A palpable sense of dread washed over her, much like when the Warders had appeared. She looked up to find a squad of Magehunters surrounding them. Nera quickly recognized Lassiter’s smirk among them, as well as the arsehole chamberlain whom she had to thank for her long sentence at the foundry.
But the figure beyond the others stole her attention, the source of the dread creeping into her chest, squeezing her lungs so she could barely breathe. All she could think about was fleeing, but it was much too late for that.
The Pale Lord slowly rose from his throne of bones, roused from his torpor, and Nera knew they were finished.
Chapter 30
Athyzon threw open the sagging wooden door of the abandoned warehouse. It creaked loudly, and Idrimel sensed a tug as some magical ward was breached. A bestial stench assaulted their noses, and a sense of foreboding—of evil—struck them.
Idrimel had invoked a scrying spell earlier, having focused on the foul essence of the creature she remembered from their encounter a couple days past. With Sol’s guidance, her spell had led them deep into the Nexus slums, to where the creature laired.
“They know we are here, brother,” Idrimel said softly. “Sol, provide us your blessing and grant us your light, with which to banish the darkness.”
Immediately, her nerves were calmed, and her fortitude shored up. Her holy symbol glowed brightly, chasing the shadows away to the fringes of the warehouse’s foyer. Shelves had collapsed long ago, and baskets and crates that had once contained merchants’ goods were rotted away. A thick layer of dust and cobwebs coated everything.
Athyzon drew Redeemer with the whisper of steel. The greatsword glowed a pale amber, further driving the gloom away. The paladin stepped toward the opening to the rear room, a yawning portal of darkness.
Idrimel clutched her mace in one hand, her holy symbol in the other, holding it before her to drive the shadows away. The main storeroom was a cavern of darkness. The stench of evil was even more palpable, and the aura of light the siblings generated seemed to meet resistance from the thick darkness. Goose bumps formed on her arms beneath her mail.
“Foolish plane-blessed,” a sibilant voice hissed from the darkness as soon as they stepped foot beyond the foyer. It pronounced the latter word as a curse. “You meddle in affairs beyond your ability to influence. Too late you arrive—the horses have already escaped the barn, as your kind might say.”
Red flames suddenly erupted around the perimeter of the vast room, crackling into a wide arc before them. Shadows clung thickly around the outskirts of the room beyond—revealed was a cavernous space filled with detritus, remnants of a merchant company’s former days.
The sand-cloaked fiend stood a short bowshot away, its cowl lowered and pale face visible. Its eyes were ebon pools, and nubs of horn grew from its broad, misshapen forehead. Despite the confidence of its words, the fiend seemed to regard them with respect.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t alone. A trio of imposing warriors in dark plate armor stepped forth from the shadows to block their approach. Each of them stood as tall as Athyzon, thick and powerful through the torso. Little of their countenances were visible beneath their helms, save for baleful glowing red eyes. Serpentine tails twitched behind them.
“Uvkra.” Athyzon spat upon the floor as if the mere word left a bad taste in his mouth. “Mid-caste demons—tough yet weak of intellect. Take care, Sister. These are much more dangerous than the minor fiends we met back in Ellorya.” Unspoken was the warning that she had never fought such dangerous opponents before. He stepped forward, Redeemer raised between him and the fiends. The blade gleamed brightly with the holy light of Sol.
“Sol protects the just, and will strengthen our arms to strike these demons down,” Idrimel replied with bravado she didn’t quite feel. “Let us send them back to the Abyss with their tails between their legs.” A shiver ran down her spine at the evil the creatures radiated.
The cloaked fiend chortled. “Foolish woman. Your words are as hollow as your god’s power. Soon, the Abyss will consume all of you. My brethren will feast upon your lovely flesh and crack your bones in their jaws to suck out the marrow.”
“Name yourself, fiend! Who are you to make such threats?” Athyzon’s voice boomed with command.
Idrimel wished she could be as calm and confident as her brother.
More laughter came from the sand-cloaked demon. The three uvkra remained motionless, like automatons awaiting a command. “You may call me Vraqiroth, paladin, so you know who will snuff the light of your weak god and devour you.”
