The Emperor's Shadow War (Tales of Alus Book 2)

by Donald Wigboldy

  He looked at Lane who half supported Calla where they walked towards the others standing where Dante had left them earlier. "What do you think I mean? Aside from you and me, no one looks like they can withstand another fight. We don't know how many more the enemy still have in here. It's time that we pulled everyone back to a safer position and wait this out.

  "The elf wizards are still hidden outside. Maybe they can get us back to safety without Janus. If they can't, we're going to be dead soon enough when that army sees what we've done."

  "But what about the Dark One?"

  "If Janus and Darius didn't make it, then it won't matter," he replied grimly.

  "You still need to go see if you can help them," Matalchus stated gruffly. "You were part of the prophecy as well as those who went inside. I think that you need to go fight the Dark One before they'll be able to defeat him."

  Dante's brow furrowed in confusion, "But if I leave you, you all might be attacked again. I don't think you people can handle another such attack."

  The wizard sighed, "It's not about us, lieutenant. You need to go attend to your destiny. If the seers chose you, then that is what you need to do."

  Dante turned to Valenia, "Are you coming?"

  The woman looked at those around them. Bending down, she picked up a sword from one of the dead. Valenia passed him the Spear of Aleile and said quietly, "You go. Matalchus is right. You need to go, but you are also right that they can hardly fight again, so I'll need to stay with them and get them out of here safely."

  She pulled him closer and kissed him lightly on the lips. "You be careful, please."

  Tears slid down her cheeks as she pulled away from him. He nodded and answered, "You stay safe as well, Valenia."

  With a last look at those who had come with him, Dante turned and ran out through a doorway to find a hall. He could see that it ran behind the wall. Each open doorway allowed light to filter inside though the great hall was hardly much brighter. Taking a deep breath, the soldier started to jog down the hall. He ran towards his destiny.

  Chapter 54

  The darkness seemed to reach out for Darius like the black smoke of burning oil. The torches and the fiery pit seemed to fade into the darkness as a voice rumbled throughout the chamber and into the wizard. Feeling the tremors of its sound, Darius found himself caught in the power of their sound. He did not know the exact words, but he felt the call just the same.

  "Darius!"

  His name struck him like a slap to the face, but he only turned to numbly note Janus shouting at him. Electra and Bagheer stood still in the hallway outside of the doors. The wizard wondered if they could move any more than he.

  "Darius, snap out of it! If you give in, the Dark One wins!" The elf knight struck him hard across the cheek. The pain was felt as if it was done to someone else, but it was enough.

  Darius blinked and said through slurred lips, "What is that thing?"

  Gannon moved to his side and spoke into his ear, "Come, wizard, this is why you have come. Do not fall to his enchantments so soon. This battle has just begun."

  He felt a rumble of laughter. The chamber echoed with its force. Darius could still barely see the flames of the pit. The torches were faint specks, like stars on a cloudy night.

  He dimly wondered what kept the two red balls of flame aloft in the darkness.

  "Battle?" the rumbling voice echoed. "There is no need to fight. Just come to me and you will see that all will be well. Come. Come to me."

  Darius felt the need to move towards the darkness, but resisted. He felt a brush from either side as Electra and Bagheer bumped into him. Feeling alarmed quickly as he realized the jeopardy the two were in, the wizard turned with abrupt swiftness to see Electra's blank stare. "No!" he exclaimed having to think of how to save them. He snapped the fingers of both his hands and flames of blue light engulfed them. Darius held the fire to each of his friends and the flame spread to cover their faces and heads.

  Electra shook her head as if a fog was lifting and he noted Bagheer acting similarly as the flames died away.

  "What happened?" Electra asked groggily.

  He lay a hand on both their shoulders and said gently. "He has tried his magic on us. Now step back outside. We'll handle him now. There is nothing more that you can do here for us for right now."

  Again, the voice rumbled with laughter. As the echoes died, the darkness spoke once again, "I tried to be nice, but I can see that you will need more convincing. I should have known that if they traveled with you, Orfrost, they would not be so easy."

