“Nothing, my lord,” one of them said. But something was out there. David could faintly make out the sounds of fighting. It was definitely in the building but several floors down. Someone had drawn the Mutations away.
“Go!” Karian said. “Discover the source.”
Vladimir and the entire contingent of guards filed out of the room followed by David and Abraham, leaving only a pair of guards on either side of the door. One of the door guards stopped David.
“What about him?” the guard asked Karian. David made no effort to work against this obstacle. He had simply assumed that if they were going into a battle, they would consider him the most expendable. Vladimir and his troops hung back to hear what Karian would say.
“I don’t care,” Karian replied. David smiled at the guard who waved him out. Vladimir led the formation, while David and Abraham walked behind them. As Vladimir and his group passed around a corner, David hung back. Abraham stopped and turned to him.
“What are you doing?” Abraham whispered.
“I need to visit the lavatory,” David said with a smirk. Abraham’s expression never changed. He remained as stoic as he had been the entire day, but he nodded in the direction of an open door, which, David assumed, had one of the cisterns in it that led down to the very combustible depths of the fortress. Without another glance, Abraham followed Vladimir, leaving David to duck into the room and close the door.
The lavatory was a very small room containing a single cistern in the corner. The visible wooden framework and unpainted walls showed that the Tepish viewed this room as a mere necessity that needed no further decoration. He removed the remaining sheets of Abraham’s research and crumpled the papers into balls around the rocks out of his pocket. He hoped that the rocks would give the paper enough weight as it burned away to defeat the trap door at the other end.
He paused for a moment to allow the Tepish time to descend the stairs. If Abraham were right about how this would work, the collapse of the tower would happen fairly quickly. The Tepish had all but decimated their own forces, and if he did this quickly, he would give them little to no chance of survival. Yet, he felt a responsibility to Abraham. Although his friend had betrayed him and given his allegiance to the genocidal tendencies of the Tepish, David had to give him a chance to get out alive.
When he and Abraham had arrived here less than an hour ago, he had been prepared to do this immediately. If he succeeded, he would stop the Mutations. The only ones that existed in the world were in this tower as far as Abraham knew, and since Abraham had served to create them, he should know. These Mutations had turned on the Tepish to create an even larger number. They had been attacking the throne room of the fortress before something had drawn them away. Had the Rastem mounted an attack against the fortress? How many would he affect by this action? Would he get out alive? Would it even matter?
He depressed the foot pedal of the cistern that opened the trap door into the darkness below. A stiff smell wafted out of the depths that made David cringe and turn his head in disgust. He removed the torch from his belt and slid back the lever, igniting it. One by one, David lit the balls of paper and dropped them into the hole with the hope that at least one of them would survive the drop.
* * * * * * * * * *
On the ground floor of the fortress, the Rastem and Elewo were at a standoff against the Mutations. With an army consisting of the majority of the former Tepish warriors, the Mutations were formidable in numbers as well as their deadly quickness against the Fempiror fighters. Tiberius could only watch powerlessly as Rastem and Elewo alike were unable to overcome their new adversaries and taken down only to find themselves at the mercy of creatures only interested in drinking their blood.
But they quickly found this Mutation thirst turned out to be their greatest weakness. The Mutations fought mindlessly and instinctively, but once they downed a warrior, they could not resist feasting on his blood, which left them open to attack. As a result, the Rastem and Elewo rescued several Fempiror from their dooms through the death of their enemies.
Then they learned all too quickly the overpowering effects of the Mutation blood. When a Mutation took down a Rastem and bit into him, Tiberius was quick to rescue him with a sword through the Mutation’s neck. This move led to some of the Mutation’s blood spilling onto the felled warrior, and as the warrior had open wounds, Tiberius watched in horror as his fellow Rastem convulsed into a scream and fell silent. He was easily able to piece this together and quickly cautioned everyone to avoid contact with the Mutation blood.
Of course, all of this knowledge about their enemy came at a heavy price. The battle continued relentlessly with what seemed an endless number of Mutations, and though they had learned much, the Mutations could apparently adapt just as well. They quickly learned not to feast on their prey immediately, but to continue their attack, which took away the diminishing army’s only real advantage.
More Rastem and Elewo fell, but Tiberius could not order a retreat. They had nowhere to go, and turning their backs on this enemy would be suicide. Their only hope was to win or to pray the next generation of Rastem who were unable to answer the call would fare better.
Then, something happened that Tiberius never expected. From the main stairwell leading to the upper floors, an army of unchanged Tepish emerged led by the traitor, Vladimir. This emergence instantly concerned Tiberius, who worried that along with the Mutations, this new development would force the diminishing forces to fight regular Tepish.
Then he noticed the Mutations divide and attack the Tepish. The Tepish group separated and instituted an attack against their own creation. He had little time to ponder this turn of events as one Mutation after another continued to attack him, and he was rarely able to land an effective blow.
Little by little, the Tepish closed the gap between the stairs and the combined Rastem and Elewo army, and for the first time in their divided history, the Tepish fought alongside them against a mutual foe that threatened to destroy them all. This confirmed that the Tepish creation had turned on them, and now the Tepish wished to destroy what they had made. They were all in this together.
