by Billy Wong
"Hey, you are always taking the brunt of the punishment whenever we fight."
She made him blink in surprise with her reply. "No I don't." Allowing him to stand incredulous for several seconds, she clarified, "My dead enemies do."
Wrapping her in a huge hug, Finn broke into uproarious laughter which made their murderous, suicidal, and delusional comrades stare at them as one, and Rose believed for a moment that everything would be okay as long as they were together. Then she smelled the familiar scent of burning flesh while blood-curdling screams filled the air, and realized Darm was nowhere to be seen. Breaking into a run towards the sound, she hoped it was only an animal being burned alive.
#
By the time the party made it into view of the large enemy camp where they hoped Justin would be found, a third of them had fallen during encounters with roaming monsters, most having died only because of their own foolish mistakes. Somewhat disappointingly, Kred, Darm, and Einora all still lived, and were apparently happier for their adventure after seeing their comrades' deaths if for different reasons. Kred felt strong for still being alive, Einora enjoyed watching men suffer, and Kreb relished the opportunity to burn human bodies despite the lack of screaming involved. Kild too still stood, proclaiming his immortality with every new danger he survived.
Her company grew nearly unbearable, and Rose almost wished she and Finn hadn't asked for help... still, it was hopefully almost over, and she would finally go home. Looking over the camp they were about to invade, she saw it to be thankfully smaller than she'd feared, perhaps due to the sparse food and resulting need for even monsters to spread out to get the needed nourishment. But what of the demons that had attacked her and Finn at Tirrn?
At the center of the enemy camp, she spotted the answer. A sheet of pulsating light stood perpendicular to the ground, framed by a sturdy metal oval planted into the dirt. A magical portal, which they'd do well to destroy before Justin could summon any more allies. "Everyone, we need to get rid of that gate before we get really swamped by foes. Keep the monsters off us while we deal with it, okay?" Otherwise, who knew how many could come through? If it truly led to hell, was there even a limit?
Rose and Finn led the charge forward, only to find they weren't leading much at all. Many of their companions, as she'd feared, had decided at the last moment not to join the battle after all, but instead flee and take their chances in monster territory. Evidently most of the murderers who remained, Darm and Einora included, had only stayed until now for the sake of Rose and Finn's protection. Now that the danger to them was about to outweigh that benefit, they sought to save their own skins.
Kred stayed, throwing a spear at the deserters as he snarled, "Cowards!" It pierced Einora between the shoulder blades, turned her sickly-sweet laughter into a gurgle of blood. The righteous killer was about to make a second cast when Rose stopped him.
She didn't really care how many of the runners he killed, but said, "Save your spears. You're going to need them!"
No argument could be made against that as goblins and ogres poured out of the tents all around the now-tiny group, and a handful of huge trolls roused themselves from slumber here and there on the fringes of the camp to turn towards the invaders. The first human casualty fell, not from an enemy's weapon, but dying instead as his century-old heart gave out while he achieved the final glory of driving his spear between the ribs of an ogre thrice his size.
By now the party had diminished to less than half its starting number and steadily shrank further as it closed on its goal, the monsters' attacks taking their toll. Finally, Finn came within arm's length of the portal and cried, "Hold them off!" to his remaining companions. All left were Rose, Kred, Kild and one more, an innocuous-looking slender teen who seemed to be enjoying himself to the fullest extent, whooping and hollering while he jumped from kill to kill hewing at enemies with his oversized battleaxe.
Finn concentrated hard on sealing the portal with the air elemental magic by which it was created, Rose knowing he did so because smashing its frame would not necessarily do the trick of destroying the actual gateway. He risked his humanity using magic, but with her spellcasting prowess being much weaker, it was a gamble he had to take once in a while. An ogre slipped past his hard-pressed defenders to stab at his side, but Kild dropped back, knocked its spear aside with his heavy hammer before crushing its skull, and guffawed at the exhilaration of the fight. Finn wrestled against the magics of the portal with his own, and Rose rejoiced to see its shimmer begin to fade. Then a loud boom sounded directly in front of her husband and he fell with a scream, clutching his torn face before he went still.