  Janus stepped forward and answered angrily, "You should have known better, Kolban. I'll never gave in to you and I don't think anyone else will again after this day."

  "I have not heard that name in eons," the voice seemed amused as the darkness seemed to lean closer. Darius thought that the flaming orbs turned to look upon the elf. "I should have guessed that you would have remembered my old name. It won't do you any good, of course, but I am impressed that you remembered my old enemy.

  "You can see that I have changed though. I no longer need that name, elf. I am as far beyond that one as he was beyond you then. You come to give battle, Janus Orfrost, but you face a god! I will not stoop to face one as weak as you. I have servants for that."

  Unseen doors opened. From beneath each torch, a dark form separated from the wall to stride towards the center of the room. "I believe that you know these men, Orfrost. I know that they know you."

  "Who are they, Janus?" Darius whispered to the elf.

  A sigh broke the air as Janus spoke unhappily, "They are the fallen holy knights, Darius. They were once my friends, so close that they seemed like blood."

  "And now your friends will draw your blood!" the Emperor crowed with glee.

  Dante leaned down to study the floor with the torch that he now carried. He found the same prints that were his guides for the past ten minutes. The same prints had led him past two of the missing dwarves on his journey. Both had been slain. One had an arrow in his back, while the other had been so mauled that he could not tell what had been the original cause of death.

  Every second the man delayed caused him to hurry onwards that much faster. Dante nearly ran his legs out from under him in his haste to find the creature that he had been sent to destroy. He also wondered if Darius and Janus still lived, or if it was too late for them all. If there was still a chance though, Dante would see the end of this enemy once and for all.

  He was descending yet another staircase, when a form detached itself from the darkness of the wall ahead and below him. Dante stopped in his tracks. "Who are you?" the lieutenant demanded with a warning in his voice as he gripped Dark’s Bane in his fist.

  The figure laughed in a high pitched cackle. "You do not know me yet, but I can remedy that, human." The figure moved into the light. The creature before him appeared to be an elf, but its skin was unusually pale. Clothed all in black, the elf seemed all that much whiter. Dante had heard of fish that had been found in a deep cavern in Certe. Those fish had been unusually pale, almost translucent. He had never seen those fish, but the man imagined that they would be much the same as what stood before him.

  "My name in Karnas. I was once just an elf, but my lord made me much more. In the time before his first death, I served my master. When he returned to this pitiful world, the emperor returned me to it as well. You see, I was his finest warrior once, so when he heard that you were coming, my master thought that he would send me to take care of you.

  "He also told me a secret about you, human."

  Dante dropped the torch. He no longer needed it, since each moment made Dark's Bane glow that much brighter. The blade glowed so brightly that he had to hold it to one side to be able to see the warrior below him. He took a step down the stairs towards the elf. "What secret is that, dark thing?"

  A pointy-toothed grin crossed the elf's face. "Why how to kill you, of course. I know that they claim that you are immortal. My master says that I am just as
immortal now, but I can still kill you. I'll take your head perhaps, or maybe I'll just cut out so much of you that you can't pull yourself together? It is so hard to decide.

  "He said an explosion could do as much as well, but I am no sorcerer, my enemy. So how do you wish to die?"

  Dante sniffed the air in contempt. He received the stink of rot for his effort. Wondering if the creature had somehow been raised from the grave as it seemed to believe, the soldier knew to not underestimate this creature. Ignoring the questions meant to simply worry him, he simply stated, "I'll not die by your hand or sword, creature."

  "Karnas," the elf chuckled, "if you please. I would have you remember that name as you go into death. It would really be a shame if you forgot so important a name, but come let us make it quick. The master said that I get to kill the others as soon as I finish with you."

  Dante leapt down the last of the stairs. "Don't fear that you'll miss them, Karnas, you won't even get past me."

  The elf met his strike easily and countered swiftly. Dante was caught by surprise by the speed of the creature and received a cut to his cheek in reprimand as he narrowly dodged a severed neck. Several seconds later and he found himself totally on the defensive.

