by James Wisher
Instead of an eldritch blast the serpent grew, doubling in size, and then doubling again, and again. Soon its hooded head scraped the ceiling. Undaunted Gabriel attacked, swing his glowing sword with enough force to put a gash in the now tree truck sized body. Gabriel’s sword bounced off scales thicker than steel plate and twice as tough.
The huge head reared back. Xander leapt, hitting Gabriel in the side and pushing him out of the way of meter long fangs that would have skewered like the kabobs the vendors sold in the market back home.
“Are you okay?” Xander rolled with Gabriel out of the serpents reach and clambered to his feet.
Gabriel nodded. “The Bright Sword didn’t cut it.” He sounded dumbfounded.
“I noticed. I can kill it if you can keep it from incinerating me.”
“Stupid mortals.” The serpent hissed. “Your pathetic weapons can’t harm me. Your plotting only delays your inevitable deaths. I will devour you body and soul and when my master is free my kind will dominate your world.”
“After we finish with you, worm, your master is next.” Xander raised his sword, ready to continue the battle.
The serpent roared and breathed fire. Gabriel stepped in front of Xander, sword raised, to snuff out the flames. “If you won’t burn I’ll crush you to pulp.” The serpent lunged, smashing the desk and chair into so much kindling.
Gabriel leapt back, not letting the serpent get too close. Xander shot forward to attack. He dodged the serpent’s huge fangs which sank into the floor boards. When it pulled back the wood smoked as the demon’s venom rotted them away. Xander slashed as he leapt past the serpent, the devourer cut a deep furrow in the serpent’s scales. The demon hissed in pain and a surge of power unlike anything he’d ever experienced hit Xander like a bolt of lightning.
The giant serpent didn’t realize it was supposed to die after one blow and struck at Xander, fangs leading. He had no time to dodge. Xander raised the devourer in a vain attempt to block the attack. Fang and sword came together, but instead of being sent flying the serpent push him back a foot then Xander stopped and held the giant demon back. Stolen power surged through him and the serpent’s fang cracked along its length.
The demon recoiled, hissing in pain and anger. Xander grinned. He’d never felt so much power. The devourer threw off waves of energy and Xander felt the demon sword’s desire to attack. The serpent coiled in the corner of the room and regarded Xander with a wary hooded glare.
Gabriel eased up beside Xander. “You okay?”
“Never better.” Xander willed the devourer to grow until he held a six foot long great sword.
Xander charged, his great speed made blinding by the infusion of demonic energy. He leapt and with a single, powerful, slash lopped the serpent’s head off. Xander screamed as the overflow of energy poured into him every muscle clenched until he feared his bones would break. Then it stopped. Xander fell to his knees and gasped.
He had no time to recover. The slain serpent burst into flames which soon engulfed half the room.
Gabriel knelt beside him. “Xander!”
It took a moment for Xander to realize that was his name and his brother was speaking to him. He faced Gabriel who flinched away. “We’ve need to find Kiera and get out.”
Xander nodded. He had no wish to be burned alive, again. “You go on. I’ll deal with the duke and catch up.”
“We should stick together.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Xander got to his feet. “I’m sure Kiera needs you more than I do. Go!”
Gabriel left the burning office, a disappointed frown wrinkling his face. With his brother out of the way Xander focused on finding Duke Cariden. The duke’s pitiful life force hid not far away. The flames weren’t spreading too fast, good, he could take his time. He honed in on the dukes' life force like a bloodhound on the trail and soon came to a blank wall. There had to be a hidden door. Cariden couldn’t walk through walls.
Xander pulled up his hood and stepped into the shadow realm. It didn’t take long for him to discover the hidden room behind the wall. The duke trembled and stared at the secret door, no doubt expecting his demon master to come for him. Xander stepped into the secret room, killing the duke’s hope first.
Xander smiled when the duke jumped. The terrified man looked around for an escape but the room had one door and Xander stood in front of it. “You should be dead.” Cariden’s lips trembled as he spoke.
