by Joe Jackson
Erik glanced over to see Aeligos use his wings to steady his descent, and the rogue landed close to Taesenus and Gabrius. The Demon Prince turned and cut at Aeligos, and though the rogue got his body out of the way, his right wing was not so fortunate. The vorpal sword cut his wing clean in half at its elbow, and he screamed and stumbled away. He was protected by Gabrius when the half-brys stepped between the rogue and the Demon Prince. Erik nearly stopped and changed direction, but Aeligos at least had Gabrius nearby to help shield him. Jol had no such defense.
The Tilcimer backed out of range of Jol’s half-strength, one-handed swipe with his greatsword, and then it moved up to the corridor behind it when Erik and Corbanis finally came around Jol. The demon suddenly flew to the side, thrown off the side of the staircase the same way it had done to Aeligos just moments before. Erik watched it land hard on the cavern floor, but it got to its feet and began picking up momentum again, getting ready to strike at Gabrius, or perhaps Taesenus. All three of the Tesconis males on the staircase turned back to the corridor to see what had happened.
The scarlet-haired Tesconis daughter emerged from the tunnel and she quickly surveyed the battlefield. “You boys look like you could use some help,” she said.
“Thank the gods!” Erik said, but he wasted no time welcoming Sonja back. He turned and made his way back to the cavern floor to rejoin Gabrius and Aeligos.
“Sonja, we need to limit this thing’s maneuverability. See if you can knock down some of the columns and section off parts of the room,” Corbanis ordered, and he turned and rushed back down the stairs behind Erik without waiting for a reply.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she answered.
Erik turned back when Sonja swore. “I can’t do anything with Taesenus here,” she said. “He’s canceling out my power. You need to disable or kill him, and quickly.”
“Protect Jol and Aeligos, then,” Erik ordered as the rogue passed him on the stairs, his wing hanging limply beside him and bleeding profusely.
*****
Aeligos made his way beside Serenjols and collapsed there. His eldest brother squeezed off the end of his bleeding wing stump, and used Aeligos’ cloak to keep pressure on it. Even with the use of only one arm, the eldest Tesconis child did an admirable job managing the bleeding of the elestram and the rogue. The elestram still hadn’t stirred, other than to moan in pain when the flame of the Tilcimer’s fireball had set some of her fur on fire, requiring that Jol put it out.
“Where’s Grakin when we need him?” Aeligos managed through gritted teeth.
Jol half-smiled but didn’t say anything. He got the bleeding under control, and once the pain had lessened a bit, Aeligos began whispering arcane words and gesturing. His wings melted into his back as he took the form of a terra-rir, and though the wounds still showed on the back of his new form, the damaged wing wouldn’t impeded him. The rogue took up the twin straight blades of the elestram and twirled them, and he descended to go aid his companions.
Sonja tried to blast one of the columns to bring it down and cut off part of the room, but just as she suspected, her arcane power sparked out with no effect. Though he didn’t look at her, she knew Taesenus had absorbed or otherwise cancelled it. She admired that, no matter how much she hated him: the ability to shrug off or cancel arcane power was an amazing gift. It was just unfortunate that it belonged to such a deplorable and despicable man. Stymied for the moment, Sonja went over to Jol and balked that he was tending to a wounded elestram.
“Where did she come from?” she asked.
Jol shrugged. “We are not certain. She arrived just as we were about to engage the Tilcimer and Taesenus, and were quite surprised when she joined our side.”
“Is she all right?”
Her eldest brother shook his head. “I think she was struck in the liver. Without a proper healer, I doubt she will survive this wound.”
“Bring her out to Katarina,” Sonja said. “She might not be able to heal something that dire, but she can try.”
Jol nodded and hefted up the elestram girl with his good arm. He placed her over his shoulder in such a way that he could keep pressure on her wound, and made his way as quickly as he could back up the corridor toward the surface.
