by Logan Jacobs
“Look at this,” I whispered to Ashe.
She looked through the trees to where I was pointing, and then she shot me a frown. “What do you think that’s used for?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Shall we keep walking and see if we can find out?”
“Yeah, let’s do that,” she agreed.
I noticed more empty crates strewn around the further we walked, but then something else caught my eye. There was another wooden shack a stone’s throw from where we were, and most of the crates closest to it were covered and locked up with thick, steel bolts.
Two of them were left open for us to peer inside.
“Oh, shit,” I whispered as I stared down at the wares.
“I think we’ve found it,” Ashe added excitedly.
The two crates were full to the brim with small, rock-like orbs of various colors. There was a mixture of blue, red, yellow, and green gems, all small and circular, but with a tiny indentation in the center of each. I wasn’t sure what the dent was used for, but I had a feeling it had something to do with the magic they held. The gems appeared perfectly smooth aside from this, and they gave off a beautiful shine that glistened when the beams of sun hit them. They were slightly larger than the pieces in my pocket, and from the size of them, I could tell that they’d fit neatly in the palm of my hand.
I figured the other crates must contain more of the same gems, and I would have torn off the bolts if there wasn’t the risk of them making too much noise. We were trying to sneak around, and I didn’t want to do something that could potentially reveal our presence too soon. Not to mention, I knew nothing of how to use the magical orbs yet. For now, they would probably be safest left right where they were.
“Atticus, there’s more than just orbs,” Ashe announced suddenly. “Look through here.”
Ashe had her hands cupped around her eyes as she peered through a small slit in the walls of the wooden shack. She moved to one side when I came over, but before I had even looked inside, a distinct scent of utter misery wafted through the woodwork.
Locked inside the shack, in iron cages like the Hellhounds in the Hellscape, was a horde of tiny, blue imps. There looked to have been at least twelve cages, and most of them had one imp inside, but some of them had as many as three crammed into the tiny space.
The imps were all slumped on the floors of the cages with their tails lying beside them. Then one of them looked up at my glowing eyes through the slat, but they dropped their gaze and closed their eyes almost like they no longer had the energy to keep them open.
“Fucking hell,” I breathed.
I’d known the dark elves enslaved imps to mine the orbs for them, and I’d guessed the slaves weren’t going to live a life of luxury for the job. But I hadn’t thought they’d be kept in such awful living conditions as this. If they were used to being barred in cages in a tiny shack, then I wondered if they felt the same as the human middleman. Maybe these imps were also waiting for the day that the dark elf up and decided to kill them off.
I glanced back at the open crates, and I guessed they’d recently completed mining the orbs I saw there. If they were retrieving as many as this in one go, then I was definitely going to keep them on when we took over the business, but I wouldn’t be a boss like the Dark King or the elves.
My subordinates would be allowed to live decent lives, and there would be no fucking cages.
I stepped away from the shack and motioned for Ashe to head back in the direction of the manor house. As we got closer, I couldn’t sense any elves nearby just yet, and I decided near the short wall of their grounds would be the perfect position to hole up before our prey arrived.
“If we hide up there,” I said as I pointed to a tree above us. “We could get a good view of what goes on behind that wall, but we could also keep an ear on the mining shack in case they go to retrieve those orbs first.”
“Good idea,” Ashe agreed. “Let’s not waste any time.”
I let her go first and watched in awe as she skillfully climbed the first branch and then continued to travel higher. I didn’t begin to climb until she had gone out of sight, just so I could judge if we were high enough, but once I was sure we could stay concealed, I headed up, too.
Ashe balanced on a thick branch above with her legs straddling each side. She shuffled forward to make room for me under the canopy of leaves, and we were at the perfect height to see clear over the stone wall surrounding the main headquarters.
I could even see through the windows that overlooked the closed-off grounds, and I saw a table, some chairs, and some food left on top, but that was it. I didn’t see anyone inside, and I couldn’t smell anyone either.
We had arrived with plenty of time to avoid being spotted, and as soon as the elves joined us, we’d be ready.
Chapter 17
I wasn’t sure how long we were sitting in that tree for, but the rain continued to pour down from the sky, and thunder rumbled in the darkening clouds. The canopy of leaves was just enough to keep us mostly dry, but I welcomed the droplets of water that managed to break through the barrier.
I kept my eyes focused on the dark elves’ headquarters and the stone wall that encased the property, and when the sky turned a deep purple, I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before darkness came. Ashe and I remained as quiet as possible while we waited, and my body began to jitter with the need to get the fight underway. We had to do this properly, though. We only had one chance, and if we got it wrong, then we probably wouldn’t be able to pull off another attempt.
Not if the dark elves were expecting us and had all those orbs at their disposal.
A noise was soon heard coming from the shack where the imps were caged. It sounded like someone was moving a heavy object, perhaps the crates of orbs, and that was all I needed to hear to know shit was finally about to begin.
Ashe turned her head around to look at me, and we both shared the same wicked smile.
The dark elves had arrived, and it wouldn’t be long before we had our victory.