Rose ran to his side, grimly aware of their last three allies' plight in the face of their numerous foes, and realized he'd been struck by an exploding ball of ice. Looking around for his assailant, she found him standing many yards away, fixing triumphant eyes on her fallen love. Justin. "Admirably, ludicrously brave. To come here in your tens against my thousands? It's impressive that you've made it this far. But I assure you this is the end of your little crusade."
Barely hearing his words, Rose felt at her husband's neck, and feeling a still-strong pulse chanted a healing spell under her breath. He was only knocked out, and she needed him back—please, let Justin give her a few more seconds! But the demon lord proved smarter than that, and would not allow her a chance to revive Finn. Laughing, he leveled her with a second icy bomb. More prepared than he had been, she was able to push Finn's vulnerable body out of the way, but bladelike shards of ice propelled by incredible force tore into her own flesh and blood gushed to soak her undershirt.
"Where's all your standing together with undying love now, Rose?" Justin mocked as she stumbled to her feet.
She answered him with a bellowing charge heedless of the distance between them, and he smiled as he hit her with blast after blast of magical power. But Rose withstood them all, and had come almost within reach when he took off into the air with a ready flight spell. She countered with a cloud of moisture she summoned to gather around him and freeze, encasing him in a block of ice. He was already breaking out by the time it crashed to the ground, but still partially trapped when Rose swept her sword down intending to chop his skull in twain. Justin batted the blade aside with a rocky hand and punched her, driving her back with blood running from a broken nose. Her neck throbbed; he hit hard enough to knock the head off a granite statue. Flexing free of his icy restraint, he lunged after the staggering Rose, but she had recovered from his blow and was only playing possum. She caught him by his forearms and tossed him over her head into a pack of his minions who had been pressing Kred hard a moment before. With a spell, she engulfed them all in a roaring inferno.
Only Justin emerged from that shrieking mass. He ran to slash at her with both clawed hands, lightning-fast blows which rang against her shield and gouged her sturdy armor as she struck back with her broadsword. Their blood ran red—well, black in his case—down their bodies and stained the snow below them as they battled. Rose saw Finn regain consciousness and rise despite his maimed face. Gaining heart she fought harder, knocking Justin off his feet three times before he scrambled away in search of respite.
Rose pursued him towards the center of camp, pumping her wounded legs as fast as they would go to catch him before he—what? Escaped into the portal? Summoned allies? She wasn't sure, but couldn't let him get away so easily. As her sword swept down just falling short of his back, though, she felt a heavy impact in the middle of her chest. She looked to see a thick crossbow bolt had made its way through a rent in her armor to bury itself deep inside her. It was the same type of wound Amber had taken earlier, and Rose noted with a glance that it'd been inflicted by a scrawny little goblin, cackling now at her pain.
Being even sturdier than her daughter, Rose was only slowed for a moment, but somehow Justin sensed even this minute opportunity, and turning on her leapt at his chance. She was able to get her sword up in time, and skewered him on the wide blade though his weight
nearly bore her down. But she knew it'd take far more than that to finish him. She twisted the sword in him while she palmed his face with her shield hand, intent on engulfing his visage in arcane flame. He pulled his head momentarily free before turning the situation around to his advantage, biting her hand.
Faster than she would've believed possible—he must have had a second loaded crossbow, since it wasn't a repeater—the goblin shot at her again, this time at her face. Normally, she could've easily deflected or even caught the bolt, but her arms were occupied, and she could only move her head in an attempt to dodge. She couldn't avoid it completely and as the goblin marksman's powerful missile passed an inch below her eye, it ripped open her cheek.
Nearly blinded by pain for a moment, she just noticed Justin raising his arms at his sides, and failed to defend as he clapped them down towards her torso. His wide-spread claws stabbed into her on both sides, piercing between and below her ribs to flood her mouth with blood while indescribable pain filled her body. Her eyes rolling up in their sockets, Rose's head drooped as though lifeless, and she hung limp from the Dark Justice's claws as he grinned at his triumph.