“Your demon wasn’t up to the task. This is the second time you failed to kill my brother and I. You have my word you won’t get a third chance.”
“You’re Kane’s son. I knew one of you survived, but I thought the other burned.”
Xander ripped his mask off drawing a gasp from the duke. “I did burn, but I survived. You won’t.”
“Wait, please.” Cariden dug through his pockets before pulling an odd shaped stone cylinder. “This is what you want, right? Take it and let me go.”
“You are in a poor position to bargain.” Xander snatched the fragment from the duke’s trembling hand.
Let me have him.
“No, I have a special fate in mind for him. Can you sear his wounds so he won’t bleed to death?”
The devourer’s amusement echoed through Xander’s mind. A death worthy of a demon. I will do as you wish.
Xander found the catch for the secret door and kicked it open. Flames engulfed the office, good.
“We have to get out of here,” Duke Cariden said.
“I intend to.” Xander shoved the duke out into the burning room then lashed out, taking his legs at the knee. As his blade passed through the duke’s flesh black fire flashed, searing the wounds. The duke fell to the floor screaming. Xander gave Cariden’s arms similar treatment, taking them at the elbow. Xander stood over the stump of a man writhing on the floor.
“When you get to hell tell them I sent you.” Xander vanished into the shadows.
* * *
Gabriel raced down the stairs. “Kiera!”
He’d left Xander to deal with the Duke alone. He shuddered at the thought of what his brother might do. Leaving that morbid idea alone he focused on finding the druid He reached the remains of the door, but Kiera was nowhere to be found. He hesitated. If she’d left the lodge already he’d be wasting his time looking for her. A woman screamed from his left. That had to be her
He followed the shouts down the hall. “Kiera!”
Fire crackled above him as the second floor burned. He rounded a bend and found the druid kicking at a heavy door.
“It’s time to go.” He had to shout to be heard over the roaring fire.
“There’s a key fragment in there, but I can’t get the door open.”
“Damn it.” Gabriel stepped back intending to kick the door down. Before he could, the Bright Sword vibrated against his leg. He frowned and drew his weapon. The sword blazed with white light and Gabriel understood. He touched the tip of the sword to the door and it swung open. Kiera slipped inside to search. The heat grew by the second. If she didn’t hurry… Kiera emerged a moment later, a stone fragment in her hand.
“Let’s get out of here.” Gabriel took her free hand.
Kiera didn’t budge. “I’ve only got two pieces. The third’s in here somewhere. We can’t leave without it.”
“This building will come down around our ears. We can dig the last piece out of the ruins if we must, but if we don’t get out of here now we’re dead.”
Gabriel ran for the door, a reluctant Kiera in tow. They raced out the door into the cool night air. Solan stood a safe distance from the burning lodge. They hurried to join him.
“Have you seen Xander?” Gabriel turned a worried eye back to the blazing building.
Solan shook his head. “The key fragments?”
Kiera handed him the two pieces she’d recovered. “I couldn’t find the final piece.”
Solan watched the lodge burn. “It’ll be days before we can dig it out.”
“Perhaps I can speed t
hings up for you.”
Gabriel turned at the sound of his brother’s voice in time to see Xander separate himself from the night. He tossed the final fragment to Solan. “I persuaded the duke to hand it over.”
Gabriel shivered at the tone of Xander’s voice. “Where is the duke?”
Xander nodded toward the burning building. “I thought he’d like to see how hot a burning building got.”
“You left him alive in there?” Kiera made no effort to mask the horror in her voice. “What sort of monster are you?”
“My mother burned in a building not so different from this. For that crime I would have killed the duke a hundred times. Since I can only do it once this will have to do.”
“Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Kiera whispered.
“Perhaps not,” Xander said. “But in this case they make justice. Where to now old man?”
Solan held up the assembled key. Two pieces connected to make the central portion of the key and the other two attached at the top to make a handle to turn. “North, to the mountains and the Demon’s Fang.”
