Descent Into Darkness (Book 2) (30 page)

"Sorry for whaa--" he began, but his words turned into a yell as her wings opened up and she tossed him a dozen paces away from her. He bounced a few times on the stone before rolling and coming to a stop on his side, facing Azalea. Taking a quick look around, Ean found himself down an empty tunnel. Behind Azalea, Ean could see the junction and the battle still going on.

Azalea flashed him a quick smile and a wink before turning just in time to meet the rush of two flesh creatures. Her wings folded against her back as she nimbly dodged the bladed arms of her attackers, stepping under their hasty strikes. It looked like a graceful dance the way she weaved in and out of the eight separate arms of the two creatures. Occasionally she would lash out with a foot, the long nails on her toes raking into the skin of the creature and forcing it back. Ean watched in amazement, marveling at the Yulari's power combined with unnatural grace and speed.

After a few moments of dipping and dodging, Azalea increased her attacks. She lashed out with a foot at one of the flesh monsters, sending it backwards then grabbed the bone blade of another with both hands at a spot that was slightly past where it jutted out of the creature's fleshy elbow. With a loud crack, she broke the blade off as easily as Ean would snap a twig, tossing the large piece of bone to the ground. The monster attacked with another of his three remaining blades, but Azalea was too quick. Repeating the same action, she broke off a second bone. By the time the other monster had rejoined the battle, Azalea had broken off three of the monster's bone blades. All in a matter of a few heartbeats, smiling the entire time.

Just as quickly, though, two more of the creatures appeared out of the crowd behind Azalea, joining in on the attack. They must have either realized who was the greater danger or had simply finished off most of the remaining guards. Either way, the three creatures and their one wounded brother surrounded Azalea, each one lashing out and trying to catch her unaware.

Azalea's wings lifted slightly, protecting the back of her head from any attack she couldn't see coming. She still dodged and weaved, escaping the blows of almost twice as many bone blades now. Azalea didn't seem to pick up speed as she ducked under one blade then dodged to the right to avoid another, but the smile was certainly gone from her mouth now. Not taking her eyes off her attackers, she yelled out to Ean.

"Get out of here, now. If one slips by me, I don't know if I'd be able to stop him from getting to you." She ducked under another blade and then let a different blow graze off her wings.

"I'm not leaving you!" Ean shouted back, taking a step towards the Yulari. When he tried to take another, it felt like his leg was caught on something. Looking down, he found the blur of the imp wrapped around his leg.

"Zin, let go! We have to help!"

"Help how? By dying?" the imp's voice sounded desperate. "She can handle herself. We would just get in the way. We need to go."

"No chance!" Ean tried to move back towards the fighting, but it was difficult to walk without tripping with the imp on his leg.

"Ean, if we try to help, she'll get distracted watching out for you, and we'll all die. If we go now, once we've gotten far enough away she can get away as well."

Ean grimaced, knowing that the imp was right but still not wanting to leave a friend behind. He took another step towards her.

Glancing back at him, the Yulari frowned as she dodged two bone blades at once.

"Get out of here now!" She yelled before sending a kick that snapped the leg of one of the monsters. The creature dropped like a stone, but even from the ground its bladed arms tried to catch Azalea. Snatching one of the blades in her hands, she broke off the edge, spun out of the way of two other blades meant to impale her, and launched the piece of bone she held in her hand at Ean.

The tip struck him squarely in the chest, with just enough force to break the skin. With a wince he took a step back then nodded as his eyes met Azalea's for the briefest of moments. Then she was spinning away again, always on the move, keeping each of the creatures around her occupied.

"Fine," Ean said, although the word burned his tongue. As soon as it was out of his mouth, Zin detached himself from Ean's leg. "Let's go."

Something else tugged at him then, and he looked down at Zin once more before realizing it was the connection to his hound. Ean felt boredom from the beast. Of course. He had told the animal to stay and surprisingly, it had listened, not bothering to even move after the chaos ensued.

Ean sent what he hoped was an order for the hound to join him. He received a sense of relief back, and in moments the hound came barreling through the crowd, knocking over both Living Dead and flesh beast alike as they crowded in the junction. The hound even managed to knock down two of the flesh beasts that were engaged with Azalea on his way to Ean's side. The Yulari took the opportunity to lure the two standing away from the opening to the tunnel back towards the middle of the junction. Ean watched as she disappeared into the crowd of bodies and beasts, all four of the flesh beasts she had been fighting giving chase for a moment, then changing their targets to the more easily overcome townsfolk.

Straining his eyes one last moment to try and catch sight of her, Ean sighed and turned his back to the carnage. He immediately began to jog down the tunnel, not waiting to see if Zin or the hound followed, letting the tattoos on his arm dim so that the light and everything around him was barely visible. No point lighting the way for those creatures to follow them. So, on he jogged in silence, into the darkness, leaving a piece of himself back with the Yulari that was fighting for him.

"NOT THAT WAY," ZIN says after they stumbled along for a while. "If we keep following that tunnel, we will run into the kennels and a dead end. Head right."

