“I assume, then, that we have a deal,” Herang said. “Nobody ever gets this far and backs out after seeing our operation.” He motioned grandly to the nearby slate-list which listed a number for the corresponding qâsam in the cubby-rack. The list proudly displayed the title of “Honorable Hunters.” Each number followed with a team name and a column for recorded kills, using different symbols for types of prey. Very few confirmed kills were marked with the krist-chin sign. “What name shall I add as your operative team name?”
The typically silent barbarian opened his half-closed eyes, suddenly lucid as something in his personality clicked on. “Deathsquad.” He hissed, and then he relaxed back into his normal repose.
Optimistically trading glances, even Jandul gave a benign shrug of approval. Krimko sneered deviously.
The title was hokey and over the top. Pinchôt looked at his peers and didn’t see any disagreement.
“‘Deathsquad’ it is.”
The elf nodded. “Wonderful!” He dragged a shaft of chalk over the leaderboard and drew their name just below the highest ranked team, a crew calling themselves Nephilim and Phoenix.
Herang smiled with a deceptive elven smile that had proven impossible to read for most other species. “I’m sure that we have some very interesting information and specific missions that you may be interested in.”
***
[Mighty tyr-aPt,] the pustuous bRraphf prostrated himself before the goblin king’s throne, [we bring you this token gift of gold and slaves.] The majordomo of the qrn’Ke kingdom motioned grandly to the chained line of dwarves; each slave had been hobbled at the heel tendon, but still maintained strong upper bodies. The slaves each held a small box of treasure.
grr’Shaalg watched approvingly from the shadows. King qrn’Ke had even come. Visiting another king outside of war-time was an unprecedented act and boded well for the devious shadow ruler. He understood the king’s motives as he stared at qrn’Ke’s swollen goiter. It had webbed with mucus and leakage.
[He has seen firsthand the effects of anthrofusis,] grr’Shaalg mused. Time was too urgent a concern for qrn’Ke to trust the antidote for the goblin disease would be delivered in time. The devious grr’Shaalg knew how he would act in bRraphf’s position. He would have distributed the katadoolu to as many of his loyal peers as possible, but he would not have gotten it to qrn’Ke before the sickness took full hold—and then it would have been the bRraphf kingdom.
grr’Shaalg smiled. That was probably the exact reason that the king traveled to his neighbor’s kingdom for a chat. He expected each of the other eight kings to do likewise, and grr’Shaalg’s brother would graciously supply them with a temporary remedy for the anthrofusis sickness out of the kindness of his black heart.
He watched his brother-king accept gifts and accolades from the foreign ruler. tyr-aPt played his part well, but neither he nor his brother were interested in gold or possessions. They sought power and land.
tyr-aPt conversed with the other ruler and motioned to his brother, the architect of their grand scheme. [grr'Shaalg will set a delivery route through your tunnels if you will set it up with him. I’m sure a prompt schedule will be a high priority for your people.]
qrn’Ke feigned disinterest in the supposed underling, as expected, although grr’Shaalg watched him break protocol and greedily drink down the entire vial of katadoolu as soon as he laid claws upon it. bRraphf bowed to tyr-aPt, and then his king before falling into rank step with grr’Shaalg.
The goblin led his counterpart through the royal corridors and into his own office in order to take care of shipping schedules and routes. Everything moved according to plan except for the time-table of his long game. grr’Shaalg still wished he could produce the necessary mature warriors within a shorter timeframe. Without a vast army, a complete take-over of his enemies would be a difficult gambit. Even given the rapid reproduction rate and comparatively short time it took for goblins to reach adolescence, his projections kept his goal beyond reach for several years yet. Also, attrition due to goblin mischief would certainly factor into the species’ headcount.
[Tell me, bRraphf,] grr’Shaalg asked, [have your people been instructed to orgy by the church? Have you increased your breeding stock?]
bRraphf regarded him suspiciously. Under normal circumstances, that was the sort of query asked to determine if an enemy mustered against you. The goblin envoy relaxed and simply shrugged.
[Yes. The Order has asked us to prepare for a great need of troops.]
