by R. E. Fisher
Lysette rushed through the corridors, following the path of death that Tetra had left. Jerrous had once had a virtual army of demons. Now many of them lay dead on the black stone floor, their purulence covering the ground. Still she rushed onward, wary of those demons that were trying to escape or those that had managed to survive her blade and lay thrashing about on the ground.
She rushed down the corridor past the greater demon until she reached an intersection and was unsure of which way to go. She looked down each of the corridors and then saw a reflection of light on the ground. As she approached it, she saw that it was bloody footprints. Lysette continued onward until she saw a black figure with long, wet black hair standing in the center of the corridor, staring into a great room. She almost shouted out Tetra’s name but stopped herself. What if it isn’t her? she thought. She proceeded cautiously, trying to avoid arousing its attention.
Telerex had located her a few moments earlier but was unable to find a way in from above, realizing that the keep had no windows. He landed on the stone roof, trying to locate any sound that might tell him where she was, but it was silent. He tilted his head, straining to hear even the least little sound. The screams had stopped moments before, too late for him to determine where they had been coming from. His anger and frustration at being helpless grew; just as he was about to head for the doorway that he had seen Lysette use, he heard it. It was a deep, quiet voice asking one simple question.
Flapping his wings and rising a few feet into the air, he drifted on the hot winds and looked down. The roof he had been sitting upon was the highest of point of the keep, and it had no towers. It must be the great hall, he determined. They had to be in the great hall! He began tearing out the stones of the roof with his taloned feet.
Without a word, Tetra raised Lavalor, rushing toward those who stood between her and Jerrous. The stones from the ceiling had begun falling into the great hall, stopping Tetra. Carion and the succubi were prevented from attacking her as well. Tetra glanced upward, concerned about yet another possible threat, and saw to her surprise that it was Telerex.
How had he followed her? She knew that he could not survive long in Asmordia!
The stones crashed onto the floor of the halls, splintering as they struck the hard floor. Like shards of glass, the splintered stone struck Carion and the succubi that had begun to move toward Tetra; they ignored them, having felt far worse during their cursed stay.
She realized that the whole roof might collapse with Telerex’s efforts to force his way in. She looked past the five demons blocking Jerrous and saw that he had risen to deal with the new threat from above.
“Jerrous, look out!” she shouted above the din, hoping that it would be enough. Dodging a section of the roof that was now collapsing, she retreated toward the corridor through which she had entered. Ready for anything, she never took her eyes from the demons.
She watched as Carion disappeared from her view and the succubi rushed her, heedless of the falling stone. She backed toward the wall she had seen when she entered the hall, hoping that she had enough time to prevent the silver-toothed demon from appearing behind her. She didn’t.
Lavalor saw the demon appear, though, and with Jerrous’s fate still unknown, he struck at Carion halfheartedly. Torn, he cast a different spell this time, one that he had the magic for and that didn’t threaten his own existence. The trove of magical energy that he had acquired while they fought their way into the keep ensured that. Lavalor needed something that would fight for them but still follow his commands, so he cast a summoning spell, calling on a creature that he had not used since before he created Asmordia. He let loose his magic and a black cloud began forming, but it was much too slow to be of any assistance to them yet.
Behind you! he shouted.
Out of reflex, Tetra spun, managing to block the blow of Carion’s taloned hand as he struck at her face. His other set of talons ripped upward, slamming into her now blackened armor as he attempted to tear out her heart. He failed, Fey’s armor protecting her yet again.
Carion howled in anger, knowing that the blow would have torn open any other. Tetra grinned with satisfaction and spun, slicing downward with Lavalor. The blade sliced into the demon’s hip; as she twisted it out, she took a large chunk of his flesh with it. He fell back, screaming in pain.
There was no time to gloat, as the poleaxes that the succubi were wielding began striking her head and shoulders. One of the numerous blows managed to get through her defenses. She fell to her knees in pain, dazed by the blow. She found that she could not lift her sword.
Dance, Lavalor! she pleaded while trying to stand.
Lavalor leapt from her hand and began striking at the poleaxes while trying to weave through them, keeping them from attacking Tetra.
Tetra reached down, attempting to rise, when she felt Carion take her to the ground again with a hiss and a growl.
She twisted onto her back and attempted to throw the demon off, but still dizzy from the earlier blow, she was unable to free herself from his grip. She did manage to reach up, grabbing at his wrists. Fey’s gorget saved her life, she thanked the gods, as Carion’s talons skittered across the armor’s stone-like surface at her throat.
Carion’s hiss grew louder with frustration, and his growls became more frightening as his rage grew. He managed to tear his wrist from her grasp and lifted both of his hands high above Tetra’s head. With a speed unlike anything she had ever seen before, he began clawing at her face, slicing open her flesh. The pain caused her to close her eyes against both his attacks and her own dawning failure as tears formed within them.
Lavalor saw the damage that the demon was exacting upon Tetra and felt a small degree of pity for her. This was his opportunity to allow the greater demon and Jerrous to destroy her! As they battled, he reveled at his seeming victory while forgetting about his creation that had finished forming and the dragon above them—but only for a moment.
