“It would be better if we weren’t surrounded by the minions of hell,” said Ghorza.
“Absolutely,” said Dantes, who was more than passingly familiar with them. “I just got here, myself. I came through one of the tunnels hoping to reach the Magisterium, but before I could, I saw that group out there.” He paused to glance around the corner. The sounds of fighting had moved on, and the group looked as if they had nothing better to do than stop and have refreshments. They had obviously been in the fighting earlier, as bits of gore were splattered all over them, and blood coated the clubs lying on the ground next to them. “I have to do something about the teufling. If I don’t, he will bathe this town in blood, even more so than the other creatures.”
“Wench!” they heard the devil call from around the corner, as if to prove his point. “We want food and wine! We hunger and thirst!” His tone sounded full of promised pain to come. It made John want to go out and confront the teufling; at the same time, it also made him want to run away as fast as he could.
“Coming, gentlemen,” replied a young barmaid in a tiny voice, hustling out with a tray of food and tankards of some sort of beverage. Her hands were shaking so badly that she almost dumped the whole tray onto one of the bigger creatures. Narrowly averting the disaster, she slid the food and drinks gracelessly onto the table in front of them.
“Don’t make us wait again,” cautioned the devil, evil in his voice, “or the next time we might have you for dinner instead.”
Dantes turned to Ghorza. “He means to kill her. He’s just playing with her until he’s ready. Part of the fun for him is the fear he is causing her. He lives for that.”
“How do you know?” asked John.
Dantes looked hard at John. “Trust me, I know,” he said, his tone giving John goose bumps. Dantes turned back to Ghorza. “You can tell me how we got tricked by someone who is obviously brain dead later,” he said, nodding at John; “for now, though, I have to do something about that teufling.”
Ghorza snuck a glance around the corner. “You did see that there are three ogres sitting with him, right?”
“Yeah, that’s the problem,” agreed Dantes. “I can surprise the teufling and probably take one of the ogres, but the other two may tackle me and pin me down. I don’t want to get trapped here any longer than I have to; it looks like all of Salidar is in Norlon today.”
“I wasn’t expecting combat today, but I do have a couple of chain spells and a haste that might help,” said Ghorza.
“You’re not ready for combat, but you have those available?”
“Well, I knew you might be less than happy to see the Spectre again,” replied Ghorza. “I thought they might be needed to give me some time to reason with you.”
Dantes snorted and a puff of smoke came out his nostrils. “You were going to use tact and reason with me? The world really has gone to hell today.” He shook his head and looked around the corner. “Hit me with the Haste, and when I kill the teufling, Chain the ogre across from it to the table.”
“What do you want me to do?” asked John.
“Stay out of the way,” replied both Ghorza and Dantes, looking at him. Ghorza turned back to Dantes. “Ready when you are.”
He nodded, and Ghorza commanded, “Celeritas!”
Dantes felt the world slow down around him as his movement sped up. He rounded the corner and walked toward the teufling. “Who’s good for lunch here?” he asked by way of introduction.
The teufling and ogres turned to view the newcomer, and the teufling smiled in welcoming. Dantes felt himself ready to burst as he kept his movements as slow as possible. He knew from past experience that he would still seem a little faster than normal. “I’ve been looking for some fun all day,” he said, hoping to cover the Haste; “it’s great to finally find some!”
Dantes watched the teufling turn toward the interior of the cafe in slow motion. “Wench! Bring more wine and—uh!” it grunted as Dantes dropped down to all fours like a bull and sprang on him. Dantes cocked his head to the side, driving his right horn through the other teufling’s heart. The only thing sharp enough to pierce a devil’s heart was the horn of another devil, and he used his to great effect.
“What?” it gasped, as it fell to the floor. Dantes rode it down, twisting his head back and forth to ensure that he tore the teufling’s heart apart.