But she wasn't dead yet and, trying to ignore all the mixed vital fluids she tasted, finished the spell she'd been trying to cast. Except instead of covering his face with liquid fire to rival the heat of lava, she sent it into his mouth and down his very throat, sending him into titanic convulsions on the end of her sword. Though he shook her mangled form like a rag doll as he thrashed, she barely hurt anymore, the ten dirk-sized claws piercing her sides only causing minor discomfort, and she wondered if she was finally dying.
Somehow though, in spite of all she'd done to him, Justin began to move with purpose again. He fixed a deadly stare at something behind her and chanted unrecognizable words. She turned to see Finn fighting on his knees, badly wounded with arrows in his back, chest, and shoulders. Justin meant to kill him too, she realized, as a last revenge for his death at her hands.
Even dying, she couldn't let that happen. Forcing her numb body to move as he ripped his right claws free of her flank and sent five distinct sprays of blood through the air, she pushed him back, back wherever that was, while a stroke of brilliant electricity shot from his hand. Was it too late? A moment later, he seemed to trip and fall away, and still impaled by half his claws Rose too fell, dragged after him. Her vision filled with a bright light, and then she was gone.
#
"Rose!" Finn shouted hoarsely as he saw his love push Justin into the portal, only to be pulled in after him. He crawled towards the gate over Kred's butchered corpse, the spearman having taken over a score of wounds before dying and a dozen more after. She wasn't dead, she couldn't be dead... hell or not, he'd save her. He couldn't leave her behind, no matter what.
What felt like a very hard punch smashed into his right shoulder blade, and he guessed he had been shot with a crossbow again. Knowing he didn't have the strength to fight whoever shot him this time, he crawled on, hoping against hope he could somehow make it to Rose's side, wherever she was. But the strength he had left wouldn't even bring him to the gate. He collapsed on his face, cursing his weakness as consciousness faded. What a foul fate... and what of their children?
Chapter 8
Amber kicked at the empty podium which stood at the heart of the labyrinth and sighed. She and Jacob had discovered a much larger complex deep beneath the tiny isle near Poldak, but found it devoid not only of any significant treasures, but also the monsters and traps Jacob had expressed his fear of as they descended. Someone had been here before them, and evidently not died in the ruin after all, but escaped with his ultimate prize after conquering every danger in his way.
The siblings had little idea of what that might be, but they'd more been looking for what the explorer carried with him anyway. Amber's leg felt sorer than ever, and for what but a look through some dusty old hallways? Jacob shared her frustration, and she knew he was also annoyed at her for bringing him along. Well, he hadn't objected! It wasn't her fault Clifford had met with success in his adventure a decade ago.
Deciding to fess up and pay for the chair after all, they spent days recuperating in the inn before Jacob grew too nervous about being missed by their parents. But as they started out on their way, a merchant came into town bringing news. "The demon lord has fallen to the southern heroes! The Norh plains are saved!"
Amber's heart soared. She and Jacob shared a celebratory embrace, glad to hear their famed parents had once again prevailed. And, now they wouldn't have to hide in Whitehill. "Do you know where these heroes are?" she asked. "We need to find them!"
"The giant red-haired man, Finn, is recovering in the town of Socht, having been badly wounded as one of two survivors of the battle. He has not yet regained consciousness and we aren't sure if he'll recover, though we all hope he will."
Dad was hurt that badly?! Amber's joy turned to fear, and she wished there was a magical portal she could step through to his side right now. She wanted to lend him her strength, to help him fight off death's cruel grasp. In her concern and terror for her injured father, she didn't realize the merchant hadn't mentioned her mother until Jacob asked, "What about Rose?" Of course, she was probably the other survivor...
The man shook his head. "We don't know what happened to her except that she went missing, severely injured, after delivering a fatal blow to the demon lord. It's difficult to figure out the rest from the other survivor's words; he says she was pulled into a standing pool of light."