*****
“Erik, help Gabrius,” Corbanis said. “I’ll see if I can get the Tilcimer’s attention.” His form was lined with black flames, just as Erik was able to do, and he spread his wings wide and bellowed, “Quit delaying and come see if you can avenge your brother!”
The Tilcimer ignored Corbanis’ taunt, making its way around to Taesenus once again. It briefly joined in the fray between Taesenus and Gabrius, slashing at the half-brys and opening his defenses for the Demon Prince. The half-brys paladin took a couple of stinging hits along his forearm from the demon’s claws, and only narrowly avoided suffering the same fate as the elestram female. He worked to his left, trying to keep them from flanking him or overwhelming him from the front.
Erik and Aeligos distracted the Demon Prince, and the rogue and Taesenus traded short routines. Aeligos apparently realized he would be cut down in moments against a fighter of Taesenus’ caliber, but his goal had only been to draw the Demon Prince away from Gabrius, no matter how briefly. He attacked and then began backpedaling, and soon Erik was back at his side. By himself, Aeligos was nowhere near a good enough fighter to stand toe-to-toe with Taesenus, but with Erik at his side, they could at least try to distract the Demon Prince so one of them was more likely to strike true.
With the battle beginning to turn against him, the Demon Prince vanished. Erik glanced around in a controlled panic, and soon saw that Taesenus had reappeared at the top of the stairs beside Sonja. Time slowed down as, before she had even fully turned her head to regard the threat, Taesenus’ vorpal katana cut through her neck so neatly there wasn’t even a splash of blood. Erik felt each heartbeat between interminable stretches of time. He was about to cry out – as he imagined his brothers and father were – but then Sonja didn’t fall, and Erik was just as confused as Taesenus.
Sonja stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at her would-be killer. “Your power doesn’t cancel out my illusions, cretin,” she said. “Where is the real Sonja? Is she behind you? Is she upstairs waiting for you? Is she still back in DarkWind?”
Taesenus glanced over his shoulder briefly, but ultimately, he simply grunted and walked through the illusory woman. Erik hardly had time to mark the Demon Prince’s egress; he turned back to the Tilcimer. It was no longer dashing around the room avoiding melee. Now it was standing toe-to-toe with Gabrius, its movements still a blur even in close-quarters combat, its footwork fast and impeccable. It was wounded and bleeding, but it continued to slice up the half-brys’ arms, though it couldn’t otherwise get close enough to him without subjecting itself to his considerable swordplay.
Corbanis circled around so they could try to surround it. Erik moved to triangulate their attack, and even Aeligos moved into proper position to pin it down. As soon as the four closed on it, however, it dropped a fireball at its feet, then used its considerable speed to dash between Corbanis and Aeligos, narrowly dodging a backhanded strike from the rogue to put distance between them all.
“Gabrius, chase after the Demon Prince! Make sure he doesn’t hurt Jol, Katarina, or that elestram when he gets upstairs,” Corbanis ordered. The half-brys paladin didn’t even bother to nod. He made his way up the stairs with all the haste he could muster after the strain of battle.
An angry, molten line appeared across one of the columns, and it soon tilted and began to fall. Erik and his companions covered their ears against the crash, but quickly got back to their defensive stances. Sonja was doing as asked now that Taesenus was gone. Erik took wing and managed to get up on top of the fallen stonework. Corbanis flew up beside him, leaving Aeligos to retreat back to where Sonja’s illusion was. Erik turned, looked at his ‘sister,’ and nodded, and soon a second column came down, further penning in the demon.
�
�Was it this easy to pin it down when you fought the first one?” Erik asked his father.
“Easy? Do you have any idea how rare a wizard this strong is?” Corbanis asked, waving a hand back towards his daughter. “But no, we didn’t have the luxury of a wizard or fighting the first one indoors. And we still have a hell of a fight before us, my son.”
Erik conceded the point. A third column came down, and they had the creature penned in enough that its maneuverability, if not its running speed, would be hampered by a lack of space. Erik met his father’s gaze and nodded solemnly, and Corbanis put his hand to his son’s shoulder. Together, the two Tesconis demonhunters jumped down into the penned-in area.