CHAPTER 12
The late afternoon shadows stretched long when Xander reined in his horse outside a small stone temple, not much more than a shrine really. Behind the temple was a long shed that appeared to serve as a stable. Solan had led the group north from the duke’s burned lodge for the last week, over forest trails then into the stony hills below the mountains. The door to the temple opened and a priest so wrinkled the loose folds of skin flapped under his chin when he moved stepped out to greet them. At the rate their priests were aging the next one would be a skeleton. Solan dismounted, walked over the older man, and bowed.
“Brother Solan, the time has come at last?”
“Yes, with the Bright Shield’s blessing the order’s long vigil will at last come to an end.”
Xander, Gabriel, and Kiera dismounted. Kiera gathered their reins. “I’ll tend the horses.” She led the beasts toward the shed while Xander, Gabriel, and the priests went inside.
The inside of the temple was as pitiful as the outside. There were two small rooms, the smaller of which held a simple wood stove for cooking and heat. The bigger room held a small table, one chair, and a sleeping pallet. It didn’t seem like the old man got much company. Curious, Xander pulled his hood up. Like the church back in the city he saw no shadow doors in the temple.
“How can I aid you, Brother?” The shrine keeper asked.
“We need fresh supplies and if you can watch over our mounts we would be grateful.”
“Of course, it is my honor to serve in our Lord’s great endeavor.”
Xander watched the priests with a jaundiced eye. In his experience men that relied overmuch on gods tended to not last long in the real world. Xander stepped outside for a breath of cool mountain air before they were packed in like cattle for the night. The sun had slipped behind the mountains, leaving the temple in deep shadows which suited Xander fine. He liked the dark.
“You seem ill at ease.” Gabriel had followed him out. “What’s on your mind, little brother?”
Xander allowed himself a faint smile. He seldom had anyone worry about him. “I grew weary of listening to the priest drone on about how great their god is. He could solve their demon problem for them. Instead they manipulate us into doing for them.”
“Nobody manipulated us. We both volunteered, remember?”
“They took you by the nose down a path they call noble and they tell me they’re the only ones that can lead me to the revenge I seek.” Xander paced in the dark. “They give us both what we want in the form of an enemy they can’t defeat themselves. Convenient for them.”
“Do you want to back out?” Gabriel asked.
“No, damn it! I’d like to see a little gratitude. They treat you like the noble hero, but I’m nothing more than a spear to point at their enemies. They don’t even trust me out of their sight for five minutes.” Xander bent down and picked up a stone the size of a robin’s egg.
“That’s not true.” Gabriel stepped in front of Xander so he had to stop. “Solan’s a good man who’s had to bear a heavy burden. He’s eager to put it to rest. I’m sure he appreciates everything you’ve done.”
“You think so?” Xander whipped the stone into the dark and was rewarded with a squeal of pain.
Kiera flickered into view. “How?”
“Don’t try spying on someone who can sense your life force. Go tell those old men if they want to spy on me they should have the nerve to do it themselves.”
She drew herself up. “No one sent me. I thought someone should keep an eye on you that’s all.”
“I don’t need a nanny. Run along so I can talk to my brother in peace.”
Kiera gathered the scraps of her dignity and retreated into the shrine. When she’d gone Gabriel said, “Was that necessary?”
Xander ignored the question. “No one minds using me when they need someone killed, but a little trust is too much to ask?”
“Given your line of work is it so strange?”
“I’m judged harshly because I’m an assassin, fine, I accept that, but how are my clients judged? The truth is they aren’t. If they can afford to hire me then they’re too rich or well connected to worry about the law.”
Gabriel shook his head. “You equate contract killing with justice?”
“Sometimes. Can you stand there and tell me Duke Cariden would face justice anywhere but the end of my sword?”
Gabriel offered nothing but silence.
“There’s your answer. When people can’t get justice they settle for revenge. That’s where I come in.”