The teuflings hit the ground, and Dantes jumped back up in time to see the ogre on the right upset his bench as it thrust itself to its feet. The better part of nine and a half feet tall, the ogre had light brown skin and a confused look on its face. Dantes didn’t give it time to figure out what was happening. “Globus Incendi!” he commanded, sending a bead of fire into the creature’s face. The fireball exploded on contact, cooking the ogre’s face and bathing the entire group in its flames.
Counting on Ghorza to do her part, he spun toward the ogre on the left, jumping over the remains of the half-devil as he attacked. Hasted, Dantes looked like a blur as he dove at the monster. Already partially cooked, the ogre was just starting to get up from the bench when Dantes crashed into it headfirst, spearing it in the chest with his horns and driving it backward over the bench. Dantes’ tail wrapped around one of the ogre’s legs and pulled, helping to overbalance it. Holding onto the creature with both his hands and tail, Dantes rode it to the ground, twisting his horns to ensure he killed it. The ogre hit the wooden floor hard, and Dantes’ horns drove all the way through it. Dantes felt the ogre relaxing in death, so he pulled out and spun toward the remaining ogre.
As he expected, Ghorza had done her part and Chained the ogre to the bench and chair, and it was awkwardly trying to lift itself up while still attached to both pieces of furniture. The animal skin on its back expanded as the creature took a giant breath, and Dantes knew that it was about to yell an alert. Drawing his knife as he charged, Dantes stabbed the ogre with all his might, driving the knife through the creature’s back and into its heart. The only sound the ogre made was a gasp as it fell forward onto the table, which disintegrated with a wooden crash.
There was another crash, and Dantes spun with augmented speed to find the barmaid staring in horror, pointing at him. She had dropped her tray and was about to scream. Although Dantes was fast, he knew he couldn’t close the distance to stop her in time; however, a small hand enveloped her mouth before she could scream.
“It’s OK,” said John, who had entered through the back of the cafe to try to keep her out of the fight. “It’s all over now.”
The waitress’ eyes roamed the destruction of her cafe, taking in the devil and the orc standing over the remains of another devil and three ogres. One of the ogres was still rolling around, its face a mass of cooked flesh. She tried a second scream.
“That’s not helping,” John said through clenched teeth as she bit him. He turned her around so that she could see a fellow human. “It’s OK,” he said again. “We’re the good guys.”
Her eyes were wider than any John had ever seen before, and she was hyperventilating. He smiled at her in spite of his own terror. “Really,” he said, nodding his head, “it’s OK. I mean it.”
She calmed a little, and he let go of her mouth. When she didn’t immediately scream, he removed his hand and stepped back. “This is going to be a bad place to be, especially with the dead creatures here. You need to get away.”
The girl nodded her head, still too scared to speak, her eyes flicking back and forth as if looking for a place to run. John told her how to use the secret tunnel system, and she turned and ran off into the restaurant. Turning back to the scene of the conflict, John found that Dantes had killed the last ogre, and both Ghorza and Dantes were going through the belongings of the creatures. As he walked over to see what they had found, a rank, unwashed odor caused him to gag as he got close.
“It’s the ogres,” explained Dantes. “They don’t bathe much.” He sniffed. “In fact, I’m surprised the teufling was with them. We usually have very sensitive noses, and it wo
uldn’t have been pleasant to be in their company. Something must have been forcing them to operate together.”
Dantes went back to searching the bodies, trying not to breathe around the ogres. It didn’t take long to search them; there wasn’t much to be found in their ratty and decaying furs. After a brief search of the teufling, though, Dantes held up a piece of parchment. “Success,” he said.
Ghorza came over to look at the parchment. “I don’t read Teufling,” she said after taking a glance.
“They’re orders for mopping up the city after it falls,” he translated. “Damn. They’re looking for us. How could they have known that we’d be together? Why would they care?”
“Are you sure it’s us they’re looking for?” asked Ghorza.
“Teufling, red with purple hair, medium-sized horns, found in the company of a female half-orc, greenish, six and a half feet tall, covered in clumps of hair. You tell me; it certainly sounds like us.”
