The Beginnings Omnibus: Beginnings 1, 2, 3 & Legend of Ashenclaw novella (Realm of Ashenclaw Beginnings Saga)

by Gary F. Vanucci

  Orngoth retrieved his own club from the floor and moved toward the bullheaded taur who launched the spiked ball and chain at his head. He brought his club up with a snarl and the spiked ball took a small piece of bark from the bough. Again, the taur swung his weapon and this time, it wrapped itself around the neck of the club. The taur and Orngoth stood unmoving as neither could wrest their weapon free from the other. Both combatants’ muscles quaked under the strain, but neither gave ground.

  Garius held The Repentant in one hand, its head dipped toward the pale-skinned female as his words reached their crescendo. He hurled a wave of divine energy toward the woman, who countered it with a spell of her own.

  “Warlock!” he claimed, hearing her speak the prayers to Hecate. “Your dark mistress shall not be your salvation today, as you so thought! Rather, she will give you false hope, casting death and deceit upon you until she is your undoing!”

  “Unlikely, priest,” Helene replied calmly, meeting his spell with a blast of eldritch origins. The two energies met and fizzled to nothingness.

  She quickly spoke a phrase and the tiny demon that sat upon her shoulder began to shift in size as the warlock’s own eyes rolled over white. The creature’s muscles grew, its wings spread and its teeth and fangs elongated.

  “I am no priest, demon-worshipper! I am the collective might of all priests from all divinities. And I wield their combined powers as an avatar to them all. I am the bane of all demons and the scourge of devils! I am an Inquisitor…and no demon shall pass before me without feeling the cleansing power of the Gods of Order!” roared Garius.

  He sent another wave of holy energy forth, pushing it out from his very core and the demon shrieked in pain. For several heartbeats, the demon could not be seen, hidden and bathed in the white, radiant light until it dissipated, leaving naught but the stunned warlock behind, a look of dread upon her pale features.

  “No!” she shrieked from behind crimson lips. “You shall pay for that with your misbegotten life!”

  She whispered something again and blackened bands of unholy energy shot forth from everywhere on her body at once, surrounding Garius and wrapping themselves around him.

  Before he could react, they were wrapped about him and his crimson armor was all but covered beneath the ebon bands. Over and again, she uttered prayers to her demon lady, as the bands tightened about him.

  He felt his breath escape his lungs and found that he was unable to replace it, as his chest could not expand beneath the might of the magical restraints.

  His vision began to dim.

  “We meet again, elf,” claimed the familiar half-orc. Elec quickly consumed two potions back to back and withdrew his superbly crafted, magically enchanted weapons. “Hopefully, you will be able to keep your mind focused on me this time so that I might remove your head from your shoulders in a fair fight.”

  A smile creased the half-orc’s face between his tusks as Elec felt the effects of the elixirs wash over him. He immediately made use of those effects, launching three attacks, one after the other, and with implausible speed.

  The half-orc deflected the first with his sword, the second with his axe head and during the third, Elec deftly slashed his cheek with the fine edge of Wyrm’s Fang, truly faster than the eye could follow. Blood began to seep from the cut and the half-orc’s tongue made its way to taste the lifeblood. He smiled.

  “Well struck, elf! I did not believe that you had it in you,” he said, repositioning the shield on his arm. “You are a truly worthy opponent then, despite the quivering in your hands and legs.”

  Elec lunged forward again, ignoring the comments, and managing to keep the half-orc on the defensive, scoring minor cut after minor slash. The half-orc scoffed at the superficial flesh wounds, smiling still, seeming to enjoy the contest.

  Then suddenly, he pressed the attack, countering Elec’s blows with invigorated counters of his own, putting Elec on the defensive. His smile broadened and finally he managed to catch Elec off balance, and buried his axe head into Elec’s right forearm, but the elf fought through the pain and retained his grip on Wyrm’s Fang.

  As he removed the axe from Elec’s flesh, his face suddenly conveyed a look of shock, for Elec’s elixirs had already gone to work, beginning to seal over the open wound. The bleeding slowed and eventually came to a stop all together.

