He didn’t answer, so she kept on. “I healed you, and I’m the one who tied you up. We’ve been traveling most of a day, though down here it’s hard to tell.” She pulled at a loop of rope on his chest. “We carried you by this. I’m glad you didn’t wake up when we went through the other cavern. We killed a few hoarcs, but I don’t think they know we came this way. From what I can tell, they still think we’re down in the southern caverns.”
“Let me guess--you’re going to drive me insane with endless chatter,” he sneered.
She looked down at him and shook her head. “No, but I will sit here and make you understand that we are not your enemy.”
“Then stick me with knives.”
Odif dropped her head in her hands then combed her hair back with a groan. “I know it must be tough to believe anything. I want to try something, but I will need your cooperation.”
He looked around to see if anyone else was in the cave with them. Towards the back, he thought he saw a wall in the gloom but wasn’t sure. If only there weren’t so many damn ropes on him, he might be able to do something.
“Will it hurt to talk to me?”
“Might.” He noted that he wasn’t near anything he could use for leverage. He had no way to fight or defend himself.
“Can you tell me who you are?”
He looked at her--that was a good question. He knew pain and the demon’s tricks, but he had lost his identity. What his name was, or even if he had one, he didn’t know.
“No,” he said quietly.
She touched his cheek. “You don’t know, do you?”
“All I know is pain. It comes, and no matter what it promises or how nice it speaks, the visit always ends in pain. Just as this will,” he stated.
Odif looked down at his emotionless face. His eyes held a defiance that said no matter how many times he was hurt he would never give in. “How long have you been here?”
“Can’t remember anything else. You tell me.”
“I’ll try, if you let me,” she offered. She leaned over him. The soft look on her face, the way her hair hung down to tickle his cheeks, even the soft touch of her hands on his face felt very comforting. He looked up at her and began to feel something. He started thinking about the place he had been kept then the time the thing had taken him to a hot bath and given him good food. Too late, he realized she was in his head.
This was a trick! He remembered when it had come to him before, acting very soft and nice. It had made itself look very attractive and kissed him, trying to arouse him. He forced himself back to see the woman above him as just another enemy. He glared at her. “I will never break!”
Odif jerked back as she was thrown out of his head. The latent image of the demon seducing him stayed with her. “Dear Goddess, she did that to you?”
“I’m not fool enough to have it happen twice,” he growled. “Go tell that thing it will never, ever win.“
“That’s right, it won’t,” she agreed. “I came to kill it.”
He gave a snorting laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“You want it dead, I want it dead. Why can’t you see I’m on your side?” she asked. “You could have killed me, but you didn’t. Somewhere inside, you know I’m telling the truth.”
This was becoming another game, and he wasn’t going to play. “I can’t hurt you because you work for it. I swore never to hurt any of its minions, you know that! I never gave such a promise not to hurt the thing itself. If you’re on my side then bring it here.”
Sam walked in, staying clear of his reach. She sent a thought to Odif to let her speak. Odif looked at her and nodded. She stood at his feet, looking into his hate-filled eyes.
“You are correct, we were its minions. I was to trick you, find out everything you knew then cast you back into your cell; but not until you fully understood everything we promised would never happen.”
“I knew it!” he growled in triumph.
“I want more than to be second-best,” she added. “I want its power. Like you, I took an oath--I cannot kill it,” She squatted at his feet to get as close as she dared. “I need you to do that for me. I get you there; you kill it. Once it is dead, we’ll see what happens next.”
Of all the stories he had been fed, this was the most believable. That also meant it was too good to be true. “How can I know you’re not lying?”
Sam traced her neck where he had cut her. “You cut me, do you remember? If I were still the demon’s minion then you would no longer be able to resist. You would have broken your word. If I were the demon herself, I wouldn‘t waste my time hauling you through these caverns.”
His mouth dropped open. She was right. The demon had told him he would know if he broke the pact. He had cut her, and yet the pact wasn’t broken. “Why do you trust me?”
“I don‘t,” she stated. “I am afraid of you. You tried to kill me once, and there is nothing that can stop you from doing it again.”
“So, why bother telling me this?”
“I can’t win without you. The other evil things we can destroy, but not her.”
“I can’t raise a hand to help,” he told her.
“Against the other minions, no. We clear the path and get you to her. Then she’s all yours. I will stay by you, and any time you feel I‘ve trapped you you can kill me.”
OK, this was starting to make sense. He flicked his eyes at Odif. “Who’s she, really?”
“My sister.”
That made sense to him. “And the others?”
“Mercenaries, others who want me to be in charge. They will not betray us.”
He tried to think of any way the thing could be making this happen. He couldn’t find one. He had cut the demon in front of him, and he hadn’t broken his pact. Compared to the other, she didn’t seem that powerful. In fact, she looked a bit scared. This might be an act, but if he was to ever have a chance at truly being free this might be the only one.
“All right. I’ll help you try to kill it. Trick me, and your head will be on the floor before you know you lost it.”