Ean stopped at the imp's words, staring ahead towards the kennels. He hadn't been jogging for long, but it felt like it had been days since he left Azalea. He had been lost in his own thoughts, moving ahead without really paying attention to the bends and sharp turns of this tunnel. Zin had remained quiet up until this point, Ean's breath and the panting of the hound the only sound echoing in the corridor.

"Where does the other path lead?" he asked quietly.

"Back through the two Carnslug hatcheries and then the kitchen." The imp's voice sounded odd, lacking its usual sarcastic tone. Clearly, he recognized the gravity of the situation. "The kitchen connects to the dining hall and back towards the living quarters one way, the library and then the throne room the other way."

"Fine."

Ean paused to stare back down the way they had come. Taking a moment to better attune himself to the energy flowing within him, he mystically reached out in an attempt to try and feel where Azalea was in the mines.

It was useless, of course. The entire mine hummed with the energy of the Abyss, growing stronger in the direction Zin was leading them. He couldn't even distinguish Zin or the hound in all of that energy, and they were standing only a few paces away. All he could do was hope for the best...

...or he could be a man and go back and try and help her...

"She wouldn't want you to do that," Zin said as if he had read Ean's thoughts. "She purposefully drew the beasts off so we could get away and continue on. Let's not waste that effort."

"You're happy to see her gone," Ean growled. "You never trusted her, even though it was your idea to have her come along in the first place." Disgust laced his words. A part of him knew that the disgust was more for himself, but he couldn't help directing it at the imp. "Now you don't have to worry about her anymore."

"Ean..." the imp began, but Ean cut him off with a raised hand.

"I know... I know..."

Leaning back against the wall, Ean let himself slide down into a sitting position. What kind of a man was he? First he had no problem letting Bran and Jaslen run off into the woods, abandoning them to who knows what. He had barely even thought about them since that night. For all he knew, they could have died in those woods, lost and starving or attacked by animals. He should have gone after them.

And now he was doing the same thing to Azalea, leaving her on her own. Except those monsters were far worse than anything Bran and Jaslen could have run into in the forest. Sure, she might have been able to hold her own against four of them, but could she survive more than that? Ean by himself wouldn't last a few moments against one of those creatures, but the hound could help...

An image flashed through his mind--Azalea pinned to the ground by dozens of bone blades, his hound being ripped apart, Zin impaled on the blade of another monster...

It was one thing to know that moving on was the right decision, but it certainly didn't make it any easier.

"Ean, we have to go," Zin said softly.

"You're right." Pushing himself back to his feet, he nodded. "We still have things to do."

So they pushed on, neither speaking a word, the hound slightly behind them. Ean tried his best to not dwell on things, but every now and then, the image of Azalea's smirking face flashed in his mind. He needed to keep his mind on the task at hand. But first...

"Zin," Ean finally said, growing tired of the silence. "I'm sorry."

Glancing down at the imp, Ean caught Zin give a slight shrug. "It's fine. Like you said, I supported bringing her along. I thought we could use her and then didn't like it when the two of you started getting all buddy-buddy."

"Jealous?" Ean tried to force a laugh after the word, but he couldn't put any emotion into it.

"No, not jealous. I was worried that she was manipulating you, turning you into one of her playthings."

"But her tricks don't work on me."

That got a laugh out of the imp. "You might be immune to her Yulari tricks, but she has the same set of tricks as all beautiful girls. Did I ever tell you that a beautiful human woman, not all that different from how the Yulari looked, led to my former master's downfall?

Ean's ears perked up. "Uh, no. Go on."

"Well, like I've said, by the end, my master was a harsh and cruel man set on taking over the entire land. He did things that give me the shivers. But through it all, there was one constant thing that could occasionally bring out his old, more compassionate side. A girl named Adara.

Now, I won't bother you with their entire history, but Adara was supposedly at my master's side from the beginning. She was there back when he was, well, whatever he was before he came into power. She stuck by his side as his power grew and even supported him when he started down a darker path. From what I remember of the two of them, anytime she was around, all of my master's minions relaxed just the slightest bit. If Adara was in the room, you felt the slightest bit safer."

"But you said she led to his downfall?"

"From what I've overheard. Remember, I wasn't there when he died, and in the chaos that ensued after his death, it was hard to get any straight answers. Most of his minions were worrying about when they would be dragged back down to the Abyss, and most wouldn't waste the time talking to an imp in even the best circumstances."

"So then what did you hear happened?"

"She betrayed him, which led to his death. Other than that, I have no idea. I overheard some Cruxlum raging about how Adara had been the one to deliver the killing blow. A pair of Mangoli mentioned that she had simply distracted him long enough for someone else to make the deadly strike." Zin shrugged, his face scrunching up slightly. "I'm sure someone knows, but they are probably still stuck down in the Abyss. If they are still alive after this long."

"So, you thought Azalea would bring about the same fate for me."