“Enough talk. Prepare to meet your end!” Athyzon strode forward, sword raised in challenge.
The three uvkra lurched into motion, spreading out before the siblings. Each held a two-handed weapon. The one in the center bore a greatsword, another a huge halberd, the third a massive morning star.
“I’ll deal with these three—try to get to Vraqiroth.” Athyzon suddenly charged the warrior with the greatsword. “Sol’s Glory!” he cried.
Redeemer met the demon’s blade with a loud explosion of sparks. The creature staggered back, and Athyzon took advantage by scoring a gash across the uvkra’s midsection.
The second uvkra struck, its halberd darting in at Athyzon’s back, but the paladin spun at the last moment, and the wicked polearm merely cut a gash through his cloak.
Idrimel chanted a quick spell, and her mace glowed with magical energy. She charged forward, trying to get to Vraqiroth. The uvkra with the morning star stepped forward and swung at her, but she deflected its blow as she lunged toward the cloaked fiend.
Vraqiroth spoke a command word in the demonic speech and pointed at Idrimel. A cloud of insects swarmed around the fiend and surged forward, attacking her in a swarm of buzzing wings. She swung her mace futilely, but the insects were everywhere, obscuring her vision and penetrating her helm. They stung at her face and neck and swarmed over her armor, searching for chinks.
Idrimel reeled backward and was suddenly slammed hard from behind. The morning star slammed into the rear pauldron of her armor and knocked her off her feet. She rolled free to put some space between her and her enemy. After a quick prayer to Sol, the insect swarm dissipated, burnt to cinders and falling as ash.
Her vision cleared just as the morning star swept toward her face, and she desperately raised her mace to parry. The massive weapon collided with her mace, and the blessing on her weapon caused the morning star to rebound as if shot by a catapult. The uvkra staggered backward, and Idrimel picked herself up.
Athyzon traded blows with his two opponents. As she watched, he swatted aside a clumsy strike from the halberd and struck a solid blow to that uvkra’s elbow. The demon grunted and fumbled its weapon. Before Athyzon could follow up, the uvkra with the greatsword pressed the attack.
Vraqiroth seemed to be concentrating on something. It motioned, and Idrimel steeled herself for another spell, but nothing seemed to happen. The uvkra she was fighting positioned itself between her and Vraqiroth. It attacked with a flurry of feints, forcing her away from the cloaked fiend and toward her brother and his attackers. Soon, she was beside her brother, defending herself. Athyzon’s opponents seemed to be coordinating their attacks as well, alternating strikes and guarding each other’s flank.
The three uvkra pressed Athyzon and Idrimel backward. The priestess’s arms already ached from swinging her mace and parrying the heavy morning star of her opponent. Save the strike that had knocked her down, she had yet to receive any serious wounds. Her brother, however, had suffered a number of rents in his mail, and blood seeped from his wounds. Fortunately, his opponents hadn’t fared much better. Ichor dripped from the stump of tail on the greatsword-wielding uvkra while the halberd wielder’s left arm hung useless at its side. Its great strength still allowed it to stab and slash effectively with its polearm one-handed, however.
Vraqiroth watched the battle with a thin-lipped smile, its forked tongue occasionally darting out between plum-colored lips. Because of th
e uvkra’s uncanny coordination, Idrimel suspected Vraqiroth was controlling them.
“These fiends are unnaturally skilled,” Athyzon remarked, slightly out of breath.
“Vraqiroth somehow controls them.” Idrimel managed to duck a swing and slam her opponent in the ribs with her mace.
Other than grunting in pain, the demon seemed unaffected.
Athyzon charged between the two uvkra. Redeemer cleaved deep into one thigh of the greatsword-wielding fiend. The creature’s leg crumpled, and it fell, ichor spraying across Athyzon’s white tabard.
Idrimel spun away from her opponent and followed her brother’s attack. With a mighty overhand blow, she brought her mace down atop the head of the uvkra with the halberd just as it was poised to stab Athyzon in the back. The demon staggered and fell to one knee, its helm crushed in. Ichor flowed out of the helm’s ear holes.