[And also shamans?]
bRraphf nodded. [Yes. We are excited to send some of our number to be trained as Luciferians.] He looked far off. [Perhaps if we’d had as early of an entry as your Zilke, we’d have been able to head off this anthrofusis on our own.]
grr’Shaalg nodded diplomatically. He knew that there was no chance of that. [The Order can be quite helpful when embraced,] he said, wondering about his maturation problem looming against the near future. Perhaps some Luciferian spells or potion could help speed up the process, grr’Shaalg mused. He quickly dismissed the idea; he did not want to be beholden to Absinthium or the Gathering much beyond the current political intrigue.
Besides, he could always have Zilke search for such a thing and dispatch Griq’nnr to steal it from the Order.
[The Luciferian’s have vast resources for the time being,] grr’Shaalg continued. [Just remember your own, when the time comes,] he cautioned. [Devotion to any cause should always come second to racial loyalty.]
The devious shadow-king knew that a time would come when he could break free of the cage Absinthium kept him in. grr’Shaalg had a bigger endgame than the one the arch-mage had planned for him, and it was better for grr’Shaalg if only goblin-kind knew the true strength of their fighting forces. There would undoubtedly come a time when that army might be needed to be brought to bear against his current allies.
bRraphf nodded, agreeing with the sentiment. Goblin loyalties were fickle, but they didn’t exist at all beyond kin.
Even if bRraphf did not commit to the ideal with his heart, he would commit with his blood which even now raged with anthrofusis. It demanded fealty to grr’Shaalg who controlled the only remedy—a remedy which took regular doses to combat the deadly symptoms making it the perfect control—something that surpassed even religion.
One way or another grr’Shaalg would raise his army.
***
Rashnir’s horse wheezed spittle as he urged it forward. Zeh-Ahbe’s lagged behind, clearly tired. Their hooves had kicked up dust as the duo charged across the Nindan tracts of land. They’d ridden for nearly two days now and had only slowed to rest the horses, and even that was limited. At this pace, they would probably kill the horses with exertion within another couple days if the beasts didn’t revolt first.
Ahead, Zeh-Ahbe’ saw Rashnir pull back on his reigns, stopping the haggard mount. He caught up and found the ranger crouching on the ground, examining a patch of freshly turned dirt. He wore a sour face.
“What is it, Rashnir? And where are we?”
“We just crossed into Adumarr,” he said without looking up. “We’re getting close.”
“Well? What is it, my friend?”
Rashnir turned and held up a child’s shoe. As Zeh-Ahbe’ scanned the ground he spotted the tell-tale signs of a skirmish. Dark patches of soil blotted the area where the topsoil drank deeply of blood; small personal belongings lay scattered like forgotten flotsam and whitewashed stones formed oblong circles in random areas.
Turning over a stone twice the size of his fist and painted a chalky alabaster, Rashnir drew on his long history with Nindan ritual. “They’re graves,” he said. “Slaves bury the unknown and unimportant this way. The lords typically let them because the bodies fertilize the ground and the stones ensure nobody plows up a diseased corpse before its decomposed enough to be safe.”
They shared a moment of silence. Rashnir broke the quiet and began wildly digging into
the loosened dirt with his hands.
“What are you doing?” Zeh-Ahbe’ demanded, fearing his friend had lost his mind.
“I have to know!” he yelled.
“But Kevin was in Sprazik!”
“But so many of our other brothers and sisters were not.” He stopped and locked eyes with his friend. “You can watch if you like. But I'm going to dig,” he stated passive-aggressively.
Zeh-Ahbe’ joined Rashnir in the circle and began shoveling the soil with his hands, too. A few minutes later, they disturbed the flesh of the first corpse. It lay cold and turgid in the shallow grave.
Following the body’s outline, they quickly unearthed the young woman, dusting her clean. Rashnir cradled her reverently in his arm as he examined her mangled cadaver. “I recognize her,” he said.
Zeh-Ahbe’ shook his head. “As do I. She was one of our sisters from Driscul.” He paused regretfully. “I do not remember her name.”
