The Sorcerer's Abyss (The Sorcerer's Path)

by Brock Deskins

  Scores of Fourth Circle demons flew toward the newcomers in an attempt to intercept them. The opposing forces clashed, clawing, slashing, and biting. Most creatures broke apart and circled in an attempt to gain the advantage of height while several stayed locked in combat until they struck the ground where most continued battling until they were lost in the general bedlam.

  Drak’kar looked up and smiled just as Azerick burst through the aerial battle lines. That smile vanished when Azerick struck him with an orb of black energy wreathed in silver flames. The awesome power of the dual energies threw Drak’kar a hundred feet and left a large ring of open ground where he and a few dozen demons once fought. The oasis vanished almost instantly as the battling hordes rushed in to fill the void like rushing water.

  Azerick leveled his flight with a flick of his powerful wings and sped toward the downed demon lord, readying a second powerful spell as he raced over the heads of the tens of thousands of thronged demons. Azerick hurled another orb of arcane destruction at Drak’kar before the demon lord was able to halt his uncontrolled tumble.

  Drak’kar rolled away impossibly fast an instant before Azerick’s follow-up spell struck and cratered the ground. Azerick beat his wings and hovered just beyond the billowing cloud of red dust, trying to pierce the obscuring veil with his eyes. A swift-moving silhouette was the only warning Azerick got before Drak’kar burst from the cloud dozens of feet in the air, the feat accomplished by an amazing thrust of his powerful legs. Azerick was too slow to avoid the demon, and the pair plummeted to the ground with Drak’kar locking onto Azerick with his four incredibly strong arms.

  The falling demon lords crushed several unlucky creatures when the pair struck the ground and immediately began exchanging bone-jarring blows. A large, clear expanse of ground quickly opened up as the lesser demons moved away from the two titanic princes without ever breaking away from their individual battles.

  Azerick landed a heavy blow to Drak’kar’s broad jaw and tried to follow it up with a second strike, but the demon lord caught his swinging fist in one of his hands and delivered a staggering blow to Azerick’s head. Azerick swung his left arm with all his considerable might, but Drak’kar trapped it as well and began raining a fusillade of punishing blows into Azerick’s body with his two lower arms.

  A swift head butt staggered Azerick who then felt himself flying backward when Drak’kar leapt up and kicked him in the chest with both legs. Azerick quickly regained his feet and struck out with his magic, knocking his foe back several staggering steps but failing to do any real harm. He launched himself into the air since he found himself at a severe disadvantage in a ground battle. He wished he had spent more time studying barehanded brawling techniques with Ewen and Alex instead of focusing just on his staff work. It was obvious Drak’kar’s fighting skills outclassed his own.

  Safely out of Drak’kar’s reach, or so he hoped, Azerick launched a massive fireball at his opponent, but Drak’kar was not without his own magic. The lord of the Fourth Circle crossed his arms in front of his face and body and let the inferno wash over him. Drak’kar then grabbed several large stones from ground, imbued them with an aura of fire, and hurled them at Azerick who was hovering a hundred feet in the air. The small meteors flashed by far faster than even Drak’kar’s muscles could possibly hurl them on their own.

  The flaming missiles streaked past as Azerick swooped and dodged. Several came near enough to burn his flesh, and one managed to punch a hole in the leathery, lower portion of his right wing. Azerick raked lightning across the battlefield, slaying dozens of lesser demons, but the powerful stroke elicited little more than a grimace of pain from Drak’kar.

  Azerick was so focused on his battle with Drak’kar and evading those hellish stones, he completely disregarded the larger battle. He realized his fatal error when at least half a dozen succubi and grackin broke free from their aerial fights and struck him from behind. Claws and knives slashed at the vulnerable membrane of his wings, quickly making them useless. Azerick rolled and tried to put some of the attacking demons beneath him to cushion his impact with the ground. The cracking of bone not belonging to him gave evidence to at least a moderately successful maneuver.

  Azerick unleashed a burst of arcane power that exploded outward from his body and sent demons and parts of demons flying in every direction. He turned to face Drak’kar only to find the demon lord barreling at him like an ape, using his four arms to help propel his body at a fantastic speed. In less than a second, Drak’kar struck his rival with the force of a rockslide.

  Azerick looked up at the bland sky and tried to focus his wavering vision on the swooping, wheeling aerial acrobatics taking place overhead. He knew he needed to regain his feet, but his muscles were slow to respond. He had just gotten his feet beneath him when Drak’kar grabbed him by one leg and began smashing him against the ground as if he were a broom being used to swat mice.

  You are too weak! I told you this, Klaraxis raged, true fear evident in his thoughts. You must escape and recover or we will both surely die!

  Azerick was beyond attempting to respond as he gathered his will and the last of his flagging strength. At the apex of Drak’kar’s next swing, Azerick crunched himself into a sit-up and grabbed one of the powerful arms being used to bash him against the ground with both hands. He braced himself for the next punishing impact with the ground. Azerick struck the ground once more, but not nearly as hard as the previous assaults thanks to a better position. He then sent a tremendously powerful jolt coursing through Drak’kar’s body.