“Fair enough,” she said with a squeak then nodded to Odif. She left as Odif started removing his bonds. He lay still until he was free then sat and rubbed the sore spots while she gathered up the rope. He noticed that he felt much better; nowhere did he hurt. He was just weak from being chained for so long. He started to get up, but Odif stopped him.
“Wait, we’re not finished here yet,” she told him.
Sitting back down, he waited. When she was done with the rope, she squatted before him. “I thought you were someone you’re not. Sam explained to me that you were hurt for so long pain no longer affected you, even when Scorpio ran you through.”
“Yeah,” he said, wondering what this was leading to.
“You’re weak from captivity. I have a ritual to make you stronger, but you must cooperate,” she explained. “It does involve sex, and you have to react naturally. I am not seducing you. I’m only trying to help our chances at success.”
“What are our chances?”
“Poor,” she admitted. “Unless we do find my father, we’ll probably all be killed.”
“I ain’t afraid to die.”
“Me, either,” she sighed. Crossing her arms, she pulled the remains of her shirt up and over her head. “Let’s use this ritual to live, just for the moment.”
***
Scorpio should have seen it coming. Sam returned to let them know Thump was going to help them. Lacking a better name for him, they went with what Shilo called him. Not long after Sam had settled down, Odif’s first soft moans drifted from the cave. He tried not to hear it. Then Thump’s moans joined hers in a chorus. He gave it a few minutes of pretending not to hear as the noises slowly got louder.
At Odif’s first cries of “Yes! Yes!” he decided to go off for a while. Theo and Hutch went with him, smirks on their faces. Sam jumped up and came as well.
He walked around a curve, but the noises followed them. Looking back, he asked S
am, “You’re positive that Thump isn’t her father, right?”
Sam nodded. “She told me my mother fed off him. When she feeds, she eats your soul. There is nothing left but the body.”
The sounds were punctuated by a yelp. Right after that, a rougher male cry sounded. Scorpio thought about going back but noticed the cries hadn’t stopped there. They had died down, but from the sounds of it, they were far from stopping.
“You gotta be kidding,” he huffed. Not wanting to be too far from the group, he started to wander back, slowly.
He sat through another round of yelps and a screech of glee as he told Frieda there was nothing on the banks of the underground lake but bank. It was all he could do to keep from screaming at them to at least shut up. Focusing on the crude map Sam had drawn, he went over how they were going to get through the underground town, and everything everyone was tasked to do. Their plan was set. All they were waiting for was Odif and Thump to finally get worn out.
***
His head rested on her chest as he gasped for air. Her rapid heartbeat and the sound of her lungs filled his ear. She stroked him and asked breathlessly, “Feel better?”
The sound of her voice echoed deep in her chest.
“Yeah,” he gasped. “Much better. Think we sealed the change?”
“Sealed it? I think we cast it in iron,” she chuckled.
He laughed with her then struggled up on one elbow. Looking down on her sweaty face, he was reminded of someone else long ago who had made him feel as good. He didn’t remember what she looked like, only that she had been his whole world.
“If we do survive, and I do get out of here, will you help me find my wife?”
Shifting up on one elbow to face him, she grabbed his chin and shook it playfully. “I’ll do what I can. I have to meet the woman who can keep up with you.”
He didn’t know if she meant it, but the compliment sounded sincere. “That was just the ritual, right?”
“Must have been. Come on, we have to join the others now.”
He did feel stronger; and despite wearing himself out, he felt refreshed. Other than a little shakiness in his legs, he felt like a new man. Untangling from her, he got his clothes on and followed her out. Only ten feet below the entrance, the rest of the group was gathered. All eyes except Scorpio’s were on them as they picked their way down the bank.
Seeing Sam brought him back to why Odif had done what she did. He walked over to her and sat down. “You know the deal. Where’s my axe?”
“I got it,” Hutch said and handed him the weapon handle first.
“Hey, Thump, you know whose side you’re on, right?” Shilo asked cautiously.
Frowning, he asked, “Thump?”
“We have to call you something,” Theo grinned.
Shilo waved a finger at him. “You were called Thump back in the old days. Don’t you remember when you used to get drunk and knock out horses? That’s how you got the name.”
“I did? What’s my real name then?”
Shilo shrugged. “All I knew you by was Thump.”
Odif shot Shilo a glare. “He has a real name!”
“Do you know what it is?” Shilo countered.
“Thump’s fine.” He shrugged. What did it matter what he was called?
Shilo squeezed a fist and hissed, “Yes!”
“It’s settled,” Frieda stated as she eyed Shilo. “Thump, you’ll be just ahead of me, beside Scorpio...”
“I’m staying by her,” he said, indicating Sam.
“I should be in front, anyway,” Sam offered.
Frieda sighed. “Scorpio, you are in charge of keeping any distractions away from Odif and I. Odif, you do nothing but keep the demon from casting magic. I will keep its other powers at bay until I can sprinkle it and the altar with holy water. Sam, you will stay by me. Thump, you can stay by Sam and protect us from the side...”
“I can’t do that,” he told her. “The only thing I can do is attack the demon.”
“He can’t harm anyone but my mother,” Sam explained. “We have to keep him in the middle.”
Thump frowned at her. “Your mother?”
