“You did wonderfully Christian, as always,” The Underlord threw a sack of gold coins to the out of shape dwarf.
“Hey, there it is. Much appreciated, your dastardliness. I’ll just be takin’ my leave then,” Christian picked up the coin purse. The dwarf stood, still visibly out of breath and holding a stitch in his side. He managed to limp towards the entrance and winked at the three humans. “It’s been fun ya’ll. Keep me in mind fur yur next adventure, yeah?”
“You knew he was the Underlord the whole time?” Sam asked.
“’Course I did, what kind a dwarf do you take me for? We were just pickin’ on you a bit, don’t get yur panties in a twist,” Christian chuckled.
The dwarf left the room, barking orders to the crippled guards Sam had injured to carry the body of Reaver with them and dispose of it in the Loch. When they were gone, the Underlord changed into his natural form. The shape was vaguely human, black with stars twinkling inside of the body. He had no mouth but had a nose and twinkling eyes which reminded Sam of what Dytin had looked like. The Underlord put on a robe that covered a majority of his starred skin and motioned for the others to follow him down a side passage. “Come, I believe we have business to discuss.”
Chapter 6
The Temptress
David and Ahtash looked up at the palace fence with a collective sigh. The task of sneaking into Edmund’s chambers was going to be a little more daunting than they had originally imagined. Ahtash looked at David and nodded firmly. “Get onto my back,” She said.
“What? You’re going to jump it?” He asked.
Ahtash removed her lance from her back and tapped the end on the cobblestone. “Vault us over the gate, yes.”
“You’ll never make it, even if I wasn’t on your back. It’s too high.”
“You have another suggestion?” Ahtash asked.
David sighed. He readjusted the blade made by his father in its wrapping across his back. It was the only evidence he had of Edmund’s crime and he wanted to see the prince’s reaction when the blade was presented as proof. “I could try to give us a boost,” David said, looking worryingly at the decorative yet menacingly sharp spear heads at the top of the black iron bars.
Ahtash put a hand on David’s shoulder. “You are having doubts. You must persist. What you do is for love.”
David rolled his eyes. “It’s just something to help Haven and her family.”
“Why do you deny your feelings? You know we share them through our bond. I feel what you feel and I know what you think of her,” Ahtash argued.
“Let’s just get over that fence…” David crawled onto Ahtash’s back.
The apprentice straddled Ahtash’s tail like a horse saddle and wrapped his arms around her neck. The dragon took a few paces back from the fence, getting used to David’s added weight. Because of their bond, they didn’t need to communicate on whether David needed to adjust his posture or Ahtash to flex certain muscles to keep them balanced, they just knew. The Soulbond communicated much more than just emotions it seemed.
Ahtash sprinted towards the fence with her lance held like a pole jumper. She found a notch between two cobblestones, flexed her muscles, and vaulted into the air. David let one hand point at the ground and a gust of wind escaped his palm, propelling them higher than they had each anticipated.
The two lost contact with each other, flailing their arms wildly as they careened back towards the ground, clearing the fence with ease. David landed in a hedge as Ahtash splashed into a large fountain. The apprentice escaped the bush and walked to the dragon, now scowling at him as a statue of a baby spit fountain water onto her head. “Sorry, little less gumption next time,” David apologized.
Ahtash exited the pool, shaking herself dry like a dog. David shielded his face and whined as water droplets sprayed over him. When she was done, Ahtash spit a stream of water into David’s face for good measure. The dragon chuckled as David tried in vain to shake his clothes dry. “Are you quite finished?” The man asked.
“For now,” The dragon teased. “Where do we go next?”
“Southwest corner balcony according to Nathaniel’s security plans. I snuck a peak last night,” David stated, starting his way through the garden, wary of guard patrols.