A portal? But to where? Though there was no way to be sure, the fact Rose had been fighting a demon when she disappeared put a frightening suspicion about her whereabouts in Amber's mind. Had her mother been taken to hell, to suffer eternally at the hands of the very embodiments of evil? No, it couldn't be! Just thinking of the possibility, she began to cry. Mom couldn't be gone...
Jacob tried to reassure her in a shaken voice, "Don't worry, Mom always pulls through. We've just got to trust in her strength."
"Can strength save you from hell?"
After a pause, he said, "Don't jump to conclusions. She could be anywhere." But she could tell that he, too, held the same fear.
"Let's go find dad," she whispered as she wiped away tears. "Whatever the case, things will be better for him with his family around."
"Yes, let's go."
The siblings made their way north, glad now to have stayed in Poldak rather than make the long trip to Whitehill which would put them even further from Socht. About three-quarters of the way there, they heard a strange, squeaky and somehow ugly voice singing from off the road and snuck closer to hear. "Down the heroes go, down to Winston's bow, steel strikes a fatal blow, demon lord laid low, now it's all Winston's show, the master finally sees his goal."
"You mean the master finally goes in a hole!" Amber spat as she rushed the singing goblin, drawing her sword as she prepared to slay him once and for all. Jacob nervously raised his own crossbow.
"Wait, what are you doing? I am merely a harmless singer! Please, leave me be!"
It became clear this was not the same cocky little beast that had harmed their family so, and Amber let her sword drop to her side though she demanded, "What the hell are you singing about?"
Meekly, the goblin asked, "You're not going to hurt me for telling, right?"
"I'll hurt you for not telling."
"Okay, okay! The Dark Justice was recently killed in a great battle which claimed the lives of both him and his fiercest enemies. Now cousin Winston rules the army, and will soon be the king of the plains. He delivered the fatal blow to the giant man and also made the big attack that allowed the old master to take the woman down with him, so now he reigns."
Amber knew that at least Finn wasn't dead, and hoped dearly Rose had survived as she always did, but was nonetheless shocked at Winston's rise to power. "So everyone just accepted him as their new leader, even the ogres and trolls who could eat him in two bites if they chose?"
Their prisoner see
med proud through association as he replied, "They only do that if he let them. No, of course they didn't all agree right away. So he killed them until they did, and eventually they understood he could lead them to victory."
The explanation didn't surprise Amber too much. Winston was a deadly little freak, and did exactly what his mother named him to—win. But to imagine him at the head of an army of monsters? It was a bit hard, though she supposed he would enjoy the ability to use captives as live target practice at his whim. He really liked shooting people.
"We'll have to keep being wary of monster attacks," Jacob said. "I bet Winston holds a grudge over us getting away from him twice."
As he said it, Amber saw the goblin slowly trying to sneak a dagger out of its belt sheath. With a quick slash, she cut his throat. The creature fell choking in death, and said, "Looks like you're right. I guess he was trying to collect on our reward?"
"Actually, maybe he was just scared and wanted to kill us before we killed him."
Amber regarded the corpse and shrugged. "Whatever the case, let's go find Dad—before Winston learns he's alive and decides to finish the job he started."
#
Coming gradually to his senses, Finn blinked open his eyes to see a log roof high above his head and sat up forcefully with a start. Agony flared all over his mangled body. He realized his hair had been singed off, and he was covered in ugly burns. The lightning bolt. Rose had altered its course enough to miss him, but it'd set the nearby corpse of a troll on fire... somehow, the flames must have traveled from the troll to his clothes. Either that, or Darm had come back to set him aflame...
How long had it been since the fight with Justin? Looking around the cabin he was in, he saw a man with his back turned, humming to himself. "What happened? Where am I?"
"Kild saved you. Kild never dies!" Kild answered proudly as he turned around. Of course, that spike was still stuck in his head. "You're in Socht. Kild brought you to heal. Kild wanted to save your wife too, but goblin hurt Kild, so Kild ran. Kild is immortal, but hurt still feels bad."