Sam nodded. “That‘s right.”
“Who’s your dad?” he asked, trying to imagine two demons.
“Just a man she tricked then tortured,” she replied. “We are the only ones who can stop her.”
“So you can become like she is.”
Sam’s nose flared. “No, I will never be like her. I can’t stand what she does to innocent men like you.”
He partly felt like he was becoming involved in just another elaborate game. Some elements were not making any sense. However, he had cut her, and the pact wasn’t broken. During their mating, Odif had restored his strength. He highly doubted the demon would let that happen. If these were, indeed, rebels then they were still his best chance.
He wasn’t sure who was in charge here. So far, it seemed three people were. He shifted his gaze to Odif then the one they called Frieda. “Let’s go kill it.”
***
Aliana stood staring at the chains hanging from the wall. Her food slave had escaped. By the hoarc dust on the floor, he had to have broken the pact, but she would have felt it if he did.
“Impossible,” she breathed. How in the abyss did he get away?
She went into the passage. Hoarc dust littered the floor out here, also. Besides the hoarc dust, she found a few bodies lying along the wall. Pulling one up by the hair, she saw it was elven. Throwing this one to the side, she checked the others. All three were elves. Picking one up, she looked at it closely. When she had found her daughter in the company of Odif, she was sure this one had been with them.
A smile crept onto her face--they were here.
Flying through the caves in spirit form, she found other traces of their passing. That arrogant bitch was planning to fight her in her own territory; she couldn’t have planned this better herself!
She called the lead hoarcs together to block offshoot tunnels and start driving the intruders closer to her temple. In the underground city she had the main tunnel to her temple packed with defenders. She knew the druid would get through, but leaving it empty would arouse her suspicions. The vlaks at the entrance to her temple she sent into rooms to each side. Her worry wasn’t that Odif and her band would get in, only that they might escape once she had them.
Her next stop was her throne room. She recalled Lura and Grief and sent for her best warriors. She was still waiting for Grief to show up when Lash came in, hobbling on a crutch.
His armor was dented and bloodied, and one leg was in splints. The men with him helped him to stand in front of her. He bowed his head and began rattling before she even acknowledged him.
“Master, we have a serious problem at the lake. Our forces are being beaten back by large metal machines. We ambushed Zodiac, and his army was all but wiped out; then here come these things and--”
“Stop!” she commanded. “Did you kill Zodiac?”
He paused. “Yes, I unhorsed him then ran him down myself. He is the least of our worries!”
She glared at him, which froze him in place. “Do you forget who you are speaking to?”
“No, Master,” he whined.
“What are these machines, and where did they come from?”
Lash slowed his speech. “They came from the east. There are larger ones and smaller ones, but every one shoots--we think they’re rocks, but they go so fast they kill anything. An entire regiment of cavalry was wiped out by two of them in the time it takes to blink your eye. We fought back with spears, but the spears didn’t have any effect on them. The worst damage we did was to knock one of the smaller ones off its wheels. Vlaks didn’t fare any better. The ones they didn’t kill with rocks they just ran over!”
“They must have a weakness,” she insisted.
He waved an arm. “I’m having a long trench dug at the north end of the lake, banking the dirt on our side. Those things look very heavy; we hope th
ey’ll get stuck trying to climb up the loose dirt walls.”
“Master, we still have dragons to attack from above,” one of the other men added.
Aliana lazily pointed a finger at the man. “You, build the best defense you can. Let these machines come to you behind the trench Lash started. When they attack, send dragons at them from above. Make a raid tonight across the lake, find out what it will take to stop them.”
“Yes, Master,” the man said with a bow, and left.
“Lura, take care of Lash and give him back his manhood. After you’re done, bring him to the temple.”
“Yes, Master.” Lura bowed.
“Thank you, Master,” Lash said with sigh of relief.
Aliana’s original plan was to kill most of Odif’s group, saving only her daughter and a couple others to bring a few demons from the abyss. These machines were a new threat as long as they were fighting against her. They would serve her well if she could capture them. To do so, she would need many demons, and that meant many souls to send into the abyss so the demons could come forth into their bodies. Her own slaves would not gain Lucifer’s favor enough to get the strongest demons. Her daughter, and live enemies cast down, would gain that favor.
As she pondered how to do it, Grief arrived. One of her guards explained the situation to him.
“Grief, find my daughter in the caves below. I want to know exactly where they are and how many are with her. Once you have that information, meet us in the temple.”
“Yes, Master. What of these machines? They could very well make it to the city.”
She waved her hand, dismissing the thought. “The city is nothing; my daughter being caught alive is everything.”
Grief pressed his point. “Master, we have much invested in the city. If we lose it, it will take years to recover. The war in Elrad needs the spears and creatures we make here.”
Her first impulse was to smash him across the face for questioning her, but he was right--they did need the city to keep sending Hans his weapons.
There was one sure way to stop these infernal machines. Before she began creating vlaks and pilgyns, she had used to cast magic into arrows that allowed them to pass through steel to strike flesh. It was ironic that for all the power she commanded now, it took a simple spell to stop her enemy.
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