The uvkra with the morning star suddenly lunged in. Idrimel spun around, shield raised defensively, but it went for Athyzon, slamming him on the forearm just as he turned. The paladin cried out in pain as his vambrace crunched and his bone snapped. He lost his grip on Redeemer for an instant but then recovered with his left hand.
Idrimel stepped up to defend him, but the uvkra made no move to follow up. The siblings took advantage of the pause and fell back. The demons remained motionless.
“Why don’t they attack?” Idrimel asked.
Athyzon gritted his teeth from the pain but just shook his head.
Idrimel placed a hand on her brother’s arm, and after a quick prayer to Sol, healing energy flowed through her. His bone and sinew reknit in his arm, and his other minor wounds closed up.
Vraqiroth raised its arms and chanted. A wave of dark energy poured from its hands and over the three uvkra. The fiends shimmered as if in a haze of heat. The two injured warriors regained their feet, and their wounds healed.
“Your feeble god is but a guttering candle in the void compared to the power of Shaol,” Vraqiroth taunted. “We can keep this up all night. How long will your stamina hold out, blessed half-breeds?”
Idrimel felt her confidence waver. How can we defeat these fiends, outnumbered as we are? I need to stop Vraqiroth. She tried to think of a spell that might aid them, but most of the prayers she had been granted were healing and protective in nature.
The three uvkra advanced once again. Wearily, Idrimel and Athyzon readied themselves.
A sudden deafening clamor of metal on metal resounded through the building. Idrimel nearly leaped out of her armor in shock. The demons appeared to be momentarily stunned. She spun around to find the source of the new danger, as did her brother.
A short figure in bulky plate armor advanced toward them. He held a warhammer and a shield, which he struck together, repeating the sound. It was as loud as a thunderclap in the enclosed space.
“You must be the Solites I was told of, aye?” The strange warrior flipped up the visor on his helm, revealing a narrow face with a long nose and a scruffy beard on his chin.
A gnome? Idrimel thought, surprised. “Aye, that we are.” She glanced nervously at the fiends, but they appeared to still be stunned. “And you are?”
“Yosrick Sparkspinner at your service,” the strange warrior said with a grin. He bowed clumsily, and Idrimel thought for a moment he might topple over from the weight of his armor and weapons, but the gnome recovered. “My uncle Flurbinger sent me to find you, and good thing I arrived when I did.”
“That it is, Master Gnome,” Athyzon replied, an amused look on his face. “A friendly brother in arms is always welcome.”
Idrimel smiled despite the dire situation. “We were in a tight spot for a moment, but I think the tide may have turned.”
A quick glance revealed the fiends slowly snapping out of their stupor.
“The tide has turned indeed, my lady.” Yosrick dropped the visor again, but not before a big grin spread across his face. “Let’s get at ʼem!”
She chanted a quick prayer for Sol’s blessing. Then the siblings charged forward with Yosrick at their side, full of renewed vigor.
Yosrick bellowed a couple commands, and runes on his gauntlets, boots, and hammer flared a bright orange for an instant. He suddenly sped past the two of them with magically enhanced speed, launching himself at the uvkra with the morningstar. His attack seemed to take the fiend by surprise as the gnome easily leaped almost his height twice over into the air. His hammer came down atop the helm of the uvkra while his shield deflected the demon’s hasty swing. Yosrick’s warhammer impacted with a loud metallic crunch. Bits of gore exploded from the eye and ear holes of the demon’s helm, and it fell like a rag doll.
Idrimel watched out of the corner of her eye as Athyzon impaled his opponent with a mighty lunge. Redeemer exploded out the back of the greatsword-wielding fiend. He yanked on the glowing blade, and it cleaved through the beast’s side, nearly splitting it in twain. Gore sprayed, and the demon’s top half flopped over on a strip of meat before the creature collapsed in a bloody heap.
With a battle cry, Idrimel was on the last remaining uvkra. She batted its halberd aside with her shield and smashed her mace directly across its face. Blood leaked out of its helm as it stumbled and collapsed. Idrimel kicked it over onto its back and knelt on its chest. She grasped her holy symbol in one hand while calling out a chant to Sol. Purifying light erupted from her holy symbol, bathing the two of them in its blinding radiance. The demon bucked and screeched beneath her for a moment before going still. When the spell was done, she rose to her feet. Charred meat was all that lay within a seared suit of armor smoking from the seams.