Ahtash sprinted forward; grabbing hold of the apprentice and placing him neatly onto her back again. The dragon bolted through the garden faster than any human could keep track. She ducked and weaved past flower bushes and through mazes. She leaped over ivy grating and ran alongside the palace walls. As she looked up at the southwest corner a few hundred meters ahead, her thoughts crossed David’s through their bond. “Ohhh no, don’t even think about…”
Before David could finish his sentence, Ahtash leapt onto the side of the wall. Digging her claws deep into the marble, she propelled them up the stone face as easily as if she were running up a flight of stairs. Once gravity stopped her momentum, she dug in with her hands, climbing and leaping upward and sideways. She hung from window sills, ran along decorative molding, and even vaulted them off gargoyles. In a matter of minutes, Ahtash had them dangling from the Prince’s balcony. David’s fingers were sunk deep into the dragon's shoulders, his breath sporadic. “We are here,” Ahtash stated.
Slowly, David relinquished his hold and, with the help of the dragon’s tail, climbed his way up and over the railing. After he helped Ahtash up, the two creeped inside, ducking behind a changing screen as they heard voices coming from the attached bathroom.
Edmund exited the washroom dripping wet and wearing nothing but a robe. “What’s with all the blasted questions? The Guardian is nothing but a nuisance!” Edmund called to someone still in the washroom.
Ahtash broke through the screen and slammed the prince against the wall, lifting his feet off the ground. Her hand was over his mouth like a vice, silencing his muffled cries for alarm. A woman with black hair and dark skin walked out of the washroom in a somewhat see-through robe, drying her hair. “You know me and the girls, we can’t get enough news about him and you’re the best source baby… baby?”
The woman saw Ahtash holding the prince against the wall and noticed David unfurling a blade from a wrapping on his back. “Assassins! They’ve come to kill the prin…”
Ahtash’s tail smacked the woman in the face like a whip, sending her careening over an ottoman and into a make-up dresser. Her eyes fluttered briefly and she blacked out. David collected himself after seeing Ahtash’s proficiency in handling the mistress and returned his face to a stern glare. “Good Morning, your majesty.”
Ahtash allowed Edmund to expose his mouth. “The apprentice? What in Damnation is the meaning of this!? You have some gall to come in here and…” Ahtash’s fingers clasped over the prince’s lips once more to cut him off.
David threw the blade onto the large bed next to them. “Do you remember that? A gift from my father in the valley?”
Edmund’s eyes widened in shock. That was when David knew his suspicions were correct. Edmund had killed High Enchanter Drakona, his mentor, his teacher, his friend. “Would you like to take a guess as to where I found that?”
Ahtash allowed Edmund to speak. “You think you’re some kind of priest? What makes you think I’d confess anything to some peasant trash like you?” The prince sneered.
Ahtash grabbed a hold of the prince's robe and dragged him to the balcony, lifting him up and over the railing. Edmund's screams echoed through the winter air as he clung to the thin fabric clenched in the dragon's fist. "Ok! Ok! I did it! I did it! Oh Light, don't drop meeee!"
Ahtash whipped the prince around and threw him to the bed. The prince landed on his stomach, the dragon jumping on top of him and holding him down. David knelt down and got face to face with the royal. "I want you to allow Captain Whitespell a promotion.”
“Are you mad? What business is one soldier’s career to you that you’d climb all the way…”
Ahtash punched the prince hard in the kidney, causing the man to wail in pain into
the sheets. A low guttural growl escaped from her snarling mouth. “Ok, ok. I’ll do it, I’ll do it,” The prince whined.
“Also I want a regular stipend paid to the Whitespell family as thanks for their father’s sacrifice,” David demanded in a calm voice.
Edmund nodded furiously, still reeling from Ahtash’s attack. David walked over and collected the sword and again wrapped it into the cloth and placed it over his back. “Good, I trust you’ll keep this arrangement to yourself. I don’t suppose the people would appreciate a prince who turned out to be a murderer. Remember, Prince Edmund, we’ll be watching.”
With that, Ahtash elbowed the prince in the back of the head so hard he blacked out. By the time he woke up on his bed, everyone, including his mistress, was gone.