  Drak’kar released his hold on Azerick and let out a bestial howl of true pain. Azerick kicked the injured demon lord in the leg from where he lay on the ground and managed to topple him. He then sent a mental order to his minions and several hundred demons broke away from the battle and leapt upon Drak’kar.

  The Fourth Circle prince ripped the limbs from the attacking horde, smashed them with his fists, and destroyed them with magic by the scores, but still the demons piled onto him, heedless of their own survival. Azerick knew his lesser creatures could do little more than slow the powerful demon lord, but that was all he needed them to do.

  Azerick conjured a gate and stumbled through to deposit himself nearly a mile from his previous position. Even this tremendously long step barely got him past the farthest lines of battle. A multitude of enemies spotted him and leapt to finish him off, but a second gate took him safely out of reach. A third portal took him to the edge of the Shattered Lands. Lacking the strength to summon another gate, Azerick picked the nearest great crevasse and ran shakily for its concealing depths.

  He looked up from the shadowy canyon and spotted several flying demons furtively seeking for him and certainly relaying anything they saw to Drak’kar. The deep gullies possessed several overhanging slabs of rock affording Azerick some concealment, but there were also many open stretches leaving him exposed. Several times, an aerial scout spotted him and swooped nearer, but the demon never attempted to engage him. Even in his brutally battered condition, a lone demon, or even several, was no match for the power he could still bring to bear.

  Azerick knew he was not safe, however. Those grackin and succubi were certainly informing their master of his moves, and Drak’kar would not be far behind. He stuck to the shadows as best he could and even created some using his demonic power, but the keen eyesight of the demons searching for him could pierce such veils if they were alert enough.

  The area of the Shattered Lands was vast and the crevasses and canyons constantly branched off like a colossal, dried up lakebed. Dead ends constantly forced Azerick to double back and take another route, each time putting him closer to discovery and the questing arms of Drak’kar who desperately wanted to tear him apart.

  “Where are you, Klaraxis?” The booming question echoed off the walls of the canyons. “You are weak! You allowed a pathetic human to subvert you. Yes, I know of your affliction. Let me end what must be a humiliating torture for you.”

&
nbsp; Azerick pressed his back against the unyielding stone behind him as he drew in several deep breaths. He poked his head out from under the ledge he was hiding beneath and saw three demons flying overhead looking for him. Several avenues afforded him a way out from his hiding spot, but any one of them could take him right to Drak’kar. The way the canyons reflected sound made it impossible to tell from which direction the voice came.

  “Come out and fight me some more,” Drak’kar taunted. “You are strong for a human out of your element, and our battle amuses me. Fight well, and I will reward you with a quick death.”

  Azerick could tell Drak’kar was getting closer, but how close and from what direction he could not ascertain. He could feel his home, his bastion of power, far in the distance. It lay in the opposite direction of the battle and was his best chance at defense. He chose a chasm appearing to go in that direction and bolted. Azerick glanced up and saw the flyers overhead immediately change the pattern of their flight. He knew they had spotted him.

  “Run, little human, I enjoy the hunt! Know that your efforts are futile. There are few ways out of the Shattered Lands and no way for you to escape your fate!”

  Azerick gave up on trying to avoid the watchful eyes of the scouts and focused on putting distance between him and his hunter. Drak’kar’s laughter echoed off the walls as his minions kept him informed of his prey’s location. Azerick ran for all he was worth, but even had he not suffered a brutal beating at Drak’kar’s many hands, he knew he could not possibly outrun the demon on the ground. The thought made him glance remorsefully at his shredded wings.

  The taunting voice chased Azerick through the maze of stony fissures as he ran a zigzag slalom through the towering, confining walls. He skidded to a stop in the red sand carpeting the canyon floor. The passage came to another dead end a few yards away. Azerick made a quick search for another way out, but there was none. As he prepared to run the quarter mile or so back to the last place the chasm branched, a large shape blotted out the light just before it bore him to the ground.

  Drak’kar lifted Azerick’s huge body with one hand wrapped around his neck and pummeled Azerick several times before hurling him against the wall of rock. Azerick’s vision swam as he tried to focus on Drak’kar’s grinning face. With no escape in sight and his strength insufficient to defeat the demon lord, Azerick tried to prepare his mind for the true death that had been shadowing him for most of his life.

  “It was a fun chase,” Drak’kar said, “but not enjoyable enough for me to grant you the quick death I promised. I am afraid it is going to take quite some time. Were you still the Klaraxis I knew and almost respected, I probably would not risk keeping you around, no matter how much joy I would lose by choosing not to use you as my plaything. But in your present form, I now see I have nothing to fear.”

  “Master, there is a way out behind you,” a voice whispered behind Azerick. “You must change shape, or you will not fit. Change, quickly, and come around the left side of the boulder.”