Soon, Tiberius found himself battling alongside a young Tepish armed with a dagger and dressed in regular clothing as opposed to Tepish armor. The boy was fighting on primarily speed and instinct and appeared to have little, if any, training. Tiberius helped him fend off several attacks and decided to stay with this young one as long as the battle lasted.
Suddenly, the floor quaked beneath their feet and the entire fortress shook around them. The sudden shaking even caught the Mutations off guard, and they faltered in their attack. Flames lapped up around the edges of the floor and between cracks in the stone beneath them. Tiberius was dumbfounded.
“What’s going on?” Tiberius asked to no one in particular.
“It’s David,” the young Tepish piped up. Tiberius turned to him in surprise at hearing the name. Who was this boy? The young Tepish saw Tiberius’ expression and continued. “He dropped a flame into the depths below the fortress. This place is going to burn to the ground.”
Tiberius smiled. “Good boy,” he said. “And you know this how?”
The young Tepish smiled. “I put him up to it.”
Tiberius stared at the boy for a moment and wondered how the lad knew David, much less how David got into the fortress to destroy it in this manner. Of course, this realization led to the next most obvious questions concerning the locations of both David and Beth. These thoughts were short-lived, however, as the floor shuddered again, causing holes to appear as pieces of the floor fell into whatever depths existed below them.
He glanced around to find the battle had not resumed at all. The Mutations, in their primal wisdom, were fleeing the collapse of the fortress by climbing the walls back into the upper levels of the building, completely oblivious to the eventual peril.
“Let’s get out of here!” Tiberius called out over the cacophony of the collapse. He ran alongside the young
Tepish as the floor shuddered beneath them. Rastem, Elewo, and Tepish filed with remarkable discipline through the main entrance to the building.
Once outside, the groups quickly separated into their respective orders. The Tepish stayed further back than the rest of them, though it was the slowly collapsing fortress that held everyone’s attention. The fire had already engulfed the lower level and was quickly spreading upward lapping around the stone walls to destroy the wooden frame that held it all together.
Tiberius was surprised to look to his right and find Vladimir standing next to him, silently watching his fortress fall. Then a question occurred to him.
“Vladimir,” Tiberius began. Vladimir turned an eye to him. “Isn’t the Elrod Malnak still in there?”
Without a change to his mood or expression, Vladimir replied, “He can take care of himself.” Tiberius was not certain, but he thought he saw the corners of Vladimir’s mouth upturn slightly.
* * * * * * * * * *
After he had dropped his small fire rocks down the tubes of the cistern, David watched their lights disappear into the darkness. He released the pedal, closing off the passage and the smell, which only provided a moment of relief, since he knew that if this worked, he would have precious little time to escape. He ran into the hall and looked for the stairs, since he was uncertain whether he would be able to operate the moving closet that Abraham had driven earlier. He ran around the top level of the Tepish fortress until he located the stairwell that Vladimir had undoubtedly lead his troops down only a few minutes before.
He ran down the stairs to the sixth floor where the walls were grey stone and wooden framework, and he found that the stairs stopped there. If this continued, then he would have to locate the stairs on each floor, and since the floors got larger as he descended, he risked getting lost quickly. Another defensive maneuver, he assumed. By offsetting the stairs on each level, it would take an adversary that much longer to reach the top. Unfortunately, it would also take him that much longer to reach a floor low enough for him to escape out a window without killing himself from the drop.
A loud rumbling noise shook the fortress. Abraham’s plan had worked. Whatever lurked in the depths of the fortress had reacted to the fire and the tower was going to fall.
David heard a sound behind him. He froze and heard a faint footfall. In an instant, he spun, drawing his sword as he moved. Before he fully turned, however, a Mutation leapt onto him, knocking him to the floor and causing his sword to clatter to one side. David continued the backward roll the Mutation had begun and kicked the Mutation behind him toward a wall.
David rolled to his feet and looked to where the Mutation had gone. To his horror, he found that instead of a wall, there was a window, meaning that David had inadvertently tossed one of the things outside. If it survived the fall, one of them would be free to continue the horrible legacy that the Tepish had started. He grabbed his sword and sheathed it as he ran to the window.
From the sixth floor, David had just a second to be impressed with Beth’s dexterity in scaling the outside of the building several days ago. David could see that the block pyramidal design of the fortress would make it possible to escape without killing himself getting down if he were careful to jump from floor to floor, depending on how fast the fortress would collapse under its own weight and how deep the cavern was underneath it. He remembered just how fast Beth had climbed down the outside when she had escaped with the Mutation serum, but he was uncertain as to whether he could do the same. It would still be easier to run down the stairs, but the exterior provided an alternative just in case. But to the matter at hand, he was unable to see where the Mutation had landed.
The window gave him a good view of the alley between the fortress and the three-story building next-door. The Mutation was not on the ground, nor had it ended up on the other building. A shallow breath made David look above the window. The Mutation was perched on the wall staring down at him.