“That description could also fit almost any other teufling and half-orc,” Ghorza argued.
Dantes raised an eyebrow. “Really? How many other teuflings have you seen in your life? Especially ones with purple hair?”
“Umm...With purple hair?” asked Ghorza. She sighed. “None; just you.” Her brows knitted. “But why? Why would they be looking for us?”
Dantes turned to look pointedly at John. “I don’t know why he’s here, but I’d guess that he’s the reason.” He indicated the parchment. “This says that the two of us are wanted dead or alive. The human found accompanying us is to be killed immediately.”
The color drained from John’s face. “But, but...” he stammered.
“If you’re not the Spectre, then I don’t know who you are,” Dantes said; “however, I see you make friends everywhere you go.” He gazed at John with new respect. “I don’t know what information you have, but obviously the enemy thinks it’s worth killing you over. We need to get you to the Magisterium...assuming that it hasn’t fallen yet.”
“That’s where we were heading,” said Ghorza, “and his name is John.”
“Good to meet you, John,” said Dantes. “Let’s get out of here before something else comes by and sees this mess. I don’t want to have to explain it.” He walked into the cafe. “There is a tunnel in the wine cellar; the barmaid’s father is an acquaintance of mine.” He led them down into the cellar. There was no sign of the girl; hopefully she had fled. She was better off on her own with nothing to her name than she was if another pack of ogres found her.
Dantes walked to the back of the cellar and reached under the cask furthest to the right. He pulled the lever underneath and was rewarded with a “click” as a hidden latch fell open. Taking hold of the cask, he rotated the entire rack forward and to the left. A secret passage yawned open behind it, dark and foreboding.
“You two go ahead,” Dantes said, indicating they should precede him. “I’ll close it behind us.”
Ghorza looked at John. “You go first,” she said. “There might be spiders.”
“Really?” John asked, looking up at her. “You’re afraid of spiders?”
“Not so much afraid as that I just don’t like them,” she replied. “I grew up near the desert, and we used to have some that were six feet tall.”
Shaking his head, John walked into the tunnel. It was dark and damp. John knew it probably was full of spiders, especially now that Ghorza had put that thought into his head. He saw a torch located to the right as he entered the tunnel. “Scintilla!” he ordered, shooting a spark onto it. He blew gently and the flame caught. Sure enough, there was a big web about a foot further down the tunnel. John would have walked face-first into the hairy red spider sitting in its center. He touched the torch to the web, and it burned up, the spider falling to the floor. John started down the hall, wrinkling his nose at the musty odor.
Dantes put a hand on Ghorza’s shoulder. Although she was taller, he was more massive, and he stopped her in place. She looked over her shoulder, and he gave her a quizzical look. “He’s full of surprises,” she noted in a whisper. “That’s not all. He can do air and water magic, too.” She turned back to follow John down the hall.
Overcoming his surprise, Dantes shut and latched the secret door and followed his two companions down the damp hallway. His eyes didn’t need as much light as the others, and he was able to see quite well in the flickering torch light. He caught up with them in moments. “Let me lead,” he said. “I know the way.”
John and Ghorza moved to the side of the passage, and Dantes moved past them. Like most demons, he didn’t have problems finding his way underground and was well-accustomed to subterranean passageways. He had also traveled through these particular tunnels before, and he went faster than John would have been able.
Several minutes passed, with the sounds of fighting getting louder and more violent. Judging by the feel of it, a catapult boulder landed nearby, and it shook dust down on them. Dantes could smell the fear coming from John. It smelled good. “Don’t worry,” he said. “The tunnels should hold together a bit longer.” Another catapult stone hit close by and larger plumes of dust cascaded onto their heads. “Still, it might be best if we hurry,” he added.
Dantes doubled his speed up the passageway. Ghorza’s longer legs were up to the task, but John was forced into an awkward jog that hurt his shins. Within a couple of minutes, the sounds of clashing swords and screaming grew fainter, before nearly fading altogether. Dantes stopped suddenly. “We’re here,” he said. “Ghorza, if you could pull on that rope?” He pointed at the ceiling a few inches above her head.