  Azerick did not acknowledge the voice. He did not even shift his eyes, instead keeping them trained on Drak’kar as he gloated over his victory. Azerick used Klaraxis’ shape-shifting ability to resume his human form. Before he even completed the change, he rolled swiftly to his left and found there was indeed a narrow crevice behind the boulder he was fetched up against. Azerick wriggled into the cleft and strong arms reached out, grabbed him by the wrists, and pulled him in.

  He heard Drak’kar roar with rage and felt his powerful body crash against the boulder. Loud cracking sounds filled the air as Drak’kar continued to scream his outrage and tore at the rock with his hands, ripping off huge chunks of stone and hurling them behind him. Azerick kicked with his legs as the creature ahead of him pulled him in deeper. What started as a simple crack in the cliff face eventually became a cave large enough for him to stand.

  Even in his human guise, Azerick still possessed his demonic inheritance and was able to see in the darkness with great clarity. The creature was a balrog and looked much like a frog the size of a large man with arms only slightly smaller than its powerful hind legs. Azerick caught his breath, turned, and used his magic to collapse the entire passage through which he had come. He was unsure if Drak’kar could also change shape, but he was going to take no chances.

  “Who are you? What is this place?” Azerick asked.

  “I am Fu’Marb,” the demon explained. “This is a secret way, a way through the Shattered Lands. My home is not far, and I know the secret ways intimately. I serve My Prince well, yes?”

  “You do, Fu’Marb, but why are you not in the battle. How did you find me?”

  The balrog licked his lips nervously with his enormous tongue. “I was in the battle, near the back. I saw My Prince, um, choose to leave the battle to his faithful minions. I saw many flyers and the horrible Drak’kar following you. I thought maybe I could be more help to my master here than fighting the unworthy. I did right, Master?”

  “You did, Fu’Marb. Is there a way out, preferably nearer the citadel?” Azerick asked.

  The balrog bobbed his entire body up and down. “Yes, Master! Through that passage, we can walk the entire length of the Shattered Lands.”

  “That is very good. Lead the way, Fu’Marb.”

  The balrog bobbed up and down twice before hurriedly leading the way down the tunnel. Fu’Marb often looked back to ensure his prince was following and did not fall far behind. Azerick let the demon precede him down the passage and never saw the sinister grin stretching across the creature’s broad face or the blue glimmer occasionally emanating from his eyes.

  The Rook had not lied, not entirely. The balrog had indeed lived nearby, but he never joined the battle. The assassin found the coward hiding amongst the rocks after he followed Azerick as he fled the battle. He then decided to abandon his flying form and use the balrog as his host. Instead of simply driving out Fu’Marb’s soul, he consumed it, memories and all. He needed the balrog’s knowledge of these twisting canyons and dark tunnels. When the time was right, he would plunge his ethereal blade into the sorcerer’s back and finally complete his contract.

  CHAPTER 10

  Ellyssa closed the Codex Arcana. Her hands trembled and her stomach fluttered, so she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She had spent the past fortnight studying this spell, and she was as ready as her patience allowed. She stepped to the edge of the natural pool formed from the small stream of water running through a crack in the wall. The young mage began the complex incantation and weaving of mystical energy.

  The weave was extremely complex and took all of her concentration. Ellyssa had practiced drawing it on paper and mimicked the somatic motions hundreds of times in the previous two weeks until she could repeat it flawlessly. Still, her nerves warred with her concentration, trying their best to make her misstep and fail, or worse, create a destructive weave that could rage out of control and destroy her.

  Ellyssa pulled at the Source, demanding it fuel her spell, and it answered her call. Her skin felt on fire as she channeled more and more power into her body and used it to energize her magical weave. She trembled from the pain and effort of channeling so much power, but her focus remained resolute and she neared the spell’s completion.

  Pulling out the blade once belonging to Captain Jake, Ellyssa slashed her hand then tossed the knife into the pool of water. Still holding onto the weave of her spell, she knelt beside the pool, thrust her bleeding hand into the water, and then plunged her head beneath the surface, screaming out the final word of her incantation.

  ***

  Captain Jake stood near the open cargo hatch of his ship supervising the distribution of pirated cargo between his flagship and the other frigate with which he collaborated. They were both anchored far out at sea and had recently plundered a large cargo ship of her goods. His haul was in a bit of disarray as the cargo ship had been taking on water fast and did not offer them the option of an orderly transfer.

  The battle
had been a bloody affair. The cargo hauler possessed a large crew, half of which were mercenaries for the explicit purpose of battling pirates. The King’s new navy patrolled shipping lanes nearer land, so most pirates like him stuck to the deeper waters far from shore. Fortunately for him and his fellow pirates, there were still those merchants foolish or brave enough, or thought they could hire enough muscle for protection, to risk the longer routes to acquire the rare luxury goods from Lazuul and other exotic places.