Tetra knew that if she didn’t think of something, she was going to die a horrible death. She brought her forearms across her face, trying to block his blows, while Carion fought even harder to shred her skin. He couldn’t tell what was her blood or the blood of the demons she had killed on her way to the throne room. Just as she got her arms up to protect her face, she felt the demon stop, his blows no longer tearing at her. She opened her eyes and saw that he still stared at her, but he was not moving.
“Move, Tetra! Now!” she heard a familiar voice scream. Out of panic and need, she shifted her hips while still on her back and began scrambling away from the demon, using her elbows to push herself away from him. It was then that she saw Lysette casting magic on the demon, holding him still, giving her the chance her to escape him. She changed direction and began crawling toward Lysette on her hands and knees, trying to regain her footing while avoiding the streams of multi-colored magic that were erupting from her now oddly shaped fingers. She rushed toward her protector and friend.
As she scrambled toward Lysette, she wiped the blood from her eyes and saw that Telerex and Jerrous were both covered with the flames of the other and locked in battle, while Lavalor was doing his best to keep the succubi at bay. She also realized that she was unarmed. She called out to Lavalor, “Return to me!” and he struggled against her command.
Time to see who is stronger! he decided.
Tetra was shocked when nothing happened. She looked over to Jerrous and saw that his battle with Telerex was now inside the great hall. Echoing thunder from their massive bodies and loud exclamations filled the room, while blood from both of them seeped down onto the stone floor.
Jerrous had managed to reach out and grab Telerex by his long throat with one hand, ignoring the dragon’s snakelike speed, yet the dragon was still doing Jerrous great harm. Tetra saw that Telerex had ripped open the demon’s stomach, and his entrails were beginning to protrude from his wound. Determined, Telerex increased his efforts to rip Jerrous open further with his razor-sharp feet while trying to use hi
s wings to regain an advantage.
As though he were impervious to pain, Jerrous reached out with his other hand and grabbed Telerex just under his jaw; he took him to the ground, nullifying his great wings. He began pounding the dragon’s head against a pile of stones that had fallen into a huge heap in the corner as he fell atop him. Blood began seeping from Telerex’s ears.
Tetra saw that although Telerex fought valiantly, he would not last against the giant of a demon. In a panic, she began searching the room to find something to use as a weapon. It was then that she realized that Jerrous had managed to summon something else.
“A dai-shadir!” she shouted aloud and pointed.
Lysette looked at the monster, remembering that Lavalor had brought one of those into existence during the Al’Ishna, during the beginning. That was in the Realm of Light, and it had taken all the Elfaheen to destroy it!
How powerful would it be here? she wondered and feared. The news broke her concentration, and her spell faded away into nothingness.
As the spell dissipated, time resumed for Carion. Unaware that he had been attacked, he brought his taloned hands down as he had intended to do before Lysette acted, only to strike empty air and stone. He hissed out his frustration and looked up to search for her.
Tetra reached out her weapon hand and commanded, “Lavalor, return to me!”
Unable to resist her command and now panicked, Lavalor looked to the dai-shadir. With its black, emaciated body, the head of raven, and a multitude of long, limp feathers flowing back from its head all the way to its waist, its eyes drew Lavalor’s gaze, not the two scimitars it carried. He observed that its eyes were filled with flame and hate for all things of light as he was being forced to return to the bitch.
Kill these women! Lavalor shouted at the dai-shadir as he was ripped from his halfhearted battle with the succubi and forced into Tetra’s hand as she had commanded.
The dai-shadir rushed forward, having been commanded to aid the one who owned it. It was not a creature of thought or reason, as were many of the demons that had been created to occupy Asmordia. It had been made for one simple purpose: to protect its creator. It existed for nothing else. So, as commanded, it attacked the women.
The first and second succubi were dispatched before anyone realized the dai-shadir had even acted. The head of one of them began rolling on the floor toward the feet of Jerrous, and the other realized after a moment that a blade colder that any she had ever felt was now protruding from between her breasts. Before her eyes had even glazed over, the demon disappeared without a sound, arriving in front of the remaining two succubi as they closed on the other two women. He cocked his head to the right and dropped to one knee.
The two succubi realized the danger they were in, but were not fast enough to lower their poleaxes to attack the raven of death. They tried to stop but were unable to do so enough. The dai-shadir flipped his blade in his palms, turning his sword’s edges toward the ceiling, and drove his blades into each of their stomachs. Then, standing with an unnatural ease, he sliced the two demons open from waist to neck as he ripped his blades upward. He turned to face the remaining two women before the succubi even hit the stone beneath their feet, showered in the blood of their deaths.
Worried about Carion, Tetra turned to face him and watched as he bounded toward her on all fours; then he leapt at her. The demon was mere feet away from her, so she raised Lavalor, intent on killing the beast.
Lysette watched in horror as the dai-shadir dispatched the four demons in a matter of moments, filling her with dread. Her dread increased as she heard a horrific roar fill the hall, knowing that only Jerrous could make a sound so loud and terrifying.