"In one way or another. Of course, I thought she was a completely selfish creature as well. She certainly proved me wrong today. Believe it or not, I do hope that we round one of these corners and find her smirking at us. Just hopefully not with any of those horrible creatures close behind her."

"Hopefully," Ean replied, and they continued on in silence.

After a dozen more twists and turns, they came upon a large pair of stone doors standing open. Stepping through the opening, the tunnel opened up into a huge cavern. Stalagmites and small pockets in the stone littered the room, which was three times the size of the average barn. Ean took in more of the energy of the Abyss, letting the tattoos on his body flare up and illuminate the large room even more. Shadows danced everywhere as the light coming off of him grew in intensity, made even creepier by the silence all around them.

"Carnslug hatchery," Zin said quietly, his eyes darting around.

"Expecting something dangerous to leap out at us?"

"No. Just looking for a left over meal. Carnslugs are pretty hardy, and I thought a few might have survived. I haven't had anything to eat in a while."

Ean shook his head as he began walking around the room. "I can't imagine how something with 'slug' in its name could be that appetizing."

"You say that now, but if you tried one you would like it. They taste like chicken, but with a bit more flavor."

"Mmhmm."

"I don't think there are any in here. Best if we move on. We still have to pass through the second hatchery before we reach the kitchens."

"Fine with me."

Glancing around, Ean found another set of open doors with a tunnel behind them. When Ean nodded in its direction, Zin returned the nod, and they both made their way towards the doors. The hound had its back to them, its head down low to the ground as it sniffed around.

"Looks like the hound has picked up a scent. You sure there couldn't be any of these Carnslugs left around?"

"I guess there could be. They eat the fungus and dirt off of cave walls, so in theory they could live down here forever. They multiply like crazy though, which is why they are such a good source for food, and they simply split apart to breed. If there was even one left a few days ago we would have found dozens today."

Ean urged the hound to follow through the bond they shared. It looked up at him, sniffed at the air a few times and trotted over. Ean felt boredom coming though their bond. What did a hound do for fun anyway?

The hound looked over at Zin. Licking its lips a few times, the hound's mouth opened up into a toothy smile. Zin caught the look and began to shift about nervously.

"Don't even think about it," Ean said, shaking a finger at the hound.

Annoyance was all Ean received through the bond, the hound's mouth closing as it pushed its way past Ean. The beast almost knocked him over as it went past, not making any effort to go around him. It took a few steps past the door and then turned its head and looked back.

"Did I mention before how nervous that hound makes me?" Zin said, walking up to Ean's side.

"Yes, many times. But I'm almost positive that it will listen to my commands and not turn you into a meal."

"So reassuring." Gesturing with a clawed hand towards the tunnel ahead, the imp made a mock bow. "After you."

Rolling his eyes at the imp, Ean walked up and past the hound. The tunnel stretched ahead of him into darkness, a sharp turn barely visible at the edge of his vision. He kept the energy of the Abyss flowing through him, the tattoos on his arms lighting up the tunnel as brightly as any torch. They had been walking long enough to make him think that they had left those monsters behind for good.

The faint sound of a moan echoing far behind them sent a shiver down his spine.

Zin rubbed his hands together nervously. "You need to close the doors."

Ean hurried over to the big stone doors and gave one of them a push. He might as well have been pushing the wall. Bracing himself, he put all of his strength into trying to move one of the doors. Again, nothing. Across the empty hatchery he could hear the moan growing louder.

Ean was about to try and wedge himself between the door and the wall when Zin tugged at his pants.

"They are too heavy for you."

"Yes, I realize that now," Ean grunted, still pushing on the door. "If you knew it was too heavy, why did you tell me to close it in the first place?"

"My old master used to be able to shut the doors using his power. Something about the runes. I figured you might be able to find a way to close them the same way".

"You should have said that right away!" he growled, then immediately regretted it. The moans coming from the opposite tunnel paused for a few moments before starting up again, much louder than they had been before. Ean looked down at the imp.

"What do I do?"

Zin frowned, his shoulders rising and falling. "I'm not completely sure. He would place his hands on the doors, runes would light up, and the doors would swing closed."

Ean looked at the bare stone doors, bereft of any markings. Moving around to the front of them, he tried his best to find the slightest etch in the stone. They were completely blank.

"There is nothing here. The doors are completely bare. How can I activate runes that have worn away over time?"

"I don't know."

A flicker of movement caught Ean's attention and he turned around. Just starting to walk through the opposite doorway was one of the monstrosities, its body covered in slashes with one of its bone blades completely broken off. As Ean's eyes met the creature's, it let out a long moan and began shuffling towards him.

Both surprised and thankful that the thing hadn't broken out into a sprint at the sight of him, Ean turned his attention back to the door.

"Zin, tell me if that thing starts moving faster or if any more of them show up."

"Absolutely." The imp ran up next to him, his small body tensed.

Running his hands over the smooth surface of the door, Ean tried to think. Zin's old master had just placed his hand over the door, no magic words, no tracing new runes on top of the surface.