Looking up, Ghorza saw the end of a small string hanging down about an inch. She would never have seen it on her own. Reaching up, she pulled down on the string. After six inches, she found that the string was tied to a rope. She pulled on the rope, and a ladder came smoothly down into the passageway on greased hinges. Dantes pulled down firmly on it, and a trap door about three feet wide opened in the ceiling. Dantes climbed up the ladder like he had done it many times before.
“Seems easy enough,” Ghorza said. She took hold of the ladder and pulled herself up, leaving John in the tunnel by himself. He could see light in the room above, so he blew out the torch and set it down on the side of the passageway. Taking hold of the ladder, he climbed up into the center of a 30-foot square room.
As he looked around, he saw that he was once again in the center of a ring of spears, all of which seemed to be very sharp and pointed right at him. The men holding the spears looked both angry and afraid, a bad combination to see across the business ends of so many weapons.
Chapter 21
Solim surveyed the throne room. His troops had captured it in the assault, and he had decided to keep it as his command center. It was a place fit for...well, it was fit for a king, he thought, looking around at the opulence. Gorgeous tapestries hung on the walls for him to burn later, statues waited for him to pull out their gems and antique suits of armor were begging to be crushed into cookware. He couldn’t wait.
The attack had been almost flawless. He had hoped to get the trolls a little closer before they were recognized, as it was never good for morale to have most of your front rank disintegrated before it reached the walls. It had almost caused his attack to fail, but he had been able to use the crown to drive the giants through the trolls, and everything had gone well after that...except for finding and killing the thrice-damned outlander and his companions.
“I want them found, and I want them found now!” Solim ordered, trying out the throne to see how it fit. He hadn’t been told yet that he would be Norlon’s new ruler, but he couldn’t think of anyone that was a better fit for the position than he was. He was a far better choice than even that stupid anti-paladin who thought he was so high and mighty.
His eyes sought out the orc in charge of the beastiary and locked onto him. The orc’s eyes glazed over at the contact. “Take your best trackers and bring them to me!”
Chapter 22
&
nbsp; “Uh, hi,” said John, looking at all of the spears surrounding them. If anything, these spears looked even sharper than the ones that had been pointed in his face the last time.
“Are there any more of you down there?” asked the leader, who moved forward to hold the point of his sword on Dantes’ chest.
“No, there are just the three of us,” replied Dantes, reaching down to push the point of the sword away from his chest with a finger. “Despite our appearance, we are on your side, and you are holding us from our task.”
The point of the sword returned to Dantes. “I’ll be the one to say who goes where and when,” said the man. “I don’t know who you are, and there are all manner of foul creatures in the streets. If we hadn’t come down here looking for an escape route for the Magistra, you might very well have slipped in unnoticed.”
“I do not know who you are,” said Dantes, his finger still touching the point of the sword, “but I am no enemy of yours, and our mission is vital. There are indeed fell creatures in the streets, which makes our errand even more urgent.” He looked down and moved the point of the sword again with his finger. “Besides, if I wanted to take that sword from you, you would not be able to stop me. Calefacite!”
“There’s no need to go name calling,” the man said. “We just took over here, and it’s our job to make sure that anyone coming in is supposed to be here, today more so than any other day. Ouch!” While he was speaking, the tip of his sword had changed color where Dantes’ finger touched it, turning first red and then white as the sword heated. The temperature change traveled rapidly to the other end, and the soldier dropped the sword with a clang, to blow on his singed fingers.
“If you’re done fooling around, we really are on an urgent errand,” said Ghorza to Dantes, sounding annoyed. She turned to the soldier. “You may not have seen him around here recently, but some of your men have certainly seen me.” Several heads nodded, and she looked back to the leader, who was still trying to cool his hand. “May we be on our way?”
Can't Look Back (War for Dominance Book 1) Page 8