* * *
Sam had never tasted such an assortment of delicacies. Amongst the table full of food were things like clams and oysters from the coast, oranges from across the sea, even dates from the sandy lands to the north. Every piece on the long table was a smuggled food sample the Underlord was willing to offer. “Along with your assorted flour, yeast, oils, and corn, these delights could be brought in at some higher prices for the merchants to sell. That should keep them from rebelling against your father,” The black and starred face looked at Lucas.
“I believe these prices will be more than reasonable to my father and his accountants. I can make the payment dead drops myself,” Lucas agreed.
“Excellent, you know which warehouses the food stores will arrive in. Third Wednesday of each month, starting in two days time,” The Underlord cleaned his hands with a napkin.
Sam looked at his plate, suddenly feeling guilty he was helping broker an illegal deal. April slurped another oyster into her mouth. “What’s wrong Sam? Not hungry?” April asked, her mouth full.
“No one’s going to get hurt during the ‘acquirement’ of this food will they?” Sam asked suddenly.
“My dear boy, I cannot dictate how the cargo is retrieved. I’m simply a middle man,” The Underlord stated. “I’m just providing a service. Some much needed food to the starving people of Lochmare while simultaneously providing some much needed gold to some risk-taking sailors.”
Sam looked depressingly back down at his plate and the Underlord chuckled. “My my, you are the cutest, Mr. Gale. Come, I believe I have something that may cheer you up, whilst clearing your conscience about the reasons you ventured down here.”
Sam and the Underlord walked through his lavish home in the Underbelly. Foreign rugs, fine jewelry, exquisite statues, the whole place looked like a pirate’s treasure trove. The shade moved to a dresser near his lavish bed and opened up a drawer and removed it. Tossing the expensive clothes within onto the bed, the Underlord poked a section in the bottom of it and revealed a secret compartment. Inside was a grey shard, swirling with mist and clouds inside. The Underlord’s starred eyes cast across Sam. “This has been in my family’s safe keeping for a long, long time. When you came into my tavern yesterday, I knew the real reason you were here in Lochmare. As noble as curing the famine in one tiny kingdom may be, we both know you have a higher calling.”
“You’re the Guardian of the Shadow? Why didn’t you tell me?” Sam asked, handling the stone with care as the Underlord handed it to him.
“Please, my kind have never been much for titles. Secrets and Sorcery has always been our mantra. You wouldn’t believe how many of my kind survive today, living among the other races all across the face of Teva. I don’t even know the full number. What kind of ‘Guardian’ would I be when I can’t even keep track of my own people? No, I’m happy here, ruling my little criminal empire and living quite well, thank you. Every few years there’s a nice mutiny or gang war to break up the monotony.”
“And when that doesn’t work, there’s always turning into a monster and scaring your followers half to death,” Sam smiled.
The Underlord chuckled. “Ah yes, there is that too. All and all I am content here. I know what the Architect seeks, and I know it was you he charged to collect them. Do send my regards, won’t you?”
“There may be a time where I require the aid of more… specialized… individuals. Can I count on you then?” Sam asked.
“By the way that April Aidyn handled herself I’d say you already have one of the best rogues you could ever find, but if there is need of my services or those of my followers, I am always at your disposal,” The Underlord bowed regally.
“For a price?” Sam asked, untrusting.
The Underlord chuckled again. “For you? Free of charge. Guardian to Guardian.”
Sam placed the stone of shadow into one of his pouches and shook the Underlord’s hand. Four down, eight to go.
* * *
David and Ahtash rounded the corner to see Whitespell Manor down the street along the wall that separated the central borough from the outer boroughs. They were feeling confident, having made their escape without anyone noticing, hurling themselves over the fence well enough this time to land on their feet and mix into the bustling crowd without incident. It wasn’t until they got closer to the gates of the manor did they notice the black-haired woman they had seen in the prince’s chambers. She wore skin tight black pants tucked into high leather boots of the same color. A deep cut, red undershirt showed out from underneath a black leather corset. She was applying lipstick and looked into a compact mirror but seemed to know when the two were within speaking distance. “Very nice deal you brokered with the prince there, David Aidyn,” She said.
“How do you know my name?” David asked as Ahtash started to growl.
