A Demon's Quest the Beginning of the End the Trilogy Box Set

by Charles Carfagno Jr.

  “You will now feel death. I, Ruegore, promise you that.” The jackal growled and lunged forward, swinging his ax downward, intending to chop him in half.

  Delisar rolled out of the way just as the ax slammed into the cobblestone street, sending sparks in all directions. The tracker was on his feet again and went on the offensive by swinging and stabbing his sword in multiple angles and directions, trying to confuse Ruegore. The jackal, however, was a seasoned and skillful fighter, and blocked his attacks without exerting much energy, then kicked Delisar in the stomach, knocking him to the ground, gasping for air.

  Meanwhile, Jacko had just finished putting on one set of finger knives, flanked Ruegore, and stabbed him in the side. The knives met resistance by Ruegore’s mass of solid muscle and fat and didn’t do anything except make him angry. The jackal grunted, turned, and struck him in the face with a vicious backhand that sent him sprawling away.

  Delisar got up and attacked. One blow slashed the guard’s left forearm, which did little damage; another sliced the inside of his right leg but missed his major artery. The third attack, aimed at his head, would have ended the battle if not for Ruegore’s speed and agility when he moved his ax upward and stopped Delisar’s weapon in a mid-strike. Ruegore grinned, stepped in, pushing the blade away while exposing Delisar’s midsection, and kicked him in the chest with enough force to send him tumbling to the ground.

  Jacko was on his feet again. He ran over, wrapped his right arm around Ruegore’s neck, planted his right foot into the back of his knee, and simultaneously pulled back on his neck while stepping downward, forcing the big creature to take a knee.

  The jackal struggled for a few seconds against the smaller man and was about to do something when he noticed Delisar getting to his feet and running at him. He needed to stop the advancing human first and did so by swinging the ax upward, causing the tracker to stop just short of being hit in the groin.

  Jacko was about to plunge the daggers into his neck when the big fellow thrust the ax handle behind and into his stomach, causing him to release his grip and stumble away.

  Delisar took a swing at his head, but Ruegore parried it with the ax and gave him a back fist to his face, knocking him to the ground.

  Jacko was on him again and jabbed him twice in the left shoulder with the finger knives, causing the extremity to go numb. Ruegore grunted in pain, grabbed Jacko’s wrist, and threw him over his head, where he landed next to Delisar, who had just gotten to his feet. Ruegore stood up and did not advance for two reasons: he wouldn’t be able to swing his ax with one arm, and the sound of booted feet from men approaching from his rear.

  “We need to move,” whispered Delisar, keeping his sword trained on Ruegore. Jacko rose to his feet. “When I lunge for him, run north for three streets, then west for two, and find a place to hide. I’ll be along shortly.”

  Jacko nodded and ran as soon as Delisar took a leaping lunge at Ruegore. The jackal was caught off guard by his assailant and driven backward, while he used the ax, one-handedly, to block and deflect the attacks. He knew that he only needed to last a few more minutes before help arrived. When they did, Delisar tried one last time to slay Ruegore, but couldn’t land the blow and ran off in the opposite direction. Ruegore was winded and too wounded to give chase, so he ordered the men to pursue them.

  The grizzled veteran, who fought in countless battles against many foes, was quite agitated about the outcome of this fight. He wondered if his skills were finally beginning to deteriorate because of his age, or maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t fought in over a year. Either way, he remained where he was for some time, considering his future. When he eventually made up his mind, he strapped the ax across his back, took a deep breath, and began walking toward the front gates instead of his barracks.

  ****

  Delisar followed the route that he told Jacko to take and only stopped when he heard someone calling his name from the alleyway on his left. He was relieved to see Jacko standing in the shadows and out of sight.

  “We need to hurry,” Delisar said as he was approaching him. “It’s only a matter of time before they’ll sound the alarm, and if they do, we’ll be running for our lives.”

  “Did you kill that guard?”

  Delisar shook his head.

  “Were you followed?”