One dark elf hobbled through the darkness a moment later, and he pulled a sealed crate of orbs through the gate of the short brick wall. Then he closed the gate behind him and continued to pull the crate along, but since there was only one man present, I didn’t want to pounce before more arrived. We had to be sure that we attacked while they were unaware, and if we attacked this one by himself, the others may hear the commotion as they approached and end up preparing themselves.
Some more time passed as the woods became pitch-black, and the only light was the few flashes of lightning. The one dark elf lit a few covered glass lanterns near the back wall of the manor before he continued to bring in the crates one by one, and he stacked them back there. Three more elves joined him after the second trip to the mining shack, and the energy of my hell power tingled through my sinews as my anticipation grew.
We now had four in sight, and the human had said there were nine in total, one being the leader. We needed another five to arrive, and as three more elves drifted through the rainy trees and toward the gate, a broad grin came to my face.
They were all unknowingly heading toward their deaths, and that made me very happy.
The ripe scent of greed, conceit, and immorality was almost too enticing for me to bear, and my mouth salivated at the sheer thought of our weapons slicing through their filthy tissue. Heads were going to roll tonight, quite literally, if I had my say in things.
Then the leader of the gang finally arrived.
It was clear he was the leader from the vibrant green, velvet jacket he wore. Black trim ran around the outline of the leader’s green jacket, but the other dark elves in the operation were in all black velvet jackets that had gold trim.
I remembered the human saying that the leader didn’t care about anyone apart from himself, and that was clear to see from the way that the imps were kept, but the clothing made it seem like his band of elves were allowed the same luxuries as he was. Dark elves we
re known for their lavish clothing, and their jackets helped to bring some truth to that statement.
I couldn’t remember seeing a shred of fabric as nice as theirs in all of the Shadow Quarters.
This elven leader obviously preferred to keep the bulk of the profits for himself and the other elves, but what he didn’t know was that all his profits would soon be ours. We were going to take the money, the orbs, and the entire fucking empire before the night was over, and that leader was mine.
I’d certainly enjoy watching his blood boil from the sapphire sword, or seeing his body break into two twitching pieces from the Infernal energy current coursing through his bones.
All nine of the elves were now standing behind the house completely unaware that we were about to pounce, and they conversed together in low, snide tones. I wanted to wait until at least a couple went inside, and hopefully this would add to their confusion and give us some advantage in slaughtering them all without being overpowered at once.
I nudged Ashe with my thigh and then pointed to the throwing knives around her wrist. Then I put up one finger to resemble one elf, and I mimed throwing one of the knives. It was too risky to speak, given the fucking ears those pricks had, but Ashe knew what I was saying.
If she threw one knife at the elves, it would distract them enough to give us the perfect opportunity to leap into action.
I had the sickle ready in my hand, and I balanced myself carefully on the branch. With the right amount of power, and if I aimed my jump well, I’d manage to land right in the middle of the garden.
Then three of the dark elves, including the leader, walked into a back door of the manor house, and it was time to go.
I gave Ashe the signal, and she slipped a knife from the holster. The blade was held carefully in her palm, and I watched as she lined up her target. She squinted her pink eyes slightly, and the tip of her tongue poked through her lips. Then the knife went soaring through the air, and it pierced an elf straight in the chest. We were already jumping from the tree before the knife had hit its target, and as planned, I landed right in the center of the action.
From there, everything happened at a rapid-fire pace.
The elves didn’t hesitate to attack, but unfortunately for them, they were completely unarmed. They had the ability to use magical, mystical shit, but my sickle was faster than they were. The blade connected with the first elf I turned to, and the tanzanite on the sickle began to glow as they absorbed the Infernal Tempest buzzing in my palm. The moment the sickle sliced through the elf’s gut, a jolt of thunderous energy shattered through his body, and he couldn’t even scream. He just convulsed wildly as thick, black blood splattered from the gash that tore across his midsection, and then he dropped to the ground.
Two elves came at me from both sides next, and both were moving so quickly that all I saw was a blur of black and gold jackets and their bright white hair as they swiftly circled me a few times. I ground my teeth at the charade, and I realized the human middleman hadn’t been fucking around about his warnings.
These dark elves were almost as fast as demons.
Almost.
As soon as I was able to track their progress, I gave one a powerful punch in the stomach to incapacitate him for a bit. Knocking him back intercepted the path of the second elf, and I whipped my sickle around and brought the sickle down into his head.
A look of sinister pleasure spread across my face as I watched his skull split into two, and his entire front was soon coated by rivers of black blood. His eyes were forced out of their sockets from the power of the blow, and they dangled from fibrous strings as his knees buckled, and his body tipped backward.
Then I sent a quick glance toward Ashe, and she had another elf in the same situation.
A throwing knife was embedded in his eye, and Ashe’s sapphire sword impaled his chest. The elf’s body trembled violently as his blood reacted to the poison of the yellow sapphire, and light-blue lines began to trickle up his neck like vines on a tree.
I chuckled a bit at Ashe’s cackling while she twisted her blade in the dying elf’s chest, but because I’d taken my eyes off my other prey for two damn seconds, the boney hand of a dark elf suddenly wrapped around my wrist. The strength of the hold surprised me at first, and I was wrenched around to face my next victim.