Rashnir nodded his assent. “Someone took her arm.”
Quizzically, Zeh-Ahbe’s face asked him to elaborate. “Maybe she lost it in whatever battle happened here?”
Holding up her stump arm, he pointed to the joint. “It was cut cleanly here. See the jagged, but clean incisions? It wasn’t a severing blow taken in battle—that would have been one crisp cut—and it wouldn’t have gone in through the joint so cleanly. That sort of wound would have probably damaged the bone nearby, nicking it at the very least. This was cut as a trophy; someone boned her out like a butcher.” Rashnir stood, disgusted as he surveyed the scene. “These people, our people, were hunted and murdered.”
“Who would do this?” Zeh-Ahbe’ took back his words immediately. He knew who. “Why would they take her arm and then bury her?”
Rashnir kicked a stone from the circumference. “I’m sure local slaves buried them to prevent disease… but this is what the hunters wanted.” He pulled up his sleeve and pointed to the sword-like mark of the Lord that had been etched upon his skin. “They were after bounties.”
Zeh-Ahbe’ helped his friend lower the woman back into her grave and covered her over again with dirt. “This world grows ever more dangerous for us, then.”
Rashnir nodded. “We may have been too late to help these ones, but let’s pray that we’re not too late to rescue Kevin.”
“I agree,” Zeh-Ahbe’ said. “Let us pray!”
But Rashnir was already walking back to his horse. “We’ll pray in our saddles, Zeh-Ahbe’! We’ve got to make haste!”
***
ekerithia descended the secret stair and into the deepest dark where even his vision could not pierce the supernatural black without a lantern or torch. However, he had memorized the layout of the dark maze. A torch or lantern could not stay lit for the duration of this journey. He clutched the supernatural orb which he always kept pocketed, letting its slight glow guide his steps.
The new demon walked the labyrinth for a stretch. The angles formed perfect, smooth and straight lines with crystal precision. Amid the stark silence, the only sound in the corridors was the occasional drip of water or a random rattle of chains that bound Tartarus’s residents with unbreakable shackles.
So long had ekerithia watched the course of humanity and his supernatural brethren that he had become an expert in deduction over the millennia. With great accuracy, he could predict the next several major events affecting hay-lale’s realm. He didn’t need to waste his remaining imbuement of heavenly power on prognostic charms which were too subject to change with every new human decision. His deep magics had to be metered and reserved for necessary actions, like this one. Foretelling took only common sense, not magic.
The demon came to the passage he needed, noticing how he no longer felt uncomfortable in Tartarus—not since embracing his destiny as one of the damned. The unnerving quiet had become a comfort to him.
He steeled himself for the rest of the journey. Using bursts of his remaining holy power felt foreign to him but he’d held it in for so long that even small uses felt wasteful to him—though he knew better. The endgame was huge, and it was everything. Winning the coming war necessitated multiple fronts.
Unfurling his leathery wings which hung hooked around his neck like a fine cape, ekerithia exploded into action. He rushed forward at supersonic speed. An echoing boom trailed him and reverberated through the hallways as the sound barrier shattered; the blast elicited a corporate groan from those languishing in their bonds.
The journey took only minutes. ekerithia halted the charge and found the spiraling stair. He began the upward trek and found the secret door. He traced a symbol, which only few had ever known, upon the stone door and it momentarily phased out of reality. The aperture opened onto the top of a mountain peak. ekerithia stepped out and into the cold, thin air as the door reverted to its natural state.
Taking in the mountaintop view, ekerithia congratulated himself on wise decisions made eons ago when he destroyed all recorded knowledge of how to enter Tartarus. Of course, he’d still hoped for some kind of boon from Yahweh in that era, but his foresight had paid off, now.
Slipping outside of the corporeal, ekerithia disappeared from sight. The supernatural state also guarded him against the natural elements and the cold, biting air. He began his trek towards the immense castle perched atop the peak further up the rise. While he preferred to remain in body form, this one had its uses and it required none of his innate magics. For all heavenly-created being, this was a natural ability. It would allow him to approach the queen more quickly and while it would shield him from the eyes of ghouls and wendigo, the Adamic vampires would see him as clearly as ever.