Erik and Corbanis regarded the Tilcimer, pinned down inside the arena made from the fallen columns. The demonhunters split up, preparing to flank the demon, and Corbanis’ form was once again lined with black flames. Erik did likewise, though he rarely found the ability useful in a melee – especially against Seril’s creations. Taking up positions on opposite sides of the demon, they nodded across to each other, and then stepped forward to finish their mission.
The Tilcimer dashed in on Erik suddenly, and it was all he could do to backpedal and keep the slashing claws away from his face. Its speed, even when not at a run, was considerable, and he couldn’t back away from it fast enough. It went for his eyes, and nearly clawed them out when instead it crashed into him. Erik fell to the floor with the Tilcimer on top of him, and only then did he see that his father was on top of the Tilcimer.
Corbanis got his feet under him and picked the creature up by its neck. It thrashed wildly and tried to slash him with the smaller, less threatening claws on its feet. Then it folded itself in half and tore open the armor on Corbanis’ legs, and it thrust its feet hard into his gut until he had to let his grip go. It rose and slashed at his face, but he blocked with his horns, and threw a combination of punches that missed badly as the demon danced around him at an inhuman pace.
“Where’s Trigonh when we need him?” Corbanis muttered, getting his sword back in his hand.
“You should’ve brought Mom with you,” Erik said, a rare bit of humor in the face of such a fight.
“Sonja! We need to limit its movements more!” Corbanis yelled.
His request was answered a moment later when his and Erik’s feet nearly slipped out from under them. Suddenly, the entire floor was covered in a slick of some kind, and the footing became treacherous. It wasn’t exactly the sort of help Erik was expecting, but when the Tilcimer slid down into an unintentional split, he understood it was the best help Sonja could give.
Erik slipped and slid his way over to the demon, which was having as hard a time getting to its feet and staying there as the two armored warriors were. Weighing a lot seemed to be the only thing that helped Erik and his father at all, and Erik took tentative step after tentative step toward the Tilcimer. If he could just get his hands on it…
The demon managed to get to its feet, and began controlled slides across the slick, like it was ice skating. It couldn’t dodge or weave while doing so, though, and instead it made its way toward the doorway on the far back wall.
Heading for dry ground, Erik mused, starting to give chase. His father slipped along with him, and the Tesconis demonhunters reached the door only a few moments after the demon opened it and stepped through.
On the other side was something the likes of which Erik had never seen before. Even the laboratories upstairs were nothing like this. The room was cubic in shape, its walls smoothly-cut stone. There was a desk littered with more journals like the one they’d found upstairs, but the most interesting feature was in the center: three wide glass tubes, easily tall enough for a person to have fit inside. All three were empty, but the Tilcimer stood by the one in the middle, as if lost in thought.
Erik approached from one side, and his father from the other. “It’s over,” Erik said. “Time to send you back to your maker.”
The Tilcimer turned and grinned, showing its fangs. “It matters not. She will make you pay,” it hissed. “The Queen is dead; long live the King.”
The demon came at Erik, but its feet were still slick with the oil from Sonja’s spell, and it lost its footing. Erik slashed at it brutally with his scimitar and followed up with a deep thrust of his longsword. Just as quickly as it had lost its footing, the Tilcimer got its balance back, and it ducked under the swing and hopped back away from Erik’s thrust.
Corbanis, waiting for just such a reaction, slammed his shield home into the back of the demon’s horned skull, rattling its senses and sending it right back toward his son. Erik thought better of an immediate coup-de-grace and went for its legs, as Corbanis had instructed. Erik cut the demon’s knee ligaments, nearly severing its lower leg, and it dropped to its knees. Corbanis drove the Edge of the Victor neatly through the top of the Tilcimer’s skull and down through its spine. The demon sputtered and its final breath came out in a gurgling sigh. Corbanis withdrew his blade and kicked the corpse to the side.
Erik looked at his father. “We did it,” he said, probably sounding as incredulous as he felt. “Gods, we did it!”
