Scales of the Serpent

by Richard A. Knaak

  Surrender them…so that they would be taken to her and converted to her evil crusade. The myriad layers of her plot continued to peel away. Uldyssian had no doubt that the demoness would also continue the slaughter until he finally acquiesced.

  For a moment, he considered her demands. So many lives would be saved. There would be no more blood—

  But only for the moment.

  He had only one answer for her. “Better that we all die, Lilith, than kneel to you even once.”

  And with that, he thrust out his hand, aiming for the eye most dominating this side of the Thonos.

  What began as a stream of light shot through Lilith’s smiling countenance, which vanished in its wake. Before the light reached the monstrous demon, it transformed, solidifying into a gleaming lance.

  The point buried itself in the pupil. A yellow pus burst from the eye and the Thonos roared anew.

  Scores of tentacles sought for Uldyssian, who had to fight with all his wit and agility to avoid them. Some were so heavy that if they had reached the son of Diomedes they would have surely crushed him; others were so fine that he suspected the Thonos of using them like whips or nooses. Either way, Uldyssian dared not let any get through to him.

  If there was any consolation in his desperate situation, it was that the beast was now obsessed only with him. It utterly ignored the edyrem, a fortunate thing in that they were already struggling merely to survive. The morlu had begun cutting a bloody swathe through the left flank, their laughter chilling even Uldyssian’s heart.

  He knew that he could have helped turn or at least stem the tide, but only if the Thonos was defeated. Yet that in itself would take far too long…if it was even possible. The loss of its eye had more angered the demon than it had injured it. It was just as likely, perhaps even more so, that Uldyssian would soon perish.

  But he continued to dodge and deflect the tentacles, amazed for each second that he managed to avoid them. The Thonos roared over and over, its tone almost suggesting that it was becoming annoyed at this gnat’s persistence.

  Then, without warning, he was grabbed at the ankle. Uldyssian toppled. A smaller tentacle had risen out of the ground, rising up like a serpent from its nest to encircle his lower leg. Uldyssian had underestimated the monster’s intelligence, perhaps fatally.

  He moved to slice at the appendage, but another tentacle caught his wrist while a third tore the sword away. A fourth pummeled his chest, forcing the air from his lungs…

  Uldyssian nearly blacked out. A part of him wondered if that might be for the best; what was left but for him to witness the destruction of the edyrem and his own grisly demise?

  Yet, he struggled, albeit feebly. Uldyssian could not regain his breath and, thus, enough wit to use his powers. He felt the Thonos drag him toward it. Through blurry eyes, Uldyssian finally caught sight of the mouth, a menacing beaklike projection underneath the demon’s body. A thick tongue dripping with saliva thrust out of the mouth, seeking him.

  Stirred by the sight, Uldyssian managed to send a bolt of pure force at the mouth. It struck the tongue, searing it.

  Letting loose an ear-pounding sound, the demon pulled back its tongue, then shut its mouth. The tentacles holding Uldyssian tightened painfully. If it could not eat the human, the Thonos evidently would be satisfied with crushing him.

  Then, Uldyssian sensed a figure near him. His mind flashed back to the jungle, when Mendeln had come to his rescue against the ancient demonic presence. He had wondered where his brother was in all this; should not the fate of the edyrem have been integral to Rathma and the dragon? Would not Mendeln himself have sought to come to his sibling, just as Uldyssian would have come to him?

  Something happened, but what it was, a weary Uldyssian could not say immediately. He only knew that the tentacles abandoned him. Air filled his lungs. The Thonos bellowed angrily—

  “Mendeln…” Uldyssian managed, shaking his head to clear both it and his vision. “Mendeln, I knew you’d—”

  It was not Mendeln.

  Achilios stood next to him, firing one arrow in rapid succession after another. Those bolts, those seemingly insignificant bolts, struck true against each of the visible orbs of the demon.

  But more to the point, after they hit…they dissolved in an explosion of energies far more deadly than the point of an arrow.