  The sound of grunting pulled the attention of the half-orc, as he happened to turn his head to catch Rose in his sight, his gaze remaining on her for a curiously long time. Elec could not begin to guess why the half-orc dropped his guard, but for whatever reason, the gift was offered.

  “You should give your opponents more consideration,” Elec offered as he shoved the half-orc away and slashed a wide arcing left to right swing that bit into flesh beneath the leather jerkin and chain mail. The half-orc’s eyes narrowed as he refitted his armor and the two combatants circled each other once more, though the half-orc was certainly distracted by the redheaded rogue.

  Perhaps it will be his undoing, Elec thought as he dove at him again.

  Rose advanced, removing Avorna and Zaedra simultaneously from their scabbards upon her thighs. Before she could decipher where to help, she witnessed a blonde woman stride toward her assertively, twin rapiers in hand.

  “You picked the wrong snake hole,” said the woman in a deadly tone.

  “Did we?” Rose asked rhetorically, spinning the daggers around in her palms and then curling her fingers tightly about their hilts. “On the contrary… it seems we may have picked the right one after all.”

  Rose could not help but notice that the half-orc that was engaged with Elec turned a lingering eye upon her that unnerved her. The distraction almost cost her. The woman lunged with a feint to her belly and then followed that up deftly, trying to catch Rose ducking as she expertly thrust a killing strike aimed toward her heart. Rose recognized the feint for what it was and slid to the side, beginning a countering move of her own. She punched out with her left hand and grazed the woman on her cheekbone, aided magically by the speed within the daggers. Her right hand followed the trajectory as she thrust her blade to where the woman would have been if she had lazily moved her head left to right, but she had not. Instead, she had expertly moved her body at an angle that took her away from the strike, moving backward and to her left, thus missing what would have been a killing blow.

  Up came the rapiers once more, countered by Avorna and Zaedra. Over and over, attack and counter was matched blow for blow. Either by movement of body or by movement of blade, neither of them could gain the upper hand. Even Rose’s magically hastened attacks could not make up for her opponent’s prowess in melee.

  And so, the two continued a deadly dance of steel on steel, matching thrust for parry and strike for strike, neither of them giving ground or asking for quarter, pitting experience against speed.

  Rose felt the thrill of combat and the wager of her own life, the most exhilarating of all thrills. This was more adrenaline-charged than stealing had ever been, she realized, as she countered another well-timed combination and began to respond in kind.

  A smirk of confidence creased her face despite the mounting flesh wounds on her body.

  She was having the time of her life.

  Saeunn stood over the now prone taur, one axe lost to him and the other held above his bullhead in a defensive position. She brought her greatsword down, driving the axe handle from the taur’s hands, leaving him defenseless. She bled from a deep wound on her right shoulder, but ignored the pain, overcome by a bloodlust that was fueling her. She raised her sword once more and held it aloft, poised to deliver a deadly strike when she heard a commanding shout over the din of combat that reverberated within the mineshaft’s walls.

  “Enough!”

  The order was announced with such authority as to direct all within earshot to immediately stop what they were doing.

  Everyone turned to face the source of the voice all at once. It was a raven-haired dwarf with a patch covering
his right eye. He forcibly held a woman in tattered robes by her left arm, dragging her from a platform that arrived from somewhere below. He shoved her out before him, placing her between the combat and his own body.

  “be this what ye came for?” asked the dwarf with anger permeating his features as he tossed the woman unceremoniously to the stony surface.

  Saeunn was completely confused and her bloodlust began to wane slowly as she stood in silence, watching the scene unfold.

  Who is this dwarf? she thought, lowering her steel from on high and resting its tip against the surface of the cave. She looked around and witnessed Garius fall to the floor in a heap as the dark bands that held him faded to nothing.

  She glanced to Rose and her blonde opponent suddenly stand up straight and hold their weapons to their sides, facing the dwarf and putting distance between themselves.

