The Beginnings Omnibus: Beginnings 1, 2, 3 & Legend of Ashenclaw novella (Realm of Ashenclaw Beginnings Saga) (99 page)

The sound of grunting pulled the attention of the half-orc, as he happened to turn his head to catch Rose in his sight, his gaze remaining on her for a curiously long time. Elec could not begin to guess why the half-orc dropped his guard, but for whatever reason, the gift was offered.

“You should give your opponents more consideration,” Elec offered as he shoved the half-orc away and slashed a wide arcing left to right swing that bit into flesh beneath the leather jerkin and chain mail. The half-orc’s eyes narrowed as he refitted his armor and the two combatants circled each other once more, though the half-orc was certainly distracted by the redheaded rogue.

Perhaps it will be his undoing
, Elec thought as he dove at him again.

Rose advanced, removing
Avorna
and
Zaedra
simultaneously from their scabbards upon her thighs. Before she could decipher where to help, she witnessed a blonde woman stride toward her assertively, twin rapiers in hand.

“You picked the wrong snake hole,” said the woman in a deadly tone.

“Did we?” Rose asked rhetorically, spinning the daggers around in her palms and then curling her fingers tightly about their hilts. “On the contrary… it seems we may have picked the right one after all.”

Rose could not help but notice that the half-orc that was engaged with Elec turned a lingering eye upon her that unnerved her. The distraction almost cost her. The woman lunged with a feint to her belly and then followed that up deftly, trying to catch Rose ducking as she expertly thrust a killing strike aimed toward her heart. Rose recognized the feint for what it was and slid to the side, beginning a countering move of her own. She punched out with her left hand and grazed the woman on her cheekbone, aided magically by the speed within the daggers. Her right hand followed the trajectory as she thrust her blade to where the woman would have been if she had lazily moved her head left to right, but she had not. Instead, she had expertly moved her body at an angle that took her away from the strike, moving backward and to her left, thus missing what would have been a killing blow.

Up came the rapiers once more, countered by
Avorna
and
Zaedra
. Over and over, attack and counter was matched blow for blow. Either by movement of body or by movement of blade, neither of them could gain the upper hand. Even Rose’s magically hastened attacks could not make up for her opponent’s prowess in melee.

And so, the two continued a deadly dance of steel on steel, matching thrust for parry and strike for strike, neither of them giving ground or asking for quarter, pitting experience against speed.

Rose felt the thrill of combat and the wager of her own life, the most exhilarating of all thrills. This was more adrenaline-charged than stealing had ever been, she realized, as she countered another well-timed combination and began to respond in kind.

A smirk of confidence creased her face despite the mounting flesh wounds on her body.

She was having the time of her life.

Saeunn stood over the now prone taur, one axe lost to him and the other held above his bullhead in a defensive position. She brought her greatsword down, driving the axe handle from the taur’s hands, leaving him defenseless. She bled from a deep wound on her right shoulder, but ignored the pain, overcome by a bloodlust that was fueling her. She raised her sword once more and held it aloft, poised to deliver a deadly strike when she heard a commanding shout over the din of combat that reverberated within the mineshaft’s walls.

“Enough!”

The order was announced with such authority as to direct all within earshot to immediately stop what they were doing.

Everyone turned to face the source of the voice all at once. It was a raven-haired dwarf with a patch covering his right eye. He forcibly held a woman in tattered robes by her left arm, dragging her from a platform that arrived from somewhere below. He shoved her out before him, placing her between the combat and his own body.

“be this what ye came for?” asked the dwarf with anger permeating his features as he tossed the woman unceremoniously to the stony surface.

Saeunn was completely confused and her bloodlust began to wane slowly as she stood in silence, watching the scene unfold.

Who is this dwarf?
she thought, lowering her steel from on high and resting its tip against the surface of the cave. She looked around and witnessed Garius fall to the floor in a heap as the dark bands that held him faded to nothing.

She glanced to Rose and her blonde opponent suddenly stand up straight and hold their weapons to their sides, facing the dwarf and putting distance between themselves.