  “Yes, but they should still be a couple of streets away.”

  “Good, because I found a spot to hide and ambush them. It’s over there.” Jacko pointed to an adjacent street.

  “Aren’t you listening to me? If they sound the alarm, then we’re as good as dead.” Delisar’s patience was growing short, because he felt trapped.

  Jacko continued to ramble on about attacking the guards and saving the prisoners. Ignoring him, Delisar thought about what to do next. His mind was made up when the guards entered their street and began moving toward them.

  “Get ready, here they come,” Delisar stated and moved into the alleyway.

  Jacko placed his finger knives securely on his fingers, while Delisar notched an arrow. “We’ll wait for them to pass and then attack if we have to,” Delisar whispered.

  As soon as the guards neared their hiding place, they slowed almost to a stop and began studying the quarter for any signs of them.

  “What do you think?” Jacko whispered.

  “Hmm…Where does this alleyway lead to?”

  “A dead end.”

  Delisar began feeling the wall to his left until he found an indentation. “I’ll attack them from above,” he said and scaled the wall.

  Jacko peered out into the street and saw several Hurnol carrying pikes. They were less than ten yards away from his alleyway. Jacko moved halfway down the alley and squatted behind a few scattered crates. After he was situated, he turned his attention skyward and was relieved to see that Delisar had cleared the top of the building.

  Suddenly, two guards appeared at the entrance. They looked down the length and began walking toward him. A few seconds later, the rear guard let out a grunt and fell down. The other guard turned around and saw his companion with an arrow jutting out the top of his head. Jacko quietly moved after him. When he was close enough, he wrapped his left arm around the unsuspecting guard’s throat and jerked him backward. The guard struggled until he felt the cold steel of the finger knives sinking deeply into the back of his neck, then he stopped moving altogether.

  Shouts of guards dying erupted and Jacko could see guards scurrying for cover as they passed the alley. He moved toward the entrance and observed at least a dozen guards lying motionless on the ground, all of which had arrows sticking out of their necks and heads. Looking up, he saw Delisar’s bow firing rapidly, hitting its mark time and time again until two unarmed guards broke free and ran north. Jacko pursued them. When they ducked into another alleyway, he stopped and waved toward Delisar. He acknowledged Jacko’s signal, disappeared from his perch, and rejoined him seconds later.

  “They’re hiding in there,” Jacko said, pointing toward the opening. “They’re unarmed.”

  “Well, then, let’s go kill them.” Delisar sounded malicious as he unsheathed his sword and walked over, stopping at the opening. “What do we have here, a couple of substandard dogs hiding from us humans?” he shouted in the guard’s native tongue and continued to insult them. “You must be the runts of the litter, inferior in every aspect to us humans. You’re nothing more than half-breeds, garbage we throw away.” He continued until one of them finally emerged.

  “I will rip your heart out, human,” The guard hissed and lunged forward.

  Delisar easily sidestepped his grasp and sliced his side, causing the creature to fall to his knees, gripping his stomach.

  The other guard suddenly rushed out of the passageway, past Delisar and Jacko, and his fallen comrade. Jacko took out a dagger and threw it at him, striking his right leg and causing him to hobble long enough for Delisar to finish him off with an arrow. The other guard, holding his stomach so that his innards didn’t
spill, was crawling away until Delisar shot him with another well-placed arrow in his head.

  “We’d better hide the bodies,” Delisar stated.

  ****

  “They sure are ugly,” Mao said, staring at the head of the boar creature from where he sat around the fire. “Where do they hail from?”

  Konafar stretched. “They normally keep to the north, but I’ve seen them as close as the town of Tearon.”

  “Where?”

  “Tearon, you ever hear of it?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “Well, then, you should travel there sometime. It’s simply beautiful. The weather is mild all year round, and it rarely gets cold or hot, and the women,” Konafar paused, “ah, the women. They are fair-skinned and athletically built with accessories, the likes of which you’ve never seen. If you know what I mean.” He winked at them.