All these things happened in an instant before the Mutation leapt down to latch onto David’s head. He jerked back inside the window, which threw the Mutation off balance. It landed on the window ledge, and then instantly leapt inside to attack. David drew his sword and held it in position to impale the Mutation soaring toward him. The Mutation put out its hand, bounced off the waiting blade, somersaulted over David’s head, bounced off the wall and landed on the floor behind David.
Despite his surprise at the Mutation’s dexterity, David swung around to catch the Mutation before it could recover, but the creature was ready for the blow and avoided it. David summoned all his training to attempt to land a single blow on his unarmed attacker, but somehow, the Mutation persisted in being faster than David, avoiding each potential contact.
The floor shook again as Abraham’s plan continued to take effect six stories below them. The Mutation was unprepared for this and staggered under the shifting floor. David saw his chance, and he quickly ran the Mutation through. Being more animal than man, the Mutation only stared in shock at the blade before succumbing to death. David withdrew his blade and wiped the Mutation’s blood quickly from it on his attacker’s clothing.
He sheathed it on his back and ran around the outside of the floor, desperately seeking a way to get himself a little lower before being forced to take his chances on the outside of the building. He found the stairs to the fifth floor, and it took only seconds on the fifth floor to find the fourth. Unfortunately, that was as far as this path was to take him.
As soon as he located the stairs to the third floor, the lower end of the stairs collapsed into the flames below. The smell from whatever lurked in the depths below nearly knocked him flat. He staggered back onto the fourth floor to locate a window.
At the end of a hall, he leaned out a window to see what would be possible for him at this point. The base of the fortress was sinking quickly, and the walls were rapidly collapsing inwards making a ride to the ground on the outside of the fortress impossible. The building directly across looked to be just within reach if he put enough strength into his jump.
As he leaned outside, screams from high above caught his ears. The Mutations must have climbed up the inside of the fortress away from the collapse and found the Elrod Malnak and his staff. Such would be their end when the building went down. Already, the wooden frame was burning all around him.
He also noticed several Mutations scrambling on the floor behind him. As they spotted him, the floor fell out from under them. David could not wait to see what happened to them. He turned and leapt from the window to the nearest building as the flames engulfed the floor.
His Fempiror strength allowed him to sail through the air fast and far, but he never needed to test it in this way before. He hit the side of the building a lot harder than he anticipated and quickly found he had misjudged his landing point, giving him nothing to grip once he landed. Two and a half stories above the ground, he scrambled to find a handhold in the wall, but every time he punched a hole in the wall, he fell below his ability to use it until he finally lost his grip and plummeted to the alley below.
His last view was that of the Tepish Fortress lighting up the night sky like a giant bonfire sinking slowly into the Earth.
* * * * * * * * * *
Abraham watched in wonder as the great construction of the Tepish burned to the ground along with its leaders. He had always suspected that the Tepish cared little for each other, but this served to prove this suspicion. He wondered how long it would be before he would be as expendable to Vladimir as his leaders were. After all, when it came to the Mutations, his job was done. What else would they need him for?
He saw as Vladimir had only watched unmoving as his leaders died before him. Vladimir kept much to himself, but his desire to rule over the Tepish had shown through at times when Abraham had dealt with him. It was a wonder that Karian would trust one who would betray a friend of four hundred years. Yet, Vladimir had performed his duty to the Tepish admirably and appeared beyond reproach. What lurk
ed in the recesses of his mind? Had he been merely biding his time waiting for the moment that he could take control? Was that why he desired to be the Kurvatz Malnak? Abraham was curious about Vladimir, but he feared the answers to his questions. What would be the price of those answers?
Vladimir slowly backed away from the Rastem and Elewo staring at the collapsing fortress. The rest of the Tepish followed his lead. Abraham had little choice but to follow them, of course. Once the fortress was down, the Rastem would turn their attention to their ancient enemies, creating an entirely new battle. If they failed to leave while everyone was distracted, they would not have another chance.
Abraham, however, still had another task here. While the Tepish scattered into the alleys, he made his way back to the fortress. He knew where the Tepish were going to regroup. There was always a contingency plan with them. The momentary chaos would give him the chance he needed to locate David and finish with him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Words Between Friends
David’s head hurt. Slowly, the events of the night came to him, and he wondered how long it had been since he had attempted his escape from the fortress only to knock himself unconscious falling to the ground from the building next door. He forced his eyes open and became aware of the point of a weapon pressed against his throat. A shadow stood over him.
“Wake up,” a voice demanded. David recognized the voice, though he could not immediately place it in his memory.
The shadow kicked him hard in the side. David coughed in response. “Wake up!” the voice demanded again.
David blinked and finally opened his eyes enough to focus on the shape that was giving him trouble. It was Abraham and the weapon was the dagger Abraham had been carrying since they had met again.
“Our truce is at an end,” Abraham said coldly. “You are now responsible for not only Beth’s transmutation, but her death as well. You did not protect her.”
Mutation Genesis (The Fempiror Chronicles Book 2) Page 21