  Orngoth and the taur he’d engaged were both holding onto their weapons, the taur’s spiked chain was wrapped around Orngoth’s club. Both of them relinquished their weapons and they fell to the stone in a tangled mess of timber and steel.

  And Elec and his half-orc opponent regained their footing and retrieved their weapons but only to stow them, waiting for the dwarf to speak again.

  No one moved.

  Garius shook the darkness from his consciousness and heard a shout.

  No, a command, he recognized. His restricted lungs, which until recently were deprived of air, were now suddenly drawing in breath. The warlock had almost sent him to see the pantheon of gods directly, but dismissed her spell upon hearing the command.

  The Inquisitor made it to his feet and removed his helmet, clipping it to a latch on his belt, but still held The Repentant tightly in hand. He observed that all of the fighting had stopped and witnessed a woman in ragged robes lying face down upon the floor. Her garb, despite their current nature, spoke of royalty.

  Curious, he thought. Who is—

  “Ye came fer the princess, did ye not?” asked the dwarf, interrupting Garius’s curiosity. Elec, Saeunn, Orngoth and Rose made their way to stand behind him as if to show a unified force to their attackers.

  Likewise, their opponents, all five of them, gathered around the exasperated dwarf.

  The woman who lay on the floor looked up with a pained expression upon her features. She made it to her knees and blood could be seen dripping from a fresh cut on her left elbow. Garius inhaled slowly as recognition flooded his senses and his eyes narrowed, leveling his gaze upon the dwarf.

  “Who are you dwarf, that you hold this woman of such noble standing captive such as this, stowed away like some common peasant?” Garius questioned with conviction laden upon his face.

  “I asked ye a question,” stated the dwarf, nodding toward the prone woman.

  “Aye,” Garius lied. Elec and Saeunn in particular looked curiously at him as he spoke. “We’re here for her…and for one more item of note.”

  The dwarf shook his head and held his hand out, waving it back and forth. “This be the only thing we got fer offerin’. If ye be thinkin’ we be some kind of barterin’ shop, then ye be sadly deceived!”

  “We are not here to buy or steal anything from you, dwarf—”

  “Xorgram be my name,” the dwarf interrupted.

  “Very well…Xorgram,” he echoed. “We are here to recover something that you have taken—Something that doesn’t belong to you—Something infused with great evil. It is an amulet with a gem—”

  “I be thinkin’ yer too late fer that, priest—”

  “Inquisitor,” Garius interjected stoically. He heard a giggle that most assuredly originated from Rose, who stood behind him.

  “Inquisitor, then,” Xorgram corrected as he shuffled his people further back and closer to the elevator platform behind him. The princess made it to her feet and staggered to Garius, stumbling as she arrived, but Elec managed to catch her and right her carefully. “Ye be too late,” the dwarf reiterated. “Now be gone with ye’!”

  “What are we too late for?” growled Garius with more than a hint of irritation in his tone. He moved forward a step, nearer to his enemies. He felt the very real sensation of another demonic presence nearby. He glanced slowly about the dark cavern, but saw nothing. He tensed, waiting for something to approach from the shadows.

  “I be sorry ta say, Inquisitor, but another group already made off with yer bauble,” Xorgram said, standing his ground again. “Now, afore things get outta’ hand, I be suggestin’ ye take the princess there and take her back ta her dear mum.”

  As he spoke the words of warning to Garius, another sinister demon appeared behind the princess. It was a tiny winged imp, with mottled, olive-green skin and black eyes that reflected the very gloom of Pandemonium. More importantly, it hovered beside the princess, its tail held poised to penetrate the soft flesh of her neck. Its tail was dripping with a liquid that could only be poison derived from the deepest depths of the netherworld.

  The princess stood stiffly, eyes wide with fear. Garius’s face quivered with anger.

  “I hate ta have ta do this to ye, but I need yer word that ye’ll be leavin’ here without so much as another word. I be givin’ ye the princess ta take home and we ain’t wantin’ another scrum,” Xorgram reasoned as he stood in front of the other highwaymen. “Just be gone from me village and promise ta never set foot here again, and she’ll live ta see the sun rise on the morrow….”