Corbanis smiled, approached, and embraced his son. “You did well. Come on, we have wounded family and friends to check on. We can get Aeligos and Sonja down here and let the brains figure out what all this is,” he said, indicating the tubes and the desk.
“These things don’t heal after death, do they?” Erik asked, gesturing toward the corpse.
Corbanis considered the Tilcimer. “Let’s shackle it, just in case,” his father said.
Erik produced a set of the magic-cancelling manacles he was given before leaving for this mission, and clasped the demon’s hands behind its back. Satisfied it wasn’t going anywhere, he rose back to his feet and saluted his father. Corbanis seemed amused by the gesture at first, but he returned it, and then motioned for them to get back to Sonja and the others.
Chapter XVII – The Truth at the Heart
Sonja’s illusory form vanished when they emerged from the back room. It took Erik and Corbanis some time to reach the surface, wounded and heavily armored as they were. It was dark out, night fully descended, and the light of the two risen moons didn’t reach the entrance to the complex on the side of the mountain. There were globes of magical light hovering about, illuminating the group’s makeshift camp, but not much beyond.
The wind on the mountainside was chilly even in the summer, which was made worse by the absence of sunlight. Katarina had built a campfire, and she sat beside it with the elestram’s head in her lap. Erik didn’t have to stare long to realize the paladin was healing the wounded jackal demon – or person, whichever was the truth. There was a bandage on the elestram’s belly, but it was soaked through with blood, and even with the paladin’s constant ministrations, the bleeding didn’t seem to be slowing.
“Need some help?” he asked while his siblings exchanged hugs with their father.
Katarina looked up, her features grim. “I can’t stop the bleeding,” she said. “I’m just trying to keep her comfortable. It’s all I can really do. Gods, I wish Grakin was here.”
Erik sighed and looked at his siblings. Aeligos had shifted back to his normal form, and his wing was bandaged and wrapped tight to keep it hanging on his shoulder, rather than simply slumping to the ground. Jol wasn’t wearing his breastplate or pauldrons, and his shoulder was wrapped up in bandages as well. The arrow wound was an annoyance, but Erik was pretty sure his brother would heal it over in a few days, now that the arrow had been removed. Jol’s other wounds were superficial, and weren’t even bandaged in light of the bleeding having stopped.
Erik shifted his attention to Gabrius, who was inspecting the damage to his armor. His wounds had already been healed over, and Erik was glad most of the damage his group had suffered was negligible. If it was one of his siblings lying with their head in Katarina’s lap, languishing, he wasn’t sure how he would be handling it. Though he didn’t understand her motivat
ions, he was glad for what help the elestram had given. He found himself torn as to whether or not he should care that her end was coming swiftly, but then he thought of Tsalbrin, and of the brys Makauric.
Erik squatted down and laid his hand upon the elestram’s shoulder, feeding her what healing energy he could channel from Zalkar. He was surprised that there was no hesitation from his deity in light of who he was trying to heal, but then he assumed his god was simply a better person than he was. Just touching her, Erik could feel the elestram’s life slipping away. But his touch was bringing her comfort, and he could sense that as well.
“Tarra?” she whispered, slipping in and out of consciousness. She began speaking in the soft tones of her native tongue, and Erik had no idea what she was saying. After babbling for a minute, her eyes fluttered open, and she managed to take stock of her surroundings. “You…”
“Shhh, lie still now,” Katarina soothed.
“Did you kill him? Did you kill Taesenus?”
Erik shook his head. “No, the coward escaped,” he said, glancing up at Katarina and then at Sonja, glad that neither had been injured when the Demon Prince passed through on his way out. “We did kill the Tilcimer, though.”
“Ketava,” the elestram spat. “I was so close…tracked him for weeks. I thought for certain I would…be able to collect the bounty. He is…far tougher than he looks.”
“You can say that again,” Aeligos grunted from across the fire.
“Bounty? What bounty?” Erik demanded, rising to his feet.