  Woo smiled, and Mao looked puzzled. Upon seeing his reaction, Konafar and Woo laughed together, embarrassing the man further. Konafar began riffling through his backpack until he found some dried beef, fruit, and two leather wineskins and took them out.

  “Do you want some?”

  His companions nodded and were handed some of the beef and a wineskin to share.

  Woo uncapped the container, took a long swig, and was pleasantly surprised. “Where did you get this?” he asked.

  “It’s from my brother’s vineyard. Do you like it?”

  “I’ve had wine before but never this good.” He took another mouthful.

  “He uses grapes only grown in the west.”

  “Give him my compliments.”

  Woo handed the skin over to Mao, who took a swig and was surprised by the sweet nectar as well. Their night came to an end when Woo and Mao passed out.

  After seeing them fall over, Konafar chuckled to himself and leaned comfortably against a very large oak, leaving his best friend Carnage across his lap. Eventually, he fell asleep.

  ****

  Jacko was the first to see the Inn of the Sleeping Giant as soon as they rounded the bend. Guards paced in front of the dark building, while many more walked around the Saloon of the Crippled Wyvern on the other side of the street. They quickly moved behind an empty building before anyone took notice.

  “What do you think?” Jacko asked.

  “I counted around thirty, so we’ll need a diversion. You wait here. I’ll distract them, while you go inside and search for your friend. We’ll meet back at the building where we entered the town. Make it quick because dawn approaches.”

  “Do you think it will work?”

  “I’ve done this enough. It will, but be careful.”

  Delisar reassured him and moved around along the back of the other buildings, while Jacko took cover and waited.

  It didn’t take Delisar long to take up position some twenty yards away. When he was ready, he unleashed a volley of arrows in a unique and odd pattern that shielded their true direction. The arrows rained down upon the unsuspecting guards. After the stream finished, five of the guards lost their lives. The other ones took cover while cautiously looking skyward, trying to determine where the arrows came from. Delisar moved closer and fired in rapid succession, killing five more. The guards scrambled for cover, but not before Delisar slew another three as they tried to enter the inn. During the confusion, one of the guards finally took command and barked orders for his comrades to go in the attacker’s direction, while three more ran behind a building in an obvious attempt to flank his position. A lone guard ran toward the south. The remaining guards kept their eyes pointed forward and never saw Jacko as he silently moved past them on his way toward the rear of the inn.

  When he reached the back door, he pressed his ear against it and listened. He didn’t hear anything and pulled on the handle, finding the door wouldn’t budge. Thinking it through, he realized that it might be barred from the outside, in order to prevent anyone from escaping, and went about searching along the doorframe. It didn’t take him long to locate two fasteners, one at the top and another at the bottom. After releasing the latches, he opened the door, entered the dark building, and closed the door behind him.

  At first, he didn’t hear anything, and then, from somewhere toward the front, he heard the muffled sounds of snoring. Jacko lit a small glow rock and looked around. He was in the inn’s storage room with stairs leading down on his left and a pair of double doors directly in front of him. Off to the right, stacked neatly in the corner, were sacks of flour, barley, and oats. Next to them were barrels of ale stacked on top of each other.

  A few minutes later, he caught a whiff of something foul permeating from below, then he heard the sounds of something moving. He thought the prisoners might be down there and headed for the staircase. The stairs creaked with each footfall, and the smell of death and decay filled his nostrils, causing him to gag and use his shirt sleeve to cover his mouth.

  After reaching the landing, he held the rock directly in front of his face, and what he saw shocked and repulsed him. Human men, both old and young, stripped down to their leggings, were shackled against the walls. As far as he could tell, they were all gutted from their gizzards to their sterns, and their organs were left dangling to the floor. Slick, wet blood smeared the walls and floor crimson. Jacko stared in horror as large rats nibbled on their flesh and ran away. Even though he assumed they were all dead, he couldn’t help but walk up and check them anyway. The first was an elderly man. His eyes were blackened, and his throat was torn away. The next was a boy, no older than ten. His eyes were missing. A middle-aged man, to his right, had his throat slit. One by one, he walked down the row, checking them until he came upon an unconscious teenage boy with blood all over his chest and neck. He lifted his head, and the boy stirred.