  Six eyes were ruined and blue lightning crackled from each. The Thonos shivered and many of its limbs flailed about without reason. Achilios, standing like some dread guardian, pulled arrow after arrow out of his quiver…and never seemed in danger of running out.

  Recovering from his shock, Uldyssian called out, “Achilios! What—”

  Without missing a shot, the archer turned his gaze to his old friend.

  Achilios’s eyes blazed white. Expressionless, he said, “Go, Uldyssian. You are needed.”

  With that, the blond figure returned to firing. For the first time, the Thonos showed some hesitation. Several tentacles wiped at the eyes already targeted. Others began churning up the ground.

  Uldyssian, still uncertain as to whether to leave Achilios alone against this behemoth, recognized immediately what the Thonos was doing.

  “It’s going to burrow!” he shouted to the hunter. “It’s going to attack from underneath!”

  To this, Achilios remarked in the same monotone voice as before, “No. It will not. Go now, Uldyssian.”

  This time, Uldyssian listened. He did not understand this latest face of his childhood friend, but what mattered was that Achilios did appear to be holding the Thonos at bay. At the very least, Uldyssian hoped to salvage the edyrem and then return to help the archer.

  If all of that was yet possible…

  The struggle with the morlu had turned very desperate. The one beacon of hope centered around Saron. The Torajian, looking almost as fierce as the helmed warriors, wielded a long, slim sword and at first appeared to be simply using skill against his insidious adversaries. However, each time the sword hit, a flash of blue accompanied the slice. In this particular case, the result was the toppling of a morlu’s head the next moment.

  But other than those surrounding Saron, the edyrem were in retreat. The morlu and surviving Peace Warders trod over the bodies of the dead, eager for more victims.

  Pausing to catch his breath again, Uldyssian glared at the encroaching villains. He spied a morlu about to slay a Torajian and fury took over.

  The morlu let out a hiss as the blade in its hand melted. That hiss turned to a howl as the creature’s gauntleted hand followed. Uldyssian did not stop until he had reduced the morlu to a bubbling mass, an act that took him all of three breaths.

  The edyrem realized that he was with them again. Their confidence visibly rose. Under Uldyssian’s guidance, the line began to strengthen, even push back in some places the servants of the temple.

  Then, a Parthan whom Uldyssian had thought slain rose up again, ax in hand. Next to the man, a Torajian also stood. Uldyssian cheered at this sight…until a Peace Warder whose throat was a bloody tangle of sliced flesh and sinew joined them.

  All three turned to face the defenders…and all three began attacking.

  All three were dead…

  Serenthia’s anxious voice filled his head. Uldyssian! The slain! Theirs and ours! They’re rising! All of them! They’re rising!

  They were indeed. Everywhere that he looked, Uldyssian saw that those who had been killed were now standing. Some of them lacked limbs, even heads. Whether edyrem, Peace Warders, priests, or morlu, those still intact enough were now back on their feet.

  And all now marched with the rest of Lilith’s servants against Uldyssian and his followers.

  Twenty-One

  He could hear her laughter again. Lilith’s triumphant laughter. Each time, she stole hope away from him.

  But if she thought that this would finally break him, finally make Uldyssian surrender the souls of the edyrem to her, than the demoness was sorely mistaken.

  The corpses sha
mbling toward his people were no more than shells. The spirits of the men and women they had once been had moved on. That was made even more evident by the fact that none of the resurrected edyrem used their powers. All kept to the weapons at hand. When Uldyssian probed one of the figures, he sensed nothing living.

  That settled it for him. Feeling no regret for what he had to do, Uldyssian waved his hand toward the first several walking dead. They immediately collapsed. However, before he could sigh in relief, the bodies stumbled to their feet again, weapons once more ready to add the living to their ranks.

  As powerful as he was, Uldyssian could not play this endless game against Lilith and the priests. He would have to destroy her creatures en mass, but that risked him injuring or even slaying his followers in the process.

  But there was no other choice. Each moment that he hesitated, more of those who had put their lives in his hands fell victim…and then rose to add others.