“Oh I know a great many things about you and all of your little friends. Like how the gallant Guardian of the Wind secretly fears he's leading every one of you to your death. Or how your archer friend was once an honored guest of the Dark One. I especially like how that pretty little healer in there wants someone to love her so badly she’ll cozy up to just about any man who will warm her bed. Sounds like the two of us have a lot in common,” The woman made a mocked pouting lip.
David could feel something wrong about the woman. A dark presence. “You won’t go near her,” David said protectively.
“Who’s going to stop me? You? Your pet may have gotten the drop on me once but it won’t happen again,” The woman threatened.
“We’ll see about that!” Ahtash challenged.
The dragon woman charged forward, the black haired lady dodging her attacks with unnatural movement. The woman hovered, spun, and darted around Ahtash like she was possessed. Finally, in a moment of vulnerability, the woman grabbed the dragon woman’s shoulders and kissed her deeply on the lips. The dragon recoiled, but soon felt woozy and collapsed to the ground. David ran to his friend’s side. “What are you? Who are you?” He asked, trying to rouse Ahtash.
David watched as the woman’s face changed. The bridge of her nose grew as did her brows to make her face seem almost bat like while her eyes turned to a sick mix of red and gold. Her canines grew and her hair started waving behind her like snakes. Before David’s eyes, large, leathery wings sprouted from under the woman’s clothes, tearing through the cloth and leather like it was paper. David’s eyes widened. “You’re a succubus! A Vampire!”
“I am Lilith, first lady to the Dark One!” The creature before him spoke in a demonic voice. “Enjoy your little victory for now, apprentice! Soon my lord’s gaze will cast across your puny capital. When he's through, your people will wish they had died from something as simple as hunger.”
“What is he planning? Tell me!” David demanded.
Lilith wagged her finger sarcastically with a tsk tsk tsk from her lips. Her long snake like tongue slithered out of her mouth and went back in. “Don’t think you can threaten me like that weakling, Edmund.”
Lilith stepped forward and grabbed David’s throat between fingers with elongated nails. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a Mage; your blood is always so invigorating and tingly,” Her forked tongue wriggled over David’s face
, making the boy cringe. “Mmm, tasty.”
A whistle of an arrow sliced through the air and impacted with the back of Lilith’s shoulder. The demon cried out in agony and hissed as she turned towards the manor, Poikaer notching another arrow into her bow. Lilith disappeared in a large explosion of black smoke and David was released from her hold. In seconds, Lilith appeared on the roof next to Poikaer in a similar cloud of smoke. “She can teleport!?” David asked astonished.
Poikaer lashed at the demon, Lilith dodging the blows as easily as she had Ahtash’s. When there was an opening, Lilith lunged forward to try and paralyze the elf as she had the dragon, with a kiss, but Poikaer having watched the earlier bout had a surprise for her. In a split second, the elf withdrew a dagger from her belt and struck at the demon’s lips. The blade met its mark; slipping inside the succubus’ mouth and slashing her left cheek open clean back to her jawbone. Lillith hissed and cried out in pain, shielding her face with one hand and batting at Poikaer with the other. The elf was back-handed with enough force that she lost her footing and tumbled down the roof and over the edge. Poikaer landed in some hedges, the red-blossomed cherry tree branches slowing her fall. Lilith screamed so loudly her demonic voice echoed through the central borough. “A curse on you all, impudent whelps! My master will raze this city to the ground and I will dance on its embers! I swear it!” With that Lilith disappeared into another explosion of black smoke.
The apprentice looked about, people who had heard the commotion running to help him. David instructed the helpers to lift Ahtash’s unconscious body and take her inside the manor. David rummaged through the bushes and found Poikaer. Despite the fall, multiple cuts, and blood everywhere, the elf was conscious, though clutching her back. "Poikaer! Can you stand?" he yelled frantically.
"My legs,” She winced. "I can't move them...”
The apprentice lifted his savior and started to take her in. The townsfolk laid Ahtash on the living room couch and David placed Poikaer in the chair next to her. Haven came thundering down the stairs and immediately started diagnosing those wounded. “Who was that?” She asked.
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