Formerly the Watcher, ekerithia’s attuned eyes could see across the vast distances from the trail atop the Noddic mountain peaks. Lush forest and jungle cropped the craggy ridges. From such a height, he could see signs of the distant people that Kevin’s troupe had been commissioned to locate.
ekerithia shifted his gaze. He spotted the wide canal that separated the two continents from each other. Troops had amassed upon the shores, waiting for the longboats to ferry them across.
The demon had already guessed Lilth would make such a political play and conscript disposable ghouls to strengthen beh’-tsah’s tenuous throne. Soon an army of ghouls would climb the Babel tower and bolster the beleaguered Gathering’s troops as they beat back the uprising.
On the opposite side of Nod, ekerithia’s eyes could barely make out the twin spires hidden within the misty distance. The shut doorway home was shut to him and ekerithia would never again be welcome.
Grimacing, he pressed forward. Renewed vigor welled up within him and spurred his long legs onward.
***
Absinthium forced an affable smile to form upon his otherwise grim face before he entered the doors. With a welcoming expression, he pushed open the doors to the lectionary chamber where students in the Order collected for their studies.
New initiates beamed with excitement. In this room, Absinthium was the ultimate celebrity. They stirred slightly in their seats as he made the rounds, visiting with as many as he could stomach in the time he'd allotted for it.
“I see that you each have your papers and supplies for copyist work today?”
The students buzzed enthusiastically. Even the professor, a frumpy old Luciferian with curly grey hair and a paunch had been enthralled with his visit. The teacher had hit his glass ceiling decades ago
“Professor. I wonder if I might put your students on a specific task for me this day?”
The teacher nodded vigorously, surrendering his students to whatever the Order’s leader desired. He went so far as to take a seat and pull out copyist tools of his own.
“Excellent!” Absinthium said. He procured a short stack of copies of the current bounty flyers for Rashnir and Zeh-Ahbe’. “I need as many of these bills altered as is reasonably possible. We need every old one collected and edited. Some by hand, some by press as able, and all of them d
istributed.”
The class hung on his every word, anxiously awaiting the revisions. “I am increasing their price tenfold, but I want them delivered dead! There is no reward for live capture.”
Eagerly springing into action, they moved with the zeal only possible of true believers. The mage sank back, letting the machine move of its own accord, now.
Once they’d begun he slipped away quietly, mulling the tension in the pit of his gut. His recent vision still plagued him: a future where he saw Rashnir and his werewolf minion killed his beloved master. I must not let this come to pass! By whatever means necessary!
***
ekerithia walked through the opened gates of the immense chantry as he journeyed to the castle’s stony heart. He noticed that it had changed little since he had last been here so long ago; a pall hung over the facility and only shades of grey painted the exterior.
As the demon slipped through the court and into the regal manor, recognizing the posh comforts and elaborate accouterments that appointed the interior. He slipped past a group of wendigo as they engaged in intense conversation. Their pale skin highlighted their manicured appearance and elegant dress.
He walked towards the queen's royal chamber with eager purpose and locked eyes with the majordomo stationed outside the door. ekerithia slipped back into his physical form; clearly, he had been noticed and it would only delay his meeting if her brood thought ekerithia was up to some foul scheme.
The chamberlain maintained eye contact during his entire accession as ekerithia approached the royal door. “Do you have an appointment, Watcher?” The Adamic vampire’s words dripped with superiority. They’d met before.
The majordomo scanned ekerithia; his eyebrows rose slightly as he noticed the featherless nature of his wings.
“Tell your queen that EKERITHIA has come to parley.”
The vampire’s head bobbed eagerly. “I will inform Queen Lilth immediately.” He turned his pointy nose up and slipped through a side door, leaving ekerithia in the spacious hall.
Moments later, he returned. “She will visit with you,” he only bowed now that the guest had the approval of the queen. “I will announce you.” He pushed open the ornate double doors with regal pomp and circumstance that the demon largely ignored.
The Kakos Realm Collection Page 80