Telerex was dazed and had grown weak from the heat of Asmordia and his battle with the demon. His attempts at breaking free from Jerrous were proving ineffective, and he knew that he had weakened past the point of escape. He attempted to shred the demon’s flesh with his claws and cause as much harm as he could; tears began to seep from his eyes with the realization that he had done little to help the one he had grown to love. With a last hope, he thought to escape the demon’s grasp by changing into his human form.
He concentrated to shift his form, but without even realizing it, he had relaxed his muscles as was necessary. In that moment, he heard a bone-cracking snap, and then he felt nothing. No heat, no pain. He could no longer even feel the demon’s hands that were tight around his throat. He only felt the tears that rolled down his golden, scaled, beautiful face. His eyes closed as he found it impossible to breathe.
Lavalor glanced over at Jerrous, knowing that the dragon did not stand a chance against Jerrous without aid. His assessment was proven correct as he saw the dragon’s body go limp and Jerrous push him aside, standing to face his remaining assassins.
The dai-shadir ignored the victory cry and blinked, disappearing from everyone’s view and reappearing behind Lysette and Tetra.
Lysette filled with magic, and the only other known Elfaheen to have the knowledge of the mages could cast a spell that covered both her and Tetra in a blinding white shroud of light, its bright glow filling the room.
Carion had closed the distance between him and Tetra just as Lysette’s spell began, the white light blinding him and preventing him from seeing who he was attacking. As he encountered the barrier that now also surrounded Lavalor, he realized his near-fatal mistake. Rather than being pierced on her blade, he was cast aside as though he had been pushed backward and thrown across the room to land at his master’s feet, stunned. His own hate, anger, and fury had fed the spell that she had cast, returning all of it onto him tenfold.
Jerrous ignored Carion, stepping past him toward the two women whose glow filled his once darkened hall.
The dai-shadir lashed out with his blades at Lysette, who closed her eyes in surprise as they descended toward her. She realized that she had erred. She had forgotten that this demon held no malice, hate, or anger, and that her spell could not save her.
Tetra turned and lunged forward, placing her own blade between Lysette and those of the dai-shadir, shocked when he pulled back his blades. The dai-shadir stepped back from the two women, tilting his head to the right again as he looked at them.
Tetra may not have known why the dai-shadir stopped, but Lavalor did. If she held him in her hand, it would not attack her. He gathered his magic, envisioned himself in Jerrous’s hand, and leapt, trying to rip himself from Tetra’s grasp. In his haste, Lavalor had forgotten that he and Tetra shared one another’s thoughts, and she had heard what he was planning. Another betrayal. She tightened her grip and her resolve.
Once the dai-shadir saw that Lavalor was no longer between him and Lysette, he raised his weapons to attack her but watched as she disappeared. He cocked his head to the left and began searching for her, knowing that she was still nearby. As Lysette appeared on the other side of the littered great hall, he rushed toward her; but as he neared, she disappeared once again from his view, avoiding him.
As Lysette and the dai-shadir began their game, Tetra attacked Lavalor, maintaining her control of him. She could travel to places she had been to or could merely see, and she knew that to stop the Im’Shallene, she would kill Jerrous or die in this cursed place! She thought about where she needed to be, and she disappeared just before Jerrous arrived close enough to attack. He stomped his great foot where she had stood mere seconds after she disappeared, catching the demon off guard.
Tetra appeared above the demon, both hands gripping the pommel of Lavalor, and let gravity do its work. She dropped silently from above him and drove Lavalor down between Jerrous’s shoulders, but she missed driving it into his spine as she had intended. “Lavalor, you bastard!” she shouted aloud, realizing her missed opportunity to end the battle.
Once the blade had sunk into his flesh all the way to the sword’s hilt, she let go and reached up while imagining a dagger within each of her now empty hands. It was the first time she had ever done that. She began driving the dagger
s deep within Jerrous’s flesh, using them to climb and make her way toward the still-gaping wound on his neck that had been caused by the elder dragon in the cave.
Jerrous had never felt such excruciating pain in his whole existence within Asmordia. And the bitch was still attacking! He reached up, attempting to pull her off him, but he could not grab her. Feeling the pain, he began backpedaling toward the wall of the great hall, intending to smash her against it. He neared the wall, readying himself for the collision; but as he neared, he felt Tetra stab her blade into the wound on his neck and pull herself over his shoulder, causing him more pain as he slammed into the wall. The impact twisted Lavalor within the wound, where he sat unable to extract himself from it.
The razor-sharp blade twisted just enough to cut into Jerrous’s spine, and the demon collapsed against the wall, shocked and in agony from the waist down. He realized that his legs weren’t working, and he had to choose to grab the wall to steady himself or fall to the ground. He chose the wall, giving Tetra the opportunity she needed. She slid down his chest until she had fallen past his breastbone; placing her hands together, she drove the daggers into his sternum, driving them in as far as she could. When they seemed to slow, she yanked them downward, ensuring that they continued slicing the demon open as he fell. The incision caused by her fall crossed over the multitude of wounds that Telerex had caused, enlarging the opening over his stomach. As she felt his entrails erupting from his body, she let go, dropping the remaining twenty feet to the ground and rolling to her feet after she landed.