  He had only one hope, but it risked everything.

  Then again, the battle was already beyond concerning himself about that.

  Pull back…he commanded the edyrem in front of him. Quickly! Those that can, create a shield! Separate us from them, if only for a few feet!

  They obeyed without question, which made him cringe inside. In their minds, Uldyssian had come to save them again. However, he could no longer promise that would be the case.

  His heart beat as he waited for them to do as he said. Yet, although in some places they managed to succeed, in others it proved impossible to disengage with the morlu and the Peace Warders. Uldyssian could wait no longer. He prayed that he could control his powers enough to keep from adding too many of his companions to the casualties. Worse, he did not even know if what he planned would accomplish anything accept delay defeat.

  He focused on the mass of bodies—

  The resurrected dead suddenly began falling. Not merely those of the dead edyrem and Peace Warders, but also the slain morlu. They simply collapsed as if a gust of wind had blown all of them over.

  But this miracle was not due to Uldyssian. Startled, he looked around for the source, but could not find it.

  Then, it occurred to him not to waste this moment.

  Strike! he ordered the others. Strike before they recover!

  To their credit, the edyrem reorganized immediately. Saron and the other commanders led them forward. The surviving Peace Warders and morlu readied themselves for what was surely the last confrontation. They had every confidence in their might despite this abrupt turnaround.

  But then a voice called out in a language that Uldyssian did not understand. He did recognize that voice though, and his heart leapt at its sound.

  A figure in black, one hand holding high a gleaming white dagger, shouted again in the direction of the attackers. Mendeln, his pale face drawn and his voice strained, repeated the same words over and over.

  And as Uldyssian watched, in the front line one morlu after another let out hisses of dismay…and fell as dead as the once animated bodies.

  The Peace Warders and priests faltered, stunned as their most potent weapon proved vulnerable. Those morlu behind also slowed, for the first time their movements showing uncertainty and even, perhaps, a little anxiousness.

  Uldyssian glanced around quickly and saw that nearly everywhere the foremost morlu had collapsed. He immediately urged the edyrem to press the fight harder and they answered his call. Peace Warders and morlu who dared to push forward found their advance blocked by the invisible barriers. Balls of energy flew at the ranks of the Triune, downing more than one foe. Uldyssian directed the efforts of his best converts against the priests, harrying the robed figures to such a point that some started to retreat.

  But those who did were not allowed to get very far. One screamed as thorns burst out over all parts of his body. He toppled into one of his fellows, who pulled back with blood from two puncture wounds staining the side of his garments.

  It had been through no effort of the edyrem that this had happened. Uldyssian sensed Lilith’s anger, as, of course, did the priests. Out of fear of their supposed Primus, they returned to the struggle.

  Uldyssian rewarded their decision with a net of vines that dropped down and roped the necks and limbs of three. Using the Thonos for his inspiration, he had the vines tightened until they strangled his adversaries.

  As if thought of it had somehow caught the demon’s attention, the Thonos let out a roar so loud that Uldyssian knew that it had to be right behind him. He barely scattered out of the way as the behemoth staggered past. Many of its tentacles hung limp and there were burning sores where most of the eyes had been. Arrows pincushioned the beast, each having struck a vital part.

  Of Achilios, there was no sign, but Uldyssian could not concern himself with the archer, for the Thonos, each step more ragged than the previous, began listing dangerously. Uldyssian calculated its path and quickly warned those in the way.

  Move! Move now! he repeated over and over until the last edyrem had managed to leap aside.

  The Thonos unleashed a last, drawn-out roar…and tumbled over. Uldyssian did what he could to adjust the giant demon’s descent.

  Their ranks tight, the Triune’s minions could not clear out of the way. Some did manage to flee, but most were caught under the falling behemoth. Hardened Peace Warders cried out in panic, then were crushed beneath the massive body. Other warriors escaped the corpse, but were batted aside by the many flailing limbs that followed. Even the morlu did not escape, several of them tossed like leaves.

