had intertwined their wills to use their powers against him. “Let my boy go, and just take me!”
“I already made that offer, and you declined.” With a turn of his finger, he turned Venir upside down. “Your entire world is upside down now, isn’t it?”
Now eye level with Venir, the Savasons clucked with laughter.
Snarling, Venir channeled all of his inner strength. Arms and neck bulged and strained. The host of magi’s willpower weakened on the link. Venir’s fury surged. The bonds that held his mind in control shattered. “Big mistake, Kavell!” Brool lashed out in a full swing. Slice!
One of the wizards’ heads hit the floor at the same time as Venir. An armored panther, he plowed through the knot of inferior men, axe first. In three great strides, he severed out the backside of one wizard in the group that tormented Brak. They all scrambled.
Brak hit the floor hard.
Thud!
Cutting two more men down, axe dripping blood, Venir stood guard over Brak. He locked his eyes on Kavell. “Let’s make this between me and you, you magic-sucking dog!”
Kavell’s refined features became a mask of fury. Bright-orange fires erupted from his fingertips.
Venir caught the blast on his shield and marched forward. The searing flames kept coming, curling up the hair on his arms. Yelling, Venir pushed harder against the storm. One great stride at a time, he fought against the blast, each step getting hotter and hotter. Face beaded in sweat, shield red hot and burning his arm, he cocked Brool back to strike.
“No!” Kavell bellowed. “It’s not possible! No!”
Venir struck. Brool’s tip lanced through the fire and sunk deep between Kavell’s ribs. The fire went out. Venir dropped his shield, eyed Kavell’s awestruck dying face, and said, “You should have let your daughter go.”
“Screw you, barbarian.”
“Skewer you too.” Lowering Kavell’s dead figure to the ground, Venir shoved the man off the spike with his boot. He turned.
The Savasons were gone.
Brak sat on his knees, wheezing and clutching his chest. His eyes blinked rapidly.
Venir rushed to his side and said, “Are you alright, Son?”
“I have no idea. What happened?”
Suddenly, a black portal appeared in the blood-splattered room. Fogle appeared. The big-headed man’s eyes scoured the room and rested on Kavell’s dead body. “I knew you’d be fine.”
“No thanks to you,” Venir said in a harsh voice. He helped Brak up to his feet. “Now jump back into your black hole where you belong.”
“Come now, Venir,” Fogle said, backing away from the oncoming man. “You wanted to go in. I sent you in. You know as well as I know that you’d somehow survive. Am I right, or am I wrong?”
“You’re wrong. You almost got Brak killed.”
“If it gives you any pleasure, you’ll be happy to know that your temperamental bastard nearly killed me moments earlier.”
“Is that true?” he said to his son, whom he was holding up with his shoulder.
Brak shrugged.
“Go away, Fogle,” Venir said.
“You won’t get out of here without me. Even without Kavell, the Savasons will be back and in greater numbers. The rest of the Royals won’t take this well.”
“I’m not going into the black hole again, you snake. Probably a hundred underlings on the other side of it.”
“More like a thousand,” Fogle replied, and then held his hands up. “Only a jest! Shall I go first, then? Bear in mind, our time is limited.”
Venir pointed Brool’s tip at Fogle’s chest. “I should gut you now.”
“Then we’d all be”—he pushed away Brool’s tip—“stuck here. No pun intended.”
“Come on, Venir,” a soft voice said.
Venir whirled at the sound.
Kam stood within the portal with her hand stretched out. “Please, hurry.”
Venir eased back, eyeing the battered woman.
“Don’t be stubborn, Venir. I won’t say I’m sorry until you come home.”
Caked in blood, he took her hand in his. There was warmth and strength inside her palm. She led him and Brak both inside, and they exited to her room at the Magi Roost. There, she hugged his big frame as tight as she could and said, “I’m sorry.”
CHAPTER 34
“Ow!” Lefty said, jumping up into a sitting position. Rough hands forced him back down.
“Be still,” a man said. “You don’t want to bleed to death, do you?”
Wincing, Lefty eased back onto the hot ground. His shoulder throbbed, but the black-bearded man was working on it, running a needle and some sort of thread through the wound. He sucked through his teeth, and his eyes watered. Blinking, he looked at the man. “Billip?”
“Aye,” the archer said. He broke the thread with his teeth and tied it off with deft fingers. “All finished.” He rubbed the hair on Lefty’s head. “Never thought I’d see you again, boy. I
t’s a wonder you’re among us.”
“Thanks, Billip.”
He pulled off the cap of a water skin and poured it over the wound.
“Don’t waste that,” Lefty said, pushing it away.
“It’s all right,” Billip said, offering it to him. “Drink, and drink heartily. This skin hasn’t emptied since we left Three.”
Parched, Lefty gulped down the cool liquid as if it were a magnificent nectar. “Ahhhh!”
“Thatta boy.”
Lefty’s heart swelled inside his chest. He’d never thought he’d see any of his friends ever again. He stiffened. “Say, where’s Pall?”
“Who?”
“The Blood Ranger, Pall?” He started up on his feet. Wooziness assailed him.
Billip steadied him with his strong hands. “Easy. He was fine after we plugged about a dozen holes in him.” Billip snorted and smiled. “Told us to fill them with dirt, and he’d be fine. I said he was crazy. An hour later, he walked again, and now he’s heading to camp with the rest of them.”
“Was that Georgio I saw?”
“Yep. Come, they aren’t too distant, I don’t suppose.”
“Why’d they leave us?”
“Didn’t want to move you, is all.” Billip cracked his knuckles. “They only broke free an hour or so ago. Of course, it’s hard to tell in this Outland weather.” He glared up into the setting suns. “But you get used to it. The heat. The misery.” He shook his head. “Well, maybe not. At least we have plenty of water.”
Lefty got in step with Billip and followed along. “What are you doing out here?”
“Building an army.”
“An army? What kind of army?”
“The kind that kills underlings. What other kind is there?”
“Is Venir leading it?”
“No.”
Lefty’s expression soured. He didn’t want to know if Venir was alive or not, but he had the feeling that even Billip wasn’t certain.
“Don’t fret. He has a way of turning up, but I’ve not seen him since days before we departed Three, and that was months ago.” Billip adjusted the bow on his shoulder. “Underlings have penetrated the belly of the beautiful city. I hope it doesn’t fall like Bone, but we left Melegal in charge, so there’s hope.”
The Darkslayer: Lethal Liaisons (Series 2, Book 4) (Bish and Bone Series 2) Page 11