  It appeared absurd to Garius to see the two bullheaded taur, the two women and the half-orc all behind the dwarf obeying him—such a motley bunch—but comply they did.

  The pale-skinned warlock gave Garius a cruel, sardonic grin, knowing that she had bested him not only their previous contest, but she also held the upper hand at the moment. The imp was under her control.

  There was not much choice in the matter. He had to do what was asked of him now, or the princess would die. That was not an outcome that he could live with.

  “Very well, dwarf. I have no choice but to accept your demands and leave this village, never to return,” Garius mentioned to the sound of gasps from behind him. “Stay your demon and give your word that no harm shall befall my companions, and we will take our leave.”

  “Aye,” Xorgram agreed. “Yer word?”

  “Yes,” Garius responded. “But, I would very much like to know…who or what took our ‘bauble’, as you called it?”

  “That’s not part o’ our agreement, Inquisitor. Now take yer princess and go! Afore I make the imp inject that venom in yer lady’s neck.”

  Garius turned to regard the tiny demon, still poised to deliver the blow at a moment’s notice, a malevolent sneer planted on its misshapen face. The platform began to descend and then paused again suddenly.

  “I will tell ye this,” called the voice of Xorgram from the platform again, his head still barely visible. “They be led by a demon. I be sure that’d interest ye greatly, Inquisitor. I ain’t one fer messin’ with demons, ye understand, eh? And if ye be thinkin’ o’ breakin’ yer word, know that I got several more o’ me kin on their way back and…let’s just say ye’d have ta carve up a hunnerd of us. Them ain’t great odds, I’m thinkin’.”

  With that, the sound of the winch continued and the imp vanished from beside the princess’s exposed neck. She collapsed into the arms of Elec as Garius turned to regard the group. He nodded for them to exit.

  “You really mean to leave?!” Saeunn gasped through bloody lips. It looked to Garius as if the taur was possibly a match for her and he knew that she would want to finish it for no other reason than to find out for sure. Garius simply nodded to her.

  “I don’t—”

  “If we stay and defeat these foes, what good does it do us?” Garius barked, interrupting Saeunn as she pleaded her case. “Remember our purpose. It was to recover the artifact. We failed.”

  With that, the heavily armored Inquisitor made his way out of the mineshaft and into the village, under cover of moonlight and a starry night sky, leaving behind a st
unned group of companions. He turned to regard them and spoke once more before heading down the path to Heartwood Valley below.

  “We failed.”

  CHAPTER 23

  It was a full cycle of night to day and back again before the woman finally roused from her slumber

  “Glad to see you’ve finally awakened, my lady,” stated Elec to Princess Amara who lay upon his bunk at the rear of the caravan as it bounded along the path afforded by Heartwood Valley.

  He stared intensely into her deep brown eyes with contemplation. She was undeniably beautiful, regardless of the state of her disheveled blonde hair, which was matted and unkempt.

  “What month?” she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and pulling Elec from his musing.

  “We are in the middle of The Deluge, princess,” Elec mentioned. The summer months will soon be upon us.”

  Rose chuckled mockingly in response at hearing the label of ‘princess’ spoken aloud. Elec stared blankly at her as she looked from person to person in the caravan, looking for someone else who may have found it amusing. None did, especially the Inquisitor who wore a pensive expression. Rose rolled her eyes and ran an oiled rag along the length of her daggers, muttering to herself.

  “My mother will be pleased that I return unharmed,” Amara stated to the elf in appreciation.

  “It will be a joyous occasion for both your mother and the people of Norgeld to gaze upon you again, my lady,” Garius mentioned from not so far away, as he bowed his head respectfully.

  “I have had…dreams about you all,” she informed them, sliding to the edge of the cot and offering a polite nod in acknowledgment of his courtesy.

  “Dreams?” Elec asked, not understanding what she was implying.