  With gusto, the edyrem charged back into the area. Only the morlu there still had any fight left in them, but their numbers kept dwindling as Mendeln shouted out the mysterious words at the top of his voice.

  Then, a familiar buzzing sound filled the air. Uldyssian let out a gasp and reached out, but his reaction was too slow. The deadly Peace Warder weapon flew at his brother, its thrower expertly aiming for Mendeln’s chest.

  At the last moment, Mendeln twisted, his free arm blocking the way. Unfortunately, flesh and bone were not enough armor against such a sinister weapon. The spinning blades cut through his arm midway between the shoulder and the elbow. Mendeln’s arm literally dropped off.

  The blades cut through his garments and left a shallow cut along his side, but that was finally the end of it. It said something for Mendeln’s stamina that he still stood even as blood poured from the ruined arm. Uldyssian’s brother gazed down at the lost limb, then touched what was left near his shoulder.

  The bleeding halted just as Uldyssian joined him. “Let me help you with that!”

  “There is no time!” Mendeln argued. His pale face had grown even more so, but otherwise he seemed himself. The massive wound looked half-healed already. “We must press! We must end this here!”

  But it’ll not end here! Uldyssian realized. It’ll go on as long as Lilith continues to haunt us!

  Nevertheless, he let Mendeln have his way. Once again holding high the unsettling blade, Uldyssian’s younger sibling renewed his chant. More and more morlu toppled over, the demonic strings guiding them severed forever.

  Uldyssian turned to seek Achilios, but still his friend was nowhere to be found. There was Serenthia, however. She utilized her spear and her powers as if born to them. Each time a Peace Warder or some other adversary perished at the point of the weapon, another fell to a fire ball, a storm of dust, or some other conjuration.

  Serenthia! he called. Where is Timeon? Like Achilios, there was no trace of him.

  Dead! A morlu caught his eyes turned elsewhere and his powers defending another!

  The Parthans were growing fewer and fewer and even though this night had witnessed both his brother and his childhood comrade return to his side, the loss of Timeon only emphasized again how Uldyssian’s past was being eaten away. It did not help that he saw Jonas—once scarred Jonas—commanding others in the name of his only blood relation.

  Damn you, Lilith! he silently swore. No, this would never end!
If she could not use the Triune, the demoness would slip away to find some other method by which to seize the edyrem…seize all of Humanity for her own.

  He could not let her. He could not let her continue. Uldyssian imagined her before him, imagined her in his grip—

  And so she was.

  The daughter of Mephisto stood right in front of Uldyssian, her expression as wide-eyed and wondering as his. She wore no guise, appearing before him as the reptilian temptress he had last seen. Uldyssian did indeed hold her as he imagined, hands clamped painfully tight around her upper arms. Their faces were less than a foot apart.

  Unfortunately, it was Lilith who recovered first. Her gaping mouth transformed into the familiar, beguiling smile with which as Lylia she had first captured his heart.

  “Why, Uldyssian, my love! If you wanted me in your arms again, you should’ve just told me.”

  Something snared him around the throat, constricting like a serpent. Too late he recognized it as her tail.

  “We should go to somewhere more private, don’t you think?”

  They vanished from the battle.

  Serenthia felt Uldyssian’s surprise and his subsequent dismay, but the struggle against the Triune prevented her from coming to his aid. She sensed Lilith’s awful presence and almost screamed in horror when both he and the demoness disappeared.

  But even then there was nothing that the merchant’s daughter could do, nothing but continue to fight and kill Peace Warders, priests, and morlu, each of whom seemed immediately replaced by two more. That Mendeln had returned and had stripped many of the morlu of their parody of life had helped stave off the onslaught, but that was all. The servants of the temple were better trained for this chaos; Uldyssian’s followers were still, for the most part, farmers, merchants, and the like.

  Yet they fought with far greater determination and skill than even she could have imagined…but would it be enough?

  Two morlu converged on her. However, before Serenthia could deal with them, a succession of arrows caught the pair in both their eyes and their throats. Each strike was accompanied by a flash of energy.