  Karnas had not lied about his abilities. Dante feared that the darkling would indeed have a chance of killing him. Thinking of Valenia, the soldier prayed that he would live to see her again.

  "We're with you, Janus," Electra stated as she and Bagheer returned to the chamber once more. They had heard the words and knew that the others faced a new challenge. Seeing the elf knights, she added, "I don't know if we can defeat them for you, but we can at least try."

  Darius put out a hand to restrain them. "No, I can't ask this of you!"

  Electra touched his forearm gently and moved the barrier aside. "You didn't ask. We volunteered."

  "But you could be killed..."

  The elf woman shook her head sadly and replied, "And if you die before defeating the Dark One, we will all die or worse anyway. Remember that it is not just about us anymore."

  The dark rumble of Kolban's voice laughed once more and said sarcastically, "How touching. Don't worry, wizard, the woman is correct. If you lose, you will indeed all die. You will serve as a final example to those that you have allied with that there is only one who will rule.

  "I am in a benevolent mood, however, so I give you one last chance to surrender yourselves to me. Do so and you will serve me as the leaders of my forces. Armies will be at your command. What is your answer?"

  Janus raised his sword over his head brandishing the weapon. "You know my answer, Kolban!" he shouted. The others nodded and stood ready.

  A sigh seemed to vent from the walls around them before the Dark One spoke his judgment grimly, "Kill them."

  The dark elves moved to obey. Swords lowered to point at their intended victims. Their eyes glowed with the power that the darkness had given to them and no mercy was revealed as they stepped forward.

  Fire leapt to Darius' one hand as he gripped his staff tighter. Gannon drew the scepter gifted him by the dragon and it began to glow with a strange green light. Janus held his sword before him as Electra and Bagheer moved to either side of the knight staring at the dark elves' approach.

  The five dark warriors moved silently to meet their victims. Janus stepped forward and met the nearest elf with his sword. The blades rang loudly in the otherwise silent chamber. Bagheer and Electra bravely met another pair as the last two moved to greet Darius and Gannon standing behind the warriors.

  Darius shot the flaming ball at the elf, who nimbly leapt aside and jumped forward to close with him. His staff blocked a slash even as the wizard fell away from the menacing blade. It was all that he could do to stop a sudden flurry of swings from the elf, who simply grinned knowing that he could slay Darius at any moment. He feared that the dark elf would tire of his play soon and finish with his quarry before the others could turn to help, when the knight suddenly pulled back and turned to look towards the doorway.

  "MacNorn, MacNorn!" a trio of voices shouted as Dorvin led his last two men into the fray. His ancestor's sword, Rhienbane, thrust at the elf threatening Darius as the other two dwarves moved to help Gannon with axes ready.

  "Good to see you, Dorvin!" Darius said thankfully and drew his magic back to him. With a moment to concentrate, the wizard knew that he could help the others now.

  Dorvin pulled up short as the elf leapt back assessing the dwarf king. "You are quite welcome, of course, but this will remind you to let me know that you are leaving next time," the king laughed easily.

  The dark elf grinned his overbearing smile of disdain and struck at the dwarf lord. Soul's Edge met the blow easily. Its reflective face returned the elf's image from its surface, but the dark elf grinned even more as the magic of the weapon had no affect upon the darkling.

  Dorvin didn't worry over that as he thrust his magical blade towards the dark elf driving him back. The dwarf king swept another set of blows towards the retreating elf, which were casually blocked away. The elf's blade swung back in to strike at the dwarf and the shield caught the blows once more. Back and forth the two combatants struggled.

  Seeing them well matched for the moment, Darius surveyed the others trying to find a way to help. He looked at Electra and Bagheer, who amazingly held their own against the famed, fallen holy knights. Drawing forth his dagger, he planned to imbue it with his magic to try and slay one of the knights to free up his friends.

  Darkness suddenly seemed to surround his form then and the ominous rumblings of the Dark One attacked his senses again. "For shame, wizard, that is hardly a sporting way to act. I allowed the dwarves to come and help you, but do you ask me to ignore this as well?"