  “Please, don’t hurt me.” His pleas were weakly whispered.

  “I won’t. I’m here to save you,” Jacko answered and held the glow rock with one hand, while his other hand fiddled with his bonds.

  “Please hurry, they don’t know I’m alive.” His voice was slightly above a whisper.

  Jacko noticed a gaping wound on the side of his neck with blood flowing freely. He figured he wouldn’t live much longer, but couldn’t leave him hanging to die. Jacko placed the glow rock on the ground and began pulling on one of the chains until the rusty links separated. The boy’s arm fell to his side, then his knees buckled. Jacko left him dangling, while he pulled the other chain apart. The boy fell to the ground, exhausted. Jacko bent down to ask the boy what had happened to him and the town and found him unresponsive. He checked his pulse and didn’t find one.

  Disappointed he couldn’t save the boy, he left the creepy, dark cellar of death, hoping he could save someone, and entered the storage room again. After placing his finger knives on his fingers, and deactivating the glow rock, he pushed open the double doors and entered the large dining area.

  Silhouetted in darkness, he could make out several shapes lining the floor and a very big humanoid, standing upright and holding onto a pole-arm by the door. He quietly slinked across the room, poised and ready to strike just in case someone noticed him.

  When he was halfway across the room, he looked at the guard by the door and saw him gently swaying back and forth, indicating that he was either asleep or drunk. He couldn’t take any chances, so he moved closer to him and found out he was right. The guard was asleep standing up. Jacko, without regret, shoved the finger knives deep into his throat and the center of his chest. The creature’s eyes snapped opened for a few seconds, then lowered along with his slumping body to the ground. When the other sleeping guards didn’t stir, he slit their throats, dragged their dead bodies in front of the door, then moved upstairs.

  To his surprise, the hallway was void of guards. The doors lining the corridor were all shut. He was nervous, wondering what would happen if he ran into more guards sleeping in the rooms. Jacko pondered this for several minutes before shuffling his feet forward and stopping at the first door on his left. He turned the handle
and it was locked. He moved to the next door, and that was locked as well, but he could hear movement inside. Since the door was locked, he figured there weren’t guards inside and knocked lightly. Footsteps approached and stopped behind the door.

  “Who is it?” a female voice weakly called out.

  “My name is Jacko, and I’m here to help. The door is locked. Do you know who might have the key?”

  For several long seconds, the woman didn’t respond.

  “Lady,” Jacko continued, “the guards are all dead downstairs, and if you don’t help me, I’ll have to leave.”

  “The guard with the patch over his eye has it,” she said.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  “Please hurry,” she pleaded.

  ****

  Jacko moved rapidly down the stairs and found the guard she’d described. After searching through his pouch, he found a set of keys, ran back up the stairs, and opened the door.

  Taken by surprise, the woman tried to run past him, but he grabbed her by the gown, pulled her back into the bedroom, and threw her onto the bed.

  “Calm down, I’m here to…”

  The woman got up and tried to leave once more, but Jacko grabbed her by the arm and again told her to calm down. She eventually did when she couldn’t break his grip.

  “I have to get out of here. You don’t understand what they’re doing to us. Please.”

  “How many more women are here?”

  “I believe every room is filled.”

  “Once I release them, we’ll leave together. Stay put.” He turned around to leave, and she pushed her way past him.

  Jacko grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back into the room. The woman yelped, twisted around, and kicked him in the groin, dropping him to his knees. She banged on his arm until his grip was broken, then she tried running. Jacko grabbed her leg, pulled her down, and punched her in the face, knocking her out. He felt bad doing what he did, but knew that it was the only way. After picking her up and leaving her on the bed, he locked the door to the room and moved across the hall.