That’s when I saw the elf I’d punched had managed to get a dagger from somewhere, and the blade was inches away from my throat. One wrong move would send the dagger straight through my jugular.
Even though I knew my body would heal before the mortal blade could cost me my life, my heart still leapt with excitement at the prospect, and I snickered to myself.
The elf in front of me went from furious to terrified at the demonic sound, and his face twisted in terror in the light of my violet eyes.
“Go on, try it,” I urged in a smoky tone. “This will be fun.”
The elf forced a sneer to his face and drew his blade back to strike, and I was about to aim my fist at his stomach, but then another elf came up from behind me and grabbed my free arm in an iron fist. The strength of both elves was admittedly impressive, and I could tell any goblin or even an orc would be overpowered by them. All I had to do was rip my demonic arms free, and I’d have the advantage, though, and as the terrified elf’s dagger thrust forward toward my neck in a blurring flash, I ducked and wrenched at my arms.
I didn’t even get to breaking free before a rogue knife came hurtling through the air above my head, and it connected with the armed elf in front of me. The blade sliced straight through his head at the temple and sent him staggering backward, and I ripped my arm free of my last captor.
Then I turned on my boot, brought the sickle high in the air, and slammed it down before the second elf had the time to flee or fight back. It tore through his shoulder and halfway down his chest, and his river of black blood blended in perfectly with the nice black jacket he wore.
When I whipped back around, the second elf had yanked the knife free from his head, but it was clear from the wandering look in his eyes that he didn’t have long to go before he’d join his dead friends on the ground.
I wasn’t going to let him get out of this fight that easily.
I snatched half his head with one hand, and I powered all of my energy into my palm. The dark elf’s eyes bulged from the pulsing thunder that shocked his already damaged brain, and I kept him locked in that torture for a few seconds until heat radiated from his skull.
After that, all it took was a quick twist of his head to break his twitching neck, and his lifeless body crumpled at my feet.
Two of the elves who were originally inside had come out to join the fight now, but the leader couldn’t be seen. I imagined the scared motherfucker had hidden in the house, perhaps hoping we wouldn’t know he was there.
Ashe and I stood back and watched with excitement as the next two elves advanced. They both held swords the same length as the yellow sapphire sword Ashe still had in her grasp, except these blades had red gems embedded in the silver. I remembered Garrik mentioning that rubies made dark elves stronger, which would explain why they had ruby red swords at hand tonight.
Still, the way they glared at our own weapons assured me they knew damn well what our own magical weapons were capable of, and I made a mental note to thank Garrik and his wife, Elora, for the help they had given us. I was certain we could have enjoyed this job almost as much without the magical weapons, but they were definitely a plus point, and the agony they inflicted was wonderful to witness.
In the blink of an eye, both of the dark elves bolted in opposite directions, and they were even more blurred than our last opponents before one elf suddenly pounced toward me, and the other pounced at Ashe. My attacker aimed his sword at my stomach, but I met his hit with my own weapon. The silver of the sword let out a high-pitched clang as it met the sickle, and the power that the elf put into the swing sent a throbbing sensation through my wrist.
I grinned with some amusement, but his mur
ky form swam around me in circles as he attempted to use his speed to his advantage once more. But my eyesight was sharper than other creatures he may have come across in the past.
Although he was a blur bolting around me, I could still see whenever he shifted rapidly to throw out a hit with his ruby sword, and I managed to counter every strike with the sickle while I waited for the perfect opening. I followed his blurred movements with my violet eyes and worked on predicting the next move the elf would make. He tended to take a swing whenever I had my back to him, and he’d always aim for either my stomach, or my head. This left me flipping around regularly to counter his advance, and I waited until the elf had made his next full rotation of my body.
Then I swiftly crouched to the ground with my sickle at the ready, and I slit open his knees with the curved blade the moment he passed again. As his body began to collapse to the ground, I shot my arm out and grabbed a hold of his neck, and he roared angrily and raised his sword.
The violet of my eyes reflected against the silver of his blade, but I didn’t flinch away from his attempt to slash me. I already knew this elf wouldn’t have the energy to use his weapon at all soon because the Infernal current that pulsed into his neck was far too powerful for him to overcome.
I chuckled mirthlessly as he twitched and gawked up at me, and as his sword dropped from his useless hand, I carefully brought just the tip of my sickle blade to his head. I made sure not to break the skin, but I maintained the contact enough to allow the sickle to continue the job.
Violet lightning bursts surged through the tanzanite gems, and the elf’s body began to shake even more violently as the current forced itself deep inside his bones. I still kept my grasp tight around his neck so the double dose of my hell power would be enough to cause his head to crack open, but I was pleasantly surprised by the results.
The extra helping of crippling energy managed to split not only his head, but his spine and chest cavity as well, and there was a sickening crunching sound as brain matter, blood, and bones exploded from inside. Then I released him, looked down at my messy shirt, wiped the gore away with my fingers, and continued on with the mission.