  Darius searched around finding himself disoriented. Darkness cut him off from the others and, as he searched, the wizard noticed the red flames of the chamber pit suddenly just below his feet. Twisting around, Darius found the Emperor’s red orbs of fire gazing down on him from just above his head. Fear reached for his heart as he looked into the fiery eyes of the dark lord, and Darius knew that he was about to fail.

  Dark Bane's light suddenly faltered as Dante found himself being driven backwards towards the stairs. The darkness of the depths threatened to engulf him now and he knew that, should that happen, he would be dead. Karnas could still find him to kill him, whether there was darkness or not. Dante, however, was not so enchanted.

  Struggling to fend off the dark thing, Dante's foot stumbled over something. Cursing his luck, he kicked at the thing below his heel. It clattered as it rolled away and as he found a brief reprieve, Dante found that he had stumbled over his spear.

  "Even your own weapons threaten to forsake you, human," Karnas leered from a few steps away. "They seek to end this fun before I am even finished with you. It would be a real pity if I were to slay you as you stumbled over that relic. I really have a much better idea of how I wish to end this so that would be way too easy."

  Using the toe of his boot, Dante flicked the spear up into his hand. "Don't worry, Karnas, I still don't plan to lose."

  The dark elf giggled maniacally. Dante saw no humor to be found, but was glad that he now had a moment to breath. Karnas finally answered from where he stood watching the soldier gathering himself. "I think that you lie now. You are already too fearful that I will win, human. You can not win now, because you know that I am better."

  The Grimnal's words seemed to be thrown at him from this creature's mouth. Dante was amazed at how similar the words sounded to his ears. With such an understanding, the lieutenant wondered if he could gain that needed strength to defeat Karnas. The elf was good, but could Dante believe that he was undefeatable against this enemy.

  He had used up all the time that Karnas would allow him as the darkling chose to attack again. Dante met the attack defensively and was forced to drop the spear again as he did so. This time, however, the soldier watched how the elf struck at him carefully and without panic. He loo
ked for the weaknesses in his attacks. As the soldier did so, he found his confidence returning. The sword began to respond again by glowing a bit stronger in his hands.

  A laugh from Dante caused the elf to draw back cautiously. "Why do you laugh?" the elf demanded and Dante realized that he had unthinkingly stumbled across the way to defeat his adversary.

  The man laughed once more and brought his sword into readiness before him. "Can you not see it, Karnas?"

  The other's brow wrinkled as he considered and worry of treachery and defeat found its way into the darkling's eyes. "I see that you laugh when I am on the verge of killing you. Do you relish the thought of death so much that you can laugh?"

  Dante's mind saw that the momentum was about to shift back in the elf's actions again. Seeking to keep him off center, he laughed again and said mockingly, "You should know better than that, Karnas. That is hardly a reason to laugh. Think and find why I see this fight as funny. Think."

  He moved into a menacing posture and halfheartedly slashed at the elf. The darkling blocked the strike easily, but refused to counter attack just yet. His eyes ran through stages of worry, but suddenly they solidified into anger. "You are bluffing. I should have seen this immediately." He slashed and thrust quickly, but Dante had seen this set of movements already and blocked with little effort. The soldier even counter attacked at the end of the series of blows forcing the elf to step back for the first time.

  The elf noticed this change as well and stepped back once more to gauge Dante.

  With a smile, Dante taunted Karnas once again, "I am not bluffing. You haven't guessed my reasons yet, have you? Do I need to tell you? Can't you see the source of my joy? Such an insight sets me ready to destroy you, Karnas.

  "Think about it. Think upon not only this battle, but the words given to you from your dark lord." Dante struck again, but this time strongly as his confidence continued to return to him as the conversation ran its course. He had found the truth of this battle and knew how to use it to win against this foe. One last time he asked, "Can you figure out why I laugh at you, Karnas? Quickly, before you find yourself dead and the time for thinking over."