“So everyone you killed deserved it?” The disbelief was clear in Gabriel’s tone.
Xander stepped away from his brother. “Someone thought so. If I hadn’t killed someone else would have. I don’t judge my clients or my marks. I just do the job.”
Gabriel smiled a soft, sad smile. The pity in his gaze set Xander’s teeth on edge. “You just do your job. You make it sound so matter of fact, but you kill people for a living.”
Xander threw his hands up. “You kill people for king and country, does that make it okay?”
“I kill when I have to. I prefer to take prisoners and let the law decide.”
Disgusted at his brother’s hypocrisy Xander shook his head. “You prefer the blood be on someone else's hands. You brought them in alive. If some other fellow in a black hood should put a rope around their neck or cut their head off it’s not your fault. At least I take responsibility for what I do.”
Xander spun on his heel and left Gabriel staring at him in the deepening darkness.
* * *
After a meager breakfast of bread and oatmeal, Gabriel, Xander, Solan and Kiera left the shrine, each burdened by a pack loaded with preserved food, water skins, and weapons, lots of weapons in his brother’s case. Before they went to sleep Solan had said it would take a day and a half to reach the demon’s prison, so they’d have to plan on spending one night out in the mountains each way.
“Thank you, brother, for all your help.” Solan bowed to the ancient shrine keeper and Gabriel and Kiera followed his example.
“May the Bright Shield guide you, brother.” The keeper said.
Xander stood a little ways apart, tapping his foot. “Are we ready?”
Solan nodded and they started up the mountain along a path carved out Gabriel knew not how long ago. The one bit of luck they had was summer still held the area in a tenacious grip so they didn’t have any snow or ice to deal with. That was a blessing given how steep and narrow a path they had to take.
After plodding along at Solan’s pace for a couple hours Xander said, “I’m going to scout ahead.”
Before anyone could argue he was gone around a sharp bend and out of sight. Gabriel shook his head at his brother’s impetuousness. Who knew what waited for them in these mountains
“Good riddance,” Kiera said. Gabriel looked back over his shoulder at her. “No offen
se.”
He smiled. “I know my brother can be difficult. How’s your shoulder?”
She rubbed the spot where Xander hit her with the stone. “It’s sore, but I’ll live. He didn’t have to do that you know.”
“I’m just glad he used a rock instead of a dagger.”
Kiera paled. “Do you think he might have?”
“I wouldn’t try spying on him again if I were you.”
“I hope he’s careful.” Solan huffed and puffed but kept a steady pace. “It would be a shame if we had to turn back.”
“We can do the job without him,” Kiera said.
Solan patted her shoulder. “If that were true we would have done so.”
“Don’t worry about Xander.” Gabriel turned back to focus on an especially narrow section of trail. “Of all of us he’s the most capable of dealing with anything he finds.”
The three of them trudged on into the afternoon before they caught up to Xander. They found him seated on a boulder, basking in the sun like a black cat. He stretched and hopped down off the boulder. “We have a problem.”
“What sort of problem?” Solan asked.
“That’s an interesting question and to be honest I’m not certain myself. About a mile from here the trail drops into a canyon about three hundred yards wide and twice that long. The walls are near vertical. Some odd looking creatures have set up a crude camp at the far end of the valley and built a gate across the exit. I have no idea how they survive as I’ve only seen snow birds and a few scrawny goats since we entered the mountains.”
“What do they look like?” Gabriel asked.
“They’re ugly, maybe five feet tall with red skin stretch tight by thick cords of muscle. They all carried weapons of one sort or another and wore only loincloths. Their eye glow with a dull, crimson light.”
“Sounds like something called up from hell.” Gabriel said.
“You’re not far wrong.” Solan looked up at the darkening sky and tapped his chin. “I’ve read about such creatures. They’re called corrupted souls; they were humans you were sacrificed in an unholy ritual that swapped their souls for demonic essence. They usually serve as guards for demon worshipping cults and are controlled by the warlock that performed the ritual.”