Orngoth and the taur he’d engaged were both holding onto their weapons, the taur’s spiked chain was wrapped around Orngoth’s club. Both of them relinquished their weapons and they fell to the stone in a tangled mess of timber and steel.

And Elec and his half-orc opponent regained their footing and retrieved their weapons but only to stow them, waiting for the dwarf to speak again.

No one moved.

Garius shook the darkness from his consciousness and heard a shout.

No, a command, he recognized. His restricted lungs, which until recently were deprived of air, were now suddenly drawing in breath. The warlock had almost sent him to see the pantheon of gods directly, but dismissed her spell upon hearing the command.

The Inquisitor made it to his feet and removed his helmet, clipping it to a latch on his belt, but still held
The Repentant
tightly in hand. He observed that all of the fighting had stopped and witnessed a woman in ragged robes lying face down upon the floor. Her garb, despite their current nature, spoke of royalty.

Curious
, he thought.
Who is—

“Ye came fer the princess, did ye not?” asked the dwarf, interrupting Garius’s curiosity. Elec, Saeunn, Orngoth and Rose made their way to stand behind him as if to show a unified force to their attackers.

Likewise, their opponents, all five of them, gathered around the exasperated dwarf.

The woman who lay on the floor looked up with a pained expression upon her features. She made it to her knees and blood could be seen dripping from a fresh cut on her left elbow. Garius inhaled slowly as recognition flooded his senses and his eyes narrowed, leveling his gaze upon the dwarf.

“Who are you dwarf, that you hold this woman of such noble standing captive such as this, stowed away like some common peasant?” Garius questioned with conviction laden upon his face.

“I asked ye a question,” stated the dwarf, nodding toward the prone woman.

“Aye,” Garius lied. Elec and Saeunn in particular looked curiously at him as he spoke. “We’re here for her…and for one more item of note.”

The dwarf shook his head and held his hand out, waving it back and forth. “This be the only thing we got fer offerin’. If ye be thinkin’ we be some kind of barterin’ shop, then ye be sadly deceived!”

“We are not here to buy or steal anything from you, dwarf—”

“
Xorgram
be my name,” the dwarf interrupted.

“Very well…
Xorgram
,” he echoed. “We are here to recover something that you have taken—Something that doesn’t belong to you—Something infused with great evil. It is an amulet with a gem—”

“I be thinkin’ yer too late fer that, priest—”

“
Inquisitor
,” Garius interjected stoically. He heard a giggle that most assuredly originated from Rose, who stood behind him.

“
Inquisitor
, then,” Xorgram corrected as he shuffled his people further back and closer to the elevator platform behind him. The princess made it to her feet and staggered to Garius, stumbling as she arrived, but Elec managed to catch her and right her carefully. “Ye be too late,” the dwarf reiterated. “Now be gone with ye’!”

“What are we too late
for
?” growled Garius with more than a hint of irritation in his tone. He moved forward a step, nearer to his enemies. He felt the very real sensation of another demonic presence nearby. He glanced slowly about the dark cavern, but saw nothing. He tensed, waiting for something to approach from the shadows.

“I be sorry ta say, Inquisitor, but another group already made off with yer bauble,” Xorgram said, standing his ground again. “Now, afore things get outta’ hand, I be suggestin’ ye take the princess there and take her back ta her dear mum.”

As he spoke the words of warning to Garius, another sinister demon appeared behind the princess. It was a tiny winged imp, with mottled, olive-green skin and black eyes that reflected the very gloom of Pandemonium. More importantly, it hovered beside the princess, its tail held poised to penetrate the soft flesh of her neck. Its tail was dripping with a liquid that could only be poison derived from the deepest depths of the netherworld.

The princess stood stiffly, eyes wide with fear. Garius’s face quivered with anger.

“I hate ta have ta do this to ye, but I need yer word that ye’ll be leavin’ here without so much as another word. I be givin’ ye the princess ta take home and we ain’t wantin’ another scrum,” Xorgram reasoned as he stood in front of the other highwaymen. “Just be gone from me village and promise ta never set foot here again, and she’ll live ta see the sun rise on the morrow….”