The three of them turned their attention to Vraqiroth. The fiend backed away from them, tongue darting out nervously.
“Step forward and submit to Sol’s judgement.” Athyzon’s voice boomed.
“Fools. You are too late… Shaol’s plans are already in motion. You will die with the rest.” Vraqiroth raised its hands, sleeves falling back to reveal its pale, bony arms.
Waves of darkness rolled forth from the fiend as it chanted a spell. Wounds opened on the trio—flesh tore open beneath armor, bones cracked and split, and blood flowed freely. Yosrick and Athyzon fell to their knees, groaning in pain. Idrimel staggered as her insides twisted, blood pouring from her nose and mouth, but she stood fast, clutching her holy symbol and calling on Sol’s grace. A glowing spear of light lanced out from her holy symbol, piercing the waves of darkness and impaling Vraqiroth. The fiend cursed and screeched, but it was frozen in the warm, purifying light of Sol.
“End it, Brother.” Idrimel managed to get the words out despite the agony tearing into her insides. She gritted her teeth, focused on keeping Vraqiroth immobilized with her spell.
Athyzon bellowed a battle cry and fought back to his feet. Two steps and a mighty swing of Redeemer proved the end of Vraqiroth. The ensorcelled creature was frozen and helpless. Redeemer entered its left side, cleaved through ribs and chest, and exited just above its right shoulder. The creature’s face was frozen in shock, and it remained still momentarily before its upper half slid sideways and fell to the floor with a wet sound. The rest of its body toppled over beside it.
Their pain instantly subsided although the wounds remained. Athyzon stabbed Redeemer into the upper half of Vraqiroth and uttered a command word. White fire erupted from the blade, burning the fiend to ash in a matter of moments. He repeated the process with the lower half.
Idrimel cast healing spells on Athyzon, Yosrick, and herself, and the infernal wounds caused by Vraqiroth knit up and disappeared. Athyzon incinerated the other three demons with Redeemer while Idrimel sifted through Vraqiroth’s ashes in hopes of finding any clues to the fiend’s plans. She found nothing.
“That was invigorating,” Yosrick remarked. He plopped down on a rickety barrel, which groaned under his weight but held. He flipped up his visor, removed a flask from his belt, and took a long swallow. “I have to wonder though, why the Warders haven’t appeared. The Pale Lord doesn’t
tolerate such magical skirmishes within Nexus.”
“Surely, he wouldn’t tolerate such fiends plotting against his city, either,” Idrimel replied. She poked around the fringes of the room but could find nothing of interest that might hint at Vraqiroth’s plans.
Yosrick shrugged. “Assuming he knew of such, then no. Fiends are sneaky by nature, my lady.”
“I don’t like this,” Athyzon said. “The fiend indicated it had already set in motion whatever its plans were and seemed to think we are too late to prevent it.”
Idrimel nodded. “Whatever those plans are hasn’t been revealed to us as yet. I will pray to Sol for guidance once we are away from here.” She looked over at Yosrick. “Thank you for your aid, Master Gnome. Your timing was fortuitous. Your uncle was wise, sending you. I am Idrimel, and this is Athyzon. We owe you.”
The gnome grinned. “The gratitude of a lovely lady is thanks enough.”
As Athyzon chuckled, Idrimel turned away so they couldn’t see her blush. “So what shall we do now?”
“Perhaps we should return to the temple and pray for guidance, Sister. I think we have been through quite a lot for one night. Unless Yosrick has any ideas?” Athyzon frowned at his crushed vambrace.
“Aye, I might have one or two.” The gnome removed his helmet to reveal a shock of red hair sticking up over his large ears. He took off his gauntlets and knelt over a singed remnant from Vraqiroth’s cloak. He muttered something under his breath and rubbed his hands together and, to Idrimel's surprise, performed a magical incantation.
The cloak scrap stirred as if a stiff breeze tugged at it. A moment later, an illusory form of Vraqiroth stood over its ashes.
“Now we see where it’s been,” Yosrick said.
This strange little fellow could be quite useful.
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